Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1898-05-14

iiN'''s' ~" GIL eNpSll COOK ana genera
servant a complete outfit of dishes
ana so on; the private had his tin plate
TN cup, tin spoon, his coffee being
| made in huge sheet-iron camp kettle
The officers had wall tent that was
earned III wagon; the private dog
tent mat was carried by himself As
Il rule IN active service the private
had the benefit only of what he could
carry. except the few cooking utensils
in charge of the company cook. In or
binary times the commissioned officers
coGid leave camp virtually at WILL His
duties We're comparatively light while
the private IN addition to sentry duty,
hau sometimes to serve With pick,
shovel and AK in the construction of
Notifications, the digging of rifle pits.
the making of corduroy roads. and the
like. The officers might occasionally
obtain leave of absence to visit his
home, While a furlCugh was a rare
thing for the homesick private. In the
last extremity, the officer could leave
the army by resignation. but only eX-
pIratlon OF his term of service incurable
wounds, or disease or death offered re-
lease to the soldier. The latter envied
not only the commissioned officer, but
also the negro servant, who could come
and go almost al will.
The submission of the American
volunteer to the hard conditions of
army life is one of the marvels and
glories of American patriotism. The
pay was not enough to be alluring. At
first it was Sill and later $13 a month
The government provided the clothing.
food tobacco, etc, but the pay was
small enough where there was a fam
lily dependent on the earnings of the
soldier. The men did not always send
their money home. When d large part
of Shermans army was paid off at
Kingston, before starting on the march
to Savannah, there were hundreds of
chuck-a-luck banks at which many of
the men lost the pay of months.
1T was particularly hard for the in
tellGcnt private who had enlisted from
patriotic motives, as an immense num-
Der did to endure the frequent blunderS
and culpable stupidity of commissioned
officers, by which the lives of men We're
uselessly sacrificed. An unpopular
company officer or any other had no
easy time of ii, as there were many
ways in which the soldiers could tease
or torment him. In spite of his many
advantages the let of the commissioned
officers was not always happy. He had
his responsibilities commensurate with
his privileges.
Perhaps his severest trial was at
that point in a battle where the men
were forced to lie down under fire 10
await a charge or a forward move
mcnt. This is the time when a panic
is most liable to occur The officer
cannot lie down with the men. but
must stand erect and appear indiffer-
cnt to the ping of the bullets. The
chances of his escaping injury or death
are much fewer than those of the men.
At Allatoona Pass. whore every head
that was raised above the earth works
WAS certain to be hit. it required the
utmost courage, or the fear of ridicule
that is often the substitute for cour-
age. for an officer to stand to encour-
age the men. Every officer. from Gen
Corse to the regimental officer who
finally assumed command. was shot IN
the head.
Before the Civil War there Were the
most absurd ideas about the way in
which battles We're fought. From old
Illustrations the popular notion was
that soldiers fought in solid columns.
like the heavy cavalry of the Russians
at Sehastopol: that the men in front
fred and knelt to reload. and those in
the rear fired over their heads. The
single thin line of battle formed by the
American soldiers was Uncomfortable to
the uninitated. 1t seemed, indeed, a
frail thread that could be easily broken.
And SO it could: but the break was NOT
serious and could be easily restored.
Besides. before the days of smokeless
powder the men engaged in battle saw
| but little of the enemy after the first
few voleys. They simply fired into a
! cloud Of smoke, generally aiming too
| high to do any execution. An eXaml-
| nation of the trees after a battle
! showed that most of the shots We're
| too high in spite of the constant warn
/ ings of the officers.
The equipment Of the private sol
der at the beginning of the war was
well calculated to secure his comfort,
save when he was on a long march ana
| had to carry his outfit. Besides his
| heaNN nuShet. ne Carried ii hHfHSdN ~
| on his back. in which was a complete
| change of underwear and a blouse, and
| in a roll on top was a blanket and per-
| haps an ovcrcoat: a haversack capable
| of holding ten days r2tions and hard
| tack and bacon, cantcen holding a
quart of water belt with bayonei
! and Il cartridge box holding forty
rounds, a tin cup and sometimes a
| forage cap. The cartridge was OF
heavy paper. the end of which had to
be bitted off in loading. the bullet be
| ing rammcd down with the ramrod
| Occasionally infantry regiments arm
ed themselves with the newly invented
| Henri sixteen shooter rifles. OF the
men who carried these a Johnny Rel
said: Them Garned Yankd load all
night and shoot all the next day.
Such regiments were usually mounted
! TO serve as scouts and foragers, the
| cavalry proper being armed with a
| lighter carbne and a Saber. Before
the close of the war the infantry in
| constant active service dispensed with
the knapsack and carried the blanke
| in a long roll about the body. a doe
| tent was added, the canvas and poles
for each being divided between two
| mon If was a tent in which two per