Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1908-02-07
THE BATTLE FIELDS.
OLD SOLDIERS TALK OVER ARMY
EXPERIENCES
The Blue and the Gray Review Incl
dents of the Late War, and in a
Graphic and Interesting Manner

VI Oh AlCIueuI III the Union army In
1862. I was then in charge of the con-
Valescent ward in one of the large hos
pitfalls at Nashville. I had In one room
Which had been the assembly hall for
some fraternity ninety-two men.
"One-half OF them were recovering
from low feyers, and all were weak and
respondent. Some were disconnected
and 1rritated because they were not
strong enough to 60 to their regiments.
Others had the blues because they
couldn't go home. It seemed to me 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| l 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 to put every man
who could pull a trigger on duty, I
turned and stated the case to the sick
men l asked how many of them felt
strong enough In such a case to handle
a musket. Instantly every man in the
room except two began to get out 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 were
brought from the storeroom, and in f1f
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, II had
q bad case of varioloid. The battle
came when it was at it's worst. / went
into the ranks and was on constant
duty for two days of battle. The night
of the first day 1 stood for five Or six
hours in the rain. I turned the rim of
my cap to keep the water from running
down the back of my neck, and I 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 the
fact that 1 did not know l was sick
during the battle.
"Men in the old army as a rule rare
ly shirked a fight, whether they were
sick or well. I remember q 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,
4 thought, if they were not too expen-
sive, we would subscribe and raise the
money and buy them, anu have been
around among the boys with subscrip-
ton paper They don't seem to take
kindly to the proposition, so [ suppose
we shall have to go up and take them,'
and he fell in"
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 at the
rabbit. and it lodged first this way
and that and finally broke through the
line in the space between two Of our
regiments Thereupon one of the old
est men in the company shouted:
"Good-by, old cottontail if it were not
for the look of the thing, | would be
with YOU The men yelled at this and
then charged.
"In another case the firing was very
hot-so hot that every man dropped in
+o tho grass and weeds and waited for
Developments The captain saw one
man crawfishing back from the line
and watched him until he was within
hailing distance, then asked him what
he 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
want to live forever for? Back with
Won and stay with the boys" This
ouieted the mans nerves and he crawl
ed back"