At seven o'clock we move. Oh! how terrible the mud; teams sticking all
along the road, and in consequence we move slow. We go into camp about ten
o'clock upon an open field. It is now raining. The regiment is upon half
rations; the men are standing, shivering around the camp fires; it is a
terrible night; the fierce, wild winds sweep through the Seventh's camp.
Nothing to shelter the men from the howling storm, but this matters not.
"Let the world wag as it will, we'll be gay and happy still," breaks
forth from the soldiers as it were in harmony with the elements. There is
manhood here; there is fidelity around these camp fires, and how sad the fact
that there are men in America who would be loath to acknowledge it.
SOURCE: Daniel Leib Ambrose, History of the Seventh Regiment
Illinois Volunteer Infantry, p. 279-80
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