Our oxen gone. Roll
call at 1 a. m. After Indians. We arrived at Fort Abercrombie all right. Waded
Red river. Left Ottertail river at daylight. Indians tried to burn us up on the
prairie. Cannon after them. Wright and Shulz killed acting as escort for
messenger to our command.
SOURCE: Lewis C.
Paxson, Diary of Lewis C. Paxson: Stockton, N.J., 1862-1865, p. 5
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
Roll call at 5 and ½
O'clock Officers at 7 A. M. Squad drill as usual. Lieut. L. F. Williams with a
grant of 5 days absence left for Pike Co. on business concerning the Co.
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State
Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 223
Roll call as usual 5½
A. M. Meeting at 10 A. M. Rather dull in [camp]. drissling rain in the
afternoon An order to leave to-morrow. Quite a No. of men have the ague. It is
getting to be quite sickly here Hospital is pretty near full of sick. Thirteen
men from Smiths Comp. from Galena came this evening and joined our Comp. 1861
SOURCE: Transactions
of the Illinois State Historical Society
for the Year 1909, p. 223
Camp at Jacksonville
Morgan co. Ills. Roll call at 5 Breakfast at 5½ O'clock. Immediately after
breakfast the 13 men who joined last evening were examined and sworn into the
service.
Left Camp Butler
with 6 other Companies at ½ past 10 O'clock marched to Jim Town left on the
train at ½ past 11, arrived at Jacksonville at 3 P. M. marched from the depot to
our present encampment nearly 1½ miles very hot and dusty. Had rations enough
left of the amt. drawn of the commissary at Camp Butler for our supper Would
not issue rations to us this evening, for tomorrow through some mistake or
other Have a nice pleasant place for our Camp high dry and healthy.
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State
Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 223
Camp Defiance Cairo
Ills. Roll call, Squad drill this morning. after breakfast men set to
work-cleaning up the groun[d.] Repeated firing of cannon in the artillery drill
at Birds Point-One man nearly killed by the discharge of a cannon Morning
report made out and handed in at Head Quarters 2 men in addition to last report—Aggregate
No. of men in Parkes comp now 98. both sworn into the service by the Col.
Rations of bread short this morning through the rascality or neglect of the
Quartermaster—great dissatisfaction throughout the camp on account of it. Col.
saw to the matter and bread here by half after 8 O'clock tonight.
SOURCE: Transactions of the Illinois State
Historical Society for the Year 1909, p. 223
I RECEIVE AN APPOINTMENT.
The ward next me on the left is a colored one, and contains from 60 to 80 men, according to recruits and drafts. Until recently they have been pretty much on their own hook, no one seeming to care for them. Some days ago Doctor Sadler asked me if I would take charge of them. I said I should like to do anything where I could be of any use.
He gave me my instructions and some blank reports, and set me up in business. My duties are to attend roll-calls, surgeon's calls, keep an account of arrivals, discharges, desertions, deaths, march them up to the kitchen three times a day for rations and make my report to him every morning. Entering on the discharge of my duties the first thing I did was to set them to work cleaning and fixing up their quarters, so they would be more comfortable.
A couple of hours' work showed a great improvement in the condition of things, and while it was being done it gave me a chance to find out who among them were the worst off and needed the most care and favors. A sick nigger is a curious institution and you can't tell so well about him as you can about a sick mule. He can put on the sickest look of anything I ever saw and appear as though he would die in seven minutes, but a nigger is never really sick but once, and is then sure to die. There is no more help for one than there is for a sick pig. I have three that are sick and I have no more faith in their getting well than I have that Gen. Lee will drive Gen. Grant from before Petersburg. Two of them are now unable to attend the surgeon's call in the morning and the other I expect will be in a few days. I have about 10 hobbling around with canes, spavined, ring-boned and foundered. The others are simply a little war-worn and tired.
The kitchen is about 30 rods from the camp, and when I march them up there there are so many lame ones they straggle the whole distance. Doctor Sadler called my attention to this and said he should like to see them march in little better order. I replied: “Surgeon, come out in the morning and see the parade; you will see them marching a 28 inch step and closed up to 18 inches from stem to stern.” He promised he would. The next morning at breakfast call I formed every one of those darkies that carried canes on the right, and the very lamest I put at the head of the column, and gave them a send-off. It was a comical show, they marched at the rate of about one mile an hour, and those in the rear kept calling out to those in advance : “Why don ye goo long dar! Hurry up dar; shan' get breakfas' fo' noon.” They kept closed up a good deal better than they kept the step as the rear crowded the advance to push them along. We were cheered along the route as almost everybody was out to see the fun. We marched in review before the doctor, and by the way he laughed and shook himself I thought he was well satisfied with the parade, at any rate he complimented me on my success when I carried in my morning report.
One day one of my fellows came to me for a pass to go fishing. He said he could catch as many bull-heads as would do us two for three days. I gave him a pass, but didn't see anything of him again for four days. When I asked him where he had been so long, he looked pretty sober for a minute or two, and then rolling around the whites of his eyes and showing his teeth, said: "Yah, yah, yah! ize no idee ize don gon so long; yah, yah, yah."
