An aged man with long flowing white beard, who fought in the Civil War on the side of the Rebels, chanced to be in Harlan many years ago. He met an old Union soldier veteran from Harlan on the street. As they stood there on the discussing the old war days, passers by stopped to listen.

The ex-Rebel soldier said, "You know it's a good thing the river was up and we couldn't get across Catron's Creek the day we started into Harlan."

The Union soldier's ire was fired to top pitch. "Why you onery cuss," he said, "It's a good thing that river was up or we would have beat you to a pulp." He sputtered and spat with all the fury of a wild cat.

Harlan was more or less a dividing line. At night the Rebels slipped through and robbed and looted anything in sight. The meat was usually kept outside in a smoke house or shed. The owner would rise early in the morning to find it gone.

A group of rebels came up to a farm house and began to turn everything upside down. the housewife begged them to leave their little bit of food for her large family.

The leader turned to her and said,"blackberries are ripe, you can eat them."

The Union soldier led a hard and rugged life. An old timer remembered his father told him when he was a boy of 15 he left with the soldiers to fight a battle in Tennessee.

They marched double file for three days out of Kentucky and into Tennessee without food. A little "parched corn" was all they had. Miles and miles down a hot dusty road a man stood selling honey.

Some of the soldiers dropped out to buy a little. All they had to put it in was their bare hands but they were so hungry they bought it. It was so bitter it didn't even taste like honey. They had to run and catch up with their company.

Sunday July 12, 1953

Volume 52 Number 160

Pages 1 & 8

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