on September 26th, and left on
the next day, on the cars, went to St. Louis, and were quartered in the
Hickory Street Barracks, in the city. Another "Price Raid" was now on.
Only a few days previously Gen. Sterling Price with a strong force,
including, of course, Shelby's cavalry, entered southeast Missouri, and
the day we arrived at St. Louis he showed up at Pilot Knob, only about
85 miles south of the city, where some sharp fighting occurred. There
was now the biggest kind of a "scare" prevailing in St. Louis, and,
judging from all the talk one heard, we were liable to hear the thunder
of Price's cannon on the outskirts of St. Louis any day. We had been at
Hickory Street Barracks only a day or two, when my company, and
companies B and G, were detached from the regiment, embarked on a
steamboat, and went down the Mississippi to the town of Chester,
Illinois, which is situated on the Mississippi, at the mouth of the
Kaskaskia river. We were sent here for the purpose, as we understood at
the time, of guarding the crossing of the Mississippi at this place,
and to prevent any predatory Confederate raid in that vicinity. We were
quartered in some large vacant warehouses near the river, and had no
guard duty to perform except a guard at the ferry landing, and a small
one over our commissary stores. Altogether, it was the "softest" piece
of soldiering that fell to my lot during all my service. We had roofs
over our heads and slept at night where it was dry and warm, it was
ideal autumn weather, and we just idled around, careless, contented,
and happy. One lovely October day Bill Banfield and I in some way got a
skiff, and early in the morning rowed over the river to the Missouri
side, and spent the day there, strolling about in the woods. The
country was wild and rough, and practically in a state of nature. We
confined our rambling to the river bottom, which was broad and
extensive, and densely covered with a primeval forest. Some of the
trees, especially the sycamores and the cottonwoods, were of giant
size. And the woods abounded in nuts and wild fruits; hickory nuts,
walnuts, pecans, pawpaws, big wild grapes,--and persimmons, but the
latter were not yet ripe. This locality was in Perry County, Missouri,
and it seemed to be destitute of inhabitants; we saw two or three log
cabins, but they were old, decayed, and deserted. We had brought some
bacon and hardtack with us in our haversacks, and at noon built a fire
and had an ar