The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1905-11-23
H BATTLE-FlELDS
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.

ICA III thdI
tain Of company A, First colored IN
fantry, defenses of Washington. The
regiment was composed Of govern
ment employees organized for defense
Of Washington, and did good service
when Early advanced on the capital,
but no mention is made Of the regF
ment or its services in any War De-
partment record.
After the Sixth corps arrived our
regiment charged in line with the Yer
mont brigade and drove Early's forces
back beyond Montgomery Blair's
house. Then we returned to the de-
lenses, and the Sixth corps followed
the retreating enemy. AS we returned
/ saw a dead Confederate soldier who
wore a long breastplate of Russian IT
Swedish sheet iron. There were two
thickennesses of iron, with a material
resembling asbestos between them, the
whole covered with canvas or sail
cloth. A mimic ball had penetrated the
the wearer, killing him instantly.
Zone Of the men took the breastplate
from the dead body and presented it
to Captain Robert Lacey, Of General
Daniel III. Ricker's staff, and we ex-
amined it carefully. 1t was the only
piece of mail or armor that l eve saw
or heard Of in the army. We all agreed
at the time that the man who wore
the breastplate was not q COnfeder-
ate veteran, but a recruit who had re-
Gently joined the army or a resident of
Washington who had gone out with
arms and armor to help his friends
under Early. The breastplate was Of
foreign manufacture, and might have
been carried to Richmond on a block
ade runner.
mo veteran soldier Of that time in
either army would nave worn a pro-
tector of any kind. That would have
been unsoldierly Inc i~nexcusable. But
a veteran could use a tree or rock or
stump or mound Of earth as a pro-
lection and be commended for his fore
sight and courage. The soldier most
sensitive on the question of armor or
breastplate would jump behind a tree
or into a gopher hole and boast of his
of wearing a chain suit Or protector
of w&ring a chain suit or protector
of any kind was counted a coward.
When a private wanted to be particu-
larly severe on a regular officer he
intimated that said officer wore a
chain shirt under his blouse or coat"
"I remember" said the Major, that
In our command any eccentricity on
the part Of a man II protecting him.
self from the enemy's bullets was ex-
cusable and c~ommendable. In the last
year Of the war our men became ex-
perts in the construction of what might
be called individual forts. A picket
sent to an exposed position fortified The
minute he was on post. The man who
relieved him improved the work of
the first. and the third man On duty
extended the work Of the second. In
this way the army was given a forti-
fed front on the initiative Of the pick
cts. l have known. men to 60 gladly
to outpost picket duty that they might
give the finishing touches to "a gopher
hole or a 'dugout' begun by them
selves or comrades.
1--WE had in the company one man
who never did the right thing in ranks.
He seemed so stupid or Indifferent
that he was not sem On picket. One
day he got as far as the reserve post,
and spent the greater part of the day
in digging a rife pit across the front.
He took such delight in the work that
he was taken with the company to the
picket line the next time it was On
duty. He sauntered out to the out
posts, came back, caught up a shovel,
and returned to the most dangerous
post. He worked for IN hour, and
made a rifle pit for one that was a
beauty. The throwing up Of fresh
earth, however. attracted the attention
Of the enemy, and they opened fire.
las we expected, stupid Pete ran
back to the reserve. But. contrary to
expectation, he grabbed his rife and
ran back to the picket line and re-
manned there under heavy fire. His
newly made rifle pits were of great
service in hating the enemy. After
the skirmish Pete was complimented
for doing as good work with his rifle
as with his shovel, and we found that
he wasn't stupid after all. The next
day he came to me and said his friend
Tim, as ugly a looking fellow as there
was in the regiment, had something
on his mind. Tim had a letter which
he couldn't read himself, and was
afraid to have any of his comrades
read.
ut was from his daughter, who was
IN an orphan asylum, but who had
learned to read and write, and had
had received since he entered the
army. Tim had been a recruit taken
in to fill up the company, and had
been difficult to control. But when
] read him his daughters letter be
softened in a most astonishing way.
He came to me the next day to tell his
story Che had deserted his daughter
aud she had beer sent to the county
r~oorhouse to be rescued by the Sol
diers' Aid Society, and ! wrote a let
ter in his name to the daughter, send
ing. her money. That was the begin
ming of 9 new Pete and a new Tim.
Before the end Of the war they e
raade over. They ceased to be eccen-
tric characters and became pretty fair