Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1862-12-18
From the 18th Regiment

From the 18Th Regiment.
We are permitted to publish the fon,u
ing extract from a letter by Capt Row.,
ton, of the 18th regiment. The no,
furnishing the extract has our thanks g.
the favor, as doubtless also those If y
our readers who have friends in tho a..
pany, for all are interested in bea,;,,
from our friends who are enduring h..i
ness, as good soldiers" in the causo -
our country and of freedom.
CAMP VI, Va. Dec. 7, 1862
Once more from the old spO. | writ.
you, and for the first time to spe,l =,
hardship and the mere practice Of wa,
| will give you description of our ;o0,
ney from Union Mills, to Camp VermoD,.
not to overrate it, because | cannot with
a pen. We started Dec. 9Th. at 10 o'clooL
a. m; it beginning to rain and snow 7
tried to get my men into car and v,s
told could not, but refused to order tbom
out to an open car, thinking | could d.
better At last | succeeded in gettiDe
them into good Car. 1t continued fl
storm all day with cold northwest wind.
the snow at night being three inches deem
very muddy Of course. We came down
on the cars to Alexandria; arrived there
about three o'clock. p NJ; the storm mn
abated /; got out of the cars, and, in the
mud. started for the old camp left The
second Lieut. in the car with three men
to guard the baggage. They stayed all
night without any fire. told the lst
! Lieut.. to march the men to camp. and
went in the rear to see to the sick and
help them along. We had about two
miles to march. 1t stormed so hard that
it wet my rubber coat through on the
shoulders going that distance Imagine
yourself marching up long HILL in the
mud. ankle deep, with your feet cold and
wet, in bleak wind: then to think Of
going into the woods or rather brush, in
a thick fog with the snow loaded on to
every branch so that the trees we're white
from top to bottom without any shelter
or any means of building fire, with lit
tie to eat and no way of obtaining more;
knowing you must stay in this condition
until your tents could be drawn up. setnn
and arches built in them wet and hungry
all the time. with the thermometer far be-
low freezing point, and perhaps you would
think VIC needed sympathy. | will tell
sou how we got along through the night
In the first place went by way of the
18th borrowed an ak; went over to camp,
and found the boys consulting what to do.
| said we would 60 into the woods, and
off We started to fine grove that | had
seen before. about l-2 mile distant. Ey.
cry limb was bowed towards the ground
and the wind bad blown the snow under
the boughs. The rain fell in such tor
rents that the water ran from every branch;
therefore no protection there. 1t was at
this time about dark. We cut down some
trees so that the water would not run
from them on to us. After about two
hours work we had large fire burning
1t had stormed all the time, and frozen
on to our backs, but at last We took our
rubber blankets and what pieces of tents
we had hung them up on the windward
side of our fire, which broke the wind OFT
some. Then we ate our supper. which
consisted of salt pork and bread. did
not have any dinner that day, and for
my supper | ate a small piece of pork and
a loaf Of bread which weighed twenty two
ounces. 1t cleard off and the wind went
down at IL o'clock, so we laid down to
sleep; some slept, aud some did not |
slept. One or two caught cold did
not. Our tents came the next day; the
boys set them up; We had one meal that
day. The boys did not complain word
Gen. Banks Heard From,