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Still the war continued and Grandpa would only get to come home and visit occasionally. On one of these trips home, he left a dress uniform and told Grandma to see it was well taken care of. She put it in a drawer with another uniform.
One night the Yankees came. Grandmother heard them in the kitchen and she thought at once about the unifrom, and she must take care of it if at all possible. She told my mother, who was only a child at the time, to get the uniform, take it to the orchard and bury it. Mama, being a scared little girl, went in the dark room to the chest, opened a drawer and got what she thought was the dress uniform. She slipped out into the darkness to the orchard and buried it as she had been told to do.
The Yankees went through the house searching for anything they could find, and went in the room where the chest was and opened the drawer where the uniforms were stored.
My mother had gotten the wrong suit and had buried it. The dress uniform was still in the drawer, and one of the Yankees dressed himself up in it and came out with it on. Grandmother had a picture of Grandpa on the mantle. The Yankee with the uniform on, walked to the mantle and used very abusive language while looking at the picture.
As was mentioned earlier, Grandpa was a commissioned officer during part of the war and made Captain. I do not know how long he served, but in some way he and his men were captured by the enemy, and he was given a trial. As a result, Grandpa was given a choice as to his punishment. He was to either turn traitor, go to prison, or be shot at sunrise. He chose to be sent to prison and he and his men were sent to Johnson's Island.
It took men of courage and fortitude to endure the hardship they went through, and several did die for the need of food and medical aid. The war had been raging and the men were weary of it all and were homesick, too.
On one occasion the Northern and Southern armies met, only a river between them; the Northern Army playing their band and the Southern Army playing Dixie. When each side had played, they both joined in together and played "Home Sweet Home".
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