. . theywould, themselves, havebeen liable to trial by court-martial and the severestpunishment. Under thecircumstances there wasbut one thing to do andthat was to go! They didgo, and scores of the braveveterans of the Fourthcorps, who had beenthrough nearly four yearsof fire and blood and suf-fering, died at New Orleansor on the arid plains ofTexas, from the midsum-mer fevers of that almosttropical climate. From the hour of leav-ing Nashville the soldiersbrooded over the cruel in-justice, and talked con-stantly of what they felt to
. . theywould, themselves, havebeen liable to trial by court-martial and the severestpunishment. Under thecircumstances there wasbut one thing to do andthat was to go! They didgo, and scores of the braveveterans of the Fourthcorps, who had beenthrough nearly four yearsof fire and blood and suf-fering, died at New Orleansor on the arid plains ofTexas, from the midsum-mer fevers of that almosttropical climate. From the hour of leav-ing Nashville the soldiersbrooded over the cruel in-justice, and talked con-stantly of what they felt to be a grievous wrong. By the timethey reached Paducah and steamed down the Ohio river towardCairo, a mutinous spirit was more or less apparent in all the regi-ments, not only in those of our own brigade but in those of theothers as well. Many of the soldiers declared that they wouldgo no farther than Cairo; that they would land there and thatthey would shoot down any officers who should attempt to re-strain them. Of course such talk was not wise, and to execute. loHN MURRAY,COMPANY G, SIXTY-FOURTH, 730 THK SITUATION BECOMES Al [June, their threats would have been, lor themselves, supreme the men were very much excited, and not a few of themstiffened their courage with commissary/ This had its naturaland logical inflammatory effect and some were in such conditionthat reason and discretion no longer held sway. It is but just tosay that the turbulence was much less apparent in the Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth Ohio than in the Missouri and Illinois regi-ments of the brigade. The latter would be very near home at Cairo, and a large number oftheir members avowed their de-termination to make a breakas soon as the boat should reachthe landing at that were made to burn orblow up the boat should there bean attempt to run past Cairowithout stopping—which wouldhave been a mad and sensttiling to do, with themselves andtheir comrades on board. Bufunder such excitemen
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