The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1905-12-07
SOLDIERS STORIES.
ENTERTAINING "REMINISCENCES
OF THE WAR.
Graphic Account Of Stirring Scenes
Witnensed ON the Battlefield and I'm
Canpcveterans Of the Rebellion Re-

CanpVeterans Of the Rebellion Re.
eits Experiences Of Thrilling Nature.
The other day." said the Major, Il
went out to see the Sergeant, on an
invitation to take Sunday dinner with
him. I put in an appearance about
noon and found that Mrs. Sergeant
was at church and that the Sergeant
himself was cooking the dinner. l
went with him to the kitchen and
came upon the most a~ppedzing smells
that eve tantalized a hungry mai.
The roast beef was cooking just TO
my taste; the potatoes were browning
I'm just the right way, and the other
vegetables were steaming alongside,
signalling odorously to my senses.
The Sergeant had everything well II
hand, and when Mrs. Sergeant came
I'll we sat down to a well planned and
a well cooked dinner. The Sergeant
incidentally remarked that his wife
was a very fine cook. The wife admit
ted this, but said she had learned all
she knew about cooking from her hus-
band.
"She went on to say that, unlike
most women, she recognized her hus-
bands superiority as a cock, and had
premacy he had won during the war.
She wondered, however, If all soldiers
who believed they were good cooks
in the old days could really cook any
one thing as well as the Sergeant
could cook everything. This reminded
me Of Captain A. A. Lee of the
Eighty-sixth Illinois, now living at
Harper. Kan. and told her the story.
when Captain Lee was promoted
from Lieutenant to Captain he secret
~ planned to give his brother officers
a surprise in the shape of a banquet.
This was In the winter. after Stone
River, and we were on outpost duty
below Nashville. The Captain bor-
rowed a Dutch oven, sent to Nash
vile for -four and other things, and
wrote to his mother for a recipe for
making a pound cake. When the
time came he equipped himself for
work and set about preparing the re
past for his invited guests.
Captain Lee had learned to cook
while in the ranks, and he was proud
OF the record he had made and had
great confidence in his ability to meet
every emergency. He mixed his -four
and other ingredients for the pound
cake with great care, because he was
ambitious to say to his shoulder
strapped guests that he had cooked
everything himself. When his mix
ture was too thin, although measured
according to his mothers recipe, he
thicknned 1t until, when rolled out, It
was stiff enough to stand alone.
Then he brought the dough to the
desired thinness and put 1t, after deft
manipulation. in the Dutch oven. For
a time he relaxed his vigilance to re
ceive his guests Meantime he detail
ed his faithful servant Bob to watch
the v and TO keep live Goals under
it and on the lid. Soon the lid began
to rise and Bob weighted 1t down
with a rock. But it would not stay
down. and Bob, as a last rerort. took
a musket and pounded the lid down
with the butt end thereof.
Later the Captain, ignorant of
Bob's rough treatment of his rising
pound cake. ordered the dinner served.
Everything was cooked to a turn and
the Captain received many compli-
ments. To make his triumph COM
plete he ordered on the pound cake
as a reminder Of the homes and the
mothers in the North. The guests
were generously helped, but not one
OF them beyond the first mouthful.
The cake, having been overmixed and
pounded at the wrong time, was a
failure. Captain Lee believed that
pound cake ruined his social career
In the army and he never boosted Of
his skill as a cook in the presence OF
his wife"
bad cooking in the army" said the
Doctor, KILLED thousands of men.
Therefore the soldiers who learned 10
be good cooks deserve the more
credit. Some men learned easily,
some came into the army VITA fair
knowledge of cooking, and others with
the sportsman's training in roughing,
but the majority were as helpless as
kittens even in the matter of cooking
beans. In our regiment 1 discovered
half q dozen hotel and steamboat
cooks, and / had them detailed to
teach the men in the ranks how to
make soups, to cook meats, and to
bake bread. In this way our boys es-
capped the troubles of the soldiers who
ate sinkers and half cooked food.
Zone Of my instructors in cooking
was a hard case when 1t came to sol
diering, but / stood by him for sew.
eral weeks One night, however, be
took advantage Of my friendliness to-
ward him. rod through the lines on
my own horse, and did not return. An
active campaign followed, and little
thought was given to the deserrer.
Ny horse was brought to the picket
tines by a country boy, and no ques-
tons were asked. Before the cam
paign was over / was left In an isol-
ated camp in charge OF twenty or
more sick and wounded men. / he'd
NO cooks. no nurses. and u. the las,
no guards.
Zone day 1 caught the odor of
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