The spirit of democracy. [volume] (Woodsfield, Ohio) 1844-1994, 1862-01-29
Army Correspondence.
SEDALIA, MIssrUaI,
Ian Ia 1852


DEAR Spirit: Since my last all has
been qniet at this point, and therefore l
have nothing Of special interest to mar
rate at this time in the way of lighting
news. but few other things may inter
est your readers,
WINTER IN TENTS. gfE s
A persor that never lived in tent,
or, perhaps, never even saw one, can form
DO idea of the subject under considera-
tion. A tent, when 1t is properly made
and furnished. is not at all uucom ortable,
even during the severest weather of o
northern winter A tent ought to be q
large one, of good materials. the Fremont
tent being the best pattern have seen.
and ought always, summer and winter. be
furnished with q stove or heating appara
tus Of some kind; for if it is not needed
for warming, the soldier is often necessa-
| rily exposed to rain, when it is requested
to dry his clothes, for volunteers are few
| and far between that are the owners OF
two suits. With good tent and good
stove, soldier may defy any Ultimate,
provided, of course, be has plenty of fuel
at his command. 90 70 sae i
| The 9th Ohio regiment has the Free
| .
mont tent, large size, being about TWEEN.
ty feet in diameter. and having six to a
company. Eve for the men and one for
/ the commissioned officers. Government.
although Uncle Sam is generally pref.
ty clever old relation, never furnished us
with stoves, but private enterprise aud
capital has. The article generally used
is q sheet iron concern, costing from 1--WE
to seven dsllars;. and the amount expend.
ed in oor regiment alone, will not fall
short Of six hundred dollars; all of which
will be dead loss when spring comes,
unless the means transportation Of is more
ample than it has ever formerly been.
Camped. as We are, on an open prairie,
with no protection in the way of woods
or hills for miles around. have very lit
tie doubt but that half in the regiment
were never more comfortably situated ir
their lives than they are at present. as fat
as quarters are concerned.
| During the .coldest times We have had
and they have not been trifing ones. when
the thermometer was below zero. and the
wind sweeping all before it, enter one ol
our tents, and all would be found com
Portable; and, although the men are far
nished with only one blanket apiece, ]
never yet heard one complain of sleeping
cold. The way they manage the thing
is, two. three or four join together and
make joint stock of their blankets. IN.
der which they lay in remarkably small
space by means of "spooning," and when
one turns, all turn, to keep under the
cover. Some of our boys have far
nished themselves with rubber blankets
in addition to those drawn from the gov
ernment, which are very convenient where
the ground is damp and no straw ut hand
although they are a desperate cold thing.
even in warm weather
While / remain in the army, l ask nc
better house. during cold. hot, wet or dry
weather than cotton one, well furnished.
II is clea., it is comfortable; it is porta.
BILE; it is convenient; it is all that is req
uisite in the army. ..t.5f.b, ~.
A THING NOT ACCOUNTED FOR.
There is one thing. out here in Nilsson
ri, in the army, that cans be accounted
for, the vast number of the gayest of gay
old bachelors and widowers. 1t is as bad
in the 27th as any other regiment know
of, and am sorry to say that company
D is not entirely free of the charge; aud.
although it came from the sober old coun-
ty OF Monroe. / know only one man in it
who processes TO be welded, and he has
applied for a discharge. All unlucky
| spouses who have husbands with us, may
consider this poor fellow their "hadder
half" aud be happy, as III not diyulge
bis name.
When the troops leave here. broken
hearts will be left behind. and many a
Missouri maiden will pine aud die in sor-
row. a,sia
ARRESTS ,..,te,-
Two of our commissioned officers are
under arrest; Lieuts. Webb of Co. q and
Winters of F.. Webb has had his trial
bnt the decision of the court martial i,
not yet made known. The ofiense for
which they were arrested was absence
without leave Gen. lIalleck's orders
are so stringent that it is nearly impos
sble to gat permission of him to leave,
even for few days. aud from Urgent ae-
cessity. these two officers took il upon
themselves TO visit Ohio without giving
his honor due notice thereof, and on their
re.urn they were put iu the unpleasant
situation of being under arrest. What
their penalty will be cannot even guess.
but they are 6ne fellows, and tho sympa.
thies of the regiment will ever bs with
them.
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