MY INTRODUCTION TO THE LATE WAR.
It was Monday morning--a day that I despised. Need you wonder, for it
was mother's wash day and I had to carry wood from the Gulf beach to
keep the "pot boiling."
I tried to play off sick that morning but it would not work, for mother
had noticed that I got away with two plates of mush besides three hard
boiled eggs for breakfast.
Before starting out after my first load of wood, I hid the big old strap
which hung by the door, for I felt it in my bones there was war in the
air. I always did have a tough time of it on wash days, and I knew this
Monday would bring the same old story.
At last mother got the fire started under the wash-pot which stood out
in the yard and told me for about the twentieth time to go after an
armful of wood. I hesitated, in hopes that she would take a notion to go
herself, but when she stamped her foot and picked up a barrel stave I
knew I had better be going, for when she got her Irish blood up it was
dangerous to linger.
When I got out among the drift wood on the beach, I treed a cotton-tail
rabbit up a hollow log, and I made up my mind to get Mr. cotton-tail
out, wood or no wood.
I began digging the sand away from the log as fast as I could so as to
be able to roll it down into the Gulf and drown the rabbit out.
It was a very hot day and digging the heavy sand with only my hands and
a stick was slow, tiresome work. The result was I fell asleep with my
head under the log and my bare legs sticking out in the hot June sun. I
dreamt I died and went to a dreadful hot country and Satan was there
piling hot coals on me.
Finally the sun went under a cloud, or at least I suppose it did, for
the burning pain left me and I began to dream of Heaven; I thought the
Lord was there sitting upon His throne of gold in the midst of scores of
happy children. Calling me up to him he pointed to a large pile of fence
rails down in a beautiful valley and said: "my boy you go down and carry
every one of those rails up here to me before you stop."
His words landed up against my happy thoughts like a thunderbolt from a
clear sky. I had been thinking of what a picnic I would have with the
other children.
A walk of about one mile brought me to the pile of rails; there were
more in the pile than I could count, I shouldered one of the lightest
and struck out up the steep hill, thinking how I would like to be back
with mother, even if I had to carry an armful of wood from the beach now
and then.
When about half way up the hill I heard a terrible noise such as I had
never heard before, it awakened me, and in trying to jump up I bumped my
head against the log, and also filled my eyes full of sand.
When I got onto my feet and the sand out of my eyes, I discovered the
whole beach, east of me, thronged with men carrying guns, and marching
right towards me. The head ones were not over a hundred yards off,
beating drums and blowing their horns.
It is needless to say I was scared and that I ran as fast as my legs
could carry me, looking back every minute to see if they were after me.
It was in this way that I ran or sprang right into the midst of Mrs.
Zipprian's drove of geese, before I knew it. There were several old
ganders in the drove which used to chase me every chance they got. I
generally took particular pains to go around them; but this time my mind
was in a different channel from what it had ever been in before, hence
my not looking out for them.
As I flew past, two of the old ganders made a dive at me, but only one
succeeded in catching on; he grabbed the tail of my shirt, which stuck
straight out behind, in his mouth and hung on with blood in his eyes. My
speed seemed to increase instead of slacken, every time the old gander
would bounce up and come down, his claws would rake the skin from the
calves of my legs. His death-like grip finally broke loose and I felt
considerable lighter. My mind also, felt somewhat relieved.
Mother was out in the yard washing, she had picked up chips enough to
boil the water; the tub was sitting upon a box and she was rubbing away
with all her might, her back towards me. As I was looking over my
shoulder I ran against her, knocking her, tub and all over in a pile,
myself with them.
Mother got up first with her right hand in my shirt collar, I plead
manfully, and tried to tell her about the scores of men, but she was
too mad to listen, she dragged me to where the big black strap should
have hung, I knew she couldn't find it, therefore hoped to get off with
a few slaps, but alas, no she spied the mush stick and the way she gave
it to me with that was a caution!
The crowd I saw proved to be Dr. Pierceson's company of rebels, who had
been sent over from Matagorda to drill and be ready to fight the blue
coats when they came. It was then the summer of 1862. They located their
camp on the beach, about a mile from our house, and I used to march with
them all day long sometimes. The captain, Dr. Pierceson, gave me an
umbrella stick which I used for a gun.
That coming fall about five thousand Yankees landed at Deckrows Point on
the Peninsula and marched by our ranch on their way to the rebel camp
which was stationed forty miles above, at the mouth of Caney Creek.
They camped one night close to our house and filled me up with
hard-tack, which was quite a treat to a fellow living on mush and milk.
They had a five or six day fight with the rebels, neither of them coming
off victorious. We could hear the guns plainly from the "Settlement."
Many dead men were washed ashore on the beach. My sister and I stumbled
onto one poor fellow one day, shot through the heart. His clothes were
gone and his wrist was marked "J. T." in India ink.
After the battle the Yankees marched back to Deckrows Point where they
remained to the end of the war; the rebels still held their ground at
the mouth of Caney. Every now and then a squad from each side would meet
at the "Settlement" and have a skirmish. I remember once after one of
those skirmishes a crowd of Yankees rounded Mr. Williams up on the
prairie--Billy and I being with him--and throwing their pistols in his
face told him if they ever found him so far from home again they would
kill him.
Their threats didn't scare Mr. Williams the least bit, for he afterwards
slipped into their camp after dark and stole eleven head of their best
horses and gave them to the rebels. But on his way back from the rebel
ramp, where he went to take the horses they caught him and took him
aboard of a Yankee man-of-war to hang him. They had the rope around his
neck ready to swing him when the General turned him loose, on account of
his old age and bravery, telling him never to be caught from home
again.
Fighting was going on nearly every day in sight of us; sometimes the
Yankee gun boats would get into the Bay among the rebel boats, and at
other times they would fight across the narrow strip of land, shooting
right over the houses at one another. Many of the cannon balls dropped
on the prairie; one of them at one time struck within a few feet of Mr.
Williams, almost burying him in the sand as it plowed along on the
ground. Poor fellow, he was afterwards killed by one, he carried one
home and taking all the powder out of it, as he supposed, set it out in
the yard with the hole up, and then told Billy to get him a coal of fire
in the tongs. He thought it would just flash a little.
I was present, and not liking the looks of it, crept out behind the
picket gate, a few yards away, and peeped between the pickets.
The whole family was looking on to see the fun, Mattie, one of the
little girls, was sitting with her arms around a dog's neck, within a
few feet of it.
Billy, arriving with the coal, handed it to his father who reached over
and let it drop down into the hole--where he had taken out the lead
screw.
It seemed to me that the coal hadn't reached the hole when the thing
exploded. For a few seconds everything was enveloped in smoke; when the
smoke disappeared sufficiently for me to see, the whole sky seemed to be
a blaze of fire, and finally Mr. Williams emerged out of the heavy cloud
of smoke hopping on one leg.
A piece of the bomb-shell had taken off part of one foot on the left leg
and another piece had plowed through the calf of his right leg; part of
one ear was also gone. He only lived a few days.
A piece of the shell took off one of the dog's legs without even
touching Mattie, the little girl who had her arms around his neck.
Several pieces went through the house, and one piece went through the
picket gate right over my head. The next day Billy and I found a large
piece sticking in the wall of an old vacant house a mile from where it
exploded.
During the war several ships were driven ashore on the beach by the
Yankee gun boats. The folks at the "Settlement" would get all the
plunder. One ship was loaded with dry goods and from that time on I wore
breeches.
About a year after the war broke out the rebels gathered up all the
cattle on the Peninsula and drove them to the mainland, where they were
turned loose with the thousands upon thousands of wild cattle already
over there. Their idea in doing so was to keep the Yankees--whom they
knew would hold the lower part of the Peninsula, they having the best
gunboats--from getting fresh beef to eat. There was only one cow left in
the whole "Settlement" and that was our old "Browny;" mother had begged
manfully for them to leave her, for she knew we children would starve to
death living on mush straight.
When the war broke up everybody was happy. We cheered for joy when Mr.
Joe Yeamans brought the good news from town.
Shortly after this all of the men and boys that were large enough, went
over to the mainland to gather up the Peninsula cattle. On their arrival
they found it a bigger job than they had figured on, for they were
scattered over two or three hundred miles of country and as wild as
deer.
Billy and I thought it very hard that we could not go and be Cow Boys
too; but we had lots of fun all by ourselves, for we had an old mule and
two or three ponies to ride, so you see we practiced riding in
anticipation of the near future, when we would be large enough to be Cow
Boys.
After being gone about three months the crowd came back, bringing with
them several hundred head of cattle, which they had succeeded in
gathering. Among them were about twenty head belonging to mother.
The crowd went right back after more. This stimulated Billy and I to
become a crowd of Cow Boys all by ourselves, therefore we put in most of
our time lassoing and riding wild yearlings, etc. We hardly stayed at
home long enough to get our meals. Mother had to get her own wood in
those days, for sister had gone to school in Galveston. Of course I
always had to come home at night, therefore mother would get
satisfaction out of me with the black strap or mush stick, after I was
snugly settled in bed, for my waywardness and trifling habits.
In the spring of 1867, a cattle man by the name of Faldien brought his
family over to the Peninsula for their health and rented part of our
house to live in.
After getting his wife and babies located in their new quarters, he
started back home, in Matagorda, to make preparations for spring work,
he having to rig up new outfits, etc. He persuaded mother to let me go
with him, and learn to run cattle. When she consented I was the happiest
boy in the "Settlement," for my life long wish was about to be
gratified.