Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1863-02-17
Correspondence.
Our War Correspondence.
A Soldiers Letter, No. IA,
THE coNyALEscENr CAMP.

ihV b9'HV VI '"io NaulP cal PihlHh lls uSes III IN
impossible, ! suppose, for the Government to for
nish hospitals enough to contain all the sick and
wounded men, and keep them there I'll they are
well. AS soon as they are considered in fair
way for recovery, they must leave the hospital to
make room for more needy sufferers. Often,
when all the hospitals have their full complement
ofpndeuts and all seem to be getting along fine.
ly, an order comes TO make room for large
number more, and these must be attended to, at
all hazards. The only way to arrange this busi.
ness was to establish a camp where those the
nearest well and best ab to take care Of them.
selves could be sent and thus make room for
others to whom neglect would be certain death.
Hence, the origin of this camp for convaIescents.
shlIl live to be an {od man, ind ed, If / live
70 forget .a d,y that inir5d .od me to this camp
which honest cities hlse cons trsci cia1 places
The one most miserable. First impression. they
cay, are h'ling, and .fso, this my ID pax. ac.
count for The sombty description | shall gte j
what saw here. The day Of ,0y initiation wr
as dsagreeabe as the elements could make H..
Rain and sleet driven BY northwest gale wa.
TIE complexion OF the weather, and the mos, irri
tang red iapeism the order Of the day. In the
first place, at precisely ten O'Clock A. NJ, Of th,
eSentul Day, We were ordered from the re,rea
to hlI into line in front Of the office Here quite
suuInber were selected from among u.s. TO take
some horses down to Fredericksburg. From
Fpder.c,'burgh, these men could 20 at once To
their regiments. As soon as it became known
what this selection was being made for, almost
every one Of The boys eamored eagerly to b.
counted With the lucky namhsr. A stranger
could have seen at glance, how anxious The
boys we're to get TO their regiments and how
gid they we're to shun the couya.e.cent camp.
After being kept 10 a line, exposed to a peIting
storm, l he Impotence Of the men was begin.
ming % foi copous vent 10 language not at oil
refined, We were finally marched down to the
wharf when 20 our chogfio, We found shat the
Goycomea, boat fer Alexandria, had JUS, Iph
for that place. 1t now became a military uece,
shy for Us to. wait til. It's return and We did 'o,
with perhaps less OF patience than patriarch Jab
would have exhibited under the same crclm.
siauc's, bu, still quite resigned iC soldiers uu.
protected from the storm, aud 81 from CON-
Portable hospitals. 10 process Of time the boat
returned and We were taken 10 Alexandra, and
fouhsilh We commenced to march to our con-.
vlle'cen, home. The camp is situated jus, or
the trow oi hIl just hack OF the city fton
the ryer and 70 the right ot the road leading
rom Alexandra 70 Fitiax.
ln pleasant weather this situation /, by no
means devoid Of beauty. It commands fn,
view OF Washington and Alexandra and long
stretch Of lbe Potomac, far down below both c,'.
les. lo Gear day. when the bright parking DO.
som of the river is covered with vessels Of al
descriptions, rom the sprighty little steam-tug
to The giant ocean steamship moving proudly or
in lis clur,e, the lew from jh. eminence is truly
splendi to behold. The residence at its summit
must have occupied no unenyiable position in the
days Of it. glor, bu all its beauty, except that Of
position, has been ru,hlessly DESTROYED by ,h-
grim demon Of war. Here once was the abode
Of wealth aud refinement, aud marks Of the pro
pretors taste n eailivating bis grounds are visible
a.. around. But where once stood the nicely
pruned oedars, enclosing beautiful gardens such
as Ntguaus know bow to make, now oil that
can be seen is the stumps Of the trees and bare
outline Of former beauties. Tents have occupied
the ground, which once was sacred TO som one
bya the cndeatmenis that can embellish HOME,
and where once the lily and the rose grew ami
booned, sick uen have lain and groaned and
died. Alas this same sad tale of beauty dss.
troyed and homes desecrated is echoed through
ou, the length and breadth Of this guilty secss,.
ion'accurSed STATE. But | have dropped the
thread Of my narrative.
From Aexlnlria We f5ced lhe stem till we
reached the headquarters Of the camp VIXEN We
mt.raijy expected 70 be t-sea to our quarters,
whatever they might be but We were very nitu.
rally disappointed We found That We h.l now
to submit to a delay more yexa,lous than all I've
rest, before anything in the shape Of protection
from the storm was to be thought Of Our name,
had all to be taken down, ore by one, before an,
Of US could be received into a tent. Probably
there was no other way to do the business, but
there were enough OF US now to make a good
sized regiment, and to me it seemed tedou,
long while to wait there for one man to take
Jo"n all Of our names. But ii was accomplished
at lsst, and by that time it was nearly night All
day we had been exposed to the pitilsss storm,
without mouthful 10 eat, aud we were begin
niog 10 feel ourselves entitled to good quarters
somewhere aud we thought if anybody Justly
deserved a good supper, it was ourselves. But
we were mere noylces in the camp. and we bitter.
y found that We had much to learn.
We were divided up according to the States to
which we belonged. New York troops we're sen'
to one part Of the camp, PennsylvaniAns to anoth
er and the Vermont boys to their particular lin
It's, &c. The prospect before us seemed more
dismally discouaging than ever. The rain baC
converted the clhyey soil into mud, or mortar, ,C
the depth of several inches Inside Of the tents, al
well as outside, it was nothing but mud. | neve
saw more cherries place in my lie for even
well mans habimtion, and have seen those tha
were g,ocmy enough in all reason, But this wal
ior eonvaescent men men in Just The condition
TO need good keepiny as farmers say, and to neet