e, "one of your thieving soldiers stole my boots from our
nigger cook, who was conveying them for me. A cavalry soldier without
boots, is no good. I came after my boots, and I will have them or blood.
Return my boots, or by the eternal, the Wisconsin cavalry regiment
will come over here and everlastingly gallop over your fellows. The
constitution of the United States and the Declaration of Independence,
are on my side. In civil life a man's house is his castle. In the army
a man's boots is his castle. Give me my boots, sir, or the blood of the
slain will rest on your heads."

The colonel was half mad and half pleased. He tapped his forehead with
his fore-finger, and looked at his officers in a manner that showed he
believed my head was wrong, but he said kindly:

"My man, you go oud and sit under a tree, in the shade, and I vill hafe
your poots found if they are in my rechiment," and I went out. I heard
the colonel say to one of his officers, "It vas too pad dot two good
glasses of beer should be spoiled, giving them to dot grazy solcher. Ve
must be more careful mit de beer."

Pretty soon an officer came out and asked me how the boots were taken,
and I gave him all the information I had, and he sent men all around the
regiment, and in an hour or so the boots were brought to me, the man who
stole them was arrested, the officers apologized to me, and I went back
to my regiment in triumph, with my boots under my arms. The incident got
noised around among the other regiments, and for months after that, when
the colonel of the New Jersey cavalry rode by another regiment, the boys
would yell out, "Boots, boots," or when a company or squad of the New
Jersey fellows would pass along, it was "Look out for your boots! The
shoemakers are coming." For stealing that one pair of boots, by one man,
a whole regiment got a reputation for stealing that hung to it a long
time. Ten years afterward I was connected with a New York daily paper,
and one evening I was detailed to go to a New Jersey city to report the
commencement exercises of a college. In the programme of exercises I
noticed that a man of the same name of that of the New Jersey colonel,
was one of the college professors, and I wondered if he was the same
man. During the evening he put in an appearance on the stage, and I
could see that he was the colonel who had given me the beer, and caused
my boots to be returned to me. After the exercises of the evening, the
New York news