The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1905-10-26
THE sTH MI.

THE 9Th I'LL.
A Regiment About which Nobody Ever
Said Much.
Editor National Tribune: To me The
National Tribune is the most interest,"
ing as we'll as the most original news
paper in the United States. l would
not miss one of McElroy's or Peck
chapters for a years subscription. And
the experiences and adventures Of the
privates and line officers are read by
me with the same avidity used to read
CrusOe and Sinbad.
Up to this time I have never read
a line from one of my regiment.
know they are still alive. as we never
lost any in battle, always coming out
with more than went in. Our regiment
was very peculiar in it's makeup as
we'll as in its war experiences. None
of the youngest soldiers" enlisted in
our regiment; we never captured an
army corps or even a battalion: we did
take battery of 120-pounders at Fort
Henry, but this was after the gunboats
had whacked 1t for two hours and the
gunners had all skipped out. We were
never told by Gen. Grant that IL he had
a thousand more regiments like ours he
could cut his way to the Gulf, but /
think he did say that with our regiment
I'm the rear he would always be sure of
his base.
I have never read of any regiment
quite SO peculiar as ours Our privates
and non-commissioned officers were not
promoted for distinguished bravery or
meritOrious conduct, for while it pro-
duced such men as Maj.-Gen. Dick
Oglesby, Maj.-Gen. Lloyd Wheaton,
Brig. Gen. Leib, Ben Brown and Ben
Monroe, the most of us went backwards,
and many who went in as Sergeants
and Corporals and Sergeant Ma jors
came out as privates.
The 8th ILL., never did have the credit
belonging to it. While we were not
desperate fighters, we made good Com
missaries Of Subsistence. Two years be-
fore Sherman's Bummers went to the
sea we could have given them pointers
as to subsisting on the country. We
never growled about army rations; we
always had plenty to eat and the fat of
the land; we not only had plenty of
high-grade provisions. but quite an
army Of cooks from the first families,
many of them descendants of Pocahon-
tas. John Smith and John Brown.
While we were not very high in the
list Of fighting men Or ever called the
Bloody Eighth" we had some vivid
experiences and narrow escapes. At
Donelson we were outf1anked by For
rest. but we "squatted" and came out
with our own regiment and part of an
other At Vicksburg, on the 22d Of
May, we led the charge for while. but
"obliqued' too far to the left and came
out behind McClernand, where we for
titled.
At the surrender of Vicksburg we
marched in behind John A. Logan and
settled down to the quiet monotony of
camp life: but we had our own cap
tured horses and vehicles of every de-
scription, believing that we had saved
the country and anfif1a1 IN no
gratitude of a great Nation, including
the Southern COnfederacy.
1t was here that a comrade and my
self invented the first rubber-tired bug
gy We had blooded horse-too poor
for the Confederates to eat-but a
tious and speedy. We selected an old
harness. decayed and frayed at the
edges, which we patched up with old
ropes straps and buckles. We also
bought or recovered an old buggy; it
was SO old it could not stand without
clutches; tires loose and ready to drop
off: shafts broken, springs weak and no
dashboard. 1t was sight.
We repaired it up and muff1ed the
wheels-that is, we wound ropes and
straps all around the tires, SO that it
was virtually rubber tire and was as
easy riding and noiseless as one of the
modern sort. We found a place where
some one had left a barrel Of molasses
in a cellar. They had left the door
open, and we took large camp bucket
and filled it to the brim. Vicksburg is
very hilly, and as we came home we
reached the top of long hill, my COM
rade holding the pail in his hands. He
had long, magnificent beard, Of which
he was very proud, and he spent more
time taking care of his beard than he
did on his accouterments.
At the bottom Of the hill stood a
bridge fully IL inches above the level
of the road, as the dirt had been washed
away by rain and flood. Just as we
reached the top Of the hill in a sharp
trot pulled up the old horse suddenly.
when the breeching broke and also the
horse. He never made better time than
he did down that HILL and when we
struck the bridge the buggy went into
about a thousand pieces. My partner
went head on into the bucket Of mo-
lasses, and / landed 90 feet away toward
camp. | never stopped as l was daZed
and somewhat crippled, but for dis
lance of half a mile l could hear the
most awful string of language a good
soldier or sailor ever listened to.
don't want to hear from that comrade,
and l don't want him to hear from me-
meeting with him after even so many
years would be so full Of tender memo
ries | fear / would be overcome. The
next day, when we were digging stumps
on the parade ground, the owner came
for his horse. He said we could keep
the buggy.-C. w. Daniels, Co. E, Sth
ILL.,, Baxter Springs, Kan.