The Raymer enterprise., 1916-02-03

lie down to sleep, stretched in long lines Of any
number Of men, all curled up spoon fashion. as
close together as possible.
] lay down on the end of the line one cold night
when soon a poor fellow came and snuggled up to
me-. Along In the early morning when he should
have turned to warm my back. he did not move
got up on my elbow and pulled his nose He was
dead. 1t was the most frightful experience ever
had
Our dead were usually relieved OF any good
clothing they may have had on to be used by those
left of shirt and pair of drawers that had
worn for almost year. Can you realize or i'm
agne how little OF either were left? | went down
to the dead line one morning and saw body on
which was a fine shirt of blue cashmere cloth. l
went to the gate and asked the ofncer Of the Con-
federate guard, an old man. II might remove the
shirt from that body to wear myself.
MY poor boy" he said, and gave permission
with tears running down his wrinkled cheeks. to
take the shirt
red-whiskered. spindle.shanked, lowdown
fellow from Wisconsin that was cumming with
and whom had kept alive by stealing grub for
him to ect stole that shirt from me 4 lost silver
mine in Colorado years ago that sold afterwards
FOR three hundred thousand dollars but 1t did not
hurt so badly as the loss Of that shirt.
q
disabled men agreed on by the governments. | got
out and walked aboard our transport at sa-
vannah,, the raggedestloosing kid thas ever left
that city. What few troops there were in that
transport Just stood and cried when they saw our
boys. This was the nineteenth of November, 1864
At Annapolis got my back pay ration money
and clothing money for the time had been pris
oner, amounting to some $500, with furough for
thirty days. | started for Detroit | can't tell
you all that happened on the trip. but got home
broke after week or ten days on the road.
Father killed the fatted calf. mother had 1t
cooked and ] was made much of by everybody
for had been reported dead long ago. and they
had preached a memorial sermon for me, telling
what good little boy had been came home
and spelled it all After few days at home
went to dismounted camp at Harper's Ferry and
from the camp was returned to my regiment
then in Washington waiting to take part In the
grand review. after which we were sent to Fort
Leavenworth. Here | was discharged and the
regiment sent out on the plains after Indians.
went to Denver in the fall of 1866 with a mule
train, before there was railroad In the noun
tains | returned to'Topeka Kan, with bull
trains. ensting in the regular army. went to Cali
forna by way Of the isthmus guarded surveyors
In Arizona from the Indians. and fought Indians
in Arizona with the First United States cavalry
! made trip into Mexico with load of phoney
jewelry. Later | was arrested as filibuster spy
In Guaymas and was shipwrecked on my trip
from Guaymas to Mazatan. Two out Of seven
were saved after floating around for thirty-six
hours | was shanghaied in San Francisco and
taken around Cape Horn to Dublin. which was the
most adventurous Ave months of my life. | came
back to my home in 1878. married In 1874 and
settled down to be decent.
am now member of the Michigan Soldiers
homo. Uncle Sam is trying his best to make me
comfortable in my declining years. But neither
he nor all the powers that be can make up
the ten years worse than lost from my twelfth
to twenty.second year. for what did not learn
that was rough In that time have not learned
since and It 10 not in the books.