Camp Dick Robinson,
Ky. Again we are on the move en route to Crab Orchard, thirty miles from our
late camp, where a military post is to be established. I understand there is to
be a line of posts from Lexington to Cumberland Gap. Report says these
posts are to be held by the Ninth Corps. I hope not. I much prefer active
service, with its toil and exposure, to a life of comparative ease in camp.
While there is work to be done, and God gives me strength, I want to be doing.
When I can be of no more service, then I would go home.
But I see no
preparations for field service. We have no artillery or ambulances, which is
proof conclusive. I was disappointed in Camp Dick Robinson. I had read so much
of it, I expected to find a military station, or fortifications of some kind.
Instead, I find a beautiful grove of oak and black walnut trees. It is noted as
being the first camping ground occupied by loyal troops in Kentucky. General
Nelson, its founder, who was shot last fall by General Davis, is buried here.
I have borne the
march well today. My feet were somewhat tired, and what wonder? Two hundred
twenty pounds the weight of myself and load is quite a load to carry ten miles
over a macadamized road in half a day.
SOURCE: David Lane,
A Soldier's Diary: The Story of a Volunteer, 1862-1865, pp. 85-6
