Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1905-05-20
WARTIME "REMINISCENCES.
BY J.. X,

The following communication ',Mab te'
ceived some time sinct, .bht bNins t. lack OF
has beeh ctpWded out.
Deaf phil,
In my last letter | promised yoh
some more "Reminiscences ot var tunes.
There were SO many little things that
happened then that, if written up,
would be interesting to the surviving
participants, and to their, descendants
that il is the duty OF all ui lis who can
do SO To write about them and keep
them from lapsing into the oblivion of
absolute forgetfulness. | am SO con
stituted that the events Of forty or
fifty years ago spring into my memory
with all the freshness of a happening of
Yesterday | sometimes inNoluntafily
burst into laughter when some ludi-
crous thing that happened during my
bOyhood or early manhood pops up.tnto
my mind Snd draws my etttntion from
serious things,
The best soldier that ever buckled on
the armor of a holy cause was Alfred
Jackson Worsham OF Co. d, 4lst. Miss.
Infantry This is saying a heap for Il
single soldier, for every man OF that
glorious band of heroes was a true and
loyal soldier, and did. his dHty well and
nobly But "Worshamh as he was
known all through the brigade TO which
his regiment. was ATTACHED did Il great
deal more than his duty He was a
man oi Unique character and was en-
dowed with a physical constitution that
was as tough as a post oak, and with
a mental organism and general person.
atty that was sui generis. There never
vas but one Wogshau without intend
ing it he Gould do more things TO at
tract the attention Of everybody in
reach Of his performances than any man
who ever lived. He was entirely origi-
nal in everything and had as many pc
culiarities as we're ever compressed in
mortal form. He was NOT large OF
stature, and his limbs seemed to have
been articulated by Dame Nature when
she was in a dreamy mood In pitt
ting all his parts together Nature
seemed to be trying to create a mascu-
line ctirio, and she certainly succeeded.
He wasbox ankled, knockkneed angular
and disiointed all over He could not
stand up straight and was never in
line in the company S format'on during
the entire term ii his service. His en-
ergy was wonderful, his will indomita-
BILE, his courage superb and his powers
of endurance supernatural, He was
new on the sick list, was always nj
roll call, never shirked any duty and
did more extra service than all the rest
of the brigade put together. He wa
never idle, slept but little and was al
ways ready to volunteer for any haz-
ardous work that was wanted. Hewa:
a truly wonderful man and seemed tc
have been made purposely for the place
which he filled in the army From thS
day that the company was organized
Worsham became the pack horse OF
il, and during every day Of his service
he carried a load hat would have
made any other man either desert OF
commit suicide, But he carried it by
choice and never dreamed Of adopting
either of these alternatives to escape it
From the outset Worsham was chosen
as the head of his MISS THIS mean
That he was chief cook and bottle
washer. Joe Stokes, John Hodges, Joe
Rogers, John Manners, Jimmy Jones
John S Jones, Joe Nuckols and Wor
sham made up the mess. Over It Wer
sham presided from the beginning and
through all its changes of members, h,
held his place to the entire satisfaction
of all He drew the r%ations, cooked
and washed the dishes for the boys, al
Of which they let him do willingly, be
cause he liked the job When the reg
iment WAS formed iii April 1862, Wut
sham was promoted to the place Q
company "commissary which he ac
ceptcd, but held on to his place as hea.
Of the mess, lie liked the place an
kept it until he was disabled and had t
leave the army As company commits
sary he was always at his post and neve
failed to get his full share of the hes
that was to be had. There was new
a complaint against him and nobod
ever tried TO Dust him
In addition to these important pos
tions Worsham became the barber, fir.
for the company and then for the reg
ment. He was so successful in tn.
place that the brigade adopted him an
finally the division. Many Of the higl
or officers %patronized him and he b'
came famous throughout the army as