Tallapoosa County AlArchives Military Records.....Farrow, Thomas T. Civil War Stories 
Civilwar 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Helen Pate Ross  (deceased) January 10, 2004, 10:47 am

CIVIL WAR STORIES TOLD TO FRANK FARROW BY HIS GRANDFATHER THOMAS T FARROW.---
Written down by JOHN FARROW.-grandson

Tom T FARROW told about when the soldiers were about to starve to death. Tom T 
FARROW and a fellow soldier came upon a garden with a bee gumm in it so they 
took it. The fellow soldier was eating his share when a bee stung him on the 
tongue. Tom T told him it wa sure death if this happened. The man thought for a 
while, but said "I will probably die from this war one way or the other" so he 
started back eating the honey and the bee sting didn't kill him. 
   Another story about hunger was at a field hospital with blood, piles of 
sawed off arms & legs everywhere.  Tom T came upon a soldier who was asleep and 
holding a side of pork so he just cut off half of it and ran back to his 
outfit. Some of the other soldiers had rounded up a few chickens and turnips so 
they put it all in a pot to cook.  Tom T was so tired and sleepy that he told 
the men to awaken him when the food was ready. When he woke up, the pot 
was "licked" clean and no one was around, therefore, Tom T missed out on his 
meal.
    He said that in or around Fredericksburg, they were in a big snow. They cut 
cedar trees and lay them under their blankets to use as a mattress so when the 
snow covered them, it wasn't quite as bad. He said in the mornings, you could 
rise up and see little holes all around where the men were breathing.
    He told stories of trading tobacco with Yankee soldiers, floating it across 
it across on bark leaves while guarding the Chickahominy Creek. Also a story of 
him seeing a Yankee soldier, taking aim, shooting and ducking back down. When 
he raised up to see his kill, the Yankee shot and the only thing that saved Tom 
T was the bullet hit a small tree.
    Another time, he saw some dead soldiers covered in sheets so he raised the 
sheets and saw they were covered with blisters. He asked what happened to those 
fellows and someone shouted out "they died of smallpox". He didn't waste 
anytime going to the nearest stream he could find and scrubbed himself with 
sand and water. Tom T was lucky he never contacted smallpox.
     He was shot in the abdomen while fighting in Fredericksburg. He got to 
come home on furlough to heal. The medicine the doctor gave him was a small 
bottle of brandy. He was sent home by rail in a cattle car that was so packed 
with wounded men that he had to stand most of the way. There is an article in 
the Tallapoosa County history book printed in 1976 where Tom T's father Frank 
G, FARROW had commented " Well, I'm not going to worry about Tom because if he 
gets shot, he'll be running and they are likely to miss him" . Sure enough, Tom 
T was wounded in the heel of his foot while running. The mini ball came rolling 
down the hill while they were running and popped on the heel only making a 
small sore. What his father said came true. Tom T was wounded in the heel while 
running.
     One of my favorite stories is when they were doing some heavy fighting in 
Virginia. A lot of them were scrambled and Tom T got lost from his outfit. 
While in the the woods, he came upon a dead Yankee officer (he could have been 
a lieutenant). The officer's fine horse was standing beside the body so Tom T 
took the coat and hat off the Yankee, got on the horse and started back to find 
his outfit. While going through the Yankee lines, he would ask which way the 
Rebels were so, with the Yankee's help, he found them. While riding up to his 
outfit, he was shouting "Dont' shoot, I am one of you" One of his fellow 
soldiers recognized him and told him quickly he had better get rid of the hat 
and coat because it was a Court-martial offense for a Confederate to have a 
Yankee uniform.Tom T not only threw down the hat and coat, he also ran the 
horse away. too. Frank Farrow  lived with Tom T until he was 15 yrs old.




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