Useful web links to odd stories

[Baggage Handler #2]

Lots of stuff has been transcribed and placed on the web - many firsthand stories that give accidental insight to the problems of logistics, politics, or aspects of camp life that we'd miss otherwise.

Here's a bookmark, for a series of interviews taken by the Ironton Ohio newspaper in the 1880's:
Narrow Escapes

Have any good story links? Share 'em!

[Jules362]

Baggage Handler - I bookmarked the page to read later. Looks interesting. Thanks for posting it.

[tackitt27]

I have a narrow escape story, but no link for an internet site. So, I hope I can tell the story right......

My grandfather was told this story years ago when visiting Shiloh Battlefield. When the ranger found out he was from Illinois he said his grandfather was too and shared this story.....

His greatgrandfather enlisted in the Confederate army. (Nothing unusual for my area of Illinois) He accidentally wandered into a Northern camp after getting lost at night. He didnt not realize it until a couple Union soldiers took out to capture him. He took off running in an attempt to escape. He was running in a swampy area near the river and had became exhausted from running. He threw his rifle down and climbed a tree to hide. He said his grandfather lauged till his dying day at the 2 Union soldiers who discovered the rifle but never looked up in the tree. They were poking thier bayonet in the swamp trying to hit him incase he was hiding in the weeds. Finally they said "he dissapeared like a ghost" and gave up.
What makes this story amazing is what happened after the war. AFter the war his greatgrandfather went back to farming here in Illinois. The neighbor farmer down the road died and out of respect went to the funeral. They were fellow farmers but had not ever talked too often. All he knew was his neighbor had fought in the war for the North. At the funeral he asked his neighbor's son who his father was with in the war. They said Grant and that he had fought at Shiloh. When hearing this his greatgrandfather laughed and said he was there too and shared his story. Upon hearing the story, the neighbor's son was amazed at what he had heard. He led the old man to his other brother and asked his other brother to tell the story their dad had told them before he died. (This brother had not hear the old mans story yet) This brother told a story about how their dad was chasing a reb who turned into a "ghost" when trying to capture him.

How neat these two farmers met on the battlefield at Shiloh and never knew it. Its a good thing they never looked up in that tree I guess.