Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1886-07-09

1t was a rule we soldiers eP rned to recog-
nize, that if you camped down at night with
strict in functions to be ready to march on
at day break. with advice from your officers
that you'd better no waste any time in get
ting up comfortable ,heIter b ecause thi, was
the most temporary kind of halt then Tor
a oerta nty, if you followed this advice, YOU
were going to be kept right il mat bv nuac
long enough to repent not going to work Mt
getting comfortably housed So after some
exper .ence, we never took any stock in as
surances OF brief stay; we went right to
work al house building on tn, assumption
that we should stay month; if We marched
next day no great harm was done. but if we
stayed a week We were we'll paid for our
trouble
This was our state of mind when we halted
back OF Falmouth, opposite Fredericksburg,
at point on the railroad which thencefor-
ward, possibly to this day, became known
as "Stonemans Switch" We halted at night,
and bivouacked in thick pine woods, which
extended for miles around. Before we left
that spot for the last time that forest had
disappeared; every tree had been cut first
wastefully at shoulder height from the
ground, then down to a decent stump and
then this stump was cut to the very quick
Finally we had no wood at all
belnS, as i Sdlu, aware OF the long dura-
ton of supposed temporary stays in military
life this house of ours c'shanty" was the
correct name III camp language) was
promptly begun. In our regiment they
were not 50 strenuous for uniformity of
architec ure in some commands and
allowed scope for individuality; a, long as
the line of front doors was pretty straight
down the company streets, we could build
our shantes of size and style to suit our
tastes Certainly, Eugene and / had about
the worst looking one of the settlement
1t was first, cellar dug the full size of
che ground plan, about two feet deep Next
came wall of split pine logs resting on
the ground and held up by stakes carrying
up the cellar wall to a height of five feet in
all Now, the roof was of canvas, made of
severa of the little shelter tents, fastened
together and stretched over a ridge pole,
which was supported by two stout upr ights
in front ana rear The front, door, was
also OF canvas until we got our chimney
built, later on, Our next step was to cauk
our wall with mud Glorious Virginia mud
The one product of which there was always
enough. Plastic as butter, but tough as
spruce gum when dried for architectural
purposes almirable; for pedestrian uses,
vile We plastered our wall pretty tightly
with this natural stucco, and banked up the
lower edge. We ditched around our house.
and conducted the waters into the com
roany gutter. Our bed, which com
prised all our furniture, being also
chair, sofa and table, was ouI
next care, 1t was spring bed.
We split long, straight pine saplings and
laid them crosswse of the shauty ON sup
ports which held them about level with the
surface Of the ground. The bed was about
three feet wide. Eugene and | were 10th
slender. When sitting on the edge of the
bed our feet rested against the front wall OF
our mansion Here we talked; here W,
smoked here we read; in pleasant weather
with our front canvas fastened back We
conversed with our neighbors, discussing
every subject under heaven, and here We
sat Eugene and |, by our own fresile after
Che chimney was built
Our chimney was picturesque structure
nj ROds The mortar which held together
these subs titutes for brick was the aforesaid
mud An open fireplace faced the RICH
bend man Of the two inmates who sat on
The bed, and that man did the cooking from
that position Our chimney was larg'