Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1911-04-19
THE SIMPLE LIFE OF A COMMONfR
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY
AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY


the regiment of which he was a
member should be made to feel the
weightSt official displeasure. Now,
it SO hale sned that all this took
place Just sNa.we were about to en-
bark for actf> service in the field
again. A genei< order was issued
in which the regiS Sspt was publicly
disgraced. Our mar through the
city from Benton Bar. eks to the
steamboat landing was queer af-
fair. 1t would have borne all the
ear marks Of funeral procession,
had it not been for the sense of
humor which pervaded large por-
tion of the regiment. We were not
allowed to carry our colors, the flag
remained furled and we were ord
cred to march without music, two
things that no true soldier could
endure without protest. Even so,
we found a remedy. Every man
who happened to be the happy POS
sessor of a pocket handkerchief fas-
tened 1t to the bayonet on his gun,
and it Immediately became a flag.
Well, we'll; there were flags of all
shapes and sizes and colors, clean
and unclean, new and old fiuttering
in the breeze and jauntily proclaim
ing the independence of the boys
who carried them; but that was not
all. We keenly felt the loss of our
music, especially as one Cf the best
bands in st. Louis had enlisted and
Joined the second Iowa. No, we
could not march without music, SO
to supply that difficulty, every man
who was able to get his mouth into
3 pucker began to whistle Yankee
Doodle" just as the procession
started and kept it up with more or
less zeal till we reached the levee.
The city was all stirred up over it;
the rebel portion was in great glee
over what they were pleased to
term "the dishonor of the YAM
KEGS" while the loyal people made
light of it. Windows were raised
on both sides of the streets, doors
were thrown open and men, women
and children waved little fiaglets,
fluttered their handkerchiefs and
laughed and cheered and whistled
! with us, and did everything they
could to cheer us up; for we had
acquired popularity in st. Louis
and had made many friends there.
1t was an unjust punishment, but
tie disgrace of it was soon to be
wiped out by what historians desig-
nate as one of the brightest and
bravest achievements to be found
anywhere in the annals of war.
! The, year 1851 had not on the
whole been favorable to the Union
arms, the war had not been skill
fully conducted. Mcclellan in west
ern Virginia had gained some repu-
tation, Grant had gained a victory
and nearly lost it at Belmont, Butler
had achieved success in Hatteras
Inlet, Dupont had won Port Royal
and some other things that had kept
the national heart from absolute
despondency, but taken together the
results were against us. But the
splendid campaigns in the west in
1862 more than atoned for all that
had been lacking in '61. The first
OF these great victories and one OF
the most inspiring Of the whole war
was won on the west bank of the
Cumberland river on the 18th, 14th
, and 18th of Feb. 1862. Gen Grant
had left Fort Henry on the Ten
nessee on the 18th, with a force OF
, about $4,000 men. On the morning
Ecf the 14th Lew Wallace joined him
wl.u $500 more and at the same
time Gen. Thayer of Nebraska was
steaming up the Cumberland with
six other regiments. all under con-
voy of the Ironclads, ST. Louis,
Louisville and Pittsburg and of the
, wooden boats Tyler and Conestoga
, making "a total of $1,000 men all
. told.
The Cumberland river runs north
4 instead of south and empties into
the Ohio above Paducah, Ky. II
I was spirited scene that trip uI
a the Cumberland, full of life and
I stir and energy, the iron gunboats
d the loaded transports, the little
: Government Dispatch boats, but
G little larger than one of those pretty
: electric launches on the lagoon, Will
e their thin piping whistles they made
G queer contract to the hoarse fog
! horn blows ~of the larger craft; i
: was panorama of beauty of thrilling
n interest to all who understood thu
: grim import of the trip. We wer'
! on the way to Fort Donelson, whicl