The Tupelo journal. (Tupelo, Miss.) 1876-1924, 1906-06-08

hum drum dogs life. l have
thought that if a man had no
business III life, and didn't care
whether he ever had or not, and if
he had no aspiration in life look
ing for something better, but was
content with what he had, he
would be in a very good fix to
make a good soldier so far as
the mere camp life is concerned.
Of course there are higher and
nobl.r qualifications than these
to make an ideal soldier, such as
fought for the cause of the con-
federacy during our war of 1861.
Take a man though from the
/ common walks of life, as was
done in 1861 to 1855, from the
plow and shop. the lawyers of
flee and the mercantile house,
the factories and the public EN-
ployments, and put him to the
various and varied duties and
employments of a common SOL
dier's life, and he will call it a
hard and tough life, In the
morning at daylight he must
answer to roll call and be ready
for an hours drilling before
breakfast, and then go in and
cook his breakfast, if he is happy
enough to have something to
cook, After that he has to han
ker around, or sit on a log or his
hat, or his saddle, if a cavalry
man, Or lounge on the ground
till drilling time again. If the
soldier left a home and business
requiring his attention or a wife
or wife and children, around
whom his affections entwine,
or quit the fresh turned fur
row in the field to attend the
call of his country, and thinks
of the grass and weeds growing
luxuriously where the cora ear
should be taking shape and the
feecy staple should look like a
beautiful snow bank on the noun
tain side, his mind turns away
from the camp life and a long
ing for the old scenes takes pas
session of- NvlAqactions, aal
oh! how he wishes to hY away
and be at rest in the Old Ecme
and in the bosom of his family.
A lawyers briefs come crowding
up with a new interest, and ev
cry little petty case is fraught
with a fairy gild, and every
old rusty tome is but leaf from
the Arabian Nights, or floats be-
fore his vision like the chase in
SCOTS Lady Of the lake.
Men in the army are not likely
to have a very high appreciation
of another mans property, if
that property consists of some
thing to eat, does not belong tC
a fellow soldier, and can be had
with tolerable prospects Of i'm
munity from punishment. For
instance one day while we were
on the march in a drilling De.
cember rain, a soldier who had
dropped behind, came up at q
gallop, passing to get up to his
company, and an old turkey COB.
Ter was standing by the way ano
in the soldiers way, all draWeC
up taking the rain, when the
soldier, as he passed, reached
over and grabbed the turkey by
the wings and never lost a steI
of the horse, carrying the goblel
along with him for himself ano
his mess mates for supper that
night wherever that might be.
| recollect one night one of oul
men came in after having gone
out on a "foraging expadition''
bringing back quarter of NUT
ton. Being asked by one Of the
boys, Joe where did you get
that mutton? promptly replied,
Il let no sheep bite me-
When we first went into the
army the cormissaEy was
we'll sqppliel, and we hal most
to eat than we could consume
but before the war closed have
seen the men often draw then
rations for the day and eat il
all at one meal. Let me give
you some Of the camp dradgers
Of a soldiers life. Men as a
general thing never cook at home
unless the cook, be she wife OF
| hired servant, should be sick,
| and then the little cooking
done is nearly Of a character tt
keep soul and body together,
but when you go into the army
| the men are expected of course
as a general thing to do their
own cooking, or at least it was
so in the war of 1861. Of course
| there were some men occasionally