The Boy of Battle Ford and the Man

CHAPTER X

THE BOY OF BATTLE FORD 81 south, and we knew that some of our men were being murdered; and so it proved to be. Seven men, including Frank Pankey and John Parks of our company, were captured , set on a log and shot like dogs. Those on the train reached Memphis that evening to their great joy. Little squads of two or more continued to come in for ten days. The 10,000 well equipped soldiers had dwindled to 7,000 refuges. Our own regiment was in such poor condition that it was excused from all duty until July seventh. Sturgis, having lost his whisky, ,got back but wore citizen's clothes to keep from being shot, by the boys he had wronged. He was court-martialed and found guilty of drunkenness and cowardice, but by some hook or crook was never punished. Yes, through the drunkenness of the brute, Sturgis, which could not have been march at the double-quick at eleven o'dock a. m., and we kept it up till one o'clock, when the 113th Illinois came to the skirmishers in all open wood and staggered' a moment ,while my regiment came up and formed to their right, when both regiments started eastward whence the skirmishers had retired. In fifty yards our regiment, the 120th Illinois, came to an open meadow. The enemy had his battery of field cannon planted southeast of us, and commenced to fire so rapidly on us that we were ordered to fall to the ground. We obeyed the order immediately, but we had scarcely struck the ground when three men out of each company were commanded to run forward to the woods at the east side of the pasture. The captain called Blackman, Dallas and Sweat, to make the adyance. We were on our feet and running to the woods with all but for the rum traffic, many of our com- our might at once. By the time we haa rades were killed outright, or died a slow death in a rebel prison. Can any comrade, who shouldered his gun in defense of his people so far depart from t~e 'exalted ground he occupied then as to aid in any manner the rum traffic? If I should decide on doing such a thing it seems to me that the blood of Pankey, Clark, Mitchell, Summers , Orr, Bean, McCool and many others would cry out against me. No! Rum slew them; and I shall oppose rum in all its forms as long as I live. Unite with me, cO!Era1es. CO. F. CHAPTER X. To relate the operations of those days as I saw them and felt them and knew of them I regarded as pertinent to the mission of the book, as my own turning from death and regeneration by the spirit of God to be his son was effected in time which includes everyone of the transactions herein named. As I remember, the command began to fallen and looked around, all the two regiments were coming on the run. We were immediately ordered to advance under Captain Pillow. A short distance south of us there was no woods at all. The 108th Illinois soon took their place3, touching our regiment on our right, and were hotly engaged before we returned from the skirmish line. The woods we encountered there was a thicket of extraordinary dense- !lSSS We knew the enemy were concealed close by and rested in places of their own selection, while we were very hot and tired and could not see them in their position. We moved slowly on till they opened fire, when we dropped and began business. One bullet hit a stump in front of the head of Dallas and my legs. He had seen the danger and fell, but as I was crossing over to the left of him, I saw a large tree fifteen feet in front of our line and I aimed to benefit by that tree if I lived long enough to get to it. I knew we could not advance much farther. At the very first fire I 82 THE BOY OF BATTLE FORD made for that tree on my- hands and knees; but I found I had made a mistake. It was on the east side of the old road in the open sunshine, where no air was stirring. There was a brown coat behind another large tree ten or fifteen yards in' front of me who was industriously...