Waterbury evening Democrat., 1890-12-01
I'M CAMP AND Field.
4 MEDICAL MANS MEMORY
OF WARTIME

The sailors on the gun-boats Away
seemed clean aud well dressed, and the
deck and all parts of the vessel in sight
appeared neat and orderly. ~.
In more than one instance, too, it was
aotced that Jack, having Just done his
washing, had hung it out to dry upon q
line stretched upon the gun-boat deck.
Most of the gun-boats were heavily mailed
with iron, hence were called iro1s-cLGds.
They were not all built after the same pat
tern, however.
Another kind of warlike craft were the
in-ctads. These were ordinary steam boats
protected with thin iron plating that was
impervious to musket balls. These were
armed with several light pieces of artillery
and manned with number of sharp-shoot-
ers. On the trip down the river several
| boats laden with troops were encountered.
| Toward noon on the second day Milliken's
Bend, twenty miles above Vicksburg, on
| the Louisiana side, was reached, and here
| the regiment debarked and went into camp.
The place selected was near the Ievee that
all along the low lands next the river
had been throwing up to protect the ada
cent plantations in time of high water. In
many places these had broken, and nearly
| the whole region was inundated; the bay
GUS and lagoons had meantime grown into
inland seas.
April 9, 1868 the division to which the
| writer's regiment belonged was reviewed
by General Grant, The writer had never
before seen that officer, and hence as near
| q view as possible was obtained.
He was on horseback, and attended by a
| few staff officers.
AS each regiment pass ed in his front the
officers presented (raised) their swords,
| the men their pieces, in salutation. Grant,
| in recognition, quietly raised his hat. Dur
| ing the following three months General
| Eront hnnonnn n familiar H0urn At this
| time he was possibly little heavier for
| his stature than the average man, yet was
not at all overburdened with flesh. He
| wore short, stubby, slightly reddish-brown
whiskers, and seemed to hold his head a
| little to one side; this gave him a modest
appearance.
A large tent had been stretched, and in
| this upon cots the sick were placed and
made as comfortable as possible. One
thing they certainly had in abundance was
| fresh air. The water used came from the
| river which, at the time, was very high
| and full of sediment. A bucket of water
| dipped from it and allowed to stand awhile
would have at it's bottom more than an inch
| of settings.
But Mississippi river water is considered
healthy, and is quite pleasant in taste.
| Pretty soon after the review came an Or
| der to move-''marching orders" The sick
| were directed to be all taken to hospital
| boat, by which they would be taken up the
| river. Accordingly they were put in am
balances and, in charge of the writer, taken
| to the place designated.
| Already the writer has used several
| times the word ambulance; this, to the read
| err whose memory does not reach back to
war time, may need explanation. An am
6ulanee, then, is simply light vehicle on
| springs with a shallow bel and strong
canvas cover over head. The back end
| gate worked on hinges at the bottom so il
| could be instantly let down and the very
sick or badly injured slipped out, and not
| lifted over avoidable Instructions.
AS before said, the sick were put into
ambulances, such as were able sitting on
| their blankets rolled up, those very sick
lying upon theirs spread out.
A tram of ambulances loaded with sick
made dreary procession, but at the head
| of one of these the writer led the way to q
hospital boat, named, if the writer's mem
DRY serves him well, the I'D. A January
Each sick man when taken aboard had his
name checked. The name, rank, company,
| regiment, brigade, etc., were given care
| fully to the authorities on the boat.
After the sick were aboard and made
| comfortable, the writer took occasion tc
look about the boat and was much pleased.
Although he had frequently visited the