The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1906-05-17
THE BOOMING CANNON
2ECITALS OF CAMP AND BAT
TILE INCIDENTS.
Survivors of the Rebellion Relate
Many Amusing and Startling Incl
dents of Marches, Camp Life, Forag-

what they would do when the war
was over and they were at home. They
would never, so help them gracious,
march a single mile. They would let
the other fellows do the walking and
they would ride. They swore by the
great horn spoon that they would new
er wear a uniform of any sort, and
they would never take orders from any
man. They would fight shy of ell or
ganization and discipline and would do
as they darned please for an the rest
of their lives.
Michael Higgins of our company
went further than this. He knew what
he would do when he got home. He
would buy farm in the rolling coun-
try and build a fine house with beds
or lounges in every blessed room. He
would sleep whenever he felt like it
and wake up when he wanted to. He
would hire bugler and a drummer to
come under his window every morning
get a fair start he would get out Of
bed, open the window, and say to their
faces: 10 - wild ye, We blatherin'
sralpeens. Stop your noise and get
out Of this quick Then the drummer
and the bugler would sneak away and
Mike would go back to bed and rejoice
that army days were over.
This was Mikes idea of revenge on
those who made business of waking
him up in the army. He would take
solid comfort in being walked up that
he right order the buglers and drum
mers to get out We had lieutenant
who was almost as bad as Mike. he
declared time and again that he would
buy an island far out in the Pacific,
where he could never by any chance
see a soldier or a gun or hear shot
fred. He entered the regular army
in 1866, worked his way to the rank of
major, and was wounded on San Juan
hill in 1898.
Even the major general command
ing our division declared that when
peace was declared he would retire to
LIS OA0 SOAACc,C tOn cCCh AA4S oPROAal'
ment OF president of some university
or college, and eschew politics and mill
tary affairs. But he was elected Gov
ernor OF his State before he left the
army, was appointed a member OF
Grants first cabinet, was later ap-
pointed president and receiver of a
great railroad, was elected to Congress-
and did not become president of a law
college until many years had passed
Most Of the men who swore they
never would join any organization be
came members of the G. A. K. and kept
alive their old comradeship. Many OF
the men who declared they never would
march mile or carry knapsack went
| afoot to Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska
with knapsacks on their backs. In 1867
met scores of them tramping across
the country, sleeping out of doors, as
they did In the army, and too Otter
foraging of the country as they die
| In war times. When l took the stage
In Iowa l found four well dressed
quiet fellows in the choice seats. They
| apparently were unacquainted with
each other, and had little to say. They
impressed me as successful business
man, well up in the ways of the world
The second night out we learned
| that the hotel where we expected to
spend the night had been burned down
| and that the only other hotel In the
small town was more than full. When
we asked for accommodations the wor-
ried landlord said he had from four
to eight people in every bedroom, that
he had given up the dining room to
! four ladies, that his parlor was In pos
session of people sleeping on the floor,
and there wasn't a place for US. There
upon one of my travelling friends said
What about the Office floor here? Has
any one rented thatY The landlord
said it was at our service. If we could
sleep on the bare floor.
First one and then another and an
other of the travellers said as he had
spent four years in the army he could
sleep anywhere. The fourth man said
The same here and / fell in with
L am just out of the service Then,
much to the surprise of the landlord,
the quintet of soldiers spread newspa-
pers on the floor, took blankets out of
their packs, and were soon settled COM
| fortably for the night. The next morn
| ing each one declared that he had
sworn that he would never do such a
thing as he had done that night, and
| that he had cut away from all army
associations and habits. Each felt that
he had had enough of roughing ii, but
| In the next two weeks we did as much
roughing it to the square inch as we
ever did in the army.
Zone night an old farmer said we
might sleep in his barn IL we wouldn't
smoke. / said at once that had had
the honor of sleeping in Colonel Reedy's
barn down at Reedyyille. Tenn, and
the farmer, holding out his hand said !:
BY hockey, so did 1, but my barn is
| better than Reedy's was at that time,
because it is cleaner and has more hay
/! in 1t, and it won't be necessary to sleep
on your rifles. Looking at the man
| closely, I saw he was one of my old
company, and, overjoyed at the meet
ing, the man who had slept in Reedy's
barn made us comfortable In his own
barn, bringing from his little house
arm load after arm load of bed clothes.
The next morning he declared at break
fast that his experiences in Nebraska
had been as tough as anything he had
struck In the army. We all came to
the conclusion that our experience as
soldiers had prepared us to do nearly
| everything better than we could have
done without that experience.
| cago Inter Ocean.
Sheridan's Parents.
One of the sweetest and most pa
thetic war stories is about the Sheri
dams, father and mother of General
4 rar.s Il