The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1905-08-31
THE BATTLE-FIELDS.
OLD eOLDIERS 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.

Never, except on one OCCASION"
said the Lieutenant, did l think the
English way of treating soldiers was
better than our own way. When we
went to Tampa in 1898 good many
of the restaurants there displayed the
sign, No soldiers fed here As we
had full rations and very little money,
this did not disturb the boys, but 1t
outraged the sensibilities of a young
Englishman in my company. He call
ed my attention to the sign and said
no man would dare display such sign
where soldiers were quartered in Eng
land.
Instead of proclaiming they would
not feed soldiers, the restaurant pro-
prietors in an English town were re-
quired not only to feed soldiers but
serve them at half the regular price.
Listening to the story, the men of the
company began to show resentment,
particularly toward a pretentious es-
taDlishment which made a parade of
its Cuban proprietorship and the pride
thereof in the American soldiers, but
all the while displayed the sign, No
soldiers fed here
ION the first pay day the men Of
the artillery company decided to have
feast. The company was formed as
II for duty, the orderly sergeant insist
ing that the cooks take their place in
line. Then the company, each man
armed and equipped for hot work,
! marched to the restaurant, took pos
session, put the proprietors and their
its own cooks on duty. These prepar-
ed and served fine supper.
AFTER the supper had beer dispos-
ed of the company marched out with
out explanation or remark, and the in
dignant proprietors made haste to pre-
sent formal complaint to the colonel
in command Of the camp. The colonel
was a strict disciplinarian, AID he was
sure the restaurant men were mis-
taken. His own men, he said, could
not possibly have done such a thing.
However, he would order the compan-
les formed for inspection, and if the
restaurant keepers could pick out the
offenders they would be punished
Things seemed to be going against
the boys when the colonel said bland
ly to the compliments: of course, you
feed soldiers at your establishment
The Spanish-Americans' reluctantly
admitted that they did not The colo
mel asked, not so blandly: You don't
show one of those offensive placards.
mo soldiers fed here" do you? They
admitted that they did. Then thun-
dered the colonel, get out Of this camp
as quickly as your legs can carry you.
Get out or will put you all under ar
rest And they got out"
Il never saw such sign in the Civil
War;" said the Captain. 1.-The South
ern hotelkeepers were, as a rule, res dy
to feed all soldiers who had money.
1 have often thought, however, that
the boys in the Spanish-American war
had very limited experience Of the
unusual as compared with the expert
ences Of the long service men in the
Union army. This was particularly
true of the things that happened in
the last year Of the war, when the men
were seasoned to adventure and were
thrown largely on their own resources.
1.-The battle of Bentonville came as
surprise to most of Sherman's army,
and there were some stirring incidents.
But the scene that comes up first in my
mind when Bentonville is mentioned
is one to make me laugh On that
North Carolina march our brigade or
division used pack mules instead of
wagons, and the pack train was a pic
turesque affair, the mules being load
ed with all sorts of plumber. In addi-
ton to other things, nearly every mule
carried at least one live rooster and
some mules two OR three BOOSTERS.
The ROSTERS had been gathered up
on the long march and had become
great pets. So it was arranged they
should be put In large wooden pals
confiscated along the route, and these
pals tied to the tops of the packs on
the mules. The roosters took kindly to
the locomotion, and while the mules
were moving were very quiet. But
when the train halted the ROSTERS, an
ticipating release and the freedom of
camp, would crow Justify.
"This was not so comical when the
mules were scattered at camping time
among the several companies. But at
Bentonville there had been much hur-
rying and the whole pack train was
collected in a sheltered position to
await the issue Of battle. As the
cavalry and artillery moved forward
into the fight we passed the pack train.
The unusual racket and confusion had
kept the roosters quiet, but one old
fellow looking over the top of his buck
ct recognized us as old friends and
crowed vigorously. This started anoth-
er and another until the whole aggre-
CATION went in action, every one of a
hundred roosters growing for dear life.
ut was ludicrous beyond description.
The fun of it took possession of Off:
lcers and men, and we went into the
fight laughing and talking back talk
to the ROSTERS. We could hear them
crow after we got down to business.
and the boys thought it was good
omen and they told some of their pris-
oners about it. When we went into
camp after the battle, the ROSTERS, 1t