We are all togged out with
new blue clothes, haversacks and canteens. The haversack is a sack of black
enamelled cloth with a flap to close it and a strap to go over the shoulder,
and is to carry our food in,—rations, I should say. The canteen is of tin,
covered with gray cloth; in shape it is like a ball that has been stepped on and
flattened down. It has a neck with a cork stopper and a strap to go over the
shoulder. It is for carrying water, coffee or any other drinkable. Our new
clothes consist of light blue pants and a darker shade of blue for the coats,
which is of sack pattern. A light blue overcoat with a cape on it, a pair of
mud-colored shirts and drawers, and a cap, which is mostly forepiece. This,
with a knapsack to carry our surplus outfit, and a woollen blanket to sleep on,
or under, is our stock in trade. I don't suppose many will read this who do not
know from observation how all these things look, for it seems as if all
creation was here to look at them, and us.
SOURCE: Lawrence Van
Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p.
13-4
No comments:
Post a Comment