CONFEDERATE BIOGRAPHY: THE ARMY STRAGGLER- Smith County, TX 

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Submitted by Doris Peirce - ginlu@home.com   
29 October 2001
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TEXANS WHO WORE THE GRAY by Sid S. Johnson 

THE ARMY STRAGGLER

Col. A. W. Sparks, in his book of  "Recollections of the Great War," 
after his artillery experience, describes a straggler in language in 
line with his graphc and interesting way of telling things as he feels.  
We take the liberty of using the following:  "After I got the blood 
stopped and was cool and felt able to travel, the army was all gone.  
I was neither artillery nor infantry, but was a straggler and was with 
a lot of other stragglers, and followed on.  The rear guard was still 
fighting and holding the enemy in check and officers were urging the 
stragglers along with all the encouragement and threats that the 
language furnishes.  But I straggled along.  I want to here say that 
all of the military starch is knocked out of a soldier when he 
straggles.  Yes! and a straggler looks bad but he feels worse.  No 
citizen can realize how bad a straggler feels, but in order to convey 
you some idea of how he feels you may take him as he looks and 
multiply that by about 400 and you will then have a slight conception 
of an army straggler.  Low down, cowardly, mean, shirk, not worthy of 
the name of a man, much less a soldier.  That is the kind of a crowd I 
felt to be in, so I just quit it."