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William J. Lovett

On page 33 of a book called "Campfire Stories", William Lovett is mentioned by one of his old Civil War army buddies. This book was actually comprised of many letters submitted from ex-Civil War Veterans several years after the war, and contains stories and experiences that happened to each of them during the war. This particular letter was submitted by J. L. Roler of New Boston, OH and is as follows:

I remember an incident of this kind which happened some time in July, 1864. We were on a scout up the Shenandoah Valley and we camped for the night at Strasburg. A short time after dark, Sergeant Uriah Hoyt looked to me and said, "Roler, I know of two nice fat shotes. I will show you where they can be found if some of you fellows will go for one of them." So he went and showed them to me and then I mentioned the matter to Will Lovett and John Baker, who agreed to go with me: so it was agreed Lovett would get in the pen and kill the shote and pass it over the top of the pen and Baker and I should seize it and make for a near-by railroad cut.

The pig pen was on a creek bank some twelve feet high, with only a narrow foot-path between the pen and the edge of the bank so Lovett got in the pen and knocked down the shote and grabbed it, but in passing it to Baker and me he gave a push which started Baker, shote and me, all over the bank together. And then the remaining shote set up a racket and the house dog began to bark and the old man started to see what his dog was barking at. Lovett, in his haste to get out of the pig pen, jumped on the edge of the creek bank and came tumbling down into the creek: so that Baker, Lovett, I, and the shote, were all piled up together: but happily no one was hurt. It was a beautiful moonlight and the owner of the hog could see us as plainly as in day time and it was a bold adventure, as he might have shot us: but hungry men will risk bullets, or any other danger when a square meal is at stake. When Lovett and I collected our scattered wits and took in the situation, we found each of ourselves and the shote all right: but where was Baker? The old man whose pig pen we had raided was too close for us to stop to hunt Baker: so we two gathered ourselves and the shote without further ado and made for the railroad cut, where we arrived in safety and on good time. And where we found our other man, and from whence, later on, we reached camp in safety - Lovett, Baker, myself and the hog.

I will say for Baker that he was a good soldier, but was no good as a forager.