Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1863-03-18
ARMY CORRESPONDENCE
EnJoyments Of The Camp Letter fror
VIM. CARR NJ tbo 1fotb

q
a irend has furnished us with long
letter from this gentleman, dated I'm
front, On the Rappabannocls. Feb loh.
1908, from which we make the following
extracts. After describing their trip from
Was, ,,iagton to Bella Plains ho eaye
{ rive loudtd about p. M mean The
] l49th and !50th regiments -and then
came the pull, We marched about TWO
miles over tho muddyest road ever saw.
There up on the top OF bluffs and ridres
/ hardly ywde enough for wagon uroad. tho
3 muo was nearly knee deep. We pitched
our tents in a field, but the country was
; SO hllly that we could not see The end Of
our camp although the companies were
! eneomped in column. II was the hilvesl
, land ever saT. We fixed up our sums
? mer shelter tents IN good sly le for the
hrot time. Geo luzior was detailed for
guard, and c, Lanich and / fixed our gum
blankets together for shelter. The evens
ing was warm and pleasant
bo. soon got awake again, aud it was
sleetlng, and my feet were ont i'm tne cold.
1 got upOud tucked in the blanket and
lued to sleep again. But il was uo use.--
Bly feet we're 100 cold so lay till after
daylight and then gnt upaud found about
three inches Of snow. o, God, what en- ,
IJoyment. Summer.clad soldiers ia win.
ter campaign. / looked around, got my
boots on, crowed, stretched myself and
tried to aet something 10 cat But
there was no fire TO Ue had, for it va-
/ showing very last, ard there was no good
wood to be had the field had 30 fence. and
the WOODS was all young pitch pine Well,
while we were growing about our hard
Fare, the Lieut. Colonel sent orders for five
/ men out of each company with axes 10
clear oil headquarters for him, Ihi,
made US mad and was on the detail tC
conduct the squad, and worked away till
altcr2 p. m, in the snowy brush and
storm. Oh, but it was bad was wet as
a rat.
While warming ourselves the Colo
/ mel sent orders for two so,geanls, four
! Colporals and ten priyaies, to report 10
! him for ratiOns and ammunition for pick
/ ct duty, to start at o o'clock next morn,
! ing, and | was on the detail, being Isl
corporal We went 10 bcd-bul wust
rloePing Iy feet were ,cld and vet and
the snow lay around in olr tent, ground
! wet and cold, and the might vas most id
cold and wet ! slept but little, and got
up at a. m. to warm. and 1t wassul.
Fstorming -sleet, rain, and snow mixed. J
warmed myself at the fire and found that
none OF the follows done much better than
/ | did. At O'Clock got the COMPANY
up, and made some coffee to warm our
nside apartment. This b'ings Us to the
18th inst After we all got ready there
were 90 ct this regiment. We left the
headquarters of the liJth and went 10 be-
I l5Oth, where we got 27S men. mQking 500
in all, and started for the picket line. Il
lained all day The road was wet and
sloppy. One place went into the knees
every step. -- what roads
Well, we reached our place at last, and
found that we were to act as a reserve il
the rear Of the line, and went 10 pitching
our tents; and what do You think we bad
to pitch? Why, we cul four forks, and al
pole on top, and then piled brush on top
for a roof. The trush vas all bent down
with snow, and the tent wet cold and
leaky. We piled on about ton Of brush
and then built fire inside which soon
dried it out, but then the snow was still
inside and our feet We're cold and freezing
while our bodies were burning and the
smoke making the tears run down osrl
cheeks, While The sloet wa. pelliug on curl
brush fence and only kept from weltug
Us by the heat and smoke. Maybe YOU
6bink we didn't enjoy ourselves! III
growing and swearing is enjoyment we
had enough Of it. Some Of lie boys wish,
ed that Old Abe was in HI. and the key
lost. This was the afternoons experience.
We had o little adyerlure Wilh.a cop.
per head niger that lived in magnii- I
cent Virginia dwelling, .the lower story
was divided into two rooms, one was 5 D.,
II and the other 4 by III While the oI.
tcers were mel,iug arrangements to STA
uon ns, we went to the stable 20 get out
OF the wet, and there was only room lorul
few Of us, SO ! led lot TO the house and |
opened it without knock .ng lhe mig. /
aud his wife were mad as the d-l AflaI
we crowded the house to over,howing The I
nig. said he didn't understand "a. | said |
dldn care whether he did or not. IleI
said the soldiers never used him that way /.
before. ! told him didn z care Tor that /: /.
If he hadn't patriotism enough TO lClaI
soldier warm he might 90 % h-k The /
last words were said somewhat emphat.c. /
lie said he would report us TO Gen. itpa- 4
ison (the commander Of the nearest Brig.
ade | said he might report rs TO jeff
Davis If he wished. lie saw the thingwus f.
up and sat in the corner and pouted.
Feb. 20.
Last night just after three o'clock some
one ofthe pickets ON the right OF our par.
tysaw somebody attempting 10 cross his
beat and he fred upon him. The alarm
was given and, aud the reserve os jumped
up in minute and seized our guns. and
rushed up the hill through tue woods TO
the 2d line, where we got down in ditch
by the road side. There we waited Tor
The enemy 10 drive in our yIokets. 90 we
could give them a warm reception 7 laid
here and listened for the rebs. with "Jjns
ny" across my lap. had foil confidence
n her doing her duty, and was anxions
o have a little brush in the dark Butto
ny regret the alarm proved to be false. ;
The igety Bucktails or our night from d /,
,Ompany were moro cautions tba,, -.