Buck wrote: (snip) > I always like the fife and drum of our revolutionary war and the Sousa kinds > of > brass and drums of the war of the rebellion.
Which "war of the rebellion" would that be? Sousa was born in 1854. (I'm a huge Sousa fan myself. "Stars and Stripes Forever" just makes me swoon with its wonderful in-your-face American brashness.) I enjoyed the rest of your post. Fortunately you haven't had to kill anybody. They quicken my step and lift my heart. I spent a lot of life on picket in the cavalry on horse. Been a lot of places, ridden a lot of battle lines and been in a lot of battle lines. Slept out on the ground a lot with my feet to a fire and with my horse's reins tied to my hand. Been rained on and snowed on in the saddle a lot. I have marveled at the Swiss mountain troops with their guns at home, troops with their mountain horses kept on call at home, I've walked their tank traps across their frontiers. I flew out once over our National Cemetery at Luxembourg that Patton layed out but never got to tour much else in Europe other than finding the Michelangelo Pietas around Italy one time after an ATR course with Maharishi. Made it to the Sistine. That leaning tower. Other than that I have not been off the farm much. I have ridden my horse in the sunken lanes at both Antietem and Frederickberg. Ridden the battle line at Gettysburg. Ridden Jockey Hollow with Washington and Valley Forge too. I was in saddle at the battle line at Prairie Grove. Rode the length of the battle line that Lyon laid out at Wilson's Creek. Rode up telegraph road and the heights at Pea Ridge. Was in the charge of Elkhorn Tavern. Screened the horse drawn artillery at Carthage. Cross the river at Athens and supported the charge there. In the saddle at Perryville. Been on some bunch of long scouts in force. The retreat of the army at Brice's Cross roads. A couple of my best war horses are gone now. I got one left that has been with me everywhere. He's seen everything. Sunday evening and time now to go sing old hymns, -Buck in time of Peace right now
