From the Rapidan to Richmond and the Spottsylvania Campaign: A Sketch in Personal Narration of the Scenes a Soldier Saw — John Shaqi
From the Rapidan to Richmond and the Spottsylvania Campaign: A Sketch in Personal Narration of the Scenes a Soldier SawDame, William Meade
History
From the Rapidan to Richmond and the Spottsylvania Campaign: A Sketch in Personal Narration of the Scenes a Soldier Saw
Dame, William Meade
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Personal narratives, Confederate
One fellow proposed what he called a _game_, and it was at once taken
up--though it was a silly thing to do, as it only made us hungrier than
ever. The game was this--we were to work our fancy, and imagine that we
were around the table at "Pizzini's," in Richmond. Pizzini was the
famous restauranteur who was able to keep up a wonderful eating house
all through the war, even when the rest of Richmond was nearly starving.
Well--in reality, now, we were all seated on the ground around that
fire, and very hungry. In imagination we were all gathered 'round
Pizzini's with unlimited credit and free to call for just what we
wished. One fellow tied a towel on him, and acted as the waiter--with
pencil and paper in hand going from guest to guest taking orders--all
with the utmost gravity. "Well, sir, what will you have?" he said to the
first man. He thought for a moment and then said (I recall that first
order, it was monumental) "I will have, let me see--a four-pound steak,
a turkey, a jowl and turnip tops, a peck of potatoes, six dozen
biscuits, plenty of butter, a large pot of coffee, a gallon of milk and
six pies--three lemon and three mince--and hurry up, waiter--that will
do for a start; see 'bout the rest later."
This was an order for one, mind you. The next several were like unto it.
Then, one guest said, "I will take a large saddle of mountain mutton,
with a gallon of crabapple jelly to eat with it, and as much as you can
tote of other things."
This, specially the crabapple jelly, quite struck the next man. He said,
"I will take just the same as this gentleman." So the next, and the
next. All the rest of the guests took the mountain mutton and jelly.
All this absurd performance was gone through with all
seriousness--making us wild with suggestions of good things to eat and
plenty of it.
The waiter took all the orders and carefully wrote them down, and read
them out to the guest to be sure he had them right.
Just as we were nearly through with this Barmecide feast, one of the
boys, coming past us from the Commissary tent, called out to me, "Billy,
old Tuck is just in (Tucker drove the Commissary wagon and went up to
Orange for rations) and I think there is a box, or something, for you
down at the tent."
I got one of our crowd to go with me on the jump. Sure enough, there was
a great big box for me--from home. We got it on our shoulders and
trotted back up to the fire. The fellows gathered around, the top was
off that box in a jiffy, and there, right on top, the first thing we
came to--funny to tell, after what had just occurred--was the biggest
saddle of mountain mutton, and a two-gallon jar of crabapple jelly to
eat with it. The box was packed with all good, solid things to
eat--about a bushel of biscuits and butter and sausage and pies, etc.,
etc.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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