USA > Ohio > Four years in the saddle. History of the First Regiment, Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. War of the Rebellion, 1861-1865 > Part 31
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A Contraband Song.
The following rare lyric was the favorite freedom-song of the Mississippi and Alabama contrabands. Its character and enthusiasm are great and, among songs of its kind, it has no superior.
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Oh ! Ya, ya ! Darkies, laugh with me ; For de white folk say old shady's free ! Don't you see dat de jubilee Is comin', comin' ! Hail mighty day !
CHORUS :- Den away, Den away, for I can't stay any longer ; Hurrah, hurrah ! For I am going home.
2 Massa got scared, and so did his lady ! .. Dis chile broke for ole Uncle Aby ;
Open de gate out ! here's ole Shady Comin', comin' ! Hail, mighty day.
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Good-bye, Massa Jeff ! Good-bye, Missus Stevens ! 'Scuse dis nigger for taking his leavens ; 'Spec, pretty soon, you'll see Uncle Abram's Comin', comin' ! Hail, mighty day.
4 Good-bye, hard work, and never any pay-
I'm going up North, where de white folks stay ;
White wheat bread, and a dollar a day ! Comin', comin' ! Hail mighty day.
5 I've got a wife, and she's got a baby,
Way up North in Lower Canada- - Won't dey shout, when dey see ole shady Comin', comin' ! Hail, mighty day.
At this time they were firmly impressed with the belief that they would soon be set free, and believed that President Lincoln was their savior. Wherever our army appeared, they flocked to our camps in great numbers, and the joy of the old gray-haired negroes - men and women - was wonderful to behold. They would shout, dance, sing and make all kinds of demonstrations to show their joy, and at the first sight of a Yankee in his blue uniform they would go almost wild. Here is where we first saw "patting Juba" by the plantation negroes for the little darkies to dance, and I remember one little darky that Sergeant John Lucas, of Company K, took a great fancy to - he was a bright boy, about ten years of age, a good rider and fine dancer. Lucas kept him in camp for some time, but finally his old master came to our camp and found him, and Lucas offered him a very fine horse for the boy. This horse "Dandy," as he was called, Lucas traded or sold to Lieutenant Cutler, and he was mounted on him the day our camp was attacked at Courtland, and horse and rider were taken prisoner and poor "Dandy" fell into the hands of the rebels. I saw a rebel riding him the next day after we were taken prisoners,
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galloping proudly through the streets of Moulton, Ala., amid the shouts of admiring girls and women, waving one of our guidons, which he had captured the day we were captured. No doubt the old planter, after Lincoln's Emancipation Procla- mation was issued September 17, 1862, wished he had traded the little darky for Dandy, but it was too late.
When we were in camp at Courtland, Lieutenant Cutler had a negro servant named "Sam," whom he had picked up somewhere in Kentucky or Tennessee. Sam was an ignorant slave boy, but was anxious to learn to read and put in all his spare time, from grooming horses and cooking, in learning the alphabet from an old primer he had picked up somewhere, and several of us had become very much interested in the boy. On the day of the fight at Courtland, July 25, 1862, Sam was taken prisoner, as he was wearing a pair of old blue cavalry pants and was in company with a soldier along the creek bank in rear of our camp. During the fight a squad of rebel cavalry rode up to the creek on the opposite bank and ordered them to surrender. The soldier and Sam started to wade across the creek, and when in the middle of the stream, the rebels ordered the soldier to return and get his carbine; and being frightened and fearing that the rebels would fire on him, he ordered Sam to go back and get his carbine. When Sam handed the gun to the squad, they took it as a pretext to claim that he was armed and in the ranks, and as Sam had on a pair of blue pants the case looked bad for him. When at Moulton the next day after the capture, Sam was arrested by the provost guard and put in jail. When he was arrested he appealed to us to save him, but we were utterly powerless, as we were prisoners our- selves; and I will never forget his appealing look as he was hurried off to jail. As the negroes were still slaves, of course, the feeling of the rebel soldiers was very bitter against them, if they had the least suspicion that they were carrying arms . or were in any manner aiding or abetting the Union army. This incident made a deep impression on Lieutenant Cutler and my- self at the time, as we had no doubt, from the manner in which he was arrested and treated and the bitter feeling exhibited among the rebels, that he would either be hung or shot, and we have often talked about poor Sam and wondered what his fate was.
Well Known Characters in the First Ohio Cavalry.
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While the First Ohio did not have any "Si Kleggs," at least by name, yet there was not a company but what had some mem- bers that were known for their peculiar characteristics of some kind, so that they were known all over the regiment as well as the Colonel.
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Some were clowns, some were sports, some were ready to fight at the "drop of a hat" at all times and on all occasions, but it was a well-known fact among good soldiers that the fel- low that was always walking around camp with a "chip on his shoulder spoiling for a fight," was not at all times in the front rank when a real fight was on where bullets and cold steel were no respecter of persons, even if he "tipped the beam" at two hundred pounds and was a veritable John Sullivan. This of course did not always hold true, but there were many cases of that kind in every regiment. After a lapse of thirty years since the close of the war no one man can remember all of the funny fellows, the sports, fighters, etc., but I now recall a few of them well remembered by every soldier of the regiment. Ser- geant Billy Scott, of Company D, who was promoted to a Captain and was killed at Lovejoy, Ga., September 20, 1864, was one of the bravest soldiers in the regiment, and was an Irish boy brim full of "Mother wit." He nicknamed many of the officers of the regiment, and some of these names clung to them all through the war. He did not do this out of any disrespect, but just from some incident or peculiarity of the man, as for in- stance, Colonel Eggleston he named "Bolivar Bob," Colonel Writer "Lady Writer," Colonel Pattin "Rough and Ready," Captain O'Harra "Shell Bark," Major Frankenberger "Old Hail Columbia," and many others that I do not recall; but those named will be well remembered by the boys, and they have had many a good joke and laugh at the expense of the officers so dubbed.
"Scotty," as he was familiarly called, never tired of a good joke, and when Colonel Smith was in command of the regiment on the Shiloh and Corinth campaign, he was continuously play- ing some practical joke around headquarters, as he was the Sergeant-Major of the regiment. Colonel Smith was a good man, an earnest and zealous officer, and very matter-of-fact in all things and unsuspicious. Scotty took advantage of these things, and there was no end of his "grape vine" stories around headquarters.
The Chief Bugler was a Frenchman and his name was Paul Petard, but we always called him "Vic," and Scotty was con- tinuously at some trick and kept "Vic" very much irritated at times. "Vic" was an excellent soldier, was always prompt in all his duties and was very neat and precise about his dress and equipments. When he came out of his tent to blow a call he would step out with jacket buttoned tight, give his bugle a few flourishes over his head, with the long yellow cord and tassel dangling gracefully below, and would then place the bugle to his lips and give a blow, and very often it would give a harsh, unearthly squall, and on examination he would find straws in his bugle. He would be fighting mad and report to
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- the Colonel, and no one around headquarters would be more indignant than Scotty, and he would demand that the offenders be arrested and punished severely, when it was well known that he was the instigator of all this mischief himself.
Colonel Smith had a colored servant named Harry, who was a little scary and superstitious, and Scotty took great delight in teasing him. At one time Harry was pitching the Colonel's tent among the leaves and brush, and all at once Scotty became very much excited, picked up a long club and commenced pound- ing the leaves and brush and shouting "snakes" at the top of his voice, at which Harry pulled the tent down and hauled it off to another spot, very nervous over the imaginary snake, and said he was "mighty glad Mr. Scott found dat snake before de Kunnel got in dat tent, for it was mighty bad sign."
. A week or two after the battle of Shiloh, when our wagon train came up and we were pitching our tents for the first time on the battle-field, Harry was busy putting up the Colonel's tent and Scotty was looking on innocently and commenced snif- fing the air as if there was something very offensive in the vicin- ity. He stepped inside the tent as if following the trail, and stamping around with his feet pretended that he had found a soft spot in the ground, and went out and got a stick and began to prod around with it, and Harry asked him what he was doing. Scott replied very quietly and indifferently that "there was a dead rebel buried there, but he supposed it would not smell very bad as he was a good foot under the ground." To say that the tent was hustled to another place in a hurry is drawing it very mildly, and, as usual, Harry was very thankful to "Maser" Scott for "findin' dat dead rebel 'fore de Kunnel got in." And so from day to day Scott was inventing some new fish story to keep headquarters stirred up.
He was brave and very reckless and was just in his element when in a fight, and he had no use for a coward or a shirk. When talking with a soldier that was a little nervous or weak- kneed, he was sure to tell him some canard about an expected attack or that the "enemy was advancing in force," just to try his nerve. When the army was making the advance from Pitts- burg Landing to Corinth in the spring of 1862, the regiment had a great deal of picket and outpost duty to do, and often in very close proximity to the enemy's lines, and the orders were very strict, instructions given the videttes at all times not to let any one outside of the lines. But by his smooth talk Scotty would find a sentry on some part of the line that would turn his back while Scott rode outside the picket and he would make a reconnoissance on his own hook and was never satisfied until he located the enemy's piekets and often drew their fire, and he would then come riding leisurely back and report the exact location of the rebel pickets. At one time, just before the evacu-
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ation of Corinth, he created quite an excitement in our camp and the whole regiment was drawn up in line of battle on account of one of his innocent (?) reports. He had been at the front and came galloping into camp on his little dun horse and some soldier asked him what the news was out at the front, and Scott, in his usual serious and earnest manner, shouted: "The rebels are coming," and rode on quietly through the camp and a short distance beyond to water his horse. The news soon flew to headquarters and the Colonel ordered "Vic" to sound . "Boots and Saddles" and "To horse" in quick succession, and in a few minutes the regiment was drawn up in line of battle, with drawn sabers, in a field adjoining the camp. It was a very hot day; the sun boiled down on our heads, and to still add to our discomfort a ration of whisky was issued to nerve the boys up for the trying ordeal. After standing in line for an hour or two, it seemed to dawn on some one that it was a "false alarm," and we were ordered back to our quarters. The true inwardness of this false alarm did not leak out until Colonel Smith had been promoted to a Brigadier-General and left the regiment. Had he known it while still in command of the regi- ment, he would no doubt have made it lively for Sergeant Scott.
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On the Atlanta Campaign in the summer of 1864 we were fighting almost every day, and one day he and another young officer of the regiment were sitting on a line of breast-works watching the firing of a rebel battery from the top of Kenesaw Mountain and calculating the distance by measuring the time from the moment of seeing the puff of white smoke until they heard the report of the gun. As it was a long distance and the guns had to be depressed, the shells were going wild and falling far wide of the mark. After a long silence Scott referred to some trouble a few young officers and himself had had in the regiment, and, continuing, said: "The next fight we get into, which may be to-day or to-morrow, we must rush in and get some of these old officers killed, so we will be promoted." This was said in half jest and half earnest, and little did he think that he would be the first officer to fall. In a short time after that the regiment joined General Kilpatrick in his famous raid around Hood's army in Atlanta, and the brave and gallant Cap- tain Scott, "booted and spurred," rode into the "jaws of death." He died the death of his choice, and as he was mortally wounded while with saber in hand with his regiment charging a battery, shouting, "Take the guns!"
The Whacker Boys.
A soldier of the First Ohio that did not know the Whackers, did not know much about the regiment. Joe and Alf Deer- wester were 'twins and members of Company G, and just why they were called the "Whacker Boys" was never, to my knowl-
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edge, explained; but it was supposed to be on account of their combative proclivities, for they never let an opportunity slip to get into a little "Kari" just for the "fun of the thing." If there was any kind of devilment going on in camp or out of camp that Alf and Joe were not in it, it was not their fault. When the regiment was at Camp Buell, near Louisville, Ky., there was a hotel near at hand, called the Oakland House, where liquids were dispensed at all hours, day and night, and of that kind that would make a fellow feel like fighting a whole regi- ment single handed, if he imbibed enough of it. It was a con- venient place for a "first chance" when going to the city and , a "last chance" on returning. One evening Bill Legg, of Com- pany M, and one or two friends had been in the city and after the theater was out were returning, and dropped into the Oak- land to take a last nip, and found the Whackers running the house and everybody in it. They insisted that Bill should "sing, dance a jig or fight," or do something to entertain the crowd. Bill begged off and said he "was out of voice" and was opposed to dancing, and being a Quaker, had religious scruples about fighting, and asked to be excused. But that would not go with the Whacker boys, and they said that while they could not make Bill dance or sing, they could make him fight or run, and proposed to mop up the floor with him in the most approved style, just to entertain the crowd, as it had been a little dull that evening and the audience was not satisfied. They com- menced crowding Bill into a corner, and as he saw he was in for it, he went at them hammer and tongs fashion and knocked them both out in the first round and the floor mopping was on the other side. It is said that he satisfied the audience to the "queen's taste," at least such was the story circulated in camp the next day. Joe and Alf usually had things their own way, but they did run up against a stump now and then. They were strapping big fellows, and when they got on a spree they ran Company G in great style, but when Scotty took command of the company, he called time on the boys, and as he was a boxer, the boys had great respect for him.
Joe is dead and Alf is now a sober, steady-going citizen of Illinois, and during the war they were only "sowing their wild oats."
Lem Dewey, of Company E, was a "shoulder striker," and when he got a "jag" on by drinking a canteen of commissary with a mixture of apple-jack, he was a regular cyclone. He would amuse the crowd by knocking down everybody in reach, and then form a ring and get a few other boys at it while he kept every soldier that attempted to interfere with his menagerie at a safe distance, and gave the officers of the company no end of trouble.
Jim Stratton, of Company H, was also a "holy terror" when
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he took on a good load of old Kentucky corn juice. A company was too small for Jim to display his generalship in, and at times he undertook the arduous task of running the whole regiment. When the regiment returned to Nashville, Tenn., in the spring of 1864, after we had been home on veteran furlough, we were camped near that city, being mounted and equipped for the Atlanta Campaign. The boys made frequent visits to the city, and the fellows that indulged in the ardent often came into camp in a hilarious condition. One day Stratton came out to camp loaded to the guards and surrounded the regiment and demanded unconditional surrender. The patrol guard objected to this proceeding and put him under arrest, and as we had no guard-house, and it took two of the guards to hold him, the next question was what to do with him. Lieutenant Curry, who was officer of the day, ordered him tied to the fence and directed the corporal of the guard to perform that duty. The corporal was a new recruit by the name of Erwin, and had only had his stripes on a few days, and he declined to tie Jim up as directed, as he claimed it was "cruel, barbarous and danger- ous." The officer of the day did not see it in that light and told the corporal that if he did not do his duty he would take his stripes off, and Erwin said "let 'em go," and they did go, and the officer of the day proceeded to tie Jim up himself. Cor- poral Erwin often expressed his gratitude for having got rid of his corporal stripes so easy and said it was "too high a rank for him, as he was a small man and just the right size for a high private in the rear rank."
Bony, of Company I, was one of the great wags of the regi- ment. He was a great talker, and a loud talker, and his voice was heard on all occasions day and night. He. called Captain Writer "Old twos right," as he claimed that was all the com- mand he ever gave the company.
Several members of Company I were wounded in the foot and two or three of them had a toe shot off and among them ""Bony," and he named them the "Nine Toed Company." The writer remembers about Bony's toe being shot off and thinks it was the day of the evacuation of Corinth, and it is safe to say he did not get off any of his jokes that day.
As betting was so common in the army, it was not consid- ered gambling, as the term is generally used, for nearly every- body bet, not so much for the gain that was in it, but for the excitement and fun of the thing. Sergeant John Lucas, of Company K, was the boss sport of the regiment, and he would bet on anything from pulling at "square toe" by two little darkies to a hundred dollars or two on a big horse race. John's favorite game was "draw poker," and he also carried a Faro Kit, with silver deal box, and many an officer, as well as men of the ranks, contributed their sheckles to his exchequer. As soon as the
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soldiers were paid off, all the little dealers would get out their "chuck a luck" boards with the mysterious white figures on a black oil-cloth and the games would commence all along the line-in tents, on cracker boxes, on forage sacks and wherever seats could be improvised. In fact, at some points where the troops were paid off there was nothing to buy and nothing to spend money for, and the boys that did not send their money home must spend it in some manner, and in some instances a devotee of the alluring game of "draw poker" or "old sledge" would sit down after being paid off and at one sitting put every dime he had in the "Jack pot." But the players were all very liberal, good-hearted fellows, and when a comrade got "broke" they would always "put up a stake" for him until next pay day, if he was "a square fellow."
Some soldiers always had money, and would loan it to the comrades that were always broke, and usually never had a scratch of a pen for it. It was a debt of honor, and if the soldier lived and was with his command the next pay day, he would pay it, and if he died the account was settled and the lender was perfectly satisfied and charged it up to "profit and loss."
If the small dealers gave Sergeant Lucas a chance to play "without limit" he would break their banks every time, for he always had plenty of money and carried a big roll of greenbacks in his inside vest pocket, on the right side, and when the players saw John go down into that pocket with his left hand and take out his big roll it made them turn pale. Sometimes the dealer would buy him off not to play for a day and perhaps give him fifty dollars. But the temptation was so great that he could not keep away from the game, and he would come around and look on a while and become so interested that he would say to the dealer: "Just let me play once," and would give him ten dollars for the privilege, and if the dealer consented, John would go down after that big roll and likely take out a fifty dollar bill and put it down. If he won, he would quietly put it in his pocket, and if he lost he would walk off as uncon- cerned as if he had been playing pin. If there were hundreds of dollars on the board all depending on the turn of a card you never could detect the least change in his countenance, but he would get very much wrought up, if it was not noticeable, for at times he would place a faro or poker chip between his front teeth and bite it in two pieces.
In the spring of 1864 the regiment was stationed at Colum- bia, Tenn., for a short time after we had returned from veteran furlough, and Lucas got into a game with some citizens and his winnings were very heavy, and at one time he sent home five thousand five hundred dollars.
Sheeley Long, of Company F, was another well-known char-
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acter and a great forager. He was into mischief continuously, but was usually smart enough to get out of it without getting caught or punished, but if he was punished he always came up smiling and ready for some new adventure. He was a little light-haired fellow and could stand up and look you in the oye, the very personification of innocence, if he was accused of any misdemeanor, and at the same time be stealing your watch or pocket-book. When the regiment was at Lebanon, Ky., in the winter of 1862, Captain Cupp had bracelets put on his ankles, with a chain about a foot long, and he hobbled around camp in that plight for some time. At another time the Captain had him tied to the rear end of a wagon, when we were on the march, and compelled him to walk, and gave strict orders to the mule driver to not, under any circumstances, allow him to ride. But before the end of the day Sheely, by his smooth tongue, got on the good side of the mule whacker and was driving the mules, and the driver was riding in the wagon.
He was always on the good side of the Sutler and in a busy time after pay-day would offer his good services to the Sutler and help him out as clerk, all for nothing, of course; but Sheeley paid himself well, all the same, and the old shark of a Jew was none the wiser. He was a very liberal clerk and the boys all wanted to buy of him, and often there would be a great jam in front of the counter in front of the Sutler's tent, and frequently, when some soldier would purchase a dime's worth of cheese, Sheeley would hand out the cheese with one hand and with the other hand out a bottle of wine under the counter, worth two or three dollars, and would keep this up for some time and perhaps hand out a dozen bottles in a few minutes, if the boys would keep up the rush.
Sutlers usually were regular sharks, and their methods of doing business was by Sutler's checks from one pay-day to another. These checks were either tickets or metal represent- ing from ten cents to one dollar, and any soldier could go and get a limited amount of checks and the Sutler would charge him up on his books with the full amount of them, and then when the soldier made his purchases the Sutler would charge him up so as to get at least one hundred per cent. profit - for instance, fifty cents a pound for cheese, one dollar for a plug of Navy tobacco, and three dollars for a canteen full of com- missary whisky, warranted to kill at a hundred yards. When pay-day arrived, the Sutler was on hand at the table beside the Paymaster to collect, and he always got his full share of the greenbacks paid out, and would not miss the amount of a few bottles of wine, if the boys did confiscate one now and then. We had a Jew Sutler, and a few days after the evacua- tion of Corinth our wagon train was parked out on the road toward Booneville, and as there were a great many troops pass-
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ing, the Sutler erected his tent by the roadside and did a thriving business. Some of our trainmen gave the passing troops a hint one day that if they would give the thing a start, there would be no serious opposition from anyone in the regiment to con- fiscating the Sutler's stock, as it was getting pretty well run down anyway. No sooner said than done, for two or three fellows gave a few yanks at the guy-ropes and down came the tent and the goods were confiscated in a jiffy, and the Jew Sutler in the First Ohio was a thing of the past.
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