CIVIL WAR EXPERIENCESEnlisted in Capt. John Allen's company June 7th, 1862. Went on board thesteamer "Jennie Whipple" at Dallas City, Sunday morning, June 15th, andwith company went down the Mississippi to Quincy, Ill., place ofrendezvous. On the way an incident occurred which I cannot pass withoutmention. When we passed Alexandria, Mo., the river shore was lined withpeople and to our ears came the shout, "Hurrah for Jeff Davis!" and toadd to the insult they waved the black flag in our faces, (whichinterpreted meant no quarter to Yankees). Passing on down the river thenext town was Canton, where the same greeting was given us, all of whichmade us very indignant to think so near home we should be insulted insuch a manner. I have never had a very favorable opinion of those twotowns since, and while I hope there is more loyalty and patriotism nowthan then, I feel that their forefathers put a blot on their littlecities that will never be erased. * * * * *At Camp Wood on the 1st day of September, was mustered into the U. S.service, together with nine other companies, forming the 78th Ill. Vol.Inf. (In casting lots for position in line my company drew the letter"H" which placed us on the left of the colors, and Company "C" on theright.) On the 19th day of September we were put on coal cars withboards laid across for seats, no cover over our heads; on arrival atdestination were put on provost duty for a few days, until Gen. Buellwas equipped for his campaign against Gen. Bragg. October 5th myregiment was marched to Shepardsville, Ky., and on the 14th was dividedinto detachments under Gen. Gilbert to guard railroad bridges on theLouisville and Nashville railroad. December 26th the guerrilla JohnMorgan, captured Companies B and C at Muldrose Hill, two and one-halfmiles from Elizabethtown, Ky., and they were paroled. On the same raidon the morning of Dec. 30th, Morgan attacked Co. H at New Haven, Ky.,and was driven away without accomplishing his purpose. About the last ofJanuary, 1863, the companies were collected at Louisville and embarkedon the steamer "John H. Grosbeck" for Nashville via the Ohio andCumberland rivers, arriving at Fort Donelson February 3, 1863, in timeto relieve the 83rd Ill., which was surrounded by a superior force ofForest's and Wheeler's cavalry. The enemy retired on our approach and wepassed on to Nashville, Tenn., where the regiment disembarked. Theregiment was in the command of Brigadier Gen. C. C. Gilbert of the Armyof Kentucky, under Major General Gordon Granger, reserve corpscommander. * * * * *During our stay in Kentucky there were many social features with thecitizens that made our stay among them quite pleasant, one of which isworthy of mention. As a few of us wished to avail ourselves of anopportunity to attend a dance to be given by a planter by the name ofSphink, who sent in to our lines an invitation for about a half a dozento come out on a certain night. Of course we were crazy to go, but howwere we to get outside the lines. We decided to ask the officers for apass, but this failed. Our officers claimed this was a plan made up toget a lot of us out there and take us prisoners, as a lot of Morgan'smen were in that vicinity at that time, and we decided it was all off.But as the time came near for the event and there was less news of theRebel General Morgan's near proximity to us, a few of us Yanks' heelsbegan to tickle for a dance and a desire to have a chance at the roastturkey that was promised for the occasion. So we made up our minds thatwe would take our chances on getting by the pickets. In the mean timethere came a big snow storm, the heaviest, the natives said, that hadever been known in Kentucky. It covered the earth to a depth of a littlemore than two feet. The night for the party arrived, and not Johnnies,snow, pickets, nor anything else would have stopped that gang. Duringthe day we located the guards on picket duty, quite a ways from the mainroad, and planned to go as close to them as possible without attractingtheir attention, then to drop on our hands and knees and crawl throughthe snow to a safe distance on the outside, which we did, and arrivedsafely at Mr. Sphink's. We had taken the precaution to take our sidearms with us, for we had seen service enough to be always on the alertand trust nobody or allow them to get the drop on us.