The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1908-01-30

OF an incident In the Union army i'm
1862. L vas then in charge of the con-
valeScent ward in one of the large hos
pitfalls at Nashville. l had in one room
which had been the assembly hall for
some fraternity ninety-two e
"One-half of them were recovering
from low f~evers, and all were weak and
respondent. Some were discontented
and irritated because they were not
strong enough to go to their regiments.
Others had the blues because they
couldn't go home. 1t seemed to he that
they were losing rather than gaining
strength. One day an army officer
came hurriedly TO the room and asked,
shortly, How many men in this room
are fit to carry rifles in an extreme
case?' 1 answered at once, Not half a
Dozen
But when the officer explained that
FORESTS cavalry was only a few miles
from the city, and that the General in
command wanted 10 put every mar
who could pull a trigger on duty, l
turned and stated the case to the sick
men. / asked how many of them felt
strong enough in such n case to handle
a musket. Instantly every man in the
room except two began to get u of
bed. They were lying in single beds,
ranged in rows the full length Of the
long hall, and it seemed to me that
their feet touched the floor with the
precision and time of men ON drill.
'They all stood up and announced
that they were ready to fight Forrest
at any time and under any circum-
stances. Their old uniforms were
brought to them, their muskets We're
brought from the storeroom, and in fif-
teen minutes fully ninety men were in
line, with their equipments on and
their muskets in their hands. They
staggered as they marched out, but
they were ready for fight. Fortunate
ly they were not called upon to go far,
but it stirred my blood to see those sick
men in ranks"
"At Shiloh" said the Captain. Il had
" PRb as VI AAOiO DdtlAC
came when it was at its worst. l went
into the ranks and was on constant
duty fer two days of battle. The night
OF the first day | stood for five or six
hours in the rain. l turned the rim of
my cap to keep the water from running
down the back of my neck. and l re-
member that my face was so powder
begrimed that the washing of the salt
peter into my eyes made them smart.
| was sick for two weeks after the bat
tie. but l have always rejoiced in tie
fact that | did not know / was sick
during the battle.
Men in the old army as a rule rare
ly shirked a fight, whether they were
sick or well. / remember a story told
by Major Wilkes of the Confederate
army, son of Commodore Wilkes. On
one occasion, while Wilkes was in COM
.mand of a company, he asked for vol
unteers to charge a Federal battery on
a hill. Every man in the company, ex-
cept one. promptly fell into line ready
for business. The one man remaining
out had lodged every fight in which the
company had been engaged, but On this
day Wilkes noticed that he was busy
among the men who had volunteered
to make the charge. He wondered what
the fellow was doing, and was about
to ask, when the young man came up
and said: Captain, how much do you
think of those guns up on the hill are
WORTH He said he didn't know and
didn't care. WELL replied the private.
Il thought, if they were not too expen-
sive, we would subscribe and raise the
money and buy them, and l have been
around among the boys with a subscrip-
ton paper. They don't seem TO take
kindly to the proposition, SO l suppose
we sail have TO 60 up and take Them
and he fell ill.,"
ION one OCCASION" said the Major,
"a jack rabbit ran up and down be-
tween the lines OF Unionists and Con-
federates, scared by the firing. The
men on both sides were Waiting for the
order to charge, but they yelled ut the
rabbit. and it lodged first this way
and that and finally broke through the
line in the space between two of our
regiments. T%hereupon one of the old
est men in the company shouted !:
'Good-by, old %cottontail, if il were not
for the look of the thing. l would be
with you The men yelled at this and
then charged.
I'm another case the firing was very
hot-so hot that every man dropped in
to the grass and weeds and waited fo-
developments. The captain saw one
MAJ crawfishing back from the line
and watched him until he was within
hailing distance, then asked hlm what
be meant. The fellow said that it was
certain death TO stay in line, and he
was going back. The officer replied,
Good heavens, man! What do you
wan to live forever for? Back with
you and stay with the boys!' This
quieted the mans nerves and he crawl
ed back"
Speaking of animals between The
lines" said the Colonel, reminds me Of
Fort Donelson. When the rebels came
out to cut their way through our lines,
it so happened hat fifty or sixty hogs
were caught between the lines. They
were frantic with fright, ard ran this
way and that in an effort to escape. A
volley from our side would drive them
toward tho Confpderotes :n1 n voIley
from the rebels would drive them back
toward lis. The squeals of these hogs
could be heard above the firing, and
the squeals continued until every hog
was dead.
The Captains story Of Shiloh re
minds me Of an anecdote told of the
Captain of Battery Schwartz. This
battery was captured In the first days
battle, but was afterward recaptured
and went into action again. About this
time the Captain of the battery rode