One Federal Trooper told his buddies he’d gone fish’n, they thought he was just plumb Civil War Crazy. So the story goes, that at a fort located along a branch of the Potomac, in 1862, the boys were just rising from reveille, when they noticed one of their comrades standing at a pool of water created from the night before, rains. There he stood with his musket, a string attached to the bayonet, dangling from the end, to the pool below. Every once in a while he would slowly raise the musket to examine the end of the string and then slowly lower it back into the water.
The troopers asked him what he was doing, but he didn’t reply, he just checked the end of the string occasionally. The onlookers determined that their friend must be fishing. The boys decided that they better inform the captain and as the officer approached, he also asked the fisherman what he thought he was doing, the trooper with the musket, bayonet and string didn’t reply, he just kept raising and lowering his make shift rod, to check the bait.
The captain determined that his commander should be informed and just then the colonel appeared. What’s this man doing? The captain replied, it looks as though he’s fishing sir. The commander astonished, remarked; that’s preposterous. Fetch me the surgeon, he demanded.
The surgeon came running and found almost the entire Union force surrounding the trooper fishing in the puddle. He asked what the soldier with the musket and the bayonet, with the string, what he thought he was doing, the fisherman didn’t reply, however, almost in unison the dumb founded witnesses exclaimed, he’s fish’n!
The surgeon, didn’t hesitate a moment and addressed the colonel; he’s not fishing, he’s crazy and immediately wrote out his discharge and handed it to the trooper. The colonel then asked the soldier what he had been fish’n for and as the angler threw down his musket and hurried off, the crowd heard him yell his response, I was fish’n for this discharge sir!
Bummer
My old landlord’s version came from the civil war. His grandfather or great grandfather, who served, told it. The humor hasn’t eroded none in 200 years. I’ve searched online and haven’t found any other versions. Thanks for posting the story.
Glad you enjoyed this Civil War version. Try “Strange Appetite”
Bummer
Hey,
I wonder if this is an urban legend. An old landlord told me a similar version about a soldier who at every spare minute would fish in a bucket of water. When asked, he would just say that he was fishing. One day he got his discharge and held it up and said “This is what I’ve been fishing for.”
Norm
Norm
Bummer’s father told a similar tale of a Marine on Okinawa. Thanks for the read!
Bummer
This sounds like one of those stories that if they are not true they ought to be. Where did you come across this one Bummer? I hope it’s not just a stretcher as they would have called it then.
Louis,
Heard this one from my grandfather first, but others in the family retold it many times. Bummer saw it in print once, but the date and location didn’t bear the investigation. Like you said, if it isn’t true it ought to be. Bummer’s dad applied it to a similar situation on Okinawa during World War II. Thanks for the read.
Bummer