Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1909-09-22
slo.y Of the AtIanta campaIon.

Story of the Atlanta Campaign.
At the 1909 reunion of the twelfth
Wisconsin held September 1st and I'd
at ReedsDurg, Captain Van s. Bennett,
Company /, of Roekton, Vernon
coounty. read the following interest
ing paper Because OF its being So
readable, it is put here, just little
abbreviated, where all may erljoy it.
While the average volunteer sol
der is immeasurahly superior to the.
regular or professional soldier,
newly organized army must go
through a process of fitting o. assimi-
lating to prepare it for its work.
This weeding-out process for the army
which you. IA part composed. com
menced the day you were mustered
into the governments service. The
physically weak and unsound, the
mentally lax, commenced at once to
fall by the wayside, so that by the
spring of 1864 every soft man of your
commands was out of the ranks and
very nearly all of them were out OF
the service, and every ounce of sur
plus flesh was soon eliminated from
the veg hardest among you. Not
The leas. of these fitting and harden
ing influences was the dieting to
which every man in the western army
from the commander-in-chief to the
most unpretentious private had to sub
nit. The armies of the Tennessee,
Cumberland and Ohio, which com
posed General Sherman's command,
were supplied with all its members
ate and Wore, and with all the horses
and mules ate, by a single track rail
road running ntore than three hun
dred miles through the enemy's couu-
try, and this road was cut at some
point in its length almost daily dur
ing the whole campaign. Trains were
delayed at the cut points of course
but wele working diligently both sides
of the break. The genius of the
Northerner for repairing these breaks
together with his untiring industry en-
abled the commlssary department to
supply hard bread, pork, beans. rice
and coffee, so that for tfne three
days rations were issued 10 last five
days, but soon after the LIST of July
the three days rations must be spun
out to last ten days. t was scant
living the ratlons afforded, yet there
was little or no &C mplaining. Per-
sonally, | heard no fault found about
/ the quantity or quality of rations is
sued. There was often scant time to
properly cook che little we had, but
this inconvenience was borne with
grim forebaranee or good-natured
raillery.
The insufficiency of the food, its inn
proper preparation, the total absence
of tents and of blankets, except such
of the latter as could be carried on
| four persons, helped to fit men,
physically. to endure the hardships of
one of the most notable military
movements in the history of the
world. No cooking utensils could be
transported A can from which fruit
or oysters had been taken was made
to do duty as bean pot, coffee kettle,
rice bowl and drinking-cup. Men
holding a small tin can over few
blazing twigs or smoldering em5ers
boiling beans, rice or coffee, with
perhaps a slice OF bacon on sharp
ened stick broiling at the same fire,
was sight hourly seen. The can
also answered the purpose of spade
and barrow in erecting hastily con-
structed earthworks. The country
for many miles about had been strip