Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1905-08-26
THE BATTLE-FIELDS.
OLD SOLDIERS TALK OVER
ARMY EXPERIENCES.
The Blue and the Gray Review Incl.
dents of the Late War, and IN n
Graphic and Interesting Manner

Tell OF Canp, March and Battle.
'Never, except on one occasion"
said the Lieutenant did l think the
English way of treating soldiers was
better thar 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
Ioutraged the sensibilities of young
Englishman in my company. He call
ed my attention to the sign and said
no man would dare display such a sign
where soldiers were CHARTERED in Eng
land
"lnStead of proclaimirg they would
not feed soldiers, the restaurant pro
prietorS il an English town We're 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-
adjustment which made a parade of
its Cuban proprletorship 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
employers under guard, and then put
its own cooks on duty. These prepGr-
ed and served a fine. supper.
After the supper had been 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 strict disclplinarian, and he was
sure the restaurant men were mis-
taken. His own men, he said, could
~
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
| " TO the compliments: of course you
| feed soldiers at your establishments
/ 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 your 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 a sign in the Civil
| War;" said the Captain. THE South
ern hotelkeepers were, as a rule, ready
| TO feed all soldiers who had money.
l 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 i'm 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
THE battle of Bentonville came as
| a 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 on
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 add
| 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 III
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
pans tled 10 the tops or the packs on
the mules. The roosters took kindly ia
the iocomotion, and while the mules
were moving were very quiet. But
when the train halted the ROSTERS an.
| ticipating release and the freedoni 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 ia
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 ROSTERS quiet, but one old
fellow looking over the top Of his buck
ct recognized us as old friends ana
Crowpd vigorously This sfarfnd apotb-