Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1861-11-27
Letter from Captain Gains.
ARL1NcroN HE1eurs. Nov y 'el

ARLiN0AON l1ElGAISs NOV. &, OIL.
Nh. EDIToR:-I notice in many OF the
Wisconsin papers that the good folks of
the Badger State, after furnishing so many
fighting men for the war, are organizing
Soldiers Aid Societies and raising money
to be laid ont co. blankets, wooden shirts,
&c, for our soldiers. Now this is very
kind indeed, and exhibits feeling toward
soldiers and the cause for which they are
laboring. worthy of emulation; and | as
sure you it will be appreciated as such, by
the soldiers at large; but | am at loss to
know how it is, the erroneous idea that we
are suffering for want Of sufficient clothing
and food, becomes so prevalent among the
masses at home. Now | am not prepared
to say how other Regiments outside of our
Brigade and the Brgades encanped near
US, are suffering for clothing, food, &c.
We are in Gen. McDoweIPs Division Of
twelve thousand men or more, and among
that number of men, | notice many Wis
consin boys that | was well acquainted
with at home; and must say that new
er saw them uniformly well Dress ut home
as they now are, and know they have
plenty Of bread, beef, pork, rice, beans,
moasses, ten, coffee and sugar to live like
Fighting cocks"
In order to let you know what our ward
robe consists OF, will give you an inven-
tory together with our facilities for trans
portation, after which | will leave you to
Judge whether we would be able to make
more clothing of utility to us or not. We
now have two heavy oyer-coats, one heavy
roundabout, one frock coat, two pairs OF
heavy pants, one pair Of light cotton pants,
two heavy wooden shirts, two pairs draw
ers, two pairs socks, one towel, one heavy
blanket, one rubber blanket; all Of which
except what we are wearing, must be lug
ged in knapsack, and besides all this we
must carry haversack, with from one to
three days rations, and a heavy musket
when we are on the march. | must con
fess | am at loss to know how we could
carry more, unless each man has a pack
mule furnished him. We however, never
thcless, fully appreciate the kind offerings
of the goou folks at home, and | would
here say that cannot tell what priyations
we are destined to undergo in the future
and can only speak Of the present; but il
answer to many letters received fron
friends Of our company, iuquirng wha
kind Of clothing we stand most in need o
to make us comfortable. At the present
time would refer them to the above in
yentory of our present wardrobe, and lei
them judge for themselves whether or not
we are Suffering as has been reported.
| have no doubt of " Uncle SamaeFS" abil.
ity and willingness to furnish us all the
clothing be will allow us to carry, and that
the allowance will be sufficient to render
us as comfortable as the circumstances will
admit of But If we should fall short At
some future time, we would be glad to avail
ourselves of the opportunity Of drawing on
the liberality and kindness OF the good
folks Of our native homes; but at present
think Of nothing in the way Of clothing
that would add to our comfort.
We are getting along finely and all ex-
cept one man able and willing to do duty.
| cannot help but latter myself that our
company gets along with SIS ilI-feeling one
toward the other, than any company on
the Potomac, and in the language Of Lieut..
Woodhouse "we eat together, sleep togeth-
er and if need be we viii die together"
We have not yet had chance to "pek !.
fight" with the rebels; they don't seem to
wish to form an acquaintance with US,
but seem to avoid coming in con,lct with
the "0aud-sals" Of Wisconsin. This cool
ness ma, emenate from their aristocratic
notions and it may eminate from some 9th
er cause, can't tell which. Perhaps they
have met some of us before and did not like
our STYLE We meet the whole Division OF
Gen. Mcdowell to morrow at Munson's
Hill, for general review. | suppose we
will have fine time as the wether is very
fine and our boys seem to be all up and
dressed. elated at the thought of seeing
Gen. Mcclellan and old Abe.
Respectfully yours,
JoHN ID. CALLS