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PREFACE. 
 
 There is no necessity of a long preface here, but I 
 will merely state that while time was hanging heavily 
 on my hands, I often called upon my old friends and 
 acquaintances, and conversations often drifted to my 
 past experiences ; this led my friends to urge me to 
 put my experiences into book form so that the public 
 might have the benefit of them. This I finally con- 
 cluded to do. Not that my experiences were so much 
 more startling, or more wonderful, than those of 
 thousands of others, but of their being so varied and 
 extraordinary, and extending over so long a period 
 and during a time when our country's conditions were 
 so far different from the present, that I deemed it 
 worthy of recording, especially as it was so urgently 
 desired by my friends. Hence this publication, which 
 I hope will please, if it does not edify. 
 
 I have tried to relate the anecdotes, matters and 
 events as closely to memory as possible, and if any- 
 thing conflicts with history, I give it as I saw it, and 
 liave related as little as possible of historic matter, 
 that I might not write anything conflicting with 
 history. 
 
 The Author. 
 
Affectionately Dedicated 
 
 To MY Dear Wife, Mrs. J. D. Elderkin, who 
 shared my joys and my sorrows, and followed my for- 
 tunes through camp and field, and in the busy walks 
 of life, as well as mv oem and joy of domestic life. 
 
MAJOR J. D. ELDERKIN. 
 
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 
 
 AND 
 
 ANECDOTES 
 
 OF 
 
 A SOLDIER OF THREE WARS, 
 
 AS WRITTEN BY HIMSELF. 
 
 THE FLORIDA, THE MEXICAN WAR AND THE GREAT 
 REBELLION, TOGETHER WITH SKETCHES OF 
 TRAVEL, ALSO OF SERVICE IN A MILI- 
 TIA COMPANY AND A MEMBER 
 OF THE DETROIT LIGHT 
 GUARD BAND FOR 
 OVER THIRTY 
 YEARS. 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES D.'^ELDERKJN, 
 
 DETROIT, MICH, 
 MAY 1, 1899. 
 
38137 
 
 Copyright, 1890, 
 
 By J. D. EL.DERKIN, 
 
 Detroit, Mich. 
 
 wocopu a ^»ic::lV£0, 
 
 l:'s^8r of Cc^J 
 
 
Biographical Sketches and Anecdotes, 
 
 BY 
 
 MAJOR J. D. ELDERKIN, 
 
 A VETERAN OF THREE WARS. 
 
 MY BIRTH PLACE AND BOYHOOD DAYS. 
 
 I was born near Salmon River, N. Y., December i6, 
 1820, and was brought up at Baldwinsville, town of 
 Lysander, Onondaga Co., N. Y. My father was a 
 carpenter and joiner, and a sound Jackson Democrat. 
 He Hved to seventy years of age, and could have run 
 a footrace the day before his death. He was of 
 Scotch lineage, and the sturdy Scotchman could be 
 seen in his every move. Up to my fourteenth year I 
 remained at home helping my father and attending 
 school some; but being of a restless nature, I left home 
 at fourteen years of age, or in 1834. I remained away 
 about a year. During this year of absence I spent 
 most of the time as a driver on the Erie canal. 
 
A STARTLIxNG EXPERIKNTCE. 
 
 My first experience was a startling and dangerous 
 one: A man from Baldwinsville, whom I knew well, 
 and who was part owner of a boat, employed me as a 
 driver. The captains name was Tarbox. We were 
 carrying lumber from Fulton to Albany. The first 
 morning I started out nearly put an end to my career 
 as a canal driver, and also of my life. We had loaded 
 the boat while in the Oswego river, and were about 
 to enter the canal. When the captain told me he 
 would take charge of my team and I should go on the 
 boat and cast off the towline. This was in conse- 
 quence of our entering a lock, which would take us 
 from the river into the canal. The team I was driv- 
 ing was a young and spirited team. I went to the 
 bow of the boat to execute the order and stood with 
 my back to the cabin, ignorant of what might take 
 place. The team gave a sudden jerk and detached 
 the plank I was leaning against and I was hurled into 
 the river. The boat hit me on the head and back and 
 doubled me up. The depth of water saved my life. 
 Had it been in the canal, it would have killed me. At 
 
any rate, it was a narrow escape, as I could not swim 
 a stroke, but soon struck bottom and fished myself 
 out by wading ashore. 
 
 After we unloaded at Albany and started on our 
 return trip we went very slow, only using one horse 
 and not running nights. The forward cabin was used 
 for the horses and the after cabin for a dining-room 
 and sleeping room. For a long distance the canal 
 runs parallel with the Mohawk river, and is very high, 
 sometimes fifty feet above the river. On this occasion, 
 as we were passing through Little Falls, we were just 
 coming out of a lock, when the towdine broke and the 
 horse went down the embankment. It killed the horse 
 and nearly killed me. I felt the effects of the fall for 
 years after. 
 
 The above represent a few of my many narrow es- 
 capes; and no wonder, for Prof. Lyman E. Stowe, the 
 astrologer, and an old comrade, tells me I was born 
 in the sign "Sagittarius,'' the sign of accidents, and 
 that I was destined to experience many narrow escapes 
 from accidents. Whether or not there is any truth in 
 astrology I do not know, but certain it is that I have 
 met with a great number of narrow escapes from seri- 
 ous injury and death from accidents. 
 
After a year of tough experience for a boy I re- 
 turned to lialdwinsville; but upon returning I found 
 no home, my mother having died before my first de- 
 parture, my father's family was scattered, and I found 
 no place to go when I returned, so I immediately went 
 to my brother John's house. My brother John was 
 an architect and builder — just starting out in business 
 life. 
 
 One morning I went over where he was working, 
 and finding him laying out timber, I thought I might 
 make myself useful, and so picked up a corner chisel 
 and began mortising timber. My brother came over 
 and called my attention to the nature of the timber, 
 and cautioned me, saying: "Be very careful or you 
 may break the chisel." I replied: "All right; but I 
 think there is no danger." But, alas! a moment after 
 the chisel snapped. I was so dumbfounded I knew 
 not what to do. Such a chisel, in those days, cost 
 several dollars, and I had no money to purchase a 
 new one for him, and I could not face him with the 
 misfortune, and so fled. I did not see him again for 
 thirteen years, until I returned from the Mexican war. 
 He then came to Detroit to see me, and almost the 
 first words he said, as he shook hands, was: "The last 
 
time I saw yon, 1 just got a glimpse of your coat tail 
 as you flitted around the corner." And he laughed 
 at me heartily. 
 
 After the incident of the chisel I thought I had no 
 place on earth where I was welcome. I now started 
 out on a life of wandering, which lasted for many 
 years. Having no money. I was compelled to take a 
 little of the experience of a tramp. I\Iy first employ- 
 ment was on the Erie canal, near Schenectady, X. Y., 
 as a driver of a horse and cart. I stopped here for a 
 short time and again commenced my wanderings for 
 a better position. I got employment for a time in a 
 hvery stable, and afterwards, for a time, at the Man- 
 sion House, Utica, N. Y.; but I soon started on again. 
 Having but very little money, I soon ran out of funds, 
 and my experience as a tramp began to be severe 
 indeed, until one day, while wandering in the streets 
 of Schenectady a kindly old gentleman asked me if I 
 would like a bowl of clam soup, as I was standing out- 
 side smelling the soup. I replied that I w^ould, and I 
 think I never eat anything I thought tasted quite as 
 good. While in the restaurant a couple of United 
 States soldiers came in. I asked them if they knew 
 of anv one that wanted a l)ov for work, and the\- in 
 
turn asked me how I would like to 1)ecome a soldien 
 I replied that T would like it. I thought anything- 
 would be preferable to the life of a tramp I was living. 
 
 I was nineteen years of age, for this was in 1839 r 
 but the officer told me I would have to claim I was 
 twenty-one years old or I could not enlist. This, of 
 course, I did, ,' and a few^ days later became one of 
 Uncle Sam's soldiers. 
 
 When quite a lad, I liked to play the flute, and one 
 of the pleasant memories of my boyhood days was of 
 sitting on the banks of the Seneca river, with my feet 
 in the water, and wdiile playing the flute the fish would 
 nibble at my toes and perform other amusing antics 
 while seemingly attracted by the music of my flute. 
 And while my calls on the fish were quite regular, if I 
 chanced to be late I would find them actually jumping 
 out of the water, as if to see if I were coming. 
 
 This practice with the flute turned out to be of great 
 service to me wdiile in the army, as my music was. 
 always in demand. 
 
 We remained at the recruiting office \vith Lieut- 
 Prince, the recruiting officer, for about two months, 
 and then went to Bedloes Island, where we. remained 
 for two or three davs. 
 
The only incident of note to me that transpired here 
 was the loss of my last suit of underwear, which I 
 washed and hung on the line, keeping my eyes on 
 them while they dried. But, alas! I went to dinner, 
 to return and find my underwear gone. This loss was 
 nearly irreparable for a time, as I could not draw on 
 the government to replace them until we arrived at 
 some regular barracks. But through the kindness of 
 Sergt. Head, who gave me a suit of his own, I was 
 saved from the winter blasts that howled through the 
 rigging of the ship St. Mary, which we now boarded 
 to be taken to New Orleans. 
 
 We were two weeks making our trip from New 
 York to New Orleans. For the most of the way the 
 weather was very bad; it was so bad that the cooks 
 could not get us a warm meal, and we lived on hard- 
 tack and raw pork. But at last it cleared up and we 
 were bowling along in the Gulf of Mexico under a 
 spanking breeze and a magnificent setting sun, when 
 I noticed a little black speck of a cloud arising above 
 the horizon not large enough to make a man a shirt, 
 as the sailors say; but in less than five minutes the sky 
 was overcast and a blizzard struck our good ship and 
 threw her on her beam's end and the sails partially 
 
8 
 
 under water, when I heard the captain's cry, as he 
 came from the cabin: "Let go the halyard.'' The 
 o-ood ship righted, but her ballast was so shifted that 
 she rode the rest of the way into port nearly on her 
 side, showing her bottom to the sun. Of course none 
 of us ever expected to reach port, but we were saved, 
 or I could not narrate this incident here. 
 
 We remained at New Orleans but two days, when 
 we took a steamer down the Mississippi river to the 
 mouth of the Arkansas river, thence up past Little 
 Rock to the Grand river and to Fort Gibson, which 
 was then in the wilds of Arkansas and Indian Terri- 
 tory, and was in the Cherokee nation. Here I joined 
 my regiment, the Fourth United States Infantry, 
 Company D, and this regiment was my home for fif- 
 teen years. The regiment was under the command of 
 Maj. Stanford. We remained at this post two years. 
 
 Perhaps a few incidents of our camp life there will 
 interest the reader: 
 
 Lieut. was the adjutant of our regiment; a 
 
 very fine appearing man, but not well liked by the 
 men, and we will let the reader judge of his merits by 
 one of his dastardly acts. 
 
 m 
 
The Grand river rises away up in the Rocky Moun- 
 tains, and is a stream of beautiful, clear, cold water. 
 On the west side of the river the Creek nation was 
 stationed, and on the east side the Cherokee nation. 
 These Indians were well mixed with the whites, and 
 consequently well civilized. Just above the fort the 
 river was crossed by a ferry. A hawser was stretched 
 across the river and a large flat boat used for the ferry. 
 This was attached to the hawser by ropes and pulleys. 
 By drawing- the bow of the boat well up stream the 
 swift current propelled the boat across. 
 
 The charges for crossing the river, to white men, 
 was one dollar. The Indians could cross free. I was 
 detailed as corporal of the squad that had the boat in 
 charge, and hence was in position to take particular 
 note of the incident I am about to relate. 
 
 The chief of the Creek nation was the father of the 
 noblest and most beautiful maiden I ever saw. She 
 
 was half white and every inch a lady. Adjt. fell 
 
 in love with and married her, and lived with her two 
 years, and it was then currently reported that he 
 cruelly abandoned her; but he paid the penalty with 
 his life, as he was shot through the heart at the battle 
 of Monterev, Mex. 
 
10 
 
 Many a time I have watched that fine pair ride over 
 the lovely prairies on a wolf hunt. I have watched the 
 beautiful plumes in her hat waving in the sunlight as 
 far as the eye could reach. 
 
 She often crossed the river from the fort to see her 
 father, when she would invariably call me to her and I 
 say: "Now, corporal, here is a dollar for my fare. Put 
 it in your pocket. Do not give it to the adjutant, as , 
 I am an Indian and have a right to go free; so you f 
 keep the dollar for yourself." The perfect ladyship of 
 this beautiful woman was remarked by the whole regi- 
 ment, and their indignation was expressed at her cruel 
 abandonment. 
 
 While stationed at Fort Gibson we built the military 
 road to Fort Smith, ninety miles below us. To pro- 
 tect the men from malaria, the government served a 
 gill of whisky daily to each man; but, of course, there 
 were men in the regiment who hankered for more, 
 and could never be satisfied until they could drink no I 
 more. So on pay days they would soon be found in- 
 toxicated if they could possibly get the whisky to get 
 drunk on. On one occasion, just after pay day, Capt. 
 Buchanan, of Company B, an officer everybody liked, 
 Avas officer of the day. 
 
II 
 
 Corporal Stokes, of Company B, reported with his 
 detail for duty. Capt. Buchanan inquired: "Who 
 have you in your detail?" the corporal replied: *'I 
 liave Jack Harron." ''Look out for him," said the cap- 
 tain. "Tom Crask," continued the corporal. ''Look 
 out for him," said the captain. "Jimmy Bar," again 
 said the corporal. "Look out for him," repeated the 
 captain. "James McDonough," concluded the corporal. 
 "Oh, Oh!" exclaimed the captain with a long low 
 Avhistle; and turning to his lieutenant said, "Mr. Ham- 
 mond, the camp will be taken to-night sure." 
 
 Now, these were all intelligent men, literary men, 
 actors, and that class of men who had drifted into the 
 army, and they were the life of the regiment. But 
 their weakness was their love of the ardent. 
 
 In the night, when the captain made his rounds, he 
 found Jack Harron walking his beat, but he was as 
 drunk as a lord and looking as wild as an Indian, for 
 he had a red handkerchief tied around his head. "Who 
 goes there?'' challenged Harron. "OfBcer of the 
 day," came -the reply. "Advance, officer of the day, 
 and give the countersign." This was done. Then the 
 officer of the day asked : "Mr. Harron, where is your 
 beat?" "Let the captain stand out of the way and I'll 
 
12 
 
 show him," was the reply, as Jack staggered over his 
 beat. "Where are the rest of the men?'' inquired the 
 captain. "There lies Corp. Stokes/' said Harron, "and 
 the rest are lying around here sleeping." "But I can't 
 find any of them," said the captain. And Corp. 
 Stokes was so drunk that he could get nothing but a 
 grunt out of him. 
 
 The next day the captain ordered the grog stopped 
 for all of these men as a punishment. When rations 
 were served and no grog for these men, McDonald 
 took it to heart very hard and inquired why it was 
 stopped. The sergeant told him the captain ordered 
 it as a punishment on account of their absence from 
 duty. McDonald immediately called on the captain 
 and said: "Captain, the sergeant tells me you ordered 
 my grog stopped." "Yes,'- replied the captain, "I 
 stopped it on account of your absence from duty last 
 night." "But, captain," exclaimed McDonald with an 
 air of grave injured innocence, "I can prove I was not 
 absent, but was sleeping." "Who can you prove it 
 by?" inquired the captain. "liy Jimmy Bar,'' em- 
 phatically declared McDonald. ''Oh! Can you prove 
 it by someone else?'' asked the captain. "Oh, yes; 
 by Jack Harron," again replied McDonald. ''Well, 
 
13 
 
 you can have your grog. I had rather allow it to 
 you than seek for further proof," said the captain, for 
 he could see it was useless to try to prove anything 
 against these men, who were ready to swear for each 
 other through thick and thin. But the captain must 
 surely have thought he could not believe his senses, 
 and that it w^as he, and not the men, who were drunk. 
 
 PRIVATE RYAN AND GEN. TAYLOR. 
 
 Gen. Taylor, of¥ duty, appeared like a very plain 
 citizen, and on one occasion, when he called on his 
 rounds of inspection, it was just after pay day, and 
 Jack Ryan, one of the jolly drinkers, went in search 
 of whisky. He met Gen. Taylor. Not knowing him, 
 he inquired of him where he could get some whisky. 
 "Well," said the general, "over yonder are the women^s 
 quarters. I think if you go over there and inquire you 
 can get some." Away went Jack, and, sure enough, 
 he soon came back with his flask full; and approach- 
 ing the general, said: '*Here, old man, I got some. 
 For your kindness, take a drink with me.'' "No, no,'' 
 replied the general. "Put it up quick, or some of the 
 ofificers may see you with it and take it away from you 
 and put you in the guardhouse." 
 
14 
 
 The next day, while in Hne for inspection, Jack, of 
 course, saw the general, and inquired: "Who is that 
 man?" Several who knew replied: "Why, that is Old 
 Tonkey" (Gen. Taylor). Tonkey was the soldiers' 
 pet name for their loved old general. "Oh, my God!" 
 said Jack. "Pm killed; Pm killed. That is the man 
 I inquired of where to get the whisky, and he told me 
 where to get it, too." But, of course, there was noth- 
 ing more ever heard of the matter. 
 
 We were now ordered to Old Point Comfort, where 
 we rested a short time before starting for Florida to 
 engage in the Seminole war. 
 
 WHILE HERE A STARTLING ESCAPADE 
 TOOK PLACE. 
 
 With one or two exceptions, the officers of the 
 Fourth United States Infantry were well liked by the 
 men as well as by the citizens. But we had one offi- 
 cer, Capt. L , of Company I, who was a petty 
 
 tyrant. 
 
 Capt. L was drilling his company one morning, 
 
 and one man had been drinking a little too much, and 
 it angered the captain, so he ordered him to stand in 
 
front of his quarters at a shoulder arms. The man 
 stood there for a long time, until he got tired and 
 brought his gun down to an order. The captain, see- 
 ing him, immediately ordered him to come to a shoul- 
 der. But the man said, *T cannot, captain; I am ex- 
 hausted." The captain intimated he was the son of a 
 female dog, and told him to bring his guft to his 
 shoulder or he would run him through with his 
 sword. The man did not obey quick enough to please 
 the captain, and he made a thrust with his sword; but 
 the man was too quick for him and stabbed the cap- 
 tain in the groin with his bayonet. Of course this 
 was insubordination, and must be punished. The 
 soldier knew this, and was determined to escape. A 
 chase and struggle ensued, but the man was captured 
 and bound; he soon was courtmartialed and sentenced 
 to be shot. The day for execution arrived, and twelve 
 men were detailed as the fireing party. The man was 
 led out and placed upon his coffin and the fireing 
 party ordered to fire. But they were in sympathy with 
 the man, and fired over his head. Immediately after- 
 ward a horseman came riding at full speed, shouting 
 that the man had been reprieved by the President. The 
 man was discharged and ordered to leave; but the 
 
i6 
 
 citizens were so indignant over the whole proceeding 
 that they raised $500 and gave it to the man before 
 he left. 
 
 This same Capt. L was suddenly taken sick just 
 
 before our first engagement with the Seminoles. A year 
 afterwards, when we were in California, he used to 
 order a detail of men to row him around in the waters 
 of Puget Sound, and on one occasion there came up 
 a sudden squal and overturned the boat, and the whole 
 party was drowned, and that was the end of Capt. 
 L , of Company I. 
 
 The Indian war, known as the "Seminole,'' or 
 •'Florida War,'' broke out in 1835, and lasted until 
 1842. 
 
 IN THE SEMINOLE WAR. 
 
 In 1841, the Fourth United States Infantry was or- 
 dered to Florida to take part in that war. From Fort 
 Gibson we went to New Orleans. There we took a 
 steamer, which landed us at Tampa Bay, where we re- 
 mained about two months, and then took up our line 
 of march in our first campaign in the Florida war. 
 
 I am inclined to think if our boys who were engaged 
 
in the recent little affair with Spain could taste a bit 
 of our Florida exiperience they would think their re- 
 cent war experience was quite a pleasant picnic in 
 comparison. Let it be remembered, at that early day, 
 Florida was, for the most part, a howling wilderness, 
 and indescribable in its wild yet horrible and beautiful 
 grandure. For the most part, it was a succession of 
 swamps, ridges, lagoons and low^ hills, called hum- 
 mocks. The timber land, except for a trail here and 
 there, was an impenetrable jungle. Especially was 
 this the case in the swamps, where the mighty cypress 
 often from four to five feet in diameter, raised its giant 
 head high above the dense and tang'led thorn-clad vine 
 and shrubbery beneath, as if its mighty foliage was not 
 enough to shut out the sunlight, each limb being hung 
 heavy with Spanish moss, shutting out every ray of 
 light, bringing the gloom of night over a trail beset 
 with thorns, rattlesnakes and deadly moccasins gliding 
 over your feet and ready to strike if trod upon. 
 
 Xot only this, but every leaf seemed to bear some 
 poisonous insect as dangerous as the serpents under 
 foot, and still more dangerous than all the rest, the 
 cunning redskins had slowly retreated before the 
 United States army; for this war had been going on 
 
i8 
 
 for years, and they had penetrated the jungles deep, 
 and here and there cleared the hummocks of timber 
 and built themselves comfortable homes from the bark 
 of the cypress tree; and they defended those homes 
 with that fury that only men driven to desperation 
 can do. Concealing themselves under the dense foli- 
 age, covered with Spanish moss, they were undiscern- 
 able until they revealed their position by a rifle shot. 
 This, of course, was often too late for some poor com- 
 rade who was pushing his way determindly through 
 the tangle, and with death lurking on every hand. 
 Wherever there had chanced to be a clearing of some 
 daring settler's once happy home, now nothing re- 
 mained but blackened ruins, a standing chimney or, 
 perchance, here and there an orange grove, laden with 
 fruit, as it peeped above the tangled underbrush, 
 seemingly arising to strangle every relic of civilized 
 man. 
 
 The night was made hideous by the howl of wolves, 
 the scream of the panther, the bull-like bellow of the 
 alligator and the dismal cry of the loon, interspersed 
 here and there by the sweet notes of the whippoorwill, 
 or the song of the American nightingale, that most 
 
19 
 
 beautiful of all songsters, the mocking bird. (The 
 mocking bird often sings in the night.) 
 
 All of these sounds, whether dismal or sweet, were 
 heeded with the greatest precaution, as it might be 
 real or might be the signal of a wily savage to his 
 cohorts to join in an onslaught that would end in a 
 massacre or death-struggle of extermination for one 
 side or the other. 
 
 Wherever clearings were found, or the higher 
 ground lessened the density of the foliage, the graceful 
 magnolia spread her beautiful branches of velvet leaves 
 and magnificent blossoms, which ladened the air with 
 perfume so sweet and heavy that it could be scented 
 miles away; and high among the branches carroled 
 the sweetest songsters man ever heard as they flitted 
 from limb to limb under the glorious sunlight over- 
 head, as if to emphasize to man that a glowing picture 
 of hell and heaven might exist on earth before his 
 very eyes. 
 
 The above is a weak attempt to describe the awful 
 grandeur of Florida in those terrible times of savage 
 warfare. 
 
 It was in 1841 we went to Florida, where we re- 
 mained for one year. Of all my experience of hard- 
 
20 
 
 ships in three wars that which I experienced in Florida 
 was the worst. 
 
 We left Tampa Bay and took our line of march to 
 the Everglades. We were accompanied by our 
 wagons bearing provisions and camp equipage as far 
 as it was possible for wagons to go, then they were 
 left behind and pack mules substituted to carry the 
 absolute necessities, which was chiefly powder and 
 lead and some extra rations of hardtack and pork. 
 'We were soon compelled to abandon our mules and 
 load ourselves down with ammunition and provisions. 
 With this tremendous load of ammunition equipments 
 and five days' rations of pork and hardtack, we wal- 
 lowed through the brier and bush and mud and water 
 day after day. 
 
 We, of course, had no tents, and when the storms 
 appeared to be likely to be too heavy we cut down 
 palm trees and used the branches to build shelter, 
 while we used the cabbage-like top for food to stretch 
 out our rations as far as possible, and only for that, I 
 think, we should have starved. Though there was not 
 much neutriment to it, it furnished the bulk, so we did 
 not feel so gaunt. The palm was cut in small pieces 
 
21 
 
 and boiled as you would boil cabbage, though it did 
 not require so much boiUng as cabbage. 
 
 We had a number of Indian guides, who followed 
 the trail of the Indians as unerringly as a hound woukl 
 follow a deer. They were always in advance until they 
 noticed the water ran roily, knowing thereby the re- 
 treating Indians were near, when the Indian scouts 
 would drop to the rear and we were pushed to the 
 front to give battle. 
 
 Our first engagement will forever remain as fresh 
 in my memory as the day it occurred. 
 
 We were about to enter the fight when Capt. L , 
 
 of Company -I, whom I have mentioned before, was 
 suddenly taken sick. As he was not liked at all, the 
 boys would have it that he showed the white feather. 
 Eight men were detailed to take him back to the depot 
 where we left the mules. This was done by construct- 
 ing a stretcher by binding a blanket on two poles and 
 leaving the ends of the poles projecting out for 
 handles, two men carrying him some distance, when 
 they would be relieved by two others, and so on. We 
 were now fully fifty miles in the heart of the great 
 cvpress swamp. Sergt. Douain and ten men were de- 
 tailed to take the advance. I chanced to be one of 
 
22 
 
 those men, Sergt. Douain taking the lead and I fol- 
 lowing. We had not advanced far when the sergeant 
 was shot and killed. He was the first man killed in 
 that campaign. He was a member of my company. 
 We were marching in the water knee deep when we 
 were fired upon. Though we lost several men, not an 
 Indian could be seen. We pushed on to the dry land 
 as fast as possible, but when we got there the Indians 
 had concluded to retreat farther into the wilderness. 
 We followed them some distance, and then returned 
 to the island, where we buried our dead by carrying 
 them out into deep water and driving stakes over them 
 to keep the bodies down so in case the Indians did 
 come back they could not find them and mutilate the 
 bodies; We were continually marching through 
 water knee deep and upward; and I must relate an 
 amusing incident of 
 
 CORP. YOUNG AND MAJ. BELKNAP. 
 
 The officers of our regiment were generally pretty 
 well liked, but Maj. Belknap, who had our expedition 
 in charge, belonged to the Seventh United States In- 
 fantry, and just before we started on our expedition 
 our rations of cofifee were taken from us and rve coffee 
 
23 
 
 substituted. This did not please the men very well, 
 and they declared Maj. Belknap had sold the coffee 
 and furnished rye instead, pocketing- the difference. 
 Whether this was so or not, the men generally thought 
 it was true, and every morning made the woods ring 
 with their cries of "Rye coffee! Rye coffee!" It was 
 very evident that the major thought no more of a 
 private soldier than if he were a dog. and these morn- 
 ing salutations did not increase his amiable disposi- 
 tion toward them; but for all this Maj. Belknap was a 
 brave, self-reliant fellow. Be it known there are 
 always some men ready to sacrifice manhood to carry 
 favor with those in power. Corp. Young, of Com- 
 pany D, was one of these fellows, and on one occasion 
 when we were marching through water knee deep the 
 corporal slid out of his place in the ranks and hastened 
 forward and said: "Major, there is a deep hole just 
 in front of you." For his pains the major turned and 
 sharply asked: "What company do you belong to?" 
 "Company D," replied the corporal. ''Join your com- 
 pany immediately and never leave the ranks without 
 orders," was the sharp command. The corporal came 
 back to the ranks much crestfallen for the attention 
 of the men had all been called to the episode. But a 
 
24 
 
 moment afterward the corporal experienced some re- 
 turning satisfaction by seeing the major plunge to the 
 armpits in the deep hole, sharply crying as he went 
 down: "Hip no bottom." But he laughingly pulled 
 himself out of the hole, and it was well that he could 
 do so, for he was so cordially hated that hardly a man 
 would have went to his assistance. 
 
 OUR RETURN. 
 
 We were now entirely out of rations and were com- 
 pelled to return to the depot where we left the mules. 
 Thus ended our first campaign. 
 
 OUR SECOND CAMPAIGN. 
 
 We remained at this camp but a day and then 
 started on our second campaign. We went up to Cin- 
 able river by taking a steamboat at a point then called 
 Point *'Arresser." Getting on or ofT from a boat was a 
 serious business, as there were no docks and the banks 
 were muddy. The men were taken of¥ in small boats, 
 but horses and mules were thrown overboard and they 
 swam to shore. The place selected for a camp was in 
 
25 
 
 a pine woods so dense with underbrush that we were 
 compelled to dig trees up by the roots, which were 
 five inches in diameter, before we could pitch our 
 tents ; and the rattlesnakes were so thick that we were 
 compelled to keep on the watch continually to prevent 
 being bitten. 
 
 We stocked the steamiboat with wood, carrying it on 
 our shoulders. After establishing a depot there, we 
 again took up our line of march in pursuit of the In- 
 dians. This time we had a much larger force than 
 before. We had about five hundred men, commanded 
 by Col. Garland, one of the finest and bravest men I 
 ever met. I had a good chance to get acquainted with 
 him, as I was detailed, with nine others, as his body 
 guard. Capt. Carr commanded one company of the 
 First Dragoons ; Maj. Plimton with a company of 
 mounted infantry, and Company D of the Fourth 
 United States Infantry. 
 
 We got on the trail and followed it , up for three 
 days and located the Indians in a Hummock where 
 the underbrush was very thick, and it was very hard to 
 push our way through it. 
 
 The command approached in two columns. The 
 colonel, like the brave man that he was, led the wav 
 
26 
 
 with his body guard in single file. When we got right 
 onto the Indians I said: "Here they are, colonel," and 
 I pulled my horse in front of the colonel. I had for- 
 gotten to mention that the body guard had been given 
 horses when we started out. As I road in front of the 
 colonel a very large Indian arose out of the bushes. 
 I took deliberate aim and fired. The Indian jumped 
 three feet in the air and fell dead. We advanced very 
 rapidly and drove them into the heavy-timbered land, 
 where we captured a part of the tribe, and in a few 
 days got the rest of them; and I never saw a finer 
 specimen of human physical perfection than were these 
 people. Not at all like the stunted Indians who came 
 from the western plains. 
 
 That night Col. Garland ordered me to Fort King 
 with dispatches. That is about one hundred and ten 
 miles from Tampa Bay. Warm springs are on the 
 road about half the way from Tampa Bay to Fort 
 King. 
 
 I left camp at twelve o'clock at night and got to 
 Fort King some time in the forenoon next day. This 
 was a big trip for my poor horse, for I weighed over 
 a hundred and sixty pounds, and I carried my gun 
 and equipments and one day's rations and forage for 
 
27 
 
 my horse. I had two rivers to ford, as the Indians had 
 burned the bridges over the big and Httle Withlacoocha 
 rivers. I also had several hummocks to cross. These 
 are the dry lands which I spoke of before. Every rod 
 of the way swarmed with rattlesnakes, moccasins and 
 other deadly reptiles; besides part of the tribe was be- 
 tween me and Fort King. My horse was a spirited 
 fellow and one used to the road, for he had born many 
 an express rider oyer these very roads — some to the 
 end of their journey and some were shot from his 
 back, and their bones lay bleaching on the way and 
 left monuments to American daring. I had little 
 hopes of reaching Fort King. Every time we reached 
 one of those dry hummocks my horse would prick up 
 his ears and take the bit between his teeth, and no 
 mortal man could hold him, but he dashed through 
 like the brave, intelligent fellow that he was. 
 
 As soon as I learned his way I placed my leg over 
 my gun to keep it from being brushed away and fas- 
 tened my cap on my head and leaned over my horse's 
 neck and let him go. Of course I could not see much 
 of the road in the night, but much of the way was lit 
 up by that brilliant Florida sunlight, and then the 
 awful majestic grandness of that wild, fierce and many 
 
28 
 
 times l)eaiitiful forest was aweinspiring, and must be 
 seen under such circumstances as I saw it to make 
 one fully understand it, for no pen, let it be wielded 
 by the best talent that ever scratched a line, could de- 
 scribe its impressive grandeur. Now, passing through 
 the swamps of low underbrush with a bare pathway, 
 which only my trusty horse could tread, for I knew it 
 not then, breaking over a space of dry land where a 
 road had been cut through, where the towering Mag- 
 nolia, with its highly scented and beautiful blossoms, 
 perfumed the air for miles around, then the stately 
 palm nodded its proud head to the morning breezes, 
 while the live oaks yielded a comfortable shade from 
 the noonday glare of the sun and an equally fine 
 hiding place for a lurking foe. 
 
 The earth swarmed with poisonous insects and rep- 
 tiles and the tops of the trees were fairly alive with 
 the most beautiful songsters I ever saw or heard. I 
 must take a little rest and a bite to eat and feed my 
 horse, so I seek a lonely spot on a lake shore; and 
 after we have taken a short rest, some food and drink 
 we are on our way again. But after daylight, with 
 the rather unpromising sights of dead men's bones 
 every little while to mark the way, it is no wonder my 
 
29 
 
 hopes of a safe trip sank very low. But, of course, 
 I got through safe. 
 
 Gen. Worth kept me at the fort two days before he 
 started me on my return trip, and, as before, I started 
 in the night and arrived back in camp safe the next 
 day. 
 
 By this time our forces had captured the balance of 
 the Indians. I had not been in camp but a few min- 
 utes when a squad of dragoons came to inquire if I 
 had arrived safe, and if I had not, they intended to 
 come out and meet me, as I had a very dangerous 
 point to pass. It was about half way between Tampa 
 Bay and Fort King, and at a point where Maj. Dade 
 and one hundred and ten men were massacred on the 
 28th day of December, 1835. Maj. Dade had been 
 ordered from Tampa to Fort King with supplies and 
 ordinance, but a friendly chief went to Maj. Dade and 
 told him of his danger and begged of him not to go, 
 and told him just where his forces would be attacked; 
 but Maj. Dade replied, saying: "There is no danger; 
 I can drive every Indian out of Florida with a cow- 
 hide.'' The chief felt so bad that he shed tears, but 
 it was no use. The major and his men left the next 
 morning, taking one piece of artillery with them. They 
 
. 30 
 
 were three days before they reached the place where 
 the massacre took place. They had arrived within 
 one mile of the black cypress swamp when the 
 tAventy-five men on the advance guard were fired on, 
 and Maj. Dade was the first to fall, and the whole 
 advance guard were killed by the first fire. A fierce 
 fight then ensued, but the Indians soon withdrew and 
 the soldiers tried to build breastworks, but had not 
 much done when the Indians came back with over- 
 whelming numbers and renewed the fight. 
 
 There was no escape, every man but one being 
 killed, and he was badly wounded, but managed to 
 crawl to a lake and hide among the pond lilies. After 
 the massacre the Indians terribly mutilated the bodies, 
 and it was two weeks before they were buried. Then 
 what could be found of the corpses were buried in one 
 grave, and the cannon which the Indians had dis- 
 mantled was placed at the head of the grave. 
 
 We now had the Indians of this section prisoners, 
 except, perhaps, a few stragglers. We loaded them 
 in wagons and took them to Tampa Bay. They were 
 taken out to an island called Seehorsekees for safe 
 keeping until a ship should arrive which was to take 
 them to Fort Gibson, Indian Territorv. There were 
 
31 
 
 several islands close by, and at low tide the Indians 
 could wade from one to the other. So, to prevent 
 them from escaping, there was a guard of ten men 
 detailed to watch them. These islands swarmed with 
 poisonous insects and reptiles. Comrade McDonough, 
 a fine fellow, whom I liked very much, was one of the 
 detailed guards. He laid down to sleep under a tree, 
 and shortly after another comrade saw coiled on his 
 chest a copperhead snake. The comrade was consid- 
 ering what to do when McDonough, became restless 
 and turned on his side, when the snake slid off and 
 bit him on the forearm. It is said that no person ever 
 recovered from the bite of a copperhead snake, and 
 certainly I never heard of one who did except my 
 friend McDonough, and this was on account of the 
 presence of mind of the good comrade who saw the 
 snake. He sprang to McDonough's side and applied 
 his mouth to the wound and sucked the poison out, 
 and McDonough recovered, showing but very little 
 inconvenience from it. 
 
32 
 
 A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY. 
 
 Kentucky acquired the title of ''Dark and bloody 
 ground," but during- the Seminole war Florida wore 
 an aspect fully as dark and terrible. ^lany were the 
 massacres that drenched her soil and terrible were the 
 tragedies that, if recorded, must blot the pages of 
 history. But I will only mention those which came 
 under my observation, or that I knew something 
 about. 
 
 I was for a time stationed at a place called Waca- 
 hoota. This is about six miles from Macnope. Maj. 
 Stanaford, in command of tw^o companies of men, was 
 at Macnope, and Maj. Graham, in command of two 
 companies, w^as at Wacahoota. We had the best 
 bread at our post, and so T was ordered every morn- 
 ing to take a basket of fresh bread over to Maj. Stana- 
 ford, who had his wife with him, so I became famil- 
 iarly acquainted wath them. 
 
 On one occasion Mrs. Montgomery, accompanied by 
 the Sergeant-Major and an escort of five men, started 
 to come over to Wacahoota, where Mrs. Montgomery 
 wished to visit some friends. When half way between 
 
33 
 
 the two places they were attacked by the Indians, and 
 after a bitter struggle all were killed. The sergeant- 
 major and the lady were the last slain. When Lieut. 
 Montgomery heard of the death of his wife, it crazed 
 him, so he placed the point of his sword to his eye and 
 fell upon it and killed himself. 
 
 Afterward a block house w^as built where the mas- 
 sacre took place, and was ever after guarded. 
 
 While stationed at Wacahotee, I, with nine others, 
 were detailed to guard Alaj. Hope's plantation against 
 the depredations of thieving Indians. W^e were quar- 
 tered at the major's house, and one man was kept on 
 patrol continually night and day. This was performed 
 in detail by each man going over the place and re- 
 turning, which took him about two hours; then he 
 was relieved by another. Thus the task was not a 
 heavy one, but shows what varity w^e found in a sol- 
 dier's life. While ofif duty, the time was spent in card 
 playing or any way we could find to amuse ourselves. 
 I was at this place about three weeks, when all at 
 once I became 
 
34 
 
 A DOCTOR. 
 
 This was a startling as well as an amusing and in- 
 teresting episode of my life. 
 
 Dr. Hammond was our regimental surgeon, and a 
 man by the name of Ben Rolet was hospital steward. 
 Rolet was a good man and knew his duty well, was 
 finely educated and perfectly competent for the work 
 but for the one exception — he drank terribly, and so 
 could not be trusted. Well, an orderly came to the 
 plantation with orders for me to report to the hospital 
 at once. Had I been ordered to report to the guard- 
 house and put under arrest, I could not have been 
 more astonished. I should have thought that by some 
 error I had been derelict in duty. Or had I been 
 ordered to report to the commander, I would have 
 supposed that I might be detailed for some special 
 duty; but to be ordered to report to the doctor, and I 
 not in need of medicine, certainly did puzzle me. My 
 comrades joked me, saying that I might be a victim 
 for vivisection as a live corpse, as it were, to be dis- 
 sected for the benefit of future generations. But all 
 of my imaginings were brought to an end when I 
 reached the doctors quarters. Said the doctor in his 
 
35 
 
 brusk way: "I have ordered you here to act as hos- 
 pital steward/' "Bvit, doctor, I know absolutely 
 nothing of medicine," said I. "I don't care a d — n for 
 that. I will teach you," said he. I thought in my 
 startled anxiety, for I did not want to be a doctor, I 
 would declare I could not write. "Let me see your 
 writing," said he. So 1 scratched down Baltimore 
 or some other name in the most wretched manner I 
 could, which was bad enough at best. He looked at 
 it and said: 'That will do." And so I was forced t® 
 become a doctor against my will Well, after all it 
 was not much, for the whole stock in trade of the 
 pharmacy of a regimental hospital, in those days, was 
 Peruvian bark in a powdered state. Its more power- 
 ful extract, quinine, calomel, laudanum, was a great 
 stand-by in those days. Bitter aloes was much used, 
 seidlitz powders, ipecac, jalap and, perhaps, the num- 
 ber of drugs could be counted on one's fingers, and 
 did not take very long to learn their names, medical 
 properties and quantities to be used, and the variety 
 of diseases among soldiers w^as not so great. So I 
 became quite a doctor in a little while. Bleeding and 
 cupping w-ere practiced a great deal, and I became s@ 
 proficient in these that I was frequently called by the 
 
36 
 
 town people outside; and I made a good deal of extra 
 money by my outside practice. 
 
 A GREAT JOKE ON DR. HAMMOND. 
 
 One night a man by the name of Collins, who had 
 been a practicing physician, called at the surgery and 
 asked for some laudanum. Knowing his previous 
 record, I thought he could use his own judgment, and 
 I said: "There it is; help yourself." But in a little 
 while several men brought him back in a seemingly 
 dying state. I immediately gave him a big dose of 
 ipecac and tried all I could to bring him to. But he 
 seemed so far gone that I called] Dr. Hammond. But 
 I did not tell him what ailed the man. He looked at 
 the man and said : "Give him forty drops of laud- 
 anum." And he stood by until I administered the dose. 
 But the moment his back was turned I poured down 
 more ipecac. Meantime the old hospital steward, 
 Rolet, came in, and I confided the truth of the matter 
 to him. He helped me all he could, but the man was 
 no better, and we called Dr. Hammond again, but did 
 not tell him what the real trouble was. The doctor 
 again looked at the sick man and said: "Repeat the 
 
dose; give him forty drops more laudanum.'" There 
 was no escaping this, of course. It had to be done. 
 But again we commenced our work of getting rid of 
 it the moment the doctor's back was turned. Well, 
 after a while we brought our man around all right. 
 The next morning the doctor came in to the hospital 
 accompanied by some friends and two other regi- 
 mental doctors, and he brought them over to see the 
 patient. "Now, this man," said he, "came in last night 
 suffering from a severe attack of spinal mmeningitis. 
 I ordered forty drops of laudanum, and as he did not 
 make much progress I ordered the dose repeated, and 
 here he is on a fair way to recovery. Only for the 
 laudanum he would have died sure." And the other 
 doctors stepped up and looked wise and nodded their 
 heads as if to say, "Great wisdom; remarkable recov- 
 ery." But of course we dare not let the "cat out of the 
 bag," and the doctor never knew what really ailed the 
 patient. But I tell you I was glad when Collins got 
 well, and I was more watchful of my charge, the medi- 
 cines, after that. Collins knew what he had taken, but 
 he never gave the thing away. 
 
38 
 
 DR. HAMMOND AND THE GERMAN .MUSI- 
 CIAN. 
 
 Dr. Hammond was a man of very few words and 
 he was very gruff. One morning- at sick call one of 
 the band, a (jerman musician by the name of Riter, 
 reported for medical treatment. The doctor inquired^ 
 ''What ails you?" "French horn, sir," replied Riter,. 
 supposing the doctor asked him what instrument he 
 played. "D — n you!'' shouted the doctor, 'T did not 
 want to know what instrument you played, but what 
 is the matter with you." Finally the Dutchman got 
 him to understand he had a pain in his stomach. But 
 when Riter reported next morning and the doctor 
 asked him "How is your chest?" he was completely 
 knocked out by the Dutchman's reply, which was to 
 the effect that some one had broken into it and stole 
 a shirt and pair of drawers the night before, which 
 was a fact. But the doctor did not know this, and 
 supposed it was an attempted joke on him, and he 
 kicked poor Riter out, crying, "D — n you, get out !'^ 
 A short time after this we were ordered to Jefferson 
 barracks, Mo., about ten miles from St. Louis. We 
 
39 
 
 were ordered to pack the medicines in good shape, but 
 so they could be easily got at in case of emergency. 
 Dr. Hammond was in the habit of taking his seidlitz 
 powders in the morning, and Rolet, knowing this, had 
 determined to perpetrate one more joke on the doctor, 
 knowing that at Jefferson barracks there was a fully 
 equipped hospital department and he and I would be 
 returned to the ranks, and as he had been ordered to 
 assist in packing the medicines he was not at all par- 
 ticular, and more than likely mixed bitter allows with 
 the seidlitz powders on purpose to perpetrate the joke. 
 At any rate, w^hile on board the boat going up the 
 river, the doctor looked for his seidlitz powders, and 
 at the first swallow made a terribly w'ry face and 
 blurted out: "\Vlio in h — 1 put bitter allow^s in my seid- 
 litz powders?'' "I dont know," I replied. "You or- 
 dered Rolet to pack the medicines, and he packed 
 them." I had not better record exactly what the doc- 
 tor said : it was not very complimentary to the hospital 
 stewards and ended up with, "D — n the stewards; one 
 is a d — n drunkard and the other* is a d — n fool.'' 
 Upon reaching Jefferson barracks we were returned to 
 our companies. And so ended my experience as a 
 doctor. 
 
40 
 
 I will tell one more anecdote of our Florida cam- 
 paign, and then I am done with that. 
 
 A DASTARDLY ACT. 
 
 With the Indians we captured at the battle of 
 Douain was a colored boy fourteen years of age, and 
 he said he was on board a vessel which was lost on 
 the Florida coast. He with the captain and ten men 
 were saved in a small boat and reached shore. They 
 were standing under the bluf¥, when a voice called 
 from above, "Come up here; we will not hurt you." 
 The person spoke such good English that no one 
 doubted but what everything was all right. But when 
 they got up on the clif¥ they met a large band of In- 
 dians under Chief Tiger-tail, one of the most treacher- 
 ous and bloodthirsty! devils that ever lived. They pre- 
 tended to be very friendly. 
 
 The captain had a very pretty bright new hatchet 
 which the Indians admired, and the chief borrowed it, 
 and each Indian went and cut a club with it, and when 
 they had done this the chief spat on his hands as a 
 signal and the Indians sprang on the white men and 
 beat their brains out with the clubs. But they kept 
 
41 
 
 the boy, and his story was the first that was ever 
 known of what became of the boat and crew. 
 
 AT JEFFERSON BARRACKS. 
 
 While at Jefferson barracks I was taken very sick 
 with malarial fever, and while I took the doctor's 
 medicine I believe Mother Earth did more for me than 
 did the medicine, for every night I would steal out of 
 my bed and go to a deep hole in the ground and lay 
 there until cooled off and refreshed and then steal back 
 again. I always believed that was what cured me. 
 While I was in the hospital my company was ordered 
 to Fort Scott, then Indian Territory, now Kansas. But 
 I was not alone: there were five or six of us left behind 
 and when we got well we were sent to join our com- 
 mand. A steamboat took us up the Missouri River as 
 far as Boonville and the boat froze in. Col. Mason, of 
 the First Dragoons, was on board the boat, and he 
 told me to get a team and go to Fort Leavenworth, 
 Kansas. He said he had some stuff to take up there 
 and there would be plenty of room in the wagon for 
 us after that. But after the wagon was loaded there 
 v^as no room for us and we had to march. Well, we 
 
42 
 
 got along very well. Whenever we reached a stopping 
 place for the night I would order whatever we re- 
 quired for men and team, and before we started away 
 I would call for my bill and astonish the landlord by 
 giving him an order on the quartermaster at Fort 
 Leavenworth for his pay. It was useless to kick, for 
 we were Uncle Sam's men, and the pay was sure 
 though somewhat troublesome to collect; and it was 
 a long time after our arrival that the bills were coming 
 in and being" promptly paid by the quartermaster. 
 
 We remained only a few days at Fort Leavenworth 
 and then went on to Fort Scott. We were given a 
 mule and cart and a man to drive to assist us on our 
 ■way. On Christmas day, 1843, it snowed and rained 
 all day, so that when we arrived at the crossing of the 
 Merrydezine River the river had risen so we could not 
 cross. We remained there a few days until the river 
 lowered enough for us to cross, and then we pursued 
 our journey. But this delay had not been counted on, 
 and our rations ran out, and we were in the wilds 
 without food. I took my gun and went in search of 
 game. I took a trail and followed it for some distance 
 when I was seized with a fit of 
 
43 
 
 BUCK FEVER. 
 
 I had never hunted game bigger than a squirrel, and 
 of course was rather a green hunter after larger game. 
 I had not gone up the trail very far when a massive 
 large buck deer met me face to face not ten feet away. 
 I had heard something and was standing at order 
 arms when he walked up to me and looked me square 
 in the face. It took me so by surprise that I never 
 thought of my gun loaded with ball and three buck- 
 shot, and after he had looked me in the eye for a full 
 minute he turned and bounded away. Had I had 
 sense enough to shoot him it would have furnished us 
 meat enough to last for some days. But we were now 
 able to pursue our journey on the opposite side of the 
 river. 
 
 This section of country came into our hands when 
 France ceded Louisiana to the United States, and on 
 the west side of the river it was quite thickly popu- 
 lated with French, descendants of De Soto, and it was 
 chiefly owned by the American Fur Company. So 
 after we crossed the river we were well taken care of 
 until we reached Fort Scott. We found at Fort Scott 
 
44 
 
 two companies of artillery, two of infantry and two 
 of the First Dragoons. They had built themselves 
 very good winter quarters by hewing out logs and 
 building log cabins. 
 
 DETAILED AS A CARPENTER. 
 
 There is always more or less carpenter work to be 
 done around a fort and officers' quarters. Having 
 worked some at carpenter work, I was detailed w^hile 
 at the fort on special duty as a carpenter. For this I 
 received sixteen cents a day extra pay and a gill extra 
 of wdiisky. But as I cared nothing for the whisky, I 
 gave it to those wdio liked it better. But the extra 
 pay came very good, for a private soldier's pay at that 
 time was but seven dollars a month, clothing and 
 rations; and the sixteen cents extra brought my pay 
 up to eleven dollars and eighty cents per month. There 
 was little of interest to note while here at Fort Scott; 
 but I wall relate two little incidents to show wdiat may 
 come into a soldier's life, and I will explain 
 
45 
 
 HOW I BECAME A PUGILIST AGAINST MY 
 WILL. 
 
 There are always some turbulent spirits among such 
 a lot of men, who are ready to stir up a fuss, especially 
 if they happen to get a little too much alcoholic spirits. 
 
 One day while at dinner, one of these soldiers of the 
 turbulent spirit got into an altercation with a citizen, 
 who gave him a deserved drubbing. But not as much 
 as he ought to have. Of course I did not see the fracas 
 and knew nothing of it until told me. But the turbu- 
 lent comrade would not have it that way. He declared 
 I saw it and would not come to his assistance, conse- 
 quently was not a soldier if I would stand by and see 
 a citizen pound a soldier. Denial of course was of no 
 avail. But he insisted that I must go out and fight it 
 out with him. Now I had no desire to fight, and, as 
 he was a much larger man and a well known scrapper, 
 it was worse than useless, I considered, trying my 
 strength with him and I tried all I could to get out of 
 it. But it stood this way: to flatly refuse to fight 
 would be to be branded cowardly, and be the butt of 
 every one's peccadillos who chose to pick on me, and 
 
46 
 
 to fight was to go out and take a pounding by a noted 
 scrapper who bullied every one. I chose the latter. 
 So we Avent out behind a cliff and had it out, and I 
 tell you it was not all one-sided by any means. But 
 I was like the Frenchman who got in trouble with the 
 Yankee and they, agreed that the one who felt 
 whipped should cry enough and the other should 
 stop. But the poor Frenchman, who was getting the 
 worst of it, could not think of the word " enough," so 
 he hollowed "Hurrah, hurrah," and the Yankee 
 pounded the harder, until the poor Frenchman found 
 something desperate was necessary and he put forth 
 a mighty effort and turned his opponent and was 
 drubbing him unmercifully when the Yankee cried 
 "enough." 'There/' said the Frenchman, "That is 
 what I was trying to think of a long time ago." But I 
 tell you I was not in need of words. But my opponent 
 had determined to give me a dreadful pounding and 
 I stood it as long as I could, when I made a masterful 
 effort and got the better of him, and he was taken to 
 the hospital where he remained for several weeks until 
 his time expired and he received his discharge. Then 
 he came to me and showed me his buzzard, as he 
 called his discharge, and said he laid nothing up 
 
47 . 
 
 against me, as I had given him the whipping he de- 
 served and it would have made a man of him if he 
 had received it sooner. He invited me to call 
 on him if I ever came to Philadelphia and I should 
 have the best the town could afford. But I never saw 
 him afterward. But it was a great feather in my cap, 
 for I was looked upon as the best man in camp after 
 that. Tliere was no places of amusement at Fort Scott, 
 and the boys were compelled to rely on their own re- 
 sources for amusement. 
 
 Some five miles out from the Fort was a place called 
 Texas, a sort of frontier town. It consisted of a house 
 divided into two parts, with a roof extending over a 
 roadway between the two parts. It w^as from this 
 place 
 
 I HAD A NARROW ESCAPE. 
 
 We were in the habit of going out there after taps, 
 or the hour that the soldiers were supposed to be in 
 bed asleep. Of course this means we were absent 
 without leave. We would escape out of the barracks 
 window, go out to this place and have a stag dance all 
 night and' get in before roll call in the morning. A 
 squad of us from my company were favorites with 
 
48 
 
 the landlord, and as I played the flute it was a great 
 help to the musical necessities for dancing. There 
 was enough of our own crowd, and, consequently, if 
 others were there they were advised to depart as the 
 signal of our coming was wafted to the ears of the 
 landlord through the notes of my flute as I played 
 ''Hail to the Chief." If the parties failed to take the 
 advice of the landlord, a skirmish took place, and, to 
 use a phrase of the times, the opposing parties were 
 cleaned out. Of course, this was rather rough exer- 
 cise and lent a rather tough name to the place. 
 
 Finally one night there was a check roll call and 
 six of us reported absent without leave. So Major 
 Graham sent a detachment of dragoons out there 
 after us. I was the first to see the sabers at the door; 
 I called to the boys and made a rush for the door. I 
 leveled my flute like a gun and snapped the keys and 
 shouted, "Get out of my way or I will blow your 
 brains out." They Avere taken by surprise and I rushed 
 by and ran all the way to camp and cleaned the mud 
 off from my shoes and clothes, just in time for reveille 
 and roll call. 
 
 The Orderly Sergeant said to me, "Jin^, you was 
 mighty sharp last night, but you look out next tmie." 
 
49 
 
 The men afterward asked what kind of a gun I had 
 that night. I laughed at them and told them it was 
 no gun at all, but my flute, and they laughed heartily. 
 But I was the only one who escaped. The other boys 
 were punished by spending a month in the guard- 
 house and losing a month's pay. 
 
 I had now served five years and my term of service 
 had about expired and, having no place to call home, 
 times were hard, and though the pay of a soldier — 
 seven dollars a month, board and clothes, with some 
 chances of extra pay — w^as small, yet the pay was sure 
 and the money good; for the government never paid 
 anything but gold and silver, and these were the days 
 of scarcity of money, state bank notes, wild cat paper, 
 store orders and trade, so a soldier's pay was not so 
 bad after all. And I determined to reinlist. But I did 
 not like to stay so far out on the frontier as Fort Scott 
 w^as then, so I took my month's furlough and w ent to 
 Jefiferson Barracks, Mo., and reinlisted in Company F 
 of the same regiment — the Fourth United States In- 
 fantry, Captain Page commanding. Captain Page was 
 a personal friend of mine and I liked him very much, 
 and afterwards mourned his death, for he was killed at 
 Palo Alto, Texas, the first battle we got into. 
 
50 
 
 HOW I BECAME A MUSICIAN. 
 
 I still clung to my flute, and often amused myself 
 with it while in my quarters. One day while practicing 
 the bandmaster chanced to be passing, and liking the 
 music so well, he came in and asked me how I would 
 like to join thq band. I told him I would like it real 
 well. ''Well," said he, "what instrument would you 
 like?" I replied that I would like the trombone. He 
 made application for my detail and had me reported 
 as learning music. I made such rapid progress that 
 in a very few days I was able to appear with the band 
 on guard mount. From this on music was my pride, 
 my aim and my profession, though I did some service 
 in the ranks after that. I was a member of the band 
 for ten years, thus making fifteen years of service in all. 
 
 We were at Jefiferson barracks but a few months 
 when the whole regiment was ordered to a place 
 called Camp Salubrity, near Natchitoches, Louisiana, 
 presumably to be near the seat of war should war be 
 declared between the United States and Mexico, which 
 seemed quite imminent. We here built ourselves nice 
 quarters of logs, and were here for some months, and 
 
51 
 
 then joined the army of occupation and took our posi- 
 tion at Corpus Christi, Texas, Col. Twigs in command 
 of the post. This was the same Twigs who went out 
 of the Union and fought against our flag at the sur- 
 render of Fort Sumpter by ]\Iajor Anderson, at the 
 beginning of the Rebellion in 1861. 
 
 We were encamped close to the sea and it was a 
 beautiful place. Here we had many places of amuse- 
 ment. We had a large billiard room and other 
 features of comfort, and we built two theaters — "The 
 Army" and "The Union." They were of course tem- 
 porary, being frame structures with mere clabboard 
 sides and covered with canvas. I played the trombone 
 in the orchestra of the Union Theater. 
 
 We had about three thousand five hundred men in 
 camp. Here I was appointed drum major and had both 
 the band and field music in charge, so I continued 
 playing in the band and directing both branches of 
 music from that position. 
 
 We left Corpus Christi some time in April and took 
 up our line of march for the Rio Grande River, a few 
 days afterward arriving opposite to Matamoras. Santa 
 Anna, the Mexican general, sent dispatches to Gen. 
 Taylor to leave in twenty-four hours. Gen. Taylor re- 
 
52 
 
 plied that they were United States soldiers and had 
 come to stay. Thus opened the 
 
 MEXICAN WAR, 
 
 which had been fomenting for some time. And war 
 was not declared until May 26th, 1846. 
 
 At this place of occupation we built a very formid- 
 able fort and christened it Fort Taylor. Shortly after 
 the Fort was completed Gen. Taylor left Major Brown 
 in command wath a force of five hundred men, and 
 with the remainder of the army took up a line of 
 march to Point Isabell, a station on the Gulf of Mex- 
 ico, wdiere we had our supplies. 
 
 Though I was drum major at this time, Col. Gar- 
 land sent for me and said, ''Mr. Elderkin, we are 
 about to take up our line of march to Point Isabell. 
 The Mexicans have crossed the river and we are go- 
 ing to have a fight and I wish you w^ould take the 
 colors of the regiment and carry them into Mexico.^' 
 I thanked him for the honor conferred upon me and 
 told him that the colors should never be disgraced in 
 my hands, and I kept my word and was the first man 
 to carrv the American colors on to Mexican soil. 
 
53 
 
 When we left Fort Taylor, we went in light march- 
 ing order, merely taking two days' rations with us, and 
 left our knapsacks in the fort, and it was well we did, 
 for the Mexicans attacked us in great numbers and 
 with artillery, and our men were compelled to use the 
 army baggage to build a bomb proof for protection 
 So our knapsacks were literally shot to pieces and we 
 drew new knapsacks and clothing right away; and we 
 all felt well satisfied so long as our clothing saved the 
 lives of so many of our comrades. 
 
 The above statement can be found in Bancroft's 
 History. 
 
 BATTLE OF PALO ALTO, MAY 8, 1846. 
 
 This occurred on the 8th and 9th of May, 1846. 
 Maj. Brown was wounded at Fort Brown. The name 
 of Fort Taylor was changed to Fort Brown. 
 
 As I say, we had taken nothing with us but two 
 days' rations. We had no protection from the damp 
 earth at night or nothing to cover us but the vault 
 of the heavens. 
 
 After we arrived at Point Isabell we could hear the 
 fighting at Fort Taylor. It took us two days to 
 
54 
 
 march from Fort Taylor to Point Isabell. We could 
 make no fires, as that would expose our position. 
 
 On May the 9th we fought the battle of Reseca de 
 la Palma. Here I made an important capture. We 
 came upon the Mexicans so sudden we surprised them 
 and they left a good dinner all cooked and of course 
 we helped ourselves. And it fell to my good luck to- 
 get into the quarters of the Mexican Generals Leviga 
 and Arista, whom we captured, and though I did not 
 capture the generals I did capture a good dinner of 
 soup, boiled beef and other eatables, also several boxes 
 of fine cigars and a box of claret wine, and a box of 
 chocolate. These luxuries were a great prize to a 
 tired, hungry soldier who had subsisted on fat pork 
 and hardtack and even without that for hours. 
 
 We did not cross over to Matamoras until the next 
 day. We stopped here for several days and after we 
 crossed over, some of the men found the body of 
 Lieut. Porter, who had been killed by a Mexican citi- 
 zen, or guerillas or Greaser, as they were more gen- 
 erally called. I was ordered to take the body back to 
 Point Isabell to be sent to his friends. 
 
 Here I found my own dear old commander, Capt. 
 Page, of my company, who had been badly wounded 
 
55 
 
 at the battle of Palo Alto. A piece of shell carried 
 away the captain's lower jaw and took ofif the top of 
 a private soldier's head. The soldier's name was Lee. 
 
 The army was now called the Army of Invasion. 
 While we were at Matamoras I was taken very sick 
 with congestive fever, and came very near dying. 
 In those days we had no hospital nurses, not even cots 
 for the sick and wounded; had nothing but a mere 
 rush mat thrown on the ground. 
 
 Dr. Brown was the army physician who attended 
 me and he afterward told me he did not expect I 
 would recover, and sent a priest to come and pray 
 for me. In those days doctors would not allow a 
 drop of cold water in any case of fever. But as it was 
 not thought I; could live and as I was begging for 
 cold water, the attendant was told to give me all the 
 cold water I wished for; so they would bring in a 
 large pan of water and after drinking all I wanted, I 
 would hold one side of my head in it and then the 
 other, and it helped me so much I was well in a few 
 days and Dr. Brown told me afterward he learned a 
 good lesson, and that was to give a fever patient all 
 the cold water he wanted. 
 
56 
 
 P>oni Matamoras we took boats and went up the 
 Rio Grande as far as it was navigable to a little place 
 called Caniargo; it was a very sickly place on the Rio 
 Grande, about one hundred and fifty miles from its 
 mouth. We lost many men here from disease and 
 called the place Camp Graveyard. The army was 
 here largely reinforced. And we marched on to Mon- 
 terey. History records the gallant deeds of our noble 
 army at this place. 
 
 The army was now divided into two invading 
 armies. One to operate in the north, the other to 
 operate in the south. My regiment, the Fourth U. 
 S. Infantry, was transferred from Taylors to General 
 Scott's command and we again went down the Rio 
 Grande to the Brasso, at its mouth, where we took 
 ship for \'era Cruz. 
 
 The ships, of course, were merchantment, with 
 rough accommodations for the men, hastily put in, 
 and consisted of bunks built up, below the decks. 
 These were built of green hemlock lumber, three tiers 
 high ; and on going to bed we were not allowed lights, 
 so had to feel our way. 
 
 We were ten days on board, and our food was fat 
 pork, hardtack, beans and rice. The water we had to 
 
57 
 
 drink was as vile as if dipped from a stagnant goose 
 pond. The doctor ordered a gill of vinegar to each 
 man, per day, to put in the water he drank. This 
 made a little improvement, but not much. We went 
 below the city about twelve miles, and when all of the 
 ships arrived Ave sailed for the city, each boat towing 
 its small boats behind. When we got near the beach 
 close to the city, the men clambered over the ship's 
 sides into the small boats, and as the small boats 
 would ground before reaching shore, the men would 
 jump into the sea and wade to shore. 
 
 The army disembarked with little trouble and were 
 not molested until night, when the Mexicans attacked 
 our pickets several times during the night. We im- 
 mediately begaui l)uilding earthworks for protection, 
 and for positions to plant our siege guns. The Mexi- 
 cans evidently made a mistake in supposing w^e were 
 going to attack the castle of San Juan Delhia, and 
 they did not discover their error until we were too 
 well fortified to be dislodged. We were now within 
 a few hundred yards of the city, and continually ad- 
 vancing nearer. Each night a body of men would go 
 out and work all nis^ht and be relieved the next nieht, 
 while a detail of soldiers would go out to protect the 
 
58 
 
 fatigue party while at work. The doctor, with instru- 
 ments and medicines, was on the Une and the musi- 
 cians in attendance with stretchers to carry the 
 wounded off the field and to assist the doctor. I was 
 with the doctor one day and Col. Garland sent for 
 me, and asked me if I would volunteer to carry dis- 
 patches over to Gen. Worth. Of course I complied, 
 though the way was over an exposed position and 
 over a hill with not a thing to shelter a man from the 
 Mexican fire. Said the colonel, "Now don^t go stalk- 
 ing along as straight as an arrow as if you had a ram- 
 rod thrust down your back to keep it stiff; bend over 
 and conceal yourself as much as possible, and pick 
 your way without attracting any more attention than 
 you can help; and you need not expose yourself by 
 coming back. Stay in camp.^' 
 
 The city was one side of the hill, of course, and the 
 line of advance between the hill and the city. 
 
 Let me here call the attention of the reader to the 
 difference of the arms of those days and to-day. Re- 
 member there were no Gatling guns or machine guns 
 of any kind. No, nor breech-loading guns of any 
 kind, not even the oldest style of revolvers. Nothing 
 but old flint-lock muskets for small arms and the ar- 
 
59 
 
 tillery was very crude and short range, so two armies 
 must come very close together before they could do 
 any effective work. 
 
 The caliber of both musket and cannon was very 
 large, and the cannon were little more than explosive 
 catapults, throwing gigantic shells, that could be seen 
 by the naked eye as hurled through the air. 
 
 When I was well up on the hill I thought I would 
 look back and see the city and I turned around; I 
 saw a puff of smoke, a great black object came flying 
 toward me, and a shell of monstrous proportions, at 
 least as large as a water pail, burst over my head. 
 None of the pieces hit me, but the concussion was so 
 great that it made me very deaf for days after that. 
 
 I was no longer courageous to see the city, but got 
 on the other side of the hill as quickly as possible. 
 
 With our sharpshooters of to-day no man could 
 ever get across such a place. 
 
 I am now seventy-eight years old and I naturally 
 feel it is the goodness of God which has preserved 
 my health and memory, so that all the events of my 
 life from boyhood days are as fresh in my memory 
 as those of years ago. I feel that God has been good 
 
6o 
 
 to nie and I feel very thankful to God for all he has 
 done for me. 
 
 RAPID WORK. 
 
 Let it be remembered I told you General Taylor 
 had defeated and captured General Arista at the bat- 
 tle of Palo Alto, May 8th, 1846, and the battle of 
 Reseca de la Palma, May 9th, and after this, in the 
 same month, both governments declared war. 
 
 May 1 8th, General Taylor captured Matamoras, and 
 on September 24th he captured Monterey. 
 
 P)y casualties, with details of posts of occupation 
 and number of men General Scott had drawn from 
 Taylor's command, it left Taylor with but five thou- 
 sand men, and with this small number he met and 
 defeated Santa Anna at Buena ^^ista with twenty-two 
 thousand men February 23d, 1847. 
 
 We had in our army under General Scott but ten 
 thousand men to meet Santa Anna with thirty thou- 
 sand. But we were successful and captured Vera 
 Cruz March i8th, 1847. 
 
 The advance pursued the retreating M'exicans, and 
 as soon as the main army had rallied and reorganized 
 it followed closely on to the advance and we fought 
 
6i 
 
 the battle of Cero Gardo April 25th; San Antonio 
 and Canteerus, and Cherusbusco, August 20th; Mo- 
 lino del Rey, September 8th, and Chapultepec, Sep- 
 tember 13th, and on September 14th, 1847, '^ve en- 
 tered the City of Mexico, the Mexican capital. This 
 ended the fighting, but we remained the army of occu- 
 pation until the treaty of peace was concluded on the 
 2d of February, 1848. This, of course, necessitated 
 very rapid movements and quick work and active 
 campaigning. Yet we had time to note the peculiari- 
 ties of the country and familiarizing ourselves with 
 many of its customs and conditions. Just before the 
 battle of Cero Gardo we spent a few days at the City 
 of Jalapa; this is a beautiful city of thirty thousand 
 population and is four thousand three hundred and 
 forty feet above the sea level. It is a favorite resort 
 for invalids. Puebla is another beautiful city still 
 higher up, and so high at this point that when people 
 first arrive in the city they begin to expand on ac- 
 count of the rarefied air, and their clothing though 
 loose before, soon becomes so tight as to be uncom- 
 fortable. It at first frightened our soldiers, for they 
 thought they were about to be attacked by some ter- 
 rible disease, as the change brought on a slight diar- 
 
62 
 
 rhoea and much bloating and wind. But the doctor 
 assured the men that it was not a dangerous attack 
 and they would soon find themselves better for the 
 change, which was true. The climate here is very 
 fine and notwithstanding the high altitude I never saw 
 a flake of snow, except as we looked away to the top 
 of the great volcanic mountain of Orizabo, wdiich 
 towers eighteen thousand feet above the sea level. 
 Here on that mountain, snow could be seen the year 
 around. 
 
 It was while at Jalapa I learned to speak the Span- 
 ish language, and I think it the sweetest sounding lan- 
 guage in the world. 
 
 These Mexican cities, in their strange and pictur- 
 esque beauty are indescribable. They all have beauti- 
 ful parks with numerous cascade fountains, where the 
 clear sparkling water comes gurgling and gushing 
 from the mouths of dragons and serpents, and other 
 strange designs, or dashing over miniature precipices. 
 The parks are also thickly studded with a magnificent 
 foliage of many varieties, including giant trees of im- 
 mense height and from four to six feet in diameter 
 at the butt. 
 
63 
 
 Cero Gardo is a very strange position high in the 
 mountain. A great plateau of table land with giant 
 precipices here, and towering ledges of rock there, 
 standing askew as if nature, when the earth was cool- 
 ing from a molten mass, had wrenched the earth 
 asunder, grasping and tearing out a huge propor- 
 tion and carrying it away to leave a shelf where man 
 might get a foothold and build his habitation. It 
 was here in this strange place we captured General 
 Santa Anna's carriage, his wooden leg and a large 
 box of Alexican dollars. We also captured forty 
 pieces of artillery and seven thousand prisoners. 
 
 Such arms and property we could not remove was 
 consigned to flames and destroyed and the prisoners 
 paroled. 
 
 While at Jalapa, we took a very strong fort called 
 Perota Castle, situated on a plain where it can be 
 seen for a great distance. Here we found great dun- 
 geons and confined in them the desperate characters 
 of Mexico. We found confined here the notorious 
 Mexican bandit, Captain Camiloes, I believe was his 
 name, and a large number of his men. The leader 
 promised General Scott that if he would liberate them, 
 they would serve and be true to this country as long 
 
64 
 
 as the war lasted. They were liberated and the leader 
 given a colonel's commission in our army, over his 
 own men, of course, and they acted as scouts, and 
 General Scott procured information in this way he 
 could have procured in no other way. But these were 
 as bloodthirsty a lot of devils as ever lived; the captain 
 had perfect control over them, but he was as merciless 
 as the rest. On one occasion they met a Spanish 
 nobleman with his daughter. They killed the father, 
 and one of the men insulted the young girl when the 
 leader or colonel shot him dead. Such was their 
 peculiar sense of justice and honor. 
 
 Concentress was the only battle mentioned in which 
 I was not engaged in in General Scott's campaign. 
 It was taken very quickly, early in the morning, by 
 Colonel Riley's forces. At the battle of Cherubusco 
 Michigan lost some men from the First Michigan In- 
 fantry, one of whom's name was William Cunning- 
 ham. Sergeant Cunningham went from Detroit. His 
 w^ife was a sister to my wife, though at this time I 
 was not married and never knew him. He was in 
 the same regiment with the late Colonel W. D. Wil- 
 kins, of Detroit, who afterward was long identified 
 with the Detroit Lig^ht Guards. 
 
65 
 
 At the beginning of the war the Mexican govern- 
 ment offered great inducements to deserters of the 
 American army. To those capable of taking com- 
 mand they offered commissions and to all great land 
 bounties, and other inducements. As there were 
 quite a number of adventurers, or wanderers from all 
 nations in our army — men who considered no particu- 
 lar country their home, many of them became dazzled 
 by these offers, and deserted and joined the Mexicans. 
 
 After we got possession of a fort that commanded 
 a bridge going into Cherubusco, there was firing from 
 a church, about a hundred yards from the fort. As it 
 overlooked our position we could not see the firing 
 parties, while they were picking off our men rapidly. 
 Colonel Garland ordered up a piece of captured ar- 
 tillery and brought it to bear on the church. As soon 
 as the parties in the church saw the uselessness of 
 farther resistance they displayed a white flag. They 
 came into the fort and threw down their arms, and the 
 officer approached Colonel Garland and said: "If you 
 treat us as prisoners of war we will not take up arms 
 against the United States as long as the war lasts. '^ 
 There were sixty of them. All were recognized as 
 deserters, some having deserted at Fort Brown and 
 
66 
 
 others later on. They were all tried by court martial 
 and sentenced to be hung. The sentence was exe- 
 cuted on all but one. Colonel Riley, who escaped with 
 the punishment of being branded on the left cheek 
 with the letter D — deserter. It was placed in the 
 hands of General Harney to see the decision of the 
 court martial should be carried into effect. He was 
 the same rough old Indian fighter known as the 
 *'Squaw Killer/' from his killing a scjuaw who at- 
 tacked him, and his ordering the men to fire on the 
 squaws as well as the men. On the morning of the 
 execution one of the prisoners was reported too sick 
 to be brought out. But the old general said: "Bring 
 
 him out and hang him; d n him, that will cure 
 
 him." 
 
 After leaving CherubAisco we crossed a bridge and 
 went to a small place, called Tuckeybia. It is only 
 three miles from the city of Mexico, and near this 
 was a place of importance for us to take called Molino 
 del Ray. Here was a fort of stone built in the middle 
 of the road, called in English, King's Mills. This was 
 only about three hundred yards from the Castle of 
 Chapultepec. The night before the battle we had 
 orders to remain under arms all ni^ht. Early in the 
 
67 
 
 morning we commenced to move toward King's Mills. 
 I was back in my position with the band again and 
 I did not like to stay behind so I tried to get a mus- 
 ket, but the extra guns were in the wagons and I 
 could get none. So 1 went to Major Lee and told 
 him I wanted to go with the regiment and asked him 
 what I should do. Said he: "You can act as my or- 
 derly,'' as he was in command of the regiment, Colonel 
 Garland then being in conmiand of the brigade. We 
 had been under arms all night and without a mo- 
 ment's sleep, so we were well night fatigued out; we 
 moved close to the fort, before daylight, and laid 
 down and at the first blast of their bugle for reveille, 
 we charged the works, at first covered by artillery 
 which consisted of four light batteries, Ringold, Dun- 
 can, Stepto and McGruder in command. The horses 
 were sent to the rear and the men shoved the artillery 
 up before them and fired as they went. 
 
 This was the hottest engagement I ever experienced. 
 The balls came so thick one could not help feeling 
 like putting his hand before his face as if it were hail, 
 yet we kept so close to the ground that we escaped 
 most of the damage we otherwise must have received. 
 But as it was we lost many men, and among them 
 
6S 
 
 Lieut. Prince, of my regiment. He was the man who 
 enhsted me at Schenectady, N. Y., in 1839. He was 
 shot in the thigh, and I carried him into a house 
 close by. 
 
 The next day we had to take ChapuUepec ; this is 
 a castle only three miles from the city of Mexico. 
 And as the streets were blocked and batteries so placed 
 to sweep the' streets, our men were compelled to go 
 through the houses, knocking down walls and so cut- 
 ting our way through from house to house. But be- 
 fore we reached this point of attack we laid siege to 
 the castle for several days. We had large siege guns 
 and mortars placed and bombarded it until w^e were 
 ready to make the assault. 
 
 One day I went down to see the working of the 
 'guns while bombarding, and while I was at the fort 
 they fired one of the pieces. I chanced to be a little 
 in the advance of the piece though not in range, of 
 course, but quite sufficient to give me a terrible shock 
 and nearly deafened me for a time. I noticed a man 
 near the gates of the castle on horseback, and when 
 the shell burst it killed man and horse, blowing them 
 all to pieces. 
 
69 
 
 The day we stormed the stronghold I would not 
 remain in the rear with the band but got a gun from 
 the Eighth Infantry, and fell in with the storming 
 party. We were provided with rope ladders with 
 hooks attached; these we would throw up and grapple 
 the top of the wall and climb up and throw the ladder 
 over and descend on the other side. Of course there 
 was hard fighting to prevent our entrance. Here a 
 Mexican officer attempted to prevent my descending 
 from the wall and I was compelled to shoot him. 
 This terrible thing grew into a deed of gallantry and 
 I have still in my possession a Record of Merit given 
 me by President James K. Polk for this day^s work. 
 I now fell in with Company C of my regiment and 
 Orderly Sergeant Shadly, who was in command of the 
 company, told me to take his place at the right of 
 the company; I did so and stayed with them for some 
 time. We were now following the Mexicans right up 
 to the gates of the city of Mexico. 
 
 They had erected a number of forts in the streets 
 and it was hard fighting as we advanced and drove 
 them before us. After turning a bend in the road I 
 noticed some Mexicans industriously firing at our 
 men; I took deliberate aim and fired, and although 
 
70 
 
 they were two hundred yards away I wounded one 
 of them, and we soon drove them out and I captured 
 the one I had wounded. General U. S. Grant was 
 then captain and was quartermaster. Chancing to see 
 him I took my prisoner to him. Captain Grant told 
 me to break his gun and let him go, which I did. 
 This squad of men were guarding a Spanish gentle- 
 man's home; when I came up to the house the old 
 gentleman was terribly frightened, and he came out 
 with his sixteen-year-old daughter on one arm and 
 with the other hand extended he held a bag of gold, 
 I told him, in the best Spanish I could command, that 
 I was a soldier and not a robber. Yet I must say I 
 started out with some idea that I might gather in 
 some wealth: ])ut when I saw that poor old man with 
 his pretty daughter on his arm and half-scared to 
 death and begging for mercy, I could not have 
 touched his gold. But alas, poor old man, he made 
 the mistake of supposing' all would serve him the 
 same as I did, but the next man who came up took 
 the prof erred l^ag of gold, and, I was told, the bag 
 contained seven thousand dollars in doubloons, and I 
 have often thought I might as well have had it as 
 the other fellow. Just at this time Captain Grant, 
 
71 
 
 who had left his trusty assistant, Sam Smith, in charge 
 of the quartermasters department, and was at the 
 front for business, called for volunteers from a lot of 
 men who seemed to be fighting on their own hook as 
 it were, and as the captain was doing the same thing, 
 he called about thirty of them together, ^nd I joined 
 the crowd, and we followed along down the side of 
 the aqueduct which supplies the city of Mexico with 
 water, to a little fort which Captain Grant and his 
 forces captured. We held this until relieved by other 
 advancing forces. When Captain Grant tried to dis- 
 lodge another body of men who were doing our forces 
 much damage. But we could not get at them; in 
 some way Captain Grant got a small piece of artillery, 
 and we took it on top of a house and fired there. 
 Under the protection of this gun the men cut their 
 way from house to house, and thus drove the enemy 
 before us. Our loss was very small in comparison 
 to what it would have been had we tried to advance 
 up the road. In passing through the houses in this 
 way, it offered great inducements for plunder. But 
 the ridiculousness of a soldier bothering with plunder 
 may be readily seen when you consider we were hun- 
 dreds of miles in the interior of an enemy's country. 
 
72 
 
 with no means of transporting food while we marched 
 out of it, much less to transport plunder. Yet there 
 were some so foolish as to attempt to take plunder. 
 One foolish fellow came out of one of the houses with 
 a large bundle of silk dresses and such stufif. He 
 attempted to cross the street when he was wounded 
 by a grape shot striking him in the leg. He dropped 
 to the earth and cooly put the bundle under his head. 
 Several times our men tried to save him, but were 
 driven back, so he was left to his fate, which was of 
 short duration, for another shot hit him in the head 
 and ended his career. 
 
 By this time we had been fighting all day, and 
 arrived at the gates of the City of Mexico. 
 
 I must here state, for the benefit of those not fam- 
 iliar with the history of Mexico, that the old City of 
 Mexico was walled in, but it had expanded beyond 
 the walls. 
 
 As I was standing, looking around, Captain Grant 
 approached leading a mule. He said to me, "Here is 
 a nice mule; you can have it if you want it." I took 
 the mule and thanked him, and lead the mule over 
 to where I intended to stop for the night, and tied 
 it to a tree, and that was the last I ever saw of it. 
 
7Z 
 
 For that night the city was surrendered, and we were 
 to take possession in the morning-.. So amid the ex- 
 citement and hurry some one else lead the mule away. 
 The next morning" we entered the city with much 
 pomp and parade. 
 
 General Scott was a very large man, six foot six in 
 hight, and built in proportion, and he rode a very 
 large and magnificient horse. Wearing a bright uni- 
 form with a large hat and feather, he was a wonder- 
 ful sight to see. 
 
 The whole army had slicked up as much as possi- 
 ble, and a proud general and a proud army it was; 
 and it had a right to be proud after so long a march, 
 and fighting so many battles without loosing a battle. 
 The bands were playing and flags flying, pomp, par- 
 ade and show. We were even welcomed by many 
 Mexicans. But there were some who tried to wel- 
 come us too warmly, and notwithstanding the official 
 surrender of the city, they fired on us from some of 
 the houses. 
 
 General Scott then gave the order to the provost 
 guards to enter houses where firing took place and 
 kill every inmate regardless of sex or age. But the 
 only case where I ever heard of the thing being done 
 
74 
 
 was a case where a lieutenant saw some men firing, 
 and he got a lot of armed teamsters together and 
 captured the men, and took them all out and placed 
 them up beside a stone wall, and gave the order, 
 ''Make ready, take aim, fire;" I believe fifteen fell 
 dead. 
 
 After entering the City of Mexico many strange 
 things took place. Saloons were thrown open, liquor 
 was plenty, and some heedless men drank until in- 
 toxicated, and dropped to sleep wherever they chanced 
 to be. Alas, poor fellows, many of them slept their 
 last sleep, for as soon as found alone and helpless 
 the Mexicans would cut their throats. I saw one of 
 our own men fall to sleep intoxicated. I passed on 
 and opened the faucets and let the liquor run away 
 to keep it from the men, and on turning back a few 
 moments afterward I saw this poor fellow's throat was 
 cut from ear to ear. 
 
 Shortly after we entered the city the Mexican 
 Bandit Scouts, freed, and employed by General Scott, 
 went to the Mexican mint and helped themselves ; one 
 of our men by the name of Dan Carr, a drummer, 
 went with them, and he filled his haversack with the 
 bright coin and brought it to camp. 
 
75 
 
 I will here relate a few incidents of war, and which 
 still come up fresh in my memory. Every reader of 
 history will quickly recognize the name of 
 
 GENERAL PHIL. KERNEY. 
 
 I knew General Kerney well when he was a lieutenant 
 in the Dragoons, and a more courageous man never 
 lived, but he was very eccentric. He loved a beautiful 
 horse and a fine looking soldier above everything else 
 on earth. He was very wealthy, and if he saw an 
 uncommon line appearing young soldier w^ho kept 
 everything neat and clean, he would often stop him 
 and compliment him on his soldierly appearance, and 
 perhaps give him several dollars in money. If there 
 Avas anything new in saddles or equipments came up 
 and the government was slow in adopting- them, 
 Kerney would equip his company with them at his 
 own expense. He always had several very fine horses, 
 and on one occasion, just before the Mexican war, we 
 w^ere in camp at Forti Gibson. The lieutenant was 
 slicking up his quarters and whitewashing stables 
 when one of the men asked him what he should white- 
 wash. The lieutenant replied, "Whitewash everything, 
 
76 
 
 d — n it." Now the lieutenant had one beautiful black 
 horse he thought everything of, and as the men had 
 ,been roughly told to whitewash everything, they, for 
 mischief, whitewashed the horse. When Kerney 
 came out and saw the horse he said to his servant, 
 "Andrew, what d — n fool has put that horse in here; 
 what horse is it?'' The servant, finally recognizing 
 the horse, said, "It is your horse, lieut." "It is no 
 such a d — n thing, it is not my horse, turn him out.'* 
 Strange to say, this eccentric man would never have 
 anything to do with or claim the horse after that; it 
 had been disgraced. 
 
 The first U. S. Dragoons was the finest body of men 
 I ever saw. Their uniforms were beautiful black 
 jackets, a straight hat, from which waved long and 
 beautiful black plumes. Horses the best that Uncle 
 Sam could provide for them. When they rode in line, 
 wheeled and maneuvered at the sound of the bugle, 
 it was a sight to inspire any man with enthusiasm and 
 pride. 
 
 Lieutenant Kerney with his company charged on 
 the gates of tlie City of Mexico, and it was in this 
 gallant charge that the lieutenant lost his arm. 
 
77 
 
 MY FIRST EXPERIENXE WITH AN EARTH- 
 QUAKE. 
 
 While we were in the city, the band occupied the 
 upper floors of a large building-. We were expected 
 to leave the city at any moment. 
 
 One morning, about nine o'clock, I was getting 
 ready for guard mount, and while putting on my 
 sash I felt a reeling sensation as if I could not keep 
 my feet, and was about to say to the men, I will not 
 be able to go on duty, when I looked up and saw^ a 
 crack in the roof and walls of the building. I told 
 the men to get out of the building as quickly as pos- 
 sible. 
 
 Mr. Flair, a Mexican veteran and mepiber of the 
 band, declared I was excited, and said, "Get out, get 
 out of this, you devils, get out of this." I was no 
 doubt excited some, and remember distinctly what I 
 said, and that I told the men to get down out of the 
 building as quickly as possible. Well might a person 
 feel sick and excited, for when we reached the street 
 the houses seemed to be dancing a reel. I had an 
 experience of this kind in California afterward. 
 
78 
 
 A STRANGE WAY OF SUBSISTING AN ARMY. 
 
 Perhaps in no other case is it recorded in history 
 where an invading army, by treaty, purchased its 
 suppHes of the country invaded. But such was the 
 case here. There was an armistice called, and Gen- 
 eral Scott made arrangements with the Mexican Gov- 
 ernment tliat we might purchase our supplies of them; 
 so we would send a wagon train, under guard and flag 
 of truce, to the gates of the City of Mexico, and a 
 Mexican guard would take them and return the 
 wagons filled with flour, beans, sugar, cofifee, bacon 
 and other eatables and forage for the teams. 
 
 This arrangement was very fortunate, as it saved 
 us from transporting the stufif, by teams, over a hun- 
 dred miles from Vera Cruz, or from robbing the in- 
 habitants, and thus making more bitter foes; so in this 
 way we only had the army and not an outraged public 
 to fight. 
 
79 
 
 WE LEAVE MEXICO. 
 
 The war over, and peace declared, the invading 
 army must now leave Mexico, so we marched back 
 to Tuckeybia and halted a few days, and then went to 
 Vera Cruz, where ships were awaiting us. Our march 
 was hurried, so the ships would not have long to wait, 
 and consequently w^e were very fatigued. But we were 
 all anxious to get on board ship so as to get home as 
 soon as possible. Our native land seemed more dear 
 to us than ever before, as we had been absent in an 
 enemy's country for two years. Although our experi- 
 ence was a varied one and not entirely void of passing 
 mterest and pleasure. 
 
 We found the ships in a much better condition on 
 our return than those in which we came. Such com- 
 forts could not last long, and we were but a few days 
 on board ship when we arrived at Pascagoula camp, 
 near New Orleans, a little ways from Mobile Bay, 
 This camp was called Camp Jefferson Davis, after the 
 name of the Secretary of War, who was afterward 
 President of the Southern Confederacy. It was a very 
 pretty place, a resort for New Orleans people during 
 
8o 
 
 the sickly season. We had the best of dramatic talent 
 in our regiment, and we built a theater so we could 
 use it and amuse ourselves. General Taylor came 
 here to visit us, and we gave him a picnic at an island 
 a short distance away. But here again, it seemed to 
 be too nice a place, and we did not stay long, but 
 went from here to New Orleans. Here we went on 
 board an old ship the government had purchased to 
 take us to New York. But she was a rotten old thing 
 and had no accommodations. No bunks, or even any 
 way of cooking, so we were compelled to live on hard 
 tack and raw salt pork. We were compelled to sleep 
 below, and around on the floor, or wherever we could 
 find a place. Every reel of the old tub would bring 
 the sea water down the hatches and wet the men. 
 
 After we left the mouth of the Alississippi, a terrible 
 storm came up and played the deuce with us. The 
 ship lost her rudder, and sustained other damages, and 
 left us at the mercy of the waves, and for three days 
 we were tossed about and no one thought it was possi- 
 ble for us to ever reach safety. But Divine destiny 
 had decreed differently. 
 
 The fourth morning a calm came over the face of 
 the waters. The sun shone bright and clear, not a 
 
8i 
 
 cloud to be seen, and it seemed to me we had risen 
 right out of the sea. While the storm lasted we were 
 engulfed in the ocean, seemingly with walls of water 
 on every side; but now it seemed as if we had risen 
 high above it. 
 
 About ten o'clock we could see smoke a great dis- 
 tance away. The captain said they had discovered 
 our signal and came to our rescue. A tremendous 
 cheer went up from the men when the announcement 
 was made. The smoke we saw came from a tug boat 
 out in search of wrecks. The tug towed us back to 
 New Orleans. We were now put aboard the steamer 
 Crescent City, a very fine boat, and once more started 
 for New York. But again we were destined for 
 trouble. The pilot who was assigned to take us out 
 had bad eyesight and ran us aground, near the mouth 
 of the river, and we were compelled to stay there for 
 five days and to unload her cargo, and then it took 
 four tugs and much hard swearing to get her oflf. 
 After this we had no more trouble, but went straight 
 to Havana, Cuba. We passed right under the walls 
 of Morro Castle and went into the harbor. We 
 stayed here for five days, and enjoyed it very much. 
 I was favorably impressed with Havana at that time. 
 
82 
 
 I listened to some of the finest music I ever heard. 
 They had two of as fine bands there as I have ever 
 had the pleasure of Hstening to. The band that 
 played at the Governor-General's Palace was one hun- 
 dred pieces strong, and they played every night for 
 two hours. The air was full of music all of the time. 
 
 After leaving Havana we pressed on to New York. 
 We put in at Wilmington, North Carolina, and stayed 
 for five days, and again pursued our course. 
 
 Nothing happened to disturb us and we arrived in 
 New York all right. We here reshipped and went to 
 Albany, N. Y. We were here put upon all sorts of 
 box and freight cars and started for Buffalo. We 
 made a number of stops on the way so the men could 
 get coffee, and warm meals. At Buffalo we took the 
 boat for 
 
 DETROIT. 
 
 When we arrived in Detroit, November 17, 1848, 
 Detroit, Michigan, was a very small place. The city 
 had no more than ten thousand inhabitants at that 
 time. We were quartered in a barracks which occu- 
 pied the ground where the Arbeiter Hall now stands, 
 at the corner of Catherine and Russell streets. The 
 barracks and grounds took in the whole space now 
 
83 
 
 bounded on the south by Catherine street, on the 
 north by Gratiot, on the east by Russell and on the 
 west by Rivard street. 
 
 The grounds of the Municipal building, where the 
 Police and Recorder's Courts are held, was then the 
 city's burying grounds. There were no pavements and 
 very few sidewalks in the city. The soldiers built a 
 lengthwise and three-plank wide sidewalk from the 
 barracks down to Jefferson avenue, so we could march 
 down to church corner Woodward avenue and Wood- 
 bridge street. Nearly all of the way to Jefferson ave- 
 nue was commons; in fact, from Beaubien street east 
 and from the river to Catherine street was commons, 
 swarming with plover, which made fine shooting for 
 the sportsman. East and north of the barracks was 
 very much heavy timbered land. 
 
 We had been in Detroit some time when tw^o of my 
 brothers, hearing I was in Detroit, came to see me. 
 This Avas the first time I had seen any of my folks 
 since I left my brothers' place so abruptly thirteen 
 years before. I went with them, to their homes down 
 in Ohio, and stayed for some time, and when my 
 furlough expired returned to the company. 
 
 The regimental band and two companies only were 
 stationed here, the rest of the Fourth U. S. Infantry 
 were placed as follows: Mackinaw, Fort Gratiot, 
 
84 
 
 Oswego, Platsburgh and Niagara and Sault de Ste. 
 Marie. 
 
 Captain U. S. Grant, the late President Grant, was 
 in command here. His residence was on Fort street 
 east. I now pass the house nearly every day. Captain 
 Grant was very friendly to me, and I used to take his 
 mail down to his house every day, and it was on one 
 of these trips I met my fate, and here comes the 
 
 LOVE STORY 
 
 of my life. Up to a couple of years ago there stood 
 an old building, on the south side of Catherine street 
 near Russell, where lived a German family by the 
 name of Bessinger. As I passed the house one morn- 
 ing I saw a beautiful dark-eyed young girl training 
 some vines: they were laden with beautiful flowers, 
 and she in her youthful beauty looked to me more 
 like a beautiful flower than all of the rest. 
 
 I asked her the name of the flower she seemed to 
 be admiring, and she said, 'Tt is a morning glory.^' 
 ''Well,'- said I, ''then you must be an evening beauty/^ 
 After this I managed to call her attention every time 
 I passed that way ; and I am afraid I passed quite fre- 
 quent, for our friendship soon ripened into a first 
 class love match. But this did not quite suil; her 
 mother, for this girl was little more than a child and 
 
TAKEN AT SACKETT'S HARBOR, N. Y., 1S51 (FROM 
 DAGUERREOTYPE). 
 
85 
 
 the youngest and the pet of the family, and the mother 
 said, "I have already two daughters who married 
 soldiers, and you must not go and leave me." But 
 young love knows no laws, locksmiths or language 
 they can allow to baffle, or hinder them, so it was 
 soon arranged, and a little girl, a friend, would call 
 on Mary and take her out for a walk, and of course 
 they always knew just where to find me. But {his 
 dodging and stolen opportunities seemed too much 
 of a hardship and we determined to get married. So 
 when I got everything ready, George Harron, who is 
 still in the city, came with his carriage, and was in 
 waiting when she sHded out to meet me. We jumped 
 into the carriage and were driven to Justice Wilker's 
 house. He performed the marriage ceremony, and his 
 wife was one of the witnesses and Sergeant Burgan 
 was the other. It was this way I met and married 
 my dear wife, the noble woman, who with ever watch- 
 ful care, like a ministering angel, hovered over me 
 when ill or anticipated my daily wants, and counseled 
 with me, thus following my fortunes, through long 
 and wearied travel and on the tented field or in my 
 city home, where the peaceful pursuits made the quiet 
 and happiness of home life possible. She died July 
 
86 
 
 1 8th, 1888. Therefore nearly forty years of wedded 
 bliss smoothed over many of the rough spots in 
 seventy-eight years of rugged life. 
 
 As soon as the marriage ceremony was performed 
 we returned to the barracks, and I found a boarding: 
 place for my wife across the street from the barracks 
 on Russell street. Afterward I had a place prepared 
 for her at the barracks. 
 
 I was financially very short at this time, but I had 
 many friends who stood ready to assist me. I was 
 thirty years old at this time and she sixteen; thus it 
 will be seen I was fourteen years older than my wife. 
 
 I reinlisted in Detroit for five years, making fifteen 
 years' service in the United States Regular Army. We 
 were in Detroit a little over a year when the two 
 companies here were ordered to Sackett's Harbor,. 
 New York, where we remained one year, when we got 
 orders to California. While we were stationed at 
 Sackett's Harbor Lieutenant McConnel was adjutant 
 of the regiment, but was absent from the post for a 
 few days, and Captain U. S. Grant was acting in his 
 place. 
 
 I had a drummer in the band by the name of Her- 
 man. Herman was a very good man, and a good 
 
8/ 
 
 drummer, but he had one great failing. He drank 
 too much whisky for his own good. Furthermore, he 
 was continually absenting himself when he had duty 
 to perform. I had frequently reprimanded him for 
 this, and the very day before the following event I 
 told him if he did not attend to his duty better in the 
 future I would be compelled to make a complaint 
 against him. But the next evening Avhen it w^as time 
 to beat the tatoo he w^as absent. He came about ten 
 minutes late. I said nothing to him until after tatoo, 
 and then I went to him and told him to go get his 
 blanket, as I was going to put him in the guard house. 
 He showed his resentment by assailing me; but I was 
 too quick for him and was compelled to knock him 
 down. After he came to he set up a terrible howl, 
 and the officers all came out of their quarters to see 
 what was the matter. I took him to the guard house 
 and then reported the matter to Captain Grant. I also 
 told him I had some dangerous men, who, when in- 
 toxicated, would resent arrest with personal violence, 
 and that my orders were not to strike a man. Said 
 he, "Who gave you that order?" Said I, ''Adjutant 
 McConnel." "Well, I tell you, if a man resists arrest, 
 knock him down." 
 
88 
 
 Adjutant McConnel was a good man and a fine 
 officer, but he was not the prompt disciphnarian that 
 Captain Grant showed himseh* to be. 
 
 While at this post the l^and spent two weeks at 
 each of the different posts where the other companies 
 of the regiment were stopping, Sault Ste. Marie, 
 Mackinaw, Fort Gratiot, Oswego, Platsburgh and 
 Niagara. At all of these places our music was appre- 
 ciated and we were well received by the comrades and 
 citizens. 
 
 The leader of our band at this time was a fine mu- 
 sician, as well as a gentleman. He was a Prussian by 
 birth, and had served in the Prussian army. He en- 
 listed in Detroit some time before we went to Sackett's 
 Harbor. Prior to his enlistment we had a band leader 
 by the name of Hess; he also was a German, but was 
 considered by officers as a back number, and they 
 desired to get a leader more modern. Though Mr. 
 Hess was a good old gentleman, he was a wheezy, 
 stuff ey old man, always with a snuff box in his hand, 
 and almost filthy in appearance. But when he en- 
 listed good musicians were hard to get, and he was 
 very important and would not enlist unless allowed 
 to resign whenever he wished to, and this was granted. 
 
89 
 
 He organized the 1)and at Fort Gil^son. I remember 
 it well; his mitsicians were nearly all amateurs, and it 
 was S(y)me time before his music sounded much better 
 than the howl of a pack of wolves. One day the 
 colonel said to him, "How does your band get along?'' 
 "Oh,'' said he, "dey play hell mit de Chief, and blixon 
 mit Hail Columbia." But the ofificers had a chance to 
 do better and they determined to get rid of him. 
 
 One morning after guard mount the adjutant came 
 to him and asked, "Mr. Hess, what was that last piece 
 of music you played?" The old man expected a com- 
 pliment, and vigorously tapped his snufif box and 
 offered it to the adjutant, and said, "I make him mid 
 out my own head." "Well," replied the adjutant, "Mr. 
 Hess, you go to the quartermaster and get a spade 
 and pickaxe, and take your music, and go out behind 
 the hospital and dig a deep hole and bury it." The 
 old gentleman was taken by surprise and fell into a 
 very wrathy mood and demanded his discharge at 
 once. The adjutant told him to go down to head- 
 quarters and get his discharge; it was all ready for 
 him. "O!" said he, 'T will go and I will go right 
 down mit the river." Poor old man, that was the 
 
90 
 
 last I ever saw of him. It was rather a questionable 
 way of dealing with him. But our band was much 
 improved by the new band leader, Mr. Walters. But 
 he did not stay with us long, for he died of fever at 
 Panama when on our way to California. 
 
 My father fought in the war of 1812, and Sackett's 
 Harbor was familiar ground to him, and on that ac- 
 count the place was of great interest to me. It was 
 now time for us to leave Sackett's Harbor, and so we 
 broke camp and started on our way 
 
 TO CALIFORNIA. 
 
 We first went to Governor's Island, and stayed a 
 few days, and on the fifth of July, 1852, six of our 
 companies got on board the splendid steamer Ohio. 
 We went by the way of Panama, but the other four 
 companies went by the way of Cape Horn, andj did 
 not reach their destination for about six months after. 
 After eleven days out we landed at Aspinwall, on the 
 Isthmus of Panama. We took cars here, eighteen 
 miles to the Shegress River, when the troops crossed 
 •over to a small place called Georgonia, and marched 
 to Panama on the Pacific side. The officers' wives 
 and band, in charge of the quartermaster. Captain 
 
91 
 
 Grant, took small boats and went down the river as 
 far as Cruzes. Here we stayed for the night, and dur- 
 ing the night some of the men were taken with the 
 cholera, and the next morning the quartermaster came 
 to me and said, "The government allows twenty dol- 
 lars to each lady to pay for a mule to cross the isthmus 
 with." Audi he gave me a twenty-dollar gold piece 
 and told me to go and get a mule for my wife to ride, 
 for Panama was twenty-eight miles away. But the 
 mules were all taken up by other passengers before 1 
 got around. I reported to Captain Grant, and he said, 
 then you will have to walk, because the cholera is 
 here, and it is dangerous to remain. Said he, "Your 
 wife cannot go in skirts, you will have to rig her out 
 in male attire; you can use the twenty dollars as you 
 see fit. But drink as little water as possible. You 
 had better get some wine and use instead of water." 
 I told the captain I had a pair of pants my wife could 
 wear, but no coat. Said he, "I have a coat;" and he 
 got one of his own coats, and a cap for her to wear. 
 The pants, of course, were too long, and were rolled 
 up to her knees, and she made such a pretty boy that 
 she attracted the attention of ever}- one, and it amuses 
 me to this day to look back on that picture of forty- 
 
92 
 
 seven years ago, and see myself, a young robust man, 
 and my wife in her white pants and white shirt, blue 
 coat and capi trudging beside me, and to add to her 
 peculiar boyish appearance she wore my sash and 
 sword, and carried a haversack with our edibles, and 
 two bottles of claret wine, for which I paid two dol- 
 lars. 
 
 The Spanish residents would say, when seeing the 
 seemingly pretty boy. "Ista boneto machata." A 
 handsome boy. But upon seeing her earrings they 
 would exclaim, '*No machata, ista boneto signoreta." 
 Not a boy, but a handsome young girl. 
 
 I was afraid my wife could not stand the hardship 
 of the long march; but she stood it well, and it was 
 the very worst time of year to cross the isthmus, for 
 it was in July, the rainy season, and it would come up 
 a rain almost from a clear sky, and pour down in 
 torrents, for five or ten minutes, and then the sun 
 would come out clear and so hot that in a very few 
 minutes it would lick up every bit of moisture, and in 
 a very little while this w^ould be repeated. 
 
 The whole way we wer-e passing through forests, 
 which were alive with the chatter of monkeys and 
 song of birds. The monkeys were swinging from 
 
93 
 
 branch to branch of the trees and the chatter of the 
 parrots were heard on every hand. One strange 
 scene I remember well. We saw in the ditsance a 
 long green line wriggling along the way ; it looked like 
 a mighty serpent, but we soon saw it was too long 
 for a snake and too even in its proportions. Upon 
 nearer inspection we found it was a line of army ants 
 marching and carrying a large green leaf as protection 
 from the sun. At least that seemed to be the purpose 
 from the way each carried the leaf. 
 
 The face of the country was mountainous nearly all 
 of the way, and the mountains were very steep, and 
 the roadway a mere path, traversed for ages by pack 
 mules, and they in traversing the mountains had 
 worn stepping stones and even deep holes in the solid 
 rocks. These holes would fill with water, which we 
 found when stepping in were half way to our knees. 
 
 We made pretty good progress the first day, and 
 when at night we arrived on top of the mountain we 
 found a rough temporary house on each side of the 
 road. They were mere posts in the ground, the sides 
 bamboo poles endwise, thatched roofs and no floor. 
 We chose the inn called the Elephant on the left side 
 
94 
 
 of the road which was about eighty by forty feet in 
 size. 
 
 Hammocks were strung around the sides three or 
 four feet apart. I engaged two for our accommoda- 
 tion ; then before we retired we went down to a creek 
 and took a 'bath with our clothes on, for they needed 
 the water as bad as we did. The water was cool and 
 very refreshing, and did us good. When we got back 
 to the house we found several people who had pre- 
 ceded us. Among them a priest and twelve sist-ers, 
 who were on their way to California. Every one was 
 weary and so retired quite early. As we had no 
 change of clothes we were compelled to sleep in our 
 wet ones. In the night I got cold and thought I 
 would get in the hammock with my wife, and it broke 
 down and the fall hurt me quite severely. In the 
 morning we found the priest had not slept at all ; we 
 asked him why, and he said he did not retire because 
 he was afraid if we all slept we would have our tnroats 
 cut. 
 
 In the morning we got some coffee, cold boiled ham 
 and hard bread, also some yams. The yams are 
 similar to our potatoes, though nuich larger and more 
 mealy and dry. For this I paid one dollar each for 
 
95 
 
 the hammocks, and one dollar each for the food. We 
 started on our second day's march down the moun- 
 tain side, following the mule path, and if we chanced 
 to step in one of the holes the mules had worn in the 
 solid rock we went into the water, often up to the 
 knees, so we were wet all of the time. My wife's 
 feet were blistered, and it was very bad and painful for 
 her the rest of the way. We were also compelled to 
 wade several streams which added to our discomfort. 
 Then on going- down the mountain it was very pre- 
 cipitous, and we were compelled to be very careful, 
 for a misstep and a fall were sure death. 
 
 As we drew near Panama the road improved, and 
 when we got to the city we were not allowed to carry 
 arms through it, and so I handed my sword to the 
 guard. We were scrutinized very closely, and we had 
 not gone far before we met the American consul, who 
 came galloping up at full speed. He stopped short 
 before us, and said, "When you get into the city do 
 not buy a particle of fruit, for the cholera is raging 
 there, and if you eat fruit you will surely get the 
 cholera. Do not stop, but go right down to the dock, 
 and there is a lighter there which will take you out to 
 the "Golden Gate" (the steamer which was to take us 
 
y6 
 
 to San Francisco). She lay in the bay about one mile 
 out. As soon as we got in the city we saw some 
 lovely fruit. My wife bought quite a lot to take on 
 the boat. But in a few moments the consul came to 
 us and said, ''I told you not to get any fruit; now see 
 what you have done." My wife spoke up and said, "I 
 paid my own money for it." The consul was aston- 
 ished and replied saying, "I beg your pardon, madam; 
 I thought you were a boy. But you cannot take the 
 fruit on the boat ; you may, however , keep the oranges 
 and take the juice on rising in the morning, but the 
 rest of the fruit return and get your money back; 
 then go right down and get aboard the lighter and get 
 on board the ship as soon as possible, where you will 
 be safer from the cholera.'' 
 
 We soon went to the lighter, and as the soldiers had 
 come up, there were fifteen or twenty with us. When 
 we got aboard the ship the mate came and helped 
 each one up, and upon seeing my wife exclaimed, 
 "Do you belong with the troops?'' She made no re- 
 ply, and he repeated his question three times. Then 
 she said, 'T am the drum major's wife." "Oh!'' said 
 he, 'T beg your pardon; I thought you were a boy." 
 
97 
 
 . After my wife's heroic feat of making such a long 
 march, she was looked upon with great admiration. 
 
 Cholera broke out on shipboard and we lost a good 
 many men, among them Captain Goar. He was a 
 very brave and fine man, loved and mourned by all 
 who knew him. 
 
 The cholera was of a very malignant type, and 
 very quick in its action. I have seen men arise from 
 the table after a good dinner and say, 'T never felt 
 better in my life," and almost instantly be taken with 
 cramps and die in a few moments. I have seen six 
 or eight bodies lying side by side ready to be disposed 
 of. They were of course thrown into the sea, and it 
 seemed terrible to think perhaps you might be the 
 next to become food for the fishes; and the situation 
 was made more terrible for me as I might have to 
 consign my wife to such a fate or suffer it myself and 
 leave her alone. 
 
 The sea burial was performed in this way: There 
 was a weight tied to the feet and a sack sewed around 
 the corpse and it placed upon a plank, one end of 
 which was pushed over the bulwarks, and the other 
 end elevated until the corpse slid into the sea. When 
 rhe ship is moving the engines cease moving, the bell 
 
98 
 
 tolls until the last body disappears; then the ship 
 moves on again. 
 
 There were so many sick on shipboard, the doctor 
 ordered the troops put on shore on an island called 
 Tomingo; our tents and the loose baggage was 
 thrown overboard at the same time. After they got 
 on land there were no more cases of cholera, but the 
 troops were dieted on boiled rice or rice soup and 
 coffee. They made no complaint, as they knew it was 
 best. The officers remained on shipboard, and after 
 a stop of two weeks we resumed our course. • 
 
 While my wife and I did not stay on the island, we 
 went ashore to look around, and we gathered some of 
 the most beautiful sea shells I ever saw. We brought 
 a great many with us when we came home. It was 
 here in the Bay of Panama that I first saw a whale. 
 It was a great pleasure to watch them, in schools, 
 sporting and playing like a lot of children. They were 
 not very large; from fifteen to twenty feet long, but 
 large enough to throw water full twenty feet in the 
 air when spouting. 
 
 Before we got on shore we lost two of our band, 
 Mr. Herman and George Rogers, the drummer. Mr. 
 Rogers was taken sick early in the morning, and the 
 
99 
 
 doctor, worn out, was not up yet, and I did not want 
 to wake him, but after doing all we could for Mr. 
 Rogers we saw we must call the doctor. But it was 
 no use, the poor fellow passed away in one hour. 
 
 This was on the 15th of August, 1852. 
 
 As soon as the cholera had been stamped out and 
 the ship cleaned, we started on our way again, and 
 there were many amusing scenes on shipboard, of 
 which I will narrate one of them. Every morning the 
 ship had to be cleaned, and through this operation 
 the troops were ordered kept below and a guard 
 stationed at the gangways, with strict orders to let 
 no one pass either way, up or down. 
 
 Some men when on guard love to show their 
 authority, and such men will be given all of the op- 
 portunity they desire. Sometimes a person who knew 
 nothing of the orders would try to go on deck when 
 he would be stopped and a conversation something 
 like this would take place: "Halt, you can't come up 
 here/' '*But I must, I have left.'' "I tell you you 
 can't come up here." "But I want to get a drink of 
 water." '*I don't care what you want, I say." ''But 
 I will come up," with some vexation. "Get down, I 
 say, Michael, or I will prod you with my bayonet." 
 
lOO 
 
 This settled it, for of course no one wanted two or 
 three inches of cold steel shoved under his skin. But 
 others would be amused at the earnestness of the 
 guard in showing liis authority, and would repeat the 
 attempt to get up stairs, to give the poor fellow a 
 chance to show his authority, as the Irishman said 
 when his wife whipped him, and he went out and 
 whipped his pig. and when asked why he did it said, 
 ^It is to show me authority." 
 
 The first place we stopped at was Acapulaco, a place 
 in Mexico on the Pacific Ocean, about half way be- 
 tween Panama and San Francisco; it is neafly under 
 the equator, and of course very warm. I have been 
 there twice, and each time the thermometer registered 
 one hundred and fifteen to one hundred and twenty 
 degrees in the shade. The natives take to the water 
 like ducks and hundreds of both sexes may be seen 
 in bathing together, and their bathing suits was only 
 that which nature gave them. But such swimmers 
 the people of the northern clime never saw. The 
 people would throw bright coins into the w^ater to see 
 the natives dive for them. They would get the coin 
 1:>efore it had gone three feet under water. 
 
lOI 
 
 At these places the ship would take on cattle, sheep, 
 hogs, chickens and coal. The natives would bring 
 the coal in sacks, on their heads, from scows anchored 
 alongside the ship. The way cattle and live stock 
 was brought on board was by placing a sling or flat 
 straps around the body of the animal and hoisting 
 them with tackle, by hand or steam. This is cruel; 
 it sometimes drives the breath out of an animal, and 
 then it is quite a task to bring them to. Often the 
 horns of the cattle are knocked ofif, and the whole 
 process seems a barbarous, cruel method of handling 
 the poor creatures. 
 
 We also took on a good deal of fruit at Acapulaco, 
 and it was the finest fruit I ever saw. The pineapples 
 were immense in size, from five to six pounds each; 
 they were so sweet and juicy tliey would seem to melt 
 in your month. 
 
 The next place we stopped was at Santiago, and 
 then we continued on our course to San Francisco. 
 I will never forget 
 
I02 
 
 AN AMUSING STORY 
 
 I heard on board the boat. I do not know how true 
 it Avas, but it was told as a truth. Of course, to while 
 the tedious hours while on voyage like this, many 
 funny stories are told, and as ours was a military 
 party the stories told were often concerning the ex- 
 perience of military or naval offtcers. 
 
 Lieut. L. related a story of the experience of one 
 of his classmates of West Point. 
 
 It is a well known fact that the boys of West Point 
 as well as college students love to perpetrate practical 
 jokes. This friend of Lieut. L, became a middy on 
 board of one of Uncle Sam's gunboats. I don't re- 
 member the name; but one day there came a gawky 
 looking fellow assigned to his ship. This fellow be- 
 gan asking all manner of questions, and the middy 
 determined to perpetrate a joke on him that would 
 put a stop to it. So he said to the gawky, ''You are 
 evidently not aware we are all Masons on board this 
 boat, and if you are not a Mason it will be very un- 
 pleasant for you." The young man became very 
 anxious and asked the middy how it was possible for 
 him to become a Mason. "Now,-' said the middy, "I 
 
103 
 
 will give you the signs; no one will know Dat what 
 you are a Mason- of long standing." *'You should 
 ask all questions of the captain. The next time you 
 wish to know anything go to the captain and ask 
 him, and when he answers you give him the first sign 
 of Masonry by placing the thumb of your left hand to 
 your nose, with the fingers spread apart, the little 
 finger upward. The captain may seem to be very 
 angry, but do not mind that; he is trying you to see if 
 you are a good Mason; so you may then put the 
 thumb of your right hnad to the little finger of the 
 left hand, with the fingers extended at the same angle. 
 He will now seem very angry and order you in irons 
 and put you in the black hole. Never mind that ; give 
 him the third sign which is to place your fingers to 
 the corners of your mouth and stretch it as wide as 
 possible. After he has taken you from the black hole 
 he will be your best friend.'' 
 
 This ridiculous performance was gone through with 
 to the letter, and after the poor fellow had suffered 
 in the black hole a couple of days the middy went to 
 the captain and told his story, and stated he was to 
 blame, and what he did it for. Said the captain, 
 ''Never do such a thing on board my ship again." 
 
I04 
 
 But he ordered the poor fellow released, and it ac- 
 tually did seemingly bring- a more kindly feeling and 
 condescension all around. 
 
 We got to San Francisco the last of August, 1852, 
 but did not land, but remained in the bay a day, and 
 then went to Benicia, a few miles from there, where 
 we went on shore, and pitched a new lot of tents the 
 government had furnished us for the ones we threw 
 overboard. This was a lovely place for a camp, and 
 ^yas elevated on a high hill in a field of wild oats. 
 But unfortunatly the place, as is nearly all California, 
 w^as alive with flees. We were supplied w^ith a quan- 
 tity of Russian insect powder, which seemed to stupify 
 the fleas and we could get some sleep. We were 
 compelled to subsist on government rations, largely, 
 as everything was so very high. Even potatoes were 
 eighteen cents a pound, onions seventeen cents, butter 
 one dollar a pound, and eggs one dollar per dozen, 
 and everything else in proportion. Both male and 
 female help w^as very high; a man could get five 
 dollars per day doing any kind of work. The price 
 of laundry work w^as three dollars per dozen. I once 
 saw a washwoman at Benicia who had made sixty 
 thousand dollars wasiiin"-. 
 
Our six companies stayed here but a few weeks, 
 and then took ship for Fort Vancouver, Washington 
 Territory. We arrived there in September, and two 
 companies with the band relieved the First Artillery. 
 The quarters were built of logs, but were very com- 
 fortable. J\Iy quarters were in the rear of the band 
 room, and was covered with heavy canvas and was 
 tixed up very nicely. 
 
 A short time after we came here I became 
 
 A STOCK RAISER. 
 
 For this I must thank the late General Grant. As I 
 have said, he was our quartermaster, and was raising 
 stock himself. He came to me one day and said, 'T 
 have a fine sow about to give birth to a litter of pigs; 
 you have a great deal of slops from the band mess 
 room, and instead of throwing it away to rot and 
 create disease, feed it to the sow and you may have 
 the pigs." I thanked him and took the sow under 
 my care, and soon had as fine a lot of little pigs as 
 a stock raiser could wish for. All did well, and in a 
 short time I sold those pigs to a farmer, near, for 
 the enormous sum of forty dollars apiece. This was 
 
io6 
 
 the first money I saved from fifteen years of govern- 
 ment service. Tiianks to my old friend, Captain 
 Grant. 
 
 The farmer who bought the pigs had been a soldier; 
 his name was Kane; his time of service having ex- 
 pired, he was sharp enough to see what could be 
 done there at farming and stock raising and so en- 
 gaged in it. 
 
 Captain Grant was a frequent visitor at my quarters. 
 Nearly every day he went his rounds of inspection, 
 and would ride up and knock at the door with his 
 riding whip and pass the time of day, and then dash 
 away at full speed. 
 
 AN OCCASIONAL EPISODE 
 
 of army life in those days, was not unlike some of 
 those of the present time, though not to be com- 
 mended, but rather tO' show how foolish man can be, 
 I will relate a little incident of our army life at this 
 post. 
 
 When the troops we relieved were about to depart, 
 the officers gave a reception, and as is usual on such 
 occasions tobacco and wine circulated pretty freely. 
 
On this occasion everybody got full, I with the rest. 
 The whole band included. As would naturally be 
 the case, conversation drifted to the merits of the 
 armies of the world. We had in the band an Eng- 
 lishman, a very good-natured fellow by the name of 
 Young, and as would be perfectly natural, Mr. Young 
 defended the merits of the English Army. But I 
 could not stand it to hear a man in the pay of Uncle 
 Sam talk in favor of the army of another country, and 
 I lost my head, that is, what was not already lost in 
 a muddled state on account of the liquor. I insisted 
 he should take it back or go and fight it out. But he 
 declined to do either, as I was an officer and could 
 have him arrested for striking an officer, but I told 
 him I would lay rank aside. He finally consented, 
 and after showing me he could handle me helped me 
 home, and of course we wxre just as good friends 
 after the liquor was gone as before. But it goes to 
 show that by force of circumstances it comes as easy, 
 once in a| while, for a soldier to raise h — 1 as it is to 
 raise pigs. 
 
 While we were here we built a theater. As before 
 -stated, we had excellent dramatic talent, and while 
 fhere we formed a Thespian society, of which I and my 
 
io8 
 
 wife were members. Our troop did not confine 
 themselves to dramas and farces alone, but played a 
 number of Shakesperian pieces, such: as Hamlet, 
 Richard the Third, Macbeth, Othello and others ; also 
 Douglass, The War Lock of the Glen, Lady of Lyons, 
 Golden Farmer, Robert McCair and many others. 
 
 HOW I BECAME A CIRCUS MAN. 
 
 While here I got a furlough for myself and four of 
 the band to go out with a circus, through a part of 
 Oregon. The owner's name was Cadwell. I w^as to 
 receive ten dollars per day and each of the men five 
 dollars per day and expenses. It was a pretty good 
 outfit, but destined to misfortune. 
 
 There is a man in Detroit, a well known musician 
 here, whose name is Frees. Mr. Frees was a member 
 of the band, and requested to be one of the number. 
 He said he did not care so much for the money as to 
 see the country. Well, w^e will hear from Mr. Frees 
 about the country as we go further on. 
 
 We first went to Portland, Oregon. It was at this 
 time a very small place of not more than five hundred 
 inhabitants. Before reaching Portland we had to 
 
I09 
 
 cross the Columbia River. This river is over a mile 
 in width, and the water is deep enough for large 
 steamers, and the river was alive with salmon. 
 
 After crossing the river we traveled a strip of land 
 three miles wade, and then reached the Willamette 
 River, not as large a stream as the Columbia River. 
 On the opposite side of this river stands Portland. At 
 this point the two streams form an isthmus, but in- 
 creases in width below. 
 
 We made our first stand in Portland, and went from 
 there to Oregon City. From Oregon City the band 
 and clown took a small steamer to a little town we 
 nicknamed Graball, because of the high prices 
 charged for everything. I do not remember its real 
 name. The boat we were on was called the Shole- 
 water. This was its first trip. We had gone but a 
 few miles when the boiler head blew off and the hot 
 steam and mud flew in every direction. The band 
 was playing on deck at the time. But the steam blew 
 so much harder than we did, the music stopped very 
 quick. Mr. Frees threw down his instrument, and 
 crying, "My poor wife, what will she do?" and was 
 about to spring overboard when I caught him ; other- 
 wise he would have found a watery grave. 
 
no 
 
 No one was hurt by the explosion, but quite a num- 
 ber were thrown into the water. One of the people 
 blown into the water was a Hebrew, who had his wife 
 and children with him, and his first words after being 
 fished out of the water, was not to inquire for his wife 
 and children, but was, "Oh ! mine Got, mine Got, my 
 hundred and fifty tolar gold watch ish ruined, it ish 
 spoilt/' 
 
 Well, we had a time before we got to town. We 
 were billed to play that night, and had ten miles to 
 walk over the worst road you ever saw. We followed 
 a road which took us away from the river. But the 
 pesky road run out, and I had to guide my party by 
 instinct, for I had no other means. But again we 
 came to the river, and I saw a boat on the other side, 
 and signaled to the boatman, who took us over. We 
 finally arrived, but too late, and did not play that 
 night. But the next day and night we played to good 
 houses. But a very funny episode took place here. 
 Of course the country was new and everything scarce, 
 and the hotels were of a very crude order. 
 
 The professional name of our clown was Mariiman. 
 Whether it was his real name or not I do not know. 
 But in the morning the landlord startled everybody 
 
Ill 
 
 by calling loudly, "Mr. Mariman, Mr. Mariman, get 
 up, please; I want your sheet for a tablecloth." We 
 had to walk most of the time when going from place 
 to place, because the roads were so bad. There is so 
 much rain in this country that the people of California 
 declared that Oregon people were web footed. At 
 any rate, the country was flooded, and the sun dried 
 a crust very quickly, and you would step on appa- 
 rently dry ground, only to break through into deep 
 mud and water. This kept Mr. Frees continually 
 damning the country, and I would retort by saying, 
 "Mr. Frees, I thought you wished to see the country." 
 This would bring a look from him of horror, dis- 
 gust and anger. These terrible roads caused many 
 delays, and also prevented the people from coming 
 long distances to see the show, and for this reason the 
 circus was compelled to break up. Had the manager 
 waited until after the wet season was over it would 
 have been a great success. We stopped upon the 
 open prairie, on high ground, not a building in sight, 
 and yet the people came from all directions and filled 
 our tent to its greatest capacity. We stopped at every 
 town until we reached Marysville, when we started on 
 
112 
 
 our return trip to Fort Vancouver, and right glad we 
 were to get there. 
 
 I LEAVE THE UNITED STATES ARMY. 
 
 The following December, 1853, I received my dis- 
 charge, dated from January i6th, 1854, the date of ex- 
 piration of fifteen years continuous service in the 
 Imited States Army. This was the hardest trial to 
 me I had ever been called upon to endure. The army 
 had been my home so long, it was like tearing out my 
 very heart strings to leavd it. But for my wife's sake 
 I must leave. She had left her mother at the age of 
 sixteen, and she was anxious to get back to see her, 
 and of course it was a pleasure to grant her that priv- 
 ilege. But I must go somewhere to make some 
 money to get home with and have enough left to do 
 business with. 
 
 Our leave taking with our friends in the army was 
 an afifecting scene. Both officers and men vied with 
 each other in their attempts to do us honor and make 
 the occasion as pleasant as possible. 
 
 The adjutant is the secretary of a regiment, and all 
 orders or sentiment of the colonel and regiment are 
 
113 
 
 expressed throug'h him, arid here are the sentiments, 
 still legible, though faint, on the letter I received from 
 the adjutant: 
 
 "Headquarters Fourth United States Infantry, Ad- 
 jutant's Office, Fort Vancouver, W. T., Dec. 27th, 
 1853. — Sergeant, as you are about to receive your dis- 
 charge from the United States service, I take pleasure 
 in testifying to the very commendable and praisewor- 
 thy manner in which you have conducted! yourself 
 during the time you have been connected with the 
 Fourth Infantry. During the seven years I have 
 known you, I have found you always attentive to your 
 duties, and as a soldier you enjoy the confidence of 
 every officer with whom you have served, and your 
 meritorious conduct in the battles of Mexico will not 
 seen be forgotten by them. Should you commence 
 business in civil life I offer you my best wishes for 
 3^our success, and should you feel inclined to eater 
 again in the military service I can assure you that the 
 officers of the regiment will take pleasure in having 
 you appointed to the post in non-commissioned staff 
 which you now occupy, Ver}^ respectfully, Thos. R. 
 McConnell, Adjutant." 
 
114 
 
 On the 28th of December my wife and I took a 
 small boat and went down the Columbia River to the 
 mouth of the Willamette Riiver, and thence to Port- 
 land, where we took the steamer Fremont for San 
 FranciscO'. After a rough passage we were landed at 
 the dock of the Golden City. We registered gt the 
 Crescent City Hotel. It seemed very strange to pay 
 for all we got, after being with Uncle Sam so long 
 and having everything furnished for us. I had to pay 
 thirty-two dollars a week for board. It was pretty 
 high, but some places board was much higher. The 
 first job I got was on the 226. of February. I played 
 for the Shields Guard, a cavalry company. I had a 
 horse and uniform furnished me, and twenty-five dol- 
 lars for one hour. After that I joined the American 
 Brass Band. I did very well at this for some time, but I 
 left the hotel and rented rooms. After this I opened 
 a cigar store on Montgomery street. I paid $75 
 a month for a small space in a restaurant. The 
 place I occupied was eight feet by six. I did well 
 here until I got something better. At this time lot- 
 tery and gambling was allowed. A company by the 
 name of Smith, Gaylord & Co. had gotten up a lot- 
 tery for $100,000; $10,000 in gold as the chief prize. 
 
Mr. Gaylord came to see me and' he wanted me to sell 
 tickets for him. He told me I could make more in 
 one day selling tickets than I could make in a week 
 selling cigars. He said I could rent a room, aad he 
 would allow me a commission of twenty-five per cent. 
 He gave me a gold watch as a sample. There were 
 two hundred of them, and he would allow me a com- 
 mission of twenty-five per cent, so I accepted his 
 offer and sold out my stock of tobacco and got a 
 store on Kearney street and Commercial street 
 for five dollars a day. I did the best business at 
 night. I was green at the business for a few days. I 
 improved as I went along. I got a boy to ring a bell 
 for three hours each night, and gave him five dollars 
 for his services. He would stand in front of the office 
 and ring the bell to draw the crowd. I never k new- 
 how to make money until I went into business. I 
 thought it was a bad day if I did not make fifty dol- 
 lars. Sometimes I would sell four or five hundred 
 tickets ai day. The tickets were one dollar apiece. I 
 have often disposed of fifty to one man. I would 
 close up at eleven o'clock at night, and put the money 
 in my handkerchief and take it home, and we would 
 count it up, and put the gold in separate piles and 
 
IID 
 
 silver dollars, halves and quarters. I would lake to 
 the gambliing houses in the morning and get one per 
 cent premium for it. You must know there was no 
 paper money in those days, for this was the golden 
 period of California. The first prize, ten thousand 
 dollars, was drawn by a small boy who took two 
 tickets, one for his sister in New York, and he kept 
 one for himself. The one he had won first prize. He 
 was a poor boy who had worked' his passage to Cali- 
 fornia. He was employed in a store as chore boy. 
 The money was deposited in Palmer, Cook & Co.'s 
 bank, and it was all in fifty dollar slugs, as we called 
 them. He was given a certificate of deposit by the 
 committee, and they went down with the boy and 
 took it out of the bank. The drawing took place July 
 4th, 1854. This came on Monday, and the Saturday 
 before I sold eight hundred tickets. All stores and 
 public places were closed on Sunday. On Saturday 
 preceding the drawing a man came to me and gave 
 me his card and asked me to call on him at his store, 
 151 Commerce street. I told him I would. I called 
 on him Monday morning. He had a large jewelry 
 store, and he had a lottery also. He asked me if I 
 would come to his store and sell tickets for him. I 
 
TAKEN AT SAN FRANCISCO, CAL., 1854 (FROM AN 
 AMBROTYPE). 
 
117 
 
 told him I would, and he told me he would give me 
 fifteen per cent and I could have a place at his coun- 
 ter. I said that would do, so I went at it. There 
 were three others beside myself selling tickets. But I 
 sold more than all the rest together. My employer's 
 name was Robert Mayers. He was an Englishman, 
 and as nice a man as I have ever met. He wanted 
 me to come and live in one of his houses, of which he 
 had. six on Stockton and Lombard streets. 
 
 But soon after this the State! put a stop to the lot- 
 tery business and left me without an occupation, and 
 I joined a band and we got an engagement to play on 
 a steamboat called Defender, Captain Brown, of New 
 York. She was running in opposition to the old 
 Combine. She ran from San Francisco to Sacra- 
 mento. We would leave San Francisco in the after- 
 noon at five o'clock and get to Sacramento in the 
 morning. The old line charged ten dollars each way. 
 Our boat charged firty cents. This caused much bit- 
 terness, and they would fire at us every time we would 
 come together, but no one was hurt. After a while 
 the boat went on the drydock, and my occupation was 
 gone so far as the boat was concerned. 
 
ii8 
 
 After this my wife and I took the road with the 
 Ferry Minstrels, a good company. We gave enter- 
 tainments in all of the principal towns in the state. 
 We crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains on horse- 
 back; the distance from Chasta to Weaverville is 
 forty miles; we made it in one day, and played that 
 night. It must have been hard for the girls who had 
 to dance, for it made me so lame I did not get over 
 it for some time. A young lady by the name of Carrie 
 Finn, who was a member of the troop, was riding in 
 company with my wife, and as they were going down 
 the mountain, it was pretty steep, and just at the foot 
 of the mountain was a small stream of water, and they 
 were going very fast; as Miss Finn's horse came to 
 the water it stopped so sudden it sent her on the 
 other side. She left her seat as nice as you please, and 
 sat down on the opposite bank and without injury. 
 
 HOW I BECAME A GOLD MINER. 
 
 We arrived at Weaverville about five o'clock in the 
 afternoon, and Sunday morning I took a stroll around 
 to see some of the mines. It being Sunday all the 
 mines were closed. I came to a place where they 
 
119 
 
 had been digging for gold. I could get no spade, as 
 they were all packed away, so I went to dig with my 
 hand. I did not work but a moment till I felt some- 
 thing hard; this was in the sand. When I came to 
 examine what it was I found I had dug a piece of 
 pure gold; the piece was quite small, but now I could 
 say I had dug gold. 
 
 I went through thirty or forty mining towns w^hile 
 I was traveling with the troop; gold was plenty at 
 this time. When coin was not obtainable the land- 
 lords would take a pinch of gold dust, with the thumb 
 and first finger, for a drink. A person Avith a large 
 hand could take dust enough to make a ten dollar 
 piece. Most everybody had nuggets or dust. People 
 were known to have gone in the mountains and in 
 crevices of the rocks cut large nuggets out, some of 
 which would be worth hundreds and some thousands 
 of dollars. 
 
 California is a lovely country, but subject to earth- 
 quakes, and I think in time San Francisco will go 
 down. It has all the appearance of it. The Bay of 
 San Francisco was formed by some volcanic erup- 
 tion. To just look at the high hills and immense 
 
I20 
 
 quantity of rocks thrown up hundreds of feet, all go 
 to show what nature has done to bring it about. 
 
 After my season expired with this troop we re- 
 turned to our old home on Stockton street, where we 
 stayed until we got ready to go east. 
 
 It was customary when the mail steamer comes 
 through the Golden Gate to fire a cannon as a signal 
 that the mail is coming. Immediately after this there 
 is a rush for the postoffice. I have been in line in 
 single file when the line would extend all of two 
 blocks. We would only get news once in two weeks, 
 and I tell you it would make a man feel good to get 
 a letter from the east. 
 
 One morning about three o'clock we were wakened 
 by a terrible noise, as loud as a hundred cannon at 
 once; just before that we experienced a great shake 
 up. It nearly shook us out of bed. All of the bells 
 rang, the clocks stopped, and there was a general 
 shaking up. My wife did not know what it was, but 
 I did, but did not tell her so. The next morning 
 she read an account of a great earthquake that did 
 much damage. At one of the hotels, the Rezet House, 
 men were seen coming out of rooms not their own 
 and women the same, so excited was evervbodv. The 
 
121 
 
 Rezet House at that time was seven stories high, and 
 of course got the heaviest shaking up. It frightened 
 my v^ife very much ; she had seen death on every hand, 
 where they were dying with cholera, and it did not 
 frighten her. But the earthquake was too much for 
 her. She was now more anxious to see her mother 
 than ever. 
 
 TERRIBLE TIMES IN CALIFORNIA. 
 
 At this time no person was safe on the street; there 
 were so many murders committed every day, and if 
 the man who committed it had money he would get 
 ofif. One night General Richardson, United States 
 Marshal, and his wife were at the Metropolitan Theater, 
 and a man by the name of Charles Corry was sitting 
 immediately in front of the marshal; he kept looking 
 over at a woman in the rear of the general, a woman 
 of bad repute, and an associate of Corry's; she 
 kept up the flirtation with Corry all the time, but Gen. 
 Richardson did not look back, and he supposed Corry 
 was laughing at his wife. After the first act they both 
 went in the hall; they had some words, and the gen- 
 
122 
 
 eral pulled Corry's nose, but Gen. Richardson's 
 friends separated them. 
 
 The next night they met on some street and Corry 
 took the General by his arm as if to apologize, and 
 when he got him where he wanted him he stabbed 
 him to the heart. Richardson died in a few moments. 
 But not until he had told who killed him. Corry was 
 arrested and imprisoned, but the woman said she had 
 sixty thousand dollars to spend in his defence and this 
 in such a place would free him. The next day another 
 murder took place in the day time. James King, of 
 William, the editor of an evening paper called the 
 "Evening Bulletin;" he had said something in^ his 
 paper the evening before that reflected on the char- 
 acter of a man by the name of James P. Casey, who 
 was also an editor of a small paper, and as James 
 King, of Williams, was crossing the street, Casey met 
 liim and shot him dead. The editor James King, of 
 Williams, was well liked by all good citizens, as he 
 was doing all he could for reform. There were so 
 many murders and crimes took place no one was safe, 
 especially if it was known a person had money. One 
 day I thought I would put my money in the bank. I 
 had one thousand dollars, and I deposited it in Palmer 
 
& Co.'s bank. But a few days after they closed their 
 doors. But three weeks after they opened again and 
 I got my money out again. After that I was at a loss 
 to know what to do with it. We had a bag of potatoes 
 in the kitchen, and I thought this would be a very 
 good place to hide my gold. In a few days my wife 
 was cleaning house and emptied the contents of the 
 bag out on the commons, near the house, and thought 
 no more about it until night ; then it came to her mind 
 that she had thrown the money out with the contents 
 of the sack of potatoes. The money consisted of fifty- 
 dollar gold pieces ; they were put in a buckskin bag 
 just large enough to put one on each other, as close 
 as they could be stowed away. As soon as she discov- 
 ered her loss she told Mrs. Caleb, a lady who we were 
 staying with, what she had done. Mrs. Caleb told her 
 to go and look for it. She said ''no, it is gone, I saw 
 some rag-pickers with their sticks taking the rags out, 
 and they have taken it away." ''Well," said she, "if 
 you don't go and look for it, I will." She did go and 
 found it. Wasn't my wife glad. "Now," said she to 
 my wife, "don't tell your husband about it; if you do 
 he will be telling you about it all the time." She 
 never mentioned it until we came to Detroit the sec- 
 
124 
 
 ond time in 1857. We were talking together one 
 night when she told me the story. 
 
 At the time of this great epidemic of crime in Cali- 
 fornia, the best citizens formed a vigilant committee 
 to subdue the tough element, who were a lot of cut- 
 throats and robbers. 
 
 In a few days they had eight thousand men enrolled, 
 a great many of whom had been in the army. Besides 
 the military companies the firemen in the city joined 
 the vigilants. They were well armed and meant busi- 
 ness. 
 
 They formed on Montgomery street and went to 
 tlie jail; they surrounded the jail, having two batteries 
 of artillery with pieces all loaded with ball; they then 
 demanded the two prisoners, James P. Casey and 
 Charles Corry, the two murderers of James King, of 
 William, and the United vStates Marshall, Gen. Rich- 
 ardson; the officials of the jail delivered them to the 
 committee without any resistance; they were taken 
 away in a close carriage. 
 
 They were tried at once and sentenced to be hung. 
 The signal was to hang them when the funeral 
 procession passed Commercial and Kerney streets. 
 I was playing in the procession that day, and when 
 
125 
 
 we got to Commercial street we looked down and 
 we could see them suspended from the windows of 
 the fort. After this I saw Hetrington and Brace hungf 
 by the same body of men. There were fifty men, 
 composed of some of the most respectable citizens of 
 the city, who were chosen as executive committee. If 
 they wanted any person they would give the order 
 for their arrest, and it would be done, and when the 
 bell rang, that was the signal for them to assemble. 
 This made the evildoers tremble whenever that bell 
 rang. But only murderers were hung; other criminals 
 were sent out of the city. They sent some to New 
 York and others out of the country; they took the 
 sheriff of the county, and sent him together with sev- 
 eral more of the same sort out of the city. 
 
 The sheriff's name was Scanlen. Jim Turner and 
 Charlie Duan, chief of the fire department, and Yan- 
 kee Sullivan, the pugilist. They put Sullivan in Fort 
 Vigilance, and he cut one of his veins in his arm and 
 bled to death. After this everything was quiet. If 
 there were any other bad characters, they kept quiet. 
 
126 
 
 WE LEAVE CALIFORNIA. 
 
 It was now getting late in the fall and my wife was 
 getting very anxious to see home. We took the next 
 steamer and started for Panama. We had Christmas 
 on the Pacific Ocean and New Year's on the Atlantic 
 Ocean. 
 
 When we got to Panama, we did not walk this time ; 
 they had finished the railroad to Aspinwall, on the 
 Atlantic side. At Aspinwall we found the steamer 
 George Law ready to sail the next day. So we went 
 on board of her and started for New York. It was 
 very rough on the Gulf of Tewantepic, but we arrived 
 in New York at night. The very next trip the George 
 Law made she went down in a gale. All of her pas- 
 sengers and crew, consisting of seven hundred and 
 fifty souls, went down on her, not one of whom were 
 saved. 
 
 We stayed in New York a few days, and went to 
 Syracuse, where I had a relation. We stopped with 
 one of my brothers' who kept the Salt Springs Hotel, 
 for two weeks after. Then we came to Detroit for 
 the second time^ where I have been ever since. 
 
127 
 
 I BECAME A MEMBER OF THE DETROIT 
 LIGHT GUARDS. 
 
 Shortly after coming to Detroit I turned out with 
 the Detroit Light Guard on the Fourth of July as 
 drum major, in 1857. A few days after this I joined 
 that organization, and was with them as musician and" 
 armorer for thirty-three years, and am now a veteran 
 member of that corps. Some of the most pleasant 
 times I ever had were with the Detroit Light Guards. 
 At that time the company got nothing from the State. 
 They had to pay for all they got; uniforms and all 
 would have to be paid for by the company. I found 
 the men to be all gentlemen of wealth and prominence, 
 who had joined the company just for the pleasure 
 they would derive by being a soldier, and they all 
 proved worthy the name. I will name a few of the 
 most prominent men who were in the company at that 
 time: Gen. A. S. Williams, Capt. T. W. Palmer, Al- 
 fred Russell, C. A. T, Trowbridge, E. D. Trowbridge, 
 Oliver Goldsmith, Merick Penny, G. W. Thayer, Je- 
 rome Croul, James Pittman, Mart Smith, W. D. Wil- 
 kins and W. C. Mabury. I only mention some of 
 the most wealthy and influential men just to show 
 
128 
 
 what class of men the Detroit Light Guards were 
 composed of. Most all of the men had shields with 
 their number, in gold or silver, put on the stock of 
 their muskets. They| were owned by the company, 
 and not the State. I knew every number so well that 
 I could pick a man's gun out of the rack in the dark. 
 The stocks were varnished, the locks and screws 
 blued, with burnished barrels. I did it all myself. 
 After the first battle of Bull Run they were turned over 
 to the Ordnance Department at Washington, with a 
 lot of tents the company had of their own. 
 
 The first time I went with the Detroit Light Guard 
 was in November, 1857, when they went to Milwau- 
 kee to visit the Light Guard of that city. We had a 
 good time and they gave us a fine reception and a 
 ball. They took the Light Guard Band with them, 
 and I was the drum major. We went by boat from 
 Grand Haven, and the company met us at the dock 
 and took us up to the city. The next day it snowed 
 all day, but we marched through slush and mud all 
 over the city. Gen. A. S. Williams was Captain of 
 the company then, and James Pittman was First Lieu- 
 tenant. We had a good band. Henry Kern was 
 the leader, and we were highly complimented for our 
 fine music. We left there on the 14th of November 
 on our return trip. It was blowing a perfect hurri- 
 
129 
 
 cane when we left Milwaukee, and the boat we went 
 aboard of was an old tub of a thing — a side-wheeler. 
 It put one in mind of some of the boats on the Ohio 
 River. It was very rough when we got out. I didn't 
 think we would ever see Detroit again. John Merrill 
 got very frightened, and he went up to the captain at 
 the pilot house, scudding under bare poles, with his 
 big 'bear skin shako on his head, and prayed the cap- 
 tain to return. But he could not prevail on him to 
 return. The captain told him that his boat never 
 went back. It was amusing to see Johnny in such a 
 rig on such a cold night. When we got to Grand 
 Haven, the next morning, the ice was so thick that 
 we had a hard time to get to the dock. We got on 
 the cars about 8 o'clock, and stopped at Grand Rap- 
 ids and stayed over night and came home the next 
 morning. When we got to the depot, Gen. Williams 
 turned the command of the company over to Lieut. 
 Pittman and took a hack to his home. After we went 
 to the armory — it was Sunday, and the anniversary of 
 the organization — we were marched to our quarters. 
 Lieut. Pittman said a few words to the men, and then 
 said: "I propose three silent cheers for wives and 
 sweethearts,'^ and they were given in a low breath. I 
 went with the company wherever they went, and at- 
 tended all the encampments with them. I remember 
 
I30 
 
 when we went to Whitmore Lake, a few miles from 
 Ann Arbor. We boarded at a hotel. One day at 
 dinner the waiters cme around to the men and told 
 them what kind of a desert they had. They said ap- 
 ple pie, mince pie, huckleberry pie, and the like. Mr. 
 Kern, one of the band, said he would take "liookle- 
 boy" pie. You should have heard the roar that went 
 up from the boys — "Hookleboy," "Hookleboy pie" — 
 they had it all over the camp. The last word at night 
 and the first word spoken in the morning was "hookle- 
 boy, hookleboy." Mr. Kern said to me, "Mr. Elder- 
 kin, if they don't stop saying 'hookleboy' to me, I will 
 take my instrument and go home." Now, almost 
 every person knew Mr. Kern. He was a large man, 
 weighing three hundred and seventy-five pounds, a 
 good, honest, outspoken man, and a fine musician. 
 He is the one President Lincoln said 'Svas 
 the biggest blower in the service." I told 
 the men how sensitive he was, and told them to 
 be a little careful and not plague him so much. For 
 a time it was stopped, and then broke out again as bad 
 as ever. Then something new came up to attract 
 their attention. 
 
131 
 
 Corporal Brenan' got on a bender, and when we 
 were all in camp there he took off all of his clothes 
 but his shirt, and got on a horse and rode it all over 
 the town, and up to the hotel. The guard was sent for 
 and he was put in the guard house. He declared he 
 was "Mazeppa." 
 
 When I first joined the company the armory stood 
 where Edson & Moore's store now stands, and where 
 the old Post and Tribune building stood. Dr. Scho- 
 field had his ofifice in the building. 
 
 After I became leader of the Detroit Light Guard 
 Band we played once a week at West Grand Circus 
 Park, and the citizens living convenient to the park 
 clubbed in and paid us for our services. Gov. Bag- 
 ley would send out the cigars and lemonade to us 
 whenever we played. Large crowds would be there 
 at every concert. Little Fred Eberts, a little tot about 
 eight years old, son of Comrade F. H. Eberts of this 
 city, would always be there. He was quite a musi- 
 cian himself. He would go on the stand and I would 
 let him take the drum and play a selection with us. 
 He would want me to play "Sally Waters." It seemed 
 to be his favorite, for he would ask for it. But I did 
 not have that piece, so he would say, "Well, play 
 
132 
 
 'Yankee Doodle.' " That was the next to "Sally Wa- 
 ters" for him. He would come down to the armory 
 almost every day and try to find a cap or coat that 
 would fit him. There was at that time a suit of 
 clothes made for Larnard Williams, son of the late 
 Gen. Williams. Larney was a marker. He had out- 
 grown the uniform, and of course it was no use to 
 anyone. Fred was there one day and I showed it to 
 him and told him he could have it. He was tickled 
 -almost to death. He took his uniform home, and Mrs. 
 Eberts put it away. Fred, his father, had got himself 
 a new suit, also blue, which he paid fifty dollars for. 
 tVErs. Eberts, the boy's mother, was out one day, and 
 the youngster thought he would make some altera- 
 tion in his suit. So he went to the wardrobe, and, as 
 he supposed, got his suit out. He took a pair of 
 shears and cut off the legs of the pants and cut off the 
 sleeves of the coat. His mother came home before 
 he had finished his job. As quick as she saw what he 
 had done, she threw up her hands and cried out: 
 "Why, Freddie Eberts, what have you done? You 
 have ruined your father's new suit!" He had mis- 
 taken his father's new suit for his own. 
 
^33 
 
 I ENLIST FOR MY THIRD WAR. 
 
 I had passed through the Florida, or Seminole war, 
 and the Mexican war without receiving serious in- 
 juries, though I still carry a piece of lead in the calf 
 of my leg received at Matamoras, Mexico. But this 
 did not dampen my military ardor. So when the 
 great Rebellion of 1861 took place, I determined to 
 go if the Detroit Light Guard went. That company 
 became the first company, or Company A, of the 
 First Michigan Infantry. I enlisted for three months' 
 service. We were stationed at Fort Wayne until the 
 13th day of May, 1861. The regiment started for 
 Washington, and I with them as drum major of that 
 regiment. We got on board the old propeller Mis- 
 souri, and went to Cleveland. From there we took 
 cars by way of Pittsburg to Washington, where we 
 arrived in due time. 
 
 While in Washington we were complimented as 
 having the best band in the city, considering the num- 
 ber of pieces. On Saturday evening the staff and 
 company officers, with a number of citizens of Mich- 
 igan who were temporarily sojourning there, called 
 
134 
 
 upon the President, with the band of the regiment, 
 and honored him with a serenade. The President ap- 
 peared in response and was loudly cheered. He made 
 a few complimentary remarks, declining to make a 
 speech, and invited the company into the famous East 
 Room, where Colonel Wilcox was foramlly presented 
 by Adjutant-General Thomas, and afterwards each of 
 the officers and citizens by the Colonel. The Presi- 
 dent then expressed a desire that the band should be 
 presented. Then I was first introduced, and after- 
 wards Mr. Henry Kern, the leader, and the privates. 
 The President had a word of welcome for each, and 
 a supply of compliments for me, whose previous ser- 
 vices had been mentioned to him, and for Mr. Kern, 
 whom he facetiously styled the "biggest blower" in 
 the service, as Mr. Kern weighed 375 pounds. Both 
 the President and General Thomas spoke in the high- 
 est terms of our music, and notified me that during our 
 stay in Washington we would be expected to alternate 
 with Sousa's Marine Band and with the Rhode Island 
 band in furnishing- music for the afternoon concerts 
 which were given three times a week in the grounds 
 back of the presidential mansion. This compliment 
 had great meaning, when it is stated that such a re- 
 
135 
 
 quest had not been made of Dodsworth's band, which 
 accompanied the Twelfth New York Regiment, nof 
 of any of the Seventh Regiment band, nor of any of 
 the other equally famous bands that numbered two 
 or three times the pieces of our favorite Light Guard 
 band. 
 
 On turning from the band, the President excused 
 his ignorance of military etiquette, and requested 
 Gen. Thomas to address his visitors. The General 
 very briefly alluded to the impression the regiment 
 had created in military circles, repeating some of the 
 compliments that had previously been paid them, and 
 promised them every consideration and service it 
 would be in his power to grant them. The President 
 advanced and shook hands with Col. Wilcox, asking 
 at the same time if he was comfortably quartered. 
 The Colonel repHed that if he was to change at all he 
 should merely desire to camp on the opposite side of 
 the river. The President laughed, and said that the 
 permission would be given in a few days. He then 
 retired and the company withdrew. The band played 
 the National airs and ''Marseilles'' on the outside, 
 after which cheers were given for the President and 
 the serenade was concluded. Gen. Thomas then es- 
 
136 
 
 corted the party to the residence of the Secretary of 
 War. Here, too, the company was invited in and 
 were severally presented and received a surfeit of 
 compliments. They next called on Gen. Scott. The 
 old veteran sent an aidecamp to express his regrets 
 that he was so indisposed as to be unable to receive 
 the entire party, and to invite in Col. Wilcox. Col. 
 Wilcox, accompanied by Gen. Thomas, went in, and 
 had quite a lengthy interview. The General expressed 
 his greatest satisfaction at the reports which had 
 reached him of the discipline, military accomplish- 
 ments and gentlemanly bearing of his command, which 
 he hoped soon to have the pleasure of witnessing in 
 person. He promised that at an early day they 
 should have all the active service they might desire. 
 The evening was so far advanced on leaving Gen. 
 Scott's that it was not deemed proper to make any 
 more calls, and the party returned to their quarters in 
 high spirits, after passing a most agreeable evening. 
 I should have mentioned that while at the White 
 House the President expressed a desire to visit the 
 regimental headquarters and witness a dress parade of 
 the regiment. Of course the Colonel was only too 
 happy of the opportunity of receiving such a distin- 
 
137 
 
 guislied mark of consideration. 'The visit will be 
 paid at an early day this week/' said the President. 
 The usual course heretofore had been for regiments 
 to call upon the President for review, and frequently 
 it required great influence to induce him to suspend 
 his business to perform that service. In this instance 
 he departs from all established customs and himself 
 seeks the opportunity of conferring this honor. No 
 more signal mark of the position the regiment occu- 
 pied could be given. One night, a few days after this, 
 Col. Wilcox sent for me, and said he would like me to 
 get a bugle and go with him. We were about to 
 cross the Potomac and go to Alexandria, Virginia. 
 He told me to see the Quartermaster, and he would 
 give me a horse. I was to leave the band in Wash- 
 ington and go with him. I did not like this very 
 much, as I was Drum Major. I thought he ought to 
 take a sergeant for his orderly. I Avas looking out 
 for a good time. I knew if I went with him I would 
 have lots to do, and that is what I didn't like; but I 
 did not tell him so. I loved the Colonel very much, 
 and he Hked me and wanted to put me forward. But 
 I was not ambitious and was contented in the position 
 that I held. The night the army left Washington for 
 
138 
 
 Alexandria, we sat up all night, without a wink of 
 sleep, and commenced to cross the long bridge in the 
 morning. We got there just at break of day. We 
 went right to the depot. As we were passing King 
 street, I looked down the street and saw a steamboat 
 about to land. She had soldiers on board, and Col. 
 Ellsworth, with the Chicago Zouaves, w^ere on board. 
 As soon as they got on shore they marched up King 
 street to the Marshall House. There was a rebel flag 
 on the top of the house, and Col. Ellsworth went to 
 the top of the house to take the flag down. As he 
 was coming down with it, Jackson, the proprietor of 
 the house, fired on him with a shotgun and killed 
 him. The next instant one of Col. Ellsworth's men 
 shot Jackson. That was the first blood shed for the 
 cause of the Union. If we had been five minutes 
 sooner we would have got the train of cars, going to 
 Richmond, as they had just run out. We took the 
 track up for some distance. Here we took Capt. Ball 
 and his company. After this w^e went on the top of 
 Shuter Hill, a very high place, and pitched our tents. 
 After we had been here a few days the rebel pickets 
 commenced to annoy us a great deal, and when they 
 would fire on our pickets I would have to saddle my 
 
139 
 
 horse and go with the Colonel out to the picket line 
 and see what it was about, and after all was quiet, go 
 back to the camp and wait for a second alarm. Some- 
 times it would occur two or three times during, the 
 night. The rebels would sneak up to our pickets and 
 kill some of them, and then would leave and come 
 back later. This was kept up all the time we were 
 there. After a short time I told Col. Wilcox I would 
 like him to relieve me, as I did not like to take care 
 of a horse and be disturbed so much in the night. 
 The Colonel, at my request, relieved me, and had a 
 sergeant take my place. 
 
 We had a good time in camp. Guard mount would 
 take place down town near the postofifice, and most all 
 the city would be there to see the fun and hear the 
 music. I forgot to mention that one day when we 
 were in Washington it was our day to give a concert 
 jn the park in the rear of President Lincoln's house. 
 We had played several selections, when I received a 
 card, written in pencil in a very fine hand, requesting 
 us to play a selection from "111 Trovatore.'' I gave 
 the card to Mr. Kern, the leader, and they played it 
 very fine. It was a very long selection. It com- 
 menced with the Anvil Chorus and ended with 
 
I40 
 
 ''Missearare, I long to rest me." I never heard it 
 played better in my life. After we finished the piece 
 a man came out of the President's house, with a straw 
 hat and brown linen coat and pants, and said the piece 
 was well executed — remarkably well — and handed me 
 a twenty-dollar gold piece, and told me when we went 
 down to stop at the Kirkwood and treat the band. 
 He said, if I liked, I could get in his carriage and go 
 with him. I execused myself and told him I would 
 go with the band. He said he had loaned the United 
 States one million dollars, and he would let Uncle 
 Sam have another million if they stood in need of it. 
 He was a fine-looking man, large and splendid form. 
 By looking at him closely I could see he was of In- 
 dian extraction. I think he was a Cherokee. He 
 said he was an Indian. Said he, *'My wife is waiting 
 for the President, and he has gone out." On looking 
 up, he said, 'There she comes now," and left me. I 
 never thought to ask him name. 
 
 Now I will go back to Alexandria, where we left off 
 at Shuter's Hill. We had a great deal of wildcat 
 money with us, and some plank road paper. It looked 
 nice, and I had quite a lot of it; but I got rid of it all. 
 They were glad to get it. 
 
HI 
 
 Comrade Fred Eberts, of the Light Guard, was a 
 good soldier and full of his jokes. I don't know how 
 it was, but he had chickens most all the time. I have 
 often seen him on picket duty, and when he came back 
 to camp he would have five or six chickens hung over 
 his musket. I did not know him as well as I do now. If 
 I had, I might have had some of his goodies. I was 
 down town one day in a saloon — I think there were 
 eight of us in the saloon — when Comrade Fred Eberts 
 came in with a young and pretty lad. As he came in 
 he looked around and saw me. He said, "How are 
 you, Jim? Will you have a glass of soda water?" I 
 said I didn't mind; so he treated all of us, and put his 
 hand in his pocket and fished out a handful of plank 
 road money. He got good money back for change. 
 We thought nothing of that, as most all Michigan 
 rnen had that kind of money. I did not go with the 
 regiment when they went to Bull Run. I was to have 
 gone with Col. Wilcox, but he forgot to send his or- 
 derly to me with his horse. He told me he would, 
 but it slipped his mind, so I stayed with. the band at 
 Cloud's mill. I have always been glad I did not go, 
 for if I had I Avould have had to make good time back 
 to Washington. 
 
142 
 
 After the regiment came back to Washington we 
 went into camp at ArHngton Heights and were mus- 
 tered out of service. But the regiment came back to 
 Detroit without their arms, as they had been turned 
 over to the Ordnance Department for future use. 
 When we got of¥ the cars at the foot of Brush street 
 there was a large crowd there to receive us. 
 
 After I came home I went; with the Light Guard 
 and remained with them for a short time. Then I 
 recruited a band for the Fifth Infantry and went to 
 Washington, with Lieut. Henry Hodson, and from 
 there to Alexandria, Va., and from there to Camp 
 Michigan, below . Alexandria. 
 
 The Second, Third and Fifth Michigan, together 
 with the Thirty-seventh New York and the Fire Zou- 
 aves, were in our brigade. Col. Terry was in com- 
 mand of the Fifth and Col Poe of the Second. "Old 
 Fighting Dick" Richardson, as we called him, had 
 command of the brigade. Some very amusing scenes 
 occurred at different times while we were here. One 
 day they had brigade drill, and all the rest of the regi- 
 ments were in their proper place but ours. Col. Terry 
 could not get in line. Gen. Richardson said, "Are 
 you ready?" "No, General, not yet." After a long 
 
143 
 
 pause — "Col. Terry,'- in a little more stern voice, "Are 
 you ready?" "Yes, General, all ready now." "Not 
 by a d — n sight!" replied Gen. Richardson. "Get 
 your men in line." Gen. Richardson was a fine dis- 
 ciplinarian on duty, and as brave as a lion. But off 
 duty he would be seen in linen pants, shirt sleeves and 
 straw hat, and he had many most comical ways. 
 
 One day he had been to the city and bought a new 
 hat, and rode through the camp holding on to the 
 horse's mane, and all ran out of their tents to see him. 
 "There goes Fighting Dick," they would say. "Oh, 
 Dick has got a new hat. But everybody loved Gen. 
 Dick. He was promoted to Division General, and he 
 left us. He did not like to leave us. He thought 
 Michigan men were the boys to fight. 
 
 One morning, when we were at Williamsburg, he 
 came over to see us before we had had our breakfast. 
 Some were standing around a fire we had made, and 
 he commenced to talk and joke. Said he, "They took 
 me from my old regiment. I would rather have one 
 regiment of Michigan troops than ten thousand other 
 troops." 
 
 After passing the winter at Camp Michigan, we got 
 orders to go to Fortress Monroe. 
 
f44 
 
 Mr. Stack and I were clinms. He was leader of 
 the Third Michigan Band and I was leader of 
 the Fifth Michigan Band, Stack was a German, and 
 a small man, and had a Avife of very tall stature. She 
 was Irish, nearly six feet tall, and as straight as a 
 rush. We ranked as second lieutenants. After we 
 got orders to leave Camp Michigan to go to Fortress 
 ]\'Ionroe, Mrs. Stack and my wife went to Washing- 
 ton and remained there until after I was discharged. 
 They rented rooms there and kept house. Some very 
 funny things occurred when we were at the camp. 
 Mr. Kern, the large man, had a habit of snoring. His 
 tent was next to that of mine, and it made it disagree- 
 able for my wife, whose health was not of the best, 
 and that constant snoring was the means of keeping 
 her awake a great deal. The two drummers, Taglor 
 and Oliver Bloom, occupied the tent with Mr. Kern. 
 They were unable to sleep, and so Mr. Kern said to 
 them, "I will tell you wiiat to do. When I go to bed 
 to-night, you take this string and tie it around my big 
 toe, and when I snore give it a pull, and that will 
 wake me, so you can sleep, and it will perhaps be the 
 means of breaking me of that bad habit of snoring." 
 Well, they went at it the first night. As soon as he 
 
145 
 
 would fall asleep, Bloom would jerk the string- and 
 the snoring would cease; but it would be but momen- 
 tarily, for the snoring commenced harder than ever. 
 They told me the next morning that the thing did not 
 work. You, see, they slept in different beds, Kern 
 on one side and Taglor and Bloom on the other side 
 of the tent. Taglor died some years ago and Bloom 
 is in the postoffice, and has been there since ]\Ir. Swift 
 took charge of it. 
 
 They asked me what I could do about that snoring-. 
 I told them they would get used to it after a while, 
 and then they would not mind it. ]\Iy tent was close 
 to ]\Ir. Harris, the suttler's tent, and tlie sentinel 
 walked just in rear of my tent. They would meet 
 there and talk together. ]\iy wife Avould make coffee 
 almost every night and take it out to them and they 
 would drink it on post. This was in the winter 
 and it was very cold, and three or four inclies of snow 
 on the gTound. One night, after we were in bed, the 
 guard met. They talked of old times and things they 
 had done before they went in the arm\'. One of them 
 said to the other, ''Bill, I wish I were in ^lichigan to- 
 night and had a piece of calico in a cutter. How 
 
146 
 
 happy I would be." A few days after this he went 
 on picket duty and was killed. 
 
 As I said before, Mrs. Stack and my wife went to 
 Washington during' my absence in the army. I saw 
 my wife on the boat and looked at her vmtil she was 
 out of sight. I cannot express my feelings at parting 
 with my dear wife at that time — one who would do 
 anything for me. But I will leave it now to anyone 
 who has had the same experience I have had. I was 
 also sorry to bid farewell to old Camp Michigan, 
 where we had passed a pleasant winter. 
 
 We took a boat for Fortress Monroe, where we ar- 
 rived in time to see the Monitor which had defeated 
 the Merrimac, which had done so much harm to our 
 navy, and had been sent back to Norfolk, where she 
 remained and never came out again. We stopped 
 close to the Monitor, and we could see where the 
 balls from thq Merrimac had struck here turret in 
 several places. The same day we landed at the Fort, 
 and from there went to Hampton, where we stayed a 
 few days, and then we took up our march for York- 
 town. 
 
 We had no tents, but each man was provided with 
 a Httle shelter tent made of canvas, about six feet 
 
147 
 
 long and three feet wide, with a piece of oilcloth to 
 put under us. We would drive small stakes, four in 
 number, in the ground, stretch the canvas on the 
 stakes, and put the oilcloth under us to keep out the 
 moisture, and that was the only protection from the 
 weather we had. 
 
 WE NOW DREW UP IN FRONT OF YORK- 
 TOWN. 
 
 We sat down before Yorktown for a long siege. 
 Our brigade was encamped about a mile from the 
 place, and in a veritable swamp. Our tents had not 
 come up, so I put a fly over a bush and called it our 
 headquarters. But after the wagons came up we put 
 up our little dog tents, as we called them, and when 
 we tried to sleep we would crawl in and shut the tent 
 up to keep the enemy out, for we had an enemy 
 ready to take our blood at the first opportunity. Yet 
 they were all mussicians, and as soon as night came on 
 they would try to lull us to sleep with their singing, 
 though their notes were always of one tone, as they 
 sang "Cousin, cousin, cousin.'^ But I had no use for 
 such cousins, as they were winged reptiles in the 
 form of the largest mosquitoes I ever saw. My only 
 
148 
 
 means of denfese was my pipe, and I smoked until 
 they were stupified, and then I got some sleep. 
 
 When we got to Yorktown, I had nothing to eat. 
 The wagons were in the rear and could not get up on 
 account of the bad roads, and they were unable to 
 reach us until the third day. But hunger gnawed just 
 the same. 
 
 Gen. Hintzelman had given strict orders that no an- 
 imal should be killed or anything disturbed which be- 
 longed to the citizens. Such orders are ail very well, 
 but a hungry stomach knows no law, for a soldier es- 
 pecially, where it is generally considered there is no 
 hell for a soldier, except what he has to endure in a 
 rougdi campaign or on the battle field. I was suffer- 
 ing a little hell of my own, for I was a very hungry 
 man. Finally I spied a nice fat shoat, a pig of about 
 ten months old. Having my revolver with me, I shot 
 it. I only wounded him, and I dared not fire again 
 for fear of attracting attention, so I drew my saber 
 and plunged it into his heart. This was the only 
 time my saber was ever stained with blood. Some of 
 the members of the band came up and commenced 
 skinning the pig, when who should ride along but 
 Gen. Hintzelman and staff. Salutations were given, 
 
149 
 
 and they passed on. I gave some of the meat to Col. 
 Terry and some to Major Fairbanks. The rest we 
 roasted on the coals, as we had no other cooking- uten- 
 sils. We had no salt, and so ate it without. Now 
 my hunger for a time was quieted, and night was com- 
 ing on, and no camp equipage. I was puzzled as to 
 where we would sleep. I told the band each to shift 
 for himself. Meantime I had my eye on the only 
 house to be seen, except those in the enemy's lines, 
 and it had been deserted by the inhabitants who had 
 fled to the enemy for protection. When I came to go 
 to it I found the hospital department had appropriated 
 it for a hospital. This barred me from that. But 
 upon looking around I discovered a small hen house — 
 the chickens had long since departed — and though 
 this was not a nice place to stop, it was better than 
 no shelter at all from the cold sea breezes of early 
 spring. Not for one moment supposing man or ani- 
 mal would dispute my claims, I took informal posses- 
 sion. It was very dark by this time, and I had no 
 matches. I felt my way around to see what there 
 might be. I got hold of a barrel that seemed to be 
 nearly full of something. As I myself had not for some 
 time been full of anything, 1 was happy to find some- 
 
I50 
 
 thing near full. I felt over the barrel to see what it 
 was, and when I put my hand into it I found some 
 straw which had no doubt been a hen's nest, and lying 
 upon the straw was something soft and warm which I 
 took for a cat, and called "Pussy, pussy, pussy." I 
 had about made up my mind I had one friendly com- 
 panion anyway, when, oh! oh! I was notified of the 
 nature of my common, or companions, as it proved, 
 for I had molested a nest of young skunks. For- 
 tunately for me, they were young; but they did the 
 best they could in extending their hospitality and lent 
 me all the perfume I required for some time, and then 
 quickly deserted their home and yielded the whole 
 place to me. I walked outside to take the fresh air, 
 but the stench spread on every side and extended to 
 the hospital, disturbing the doctors so that they came 
 down to investigate, and insisted on shooting- me for 
 a spy in disguise who had taken refuge in this out- 
 building and being exposed by my betters. But when 
 I explained matters, they laughed at my ridiculous 
 situation, and deodorized myself and premepted claim 
 the best possible, and I remained there over night. 
 Meantime I had got quite used to the situation and 
 sat down on the l)arrel for repose. I fell asleep, or 
 
151 
 
 as near so as an exhausted man could under such a 
 trying situation. I finally awakened, to find that the 
 contents of the barrel, which was ashes and straw, had 
 simk down with my weight, and I was wedged into 
 the barrel with my limbs nearly paralyzed and aching 
 at every joint. I struggled manfully to free myself, 
 and I tried to straighten the kinks out of my limbs, 
 but oh! how lame and sore I was. It was now day- 
 light and I went to headquarters, where the fly was on 
 the bush, but oh! ye gods! the greeting I received as 
 I passed along was enough to drive a man to destrac- 
 tion. My imiform was anything but attractive — and 
 the odor ! Tom Moore says : 
 
 "You may break, you may shatter, 
 The vase if you will; 
 But the scent of the roses 
 Will linger there still." 
 
 Well, the scent I had received the night before, still 
 lingered. 
 
 The private soldiers had their shelter tents and 
 blankets and, with a few boughs, could make them- 
 selves comfortable; but I, like the son of man, had no 
 place to lay my head, and I was certainly not wanted 
 in the camps, for as I passed through, the cry with 
 
152 
 
 the smell, went up to heaven, "Put him out! Put him 
 out! Shoot him! Call a detail and bury him. Send 
 him to the Dry Tortugas." The Dry Tortugas was 
 a place where military crimirials were kept. I had no 
 other satisfaction than to say to myself, "Damn you, 
 enjoy a little of the misery I have for the past twelve 
 hours." Well, I lived through this torrent for three 
 days, until the wagons came up with the baggage and 
 a change of clothes. The man who laughed at my 
 situation the most was my best friend, Comrade Stack, 
 whom I have spoken of before and stated that his wife 
 w^as keeping- house in Washington with my wife. I 
 determined to get even with him, which I did in the 
 following manner: 
 
 After we had got settled down in camp life, for the 
 weeks the siege v/as going on, I received a paper from 
 my wife. Mr. Stack was with me while I was reading, 
 when I suddenly stopped and, as if studying over the 
 matter, suddenly broke out, "What do you think of 
 this?" and I apparently read from the paper: 
 
5.^ 
 
 "A FOOLISH AND TERRIBLE SCAXDAL. 
 
 *']\Irs. Stack and Mrs. J. D. Elderkin, wives of offi- 
 cers of the Fifth and Third jNIichig-an Infantry, are 
 making themselves notorious by going to the hospitals 
 and carrying dehcacies to the best looking young men, 
 and declaring that they have come from above." 
 
 Mr. Stack took it to heart and, without looking for 
 it himself, went directly to his tent and wrote his wife 
 as follows: 
 
 ''Mrs. Stack, I have heard of your scandalous con- 
 duct. Inclosed find three hundred dollars. It is the 
 'last you will ever get from me. We have just been 
 paid ofif, and here I am in this d — n swamp, expecting 
 any moment my head will be blown of¥, and you — 
 and you — ^going around enjoying yourself and making 
 a d — n fool of yourself. Take this and go to h — 1; it 
 is the last money you will ever get from me. So. 
 good-bye, your once happy husband." 
 
 When Mrs. Stack read this letter she commenced 
 to cry. My wife asked her what was the matter, and 
 she showed my wife the letter. As soon as my wife 
 saw the letter she cried out, "Oh, goodness me, drv 
 
154 
 
 your tears; this is all the work of Jim. He has been 
 playing one of his practical jokes. I will get a letter 
 from Jim to-morrow and he will tell me all about it." 
 
 I wrote to my wife the next day and told her what 
 I had done. When she got the letter she showed it 
 to Mrs. Stack and said, "Do you see? I told you it 
 was all Jims' work, and would come out all right." 
 Well, of course, everything is "well that ends well, and 
 this matter ended well, and I was even with Mr. Stack 
 and things went on smooth. 
 
 I had a friend by the name of William H. Allen, who 
 was a member of Company F, Second Michigan In- 
 fantry, and a clerk for Gen. Richardson. Mr. Allen 
 was always present when I had anything good to eat. 
 He will acknowledge this himself, for he lives in 
 Evait, Mich. 
 
 I got acquainted with Mr. Allen through a relative, 
 Professor Lyman E. Stowe, who lives at 131 Catherine 
 street. He married my niece, and myself and wife 
 were boarding at C. F. Bessinger's, 178 Catherine 
 street, Detroit. As Mr. Bessinger is my brother-in- 
 law, and uncle to my niece, Mr. Stowe's wife, Mr. 
 Stowe was a frequent visitor to Mr. Bessinger's while 
 
155 
 
 the Second Regiment lay at Fort Wayne, before start- 
 ing- for the front. 
 
 Mr. Allen, with members and officers of Mr. Stowe's 
 company, called with Mr. Stowe, so I became ac- 
 quainted with them in this way, and I never regretted 
 these acquaintances, for it ripened into close friend- 
 ship. While we lay at Camp Michigan, Henry, or 
 "Hank," as we called him, was a very constant visitor, 
 and this was kept up ever after as long as I was in the 
 service, as well as after we got home. While in front 
 of Yorktown jhe would call every day and tell us all 
 the news. He would come to my tent and stay for 
 half an hour or so and talk and be sociable; then he 
 would leave. As I said before, he was a clerk for 
 Gen. Richardson. While we were in front of York- 
 town, it was customary for me to go around in front 
 of the enemy's works and see all I could. When I 
 would go, Hank would let me take the General's 
 glass, a very large one, and with it I could see all over 
 the city. On the west of us was a large plain, and just 
 in front of that was a strip of woods, where we had 
 our large cannon in a fort we constructed, in order to 
 bombard the fort at Yorktown when occasion required. 
 On the left our enemy had erected some masked bat- 
 
156 
 
 terics, and not far from where we were encamped. 
 One morning, Hank, Sergeant Bishop and I went out 
 in an old cornfield to look at the fort they had built 
 in the woods. The corn had been picked from ofif the 
 stalks and the stalks left standing. I got' on a stump 
 to look, and brought my glass to bear so I could see 
 what they were doing. I could see the cannon; they 
 were covered with black oilclotli, and were only six 
 hundred yards from where we WTre standing. I said 
 to my comrades, 'T can see some cannon, and the men 
 are working' there in the intrenchment. After I had 
 looked all I cared to, Allen said, "Let me look, Jim." 
 I got down from the stump and handed him the glass. 
 I said to him, ''Now when you see them going to those 
 cannon and take the canvas off, you get down." So 
 after ]\Ir. Allen had been there a minute or so. Ser- 
 geant Bishop got on the stump, and I repeated the 
 warning I had given before. Bishop had not been on 
 the stump a minute before he was shot through the 
 bowels by a ten-pound shell. His entrails strung out 
 two or three yards. We tried to take him away, but 
 as sure as we would attempt to go for him they would 
 tire at us, so we didn't try any more; but two men, 
 more venturesome than we, succeeded in taking him 
 
157 - 
 
 away. Two men, one from our light battery, took a 
 stretcher and, by crawling on their stomachs, suc- 
 ceeded in taking him off. In a few days after this I 
 ■got the glass and went alone to look at Yorktown, 
 and in order to get as close as I could it was necessary 
 for me to pass our pickets immediately on the road 
 leading to Yorktown. So I went down until I came 
 to our pickets, and I asked the officer in charge if he 
 would let me pass. I told him I was capable of taking 
 care of myself, and that I would like to see their forti- 
 fications. Then he told the guard to let me pass. I 
 was in the woods at this time, but going a little farther 
 I came to an opening, and I could see all over the 
 town. The road I was on was straight. The tele- 
 graph wires were off the poles and lying on the 
 ground. In a short time I came to a rise of 
 ground, on the top of which was a chimney with an 
 old-fashioned fireplace. The house had burned, but 
 the chimney remained standing. When I came up to 
 this I stopped and took my glass and was looking at 
 the forts, when I saw someone approaching me com- 
 ing up the hill. I thought that was queer, as I knew 
 it was none of our men, as he was coming from the 
 opposite direction from where our men were stationed. 
 
158 
 
 As he came a little nearer, I could see he had on a 
 uniform — coat and cap. I was standing close to the 
 chimney. As he came nearer I could see he had a 
 rifle. I could just see the top of his head and the 
 muzzle of his rifle. He came up very stealthily, bend- 
 ing forward, and when he thought he was close 
 enough, he knelt -down on his knee and brought his 
 piece to his shoulder and took aim at me. I could 
 look right into the muzzle of his gun, and when I saw 
 his piece was steady I got behind the chimney, but 
 kept my eye on him to see if he did not come farther. 
 All the arms I had was my sword and a revolver. 
 These were no good for that distance. I heard some 
 sound on my right, or thought I did, and on keeping 
 well under cover of my breastworks, I cast my eye 
 in the direction from where I thought the sound came 
 from, and who should I see but my deliverer in the 
 form of one of Berdan's sharpshooters. He came up 
 within fifty yards of my would-be murderer and shot 
 him dead. I saw him fall. He was so intent on ^k- 
 ing my life that he did not see the man who killed 
 him. I don't know how the soldier who saved my 
 life came to ibe where he was, unless he was sent out 
 to keep his eye on me for fear something might hap- 
 
159 
 
 pen to me. I never saw him before, or have I ever 
 seen him since. I did not wait to thank him for what 
 he had done, but went back to camp quicker" than 
 what I left it. The army was all ready to bombard 
 Yorktown and was to commence the next day. But 
 the next morning found Yorktown evacuated, and as 
 we passed through in pursuit I closely observed the 
 positions at the time I have been speaking of. The 
 rebels had dug holes in the ground for picket posts. 
 Of course the pickets of both sides were concealed by 
 such methods. 
 
 We now followed in pursuit of the enemy towards 
 Williamsburg, When near Williamsburg we could 
 hear the firing. It was raining in torrents all day. The 
 mud was very deep, so it was hard to make any prog- 
 ress, and, to make matters worse. Gen. Kearney would 
 come riding back to hurry us up. He said he wanted 
 the Michigan m'en to the front, so we went double- 
 quick. When we got there we were formed in line of 
 battle and the order was given to charge. The band 
 and field music were ordered by Col. Terry to take 
 position three paces in the rear of the colors. The 
 rebels had felled trees in front of us, so we had to 
 climb over them before we could see the enemy. 
 
i6g 
 
 In our brigade were the Second, Third and Fifth 
 Michigan and Thirty-seventh New York, an Irish reg- 
 iment, and they were all brave soldiers. After the 
 battle they gave us the name of the ''Fighting Fifth," 
 and we have kept the record ever since. The band 
 and field music carried stretchers, and as a man would 
 get shot we would put him on a litter and take him 
 to the rear, where the doctors would attend him. The 
 killed were left until after the battle; then a burial 
 party would be detailed to bury the dead. Just after 
 w'e went forward, two men w^ere wounded, one a Ger- 
 man, the other an Irishman. The German had tw^o of 
 his fingers shot ofif, and he complained bitterly. "Oh ! 
 mine Got! mine Got! I never can blay poker any 
 more." The Irishman, who was more severely wound^ 
 ed, asked, "What the divil are you crying for? There's 
 a mon there with his head off, and he don't say a dom 
 word." 
 
 Our next battles were at Fair Oaks and the Seven 
 Pines. These are matters of history, I shall not at- 
 tempt to describe them. 
 
 After the Battle of Williamsburg we marched out 
 to the White House Landing on the Pamunky River, 
 thence back to Baltimore cross roads, where we en- 
 
i6i 
 
 camped a few days preparatory to making a general 
 advance. As soon as supplies were brought up we 
 advanced, crossing the Chickahoming River, by the 
 way of Bottoms bridge, to Fair Oaks and Seven 
 Pines, where we fought these battles, and then forti- 
 fied our position. We were now within eight miles 
 of Richmond. 
 
 Our march to this point had been extremely diffi- 
 cult, on account of mud and general bad roads. The 
 two battles were fiercely contested on both sides, and 
 the loss for both sides very heavy. By this time the 
 spring sun shown very hot and decomposition took 
 place very rapidly, so that burial parties did their 
 work under great difficulties, and many a dead soldier 
 was 'barely covered with a little loose dirt, which the 
 first rain would w-ash away. It was no uncommon 
 thing to see a hand protruding from the ground, 
 where a corpse had been buried in a cramped position, 
 and the tention, as decomposition took place, caused 
 the arm to spring out, not having much resistance 
 from so little earth that had been placed over the 
 body. Some facetious soldier, seeing a hand so pro- 
 truding, would place a handful of cards therein as if 
 
ib2 
 
 the dead man was about to take a hand in a game of 
 cards. 
 
 Our division and our brigade occupied the extreme 
 left of the army, whose lines extended from White 
 Oak Swamp; to the right to Mechaniosville twenty 
 miles away. This whole distance was fortified by 
 breastworks, and daily picket duty was simply a con- 
 tinuous battle. The surgeons and the attendants were 
 busy all of the time. 
 
 I had great diflficulty to get some of the members 
 of the band to perform the duty of surgeons' attend- 
 ants, as they claimed, not being enlisted as a private 
 soldier, they were only enlisted to make music, which 
 in our case was really the fact. But there are some 
 men always ready to perform any duty assigned to 
 them, especially to relieve human suiTering, while 
 others would not take the risk of being shot to assist 
 any one. I had some men who were never behind 
 when help was called for. I will mention two in par- 
 ticular, one was OlHe Bloom, now in the postoffice; 
 the other was Mr. Tagler, whom I before spoke of. 
 These men, God bless them, never flinched duty. 
 
 Eadi day as the pickets were called on to go out 
 on the line, I would be notified to send two men out 
 
1 63 
 
 to assist the surgeon to carry his instruments and 
 stretchers and render such service as might be re- 
 quired. 
 
 I had a man by the name of Spiegel who played the 
 baritone, and his twelve-year-old son beat the cym- 
 bals in our band. I ordered ]\Ir. Spiegel to report for 
 duty on the picket line, but he refused, as his papers 
 said he need not do such service, and I was at a loss 
 what to do with him when his twelve-year-old boy 
 came up crying and said, "Mr. Elderkin, I wish you 
 wouldn't send papa out, but let me go in his place.'' 
 This was certainly a touching scene, and showed the 
 nobility of the boy's nature. I told him neither of 
 them needed to go, I would go myself. But from this 
 incident forward I never had any trouble tO' get any 
 of the men to go on duty when occasion required. 
 
 While we on the left were in a comparatively 
 quiet but watchful state, heavy fighting was going 
 on at the right. We did nothing but watch the 
 enemy and pick huckleberries from the bushes and 
 body lice from our clothing, for nature was prolific 
 in her distribution of both. The huckleberries grew 
 everywhere in profuse abundance, and such great big 
 
164 
 
 blue ones I never saw, and body lice seemed to breed 
 in the very ground. 
 
 It was said no man, from the lowest private to the 
 general in command, was able to keep entirely rid of 
 them, and to aggravate matters more we neither had 
 change of clothing or could we get water enough to 
 drink, much less enough to wash in. A story once 
 circulated that a private soldier was looking over his 
 shirt for that kind of game when the general and 
 staflf passed by. The general spoke to the young man 
 and asked, "What are you doing, picking off fleas?" 
 The young man replied, "General, what do you take 
 me for — a dog? No, sir, these are body lice." 
 
 One night I had an uncomfortable feeling come 
 over me; it seemed to be shared in by our whole com- 
 mand. Something terrible must be about to happen. 
 All day long the steady roar of artillery was going on 
 at the right, and this seemed to grow more sullen and 
 dense as night came on. The distant rumble, roll and 
 thunder gradually drew nearer, and nearer, and 
 nearer, until finally it died away as if all participants 
 were wearied out and had sought a momentary rest. 
 Sleep closed the eyes of all but the silent watches on 
 the picket lines. 
 
i65 
 
 All too soon the gray of the morning dawn gradu- 
 ally stretched her silvery mantle over the face of the 
 earth, quickly to be followed by the golden rays of a 
 summer sun. But as quick as was this changing 
 scene it was no quicker than the movements of the 
 two mighty giants now up and preparing for the 
 struggle of the day. Already the thunder of artillery 
 could be heard away on the right, the whole army was 
 in line, we were moved out of our camps, and no 
 one need be told our right had been turned, *and we 
 must retreat or change our base of operation. 
 
 We had some new hospitals and quartermaster 
 tents, and much army stores, which had to be aban- 
 doned; some of these I helped to destroy, so they 
 would not fall into the enemy's hands, in good order. 
 
 Although we moved out of our camps early in the 
 morning, we did not take up our line of march until 
 afternoon. This was so as to allow the right wing to 
 swing around and let our comparatively fresh troops 
 cover the rear of the retreating forces. As our retreat 
 lay still further to the left and rear of our position. 
 Some of my regiment with a part of the Second Mich- 
 igan Infantry had already crossed the White Oak 
 
1 66 
 
 Swamp, and engaged the enemy who were trying to 
 cut off our retreat from that direction. 
 
 Sunday night, June 29th, 1862, found the whole 
 army across White Oak Swamp. Kerney's and 
 Hooker's divisions had covered the retreat in a master- 
 ly manner. 
 
 Monday, June 30th, was clear and beautiful, and 
 with the exception of here and there picket shots, 
 little firing was heard until after ten o'clock in 
 the m(5rning. Then the troops were seen moving hur- 
 riedly in different directions, and we ourselves were 
 marched rapidly into position, where we fought one of 
 the most stubbornly contested battles of the war. 
 This was called Charles City cross roads by the 
 Northern forces and Frazier farm by the Southern 
 forces. It was reported we were surrounded and 
 must either cut our way out or be captured, and as is- 
 often the case when a little man is the under man in 
 the fight the big fellow is getting the worst punish- 
 ment. It was so in this case; though the enemy out- 
 numbered us three to one, they received terrible pun- 
 ishment. 
 
 Kerney's and Hooker's divisions might possibly be 
 sacrificed to give the rest of the army time to get in 
 
1 67 
 
 position and fortify at Melvern Hill. But such gen- 
 erals as Hooker and Kerney never give up while there 
 is a ray of hope, and this fierce battle lasted well into 
 the night, when both sides rested from sheer exhaus- 
 tion. The early dawn saw our little army through 
 the enemy^s lines and well on our way to Melvern 
 Hill. We passed through our lines at Melvern Hill 
 early in the morning of Tuesday, July ist. The enemy 
 followed so closely that fighting began at once, and 
 continued fiercely all day. Our position was admir- 
 ably chosen, which gave our batteries great advan- 
 tage and our gunboats on the James River played a 
 prominent part. Five hundred pieces of artillery were 
 thundering at one time. This is said to be the great- 
 est artillery battle of the war, even Gettysburg was 
 second to it. 
 
 So far as position of the field was concerned, the 
 victory of the past seven days' fighting belonged to 
 Lee and his confederate forces, but he might have 
 well said with' Perseus, '^Another victory like this and 
 I am undone.'' 
 
 The morning of July 2nd saw us on our way to 
 Harrison's Landing and Lee in full retreat to Rich- 
 mond, both sides whipped and worn out. It rained 
 
i68 
 
 all day and we reached Harrison's Landing to find a 
 swamp or fields of mud. The tired army lay down 
 and rested in the mud as best they could with mud 
 and water under them and torrents of rain pouring 
 upon them. 
 
 We lay at this point until the 15th of August. Our 
 rations were pretty good except the corn beef; it was 
 very bad and of coarse grain, and the boys called it 
 ''Salt horse, or mule meat." Certainly it was anything 
 but fit to eat. But it was boiled and served up. 
 Bloom and Tagler, for mischief, would pile great 
 quantities of it before Mr. Kern's tent before he got 
 up, and he would have to remove it before he could 
 get out. 
 
 One night the enemy came up on the opposite side 
 of the river and fired a few cannon shot into our camp 
 and also burned one of our barges loaded with hay. 
 This illuminated the whole camp, but the enemy was 
 quickly put to flight. 
 
 This was the last I saw of army life, as there was 
 an order to muster out of service all regimental bands. 
 I then went to Washington to see my wife. We left 
 Washington a short time after and came back to De- 
 troit, where I bought a home, No. 140 East Elizabeth 
 
169 
 
 street, and lived there until 1888, when my wife died, 
 on the i8th of July, 1888. After I returned to De- 
 troit I took my old position in the Detroit Light 
 Guard again, and was armorer and leader of their 
 band. I w^as with that company from July, 1857, until 
 1888. Since that time I have been a member of the 
 veteran organization. They were all gentlemen, and 
 some of the happiest days in my life were spent wdth 
 the boys of that company. I was doing well and the 
 officers and the men took quite an interest in me, and 
 did all they could to make it pleasant for me. 
 
 For a few years they elected me drum major every 
 year at their annual election, and I always turned out 
 with them as such. After I became leader of the band 
 I W'Cnt w^ith them. I had all the playing I could do. 
 Sometimes I would have from thirty to forty men 
 engaged a day. The Detroit Light Guard assisted 
 me very much in procuring jobs. I w^as very much 
 amused when the Detroit Light Guards went to 
 Cleveland to visit the Cleveland Grays, in return to a 
 compliment paid the Light Guards of Detroit. We 
 had a man in the company who was a sergeant by 
 the name of Cowmen ; he was a doctor and a Scotchman, 
 He had a suit of kilts, a very nice one too. The dav 
 
I/O 
 
 we got there it was quite windy, and he was a large 
 man, and fine looking; every one admired his looks. 
 The band was playing on the street, and so the doctor 
 got on the balcony so he could see and hear better. 
 Well, you can imagine what a crowd gathered to see 
 him in his kilts, and it being very warm he had no 
 nether garments under his skirt. There was quite a 
 breeze at the time which gently lifted his skirts, and 
 the doctor was a bare sight to behold. The crowd 
 was cheering and laughing, but the doctor was ob- 
 livious to it all. I don't know how long he would 
 have stayed if General Williams, at that time captain 
 of the company, had not appeared and told him he 
 had better get off the balcony, as the ladies did not 
 like to see him in so cool a dress. He turned out 
 with the company whenever they appeared on the 
 street with his kilts. There are a few men left of the 
 old Detroit Light Guards who will remember all I 
 have said in relation to the company, T. Palmer, 
 Millert, D. Pierce, J. Pitman, Mart, Smith, Oliver 
 Goldsmith, Chas. Taylor, Alfred Russell and a few 
 others. 
 
 As I said before, they had to pay for all they got; 
 they got nothing from the State. They would give 
 
171 
 
 high-atoned parties at the Russell House, and charge 
 ten dollars a ticket, and by that means would realize 
 from six to eight hundred dollars in one night. After 
 my wife died in 1888 I did nothing for the company; 
 age was telling on me, and so I left as armorer and left 
 off music. While I was in the band I had lots of fun. 
 I was always full of the old nick, and I would play 
 my jokes off as often as I could. Sometimes while 
 we were on the street waiting for the procession to 
 form we would play a piece or two while they were 
 getting ready, and on such occasions there would be 
 a large crowd looking at us. I would take my cornet 
 and hit a man on the left of me on his shoulder, look- 
 ing at the same time in the opposite direction. Of 
 course the man didn't know who hit him, so in a 
 minute I would repeat the dose. Some of the out- 
 siders would get on to it and would laugh; the man 
 who had been hit would say to the one who was laugh- 
 ing, you do that again and I will give you one in the 
 mouth; every one would laugh. 
 
 I have been walking on the street sometimes, and 
 a man would be in front of me, and I would take a 
 small piece of paper and do it up in a wad, and cough 
 and spit, at the same time I would throw it at the 
 
1/2 
 
 man and hit him on the back. He would turn around 
 and say, did you spit on me. I would say no. He 
 would not take my word for it and take his coat off 
 in the street. 
 
 We had a lot of crape in the armory that had been 
 used on our collars, that had become dirty and useless; 
 we had no more use for it, so I thought I would have 
 some fun with it, so I took quite a piece and made a 
 roll of it about the size of a small cat, and tied about 
 fifty yards of strong black thread at one end of it, and 
 started home at nine o'clock; I went to the corner of 
 Randolph and Jefferson avenue, and let it fall on the 
 sidewalk, and started to walk cross the street, and 
 kept the end of the string in my hand, and took up 
 the slack. I drew it on after me. When near the 
 corner of Randolph and Jefferson a lady was crossing 
 the street, and as she was crossing the crape went 
 under her clothes and she jumped about three feet 
 high and screamed. Every one ran to see what the 
 matter was; they said, what is it? What is it; there it 
 goes following that man. I commenced to haul in the 
 slack. I did not want to get over my pleasure too 
 soon. But I saw a man coming from his work, and 
 he was running to catch up with the thing. There was 
 
173 
 
 quite a number following now. I was pulling in the 
 slack, and it Avas only six feet from me, when the man 
 who w^as so close put his foot on it, and his foot went 
 down with such force it threw him down, and he 
 looked up at me and smiled so foolish. He could feel 
 nothing under his foot, and he did not know what 
 to think of it. I took it home and my wife was resting 
 on the lounge, and I told her what I had done, and 
 commenced to laugh, and she laughed so hard she 
 cried, and then said, "Ji"^^ J^^^^ will you ever be a 
 man; you have been a boy long enough; it is time 
 for you to be a man." But I must believe my boyish 
 tricks and ways preserved my youth, for I am still 
 youthful feeling at seventy-eight, and I would advise 
 my fellow-men to retain their youth by retaining their 
 youthful ways. 
 
 OTHER AMUSING EXPERIENCES. 
 
 I have always been quite a story teller, and love to 
 entertain my friends with anecdotes and story, and the 
 following are some of my experiences and stories: 
 
174 
 
 A DOG STORY. 
 
 I had a splendid dog, he was a spaniel, his name 
 was Sport, I loved him as a brother, I supposed I 
 loved him too much, but I could not help it. He was 
 always so good, he would do most anything for me. 
 When I would come home he would go to the closet 
 and get my slippers for me, and then he would take 
 my shoes. If I wanted a newspaper all I would have 
 to do would be to say, ''Sport, master wants a paper," 
 and he would go and get me one. If I was on the 
 street and dropped anything he would bring it to me. 
 I took him with me wherever I went, and he was the 
 only company I had since I lost my dear wife. When 
 I was sad he would lay on the floor and watch me, 
 and seemed to know I was feeling bad, and he would 
 shed tears like a human being. 
 
 One night I was to play on an excursion for the 
 Odd Fellows from Windsor. The band took the ferry 
 at the foot of Woodward avenue and crossed the river. 
 After we got over we went to the Crawford House 
 and played two or three pieces, and after that went 
 on board the boat we were to play on. After we got 
 
175 
 
 on board the boat I missed poor Sport. I thought I 
 would never see him again. After the thing was over 
 the boat took us on the American side. It was about one 
 o'clock p. m. when we landed and I got on the dock 
 at Woodward avenue. What did I see but my poor 
 lost dog, who had taken the next ferry boat and came 
 home. 
 
 I am telling- the truth and want to impress on the 
 minds of the reader the intelligence and love of a 
 dog. I could tell a great many more things he has 
 done, but my reader would not like to hear so much 
 about a dog. Just a few more words on the same 
 subject and I am through. In warm weather I would 
 take Sport on the boat and go to Belle Isle Park. This 
 was before the park was improved. Sport liked the 
 water, and I took much pleasure in seeing him enjoy 
 himself. I would take him on the boat to the island, 
 and when we landed he would run down the gang 
 plank and jump off the boat on the dock, and from 
 there in the water. One day I took him there, and the 
 boat was crowded, it being in the afternoon. As now, 
 in warm weather, vast numbers congregated there. 
 When Sport jumped on dock he looked at a notice 
 written on a blackboard that said no dogs allowed on 
 this island. As soon as he saw it he jumped off the 
 
176 
 
 dock into the water. Some of tlie ladies called to me 
 and said, *'Mr. Elderkin, your dog has fallen in the 
 river; he will be drowned." **No, I said, '1ie will swim 
 ashore; he saw that notice," pointing to the notice on 
 the blackboard, "no dogs allowed in the park.'' *'Can 
 he read?'' they asked. Sport would swim to the shore 
 before I could get there, and then I would go on the 
 dock lower than the one you take in going of¥, and 
 I would throw sticks and anything I could find in the 
 water so he could bring it to me. I never took Sport 
 any farther than the foot of the park, and after he had 
 had a good time I would take the next boat home. 
 This day I stayed longer than usual. A young man 
 came to see Sport play in the w^ater, and we had quite 
 a chat together. As w^e were standing looking at the 
 dog, I noticed a small boat moored at the low dock, 
 and in a minute a young girl, fifteen or sixteen years 
 old, went in the boat and left a basket of food, her 
 parasol and a large sized book in the boat, and then 
 came out, and seemed to be waiting for some one. In 
 a few minutes her father came, jumped from the dock 
 in the boat, and he nearly went through the boat. I 
 said, *'Now you will see some fun; that man don't 
 know anything about a boat." In a few minutes more 
 
177 
 
 his wife came, and she came close to the boat, and 
 the man got on the side of the boat to Hft his wife 
 down; she put her dress around her feet, and he put 
 his arm up to receive her; it was about three feet 
 down to the boat; as he got hold of her the boat 
 tipped on one side, and filled with water. In their 
 fright she fell overboard and he fell backward in the 
 boat. The water was not deep. I ran and got hold 
 of the line and pulled the boat in. The young man 
 with me took hold of their hands and got them out. 
 When the woman went down she was very much 
 frightened, and both of them got a good soaking. 
 When the lady came out I said, "You had a duck for 
 supper." She made no reply. "Now," said the girl to 
 her mother, *'Go and see if you can get some dry 
 clothes to put on." 
 
 As a matter of course we stayed to see the thing 
 out. In a little while we saw a small boat approach- 
 ing containing two young ladies, who came quite 
 close to the place we were standing. They recognized 
 the man with me and asked him if he would like to 
 ride. He replied he would. They rowed the boat 
 ashore and he got in. His weight of course caused 
 the boat to settle on the eround. He took an ore 
 
J78 
 
 and shoved the craft off. As they commenced to 
 make some progress in the river he was telHng the 
 girls about the accident. When the girl still standing 
 on the dock overheard him telling them of this, she 
 cried out, "It is a good thing the fools are not all 
 dead yet." Oh! how every person w-ho heard the re- 
 mark laughed. It makes me smile every time I think 
 about it. She said nothing to me, but she looked 
 daggers at me. After I went home where I w^as room- 
 ing, then at 383 Brush street, corner of Montcalm, I 
 was reading the Free Press, and it came to my mind 
 and I had to laugh again. Where I had my room 
 there \vere some students who occupied rooms on the 
 same floor, and I woke sometimes in the night and I 
 had to laugh again, and I was afraid I w^ould disturb 
 the students, but I didn't; so I had my fun all to my- 
 self and Sport. The next morning I asked the men 
 if they heard me laugh during the night, and they 
 said they did not. Then I told them of it, and they 
 all had a good laugh too. 
 
 I tell you, laugh all you can, it won't hurt you; you 
 will get fat if you can have a spell of it two or three 
 times an hour. The students said they didn't know 
 what they should do if it was not for me telling them 
 
^79 
 
 such funny stories. Whenever I came home they met 
 m<i with smiles. 
 
 Here is a riddle, can you make it out? I will give 
 one of my books to the first person who answers it. 
 It runs this way: 
 
 Johnny looked down in the spring one day, 
 
 And what did he see but a dipper; 
 
 The handle crooked, the bottom out, 
 
 Yet floating about like a skipper. 
 
 It wasn't broken, good as new, 
 
 And fit for a monarch's daughter. 
 
 ''Oh, you are a funny old dipper," said Johnny, 
 
 "You can't hold a drop of water." 
 
 A SLIGHT MISUNDERSTANDING. 
 
 The following story was another which amused the 
 students very much: 
 
 At a mountain resort a young man by the name of 
 Smith, not "J^^^^ Smith," met a young lady by the 
 name of Bell Hubbard; they were stopping at separ- 
 ate hotels. They were very fond of each other's so- 
 ciety and every one could see it was a genuine love 
 match. One night they were noticed to be in an un- 
 
i8o 
 
 usually happy mood and the following conversation 
 took place. 
 
 *'My dear darling' Bell, isn't this a beautiful summer 
 night? The grand mountain scenery on every hand, 
 and the cool mountain breeze to fan your heated brow. 
 What a fitting place to form resolutions or make a 
 binduig contract. In fact, dear Bell, what a glorious 
 place to pop the question, and here it goes. Will you 
 take me for better or worse, will you take me for your 
 husband, take my name and become Mrs. Smith?'' 
 
 She replied, *'Yes, Mr. Smith, I like your straight- 
 forward and businesslike manner. I love frankness 
 and honor." 
 
 Hugs and kisses were indulged in and they separ- 
 ated for the time. She was called aside by some lady 
 friends, and he went out on the porch to take a smoke 
 and talk over a fishing expedition of the next day, 
 where speckled trout were to be found in plenty. 
 Now Bell w^as somewhat speckled, too, as the sequel 
 will show. 
 
 The next evening when Mr. Smith called on Miss 
 Hubbard, he found things very much changed, in- 
 stead of smiles and kisses he was met with a frown. 
 Said he, "My dear Bell, what has come over you? 
 
i8i 
 
 What is the matter? When I left you last evening 
 you were so happy and all smiles. What has chang-ed 
 you so?'' Said she, "Mr. Smith, I don't wish to speak 
 to you. I hate you. I now know what kind of a 
 man you are. I know, sir, I have got freckles, but I 
 thought you were more of a gentleman than to make 
 fun of me on that account." Mr. Smith was aston- 
 ished and replied, ''Why, Bell, I never did any such 
 a thing." Said she, "Mr. Smith, you need not deny it 
 to me. Last evening after we separated you went out 
 on the porch and I overheard you say to Mr. Brown, 
 'Oh! Tom, what pleasure it is to come up to the 
 mountains and catch these speckled beauties.' " 
 
 "Oh, my goodness. Bell," said Mr. Smith. I was 
 talking about speckled trout and not beautiful girls 
 that had a few freckles which only added to their 
 beauty." Of course this set matters right. 
 
 A STINGY WOMAN. 
 
 I told my student friends that I boarded with a very 
 close figuring landlady once, who carried a loaf of 
 bread under her arm, and a knife in her hand, and 
 asked each one if he would have another piece of 
 bread, as she cut it when thev wanted it, so as not 
 
l82 
 
 to have any left over. This was all very well, but 
 when she came to catch the flies who had been in the 
 sugar bowl, merely to brush the sugar from their 
 feet, that it might not be wasted, it was too much for 
 my student friends and they charged me with exag- 
 geration. I partially acknowledged the corn by say- 
 ing I was no doubt like the very 
 
 WISE BOY, 
 
 who, seeing the stingy mother took good care of the 
 whips she used on him, as she kept them over a motto^ 
 "God Bless Our Home," he said she ought to keep 
 them over the other motto. She asked him why, and 
 he said because it reads, *T need thee every hour."^ 
 This seemed to please the boys immensely, but when 
 I told them of 
 
 A WINKING FISH STORY 
 
 it broke them all up. This is a true story with a very 
 little exaggeration. 
 
 But, by the way, I do not want the reader to judge 
 all of my experiences which are truthful with these 
 
i83. 
 
 narratives of fun and exaggeration. But of course 
 we are all in matters of fun a little like the deacon in 
 church who was accused of exaggeration, and he 
 replied that he had shed barrels of tears over that very 
 sin. 
 
 It is a fact there is a wealthy gentleman in St, 
 Johns, Michigan, by the name of George W. Em- 
 mons. I know this to be a fact because Mr. Emmons, 
 for his first wife married my niece, and for his second 
 wife married some one else's niece, and for his third 
 wife he married my wife's niece. 
 
 Now Mr. Emmons is a mighty hunter and fisher, 
 and as there is not more than a washtub full of water 
 within many miles of St. Johns, Mr. Emmons must 
 have an artificial lake in his backyard, stocked with 
 whale, alligators, sturgeon, and all other varieties of 
 the piscatorial tribe. This lake must be deep enough 
 and large enough for a fifty-foot log to extend out 
 into it; where his boys, Walter, Fred and Clarence^ 
 can dive from, when they go swimming; besides, it 
 must be the log Mr. Emmons walks out on when he 
 shoots fish. It must be so, for I heard him tell my 
 wife that one morning he took his gun and went out 
 to shoot a fish, and walking out on a log he spied a 
 
i84 
 
 sturgeon or some other big fellow, and drew up his 
 gun and fired at the fish. Somebody had rendered 
 extra service and given his gun an extra charge, which 
 caused the gun to express its indignation for being so 
 overloaded, and it kicked him off of the log so he got 
 a duck instead of a fish. He always declared the fish 
 winked at him. But this was about the time he was 
 looking for his third wife, and he was susceptible to 
 winks at that time. 
 
 THE STORY OF A PARROT. 
 
 I was telling the students of a story of my experi- 
 ence. When I was in San Francisco, next door to my 
 office was a restaurant. They kept a parrot, and one 
 day I heard a terrible scolding going on; it seemed 
 to be a woman's voice, which said as it increased 
 in volume, **Don't you dare to strike me, don't you 
 strike me, stand back, don't you touch me; then take 
 him off, take him off, he will kill me," and then a 
 terrible scream. I rushed in, but there was no one in 
 the room but a parrot hanging in a large cage. It 
 cried out, "Oh, what a fool you have made of your- 
 self." This was the finest talking parrot I ever heard. 
 
iS5 
 
 The story pleased everybody, and called forth the 
 story of 
 
 THE PARROT AND THE MONKEY. 
 
 A parrot getting out of its cage was seized by a 
 monkey, and its feathers stripped ofif. When the lady 
 of the house came in and saw the plight of the bird 
 and disordered room she threw up her hands and 
 cried, "Oh, dear, what is the matter?" The parrot 
 replied, "We have had a hell of a time." 
 
 Some one sug"gested this was an old story, and re- 
 quested more of my war experiences. So I repeat 
 one I forgot to mention in my Florida experience. 
 
 One day when in the Everglades in Florida my 
 company, D, of the Fourth U. S. Infantry, were sent 
 out in search of an expedition under the command of 
 Major W. J. Graham. We were to look for a small 
 detachment of marines under command of Captain 
 McLochlen of the schooner Flirt, who were to come 
 up a small stream of water in small boats. When we 
 reached the creek it was very small; the parties we 
 were looking for were not there; we remained there 
 part of two days, and our rations being- exhausted, 
 
i86 
 
 we could not wait any longer, and we had to return 
 without accomplishing- our mission. We had no tents 
 with us, nor were we permitted to make any fires in 
 the night. 
 
 One night I became very thirsty after eating so 
 much salt pork, and I did not take the precaution to 
 "iill my canteen before I laid down, and went to a 
 little stream of water to fill my canteen. I took a 
 drink, and after that I filled my canteen. I started to 
 return to my comrades as I thought. I walked for 
 some time, and I could not find the place I left a few 
 moments before. I stopped and listened, but could 
 hear no sound, and dare not make any noise, for fear 
 the Indians would hear me, and I knew if any of the 
 sentinels who were on guard would see me they would 
 shoot me, for they had orders to shoot any one ap- 
 proaching from the outside. It was so dark I could 
 hardly see my hand before me, and this in the thick i 
 woods. I did not know what to do. I could hear no • 
 sound of any kind. As I was standing bewildered, all 
 at once what did I hear but "Who cooks for you" came 
 from an owl right over my head. "I cook for myself, 
 said I in my mind. I tell you it frightened me terribly, 
 for I did not at first know but it was an Indian signal. 
 
 ne j 
 
 I," I 
 
 J 
 
i87 
 
 I kept very quiet and I was compelled to stay in that 
 place all night until daylight. And when it became 
 light enough to see there I was within a few rods of 
 my comrades, who wondered at my absence and 
 laughed at my misfortune. But I tell you I was care- 
 ful after that to get water before dark or take my 
 bearings when leaving camp in an unknown locality. 
 
 My experience at the G. A. R. encampment at Buf- 
 falo. When we were ordered to take our position in 
 line in the morning I thought I could stand the march, 
 but after going ten or twelve blocks to the place desig- 
 nated I found I could not endure so long a march, 
 and I was taken with cramps in my stomach, and I 
 suffered a great deal. I went into a store and sat on 
 a dry goods box, and while I was there Gov. Pingree 
 came to see me, and he ordered an ambulance to 
 take me to my quarters, 138 Delaware avenue. I had 
 a fine room then on the first floor. I had the room 
 all to myself, and would have had a good time had it 
 not been for my sick spell. They put me in the am- 
 bulance and took me home. That is the first time I 
 ■ever rode in such a conveyance. It hurts my feelings 
 very much after my long service in the army to have 
 to ride in a sick wagon. After I went home I got 
 
i88 
 
 better in a little while, and some of my comrades said 
 I ought to go and see the living shield only one block 
 from where I was quartered and on the same street. 
 It was the most beautiful sight I ever saw There 
 was two or three thousand school children, most all 
 of one size. They were placed on elevated benches 
 from the ground up. The first row of seats was on 
 the ground, the second tier a foot higher, and so on. 
 They were all dressed to correspond with the colors 
 of the shield, and formed the most magnificent 
 spectacle I ever saw. As I was looking at it and 
 seeing the Grand Army posts com.ing up on another 
 street, two ladies approached me and said a few words 
 to me, and then asked m.e if I would like to take a 
 glass of wine. I told them I would. They were liv- 
 ing only two or three doors from here. I went with 
 them, and when we came to their house I was sur- 
 prised to see such a magnificent house, everything 
 was so very fine. They told me to take a chair on 
 the porch, and one of them went in the house and in 
 a few minutes returned with a decanter of whisky 
 and one of wine, also with crackers and cheese, and 
 told me to make myself happy. While I was doing 
 justice to what was set before me one of the ladies 
 
1 89 
 
 asked me if I would like to take a ride around the city. 
 If I would they would drive down to Camp Jewett, 
 out some distance from where we were. They said 
 the President and Gen. Alger would be at the camp. 
 The camp was situated in a lovely locality, on the bank 
 of the Niagara River, and a regiment of the regular 
 U. S. Infantry, I think it was the Thirteenth Infantry, 
 was located there. I thought no more about it and 
 went to my room. I had not been there ten minutes 
 when a splendid carriage drove up with two ladies in 
 it, and stopped in front of the room I was in. One of 
 them got out of the vehicle and ran up the steps, and 
 I met her at the door. The carriage was the most 
 magnificent one I ever saw. It had but one seat in 
 it, and we sat pretty close together, one on my right 
 and one on my left. So you see I was well taken care 
 of. The driver had a silk hat on his head with a 
 cockade on his hat, and metallic buttons on his coat. 
 He drove as fine a pair of horses as I ever saw. We 
 drove around the city for some time, and then we 
 went down to camp; you ought to see the attraction 
 we created. I never had the honor shown me as I 
 did on this occasion; every person we met on the 
 street would take ofif their hats. I had all of my 
 
190 
 
 medals on my breast, and the ladies were very richly 
 dressed, and I looked like a general if I was not one, 
 only surgeon of the Fairbanks Post No. 17, G. A. R., 
 Department of Michigan. I think the old veterans 
 took me to be Gen. Bombastes Furioso. We did not 
 see the President; he had not got through with the 
 procession, and so we had to go home without the 
 pleasure of seeing his excellency. On our way home 
 one of the ladies asked me if I would give her my 
 photo. I told her I would with pleasure; that I would 
 take one to her the next day. The next morning I 
 took one over to her house, but she was not in. But 
 when she came home she wrote me a letter with her 
 monogram on the letter and also on the envelope, 
 stating her regrets at being out when I called, and 
 said she owned the carriage, and it was at my dis- 
 posal whenever I felt disposed to avail myself of it. 
 When I came to Detroit after the encampment I gave 
 the letter to our adjutant comrade, Backus, to read 
 at the post meeting the next Monday night, and the 
 Post gave her a vote of thanks. They were very fine 
 people and very wealthy. They were patriotic and 
 they liked to do all they could for the G. A. R. It 
 was unfortunate I was not well ; I would have had a 
 
m-: 
 
 191 
 
 good time. The following is a copy of the letter sent 
 me: 
 
 189 Delaware Ave., Buffalo. 
 Mr. J. D. Elderkin: 
 
 Dear Sir — I am sorry I was not home when you 
 called this morning, but was happy to hear you w^as 
 feeling better, and was delighted with the photograph; 
 I shall prize it highly, and the G. A. R. will never be 
 mentioned but it wall recall to memory one friend I 
 made at the encampment of '97. Hoping you may 
 soon regain your health and enjoy many more meet- 
 ings of your noble comrades, I remain, 
 
 Very sincerely, 
 
 ALICE F. HOLLIDAY. 
 August 26th. 
 
 THE ENCAMPMENT AT ST. PAUL. 
 
 When the G. A. R. went to St. Paul, Minn., we 
 went on the F. & P. M. Railroad, and on our way to 
 Ludington I bcame acquainted with a young lady and 
 her mother, who were also going to the same place, 
 who had friends there, and the young lady had availed 
 
192 
 
 herself of her vacation oiTered her of two weeks. She 
 being a friend of the old soldiers, thought she would 
 go and see the grand parade, and see if she could not 
 do something to make it pleasant for the old boys, and 
 it was not long before she had an opportunity to show 
 her gratitude to us. When we arrived at Ludington, 
 the boat that was to take us to Milwaukee was lying 
 at the dock, and we went on board of her, thinking, 
 however, we would all be provided for with berths, 
 but when we went to the ofiBce for them we were told 
 they were all engaged. You ought to have seen the 
 picture of despair depicted upon the faces of the boys ; 
 standing room was at a premium. The steward told 
 the ladies he could give each one of them a cot, but 
 none for the men; they must do the best they could. 
 We were told we would all have staterooms, but they 
 did not keep their word. The rooms had all been 
 engaged two days before. About eleven o'clock they 
 commenced putting the cots in their places, and as 
 one was ready someone would take possession of it. 
 
 I sat looking at those who were putting the cots in 
 order, when the young lady I have spoken of before 
 came to me and said, "Now, this cot is for me, you 
 take it. I can sit up better than you can." I told her 
 
193 
 
 I could think of nothing of the kind. It would not 
 hurt me to sit up and it might make her sick to be de- 
 prived of her rest. It was no use for me to refuse; 
 she said if I did not take it someone else would, for 
 she would not take it herself. I saw there was no 
 other way for me but to sleep on it. The cots were 
 put close together, two on each side of the boat, leav- 
 ing a passage in the center. When I got ready to go 
 to bed I saw something on the cot next to the one I 
 was to occupy — someone on it who had long hair. It 
 startled me somewhat, for I had not laid so close to 
 anyone wearing long hair since my wife died ten years 
 ago. But I knew there was no danger of robbery, as 
 the lights were going all night. I was very much 
 disturbed in my sleep; the long hair semed to upset 
 me somehow. After we got to Milwaukee we got on 
 the cars and everything was all right. After we had 
 been on the road some time I took a seat with the 
 young lady and her mother, and sat with them quite 
 a while, and then excused myself and went on the 
 other side and talked to some of my friends. While 
 I was there we passed through a tunnel. Wasn't I 
 mad! I told the lady I was vexed, and she asked me 
 what it was about, and I told her if I had known we 
 
194 
 
 were going through a tunnel I would have stayed 
 with them. After I got to St. Paul I lost sight of her 
 and did not see her until I came to Detroit. She is a 
 very prety girl, and I never will forget her for her 
 kindness to me. 
 
 THE WASHINGTON ENCAMPMENT. 
 
 MY EXPERIENCE IN WASHINGTON DUR- 
 ING THE G. A| R. ENCAMPMENT. 
 
 After we arrived in Washington I thought I would 
 see if I could find a room, as I did not like the ac- 
 commodations where we were stationed in a school- 
 house, so I went down to Seventh street, only two 
 blocks away. As I got on Seventh street I saw a 
 fine-looking house that had been recently painted, 
 with quite a number of flags displayed. Everything 
 looked so nice and clean that I thought I would like 
 to stay there. I went to the door and rang the bell. 
 A lady answered the summons, and I told her my mis- 
 sion. She said they had but one vacant room, and 
 that was on the second floor. If I would like to look 
 at it she would be pleased to show it to me. I went 
 
195 
 
 into the house and she took me upstairs and I 
 made an inspection of the room. Everything looked 
 clean and nice. 1 asked the price, and she told me. 
 I said I would take it for four days, and gave her the 
 money in advance. It seems, her mother was the 
 landlady, and did all the work, and her daughter got 
 all the proceeds from the roomers. They had about 
 eighteen or twenty who occupied rooms during the 
 encampment. It was quite a lot of money they would 
 take while we were there. The daughter had but re- 
 cently been married, and worked in a small room in 
 the back of the house, at dressmaking. I told her 
 that I wanted the room to myself. After I came there 
 at night I read the newspaper some, and after I had a 
 good smoke from my pipe, turned down the gas and 
 went to bed, thinking all the time I was alone. But 
 after I had been in bed some time, I found I was not 
 alone. I had hundreds of visitors, and I might say 
 thousands. I was not very long in finding out the 
 nature of my company. I got out of bed and turned 
 on the gas and — Jerusalem! what a sight. The pil- 
 low slips and sheet were black with my enemy. I 
 went right into battle. I think I must have slaugh- 
 tered two or three hundred that night. I did not 
 
196 
 
 know what to do. I took a smoke, and after stayin^Gf 
 up for an hour or so I got so sleepy that I had to try 
 it again. I slept quite well after the battle. In the 
 morning I called the young lady to come in the room. I 
 said to her, "Didn't you tell me I could have this room 
 all to myself?" She said, "There was no one else with 
 you, was there?" "I should think not," and told her 
 to look at the pillows and sheets. I said to her, 
 "Didn't you know the state of this room when I took 
 it?'- ''No/' she said. "Who slept here before I came?" 
 said I. "My papa," said she. "Well," said I, "he must 
 have a skin like an alligator." She said she would 
 have the mother fix the room up. So I said nothing 
 more and went away. But I knew what they would 
 do, and when I returned I found the place exactly as 
 I expected — the pillow^ slips turned inside out and the 
 sheets turned over; that was all; so I went out and 
 got a bottle of aqua ammonia and returned. When 
 I turned dow^n the cover to go to bed, I saw the enemy 
 drawn up in line of battle, their eyes gleaming in the 
 gaslight. But I made a flank movement and fired my 
 ammonia by batallion and batteries and in brigade all 
 down each side of the bed. This unexpected attack 
 put the enemy to rout entirely and from this on for 
 
197 
 
 my brief stay I had the field to myself. But it was a 
 desperate battle; I lost much blood in the first en- 
 g-agement, but none in the second. 
 
 AS MEMBER AND LEADER OF THE LIGHT 
 GUARD BAND. 
 
 As a member and leader of the Light Guard Band 
 I have met with many amusing and interesting events. 
 .My associates were of course, for the time being, my 
 business partners, and I cannot recall any unpleasant 
 associations; but, on the contrary, there are many 
 pleasant memories to linger over. 
 
 Our many attempts to please the public, by giving 
 free concerts in the parks and public places, have been 
 greeted with such enthusiastic outpouring of good- 
 natured appreciation of our efforts that it leaves a 
 wide roadway, strewn with flowers of sweet memory, 
 to cheer me in my decling years, and brings back 
 sweet memories in 
 
198 
 
 RETROSPECTION. 
 
 In looking back I view my association with that 
 grand military organization, the Detroit Light Giiard^. 
 with much satisfaction and pride. Why should I not 
 be proud to be an associate with such noble spirits 
 as those who have composed the membership of that 
 organization, many of whom have reached positions 
 of high distinction? 
 
 To mention names of the more successful would be 
 an injustice to the number who were equally worthy, 
 though less fortunate. During my many years with 
 them I have seen its membership changed by the com- 
 ing and going, until I could appreciate the feelings of 
 Eugene Sue's "Wandering Jew," who saw the rise of 
 many generations and was left alone to view in retro- 
 spection the many faces which had passed before 
 him. 
 
 It is not my purpose to enter into details of the 
 organization or its many joyous annual reunions, for 
 that is published in their historic records. But I 
 wish to say that at each reunion that body of noble 
 men have ever recognized my long service by render- 
 
199 
 
 ing honorable mention of my name and other more 
 substantial tokens of their kindness; and in my busi- 
 ness of music they were ever associating me by refer- 
 ence and favoritism. I would never tire of singing 
 the praises of this organization. But there has been 
 so much published elsewhere, and by the press, and 
 said so much better than I could say it, that I must 
 leave the praise and records to much more worthy- 
 pens than mine. 
 
 I would also like to sing the praise of Fairbanks 
 Post, G. A. R., God bless them! — every member 
 They have ever stood ready to do me honor. But 
 their record is too dazzling for my weak pen to even 
 try to attempt, as it has been so much better written 
 by others. 
 
 Of the press, I would speak and extend my thinks. 
 The Detroit papers, especially the Free Press, have so 
 often given me favorable mention, and sang my praise 
 as an old veteran, that as my declining years bring me 
 nearer and nearer to the shore I feel a joy mingled 
 with sadness — the joy of receiving kindness from so 
 many friends, and sorrow at the prospect of parting 
 from them. 
 
200 
 
 Last, though not least, I must speak of our beau- 
 tiful city, where I have made my home so long, and 
 seen it grow from a rambling old town to a mighty 
 city; and in all of my many years' residence I have 
 never had unpleasant altercations or trouble with any 
 of its citizens. For the most part, my life has been 
 serene; my pathway a pleasant one. I sincerely hope 
 my friends who have read the book may take as much 
 pleasure in reading it as I have in writing it and re- 
 viewing my past life. 
 
 J. D. ELDERKIN. 
 
201 
 
 GRANT'S MANNER OF LIFE AT SACKET'S 
 HARBOR AND DETROIT. 
 
 My acquaintance with Lieut. Grant was at Corpus 
 Christi, at the beginning of the Mexican war. He 
 was a very mild spoken man — spoke Hke a lady, al- 
 most. He always asked his men to do their duty; he 
 never ordered them in an offensive way. He was 
 about as nice a man as I ever saw. He was wonder- 
 fully cool and quick in battle. Nothing ever rattled 
 him. He took an active part in every battle, and was 
 quartermaster besides. I saw a great deal of him at 
 Fort Vancouver, W. T., through the Mexican war, and 
 then at Detroit and Sacket's Harbor, after the war. He 
 was very sociable, always talked to a man freely and 
 without putting on the airs of a superior officer. I re- 
 member him very well at Detroit. I also remember 
 his wife very well; I used to carry the mail, sometimes 
 twice a day, to their house on Fort street east. He 
 used to ride and drive a great deal ; at Sacket's Harbor 
 I remember he used to practice with clubs. He lived 
 very modestly — he couldn't afford to do anything else 
 on his pay. His only dissipation was in owning a fast 
 
202 
 
 horse; he always Hked to have a fine horse, and he paid 
 well for them. While Grant did not dance, he played 
 cards occasionally, and checkers also. He read what- 
 ever he could find to read, and read aloud to his wife; 
 and in this quiet way was a tender, though undemon 
 strative, husband and a good citizen. 
 
 I wish to say in regard to my acquaintance witVi 
 General Grant, not that I could add one iotai to^ the 
 luster of the record of the grand old General, but for 
 the satisfaction' that it gives me to relate of my close 
 personal acquaintanceship with such a noble man, and 
 my service in the field and camp with him and my 
 knowledge of him in civil life, I always found him the 
 same quiet, unassuming, noble man. 
 
 J. D. E. 
 
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