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*3T 024C'
Qop/ederac^ l/ecerap.
191?
473
?	ii'l saiil to have been used in the capture of John Brown ?this. ] fear, is doubtful j; a Springfield marked ?U. S.. iS.)-.? which was taken from a dead Confederate soldier the morning after the battle of Perryvillc, Ky., by a man who was ?ifsisting in the burial of the dead; a pistol which was stuck :n the stone wall where the Confederates were concealed; a Niinb which fell in the yard of a gentleman in Richmond, Va. 'it weighs forty-seven and a quarter pounds empty). I have ?'.Iso a haversack, bell plate marked ?C. S. A.,? buttons marked 'C. S. A.' on the front and ?Superior Quality? on the back, vaper shells (the kind you had to bile ihc end off), cannon fuses, etc., all of which I know to be authentic. The fuses "ere in the pocket of a caiinonccr at the surrender at Appomattox.?
HUH LITTJ.F. FLAG,
nv 1IK.NKV ICWIil.L IlOtin, ItKRMlT.Mil', H'.NN.
The 3d Kentuckv._lnfantry, Loriug's Division, Buford's Brigade, was-in Mississippi after the bat tic of Shiloh, having l'cen at Vicksburg, Baton Rouge, Jackson. Champion Hill, linker's Creek, anil many other places in Louisiana, when General Loring received orders to join the arniy under Bragg :n_Georgia. It was rumored that when we reached Bragg we would be transferred to our beloved Breckinridge?s command .Mid go up into Kentucky to try to recruit our regiments, the >'1 and 8th. which had become very much depicted. We were .?I wild with joy at the prospect and ripe for any kind of mis-iiicf.	>
When we reached Mobile. Ala.. General Buckner, who commanded the department. \?ith.his headquarters at Mobile, met '?i; at the depot. He had been our commander at Bowling l~>rccn, Kv., early in the war. hut we had not seen him for a Sng time, lie was very glad to see us. seemed to know 'very one. and shook hands with everybody. We found that it would be necessary to stay over several hours to get a Vit to cross Mobile Bay and make connection with the Mont-nnicry Railroad. Soon after greeting General Buckner we i'"t orders to prepare for inspection. We marched through :'n ririnciivil street _nf Mobile, with our band playing "The ' >:rl 1 Left Behind Me." to General Bueknrtheadquarters, where we went through the manual of arms inM to compliment jiiqi^ We were at that time one of the finest-drilled r-irimcnts in the Confederate army. The late Gen. W. II. Jackson. of Belle Meade, had acted as judge of a drill bc-?ween our regiment and the 15th Mississippi awhile before that, lie and General Buford were at West Point together. \fter the drill we stacked arms and stood "at ease." while 'x-ncral Buckner came out on a balcony and made us a speech, ?-lling us what fine fellows we were and how nobly we had seld U]i the fame of old Kentucky on many battle fields. We ?".ad heard so much talk of the kind that we were rather in-rlincd to think it true. Alter hi? speech all the commissioned '?fnrers were iuviled in I*. "Mke tea." We knew iliat it wai ?omething else. While tliej h ere in there some fellow sne-scsted that wc go down in the saloon on llie next corner and have our drinks charged lo Simon Bolivar Buckner. A lot f ns skipped out on that suggestion. intending in come right ' T.rk. W'e "ft ihc drinks all riht. and some weir. back ami ' U the rpjiniem : then :V.c whole crowd cairn i ;i:innv~. n; a very few.
Mobile at that time had no: suffered a great deal by the "tit. All the stores had goods for sale, and there was a fine ?ii.Trkct. We could see big. fat quarters of beef. fish, oysters.
ami___game of all kinds ior..sale, which lo us. who had been
living oil old blue Texas beef for so long, was perfectly maddening, they threw him
One barkeeper raised a row, or tried to, but_ in thestreet and ran ' the .place, .them-
selves. He went after the police. A company of Alabama cadets was acting as police, and they came marching dutvn the street, looking mighty nice in their bright new uniforms. We had left our guns up in front of General Buckner's quarters. We lay in ambush for them and rushed out and captured Ihc whole outfit before they could fire a shot. 1 ben wc marched them down to the pier, which ran a long way out in the bay. Four stout fellows took each hv the arms and legs, another gave the command, "Ready! Aim I Tire!" and away they would go as far out in the bay ns the boys could send them. A gunboat anchored near put out boats nud picked them up. We rushed back up town nnd took possession of the market house and_confiseated_a1l the pieat and eatables?ofhll kmGsTtircTrseiil out foraging parties to bring ill "everything; to eat they could find, made fires all over the market house floor, which was of ovsler shells, and all night wc feasted on the very best of everything. Neither the police nor any one else bothered us any more. No one was terrorized or insulted in any wav, not a shot was fired, and there was very little drinking. Eating was the main chance.
It was late the next day before we finally got enough to eat and concluded to return to our command. One by one we straggled back. On my way 1 happened to think of two messmates who never were known to be out of camp except when on duty. Thinks 1 : "Those poor fellows are missing all lliis." I was passing a big oyster house at the time. Picking tip a soap box full of oysters in shells. 1 took it to camp, threw it down in front of them, and told them to ?fill up.? They surely did. At roll call that evening everybody was present and accounted for.
We marched down to the levee to take the boat and found General Buckner there to bid us good-by. He was mounted on a fine thoroughbred horse which Lmcle Charlie Meriwether. father of the late Mrs. Caroline Meriwether (ood-lett. had presented to him while at Bowling Green, Ky. lie gave General Breckinridge another at the same time. Mrs. Bnekncr and her little girl Lily were there to sec us ofT. General Buckner was a lieutenant general and very popular with the Kentucky soldiers, but lie had to play second fiddle at that reception. Everybody went crazy over that little girl. She was such a sweet little thing, not a bit afraid of soldiers. She stood up on the seat of ail open carriage, waved a little Confederate flag, and hurrahed for Jeff l)av; She could not talk plainly then. There was a crowd around the carriage, and when it came my turn I shook hands with Mrs. Buckner, then, turning to the little girl. I held out my hand and said: "Come to me, you little dear, and give me a kiss." "No,? she savs: "do 'way. You ain't got any mustache." The boys all laughed at me. A big fellow crowded mi mil of I lie wav, saving. "Come to inc. little lady: 1 have got a mustache," stroking it back lo show her Iicvnv long it was til was the longest one 1 had ever seen). The little girl let him take her in his arms and kiss her. and she pave him the little Confederate flag. lie put her hack on the sea!, and. turning lo Mrs. Buckner, with the flag in his hand, he made iicr a bow. "Madam." V said. ?I will plan; til's fiai; ori on: native soil, or 1 will die with my face toward Kentucky.?' The boys in tlif crowd commenced to moan and sob, "0. my old Kentucky home, good night.? and Mrs. Buckner pm up her handkerchief to hide her smiles.