The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1898-09-06
WAR IS HE'LL"
Cincinnati Times-Star. J

(Clnclnnati Times Star.
The veterans of the Rebellion knew pri-
vatiops which have not been equaled by
the soldiers of today, and that after the
army had been clicked into running
order. The hospitals during the Rebel
lion were not furnished by the government
with other than the regular rations; deli
cacies were sent to the hospitals only by
relief associations and subscriptions.
Many soldier of the Civil war went
without his rations for over "a hours
without the rioting and looting which has
characterized some of the regiments of
the present war. This is how one veteran
of the war describes the conditions as he
experienced them:
"l wish "a or even As hours was the
longest / have been without grub. Even
at tbs end of my services, the siege of
Savannah we were for two weeks living
on one days rations issued every fourth
day, going three days hungry after each
issue. When I>left Savannah the 5000
horses of our division had been eight days
without one bite of food, and 1t was a
pine country, where they could not
browse on bushes. At Mission Ridge
went into battle with horse that had
not had a bite for four days, and had
not eaten for day and half. have
drunk thin mud from the middle of a
clay road and have drunk water that COW
cred thick graves in cemetery. From
November, '63, till March, we were in
the cold country of East Tennessee. We
moved every day and had no tents. At
nights we turned into the woods and lay
down and slept in the mud and snow. 1t
was often below zero, and some nights
we had to change our pickets every 10
minutes, for the frozen men could not
pull the trigger. Nine-tenths OF the
time We had no rations and the country
was poverty stricken and In misery"
This is war, real war; war as expert
enced by veterans; war after everything
had gotten to running smoothly. The
writer has yet to be born who can ade-
ouately describe field hospital in battle;
the blood runs cold to think OF 1t. Even
the hospitals of today, mismanaged as
the maybe, by men yet to learn in the
school Of experience, seem paradise be-
side them. The operating table, consist
ing of two trestles, with rough boards
thrown over them; the overwhelming
smell Of ether; the old surgeon with his
white beard feoked with blood; the pile
of still quivering amputated legs, with
even the boots not removed from them
the lines of wounded and dying men; the
tantalizing swa1ms of flies, formed a
hideous picture that even the greatest OF
writers have failed to adequately draw.
This is war, real war, horrible war;
war as 1t is found in every nation. We
should remember this when we see lines
of pale-faced, wan and weak soldiers.
We should remember that tales of sick.
ness and starvation and privation are the
part of every war, and not allow our sym
pathies to blind our experience. There
may have been needless suffering and
great misery to our boys due to inoompe-
tency and mismanagement; but it must
never be forgotten that We expanded ten
fold q medical corps Of trained and COM
petent men intended only for an army of
2,0OO men: it is not remarkable that a
number of inoompetents and dolts were
included in the new mon thus hurriedly
and without the requisite experience of
training gathered together.