I ever saw
such a coach attached to a train on which the regiment was taken
anywhere. Now, don't misunderstand me. I am not kicking because, more
than half a century after the close of the Civil War, Uncle Sam sent
his soldier boys to the front in Pullmans. The force so sent was small
and the government could well afford to do it, and it was right. I just
want you to know that in my time, when we rode, it was in any kind of
an old freight car, and we were awful glad to get that. And now on this
matter, "The words of Job are ended."

The only railroad accident I ever happened to be in was one that befell
our train as we were in the act of leaving Jackson on the afternoon of
the 24th. There was a good deal of hurry and confusion when we got on
the cars, and it looked like it was every fellow for himself. Jack
Medford (my chum) and I were running along the side of the track
looking for a favorable situation, when we came to a flat car about the
middle of the train, as yet unoccupied. "Jack," said I, "let's get on
this!" He was a little slow of speech; he stopped, looked and commenced
to say something, but his hesitation lost us the place,--and was
fraught with other consequences. Right at that moment a bunch of the
12th Michigan on the other side of the track piled on the car quicker
than a flash, and took up all available room. Jack and I then ran
forward and climbed on top of a box car, next to the tender of the
engine, and soon after the train started. It had not yet got under full
head-way, and was going only about as fast as a man could walk, when,
from some cause, the rails spread, and the first car to leave the rails
was the flat above mentioned. But its trucks went bouncing along on the
ties, and doubtless nobody would have been hurt, had it not been for
the fact that the car plunged into a cattle guard, of the kind then in
use. This guard was just a hole dug in the track, probably four or five
feet deep, the same in length, and in width extending from rail to
rail. Well, the front end of the car went down into that hole, and then
the killing began. They stopped the train very quickly, the entire
event couldn't have lasted more than half a minute, but that flat car
was torn to splinters, three soldiers on it were killed dead, being
frightfully crushed and mangled, and several more were badly injured.
The men on the car jumped in every direction when the car began
breaking up, and so the most of them escaped unhurt