| Photo of GAR pin by Tom Homan. |  |
| W. L. Waddell recalled how
the men got 'mashed' (drunk) while on furlough in Sidney during the war, and how pretty
the women were then. When asked, "What is the matter with them now?" he
said, "I can't see so well as I could then." Former Sergeant Osborne
Oldroyd of the 20th attended, relating how he lived in a house once occupied by Abraham Lincoln in Springfield, Illinois. 'Little' James
Johnson told of his foraging experiences with Sherman on their way
to the sea. He told how they took awful risks for food, even to get an 'emaciated
rooster who was imprudent enough to crow.' Harrison Wilson of Sidney told of his days in
the army, and observed, "Our volunteer army was conducted on the compromise plan
— the man half obeyed and the officers half ordered." Some of the men had certainly changed. Enoch Fuller remembered he weighed 120 pounds when he enlisted at age 16. At the reunion he reported his weight to be 220. Much of the talk surrounded the battlefield exploits of the men. Charles Stephenson, who received the Medal of Honor at Atlanta, related how he tore up a rebel flag while captured, and then escaped during the confusion of the battle. Some reunion experiences involved Sidney, Ohio men meeting their former opponents. A portion of the 99th held a reunion at Jackson Center in 1895. A Confederate veteran from the 7th Virginia Cavalry attended. C. F. Curran reported at the 1906 reunion of his recent trip to Vicksburg, where he met a Confederate veteran who had captured him during the war. All of the veterans from Shelby County developed an increasing sense of pride in their accomplishments as the years wore on. [Back] [Next] [Up] [New Search] 'Civil War' segment written in July, 1998 by Rich Wallace |