The National tribune., 1907-10-17
PICKET SHOTS
From Alert Comrades AIOn. the Whole
Line.
At Front Royal and BEFORE.

Comrade Chas. IL. M.yerhoff, 14th
Ind. writes from Evansville, Ind, to
| say, among other things Il was in
terested in the history of the Bucktails
as published iii your columns. Their
Accomplishments were great. no doubt;
but / note especially the fact that on
May % they learned at Catletts Sta
| ton that the presence at Front Royal
of the Flying Brigade was desired inn
medately. but they do not say when
they reached Front Royal. If the Fly
ing Brigade went thru that place be-
fore we-the Flying ShieldSS Division
went thru. the enemy came back in the
| interval, for we certainly drove the
Johnnies out of Front ROYAL. Our di-
vision got cannon, l. wagons. 200
prisoners and 400 stand of arms. Now,
referring to my diary for dates. | find:
May % President Lincoln reviewed us
in the rain May 25 we began our
march soon after ) "a. m. Kimbalrs
Brigade in front. On the 27th we
reached Manassas Junction. and there
saw the men of McDowelrs Corps who
came by railway. They were polished
and shining all over. fresh as from a
boudoir We had come on foot from
shenandoah Valley. and were ragged
and dusty and worn. What they thought
of Shields's Division I'VE did not care;
what we thought of them was not fiat
tering to them or to their officers. The
| first we saw was the 14th n. Y. Zou-
aves-shoes shined every button.
buckle and bit of metal polished to the
limit, standing white paper collars! Huh!
| kimballS Brigade stopped near Gen.
| Kings headquarters likewise adjacent
to a rail fence, which segregated forth
with King sent his staff to stop the
rail carriers and order the rails re-
| turned to place. The awkward way in
which the railway boys bobbed about
among those official horses made the
creatures nervous. The rails moved on.
however, and became fuel, to the as
tonishment of King and his white and
shining brigade. On the 2Sth we found
a deserted camp. l inspected valise,
and found three boiled shirts in it. The
boys found much like plunder. aban-
doned in the haste of departure by the
shining shoe and buckle boys. The regi-
ment had fled. 1t redeemed itself later.
and Col. Fox has il on his list of 300
We went thru White Plains, Salem and
| Rector. May % we reached the base
OF the Blue Ridge-the day the Flying
Brigade seems to have been learning
things at Catlett's Station. May 80 our
division drove the rebels out of Front
| Royal, and made the captures stated.
My company was on picket. and saw
Adam Zusman on mule attached to
cannon caisson. on the caisson a ham.
Adam said there were Il wagons just
around the Hill, and one fun of hams.
My picket line was advanced to that
| ham wagon, and after ra1lying ] sent
word to camp and reported a find--nOt
a great capture. The rebels came back
on May 81 to get those wagons, but
Carrolrs Brigade drove them out of
sight and off the range
Proud of His, Flag
Comrade .Jehn jefferson Tyson, Co.
A, 1st New Orleans. Zion. La ..1fwrites:
Il have received my Axe flag, and it is
a daisy, The soldiers friend is all
right in distributing the Stars and
Stripes. The old flag is all right, and
to the men who followed it and fought
under it in the SOS it is full of mean
ing, and revives memories of scenes and
services of those times that tried our
strength and our souls. | think that
every Union soldier ought to have the
Stars and Stripes. and the flag should
wrap his coffin when he is laid therein.
| ! want to thank You very cordially for
your many and constant efforts for the
! benefit of all of us Did veterans and for
our widows after US. I hope that every
living Union veteran will take advan-
tage of your flag offer and get himself
la Union flag. and teach the young and
the newcomers to love it and revere it. -
Broke Out of Prison.
Martin o. Holston, Spokane, Wash.
|
any of them are alive We broke out
of prison at Pearisburg. Giles. County
Va, Sept. 16, 1862 He had gone in a
| gray uniform to call on Gems. j. P.
EchOls, w. ". Loring and E. P. Will
liams He pretended to be Maj. Whits-
ford, of the I'd y. c. (Confederate) ,
and got along all right for two days, but
| on the third one of his comrades, who
had been captured at Flat Top Noun
| tain, was brought in and gave him
away There was court-martial in 10
minutes, and he was sentenced to be
hanged as a spy. He fooled them by
breaking out of Jail and taking nine
others with him. He went to Danville,
where he drilled a company of cav
airy, receiving $275 for three weeks
and four days service. He was board
ed at the Exchange Hotel, but he de-
stroyed rebel property every night.
| Should HIVE badges.
Matthew c. Henderson. Maynard, O.,
writes that he was soldier in the war
for the Union. under Abraham Lincoln,
"a war begun in the biackest of treach-
cry and ended in the foulest assassina-
ton by the South" He thinks that the
I"Government should get up a nice badge
for every soldier who served in the
Union army or navy" that everybody
might know that the wearer had served
his country in defense and protection
Oh the STduueSt Government rounded
upon this GLOBE The comrade omits
to state his company or regiment.
| Four Musical Brothers.
David Oblihger writes from Piqua,
To-: I'm Troy, o., lived four brothers.
IOblinger, all musicians, who entered the
army. John w. was drummer in the
11th and in the 147th Ohio; Wilson and
David, the correspondent, were in the
band of the 31st Ohio: Wilson served
also in the Sth Ohio Cav: David served
also in the 147th Ohio Band. and Solo
mon served in this band. They were all
camped at Fort Ethan Allan at one
time, and all were present at the battle
of Fort Reno in 1864. All these BROTH
ers now live: John w. in Troy. o.:
David in Piqua. o.; Solomon, State Sol
diers' H ome, Ind; Wilson in Washing
ton. d. c. What family can beat our
recOrd?'
| Cordial Approval That Pleaaes.
From Branchland, W. Va, Comrade
Thomas Sharp, Sergeant. Co. F, I'd W.
Va. Cav, writes that he has for more