“The meal issued to the army was very coarse, and there were no sieves, and the beef, as a general thing, was hardly fit to feed to a dog. Some herds of Texas steers were corraled near the town, lean, gaunt, long-horned, repulsive looking creatures, and every morning the weakest of the herd were slaughtered for the day’s rations. In the Twentieth Alabama, each day a company of men could be seen having in their hands long ox-horns, upon which they occasionally blew a mournful blast, as with solemn steps and slow, they bore to a suitable burial place the beef issued to them for that day. Arrived at the spot a hole was dug, the meat was dumped into it, a mound was heaped over it, a funeral oration was said, the ox-horns once more sounded the dolorous requiem, and then the mourners returned to camp, their heads bowed down with grief and sorrow. Upon inquiring what this woeful pageant meant, I was informed that the men were simply engaged in “the burial ofOld Logan.”
“The meal issued to the army was very coarse, and there were no sieves, and the beef, as a general thing, was hardly fit to feed to a dog. Some herds of Texas steers were corraled near the town, lean, gaunt, long-horned, repulsive looking creatures, and every morning the weakest of the herd were slaughtered for the day’s rations. In the Twentieth Alabama, each day a company of men could be seen having in their hands long ox-horns, upon which they occasionally blew a mournful blast, as with solemn steps and slow, they bore to a suitable burial place the beef issued to them for that day. Arrived at the spot a hole was dug, the meat was dumped into it, a mound was heaped over it, a funeral oration was said, the ox-horns once more sounded the dolorous requiem, and then the mourners returned to camp, their heads bowed down with grief and sorrow. Upon inquiring what this woeful pageant meant, I was informed that the men were simply engaged in “the burial ofOld Logan.”
[4]Colonel J. J. Archer.
[5]This thrilling song was circulatedsub rosain New Orleans, and at times almost openly. Its bold and defiant tone shows it to have been written by one who must have suffered greatly at the hands of Butler.
[6]The Cotton Supply Association, of Manchester, England.
[7]A touching incident occurred in Montgomery at the beginning of the war. A soldier met a lovely and refined lady in the street, and feeling that in such times we are all sisters and brothers, and wishing to do homage to such beauty, he touched his hat and said: “Lady, I’m going to fight for you.” “Sir,” she instantly replied, “I am going to pray for you.”
[8]Constitutional Liberty against Oppression—a “Cause” decided many times in the Old World, yet to be taught in the New.
[9]The MemphisAppealpublished the following:—“On yesterday all the cotton in Memphis was burned. Probably not less than 300,000 bales have been burned in the last three days in West Tennessee and North Mississippi.”
[10]Capt. Riley commanded a battery composed of Irishmen from North Carolina, and was nearly always attached to Hood’s Brigade. The “swarthy old hounds” refer to his Napoleon guns.
[11]In commemoration of Gen. J. B. Gordon’s charge against Hancock’s corps at Spotsylvania Court House, May 12, 1864.
[12]Fremont, “the path-finder.”
[13]Battle of Cedar Run.
[14]Sung by Harry McCarthy, in his “Personation Concerts,” in all the principal towns of the Confederacy.
[15]On the morning of the battle of Franklin, Tennessee, Major General Patrick Cleburne, while riding along the line, encouraging his men, saw an old friend—a captain in his command—barefooted, and feet bleeding. Alighting from his horse he told the Captain to “please” pull off his boots. Upon the Captain doing so, the General told him to try them on, which he did. Whereupon the General mounted his horse, telling the Captain he was tired of wearing boots, and could well do without them. He would hear of no remonstrance, and bidding the Captain good-by, rode away. In this condition he was killed.
[16]Brave to a fault, he was cut down in his early youth, and fell a willing sacrifice at the altar of his country. Among his last words he said, “I fell beside my gun.”
[17]The chorus is sung to the second part of the air, excepting after the fifth and sixth verses.
[18]Several weeks after the commencement of the terrific bombardment, ladies were seen coolly walking the streets, and children in many parts of the city engaged, as ever, in their playing, only stopping their sport for the moment to gaze and listen at the bursting shells.
[19]The above lines were found written upon the back of a five-hundred dollar Confederate note, subsequent to the surrender.