menu_book Chapter 11

chapter eleven of company h by sam r watkins this librivox recording is in the public domain dalton general joseph e johnson general joseph e johnson now took command of the army general bragg was relieved and had become jeff davis's war adviser at richmond va we had followed general bragg all through this long war we had got sort of used to his ways but he was never popular with his troops i felt sorry for him bragg's troops would have loved him if he had allowed them to do so for many a word was spoken in his behalf after he had been relieved of the command as a general i have spoken of him in these memoirs not personally i try to state facts so that you may see reader why our cause was lost i have no doubt that bragg ever did what he thought was best he was but a man under the authority of another but now allow me to introduce you to old joe fancy if you please a man about fifty years old rather small of stature but firmly and compactly built an open and honest countenance and a keen but restless black eye that seemed to read your very inmost thoughts

in his dress he was a perfect dandy he ever wore the very finest clothes that could be obtained carrying out in every point the dress and paraphernalia of the soldier as adopted by the war department at richmond never omitting anything even to the trappings of his horse bridle and saddle his hat was decorated with a star and feather his coat with every star and embellishment and he wore a bright new sash big gauntlets and silver spurs he was the very picture of a general but he found the army depleted by battles and worse yea much worse by desertion the men were deserting by tens and hundreds and i might say by thousands the morale of the army was gone the spirit of the soldiers was crushed their hope gone the future was dark and gloomy they would not answer at roll call discipline had gone a feeling of mistrust pervaded the whole army a trainload of provisions came into dalton the soldiers stopped it before it rolled into the station burst open every car and carried off all the bacon meal and flour that was on board wild riot was the order of the day everything was confusion worse confounded when the news came like pouring oil upon the troubled waters that general joe e johnson of virginia had taken command of the army of tennessee men returned to their companies order was restored and richard was himself again

general johnson issued a universal amnesty to all soldiers absent without leave instead of a scrimp pattern of one day's rations he ordered two days rations to be issued being extra for one day he ordered tobacco and whiskey to be issued twice a week he ordered sugar and coffee and flour to be issued instead of meal he ordered old bacon and ham to be issued instead of blue beef he ordered new tents and marquees he ordered his soldiers new suits of clothes shoes and hats in fact there had been a revolution sure enough he allowed us what general bragg had never allowed mortal man a furlough he gave furloughs to one-third of his army at a time until the whole had been furloughed a new era had dawned a new epoch had been dated he passed through the ranks of the common soldiers shaking hands with every one he met he restored the soldier's pride he brought the manhood back to the private's bosom he changed the order of roll-call standing guard drill and such nonsense as that

the revolution was complete he was loved respected admired yea almost worshipped by his troops i do not believe there was a soldier in his army but would gladly have died for him with him everything was his soldiers and the newspapers criticising him at the time said he would feed his soldiers if the country starved we soon got proud the blood of the old cavaliers tingled in our veins we did not feel that we were serfs and vagabonds we felt that we had a home and a country worth fighting for and if need be worth dying for one regiment could whip an army and did do it in every instance before the command was taken from him in atlanta but of this another time chaplains were brought back to their regiments dr c t quintard and rev c d elliot and other chaplains held divine services every sabbath prayer was offered every evening at retreat and the morale of the army was better in every respect the private soldier once more regarded himself a gentleman and a man of honor we were willing to do and die and dare anything for our loved south and the stars and bars of the confederacy in addition to this general johnson ordered his soldiers to be paid up every cent that was due them and a bounty of fifty dollars besides

he issued an order to his troops offering promotion and a furlough for acts of gallantry and bravery on the field of battle the cloven foot of tyranny and oppression was not discernible in the acts of officers from general down to corporal as formerly notwithstanding all this grand transformation in our affairs old joe was a strict disciplinarian everything moved like clockwork men had to keep their arms and clothing in good order the artillery was rubbed up and put in good condition the wagons were greased and the harness and hamstrings oiled extra rations were issued to negroes who were acting as servants a thing unprecedented before in the history of the war well old joe was a yurker he took all the tricks he was a commander he kept everything up and well in hand his lines of battle were invulnerable the larger his command the easier he could handle it when his army moved it was a picture of battle everything in its place as laid down by scientific military rules when a man was to be shot he was shot for the crimes he had done and not to intimidate and cow the living and he had ten times as many shot as bragg had he had seventeen shot at tunnel hill and a whole company at rocky face ridge and two spies hung at ringgold gap

but they were executed for their crimes no one knew it except those who had to take part as executioners of the law instead of the whipping-post he instituted the pillories and barrel shirt get brutus to whistle the barrel shirt for you the pillory was a new-fangled concern if you went to the guard-house of almost any regiment you would see some poor fellow with his head and his hands sticking through a board it had the appearance of a fellow taking a running start at an angle of forty-five degrees with a view of bursting a board over his head but when the board burst his head and both his hands were clamped in the bursted places the barrel shirt brigade used to be marched on drill and parade you could see a fellow's head and feet and whenever one of the barrels would pass you would hear the universal cry come out of that barrel i see your head and feet sticking out there might have been a mortification and a disgrace in the pillory and the barrel shirt business to those that had to use them but they did not bruise and mutilate the physical man when one of them had served out his time he was as good as new

old joe had greater military insight than any general of the south not excepting even lee he was the born soldier seemed born to command when his army moved it moved solid cavalry artillery wagon train and infantry stepped the same tread to the music of the march his men were not allowed to be butchered for glory and to have his name in a battle fought with a number of killed and wounded go back to richmond for his own glory when he fought he fought for victory not for glory he would fall back right in the face of the foe as quietly and orderly as if on dress parade and when his enemies crowded him a little too closely he would about-face and give them a terrible chastisement he could not be taken by surprise by any flank movement of the enemy his soldiers were to him his children he loved them they were never needlessly sacrificed he was always ready to meet the attack of the enemy when his line of battle was formed it was like a wall of granite his adversaries knew him and dreaded the certain death that awaited them his troops were brave they laughed in the face of battle he had no rear guard to shoot down any one who ran they couldn't run the army was solid the veriest coward that was ever born became a brave man and a hero under his manipulation

his troops had the utmost confidence in him and feared no evil they became an army of veterans whose lines could not be broken by the armies of the world battle became a pastime and a pleasure and the rattle of musketry and roar of cannon were but the music of victory and success commissaries before general joseph e johnson took command of the army of tennessee the soldiers were very poorly fed it is true but the blame was not entirely attributable to general bragg he issued enough and more than enough to have bountifully fed his army but there was a lot of men in the army generally denominated commissaries and their gizzards as well as fingers had to be greased there was commissary general then corps commissary then division commissary then brigade commissary then regimental commissary then company commissary now you know were you to start a nice hind quarter of beef which had to pass through all these hands and every commissary take a choice steak and roast off it there would be but little ever reach the company and the poor man among the johnnies had to feast like bears in winter they had to suck their paws but the rich johnnies who had money could go to almost any of the gentleman denominated commissaries

they ought to have been called cormorants and buy of them much nice fat beef and meal and flour and sugar and coffee and nice canvassed hams etc i have done it many times they were keeping back the rations that had been issued to the army and lining their own pockets but when general johnson took command this manipulating business played out rations would spile on their hands othello's occupation was gone they received only one hundred and forty dollars a month then and the high private got plenty to eat and mr cormorant quit making as much money as he had heretofore done were you to go to them and make complaint they would say i have issued regular army rations to your company and what is left over is mine and they were mighty exact about it dalton we went into winter quarters at dalton and remained there during the cold bad winter of eighteen sixty three sixty four about four months the usual routine of army life was carried on day by day with not many incidents to vary the monotony of camp life

but occasionally the soldiers would engage in a snowball battle in which generals colonels captains and privates all took part they would usually divide off into two grand divisions one line naturally becoming the attacking party and the other the defensive the snowballs would begin to fly hither and thither with an occasional knock-down and sometimes an ugly wound where some mean fellow had enclosed a rock in his snowball it was fun while it lasted but after it was over the soldiers were wet cold and uncomfortable i have seen charges and attacks and routs and stampedes etc but before the thing was over one side did not know one from the other it was a general knock-down and drag-out affair shooting a deserter one morning i went over to deschler's brigade of cleburne's division to see my brother-in-law dr j e dixon the snow was on the ground and the boys were hard at it snowballing while i was standing looking on a file of soldiers marched by me with a poor fellow on his way to be shot he was blindfolded and set upon a stump and the detail formed the command ready aim fire was given the volley discharged and the prisoner fell off the stump

he had not been killed it was the sergeant's duty to give the coup d'etat should not the prisoner be slain the sergeant ran up and placed the muzzle of his gun at the head of the poor pleading and entreating wretch his gun was discharged and the wretched man only powder burned the gun being one that had been loaded with powder only the whole affair had to be gone over again the soldiers had to reload and form and fire the culprit was killed stone dead this time he had no sooner been taken up and carried off to be buried than the soldiers were throwing snowballs as hard as ever as if nothing had happened ten men killed at the mourners bench at this place dalton a revival of religion sprang up and there was divine service every day and night soldiers became serious on the subject of their souls salvation in sweeping the streets and cleaning up an old tree had been set on fire and had been smoking and burning for several days and nobody seemed to notice it that night was service as usual and the singing and sermon were excellent the sermon was preached

by rev j g bolton chaplain of the fiftieth tennessee regiment assisted by rev c d elliott the services being held in the fourth tennessee regiment as it was the custom to call up mourners a long bench had been placed in proper position for them to kneel down at ten of them were kneeling at the mourners bench pouring out their souls in prayer to god asking him for the forgiveness of their sins and for the salvation of their souls for jesus christ their redeemer's sake when the burning tree without any warning fell with a crash right across the ten mourners crushing and killing them instantly god had heard their prayers their souls had been carried to heaven hereafter henceforth and forevermore there was no more marching battling or camp duty for them they had joined the army of the hosts of heaven by order of the general they were buried with great pomp and splendor that is for those times every one of them was buried in a coffin brass bands followed playing the dead march and platoons fired over their graves it was a soldiers funeral

the beautiful burial service of the episcopal church was read by rev allen tribble a hymn was sung and prayer offered and then their graves were filled as we marched sadly back to camp dr c t quintard dr c t quintard was our chaplain for the first tennessee regiment during the whole war and he stuck to us from the beginning even unto the end during weekdays he ministered to us physically and on sundays spiritually he was one of the purest and best men i ever knew he would march and carry his knapsack every day the same as any soldier he had one text he preached from which i remember now it was the flying scroll he said there was a flying scroll continually passing over our heads which was like the reflections in a looking-glass and all of our deeds both good and bad were written upon it he was a good doctor of medicine as well as a good doctor of divinity and above either of these he was a good man per se every old soldier of the first tennessee regiment will remember dr c t quintard with the kindest and most sincere emotions of love and respect he would go off into the country and get up for our regiment clothing and provisions and wrote a little prayer and song-book which he had published and gave it to the soldiers

i learned that little prayer and song-book off by heart and have a copy of it in my possession yet which i would not part with for any consideration dr quintard's nature was one of love he loved the soldiers and the soldiers loved him and deep down in his heart of hearts was a deep and everlasting love for jesus christ the redeemer of the world implanted there by god the father himself has you got my hog one day a party of us privates concluded that we would go across the conasauga river on a raid we crossed over in a canoe after traveling for some time we saw a neat-looking farmhouse and sent one of the party forward to reconnoiter he returned in a few minutes and announced that he had found a fine fat sow in a pen near the house now the plan we formed was for two of us to go into the house and keep the inmates interested and the other was to toll and drive off the hog i was one of the party which went into the house there was no one there but an old lady and her sick and widowed daughter they invited us in very pleasantly kindly and soon prepared us a very nice and good dinner

the old lady told us of all her troubles and trials her husband had died before the war and she had had three sons in the army two of whom had been killed and the youngest who had been conscripted was taken with the camp fever and died in the hospital at atlanta and she had nothing to subsist upon after eating up what they then had i was much interested and remained a little while after my comrade had left i soon went out having made up my mind to have nothing to do with the hog affair i did not know how to act i was in a bad fix i had heard the gunfire and knew its portent i knew the hog was dead and went on up the road and soon overtook my two comrades with the hog which had been skinned and cut up and was being carried on a pole between them i did not know what to do and looking back i saw the old lady coming and screaming at the top of a voice you got my hog you got my hog it was too late to back out now we had the hog and we had to make the most of it even if we did ruin a needy and destitute family we went on until we came to the conessauga river when lo and behold the canoe was on the other side of the river it was dark then and getting darker and what was to be done we did not know the weather was as cold as blue blazes and spitting snow from the northwest that river had to be crossed that night

i undressed and determined to swim it and went in but the little thin ice of the bank cut my feet i waded in a little further but soon found i would cramp if i tried to swim it i came out and put my clothes on and thought of a gate about a mile back we went back and took the gate off its hinges and carried it to the river and put it in the water but soon found out that all three of us could not ride on it so one of the party got on it and started across he did very well until he came to the other bank which was a high bluff and if he got off the center of the gate it would capsize and he would get a ducking he could not get off the gate i told him to pole the gate up to the bank so that one side would rest on the bank and then make a quick run for the bank he thought he had got the gate about the right place and made a run and the gate went under and so did he and water ten feet deep my comrade font c who was with me on the bank laughed i thought until he had hurt himself but with me i assure you it was a mighty sickly grin and with the other one barclay jay it was anything but a laughing matter

to me he seemed a hero barclay did about to liberate me from a very unpleasant position he soon returned with the canoe and we crossed the river with the hog we worried and tugged with it and got it to camp just before daylight i had a guilty conscience i assure you the hog was cooked but i did not eat a piece of it i felt that i had rather starved and i believe that it would have choked me to death if i had attempted it a short time afterward an old citizen from murray county visited me my father sent me by him a silver watch which i am wearing today and eight hundred dollars in old issue confederate money i took two hundred dollars of the money and had it funded for new issue thirty-three and a third cents discount the other six hundred i sent to vance thompson then on duty at montgomery with instructions to send it to my brother dave watkins uncle asa freeman and j e dixon all of whom were in wheeler's cavalry at some other point i knew not where after getting my money i found that i had a hundred and thirty-three dollars and thirty-three and a third cents

i could not rest i took one hundred dollars new issue and going by my lone self back to the old lady's house i said madam some soldiers were here a short time ago and took your hog i was one of that party and i wished to pay you for it what was it worth well sir says she money is of no value to me i cannot get any article that i wish i would much rather have the hog says i madam that is an impossibility your hog is dead and eat up and i have come to pay you for it the old lady's eyes filled with tears she said that she was perfectly willing to give the soldiers everything she had and if she thought it had done us any good she would not charge anything for it well says i madam here is a hundred dollar new issue confederate bill will this pay you for your hog well sir she says drawing herself up to her full height her cheeks flushed and her eyes flashing i do not want your money i would feel that it was blood money i saw there was no further use to offer it to her i sat down by the fire and the conversation turned upon other subjects i helped the old lady catch a chicken an old han about the last she had for dinner went with her in the garden and pulled a bunch of eschalots brought two buckets of water and cut and brought enough wood

to last several days after a while after a while she invited me to dinner and after a while she invited me to dinner and after dinner i sat down by her side took her old hand and mine and told her the whole affair of the hog from beginning to end how sorry i was and how i did not eat any of that hog and asked her as a special act of kindness and favor to me to take the hundred dollars that i felt bad about it and that if she would take it it would ease my conscience i laid the money on the table and left i have never in my life made a raid upon anybody else target shooting by some hook or crook or blockade running or smuggling or mason and slidell or raphael semmes or something of the sort the confederate states government had come in possession of a small number of whitworth guns the finest long-range guns in the world and a monopoly by the english government they were to be given to the best shots in the army one day captain joe p lee and company h went out to shoot at a target for the gun we all wanted the gun because if we got it we would be sharpshooters and be relieved from camp duty etc all the generals and officers came out to see us shoot the mark was put up about five hundred yards on a hill and each of us had three shots every shot that was fired hit the board but there was one man who came a little closer to the spot than any other one and that whitworth was awarded him

and as we turned around to go back to camp a buck rabbit jumped up and was streaking it as fast as he could make tracks all the boys whooping and yelling as hard as they could when jimmy webster raised his gun and pulled down on him and cut the rabbit's head entirely off with a mini ball right back of his ears he was about two hundred and fifty yards off it might have been an accidental shot but general leonidas polk laughed very heartily at the incident and i heard him ask one of his staff if the whitworth gun had been awarded the staff officer responded that it had and a certain man in colonel farquahson's regiment the fourth tennessee was the successful contestant and i heard general polk remark i wish i had another gun to give i would give it to the young man that shot the rabbit's head off none of our regiment got a whitworth but it has been subsequently developed that our regiment had some of the finest shots in it the world ever produced for instance george and mac campbell of murray county billy watkins of nashville and colonel h r field and many others who i cannot now recall to mind in this rapid sketch uncle zach and aunt daphne while at this place i went out one day to hunt some one to wash my clothes for me i never was a good washerwoman i could cook bring water and cut wood but never was much on the wash in fact it was an up-hill business for me to wash up the things after grub time in our mess

i took my clothes and started out and soon came to a little old negro hut i went in and says to an old negress auntie i would like for you to do a little washing for me the old creature was glad to get it as i agreed to pay her what it was worth her name was aunt daphne and if she had been a politician she would have been a success i do not remember of a more fluent conversationalist in my life her tongue seemed to be on a balance and both ends were trying to out-talk the other but she was a good woman her husband was named uncle zach and was the exact counterpart of aunt daphne he always sat in the chimney corner his feet in the ashes and generally fast asleep i am certain i never saw an uglier or more baboonish face in my life but uncle zach was a good christian and i would sometimes wake him up to hear him talk christian he said that when he fest de debil came dere one night an say zach come go wid me an den de debil take me to hell an jest stretch a wire across hell an hang me up jest like a side o bacon through the tongue

well dere i hang like de bacon an de grease kep droppin down an would blaze up all around me i jest stay dere an burn an after a while de debil came round wid his gun an say zach i gwine to shoot you an jest as he raised a gun i jest jerk loose from dat wire an i jest fly to heaven fly did you have wings oh yes sir i had wings well after you got to heaven what did you do then well i jest went to eatin grass like all de balanced of de lambs what were they eatin grass oh yes sir well what color were the lambs uncle zach well sir some of them was white and some black and some spotted were there no old rams or ewes among them no sir dey was all lambs well uncle zach what sort of a lookin lamb were you well sir i was sort of specklish and brown like old zach begins to get sleepy did you have horns uncle zach well some of them had little horns that looked like they were just sort of sproutin like zach begins to nod and doze a little

well how often did they shear the lambs uncle zach well well well well and uncle zach was fast asleep and snoring and dreaming no doubt of the beautiful pastures glimmering above the clouds of heaven red tape while here i applied for a furlough now reader here commenced a series of red tapeism that always had characterized the officers under braggism it had to go through every officer's hands from corporal up before it was forwarded to the next officer of higher grade and so it passed through every officer's hands he felt it was his sworn and bound duty to find some informality in it and it was just brought back for correction according to his notions you see well after getting the corporal's consent and approval it goes up to the sergeant it ain't right some informality perhaps in the wording and spelling then the lieutenants had to have a say in it and when it got to the captain it had to be read and re-read to see that every i was dotted and t crossed but returned because there was one word that he couldn't make out

then it was forwarded to the colonel he would snatch it out of your hand grit his teeth and say damn it feel in his best pocket and take out a lead pencil and simply write a p p for approved this would also be returned with instructions that the colonel must write approved in a plain hand and with pen and ink then i went to the brigadier general he would be engaged in a game of poker and would tell you to call again as he didn't have time to bother with those small affairs at present i'll see your five and raise you ten i have a straight flush pick the pot after setting him out and when it wasn't his deal i got up and walked around always keeping the furlough in sight after reading carefully the furlough he says well sir you have failed to get the adjutant's name to it you ought to have the colonel an adjutant and you must go back and get their signatures after this you go to the major general he was an old aristocratic fellow who never smiles and tries to look as sour as vinegar he looks at the furlough and looks down at the ground holding the furlough in his hand in a kind of dreamy way and then says well sir this is all informal you say well general what is the matter with it he looks at you as if he hadn't heard you and repeats very slowly well sir this is informal and hands it back to you you take it feeling all the while you wished you had not applied for a furlough and by summoning all the fortitude that you possess you say in a husky and choking voice

well general you say the general in a sort of gulp and dry swallow what's the matter with the furlough you look askance and he very languidly retakes the furlough and glances over it orders his negro boy to go and feed his horse asks his cook how long it will be before dinner halloos at some fellow away down the hill that he would like for him to call at four o'clock this evening and tells his adjutant to sign the furlough the adjutant tries to be smart and polite smiles a smile both childlike and bland rolls up his shirt-sleeves and winks one eye at you gets a straddle of a camp-stool whistles a little stanza of and with a big flourish of his pen writes the major-general's name in small letters and his own the adjutant's in very large letters bringing the pen under it with tremendous flourishes and writes approved and forwarded you feel relieved you feel that the anaconda's coil had been suddenly relaxed then you start out to the lieutenant-general you find him he is in a very learned and dignified conversation about the war in chile

well you get very anxious for the war in chile to get to an end the general pulls his side-whiskers looks wise and tells his adjutant to look over it and if correct sign it the adjutant does not deign to condescend to notice you he seems to be full of gumbo or calf-tail soup and does not wish his equanimity disturbed he takes hold of the document and writes the lieutenant-general's name and furnishes his own name while looking in another direction approved and forwarded then you take it up to the general the guard stops you in a very formal way and asks what do you want you tell him he asks for the orderly the orderly gives it to the adjutant and you are informed that it will be sent to your colonel to-night and given to you at roll call in the morning now reader the above is a pretty true picture of how i got my furlough i get a furlough after going through all the formality of red tapeism and being snubbed with tweedledum and tweedledee i got my furlough when it started out it was on the cleanest piece of paper that could be found in buck lanier's sutler's store after i came back it was pretty well used up and looked as if it had gone through a very dark place and been beat with a soot-bag but anyhow i know that i did not appreciate my furlough half as much as i thought i would

i felt like returning it to the gentlemen with my compliments declining their kind favors i felt that it was unwillingly given and as like begets like it was very unwillingly received honestly i felt as if i had made a bad bargain and was keen to rue the trade i did not know what to do with it but anyhow i thought i would make the best of a bad bargain i got on the cars at dalton now there is a thing i had long since forgotten about it was the first first-class passenger car that i had been in since i had been a soldier the conductor passed around and handed me a ticket with these words on it if you wish to travel with ease keep this ticket in sight if you please and if you wish to take a nap just stick this in your hat or cap this was the poetry reader that was upon the ticket the conductor called around every now and then especially if you were asleep to look at your ticket and every now and then a captain and a detail of three soldiers would want to look at your furlough i thought before i got to silva alabama that i wished the ticket and furlough both were in the bottom of the ocean and myself back in camp everywhere i went someone wanted to see my furlough

before i got my furlough i thought it sounded big furlough was a war word and i did not comprehend its meaning until i got one the very word furlough made me sick then i feel fainty now whenever i think of furlough it has a sickening sound in the ring of it furlough furlough it ought to have been called every man i met had a furlough in fact it seemed to have the very double extract of romance about it fur too eh men who i knew had never been in the army in their lives all had furloughs where so many men ever got furloughs from i never knew but i know now they were like the old bachelor who married the widow with ten children he married a ready-made family they had ready-made furloughs but i have said enough on the furlough question it enthralled me let it pass don't want any more furloughs but while on my furlough i got with captain g m v kinsser a fine-dressed and handsome cavalry captain whom all the ladies as they do it the present day fell in love with

the captain and myself were great friends the captain gave me his old coat to act captain in but the old thing wouldn't act i would keep the collar turned down one night we went to call on a couple of beautiful and interesting ladies near selma we chatted the girls until the wee small hours of morning and when the young ladies retired remarked that they would send a servant to show us to our room we waited no servant came the captain and myself snoozed it out as best we could about daylight the next morning the captain and myself thought we would appear as if we had risen very early and began to move about and opening the door there lay a big black negro on his knees and face now reader what do you suppose that negro was doing you could not guess in a week the black rascal hideous terrible to contemplate vile outrageous well words cannot express it what do you suppose he was doing he was fast asleep he had come thus far and could go no further and fell asleep there is where the captain and myself found him at daylight the next morning

we left for selma immediately after breakfast leaving the family in ignorance of the occurrence the captain and myself had several other adventures but the captain always had the advantage of me he had the good clothes and the good looks and got all the good presents from the pretty young ladies well you might say cut me out on all occasions that's what makes me spies a furlough but then furlough sounds big you know chapter