Year: 1865

every man at a hospital returned to his regiment |
as soon as he is able to be, for they ike to have
iull command, and report as many men present
for duty as possible Besijeo the more men be
has the more officers eau be made, and hence
when they knew man at the hospta was fit tor
daty and detailed, they would send for him Of
once' and il the surgeon should refuse TO return
him to bis regiment upon the Colonel's order, The
Colonel could appeal to authority tha, would
send him there in spite of the surgeon. Thus
oonstpn' details of inexperienced men muN
could rot he held out as an inducement to faith
illness, so long as they could be or1ered to the
front by another than the surgeons authority


Ana then conyalescenls in hospital, If they
lisIke menial duty as they are sure TO imagine
they do will raise thousand objections to the
surgeons authority in calling upon them, and
say il they are fit for duty here they can do it at
the regiment, when really little light duty here
would be rather benefit than an injury, and the
! nisn ct the same time wholly unfit to take the
duty as il comes in his regiment. Of course the
surgeon in charge has authority, and can enforce
obedience by wholesome dread Of The guard.
house but it is dsagreeable always to force work
out Of unwilling men, and usually officers ofhlgh
rank take no pleasure in having their men under
confinement. But we are detailed by as high
authority as the Corps commander himself, at the
instance am told of the Lieut.. General, and for
this very work ofguarding, cooking, chopping,
building barracks and so forth, and it will require
the same authority that detailed US to send Us
back to our regiments. Our duty is here, and we
take hold Of it accordingly. The surgeon said
that the men he had detailed from the front had
occasioned him less trouble since they had been
here than his light duty men did in single day.
SO the light duty men we're sent to their feg-
ments where they SO anxiously claimed that they
wanted to GO and we have taken their places.


We guards have taken possession Of one Of the
hospital tents, which furnishes accommodations
for eighteen men A hospital tent. such es are
used here, and at amos, every other hospital, is
really three tents joined together they are large
wall tents, made Of the best material and large
enough for two rows of beds. Each bed has q
good mattrass or tick, filled with straw or hay,
and plenty of blankets. Each componet pait Of
the triple tent usually has in it six beds three on
side, with space between almost as vide as the
bed itself, but we guards double two together
and 10 this way have plenty Of room for eight
beds in each part OF the tent, and leave room for
coed coal stove in the middle. So at present
we have no excuse for grumbliug, and if they will
feed us we'll we will be contented.


Beside standing guard, we have occasionally 10
go away with a squad Of convalescents-as
often as they find a squad well enough to be sent
to their regiments. The otI er day squld oil
black men we're returned TO the front at Bermuda
Hundred. Part OF them were hospital patients
and part were armed men, who had done ID,
guard duty here uh we me There wer. be
tween eighty nd ninety OF hem in oll. A prstt
Jolly set there was of them, full Of fun and vi
aud apparently enjoying themselves the very bei
Now and then there was sober face among theI
and one smart little fellow, who had been a nur
in one Of the wards, seemed to take more sob
view OF the matter. imagine he felt that he "
leaving place more suited 10 his liking than 81
vice n the field, but he had too high a sen
OF honor TO show any reluctance about goin
Another,a great brawny negro, exactly his opposi
seemed to regard his getting out OF the hospit
as an escape from prison. He shook hands vii
the officers, and bid them good.by with muC
poteness, as did several Of the others, thinkin,
suppose, that it must be an occasion of afec,in
Importance to them. All the way down to th
boat they were greeted by their comrades of th
same hue. Every coored teamster that we passt,
by seemed to know one or all Of them. 1t wa
Halo Sam and Halo Tom " aud Wher
are you going Jack all the way down there.


Talk with the negroes and you will find tha
they are not at all lacking in general knowledg
Of events that are transpiring, and they are IA
from being wholly indifferent in regard to them
There would be many strange histories il eacl
man should tell his own story. One man said h
had been slave 10 Richmond, and had wifi
there now. A son and daughter had been solI
south nearly twenty years ago, one was sixteel
and the other eighteen years of age. This MAJ
came into our lines on the Peninsula two year
ago lie was an old man, and to me locke,
hardly fit to shoulder musket. | asked him
/ he would know his children il h- should see then
now, " o yes sab" he said, :" I'd know EN-, dee
should" as if there could be no doubt about It


The negroes certainly possess general intelli
eenee sufficient to make as good soldiers as any
body, bat as to their bravery, Of course no on
can tell, cot even the man himself, perhaps, till


tried. They say thatthey are put under prett
rigid discipline. With white men for officer
il would be an easy matter, under the cloak
military discipline, to impose upon them SLAYER
more severe than that from which they have e
capped. It is about two miles from the Poin
over across the mouth of the Appomatox, wher
we left them, under the charge of other officer
every man being" present or accounted for"


ANTI.REDEI~


FEDERAL RESOURCES An Euglsh field o
fcer, who has visited Gen. Grants army M
J.. IL = 4