When the Twelfth (Mass.) Regiment reached Harrisburg, a rumor was current that the rebels had opened an attack upon Washington. Col. Webster immediately called upon the engineer of the locomotive to push ahead. But he said his engine was out of order, and the best he could was five miles an hour. Whereupon the colonel called for a squad of machinists. Five at once responded. They examined the engine and declared it to be in perfect order. The engineer was thereupon placed under arrest, and a private put in his place, who made ”der machine” walk at the rate of thirty miles an hour. The rumor was unfounded, but it did not change the fact that Yankee soldiers can do anything.—Albany Evening Journal.
Litchfield Enquirer, Litchfield, CT
Great article 🙂 You choose some funny ones that have a knack of expressing common sentiment among ordinary people of either side.
Thanks! I am deliberately trying to stay away from grand articles about the big battles, and to focus on these sorts of things that get less attention in the history books and that help tell the human stories of the war.