Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1864-12-14

/ Camp Life in the Army Of Virginia.
We clip the following sketches of Camp
Life from the Army correspondent Of the
South Carolinian: .,-. -...~,,:!
If YOU will take the troubleto ride along
the line at this time, no matter how much
YOU have been accustomed to. "the pomp
and circumstance of glorious war; you will
epioy, for ti,s iion1ce, n the fare luxury Of be-
ing astonished Heretofore, ''the' 'lide" has
perhaps, beer, assooiated,in your memory
with serpentins journeys through woods
around swamps, across, ,raYines, mp hills and
down, pile Of logs or fence rails, covered
with , little earth, marking TIE defences,
and motley array of scattered and disof'
dered men, tents and wagons, nnakihgknown
the presence of the army, Ras mote the
changed What only q few days ago was 2
dense wood, is now clean, broad avenue,
ft for 6o,s5euard o@r Of Barring q stray stump
here and there) aAraOe course. On one
side are strong,s high, complete entrench,
mepts, provided with, every means Of de.
fence that, the art Of the engineer can sug:
gsest. On the other extends row Of log
hdts, in single file; as far as the eye can
reach, irregular and fanciful lenough in their
construction, to suit. the taste of a. curious
antiquarian. Ingenuity has certainly made
her mark, fOrin this city Of one street. you
may see orders and styles; roofs and cellars,
domes and cornices, peaestals and capitals,
entablatures and decorations, Of which even
the architect of Chinese padoga never
dreamed. In one place, for instance, are
four log walls, plastered witch mud !; q floor
is laid just hightenough to prevent. yonr
stopping when you stand; and then COM
mences the roof, or attic, which is made Of
an old tent, covered with interviewer branch
es, and likewise plastered with mud. Al
though the edifce is only twelvefeet square,
in these two stories sleep eight or. tegper-
sons. Yonder is Gothic arrangement, and
Just next to It, in comicsl contrast, a small
structure that looks for all tie world like a
forlorn 'pig.sty. The boys wete'too lazy to
run their premises up in the;air, and accor-
dinghy contented themselves With digging
out space within doors, that has given them
al not unwelcome looking subterranean bed
chamber and dining hall, which answers
every purpose of their simple lives. I might
20 on and describe thousands of these ssway.
side homes," as the boys call them, without
having any two alike; but I must devote
this letter to another topic. '.'.-'' - ''''
Along the greater part Of the line, wood
abounds in the rear Of the quarters, land an
abattis in front, 80 that the troops will not
suffer from, the cold; water is had by dig
ging wells, Of which there are several to
every brigade. The scsnsSoa the front at
this time h peculiarly interesting 1T is
just cold enough to give the mena touch
of winter, and they are as busy as bees in
anticipating its approach. The few axes
possessed by each command, pass rapidly
from hand to- hand; trees fall in trice
they are laid open boards are split out !;
stalwart shoulders are loaded; adozen or
two more bear away logs for rafters or fire.
wood, and so the work goes cheerily on
Songs; stories, 5on,msoss, and fun ripple On
the surface, land were it not. forthe presence
of those grim cannon, the frowning edge of
the entrepchments, the long hne of stacked
muskets ready to be grasped atthe first symp-
tom of danger-and, more than all, the sight
of those blue devils, nine hundred or a
thousand yards away, on whose gunsbarrels
tbe. sunshine occasionally makes q. CLEAN Of Of
light, one mig imagine the whole, SCENE
was jolly maroon on grand scale. I'm
fortunately it's anything else. There's q
grim earuestness and reality abont thiGar-
my life and these army necessities, that, calls
up all the sturdy manhood of a,aoldler's
nature. 20. . :