Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-11-16
THE BOOMING CANNON
RECiTALS OF CAMP AND BAT.
TIE INCIDENTS.
Survivors of the Rebellion Relate
Many Amusing aud Startling Incl
dents of Marches, Camp Life, Forae-
ing Experiences and Battle Scenes.

My account of how l was made
prisoner (said q comrade) will be
brief one. The affair was exciting
enough; but it began and ended so
quickly that l have hardly got over
the surprise Of it yet. was captain
on the staff of General Emory, COM
marding the Nineteenth Army Corps.
On the morning Of the 10th of October,
1864, we were reused up before day
light by the heavy firing over on the
left Something was evidently wrong,
and we had our horses saddled at once.
We occupied, with Sheridan's staff, the
stone house-the 'Hite House," I have
since heard 1t called-in rear of our
First Division. / was dispatched over
to the pike" to see what the trouble
was and report. l did not reach the
pike" Immediately; there was a great
deal between me and It to prevent, and
as for reporting" I never saw the
Nineteenth Corps again till the next
spring.
The morning was foggy, and it was
impossible to see a man at that hour
more than few rods off, but 1 could
see the flashes Of the muskets of some
OF the regiments of our corps, and I
met fugitives from the Eighth in large
numbers going to the rear. A great
noise Of shooting, and a yell that was
never made by any but Southern sol
diers was heard from the left, and I
saw enough, besides what these fugi-
tives told me, to be sure that there
was an attack and q panic in the
Eighth. 1t would have been we'll for
me if I had been satisfied with what
I had thus far discovered, and had
gone back to headquarters with the
report. I should certainly have found
headquarters In the saddle" and
they were never so near me again
that morning. But I wanted to do
my whole duty. l was anxious to see
the whole trouble with my own eyes,
that I might make a faithful report,
and on I went
To avoid the streams Of fugitives, I
bore we'll off to the left intending to
reach the pike rather below the line Of
their hasty retreat. I had not ridden
half way to the pike when came slap
on four soldiers. The meeting was so
that they seemed to rise out Of the
ground. At a glance l saw that they
wore gray, and that each of them had
musket.
hot +n1
with the greatest promptness I might
have wheeled and galloped back unin-
jured before a fine aim could have
been taken at me; and then again I
might have been knocked dead off my
horse trying it. 1 was not quick
enough to take the risk. I pulled up,
and their muskets quickly covered me.
They saluted me as a "Yank," Or
dering me to dismount, and conveying
their wishes to me in explicit language.
They had the controversy all their own
way, and I yielded without trying to
argue the question. I got down, and
was taken to the pike, and up it to-
ward Fishers Hill, to place where
many Union prisoners had already
been collected. The huUa5er was swelled
to twelve hundred by night, and we
were started up the valley on the long
way to Richmond before Sheridan's
cavalry could overtake us.
That (said another comrade) re-
minds me Of what happened in plain
sight Of our picket line, off on the left,
near Hatcher's Run, before that battle
had been fought
Our major was In command Of that
part Of the line. He had come out
from the reserve with sergeant, and
took the notion to go beyond the line
and see what he could see. It would
not have been a wise thing for horse
man to do. They were afoot, and it
was positively foolish. But they went
full of big head, to tell the truth.
The country was clear in front,
there being nothing but some scattering
timber to break the view for perhaps
three hundred yards. was one Of
the pickets. and I watched the major
and sergeant as they strolled along out
to the front, probably suspecting no
danger.
What followed I got partly from my
own observation and partly from the
account of the major when he came in.
AS he and the sergeant approached
q low stone wall, being not more than
twenty feet from it, three muskets
were thrust over 1t at them and
voice shouted: Surrender, Yanks, or
We'll shoot!'
The sergeant at once threw down his
gun. He was captured, Of course. and
sent to the Libby.
Not so the major.
I know the man pretty we'll, and
think I can tell what flashed through
his mind on that stern hail, and the
discovery of what was before him.
It probably occurred to him that he
was where he had no business to be;
that the months of weary captivity
before him would be followed by an
tro,1iy-r RI what hp WAS