The Tupelo journal. (Tupelo, Miss.) 1876-1924, 1906-06-29

pEN.pICTURES OF THE 0LDEN Time
BY COL w [. CLAYTON.

Inc anu 50I1CIltS, dilu UlVcr-
sions by which soldiers passed
off the time were many. | re-
member when we went into camp
at Bowling Green; KY, one eve
ming, the boys had much fun
catching rabbits. We had had
a rather wearisome trip going
from Nashville to Bowling Green.
When we got to Nashville, there
was no chance for any accomoda
ton on the Nashville and Louis
Vile road, the only thing being
some inferior freight cars, some
boxed and some open. It was
cold weather in December, 1861,
Gen. Davis had difficulty in get
ting any transportation at all.
He could not get an engineer at
all who had ever run over this
road, but was forced to take a
new man who had never passed
over the road and who was very
much averse to making the ex-
pertinent. But Gen. Reuben
Davis, who was in command
of the troops, pressed him in
any way and told him however
averse he might be to make the
trial he must do 1t, and thus we
made the trip. | am satisfied
we made at the rates of a hum
dred miles an hour in some places
owing to the ignorance of the
engineer in relation to the road.
When we arrived at Bowling
Green in the morning tired and
sleepy, the ride having been
made in the night there was
still delay in getting into camp,
and it was in the evening when
we were marched over the Bar
rem river into an old field to camp.
Soon after we entered the camp
the rabbits began jumping up
and scudding away across the
old field for safety. But the
soldiers began pursuing them
from behind and following, and
heading them off from before,
and the little cotton tails became
perfectly demoralized, and gave
lit up as a had job tra undertake
| to esos...e, and would Just stop
and give up and suffer themselves
to be picked up on the ground.
In this way our regiment caught
forty odd that evening in that
camp.
Ihave also seen the boys on
going into a new camp in the
woods amuse themselves run
ming squirrels. The noise of the
soldiers holloing and running
after the squirrels was about as
demoralizing to the animals as
to the rabbit, but the squirrel
had the advantage of going from
tree to tree, and he will never
give up like the cony. He dies
game. But when a regiment of
soldiers, and hungry soldiers at
that, range themselves over a
wood filled with squirrels there
is rare fun. The men begin a
simultaneous scream, and at the
same time running to and fro
through the woods, some climb
ing up the trees, and others with
sticks beneath the trees ready
to kill the poor fellows SO soon as
they strike the ground, or even
to bat them before they reach
the ground. In this way the
wood is soon cleared of squirrels
and the men are soon feasting.
have never yetseen tree with
a squirrel up it that some soldier
could not climb.
Another amusement was an
old fashioned singing, bee. When
you assemble a regiment of sol
diers together, taken as the con.
federates were from the plow
and the office, the shop and the
store, we are sure to have some
good singers among them, and
some who are leaders at home in
that line. Such men generally
manage to carry along some song
books, as many soldiers did Their
bibles. And so at some leisure
time, or at night when the stars
were shining down on us from
a clear sky from above, to see
these old singers, some old men
some young, gather around 9
camp fire of blazing logs and hear
them singthe old songs of the long
ago, was as helpful as diverting
They sang all kind of songs, from
Hail, We signing sons of sor-
row"to Dixie. +" Some times you
would hear some one open W
round his own camp fire with
that old song Far from the old
folks at home" .and then you may
be sure the boys would collect
from all over the camp as soor
as the sad wall was heard, anl
hang with delight on every woro
and every intonation Of the sing.
,, er's voice till the singing shoule
be over. You can go no place
where that old song will not at
tract, and charm. And then the
weired old songs Of the negr'
dialect, such as. Way down upor