Incidents of the War: Humorous, Pathetic, and DescriptiveBurnett, Alfred
History
Incidents of the War: Humorous, Pathetic, and Descriptive
Burnett, Alfred
United States -- History -- Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Anecdotes
Entering the dwelling, Brother Gaddis sought the landlady, Mrs.
Proctor, or the late widow Bell, but now the wife of a Proctor, who,
by-the-by, is at present to be found in the ranks of the rebel army,
the madam's entire sympathies leading in the same direction.
Addressing the landlady in his usual winning manner, Brother Gaddis
requested the privilege of remaining as a guest of the house, and
enjoying the luxuries of her well-stored larder and the comforts of
her well-furnished rooms. What was the surprise of the chaplain to
find in the landlady a real she-devil in politics, and utterly
inexorable to all appeals to her charity and hospitality. In her
remarks, she observed that "He was on the wrong side of the fence;
that she had entertained, the day before the arrival of the Union
troops, a company of three hundred gentlemen, (referring to that
number of rebel cavalry,) and that they had treated her like a lady,
and paid her for what they had received"--(_in Confederate scrip_). In
reply, Brother Gaddis, not wishing to be deprived of her coveted
entertainment, inquired "What was the difference which side of the
fence he was on, so that he conducted himself with propriety, and paid
her for her trouble?" asking if his money was not as good as that of
those of whom she spoke. She answered, "No!" and positively refused to
entertain any of the "hated Yankees" in her house.
"TURCHIN'S GOT YOUR MULE."
A planter came to camp one day,
His niggers for to find;
His mules had also gone astray,
And stock of every kind.
The planter tried to get them back,
And thus was made a fool,
For every one he met in camp
Cried, "Mister, here's your mule."
CHORUS.--Go back, go back, go back, old scamp,
And don't be made a fool;
Your niggers they are all in camp,
And Turchin's got your mule.
His corn and horses all were gone
Within a day or two.
Again he went to Colonel Long,
To see what he could do.
"I can not change what I have done,
And won't be made a fool,"
Was all the answer he could get,
The owner of the mule.
CHORUS.--Go back, go back, go back, old scamp,
And don't be made a fool;
Your niggers they are all in camp,
And Turchin's got your mule.
And thus from place to place we go,
The song is e'er the same;
'Tis not as once it used to be,
For Morgan's lost his name.
He went up North, and there he stays,
With stricken face, the fool;
In Cincinnati now he cries,
"My kingdom for a mule."
CHORUS.--Go back, go back, etc.
CHAPTER XXXI.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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