Foes To Friends

Today being Veterans Day, I thought I would tell you a story about two old veterans who were once enemies but eventually became best friends.

During the Civil War, a young man from Tennessee named Frank Alonzo Chick joined the Confederate Army in 1861 when he was 18 years old. He was assigned to the 3rd Tennessee Cavalry and served under notorious General Nathan Bedford Forrest, known for his lightning raids against the enemy, with often brutal results. After participating in several battles, Chick was wounded at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863, and was taken prisoner.

After being treated for his wounds, he and other Confederate prisoners were transported north, stopping in Cincinnati, Ohio, for a short time before ending up at Camp Chase near Columbus, Ohio. Living conditions were barbaric for the 8,000 prisoners held there. Food was in short supply, sanitary conditions and fresh water were lacking, and hundreds of prisoners died from smallpox and other diseases.

Chick might have been one of those casualties if it hadn’t been for a Union soldier who had been one of the escorts bringing the prisoners north after they were captured. Once they reached their destination, Private Nicholas Brill of the 91st Ohio Infantry was assigned to be a guard at Camp Chase, and over time, the Union guard and Confederate prisoner became friends. Living conditions for the guards at the camp were somewhat better than those of the prisoners, but far from luxurious by any means. Even so, Brill managed to slip a little food and water to his friend whenever possible, which was strictly against regulations and could have found him court-martialed.

When the long, terrible conflict was over, the Confederate prisoners were released and most began making their way home to a South that had been laid to ruin by years of warfare. Among them was Frank Chick, though he didn’t have a home or family to go back to. Those plans changed when his friend, Nicholas Brill, invited him to come home with him to his cabin near Mount Sterling, Ohio.

Both men shared a love of the outdoors and were avid fishermen and hunters. They started a business raising turkeys, finding a ready market for them in nearby Mount Sterling. Over time, they became known as the Turkey Men, and built up a good customer base. While they would never get rich at their venture, it provided enough money for them to get by, and that’s all they really needed.

It is said that Brill sometimes called his old friend Reb, but woe to anybody else who would use what was considered a slur in those days. The two old veterans presented a united front, and if you fought one, you fought both of them.

Their partnership lasted a long time, until the death of Frank Chick in 1922 at the age of 78. His good friend Nicholas Brill died just a year later. The men who once were enemies and may have tried to kill each other if they had met in combat during the war that divided the nation, were buried side-by-side in Pleasant Grove Cemetery in Mount Sterling. Their graves are a tribute to reconciliation and a friendship that defied the color of the uniforms they wore when they were both young soldiers.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us.

Thought For The Day – The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him. – G.K. Chesterton