The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1905-01-11
editors Intclligcnccr:

Christmas coming on has set me to
Illuminating on some Of the Christmas
times during the war 1861 90. Il re-
mcmbcr tho Christmas of 1861. Just
80 years ago, when we were In win
ter.ouartcrs below Richmond, on Il
hill North Of the Williamsburg road,
somc eight miles below Ric lmond;
how that 'Fayc,tc Eaton and L plan
nei to have Christmas stew, We
bought ,!uart Of brandy for which
we paid $50, an ounce of Ginger $3.50,
aud an ounce of spice S3.30, making
$57 co. Will Bruce, our Commissary
Sergeant, gave US pound or two of
sugar, SO we made the stew old
Fashioned as near as we could, with
shc means at hand. To make the
thing oGc;al and beyond question by
any Of the higher officers, we invited
Ut. A. J. S,ringer to partake with us,
which he did with but little reluc-
lance, fer really "Jack" enjoyed it
nearly as well as We did, saying:
~sBoys, don't kick up too much fuss,
: or Cen. Gary may not like it." Well,
we hsd "a good time Of it, and l often
think of that Christmas at these
"Ckristmas" times.
We we're promised Christmas
dinner by the loved ones at home,
bat did not get it until New ears,
apd then 1T was not near enough TO 60
.;ouud, though / remember very
pIeaea ntly the nioe "small piece of
baked turkey and piece Of loaf that
received us my pro rata share of
chat New Years dinner, getting it
abom u,le o'clock in the night. How
sweet and Juicy that turkey did taste,
no one who sever experienced 3 years
5n the hardships Of war can tell. l
can almost imagine now how good it
,svas, and will ever have kind remem-
5rauce oE the dainty hand that pre-
pared it for me, though | never knew
.who it was.
These with several other incidents
Shat happened along about that time,
~often occur to my memory-of the
last struggle for Southern Indepen-
~dence, of which the young and rising
generation know but little. / wish it
could be suitably impressed upon the
,poster;ty of the Confederate soldier,
so that they could appreciate and un-
derstand the noble lineage from which
they sprang. Not that I wish to i'm
press them with any great or noble
achievement which did, but GO g
whole, the noble hearing and grand
achievements Of tho Confederate SOL
..dier in general.
Along in the winter before that
Christmas remember our regiment
e?got marching orders one night. It
happened this woy: My messmate
and Sam Dayenport's mate, we're off
on picket, SO Sam and I concluded to
A'bsaE" tosethef-Sam taking up his
household effects and moving in to
cny quarters to spend the night. It
was ":hick-oloudy," aud q aieeiy-
ssas= wa5 falling, So Sam and i pre-
Gpered an early supper and went to
ebed for good nights rest; but in
this case o private soldier proposes
>and a Commanding General disposes,
1for about the time we were getting off
TO dream.land,- thinking Of the"Girl
we left behind in fact, Sam was
already, asleep, 1t. John T. Donald
|,son hailed me at the door Of my
='ehauty'' aud said, "Lee, get up and
! sook up 3 days rations and be ready
20 move at 4 o'clock in the morning"
L had already answered his call when
ae called me, so I had no excuse to
eey 2 did &C. hear him. !! gave Sam
8 slight ''hunch" with my elbow and
said, "Sam, do you hear that2" He
xurued over and said, 'What." re.
peated the order to him, but l cant
Just here repeat his words, but if any
: OF you will call on me privately, I will
tell you .just what he did say. So,
Sam and I jumped out of bed and
!. commenced operations Immediately,
.eor cooking utensils were scarce, and
we wanted to get through and catch
another map" before We had to 60.
About 12, midnight" !" we got through
aud retired again and got little more
rest before the bugle sounded for
sAddlenp'' at 4 a. m. The round
hat ror s1eet was still rattling down
and was 4 or 5 inches deep by this
eime. Just why General would
choose such an uncongeninl time for
.aueh moves I never could fairly un-
.derstaud; but they, in general, did,
and Of course we had to obey. AL
though Gen. Grant was great man,