Bust you old screech owl!

[NH Civil War Gal]

One of the drivers of the Ambulance Corps was stooping on this log washing his hands. A spent-shell came ripping through the trees behind him and buried itself just deep enough in the log to make it stick. He turned about and with the heel of his boot kicked the shell into the water, saying, "Now, old screech-owl, bust if you want to."

And burst it did; but a second or two after blowing one end of the log into splinters and completely deluging the driver, upon which, dropping himself astride the remainder of the bridge, he surveyed himself coolly and exclaimed, "Well, I came here to wash my hands; but hang me if I expected a shower-bath in such an out-of-the-way place as this!"

Source:
"Scenes and Incidents at Gettysburg," Harper's Weekly, January 16, 1864.

 

[JOHN42768]

That will get your attention, I bet.

 

[Sheltowee]

My favorite part of history- the small anecdotes of rarely remembered folks.