“At
Fayetteville, before leaving the place for Huntsville, an officer of
the command returning from outpost duty and passing a house was
suddenly confronted by a vicious dog that savagely threatened to
dispute every inch of ground with the officer in the discharge of
duty. Plainly there could be no compromise, and then the officer drew
his sword and “smote the dog, hip and thigh, to the death.”
The
viciousness of the dog was as the gentlest zephyr is to the tornado
when compared to the unbridled fury of the “woman of the house”,
as she hastily appeared before the officer, sleeves rolled to the
elbows, and shaking her fist under the officer's nasal protuberance,
in a voice that awakened the echos demanded:
“What
did you kill my dog for?”
Officer:
“What did your dog run at me for?”
Woman: “Why didn't
you hit him with the other
end
of that thing?”
Officer: “Why
didn't your dog run at me with the
the
other end?” “
This
story was found while I was researching a related, though more
serious, future post, and it appears in the “History of the Forty-
Second Indiana Volunteer Infantry” by S. F. Horrall, captain of
Company G.
I
added this for a variety of reasons. Firstly and hopefully obviously,
its just a darn funny story!
Where
else would you find a story such as this outside of a contemporary
regimental history unless a famous figure was involved? Probably
nowhere, unless of course you are fortunate enough to have ready
access to primary sources such as diaries and letters. That brings me
to the second and maybe the most important reason. The regimental
histories are becoming more numerous and available to the
amateur historian, such as myself, and contain a wealth of
information derived from the private soldiers of the American Civil
War. Many are written several years after the fact and memories fade,
but the purpose of these chronicles was not to give a history of the
grand scheme of things, but to give old comrades a written record of
their service to pass down to the generations to come. They give us a
sense of what the common soldier was experiencing during the conflict
and they offer details that add to our understanding of the war. They are always worth reading.
While
I have not had time to sit and read the “History of the Forty
Second” I did find fodder for future posts as well as insights into
the post I hinted at earlier, so keep watching for more from the 42nd
Indiana!
The
Picket
Poor, poor doggy! However, I did give a chuckle when I read the officer's response to the distraught woman! Regimental histories and diaries are the way to go, a wealth of information to give us a true idea of what it was like for the common soldier.
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