Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1898-06-30
IN CAMP AT CH|CKAMAUGA.
An Interesting Letter from Secretary
Guy T. Grove. Of Company q,
South Carolina Volunteers.
CAMP GEORGE IL. THOMAS,
CHtCK ANtAUGA NATIONAL PARK,
LYrLE, Ga, June 20, 1898.

its charms, destinations and attrac-
tions, when one is campcd beside
some quiet brook or i'll somo distant
mountain, where freedom is supreme.
There it means rest from the weary
cares and tolls of business. The
rose is brought back to the check,
paled by constant strain of eleven
months in tho year, a renewed vigor
is instiled into the system and the
step becomes firm and elastic. It is
grand and people travel hundreds of
miles to enjoy its charms.
Army life has its charms, fascina-
tions and attractions. There are
many drawbacks, however, to tho
raw recruit which he fails to appre-
ciate, especially so to our wcll-fcd,
frcodom-loving, easy-going South
Carolina youth, who has been used
to placing his feet under his fathers
table three times day the year
round and enjoying square meal.
Camp life in the army means a
strict observance of military disci-
pline. 1t means that you must be
up at 5 o'clock in the morning and
in bed by $50 at night also, when
one ventures to go beyond the
bounds of his camp he is confronted
by a stern scntinul and Springfield
rifle. However, here at Chcka-
mauga we have radius of twelve
miles square tor camp ; so we arc
not crampcd. At S o'clock we have
roll call at 6 breakfast; from 6.20 to
7 we sweep the company streets
and police the camp generally; from
7.30 to 9.30 We drill from 9.30 to
| any special detail service that arises
in the division. At 1 we have dinner
from | until $50 we have holiday ;
from $50 until $50 we drill at 6
we have retreat at guard mount !;
ut 7.3O supper at 9 roll call at 9.30
taps.
Chickamauga is the ideal of n
camp, its stately oaks furnishing a
cool shade throughout the day. 1t
is in, beautiful place and the
men generally, not on duty, have
the privilege OF the park. Visiting
among the different regiments is
one of the pleasing features of our
life, and we meet many people we
have known in earlier days. l met
a school-mate tho other day who is
with a Vermont regiment and an
old friend with one frcm Nebraska. Il.
Thus in this conglomcration of
$4,000 men we have a reunion of
friends of days gone by. Here We
sec all classes and sections brought
together side by side. On one side
is Pennsylvania, on the other Mime
sofa, in the center South Carolina.
'Rebs and Yanks" united under one
common brotherhood, fighting for
one common country and one com
mon banner. Barring several I'M
pleasant incidents connected with
the "negro," several Pennsylvania
coal miners and some Of our South
Carolina boys, everything shows
that both classes are glad to Join
hands and bury the past. Here VIC
sec Tillman and an Earle, COM
manding side by side under Penn
sylvanian and Indianaian. Surely
thlrty-fivc years have wrought great
changes. Yet on this historic ground
we are quits anyhow, for didn't the
Confederatcs pound the Yanks into a
jelly and leave thousands Of their
dead here? L? The little white marks
OF their resting place remind us both
alike that we may also go the same
way at the hands Of our common foe.
IL was II boomerang that rcboundcd
a year later when Sherman pounded
Braggs so numerically, and thus
broke the backbone of the Confcde-
racy. We arc on sacred ground.
There is no time for petty quarrcls,
but we, both North and South, here
unite our hands over the graves of
our beloved dead, and as we shed n
tear forever brush away the past.
Who knows what the future holds
for us?
The South Carolina regiment ia
well managed and is fast being
trained for the field. We arc being
equipped as rapidly as possible We
have been instructed to make an
extra requisition for clothing, which
will Dc issued as once. This is for
campaign work, and from that it
looks as if our days here are few.
The commissary department has rush
orders to equip uS Immediately.
The regiment is rcjoiccd over Gen.
Ler'S request that we be placed under
his command.
The health Of tho rnUimnn. 10 oycnl