sh those of our people who have
been so horrified at the mild persuasions used for similar purposes in the
Philippines.

To show you how little we knew of war on our first march, in January,
1862, from Rolla to Springfield, Missouri, all the reports we had obtained
were that Price and his Army were in Springfield. The troops of our Army
were divided into two commands, those under Siegel, composed of two
Divisions, commanded by Osterhaus and Asboth, mostly Germans, and two
Divisions of Americans commanded by Colonel Jeff C. Davis and Colonel E.
A. Carr. I commanded a Brigade on the extreme left in Carr's Division,
and, in accordance with instructions, put out a company in front of me as
skirmishers. It was dark, and impossible for us to see much, and the first
thing I knew I had lost my skirmishers, and was in great distress until
about daylight in the morning, when, while Siegel's guns and our own were
booming away at Springfield, my company came back mounted on Confederate
horses and mules--old hacks that the enemy had left behind them--and
brought us news that there was no enemy in Springfield, and had not been
for two or three days.

As we marched along towards Pea Ridge through the country, Price's Army
faced us with a rear guard only, his main body keeping a long distance
ahead of us. At every stream they would halt our advance, and move out a
couple of pieces of their artillery, and put out a strong skirmish-line,
which would force our Army into line, thinking we were going to have a
battle. My Brigade led the advance most of the time on that march, and as
soon as they would line up the officers would have the boys strip. They
would throw down their chickens, sweet potatoes, and everything they had
gathered, and by the time they had gone forward, and the enemy had run,
the Thirty-sixth Illinois, or some other Regiment, would come up and
gobble what they had left. About the third time we lined up I discovered
that every boy was hanging on to his chickens, sweet potatoes, and
provender, and when I gave orders to the Colonels to have them throw them
aside, the boys made answer: "No you don't, Colonel! You can't fool us any
more; we have fed those Thirty-sixth Illinois fellows as long as we
propose to."

[Illustration: FORT COTTONWOOD

Afterwards Fort McPherson, in the Indian Campaign, 1865. The fort was one
hundred miles west of Fort Kearney, and was originally occupied as a
trading post by Sylvanus Dodge, fath