3 o PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. , 563 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A VARIETY OF EXPERIENCE — INCIDENT — ADVENTURE — IN AND 
 
 OUT OF PRISON — REMINISCENCE — THE RECRUITS — RAIL-MAK- 
 ING — OTHER MATTERS OF INTEREST. 
 
 A SKETCH OF PRISON EXPERIENCE. 
 
 BY W. R. LAWRENCE, LATE SECOND LIEUTENANT COMPANY C, SEVENTY-THIRD 
 ILLINOIS REGIMENT. 
 
 On the morniDg of December 31, 1862, when the right wing 
 of the Union army was driven back at the battle of Stone 
 River, I was one of the three thousand captured. There was 
 little ceremony about it. With a squad of other prisoners I was 
 hurried to the rear, and crossed the river on the railroad bridge. 
 Upon the opposite bank we saw General Bragg and his staff view- 
 ing the battle-field. 
 
 On the way back, our guards boasted of the victory of the 
 morning, and informed us of our good fortune in being taken that 
 day, as upon the next they would raise the black flag and take no 
 more Yankee prisoners. The next day the Emancipation Procla- 
 mation was to take effect. This act of the President caused an^ 
 intense feeling in the South against the North. Pollard, in his 
 ‘‘Secret History of the Confederacy,” states that, by reason of it, 
 many of the Southern people, and some of the leading men, were 
 in favor of treating all Union soldiers captured upon their soil as 
 outlaws, and deserving instant death. This sentiment may ac- 
 count for their cruel treatment of our prisoners. 
 
 We were taken to the court-house yard in Murfreesboro, and 
 there turned in with hundreds of others, the larger portion of whom 
 had been taken from Johnson’s division upon our extreme right. The 
 commissioned officers, about fifty in number, were confined in the 
 upper story of the court-house. Prominent among these was 
 General Willich, who commanded a brigade in Johnson’s division. 
 In a vehement manner he censured his division commander for the 
 surprise and rout in the morning. The facts, now well known, 
 sustain that censure. 
 
564 
 
 SMALL, THIN, COLD BISCUIT:' 
 
 From the windows of our room, the smoke of the battle, two 
 miles away, could be plainly seen, and the sound of the firing very 
 distinctly heard. By these tokens the progress of the fighting 
 could be determined, and they were watched with the most intense 
 interest. Late in the afternoon a rebel major came into the room 
 and informed us that Rosecrans was being rapidly driven back, 
 and his army was in full retreat to Nashville. His attention, 
 however, was called to the fact that the stream of prisoners had 
 ceased to flow into the court-house yard below, and that the sound 
 of the battle indicated a desperate conflict, which was proof that 
 Rosecrans was holding his own, and would more likely be in Mur- 
 freesboro before going to Nashville. So it proved to be. 
 
 At sundown we were moved to the railroad depot, and packed 
 into box-cars for shipment. The doors were closed, and a few 
 guards assigned to each car. As the train rolled away we could 
 still hear the sullen sound of battle. 
 
 Some of our number were suffering from wounds that needed 
 surgical attention. All were hungry and much fatigued. The 
 whole of the night before, our part of the army had lain in line 
 of battle, without fire or shelter, under a cold December sky. 
 The enemy struck us soon after daylight in overpowering numbers, 
 and fiercely. It was fight and retreat for hours over rough 
 ground, which tested the strength and endurance of the best 
 soldiers. Not a man had eaten during the day. Our haversacks 
 and equipments were taken by the captors. 
 
 There arose a clamor and demand for rations. They were 
 promised to be furnished at Tullahoma. This place was reached 
 far into the night, because of the delays by side-tracking to allow 
 important trains to go to the front. The supply of food at Tulla- 
 homa was of the most meager kind. In the scramble for it I got 
 a small, thin, cold biscuit. 
 
 We were moved slowly, and, like a jury considering its ver- 
 dict, were kept in the box-cars “without meat or drink, water 
 excepted,'* until Chattanooga was reached late in the evening 
 of January 1, 1863. Here we were marched to a vacant build- 
 ing in the outskirts of the town, and had issued to us rations of 
 corn-meal and pork, to be cooked according to our tastes. Half 
 cooked, in the quickest manner, it was soon eaten. After a short 
 halt, we were moved back to our cars, and through the long night 
 rolled deeper into the Confederacy. Near morning we were in- 
 formed that Atlanta was at hand, and that we would there be kept 
 for some time. 
 
m,^u.rv^\j 9 3Tr^(^l| N^\jul\y^ 
 
 LIEUTENANT LA WRENGE'S EXPERIENCE, 565 
 
 We were taken to a three-story brick building upon a street 
 corner, and put in the upper story. The place had evidently 
 been used as a lodge-room, some of the stands and platforms 
 still being in their places, and several large chandeliers hung from 
 the ceilings ; otherwise the room was bare and dirty, but densely 
 populated, as we soon found to our grief, by the ever-present, 
 body-devouring, sleep-defying prison-louse. 
 
 Food was issued to us once a day. In the mornings a negro 
 came up with a wooden tray, filled with boiled beef, upon his 
 head, and throwing the contents upon a table, announced the hos- 
 pitality of our host with, “Here’s yo’ meat.” This was followed 
 shortly by the same tray filled with corn-bread, and unloaded with 
 a like ceremony, “Here ’s yo’ co’n-bread.” These scant supplies were 
 carefully divided among the prisoners, and alone would have barely 
 sufficed to sustain life. 
 
 The want of food, however, was much alleviated by the per- 
 mission given to buy eatables. Greenbacks were readily taken for 
 Confederate scrip, at the rate of one dollar of ours for two of theirs. 
 One, or even two, prisoners at a time were allowed to go into the 
 market with a guard, and buy supplies. The purchases were 
 mainly sweet potatoes, onions, and butter. A delicious compound 
 was made with these, and the corn-bread and beef, stewed together 
 in an oyster-can. 
 
 Lieutenant Elliott, of the 36th Illinois, got into serious trouble 
 on one of the market trips. He had a number of bills known as 
 “/ac simih Confederate money,” made in the North, and used to 
 some extent by our soldiers in the South. It was not difficult to 
 detect, because of better workmanship than that which it was in- 
 tended to imitate. He paid for a large purchase of supplies with 
 this paper. Soon after his return to the prison, a citizen with a 
 guard came in, and after a brief search, Elliott was pointed out 
 by the citizen, and he was at once taken away. After a few hours' 
 absence he was brought back, when he informed us that he had 
 been taken before a magistrate, and an examination had upon the 
 charge of passing counterfeit money, and that he was likely to 
 be indicted by the grand jury and sent to the Georgia penitentiary 
 for his life-time, or during the life-time of the Confederacy. This 
 became a solemn matter for the lieutenant. Plans for his escape 
 became a topic of interest. The building was at all times sur- 
 rounded by vigilant sentinels, continually passing their beats. The 
 stairways and the door leading to our room were constantly 
 
 i 96261 
 
566 
 
 VARIOUS PASTIMES. 
 
 Tvatched by a number of guards. One of the rooms in the second 
 story of the building was used as a sort of hospital for our sick. 
 The lieutenant soon became sick, and was taken to the hospital 
 room. Here, by some means, he became possessed of a full suit 
 of butternut jeans and a hat — doubtless through the persuasive 
 effect of greenbacks upon the guard. He had a map and small 
 pocket compass, which were usually carried by our officers. One 
 dark, rainy, windy night, he let himself from the second story 
 window to the ground by blankets tied together and passed be- 
 tween the pacing sentinels. When a few feet beyond them, his 
 escape from the city was easy, After many days he reached our 
 lines near Corinth, Mississippi. I' met him in the following May 
 at Louisville, Kentucky, on my return to my regiment, when he 
 gave me a graphic account of his adventures. 
 
 The only means for warming our room and cooking our simple 
 fare were three small fire-places and green pine-wood. Each 
 prisoner was furnished an army blanket that appeared to have 
 been in the service during the war, and was very dirty. Our bed 
 was the floor. The vermin which infested the place were a source 
 of endless torment. 
 
 The blonde and thin-skinned German, General Willich, was 
 greatly troubled with these pests. He got mercurial ointment to 
 destroy them, and made a liberal application of it upon his person 
 and clothing. It soon made him very sick, and he was taken to 
 the hospital room below. After some days’ absence he returned to 
 us, very thin and pale, and with much dejection said: “ If I stay 
 here the little vermins will kill me, and if I use medicine to kill 
 the vermins, the medicine kills me ; so, I think, poys, I am 
 done for.” 
 
 Several kinds of amusement were devised to occupy the long 
 winter evenings. There was no restraint upon the use of gas, and 
 at night all the jets of the chandeliers were fully turned on, which 
 flooded the room with light. For a consideration, a guard was 
 induced to get us a fiddle. With this music ‘ ‘ stag dances ” were 
 of nightly occurrence for some time. Tiring of this. General 
 Willich was enlisted to lecture upon military science. Captain 
 Edgerton, of an Ohio battery, a fine elocutionist, read from 
 Shakespeare. An Indiana lieutenant instructed a class in calis- 
 thenics. Much of the day-time was employed in games of cards, 
 chess, and checkers. Confederate officers were frequent visitors. 
 Their talk was largely devoted to the project of forming a North- 
 
ON TO RICHMOND. 
 
 567 
 
 western Confederacy. It was argued by them that the people of 
 the North-western States and those of the South were natural 
 allies; that the Mississippi was the natural, and should be the 
 free highway for these two sections of the country. These views, 
 however, met no favor from the prisoners. Facts have since come 
 to light that show the same views were entertained by a class in 
 the North, who at that particular time were noted for disloyalty 
 to the Government, and who were in close communication with 
 the enemy in the South. 
 
 Thus passed the time until about the middle of February, when 
 the information was given that we would be moved at once to 
 Richmond for exchange. It was received with great satisfaction. 
 At night we were moved out and placed in box-cars, but without 
 guards. Augusta was reached the next morning, and here we 
 were kept in the large depot building until dark. Passenger cars 
 were now furnished us, and we started across South Carolina. 
 Recent heavy rains had swollen the rivers and flooded the 
 country, which prevented rapid running of the train, and we did 
 not reach Wilmington, North Carolina, until late the next evening. 
 Very light rations had been given us when we left Atlanta, and 
 none had been issued to us on the route. Some foraging was 
 done while going through South Carolina at the many stopping- 
 places. 
 
 When Weldon, North Carolina, was reached, the demand for 
 food was so determined, that the officer in charge managed to get 
 us some meat and hard bread. 
 
 A short time before we got to this place, a lieutenant of an 
 Ohio regiment, known by the name of “Shakespeare,” because of 
 his happy faculty of quoting from this poet to fit our condition, 
 was left in the gloomy pine- woods of North Carolina. While the 
 engine was taking water at a tank he left the train to go to a 
 cabin a short distance away to get bread, against the protests ot 
 his comrades. Before he finished negotiating for the food, the 
 train started. He ran screaming and gesticulating to stop it, but 
 without avail. The last we saw of “ Shakespeare ” he was stand- 
 ing upon the track waving his hat. He was but a few miles from 
 the coast and our forces, but believing that we were on the sure 
 road to freedom, he boarded several trains before he was allowed 
 to ride into Richmond as a Yankee prisoner. When he found 
 that we were guests at the Hotel de Libby, and he was invited to 
 join us, he discovered his great mistake of “on to Richmond.” 
 
568 
 
 ONE MEAL A BAY, 
 
 We reached Richmond in the night and were taken directly to 
 Libby prison, entering the door at the north-western corner where 
 hung the sign, “Libby & Son, Ship Chandlers.” It was a large 
 brick structure fronting north, and situate near the James River, 
 between which and the prison ran the canal. It has since been 
 removed to Chicago, and now stands upon the east side of Wabash 
 Avenue, fronting west, and is an exact representation of the 
 original. 
 
 The first quarters assigned us were in the basement in the west 
 end, a room one hundred feet long by forty feet wide, with three 
 windows in the south end looking out upon the river. It was a 
 dark, damp, gloomy place, in which there were several hundred 
 prisoners besides our Atlanta recruits. 
 
 When the heavy door with its iron fastenings clanged behind 
 us, the trick to get us through the Confederacy without guards, 
 upon the promise of exchange, was apparent. 
 
 We had been changed from bad to a great deal worse. Our 
 quarters were now of the very worst kind. Our food was not 
 increased in quality or quantity, and there was no longer the op- 
 portunity to supply the deficiency by purchase. A half loaf of 
 baker’s bread, about one-fourth ration of inferior raw beef, and a 
 like ration of black beans, or rice, were issued to each prisoner 
 daily. A few cook-stoves were provided for cooking the food. 
 
 For convenience the crowd was divided into messes of twelve, 
 and numbered. Each mess took its turn in cooking, and the 
 cooking was from daylight till dark to allow one meal a day for 
 each mess. There were about fifty messes in this room. 
 
 Soon after we got to Libby, General Stoughton, of the Army 
 of the Potomac, was brought a prisoner to our room. It was re- 
 ported that he had been captured by Mosby’s men, outside of our 
 lines, while sharing the hospitality of a Virginia family. He was 
 a very promising young ofl&cer, and made a fine appearance in his 
 new bright uniform, particularly when contrasted with the dirty, 
 tattered garbs of his new acquaintances in misery. But there was 
 no distinction in rank ; the generals and colonels did their share 
 of the cooking with the second lieutenants, and all fought lice 
 together. 
 
 Several squads of recruits came in from time to time. There 
 were General Coburn and his oflicers, captured at Spring Hill, 
 Tennessee; Colonel Fletcher, of the 31st Missouri, and several 
 officers of his regiment, captured in the bloody charge at Chicka- 
 
LAWRENCE^S PRISON EXPERIENCE. 
 
 569 
 
 saw Bayou. There was an addition of a few naval officers, taken 
 down upon the coast. 
 
 We were not kept a great while in this “ black hole of Cal- 
 cutta,” as it was called; then we were moved to the top room in 
 the east end of the building. It was a very agreeable change, 
 being light and airy, although part of the time quite cold. 
 
 From the beef issued to us we got a large amount of bone. 
 The whitest and hardest portions of it were worked into various 
 ornaments and trinkets. This became quite an industry, and 
 many of the men showed much artistic skill in their work. The 
 case-knives furnished us to eat with were made into saw^s to divide 
 the bone into the proper dimensions. Some of the kindly dis- 
 posed guards were induced to get us a few small files, and with 
 these tools the bone was fashioned into many curious shapes. 
 Cards, chess, and checkers employed the time of many. Lights 
 were not allowed at night. 
 
 Each morning the prisoners were put in six ranks, extending 
 the length of the room, and counted. This appeared an unneces- 
 sary regulation, as escape did not appear possible. The guard 
 duty about the prison was most rigid and vigilant. Some months 
 after our release, however. General Streight and a large number 
 of prisoners escaped from a room upon the floor below the one 
 occupied by us. An entrance was made into the basement or 
 cellar, and from the east wall a tunnel was dug beneath a narrow 
 open space of ground, coming out in a tobacco-shed about forty 
 feet from the prison. We were more rigidly guarded, not being 
 allowed to look out of a window or go about the opening in the 
 floor that led into the room below. 
 
 Every morning about sun-up an old colored man came into the 
 prison with the Richmond dailies for sale — the Enquirer and 
 Examiner. He announced his coming at the head of the stairway 
 in a loud voice: “ Heah’s yo’ mo’ning papers — EnquiaJi and Ex- 
 aminah — great news from Fredericksburg — twenty thousand 
 Yankees killed, and de balance ob dem taken pris’nahs!” When 
 the old man got upon the floor and was crowded about for the 
 papers, his sly grins showed that his speech was made as much to 
 please the guards below as to induce the purchase of his wares. 
 
 Military operations were active about Fredericksburg and 
 Chancellorsville during our stay at Libby, and furnished most of 
 the news for the Richmond papers. 
 
 A short time before we left, Stoneman’s raid caused great 
 
570 
 
 A GLOOMY PROSPECT. 
 
 excitement in the city. One Sunday morning the long roll was 
 beat at the guard quarters across the street. There was a hurried 
 formation of them in the street, and they were at once marched 
 away, and men in citizen’s dress were substituted for them as sen- 
 tinels. A notion prevailed among some of the prisoners that 
 these new men might be overpowered by a rush and our escape 
 thus made. As preliminary, a few bricks were torn from the wall 
 and thrown down at the guards, to which they very promptly re- 
 sponded by shots. This discouraged all thought of getting out by 
 stampeding the guards. 
 
 As the weeks slowly went by, and spring began to change the 
 gray hills and fields across the James to a pleasing green, the 
 murmurings of the six hundred penned in this miserable place 
 became general. The probability of an early exchange had dis- 
 appeared. Confinement here during the long heat of summer 
 was viewed with dread by the most indifferent. The food fur- 
 nished would not keep down the constant irritation of hunger. 
 The ceaseless annoyance, that amounted to torture, of the vermin 
 crawling and creeping everywhere, rasped the nerves of the most 
 stoical. The narrow space in which to move and exercise was a 
 serious matter. There were no means for a change of clothing or 
 for personal cleanliness. All tended to make this prison life a horror. 
 
 At about the gloomiest time. General Quid, the rebel commis- 
 sioner of exchange, visited us, and he was at once plied with 
 questions as to the chances of release. He was an affable, smooth- 
 spoken man, and very profuse in his expressions of regret at our 
 situation. He claimed that it was all the fault of our Govern- 
 ment that we were not exchanged; that he had gone to the ex- 
 treme of liberality to bring about an exchange of prisoners. He 
 did not omit to depict our sad condition in the coming summer 
 months should our Government persist in refusing the generous 
 terms of exchange offered by the Confederacy. With plausibility 
 he argued that the South was less able to keep prisoners than the 
 North, and that they needed their imprisoned soldiers more than 
 the North did hers. 
 
 The commissioner’s speech aroused expressions of censure of 
 our Government by some of the prisoners. A little incident 
 quickly hushed it. A lieutenant of the 31st Missouri was rather 
 loud and severe in his criticism, when Colonel Fletcher, of the 
 same regiment, sharply reprimanded him, and gave him to under- 
 stand that such expressions were unbecoming an officer, and if 
 
FREEDOM, HOME, AND FRIENDS. 
 
 571 
 
 persisted in that he would subject himself to court-martial upon 
 his return to his regiment. 
 
 On the evening of May 3d it was announced by the officers of the 
 prison that we would be taken to City Point the next morning for ex- 
 change. The joy of the prospect of release took the place of sleep for 
 that night. Those, however, who had been transferred from Atlanta to 
 Richmond, upon the promise of immediate exchange were not so 
 exultant as their comrades. We had begun to learn that the state- 
 ments of an enemy in time of war were not at all times reliable. 
 
 But at dawn the next morning the door in the floor was thrown 
 up, and Major Winder, from the top of the steps in pompous tone 
 commanded: “Fall in to be marched out!” We were hurried 
 down and through the building, out of the door we had entered, 
 when each man was given a half loaf of bread. The march was 
 along the street near the river to the railroad, where flat and box 
 cars were ready, and without delay we were soon moving away. 
 A number of us took deck passage — the top of the box cars — to 
 get a wide view of the Virginia scenery that had been so long shut 
 off by the walls of Libby. 
 
 By noon the James River began to broaden, which had the 
 pleasing significance that we were going toward City Point. Shortly 
 a great cheer began at the head of the train and ran the length of 
 it. Through the young leaves of the trees skirting the river the 
 glimpse of the flag was seen fluttering from the mast of a vessel. 
 Before, to the unsentimental, this emblem of our country had 
 been merely a banner to designate it, for its soldiers to follow, to 
 rally around, and to guide the lines of march and battle. Now it 
 was the rainbow of hope, and promise of freedom, home, and 
 friends — representing all that we had fought for and suffered. 
 
 The wheels of the train had not ceased to turn when a wild 
 break was made for the vessel with the Stars and Stripes, at the 
 wharf to receive us. It soon steamed out into the broad James, 
 and we left the land of Dixie. 
 
 We were taken to Annapolis, and after a few days’ stay, during 
 which we got an entirely new outfit of clothing, we were furnished 
 transportation and ordered to report to our regiments. 
 
 I found my regiment in camp at Murfreesboro, within two 
 miles of the spot I had last seen it nearly five months before. I 
 had made the “grand rounds ” of two thousand miles, and returned, 
 
 “ Like a hare whom hounds and horns pursue, 
 
 Pants to the place from whence at first he flew.” 
 
672 
 
 IMPRISONMENT AND ESCAPE. 
 
 SERGEANT WILLIAM CAMMIRE. 
 
 The battle of Chickamaugua was the beginning of a 
 new experience to a number of the 73d. Some thirty 
 of the regiment were captured by the rebels on that 
 fateful September day, in the valley of “ the river of 
 death!' Among them was Sergeant William Cammire, 
 of Company H. Before the war ended, Sergeant Cam- 
 mire died from the effects of a wound received in 
 battle. But for a wound he would probably not have 
 been captured ; but he might have been killed, as he 
 was a man of courage and determination, and disposed 
 to go where duty called, no matter how great the risk 
 or danger. 
 
 Cammire related the facts and circumstances of his 
 capture, imprisonment, and escape to Major Pond, our 
 regimental surgeon, who made a record of the same. 
 This record we reproduce in part, distinguishing the 
 part quoted from the part we summarize or condense. 
 
 In a short time after we came in immediate con- 
 tact with the enemy, Cammire was wounded and be- 
 came a prisoner; but being unconscious, he was not 
 apprised of his real condition and surroundings for 
 several hours. He gradually regained consciousness, 
 and it was with much difficulty at first that he made 
 out where he was. On regaining consciousness fully, 
 he found himself on the battle-field, alone of the living, 
 but surrounded on all sides by the dead of both the 
 Union and Confederate armies. Sustaining quite a loss 
 of blood from the ugly wound he had received behind 
 the right ear, there was not only depletion of strength, 
 but a dryness of the lips and tongue, and a sensation 
 of thirst, intense and insatiable almost. He began his 
 
RESOLVED TO ESCAPE, 
 
 573 
 
 search for water at once. It was past midnight, and 
 the search was necessarily slow and tedious, but his 
 patience was at length rewarded by finding a canteen 
 partly full of water, which he detached from the body 
 of a dead soldier, and quenched his thirst. 
 
 He would have made his way from the battle-field, 
 but lack of strength and ignorance as to the proper 
 direction to take forbade the venture. So, heart-sick 
 and weary, he reluctantly wrapped his blanket about 
 him, and lay down to rest. After a seemingly long time, 
 he fell asleep. We will allow Cammire’s words, as re- 
 corded by Dr. Pond, to tell the story : 
 
 “ I was awakened by some one pulling at my blanket. I 
 started up suddenly, and there stood before me a Confederate 
 officer, who seemed to be as much surprised as I was myself. The 
 first word spoken was by the officer, who said : ‘ Hello ! you are 
 not dead.’ I answered : ‘ No, sir ; not quite.’ This officer had 
 come upon this part of the battle-field with a large detail of sol- 
 diers, to bury the dead, collect the war material, and remove the 
 wounded. I asked him for a drink of water, which he granted. 
 
 “ They took my gun and cartridge-box, but left me my blanket, 
 canteen, and haversack ; the latter still contained some crackers. 
 I was never harshly treated by any Confederate while I was a 
 prisoner. I was conducted to a point where a number of pris- 
 oners, mostly wounded, were collected together. From this point 
 we were taken to Dalton, a station on the railroad ; the badly 
 wounded in ambulances, the slightly wounded in wagons, and 
 those that were able, marched. It was nearly night when we 
 reached the station, and the surgeons were busy through the night 
 with the wounded. Next day my wound was dressed. It was 
 very sore and painful for several days, and my horror of being a 
 prisoner of war was aggravated by the knowledge I had gained of 
 the scant rations and accommodations for men worse off than 
 myself, and I resolved that I would in some way make my escape. 
 
 “ In the course of two days, a train of freight-cars was made 
 up, and started with the prisoners for Richmond. In the car in 
 which I rode, were at least fifty prisoners. The train had a heavy 
 guard of rebel soldiers, a good share of them riding on top of the 
 
574 
 
 LEAP IN THE DARKN 
 
 cars, but there was at least one guard in each car. I had made 
 up my mind, come what would, to leap from the car when moving 
 at night, and then make my way back to our lines. I proposed 
 to several prisoners, inviting them to accompany me, but all de- 
 clined, saying, I would fail, and my condition would be worse 
 after recapture. 
 
 ‘ ‘ I admitted it all ; but as my wound had ceased to trouble me 
 much, I determined to make the trial. One of the prisoners 
 agreed to assist me all he could, if I was determined to go. It 
 had been raining considerably, and the weather being warm and 
 sultry, the side-doors of the car were both left open while running. 
 As soon as we arrived at a station, the guard closed one door, and 
 stood in the other until the train started again. My plan 
 was to sit in the door, and when the guard’s attention was called 
 away, to leap from the car. My friend had agreed to take my 
 seat the moment I left the car, to avoid raising the suspicion of 
 the guard. 
 
 “We had passed the middle of the second night, and I was 
 eagerly watching my opportunity after passing a station, when, 
 suddenly the train came upon a long, high bridge, and I regretted 
 my neglect, for I knew I would have to recross that river before 
 regaining our lines. Soon after crossing the river, I discovered we 
 were approaching a large town, and, watching an opportunity, 
 while the guard was engaged in another part of the car, I made 
 the leap in the dark for liberty. As good luck would have it, I 
 was successful, not even receiving a bruise, landing on my feet 
 in water and mud. I crawled up the bank, and by the light of 
 the guard’s lantern, I plainly saw my comrade sitting in my place 
 in the door of the car. The train moved on, and I knew that my 
 escape had not been discovered. 
 
 “ And now my troubles commenced. In the woods, and in 
 the enemy’s country, which I knew nothing about, with a deep 
 and swift river, and an unknown distance between me and the 
 Union army, my condition was anything but enviable. But it 
 was too late to recall what I had done, and I determined to make 
 the best of it. The country was densely wooded and uneven, and 
 I made but little progress in the few remaining hours before day- 
 light. The night was dark, and I took a northerly direction as 
 near as I could determine ; but when daylight came, I found I 
 had been traveling directly east, instead of north. I was farther 
 from home than when I jumped from the car. I had nothing to 
 
CAMMIRE RECAPTURED. 
 
 575 
 
 do but secrete myself, study my bearings, and prepare for another 
 night’s tramp. I still retained my blanket, canteen, and haver- 
 sack ; and my fellow-prisoners had generously divided their scant 
 rations with me, wishing me success, but doubting my ability to 
 accomplish my purpose. 
 
 “The rest and sleep through the day greatly refreshed and en- 
 couraged me, and early in the evening I changed my course, and 
 started in a north-west direction. I soon found a tolerably plain 
 road, leading nearly in the direction I wanted to go, and I followed 
 the road until it disappeared ; but the woods were more open, and 
 I kept my course until daylight, when I came to a larger road, 
 bearing more to the west. My small stock of crackers was ex- 
 hausted, and to keep in the road in day-time would probably result 
 in my recapture. But hunger knows no law. 
 
 “ I continued for several miles in this open road, hoping to meet or 
 see some negroes — for I thought they would befriend me — and get 
 some assistance from them, in order to continue my journey, when 
 suddenly an old gray-headed man stepped out into the road from 
 behind a clump of bushes, and presented a double-barreled shot- 
 gun, and ordered me to halt. I tried to reason with him, but 
 he would listen to nothing, and ordered me to take off my haver- 
 sack and canteen, and lay them down in the road. I saw there 
 was no use at all to try to reason with the old man, and I 
 obeyed orders. He brought his old gun to a level, cocked both 
 locks, and ordered me to march ten steps in front of him to his 
 house, which was about one mile from where he met me in the 
 road. 
 
 “To be taken prisoner by Confederate soldiers was bad enough, 
 but to be taken prisoner by such a specimen of poor white trash 
 as that old man, was humiliating. I was ashamed of myself, but 
 there was no help for it. When we arrived at his home — a tol- 
 erably good sized house, part log and part frame, with veranda in 
 front, running the whole length — he shut me in a small room at 
 one end of the veranda, and called up a small boy ten or twelve 
 years of age, and placed him at the door with orders to shoot me 
 if I attempted to escape. He informed me that he should take 
 me over the river to a railroad station where there were soldiers, 
 and turn me over to them either that evening or the next morn- 
 ing. I told him I was very tired and hungry, and asked him 
 for something to eat. He answered me short, saying they had 
 nothing in the house, and that he did n’t believe in feeding the 
 
576 
 
 OFF FOR RICHMOND AGAIN. 
 
 d — d Yankees no how, and much of the same kind of talk. The 
 b(jy seemed to be kind enough, and between him and an old negro 
 woman that was about the premises, I managed in the course of 
 the night and day to get enough to appease my hunger. 
 
 “Early the next morning we started for the railroad station, 
 where I was to be given up to the Confederate soldiers, a prisoner 
 again. The order of march was the same as before, myself in 
 front a few steps, and the old man and boy behind, each with 
 shot-gun all ready for use. In this way we marched in silence 
 some four or five miles, when we came to the river, and the old 
 man ordered me to halt, and gave the boy orders to shoot me if I 
 made an attempt to escape. He went into the bushes close by 
 the river, and hauled out a small boat, and made me take the 
 fore part of the boat, while he and the boy paddled across, one 
 or the other of them constantly on guard. When we were over 
 we resumed the march the same as before. It was about two 
 miles down the river to the station where I was formally delivered 
 to the guards. When the exchange was made I gave the old 
 man a little good advice, which he did not soon forget, probably. 
 I told him plainly that if I ever got back to the army again, and 
 should happen to come that way, I would settle the matter between 
 us. I did not so much mind being a prisoner with soldiers, for 
 they had some little humanity about them, but that old man 
 had none. 
 
 “My talk to the old man rather pleased the lieutenant, who 
 conducted me to the guard-house. He said there would be a 
 train-load of prisoners along that day some time, when I would be 
 sent on to Richmond. When the train arrived I was put aboard. 
 The train was full, and was guarded the same way as before. I 
 had had all the experience I wanted in jumping from trains, and 
 concluded to make no more effort to escape, at least before I got 
 to Richmond. It was the same old gaze by the residents at each 
 station at the * d — d Yankee prisoners,^ as they called them, with 
 an occasional jeer, which was only too well answered by some ^cute 
 Yankee. 
 
 “On our arrival at the city we were marched in a body, under 
 a strong guard, to a large building standing on the bank of the 
 river, and confined in the second story. The prison was called 
 Castle Thunder. The reason for the name I never could tell. It 
 was a queer-looking old building, and was like everything else in 
 that neighborhood — in an unfinished condition. There were sev- 
 
OUT OF PRISON. 
 
 577 
 
 eral windows in the room looking out on the river. It was im- 
 possible to tell whether the water was deep or shallow near the 
 house. I can not say that our treatment as prisoners was bad. 
 The rebels gave us rations of corn-bread, rather coarse, and some 
 meat. We got no coffee or tea, unless some of the prisoners had, 
 by good luck, saved a little money and purchased them. The 
 prison was strongly guarded, and, at first sight, it seemed an im- 
 possibility to make an escape. I was sick and tired, and spent 
 most of the time in sleep, when the wound in my head, which 
 was at times painful, would permit. 
 
 “At least two weeks were passed in this way, when I began to 
 be restless, and, there being no hope of an exchange, I determined 
 to make my escape from the prison if possible. There were many 
 plans of escape suggested by the prisoners, but none ot them appeared 
 feasible to me. After taking a careful survey of the prison and its lo- 
 cation, I could see no other way of escape but to let myself down into 
 the river some dark night, and either swim the river or come out on 
 the same side at the end of the building, and run the gauntlet of a line 
 of picket-guards one-half or three-fourths of a mile in extent. 
 
 “I told my plan to some of my comrades, but they all, without 
 exception, said it was impracticable, and that if I tried it I would 
 surely be killed or captured. I could not persuade a single one 
 to accompany me. I hesitated for several days before I could 
 fully make up my mind to make the attempt. But the monoto- 
 nous round of prison-life, shut up in a room with two or three 
 hundred prisoners, was to me worse than capture or death. At any 
 rate I came to the determination to make the trial. When my fellow- 
 prisoners were informed of my resolution, they agreed to assist me all 
 they could, and arranged to make the count hold out as long as pos- 
 sible, so as to avoid pursuit, as it was the custom of the guards 
 to count the prisoners every two or three days. My plan was to 
 wait for a dark night, and tie blankets enough together to reach 
 the water, and let myself down on them. 
 
 “ The auspicious night at length arrived. The blankets were 
 tied together and let out of the window, my own blanket twisted 
 over my shoulder. My comrades had furnished me an old haver- 
 sack, filled with such rations as we received, enough it was thought 
 to last me, with care, three days, and with my canteen, which they 
 had also furnished me, all equipped for the dangerous journey. I 
 bade my friends farewell, crawled out of the window, and let 
 myself down slowly to the water. Feeling my way carefully in 
 
 37 
 
578 
 
 SLIPPED OFF FROM THE GUARDS. 
 
 the water, I found, to my great joy, that it was only two or three 
 feet deep close to the building. 
 
 “I gave the signal agreed upon to pull the blankets in, and 
 concluded to wade carefully to the end of the building, take the 
 shore, and try to dodge the sentinels. I moved slowly in the 
 water, keeping close to the building, and when I reached the cor- 
 ner, I took a careful survey of the premises before stepping out 
 upon the shore. I had the advantage of the guards on duty. I 
 was below, and in looking up, I could barely discover the dusky 
 form ol the sentinel as he slowly paced his beat. Watching my op- 
 portunity as the guard passed the corner of the building, I stepped 
 lightly on shore, and walked in the opposite direction as far as 
 prudence would permit, before his return. 
 
 “ There were plenty of hiding-places between the road on the 
 bank and the river, formed by boxes and lumber, of which fact I 
 was well aware before I started. I concealed myself close to a pile 
 of lumber, and waited the return of the guard. So soon as he 
 commenced his retrograde march, I would make an advance, care- 
 fully watching for any movement near me, and hiding again when 
 1 thought I had gone as far as I could without being seen. It 
 was a slow and tedious journey, but in this way I succeeded in 
 making my way past all the sentinels, some fifteen or twenty of 
 them, for nearly one mile. 
 
 “ While I was on this perilous journey, the guard was changed. 
 I had to wait until everything was ouiet before proceeding, and I 
 began to fear that I would not be able to get through before day- 
 light. I walked on for nearly a mile farther, all the time looking 
 for a safe place to hide for the day. 
 
 “ I came at last to a lumber-yard — mostly timber and railroad 
 ties — and, after looking about for some little time, I found a secure 
 hiding-place, and, wrapping my blanket about me, I lay down in 
 a very comfortable position to take a sleep and wait for day- 
 light. My first hiding-place must have been nearly or quite three 
 miles from Castle Thunder. 
 
 “When I awoke, it was nearly noon, and the road between 
 me and the river was filled with wagons and teams of every de- 
 scription, passing and repassing. I was within fifty yards of the 
 road, and a large body of troops passed in the course of the day, 
 going up the river. There was one point from which I had 
 a fair view of the road for nearly one-half mile. I was not very 
 anxious to show myself. 
 
CAMMIRE^S ACCOUNT, 
 
 579 
 
 ‘ ‘ It must have been near midnight before I ventured out to 
 resume my journey. The night was cloudy, and it had rained in the 
 after part of the day, but I was well sheltered, and my clothing 
 was nearly dry from the wetting in the river. Late as it was in 
 the night, I occasionally met a team in the road, which I always 
 avoided, stepping to one side until it had passed. 1 was following 
 the road up the river, which ran an easterly course, and to avoid 
 as much as possible coming in contact with portions of the army 
 which I knew to be north of the city. I knew I must go nearly 
 due north to reach Washington, or to find any portion of the 
 Union army. But I concluded to go West until I was fairly out 
 of reach of the Confederate army. 
 
 “ Nothing of a startling character interrupted me in my travels 
 the second night, and I probably made twelve or fourteen miles 
 north, and about daylight I concealed myself in a thick clump of 
 bushes near the road, and waited for another night. 
 
 “Some time in the morning the clouds broke away, and the 
 sun came out bright and warm, and had it not been that I was 
 beginning to feel the pangs of hunger, and that the wound in my 
 head had become somewhat painful and needed dressing, I should 
 have been comparatively happy. As it was, I could do nothing but 
 lie still, and dream of the good time coming when I should ouce 
 more be free. So soon as it was dark, I commenced my journey. 
 It was a starlight night ; everything bid fair for me to make a 
 good march, and put several more miles between me and the rebel 
 capital. 
 
 “ Towards midnight I saw, at some distance ahead of me, 
 several horsemen coming down the road, and I stepped aside into 
 the bushes to let them pass. I soon discovered that they were the 
 advance-guard of a large body of rebel cavalry, and instead of being 
 detained a few minutes, I was detained four hours. A whole 
 brigade of cavalry, with three or four pieces of cannon, and a 
 large number of wagons, passed by. I waited impatiently, but at 
 last the road was again clear, and I resumed my travels. It was 
 nearly daylight, and having been detained so long, I was a little 
 imprudent, and continued my walk until it was quite light. 
 Just before T was going to secrete myself for the day, there sud- 
 denly appeared three or four horesemen in a turn of the road 
 about one-fourth of a mile ahead. I barely caught a glimpse of 
 them, and immediately took to the woods, and was lucky in finding 
 a secure place near the road, and waited for, them to pass. 
 
580 
 
 RECORDED BY DR. POND. 
 
 “They rode rapidly down the road, and when nearly opposite 
 me, came to a halt. I could distinctly hear every word of their 
 conversation. One of them contended that he saw a man dodge 
 into the bushes dressed in a Federal uniform, and said he believed 
 him to be an escaped prisoner from Richmond. The others said that 
 they were looking down the road and saw nothing ; and they tried 
 to make him believe it. It was impossible for them to ride in the 
 woods, and in a short time they passed on down the road, but not 
 until I heard the man say he knew there was a Federal soldier 
 there in the brush, and that he would go to Esquire Meacham’s 
 and get his bloodhounds, and put them on the track. 
 
 “ This last expression as they rode away filled me with dismay. 
 To be chased by bloodhounds was more than I bargained for, and 
 to risk it by staying where I was all day, was more than I dared 
 to do. One of two things I must do, risk taking the road in 
 open daylight, or travel in the woods. The last was not practi- 
 cable. It was an exceedingly rough country, heavily wooded, and 
 full of deep cuts, rocks, and underbrush; and besides, if he did 
 come with the hounds, they would surely overtake me, with noth- 
 ing to defend myself with except a heavy stick — hickory — w'hich 
 was my only weapon. 
 
 “In sheer desperation I took the road, and traveled in double 
 quick time at least two miles, seeing no one. Then I came to a 
 long hill, and at the foot of the hill I came to a creek, which I 
 crossed, and perhaps passed one hundred yards beyond, when the 
 thought occurred to me to travel down the creek. I returned, and 
 took down the stream, traveling in the water, which was not very 
 deep. I followed on down about two miles, where a railroad 
 crossed the stream, and perhaps one-half mile farther, where I 
 found a nice warm hiding-place on the bank of the stream, and lay 
 by for the day, tired, sick, and hungry, waiting for the hounds. 
 My excitement was so great that it was impossible for me to sleep, 
 and I passed a restless day. 
 
 “Several trains passed on the railroad during the day ; and the 
 bloodhounds were within hearing distance from about noon until 
 nearly night ; but they never crossed the railroad to the best of 
 my knowledge. I made another discovery during the day, that a 
 wagon-road ran north in the valley, two or three hundred yards 
 east of me, which I concluded to take as soon as it was dark. 
 
 “ I had now been without food of any description for forty- 
 eight hours, for my three days^ rations were not enough for one 
 
FOUND FRIENDS. 
 
 581 
 
 day, and it was only a matter of time, as I knew then, and only 
 a short time, before I would be compelled to get something to 
 eat — if I had to surrender — or starve. But I was determined to 
 travel one more night, and take my chances before surrender, 
 ^eak and hungry as I was, I started early in the evening, being 
 almost discouraged, and often saying to myself : “ You had better 
 give up.” But the thought of being again a prisoner seemed to 
 renew my courage, and I traveled on, frequently resting by 
 the way. 
 
 “This road was not so much of a thoroughfare as the one I had 
 left, and I was not disturbed, although I passed several large plan- 
 tations during the night. The houses were generally some dis- 
 tance from the road. I could not have traveled more than five 
 or six miles before I discovered that it was beginning to be day- 
 light. A short distance ahead there was a very large plantation — 
 the largest I had seen. I went as far as the corner, where there 
 was a cross-road, and hid myself in the thick bushes, and waited 
 in hopes that some negro would come along and I would venture 
 to ask for something to eat. There was a very large house some 
 distance from the road, and at least a quarter of a mile from 
 where I was secreted, and to the left of the house, a little village 
 of small houses, which I knew to be negro quarters. It was not 
 long before there was a stir among the negroes, and I waited and 
 watched impatiently for some of them to come past. 
 
 “Suddenly I heard a step down the road from the other direc- 
 tion. I looked carefully through the bushes, and to my great joy 
 saw an old negro woman coming down the road with an immense 
 bundle on her head. When she arrived opposite me, and not 
 more than fifteen feet away, I stepped boldly out of the bushes 
 and stood before her. She was terribly frightened, and came very* 
 near giving a shriek. I immediately said : ‘Aunty, can you give 
 me something to eat?’ After the first exclamation of surprise, 
 her next words were : ‘ O Lor’ gor ormity ! Massa, you nearly 
 scar’ me to def. Ar’ you one of Mr. Linkum’s sogers ?’ I an- 
 swered yes ; that I had run away from prison, and was trying to 
 get back to the Union army. ‘ Wal, you jest git right back in 
 de bushes dar ; ef ole Massa or any of dem white folks sees you, 
 you’re a treed coon, now, sho’; you go.’ She appeared to be in 
 so much fear of my being seen that I stepped back into the 
 bushes, when she said : ‘You keeps hid clos’, and I ’ll send Joe 
 up hyar ’fore long. You keeps hid, and we’ll feed yer.’ 
 
582 
 
 REACHED THE LINEfi, NOVEMBER, 1S6S. 
 
 “ She passed on down the road to the negro quarters, and hope 
 revived within me; hut it seemed to me an age before Joe made 
 his appearance. At last, near noon, I saw an old, white-headed 
 negro coming up the road with a bundle under his arm, and he 
 was singing at the top of his voice. When he arrived nearly to 
 the place where I was hid he stopped singing and stepped into the 
 bushes, and came to me. He appeared to be in a great hurry, 
 and, laying the bundle down before me, he said: ‘Aunt Dinah 
 sent me up hyar ; can ’t stay no time ; you ’ll fin’ some corn-bread 
 and meat in dar, and some ole clo’s, for if dey should see yer in 
 dem clo’s, you’d nebber get back again, sho’; and dar is sum 
 charcoal in dar, and yer must black yer face and ban’s, and when 
 dem white folks down dar all done gone in de house to dar dinner, 
 yer take down de road dar till yer comes to big gate, and den yer 
 goes by de ole terbacker-house down dar, and go in de secon’ cabin 
 do’. Aunt Dinah is dar, and I ’ll be dar.’ 
 
 “ While this speech was going on I was untying the bundle, 
 and found inside a whole corn-pone, warm, a piece of meat, and a 
 large baked yam. It was the sweetest and best meal I ever ate.” 
 
 Finding ‘‘Old Joe/’ and following his directions and 
 guidance, eventually placed Cammire, after two or three 
 more nights’ travel, safely within the Union lines. 
 Then he went to Washington City; from thence he 
 made a long journey to his Illinois home, and in due 
 time rejoined his regiment in East Tennessee, in the 
 early part of 1864. Doctor Pond was greatly sur- 
 l)rised on seeing Sergeant Cammire, as it was his un- 
 derstanding that he was reported on the regimental 
 records as killed in the battle of Chickamauga. 
 
 OUR CAPTURE AND PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE. 
 
 BY BILEY M. HOSKINSON. 
 
 The following narrative was written for the special use of my 
 wife and family, and not intended as a public document; the 
 statements therein contained are strictly correct, to the best of the 
 knowledge and belief of the writer. It is therefore submitted in 
 
M. M. HOSKimON ’S STOR Y, 583 - 
 
 its original form, omitting only some of the conversation and 
 minor items. It is as follows : 
 
 ■ Monday, September IS, 1863. — Three o’clock, A. M., roused tO; 
 draw three days’ rations; obeyed. Lay down and slept about 
 an hour ; roused again, ordered to march immediately ; so we packed 
 up and away, right back to the Lookout Mountains, which we 
 had just crossed. Arrived at the mountain foot about nine A. M. ; 
 sat in the broiling sun till nearly sundown, waiting for the narrow 
 road to be cleared so we can get up. Our brigade slowly climbing 
 while I write. 
 
 September ■ 14 th. — Traveled nearly all night getting up the 
 mountain. Camped a few hours ; up and away again. Just at 
 sundown reached our old camp at the mountain-side ; staid here 
 over night. Keceived orders to be ready to march at five o’clock 
 A. M. , but did not move till about the middle of the afternoon of 
 the 15th. Routed all of a sudden, and ordered off on the in- 
 stant. Some of the men had gone foraging, others were asleep; 
 I was issuing rations. In less than twenty minutes our brigade 
 was in line, and ready for march. A moment more, and away we 
 go along the mountain in a north-easterly direction. Country 
 rough and stony, but of pretty good soil, judging by the corn and 
 other products ; and if one could live on water alone, there need 
 be no fear of death, as the water here is very abundant, and of 
 the best. We camped for the night in a circular valley. I 
 slept on three rails. Roused in the morning of the 16th at four 
 o’clock, to be ready for march ; 3d Brigade gone ahead of us up 
 the mountain. About eight o’clock A. M. we are ordered into 
 line, and our men to assist in getting the wagons and artillery up 
 the steep mountain-side, which is the steepest of any we have 
 ever climbed. It took eight hours of severe work to get our divis- 
 ion-teams to the top. The top of the mountain is nearly level, 
 but poor and rocky. Found a few poor families there that had 
 eked out a miserable existence for sixteen to twenty years. Again 
 away we go across the mountain to its eastern side. Here it is 
 almost perpendicular, capped with rock; but the view is sublime. 
 Farm after farm rose into view, until lost in the dim distance, and 
 shut out by a small mountain called “Pigeon.” From this on- 
 ward, we are told, commences the great cotton-growing region of 
 the South. A little beyond this mountain the rebels are in- 
 trenched, awaiting our approach. Down we go ; road very steep, 
 but quite smooth. Reached the bottom ; went into camp for the night. 
 
584 
 
 INTERESTING MEMORANDA. 
 
 Morning of the 17th . — For the first time in many months we- 
 are left to march in the rear. Just at sunrise, boom ! goes a' 
 cannon, and our men raise a shout of joy. Orders are given for 
 our men to take forty rounds of ammunition in their cartridge- 
 boxes, and twenty more in their pockets, and be ready for action 
 at a moment’s warning. Just at noon, ordered to march on the 
 instant ; marched about half a mile to an open field, where we piled 
 up in seemingly inextricable confusion ; but Generals McCook and 
 Sheridan soon straightened the mass, and each party marched in good 
 order, some here, and others there. Then for a time all was still, 
 and we momentarily awaited the opening roar of battle ; but it 
 came not, only from the distant front came the sounds of cannon. 
 
 Here we remained till about one o’clock on the morning of the 
 18th. Up and drew two days’ rations ; remained quiet till nine 
 A. M. Received orders to march ; moved off in a south-easterly 
 direction. Country extremely poor; timber small — scrubby oak 
 and pine. Three o’clock P. M., went into camp; staid till about 
 seven P. M. Ordered to march again ; packed up our little 
 budgets, and sat down to await orders to move on. The weather 
 being quite frosty, we made a lot of nice fires out of Secesh rails. 
 This was the site of the skirmishes we had been hearing previously. 
 About eleven P. M. we were ordered to move on. We then piled 
 all the rails we had left on the fires, and had a beautiful illumi- 
 nation. Marched only a few rods and halted again, and again 
 burned more rails to make us light and keep us warm. 
 
 Just ahead of us another brigade had fired a large log-house, 
 which was burning furiously as we passed. Slowly and wearily 
 on we go — start a few steps, then stop again. Quite dark, and 
 the road strange, I remarked : “ If I could only see the Dipper, I 
 could tell our course.” One of the men observed : “ They have 
 thrown away the dipper, and substituted a gourd.” Thus we 
 made merry the best we could, till, about three A. M. of the 19th, 
 we turned into camp, some fifteen miles south of Chattanooga, in 
 the valley of the Chickamauga, Georgia. I slept in some brush 
 till roused by the bugle-call to up and away. Ate a hasty break- 
 fast, and in a short time were ordered to stay in camp till about noon. 
 
 While we wait in camp, the roar of artillery is constantly 
 heard some little distance in front of us, and we expect our 
 turn will soon come to join the deadly fray. About ten A. M. 
 we slowly move forward. About three P. M. we come to the 
 battle-ground of the morning, and still the sound is far in front 
 
CHICKAMAVGA AGAIN. 
 
 685 
 
 of US. We halt at a huge spring, called Crawfish, thirteen miles 
 south of Chattanooga, Tennessee. Here we eat our dinner, con- 
 sisting of crackers and raw-side bacon (“ sowbelly” the men called 
 it). We again form line, and march about a mile, and halt in a 
 skirt of woods. In a few minutes. General Sheridan rode up and 
 ordered our brigade to go double quick to Lee & Gordon’s mill, 
 about a mile east, to hold a ford. I and my son Stuart were or- 
 dered back to the field hospital, near the spring, to assist the sur- 
 geons. By the time we got there, wounded by scores were 
 being brought in. These were wounded in various parts, many in 
 the legs and arms, several in the head. Stuart and I helped carry 
 them to places of safety, and then made fires to keep them warm, 
 the houses being previously filled with wounded. While all this 
 was being done, others made coffee and distributed among the 
 sufferers ; others assisted in binding up wounds ; so all were busy. 
 The conflict lasted till about nine P. M. I shall not attempt a 
 description of this ; language fails to do it. 
 
 Sabbath morning, September 20th . — Just at sunrise the work of 
 death began again. Stuart and I, knowing our regiment to be out 
 of provisions, started in search of them. Found them about three 
 miles distant, on a hillside, covered by a small orchard. None of 
 them had yet taken part in the conflict. The 3d Brigade of our 
 division was in yesterday’s fight, and lost heavily. Some rebel 
 prisoners told us this morning that they had come prepared to 
 meet one hundred and fifteen thousand men, and they intended 
 giving us the severest fight of any time heretofore. 
 
 About ten A. M. the cannonade becomes terrific, mixed with 
 the incessant crash of musketry. The work of destruction goes 
 fearfully on. Some of our men are asleep, some reading papers, 
 some writing letters, etc. , while a general seriousness seems to per- 
 vade most of them. Just at half-past ten A. M., orders came for 
 our brigade to rush to the contest. Away they go, on the double- 
 quick, down the hill into the woods, and out of sight, which is the 
 last I saw of them — or ever will of many of them — ‘ ‘ till heaven’s 
 last thunder shakes the world below.” 
 
 Stuart and I had orders to stay on the hillside and assist the 
 doctors, when any wounded were brought up there. In a few 
 moments more the contest deepened (if possible) into tenfold more 
 terrific proportions. There we stood till about half-past one P. M. 
 The cannon-shots were too frequent to count, and the musketry 
 sounded like throwing handfuls of salt into a hot fire. Add to all 
 
:586 
 
 FATHER AND SON PRISONER. 
 
 .this the shouts of officers and the screeching of the men, as they 
 charged upon each other, and it combined to make a scene per- 
 fectly indescribable. I forgot to be afraid, and wished the whole 
 Southern Confederacy annihilated for causing so much carnage 
 and death. Our doctors came not, and, seeing we were about 
 being surrounded, we moved back quite a distance. About three 
 P. M. the sound of battle somewhat abated. 
 
 At this time an officer told us which way to go, and we did as 
 directed, and, following some ambulances that were carrying 
 wounded men, they led the way back to the hospital near the 
 spring. We had only time to unload the wounded men, when 
 the whole premises, six hospitals in number, were surrounded by 
 two brigades of Wheeler’s cavalry, and a regiment of infantry, 
 yelling at the top of their voices, as if hell had suddenly emptied 
 itself of all its contents. In a few moments (seeing we made no 
 .resistance), a tall, fine-looking Texan rode up, and told us we were 
 all prisoners of war. This event took place about half-past four 
 o’clock. Sabbath afternoon, September 20, 1863. 
 
 As we were perfectly powerless, we made the best we could of a 
 bad bargain. The rebs. now came up in squads, and demanded our 
 blankets, canteens, knives, guns, etc. I dropped my knife, pocket- 
 book, and gold pen into my boot-leg, and hid my gum-blanket and 
 canteen while they were robbing others. When they came to 
 me, wanting my knife, I offered them a case-knife I had picked 
 up on the way back to the hospital. This they refused, and after- 
 ward let me alone. The officers did not maltreat us in the least, 
 but were nice and polite, asking us numerous questions, and we 
 as many in return. They took away part of our hospital stores, 
 all our ambulances, doctors’ horses, our brass band instruments, 
 and all the guns they could find. Several fine rifles had been 
 hidden away, and after the others had been taken, I advised the 
 breaking of these, which was done. 
 
 On Tuesday, General Wheeler sent his medical director, who 
 allowed one man to cook for each twenty, and four more to assist 
 the latter. My first duty was the taking of the names of all the 
 wounded, their company, regiment, and rank. I found one hun- 
 dred and forty-six living, and nineteen others so badly wounded as 
 to die soon after being brought in. I then assisted in the care and 
 treatment of the wounded. We had not time to bury the dead, 
 but stored them in the cellar till we could dig one vast grave, and 
 tumble them in, side by side, seventeen in all. 
 
SOME PROVOKIISIG QUESTIONS. 
 
 587 
 
 September 23d. — Calm, cold morning. Stuart and others went 
 to the battle-field, and found some five hundred of our dead still 
 unburied, and about one hundred others still alive, but so badly 
 wounded as to be unable to help themselves, or get away. They 
 collected these together in little groups, and gave them bread and 
 water — all we had to give. Our provisions all gave out about 
 this time, and all of us had to live on boiled wheat. 
 
 On Thursday, September 24th, a detail of men was sent to 
 the battle-field, to dress the wounds of those still alive. The 
 groans and cries of the wounded, and their varied wants, are in- 
 describable. This day an officer by the name of Reiss came ta 
 parole as many as were thought necessary to care for the wounded ; 
 theirs and ours both being cared for. I assisted in writing paroles,^ 
 and, in writing one for myself, spoiled it, and the oflicer spoiled 
 the one I wrote for. my son, so we were both left out. It was now 
 impressed on my mind, “It is the will of God that you should 
 escape, and you ought to do it.” In the afternoon I was sent with 
 a squad of men to Lee & Gordon’s mill, to put it in order to 
 grind. While thus engaged, two brigades of rebel cavalry came 
 there to water their horses, and rest awhile. These would gather 
 round us, and ask questions. Most of them behaved nicely, while 
 others were very insulting. They would come close up and peer 
 into our eyes, and ask: “ What do you think of us now, ha.^” 
 “ Guess we whipped you good, did n’t we, ha ?” “ Guess we made 
 
 you run this time, didn’t we, ha ?” “ You came to subjugate the 
 
 South, did you, ha?” “You came to free our niggers, did you, 
 ha?” “Guess old Rosy couldn’t make Longstreet run !” “You 
 folks broke up this mill, and now you want to grind on it. Do n’t 
 you think, damn you, you ought to starve to death?” etc. Finally 
 got the mill going, ground some wheat, and returned to our hos- 
 pital prison. 
 
 Friday, September 25th . — Built an out-oven of bricks, so they 
 could bake bread. The rebs. came with two wagons, and brought 
 a little meal, some bacon, and rice, then took from the other hos- 
 pitals as many wounded as they could haul, stating, at the same 
 time, that on the morrow (Saturday) they would take away all the 
 unparoled. I now went to the pine-woods, knelt down, and 
 asked God to direct me how to act. My duty to escape seemed 
 clear, and I resolved to try it. 
 
 Meanwhile, Stuart had found a few pieces of crackers in an 
 old camp some distance away ; these he brought in his haversack* 
 
588 
 
 ESCAPE FROM THE ENEMY. 
 
 I told him it was God’s will that we should get away, and 1 was 
 determined to try it that night, and he then consented to go with 
 me. I now made ready for our departure while he slept. I now 
 asked our chief physician, Dr. McGee, of the 51st Illinois In- 
 fantry, for his advice in the matter. He said, *‘Go,” and then 
 gave me a message to his colonel, in case we succeeded in our 
 efforts. 
 
 About half-past nine P. M. I roused Stuart, and told him : 
 “ Now is our time to be off."’ He went into the cellar, and got 
 about two pounds of beefsteak, as the men had killed a small 
 animal that day. Now, all being ready, we make the fearful 
 plunge for our escape. We had three separate guards to pass, 
 and the moon shone in its beauty. We did not fear as long as 
 we were near any of the hospital tents, but our hearts beat heavily 
 as we passed into the space beyond. The crashing of the leaves 
 and little twigs seemed to betray our object, and we momentarily 
 expected to hear the word “halt!” or feel ourselves pierced by 
 bullets. But, thanks be to God! none of these happened. 
 
 After some six miles’ travel through fields and woodland, we 
 came to the foot of Lookout Mountain, and felt safe. Here we 
 rested awhile, and then began the steep ascent, reaching the top 
 about half-past two on the morning of the 26th, nearly exhausted 
 from fatigue. Crawled into the top of a fallen hickory, where we 
 staid till daylight. We now tried to kindle afire, but our matches 
 were spoiled, so we ate a little raw beef, some bread and water. 
 Looked down, and saw some of the outer guards we had passed in 
 the night. We now climbed a high pinnacle of rocks that rose 
 above us some two hundred feet; reached the top of this in safety. 
 
 While I was penning notes of our night’s march two rebs. 
 came up the same path we had come, and accosted us with, 
 “Who are you ?” “ Where did you come from ?” and “ How came 
 you here?” etc. I lied to them, and said : “We belong to a lot 
 of General Hooker’s men, w^ho are crossing the mountain at Dry 
 Gap yonder.” They then said: “We have guards placed all 
 along this side of them ; how did you get past these guards ?” I 
 told them we had not seen any guards. I then questioned them 
 as rapidly as I could respecting the lay of the land, and about 
 the late battle, etc. They told us a great battle had been fought, 
 that our men had been defeated, and had fled to Chattanooga, 
 which was just sixteen miles distant, at the end of this mountain ; 
 that the mountain lay right up against the city, and if we would 
 
SOME CLOSE CALLS, 
 
 589 
 
 go down to the foot of the mountain on the opposite side from 
 which we came up we would find a good and perfectly safe road 
 to Chattanooga, etc. 
 
 I thanked them for this information, wished them well, and 
 started ; but as soon as we got behind some rocks I told my son 
 our only safety lay on the top of this mountain, as their words 
 were only a decoy to trap us, which will fully appear further on. 
 Our path was at times fearfully rough ; at others small patches of 
 cleared land, with small huts thereon ; these we carefully avoided. 
 During the day we suffered from want of water, so we descended 
 the mountain-side, and near its foot found plenty of water ; so we 
 concluded to slant up the mountain in the opposite direction from 
 our descent, and when about half-way up we saw some forty or more 
 meii on horseback coming up the opposite direction from us. We 
 squatted in the weeds till they got past, and then made all the 
 haste w^e could to get across this road before any more men should 
 come along. The hillside being of loose, slaty formation ren- 
 dered it very laborious, and we had only reached about fifty feet 
 above the road, and hid in the opening where a tree had turned 
 out of root, when another detachment of men came in the same 
 direction as the first, and also had several dogs with them. I felt 
 much afraid the dogs would scent us and come up to us, but they, 
 did not. 
 
 We now went unmolested, till near dark we came to a low place 
 where was a house and a little cleared land. We were so tired and 
 hungry we concluded we would risk going to the house and get 
 some fire and make coffee. But on nearing it we found where 
 numerous horses had been recently tied and fed, also numerous 
 places where men had lain. We quickly skipped out of this, and 
 had only gone a few rods when we came to the aforementioned 
 “good, safe road,” which, had we followed, our captivity was as- 
 sured. We passed rapidly on, and soon came to the hollow stump 
 of a huge chestnut- tree, one side of which was split off, leaving us 
 room enough to creep in. Here we made our bed for the night ; 
 slept soundly, and did not awaken till the sun was up, and the 
 birds singing welcome to a beautiful Sabbath morning. Here I 
 fully realized the force of that Scripture which says: “The heart 
 of man devise th his way, but the Lord directeth his steps.” I 
 was fully satisfied God was guiding our steps, as will appear more 
 fully further on. 
 
 The aforesaid road now followed the mountain-top, and we had 
 
690 
 
 ARRIVE SAFELY AT CHATTANOOGA. 
 
 considerable trouble keeping out of sight of it, as every little while 
 we could see men on horseback passing along it. After consider- 
 able walk, we came to a thick wood of small pines, and sat down 
 to rest. In a few moments we heard voices and loud laughter. 
 We crept away from the sound as fast as we could, and my son 
 stopped and said in a whisper, “ See, this mountain falls off all 
 round,” which was true. I looked a little ahead and saw horses 
 with saddles on, tied only a few rods in front of us, and a little 
 further on, two men standing with their backs to us, looking off 
 below. This afterwards proved to be Summertown, and the men 
 were standing on Lookout Point, looking down into the city of 
 Chattanooga. 
 
 We quickly turned aside, and jumped, fell, and slid down the 
 mountain-side, and 'were soon where we could look up and see the 
 men far above us. We soon came to a recently deserted rebel 
 camp, rested awhile, and watched the railroad, now in full view, 
 to see if we could find out whose hands we were in. Finally 
 tired of this, and followed along the mountain-side till we came in 
 view of the Tennessee River ; sat down again, and soon discov- 
 ered a lot of our men on the opposite side. We now left our con- 
 cealment, and hailed them, but they, taking us for rebels, only 
 made sport of us, asking, “ Who are you?” “What do you want?” 
 “ Don’t you want some whisky or some coffee?” etc. I told them 
 who we were, and how we came there, but they did not believe it. 
 So we went a little further down the stream, where it looked shal- 
 low enough to wade. Here we constructed a small raft of cedar - 
 rails, bound together with small grape-vines, stripped off our 
 clothing and laid them upon the raft, which we thought to push 
 before us as we waded over. We no sooner pushed into the stream 
 than we were beyond our depth ; we clung to the raft and kicked 
 our best, and soon found we were making headway, although 
 rapidly drifting down stream. Finally we reached shallow water, 
 where we could wade out. By this time a large number of the 
 40th Regiment of Ohio Infantry came to meet us, and helped me 
 put on my clothing, as I was so chilled I could not stand. 
 
 General Whitaker, with his brigade, was here on picket-duty, 
 and the colonel of the 40th told us his men wanted to shoot us, 
 but he had forbidden it. We were now conducted to General 
 Whitaker, where we told our adventure. He gave us a good sup- 
 per, and then sent us over the river to Chattanooga, to the pres- 
 ence of General W. S. Rosecrans. Here we each told our story 
 
REMINISCENCE OF LINCOLN. 
 
 691 
 
 again, which was committed to writing, and the next day we were 
 sent to our regiment, or rather what was left of it; thence to 
 Colonel Laibold ; thence to General P. H. Sheridan, who told us 
 our trip had been of great use, as it told many things not previ- 
 ously known. We then hunted the 51st Regiment Illinois Volun- 
 teers, and delivered our message. 
 
 I shall only add. General Rosecrans started a lot of ambulances 
 to Chickamauga as soon as it was light, this being the first truce 
 allowed to enter upon the battle-field, and our poor, suffering, 
 wounded men were brought away. 
 
 The above constitutes one of the most fearful events of my 
 life, and to God be all the glory ! Most respectfully, 
 
 R. M. HOSKINSON, 
 
 Late Com. Sergeant 73d Illinois Volunteers, 
 
 William M. Thaler, Company A, has contributed an 
 interesting reminiscence of the year 1860 — one in 
 which he was associated with Abraham Lincoln. It 
 appears that Thaler worked for Dr. Wallace, Lincoln’s 
 brother-in-law, quite a good deal, in the years 1853-55, 
 and not infrequently worked for Lincoln during the 
 same time. 
 
 In 1856, Thaler was a Fillmore man, and on one oc- 
 casion rode in a delegation of Fillmore men, consisting 
 of thirty-four couples. Lincoln, knowing that Thaler 
 was foreign-born, and having seen him in the delega- 
 tion referred to, wrote him a letter, pointing out the 
 inconsistency of his training in that kind of company. 
 Thaler failed to take the well-meant advice in good 
 part, as he replied to Mr. Lincoln in terms a little harsh, 
 ' feeling, no doubt, that a strong point had been made 
 on him. 
 
 Two years later, in 1858, Thaler could not indorse 
 either the Lincoln or Douglas party in the senatorial 
 contest of that year. On election-day, that fall. Thaler 
 started to Springfield (from the country, where he 
 
592 
 
 A PROMISE FULFILLED. 
 
 then lived) with two wagon-loads of potatoes, and got 
 stuck in the mud before reaching Williamsville ; had 
 to turn around and return home, being overtaken on 
 the way by his three brothers-in-law, the Lantermans, 
 going home from the election. Thaler was told by the 
 Lantermans that, had he done as he ought to have done, 
 gone and voted the Lincoln ticket at the election, 
 he would not have got stuck in the mud. In order to 
 make things go easy just then, having had trouble 
 enough, Thaler promised in good faith to vote for Mr. 
 Lincoln in case another opportunity to do so ever 
 offered. 
 
 In April, 1860, Thaler went to Nebraska to look at 
 the country, locate a claim, or purchase a tract of land, 
 and intending to remove his family later. When Mr. 
 Lincoln was nominated for President at Chicago, Lan- 
 termans wrote Thaler, reminding him of his promise 
 to vote for Lincoln, and calling for its fulfillment. Ac- 
 cordingly Thaler returned to Illinois, and next morning 
 after reaching Springfield, went over to Mr. Lincoln’s 
 house, and had a long talk with him. Mr. Lincoln had 
 been to Omaha and Council Bluffs the preceding year, 
 and had many inquiries to make. 
 
 Thaler told Mr. Lincoln he had returned to Illinois 
 on purpose to vote for him, and the correspondence had 
 in 1856 was adverted to, and any trouble or misunder- 
 standing still existing, arising therefrom, was declared 
 or considered as settled. 
 
 Suddenly Mr. Lincoln spoke up, saying : Well, 
 William, you have come a long way to vote for me. 
 Now, would you come as far and shoulder a musket to 
 defend that vote ?” Mr. Lincoln was aware of Thaler’s 
 intention to move to Nebraska in the spring of 1861. 
 
THE RECRUITS. 
 
 593 
 
 The reader may inquire : Well, what has the fore- 
 going to do with the history of the 73d Illinois?” We 
 answer, nothing particularly, farther than the fact that 
 Thaler was a member of the 73d, and his answer to 
 Mr. Lincoln’s question was, I will do so if it becomes 
 necessary.” In so answering Mr. Lincoln’s question, 
 Mr. Thaler claims he was the first man, in all proba- 
 bility, to make a tender of his services to Mr. Lincoln. 
 Thaler had little, if any, thought that civil war would 
 follow Lincoln’s election ; but Mr. Lincoln had a settled, 
 solemn conviction, that war between the sections was 
 inevitable. 
 
 Thaler, with his family, left Springfield, March 11, 
 1861, for Nebraska. Mrs. Thaler, being in bad health 
 at the time, died the following November. When the call 
 for six hundred thousand men was made in 1862, 
 Thaler returned to Springfield with his children, and, 
 making provision for them, went to Camp Butler, August 
 19th, of that year, enlisted, and was sworn into service. 
 
 The recruits of the 73d, as we have seen, were trans- 
 ferred to the 44th Illinois, a veteran organization, at the 
 date of our muster-out. W. H. Wilson, of Company H, 
 Perry, Illinois, who was one of the number transferred, 
 has kindly furnished the sketch below, giving briefly 
 the experience of these recruits after joining the 44th : 
 
 “ Having wished our comrades of the 73d Illinois a fond good- 
 bye, and sending messages by them to loved ones at home, we re- 
 ported to Colonel Russell, of the 44th Illinois, as ordered. We 
 were at once assigned to our respective companies — recruits from 
 Company H, of the 73d, going to Company H, of the 44th, and 
 so on through the list. We were immediately ordered to Nash- 
 ville, and at the depot we found a train of cars ready to carry us, 
 we knew not whither; but from a remark made by Doctor Pond, 
 we supposed we were going to New Orleans. 
 
 38 
 
594 
 
 NEW ORLEANS— TEXAS. 
 
 ‘‘Soon the shrill whistle of the locomotive announced that all 
 was ready, and away we went. Next day we arrived at a small 
 town on the Tennessee River, and found there six or seven steam- 
 ers in waiting for us, and soon all of them were loaded, and started 
 down the river. Nothing of special interest transpired until next 
 day, when one of the shafts of a water-wheel broke, and fell back 
 into the paddles of the wheel, crushing them and the rudder to 
 pieces, causing our boat to swing around and around like a lost 
 duck. The unusual noise caused quite a panic among the boys, 
 who thought the old boat had been snagged, and many decided to 
 jump off and swim to the shore. Had it not been for the cool- 
 headed determination of Colonel Russell, some of the boys might 
 have found a watery grave. After order was restored our boat 
 was lashed to one of the others and towed along, and by the time 
 we reached Paducah, Kentucky, the necessary repairs were com- 
 pleted, and our boat was again able to go alone. 
 
 “ We reached New Orleans about June 24, 1865, and went 
 into camp about seven miles below the city. We relished the ripe 
 figs that hung in clusters on the trees. After remaining at this 
 camp a few weeks, we were surprised one evening by the receipt 
 of orders to pack our traps immediately, ready for another boat- 
 ride the following morning. When morning came we were ready, 
 and some of the boys predicted we were going home. As soon 
 as the boats were loaded, we steamed down the Mississippi River, 
 and soon learned that we had to cross the Gulf of Mexico. As 
 we went down the river we amused ourselves by shooting at the 
 alligators that lay along the banks ; but, as far as we know, only 
 one was killed. 
 
 “ When we reached the Gulf it was very rough, and as the 
 men of the 44th were not used to that kind of riding, it soon be- 
 came necessary for all to come down to a level, and all, we think, 
 except the writer, even including Colonel Russell, had a spell of 
 seasickness. Allowing the men of the regiment had the courage 
 to fight, had an emergency arisen at that particular time, it would 
 have found them nearly all disabled for lighting, as they were as limp 
 as a dish-rag, and quite as incapable of exertion. In a few days 
 the sickness was a thing of the past, and all agreed they felt much 
 better. We arrived at Port Lavaca, but were not allowed to dis- 
 embark, but we transferred to smaller boats, and sailed up the 
 bay to Matagorda, and landed. 
 
 “After leaving the boats we were allowed to rest and refresh our- 
 
MUSTERED OUT— SENT HOME. 
 
 595 
 
 selves; but O, how thirsty we were! Some of us had not tasted 
 water for several days. While we were hunting water a citizen 
 drove in with a load of watermelons to sell to the “Yankee sol- 
 diers,” as he said. As the citizen asked only one dollar each for 
 his melons, we thought the price a little high for us, but con- 
 cluded Uncle Sam was rich enough, and every man who could 
 laid hold and confiscated a melon for his own use. We got our 
 full share, and thought melons never tasted better. Of course the 
 citizen complained to the oflicer in command of the post, who 
 came out and threatened to arrest every one of us. But Colonel 
 Russell interposing, said : ‘ If you think you can arrest my brigade 
 with only a negro regiment, why just pitch in, and you will soon 
 find your hands full.’ 
 
 “ Next morning we marched into the country, and, after going 
 nearly twenty miles, halted at night at Camp Irwin. Here we 
 learned that we had been sent to relieve regiments whose terms of 
 service had expired. We greatly enjoyed the fresh beef issued 
 to us, also the ripe grapes that hung thickly on almost every tree. 
 Nothing of interest transpired at Camp Irwin during our stay. 
 There was a gloom passed over us while there, occasioned by the 
 death of two men of the regiment — one by disease, the other by 
 drowning. How lonesome we felt ! — nothing to do but eat, sleep, 
 and wait. Merriment was almost unknown among us, except as it 
 was produced by an old comrade named Eli Ele, of Kalamazoo, 
 Michigan, who kept us amused by his fun-making and determina- 
 tion to ‘ skunk ’ us playing eucher, a part of the time. 
 
 “About September 1, 1865, it was rumored that we were to be 
 mustered out soon, and sent home. Shortly afterward our officers 
 were found busy making out papers, and by the 25th of September 
 we were mustered out, and started on our homeward journey. We 
 traveled night and day until we reached Camp Butler, and a few 
 days later we delivered all the property we had belonging to the 
 Government to the proper officer. We were then taken to Spring- 
 field, paid off on October 15th, and furnished transportation to 
 our respective homes.” 
 
 Memoranda made by Captain E. J. Ingersoll, De- 
 cember 22, 1863, to January 1, 1864, both inclusive: 
 
 “The 4th A.rmy Corps marched to the relief of Knoxville, 
 Tennessee, leaving Bragg with his broken and discouraged army 
 
596 
 
 INQERSOLL 'S MEMORANDA. 
 
 floundering in the wilderness and the mountains of Northern 
 Georgia. 
 
 “ On the departure of the 73d, I had been placed in command 
 of about one hundred convalescent wounded men, and with Cap- 
 tain Motherspaw, Lieutenant Sherrick, and one or two other 
 officers, had charge of our camp at Chattanooga. 
 
 December 22d . — Received orders to prepare to march, with 
 five days’ rations. 
 
 December 2^th . — Moved out of camp under command of 
 Colonel Laibold, to escort our division-train to Knoxville. The 
 command consisted of detachments of all regiments in our brigade, 
 and a number of men formerly of General Streight’s command 
 (just returned from prison, having been exchanged), amounting, 
 all told, to about three thousand five hundred men. We crossed 
 Mission Ridge near the tunnel, also Chickamauga Creek ; but 
 did not get out of hearing of the pickets at the bridge before 
 we were informed of the near approach of Wheeler’s cavalry. 
 Camped for the night, thinking of Christmas at home. 
 
 “ December 25th . — Brigade detachment was rear guard to-day. 
 Cloudy, and some rain. The train heavily loaded with camp 
 equipage, dragged its way slowly through the deep mud. Rain — 
 cold and piercing rain. Passed White Oak Mountain, and camped 
 three miles from head-quarters. 
 
 December 26th . — Marched about daylight ; reached Cleveland. 
 It was rumored that the rebel cavalry were approaching. Strag- 
 gling forbidden. 
 
 “ December 27th . — Six o’clock A. M., ordered to march; the 
 train moved out. We formed in line, and stood ‘to arms;’ 
 moved out after the wagon-train ; made a short march, then went 
 into camp. It rained, rainedy and rained . Nothing to note, 
 other than swollen streams and very muddy roads, until we reached 
 the little town of Charleston, on a tributary of the Tennessee 
 River. Passed through a gap in a range of high hills, one mile 
 south of Charleston, about dark. 
 
 “ Received order for two officers and twenty-four men to return 
 to the gap and guard it, without fires, as the enemy was known to 
 be near. The detail was made ; all the officers were either sick or 
 sufiering from wounds. I took command of detail; we marched 
 back on quick time. Notwithstanding orders to the contrary, 
 being a little out of humor — good humor — I told the boys to build 
 all the fires they ‘ d — d please.’ Nearly chilled to tears, we began 
 
CA UOHT UP WITH DIVISION. 
 
 597 
 
 our hard night^s duty ; sent pickets out on road, and got through 
 the night until near morning. My orders required that we return 
 to camp early in the morning, which we did, leaving our picket- 
 fires burning, and taking breakfast at daylight in camp. 
 
 “Had just finished our hard-tack and coffee, when Colonel 
 Laibold ordered that we cross the river, and dig down embank- 
 ment for wagons to pass over. Began work seriously, in earnest. 
 
 “ Received orders to deploy my command, and go up the river 
 to a ford about three-quarters of a mile distant, where, it was re- 
 ported, Wheeler’s cavalry were trying to cross. I deployed the 
 detachment, and went about a half mile ; was overtaken by another 
 order — an order to retreat to the south side of river at once. 
 Closed column, and marched back on the double quick. 
 
 “Had just crossed the river to south side, when, looking south- 
 ward, saw the Confederate cavalry charge through the railroad cut, 
 and then dash around in the rear of our picket-fires in the gap; ‘ but 
 WE were not there.* We were ordered to ‘double quick’ to the ex- 
 treme right of the brigade line. Wheeler appeared with his 
 brigade of cavalry in force, in front. The 73d detachment had 
 hardly reached the position assigned it, before the bugle blew the 
 charge. We whipped the brigade of rebels in about thirty minutes, 
 killing quite a number, and capturing 128 of them. Many were 
 wounded. Among the captured was Wheeler’s adjutant-general. 
 The Confederate artillery stuck in the mud beyond the gap, and 
 had we had a squadron of good cavalry, we might have taken" the 
 entire command. The train got across the river in safety. We 
 camped about two miles north of Charleston. 
 
 “ December 29th . — Took up our line of march through mud and 
 rain. We reached Loudon, December 31st, at about three o’clock 
 P. M., and stopped at a camp prepared by Confederate troops for 
 winter-quarters. Here we had our first experience with sick flour. 
 
 “ January 1, 186 Jf .. — Weather very cold ; snow in the mountains. 
 We were engaged in preparing to cross the Tenneseee River on a 
 raft, one company and wagon at a time — a very tedious operation. 
 After a weary march of several days, we reached the division 
 north-east of Knoxville without the loss of a man or a wagon. We 
 are firmly convinced that the building of numerous fires by our 
 pickets the night before the attack at Charleston (Wheeler being 
 thus led to suppose our entire brigade was on guard), saved our 
 command from suffering more or less loss of men and wagons.” 
 Mdes, too. 
 
598 
 
 BULLARD^ S ACCOUNT. 
 
 The following additional memoranda, touching the 
 march of the convalescents of the 4th Army Corps from 
 Chattanooga to Knoxville, has been furnished by one of 
 the number, William H. Bullard, of Company A : 
 
 December 24^ 1863 . — Under orders of the 23d, we left Chat- 
 tanooga, marching out past Orchard Knob to the upper part of 
 the valley, and crossed Mission Eidge near the tunnel on the East 
 Tennessee and Virginia Eailroad, about noon. We passed around 
 a bend of the Chickamauga, and crossed that stream on a bridge, 
 guarded by the 75th Indiana. The 88th Illinois went on picket. 
 There are about one hundred and twenty men, and a number of 
 officers, including Captain Motherspaw, with us. 
 
 ** December 25th . — Christmas Day. Our brigade was rear guard. 
 The day was bleak, cloudy, and rainy, and we could only guess 
 we were going in a north-eastern direction. We passed White 
 Oak Mountain, through McKenzie’s Gap, from which place we 
 caught our last sight of Lookout Mountain. We passed several 
 houses that hung out the old flag. The roads were awful. We 
 were taking a very long wagon-train with us, and it moved 
 slowly. The rear guard camped three or four miles from the 
 main body. 
 
 “ December 26ih , — Camped with the troops about daylight, and 
 in the rain. Marched to Cleveland, and camped one mile from 
 town, south-west. 
 
 “ December 27th . — Ordered to march at half-past six o’clock, 
 but did not. I think from the maneuvers. Colonel Laibold, who 
 is in command, is expecting an attack. We stood in line of battle 
 from before daylight until the train passed through the town. 
 There are, I think, about four thousand men in the force — two 
 nearly full regiments — that have been assigned to our corps, so 
 we can make quite a little fight, or could, if we had some artillery. 
 Camped at Charleston, on the Hiawassee Eiver ; rained nearly all 
 day, and is still at it. We went out on picket on the Cleveland 
 road. 
 
 December 28th . — Left picket-line at daylight. We had only 
 reached the brigade when we were sent over the river, and set to 
 work digging down the railroad embankment on the north side, 
 as the railroad track bed had become impassable for the wagon- 
 train, which is crossing the river on a trestle-bridge, built where 
 
QUITE A SKIRMISH. 
 
 599 
 
 the railroad bridge had stood. The 44th Illinois was helping 
 us, and Colonel Laiboldt was there personally superintending 
 the work, with several of his staff ; the remainderhof the troops 
 lay in line of battle around the town, holding a line a mile long 
 or more. 
 
 “While we were all busily at work there was some firing on 
 the south side of the river. Laibold was so busy attending to the 
 work in hand that he did not notice it until one of the staff called 
 his attention to it, and the firing increased in the meantime. We 
 stopped work for a minute, and Laibold started off briskly, call- 
 ing back as he went: Boys, save the hard-tack T 
 
 “We finished the work so that trains commenced crossing 
 again. Then Captain Motherspaw, in the absence of other orders, 
 moved up the river to prevent the possibility of any force crossing 
 and coming down that side. We had been there but a few min- 
 utes, when an orderly came to us, and we moved down the river 
 to the bridge, and crossed, and took position on a bluff above the 
 crossing, where we remained until the train was all across. 
 
 “ The firing for an hour had been quite hot, but the enemy, as 
 well as ourselves, had no artillery. His force consisted of cavalry 
 only, armed with carbines and other short guns. 
 
 “ When the last wagon had crossed the bridge, we shifted 
 from the left to the right center, and took position on the Cleve- 
 land road. As we had nearly reached our position the bugles in 
 the center sounded the “ advance,” and the two regiments before 
 mentioned started with a shout, and by a general advance we 
 soon had Wheeler and his men hurrying for their horses, and hur- 
 rying up the valley as well. Our loss was 3 killed, and 8 wounded. 
 Of the enemy 14 were killed, and 120 captured. After the fight- 
 ing was all over, we marched four or five miles, and went into 
 camp. A squadron of cavalry, posted at the river, helped us very 
 materially in the skirmish, dashing after the enemy after we had 
 broken his line. 
 
 December 29th. — To-day we marched to Athens, and camped; 
 marched most of the way on the railroad. 
 
 December SOth . — Marched to-day to Sweetwater, a nice little 
 town on the railroad. Passed a little town called Relgan. We 
 noted the beauties of this part of East Tennessee. People seem 
 glad to see us, and sell us all kinds of eatables, the only trouble 
 with us being the lack of funds. 
 
 December 31st . — First anniversary of the battle of Stone 
 
600 
 
 THAT ^^COLD’’ JANUARY. 
 
 River. Marched all day in the rain ; passed the little town of 
 Philadelphia, and reached London, on the Tennessee River, about 
 sundown. The wind then changed to the north-west, and the 
 weather turned colder at once ; the ground was frozen hard before 
 nine o’clock. Our little remnant of Company A arranged a 
 bivouac, and got up a huge pile of rails. While our feet nearly 
 roasted, our backs would nearly freeze. I think that at our one 
 fire we burned at least two hundred rails during the night. 
 
 ** January i, 1864 . — Very cold. Treated myself to some warm 
 biscuit for a New Year’s gift. They only cost fifty cents a dozen, 
 and are not much larger than walnuts. We have to cross all our 
 train on one small flat-boat that will take a wagon and one span 
 of mules at one trip, and the remaining four mules the next trip. 
 It will take several days to cross at that rate. 
 
 '^January 4fh ,. — Went foraging to-day, and got a little meal; 
 but it was taken to Laibold’s head-quarters and issued out. 
 
 January 7th . — We were taken across the river in a little ferry- 
 boat. While waiting to cross we saw two mules drown. In driv- 
 ing onto the boat, the cable broke as the wagon struck the boat; 
 the weight of the wagon kept pushing the boat into the river 
 until the wagon sank in the water and pulled the mules backward 
 off* the boat. The weather has not warmed up much ; ropes, 
 oars, and boat covered with ice yet, though no ice has formed in 
 the river. 
 
 January 10th . — Have lain quietly since crossing river, and 
 lived principally on parched corn, which is better than nothing. 
 Ordered to march in the morning. The train and troops all over 
 the river at last. 
 
 January Marched to-day. The weather moderated so 
 
 that it began raining in the evening. We passed Lenoir’s Station, 
 where there are signs of the burning of quite an ordnance train. 
 Camped near Campbellsville, where there has been considerable 
 fighting. 
 
 January 12th . — Camped near Knoxville. Signs of war 
 abundant. Still living on parched corn. 
 
 January ISth . — Passed through Knoxville; drew one-third 
 rations of bread and some meat, and camped eight miles from the 
 brigade, at Strawberry Plains. 
 
 ** January 14 th . — Reached the brigade and camp, the 73d be- 
 ing at Haworth’s Mill, several miles away. Report is current 
 that the whole command will start for Chattanooga in the morn- 
 
FOLLOWING THE COMMAND. 
 
 601 
 
 ing, and for that reason we are not allowed to ^o on to the regi- 
 ment to-day. 
 
 January 15th. — Ordered to report to the regiment at Ha- 
 worth’s Mill, which we did, reaching there in the afternoon, being 
 ferried across the Little Tennessee River in canoes or dug-outs. 
 
 I reached Company A with thirteen men, including myself, whom 
 I turned over to Captain Cross, being the same number of men he 
 had with him. 
 
 We have lately received a letter from Comrade E. S. 
 Turner, from which we make extracts, as follows : 
 
 “Trumbull, Nebraska, January 22, 1890. 
 
 “Dear Comrade, — Yours of the 20th inst. at hand. In re- 
 ply to your inquiry, would say, that my answer to the ‘Johnny’s’ 
 question, ‘What’s gold worth in New York City?’ was, ‘ Green- 
 baeks — something you haven’t got down South.’ I answered 
 hastily, as I did not want the ‘ Johnnies ’ to get ahead of us. I 
 worked all night to get the boys to agree to this truce, and after 
 it went in force, Corzine and ‘ Sigel’ (Benjamin Schaffner), in- 
 sisted on breaking it by renewing their fire. 
 
 “ Our Company ‘ I ’ boys told me they could not get Corzine 
 aud ‘ Sigel ’ to cease firing. I told them I would stop their firing, 
 which I did by going to ‘ Sigel ’ and saying : ‘ Sigel, the boys 
 want some fun with the “ Johnnies’^ and want you to stop firing.’ 
 
 ‘ All right,’ ‘ Sigel ’ answered. Then I went to Corzine and said : 
 
 ‘ The boys want you to quit firing, so we can have some fun with 
 the “Johnnies.”’ Corzine answered: ‘I won’t, though; my ' 
 orders are to keep firing^ and I am going to do it.’ 
 
 “ Reasoning with Corzine for some time, and failing to secure 
 his agreement to the ‘truce,’ I finally said to him: ‘You have 
 the best place in the whole line of the regiment, and if you won’t 
 agree with us for a “ truce,” I will put you outside of the works, 
 and you can then fire to your heart’s content, and I only give you two 
 minutes to agree.’ He agreed. Many questions were asked both 
 ways, among them the one above — ‘ What ’s gold worth in New 
 York City?’ 
 
 “ After the rear guard, in which were a number of the 73d, 
 left Louisville, and before it reached Bardstown, a few of the boys 
 came in one day shortly after noon, and told of a rebel, at whose 
 place they stopped to get water — a very scarce article at the 
 
602 
 
 BEEF AND POULTRY. 
 
 time — cursing and damning them, and hoping they ‘ would all get 
 killed down South,’ etc. After inquiring of several of the boys, 
 I came to the conclusion this rebel was a very bitter one, and that, 
 as the boys had done nothing but get water, we would draw a 
 beef — this rebel having several — any one of which would fill the bill. 
 
 “As our rations of meat were very slim, I went to Captain 
 Wallace, commanding, and said to him: ‘Cap., we are almost out 
 of meat, and if you will go into camp soon, we can get a beef of 
 an old rebel near here, who is somewhat rampant* ‘ All right,’ 
 said Wallace, ‘ we will go into camp at the first good place we 
 come to. I have ration money to buy what we want.’ ‘ No, 
 no,’ I said ; ‘ I propose to draw a beef, and give an order on the 
 commissary and save the ration money.’ ‘ I do n’t know so well 
 about that ; it may get us into trouble,’ said the captain. ‘ No,’ 
 I said ; ‘ we can give the order, and put into it what the old rebel 
 has said ; then the order will never be presented. This plan 
 will afford us a change of diet, and effect a saving to the Govern- 
 ment.’ The captain agreed finally. 
 
 “ As soon as we went into camp, I detailed Jason Lyon and 
 four or five other comrades to go and get the beef. I instructed 
 them to tell the man to come in the morning, and we would settle 
 with him, but to be sure and not say we would pay money, as we 
 did not intend to do that. I also suggested to each of the other 
 companies — all were represented in the squad following the army 
 up from Louisville — to detail a man or two each, to go along and 
 clear the whole farm of poultry — ‘ Preacher Kegiment ’ — but take 
 nothing else. 
 
 “ The beef was distributed that evening ; the boys feasted, 
 and, after a refreshing sleep, enjoyed a breakfast of beef and 
 chicken. When .the old ‘Johnny’ Reb. appeared in camp, he 
 said he had come to get his pay for the beef, as the boys who got 
 it said if he would come to camp in the morning, he would get 
 his pay. 
 
 “ ‘ Those boys were instructed to tell you to come in this morn- 
 ing and we would settle with you,’ remonstrated Turner ; then 
 adding: ‘ We can’t pay you any money. We will give you an 
 order on the commissary department.’ 
 
 “That will do,’ said the rebel. ‘I suppose the department is 
 good.’ 
 
 “ Captain Wallace — ‘It is all I can do; those are my orders.’ 
 
 “ ‘ What do you want for your beef?’ asked Turner. 
 
ORDER NOT SATISFACTORY. 
 
 603 
 
 “ Answer — * Well, I think it was worth twenty dollars.’ 
 
 ** ‘All right, the captain will draw an order for you for twenty 
 dollars,’ said Turner. 
 
 “ ‘Hold,’ said the reb., ‘the boys cleaned me out of poultry 
 too, last night, and I would like to have that included in the 
 order.’ 
 
 “Captain W. — ‘I want you to understand my men are not 
 chicken-thieves. I can’t give you an order for pay for chickens, 
 but if you will pick out the men who got your chickens, I will 
 have them pay you; the men all have money.’ 
 
 “The Confederate made a search, wandered all round through 
 camp for a full half hour ; then returned, saying he could not 
 pick out a man — though nearly every man was eating chicken, 
 and the ground was carpeted with feathers. Our captain handed 
 him the order as filled out. 
 
 “ After reading it over, the ‘ Johnny ’ said : ‘ This is not good 
 for anything. I can’t get any money on it.’ 
 
 “ ‘What’s the matter with it?’ asks Wallace. 
 
 “ ‘ It mentions in it what I said to the boys last night,’ an- 
 swered the man. 
 
 “ Wallace — ‘Then you did say that to the boys, did you?’ 
 
 “‘Yes.’ 
 
 ‘ ‘ ‘ Did the boys disturb you any before you talked that way 
 to them?’ asked Wallace. 
 
 “‘No.’ 
 
 “ Wallace, continuing — ‘Well, you will learn to keep your 
 mouth shut hereafter, when troops are passing through the 
 country.’ 
 
 “ (^Not for publication. y* 
 
 RAIL-MAKING. 
 
 As our brigade came into Nashville, in the spring 
 of 1865, some person said our 1st Division was making 
 rails to replace those it had burned. Our boys — 
 among them ^^Jate” — declared they would burn rails 
 if necessary or convenient, but would not make any. 
 We camped on land belonging to a widow, lying north 
 of Hardin’s land, a stone wall between the two tracts. 
 As the land south of us was divided up into small 
 
604 
 
 RAII^MAKINGt 
 
 fields, there were many high rail stake-and-ridered 
 fences. We had orders not to burn rails, but to pick 
 up pieces of wood and down timber, and were told that 
 wood in due time could be issued. So the fences were 
 accordingly drawn upon for good first-class rails, out of 
 which to make bunks and benches. As day after day 
 passed and no wood issued, we kept on drawing and 
 burning bunk timber until the fences near camp had dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 Late one evening the usual quiet of the camp was’ 
 disturbed by word being passed along the line that a 
 detail of one hundred and fifty men of the brigade was 
 called for to make rails. ‘‘Did you hear that?” a com- 
 rade said to “Jate,” “Hear what?” asked “Jate.” 
 “A detail of one hundred and fifty men called for to 
 make rails,” was the reply. The comrade added : “ I 
 would not be surprised if you were the first man de- 
 tailed.” “ Jate ” remembered his declaration, and then 
 repeated it — that he would make no rails. Sure enough. 
 Sergeant Jason Lyon was detailed as one of the rail- 
 makers. The boys said they had no axes. New axes 
 were promptly furnished them, and they started off, 
 and soon went to work in a body of fine heavy timber. 
 
 All forenoon the noise and clatter of axes could be 
 heard. At noon the boys came in to dinner, and were 
 plied with the question, “Have you made any rails?” 
 quite frequently. “ No,” was the answer, “ But we have 
 downed a lot of fine timber.” The work was resumed 
 after dinner, but not with vim and energy. Excuses 
 were made; one man said there was a flaw in his ax, 
 it could n't be relied on. Another man said his ax 
 was dull, very dull, had never been sharpened ; it would 
 only cut bark, to do any good; consequently he cut 
 
*^SOLDIER, WILL YOU WORXr 
 
 605 
 
 the bark and peeled it off one tree from the ground up 
 all around as high as he could reach; that done, he 
 would go to another tree and serve it in like manner — 
 get the bark out of the way so some other man might 
 chop if he felt like it. Several of the detailed, from 
 some one cause or another, did little more than ‘‘girdle'' 
 (get the bark off) the trees. None felt like chopping; 
 had n’t enlisted for that kind of work. 
 
 A portion of the detail was ordered to log off,” 
 but no particular length prescribed. Logs of various 
 lengths were cut off, varying from three to nearly 
 twenty feet in length. Another portion of the detail 
 was ordered to split the cuts ” into rails — make 
 rails.” Excuses were again resorted to. One man said 
 he could not split the logs with an ax; a maul and 
 an iron wedge would be needed — several of them, 
 really. The men were told to go and try, and do the 
 best they could. One man got his ax fast, and in un- 
 ^ dertaking to loosen it he put more force into the 
 grunt” than he applied to the ax. Another man 
 came to his assistance, but not feeling first rate ” he 
 could n’t plant his ax just where it ought to have 
 been ; he struck it right on the top of the other ax, doing 
 neither any good. This was the way it went. Several 
 axes were demoralized.” Very few rails were made, 
 if any. The aggrieved party, the proprietor of the 
 estate of the woods around about our camp, concluded 
 to have the detail called off ;” but we kept on burning 
 “ bunk timber.” 
 
 While the 73d lay in camp at Louisville, the rations 
 issued were poor in quality, as well as meager in quan- 
 tity. Some of the boys eked out a living by drawing 
 extra supplies from the adjoining country ; others bought 
 
606 
 
 IRREGULAR FORAGING. 
 
 provision at the markets. After the bulk of the regi- 
 ment had started on the Perryville trip, a number of 
 the boys were left behind sick — including, of course, a 
 few from Company I. 
 
 The camp was near the water-works, and about the 
 time many of the men began to mend, word was given 
 out that Company H had fresh pork to sell. Turner, 
 of Company I, gave money to two of his comrades, and 
 told them to go and buy pork. They soon returned, 
 saying the price was too high, and they would not pay the 
 price without Turner’s consent. Turner said : We can 
 kill a hog as cheaply as they.” The boys replied : 
 
 But it is contrary to orders, and the provost-guards 
 are too near.” Let me know,” continued Turner, 
 when a hog comes near, and I will shoot it, if you 
 will take care of it.” This proposal was agreed to. Next 
 day Turner was duly notified that a hog was approaching 
 the vicinity of Company A’s line. Turner immedi- 
 ately armed himself, and took position in a Company A 
 tent, and at the crack ” of the gun, the hog dropped 
 flatly. The boys went ” for the hog, but none of 
 them had a knife to stick it with ; so Turner returned 
 to his tent, picked up one, and, after sharpening it, went 
 back to the porker. Just as he reached down to turn 
 the hog over to stick it, it jumped up and ran off. 
 Lacy ran alongside of the hog, shooting at its head, 
 till he emptied his revolver, the hog squealing for dear 
 life,” the men in camp and other spectators generally 
 cheering and hallooing. Turner was considerably ex- 
 ercised, and warned the men not to make noise, to at- 
 tract the attention of the provost guard^. 
 
 Shortly, under Turner’s direction, the hog was caught 
 at the end of Company I’s street — the proper place — 
 
RIGHT OF PROPERTY, 
 
 607 
 
 and stuck. Just as the boys were beginning to skin the 
 hog, a woman living near by, came and claimed the hog 
 as her property. Whereupon Turner said : If it is 
 your hog, you probably had it marked. How was your 
 hog marked?” queried Turner. Instead of answering 
 directly and promptly, the woman walked all around 
 i the hog, looked it carefully over, and then said : My 
 hog had a short tail, like that one.” 
 
 Then there were two hogs with short tails, this one, 
 and the woman’s hog. The hog in controversy was pure 
 white in color, not a mark or a blemish on it, except its 
 two-inch stub tail. Turner said to the woman: ‘^You 
 can’t have this hog without an order from the captain in 
 that tent (Wallace’s) ; he commands this camp now.” 
 The boys did not want to dress the hog, but Turner 
 got them to proceed by saying : It is not her hog ; if 
 it was, the most she could do would be to make us pay 
 for it.” Turner cut the tail — what was left of it — off 
 close up to the body. 
 
 In a few minutes Captain Wallace came running up, 
 saying : Hold on, boys.” What ’s the matter. Cap- 
 tain ?” asked Turner. This woman claims you have 
 killed her hog,” answered Wallace. Well,” said 
 Turner, I suppose she will have to prove property, 
 won’t she. Captain ?” Yes, that is right,” said the 
 captain ; and then asked the woman, How do you 
 know this to be your hog ?” Because mine had a 
 short tail ; it had been cut off just like that.” Was 
 it a fresh cut?” asked Wallace. The woman did not 
 answer, and Turner said to Wallace : “ Captain, this is 
 an American woman, and if you want her to understand, 
 ask her in English, something after this fashion : ^ Was 
 this hog’s tail lately cut off, or has it been done some 
 
608 
 
 MORE FORAGING. 
 
 time ?’ ’’ To which amended inquiry the woman an- 
 swered : “ 0 no ; its tail has been cut off some time.” 
 Turner then uncovered the ' hog, and Captain Wallace 
 said : Well, this, then, is not your hog, as the tail has 
 just been cut off.” 
 
 The woman’s jaw and arms dropped, and a more 
 crest-fallen individual was not seen at any time about 
 the camp of the 73d during the war. If the woman 
 had acted as though the hog was really her property, 
 had not hunted all over it for marks that never existed, 
 the boys would either have let her have the hog, or 
 paid her for it. What became of the meat. Turner does 
 not say ; he only got a small part of it himself. He 
 would like to hear from all who ate thereof. 
 
 A SUCCESSFUL FORAGE TRIP 
 
 BY TWO COMPANY I BOYS. 
 
 While chasing Hood, after the battle of Nashville, we camped 
 one day in the timber of Northern Alabama. We were short of 
 rations, and there was a detail of two men from each company to 
 go out from camp and find something to eat. It fell to my lot 
 and Wm. M. Corzine, of my company (I, 73d Illinois) to go. 
 About nine o’clock A. M. we rigged up our mule (Old ‘ ‘ Honest 
 John”), that we had to carry our cooking outfit on, and started 
 westward from camp. I had a Spencer rifle and plenty of ammu- 
 nition, but my comrade took no arms. 
 
 The first humble cabin we came to was besieged by dozens of 
 “ Yanks,” inside, outside, and underneath. Those under the house 
 were trying to capture the last remaining goose. There being no 
 show for us, we went on to the next, and found matters just as 
 bad. On we went, determined to go until we should strike it 
 rich. We passed some half dozen log -huts, but nothing was found. 
 
 At last we spied a house about a mile off*, which we were con- 
 fident no one had visited. So we renewed our tramp to reach it, 
 through by-ways and thickets which we knew to be infested by 
 bushwhackers. We reached the house in safety; but by this time 
 it was late, and we were some seven miles from camp. But we 
 
BUTTERMILK AND SORGHUM. s 
 
 609 
 
 were happy in finding plenty there to supply our wants. There 
 was a woman and two children in the house. She said her hus- 
 band was in the rebel army, and that she had not anything for 
 “ you ’uns Yanks but our orders were imperative, and we soon 
 found enough to load up our mule. 
 
 I shot a porker and a couple of geese, and strapped them on; 
 then we helped ourselves to a hill of sweet potatoes we found in 
 the garden. In the smoke-house we found bacon and a churn full 
 of fresh cream. The latter we put into ourselves and our can- 
 teens. The best “find” was a half-barrel of sorghum molasses. 
 Some of this we wanted, and must have, but we had nothing to 
 carry it in. Corzine found a large soap-gourd, which he went to 
 filling, while I searched the house for anything that would hold 
 sorghum. While thus engaged I made another important dis- 
 covery. Under the bed was a two-gallon tin bucket, also several 
 sacks of meal. I did not disturb the meal just then, but I did 
 the bucket. I pulled it out and found it half full of buttermilk. 
 I told the woman I wanted the bucket to take home a sample of 
 her sorghum in. I would gladly have saved the milk, but could 
 not; I was already full of cream. She said we’uns shouldn’t 
 have that bucket, and as I started she made a dive and seized it. 
 Then came the tug of war. She pulled and I pulled, and how the 
 buttermilk flew all over me and her and the floor. But I was the 
 stronger, and soon won the victory, and got my bucket full of 
 molasses. 
 
 By this time we thought we had more forage than “ Honest John ” 
 could carry alone, and, seeing a fine young horse in the barn-yard, 
 we concluded we needed him to help. But what should we do for 
 a bridle? We asked the lady of the house where we could find 
 one, and she said: “ You’uns haint a goin’ ter take my last boss. 
 He hain’t never been rid, and you all can ’t take him.” We went 
 to the barn and hunted it all over in hopes of finding a bridle or 
 halter. In the loft was a lot of corn-leaves in bundles. We 
 kicked over some of these, but found no bridle, and were com- 
 pelled to abandon the idea of adding to our forage-train. We 
 then loaded up our mule, but while thus engaged I set my 
 bucket of molasses on a stump near the house, and when I was 
 ready to get it, it was gone. The woman had “stolen” it, and 
 taken it into the house. This treasonable act “riled” me, and 
 I stormed the fort in search of the lost property, which then be- 
 longed to Uncle Sam. She had hidden it behind the bureau, 
 
 39 
 
610 
 
 DIFFICULTIES ENCOUNTERED, 
 
 and the cover was gone. I did not have time to hunt for the 
 cover, so I took a clean towel and tied over the top. Then we 
 started for camp by a different route from that we came. 
 
 Such a load as we had ! We knew that if we could only 
 land it safely in camp we would have a royal reception, and all 
 of us could get filled up for once. We started down a lane just 
 as the sun was going down, and with a seven-mile tramp before 
 us. We had gone only about forty rods when whang! zip! 
 came a bullet past our heads. It did no damage, but came al- 
 together too close to make us feel comfortable. We stopped, 
 and looking back could see the smoke curling up from the cracks 
 in the loft of that log-barn. We made up our minds at once 
 that that woman’s husband was not in the rebel army, but was 
 hid in that barn-loft under those leaves. He had not dared to 
 attack us while at the house, because his own life would have 
 paid the penalty, there being two of us with a seven-shooter at 
 command. He had waited until he thought he was safe, then fired. 
 
 Our first impulse was to go back and clean him out, but it 
 was so late we concluded to hurry on. But our direction was 
 wrong, so we left the road, and started across fields and through 
 woods toward camp. We had not gone far before we came to 
 a stake-and-ridered rail fence, beyond which was heavy timber. 
 We tore down the fence, and my comrade, with many regrets, aban- 
 doned his gourd of sorghum. On into the now almost impene- 
 trable darkness we went. At times our heavily-laden mule would 
 ^ get wedged between two trees, and we would back him out and 
 try again. 
 
 We finally came to a well-beaten path, which we could hardly 
 see for the darkness, and concluded to follow it, thinking it 
 would lead us out somewhere, and sure enough it did. We had 
 followed it a long ways through dense timber, when all at once, 
 down in a dark and dismal gulley, we came to the end of it. 
 A band of guerrillas had just left. There was their abandoned 
 camp and fires still burning, and their shelters made of bark yet 
 standing. We did not stay there long. We thought it best to 
 get out of that hole as quick as possible, or we might lose our 
 load of grub. We struck out again through the dense forest, 
 and soon landed in a blackberry-patch. Neither of us was 
 addicted to profanity, or we might have done some tall ‘ ‘ cuss- 
 ing,” but we patiently worked our way through the brambles 
 and over fallen trees. 
 
A ROYAL FEAST. 
 
 611 
 
 We got out at last into a clearing, and breathed easier. After 
 crossing this opening we came to timber again, but just then we 
 saw a flickering light off to our right. We halted our supply- 
 train, and while Corzine guarded it 1 cautiously advanced to the 
 light, which I found to be a pine-knot in a cabin. I shouted, 
 and a woman came to the door. I told her we were lost, and 
 asked her if she knew where the Yankee army was camped. 
 She said she had heard music off “in that direction,” pointing 
 east, and guessed it was where the camp was. She told me 
 there was a road leading that way not far off, which we soon 
 found, to our great relief. 
 
 We now made good time, although pretty well used up, tired, 
 hungry, and sore ; but our spirits revived, and after a mile or 
 two more we came in sight of our camp-fires. We were halted 
 by the pickets, who informed us that we had been given up as 
 “ bushwhacked,” and that a detail had been made to hunt us 
 up in the morning. We were delighted to get back safe, and 
 the boys were overjoyed at our success. 
 
 It was long after ‘ ‘ taps ” when we rolled into our dog-tent 
 that night. Who can describe a soldier’s dreams after such a 
 trip, and in view of what we were to have to eat the next day? 
 Suffice it to say that we had a royal feast for all of old Com- 
 pany I. 
 
 L. F. GOULD, 
 
 Company I, 73d Illinois Volunteer Infantry. 
 
 EXPERIENCE OF EDWARD PENSTONE AS A 
 PRISONER. 
 
 COMPANY H, SEVENTY-THIRD ILLINOIS. 
 
 As we made the charge at Chickamauga, I was shot down, the 
 ball passing through the left arm, and, striking me in the side, 
 knocking me senseless. When I revived, a rebel regiment was in 
 line close by me, firing at our boys as they retreated up the slope. 
 After the firing ceased, I, with some more of our men who 
 were taken prisoners, was marched about a mile in the rear. 
 Those of us who were wounded were sent to General Breckin- 
 ridge’s division-hospital, where our wounds were dressed as our 
 turns came. Rebels and Yankees were treated the same. We 
 were there ten days, sleeping on the ground at night, with no 
 covering but our blankets and the trees above us. I did not even 
 
612 
 
 PRISON EXPERIENCE. 
 
 have a blanket ; but a dollar greenback soon procured me one. 
 There were about fifty of our wounded there, though I was the 
 only one from the 73d. Several of our boys died there, and those 
 of us who could walk were sent to Kinggold, Georgia. There we 
 found several hundred of our men, and were all put on the cars 
 and sent to Atlanta, Georgia. 
 
 As they marched us from the depot to the stockade, or, what 
 they called the bull-pen, they took care to take us through all the 
 principal streets, which were lined with people, to get a sight of 
 what they called the “Blue-bellied Yankees.” I guess we must 
 have made a sorry appearance in our dirty and blood-stained 
 clothes, just as we were taken from the field of battle. (The next 
 year, when, after the battles of Jonesboro and Lovejoy Station, we 
 marched into Atlanta from the south, with flags flying and bands 
 playing, there was quite a change in our reception). We were 
 kept at Atlanta two or three days, and then sent on to Richmond, 
 Virginia. We were told that when we reached there we would be 
 paroled and sent North, but were badly disappointed. 
 
 Arriving early in October, we who were wounded were sepa- 
 rated from the rest, and sent to the hospital — a large tobacco ware- 
 house near Libby prison — where we were given cots to sleep on, and 
 I got the first good rest since the battle of Chickamauga ; the 
 nurses say I slept twenty-four hours. Then, for the first time, I 
 got my wounds properly dressed, and cleaned some of the blood 
 and dirt off my clothes. Our rations there were enough to keep 
 us alive — a pint of bean or pea soup, a small piece of meat, and a 
 slice of bread twice a day. We amused ourselves by playing chess 
 and other games, and were allowed to send short, open letters to 
 our friends at home, telling where we were, and how badly we were 
 wounded. 
 
 I had been reported killed ; my mother and sisters had put on 
 mourning, and Rev. Mr. Whipple, of the Congregational Church at 
 Griggsville, Illinois, was to have preached my funeral sermon on 
 Sunday ; but my father, receiving a letter from me the Friday be- 
 fore, stating that I was alive and well, prevented it. 
 
 About ten o’clock each day an old darkey came around with the 
 dead-wagon, to take away the boys who had died during the 
 night. There were generally three or four, mostly the poor fellows 
 who were brought from Bell’s Island, on the James River, and they 
 were nearly dead from starvation and exposure before they came. 
 
 About the 20th of November, a number of us were taken to 
 
PAROLED AND EXCHANGED. 
 
 613 
 
 another prison, a block from Libby, where I found Wm. Cammire, 
 of Company H, 73d. He was the first man of our regiment that 
 I had seen since the battle, and had been wounded in the head. 
 One dark, stormy night, while the rebel guard, who usually stood 
 on the street in front of our building had stepped inside for 
 shelter, Wm. Cammire and a man belonging to a New York 
 battery, escaped by making a rope of their blankets and climbing 
 down from a third-story window to the street. They found a skiff, 
 and rowing across to the south side of the James Eiver, succeeded in 
 reaching our lines. I should have gone with them, but with one 
 arm in a sling, could not climb down the rope. I have always 
 thought it strange that more of our men did not try to escape, as 
 the rope hung there until just before daylight, when some one 
 drew it in and hid it. The next day, when the little rebel Sergeant 
 Ross counted us, and found two missing, he was furious ; but 
 though he threatened all kinds of punishment, no one would tell 
 how they escaped. 
 
 One morning, about the 15th of December, the rebel doctor 
 who dressed our wounds, told us that a Union vessel was coming 
 up the James River to City Point, with a number of rebel pris- 
 oners, to be exchanged for a number of our men, and some of the 
 men were to be taken from our prison. We were wdld with ex- 
 citement. Who would be the lucky ones? was the next question. 
 At noon a rebel captain came and picked out such as he thought 
 least likely to be of service for some time. We signed our paroles, 
 and took the oath not to fight again until exchanged, and that 
 night we were taken to City Point. At daylight we saw our steamer 
 at anchor, and the Stars and Stripes floating in the breeze. It was 
 the first time we had seen our flag for three months, and we felt 
 like we were getting back into “ God’s Country.” 
 
 The transfer from one vessel to the other was soon made, and 
 we were taken to Annapolis, Maryland, and sent to the college build- 
 ings, which were then used as hospitals, where we received the best 
 of care. I was declared exchanged in March, 1864, went to the 
 regiment, and staid with it until we were mustered out at Nash- 
 ville, Tennessee, in June, 1865. 
 
 In response to an inquiry made, we have been in- 
 formed by letter from the officer in charge of the 
 Hecord and Pension Division of the War Department, 
 U. S. A., that the following named men were on extra 
 
614 
 
 SUNDRY MATTERS. 
 
 daily duty as regimental pioneers, during and for some 
 time after the battles of Nashville : Richard Baker, 
 Company A; Geoige W. Falor, Company B; Isaac R. 
 Thornton, Company C ; Samuel J. Boen, Company C ; 
 Samuel T. Rickets, Company D ; Edwin Robinson, Ser- 
 geant, Company E ; Sampson McCool, Company E ; 
 George Dudney, Company F ; James 0. Thompson, 
 Company G ; James Lytle, Company H ; Jason Lyon, 
 Corporal, Company I ; Robinson Crews, Company K ; 
 W. H. Newlin, Lieutenant, Company C. 
 
 The same letter informs us that the official records 
 of the regiment do not show who were the first color- 
 guards and color-bearer in the year 1862. 
 
 The names of the comrades who served on the first 
 detail of color-guards for the 73d, are as follows, so far 
 as has been ascertained : David F. Lawler, Company 
 B ; William D. Coffin, Company D ; Benjamin F. Kirk- 
 ley, Company E; James J. Boland, Company F; Wm. 
 Talbott, Company G; James Lytle, Company H; Ash- 
 ford W. Clark, Company I, colo7'-hearer . 
 
 After the wounding of A. W. Clark, D. F. Lawler, 
 of Company B, carried the colors, or had charge of 
 them, through the remainder of the battle of Perry- 
 ville, and until further orders. It is impossible to as- 
 certain farther concerning color-guards, but it is safe 
 to say, that after the first year. Company C furnished 
 the color-bearers : Jehu Lewis and Robert J. Hasty. 
 
 At the battle of Franklin, Dr. Pond, surgeon of the 
 73d, became deeply interested in some of the prelimi- 
 nary operations. He was desirous of ascertaining 
 whether or not a certain contingency had been pro- 
 vided for ; whether a section of artillery had been moved 
 from, or to, a certain place, or something of that kind. 
 
HISTORY OF A BIBLE. , 
 
 615 
 
 Colonel Opdycke called the doctor to an account, telling 
 him that he was very much out of place ; that his 
 services would soon be needed in another and quite a 
 different locality. Just at that time things assumed a 
 very threatening aspect— in fact, matters became very 
 hot immediately after the doctor hurried off in accord- 
 ance with Colonel Opdycke’s suggestion. That was one 
 time when the doctor did not stop long to argue the 
 case, or to ask : ^‘What’s the matter?” 
 
 CAPTURED, RECAPTURED, AND SURRENDERED. 
 
 S. S. Lytle, of Company F, 11th Iowa Infantry, lost, 
 among other things, at the battle of Shiloh, in April, 
 1862, a small pocket Bible, which was precious to him 
 in itself, but more so on account of associations, having 
 been presented to him in the year 1854 by his mother. 
 One Jesse W. Wyatt, of the 12th Tennessee Confed- 
 erate Volunteers, became proprietor, by right of capture, 
 of this Bible, and retained possession and proprietor- 
 ship of the same for more than two years, until the 
 seventeenth day of May, 1864, at the battle of Adairs- 
 ville, Georgia, when Charles W. Keeley, of the Preacher 
 Pvegiment,” Company F, too, recaptured the Bible, and 
 held possession of it as a sacred war relic until the 
 year 1887, a term of twenty-three years, when he, after 
 repeated solicitations, sent the Bible to its owner, S. S. 
 Lytle. 
 
 It was with great reluctance that Comrade Keeley 
 parted with this Bible ; but thinking that if anybody 
 was more or better entitled to it than himself, it was 
 S. S. Lytle, he sent it to him. And there is this 
 further thought in connection with this case : If there 
 is anything a member or survivor of the Preacher 
 
616 FA ME OF THE SE VEN T Y- THIRD ILLINOIS, 
 
 Regiment” ought to have ‘‘enough ;m<l to spare” of, it 
 is Bibles. So the act of Comrade Keeley in surren- 
 dering the Bible to the 11th Iowa man, is one to be 
 commended and approved, and it is hereby approved by 
 these head-quarters. 
 
 There were several instances in which the bullets of 
 the enemy came in contact with Bibles on the persons of 
 soldiers of the 73d. The 73d was a Bible Regiment. 
 
 Doctor Turner, mayor of Fairmount, Illinois, or presi- 
 dent of the Board of Trustees, in his address of wel- 
 come to the comrades of the 73d, on the occasion of 
 their third annual reunion, held in that village, October 
 8, 1889, said he had heard of the 73d on the western 
 border of the continent. 
 
 Senator Dolph, of Oregon, in a public address, inci- 
 dentally mentioned the regiment in a complimentary way 
 for its conduct in some one of its many engagements — 
 Stone River, perhaps. It has been but a few years 
 since Dr. Turner heard the address referred to ; so the 
 fame of the 73d has spread abroad, and no doubt is 
 still living and spreading, or will, as this history gains 
 circulation among the people. 
 
 In this connection we may mention the fact, that 
 Colonel Schaefer’s dying utterances w^’ere partly in praise 
 and commendation of the conduct of the 73d at Stone 
 River. He had never before eulogized the regiment — 
 had abused it rather ; but under the circumstances he re- 
 deemed the past, and set himself aright before his death. 
 
 EXPERIENCE IN SOUTHERN PRISONS. 
 
 Of those members of the 73d who were prisoners of ^:ar, iiont? 
 served or suffered a longer term of imprisonment than did John L. 
 Hesser and John W. North, of Company A. The circumstances 
 attending their capture did not differ materially from those at- 
 
B JOSSER AND NORTH. 
 
 617 
 
 tending the capture of all others of the 73d. Hesser and is’orth 
 were made prisoners at nearly the same time — about noon, Sun- 
 day, September 20, 1863. On the way to the rear. North secured 
 the hat-cord, Bible, and two or three other articles belonging to 
 Adjutant Winget. These articles were faithfully kept, and in the 
 course of time were delivered to Winget’s relatives. 
 
 Brown and Newlin, of Company C, joined Hesser and North 
 very soon after they reached the point where the prisoners were 
 being collected. It was not known to these four for some days 
 whether any of their regimental comrades, except the wounded, 
 were captured. Joseph C. Squires, a young orderly of Rosecrans’s 
 staff, fell in with the group, more particularly with North. An 
 order and a plan of battle which Squires had, was, by North’s 
 advice, committed to the flames. On meeting Colonel Von Strader, 
 after tarrying a day and night with the 73d squad, young Squires 
 placed himself under his care. 
 
 Sunday night the prisoners were corraled at a point about half 
 way between Ringgold and Tunnel Hill. Several thousand rails 
 were burned at this point by the prisoners, not as a matter of 
 necessity to promote comfort, but that was the only way in which 
 the boys could prosecute the war under the circumstances. 
 
 Shortly after eight o’clock Monday morning, having had some 
 coffee (the last to many) and crackers, the prisoners and their 
 guards moved on to Tunnel Hill, meeeting on the way a Confed- 
 erate ammunition train and escort. A small bit of bacon was 
 issued to each prisoner at Tunnel Hill, and soon after, the train 
 of box stock-cars having been made up, the prisoners were crowded 
 into them, and the journey to Richmond commenced. Hesser and 
 his regimental comrades managed to get in, or on, the same car, 
 having agreed to stick together through the trying ordeal of 
 prison-life. 
 
 After a tedious trip, Atlanta was reached, late on September 
 22d. A delay occurred here until the morning of the 24th, the 
 time being passed by the prisoners inside the barracks. Some in- 
 ferior grade rations were issued, and rolls of the prisoners were 
 made out, showing name, company, and regiment of each man. 
 The journey was resumed early on the 24th, with a detail of guards 
 from the militia. Not knowing anything about real soldiering, 
 these guards were very “pesky” and officious. 
 
 Augusta was the next stopping place. The prisoners were 
 taken from the cars again, and guarded during night in the court- 
 
618 
 
 ON TO RICHMOND. 
 
 house yard. Mounting the cars again on the morning of the 25th, 
 the trip was resumed. Arrived at Columbia, South Carolina, early 
 on the 26th, and, after a short delay, proceeded toward Ra- 
 leigh, arriving there Sunday afternoon, September 27tli. Passing 
 on through Charlotte and Greensboro, Weldon was reached late on 
 the 28th. 
 
 The prisoners were taken off the cars at Weldon, and guarded 
 over night in the open space alongside the railroad. Rations 
 were issued early on the 29th, and immediately afterward the word 
 was: All ahoardr Starting out at once and moving steadily on, 
 Petersburg was passed and Richmond reached the night of the 
 29th of September. 
 
 It was fully two hours from the time of getting off the cars before 
 the prisoners were turned into Libby prison, at ten P. M. Owing 
 to the arrival at an unseasonable hour of a large number of 
 “guests,” the space being insufficient, the prisoners were crowded 
 together, and failed to get any sleep or rest that was beneficial. 
 On the 30th, however, after being thoroughly “gone through,” 
 and relieved of some money, knives, and other traps, these prison- 
 ers were moved to the Rosser building, remaining there until Oc- 
 tober 1st, then changed to Pembertm^ building for awhile, and 
 then to the Smith building. 
 
 While on the street, marching along, Hesser and his three com- 
 rades espied three more comrades of the 73d, who had been so un- 
 fortunate as to fall into the hands of the enemy, viz. : Jesse D. 
 Kilpatrick, Company B, and AVm. F. Ellis and John Thornton, of 
 Company C, the latter a nephew of Brown. This discovery was 
 made just in time to get all seven of the squad together before 
 entering the prison building. At this late date it is impossible to 
 definitely determine which of the two buildings we occupied first 
 after leaving the Rosser house, the Pemberton or the Smith 
 building. While in the buildings — all tobacco-houses — last named, 
 rations in light quantities were issued regularly twice a day, unless 
 some of the cooking apparatus got out of fix. During this time 
 the raid was made on the sugar in the basement of the prison. 
 The raid was soon discovered, and promptly checked, by the re- 
 moval of the sugar to another place. Time Avas spent in conjectur- 
 ing what the next day, or week, would bring forth, in reading, in 
 case of having any matter at hand, in playing checkers, and in 
 slaying gray-backs. Hesser says he thinks he played ten thousand 
 
SOME VERY TEDIOUS DAYS. 
 
 619 
 
 games of checkers, but he must have meant that he slew ten thou- 
 sand with the jaw-bone of his thumb-nails. 
 
 Confinement in prison was very exasperating to Hesser. He 
 very frequently grew impatient, and criticised the Government in 
 language not very mild, considering that he was a member of the 
 Preacher Regiment, for not bringing about an exchange of prisoners. 
 North was very considerate and patient, and exercised a whole- 
 some influence over Hesser, curbing and modifying his tendency 
 for outbreaking and turbulent denunciation of the way things 
 were going. 
 
 Time passed wearily ; there was but little to relieve the dull- 
 ness and monotony of life within prison-walls. The hours seemed 
 so long, even in day-time ; and at night, when prisoners were rest- 
 less and sleepless, they seemed interminably lengthened out. “Post 
 number five ! Half-past three o’clock, and all ’s well !” as squawked 
 out by a guard in the early morning, was a reminder to many a 
 wakeful prisoner that it was almost an age till daylight. 
 
 November 13th brought a change. The prisoners were moved 
 across the street, and some distance farther east, and put in the 
 Scott warehouse to remain until next day, on which date they were 
 taken out and marched to the railroad, loaded into hog-cars, and 
 shipped to Danville. They arrived at Danville, Virginia, at noon 
 of Sunday, November 15th. On the way, Hesser and his regi- 
 mental comrades, by hustling^ contrived to keep together, and - so 
 were quartered on the second floor of prison No. 2, a frame build- 
 ing. Rations were issued once each day, instead of twice, as at 
 Richmond. This made less trouble all around, and many prisoners 
 made one meal only out of the morsel they received. 
 
 There was a good deal of talk, planning, and scheming, with 
 reference to an outbreak ; overpowering the guards, and attempt- 
 ing a wholesale flight. This was about all it amounted to. It 
 seemed to facilitate the flight of time, and did some good in 
 that way. 
 
 While in this prison, Hesser enumerated more varieties of pie than 
 he had ever sampled before that time, or since. He was certainly 
 trying himself to see how much he could cause the mouths of his 
 comrades “ to water.” If all the different varieties had been noted 
 by name it would have been a pie dictionary, or vocabulary. One 
 thing is quite certain, Hesser did not sample any one; not even 
 the commonest, of his many varieties of pie while in prison. 
 
 On December 15th, on account of small-pox, one member of 
 
620 
 
 A KDEBSOMVLLJ^:, GEOJiGJA. 
 
 the mess had to separate from the others and go to the hospital. 
 As it turned out, this member never returned to the prison or 
 mess again, as 'vvas expected. Between Christmas and January 
 1st this ex-member wrote and sent to Hesser a note, informing him 
 that he was getting well. Failing to get any more notes or other 
 word, Hesser concluded his former messmate had sutfered a re- 
 lapse, and gone to join the silent army of the dead, when, in fact, 
 he had only gone to rejoin the Army of the Cumberland. 
 
 Early in March, 1864, the prisoners were removed from Dan- 
 ville to AndersonviJle, Georgia. The season of the year, the con- 
 dition of the prisoners, and the quality of the transportation fur- 
 nished, combined to produce not only discomfort, but much suffering 
 among the prisoners. The train-load, which included Hesser and 
 his comrades, reached Andersonvilie about March 20th. \Vhile 
 the grounds were fresh and clean, and pieces of wood and brush 
 could be gathered, with which to build fires for cooking purposes 
 or comfort, and before the stockade was crowded with prisoners, 
 their condition was not nearly so bad as it subsequently became. 
 Some time was required to originate and put in operation a sys- 
 tem of slow but sure starvation, and deprivation, also, ir. other 
 directions. The workings cf the system had to be observed, so 
 that it might be rendered more severe and effectual in accomplish- 
 ing the purposes desired. AVeather, hot and dry, heat of the 
 southern sun, were powerful factors, in connection with scant, im- 
 pure, and unwholesome food and filthy water, in bringing about 
 such a physical condition of the prisoners as would render them 
 liable to all sorts of diseases, the most tolerable of which were 
 loathsome and debilitating in the extreme. 
 
 The spring and early summer passed without any of the com- 
 rades with whom Hesser was immediately associated having to suc- 
 cumb to the undermining and deteriorating and disintegrating pro- 
 cesses inseparable from the system inaugurated in the treatment of 
 the prisoners. But as the number of prisoners increased, as the 
 quantity and purity of supplies decreased, as the opportunities for 
 cleanliness diminished or entirely failed, and as the summer ad- 
 vanced the expected results began to “crop out” abundantly. 
 John Thornton died September 16th, Enoch P. Brown died Sep- 
 tember 20th, and AYilliam F. Ellis died September 23d. The two 
 former died at Andersonvilie, while the latter died in the jail-yard 
 at Charleston, South Carolina. At about the dates above given, and 
 later, the shipment of prisoners back and forth to Charleston and 
 
JIESSER AND EORTIL 
 
 G21 
 
 Florence and other points, and then back to Andersonville, for the 
 purpose of keeping them beyond the possible reach of succor by 
 the bodies of raiding cavalry sent out by Sherman, commenced. 
 Thus it is explained how it came that Ellis died at Charleston. He 
 left Andersonville, but did not live to get back there. Hesser de- 
 scribes the death of Billy Ellis to be the most pitiable and sorrowful 
 scene he ever witnessed. After his company comrades, Thornton 
 and Brown, died, Billy seemed to lose heart and all hope, and 
 gradually and surely yielded to the inevitable, expressing in his last 
 moments an intense desire to see his mother and home once more; 
 but he yielded up his young life with the knowledge that the pre- 
 cious privilege he yearned for could not be vouchsafed to him. 
 There were hundreds of such cases. 
 
 The death of the three persons named, Newlin having shaken 
 the dust of Dixie — within Confederate lines — from his feet, reduced 
 the squad, or mess, to three — Hesser, North, and Kilpatrick. 
 These three found other associates, and, by dint of hard and close 
 watching and sharp management, lived to get through the fearful 
 and trying ordeal. At Wilmington, North Carolina, however, 
 Kilpatrick died from the effects of indiscretion in eating. This 
 was in the latter part of March, or early in April, 1865, while on 
 the way North for exchange. 
 
 The “saving clause” with Hesser and North, perhaps, was in 
 being able to borrow money of a party who knew North’s father, 
 and felt certain he would get his money back if he — the party — 
 lived, whether North lived or not. All that was necessary was for 
 the father to know, or have some assurance, that his son received 
 the money. Some sort of evidence of indebtedness, due-bill, or 
 note, was furnished by Hesser and North, and paid by them after 
 the “cruel war” was over. With the money thus provided, 
 Hesser and his comrade bought food and sanitary supplies, the 
 latter serving them a good purpose in checking and counteracting 
 the ravages of scurvy in their systems. The money borrowed was 
 not all the money they obtained. 
 
 Sometime in the course of the late summer or early fall, some 
 unfortunate prisoner died, leaving a few trinkets, including an 
 old-fashioned daguerreotype, in Hesser’s care, to deliver to his 
 family, in case Hesser survived. Through all the changes and 
 vicissitudes of his imprisonment, Hesser clung to the trinkets, 
 though he was on the point, two or three times, of throwing them 
 away, until, by mere chance or accident, one day, the picture and 
 
622 
 
 OUT OF PRISON. 
 
 inside frame or case dropped out of the larger outside case, re- 
 vealing, to the great astouishmeiit aud delight of Hesser and his 
 comrades, five or six greenback bills, twenties aud tens, neatly- 
 folded and tucked in the case. It almost scared Hesser to think 
 how often and how nearly he came to throwing the trinkets aside as 
 an unnecessary and useless burden. This money was “put where it 
 would do the most good,” and helped out wonderfully. We do 
 not know whether Hesser has quit looking for the family of the 
 man who intrusted him with the trinkets or not. He may have 
 settled that score years ago, however. 
 
 North became pretty generally and favorably known among 
 the prisoners on account of his kind, conciliatory, and cheering 
 words to his fellow-prisoners. We do not mean to be under- 
 stood as intimating that Hesser was unfavorably known, because 
 the contrary was true ; but North, being a very large man, was 
 more conspicuous, and being always considerate of the weak, aud 
 never failing to use his best efforts to secure “fair play” for them, 
 was generally and favorably known. 
 
 ESCAPE OF W. H. NEWLIN FROM PRISON, 
 
 P'EBKUARY 19 , TO MARCH 22 , 1864 . 
 
 In the year 1866 we prepared an account, giving all the de- 
 tails of our experience in getting out of the scrape which bad its 
 beginning at Chickamauga. After condensing it somewhat, we 
 published the account in 1870, and in 1885 we incorporated a few 
 facts and particulars, supplementary to the original narrative. 
 This narrative having been sold to the number of at least twelve 
 thousand copies, we assume that nearly all the readers of this 
 book have some knowledge of the leading facts, as set forth in the 
 narrative ; and we shall treat only on three or four points or 
 features of our experience in coming up from Dixie, in this 
 sketch. 
 
 It has been asserted that it was no very great or difficult 
 achievement to effect an escape from a Southern prison during the 
 late war. We think differently, and will venture a few reasons 
 for our opinion on this matter. The Southern States, and espe- 
 cially Virginia, was the field of operations of both armies. This 
 resulted in producing a scarcity of food, and necessitated the build- 
 ing up of an extensive home-guard system on the part of the 
 Confederates. 
 
DIFFJCUL TIES ENCO UF TER ED. 
 
 623 
 
 At all the larger towns, and at very many smaller ones, where 
 there were no regular troops, these home-guards were to be 
 found in squads of a dozen and more. These guards were vigi- 
 lant and active in picking up conscripts for, and deserters from, the 
 Confederate service, spying out and arresting Union citizens, and in 
 recapturing and returning to captivity escaping Federal prisoners. 
 
 In 1864, when nearly the entire population of the rebel States, 
 subject to military duty, were either at the front or preparing to 
 go there, or were in the militia or State service, or doing duty as 
 home guards, it was quite an easy thing for a very small squad of 
 men to attract notice, and be called to an account. The number 
 of Federal prisoners that attempted an escape through the Con- 
 federate territory, and were recaptured, some the second and tliird 
 time, is proof of the risk and difficulty attending an expedition of 
 this kind. 
 
 Late in the war, it was incumbent on the Confederate home- 
 guards to catch as many prisoners, deserters, and other persons who 
 were hiding, as was possible, in order to keep themselves from being 
 sent to the front, by showing an apparent necessity at least for their 
 organization. Density of the population North operated to the ad- 
 vantage of the Confederate prisoner or squad in making an escape 
 from Chicago, Illinois, Elmira, New York, or other points, where 
 held ; while the reverse as to the population South, operated to the dis- 
 advantage of the escaping Federal prisoner in the manner already 
 noted. A detachment of cavalry was kept at or near Danville, 
 Virginia, the point we escaped from, whose duty it was to patrol up 
 and down on either side of Dan River, in quest of “ loose Yan- 
 kees,” and to intercept and recapture them, if found, and to keep 
 a watch at the ferries and crossings. 
 
 Our companions on the trip through from prison were L. B. 
 Smith, 4th Michigan Cavalry ; William Sutherland, 16th United 
 States Infantry; and John F. Wood, 26th Ohio Infantry. Robert 
 G. Taylor, 2d Massachusetts Cavalry, and W. C. Tripp, 15th 
 United States Infantry, started with us. The former continued 
 with us one week, and the latter two weeks. We supplied our- 
 selves with food and clothing at the small-pox hospital immediately 
 before slipping off from the guards, the night of February 19, 
 1864. Extremely cold weather for that region prevailed at the 
 date mentioned. This was against us in one sense, that of comfort ; 
 but doubtless we were fully compensated by lack of watchfulness 
 on the part of guards, and also lack of suspicion that prisoners 
 
624 
 
 START NOR THWA RD. 
 
 would venture out in such weather ; and the further fact that we 
 were apt to move the more rapidly in order to warm ourselves. 
 We got away from the hospital and guards in detachments of two 
 each, and by, or before, midnight our party of six comrades had 
 effected a junction at a point previously agreed on, and wer'j 
 making “good time” in a south-westerly direction. 
 
 ICNGRAVED EXPRESSLY FOR NEWEIN’S “NARRATIVE OF PRISON ESCAPE.’’ 
 
 SIXTEENTH THOUSAND. 
 
 At about two o’clock in the early morning of February 20th 
 we arrived in the near neighborhood of Seven Mile ferry, on Dan 
 River. Tripp’s precaution, and the cold weather together, pre- 
 vented our falling into the hands of the “butternut” cavalrymen, 
 who were posted at the ferry. We quickly and noiselessly fell back 
 
THE SECOND MASSACHUSETTS CAVALRYMAN ,625 
 
 from our advanced position, and, on reaching a safe place, con- 
 sulted briefly, and determined to push on up the river, which we 
 did, and by midnight of the 20th we were safely across Dan River 
 and ready to start in the direction of the Union lines. The point 
 where we crossed the river was at least twenty miles from Dan- 
 ville and the small-pox hospital. We failed in our first attempt 
 to secure food, mainly on account of a squad of cavalry ; perhaps 
 the same one we bad encountered at the ferry. Getting off from that 
 place, as from the ferry, but not without leaving plain traces be- 
 hind us, we humped ourselves during the remainder of that night, 
 Sunday, February 21st. Monday, 22d, we got a bountiful store 
 of provisions, all we could carry, paying the negroes sixty dollars 
 therefor out of the one hundred and eighty dollars Confederate 
 shin-plasters we had procured before setting out on our trip. This 
 supply lasted until February 27th, the day in the early morning 
 of which we left Taylor behind. 
 
 At the beginning of this sketch we have Taylor’s name as 
 Robert G. Taylor, which was the name he gave us at the time we 
 parted from him. We have no recollection of hearing his given 
 name mentioned at any previous time in the short period of our 
 association with him, the beginning of which was attended by 
 rather peculiar, not to say suspicious circumstances. The writer, 
 as ward-master of ward number one at the hospital, received a 
 note from some Confederate authority at Danville, introducing the 
 bearer, Taylor, and requiring us to give him work in the ward. 
 In view of the fact that there were plenty of convalescents in the 
 ward at the time, both able and willing to give all the assistance 
 needed, we thought the circumstance a little strange, in connection 
 with the further fact that Taylor came out to the hospital unat- 
 tended by a guard. We complied with the request, however, and 
 assigned Taylor a share of the work, and thought but little more 
 of the matter, supposing an explanation of the case might be found 
 in the fact that Taylor was an Englishman, and was not a natu- 
 ralized citizen of the United States, having been in this country 
 but a few weeks, or months at most, before his enlistment in the 
 army. In the narrative referred to, we give the details of our 
 separation from Taylor, the reasons assigned by him for preferring 
 to be left, also the substance of information bearing upon his case, 
 or another very similar one, and also the sad fate which Taylor 
 met, allowing the information was correct, and had reference to 
 him. We left Taylor, with a well-grounded suspicion that some- 
 
 40 
 
G26 
 
 A POSSIBLE EXPLANATION. 
 
 thing was kept back ; that he had other reasons, which he did not 
 disclose, for persisting in being left alone. 
 
 In trying to verify his record as a member of the 2d Massachu- 
 setts Cavalry, we found that there were seven Taylors in that regi- 
 ment, and neither of them named Kobert G. Alex. H., Thomas J. , 
 Thomas, John, Samuel, Archibald, and George were the given 
 names of the seven Taylors respectively found on the rolls of the 
 organization named. If the Taylor we left died at or near the 
 place where we left him, as the information received indicates, and 
 if he was a member of the 2d Massachusetts Cavalry, then the 
 record of George Taylor would come very nearly suiting or meeting 
 the conditions in the case of the man we left, George Taylor’s rec- 
 ord being as follows: “ Age, twenty-three ; residence, San Fran- 
 cisco ; date of enlistment, March 19, 1863 ; May 10, 1803, de- 
 serted.” Will state in this connection, that a portion of the 2d Mas- 
 sachusetts Cavalry — some four companies, perhaps five — came from 
 California, and was called and known as the “ California Contingent.” 
 
 Five of the Taylors are accounted for in the manner following : 
 “Discharged April 14, 1865 — disability.” “Mustered out July 
 20, 1865 — expiration of service.” “Mustered out July 20, 1865 — 
 expiration of service.” “ Discharged June 7, 1865 — expiration of 
 service.” “ Died September, 1864, at Savannah, Georgia.” The 
 space opposite the name of Thomas Taylor, wherein he should be 
 accounted for, is left blank ; but as he enlisted June 10, 1864, he 
 could not have been the man we left behind the night of Friday, 
 February 26th, of that year. 
 
 Thomas J. Taylor enlisted April 22, 1864, so he could not have 
 been the man we left. It is barely possible, even probable, that 
 the George Taylor mentioned may have been the man we left. 
 The age and the different dates given in connection with his 
 name do not conflict or render it impossible or unlikely that he 
 should have been the man ; and the desertion would go far, very 
 far, in explanation of the determination manifested by our man 
 to have his own way as to a matter that most seriously concerned 
 himself. We have letters from James McDougal, Salinas City, 
 California; W. D. Belknap, Youngsville, Pennsylvania; T. L. 
 Kodgers, Blake, Florida ; George H. Cordwell, Shirley, Mas- 
 sachusetts; H. H. Crocker, Washington, New Jersey; George 
 A. Manning, Rathdrum, Idaho ; Charles O. Welch, Salem, Mas- 
 sachusetts, and from two or more other persons, in response to 
 requests for information concerning Taylor, but none of them con- 
 
PURSUED BY THE ENEMY. 
 
 627 
 
 tain any information of date later than our own personal knowl- 
 edge. We became informed as to Taylor’s surname and the regi- 
 ment he belonged to before any motive could have existed in his 
 mind to prompt him to deceive us. 
 
 Some six or seven miles from the point where we left Taylor, 
 we spent February 27th, exhausting our supply of food late in the 
 day, and the night of that day we crossed the Blue Ridge Mount- 
 ain, passing through a gap, which, according to information lately 
 obtained, is located near the Peaks of Otter River. 
 
 On Sunday, February 28th, we procured our second supply of 
 food, having arranged for it before daylight. Near midnight we 
 passed through Big Lick, a station on the East Tennessee and Vir- 
 ginia Railroad, and before daybreak of the 29th rain began fall- 
 ing, causing us much discomfort, besides delaying us until the 
 night of March 2d. The delay was partially compensated by an 
 opportunity of securing more food and some information as to roads. 
 
 We traveled faithfully the night of March 2d, also the night of 
 March 3d, until about four o’clock in the morning of the 4th, 
 when, owing to our weariness, the roughness of the country, and 
 a considerable stream which ran across our route, we fell back 
 to a safe hiding-place, as we supposed ; but learning early in the 
 day that our position was uncomfortably near to a sugar-camp, 
 which was being operated, and not very far from a camp of train- 
 guards, we were compelled to change base, or at least did do so, and 
 by three o’clock P. M., and just after we had crossed the stream 
 before mentioned, we had a lively race with a detail of train- 
 guards, which continued for the space of thirty minutes. 
 
 In making this extraordinary race, W. C. Tripp was compelled 
 to take to cover, hide himself among the rocks on top the mount- 
 ain, up the rugged side of which we scrambled hurriedly and very 
 laboriously, knowing that the rebels could not pursue us on horse- 
 back over that route. Tripp got separated from the other four of 
 our party, and, like Taylor, was left alone. Almost immediately 
 after first hiding, Tripp was either overlooked or ignored by the 
 pursuing rebels, who kept right on at their best speed, hoping and 
 expecting to gobble our entire party. Tripp shifted from his first 
 cover to another close by, and watched and waited for the return 
 of the enemy, with feelings of no little anxiety. The Confeder- 
 ates soon tired of their chase, and started back to camp in a very 
 disappointed mood, passing near the place of Tripp’s concealment, 
 and stopping and sitting down on the rocks to rest at the point 
 
628 
 
 TRIPP LEFT ALONE. 
 
 where Tripp first hid. Well, they did not catch us, neither did 
 they catch Tripp, but, after a little time, got up and went their 
 way wearily to camp. 
 
 Tripp fully expected we would be overtaken and recaptured, 
 and on learning we were yet free, he started out to find us as soon 
 as the rebels had departed. The shades of closing day coming on, 
 he moved rapidly for some distance in the direction we had gone ; 
 tried at first to discover our trail, but could not. He stopped, 
 called, signaled, and waited for response from us, but no response 
 did he hear, nor other noise or sound save the echo of his own voice, 
 broke the excessive stillness which prevailed all around him. Tripp 
 had no idea how far or how rapidly we had traveled ; nor did we, 
 as we put our whole strength into the flight, becoming thoroughly 
 warmed, perspiring freely, puflSng and blowing, until, of necessity 
 from sheer exhaustion, we “slowed up,” but did not stop before 
 we had nearly cooled off, which was best for us. 
 
 We devote a small space now to Tripp. He soon realized that 
 he was left, badly left. Amid the darkness and solitude, he ex- 
 perienced a lonesomeness that was intensified to such a degree as 
 to baffle description. Being both hungry and crumbless, as well as 
 bewildered and weary, made his case worse, if possible. He moved 
 about considerably in the early part of the night, hoping to dis- 
 cover some means of relief, hear some voice, or see a light, if only 
 a dim one, in the distance. At last, weary of groping in the dark- 
 ness, he halted for rest and slept some before sunrise of March 5th. 
 On that date Tripp managed to place himself in a position where 
 he could be safe, and from which he could venture after night-fall, 
 and soon reach a human habitation where his most pressing wants 
 could be supplied. He followed up this path of opportunity, called 
 at a house — the abode of Union people — got food, shelter, and in- 
 formation; but none of the latter was concerning us. Tripp in- 
 formed me by letter in 1881, that he never made any inquiries for 
 his “ flying comrades,” supposing, perhaps, that we being good flyers, 
 had “gone up.” 
 
 Falling into the hands of friends, Tripp recuperated for three 
 or four days, in the meantime obtaining information that a certain 
 person was going to start through to the Union lines about the first 
 of April. He visited this man, and found the information was 
 correct, and arranged to go through with him. Another man 
 wanted to go, and still another, and another, and Tripp kept on 
 until he had seen six or seven or more persons who wanted to 
 
MISSED OUR WAY. 
 
 629 
 
 make an exit from Dixie. Where so many were concerned, delay 
 was inevitable, and Tripp finally “struck” the wrong man, and 
 the result was his recapture April 6th. He was subjected to several 
 examinations before civil magistrates, but he was not proven to be 
 a spy as charged. In course of time he was sent to Richmond as 
 a “demented Yankee” — which he was not by any means — kept 
 there until September, 1864, was then paroled, sent to Annapolis, 
 Maryland, or some other point, to be exchanged and discharged, 
 his term of service having in the meantime expired. 
 
 We recur now to the events in the experience of our party on 
 and after March 4th As soon as we realized we were winners in 
 the race, we changed direction and went down the side of the 
 mountain, stopping for a brief rest when about half-way to the 
 valley. An hour later we took supper at the cabin of a Union 
 family, where we found a deserter from Buckner’s Confederate 
 force, hid under the bed. We came upon the house so suddenly, 
 that this deserter had no opportunity to escape from it. Until 
 informed by us to the contrary, these people considered us a de- 
 tachment of home-guards from New Castle. We were directed to 
 the home of “ Jeems” Huffman, where we arrived at about nine 
 o’clock P. M. , being provided with another and better supper near 
 midnight. We feasted, with no thought that Tripp was supperless 
 and lonely. We imagined that he was surrounded and being fed 
 by the enemy. 
 
 Though receiving particular directions how to get across Craig’s 
 Creek at a certain place, we failed to find that place, owing to rain 
 and darkness, and in wading that stream, our whole party got a thor- 
 ough and cold soaking. Smith would probably have drowned had 
 Sutherland not been in a position to aid him. The discomfort we 
 experienced in the early morning hours of March 5th can scarcely 
 be depicted, yet we have no recollection that anything was said 
 about pensions, as we exerted ourselves to dry our clothing by 
 the warmth of our bodies, produced by the extra exertion. We 
 carried with us from Huffman’s some shelled corn and Irish pota- 
 toes, the parching and roasting of which, together with eating our 
 rations and drying our clothing, occupied the time March 5th, 
 sleep being next to impossible under the circumstances. The night 
 of the 5th, we got a cake of corn-bread at the house of a Confed- 
 erate home-guard, who had seen service at the front in Buckner’s 
 army in East Tennessee. As on the previous night, we missed our 
 way, and were compelled to retrace our steps, losing several hours 
 in consequence. 
 
630 
 
 *^BOGUS YANKEES.’^ 
 
 Sunday, March 6th, we slept awhile; but owing to the bleak 
 weather, the scant quantity and inferior quality of our food, the 
 day seemed a long one. At ten o’clock P. M. we reached the 
 abode of William Paxton, the point we had expected to make 
 twenty hours earlier. We got a late supper at Paxton’s, and in- 
 structions, the following out of which would take us to the home 
 of another good Union man, where we arrived by about four 
 o’clock Monday morning. We made our presence known imme- 
 diately, thinking we should receive advice and shelter, but were 
 disappointed. It was at this point where “bogus Yankees ” began 
 to prove an obstacle in our pathway. 
 
 A woman, the wife of Robert Childs, protested against being 
 interrupted at that early hour, alleging her husband was not at 
 home. We went on nearly a fourth of a mile, and hid for the 
 day. We had no thought of other or further trouble than merely 
 that occasioned by Childs’s absence, and that trouble, we thought, 
 would be done away by the approach of midday, whether Childs 
 returned or not. After sunrise, one of our party visited Childs’s 
 house, and was told by Mrs. Childs that her husband had not re- 
 turned. An extended conversation was had with Mrs. Childs, 
 during which she plainly announced her disinclination to aid us or 
 any squads of soldiers roving about over the country, no matter 
 which army they claimed to belong to. Her talk was very dif- 
 ferent from that we had hoped and expected to hear, our impres- 
 sions as to the character and sterling loyalty and devotion to the 
 Union of Childs and his wife being due to the information Pax- 
 ton had given us at the time of sending us to their house. 
 
 “Bogus Yankees,” a then very recent invention or discovery, 
 was the cause of the trouble. Childs had just been apprised a day or 
 so before we called, as to the objects and methods sought and prac- 
 ticed by “ bogus Yankees,” but Paxton was yet ignorant of this new 
 affliction and agency of persecution of Southern Union people. 
 Well, at the close of the unsatisfactory talk with Mrs. Childs, she 
 gave us a dish heaped full of the remnants of the family breakfast, 
 and promised to send her husband to our hiding-place as soon as he 
 came home. Our squad thoroughly relished and as thoroughly de- 
 voured the food Mrs. Childs furnished, caring little for the time as to 
 whether she was Union or rebel in her sympathies and affiliations. 
 Luckily, by mere accident, we convinced Childs, on his second 
 visit to us in our retreat, that we were not “bogus Yankees,” as 
 himself and wife had reason to suspect, but were the real 
 
WE FOUND FRIENDS. 
 
 631 
 
 “ true blue,” genuine Yankees, some of whom he had befriended 
 a few weeks before the date of our visit to him. We happened 
 to mention the names of two men who had received “ aid 
 and comfort” from Childs while on their way escaping prison, 
 and described each of them minutely, whereupon Childs “owned 
 up,” and gave at length an explanation for his conduct, telling us 
 about the deception and carrying off in irons to captivity of cer- 
 tain Union men, neighbors of his, by false or pretended Yankee 
 prisoners, called by the Union people “ bogus Yankees.” As soon 
 as Childs found we were all right, he was the same ; and we found 
 that Paxton’s information was correct ; also that Mrs. Childs’s act 
 in giving us a breakfast was the index of her character rather 
 than the words or sentiments she seemed to express. 
 
 Childs determined to warn Paxton next day of the danger of 
 playing into “false hands.” It was exceedingly provoking to be 
 placed in a position which made it impossible to get assistance from 
 our friends ; at the same time being suspected as being not only 
 rebels, but deceivers and impostors, by passing — up to a certain stage 
 in the game — ourselves off for what we were not. We have always 
 thought Kobert Childs was secreted, either in the house or about 
 the premises, during the whole of our two interviews with his 
 wife. Circumstances undoubtedly compelled her to resort to the 
 practice of deception to protect her husband, as she fully believed 
 we were playing that sort of game, with the intention of making 
 him the victim. 
 
 On parting from Childs, we were directed to the home of David 
 Hepler, eight miles distant, with the assurance that our description 
 of the two men who had gone before us, getting away, whom 
 Hepler had also aided, would be certain to insure us a welcome 
 and such assistance as might be necessary at his hands. This 
 turned out as expected. We remained during the night of March 
 7th under Hepler’s roof, and immediately after breakfast, on the 
 8th, Hepler went with us to the highest point in the mountain 
 west of his house, from which the house of William Lewis could 
 be dimly seen. Being in the very roughest region in Virginia, in 
 Alleghany County, as well as Alleghany Mountains, we were to 
 go across the two valleys and ridge of mountain between them to 
 Lewis’s house in daylight, it being next to impossible for strangers 
 to go over the rout by night. We parted from Hepler, and found 
 trouble enough in finding our way in day-time. On going up the 
 rugged side of the mountain on which Lewis’s house was located we 
 
632 
 
 DISTRUSTED BY FRIENDS, 
 
 met two men, one woman and child coming down the winding path. 
 Neither party accorded the other any recognition beyond keeping out 
 of the way one of the other. We suspected they were rebels, and 
 they suspected we were rebels, as was ascertained later, but both 
 were mistaken. The two men and another we met that night at 
 Lewis’s house, and had quite an extended interview with them, 
 but were unable to come to an understanding. Owing to the 
 muddle, the exceedingly rough nature of the country, and the 
 change of weather (rain beginning and continuing to fall for a 
 day or two, then changing to snow), and being destitute of rations 
 and information, we made our way back to Hepler’s, arriving there 
 at noon of March 9th, as wet as “drowned rats.” 
 
 Hepler was much alarmed by our reappearance, and concluded 
 we were “ bogus,” and had only returned to “gobble” him. We 
 finally succeeded in reassuring Hepler, telling him if we were 
 “bogus” he had already showed his hand, and matters would be 
 no worse for him, let him do as much as he might for us, suppos- 
 ing we were genuine. We remained with Hepler, hid out on the 
 mountain-side on his premises until the morning of March 13th. 
 In the meantime Hepler saw his son, who was one of the men we 
 had met at Lewis’s, and was a brother-in-law to Lewis, and found 
 that the latter had been taken in by the “ bogus Yankees.” Be- 
 coming again fully convinced that we were all right, Hepler tried 
 to get a good Union man named Huddleson to guide us through a 
 part of the way to the Union lines. But Huddleson was unneces- 
 sarily cautious ; said he would have nothing to do with us, and that 
 we would yet prove to be “ bogus.” 
 
 Patching up a little during this delay, and provided with some 
 parched corn, we took leave of Hepler the second time on March 
 13th. We went in day-time, as in the first case, to Lewis’s house, 
 remained near it over night, and before finally leaving it we took 
 all we could find there in the provision line, and something more. 
 March 14th to 16th we passed through a very rough country, 
 reaching the Greenbrier River on the latter date. We rested 
 one night, on finding we could safely do so, in a barn on the 
 premises of a Union family named Mann. Five or six miles west- 
 ward of the river we procured a guide by the name of Alderman, 
 ‘who conducted us twenty miles in day-time along obscure paths 
 and by-paths, on March 18th. 
 
 On leaving us in the midst of a wilderness of woods on the 
 crest of a high ridge, the top and sides of which were marked by 
 
ARRIVE WITHIN UNION LINES. 
 
 633 
 
 deep and narrow paths made by deer, Alderman gave us mi- 
 nute and somewhat extended directions as to how to find Neff, his 
 brother-in-law, who lived north of the Gauley River. We were to 
 follow these directions up to a given point in day-time, March 19th, 
 resting the night of the 18th at the place where Alderman left us, 
 heeding his admonition to keep the fire burning all night which he 
 started for us, so the ** boogers would n’t git ” us. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 20th we were put across the Gau- 
 ley River by Mr. Neff, and, after being provided with breakfast at 
 his house, we were secreted for the day not far from the sugar- 
 camp where Neff was at work. Dinner and supper were furnished 
 us, and after sunset, having received instructions from Neff*, we 
 started out on the road leading down the Gauley River to Gauley 
 bridge, about forty-nine miles distant. Our instructions contem- 
 plated our hiding away safely during the day, March 21st, but 
 early on the morning of that date we unexpectedly ran on to an 
 aged, loyal Irishman, from whom we derived information, which, 
 after due consideration, determined a diff*erent course for us to pur- 
 sue. We traveled steadily all day March 21st, arriving at the 
 Union lines just before dark of that date. 
 
 This was the end of a long period of suspense, anxiety, and ex- 
 citement. For more than four weeks we had to keep a sharp look- 
 out behind, before, and on either hand. March 22d was the first 
 day for many days that we felt absolutely and perfectly safe and 
 free to relax our watchfulness and solicitude. The reader may pos- 
 sibly be able to faintly imagine the extent of our joy and thank- 
 fulness for our deliverance from the privations and sufferings inci- 
 dent to prison life and fare in the Southern Confederacy ; we know 
 we can not describe it. As the years pass, the recollection of those 
 adverse and perilous days grows not dim, but our fortunate escape 
 from prison, missing Andersonville, and ‘‘ ills that we knew not 
 of,” is to us an exultant memory, and becoming more and more so. 
 
 Of the four who completed the trip, one comrade, John F. 
 Wood, Company G, 26th Ohio Infantry, was wounded early on the 
 Atlanta campaign, and died June 20, 1864. L. B. Smith, Com- 
 pany F, 4th Michigan Cavalry, resides at Dundee, Monroe County, 
 Michigan. William Sutherland, Company H, 16th United States 
 Infantry, resides near Eagle, Clinton County, Michigan. The 
 writer, W. H. Newlin, Company C, 73d Illinois Infantry, resides 
 at Springfield, Illinois. W. C. Tripp, Company E, 15th United 
 States Infantry, resided, at latest account, near Hilliard, Franklin 
 
634 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE TERM BUMMERS 
 
 County, Ohio, but he was with us two weeks only. Of Taylor, 
 who claimed to be a member of the 2d Massachusetts Cavalry, we 
 have no tidings. 
 
 “BUM” RODGERS. 
 
 Along about 1855, a boy was picked up on the streets of New 
 York City by the ladies engaged in the commendable and charitable 
 work, at “ Five Points,” of gathering together such waifs as had 
 no home or friends. These they placed in their charitable home or 
 school, known as the Five Points School. This boy was retained 
 there until a home was found for him with a farmer in Tazewell 
 County, Illinois. 
 
 At the organization of Company B, 73d Illinois, he was enlisted 
 as drummer in the company, as William D. Rodgers. He was about 
 fifteen or sixteen years old, and a very bright, active boy, who 
 made friends of all with whom he came in contact. He apparently 
 came of Irish parents, and was possessed in an unusual degree of 
 that quick wit for which that people are famous. He soon be- 
 came a great favorite in his company, for he was one of the most 
 liberal-hearted and congenial members of the company. He always 
 spoke of himself as “ Poor Bum,” and soon came to be known as 
 “ Bum Rodgers.” 
 
 He often sang an Irish song, of which, “Bummers, beware! 
 and suoozers, take care!” was the closing line of each verse. In 
 answer to the question of the writer of this as to where he learned 
 the song, he explained that, when a “bummer” in New York, 
 they had among themselves as street-gamins a sort of organization 
 for mutual protection against the raids that were made upon 
 them by the police and others who were wont to annoy them, and 
 often disturb and break their rest at night in their usual haunts in 
 empty boxes, barrels, hogsheads, etc. One of their number was 
 always placed on guard to give the alarm at the approach of the 
 enemy, and this song was used as a signal. The last words of each 
 verse, “Bummers, beware! and snoozers, take care!” would be 
 followed by a general stampede. 
 
 From his frequent use of these words, he very soon came to 
 be known in the regiment as “Company B’s bummer,” and ere- 
 long this name had attached itself to the other musicians of the 
 company, then spread to musicians of the other companies of the 
 left wing, and very soon to all musicians of the regiment. By de- 
 grees it became customary to apply it to company cooks, hostlers, 
 
AT HIS OLD TRADE. 
 
 635 
 
 teamsters, hospital nurses, and orderlies about head-quarters, and 
 by the spring of 1864 it had become a common name for all per- 
 sons who did not actually carry arms and do duty in the ranks. 
 This was true, not only in the 73d, but in other regiments of the 
 brigade and division. 
 
 From that time on, old comrades who were on the Atlanta cam- 
 paign will remember how common the name became, and how it was 
 applied to every man who was away from his command, no matter 
 for how short a time. The pioneers were “ bummers the man who 
 fell out of ranks on a march was a “ bummer;” the foragers, above 
 all others, were “bummers and Bum Rodgers was admitted by all 
 who knew him to be the “King Bee” in the swarm of bumming 
 foragers. So when the army left Atlanta on its famous “ march 
 to the sea,” and the entire marching column became foragers, it 
 was but natural that they should all become “ bummers,” and 
 with the training they had received by Bum Rodgers and his as- 
 sociates, were very successful ; and no history of the great Rebellion 
 is complete in which “ Sherman’s bummers” do not have a very 
 prominent place. 
 
 I am told he is still at his old business of foraging and “ bum- 
 ming” in* the wilds ol the Rocky Mountains. His exploits as a 
 “ bummer ” in the army would make a very interesting as well as 
 very large volume. He could pass the most vigilant guard ever 
 placed around a camp, could beat the most expert provost-marshal 
 that ever signed or approved a pass. When captured at Chicka- 
 mauga with Will Jaquess, who was an enlisted musician, he went 
 boldly to the rebel officer in charge of the guard, represented 
 that Will was a civilian, son of the colonel, who was only on a 
 visit to his father, and therefore not liable to be held as a prisoner 
 of war ; and his statement seemed so honest, and his demand so 
 forcibly put, that the officer passed Will through the lines without 
 further evidence. “Bum” was sent to prison in Richmond, where 
 he feigned rheumatism, and played his part so well that he was 
 soon exchanged and returned to his company. 
 
 He was never caught but once in his foraging expeditions. 
 General McCook and staff rode upon him while appropriating the 
 contents of a very heavy bee-gum. He had conquered the bees 
 when he was caught, and, without ceremony, he was taken in 
 charge by a staff officer. He asked to be allowed to speak to the 
 general, to whom he represented his case in such a favorable light 
 that he was at once released, and soon marched into camp with the 
 
636 
 
 SEVENTY-THIRD ILLINOIS INFANTRY. 
 
 full contents of the bee-gum. He was an expert ‘ ‘ chuck-luck ” 
 player, by which he accumulated several hundred dollars. This 
 the writer sent to his friends in Illinois for him, and there it 
 awaited him upon his return from the army. 
 
 He was, without doubt, the original “ bummer” of Sherman’s 
 army, justly entitled to the honor of having originated the name 
 in the army, and if half the reports are true, should Bum Rodgers 
 meet with any of the readers of this, they might well say : “ Bum- 
 mers, beware ! and snoozers, take care !” 
 
 Bum Rodgers was a good soldier, and did faithfully and well all 
 duty assigned him, and was withal a warm-hearted , generous comrade. 
 He was always the leader of his mess — whether for good or evil — 
 a polished gentleman in genteel society, and a “ hail-fellow” at all 
 times. G. W. PATTEN. 
 
 ROLL OF HONOR. 
 
 At this place it was intended to show the roll of 
 honor of the 73d. It would have embraced one hun- 
 dred or more names of comrades who were killed in 
 battle, or died of wounds. (See Roster.) The roll 
 of honor and much other carefully prepared and re- 
 vised matter intended for this history was, at the last 
 moment, rejected. The pages in this book number fully 
 two hundred more than were first allotted to it. 
 
 The revised reports of the adjutant-general of Illi- 
 nois fail to show the full number of men of the 73d 
 who were wounded in the course of three years’ 
 service. We are able to present the following names 
 of wounded of the regiment: 
 
 Field and Staff . — William A. Presson, James I. 
 Davidson, Thomas Motherspaw, Henry A. Castle. 
 
 Comfany A . — Emanuel Cross, John W. Griffiths, 
 George Hudson, Pierson H. Kiser, Jacob Ruffle, Thomas 
 C. Perry, James Kelley, Richard Baker, Edward Can- 
 trill, John S. Kiser, John Tally, Joseph Williams. 
 
 Compamj B. — Richard B. Scott, Daniel Boyden 
 
CASUALTIES OF BATTLES. 
 
 637 
 
 (twice), Reuben Dodd, Jacob Hildebrand, James 
 Holmes, Joel Isenberg, William H. McNichols, Joshua 
 Bailey, David W. Alexander, John A. Brown, Thomas 
 
 C. Hatch, Andrew J. Reid, Marshall Brown, George 
 W. Patten. 
 
 Company C . — Alfred E. Lewis, Samuel Hewitt, Will- 
 iam R. Lawrence, William H. Newlin, Carey A. Savage 
 (accidentally), Joseph A. Allison, John Braselton, John 
 R. Burke (arm amputated), Samuel J. Been, William 
 
 D. Bales, Josiah Cooper (leg amputated), David W. 
 Doop, John Doop, Henderson Goodwin (left arm am- 
 putated October 19, 1886), Henry C. Henderson, Na- 
 thaniel Henderson, Austin Henderson, Abraham Jones 
 (slightly), Jehu Lewis, John S. Long, William Martin, 
 Alex. C. Nicholson, Stephen Newlin, Joseph Reagan, 
 Francis M. Stephens, John J. Halsted, John Bostwick, 
 James E. Moore (foot amputated). 
 
 Company D . — Jonas Jones, Thomas S. Jones, Samuel 
 B. Garver, Allen Wiley, John Barnes, Jas. M. Branch, 
 Thomas Creviston, William D. Coffin (twice), Francis 
 M. List, Henry Watrous, Jesse Zorger, Richard S. 
 Hopkins (twice), Hiram S. Watson, Thomas S. Rush, 
 Martin *V. Deter, William J. Long, James Abnett, 
 Hiram S. Watson, Nathaniel L. Furguson, James W. 
 Hold, John F. Brown, John M. j^lbert. 
 
 Company E . — Joseph M. Dougherty, Mahlon Al- 
 dridge, John L. Moore, William H. Neville, William 
 McCoy, William Hickman, William H. Busby, Robert 
 Connor (accidentally), F. M. Dougherty (accidentally), 
 Aaron Dalbey, John C. Gorrell, Charles Harvey, Pat- 
 rick Martin, John Murdock, George Pierce, Hilkiah F. 
 Meharry. 
 
 Company F . — James A. Coil, Wesley Long, eJames 
 
63S 
 
 NAMES OF WOUNDED, 
 
 J. Boland, Henry McBride, Isaac C. Coil, Nelson G. 
 Davis, George H. McKinnie, Noah Baxter, William W. 
 Martenia, Benjamin Pounds, William Shrader, William 
 B. C. Fipton, Noah T. Barrick, Morgan Level. 
 
 Company G , — John H. McGrath, Ezekiel J. Inger- 
 soll, William T. Talbott, James W. Davis, William H. 
 Dimmick, James Hagle, Jasper Hooker, Stuart F. Hos- 
 kinson, William H. Crooks, William H. Brown, Orland 
 Meacham, Patrick McMahon, William T. Purnell, 
 Thomas Horton, James F. Tolle. 
 
 Company H . — John W. Sherrick, William Cammire, 
 John J. Goullee, Thomas Wade, Elijah Bazin, Michael 
 Culler, Smith Culler, Marion Fuller, Nathaniel Lynd, 
 Isaac Lytle, James Lytle, Charles McLane, James Mc- 
 Knight, Giles H. Penstone, William H. H. Swin, Ed- 
 w\ard Penstone (twice), Isaac McCune, George John- 
 son, James Greenough, James Hedges, David Turni- 
 ' cliff, Jesse B. Newport, Smith Hist, George Culler, 
 James Lancaster. 
 
 Company /. — Elisha T. McComas,William B. Crooker, 
 David Cook, Daniel G. Foster, Green W. Ausbrey, An- 
 drew J. Parrish, Alex. M. Cassity, James 0. Weir, 
 Ashford W. Clark, John S. Drennan, William H. Dodd, 
 Ferd. M. Duncan, James W. Denny, William F. Inglish, 
 William E. Joy, John W. Joy, George F. Sandgrebe, 
 James Mills, Eleven 0. Thorp, Benj. Schaffner, Chaun- 
 cey H. Castle, William G. Miller, William Fortner, 
 Wiley Fortner. 
 
 Company K . — James A. Bice, Franklin Glidewell, 
 Joseph A. Weir, Martin Moody, Harlin P. Tuthill, 
 Jacob Millhouse, John Beam, Benajah Morgan, James 
 M. Murray, Enoch Martin, William C. Turk, George 
 Kolb, Noah Earner. 
 
PRISONERS OF WAR. 
 
 639 
 
 Some of these men died so soon after being wounded 
 that they may be found classed among the ‘‘killed,” 
 or “ died of wounds.” This list is nearly complete as 
 to Companies C and E, but incomplete as to all other 
 companies, owing to lack of information. 
 
 The following is a list of names of all members of 
 ^the 73d, as far as ascertained, who were, for a longer 
 or shorter time, in the hands of the Confederates, viz. : 
 
 Company A. — John L. Hesser, Thomas C. Perry,* 
 Erastus Jackson,* John W. North. 
 
 Company B . — John Brady,* Jesse D. Kilpatrick,* 
 Wm. D, McNichols, John A. Brown,* George R. Kib- 
 bey, J. B. Baylor, T. J. Frazee, W. D. Rogers. 
 
 Company C. — Joseph A. Allison,* Enoch P. Brown,* 
 John R. Burke, William F. Ellis,* Austin Henderson, 
 William R. Lawrence, Jehu Lewis, William H. Newlin, 
 Daniel Suycott, John Thornton.* 
 
 Company D. — John Weddle,* Samuel B. Garver. 
 
 Company E . — Not represented. 
 
 Company F . — Charles W. Keeley. 
 
 Company G . — Riley M. Hoskinson, Stuart F. Hos- 
 kinson, Thomas Horton, Joseph M. Derrickson.* 
 
 Company H . — James Dolby,* Edward A. Robbins, 
 Mark Dickerson, William Cammire, Edward Penstone, 
 Absalom Lawless.* 
 
 Company I . — Gilbert 0. Colburn,* John W. Fisher, 
 James M. Joy, Andrew J. Parrish, Robert R. Roberts. 
 
 Company K . — James A. Rice, Joseph Jarvis,* Frank- 
 lin Glidewell,* Jacob Millhouse, Benajah Morgan. 
 
 We give below a list of names of all comrades of 
 the 73d who have been reported to us as having died 
 
 Died in prison, 16. 
 
640 
 
 DIED SINCE THE WAR. 
 
 since their discharge from or muster out of service. 
 It is incomplete, but the best we can make, owing to 
 lack of information : 
 
 Meld and Staff . — James I. Davidson, Joseph M. 
 M. Garrett, Henry 0. McPherson, John S. Barger, 
 Sylvester Dustin. 
 
 Company A . — John W.North,Varnum T. Aylesworth, 
 Charles Allen, Harrison J. Beaver, Jacob Lindsey, Isaac 
 Miller, William Neer, Lewis Neer, Andrew J. Perry, 
 John A. Bobbins, Philip N. Shrake, John Tally, Milton 
 Withrow. 
 
 Company B . — Alfred Baldwin, William F. Ballard, 
 J. B. Baylor, Joshua Bailey, Peter B. Few, Bobert 
 Faith, Lewis Hill, George B. Kibbey, Samuel McCor- 
 mick, William Martin, Adam Sherman, John Wertz. 
 
 Company C . — Patterson McNutt, Tilmon D. Kyger, 
 John V. Don Carlos, David Branson, Lawrence Dye, 
 Amasa Hasty, Abraham Jones, John S. Long, James 
 S. Peck, Daniel Suycott, Chris. C. Shires, Walter Scott, 
 Charles W. Cook, James F. Williams, Merida Thornton. 
 
 Company D . — James C. Spencer, Hugh Galbreath, 
 John Cronise, David Clover, Thomas Jones, Thomas 
 Bush, James Howard. 
 
 Company E . — John Shults, Joseph M. Dougherty, 
 William A. Dougherty, Mahlon Aldridge, William 
 Powell, Titus J. Fox, W. H. Neville (killed February, 
 1890, railroad bridge wreck, Peoria, Illinois). 
 
 Company F . — William Toberman, William 0. Wiley, 
 Absalom Newkirk, Ephraim Phillips, James D. Evans, 
 Harvey Long, Isaac Eisinminger, Charles Loutzenhizer, 
 Noah T. Barrack, Stephen Work, Sidney Anderson, 
 George Montgomery, George W. Brown, Logan Knowles, 
 James A. Coil, Henry Fars. 
 
INGERSOLVS DIARY. 
 
 641 
 
 Company G. — William Emery, Alex. Pennington, 
 Oscar Grorsage, John Wright, Smith Wright. 
 
 Company H. — John Prather, Samuel C. Cohenour, 
 William Harris, James Lytle, Marion Fuller, James 
 Green, Oliver H. Anderson. 
 
 Company /. — John W. Joy, William Crooker, William 
 C. Gamble, James Fortner, Cole Moxson, Jas. N. Barger. 
 
 Company K. — D. M. Davis, Perry Fulton, Joseph 
 Heiple, Henry Hinchcliff, James Lancaster, Henry C. 
 Morgan (found shot in woods in Missouri, 1880; sup- 
 posed suicided or assassinated), Enoch Martin (accident- 
 ally shot, 1866), John Rodman, Elijah Stacy, D. B. 
 Van Winkle. 
 
 Captain E. J. Ingersoll’s memoranda, covering dates 
 November 29 to December 1, 1864, inclusive, besides 
 corroborating fully other statements as shown in chap- 
 ter vi, also furnish the following additional testimony 
 concerning Spring Hill, the falling back to Franklin, 
 and the battle there : 
 
 “ November 29th. — . . . Skirmished with cavalry. One man 
 
 of Company G received a slight wound. On picket again at 
 night, south-east of Spring Hill, left of regiment resting near the 
 pike. Crawled to top of ridge, and looked over into Confederate 
 camp ; so close we could hear conversation in enemy’s camp. Our 
 troops kept moving all night. 
 
 '•^November 30th. — Relieved from picket; formed skirmish- 
 line. . . . Regiment rear guard, and skirmished all forenoon. 
 
 Hard duty. Very tired. 
 
 “^P. M. — Nearing Franklin. Rebel army appeared to be 
 marching in close column, ready for engagement. Enemy’s cav- 
 alry in force on our right and left flanks. 
 
 3 P. M. — Passed through two brigades of our division. Had 
 some conversation with artillerymen about their position. Colonel 
 Opdycke ordered our brigade inside fortifications, to prepare 
 lunch. Brigade formed in rear of the Carter Hill and house, in 
 column of regiments ; 73d in front, left resting at the pike. 
 
 41 
 
642 
 
 MORE ABOUT FRANKLIN. 
 
 Noticed two regiments of new troops in works in line, one an Ohio, 
 the other a Missouri regiment. Called to assist the major 
 commanding regiment. Held conversation with the major ; 
 suggested a move forward nearer crest of hill in rear of works, by 
 which time cavalry on our right were skirmishing lively, and a few 
 spent balls fell among our boys. Major Motherspaw did not like 
 to move regiment without orders. Troops in front engaged those 
 in works south of Carter house. Very uneasy. That part of 
 artillery left out in front went to rear under full whip. Major 
 Motherspaw went to left of regiment and said : ‘We will move 
 out of ravine.’ Called regiment to ‘attention.’ The boys sprang 
 to arms. Balance of brigade did the same. The brigades out in 
 front fell back in confusion. Kebels charged. Everything looked 
 panicky at this time, except Opdycke’s brigade. The major gave 
 the command, ‘ Forward !’ Boys began to cheer and yell as they 
 advanced ; they tore down a picket-fence also. Balance of brigade 
 caught the enthusiam, and went to the works, too ; so far as I 
 know, without orders. As the left wing of the 73d was nearing 
 the Carter house, a staff officer of our brigade rode up and 
 said: ‘ Seventy -thirds for God’s sake, halt!’ I repeated the command, 
 halted about fifty men long enough to start again, and then all 
 went on to the works together. Some of the new troops went back 
 with us, as did also many of Conrad’s and Lane’s men. Think the 
 charge without a parallel in our army. One of Company K 
 bayoneted a rebel on the Carter house steps. I passed from Carter 
 house to cotton-gin, then returned to first piece of artillery in 
 rear of Carter house. Captain Patton, Adjutant Wilmer, and 
 myself assisted artillerymen in firing until ammunition gave out. 
 A lieutenant of French’s division surrendered at the cannon’s 
 mouth. I took him to brigade head-quarters. Met General Cox 
 on the pike in front of Carter house about five P. INI., and again 
 at about ten P. M., the only general officer I saw on the ground. 
 Was struck by a ball on left arm while assisting in firing cannon. 
 When we reached the works, the rebels were mostly on the out- 
 side. We left the line about eleven o’clock P. M., crossed Harpeth 
 B,iver for Nashville, arriving December 1, 1864.” 
 
 Captain Ingersoll says that, as to orders, Major 
 Motherspaw deserved more credit than any other man, 
 as he finally ordered the regiment to crest of hill, where 
 every man could instantly see that the only salvation 
 
OTHER STATEMENTS, 
 
 643 
 
 for the army was for our brigade to retake and hold 
 the works in front of Carter house. Having thus seen 
 the imperative need of the occasion, the brigade proved 
 equal to the supreme emergency, and saved the day 
 and the Army of the West. After the wounding of 
 Major Motherspaw, the command of the 73d devolved 
 upon Captain Burroughs. 
 
 In looking through the mass of letters which have 
 accumulated since we have been preparing this history, 
 we found the first statement, made by Joseph Cun- 
 ningham, also statements made by T. C. Hatch and 
 John S. Parke, of Company B, in each of which the 
 leading features of the situation at the battle of Frank- 
 lin, and the part performed by the 73d, are set forth 
 substantially the same as in all other statements here- 
 in. Sergeant Parke says : 
 
 “ When Hood made his impetuous charge, the 73d was lying 
 in rear of the Carter house. The 44th Missouri broke, and came 
 running to the rear through our lines. One of Company B, Ben 
 Opdycke (no relation to the colonel), said : ‘ Let’s stop this stam- 
 pede.’ With that the regiment started for the front without regu- 
 lar formation.” 
 
 T. C. Hatch says, in recounting the work of the 73d 
 at Franklin, that he did not know what the balance of 
 the army was doing at the same time, but expresses 
 the opinion that all who remained in or about the works 
 did their best. 
 
 Harlin P. Tuthill, of Company K, has furnished a 
 statement on the Columbia-Franklin campaign, too 
 late for insertion in proper place, in the sixth chapter. 
 According to said statement, we remained at or near 
 Columbia one or two days, and built breastworks. The 
 73d was in the advance on the march to Spring Hill. 
 
644 
 
 FRANKLIN AGAIN. 
 
 We reached Spring Hill some time after noon, November 
 29th, and left there early next morning for Franklin. 
 
 Our regiment was a part of the rear guard, and 
 marched, or fell back, in line of battle nearly the whole 
 of the way to Franklin. At about four o’clock P. M., 
 were ordered to retake the works that had been sur- 
 rendered. On the way up to the works. Comrade 
 Tuthill was shot through the leg, and afterwards made 
 his way across the river, was put in an ambulance, and 
 reached Nashville before morning of December 1, 1864. 
 The 73d had stacked arms some distance in the rear 
 of line of works for the purpose of cooking supper, not 
 having had an opportunity to cook anything since the 
 night before, and were then ordered by Major Mothers- 
 paw to recapture the section of the works near the 
 turnpike. On the way we encountered hundreds of 
 new recruits (new clothes) running back. After over- 
 coming these and other obstructions, the works were 
 recovered and held until our forces voluntarily relin- 
 quished them. 
 
 Comrade Tuthill adds the following : 
 
 “George Outman was the first man of Company K killed. 
 He was killed in the railroad cut, at Stone Kiver, December 31, 
 1862. Levi Crews was the last one killed, being killed at Resaca, 
 May 14, 1864.” 
 
 Company K escaped remarkably well during the 
 year 1864, the foregoing statement being true. The 
 statement continues : 
 
 “ At Chickamauga, Company K had thirty men on the after- 
 noon of the second day ; in a few minutes’ time it had seven men 
 killed, seven wounded, and four captured, mustering only twelve 
 men at the next roll-call. I was shot in the foot on the retreat 
 across the open field. After reaching the woods, found an ambu- 
 
PREACHER REGIMENTP 
 
 645 
 
 lance. Lieutenant Bailey, of Company B, and myself got in it, 
 and, on invitation, Pat Sweeny, of Company G, got out and dis- 
 appeared too quickly, ambulance driver having one dead and two 
 living passengers. Left for Chattanooga, arriving there during the 
 night ; were moved next day across the river to field hospital, and 
 later were sent across the mountains in army-wagons to Bridge- 
 port, where we took the train for Nashville.” 
 
 HOW THE SEVENTY-THIRD BE'CAME KNOWN AS 
 THE “PREACHER REGIMENT.” 
 
 In September, 1862, the following communication 
 appeared in the Cincinnati Commercial^ and was copied 
 into nearly every paper in the United States, thus 
 spreading widely the fame of the 73d Illinois. It was 
 written by Henry A. Castle, then adjutant’s clerk, after- 
 ward sergeant-major: 
 
 “ Covington, Kentucky, September 17, 1862. 
 
 “ Mr. Editor, — The following is a list of the field officers and 
 captains of the 73d Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, known at 
 home as the “ Methodist Preacher Regiment,” now stationed at 
 Camp Russell, in the suburbs of Covington : 
 
 “ Colonel. — Rev. James F. Jaquess, D. D., late president of 
 Quincy College. 
 
 “ Lieutenant- Colonel. — Rev. Benjamin F. Northcott. 
 
 Major. — Rev. Wm. A. Presson. 
 
 Captains. — Company A, Wm. E. Smith; Company B, Rev. 
 W. B. M. Colt; Company C, Rev. P. McNutt; Company D, Thos. 
 Motherspaw ; Company E, Wilson Burroughs ; Company F, Rev. 
 Geo. W. Montgomery ; Company G, John Sutton ; Company H, 
 Rev. Jas. I. Davidson ; Company I, Rev. Peter Wallace ; Com- 
 pany K, Rev. R. H. Laughlin. 
 
 “ Six or seven of the twenty lieutenants are also licensed Meth- 
 odist preachers. Being thus officered, you may rest assured we 
 are a good set of boys. H. A. C.” 
 
 “ PERSIMMON REGIMENT.” 
 
 It was while on the march from Crab Orchard to 
 Nashville, and later at Mill Creek in the fall of 1862, 
 
646 
 
 ^^PERSIMMON REGIMENTS 
 
 that the 73d displayed an unusual fondness for per- 
 simmons — ripe ones. At the end of a hard march, near 
 the close of day, if a persimmon-grove was anywhere 
 in the vicinity of the bivouac, everything, the prepa- 
 rations for coffee and a night’s rest, was subordinated 
 by many of the regiment to the raid on the persim- 
 mon-patch. The 2d Missouri, likewise, had a ^‘han-' 
 kering” for rails. At one time and place. Colonel 
 Laiboldt grew a little impatient and restless while wit- 
 nessing, and at the same time endeavoring to restrain, 
 the efforts of the two regiments to gratify their respect- 
 ive longings mentioned above. He declared with 
 emphasis that if there was a pile of rails and a per- 
 simmon-tree in the public square of Richmond (Va.), 
 he could take the 2d Missouri and 73d Illinois regi- 
 ments and capture that city. 
 
 It was in this way, manifesting this fondness for 
 persimmons — ripe persimmons — that the 73d gained the 
 soubriquet of Persimmon Regiment.” 
 
 NAMES OF PERSONS NOT MEMBERS OF THE SEVENTY- 
 THIRD, WHO WERE PATRONS OF THIS HISTORY IN 
 ADVANCE OF PUBLICATION. 
 
 Charles Allinger, 2d Missouri Infantry, Fond du 
 Lac, Wis. ; Arthur MacArthur, 24th Wisconsin Infantry, 
 Washington, D. C. ; Henry F. Reuter, 2d Missouri 
 Infantry, Nashville, 111. ; August F. Taubert, 44th Illi- 
 nois, Pekin, 111. ; Olive Newlin, Danville, 111. ; Mrs. 
 S. W. Cook, Evansville, Ind.; W. H. Hodge, J. P., 
 Rushville, 111. ; G. W. Oliver, Griggsville, 111. ; Mrs. 
 C. M. Harrington, Griggsville, 111. ; Mrs. Job Clark, 
 Perry, 111. ; Mrs. Lizzie E. Kyger, Danville, 111. ; C. M. 
 Simmons, 137th Illinois Infantry, Griggsville, 111.; H. 
 Evans, Wm. Bradbury, J. M. Browning, J. Shastid, 
 
NAMES OF PATRONS, 
 
 647 
 
 James Whittaker, John Wicha, Perry, 111. ; General 
 John McNulta, 94th Illinois Infantry, Chicago, 111. ; 
 Thos. B. Holt, 4th Illinois Cavalry, Pekin, 111. ; Captain 
 A. Behrens, Chris. Frederick, 44th Illinois Infantry, 
 Pekiii, III. ; H. C. Smith, Ex-M. C., 8th Illinois Infantry, 
 Pekin, 111. ; E. F. Unlan, Ex-Member Illinois General 
 Assembly, 8th Illinois Infantry, Pekin, 111. ; Mrs. Edwin ' 
 Nichols, Delavan, 111. ; Mrs. J. B. Baylor, Fair bury. 111. ; 
 Hiram H. Ashmore, Chaplain, 25th Illinois Infantry, 
 Peoria, 111.; John Trowbridge, Lewis H. Burns, Green 
 Valley, Illinois ; George Little, Mrs. Sarah G. Wright, 
 J. G. Noland, Rushville, III. ; Miss Lucy Young, Bloom- 
 field, Iowa; Anna E. Dean, Griggsville, 111.; E. C. 
 Bradbury, Conway, Kan. ; H. H. Brengleman, Thomas 
 Boothby, Perry, 111.; Lewis Brown, B. Taylor, Delavan, 
 111. ; Dennis Turpin, James F. Turpin, James M. Hur- 
 ley, Ephraim Hurley, Loarni, 111. ; Thomas Osborne, 
 13th Kentucky Infantry, Loami, 111. ; James M. Hawas, 
 16th Illinois Cavalry, Loami, 111. ; R. L. Underwood, 
 Perry, 111.; Clarinda Olin, McLean, 111.; F. S. Halliday, 
 Brooklyn, N. Y. 
 
 NAMES AND POST-OFFICES OF SURVIVING COMRADES OF 
 THE SEVENTY-THIRD, AS FAR AS KNOWN OR 
 REPORTED. 
 
 Field and Staff. — James F. Jaquess, London, Eng., 
 (January, 1890), Tunica, Miss. ; William A. Presson, 
 Yuma, Col. ; Wilson Burroughs, Fairmount, 111. ; George 
 0. Pond, Camp Point, 111. ; Robert E. Stephenson, 
 Olathe, Kan. ; James W. L. Slavens, Kansas City, Mo. ; 
 Richard R. Randall, Lincoln, Neb. ; Isaac N. Jaquess, 
 Mt. Carmel, 111.; Henry A. Castle, St. Paul, Minn.; 
 Robert J. Alexander, Mound City, Kan. ; Riley M. 
 Hoskinson, Port Blakeley, Washington ; Joseph 0. Joy, 
 
648 
 
 POST-OFFICE ADDRESSES OF SURVIVORS. 
 
 Loami, 111. ; John W. Rush, Lamar, Mo. ; Benj. F. North- 
 cott, Linneus, Mo. 
 
 Company A. — Richard Baker, Mechanicsburg, 111.; 
 William S. Bullard, Mechanicsburg, 111. ; William II. 
 Bullard, Olena, Ark. ; Emanuel Cross, Mechanicsburg, 
 111. ; David C. Fletcher, Mechanicsburg, 111. ; Thomas 
 ’ W. Fortune, Springfield, 111. ; Harrison P. Hampton, 
 Illiopolis, 111. ; Preston B. Hampton, Niles, Kan. ; Jere. 
 C. Ham, Stonington, 111.; John L. Hesser, Riverton, 
 111.; Jesse Humphrey, Niantic, 111.; Eli Huckleberry, 
 Illiopolis, 111. ; John S. Kizer, Niantic, 111. ; Pierson H. 
 Kizer, Mechanicsburg, 111. ; A. B. Hiatt, Belleflower, 
 111.; Joel Hudson, Lenora, Kan. ; John Marion, Me- 
 chanicsburg, 111. ; Andrew McGath, Mechanicsburg, 111. ; 
 Robert McCurdy, Niles, Kan. ; William W. Meredith, 
 Severy, Kan. ; Richard Oliver, Niantic, 111. ; Samuel F. 
 Ridgway, Springfield, 111. ; Thomas Underwood, Daw- 
 son, 111. ; William Morgan Thaler, Palmyra, Neb. ; Ira 
 J. Morgan, Holliday, 111. ; Henry M. Cass, Holden, 
 Mo.; William H. Maxwell, Millersville, 111. 
 
 Company B. — Harvey Pratt, 98 Turner Avenue, 
 Chicago, 111. ; David F. Lawler, Green Valley, 111. ; 
 Thomas J. Frazee, Green Valley, 111. ; Thomas J. Cas- 
 saday, Green Valley, 111. ; James W, Mundy, Lincoln, 
 111. ; Erastus R. Mundy, Broadwell, 111. ; William H. 
 McNichols, Nokomis, 111. ; Charles W. McNichols, 
 Oconee, 111. ; Benjamin F. Miller, Armington, 111. ; Cal- 
 vin F. Randolph, Danvers, 111. ; Wm. B. Ward, Fair- 
 bury, 111. ; Darius Baylor, Gibson City, 111. ; William 
 A. Jacobus, Burt Newman, William Moorhead, Robert 
 J. Patterson, Delavan, 111. ; DaAud W. Alexander, Mound 
 City, Kan. ; Alfred A. Holmes, Ellis Day, Hiawatha, 
 Kan.; Benj. Opedyke, Randolph, Mo. ; Jesse Holt, Baker, 
 
POST-OFFICE ADDRESSES OF SURVIVORS. 649 
 
 Kan.; Daniel Boyden, Eldorado, Kan.; Joel H. Buck- 
 man, Lyndon, Kan.; Ira L. Lamphere, Los Angeles, 
 Cal. ; DeWitt R. Gooch, Belleflower, 111. ; Thomas C. 
 Hatch, Holdredge, Neb. ; Marshall Brown, Say brook, 
 111. ; Cyrus M. Bailey, Fairbury, Neb. ; Thomas J. 
 Wakefield, Anson, Kan. ; Jno. S. Parke, St. Louis, Mo.; 
 George W. Ohmart, Palmyra, Neb. ; Daniel J. Reid, 
 Altamont, Kan. ; Thomas A. Martin, Smithfield, Mo. ; 
 Martin L. Freeman, Neligh, Neb. ; John W. Holt, Oak- 
 wood, Kan. ; Thomas P. Wright, Almena, Kan. ; Simon 
 P. Bell, Olney, 111. ; Alexis F. Cahow, Amite City, La. ; 
 Abraham Provost, St. Louis, Mo. ; James Wakefield, 
 Clinton, 111. ; Noah Drake, Plainfield, N. J. ; John H. 
 Long, Colorado Springs, Col. ; Chas. L. Gale, Chicago, 
 111. ; Marion McCormack, McLean, 111. ; Daniel W. Dil- 
 lon, Peoria, 111. ; David H. Palmer, St. Louis, Mo. ; 
 Henry Miller, Petersburg, 111. 
 
 Company C. — Mark D. Hawes, Decatur, 111. ; Wm. 
 R. Lawrence, Danville, 111.; Wm. H. Newlin, Spring- 
 field, 111. ; Richard N. Davies, Delavan, 111. ; Samuel 
 J. Boen, Eugene, Ind. ; David McDonald, Georgetown, 
 111.; Carey A. Savage, Danville, 111.; William 0. Un- 
 deiAvood, Ilnionville, Mo. ; William B. Cowan, Ridge 
 Farm, 111. ; John Braselton, Georgetown, 111. ; Enoch 
 Braselton, Georgetown, 111. ; Nathan Brady, George- 
 town, 111. ; Clark B. Brant, Danville, 111. ; Robert W. 
 Cowan, Georgetown, 111. ; Jonathan Ellis, Quaker Hill, 
 Ind.; Benjamin F. Edmonds, Georgetown, III.; Hen- 
 derson Goodwin, Indianola, 111. ; Henry C. Henderson, 
 Humerick, 111. ; Austin Henderson, Homer, 111. ; Thos. 
 Judd, Cuba, 111. ; Jehu Lewis, Georgetown, 111. ; Thos. 
 E. Madden, Georgetown, 111. ; Isaac R. Thornton, 
 Georgetown, 111. ; Francis M. Stevens, Grape Creek, 111. ; 
 
650 
 
 SE VENT Y- THIRD IL LINOIS S UR VIVORS. 
 
 Jas. P. Slaughter, Logan, 111. ; Jno. Trimble, Blooming- 
 dale, 111.; Jas. Trimble, Slater, Mo. ; Isaac H. Thompson, 
 Bidge Farm, 111. ; Jno. Bostwick, Bidge Farm, 111. ; Wm. 
 B. Cook, Alma, Ark. ; Geo. Hollingsworth, Bidge Farm, 
 111. ; James E. Moore, La Cygne, Kan. ; Benj. Purdum, 
 Bidge Farm, 111. ; Stephen Newlin, Georgetown, 111. ; 
 Alex. C. Nicholson, Paxton, 111. ; Bobert J. Hasty, 
 Newport, Ind. ; Wm. M. Sheets, Georgetown, 111.; Al- 
 fred E. Lewis, Georgetown, 111. ; Wesley Bishop, Bidge 
 Farm, 111. ; John M. Thompson, Palermo, 111. ; James 
 T. Maudlin, Mound Valley, Kan. ; David W. Doop, 
 Cherryvale, Kan. ; John Doop, Cherryvale, Kan. ; Pleas. 
 B. Huffman, Manchester, 111. ; Thomas T. Ashmore, In- 
 dianola. 111.; William D. Bales, Oakwood, 111. ; William 
 Cook, St. Joseph, 111. ; Nathaniel Henderson, Sweet 
 Water, Neb.; William Martin, Arkansas City, Kan.; 
 George W. Martin, Arkansas City, Kan. 
 
 Company D. — Jonas Jones, Monticello, 111.; James 
 H. Piper, Monticello, 111. ; John M. Albert, Monticello, 
 III.; John Musselinan, Argenta, 111.; John T. Talbert, 
 Monticello, 111. ; William D. Coffin, Bernent, 111. ; Wm. 
 Knowles, Bernent, 111. ; Jonas B. Garver, Deland, 111. ; 
 Edward Williamson, Deland, 111. ; Samuel B. Garver, 
 Farmer City, 111. ; John C. E. McMillan, Bussell Springs, 
 Kan. ; Allen Heath, Humboldt, Kan. ; Stephen Vail, 
 North Topeka, Kan. ; Lucian Langdon, Girard, Kan. ; 
 Elias M. Miller, Belle Plain, Kan. ; Bichard M. Sturm, 
 Eugene, Ind. ; William H. Secrist, Boscoe, Mo. ; Ira 
 Knapp, Boscoe, Mo. ; Elishman Brady, Cham[)aign, 
 111. ; Allen Wiley, Bloomington, 111. ; Leonard McCar- 
 dle, Beecher City, 111. ; John H. Weddle, Cisco, 111. ; 
 Harry M. Alvord, Mansfield, 0. ; James W. Hold, Ida 
 Grove, la.; William J. Long, Carrollton, Neb.; Bichard 
 
SEVENTY-THIRD ILLINOIS SURVIVORS. 
 
 651 
 
 S. Hopkins, Buffalo, Wyoming; James Y. Abnett, 
 Monticello, 111. ; Robert Newton, Mansfield, 111. ; John 
 Reynolds, Perris, Cal. 
 
 Company E. — Amos B. Barker, Fairmount, 111. ; Reu- 
 ben Jack, Fairmount, 111. ; Charles Tilton, Fairmount, 
 111. ; Edwin Robertson, Fairmount, 111. ; John Quinn, 
 Fairmount, 111. ; Thomas E. Busby, Catlin, 111. ; Aaron 
 Dolbey, Homer, 111. ; Hilkiah F. Meharry, Danville, 
 111. ; Joseph L. Catlett, Sided, 111. ; Sampson McCool, 
 Ridge Farm, 111. ; William McCool, Ridge Farm, 111. ; 
 Silas M. Busby, Ridge Farm, 111. ; Benjamin F. Kirk- 
 ley, Paxton, 111.; George Ward, Monticello, 111.; John 
 L. Moore, Leon, Kan. ; David Blosser, Holton, Kan. ; 
 Townsend Hendrickson, Scranton, South Dakota; Le- 
 Grand J. Place, Newport, Ind. ; Butler Presson, Bea- 
 trice, Neb. ; George McCully, Bell wood. Neb. ; Patrick 
 Martin, Vandercook, 111. ; William J. Moore, George- 
 town, 111. ; William H. Busby, Hebron, la. ; Cyrus J. 
 Timmons, Urbana, 111.; Joseph McBroom, Oakwood, 
 111. ; William B. Taylor, New Salem, Kan. ; George E. 
 Harvey, Selma, Kan. ; Charles Harvey, Lincoln, Mo. ; 
 John W. Dutton, Washington, D. C. ; Geo. J. Harrier, 
 Grape Creek, 111. 
 
 Company F. — George Dudney, Tecumseh, Kan. ; 
 George H. McKinnie, Beloit, Kan. ; Jacob Spivey, Min- 
 neapolis, Kan.; Johnson W. Wright, Springfield, 111.; 
 Ezra D. McMasters, Lincoln, 111. ; James P. Stone, 
 Lincoln, 111.; Edward W. Bennett, Carbondale, 111.; 
 John Spindler, Paxton, 111.; Charles W. Keeley, El- 
 dred. 111.; Nelson G. Davis, New Holland, 111. ; Newton 
 S. Dunn, New Holland, 111. ; William Shaner, Middle- 
 town, 111.; Wm. Boyer, Middletown, 111. ; Peter Boyer, 
 Middletown, 111. ; Dennis Barrick, Middletown, 111. ; 
 
652 
 
 SEVENTY-THIRD ILLINOIS SURVIVORS. 
 
 Robert Weaver, Middletown, 111.; Jonathan C. Lloyd, 
 Middletown, 111. ; William Barrick, Sedalia, Mo. ; Mark 
 S. Gordon, Broadwell, 111. ; Henry B. Dove, Broadwell, 
 111. ; William H. Van Meter, Elkhart, 111. ; Benjamin II. 
 Hunt, Rankin, 111. ; Marion McGarvey, Roodhouse, 111. ; 
 Jesse L. Kinney, Schuyler, Neb.; John Stollard, Teka- 
 rnah, Neb.; Benj. F. Morris, Western, Neb.; Berry 
 Hobbs, Edgar, Neb. ; Francis A. Craig, Central City, 
 Neb.; Joseph A. Davidson, Riverton, Neb.; James R. 
 Henderson, Dawson, Neb.; Allen W. Broddess, Deca- 
 tur, 111.; James J. Boland, Chester, 111.; Wesley Long, 
 Atlanta, 111. ; Harvey Eisenminger, Hutchinson, Kan. ; 
 Joseph B. Thompson, Denver, Col. ; Abijah Anderson, 
 Trenton, N. J. ; Henry Schasteen, Mound City, Kan. ; 
 Samuel Burkett, Marion, la. ; Archibald Thompson, 
 Eve, Mo. 
 
 Company G. — Ezekiel J. Ingersoll, Carbondale, 111. ; 
 John E. Seward, Industry, 111. ; Karl Yapp, Industry, 
 111.; Harris A. Vanorder, Rushville, 111.; Jasper Hooker, 
 Rushville, 111. ; Stillman Stout, Rushville, 111. ; Fred- 
 erick Glossop, Rushville, 111. ; George W. Vanorder, 
 Rushville, 111. ; John H. McGrath, Doddsville, 111. ; 
 Stuart F. Hoskinson, Blakeley, Wash. ; Joseph Cun- 
 ningham, Conway, Mo. ; Joseph Vannattan, Springfield, 
 111. ; Norman A. Vannattan, Springfield, 111. ; Thomas 
 Horton, Industry, 111. ; James F. Tolle, Trenton, Mo. ; 
 William T. Purnell, Trenton, Mo. ; James Hagle, Sa- 
 betha, Kan.; Peter H. K. Colt, Lincoln, Neb.; Louis 
 Day, Upland, Neb.; Win. H. Dimmick, Ludell, Kan.; 
 John W. Worthbaugh, Clarks, Neb.; John W. Dough- 
 erty, Carthage, 111. ; George Swackhammer, Montrose, 
 Mo. ; John Swackhammer, Montrose, Mo. ; William H. 
 Blackley, Ripley, 111. ; Josiah Emery, Soldiers’ Home, 
 
SEVENTY-THIRD ILLINOIS SURVIVORS. 
 
 65S 
 
 Minnehaha, Minn.; Jacob C. Welcome, Burns, Greg.; 
 Wm. T. Talbott, Astoria, 111.; James W. Davis, Muscle 
 Fork, Mo. ; William H. Dodge, Marshall, Mich. 
 
 Company H. — Joseph L. Morgan, Quincy, 111. ; James 
 B. Wolgemuth, Pierre, So. Dakota; John W. Sherrick, 
 Camp Point, 111. ; Jno. M. Mull, Bradfordton, 111. ; Hiram 
 Evans, Quincy, 111. ; Jos. Firestone, Big Neck, III. ; John 
 Hedges, Pana, 111.; Jas. Hedges, Rosamond, 111. ; John 
 Yelliott, Milton, 111. ; James Anthony, Griggsville, 111. ; 
 Wm. Anthony, Griggsville, 111.; Chas. Bickerdike, Griggs- 
 ville, 111. ; James Bickerdike, Griggsville, 111. ; Francis 
 A. Phillips, Griggsville, 111. ; Giles H. Penstone, Griggs- 
 villa. 111. ; Edwin McCallister, Griggsville, 111. ; William 
 H. Wilson, Perry, 111.; John J. Goullee, New Florence, 
 Mo.; James Lancaster, Mt. Sterling, la.; DeWitt C. 
 Simmons, Salem, Neb. ; William G. Jaquess, Tunica, 
 Miss. ; Joseph D. Cawthon, Kingston, Mo. ; Martin 
 Culler, Little Indian, 111. ; Smith Hist, Little Indian, 
 111. ; Jesse B. Newport, Girard, Kan. ; Archibald Good- 
 win, Girard, Kan.; Isaac Lytle, Arcadia, Kan. ; Simeon 
 Baldwin, Parsons, Kan.; Alpheus Winegar, Lenerxa, 
 Kan. ; Joshua Duran, Carlinville, Mo. ; Geo. Y. John- 
 son, Willis, Kan.; James McKnight, Barnard, Mo.; 
 Edward Penstone, Pittsfield, 111. 
 
 Company I' — George W. Patten, St. Elmo, Tenn. ; 
 Peter Wallace, Clinton, 111. ; James M. Turpin, Loami, 
 III.; William E. Joy, Loami, 111.; Calvin J. Hinman, 
 Loami, 111.; James M. Joy, Waverly, 111. ; Adna Phelps, 
 Springfield, 111. ; John F. Drennan, Auburn, 111.; Jas. 
 W. Osborne, Auburn, 111. ; Wm. M. Corzine, Auburn, 
 111. ; John N. Williams, Auburn, 111. ; John C. Clower, 
 Zenobia, 111. ; Wm. Fortner, Breckinridge, 111. ; Francis 
 M. Kelley, Morrisonville, 111.; Robert N. S. Barger, 
 
654 
 
 THE OFFICIAL RECORD. 
 
 Hopedale, 111. ; Alex. C. Rea, Sigel, 111. ; Alex. M. 
 Cassity, Taylorville, 111. ; Edward S. Turner, Trumbull, 
 Neb.; Wiley W. Fortner, Slater, Mo.; Thos. N. Baker, 
 Le Loup, Kan.; John W. Fisher, Arthur, 111.; Lucius 
 F. Gould, Folsom, Cal.; Richard R. Roberts, Longton, 
 Kan.; Chauncey H. Castle, Quincy, 111.; Hiram T. 
 Coffman, Mason City, Neb.; James B. Remington, Na- 
 tional Military Home, 0. ; Charles R. Campbell, Os- 
 w^ego, Kan. 
 
 Company K. — Wiley Gray, ElkAdlle, 111. ; Benajah 
 Morgan, HeSoto, 111.; Wm. M. Karnes, Paducah, Ky.; 
 James A. Rice, Harrisburg, 111. ; Reuben W. Laughlin, 
 Benkleman, Neb. ; Harlin P. Tuthill, Anna, 111. ; Geo. 
 Kolb, HeSoto, 111.; George B. Corry, HeSoto, 111.; 
 Noah Farner, HeSoto, 111.; Henry Nosley, HeSoto, 111. ; 
 Robinson Crews, HeSoto, 111. ; Alvas Rude, HeSoto, 
 111.; Jacob Millhouse, HeSoto, 111.; Frank Heiple, He- 
 Soto, 111.; Samuel Heiple, HeSoto, 111.; John Heiple, 
 HeSoto, 111.; Henry Heiple, HeSoto, 111.; John W. 
 Purdy, Makanda, 111. ; Eliphaz C. Porter, Vergennes, 
 111. ; Benjamin Spieth, Honiphan, Neb. 
 
 WAR RECORD. 
 
 From official records we present the following, for 
 which we are indebted to Captain Patten, of St. Elmo, 
 Tennessee, and J. W. Kirkley, of the War Records 
 Publication Office, War Hepartment, Washington City, 
 
 H. C. 
 
 From Volume XVI, Series I, Part I, Reports, page 
 1036, Official Records, War of the Rebellion, we find 
 losses of the 73d Illinois Volunteers, at PerryAulle, Ken- 
 tucky, October 8, 1862, stated, as being two killed, 
 thirty- three wounded. Total loss, thirty-five. 
 
EXTRACTS— SHERIDA^^'S REPORT. 
 
 655 
 
 Page 108], same volume, shows the following: 
 
 “I can not speak with too much praise of the good conduct of the 
 officers and men of my whole division, all of whom were engaged. 
 The new troops vied with the old troops of the division in their 
 coolness and courage.” (Sheridan’s report on Perryville.) 
 
 Volume XX, Series I, Part I, page 209, shows losses 
 of 73d at Stone River to be eighty-eight in all. 
 
 Pages 260, 261, same volume, shows the losses of 
 regiment at Stone River to be twenty-two killed, 
 fifty-two wounded. Total seventy -four ; the captured 
 and missing not included. 
 
 On page 351, same volume, we find these words : 
 
 “ I refer with pride to the splendid conduct, bravery, and ef- 
 ficiency of the following regimental commanders, and the officers 
 and men of their respective commands.” (Sheridan’s report on 
 Stone River.) 
 
 Among the regimental commanders embraced in the 
 list is, Major W. A. Presson, 73d Illinois, wounded.” 
 
 Same volume, page 365, shows the report of Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Bernard Laiboldt, 2d Missouri Infantry, 
 commanding 2d Brigade : 
 
 “ Head- QUARTERS Second Brigade, Third Division,) 
 
 “ Right Wing, January 7, 1863. / 
 
 “ I have the honor to submit to you a report of the part taken 
 by the brigade I now have the honor to command, in the battle in 
 front of Murfreesboro : 
 
 ‘ ‘ The brigade, then in command of the lamented Colonel Fred- 
 erick Schaefer, was assigned position as reserve of the third divis- 
 ion, on December 30th, and took no part in the engagement on the 
 left on that day. 
 
 “ Shortly after daybreak next morning, December 31st, Colonel 
 Schaefer received orders to re-enforce General Sill’s brigade with 
 tw^o regiments, and the 15th Missouri Volunteers and 44th Illinois 
 Volunteers, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Weber, of the 
 15th Missouri Volunteers, were accordingly sent to General Sill, 
 
656 
 
 LAIBOLDT— STONE RIVER, 
 
 with orders to report to him for duty. The 2d Battalion of the 
 73d Illinois Volunteers, under command of Major Presson, was 
 detached to protect Captain Hescock’s battery, while the other bat- 
 talion of the 73d Illinois Volunteers and the 2d Missouri Volun- 
 teers were held in reserve. 
 
 “The 15th Missouri Volunteers, and the 44th Illinois Vol- 
 unteers had a position assigned to them about thirty yards in 
 rear of General Sill’s brigade, when, after a short interval, Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Weber received orders to advance in double- 
 quick. The order was promptly executed, and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Weber found himself in front of the enemy, the artillery 
 previously stationed there having retreated, leaving one Parrott 
 gun, supposed to belong to Carpenter’s battery, Davis’s division, 
 behind. The two regiments mentioned kept up a strong firing; 
 and even when one regiment on their left broke and ran, they held 
 their position until attacked from the flank and front at once. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel AVeber then retreated in good order, keeping 
 up a constant firing, until, being heavily pressed by the enemy, he 
 reached a corn-field, where he halted. 
 
 “ Soon afterwards our troops on the left advanced again on the 
 enemy, when Lieutenant-Colonel AVeber also rapidly advanced to a 
 place about fifty yards in advance of his previous position, and 
 formed in line of battle. He had the gun above referred to 
 dragged by his men to the rear of his column, from where it after- 
 ward was removed to a safer place. Lieutenant-Colonel Weber con- 
 tested his ground admirably until the enemy advanced six columns 
 deep, and the ammunition of the 15th Missouri Volunteers gave 
 out; the 44th Illinois Volunteers having previously withdrawn. 
 Then the order to retreat was given and carried out without im- 
 proper haste, until the edge of the timber was reached, when the 
 pressure by the enemy was so hard, that it became necessary to 
 resort to the double-quick. 
 
 “By the time the 15th Missouri Volunteers and 44th Illinois 
 Volunteers rejoined the brigade, orders were given to retreat across 
 the pike toward a piece of cedar woods, and two companies of the 
 2d Missouri Volunteers were deployed as skirmishers to retard the 
 rapid advance of the enemy. 
 
 “The whole brigade, with the exception of the 1st Battalion of 
 the 73d Illinois Volunteers, under temporary command of Captain 
 Bergan, and being a short distance from the main body, arrived 
 
OFFICIAL-STONE RIVER. 
 
 657 
 
 safely at the woods above mentioned, at the edge of which the 
 2d Missouri Volunteers, behind natural and very favorable for- 
 tifications of huge and deeply cut rocks, opened a brisk fire 
 on the enemy, which kept him at bay for a considerable length 
 of time. 
 
 “The first Battalion of the 73d Illinois Volunteers was at the 
 same time attacked by the enemy, but repulsed them. When in 
 the attempt to join the brigade, the battalion was, by the advance 
 of General Rousseau, separated, but, keeping up a constant firing, 
 crossed the pike and took a position in the cedar grove. Here 
 Captain Bergan, commanding the battalion, withstood three dif- 
 ferent charges of a whole rebel cavalry brigade, and was shortly 
 afterward enabled to join his brigade. 
 
 “ By this time the ammunition of the 2d Missouri Volunteers 
 had given out, as well as that of the rest of the brigade, and they 
 were ordered into the thicket of the cedar grove. After the lapse 
 of one hour, the brigade was enabled to receive ammunition, and 
 had a new position assigned to them on the Chattanooga Railroad. 
 Colonel Schaefer ordered the 15th Missouri Volunteers to deploy 
 in a corn-field, while the balance of the brigade held the railroad, 
 and kept up such a galling and well-aimed fire, that the enemy, 
 though of a strength to which our force was hardly comparable, 
 and fighting with the utmost desperation, was again and again 
 repulsed. 
 
 “ The 15th Missouri Volunteers, being in danger of being out- 
 flanked, retreated toward the position of the brigade, and it was 
 at that moment, when about giving orders to said regiment, that 
 the true soldier and brave man, my lamented predecessor. Colonel 
 Frederick Schaefer, fell. By order of General Sheridan, I assumed 
 forthwith the command of the brigade, the 36th Illinois Volun- 
 teers, commanded by Captain Olson, having been attached to it; 
 and, after taking up another favorable position on the line of the 
 railroad, I was enabled to hold the enemy in check in spite of his 
 desperate endeavors until night broke in, and the bloody drama of 
 that day was ended. 
 
 “On January 1, 1863, at two A. M., my brigade was ordered 
 to take a position in front of an open field, edged by heavy timber, 
 and I had, as soon as daylight permitted, heavy breastworks erected 
 along the whole front I was to protect, and, keeping a vigilant look- 
 out, I held that position until January 6th, when I was ordered to 
 advance to the present camp. The officers and men of the brigade 
 
 42 
 
658 
 
 CHA TTANOOG A— RINGGOLD CAMRAIGN. 
 
 all behaved as would naturally be expected of veteran soldiers who 
 have heretofore earned the highest praise for their bravery and 
 gallantry, and to enumerate single ones would hardly be in justice 
 to the balance. 
 
 “ Among those who laid down their lives for our holy cause, I 
 particularly lament Captain Zimmerman and Lieutenants Kellner 
 and Quintzius, of the 15th Missouri Volunteers; Captain Alsop, 
 of the 73d Illinois Volunteers; Captain Hosmer, of the 44th Illi- 
 nois Volunteers ; Lieutenant Taliaferro, of the 1st Missouri Artil- 
 lery. May their relatives find a consolation, as their comrades do, 
 in the thought that the death on the battle-field for the righteous 
 cause wins immortal laurels for the slain ! 
 
 “ I can not omit to mention Captain Hescock’s battery, which, 
 on December 31st, as oftentimes before, did splendid execution. 
 The skill and bravery of its officers is almost proverbial, and need 
 not be further commented on by me than to express my heartiest 
 gratification that they stood by me as formerly, with right good- 
 will and telling courage. Inclosed, I have the honor to transmit a 
 list of the causalties in my brigade. 
 
 “ I am sir, your obedient servant, R. Laiboldt, 
 
 “Lieutenant-Colonel 2d Missouri Volunteer Infantry, commanding 
 “ 2d Brigade, 3d Division, right wing. 
 
 “ First Lieutenant George Lee, 
 
 “Acting Assistant Adjutant-General, 3d Division.” 
 
 The report of Colonel Francis T. Sherman, com- 
 manding 1st Brigade, 2d Division, 4th Army Corps, on 
 the Chattanooga, Ringgold campaign, covering Novem- 
 ber 23-27, 1863, showeth as follows, in No. 28, Volume 
 XXXI, Part II, pages 194, 195, 196, thereof: 
 
 November — At four A. M., orders were received to place 
 
 three regiments of my brigade on the right of the 3d Brigade in 
 prolongation of their first line, behind hastily constructed rifle- 
 pits. In obedience to this order, the 44th Illinois, 36th Illinois, 
 and the 73d Illinois, were thus placed, and Colonel W. W. Barrett, 
 assigned to take command of them, the 88th Illinois and 74th 
 Illinois in rear as support to the above regiments. This disposition 
 of the brigade remained unchanged until twelve noon of 25th, 
 when the entire division line was moved forward some three hun- 
 dred yards. The other regiments of my brigade were moved to 
 
MISSIONARY RIDGE— OFFICIAL. 
 
 659 
 
 the right and rear of the line, when they were formed in the fol- 
 lowing order, in four lines : 
 
 “First line: 44th, 36th, and 73d Illinois, Colonel Barrett 
 commanding. 
 
 “ Second line: 88th Illinois and 24th Wisconsin, Colonel Mil- 
 ler commanding. 
 
 “Third line: 22d Indiana, Colonel Gooding commanding. 
 
 “Fourth line: 2d Missouri, 15th Missouri, and 74th Illinois, 
 Colonel Laiboldt commanding.” 
 
 The report describes the ascent of Missionary Ridge 
 up to and including the taking of the enemy’s second 
 line of works, then proceeds : 
 
 “ Again the order to advance was responded to with cheers, 
 the colors borne by their brave and gallant bearers taking the 
 lead, each bearer wishing to be the first to place the banner of his 
 regiment upon the last of the rebel works. Slowly and surely we 
 pressed up the hill, overcoming all obstacles, defying the enemy in 
 his efforts to check our determined advance. Oflicers and men alike 
 vied with each other in deeds of gallantry and bravery, cheering 
 one another on to the goal for which we were contending. In this 
 manner we gradually worked our way to the summit over the 
 rugged sides of the ridge, every foot being contested by the enemy. 
 Rocks were thrown upon our men when the musket ceased to be 
 of use, but to no purpose. When within ten yards of the crest, our 
 men seemed to be thrown forward as if by some powerful engine, 
 and the old flag was planted firmly and surely on the last line of 
 works of the enemy, followed by the men taking one battery of 
 artillery. The battle was won, and Mission Ridge was taken, while 
 the enemy fled in great disorder from before our victorious troops, 
 who took whole companies of the rebels prisoners.” 
 
 No claim is made by Colonel Sherman on behalf of 
 his own regiment, the 88th Illinois, that its colors were 
 the first planted on the summit of the ridge. Being 
 the brigade commander, it might not have been strictly 
 proper for him to have done so, even if the facts had 
 warranted it — which they probably did not, the 88th 
 being in the second line. 
 
660 
 
 COLONEL F. T. SHERMAN’S REPORT. 
 
 Referring in terms of praise to Colonels Laiboldt 
 and Miller, of the 2d Missouri and 36th Illinois, the 
 report concludes : 
 
 ^’I take great pleasure in calling the attention of the general 
 commanding to their distinguished services. I also recommend to 
 the general commanding, for favorable notice, Colonel Jaquess, 73d 
 Illinois ; Colonel Barrett, 44th Illinois ; Colonel Marsh, 74th Illi- 
 nois; Colonel Conrad, 15th Missouri; Lieutenant-Colonel Chan- 
 dler, 88th Illinois ; Lieutenant-Colonel Olson, 36th Illinois ; Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Beck, 2d Missouri, for meritorious conduct and cool 
 courage they displayed in the action, each one leading his regiment 
 in the assault, until the ridge was taken, and by their example 
 encouraging and inspiring their men with confidence to deeds of 
 bravery and valor. I take this opportunity to make favorable 
 mention of the officers attached to the brigade staff, Captain B. 
 Carroll, Lieutenant John M. Turnbull, Lieutenant N. P. Jackson, 
 and Lieutenant Morse, 21st Michigan, acting assistant adjutant- 
 general, for the prompt and cool manner in which they executed 
 the orders intrusted to them.” 
 
 From No. 29, page 198, same volume, we copy the 
 following from the report of Lieutenant-Colonel Porter 
 C. Olson, commanding the 36th Illinois, in the battle 
 of Missionary Ridge : 
 
 “ Of the conduct of the enlisted men, the facts stated in this 
 report form a more brilliant compliment than any other that could 
 be given. I must, however, mention the name of the flag-bearer. 
 Private William R. Fall, of Company C, for bravery. He can 
 have no superior ; he was among the first to reach the summit and 
 wave the Stars and Stripes in the face of the enemy,” 
 
 From No. 30, page 199, same volume, we copy from 
 the report of Colonel W. W. Barrett, commanding the 
 44th Illinois, and first line, in which line also were the 
 36th and 73d Illinois, as follows: 
 
 “ At this point Captain Harnisch, of Company E, took the 
 colors which had fallen, and, while carrying them conspicuously 
 up to the third line of works, was shot dead. The colors were now 
 
COLONEL J. F. JAQUESS’S REPORT, 
 
 661 
 
 taken up by Abraham Loring, a private of Company H, who 
 carried them conspicuously in front of the whole line, and planted 
 them first of any upon the enemy’s works on top of the 
 ridge. 
 
 “ I desire to make especial mention of Abraham Loring, a pri- 
 vate of Company H, for his bravery in taking the fallen colors 
 and planting them first upon the ridge, and Benedict Waldvogel, 
 a private. Company A, who, by killing a rebel captain, caused the 
 capture of an entire company of the enemy.” 
 
 No. 31, pages 200, 201, same volume, we copy in full : 
 
 REPORT OE CORONER JAMES F. JAQUESS, SEVENTY-THIRD 
 IRRINOIS INFANTRY. 
 
 “ Head-quarters 73d Regiment, Illinois Infantry. I 
 “ Chattanooga, November 27, 1863. / 
 
 “ Colonel, — I have the honor to submit the following report, 
 of the part taken by my regiment in the engagement of the 25th : 
 
 “ There seemed to be a perfect confidence among officers and 
 men in the success of the move to be made ; hence the order for 
 forward was received with unusual joy and delight. In making 
 the charge across the valley and up Mission Ridge, the regiment was 
 in front, with the 44th Illinois on the right, and the 36th Illinois 
 on the left. There was no faltering. When we reached the first 
 rifle-pits, we halted but for a moment to take breath ; having ad- 
 vanced on the run for about one mile, the men were quite ex- 
 hausted. It required but a few moments, however, till we were 
 ready for the ‘ forward !’ On we charged, passing the second line 
 of works, dealing death to the flying foe. The ascent from here 
 to the top of the hill was difficult. The fallen trees, rocks, and 
 underbrush, though impeding our progress, afforded us some pro- 
 tection, and over these we climbed under the flying missiles of the 
 foe, eager to plant our colors on the top of the ridge. We were 
 among the first that reached the goal. 
 
 “I have no language equal to the task of expressing my ad- 
 miration of the courage and noble daring of my officers and men. 
 To make special mention of any would seem to do injustice to 
 others, but I must be allowed to speak of a few cases of special 
 note. Lieutenant-Colonel Davidson was wounded at the first rifle- 
 pit, after having heroically and bravely cheered the men through 
 the storm of shot and shell that was poured out on us, as we crossed 
 the open field in reaching the enemy’s first works. He was ordered 
 
662 
 
 COLOR-BEARER R. J. HASTY. 
 
 to the rear. Captain Bennett, in charge of Companies A, B, and 
 y, deployed as skirmishers, assisted by Captain Cross, of Company 
 A, Lieutenant Patten, of Company B, did a work that entitles 
 them and their men to lasting praise and honor. Captain Kyger, 
 of Company C, for gallantry in pushing forward the colors, and 
 Captain Morgan, of Company H, and Lieutenant Wolgemuth, of 
 the same Company, Lieutenant Bodman, commanding Company 
 D, and Lieutenant Van Winkle, commanding Company K, deserve 
 great praise for courage and promptness in pushing forward their 
 respective companies. Lieutenant Tilton, Adjutant Wilmer, and 
 Sergeant-Major Garrett, my special assistants after Lieutenant- 
 Colonel Davidson was wounded, did noble service. 
 
 “ Captain Burroughs, of Company E, deserves special mention, 
 he being the only captain remaining of those present at the organi- 
 zation of the regiment. Captain Burroughs has been in every 
 fight, and has displayed coolness and courage which has won the 
 admiration of all. Corporal Hasty, the bravest of the brave, who 
 carried the colors, has won for himself, his cause, and his country, 
 everlasting honors, and no officer or soldier in this or any other 
 part of the army deserves more praise than Corporal Hasty. He 
 will be rewarded with promotion in his company. His associates 
 in the color-guard did nobly. 
 
 “The 73d Illinois captured more prisoners in number than there 
 were men in the regiment. The casualties in the regiment were : 
 three privates killed ; one officer — Lieutenant-Colonel Davidson — 
 wounded ; twenty-three privates wounded, some two or three of 
 them mortally. The 73d Regiment Illinois Volunteers has lost 
 many valuable men since it entered the service, but is still ready 
 for any emergency of march or battle. We are ready to do or 
 suffer. I have the honor to be Yours truly, 
 
 “James F. Jaquess, 
 
 “ Colonel 73d Illinois Infantry Volunteers. 
 
 “ Colonel F. T. Sherman, Commanding 1st Brigade, 2d Division, 
 4th Army Corps.” 
 
 From No. 32, pages 202-3, same volume, being the 
 report of Jason Marsh, colonel commanding 74th Illi- 
 nois Volunteers, we extract the following: 
 
 “ Where all did their duty so nobly, so bravely, it would be un- 
 just and impracticable to particularize individuals; and yet I can 
 
COLOR-BEARERS DID NOBLY. 
 
 663 
 
 not forbear to make mention of the unexampled bravery of my 
 color-bearer, Sergeant Allen, who kept the advance from the first 
 until within six or eight rods of the crest, where he was struck down 
 and disabled. The flag was then seized by Corporal S. C. Comp- 
 ton, who bravely bore it erect to within a few feet of the crest, when 
 he was shot dead. Private Hensey, of Company I, then seized it, 
 as by instinct of duty, and planted it where it was started — on 
 the breast- work, on the very crest of Missionary Ridge, which 
 they had boastingly but vainly regarded as inaccessible and im- 
 pregnable.” 
 
 From No. 33, pages 203-4, same volume, we copy 
 the following from the report of Lieutenant-Colonel 
 George W. Chandler, commanding 88th Illinois : 
 
 “ This fire, not in any way diminishing, I ordered the colors for- 
 ward on the works, which a moment afterward were carried, and 
 the Stars and Stripes waved triumphantly on Missionary Ridge, the 
 enemy being in full retreat and great confusion. 
 
 “ It affords me great satisfaction to mention our brave color- 
 bearer, Sergeant John Cheevers. Gallantly he carried our banner, 
 planting it always in the advance for the regiment to rally on, 
 never letting it trail in the dust, but waving it encouragingly to 
 those behind, and defiantly to the enemy before him, never falter- 
 ing till he waved it over the top of Missionary Ridge.” 
 
 From No. 34, page 205, same volume, being the re- 
 port of M. Gooding, colonel commanding 22d Indiana 
 Volunteers, we copy the following : 
 
 “I will recommend Color-Sergeant Geo. W. Gibson, Company 
 C ; Color-Corporals John Caton, Company F ; and Theodore B. 
 Ridlen, Company H, to the Governor of Indiana for promotion, for 
 their gallantry in action, and for the admirable manner in wliich 
 they escorted the colors up the heights of Missionary Ridge.” . 
 
 There is no mention of the regimental colors or color- 
 bearer in the report of Lieutenant-Colonel Beck, com- 
 manding the 2d Missouri Volunteers. 
 
 From No. 36, page 207, same imlume, being the 
 
664 
 
 OTHER HONORABLE MENTION. 
 
 report of Captain Samuel Rexinger, commanding 15th 
 Missouri Volunteers, we copy the following: 
 
 “ . . . I would particularly mention from personal view 
 
 the following men for their brave and gallant behavior : William 
 Willi, bugler, who kept continually in front, sounding his bugle to 
 advance ; Michael Keck, our color-bearer, and First Sergeant John 
 H. Droste, Company I ; and Corporal Ulrich Frei, Company E, for 
 keeping with the flag, most always in front of the whole storming 
 column. Our colors were the second ones inside of the intrench- 
 ments at the summit of the hill. . . .” 
 
 From No. 37, page 208, same volume, being the re- 
 port of Major Carl von Baumbach, commanding 24th 
 Wisconsin Volunteers, we copy the following : 
 
 “ . . . I would most respectfully mention Adjutant Arthur 
 
 McArthur, Jr., for his bravery. When the color-sergeant was ex- 
 hausted, he carried the flag in front of the regiment, cheering the 
 men to follow him up the ridge. . . .” 
 
 From pages 138-9, volume last referred to, we copy 
 the following : 
 
 “ Head-quarters 4th Army Corps, Bragg’s Head-quarters, \ 
 
 “ Missionary Ridge, Tennessee, November 26, 1863. / 
 
 “ Soldiers of the 4th Army Corps ; 
 
 “The following dispatch from the major-general, commanding 
 department, is published for your information : 
 
 “ ‘ Head-quarters Department of the Cumberland, I 
 “ ‘ Chattanooga, Tennessee, November 25, 1863. i 
 “ ‘ Major-General Granger, Missionary Ridge : 
 
 “ ‘ Please accept my congratulations on the splendid success of 
 your troops, and convey to them my cordial thanks for the brilliant 
 style in which they carried the enemy’s works. Their conduct can 
 not be too highly appreciated. Geo. H. Thomas, 
 
 “ ‘ Major-General Commanding.’ 
 
 “ In announcing this distinguished recognition of your signal 
 gallantry in carrying, through a terrible storm of iron, a mountain 
 crowned with batteries and encircled with rifle-pits, I am con- 
 strained to express my own admiration of your noble conduct, and 
 I am proud to tell you that the veteran generals from other fields 
 
THANKS, SOLDIERS! 
 
 665 
 
 who witnessed your heroic bearing, place your assault and triumph 
 among the most brilliant achievements of the war. Thirty cannon, 
 more than three thousand prisoners, and several battle-flags taken 
 from the enemy, are among your trophies. Thanks, soldiers! 
 You made that day a glorious page of history. 
 
 “ G. Granger, Major-General Commanding.” 
 
 From the foregoing, it appears the 22d Indiana was 
 for a brief period of time in our brigade. Below 
 find the report of Colonel Laiboldt, our brigade com- 
 mander, on the campaign, September 2—29, 1863. It 
 appears from this that Colonel Jaquess made a report 
 of the operations of the 73d on same campaign, but it 
 is not on file in the War Records Publication Office. 
 Later reports could not be obtained without much 
 trouble, involving expense and delay: 
 
 REPORT OF COLONEL BERNARD LAIBOLDT, SECOND MIS- 
 SOURI INFANTRY, COMMANDING SECOND BRIGADE. 
 
 “Head-quarters 2d Brigade, 3d Division, 20tii Army Corps, \ 
 
 “ In Trenches before Chattanooga, September 29, 1863. j 
 
 “ Sir, — In compliance to circular from corps head-quarters, I 
 have the honor to submit to you the following report of the move- 
 ments of my brigade since crossing the Tennessee River, and of the 
 part it took during the late engagement: 
 
 “ After crossing the Tennessee River, on September 2, 1863, we 
 proceeded to Hog Jaw Valley, from where we ascended the Rac- 
 coon Mountain on the 5th, and marched to Gunther’s Mill. 
 
 “On the 6th we marched over to Trenton, on Lookout Creek, and 
 on the 7th to Stevens’s Mill, on Stuart’s Creek. 
 
 “On the 10th we proceeded through the Lookout and Will’s 
 Valleys to Rock Creek, and on the 11th reached Alpine, Georgia. 
 
 “On the 13th, returning, we crossed the Lookout Mountain, 
 and camped on Little River. Reached Stevens’s Mill on the 14th. 
 Left there at two P. M. on the 15th, and arrived at Johnson’s 
 Creek at six P. M. Ascending Lookout Mountain on the 16th, 
 we took position in McLemore’s Cove, which position we held till 
 the 18th. Starting at nine A. M. that day, we marched to Lee’s 
 Mill and Pond Spring. 
 
 “ On the 19th we proceeded to Crawfish Spring, where we ar- 
 
G66 
 
 REPORT ON CHICKAMAUGA. 
 
 rived about one P. M. My brigade was the first formed in line 
 of battle on the crest of the hill, from where it was ordered to take 
 position near Gordon’s Mills, and to guard a ford of Chickamauga 
 Creek. At about 4.30 P. M. my brigade was ordered to the battle- 
 field to support General Davis. 
 
 “On arriving there, a line of battle was formed along a road, 
 and one regiment ordered to advance, but the enemy having already 
 been driven by Colonel Bradley’s brigade, my brigade took no further 
 part in the struggle of that day, and kept their position until near 
 daybreak of the 20th, when we were ordered to the extreme right 
 of the right wing, where the brigade took a position on a hill near 
 the Chattanooga road, having Colonel Bradley’s brigade as reserve. 
 
 “At 11.30 o’clock we were ordered toward the center to sup- 
 port General Davis, and took a very favorable position on the slope 
 of a hill. After a short interval, when General Davis’s division 
 was already routed, Major-General McCook ordered the brigade to 
 charge in the rear of the flying troops, and promptly obeying the 
 command, the position on the hill-slope was abandoned, and the 
 regiments, with charged bayonets, rushed into the thicket of woods, 
 parting them yet [farther] from General Davis’s command, unable 
 to fire effectually without injuring our own men. Thrown in con- 
 fusion by the fleeing troops, and finally exposed to the scathing fire 
 of the enemy in front, as also a fire in the flank, my troops gave 
 way, and after rallying them once more, but not being able to hold 
 a position, I fell back to the mountains, where, after the lapse of 
 about three quarters of an hour, I succeeded in collecting the re- 
 maining portion. 
 
 “You will please find annexed the list of casualties during 
 the engagement. 
 
 “In connection with the official report of the participation of 
 ray brigade in the late engagement, I have the honor to remark 
 that the commanding officers of the 2d Missouri Volunteers and the 
 73d Illinois Volunteers make no especial mention in their respective 
 reports of cases of courage and bravery, as, in their opinion, offi- 
 cers and men alike sustained their former reputation of true cour- 
 age and unflinching valor. 
 
 “ The commanding officer of the 15th Missouri Volunteers men- 
 tions especially his adjutant, First Lieutenant Friedrich Lipps, and 
 the commanding officer of the 44th Illinois Infantry, Major Sabin ; 
 Captains Freysleben and Knappen, and Acting Adjutant First Lieu- 
 tenant Weyhrich, for gallant conduct. Lieutenant Schueler, com- 
 
LAIBOLDT’S REPORT— NOTE. 
 
 667 
 
 manding Battery G, 1st Missouri Artillery, mentions Second Lieu- 
 tenant John Miller and Sergeant S. H. Jennings for brave behavior. 
 
 “ I take great pleasure to state that Lieutenant-Colonel A. Beck, 
 2d Missouri Volunteers ; Colonel Conrad, 15th Missouri Volunteers ; 
 Colonel Barrett, 44th Illinois Volunteers ; and Colonel Jaquess, 73d 
 Illinois Volunteers, and First Lieutenant Schueler, commanding 
 Battery G, 1st Missouri Artillery, entitled themselves, by their un- 
 flinching courage and gallant behavior during the engagement, to 
 the highest commendations. The company of sharp-shooters 
 (Captain Ernst) did the work assigned to them faithfully ; while 
 the members of my staff. Major Spinzig, brigade surgeon ; Captain 
 Fuelle, acting assistant adjutant-general ; Captain Morgan, brigade 
 inspector ; Captain Carroll, provost-marshal ; Captain Gale, assistant 
 quartermaster and commissary of subsistence ; First Lieutenant 
 NeudorfF, aid-de-camp; and Second Lieutenant Heydtman, topo- 
 graphical engineer, merit my acknowledgment of their zeal and 
 activity during the campaign, and in battle. I feel it incumbent 
 on me to especially mention Captain B, A. Carroll and Lieutenant 
 Neudorff*, whose untiring efforts in assisting me to rally the bri- 
 gade I shall always thankfully remember. 
 
 “ I have the honor to sign, your obedient servant, 
 
 “B, Laiboldt, Colonel Commanding 2d Brigade, 
 
 “ 3d Division, 20th Army Corps. 
 
 “ Captain George Lee, 
 
 “Assistant Adjutant-General, 3d Division, 20fch Army Corps.” 
 
 Note. — The necessity of conforming pretty closely to the plan outlined in 
 table of contents, and the unexpectedly large proportions this work has 
 attained, obliged us to omit mention of many matters we had intended to notice 
 in chapter ix, among these being : 1st. The narrow escape of the 73d from the gall- 
 ing fire of a rebel battery while lying in the railroad cut at Stone River, Decem- 
 ber 31, 1862. Our escape was due to the “ weather eye ” of Sergeant-Major Castle, 
 who, immediately on noticing the posting of the battery, moved the regiment 
 out of cut. 2d. The request of Mrs. General George H. Thomas that Opdycke’s 
 brigade make a charge, on the occasion of the review of the 4th Corps at Nash- 
 ville, Tennessee, in May, 1865. This request was further proof of recognition 
 accorded by General Thomas to our brigade, for services at Franklin, Novem- 
 ber 30, 1864. 3d. Detached service. Many officers and men of the 73d did duty 
 at times away from the regiment, viz. : Dr. Pond, Captains Pratt and Morgan, 
 and Quartermaster Slavens. 4th. Pensions. 5th. Anecdotes were omitted, as 
 were also some accounts of foraging and scouting ventures. 6th. Some sketches 
 are shown only in part. Cammire’s account was shortened to the extent that 
 the statement of his experience while hid in a hogshead, at same time being 
 sought after, is omitted. Our thanks are extended to printers and binders for 
 good quality of material and excellence of mechanical execution of this work, 
 and to Captain Castle for trouble taken in keeping a “weather eye’' lookout 
 for errors, to the end that very few, if any, might appear in these pages. His 
 experience with a section of wagon-train in October, 1862, doubtless increas ’ 
 the capacity of that eye. Chapters viii, ix, and x of this history have been el 
 trotyped. W. H. N.