The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1906-08-23
SOLDIERS STORIES.
ENTERTAINING "REMINISCENCES
OF THE WAR.
Graphic Account of Stirring Scenes
Witnessed on the Battlefield and in
Camp-veterans of the Rebellion Re-
cite Experiences of Thrilling Nature.

IL remember the draft i'll Chicago,
said a veteran fireman. "and | know
something of how substitutes were pro-
cured. When the draft was ordered in
the latter part of 1864. or early in 1850,
:. c. p. Holden and Alderman Daggie,
Of the Tenth Ward, organized a Tenth
Ward club, with headquarters at the
corner of Clinton and Washington
streets. Each member subscribed and
paid into the club treasury S25, and be-
came an active member of the commit
tee to see that all residents were en-
rolled. thereby lessening each ones
chances of being drafted. If any MEM
Der of the club was so unfortunate as
to be drawn the club agreed to furnish
substitute. the prices of which were
as high as $1,000 each, according to the
supply. There was anxiety upon the
part of all interested 10 see a square
| deal, and not little finessing was done
by each member to keep his particular
name out of the fatal box.
'when the day came for the drawing
the crowd selected Captain John Gill
lespie, of engine No. 13, corner of Wash
ington and Dearborn streets, TO draw
the names out of the box. Tie third
name he drew was his own, which con-
WINGED the people that everything vas
done fairly. When the drawing was
over there began the brokerage of secur-
ing substitutes. Agents haunted all
the depots and bounced upon every ru-
raj arrival and hustled all possible cam
didates off TO make deal. When -hay
found one who set the price up to $1,000
and over they would admit that was
the ruling price week before, but the
rush had satisfied the demand, and by
aid of confidence aiders' and side part
ners' the recruiting agents would agree
upon sum several hundred dollars be-
low the price the agents received, and It
was no unusual thing for good agent
to earn as much as $500 on one substi-
tute between the depot and the old
courthouse square. where the sub was
turned over to the proper authorities
and the price paid the substitute and
the agent"
when the substitutes arrived at the
front" said the Colonel. "they were
numerically hazed and badgered by the
veterans who had entered the sery-
ice without any inducement in the way
OF bounties and who scorned the idea
of man fighting for money. 1t was
assumed that all substitutes were of
one pattern, were men who had de-
clined to enlist as a matter of patriot
ism. and who entered the service only
when large bounties were offered. Many
of the veterans believed that the word
substitute was synonymous with the
bounty jumper and coward, and acted
accordingly. But in truth many old sol
diers, who had seen years of service
and many high-spirited young fellows
who could not leave aged parents with
out support, became substitutes, and
were none the worse for the bounty
paid.
Our regiment after q service OF
thirty-nine months. was mustered out
at Newport barracks in the summer OF
1864. The men declined to re-el,list rs
an organization because they were tired
of fighting. and wanted a rest, and
they scattered to their homes in differ
ent States. Before snow fell more than
half of them were again in the serv-
ice. many of them returning to old reg
iments as recruits or substitutes. In
all such cases the recruit, so strong was
the feeling against substitutes. con
cealed his re-enlistment from his old
comrades. and in not a few cases the
veteran played the part of a raw re-
! cruit so as to associate the new service
from the old.
lone of our old company returned
home to find his family in distress and
the farm mortgaged. After trying tc
stem the tide of misfortune, and after
trying vainly to borrow money, he sold
himself, as he put 1T. for $1,000. and
went to one Of the new regiments III
the front as substitute. lie pre-
tended to know nothing of drill or sol
der duty, and played the part Of q
stupid but well-meaDing clodhopper III,
bore all the jokes and prosecutions Will
cheerful patience and made friend.
with other substitutes. He never for
got himself except when it came to bat
tie, and then the change was not no
ticed at first But one day. when the
regiment was hard pressed, the sol
der spirit asserted itself and carried
the old veteran beyond the self-imposeJ
limitations of substitute.
when the break came he turned rs
he would have turned in his old regl
ment and ran to the colors. There ht
met the sergeant who had drilled him
and the captain who had treated hin
contemptuously, and others who had
laughed at his stupidity. Before thi.
the men of his company had not be
lieved that he could fire gun effect
lively. Now they saw that he was IA
miliar with all the tactical work OF
Ia resourceful man making desperate
resistance. They saw that he knew
what to do and how to do 1t, and al
the end of an hour. in which the frag
ments of the regiment had the hardest
fight in their experience as soldiers
the so-called substitute stood smiling
at their historical rejoicing over the
fact that they had done their duty. The
captain next day made the veteran tell
his story, and while the old vet car
ried the nickname of Sub to the end
OF his second term of service, no man
In the ranks of the regiment had more
considerable treatment from officers and
men than he.
I'm another case four brothers en-
listed in TIRES different regiments. The
two older ores went first at the begin
ming of the war. The one next in or.
der went in the second year. The
fourth enlisted in the third year. This
left at home two young fellows under
IS, who could not be spared, but early
in 1865 they brought their father So,
600 In money and asked him to hire
men in their place, and away they went