The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-12-17
e i'm the Great Fighting Armies Under Two American Fags

F; toned To the brigade 10 knccl stand
] ms on rock. the father rendered.
dissolution to the troops according to
the rites OF the Catholic Church. Then
| the brigade moved forward into the
thlck OF the battle at The Loop
! Soldiers DuIid Church on Battle
Line.
In the camp the chsplains' altar con-
sisted on any Improvement at hand
some times a ton. was the c3inrg-.
moro often the open air---aud an up
turned barrel served AZ an altar The
most unique house OF worship was that
quilt by tho Fiftieth New York I'm
Sincc"s while campaigning before
Petersburg In lS6i-6i. II was just
such u church as can be found In
sma! communities. IL was built Of
logs, and had central spire that
showed great ARCHITECTURAL Skill and
which lowered i,ish above the sur
rounding tents ana log hu,s. Here.
regardless Of religious dcnomina tons.
the rank aud ii!e gathered to listen TO
some Touching sermons. Ono OF tho
best known OF these Catholic chap
lains to-day stands high In the church,
1t is Archbishop ireland. who went 10
the front with the Fifth Minnesota
Regiment at the age cf twenty-three
years.
rost-Oticcx In Great Fighting Arnitcs.
a practical rural delivery system was
In practice in thr Civil War. The exc
cutircs OF war have found that ono
of the most important matters to keep
the soldiers IN good hunor, and thus
. good lighting trim. is TO receive and
,..',.'Nnte ais personal mail promptly.
"..r.,, Tie troops may be The Con-
:, s,E.iy crnment ut Richmond en-
y $50 .Nr.y possible channel 10 dis
trib.. u; mall as promptly as post
hle.
The multitude OF letters that enter
ed the washington nnst-omcc in tho
first days Of the war became So great
that tho officials were In lcspaIr-untll
Postmaster William n. Itaslott direct
ed his attention to the difficulty
Through him a system WAS evolved
Letters were to be directed to the SOL
dier, giving the number of tho army
corps to which he belonged, brigade.
regiment and company. Thus tho let
tiers were divided at the central post.
offices into pouchos labelled with the
corps number These. In turn. at the
headquarters of the corps. were scpar-
ated into pouches for each division or
brigade. and these into regiments.
Again they we're divided among the
companies. and then regularly ap-
pointed mail carrier went among line
members OF the company Delivering;
his mail much like the carrier in Il
city
The soldiers le.te: TO his home FOL
lowed back over the same route he
ntstN . 1,,S~ e .tr.-t
office. whore he could also purchase
writing material. So well organized
was this system that Sherman's troops
after having been hidden In tho State
of Georgia on the march to the en:t
for several weeks, with their exact
destination practically unknown rc-
ccivcd their mail even before food,
from transports in the harhor Of Sa
vannah.
When "Not nj Work" ON the Firing
With three million men dra wn away
from the pursuits of business and
thrown into tho trade of war, life IN
tho armies. when not at work" ii
battle, assumed many OF the forms OF
every day life in peaceful communi-
ties. There were newsdcalers, station
ers, money lendsrs, grog sellers, to.
'htSp WHICH Tcpn1TcTS, anu
various other business enterprises con.
nnctcd with the armies.
The country merchant follows the
armies. rs keen for good trade as
when back at home" Here, al the
suffers. the soldier can buy those lit
tie luXuries to which he was accustoin-
cd. but OF which the army regulations
take no recognition-pics. cards. writ
Ing paper. collars and tics--in fact
most anything the average small town
supplies. But the soldier In lost
cases. had to pay an cxhorbftant price
for them. To many the row Of log
Auts. or tents. or sometimes Just COW
cred wagons. bearing the legend
"Sntler' became known as "Robbcrs
Row"
War. however. is not o lucrative &C.
curation. and the soldier seldom has
rnady money in his pocket: but this
obstacle to transaction was over
come b. the soldier signing sim
"hich the sutler presented TO the pay
| master when the pay was being dis
| tributcd. Tho offerings OF the suite,
held such a lure for many soldiers rAat
! it was frequently the case that Il sol.
dlcr had no money Coming to aim az.
ter the sntler had collected from the
paymaster.
| The story is told of a number OF