Have received to-day
a box of delicacies from the good people of Middletown, Connecticut, for my
hospital. It is a great comfort to us to feel that the —— Regiment is
remembered in so many places and by so many good people. The contents are
generally in fine order, except that a few of the eatables became saturated by
some brandy—the corks in some manner having got out of place. This, however,
has not injured them. Indeed, many of the sick boys think that the contact of
the "spiritual essence" has rather improved them.
All the talk now is of
moving, and if we should not be "put forward" next week, I fear our
General will lose prestige with this part of the army.
I have had to forbid
one of the female nurses admission to the hospital on account of her improper
interference with matters under my supervision. I regret this. She is a capable
good nurse, but sometimes some things are just as contagious as others, and she
meddled and made trouble. I begin to doubt very much the expediency of having
female nurses in field hospitals. They are absolutely
necessary in the general hospital, but in the field they are out of place.
We have had time to
read and deliberate on the President's
Message. It is not what the soldiers expected, or wished. They had prepared
their minds for a real sharp-shooter message, but they think this is a
"smooth bore," and carries neither powder nor ball. They like
Secretary Cameron's talk much better, But new beginners are always impatient to
be at it. We may become sobered down before long.
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. 60-1
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