Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1861-07-17
Letter fro1n second Regiment.
We are permitted % publish the follow
ING letter from young man Of Lancaster
belonging to Capt McKee's Company:
CAMP RANDALL, NEAR WASHINGTON, }
District Columbia. July /, 1861 )

CAMP RANDALL. NEAR WASHINGTON,
District Columbia. July !, 1sol )
DEAR FRIENDS At the head of this
letter you can see very good picture OF
the Capitol, with the exception OF the
dome, which is shown here as fully finished,
while in fact it is not much more than half
done. The first day after arriving in
Washington We were quartered in large
building in the city, and having permission
to 90 out into the city, | went and visited
the Capitol | went through most of the
rooms in one wing, saw the Senate Cham
Der, went up on to the roof and viewed the
whole city, Alexandria and Arlington
heights over in Virginia, aud can tell you
that it is a splendid building. 1t would be
Of no use for me to try to describe it for !
could not possibly do it. | should have
gone over the whole building and up on
the dome, but | had had scarcely any
sleep the night before, and began to feel
dizzy and sick, 50 went back to our quar-
tiers. If ] can get a pass some of these
days | am going 10 see the whole building,
and besides, the Navy Yard, the Patent
Office and lots Of other places which |
want to see. But | have seen SO many
large cities since leaving Wisconsin that |
lost good deal Of my curiosity, and then
am afraid that it will be almost impossi-
Die for Inc to get pass.
promised in my other letter to explain
about the alarm which we had night be-
fore last. | was on guard for the first
4;,,,,, e;,,o< ~ I.,,,,, L,.an b,ra and wa had
heard so many reports about sentnels be-
ing shot that OF course | kept sharp
t lookout. Our camp is right on the edge
Of grove Of large timber, and though !
knew that spies were lurking around
cunt say that felt any fear for myself
Gldger stood on the beat next to mine
ami seemed to be some excited; he walked
steallhily along his beat with his gun IL
position to fire, much as sportsman
would watch for rabbits. The sentinels Oh
the other side OF me-a brother OF ouI
Second Lieutenant Booth--thought be
, heard footsteps over in lot enclosed by q
. board fence along which he walked. lbs
, whispered to me and told me to tell the
next sentinel and have it so pass AROUND
that he wanted the offer of the guard tc
come around, then quietly. with two OF
! three men, to examine the placs whe e ht
, heard the noise. The officer came around
to the place ut simply told the sentinel 4
keep close watch and then went back
A little after it was whispered around thai
: one Of the sentine.s had had too caps snap
I ped at him; this was afterwards contra
dicted, bot it serves TO show how excitei
some of the sentinels Were About hall
past eleven o'clock we heard the report OF
Il gun over in one Of the camps near here
then two more reports and Immediately
; following in succession two or three more
Some Of the sentinels say that they heard
some one scream at the same time. hi
less than half minute their drums were
heard to beat the alarm ard we could dis
tnctly hear the officers cry "falI III
Our drummers tents were within a few
steps of my beat and the sentinel next me
walked them up, telling them TO hurry up
and be ready to beat the alarm when or
dered. The order soon came and they
] sounded their old drums until every one in
the camp was awake. The captains were
Immediately heard calling out the com
panies and in less than ten minutes from
the first alarm the companies were ready to
J match. We could hear the shril voice
J of our Lieutenant Colonel ordering them to
parade ground, double quick. They
formed into lines and loaded their guns
and waited there nearly an hour when
they were dismissed again. In the mean
time squad of men with an officer came
across through the woods from another
camp, gave the countersign aud passed
through into our camp TO learn something
about the alarm. We found afterward,
that the alarm was caused by some sentinel
firing on and wounding spy who came
nearth their hne. The spy, | believe, has
since died. Immediately after the alarm
the order was given to doGole the guard
and the sergeant of the guard came around
with an extra guard and left one at each
station. These men had just been walked
up and some of them were pretty badly
scared at first, but they soon found out
J what the matter was and We ali concluded
that the alarm was good deal Of farce
after all, as we knew that there was very
small chance for any force Of the rebels to
pass cur picket guard without being
! known. w. b. REED.
The following is Mr. Reeds account OF
the march through Baltimore, and is per-
f haps as reliable as any heretofore pub
} lished.
We arrived at the city last Tuesday, the
25th ut, at about three o'clock in the
morning, having left Harrisburg the day
before about one o'clock, p. NJ. We were
obliged 10 ride from there TO Baltimore III
freight cars, there Icing no others to be
had. We were furnished with muskets in
Harrisburg and forty cartridges to each man.
Learning that the chances were good for d
fight in Baltimore, our guns wert all loaded
before starting. The cartridges each con
tanned heavy charge Of powder, an ounce
ball and three buck-shot, and we were dc
telnlined, if it became necessary, to let the
Baltimoreans Try the effect of them.
On arriving at the ''city Of mobs" about