The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1904-10-06
THE BATTLE-FIELDS.
OLD SOLDIERS TALK OVER
ARMY EXPERIENCES.
The Blue and the Gray Review Incl.
dents Of the Late War, and In .
Graphic and Interesting Manner
Tell Of Camp, March and Battle.

hold after the surrender or Lee Even
some of the veterans who had re-enlist-
ed were FESTIVE when they saw the
Confederate armies breaking up They
had enlisted for the war, and now that
the war was over they wanted to go
home. Those who for any reason were
retained beyond their time became al
most mutnous, and were only restrain
cd from outbreaks by pride and sense
Of duty. The more reckless men, how
ever. Indifferent as TO consequences,
immediate or remote, took the bits in
their teeth and went their way.
these were the exceptions, how
ever. Nmety-nine men in every hun
dred stood firm and true to the last, as
proud Of their last service as Of their
FIRST, exu,tant over the privilege Of par
icipating in the grand review at Wash
lngton, prizing beyond all other docu-
ments their honorable discharges, and
returning home the better citizens be-
cause they had been good soldiers. We
know much Of these fellows because
they have little to conceal and much to
be increasingly proud Of. Their rec
ords are as an open book, but there are
others who in the last year of the war
had adventures and experiences that
were known only to their company off,
GERS or TO their most intimate COM
rades or to men of my profession.
lone Of the strangest cases was that
~ opo ~ tho host coI3ior.a I'm o,1r roof
ment He was in every engagement
that came our way, and had been
wounded six times when we camped in
frontof Atlanta; but from every wound
be recovered rapidly, and, as he ex-
ultantly said, never missed a march or
q fight But in the battle in front Of
Atlanta he was lying ON the ground,
ready to fire, when a rebel bullet
struck him in the shoulder and went
through his body longitudinally. The
wound was so serious and of so pecu-
liar character that he was sent North
for treatment and landed finally in the
Marine Hospital, Chicago.
"Here he recovered rapidly, and in
October, 1864. declared that he was
able and ready for duty. He was held,
however, for the November election.
and was given large liberty in the last
weeks Of his stay. After he had voted,
In November, he returned to bis regi-
uent, served to the end of the war,
and received an honorable discharge,
which was Of service to him in secur-
Ing a homestead in the West His rec
ord, as known to all of his regiment,
except one man, was without a flaw;
but as q matter Of fact, he was de-
serter several times over.
while waiting in Chicago he dressed
b citizens clothes, went to one Of the
recruiting camps. and enlisted, receiv-
Ing the large bounty then paid He
made himself useful about the camp,
drilled the. raw recruits, gained the
confidence Of the officers in charge, and
easily secured leave to come to the city.
| Instead Of returning, he dressed again
m citizens clothes, went to another
camp, enlisted, received his bounty, Sc
cured leave, and, after reporting at the
hospital, went to Indianapolis and
played the same game, and then to
another point. In the end this one man
was responsible for ten reported de-
sertions, was an expert bounty jumper,
and yet in actual service had a record
to be proud Of"
81 remember" said the Major "a
bright young fellow who came to US
from the Third Ohio in June, 1851 He
enlisted in our company, explained SIM
ply that his company in the Third had
gone to pieces on the three. years ques-
hon, and. finding himself out in the
sold, he had come over to us. Later it
appeared that he had told the truth,
except as to the manner of his leaving.
When his company seemed on the point
bf breaking up he left camp Disguised;
but the next week most of the men de-
eided to enlist for three years, and the
missing man was reported as a de-
serter.
HE served year in our regiment,
when he received a visit from an officer
Of the Third. Possibly the officer
threatened him, for the next day he
disappeared, and we never heard Of
him again, except in vague way One
n another division in the mix-up at
Chickamauga, bareheaded and fighting
among the best Of the desperate fight
ers of that day; but there was no way
bo trace him, and. in truth, no one
cared to do It He probably served
reditably through the war; and yet he
was, ON the rolls, twice a deserter.
"In another case, an impulsive Irish
boy, who was among the first to enlist
ln 1861. took French leave after three
weeks service. One day his captain
sentenced him to carry a knapsack
loaded with brick, as punishment for
some infraction Of the rules. Pat re-
sented this. left the company that
night enlisted in another regiment
served three full years. received an
honorable discharge, and on his way
home was arrested as a deserter from
the company In which he first enlisted.
Tie old regiment was recruiting with
re-enlisted Veterans as a nucleus, and
Pat compromised by taking service;
and he was not discharged until 1880"
Chicago Inter Ocean.
Business for the Doctor.
'~There are good many incidents Of
army life," said the Major, (which, If
| not told pretty soon. will not he told