Letter to Rufus and Sebra Towle
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Not less than four times have I sat down today to write a few lines and no
sooner did I set down then a call came in from the Adjutant to detail some men
for some police or fatigue duty. Yesterday we moved some two miles and today
there is an amount of fatigue duties to do and as Orderly Serg. it devolves on me
to detail them and all of the Guards and Pickets also. And then I have to keep
all the Records of the Co.- an account of the men able to do duty of the sick of
those in Hospital - of those in arrest or confinement (if any) - of every man
that is absent from Roll call and make a written Report of it all to the
Adjutant every morning at half past Seven and go after my Report Book at noon.
and if I fail to be there promptly at the minute I am liable to arrest and be
reduced to the Ranks. In addition to this I have to call out the Co. for Roll
calls drills and all other purposes. Once I failed to get my Guard men to the
Adjutants on time by about half a minute. I took a good round swearing at and
was told if the thing happened again I should be put in arrest. When I first
commenced it kept me in a perfect stew but now I have learned to take things
cool although I should not work harder if I were at work on a farm by the months
Thursday (guess I said yesterday) and that made quite a busy day. Many of the
men have been accumulating things convenient in Camp.
Camp Stoves-
plates, etc. and it was amusing to see the various expedients the boys would get
up to convey their various Traps along some would stager along under their usual
equipments a straw bed-tic, a box of home luxuries from home under the Arm and a
Camp Stove stuck on the end of the bayonet. The whole Reg. moving along in this
kind of a fix made rather a novel show it looked something like a train Irish
Emigrants. Our mess had more than we could bring and two of us went back and
brought in a cracker box some hundred and fifty pounds of trash. We are now
pitched in the woods on quite uneven ground near a brook it will be quite warm
and comfortable for cold weather. Yesterday we went out on an other foraging
expedition and got a good haul of Corn Oats and hay. Gen. Brooks said in the
morning that we should see fighting before night if we did this winter. Just at
night as we had got our Spoil loaded and having seen no Rebels except some
Pickets who fled before our Scouts, the orders came to about face – march. We
had gone about a mile when Gen. Hancock - whose Division was on another road –
sent a messenger for our Div. stating that he had discovered a large force of
Rebels and wanted us to join him in an attack. We set out accordingly but had
not gone more than two miles before another messenger informed us that the Bird
had flown. It was then dark and as we were some eight miles from Camp we took up
our homeward march with heavy hearts and found our Camp tired and hungry about
nine o’clock. Remember some of my letters are yet unanswered
Ransom
Recd a Paper last night would be glad to get the [Flagg] every week when you have read it think I shall take the Tribune through this Session of Congress if I can get it