Diary of Private John J. Wyeth, February 24, 1863

The time for the last two weeks has been used up with drill, quinine, and getting ready for the ball last night. It was ahead of anything yet. The partition between "D" and "E" was taken down, and about all day spent in fixing up our hall. The bunks were hidden by the shelter-tents festooned, and scrolls underneath, with the names of the officers on them. The card of the managers was as follows:

GRAND MASQUERADE BALL.

Sir, The pleasure of your company, with ladies, is respectfully solicited at a Grand Bal-Masque, to be given under the auspices of the 44th Regiment Dramatic Association, at the Barracks of Companies D and E,

On Monday Evening, February 23d, 1863.

Floor Managers.
William Howard,		J. B. Rice,			Jr.,Harry T. Reed
"D."		"E."			"E."
Committee of Arrangements.
Sergt.	G. L. Tripp,		Co. D.		Corpl.	C. E. Tucker,	Co E
"	H. A. Homer,		E.			H.	Howard, D.
Corpl.	Z. T. Haines,		D.			J. H. Waterman,	D.
"	J. B. Gardner,		D.			A. H. Bradish,	E.
"	J. W. Cartwright,		E.			C. H. Demeritt,	D.
"	M. E. Boyd,		D.			D. Howard,	D.
	F. A. Sayer,		D.			E. L. Hill,	A.
Tickets, Ten Cents, to be had only of the Managers. _______________ Masic by the New Berne Quadrille Band. Five pieces
ORDER OF DANCES.
1.	March			Lee's Quickstep.
2.	Quadrille			Sullivan's Double Quick.
3.	Lancers			Richardson's March,
4.	Contra			Skittletop Galop.
5.	Redowa			Odiorne's Choice.
6.	Quadrille			Surgeon's Call.
7.	Polka			Mary Lee's Delight.
8.	Contra			Stehbins' Reel.
INTERMISSION.
9.	Quadrille			Ham Fat Man.
10.	Waltz			Pas de Seul.
11.	Quadrille			Dismal Swamp.
12.	Contra			Friends at Home.
13.	Polka			"Long Acre."
14.	Quadrille			Dug-Out Race.
15.	Military Quadrille			Newell's March.

Generals Foster and Wessels, besides other officers of note, were there, and seemed to be much pleased. Some of the costumes were good. Deacon Foster (H. W. Johnson) walked about the barracks as natural as life. Patten, made up as a Howard-street Sport, was so good, that Capt. Richarson did not recognize him. Among others, Chum Ward showed to advantage as a lady, having borrowed a complete outfit for the occasion.

Promenading and flirting wound up the affair about eleven o'clock.

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, pp. 39-40

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, December 2, 1862

9 Oc we went on Battallion drill. after we dismissed I & A Mullen visited the hospital & afternoon he started for home we was on company drill & Dress perade after dismissing I again visited the hospital and endeavored to comfort the suffering. evening we had meeting at the Barracks of Co A. the Chaplain had me to open by prayer he spoke then called on me to exort after that we had a speaking meeting & the power of God was with us & many wept 1st Lieut not able for duty

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 97

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, December 4, 1862

Forenoon we had a fine battalion drill afternoon the orderly & I drilled the company we ware on Dress perade Evening the Chaplain preached in barracks of Co C text prayer is as an anchor to the soul &c. after preaching we had an excellent speaking meeting.

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 97

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, December 5, 1862

Forenoon we was on battallion drill after noon Co drill, no Dress perade about sunset just when the 23 Mo Inft dismissed their dress perade one of their boys snapped his gun at the croud not knowing it was loaded it went of killed one man dead dangerously wounded one & one slightly Evening I attended preaching by one of the 1st Iowa Cavalry to the paroled prisoners text to be spiritually minded is life & peace

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 97

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, December 8, 1862

Forenoon we had battalion drill afternoon Capt & Orderly went out to try their pistols I visited the hospitals & the Seargents drilled the Co. 4 Oc we ware on dress perade evening Capt Fee & I spent at head quarters of post with Leroy Mayne & Adgatent Horine

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 98

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, December 11, 1862

Forenoon we had a good battallion drill afternoon I Drilled the Co 4 Oc we was on Dress perade evening I was at meeting a short time in Co D at 7½ Oc I met with the commissioned officers at head quarters we held an election for Sutler & a Mr Wolf of Albia, Monroe Co Iowa was elected

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 98

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, December 12, 1862

Forenoon we had a fine battallion drill afternoon we ware in Co drill & dress perade evening I spoke to the paroled prisners in their barracks text Son give me thy heart Our Chaplain was present we had a good time.

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 98

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, December 13, 1862

Forenoon we had a fine battallion, no drill afternoon or dress perade, afternoon I was sent for to go to the hospital & talk & pray for a Mr Jewell he had lost his evidence, he was enabled to lay hold on the promises & was made verry happy. Evening Hare preached & I exorted. text almost thou persuadest me to be a christian we had a good time.

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 98

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, December 17, 1862

Beautifull & pleasant. we ware on battallion by light in the morning, afternoon we had Skirmish drill & dress perade 11 Oc Lieut J. K. Morey of the 18th Iowa Vol called to see us. 3 Oc H C Caldwells¹ Lieut Col of the 3rd Iowa Cavalry came out to pay me a visit evening I went with him into the citty we attended the ladies aid society or fair in the Mercantile Colledge there was a house full of the grandees. Brig Genl McKean² of Iowa was there at the sale tables they represented the costume of 15 different nations it was grand. I staid the night at the Mt Vernon hotell kept by Bolander

_______________

¹ Henry Clay Caldwell of Keosauqua, afterward United States district judge for the Arkansas District from 1861 to 1890, and United States circuit judge for the Eighth Circuit from 1890 to 1903, when he resigned. He died February 15, 1915.

² Thomas Jefferson McKean, a native of Pennsylvania, graduated from West Point in 1831, resigned from the army in 1838, followed civil engineering and located at Marion, Linn County, Iowa, in 1840. Became county surveyor of Linn County and in 1844 was a member of the first Constitutional Convention. Was in the Mexican War as a sergeant-major in 1817-48, was sheriff of Linn County in 1861, but resigned to enter the army, was appointed brigadier-general of volunteers November 21, 1861, and was breveted major-general in 1865. Died at Marion April 18, 1870.

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 99

Diary of 2nd Lieutenant Benjamin F. Pearson, December 18, 1862

I visited the Rever Vernon Dr Elliott Hiram Fate & saw Mrs Wm Thompson of Keosauqua Iowa I promenaded the citty & visited the Batterries. 4 Oc I was on battallion drill, Noon we had orders to be ready to march by 8 Oc morning with 4 days rations all seem keen to be off, we will have to leave 150 of the Reg in hospital of our company we will leave 7 men

SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 99

Diary of Private Lewis C. Paxson, Saturday, January 31, 1863

I wrote off eight orders for officers. Battalion drill. Paper, postage, 10.

SOURCE: Lewis C. Paxson, Diary of Lewis C. Paxson: Stockton, N.J., 1862-1865, p. 11

Diary of Major Joseph Stockton, May 9, 1863

Received orders to move tomorrow. Our camp life at Smith's Plantation has been as pleasant as we could wish. Our time was spent in batallion and company drills and dress parades. Part of the time we were engaged in building bridges across the bayou for troops to cross on which would shorten the distance materially between Milliken's Bend and Grand Gulf, or Carthage, which is opposite. One of the wonders of the day was our men bringing a small steamboat through the bayou from the Mississippi with commissary stores and ammunition, something I believe was never done before. This plantation is a large sugar and cotton plantation and has several large sugar works and cotton gins on it. It is a valuable one, worth before the war many hundreds of thousands of dollars, but as the darkies have all left, there is no saying what it is worth today. I enjoy the morning and evening walks, as the weather then is delightful. I saw quite a number of acquaintances pass on their way to the front. Among them Batteries A and B, Chicago Light Artillery. We have heard of the battles in the front and that our armies have been victorious. One day quite a number of rebel prisoners passed to the rear. Our orders are to move in as light marching order as possible. I take nothing but what my saddlebags will hold, namely, a change of underclothing and tooth brush and comb. Captain James, with two companies, C and I, have been detailed some seven miles from the main camp to guard a bridge over a bayou. I rode down to see them and found them contented and happy, indulging in blackberries to their hearts' content. I enjoyed them myself. We heard the guns at the attack on Grand Gulf, which was a strongly fortified place, and which defied the gunboats. It was taken by troops crossing below and forcing their works. Companies C and I returned to the regiment last night.

SOURCE: Joseph Stockton, War Diary (1862-5) of Brevet Brigadier General Joseph Stockton, p. 13

Diary of 5th Sergeant Lawrence Van Alstyne: December 29, 1862

John Van Hoovenburg, another Company B boy, is about gone. The men are getting discouraged and to keep their minds from themselves it is said drilling is to begin to-morrow. The seed sown on the Arago is bearing fruit now. Something to do is no doubt the best medicine for us. I know I should die if I laid around and talked and thought of nothing but my own miserable self.

SOURCE:  Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 77-8

Diary of 4th Corporal Bartlett Yancey Malone, January 5, 1863

And the 5 day was warm and looked like the spring of the year and we was all on Bregaid Drill the 5 day down on the old Battel field.

SOURCE: Bartlett Yancey Malone, The Diary of Bartlett Yancey Malone, p. 28

Diary of Private Edward W. Crippin, January 2, 1862

Thursday morning     Cloudy air heavy and damp. Drill by Cos. in the forenoon Set in raining in the afternoon—preventing Battalion Drill. Raining ceased towards evening Dress Parade—finis—

SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 232

Diary of Private Edward W. Crippin, January 4, 1862

Saturday morning     Cold & gloomy as usual misting rain Co. on police Duty to day the inclemency of the weather prohibits Drilling     Dress Parade as usual.

SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 233

Diary of Private Edward W. Crippin, January 6, 1862

Camp Cairo, Illinois. Monday morning cool. Lt. Williams with 7 men were ordered in to the Fort to Drill on the artillery. Battalion Drill at 3 O'clock P. M. Very short Dress Parade. The Col. & lady gave a party to a few selected friends this evening

SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 233

Diary of Private Edward W. Crippin, January 7, 1862

Tuesday morning cloudy & misting rain, too mudy to drill nothing doing to day.

SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 233

Diary of Dr. Alfred L. Castleman, November 8, 1861

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

Diary of Dr. Alfred L. Castleman, November 13, 1861

The Regiment received two months' pay to-day, and to-night are all busy as bees making up express packages, to be sent to fathers, mothers, sisters, sweethearts and wives. To-morrow, all who can get passes to go, will be in Washington buying presents and sitting before a camera to "stain the glass" with reflections from their faces, all to be sent to friends at home. As man, in the mass, can be, in no condition, however bright, which will exempt him from cares, fears and apprehensions, so there is none so dark as to exclude hopes and anticipations of better things. Even here we have our joys and our aspirations, and these are of them. We preach that man should study to be contented. What! man in his imperfect condition, contented, that he, as an individual, or as a part of a great whole, should remain forever, as he is! It is opposed to all God's plans. Discontent is the only stairway to progress. Through the discontent of Israel, Egyptian bondage was broken. The discontent of Russia brought war, which more than compensated for its ravages and its horrors, by the introduction of her people to a knowledge of liberal ideas. Czarism was shaken, and already the Goddess of Liberty waves her cap over the downfall of serfdom. The seceder's discontent in England was the Genesis of a mighty nation. Elijah cast off the cloak, too small for his growing aspirations, whilst his followers eagerly grasped its folds to aid their progression. The discontent of an Almighty God substituted Noah for Adam—Christ for Diana—Eternity for Time. And is the discontent which occasioned this great war, with all its horrors, its butcheries, its temporary demoralization, to have no great result? Is it a bare interlude of the parties engaged, taking advantage of the time when "God sleepeth;" or is it a spark emitted from the great restless spirit of Jehovah, destined to ignite into a "pillar of fire," and to light us on in the journey of universal progress?"

"Hope springs eternal—"

I have to-day seen a "speck of war," with another touch of Vandalism. I have, for the first time, seen an army in drill. Fifteen to twenty thousand men, a thousand horses, and one hundred artillery wagons, on parade. To me, who had never seen anything of the kind, it was grand, and looked like war. I note here an extract of a letter written to a friend to-day, attempting a description of part of it: "It was, indeed, a magnificent sight, to see six hundred horses harnessed to a hundred wagons, in full run, in line, like a regiment of infantry, and at a word of command, to become so instantly and inconcievably mixed that you would think a universal smash inevitable, appear in another instant dashing across the vast plain without a wagon attached. Turn your eyes to see the wrecks, and you will be surprised to see the carriages in four straight lines, forming a hollow square, with the mouth of every gun pointing outwardly, and a laughing expression of "Surround me if you dare!" An other look will show you that the carriages are so close together that the horses can not pass between them, yet the wagon poles to which the horses had been hitched are all inside of the square. How did the six hundred horses get out? The cannon at once open their hundred mouths and are enveloped in smoke. The horses return, disappear for a moment in the dense smoke, and seemingly without their stopping long enough to be hitched to, the four lines straighten out into column, and the cavalcade is again dashing across the plain. In less than forty rods, the jumble is repeated, the square formed, the horses gone, and the hundred cannons again open. When did they reload?" The vandalism: The finest orchard I have seen in Virginia, was cut down today, and in one hour converted into a brush-heap; and for no other purpose than to give the infantry a chance to "show off" in an hour's parade. The fruit trees were in the way, and were cut down! It will take forty years to replace that orchard.

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, pp. 51-3