Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-09-10
Let Maine prove, Monday, that there
are no or years In It's RepubllcaDlsm.

The severe and unjust criticism OF
the war department leads a CORES
pondent of the Bath Enterprise to send
in little story of the days OF u, wnlch
shows tha, war always means sorro"'
suffering, sickness and sacrifice. Ihose
who find fault with present conditions
will do well to read the following
article: "Our thoughts go back to the
year OF 1861, the darkest in our nations
history. when we had heard and an
swered to the call of country we
were mustered into the United states
service on December Z, 1861. we re-
NAMED in our tents on the ground IN
front of the State House. with the
snow nearly three feet on the lever.
until the 25th day of February. when
we were ordered to break camp. AT =
A. NJ, we stood shivering over small
fire. the remnants of our winter home.
Az l O'Clock we were ordered to fall IN
and march to the depot; upon our ar
rival at the depot no train was IN
readiness, we could not learn that any
had been ordered. After an hours de-
Law in the biting cold, with the Their
mometer far below the zero point, We
retraced our steps to the State Capitol
thinking they surely would give US
shelter from the fierce blasts OF winter.
In confidence we mounted the granite
steps. Could we enter? No. there was
no place there for the soldiers. We
waited what to us seemed hours, then
an order came to cross the river to the
'old stone arsenal and we were ushered
into this stone palace. cold and cheer
less. We remained there during the
day and by moving briskly kept from
freezing. Late in the afternoon when
the sun was setting beneath the snow
capped hills of Maine. the ladies CT
Augusta and some of their most kindly
disposed citizens, God bless them, sud-
denly remembered that regiment OF
Names loyal soldiers, that had volun-
teered to help suppress the unholy re-
bellion. were cold and hungry in the
city of the States Capitol. We again
marched across the river and were
quartered for the night in small halls.
wherever a company had room enough
to enter. A generous supper was fur
nished for each company. The next
morning we took the train for Port
on the ship Great Republic. lying ct
the Grand Trunk wharf. Upon our ar
rival we were told the ship was not
ready for us and would not be for i
week or more Again incompetency
was in charge. A part of the berths
We're finished, built of lumber taken
from the cars in the dead of winter.
every board more or less coated with
ice or snow. We had nowhere else to
go so we made the best of the situa-
ton; methinks there was not one man
but what took a terrible cold. The
next morning the mayor of the city,
come down and offered the use of the
then new city buildings until the ship
was ready. Our destination was Ship
Island. Miss. We arrived there 1st of
April with the rest OF Buffers expedf-
ton; we remained there seven weeks.
losing some so men. We arrived at
Camp Parapet, La, May II, 1862. 1t
was then our real trouble began, the
boys wilted beneath the fierce rays of
the sun and the poisonous swamps put
in their deadly work. August 1st we
had 500 sick from our regiment, 800 in
the hospitals, 300 in their tents, while
the deaths reached five a day: other
Maine regiments suffered about the
same. 1t is very evident that the true
definition of the word war means suf-
fering and death, no skillful hand has
yet been found that can arrest it's
deadly work