Wednesday, March 13, 2024

Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, September 20, 1862

We have had another pleasure curtailed. It has been the practice for the boys to go to the pond by the railroad, and dive off the bank which slopes here very abruptly, enjoying the swimming very much, but some of the soldiers must be very sensitive (as no one else lives within shooting distance of the pond), and orders have come from head-quarters to stop all bathing. This order must have come from higher authority than our regiment, and we are obliged to go up the track a half mile or so, where we had considerable fun, one day in particular; the place was the scene of much sport. While a squad under Corporal Cartwright were bathing, the question arose, whether we could throw any one across the creek. Cartwright volunteered to be the subject, and having partly dressed, was thrown head first; of course he did no go half way across, and had the pleasure of going to camp wet.

Some of the members of the Mercantile Library Association, friends of Capt. Richardson, have presented him with a fine sword, sash, &c.

The guard have mysteriously lost some of their rifles, we cannot imagine where, but suppose the officers know If any of "E" have suffered, they do not tell any "tales out of school."

SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 9

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