Confederte Niter District Eight: Middle TN & NW Georgia

[Larry E. Matthews]

I don't think I have seen this new book by Marion O. Smith mentioned anywhere on Cave Chat before. The full title is: "Confederate Niter District Eight: Middle Tennessee & Northwest Georgia" by Marion O. Smith. It is Bulletin NO. 5 of the Tennessee Cave Survey and was printed in 2011.

This nice paperback book is in an 8.5 X 11 inch format and is 56 pages long. It is absolutely chock full of historical information that only Marion would have the time and patience to recover from all those musty files, somwhere. And, there are some neat photos, maps, and copies of historical documents included, too.

I bought my copy directly from Marion at the NSS Convention in Glenwood Springs. I think it cost $5, which is a remarkably good deal. It should be available directly from Marion or from the TN Cave Survey. Hopefully, the NSS Bookstore will also stock this item.

Larry E. Matthews
NSS #6792-F

[DeanWiseman]

I'll definitely pick it up. I've been doing some looking into Oaks Cave (TUN5), as several of my wife's ancestors visited the cave in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. There's remnants of nitrate extraction activity in there, too.


Thanks!


-Dean

[Phil Winkler]

I know we discussed this in 2006 up here, but it is one of my favorite saltpeter stories from the Civil War. I'm pretty sure we published it in the Huntsville Grotto Newsletter at some point in the 80s.

WAR ODES

DESPERATE FOR SALTPETER NECESSARY FOR THE MAKING OF GUNPOWDER,THE CONFEDERACY SENT OUT AGENTS TO COLLECT DEPOSITS OF IT. THE AGENT IN SELMA, ALABAMA ADVERTISED IN THE LOCAL PAPER:

"THE LADIES OF SELMA ARE RESPECTFULLY REQUESTED TO PRESERVE THE CHAMBER LYE COLLECTED ABOUT THEIR PREMISES FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING NITRE. A BARREL WILL BE SENT AROUND DAILY TO COLLECT IT."

JOHN HARRELSON
AGENT NITRE AND MINING

THESE POEMS WERE SOON TO FOLLOW BY THE SOLDIERS ON BOTH SIDES:

SOUTHERN VERSION

"AN APPEAL TO JOHN HARRELSON"

JOHN HARRELSON, JOHN HARRELSON, YOU ARE A WRETCHED CREATURE,
YOU'VE ADDED TO THIS WAR A NEW AND AWFUL FEATURE,
YOU'D HAVE US THINK WHILE EVERY MAN IS BOUND TO BE A FIGHTER,
THE LADIES, BLESS THEIR PRETTY DEARS, SHOULD SAVE THEIR P** FOR NITRE,
JOHN HARRELSON, JOHN HARRELSON, WHERE DID YOU GET THIS NOTION,
TO SEND YOUR BARREL AROUND THE TOWN TO GATHER UP THIS LOTION,
WE THOUGHT THE GIRLS HAD WORK ENOUGH IN MAKING SHIRTS AND KISSING,
BUT YOU HAVE PUT THE PRETTY DEARS TO PATRIOTIC P*SSING,

JOHN HARRELSON, JOHN HARRELSON, DO PRAY INVENT A NEATER
AND SOMEWHAT LESS IMMODEST MODE OF MAKING YOUR SALTPETER,
FOR "TIS AN AWFUL IDEA, JOHN, GUNPOWDERY AND CRANKY,
THAT WHEN A LADY LIFTS HER SKIRT, SHE'S KILLING OFF A YANKEE.


YANKEE VERSION

JOHN HARRELSON, JOHN HARRELSON, WE'VE READ IN SONG AND STORY
HOW A WOMEN'S TEARS THROUGH ALL THE YEARS HAVE MOISTENED FIELDS OF GLORY,
BUT NEVER WAS IT TOLD BEFORE,HOW, MID SUCH SCENES OF SLAUGHTER,
YOUR SOUTHERN BEAUTIES DRIED THEIR TEARS AND WENT TO MAKING WATER,

NO WONDER THAT YOUR BOYS ARE BRAVE, WHO COULDN'T BE A FIGHTER,
IF EVERY TIME HE SHOT A GUN HE USED HIS SWEETHEARTS NITRE ?
AND, VICE-VERSA, WHAT COULD MAKE A YANKEE SOLDIER SADDER,
THAN DODGING BULLETS FIRED BY A PRETTY WOMANS BLADDER.

THESE POEMS WERE DISCOVERED BY PROFESSOR E.B. SMITH IN THE FRANCIS BLAIR PAPERS IN THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS.




John Harrelson
Carson City, Nevada
fulltime since 1977
93 Ford 350 4wd Diesel
95 Prowler 30.5 ft 5th wheel w/slide

TWO CENTS WORTH
The story goes that a man died and was approached by the Devil who told him that he could buy his soul back for a dollar. The man searched his pockets and could only come up with 98 cent. While begging the Devil to forget the two cent he was short, an Angel happened by and hearing the Devil laughing, asked the man, "Would you mind if I put in my two cents ?" The Devil got so mad that he exploded in a puff of smoke and the man's soul was saved.
The moral: Sometimes putting in your two cents worth makes a difference.
JOHN "the cook" 1997

[Larry E. Matthews]

By the way, there were two main sources of saltpeter during the Civil War.

One, of course, was mining dry caves, with which most of us are familiar, but the other was by building "Nitre Beds" which composted organic matter and, yes indeed, were kept wet with urine poured over them.

[graveleye]

Larry does the NSS bookstore have them?

[Larry E. Matthews]

The last time I looked, the NSS Bookstore did not yet have this item.

In the mean while, Marion is in the "Members Manual", so you could contact him directly. He gives his address and telephone number, but no email address.

The TN Cave Survey Meeting will be in Cookeville, TN Saturday, October 1. I suspect he will be there.

Larry