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The Civil War: Father Took Part in Union Army’s March to the Sea

My father was born in Ohio in 1837. He enlisted in the Union Army and served under John T. Sherman and was in the famous March to the Sea. He told some amusing stories, and this one I remember. They were in camp but had not been in combat for several days. A nice fat pig came by the cook’s tent and the boys planned to get that pig.

They captured it, skinned it, and burned or buried the skin to avoid being caught. They cooked part of the meat but had quite a piece left.

The next day a woman came down hunting her pig. Said she was sure the boys had killed it. The captain, who had a private tent the boys seldom entered, said, “Oh, I’m sure you are mistaken. I haven’t a boy in my company that would do such a thing. I’ll order all tents searched.”

Meanwhile the boys had slipped around while he was talking and put the meat in the back of the captain’s tent. All tents were searched but no meat found. Then the captain, always a gentlemen, said, “Search my tent now.”

And there they found the meat. The embarrassed captain found it hard to explain.

Uda Price
Fair Play, Missouri


Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then CAPPER’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from CAPPER’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.