Camp Wright, Hulton, Penn.,
Sunday, June 30, 1861.
Dear Sister L.:–
Major General McCall was here on Friday and organized two new regiments for the war. There are now in this camp and Camp Wilkins about five thousand men. We had a review of all the troops in this camp Friday afternoon. The General expressed himself well pleased with our appearance.
Last night our regiment was drawn up in line of battle and we had a game of–charge bayonet. We are all armed now, you know, and, at the word, the bristling points came down and we started across the plain. We kept close together in good line till we almost reached the enemy (a crowd of spectators, unarmed women and children) when they fired a volley of screams at us and turned and fled. We broke ranks and pursued them, but as they seemed to get the better of us, we gave up the pursuit and fell into line. We received a lecture for breaking ranks and then faced about and charged again, this time in first-rate order. We tried it two or three times, succeeding very well, and then came the tug of war. A crowd of spectators had gathered on the back side of the field towards the river. Colonel Grant saw we wanted some fun and he drew us up in front of their terrible battery of laughter. We moved on steadily till the command, “Double quick;” “Clear the field.” Our Captain, who is not over nice in choice of words, sprang forward and sang out, “Forward boys, give ’em h–l.” Oh, what a scene! Every man did his best to outrun the rest, and with the wildest whoops we brought up at the fence in a cloud of dust and the field was cleared. The “Charge of the Light Brigade” was nothing in comparison to that. We had but few mishaps. – E. A. S. (the Reverend) lost one of his pearly false teeth and had to stop to find it, and Jack W. fell down and ran his bayonet into the ground.
We have got out of ball-cartridges and are practicing in skirmishing with blank-cartridges. You would laugh to see us fall flat on our faces and fire a volley and then roll over on our backs and load. We do this, however, and it is not so difficult as it might seem. Of course, we are not so liable to be hit by balls when lying on our backs. We just rise, so as to support the gun on our elbows, fire, and fall flat again, then tumble on the back and slide the gun down till the butt rests on the ground between the heels, and the muzzle is right over the face where a cartridge can be put in and sent home very easily. Company I is very expert in this. They will be running on double quick, and at the word, fall, fire and load in half a minute.
I have heard of no arrangements for the Fourth yet. Colonel McLane has gone to Erie, and some say he expects to have us there on the Fourth, but I think that’s all camp talk. The paymaster is to be here and pay off Colonel Hay’s and Colonel Jackson’s regiments this week. Some say he will pay us, but I guess all we will get won’t make us rich.
We have had considerable excitement in our company lately in regard to the conduct of our officers. It is ascertained that they are cheating us in a rascally manner. Each company is allowed seventy-seven rations per day for the privates and non-commissioned officers and musicians, and each commissioned officer is allowed four rations per day. Properly cooked and distributed one ration is all a man can eat and it almost always happens that some of the company are absent, and the law says, “That, if anything is saved from their rations the company may sell it and raise a company fund.” In this way Company B has now a fund of $200. Well, our three officers, instead of drawing their own rations, have boarded themselves and servant, all this time, out of ours, thus keeping us half the time without enough to eat, and depriving us of selling any extra allowance when we have it. A ration is valued at thirty cents, and by this course, each one of the officers saves $1.20 per day, besides a ration for his servant, making $1.50 per day, amounting to the nice little sum of $45 per month for each one. Not content with this they go a little deeper. A rich old farmer named Black sent nine dozen of eggs and several pounds of butter marked especially for the privates of Company G. Not a private in the company got an egg, and only a little of the butter. Now I call that decidedly mean. Officers who are making $150 to $200 a month must cabbage the $11 privates’ present. M. H. Goold gave the Captain a pretty good thrust about it yesterday. The Captain said he thought our talk about that had better stop, he was getting disgusted with it. Goold told him he thought the Captain was not more disgusted with it than the rest of us. or had more reason to be. The boys of Girard say they have not had a cent of the money that was put into the officers’ hands for them and cannot get postage stamps of them without paying ten cents for three. I can’t tell what has become of all the money for the Springfield boys. There are not more than thirty in the company and $150 would make $5 apiece, and I can’t find one who says he has had a dollar. I have had twenty-five cents and seven stamps. What has become of the money? Any talk like that makes the officers d–n us up hill and down. There will be some talk about it though, if we ever get back to Girard. I must close. I hope you will write soon.