Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1906-06-08


OF my own in that campaign. After the
surrender of the city General Sherman
decided to send, alternately, one third
or each brigade or regiment home on
furlough until all had had a few days
at home. | don't know whether the
plan was carried out fully, but l know
In our regiment certain officers and men
started home on the old river steamer
Moderator in August, 1863. Each Off
Ger was given twenty days leave of alb
sence, and in my case it took me exact
~ twenty days to go and come.
This left me no time for visit at
all, but on the advice of my regimental
commander, l remained a few days at
home, hoping to give a satisfactory ex-
PLANTATION when l returned to camp.
The explanation was satisfactory, but,
meantime, l was called before a court
of inquiry and told a story that the
members Of the board plainly regarded
as high grade fiction. | explained that
when we left Vicksburg on the Mod
orator we had to put in all our spare
time sparring the boat up stream, and
that while engaged in this work we
stuck on a bar and were detained there
the full time of a journey to Cairo. In
other words, that | and others spent
the full limit of our furlough on that
old boat coming to Cairo and ON the
return trip
That, however, was not the only re-
markable thing about the river trip.
When we started we supposed, of
course, that there would be accommo-s
dations for those who were willing to
pay for them on the boat Therefore,
the officers carried no provisions and
no blankets with them. We were in
sorry plight. There was not one very
large table in the cabin, which would
not accommodate One-tenth of the Off
GERS and men on board. AS there were
no other provisions aboard than the
supplies Of the boat, there was always
a crowd about the table. The lucky
ones would get seats and devOur the
rations of bareback, bacon and coffee.
There was nothing else, but to the hun
CRY men crowding about the table this
was enough.
The regular practice was, when
breakfast was ready, for the first com
ers to take seats, and it seemed to me
that some of the boys sat up half the
night to pre- empt chairs. Then, behind
each man at the table would stand the
other fellows in ranks six or eight deep,
each man watching every movement
made by the man in front of him. OF
course, the man who stood first in the
ranks would wait only ten or fifteen
minutes, urging the man at the knife
and fork to hurry. The second man in
the ranks would wait thirty minutes,
the third man forty minutes, and so on,
but it was a continuous performance
from breakfast until dinner time, the
men in the rear ranks being ravenous-
~ hungry when their turns came.
There was of course, a great deal
of joking and badgering, and not
little trickery Among those on board
was Captain NJ. w. Marble, who was
one of General Sherman's spies. On
this occasion, however he wore his uni
form as Captain, and when he saw
another Captain about to take his place
arae: L beg your pardon, Captain, but
what is the date of your commission"
The other Captain explained. There
upon Marble stepped forward with a
smile, took the others place, and said
I'm sorry, but | rank you Now, as
rank cut no figure at all in the mat
ter of getting a seat at the table, the
most of us were surprised to see the
other Captain yield his place; but ne
did it without thinking until it was too
late to reclaim his position at the ia
ble."
1T is astonishing said the Ser
geant, "how much soldiers cared for
something good to eat. In 1861 most Of
the boys went from homes where there
was plenty of well-cooked food at every
meal. In fact, few people ever lived
better than the well-to-do farmers of
the Middle West. When the young men
from the farms and villages went into
the army they carried with them an APP
probation of good breakfasts and din
ners that caused great dissatisfaction
with the food furnished in the instruc-
ton camps In our case the companies
were formed and marched up to what
was called the cookhouse, where a
chunk of bread and a chunk of boiled
beef and a boiled potato were put on
a tin plate. and that was called
hearty meal
In a few days the men of our COM
pany rebelled. They complained to the
Captain, and the Captain complained
to the Colonel, and still things grew
worse instead of better. One day, when
the company was formed for dinner,
and it was the same old chunk of bread,
and the some old chunk of beef, and the