ZACH HIGGENBOTTOM IN THE CIVIL WAR - EPISODE 4

 Zach 4

The war was going nicely for the Union Forces When Vicksburg fell, the Union had control of the Mississippi River.  And, when General Robert E. Lee lost at Gettysburg, the war turned in the Union’s favor.  It still took time to finish the war.

Zach Higgenbottom had been fortunate to not have to shoot at a Confederate Soldier. He found deep inside himself that “Thou shalt not kill” was part of his moral compass.  He had decided after his first battle that if he had been shot at, he would raise his hands in surrender.  If he was killed, his belief in the life after death was strong enough to carry him through.  

And, he had been lucky (with a little help from others).  He had been assigned as an embalmer and did well.  On days there was no embalming, he had worked in the medical tent - until he was run off. 

And, he found a better place for him helping with the horses.  It seemed as if the horses knew he was gentle and not going to whip them. The horses stood still as Zach combed them and put on their harnesses and saddles.  

It made for a nice combination, embalming the dead when needed, and when embalming wasn’t needed, he helped with the horses.

***

After Vicksburg, the Southern Union Army moved eastward - across Mississippi into Alabama.  There were some minor skirmishes - and still some dead men, but never the devastating losses as earlier.  

Moving an Army of over 4,000 men wasn’t easy.  There were the horses and wagons carrying tents, supplies, cannons, foodstuff, and almost everything imaginable (including the kitchen sink).  Some rode horses. 

They would rise early, have breakfast, strike their tents, and start off.  The officers had orders from higher up, and some generally vague plans.  “Arrive in Tuscaloosa Alabama by September 15, 1863”.  

If you had a squad of 100 men and horses and a few wagons, you could make it to Tuscaloosa Alabama in three days (or two days if you pushed it) from Vicksburg. But 4,000 men would take at least a week and maybe nine or ten days. Every afternoon the group would stop and spread out.  

An Army moves on its stomach - and the field kitchens would be both the last to leave, cleaning up after breakfast, and among the first to arrive at the next camp to set up for dinner.  Along the way, soldiers would have some form of lunch - packed by the kitchen staff before they struck their tents in the morning.

Water was a real issue. Country streams were maybe okay, but sometimes there might be a mining operation upstream that dumped their waste products into the water.  Animals drank in the water and left their natural wastes in the water. The army had vinegar with them to help purify and make the water drinkable.  When a base was established and was going to be used for a period of time, wells were dug.  Or, if the force was on land where wells had been dug, they made use of the wells at abandoned houses and plantations.

Many soldiers died of typhoid, typhus, and dysentery - even more than those who died from battle 

Kegs of water had been shipped from up north, as well as kegs of beer, and even kegs of rum.

And, of course, after eating and drinking an army of 4,000 men needed outhouses and latrines.  You could tell an army had passed through an area by the stench of the latrines.  (At least most camps had the latrines downwind from the tents.)

Some wagons might be full of wounded and sick men.  You couldn’t just leave them on the side of the road.  Some needed medical attention as they had to get used to their prosthetic limbs.  Some men got “peglegs” to replace legs lost in battle.  Prosthetic arms might end in hooks - not as functional as a hand, but better than no hand.  Such prosthetic limbs were generally made out of wood and rubber.  Soldiers with prosthetic limbs needed to keep the joints clean and stop any infection. 

Towards late afternoon, the army needed to stop.  The action of the morning was repeated in reverse, setting up the food tents, erecting tents, and building a new camp.  For 4,000 men, such work took hours.

(And, at some camps near populated areas, illicit activities popped up.  Women, often left as their men joined the Confederate Army, showed up to prostitute their bodies for money to buy food and supplies for their families.  Gambling was common in the camps as was drinking moonshine and cheap whiskey.)

*****

As the Army advanced, Zach saw the farms abandoned, cotton fields white with ripe cotton that nobody was picking, cows grazing, but not milked, and nobody around.  There were some fields where groups of black men were working.  

In the afternoon of August 3, 1863, after passing through Meridian Mississippi, Zach couldn’t take it anymore.  He was walking next to the embalming wagons and the embalming staff.  As they passed a field where the weeds flourished, fences had been knocked down, animals were loose.  He found George Tinder, the lead embalmer.

“George, "pleaded Zach, “See these fields, see the animals just roaming around.  Can’t we do something?”

George Tinder replied, “Zach, it breaks my heart too.  But, we are to fight the rebels, not run their broken down farms.” 

Zach replied, “But George, our army has more men than we need at the current moment.  Couldn’t we put a few platoons on a farm.  We could raise wheat, foods that the army needs and has to ship in.  We could butcher cattle for army meat.  There seem to be chickens - so we could have eggs, and chickens.  It could cut food costs and have actually much better foods - not shipped from up north.  It would be a win-win”. 

George Tinder nodded and said, “Zach, it is a good idea, but it would never fly with the military leaders.  I’ll take it up with Lieutenant Wheeler. He seems to be a fair man.”

Zach agreed, “Lieutenant Wheeler helped me with a problem a white back.”

It was time for the army to take a break.  George, Zach and four other soldiers went up the dirt path to a house that looked rundown. As they neared the house, four people ran out the back door - it looked like two black couples that found free lodging.  

Chickens were strutting around in the yard, and a rooster started to attack the men.  Zach got lucky and landed a boot on the rooster which sent him spinning away. In the barn, most of the equipment was gone - probably stolen. Cows were contentedly browsing in a field that might have been wheat or corn.  Behind the house was a weedy garden, but there were some green beans on vines, and some collard greens.

Zach said, “See, it wouldn’t take much - fix up the barn some, get some horses to plow the fields and a reaper to cut the grass and weeds for hay - otherwise there wouldn’t be any food for the cows next winter.  Maybe a squad of six to eight men could keep this going.”

The others agreed.  

“Okay”, George Tinder said, “I’ll take it up the command chain, but don’t expect any action.

*****

The army caravan got backed up at the bridge over the Nanabe Creek east of Meridian Mississippi.  As the embalmers were waiting for their turn to cross the bridge.  Lieutenant Daniel Wheeler came walking through the ranks encouraging the soldiers. 

George Tinker saw Lieutenant Wheeler coming and grabbed Zach to talk to Lieutenant Wheeler.

“Hey Lieutenant Wheeler”, yelled George.

Daniel Wheeler came over to the two men, “What’s up men?  Do you see somebody that needs embalming?”.

George Tinder knew that Lieutenant Wheeler was joking.  George looked him Lieutenant Wheeler over from top to bottom, and answered, “Yes, I think we could use some practice on you”.

The men laughed.  

George spoke up.  “Okay, Lieutenant Wheeler.  We’ve been walking past abandoned farms most of the day.  Zach thinks the Army could do something with them - manage them, butcher the animals for fresh meat for the army, get some fresh eggs, maybe even milk the cows.  We could even plant some gardens and harvest the vegetables.  It would be a win-win proposition.  We save the US government money from shipping old food products to us, the army gets fresh food, we can march faster and fight better.”

Daniel Wheeler listened intently.  

Lieutenant Wheeler said, “You know that could be a good program.  In a year or two these people are going to be our countrymen again.  We want to beat them badly now, but in a year we want to get along.  We can start rebuilding the south by sponsoring farms and helping them get on their feet without having slaves. Our goal in maybe five days is to set up camp at Tuscaloosa Alabama.  We could set up farms - hire some of the local people, but have the Army control the farms.  Kind of a good will project.  I’ve heard some rumors that Tuscaloosa will be our home for the winter.  If we could get a good farm location, we could grow some winter wheat, maybe some greens.  I think the average frost day is about the first of December, so we will have maybe two months to set up some gardens.  We can also put our horses in real barns and store our wagons on the farms.”

Daniel Wheeler continued, “George and Zach, I’m going to take this to our command and see what we can do!!!

*****

That day was a hot and humid day in Mississippi.  When they stopped for the night just over the Mississippi and Alabama border, near Cuba Alabama, it seemed like the day had zapped the strength and energy out of most of the troops.  Some folks who were generally nice and friendly were just a little on the crabby side.

Zach wasn’t needed with the embalming crew, so he joined the equestrian forces and took the horses to a little stream, even though the horses seemed listless and tired.  Zach remembered the old adage “You can take a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink”.  He wasn’t sure what it meant tonight as the horses did drink without being prompted.  

The horses were downstream from the camp so if they fouled up the water it wouldn’t be a problem.  

Zach, Hiram Winter and others were hot and sweaty after today’s march, and soon after getting to the stream they stripped out of their clothes and skinny dipped in the water.  It was cool and refreshing.  Zach wasn’t much of a swimmer but could dog paddle and get around. There was a willow tree hanging over the water and Hiram climbed the tree and jumped into the water.  Soon most of the men were doing the same. Zach, of course, joined in, and enjoyed the thrill of jumping into the creek.  

They finished and air dried as they didn’t have towels, then dressed and rounded up the horses and went back to the camp.  It was about half-a-mile to camp, and they saw others cooling off in the water.  

As many men were in their late teens or early twenties, getting some fun out of life was a bonus to being in the army. (Little did they know . . .)

*****

Meanwhile, Daniel Wheeler was testing out the idea of putting soldiers on farm properties to revitalize the countryside.  He talked with General Henry Frank Peck and surprising enough, General Peck liked the idea.  

General Peck had said, “Let’s see what kind of farms we can find when we get to Tuscaloosa. I don’t know if this is just a lucky break, but somehow in one of our recent supply ships, we got several boxes of seeds.  Maybe the Army was planning this all along.”

*****

Zach wasn’t feeling well the next morning and getting up for Reveille he vomited.  But the Southern Army still had to keep moving, so Zach, the horses, and about 4,000 men kept on the move.

As they advanced farther into Alabama, the countryside changed some.  Instead of large flat lands, there were at first some gentle hills, and then some rocky ground.  The hills seemed to be higher, and the valleys seemed to be lower.  There were more rivers and bridges to cross. Some towns had Confederate militia but when the local militia saw the quantity of Union soldiers, the wagons, the supplies, the cannons, the militia backed away.  

Sometimes as the road went through some woods, there might be a Confederate Soldier shooting at them.  Along with the men marching, there were some of the cavalry soldiers.  If they saw one of these snipers, they would pursue them into the woods.  But, generally the snipers were familiar with the land and would find a hiding place.

A few times there were groups of Confederate Soldiers, so there would be a skirmish battle.  And most of the time the Union soldiers bested the Confederates.  

Doing something with the captured confederate soldiers was an issue.  Did you establish a prisoner of war camp?  Did these captured rebels get swept along to the next major camp?  (Zach would have protested if those that had been captured had been shot.  The commandment “Do not kill” ran deep within him).

*****

Two days later a lot of the men were like Zach, vomiting and sick.  Zach was having bloody stools.  

Those were the symptoms of dysentery. Hiram Winter was also feeling sick.  They reported to sick call that morning before the army moved out and found that they had to wait about 45 minutes to be seen as the line was very long.  

About thirty minutes later, a sick call aide came out with lemon slices and asked all the men in line to suck on the lemon slices.  The aide said the British navy used lemons to fight scurvy. The lemons were very sour. Zach wondered how they got lemons as all the lemons in the United States were grown in Florida - which was Confederate territory.  

Zach got called into the sick bay tent about the 45 minutes estimate, but by that time, the line had grown by another 40 men.

A doctor checked to see if Zach had a fever, (he did), and asked questions about vomiting and diarrhea (which Zach had the symptoms).  Next, he asked a question that Zach wasn’t expecting - did Zach go swimming in the stream - and he replied in the affirmative.  

The doctor’s analysis was fairly straightforward.  “You have dysentery and need to drink quinine water.”  The quinine water was housed in the medical tent and the infected men were to fill their canteens with quinine water.  

The caravan was delayed in leaving that morning, but by about 11:00 the men with dysentery had been seen and the parade towards Tuscaloosa started up.  Zach was feeling about 5% after sucking on the lemon and drinking two canteens of quinine water.  

Later that afternoon he asked Lieutenant Wheeler about what caused dysentery.  

Lieutenant Wheeler said “I’ve been told that there are some germs in the water.  And since so many of you went swimming two days ago it seems to be the water at that creek.

“But the good news is that fresh vegetables and fruit are the best medicines against it.  And that is one of the reasons the Army wants to try farming.  You, my Nutmegger friend might be instrumental in the fight against dysentery.”

That did make Zach’s brain feel better, even if his body felt like he had been in a boxing ring for a few days and getting punched.

*****

The troops stopped frequently when passing houses and farms.  They filled up water kegs with water from the wells.  If there were gardens, the army raided the gardens for vegetables and fruit.  

The dysentery scare took a while to go away, but eventually it did.  And, as they got closer to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Zach looked for a farm to run.

*****

<END OF WEEK FOUR OF ZACH HIGGENBOTTOM in the Civil War

LOVE WINS

LOVE TRANSFORMS

KAREN ANNE WHITE, ©, JULY 1ST, 2023