West Virginia Mystery, of where the Whiskey on the Guyandotte was being produced and how much was being enjoyed by the soldiers in blue had to be solved. Colonel Toland, of the 34th Ohio, made it his mission in life to enforce the prohibition of alcoholic spirits in his West Virginia command. As this story, filed with a Cincinnati newspaper of the day, keeping a young trooper sober, is sometimes easier said, than done,
“During the 34th Ohio’s stay at Barboursville, Colonel Toland noticed, one day, an extraordinary number of intoxicated soldiers in camp. Where they obtained their whisky was a mystery to the command. The orders were very strict in regard to its prohibition. After considerable effort, the Colonel succeeded in finding out the guilty party. The culprit had a little log hut on the banks of the Guyandotte River, and was dealing it out with a profuseness entirely unwarranted. The Colonel sent his orderly for Corporal Minshall, of Company G. On his arrival, the Colonel said:
“Corporal, you will take ten men, sir, and go to the whisky-cabin on the banks of the Guyandotte, seize all the whisky you find, and pour it out.”
“All right,” said the Corporal; “your order will be obeyed forthwith.”
The Corporal got his men together, and ordered them to string all the canteens they could find around their necks. On arriving at the cabin, they seized upon and “poured out” the whisky. After a thorough loading-up, the Corporal returned and reported at head-quarters.
“You poured it out, did you?” inquired the Colonel.
“Yes, sir,” categorically replied the Corporal.
The Colonel noticed a canteen about the Corporal’s neck, and thought he smelled something, and, looking him steadily in the face, repeated:
“You poured it out, sir, did you?”
“Yes, sir,” emphatically replied the Corporal.
“And where did you pour it, sir?”
“In our canteens, Colonel,” he replied.
For a moment his eyes flashed with anger; but, on second thought, the joke struck him as being too good, and the pleasant smile so characteristic of the Colonel wreathed his face in a moment.
“Well, Corporal,” continued he, “I suppose that is some of the ‘poured-out’ in your canteen, eh?”
“Yes, sir,” he replied, with the utmost sang froid, and, at the same time, gracefully disengaging the strap from his neck, said, “Won’t you try some, Colonel?”
“I don’t care if I do,” said the Colonel; whereupon he imbibed, saying, as he lowered the vessel, “Not a bad article—not a bad article; but, Corporal, next time I send you to pour out whisky I will tell you where to pour it.”
The West Virginia Mystery or the tale of the Ohio boys and the Whiskey on the Guyandotte, is truly an example of the Latin phrase, in vino veritas.
Bummer
