Drum Taps in Dixie Part 22

His name? Well, the boys of the regiment who read this will know and it does not matter to the rest whether it was Smith, Jones or Brown.

Gen. Lee surrendered his army to Gen. Grant the 9th day of April, 1865.

There was skirmishing right up to the last minute, notwithstanding the fact that negotiations were in progress for 24 hours, but the last hotly contested battle that occurred between the forces was on the afternoon of the 7th, when the second corps of the army of the Potomac came in contact with the bulk of Lee's army on the old Lynchburg stage road.

They were intrenched on the crest of a long slope of open ground and Gen.

Miles' division was ordered to attack. The old first division of the second corps had been in the habit of sweeping things when they went for the enemy, but in this last fight they were repulsed by the desperate confederates, who, though they were weary and nearly famished, fought with the desperation of a hunted animal brought to bay.

It was in this encounter that the subject of this sketch received the wound that nearly cost him his life.

Gen. Miles' troops after reaching the works of the enemy had to retrace their steps and leave their dead and wounded under the guns of the enemy.

When our regiment re-formed again every one was looking around to see who was missing and it was then that Dennis Garrity discovered that Tabor had been left behind.

He would go back and find James, he said, and no entreaties would stop him.

"Dennis Garrity will bring that poor boy in or he'll lay out there on the field with him," he said, and Dennis went, with the bullets and sh.e.l.ls flying and brought in his "little James" on his back, fully a half a mile, and took him to the field surgeons and had his wound promptly attended to, which probably saved his life.

Dennis was with us in the final review when we marched down Pennsylvania avenue in the grandest and most impressive pageant that ever took place in this country.

Tabor was lying on a cot in a hospital.

We marched back to our Virginia camp that night, and as the men were unbuckling their equipments Dennis looked up and said: "'Twas a b.l.o.o.d.y shame that James wasn't with us to-day."

WOMAN AND WAR.

Down the picket-guarded lane Rolled the comfort-laden wain, Cheered by shouts that shook the plain, Soldier-like and merry; Phrases such as camps may teach, Sabre cuts of Saxon speech, Such as 'Bully!' "Them's the peach!"

'Wade in Sanitary!'

--Harte.

The names of women do not figure in the official reports of the war. They were not gazetted for gallant deeds; thousands were unknown beyond the neighborhood where they worked zealously to organize "Soldiers' Aid Societies," for no town was too remote from the scene of action not to have its relief committee who were constantly collecting comforts and necessities to be forwarded to the front.

What each family first started out to do for their own fathers, brothers, husbands and lovers soon became general, and many prompted by love and patriotism left home and its comforts and went down into the very edge of the great battles to help rescue the wounded. They endured hardships and proved themselves angels of mercy as only women can.

Tens of thousands of maimed veterans will remember with tenderness the n.o.ble women who ministered to them on the battlefield, on transports and in hospitals.

I am sure that none of Hanc.o.c.k's old corps will ever cease to remember the motherly Mrs. Husband, Miss Clara Barton, Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Anna Holstein, Miss Cornelia Hanc.o.c.k, a relative of the general; Miss Willetts, or Mrs.

Barlow, wife of Gen. Francis C. Barlow of the 1st division.

The story of the army life of the last named woman is full of interest and romance. She was a true friend of the men in the ranks, and her purse was frequently opened to give money to some wounded soldier who was being sent to some northern hospital without a cent in his pocket.

She followed her husband's troops through the unequaled and appalling scenes of blood and hardship in Grant's campaign of '64, using her strength so that she finally sickened and went home to die in a few months. If ever there was a pure n.o.ble woman it was Mrs. Barlow.

I heard an incident of a lady going among the wounded at Spottsylvania.

Seeing a pale-faced boy whose helplessness had touched her heart, she stopped by his side and said: "Is there anything that can be done for you, my poor boy?"

"No, thank you," was the reply, "but there's a fellow at my left that you might help," pointing to an ashen-faced man dressed in confederate gray.

"He's a rebel," she said, "and there's thousands of our own boys that need attention."

"That's so," the boy in blue said, "but he is far from home, helpless and among the enemy, and is somebody's boy and if he is a rebel, he's an American."

The reb feigned sleep, but he had heard every word, and when the woman kneeled down by his side and commenced to bathe his face and hands with bay rum the tears began to steal out from under his eyelashes and he finally burst right out crying. This was too much for the tender heart of woman and she cried, too, and rough men about them who had marched up in front of flaming guns the day before wept like children.

THE ARMY SUTLER.

The sutler was a prominent person in war times. He sold everything, from a mola.s.ses cookie to b.u.t.ter, at 80 or 90 cents a pound.

When the boys did not have the money they would get an order on the sutler from their captain, and the amount was charged up against their pay. The sutler would issue tickets in various amounts from 5 cents up.

The business was very profitable and many made fortunes. The soldiers used to regard the prosperous sutler with envy, but he is never heard of now, and I do not know of one who makes claim to having a.s.sisted in saving the Union in that capacity.

I remember our first pay day in Virginia. Our colonel thought it would be a fine thing to give the men a three days' holiday, so after dress parade he made a little speech about as follows:

"My poys, I vas browd of you and I vas goin' to gif you a tree day holiday. There vill pe no drills, no parades, no notting but fun. Haf a good time. Pe good poys and after it vas all ofer we vill go after that Sheneral Shackson and lick him like h--l."

As the sutlers all sold beer in the early part of the war, there was pretty hilarious times for three days.

Peddlers of all sorts used to infest the camps about pay day and more than one "pieman" got his cart upset during Col. Von Wagner's "three days'

grace."

In the summer of 1862 gold and silver went to a premium and got pretty scarce. It was before the "shinplasters" were issued and postage stamps were used largely in lieu of small change. I remember one day I was over among McClellan's troops, and as I was pa.s.sing a wagon where ice cream and soft drinks were dispensed, I heard some loud words and pretty soon someone cried out, "Over with the wagon boys," and over it went. The vendor claimed that someone had been treating a large crowd to everything he had to sell and then offered in payment stamps that had been once used on letters. Of course the boys took offense at an imputation on their honesty, hence the capsizing of the cart.

OLD LAt.i.tUDE AND LONGITUDE.

A lieutenant of our regiment who was captured at the second Bull Run, was returned to us some months later. We were then doing garrison duty near Arlington. Our company was at a fort named "Haggerty," which had been built on a little hill on the road leading from the Georgetown bridge to Arlington.

The roadway had been dug through the hill leaving the banks for a long distance on each side, from 10 to 40 feet above the road.

An old dry ca.n.a.l ran parallel with the road from the bridge to Alexandria.

The next day after the lieutenant had been returned to the regiment he obtained leave to go over to Washington for the purpose of supplying himself with a new uniform, and it is more than likely that he celebrated his release from captivity by visiting numerous places where liquid as well as other refreshments were dispensed. He did not return to camp until evening, and the night being dark and the officer not being familiar with the lay of the land he started up the bed of the old ca.n.a.l instead of the road. When opposite the fort he heard the drummers beating the tattoo and he made a sharp turn to the right and headed in the direction of the sounds.

After going a few rods he walked off the bank and dropped about 30 feet into 15 inches of soft Virginia mud. We heard cries of help interspersed with oaths and other remarks that would have done credit to a pirate captain. A light was procured, a crowd gathered and one of the men asked what was the matter. The voice was recognized and out of the depth came the response: "Its me sergeant and for G.o.d's sake come and help me out of this hole." Three or four of the men went to his rescue and when the party came up the pathway they were greeted by a large crowd headed by the captain, who inquired of the officer how it happened that he was down there in the road.

The lieutenant presented a ludicrous appearance, bare-headed and in his mud bedraggled uniform as he saluted and explained: "You see Cap'n," said he "I lost me lat.i.tude and longitude when I left the bridge." The captain laughed. The men shouted and ever after that he was known as "old lat.i.tude and longitude."

FAKING DISABILITY.

In a regiment of 1,000 men it is not to be wondered at that there are some few who are deficient in the qualities that make good soldiers.

Perhaps they had enrolled their names because they had been carried away by the enthusiasm of a "war meeting" where it was always pictured out as being an act of heroism to volunteer. Then the chances of promotion and the opportunities to see the country were always depicted in their most glowing colors by speakers who in most cases were very careful to not put their own names down. After the recruit has become an atom of a thousand he realizes that he is not of as much consequence as he expected to be, and it is not strange that now and then there was one who had not the "sand" to stand up like a man and be just as good a soldier as he could.

In that case he resorted to all sorts of ingenious devices to procure his discharge from the army.

In the summer of 1862 our surgeon--we used to call him "Old Symptoms"--was puzzled by the numerous cases of fever sores that he had to treat; finally he "got onto" their game by the accidental discovery of a man wearing a copper penny bound on his leg for the purpose of producing one. "Weak heart" was frequently feigned by a candidate for discharge and all sorts of deceptions were attempted on the surgeons, who had to be pretty good judges of human nature in order to detect the true from the false.