The Tupelo journal., 1905-12-01
pEN-pICTURES OF THE OLDEN Time
BY COL w 1. CLAYTON.

nous for their industry, and he
had known his father to set on
one end of a long log, from what
he said about eight feet long, and
read a book, while the log grad
ually grew shorter by the action
of the fire, one end being placed
on the fire, while the other res
ted on the hearth and the floor,
the old time puncheon floor l
have told about heretofore. Judge
Bullard had a brother, James G..
Billiard, who moved to old TIA
wanda county about 1856. l
think, who was a very poor man,
but very soon after | became ac-
quainted with him / discovered
that he was a man of fine intel
lect and sterling worth. He was
also a man Of rather awkward
carriage, and unprepossessing
in his personal appearance, but a
lovable man, and a fine charac-
ter. After coming to Itawamba
he gathered up some property,
and was generally rising in the
world financially when the war
came on. jim Billiard was an
older man than his brother, Ben
Bullard, and was not liable to
military service, but preparatory
to secession by Mississippi, Jas.
G. Billiard made up company,
was elected it's captain, and the
boys named the company "The
Ben Bullard Rifles and it was
the first company from the coun-
ty ordered into the Confederate
service, and went first to Pensa-
cola, Fla, and remained there
almost a year. The boys did not
at that time know what military
service meant, and soon after
they went to Pensacola, and
found that they had no chance of
winning glory by fighting the en-
emy, and had to buckle down to
routine work and had to drill sew
eral hours each day, they became
very much dissatisfied, and in
default of someone else to charge
the condition of affairs up to,
they fell out with Capt. Bullard,
and made life very unpleasant
for him for several months, and
even went so far as to ask him to
resign. But amid it all he pos
sessed his soul in patience, show
ed no signs of irritation whatev-
er, consulted his own better judg--
ment, instead of being governed
by his passions and feelings,
knowing the sentiments of the
men would change, and being
sure he was blameless in the pre-
misses, and remained in command
of his company till the reorgani-
zation. When the time for the
election of officers for the term
of three years or the war came
the wisdom of Capt. Billiards.
course was evident. He had re-
gained his popularity in his own
company, and his standing and
wisdom was such that he was
recognized as proper man for
preferment in the regiment, and
on the reorganization he was
elected lieutenant colonel Of the
1st Miss. regiment. He was a
capable, prudent and valiant Off
Ger. He bore himself like a chew
alier in the bloody field of Shiloh,
anu when Bragg moved into Ken
lucky in the summer of 1862, Col.
Billiards. regiment was in the ad-
vance, and suffered severely in
the bloody and disastrous attack
on Mumfordsville, a strongly for
tilted place in the barrons of Ken
tucky. Both Coils. Smith and Bull
lard were killed in the attack, and
many others were killed and
wounded. Col. Bullard fell pierc-
ed by grape shot, and notwith-
standing he was shot through,
and died almost instantly, he
lived long enough to take his
watch and pocketbook from his
pockets, hand them to one stand
ing by, and say "Give them to
my wife" He was buried on
the field Of his glory in a trench
with many others. He was bu-
ried as he fell in his uniform, with
his silver spur on his boot. Some
years after the war the state of
Mississippi removed the remains
of these valiant dead and gave
them more decent interment, and
they found Col. Billiards. silver
spur still on his foot, the rowel,
however, being steel, had rusted
out. 1t was sent to the bureau
of Archives and History at Wash
ington, and hearing Of it wrote
for and recovered the spur for
his children and sent it to them.
There was no more faithful, brave
or self sacrificing officer in the
Confederate service than Col.
Bullard. He was my friend, and
also my confidant in the trouble
with his men, and | deeply sym
pathized with him, and stood by
him in the matter contrary to
most of the company. He be-