Some Side Lights On The War For The Union

Author : Lewis M. Hosea
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781331172710
Total Pages : 26 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (727 download)

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Download or read book Some Side Lights on the War for the Union written by Lewis M. Hosea and published by . This book was released on 2015-07-11 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Some Side Lights on the War for the Union: Paper Read Before the Ohio Commandery of the Loyal Legion at Cleveland, Ohio, October 9, 1912 I proceed then to - A Social Flag of Truce. Early in 1864, after undergoing the fatigues and dangers of the preceding fall and winter at Chickamauga and Chattanooga, at Mission Ridge and the long march under Sherman to the relief of Burnside beleagured by Longtreet at Knoxville, and including our several fights in the valley of East Tennessee with Wheeler and the final rout of his Cavalry Division, we returned to Chattanooga and I was soon after detailed, much against my will, to report for duty with General Kenner Garrard commanding the Second Division of Cavalry then at: Columbia, Tennessee, refitting for the Atlanta campaign. Tired, ragged and dirty, I reported in April with rather ill grace to General Garrard, whose headquarter tents occupied a beautiful grove of stately oaks in the grounds of the Columbia Athenaeum - a famous school for young ladies, the proprietor of which, Rector Smith, was absent as chaplain in the Southern army in which two of his sons were serving. After the official greetings, General Garrard spoke somewhat as follows: "Captain, you've come just at the right time. Here we have been camped for a week on these grounds without a word to the ladies at the Rectory yonder" - (which stood about a hundred yards distant)-, 'and I feel that we owe it to ourselves as well as to them that we give them assurance of safety and protection, I wish you, therefore, to call upon them this evening and make the proper explanations." It is said that the unexpected always happens; but I ask you to put yourselves in my place and say if this was not rather sudden as a first military order from a new commander. Naturally, I began to protest - "Well, but General, don't you think that in a delicate matter of this kind, you yourself - " "No," broke in the General with some show of asperity, (which I afterward knew to be nothing but a cover for the extreme diffidence of a confirmed old bachelor - "You will go as my representative"; - and, with a ghost of a smile intended to sweeten the base flattery - "I know you will be equal to the occasion. I leave the matter in your hands. Take one of the younger officers with you, if you like, for I understand there is a charming young lady there - the Rector's daughter" - this last with just a twinkle of the eye. Then with added sternness, he concluded: "That's all, Captain, you have your orders" - and, waving me aside, went into his tent. I stood paralyzed, almost long enough to take root, in a whirl of perplexing feelings at the prospect that opened before me. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.