John D. Billings, The history of the Tenth Massachusetts battery of light artillery in the war of the rebellion

[60] bringing with them three sheep that had been quietly captured by the other members of the party; but no one, outside of a small interested number in the Battery, ever knew the cause of all the tumult in camp that night, and, so far as can be ascertained, it was the final appearance of the Guidon in the role of a raider.

One of the men, an expert in the business, took poultry from the premises of Dr. Brace near by, in open daylight. He was detected, however, and by order of the Captain taken under guard to the house to return the fowls, now ready for the pot, and make a suitable apology for his offence, which he did. He remarked to the Captain in extenuation of his guilt that people ought to know better than to padlock a door hung with leather hinges.

Here, too, three or four swine belonging to Tom Gott, a neighboring farmer, were sacrificed; but these were all paid for by those who indulged in the luxury, their offence being too public to let pass unpunished.

A minstrel troupe comprising nearly a dozen members of the Company was organized, and frequently played in the Captain's mess tent. During the winter and spring several concerts were given in the Town Hall near by to quite large audiences, composed mainly of the officers of the brigade and their friends from in and around the town.

At one time it devolved upon Capt. Sleeper to inspect tile detachment of ‘Scott's Nine Hundred’ cavalry, to which reference has already been made. As might have been expected by any one who knew anything about this body, he reported them to be in a poor state of discipline and generally in an unsoldierly condition. This was mild in the light of the actual facts; but it so enraged the German Captain