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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
For the gratification of my old comrades and in grateful memory of their constant kindness during all our years of comradeship these records have been written. The writer claims no special qualification for the task save as it may lie in the fact that no other survivor of the Company has so large a fund of material from which to draw for such a purpose. In addition to a war journal, whose entries cover all my four years service, nearly every letter written by me from camp in those eventful years
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EARLY HISTORY OF THE OGLETHORPES.
EARLY HISTORY OF THE OGLETHORPES.
On a winter's day in '51, in the old Capital at Milledgeville, Ga., Howell Cobb, then Governor of Georgia, gave his official sanction to an Act of the General Assembly incorporating a new military organization in the City of Augusta. If he had been told that ten years from that date he would be wearing the wreath of a Brigadier General in actual war and that the Company, to which his signature had given legal existence would be camped on Virginia soil, attached to the command of an officer, who
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OFF TO THE WAR.
OFF TO THE WAR.
Prof. Joseph T. Derry, who served with the Oglethorpes from their enlistment until his capture at Kennesaw Mountain; in July, 1864, has kindly furnished the following sketch of their war service prior to my connection with the Company: "Following the lead of four of her sister States Georgia passed an ordinance of 'Secession,' Jan. 19, 1861. Gov. Brown ordered the seizure of all Federal property within the limits of the State, and on Jan. 24 the volunteer companies of Augusta, consisting of the
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ORGANIZATION OF FIRST GA. REGIMENT.
ORGANIZATION OF FIRST GA. REGIMENT.
The efforts to secure a peaceable separation from the Union having failed, the Augusta companies promptly offered their services to the Confederacy. The Oglethorpes and Walker Light Infantry were the first two accepted. On March 18, 1861, the lists for the Oglethorpes were opened at their armory on Reynolds street. Sterling C. Eve was the first to enroll his name, and Virginius G. Hitt was the second. As the Company had in its ranks a larger number than would be accepted, married men were exclud
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AN AMENDMENT TO THE TABLE OF LONG MEASURE.
AN AMENDMENT TO THE TABLE OF LONG MEASURE.
While not germane to the matter under discussion my friend, Joe Derry will pardon I know a slight interruption in his story, suggested by the incident just related. Passing through the piney woods of Richmond county some years ago the writer stopped at a country home to secure proper direction as to his route. A lady came to the door and in answer to my questions, said she was unable to give the information, but suggested that I might be enlightened at the next house. "How far is the next house?
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THE LAUREL HILL RETREAT.
THE LAUREL HILL RETREAT.
The capture of Pegram's position and of a large part of his force necessitated the evacuation of Laurel Hill, and Garnett began his retreat towards Beverly, sixteen miles distant. After two-thirds of the distance had been covered he was falsely informed that the enemy had already occupied that place, and retracing his steps almost to his abandoned camp, he turned off towards Beverly, crossing, by an almost impassable road, over Cheat Mountain into the Cheat River valley and intending by turning
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DONNING THE GREY.
DONNING THE GREY.
About midday on Dec. 20, 1860, the writer sat in an audience room in Macon, Ga., listening to an address delivered by Hon. Howell Cobb to the Cotton Planters' Convention, then in session in that city. After all these years my memory retains no trace of that address in either theme or outline. I do recall, however, an interruption in its delivery, remembered, possibly, because it threw a crimson tint over the years that followed it, and for the further reason that if there had been no occasion fo
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MY FIRST MARCH.
MY FIRST MARCH.
On Sept. 7, '61, Sterling Eve, Ginnie Hitt, Dan Mongin and the writer, not having been favored with the confidence of Gen. Lee as to his military plans, went into the country on a foraging expedition. This trip was probably inspired by a triumph in the culinary line achieved by Dr. Hitt and George Pournelle in supplying our table with two varieties of dumpling, apple and huckleberry, on the same day. We had no bag, in which to boil the dumpling and were forced to use the mess towel as a substitu
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MY FIRST SKIRMISH.
MY FIRST SKIRMISH.
Gen. Jackson's force on the Green Brier consisted of the 1st and 12th Ga., the 3rd Ark. and the 23rd and 37th Va. Regiments. Ten or twelve miles northwest of us, on Cheat Mountain, lay a Federal force of 5,000 men under Gen. Reynolds. Gen. Lee had planned an attack to be made on this force on the morning of Sept. 12th, two days after our arrival at the Green Brier. On the evening of the 11th an advance guard of ninety men from the 1st and 12th Ga. under command of Lieut. Dawson was formed with i
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MY FIRST PICKET DUTY.
MY FIRST PICKET DUTY.
For several miles in our front, the road leading towards Cheat Mountain ran through a narrow valley and then crossing the river, wound up the mountain side. On an outpost near this road my first picket service was rendered. From an aesthetic, rather than a military point of view the scenery from this post was really enchanting. Just beyond the river lay a range of mountains broken in its contour by a partial gap. In its rear and forming a background, rose a loftier range, the whole constituting
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MY FIRST BATTLE.
MY FIRST BATTLE.
On Oct. 3rd, '61, Gen. Reynolds, thinking, possibly, that military etiquette required that he should return the call we had made him on Sept. 12th, came down, attended by his entire force and knocked at the door of our outer picket posts in the early morning hours with the evident purpose of making an informal visit to our camp. The knock was loud enough to arouse Col. Ed. Johnson, who went out and took command of the pickets in person in order that the reception given our visitors might be suff
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A NIGHT STAMPEDE.
A NIGHT STAMPEDE.
There are panics commercial and panics military, bearing no special relation to each other and yet produced possibly by similar causes. One is attributed to a lack of confidence in others; the other is possibly due to a want of the same mental condition in regard to ourselves. In war fear as well as courage is contagious. The conspicuous bravery of a single soldier has sometimes steadied a wavering line, while one man's inability to face the music has begun a rearward movement that ended in a ro
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THREE LITTLE CONFEDERATES.
THREE LITTLE CONFEDERATES.
Thomas Nelson Page has written very charmingly of "Two Little Confederates," but an incident that occurred during our stay at Green Brier shows that "there were others." On Nov. 14, '61, three Virginia boys living in vicinity of our camp, and all under fifteen years of age, were out squirrel hunting on the Green Bank road, which led partly in the direction of the Federal camp on Cheat Mountain. Rambling through the woods in search of game, they came in sight of Yankee soldier, who was out on a s
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A CHANGE OF BASE.
A CHANGE OF BASE.
For some weeks rumors, or "grape vine" bulletins, as they were called, had been afloat in camp that our regiment was to be transferred to coast service. To boys reared in the milder climate of Georgia the taste we were having of a Virginia winter rendered these rumors very palatable. And when, on Nov. 21, orders came to break camp we felt rather confident that we were bidding a long farewell to "Traveler's Repose" and Northwest Virginia, and were off for Georgia. The baggage wagons, of which the
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A SOLILOQUY—(NOT HAMLET'S.)
A SOLILOQUY—(NOT HAMLET'S.)
Among the original members enlisting with the Oglethorpes, was one H— H—, who, in civil life, was so scrupulously careful with his dress that in these latter days he would have passed a creditable examination as a dude. Camp life is not specially conducive to personal neatness and eight month's service had left to him on this line only the memory of better days. Returning from Winchester one night in a condition not promotive of mental equilibrium, he failed to find his tent and spent the night
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"LIABLE TO DISAPPINTMENTS."
"LIABLE TO DISAPPINTMENTS."
On a Saturday afternoon in my boyhood days, in company with a schoolmate, I was rambling through the woods in the enjoyment of the hebdomadal relief from the restraints of the school room and the unpalatable mysteries of the three R's taught with a hickory attachment. Reaching a country bathinghouse half-filled with water and used by a neighboring colored Baptist church for baptismal purposes, we proceeded to draw off the water in order to catch the tadpoles that were enjoying their otium cum di
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A TRAMP WITH STONEWALL JACKSON.
A TRAMP WITH STONEWALL JACKSON.
After our arrival in Winchester the "grape vine" service was again brought into requisition and rumors were current that we were going into winter quarters. But this was not "Stonewall Jackson's Way." His headquarters were in Winchester. Bath and Romney, in his department, were occupied by Federal troops and he determined to oust them. On Jan. 1, '62, our division, with Ashby's cavalry, began the march to Bath. It was a bright, warm day, with a touch of spring in the air. On the evening of the 3
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ASHBY AND JACKSON.
ASHBY AND JACKSON.
As hard as the service was, I am glad to have had the opportunity of sharing it with such a man as Turner Ashby. He was then a colonel of cavalry. Mounted on his milk white steed, with the form of an athlete; coal black hair, a silky brown beard reaching nearly to his waist and a velvety, steel-grey eye, he was, in soul as well as body, an ideal cavalier. His command embraced some of the best blood of Virginia and he and they were fit types of the Old South, worthy representatives of a civilizat
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"AUNT HANNAH."
"AUNT HANNAH."
In this connection my heart prompts me to pay its earnest tribute to one, whose memory the sketch above recalls. Dear old Aunt Hannah. How her name brings back to my heart and life today the glamour of the old, old days, that will never come again—days when to me a barefoot boy, life seemed a long and happy holiday. I can see her now, her head crowned with a checkered handkerchief, her arms bared to the elbows, her spectacles set primly on her nose, while from her kindly eyes there shone the lig
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A RIDE WITH BELLE BOYD, THE CONFEDERATE SPY.
A RIDE WITH BELLE BOYD, THE CONFEDERATE SPY.
On a page of the writer's scrap book, underneath a roll of the Oglethorpes and in friendly contact with the parole granted me at Johnston's surrender, is a slip of paper pocket-worn, and yellow with age, which reads as follows: "Winchester, Va., Mar. 1, 1862. Pass W. A. Clark and brother today on Valley Road. By order Maj. Gen. T. J. Jackson. M. M. Sibert, Captain and Provost Marshall." Thereby hangs the following tale: On my return to Winchester, after the tramp to Hancock, I had secured lodgin
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VIRGINIA.
VIRGINIA.
As my service as a soldier on Virginia soil was now about to end and as that service carried me afterwards into six other states of the Confederacy, in four of them lengthening into months or years, it may not be amiss to say in this connection that judged by that experience, Virginia stood above them all in kindly feeling and hospitable treatment to the Confederate soldier. Furnishing to the army perhaps a larger quota of her sons than any other State, her territory tracked by the tread of host
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HOME AGAIN.
HOME AGAIN.
The 1st Ga. Regiment was the only infantry organization from this State mustered out at the expiration of its first year's service. The Conscript Act became effective in the spring of '62, and succeeding regiments, whose terms expired later were under its provision retained in the service. On the return of the command from Romney the 1st Ga. was ordered to Tennessee. Going by rail to Lynchburg, a railroad accident occasioned some delay at that point and as their time would have expired in a few
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ROSTER OF OGLETHORPE INFANTRY,
ROSTER OF OGLETHORPE INFANTRY,
Co. D, 1st Ba. Regt. Capt. J. O. Clarke, promoted Lieut. Col. 1st Ga. Reg. Capt. Horton B. Adams. 1st Lieut. J. V. H. Allen. 2d Lieut. Geo. W. Crane. 3d Lieut. S. B. Simmons. 1st Serg. A. J. Setze. 2d Serg. W. S. Holmes. 3d Serg. S. C. Foreman. 4th Serg. L. A. Picquet. 1st Corp. O. M. Stone. 2d Corp. Jesse W. Rankin. 3d Corp. Chas H. Roberts. 4th Corp. Burt O. Miller....
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PRIVATES.
PRIVATES.
Alfred M. Averill. Dillard Adams. A. E. Andrews. A. W. Bailey. F. A. Beall. A. W. Blanchard. R. M. Booker. Jno. M. Bunch. Thos. Burgess. Milton A. Brown. A. J. Burroughs. Wm. Bryson. Chas. Catlin. H. A. Cherry. H. B. Clark. F. W. Clark. Wm. H. Clark. Walter A. Clark. W. J. Cloyd. Jno. R Coffin. E. F. Clayton. C. S. Crag. Wm. Craig. J. B. Crumpton. Wilberforce Daniel. Ed. Darby. Joseph T. Derry. J. J. Doughty. C. W. Doughty. W. R. Doyle. B. B. Doyle. Jno. P. Duncan. S. H. Dye. E. A. Dunbar. Geo.
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REORGANIZATION WITH 12th GA. BATTALION.
REORGANIZATION WITH 12th GA. BATTALION.
On May 1, 1862, the Oglethorpes were re-organized at Camp Jackson, on the Carnes Road, near Augusta, Ga., as an artillery company under Capt. J. V. H. Allen. Three other companies from the 1st Ga. Regiment, and the "DeKalb Rifles" from Stone Mountain, joined us and the 12th Ga. Battalion was formed, with Major Henry D. Capers as commander. We remained at this camp drilling for two months, and our parade ground became a favorite afternoon resort for the young ladies of Augusta....
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A "LITTLE LONG."
A "LITTLE LONG."
Among the fair visitors, who honored us by their presence, were the Misses Long, two pretty and attractive girls, who were guests at the Savage Place, near our quarters. Miles Turpin, one of the company wits, fell a victim to the charms of the younger one, who in physical make-up was rather petite. When his attack had reached the acute stage, he was being joked about it one day and gave vent to his feelings in the following revised version of Goldsmith's familiar lines: Miles was not the only wi
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THE 12th GA. BATTALION FLAG.
THE 12th GA. BATTALION FLAG.
On July 4th, '62, Miss Pinkie Evans, of Augusta, presented to the battalion a beautiful silk battle flag made, it was said, from her mother's wedding robe. Her patriotic address in making the presentation was responded to by Maj. Capers, who accepted the colors for the battalion. As the Oglethorpes were transferred from the battal ion in the fall of 1862, we had no opportunity of fighting under their banner save at the skirmish at Huntsville, Tennessee. It was afterwards bravely borne on many a
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OFF TO THE FRONT
OFF TO THE FRONT
Buell was threatening Chattanooga, and Maj. Capers was ordered to report with his battalion to Gen. McCown at that point. Leaving Augusta July 5th in two special trains, we were detained at Ringgold, Ga., for a day or two by a collision with a freight train, which resulted in the death of ten or twelve men and fifteen or twenty horses, and in injuries more or less serious to a larger number. Reaching Chattanooga July 8, we remained there ten days and were then transferred by N. & C. R. R
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COL. HOGELAND AND HIS WAR DIARY.
COL. HOGELAND AND HIS WAR DIARY.
How strangely human events sometimes shape themselves without apparent effort to control them. Sitting in my home some weeks ago in the dreamy haze of an October Sunday afternoon, there chanced to fall under my eye in the editorial column of a Sunday school paper the statement that Col. Alexander Hogeland of Louisville, Ky., had visited Nashville, Tenn., in the interest of the "Curfew Law." Other items in the column caused a momentary disturbance of my brain cells, then passed away to be recalle
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JACKSBORO.
JACKSBORO.
On our return from Huntsville, Joe Derry and J. W. Lindsay, of the Oglethorpes, unable to keep pace with the command, straggled and were captured by "bush-whackers." Joe was exchanged a few days, later, Lindsay preferring to remain a prisoner. After a short stay at Clinton we moved up to Jacksboro and remained there until Oct. 9th, guarding Bragg's line of communications. Our service at this place was uneventful. Buell's army had retreated into Kentucky and there was nothing to disturb our "otiu
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THE PARSON AND THE GRAVY.
THE PARSON AND THE GRAVY.
A continuous diet of salt bacon had made the boys ravenous for fresh meat and as war has no tendency to strengthen respect for property rights where a soldier's appetite is involved, they were not, as a rule, very scrupulous as to the methods adopted to procure a supply. The means most in use at the date referred to were known in camp parlance as "flip ups." As no encyclopedia of my acquaintance describes this mechanical contrivance and its specifications have never encumbered the records of the
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"THEM MOLASSES."
"THEM MOLASSES."
During our stay at Jacksboro the farmers in that section were making sorghum syrup, which most of them called "them molasses." Near one of our picket posts lived a Baptist minister named Lindsay, from whose better half we purchased vegetables and other edibles. On one occasion I was unable to make exact change and left owing her 12 1-2 cents in Confederate money. Two weeks later I was on picket again and paid her the balance due. She was so much surprised that a soldier should have the moral sen
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RATIONS.
RATIONS.
Rations as one of the sinews of war, deserve something more than incidental mention in these memories and as no more favorable opportunity may occur, it may be as well to give them more extended notice in connection with the incident just related. Confederate rations during the early years of the war were as I recollect them, not only fair in quality but ample in quantity. As evidence of this fact I remember that the boys were sometimes so indifferent when rations hour arrived that it was diffic
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TRANSFERRED TO THE COAST.
TRANSFERRED TO THE COAST.
Our enlistment as artillery had so far proven a delusion and a snare. The Confederacy had no guns with which to equip us and we had found no opportunity to capture any. During our stay at Jacksboro Capt. Allen succeeded in securing from the War Department the transfer of the Oglethorpes to the 2nd South Carolina Artillery, then in service at Charleston. Oct. 9, '62, at 6 p. m. we fell into line, gave three cheers for our late companions in arms and as the setting sun crimsoned with its last rays
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A STUDY IN INSECT LIFE.
A STUDY IN INSECT LIFE.
The period covered by our service on the coast formed a sort of oasis in our military life. The Federal gunboats were kind enough to extend social courtesies to us only at long range and longer intervals. We fought and bled, it is true, but not on the firing line. The foes that troubled us most, were the fleas and sand fleas and mosquitoes that infested that sections. They never failed to open the spring campaign promptly and from their attacks by night and day no vigilance on the picket line co
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SOAP AND WATER.
SOAP AND WATER.
My earliest recollections of Thunderbolt is associated with a fruitless effort to mix turpentine soap and salt water. We had reached the place tired and dusty and dirty. As soon as the ranks were broken, the boys divested themselves of their clothing and soaping their bodies thoroughly plunged into the salt water for a bath. The result may be imagined. The dirt and dust accumulated in streaks, which no amount of scrubbing could dislodge for it stuck closer than a postage stamp....
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A SUGARED TONGUE.
A SUGARED TONGUE.
Col. Geo. A. Gordon was a pleasant, persuasive speaker and in his address to the company urging its division so as to complete the quota necessary for a regimental organization he held out to us a tempting array of promises as to our treatment if his wishes were complied with. An Irish member of his old company heard the speech and in commenting on it said, "Faith, the sugar on his tongue is an inch thick." The Oglethorpes, though serving as infantry, had retained their artillery organization an
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FIRE AND FALL BACK
FIRE AND FALL BACK
The monotony of garrison duty and our comparative exemption from danger during our stay at Thunderbolt, developed the spirit of mischief in the boys to an inordinate degree and no opportunity for its exercise was allowed to go unimproved. Bob Lassiter, while off duty one day, was taking a nap on a "bunk" in his cabin. His unhosed feet protruded from the window, probably with a view to fumigation by the salt sea breeze. Jim McLaughlin passed by and taking in the situation called Jim Thomas. Twist
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SKIRMISHING FOR PIE
SKIRMISHING FOR PIE
Dessert was not a standing item on our army bill of fare, and when, by chance or otherwise, our menu culminated in such a course, moderation in our indulgence was one of the lost arts. One day in '63, W. J. Steed and I, with several other comrades chanced to be in Savannah at the dinner hour. Our rations for a long time had known no change from the daily round of corn bread and fat bacon, and we decided to vary this monotony by a meal at the Screven House. The first course was disposed of and de
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STEED AND THE SUGAR
STEED AND THE SUGAR
My friend's penchant for pie may have had its influence in the origin of a problem in the company, which like the squaring of the circle has never received a satisfactory solution. He held during his term of service the office of commissary sergeant for the company, a position in which it was difficult at any time and impossible when rations were scarce, to give entire satisfaction. These difficulties in his case were, perhaps, enhanced by the peculiarities of his poetic temperament, which cause
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"BUTTER ON MY GREENS."
"BUTTER ON MY GREENS."
For the convenience and comfort of the soldiers going to and returning from their commands, "Wayside Homes" were established at different points in the Confederacy where free lunches were served by the fair and willing hands of patriotic young ladies living in the vicinity. A uniform of grey was the only passport needed. One of these "Homes" was located at Millen, Ga. Detained there on one occasion, en route to my command at Thunderbolt I was glad to accept their hospitality. Seated at the table
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OUR CAMP POET.
OUR CAMP POET.
"Dropping into poetry" has not been a peculiarity confined to that singular creation of Dickens' fancy, "Silag Wegg." While not a contagious disease, it is said that a majority of men suffer from it at some period in life. Like measles and whooping cough it usually comes early, is rarely fatal and complete recovery, as a rule, furnishes exemption from further attacks, without vaccination. Under these conditions it is but natural that the Oglethorpes should have had a poet in their ranks. In fact
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THE DALTON AND ATLANTA CAMPAIGN.
THE DALTON AND ATLANTA CAMPAIGN.
Our service on the coast ended April 28, 1864. On April 23 orders were received transferring our regiment to Gen. A. R. Wright's Brigade, Army of Northern Virginia. Gen. H. W. Mercer in command, had been ordered to report for duty to Gen. Johnston at Dalton, Ga. As Gordon and Mercer were both Savannah men and their war service to that date had thrown them together, they succeeded in inducing the War Department to change our orders and assign us to Johnston's Army. April 28 we left Savannah, reac
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BATTLE OF JONESBORO.
BATTLE OF JONESBORO.
After investing and bombarding Atlanta for a month, Sherman had begun his flanking tactics again by sending five of his corps to seize the M. & W. Road at Jonesboro, and Hardee, with his own and Lee's corps, had been sent down to checkmate the movement. After resting a few hours we were formed in line of battle across an old field with only Lowry's brigade on our left. For the only time in my experience as a soldier, the plan of battle was read to our command. Lee's corps and two divisio
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FURTHER MEMORIES OF THE CAMPAIGN.
FURTHER MEMORIES OF THE CAMPAIGN.
The following incidents oscillating as they do "from grave to gay," and marked perhaps as much by comedy as by tragedy, will probably be of more interest to the reader of these records than the details just ended:...
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"TWO AND A DOG."
"TWO AND A DOG."
At the date of our transfer from the coast to Johnston's army, our uniforms were in fairly good condition and bore in almost every case the insignia of rank held by the wearer. The writer's jacket had on its sleeves the regulation chevrons of an orderly sergeant, three bars or stripes with lozenge or diamond above them. The troops who had followed the fortunes of the Western army from Shiloh to Chickamauga were not so well clad and had, to a large extent discarded their official insignia. For th
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STRIPES ON THE WRONG SIDE.
STRIPES ON THE WRONG SIDE.
While we suffered from deficiencies on other lines in the summer of '64, there was certainly no lack of rainy weather during that campaign. The roads over which we tramped were composed largely of a red, adhesive clay. The writer's physical conformation gave him some right to be classed with the knock-kneed species of the genus homo, and in marching over the wet clay hills, the red pigment began at his ankles and by successive contact, traveled gradually up the inside seams of his grey trousers
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A CLOSE SHAVE.
A CLOSE SHAVE.
The battle of Resaca began May 14, '64. Walker's division, to which we belonged, was held in reserve during the morning and at 12 p. m., as the fighting grew fiercer, we were ordered up to reinforce Stewart's division in our front. A pontoon bridge had been laid across the Oostenaula river and a courier stationed on its bank to hurry the men across, as the railroad embankment on the other side would protect them from the fire of a Federal battery, which had secured the exact range of the road ov
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A TWILIGHT PRAYER MEETING.
A TWILIGHT PRAYER MEETING.
On May 19, '64, Sherman and Johnston were fronting each other near Kingston, Ga. In the skirmishing that day the Oglethorpes had suffered some casualties, among them one that saddened all the company. Hugh Legare Hill, son of Hon. Joshua Hill, a beardless boy, had been shot through the head and instantly killed. He had joined us some months before at Thunderbolt and becoming restive under the inaction of coast service, had ap plied for a transfer to Johnston's army. Chafing under the delay broug
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TOM HOWARD'S SQUIRREL BEAD.
TOM HOWARD'S SQUIRREL BEAD.
On May 28, '64, we were on skirmish line near Dallas, Ga. The remainder of the brigade had left the trenches in our rear to reinforce some other point in the line and the pickets were holding the fort alone. A Federal sharpshooter had secured a concealed position at short range and was picking off the men in a way highly satisfactory to himself, perhaps, but decidedly unpleasant to us. We had been on duty all the night before and worn out from loss of sleep. I sat down with my back to a tree as
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"WHEN THIS CRUEL WAR IS OVER."
"WHEN THIS CRUEL WAR IS OVER."
Tom was one of the "characters" in the company. Brave and generous, full of life and humor and always ready for duty, he would sometimes grow a little homesick. One day, Ab Mitchell, sitting on the edge of the trenches, began to sing, "When this cruel war is over." So far as I know, Ab had never taken first prize at a singing school, but as Tom listened, the plaintive melody of the air and the undertone of sadness in the verses carried him back to his old home in Oglethorpe. Every feature of the
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"JIM, TOUCH OFF NO. 1."
"JIM, TOUCH OFF NO. 1."
During this campaign, Major Bledsoe of Missouri, commanded a battalion of artillery in Cleburne's division. A veteran of two wars, combining in his personality both the Southern and Western types, tall and gaunt, with no trace of Beau Brummellism in his physical or mental make-up, he was as stubborn a fighter as the struggle produced on either side, and yet away from the battlefield he was as gentle and as genial as a woman. So accurate were his gunners and so effective their fire, that it was s
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ANOTHER STAMPEDE.
ANOTHER STAMPEDE.
Mention has been made of a panic that occurred on a night march near Green Brier river, Va., in '61. A similar stampede occurred on the night of May 25, '64, near Powder Springs, Ga. We were in reserve and were shifting position to the right. The night was dark and none of us knew the object of the movement or our destination. Tramping along quietly under a moonless sky over a country road darkly shaded by a heavy forest growth, a sudden rumbling was heard, increasing in volume as it approached
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A SUMMER DAY ON THE FIRING LINE.
A SUMMER DAY ON THE FIRING LINE.
It was a day in June, but neither a perfect nor a rare June day. For two weeks and more it had rained almost continuously. Every day or two Jabe Poyner, the weather prophet of the company, had said, "Well boys, this is the clearing up shower." And still it rained and rained and rained until Poyner's reputation on this line had gone where the woodbine twineth. In the early morning of the 18th there was another of Jabe's clearing up showers and at its close the boys were lying on the wet ground, a
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A SQUIRREL HUNT UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
A SQUIRREL HUNT UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
One of these incidents furnished an exhibition of coolness under fire and indifference to danger that had no parallel in all my term of service. About midday I heard several shots fired a short distance in my rear. Fearing that some excited soldier might fire wildly and shoot me in the back, I turned to investigate, and saw a member of the regiment standing in an exposed position and coolly and deliberately firing, not at the enemy, but at a squirrel he had discovered in the branches of the tree
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JIM THOMAS' DILEMMA.
JIM THOMAS' DILEMMA.
During the afternoon Jim and a Yankee picket had been taking alternate shots at each other and it was the Yankee's time to shoot. Jim was nestling up to the Southern side of his tree and thinking possibly of all the meanness he had ever committed in order to feel as small as possible, when a cannon ball crashed through the tree, cutting off its top and sending it by force of gravity, in the direction of his head. He was in a dilemma. If he remained where he was he was liable to be crushed to dea
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A POOR GUN OR A POOR GUNNER.
A POOR GUN OR A POOR GUNNER.
Obliquely to the right of my position in the line, and about 250 yards distant as I estimated it, there was a shallow ravine or valley and 20 or 30 feet beyond, on its further slope, a Yankee rifle pit. For reasons which readily occurred to the writer at the time and which will probably suggest themselves to the reader, I did not take the trouble to verify my estimate of the distance by stepping it. About the center of this depression in the land was a very large tree—a pine, as I recollect it.
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SAVED FROM DEATH BY A BIBLE.
SAVED FROM DEATH BY A BIBLE.
Evan H. Lawrence, of Morgan county, and a member of the Oglethorpes, occupied that day a position about 20 feet to my left. He had in his left breast pocket and covering his heart, a Bible. During the day a minie ball struck the book and passing partly through, stopped at the 7th verse of the 52d chapter of Isiah. But for the protection furnished by the book it would probably have produced a fatal wound. He told me afterwards that the subject matter of that special chapter had been in his though
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INCIDENTS ON THE KENNESAW LINE.
INCIDENTS ON THE KENNESAW LINE.
On the next day, 19th, we were on reserve picket all day in the rain, but fortunately with no fighting to do. Relieved at midnight, we retired behind the trenches, as the writer hoped, for much-needed rest and sleep. My only blanket had been thoroughly soaked by the rain and knowing Gen. Johnston's predilection for changing base at night, I was in doubt whether to take the chance of securing such sleep as I could get in a wet blanket, or to build a fire, dry the blanket and fall into the arms of
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SLEEPING UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
SLEEPING UNDER DIFFICULTIES.
The ground through which our trenches ran sloped upwards in our rear and as we were in range of the Federal skirmish line, the balls that missed the breastworks would strike the soil 20 or 30 feet back of them. On the night of June 25 I was sleeping under a shelter made of bark stripped from chestnut trees, with Will Dabney as bedfellow. About midnight I was awakened by his groaning and found that he had been wounded while asleep, the ball entering his arm above the elbow and stopping at the bon
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THE VICTIM OF MISPLACED CONFIDENCE.
THE VICTIM OF MISPLACED CONFIDENCE.
Our stay at Kennesaw was marked by another squirrel incident differing somewhat from that of June 18, already referred to. A short distance in the rear of our position a Confederate battery had been planted and between this and the enemy's batteries there were frequent artillery duels. So frequent were these engagements and so accustomed did we become to the noise of the guns that if asleep it failed to awake us, although our battery was only seventy-five yards away. On one of these occasions we
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PEDICULUS CORPORIS.
PEDICULUS CORPORIS.
On the evening of June 26, Will Daniel said to me, "Furnish 47 men for picket duty tonight. Lieutenants Blanchard and McLaughlin will go with them. As this is a detail, you will remain with the remnant of the com pany in the trenches." As Gen. Sherman had not favored us with his confidence, neither of us knew how much, exemption from that service meant for both of us on the morrow. In detailing non-commissioned officers for this detachment, Corp. L. A. R. Reab asked to be excused upon the ground
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BATTLE OF KENNESAW
BATTLE OF KENNESAW
The 47 men detailed for picket on the evening of the 26th, went to their posts with seven other companies from the regiment, with no premonition of what was in store for them on the coming day. There was the usual desultory firing during the night, but the sunrise salute on the 27th was not confined to a single gun. Every battery fronting Hardee's corps and French's division, joined in the chorus. The cannonade was heavy and continuous until 8 a. m., when the Federal bugles sounded the advance.
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ROLL CALL AFTER BATTLE.
ROLL CALL AFTER BATTLE.
Few scenes in a soldier's life are touched with sadder interest than the first roll call after a battle. As Orderly sergeant of the Oglethorpes I had to call its roll, perhaps a thousand times, and yet I do not now remember one that touched my heart more deeply than that which closed that summer day at Kennesaw. The voices of twenty-two of those who had so promptly answered to the call of duty a few short hours before, were hushed and silent when their names were called. Some with Federal bayone
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UNDER TWO FLAGS.
UNDER TWO FLAGS.
Some time in '63 there came to the regiment a young and beardless boy, "the only son of his mother and she was a widow." Timid and shrinking, he was assigned to a company in which he had neither friend nor acquaintance, and he soon grew homesick and despondent. He had been my brother's schoolboy friend and in pity for his loneliness I made an effort to secure his transfer to the Oglethorpe's. His captain declined to approve the papers and the effort failed. Frail and unfitted to endure the hards
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AN UN-DRESS PARADE.
AN UN-DRESS PARADE.
In active service, brass bands and "dress parades" fell largely into "innocuous desuetude." When a band was seen going to the rear it was considered prima facie evidence that there was a fight on hand, while an order for dress parade dispelled any apprehension of an early engagement. I recall one instance, however, of an undress parade on the firing line and without a brass band accompaniment. In the early days of July, '64, the Northern and Southern banks of the Chattahoochee formed for a time
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RECKLESS COURAGE.
RECKLESS COURAGE.
On the same line, on another day, two opposing pickets, who had been taking alternate shots at each other, finally agreed on a challenge given by one and accepted by the other, to leave the protection of their pits and fight to a finish. The gurgling waters of the Chattahoochee lay between them. Standing on either bank, in full view of each other and without protection, they loaded and fired until one was killed. It was simply a life thrown recklessly away, without reason, and with no possible g
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WATERMELON AS A PERSUADER.
WATERMELON AS A PERSUADER.
During the summer of '64, Aaron Rhodes of the Oglethorpes, fell sick and was sent to the hospital at Greensboro, Ga. Dr. H. V. M. Miller, the "Demosthenes of the mountains," and an ante-bellum professor in the Medical College at Augusta, Ga., was the surgeon in charge. Aaron's father secured for him a leave of absence to visit his home and at its expiration went to Greensboro to procure an extension, as he was still unfit for duty. Dr. Miller told him that it was impossible to grant the request,
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SAVED FROM A NORTHERN PRISON BY A NOVEL.
SAVED FROM A NORTHERN PRISON BY A NOVEL.
In July '64, the writer passed through his first and only experience either as prisoner or an inmate of a hospital. Sherman was nearing Atlanta and his pickets lined the northern bank of the Chattahoochee. I had been sick for several days and Dr. Cumming, acting assistant surgeon, insisted that I should go to the rear. With me there went from the division hospital to Atlanta a boy soldier, who did not seem to be over 14 years of age, and I do not think he was as tall as his gun. If not the origi
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A SLAVES LOYALTY.
A SLAVES LOYALTY.
On the same day Col. H. D. Capers of the 12th Ga. Battalion, was in Oxford recuperating from a wound received in Virginia. Being advised of the approach of Garrard's division, he leaped through a rear window of his residence and taking a country road proceeded to change his base at double-quick step. Learning of his escape a squad of cavalry started in pursuit and on reaching a fork in the road they asked a negro standing by which route Col. Capers had taken. The slave, faithful to his master's
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ONE AGAINST THREE THOUSAND.
ONE AGAINST THREE THOUSAND.
Rumors of the raid had been current for several days before its occurrence, and a Mr. Jones, a citizen of Covington, Ga., whose hatred of everything blue had been inflamed by reports of outrages committed by Sherman's army, pledged himself to kill the first Federal soldier who approached his home. Learning that Garrard's division had reached the town, he loaded his squirrel rifle and taking his stand in front of the court house he awaited his opportunity. He had been on post but a little while w
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A BRAVE CAROLINA MAIDEN.
A BRAVE CAROLINA MAIDEN.
During my stay at the Oxford hospital a number of ladies who had refugeed from Charleston, So. Ca., were making their home in the village. Among them was a Miss Fair, a beautiful girl with a wealth of wavy brown hair. An ardent Southerner and anxious to benefit the cause she loved, she had determined to visit Sherman's army around Atlanta as a spy, bringing out such information as she would be able to procure. The raven locks were sacrificed, the face and hands were died, a cracker bonnet and ho
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A GEORGIA "HOSS."
A GEORGIA "HOSS."
While the raiders were in possession of the town, one of them belonging to a Michigan regiment rode up to the gate of the home where this girl was staying. The lady of the house was sitting on the porch and the cavalryman saluted her with the remark, "See what a fine Georgia "hoss" I have." "Yes," she replied, "one you stole I suppose." Turning to her ten-year-old son standing by the soldier said, "Here, boy, hold this "hoss." "I'd see you at the d—l first," replied the little Confederate. This
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NASHVILLE CAMPAIGN.
NASHVILLE CAMPAIGN.
As we marched more than 800 miles in this campaign, and as a record of these movements would probably interest only my old comrades, the general reader has my cheerful permission to skip the following condensed extracts from my journal and to turn his or her attention to the special incidents which succeed them. On Sept. 8, '64, two days after the enemy had abandoned our front at Lovejoy Station, we moved up to a position one mile above Jonesboro, remaining there ten days. On the 18th we moved t
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A CHRISTMAS DAY WITH FORREST.
A CHRISTMAS DAY WITH FORREST.
It was the winter of '64, and to those of us who wore the grey it was likewise the "winter of our discontent." The hopes of the Confederacy were on the wane. The clouds that hung above it had no silver lining, free or otherwise. Sherman was "marching through Georgia," leaving in his wake the ashes of many a Southern home. Hood's reckless raid on Nashville had ended in disaster and his ragged battalions were making tracks for the Tennessee river, (some of them with bare feet) at a quickstep known
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CLOSING DAYS OF THE CAMPAIGN.
CLOSING DAYS OF THE CAMPAIGN.
Early on the morning of the 26th the Federal cavalry came within range of our camp during a dense fog. A volley scattered them and our cavalry drove them back for two miles. Holding our position for two hours, and no further advance being made by the enemy, we resumed the march, camping at night near Lexington. A march of 12 miles on the 27th brought us to the Tennessee river, which had already been crossed by Hood with his army and wagon train. During the night, in expectation of an attack by t
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SOME INCIDENTS OF THE CAMPAIGN. "GO OFF AND WASH YOURSELVES."
SOME INCIDENTS OF THE CAMPAIGN. "GO OFF AND WASH YOURSELVES."
After the death of Gen. W. H. T. Walker, in July, '64, our brigade was assigned to Pat Cleburne's division. In his younger days he had served in the English army and had probably imbibed his ideas of military discipline from that service. On Sept. 26, '64, near Jonesboro, Ga., the army was reviewed by President Davis and in the afternoon of that day our regiment was ordered to appear at Cleburne's headquarters for inspection. The men had received no intimation of the order and some of the compan
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PARTING WITH HARDEE.
PARTING WITH HARDEE.
On the displacement of Gen. Johnston in July, 64, Gen. Hardee, as the ranking lieutenant general in the Army of Tennessee, felt aggrieved at the promotion of Gen. Hood above him, but was too patriotic to ask for an assignment to other fields while his lines were facing the enemy. At the close of the campaign he did prefer this request and on Sept. 28 took leave of his old corps. Many of them had followed him from Shiloh to Jonesboro. His almost unbroken success as brigade, division and corps com
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GEN. BATE AS A POET AND WIT.
GEN. BATE AS A POET AND WIT.
The allusion to Gen. Bate in the preceding incident recalls an address made by him Oct. 21, '64, at Gadsden, Ala., where we had halted for a day on our trip to Nashville. On the evening of that day the officers were serenaded by the army bands and responses were made by Beauregard, Cleburne, Clayton and Bate. The last sparkled with eloquence and wit and was the gem of the evening. Gov. Brown of Georgia, had issued an order exempting a goodly number of citizens of conscript age in each county fro
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PAT CLEBURNE AS AN ORATOR.
PAT CLEBURNE AS AN ORATOR.
Gen. Cleburne was a better fighter than speaker, and yet his oratory was sometimes very effective. Of his address on the occasion above referred to I recall but a single sentiment uttered by him. After referring to the outrages committed by Northern troops on Southern soil he said, "I am not fighting for right, I am fighting for vengeance." Of another address delivered by him on the same day I retain a more vivid recollection. Two soldiers of our brigade had appropriated a hog belonging to some
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HOOD'S STRATEGY.
HOOD'S STRATEGY.
This incident has no reference to Gen. John B. Hood, whose strategy in this campaign was apparently conspicuous only by its absence. It refers only to Private Hood of the Oglethorpes, who joined our ranks in '63 or '64, probably at Thunderbolt. As I recall his personality, he was an undergrown youth of sallow complexion and uncertain age. On our march to Nashville he grew sick or tired, and stopped at the home of a citizen to recuperate. Some days later a squad of Yankee soldiers stopped at the
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A LUCKY FIND.
A LUCKY FIND.
While ferrying the army train across the Tennessee river, the flat in charge of Sergeant S. C. Foreman of the Oglethorpes, brought in a box or case containing three hundred pounds of nice dry salted bacon. It was reported to me that they had found it floating down the river and supposed it had been thrown in by the Federal garrison at Florence to prevent its capture by Hood's army. I swallowed the story and some of the meat and had no occasion to question the correctness of the information until
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"WHO ATE THE DOG."
"WHO ATE THE DOG."
This inquiry, while not invested with the same degree of mystery, nor enjoying as large a measure of notoriety as "Who struck Billy Patterson?" nevertheless echoed on many a hillside and enlivened many a camp fire on our trip to Nashville. The incident which gave rise to it occurred soon after we left the Tennessee river on this ill-fated tramp. To prevent depredations upon the property of citizens along the route of our march, a provost guard had been formed, in command of which was placed an o
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WHERE IS THE OVEN?
WHERE IS THE OVEN?
Army life is not specially conducive to personal cleanliness, nor to a high regard for the minor proprieties of life. A young lady visiting Camp McKenzie, near Augusta, Ga., during the Spanish-American war, was shocked by seeing a soldier drop a piece of bread upon the ground and after picking it up resume its mastication. If this sketch should meet her eye, that feeling will probably be reawakened and intensified: During the later years of the Confederate war wash basins in camp were an unknown
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AMENDE HONORABLE.
AMENDE HONORABLE.
It has been my purpose in these records to present the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. It has not been my purpose to do any wrong, express or implied, to any member of either of the human or the canine race. In justice therefore to the truth of history and to the "yaller dog" as well, it is perhaps proper to say that since penning the preceding "dog" sketch, an old comrade has informed me that the "mutton (?) ham" to which allusion was made in that sketch, had its origin in the
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COURAGE SUBLIME.
COURAGE SUBLIME.
In concluding these reminiscences of the Nashville campaign, a campaign so fraught with disaster to our cause, I am glad to throw over them at their close the glamour of an incident that in its display of infinite courage gilds with its glory even the gloom of defeat. In a subsequent sketch I shall have occasion to pay some tribute to the conspicuous gallantry of the color-bearer of the First Florida regiment in our last charge at Bentonville. Under the inspiration of the "Rebel Yell" and the co
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THE CLOSING CAMPAIGN.
THE CLOSING CAMPAIGN.
A weeks' stay in the vicinity of Corinth, Miss., and orders were received for the transfer of Stewart's and Cheatham's corps to the East to aid Hardee in an effort to prevent a junction of the armies of Grant and Sherman....
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AN ARCTIC RIDE.
AN ARCTIC RIDE.
Transportation by rail was furnished only to the sick and barefooted, who were ordered to report at Corinth at daylight, Jan. 10th. Weakened by an attack of chill and fever I joined the sick squad, which left camp at 1 a. m., tramped through the mud and rain, waded several streams and reached Corinth in the early morning with our clothing wet to our knees. In this condition, with no opportunity to dry our drenched garments, we rode in a box car without fire on a cold winter day from 8 a. m. unti
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CLEANED UP FINANCIALLY.
CLEANED UP FINANCIALLY.
No train passed next morning and we tramped down the railroad for 12 miles, stopping at Saltillo for the night. None of us were well, the weather was cold and to avoid sleeping on the damp, bare ground we began to reconnoiter for better lodging. By reason possibly of the favorable impression made by the writer on our host at Baldwin, I was made spokesman for the occasion. Knocking at the residence of a Mrs. B. I stated our condition in as impressive language as I could command and emphasized our
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A SAD HOME-COMING.
A SAD HOME-COMING.
Sixteen miles away, embowered in a grove of oak and elm, lay the home I had left, holding within the sacred shadow of its walls all that I loved best on earth. For nearly two months no tidings had come to me from them. We had been so constantly on the move that the letters written had never reached me. The latest message received had told me of my father's illness, but its tone gave me hope of his early recovery. Our passage through Augusta gave me the privilege of revisiting the old homestead,
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OUR LAST BATTLE.
OUR LAST BATTLE.
During the Confederate Reunion in Atlanta, Ga., in '98, a man with kindly eyes and grizzled beard approached me with extended hand and said, "Do you know me?" His face seemed familiar, but I was forced to confess that I could not exactly place him. "Do you know where I saw you last?" I was compelled to admit that I was still in the dark as to his identity. "Well," said he, "it was behind the biggest kind of a pine." "Now I know you, Sam Woods," said I. That pine supplied the missing link in my m
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CONCLUSION.
CONCLUSION.
I would be doing violence to the expressed wishes of an old comrade and messmate, one whose friendship for me was born at the camp fire, and was strengthened and intensified by common hardship and danger, if I were to close these records without adding a word in behalf of the cause for which we fought. Were these four wasted years? Was the war on the part of the South only a wicked rebellion, as our Northern friends have been pleased to term it? Speaking only for myself as a humble unit in the f
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ROSTER OF THE "OGLETHORPES," 1862-1865.
ROSTER OF THE "OGLETHORPES," 1862-1865.
Co. B. 12th Ga. Battalion. Co. A, 63rd Ga. Reg....
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OFFICERS.
OFFICERS.
Capt. J. V. H. Allen—Promoted Major 63rd Ga. July, 1863. Capt. Louis A. Picquet—Wounded May 28, '64, leg amputated. Capt. Wilberforce Daniel—Died in 1898. Lieut. W. G. Johnson—Died since the war. Lieut. *A. W. Blanchard—Wounded June 27, '64, promoted Capt. Co. K, 1st Ga., 1865. Lieut. C. T. Goetchius—Living in Augusta, Ga., 1900. Lieut. Geo. W. McLaughlin—Living in Augusta, Ga., 1900. 1st Serg. *W. A. Clark—Promoted 1st Lieut. Co. K, 1st Ga., April 10, '65. 2d Serg. *O. M. Stone—Promoted 1st Lie
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PRIVATES.
PRIVATES.
*John Q. Adams—Wounded accidentally, Thunderbolt, July 12, '63. W. F. Alexander—Living in Oglethorpe Co., 1900. R. H. Allen—Living in Burke Co., 1900. J. K. Arrington—Living in Alabama, 1900. Philip Backus—Died since the war. C. T. Bayliss—Killed at Kennesaw, June 27, '64. Henry Beale. *Jas. A. Beasley—Wounded at Bentonville, March 19, '65. C. W. Beatty—Died of disease, Aug. 31, '63. *D. C. Blount. Thos. Blount. Geo. W. Bouchillon—Died since the war. Jas. W. Bones. Henry Booth—Wounded Peach Tree
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OGLETHORPE INFANTRY, CO. B.
OGLETHORPE INFANTRY, CO. B.
When the Oglethorpes offered their services to the Confederate government in '61 the married men in its ranks were, by a vote of the Company, excluded from the enlistment except as commissioned officers. After the departure of the Company for the seat of war the members, who were left behind, effected a new organization and were known as "Co. B." Their purpose was to organize for home defence, but in November, '61, they were ordered to Savannah by Gov. Brown, and were assigned to the 9th Regimen
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SHIPS THAT DID NOT PASS IN THE NIGHT.
SHIPS THAT DID NOT PASS IN THE NIGHT.
Brad Merry's name recalls an incident that occurred at the Charleston Reunion in 1899. Brad and the writer had agreed to make the homeward trip together. On reaching the train I failed to meet him. The coaches were crowded, but I finally secured a seat with a stranger, who after the formation of a railroad acquaintance, proved to be Rev. T. P. Cleveland, living near Atlanta. After a pleasant chat about our mutual friends in Atlanta and elsewhere, I strolled through the train in search of my frie
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OGLETHORPE INFANTRY, CO. B.
OGLETHORPE INFANTRY, CO. B.
(Company A, Ninth Regiment Georgia State Troops.)...
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OFFICERS.
OFFICERS.
Edwin W. Ansley, Captain. Frank H. Miller, First Lieutenant. Thomas H. Holleyman, Second Lieutenant. M. G. Hester, Third Lieutenant. Ed. F. Kinchley, Commissary. W. C. Sibley, Secretary and Treasurer. G. E. Boulineau, Orderly. G. W. Hersey, Second Sergeant. S. A. Verdery, Third Sergeant. Ed. E. Dortic, Fourth Sergeant. W. A. Paul, First Corporal. J. M. Weems, Second Corporal. W. H. Frazer, Third Corporal. James Heney, Fourth Corporal....
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PRIVATES.
PRIVATES.
Armstrong, Pat. Bruckner, J. D. Butler, G. P. Barrow, Wm. Bailie, G. A. Butt, Wm. P. Cheesborough, Wm. Chenell, John. Calvin, M. V. Cress, J. G. Cheesborough, C. M. DuBose, Robt. M. Davis, Jas. S. Duvall, R. B. Davies, John N. Day, John H. Fleming, Peter L. Gartrell, Jas. M. Glover, Wm. Heard, Henry. Henry, Jacob A. Hett, Ed. Hitt, Dan W. Hubbard, Jas. C. Jonas, Chas H. Kerniker, Ed. Kenner, Jas. H. Lane, Lucius A. Mulherin, Wm. Marshall, Jno. D. Merry, Brad. Nunn, Tom P. Norris, W. B. Nelson, T
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OFFICERS.
OFFICERS.
Captain, Edwin W. Ansley. First Lieutenant, M. G. Hester. Second Lieutenant, Jas. M. Weems. Third Lieutenant, E. E. Dortic. First Sergeant, Wm. K. Thompson. Second Sergeant, Walter H. Frazer. Third Sergeant, Geo. P. Butler. Fourth Sergeant, Wm. A. Griffin. Fifth Sergeant, J. D. Marshall. First Corporal, W. H. Miller. Second Corporal, Thos. O'Hara. Third Corporal, Bradford Merry. Fourth Corporal, M. V. Calvin. Secretary, Henry P. Richmond. Musicians, W. B. White, E. A. Young....
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PRIVATES.
PRIVATES.
Anderson, W. F. E. Bruckner, J. D. Bunch, G. M. Bass, Geo. F. Boddie, John S. Boulineau, W. A. Cheesborough, C. M. Carroll, J. R. Cleckley, A. Duke, J. B. Duke, John F. Duke, B. F. Duvall, R. B. Duddy, Wm. Epps, W. D. Fowler, J. C. Gardiner, H. N. Gates, Wm. Hall, E. H. Hall, A. G. Helmuth, F. Hendrix, W. H. Hinton, G. W. Isaacs, Wm. King, Jesse. Kerniker, Edward. Lamback, Geo. F. Mulherin, Wm. Manders, J. J. Morgan, Evan. Mathis, J. T. Nelson, T. C. Peppers, J. M. Peppers, A. H. Roberts, Chas.
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ONE OF MY HEROES.
ONE OF MY HEROES.
Personal courage, when from the lack of selfish ends, it rises to the plane of real chivalry, has always met with willing homage from the hearts of men. I do not know that hero-worship has entered largely into my own mental or moral makeup, and yet for thirty years and more my heart has paid its silent and yet earnest tribute to one, who in unadulterated grit and innate chivalry was the peer of any man I have ever known. I have called him my hero, but he was mine, perhaps, only by right of disco
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BEN HILL AND THE DOG. A REMINISCENCE.
BEN HILL AND THE DOG. A REMINISCENCE.
Just fifty years ago in the unceiled, unpainted and largely unfurnished rooms of an "Old Field School," holding a blue-backed speller in my boyish hands, I sat with a row of barefoot urchins on a plain pine bench and watched with sleepy eyes the mellow sunshine creeping all too slowly towards the 12 o'clock mark cut by the teacher into the school room floor. This primitive timepiece that marked the boundary line between school hours and the midday intermission, known in schoolboy vernacular as "
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THE REBEL CHAPLAIN AND THE DYING BOY IN BLUE.
THE REBEL CHAPLAIN AND THE DYING BOY IN BLUE.
The touching incident recorded in the following verses occurred on a bloody Western battlefield in the old war days in the '60's. Rev. J. B. McFerrin, formerly of Nashville, Tenn., and now in Heaven, an able and honored minister of the Methodist church, and for four years a Confederate chaplain in the army of Tennessee, was the Christian hero of this tenderly pathetic story. His untiring devotion to the sick and wounded amid the dangers and hardships of camp and field are gratefully remembered b
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