The National tribune., 1906-10-04
SMOTHERED CHICKEN.
An Incident Connected with the Burn
ing of Columbia, 8. &.

inE OF Nofunhiu. -. u.
Editor National Tribune: / do not
claim to be the youngest. Oldest short
est or tallest soldier; was not one of the
brave men first to enter Fort Fisher;
therefore, am not qualified to decide
that important question. 1 am even
diffident about asserting how or by
whom Gen. Polk was killed, although
was present and saw him fall. but there
was so much firing at the time, and so
much smoke, that 1t would be very diff
cult to tell just who fired the fatal shot.
/ was on the skirmish line, and have
always been of the opinion that it was
who did it, but in order to keep in
the good graces of the 27th N. Y.
regiment 1 understood who always
spoke the truth, / will not say for GER
tain l killed Polk. l don't know that
there is anything I can really brag OF,
unless it is that 1, with little help
from a number of jolly good boys, put
down the rebellion. little while ago
an artilleryman told story in your
valuable paper about a jug he lost or
had stolen from him. Now, If he had
wished to enlist our sympathy he should
have told us what that jug contained,
whether cider, vinegar or old peach.
In that case we could have graded our
sympathy according to the contents OF
the jug. If empty, the other fellow
Woulu get tIle SuipdtHy, anu
this reminds me of a story. 1t hap
pcned in Columbia, 8. c., and the chief
actors were David Bruner and chick
en- You see, Wade Hampton, after
bravely defending the city as long as
Gen. Sherman was out of gunshot of
the place, concluded on the approach of
his army that some other locality would
agree with him better. Before he left,
he set fire to large collection of cot
70 oh in q in
street of the city. and moved out at
one door while we Yanks moved in at
another. Our reception was lively. The
streets were filled with darkies who had
broken into several large liquor saloons
in the interval of the Johnnies going
out and the Yanks coming in. and were
ii: Z very hilarious state. My division,
Osterhaus's marched through the city
and went into camp just outside, beside
a nice clear stream of water. In the
evening the wind began to blow. and
the effect of the wind on that burning
cotton was sight to behold. 1t would
take great flakes of it. carry them
through the air until caught by roof
or steeple, with the result that before
many hours everything that would burn
was on fire Thef division that had been
halted in the city tried to put out the
fire. but was obliged to call upon us to
help them. In spite of all efforts. how
ever. the greater part of the city was
burned. After we had. done all we could
we were punched together. higgledy-
piggIedy. in the public square, near the
Capitol Building; which had just been
begun. stacked oul arms, and lay down
fat on the ground for what little rest
we could get before morning. This is
a true story of the burning of Column
bia. one of the most beautiful cities
of the Southland. IT, has been assert
ed that Sherman burned the city, but
all the blame rests upon Hampton.
Well, hear someS one, say. What has
all this to do! with Bruner and the
too big sputter and run in front Of
the skirmish line. or you'll get hurt.
Dave came out all right, but the chick
en- didn't. 1t was this way: Early in
the morning we were awakened by n
terrible racket and on investigation 1t
was found that some one had stolen a
chicken that Dave Bruner ha5 brought
into camp the night before. 1t seems
Dave, tired out from his efforts in try
ing to put out the fire, and perhaps af-
fected by the smoke and heat, thought
| he would feel better for something
stimulating, so he got a bottle of what
the medical profession call sp fitus fru-
menti, and partook freely thereof. On
| his way to camp he ran across this same
| chicken. who. thinking it too hot to sit,
was looking for some cool spot to finish
its nights rooEt. "Ah, ah," says Dave;
"come here, my beauty. I will take
you in and teach you the ways of US
Yankee boys" As the chick was rather
more blinded than Dave was. he picked
| 1t up. jammed II into his fayersack and
staggered on to camp. When Dave
found he was in the right place he
threw himself down and was soon
asleep. What awakened him in the
morning before the rest of us is a mys-
| terry. As rule he was a very pleasant,
rather amiable fellow, but this morn
| ing sulfur was In the air. He was be-
rating everyone for having stolen his
| chicken, and a search was finally in
sisted upon. Where do you suppose
| that chicken was found2 Why, in
Dawes haversack, as dead as a door
nail. 1t seems. forgetting he had put 1t
in his haversack in the excitement of
| the occasion and the muddled state of
his brain. he had thrown himself down
with the haversack under him, and had
| smothered the chicken. One of the
| boys handed it to him. BY this time he
| had cooled down, and being, as ! said.
of a naturally good disposition, soon
saw the ridiculous side. Holding 1t up
with one hand, and looking at it quizzi-
cally, he said. "Well, / have heard of
smothered victuals. but have never eat
en- of any, and, by jolly, I'm not going
to commence on smothered chicken
A. c. Harter, Dayton, o.
|