nce to John Barton, or Frank Burnham, who would have drunk it, I
reckon, if it had been one-half aqua fortis. I happened to be mixed up
in an incident rather mortifying to me, when the first whisky rations
were brought to the regimental hospital in our camp for use in the above
manner. The quartermaster came to Capt. Reddish and handed him a
requisition for two camp kettlefuls of whisky, and told him to give it
to two non-commissioned officers of his company who were strictly
temperate and absolutely reliable, and order them to go to the Division
commissary headquarters, get the whisky, bring it to camp, and deliver
it to him, the quartermaster. Capt. Reddish selected for this delicate
duty Corporal Tim Gates (a brother of Frank, above mentioned) and
myself. Tim was about ten years my senior, a tall, slim fellow, and
somewhat addicted to stuttering when he became nervous or excited. Well,
we each procured a big camp kettle, went and got the whisky, and started
back with it to camp. On the way we passed through a space where a large
number of army wagons were parked, and when we were in about the middle
of the park were then out of sight of everybody. Here Tim stopped,
looked carefully around to see if the coast was clear, and then said,
"Sti-Sti-Stillwell, l-l-less t-t-take a swig!" "All right," I responded.
Thereupon Tim poised his camp-kettle on a wagon hub, inclined the brim
to his lips, and took a most copious draught, and I followed suit. We
then started on, and it was lucky, for me at any rate, that we didn't
have far to go. I hadn't previously during my army career taken a
swallow of whisky since one time at Camp Carrollton; I was weak and
feeble, and this big drink of the stuff went through my veins like
electricity. Its effects were felt almost instantly, and by the time we
reached camp, and had delivered the whisky, I was feeling a good deal
like a wild Indian on the war path. I wanted to yell, to get my musket
and shoot, especially at something that when hit would jingle--a
looking-glass, an eight-day clock, or a boat's chandelier, or something
similar But it suddenly occurred to me that I was drunk, and liable to
forever disgrace myself, and everybody at home, too. I had just sense
enough left to know that the thing to do was to get out of camp at once,
so I struck for the woods. In passing the tent of my squad, I caught a
glimpse of Tim therein. He had thrown his cap and jacket on the ground,
rolled up his sl