Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1862-10-14


25th Massachusetts regiment, to his brother
in Capt. Higginson's company, at camp Wool,
seems to be full Of valuable advice to all
Young soldiers, and we commend it to their
perusal:-
II will give you some advice in regard to
Yourself which may be Of advantage after you
leave Worcester. You will find that to pre-
serve YOUR cartridge box and belt in good
shape. you must take them home with you at
times take them entirely to pieces, and put
on good coat of backing, so that they will
be as black as black can be, and then rub in
beeswax with fatron that is not hot enough
to burn the leather, but melt and rub in the
wax. In places where you can not get the
fatiron in, take rag and warm the wax, and
rub it in with the rag In this way you can
keep your equipments glossy black and en-
trely water proof. If they ever get dull or
dusty, rub them with boot brush, and they
will look like new. Try the same on your
boots, also Get good pair Of boots, if you
have not got them already, and get thick steel
heels, and fill the soles with round headed
nails, as the boots wear out very fast in this
country.
Always after you have beon out in rain
storm, put on a coat of backing and wax, or
they will crack badly. You must be very
careful to keep yourself, your clothes, your
gun and equipments looking well, as it mat
tiers more about persons appearance when
he gets promoted than anything else. This
you will find out after You have been out 4 few
months. Always keep your gun dry, except
when you are on duty or in rainy weather.
Before going out to drill or guard mounting,
oil your gun little and wipe it dry after com
! ing in. l would advise you to get flannel
gun case (mother will make you one) that fits
your gun well, and keep your gun in it all the
time when not on duty. You will find this a
'great institution" to keep the gun in good
shape If you can get hold of gun stopple,
/ a wormer, wrench and ball screw, hang
on to them, as you will need them very much.
You will have blouse given you probably,
and if you put leather patch on the a,iqht
shoulder, it will prevent the gun from wearing
hole through, while carrying your gun at
Fright shoulder shift" Our patches are made
Oh tIih c"llSNil, ABOUT thfee OF 'liree ana
half inches wide, and four or four and half
inches long. Your light blue pants, if you
get them before you leave Worcester, will
want an alteration in the pockets, from the
side to the top, or towards the top. Hay-
ing the opening of the pockets on the
sido i had rbor Won lin dov,, nc
TO
most all the tllhgs INSIDE VIII sup out
before you know it. If the opening is
towards the ton they cannot ret out. BE sure
and mark everything Won have in uD0,jsiabe-
allie letters. or they will be missing before
YOU are aware of it. You will want some
thing to carry oil in, and would advise YOU
to 90 to George Peckham and have him make
YOU little can about four inches long and
about two and a half inches wide. half an inch
thick. with the sides rounded, and little nose
large enough for very small stopple. This
you can carry in the case in your cartridge
box with a wooden rag
Whenever YOU are on duty be prompt and
give your whole attention Do not allow
yourself to be reprimanded for the smallest
offence, as nothing is forgotten by the officers,
and they notice more than YOU are aware of
how a man does or tries to do his duty. Tn
der no consideration be absent from roll call
without an excuse, or erel shirh from a3,y
auty which may be assigned to you. Neither
grumble at all about hard wo,k. food. on, other
people, This will be the greatest trial
you will meet with, and if you can control
your words in this respect YOU will be admir-
ed by your associates as well as the officers.
Strive hard to be quiet and retiring rather
than ..airy" and conspicuous, as all soldiers
are but too willing to SANDER any Of their as
ciates they do not like. Do not dispute or
quarrel | say this not with the expectation
that you will go through the war without a dis
pute, as you will be disputed very often, even
if you should tell them how old you were
When doing guard duty be extra careful to
perfect yourself, as this is very conspicuous,
and wants to be done up in style" When
you challenge do so promptly and decidediy,
and not let anybody play the roots" on you.
You will see the necessity of this after a
while, as the officers are continually annoy
ing sentinels to test their stability and prompt
ness in that duty BE careful to keep the
brasses on your equipments and coat buttons
bright. For this you will want two brushes
one to rub on wet powder and the other to
rub on dry powder to polish. Some use chalk,
some whiting and others buy their polish of
the sutler. The ottener you clean your
brasses the brighter they will be, until you can
see your face in them, and then if you are care
full they will keep bright. Aecer, under any
circumstances, gamble, not Tor the most trl-
fling thing, as II will soon lead to greater, I'M
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