we drilled some the Capt & 1st Lieut absent the 1st Lieutenant has been sick for several days.
SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 87
we drilled some the Capt & 1st Lieut absent the 1st Lieutenant has been sick for several days.
SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 87
Mr Fee our Orderly drilled us today. Oliver Williams a Traveling preacher & Miss Ella Filkin was Married by C Morey
SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 87
Capt Campbell got home afternoon I have been assisting in
drilling most of the day 4 Oc Mr T M Fee1 our Orderly & I went
in buggy to Moravia to a war meeting to assist Dr Sawrers in getting up a
company Rev Kain made a whining speech and was invited to quitt and give place
for others. I was called out & was cheered every fiew minutes by deafning
shouts, there was 26 volunteered & sworn in & we returned home before
morning
1 T. M. Fee of Centerville served as captain of Co. G. Thirty-sixth Iowa Inf.. and from 1895 to 1901 was a judge of the District Court of the Second Judicial District of Iowa,
SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 87
I am drousey but on drill part of the day Afternoon attend an official meeting in the M E Church to close up the business of the Conference year
SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 87
We drilled & elected 5 delegates from our Co to attend in this town on the 28th in Convention with the 3 other Co delegates from this Co in relation to partitioning the Governor to let us select our field officers from our ranks for our Reg. we had 30 soldiers with us for dinner. T Fee Spooner Murdock & I were chosen as the delegates
SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 87
We are attending to our drill afternoon I was sick at my stomach evening attended the Literary Society I was elected President protem after which Mr Talbot was elected president for the remainder of the unexpired term.
SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 87-8
We drilled some & took a descriptive list of the boys presant. evening attended a lecture by Proffessor Moffet on wreghtery [rhetoric] I was called out & made a fiew remarks
SOURCE: Edgar R. Harlan, Currator, Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 15, No. 2, October 1925, p. 88
We are getting right
down to business now. Have company drill and will soon drill with the whole
regiment together. To-day we practiced the double-quick, which is nothing more
than a run. The day was hot and these heavy clothes buttoned around us made us
sweat, and one man gave out. He fell down and several fell over him, stopping
the work long enough for us to catch breath. He was put under a tree, and by
the time we were through was able to walk back to camp. I went into the mill
to-day and asked for a job. The miller said he thought I had about all the job
I could attend to. That is the nearest approach to a joke I have heard from a
native. They are the dumbest set of people I ever met. At least they seem so to
me. The country is queer, too. There are no roads here. They are all turnpikes.
Many of the houses set so far back from the road, and shade trees are so
plenty, that they are not seen unless one goes on purpose. To the west and
south the country looks like a forest, but there are no forests here, only
scattering trees all over the fields and along the roads. The people are Dutch,
mostly, and the rest are negroes,—"Niggers" they are universally
called here. Money has another name, too. I bought a bundle of straw for a bed,
which I was told was a "fip" for a bundle. I tied up a bundle and was
then told it would be a "levy," all of which meant that if the man
bound it up it was a "fip" and if I bound it it would be a
"levy," which is two fips. I found out at last that a "fip"
was sixpence and a "levy" was a shilling. Two fellows got too much of
the sutler's whiskey to-day. They forged an order for it, and as a punishment
each had a placard pinned to his back, with the nature of his offense printed
in large letters, and were marched about the camp until sober.
SOURCE:
Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 27-8
Two letters to-day,
and two papers, all from home. Seems as if I had been there for a visit. I
wonder if my letters give them as much pleasure? I expect they do. It is
natural they should. I know pretty nearly what they are about, but of me, they
only know what I write in my letters, and in this, my everlasting letter, as I
have come to call my diary. It is getting to be real company for me. It is my
one real confident. I sometimes think it is a waste of time and paper, and then
I think how glad I would be to get just such nonsense from my friends, if our
places were changed. I suppose they study out these crow's tracks with more
real interest than they would a message from President Lincoln. We are looking
for a wet bed again to-night. It does not rain, but a thick fog covers
everything and the wind blows it in one side of our tents and out the other.
Maybe I have
described our life here before, but as no one description can do it justice I
am going to try again. We are in a field of 100 acres, as near as I can judge,
on the side of a hill, near the top. The ground is newly seeded and wets up
quickly, as such ground usually does. We sleep in pairs, and a blanket spread
on the ground is our bed while another spread over us is our covering. A narrow
strip of muslin, drawn over a pole about three feet from the ground, open at
both ends, the wind and rain, if it does rain, beating in upon us, and water
running under and about us; this, with all manner of bugs and creeping things
crawling over us, and all the while great hungry mosquitoes biting every
uncovered inch of us, is not an overdrawn picture of that part of a soldier's
life, set apart for the rest and repose necessary to enable him to endure
several hours of right down hard work at drill, in a hot sun with heavy woollen
clothes on, every button of which must be tight-buttoned, and by the time the
officers are tired watching us, we come back to camp wet through with
perspiration and too tired to make another move. Before morning our wet clothes
chill us to the marrow of our bones, and why we live, and apparently thrive
under it, is something I cannot understand. But we do, and the next day are
ready for more of it. Very few even take cold. It is a part of the contract,
and while we grumble and growl among ourselves we don't really mean it, for we
are learning what we will be glad to know at some future time.
Now I am about it,
and nothing better to do, I will say something about our kitchen, dining room
and cooking arrangements. Some get mad and cuss the cooks, and the whole war
department, but that is usually when our stomachs are full. When we are hungry
we swallow anything that comes and are thankful for it. The cook house is
simply a portion of the field we are in. A couple of crotches hold up a pole on
which the camp kettles are hung, and under which a fire is built. Each company
has one, and as far as I know they are all alike. The camp kettles are large
sheet-iron pails, one larger than the other so one can be put inside the other
when moving. If we have meat and potatoes, meat is put in one, and potatoes in
the other. The one that gets cooked first is emptied into mess pans, which are
large sheet-iron pans with flaring sides, so one can be packed in another. Then
the coffee is put in the empty kettle and boiled. The bread is cut into thick
slices, and the breakfast call sounds. We grab our plates and cups, and wait
for no second invitation. We each get a piece of meat and a potato, a chunk of
bread and a cup of coffee with a spoonful of brown sugar in it. Milk and butter
we buy, or go without. We settle down, generally in groups, and the meal is
soon over. Then we wash our dishes, and put them back in our haversacks. We
make quick work of washing dishes. We save a piece of bread for the last, with
which we wipe up everything, and then eat the dish rag. Dinner and breakfast
are alike, only sometimes the meat and potatoes are cut up and cooked together,
which makes a really delicious stew. Supper is the same, minus the meat and
potatoes. The cooks are men detailed from the ranks for that purpose. Every one
smokes or chews tobacco here, so we find no fault because the cooks do both.
Boxes or barrels are used as kitchen tables, and are used for seats between
meals. The meat and bread are cut on them, and if a scrap is left on the table
the flies go right at it and we have so many the less to crawl over us. They
are never washed, but are sometimes scraped off and made to look real clean. I
never yet saw the cooks wash their hands, but presume they do when they go to
the brook for water.
SOURCE:
Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 28-31
Knapsack drill
to-day,—something new to me, though I am told it is to take place every Sunday
morning when in camp. As we were not here yesterday, it was put off until
to-day. We marched out to the drill ground with our knapsacks on, expecting to
practice as usual, except that we were loaded that much heavier. As all our
belongings were in our knapsacks, they were quite heavy. We formed in column by
companies and were told to "unsling knapsacks." We all had to be
coached, but we finally stood at attention with our knapsacks lying on the
ground wide open before us. Then the colonel, the major and the captain of the
company being inspected, marched along and with the tip of their swords poked
over the contents, regardless of how precious they might be to us. And such a
sight as they saw! Besides our extra underclothing, some clean and some
unclean, there were Bibles, whiskey bottles, novels, packs of cards, love
letters and photographs, revolvers and dirk knives, pen and ink, paper and
envelopes and postage stamps, and an endless variety of odds and ends we had
picked up in our travels.
As soon as the
inspection was over with Company A, they were marched back to camp and so all
along the line until Company B, the last of all, was reached. When we got back
to camp some of the companies had been there long enough to get asleep. Nothing
more was required of us, and we put in the time as we chose, provided always
that we observed the camp regulations.
I may never have so
good a chance, so I will try and explain some of the things we have learned to
do and how we do it. Begin with roll-call. The orderly sergeant, Lew Holmes,
has our names in a book, arranged in alphabetical order in one place, and in
the order in which we march in another. If it is simply to see if we are all
here, he sings out "Fall in for roll-call" and we get in line, with
no regard to our proper places, and answer to our names as called from the
alphabetical list. If for drill, "Fall in for drill!" and then we take
our places with the tallest man at the right, and so on, till the last and
shortest man is in place on the left. We are then in a single line, by company
front. The orderly then points at the first man and says "One," which
the man repeats. He then points to the second man and says "Two,"
which is also repeated. So it goes down the line, the one, two, being repeated,
and each man being careful to remember whether he is odd or even. When that is
done, and it is very quickly done, the orderly commands, "Right
face!" The odd-numbered men simply swing on the left heel one quarter of
the way around and stand fast. The even-numbered men do the same, and in
addition step obliquely to the right of the odd-numbered man, bringing us in a
double line and one step apart, which distance we must carefully keep, so that
when the order "Front!" is given, we can, by reversing the movement
of "Right face!" come to our places without crowding. When coming to
a front, the line is not apt to be straight and the order "Right dress!"
is given, when the man on the right stands fast and the one next to him puts
himself squarely by his side. The next moves back or forth until he can just
see the buttons on the coat of the second man to his right,—that is, with his
head erect, he must look past one man and just see the buttons on the coat of
the second man from him. That makes the line as straight as you can draw a
string. "Left face!" is the same thing reversed. In marching, one has
only to keep step with the one next in front of him. If this is done, the blame
for irregular time all comes upon the file leaders, which are the two in front;
they must keep step together. If Company B is going out to drill by itself it
is now ready. If, however, the entire regiment is to drill together, as it has
a few times, Company A marches out first, and as the rear passes where Company
F is standing the latter falls in, close behind; and so each company, until
Company B, which is the left of the line, and the last to go, falls in and
fills up the line, Why the companies are arranged in the line as they are is a
mystery I have so far failed to find out. From right to left they come in the
following order: A, F, D, I, C, H, E, K, G and B. A is said to have the post of
honor, because in marching by the right flank it is ahead, and meets danger
first if there be any. Company B has the next most honorable position, because
in marching by the left flank it is in the lead. There is a great advantage in
being in the lead. On a march the files will open, more or less, and when a
halt is ordered the company in the lead stops short. The other companies keep
closing up the files, and by the time the ranks are closed
"Attention!" may sound, and another start be made. The first company
has had quite a breathing spell, while the last has had very little, if any. If
I were to enlist again, I would try hard to get in Company A, for all the
marching we have so far done has been by the right flank, Company A at the head
and Company B bringing up the rear. When we reach the field we are generally
broken up into companies, each company drilling in marching by the front,
wheeling to the right and left, and finally coming together again before
marching back to camp.
SOURCE:
Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 34-6
Another inspection
to-day. This time our guns and accoutrements were inspected, and much fault was
found because we had not kept our guns from rusting. Only a few got off without
a scolding, and these were some that seem to love a gun and care for it as they
would a baby. This, with our everyday drill, and a general cleaning and
scouring up of our guns and the brass on our belts and cartridge boxes, has
kept us busy all day long. I had kept the inside of my gun clean, so I only had
the outside to scour up. Little by little we learn our lesson, learn to put the
best on top, and little by little the screws of discipline are turned on.
SOURCE:
Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 36-7
New tents were given
us to-day. "A" tents they are called; I suppose because they are in
the shape of a letter A. They are like the roof of a house cut off at the
eaves, and one gable split open for us to enter, with strings sewed fast to one
side and buttonholes in the other so we can close them up tight. A detail from
each company has been clearing up the ground and laying out for an all winter
stay. The officers have moved back to the more level portion of the field,
which brings our lines of tents on much better ground than before. A long and
wide street has been laid out and is being graded off, on the west side of
which the officers' tents are ranged, the colonel's tent in the middle and a
little in the rear of the tents of the captains and lieutenants, which are
directly in front of their respective companies. On a line with Colonel Cowles'
tent are those of the lieutenant colonel (which by the way has no occupant yet,
he being off somewhere on detached service), the major, quartermaster,
adjutant, surgeon and chaplain. Back of these is a big tent called the
Hospital, which so far has not been of much use. Then in front of all these are
the companies' quarters, the ten company streets running off at right angles to
the broad street along which the company officers' tents are now being placed.
A wide space is left in front of Colonel Cowles' tent, and runs clear through
camp, nothing being on it but a flag-pole, which is to stand directly in front
of the colonel's tent and in line with the tents of the company officers. So
many hands make light work of any job, but I am only telling how it is to be,
for only the laying out is completed and the grading begun.
We that were not
detailed for the work were taken out to the great sandy plain toward what I am
told is Chesapeake Bay and given a lesson in battalion-drill.
The 135th N. Y. was
with us, and from the crowds of people who were there I suppose battalion drill
is something worth seeing. But it was anything but fun for us, and we came back
to camp hungry, tired, and with as much dust on us as would stick. We were glad
enough to crawl into our old shelter tents. It is well I wrote the most of the
day's doings before we went out, for it is hard work to put this little finish
to it. Good-night, diary.
SOURCE:
Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 37-8
We are looking for
the Dutchess County regiment as if their coming was an assured fact, yet it is
only a rumor, and even that cannot be traced very far. Aside from our daily
drill, which is not much fun, we manage to get some amusement out of everything
that comes along. We visit each other and play all sorts of games. Fiddling and
dancing take the lead just now. The company streets, now that the ground has
been smoothed off, make a good ballroom. A partner has just been swung clear
off the floor into a tent, onto a man who was writing a letter, and from the
sound is going to end up in a fight. "Taps" are sounded at 9 P. M.,
which is a signal for lights out and quiet in the camp.
SOURCE:
Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 39
CAMP MILLINGTON,
BALTIMORE. On account of the heat we were not taken out for drill to-day. We
have cleaned up our quarters, for since getting our new and comfortable tents
we are quite particular about appearances. There is a friendly rivalry as to
which of the ten companies shall have the neatest quarters. All being exactly
alike to start with, it depends upon us to keep them neat and shipshape. The
cooks have tents as well as we, and altogether we are quite another sort from
what we were a week ago. It has been a regular clean up day with us. The brook
below us has carried off dirt enough from our clothing and bodies to make a
garden. While we were there close beside the railroad, a train loaded with
soldiers halted, and while we were joking with the men, someone fired a pistol
from another passing train, and a sergeant on the standing train was killed—whether
it was by accident or purposely done, no one knows; or whether the guilty one
will be found out and punished, no one of us can tell. But I wonder so few
accidents do happen. There are hundreds of revolvers in camp and many of them
in the hands of those who know no better how to use them than a child.
SOURCE:
Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 40-1
Battalion-drill
to-day. It was just as hot as yesterday, and some say hotter. The lieutenant
colonel, James Smith, came last night, and has taken charge of our military
education. He has been in the service, and was in the battle of Antietam. Some
say he is a West Pointer. At any rate we have a drillmaster who understands his
business. One thing that has already made him dear to us is that he makes the
officers come to time just as well as the men. He told them, in so many words,
that they had as much to learn as we. If he holds out as he has started off, he
will stand well with the rank and file, however he may stand with the officers.
Hurrah for Colonel Smith!
SOURCE:
Lawrence Van Alstyne, Diary of an Enlisted Man, p. 41
clear in the morning
and cloudy in the eavning And snowed o little And we had orders today from
General Whiten (W. H. Whiting) to drill twist every day hear after
SOURCE: Bartlett
Yancey Malone, The Diary of Bartlett Yancey Malone, p. 16
Parade drill of the battery, in presence of Gov. Sprague, and Col. Tompkins, the drill proving very satisfactory. Capt. Vaughan visited us the same evening, and addressed us as follows: "Boys, I deserve to be kicked for ever leaving this battery, because, by right, it is my battery, and I should be with you. (Vociferous cheering, and cries, "Give us our old officers, and we will show you that we can drill.") Capt. Vaughan, mounting his horse, appeared very much affected. Turning round once more, he said, "I am hanging around; it is hard for me to leave you. Answer of the men: "We know it. You are a man every inch of you." Nine cheers for Capt. Vaughan, our old First Lieutenant, vibrated through the air.
SOURCE: Theodore Reichardt, Diary of Battery A, First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery, p. 23-4
Battery drill, and speech by our First Lieutenant. Gen. Banks visited our camp this evening. Nothing important up to [Saturday, October 19.]
SOURCE: Theodore Reichardt, Diary of Battery A, First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery, p. 24
Gen. Banks and staff honored our battery drill with their presence. Col. Geary of the Twenty-eighth Pennsylvania, and Capt. Tompkins, with the right section, had a fight with the rebels at Harper's Ferry and Bolivar Heights. Our right section, occupying Maryland Heights, fired into Bolivar and on a rebel battery on Loudon Heights. Even the drivers served an old iron gun. Col. Geary's troops, crossing the river in scows, carried the fight to Bolivar Heights. No loss of men in the right section.
SOURCE: Theodore Reichardt, Diary of Battery A, First Regiment Rhode Island Light Artillery, p. 24
I have allowed a huge gap to occur in this Diary, for which I can offer a poor excuse. I have been sick with head-ache for about three weeks, until a few days ago, when it left me, and simultaneously with its departure disappeared also the feeling of lassitude with which I have been almost prostrated; but I again feel my usual flow of spirits and a desire to place on record the doings of the Forty-first. Since the bombardment of this place on the night of the 14th of March, our daily life has been somewhat interesting, compared with what it was before. The Yankee vessels remained below the point a week or ten days, occasionally throwing a shell into our midst, and finally disappeared entirely; but soon after our old acquaintance, the "Essex," hove in sight, evidently with the intention of paying us a protracted visit. During the last month, our regiment has been worked every day at the rate of two hundred and fifty men to the detail, and, when not on fatigue duty, we have drilled constantly. Our rations have improved greatly in quality, but not in quantity. We now draw bacon, meal, rice, sugar, molasses and peas, and fish are also very plentiful, but dear. For a while, after the poor Texas beef gave out, we drew spoilt pork, but it was preferable.
During the intervals between the appearance of the Yankee vessels, we have managed to pass off the time very well. The weather has been beautiful, and our minds have been kept about as busy as our hands, between hope and expectation—hope that we may get marching orders, while we have been anxiously expecting the re-appearance of the Yankee fleet. As yet no marching orders have come for us, but the gunboats have made their appearance above and below. The first intimation we had of their coming was from an order for the regiment to take position on the river bank, to act as sharpshooters during the engagement. The fleet above, after a stay of a few days, during which they sent up rockets and fired signal guns to the lower fleet, steamed up the river. After being gone over a week, they re-appeared a few days since. The situation now is: we are menaced above by three formidable vessels, while the fleet below is in plain view and very busy. The probability is that an attack may be made at any hour. We are ready for them.
SOURCE: Edwin L. Drake, Editor, The Annals of the Army of Tennessee and Early Western History, Vol. 1, p. 165-6