The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-08-19
LIFE AT CAMP LEE.
EARLY DAYS OF THE WAR AT RICH.
MOND AND AT MANASSAS.
Extracts from DIR. Bagby's Recollec.
lions as Published I'm the Phila.
deIDhfa "Timcso

Ex-Governor James l.. Kemper tells q
war story that is so very good / think he
must have invented it. Yet IL Is so true 10
nature that it ought to have happened a
hundred, nay, thousand times. He says
that on the night OF the retreat from VIII
liamsburg, in 1862. when men and officers
were mixed up indiscriminately in the
muddy road, with the rain falling heavily
on them and no man knew his neighbor, q
soldier near him General Kemper) pulled
himself out Of the mire, and, going up TO
the fence on the roadside, dropped his
musket to the ground, and in accents OF
the most intense sincerity exclaimed
"Well, il ever / love another country
ag'in, d-n net"
Much the same feeling came over me the
first night slept, or tried to sleep, at the
new FAIRGROUNDS. on the suburbs OF Rich
mond, which had been turned into camp
OF instruction and was called Camp Lee.
My friend Lieutenant Latham, OF Lynch
burg. afterwards Acting Judge Advocate
GesftfHi Of the Army OF Northern virginia.,
and slept under the same blanket on the
upper floor OF one OF the Fair Grounds
buildings. The month was April. the night
was chill, the air keen, the blanket thin.
the planks hard. Moreover, | had eaten
freely OF hard-tack and drank still more
freely OF cold water, which was bad for my
dyspepsia.
LIFE AT CAMP LEE.
Truth is, there was a big disgust upon
me, more on account OF my " soier Clothes"
think. than ANYTHING else. Nature had
not fitted me for roundabout with brass
buttons, a fact which the young ladies dis
covered as we marched past them and their
waving 'kcrchiefs on our way to Camp
Lee. Besides, / had always thought $50
iering" tomioolery anyhow. Sc when the
night wind blew keen upon my ribs my
purpose TO love any more countries dimin-
iShed as sensibly as did the soldiers on the
| Williamsburg road, though did not formu-
late ii in such spirited TERMS as his. Yet /
loved my country, verify believe, as much
as any man on the ground at Camp Lee,
would have died for hcr-but not by freez-
ing, or, worse still. by filth. or this last,
more anon. That others shared my feel
ings was proved by V. Dabney. In conse-
quence Of his huge. bulky figure. his Jolly
good nature, and his fund Of wit, v
was conspicuous figure i'm the camp. He
had been raised IN luxury. His father, a
rich Mississippi planter, had lavished
money on him and actually urged him into
extravaganza. His ideal OF life was hotel
| in Paris. and this sort OF thing didn't suit
him at all But his sense OF duty was SUI
preme.
"Boys," he would say, rs he took his
| short meerschaum from his mouth and
drew up his robust figure to It's full height,
"boys, / want you distinctly 10 UNDER
stand-this is my last war; This is my
.s Il 4 t,rh 70.
the bitter end, but after this no more war
no more sleeping in the straw for V. ID.
No, SIR"
lie was rs good as his word. He went
through the war, rising TO captaincy on
the staff of Gordon. OF Georgia, and now
teaches school in the city of New York.
THE WOES OF THE RECRUIT.
"Sleeping on straw" Aye, that was
the run. To be sure we had ticks, but
they were about as thin as the insect Of
that name. There were about nine Of us
to tent-good, large Sibley tents we had
at first-and not night-shirt among
the whole nine. Reveille was another
misery. / was three-and-thrty years OF
age, a born invalid, whose habit had been
to rise late, bathe leisurely, and eat break
fast after everybody else was done. To
get up at dawn TO the sound Of fife and
| drum, to wash my face in hurry in a tin
| basin, wipe on wet towel. and go
forth with sutfocated skin and a
sense of unceanness TO be squad-drilled
| by a fat little cadet Young enough to be
my son. of the Virginia Military Institute.
that, indeed, was misery. How l hated
that littlekcadet, He was always so wide
awake. so clean. so interested in the drill ;
he was so fat behind. his coat-tails were so
| short and sharp. and his hands looked so
big in white gloves. He made me sick.
What the deuce did / care about learning
how to "hold my piece" to " load in nine
| times" and all that? | was furious: but
/ at the same time | got up a big appetite for
| breakfast, which was generally good, for
we lived pretty well at Camp Lee.
A SINGLE INCIDENT.
| recall single incident at Camp Lee.
! The company next to ours was from
/ Campbell county, ] think, and composed
almost wholly OF illiterate cOuntrymen.
| Hearing an animated conversation going
on towards their campfire one night |
drew nigh and listened. The causes that
! led to the war were being discussed, and
the principal speaker, Il sergeant, gave an
account OF the formation OF our govern
ment and the true theory OF its working
on states rights principles that would have
| done credit TO a constitutional lawyer. On
! inquiry / learned that this sergeant was
bv trade a plasterer. and what he knew
about the government he had learned from
strmp-speakers. He was pretty fair spe-
cimen OF the average Confederate soldier.
who knew what he was about when he en-
/ tered into the war.
One morning news came that we had
been ordered to Manassas. 1t was true.
was elad-anything for change.
LOVELY WOMAN on TIE SCENE.
Beauregard soon took command. About
this time. too, the wives and sisters OF =
number Of officers came from Lynchbure
ON visit to the camp. That was great Joy
TO us all. The ladies looked lovely. Such
n relief after a surfeit OF men our eyes
fairly feasted on them. Other ladies put
in an appearance from time to time. Re
turning from Bristoe, where had gone to
bathe. my eyes fell on three OF the most
beautiful human beings they had ever
beheld. Beautiful at any time and
place, they were now ineXpressibly
so by reason of the fact that women
were such rarity in camp. They were
bright figures on a background OF many
thousand dingy, not 10 say dirty, men. II
go to heaven q hope may) the angels
themselves will hardly look more lovely
than those young ladies did that solitary
afternoon. / was most anxious TO know
their names. They were the Misses Carey
Hetty and Jenny Carey, of Baltimore, and
Constance, their cousin, OF Alexandria
No man can form an idea OF the rapture
which the sight OF a woman will bring hin
until he absents from the sex for a long
time. He can then perfectly understand
the story about the ecstatic dance in which
| -. IoIifor,,,n mi nnrS inInlNod when hoy