Night before last
was made hideous by the yells and drunken orgies of officers, who, in obedience
to the order that no work should be done on the Sabbath, omitted all duty, but
to make amends, employed the day in getting beastly drunk, and the night in howling
themselves sober. It is with deep regret that I notice the rapid increase of
drunkenness in the army.
One day last week
Colonel ———, of the — Regiment ——— Volunteers, appeared on drill, took Hardee's
tactics from his pocket, and read aloud, in commanding voice, his drill orders.
I took a little stroll the day after, and came upon a squad of the 43d New York
Regiment, armed with sticks and corn stalks, with a quasi Colonel, reading
orders from an old almanac. To my question what they were at, they replied "only
playing ——— ———.”
SOURCE: Alfred L.
Castleman, The Army of the Potomac. Behind the Scenes. A Diary of
Unwritten History; From the Organization of the Army, by General George B.
McClellan, to the close of the Campaign in Virginia about the First Day
January, 1863, p. 50
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