"I've as much right to him as the other fellow," said Tom; "and if I can't get him any other way, I'll steal him back again!"
And he would have carried out his threat, but eight men of the 51st were detailed to guard the animal that night, and, of course, he stood no chance of being successful, and did not try his hand at the game.
Nothing disheartened, however, he next morning struck off ahead of the regiment, and had not proceeded above three miles before he came to a plantation, where he found a fine young mare; and actually compelled the owner to put on bridle, saddle, and assist him to mount. The wife of the planter did not wish to lose the animal, and told Tom she had a better horse in one of the fields, which he could have instead; but, suspecting the horse could not be better, he made off amid the complaints of the woman. One of the 9th New Jersey, who witnessed the affair told him it was a shame, &c.
"Shut up your head!" answered Tom, "you'd be only too glad to get a horse to ride yourself!"
And, sure enough, it was not long until Tom saw the Jersey-man mounted on a blind mule he had taken from a negro.
Shortly after, Tom procured a pair of spurs, and on applying them to the mare's flanks, developed a peculiarity, which his ready wit soon turned to account, as the following will show:
Riding up to a planter's house, he accosted a negro girl, and asked her for some eggs. She refused to give him any, when, turning the horse's heels towards her, and applying the spurs, the animal began kicking furiously, Tom at the same time exclaiming—
"If you don't get me some eggs, I'll kick your brains out!"
"O lor, massa, don't kill me, and I get de eggs!" she said, and retreated to the hen-house; but once inside, and feeling secure, she again attempted to put him off by saying there were no eggs; when, without further parley, he backed his nag up against the hen-house, and giving her the spurs, the animal commenced kicking against it so violently, that the wench, fearing the building would be knocked about her ears, piteously begged him to desist, and she would get him all the eggs he wanted. Tom drew off from the attack, and received the fruits of his victory, in the shape of a dozen eggs. The same persuasive force also procured a canteen full of peach brandy. But luck is often a fickle jade, as is a strange mare, sometimes; for, the very qualities in Tom's animal of which he was so proud, and which had served his turn so well, came near being the death of him. Passing too close to her heels one evening, the vicious brute gave him a kick in the side, and broke two of his ribs, which eventually ended in his being discharged from the regiment.
I might here pause, and give a description of the stragglers (among whom I found myself for the first time.) The mass of stragglers, as a general thing, are composed of men who become worn out with marching, or who are too foot-sore to keep up with their respective battalions, and fall behind, keeping on as best they can, and generally rejoining the regiments when they bivouac, though, of course, some hours after the halt for the night takes place. Some—often a great portion—of them, however, straggle for the sake of picking up stray fowls, victuals, and whatever else palatable which might fall in their way; and it was an amusing study to watch these fellows scattered and squatted along the roadside, or snugly ensconced in the angles of the fences, leisurely engaged in the work of plucking geese, turkies and other fowl, or skinning and dissecting dead porkers. Sometimes a cow would be met with and slain, and then quite a number of these stragglers would congregate, light a fire, and proceed to roast and devour the not unsavory pieces of flesh hewn from the still quivering carcase. There is, of course, a rear-guard to each brigade; but they do not succeed in keeping the men moving fast enough, and are generally compelled to 'let them slide.' Some of the stragglers, however, take a different method of prosecuting their researches, and, instead of falling behind, push ahead, and spread themselves like locusts on each flank, and generally make a clean sweep of all things eatable in their course.