Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1905-01-14
THE FIELD OF BATTLE
INCIDENTS AND ANECDOTES OF
THE WAR.
The Veterans of the RebelIion Tell of
WhistiiEx Bullets, Bright Bayonetsr
BnrstiHz Bombs. Bloody Battles
camp Fire. Festive Bugs, Ktc., Etc.

| Addison Ballard, was not like the
Christmas of this day. | was raised
! in Warren County. Ohio. and IN a
neighborhooi of well-to-do people. and
here is what | received from my par
ents as a Christmas gift; One big red
| apple, d litrle sack of choice hickory
nuts, one pair of knit mittens. and
! homemade knit comforter to wear
round the neck.
In addition. myself and brothers
were given Jointly / cents worth of
powder, which was inserted IN corn
/ cob and exploded. or in hole bored in
/ a iog. In the latter ease other boys
I joined with their allowance of pow
/ der TO have greater explosion. For
candy We had maple sugar. and for
special treat the young people OF the
neighborlood climbed the hills near our
4 house to hear the boom OF cannon fired
IN Cincinnati. fifteen miles away
Il was that sort of Buckeye boy
myself, said the Sergeant but of 4
later date. l wore a red or a red
and white comforter as late as the year
before tile war and my Christmas
gift from home in 1862 was pair of
closely knit red and black mitteus. We
were then in camp at Nashville and
/ the mitiens were "A great comfort. but
were regarded rs standing joke by
the boys We were rather cozily quar-
tered, and we began 10 prenarc for
Christmas a week i'm advance,
Some Of the boys went ten and
fourteen miles east and south from
camp looking for geese or turkeys,
chickens or rabbits Those who went
outside our lines came back excited
and anxious. They found everywhere
indications of general advance on
Christmas day. aud they didn't like il.
On Dec. "A We knew that We would
spend Christmas in camp. but that we
would advance in battle order on the
morning of Dec. %. Knowing this,
and knowing that three days rations
We're to lac cooked and carried in haver-
sacks. the boys were not as merry on
Christmas day, 1862, as they had cx-
pected to he.
The whole army moved toward
Murfreesboro on the morning Of the
10Th, and as we passed waiting regl-
ments | saw several pairs of mittcns
not unlike my own, and | knew that
the good mothers al home had thought
Of our cold hands. One man saw
wearing 4 red comforter such as ! had
worn SIS Il boy. ana / wondered II he
came from the old home nelghborhood
Five tiavs after that. as our brigade
emerged from the ccdars at Stone riv.
en- pursued by the rebels. / saw in
the rebel line two men wearing red
comforters
One of those wore the comforter
around his neck. with ends crossed on
his breast and carried down to his
belt. Tine other wore the comforter
around his neck with ends flying
wondered if these were, like my nit
tens. Christmas gifts from old-fash-
Toned homes. knew later. because
the rebel Of the red comforter fell. not
five steps from where | went down.
with two wounds. II was very cold
that night aud the wounded in blue
and gray began to creep toward the
little depression in which | was lying
aud smgxled close to keep from frccz.
ing.
some one took my mittcus out ~
my pockets and put them on nay al
most helpless hands. and some c-te else
able to use his hands lifted nay head
10 his lap as he sat on the ground. ana
felt the ends of knit comforter
brush across my face It was fresh
and new, and he said it was a Christ
mas gift and he had worn It In battle
because his mother had sent it, That
led the freezing mon. huddlcd together
like shiyering hogs, to talk OF Christ.
mas and their people at home. ana I
found that my man 81 the red comfort
or was Of the same stock a. myself,
his family settling in Tennessee, mine
in Ohio
lie had q pair Of mlttens like my
own, and the customs OF the two
homes were not unlike We did not
freeze that night. ana were carried ofr
the field next day, but in such condi.
ton that | never knew hdw we we're
removed nor what became Of the men
| vino came to me that night. Some Of
them did not recover. l was told IN
the hospital, but | was Informed that
not one Of the dead wore red comfort
I er. Al this came back TO nae yes
tcrdav wheu | came across Il white
army hospital blanket with nay initials
worked Ia red IN one corner It was
my blanket aud | remembered that
rs the letters went into shape forty
two years ago tear fell from my
mothers eyes for every stitch taken.
/ ! lived. however. 10 carry that blanket
! through the war
Speaking OF geese and rabbits. said
the Corporal, reminds nc that had
! Christmas experience ON that Stone
river campaign. 4 FEW days before
Christmas. George Hunt. Happy Jack
and myself went foragiHE to The front
Jack wanted goo~e FOR Christmas.