The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1905-12-14
STOLE A HOT MESS-PAN.
An Incident of the Atlanta Campaign
With n Humorous Side.

Comrade Cyrus Knapp, Co. K, 31st
Ind, writes from Terre Haute to say
that he is taking The National Tribune
regularly and is reading it clear
through" every week. He says he has
been subscriber of 1.-The soldiers
friend for more than 20 years. Il
want to take it Is or 80 years longer"
adds Comrade Knapp, land then it will
be time to quit, 1 think, as 1 am on the
wrong side of " years of age. 1 have
been endeavoring to get subscribers for
the soldiers paper, so / can capture a
chart of the Army Of the Cumberland
l guess 1 will adopt Billy Sherman's
tactics, and right flank you SO 1 can
capture one.
Il have more reading matter than
can get away with, but when The Ma
tlonal Tribune comes l drop everything
until l have read it through, and then
l file it away with the rest of them
The old soldiers paper is very interest
ing to me, and 1 will never go back on
1t while / am on top and can get a dol
lar to pay for it,
Comrade Knapp desires to know If
the soldiers are still on top who lost
their mess-pan filled with hot meat
while he was in camp at Atlanta, Ga
When the army fell back from Lovejoy
Station to Atlanta, in September, 1854,
and again went into camp, he fixed up
inches from the ground on forked sticks
and poles He then picked a lot of
Georgia feathers off the pine trees.
and had what was facetiously termed
"a nice feather bed"
One night his two mess-mates con-
cluGed that they should have a mess
pan to add to their kitchen utensils,
which then consisted of small frying
pan and large black coffee-pot. They
therefore started on a foraging expedi-
ton. They soon returned, each having
the end of pole in his hand, with a
mess-pan filled with hot meat swinging
in the middle of the pole. They took
1t into Comrade Knapp's tent and put
II under his bed. They explained that
they had found the meat cooking over
a Dig lire, and some men were sitting
near by playing cards. The messmates
being afraid the meat might burn, as
one OF them expressed it, brought the
mess-pan and all to the tent while the
card-players were deeply engrossed in
their game.
"On the following morning" adds
Comrade Knapp, while 1 was lying on
my bed reading newspaper from Gods
country, my attention was attracted by
loud talking just outside of my tent.
L didn't have time to look and see If
my blanket reached down low enough
to hide the meSs-pan under nv bed.
when riSnt at my tent opening i heard
big, gruff voice say: If 1 ever see
that mess-pan again / will know it, for
1T has ramrod for a bail that I put in
1t myself and as to the fellow that has
that mess-pan, / will not leave a grease
spot of him as big as a pinhead'
THE cuss words he mixed up with
his talk l will omit. Then a big, broad
shouldered soldier gazed into my tent,
and asked me If / had seen a mess pan
full OF boiling hot meat I merely
glanced up and grunted and continued
to read the newspaper. The other SOL
der said, Come on; he amt got IT,
and they departed; but my heart did
not get down to it's proper place and
to regular business again for quite a
while. / had expected every moment
that they would discover the mess-pan
and thrash the earth with me, as l am
a small man.
I'VE 'toted' that mess-pan through
the Fall and Winter campaign, through
that awful retreat from Pulaski to
Spring Hill and the battles of Franklin
and Nashville. One of my messmates
crossed the divide soon after the war
closed. II this should come to the no.
tice of Frank keenan,, Of Co. X. 31st
Ind, he will know that his old mess
mate, Cy Knapp, is still on top, and If
he Will write to me l will answer his
letter promptly