CIVIL WAR LETTER Camp Houghtaling My Dear Sister: I received your very interesting letter of the 3rd inst. yesterday - also, one from Hattie, bnth af which I was glad to get and will nnw try and answer to the best of my ability. Pomeroy will also write in answer to yours. We are both of us well as also the rest of our c1lmpany; although we are now having very h.)t weather and I fear there will be a great deal of sickness unless we get rain before long, the weather being at the present very dry. As yet hnwever there has been but little sickness in camp and no deaths among the many th:)usands of silidiers encamped here (of disease). Three have been killed, nne murdered and two accidentally shot, also one drowned. This, I think, speaks well for Cairo that abroad has the reputatirlil of being a very unhealthy 10cati0n. You say you wish for me to give you one nf my "real gcwd long letters. II I think I will try and write ynu snmewhat at length but as for its being good or interesttng I will leave that t,) yourself. I could if I anly had time to spare, fill up a dozen sheets of paper with many incidents relating to camp life that wuuld doubtless be of interest to YClU but I find my time is constantly employed in one way and an')ther so that it is necessary for me t ,-) write briefly and to the p,)int; or be three ,)r four days in c~)mpleting a letter which in these fast times T.v'Juld be considered ')ld and stale. It is now five u'clock and the :,rder is given to fall in for drill so I must stop as every man is required to be in the ranks sr) here I go, Drill over and having been t(l supper I will continue until roll call. Mwssrs Wise and E. Baldwin have just arrived and I must go and see them and enquire about the folks in Ottawa. At roll call Mr. Wise made us a speech in relation to matters at home and also of the present condition of our country and the future pros- pects of bringing back our government to its former firmness. I was surprised at his manner of speaking as I had always supposed him to be a very poor speaker but on the contrary I must say that he speaks well and is strongly attached tn the interests of the Union. They came for the purpose of settling with us. They say our uniforms cost from four to five dollars which is to be deducted from the eight dollars donated us by the citizens and as s(~on as they return home they will forward the balance to us. Mess. F. C. Prescott and his brother Alphonso were here last week. John F. Nash was also here. It is now so dark that I can not see tc write more tonight and as I go on guard in the morning I will go to my bunk and try to get a good night's rest. June 11th - This is a beautiful mc'rning although the heat of the sun at this early huur indicates that we are going to have a day of incessant heat. I must tell you about our location, how we live; what we have to d,), etc., etc. We are located 2~ miles from Cairo on the banks of the Mississippi River on a most beautiful piece of level ground, our twu field pieces planted on the water's edge pointing with deadly aim upun Missouri soil ready to spread terror and destructi!)n upon the heads of traitors Page 2 - Civil War Letter (Camp Houghtaling) should they at any time make their appearance on the opp osite shore which their cowardly acts we fear, will not permit them to do. Our sleeping apartments (or barracks) are built about fifteen r ods fr om the River, behind the levee which makes a gooa breastwork that I believe will never be 'If any imp ortance t:,) us as there is no probability of our being attacked by any secession force shlluld we remain here a lifetime and as f or the mosquitoes, the levee is of n 0 importance to us in keeping them at bay as they in my opinion are far more brave than the secessionists and have engaged in a better cause; they for the purpose nf sustaining life while the Secessionists are toiling in every menn way to destroy the most important means of their subsistence. The order of the day is the Reville at five o 'clock in the mor(cid:173) ning, innnediately after which the roll is called and all that cia n ,) t make their ap(cid:173) pearance are "marked" and have to stand double guard. After the roll is called, we march t" the River to wash and prepare for breakfast which having done we return and scour nur guns and put them in order. We breakfast at half-past six and at seven o'clock we fall in f or drill which continues until nine. We then break ranks and again clean up (Jur guns and prepare f')r guard; muunting which comes nff at nine 0 ' clock and thirty minutes when the guards that have been detailed f orm in line and go thr ough the performance of inspection of arms and any man that has a gun that is not polished is either sent to the guard house Dr put on extra duty. The guard is divided int n three reliefs. The first Relief g()es on post at 9 o'clock and remain until eleven when they are relieved by the Second who stay on until one'o'clock and then the third Relief takes their respective places until the first Relief again comes on. In this way we have to stand tWl) hours and rest four. After guard mount we retire to our respective quarters and are at liberty t:, enjoy 0urselves in a manner that best pleases us. Then can be seen men writing, reading, sleeping, singing, talking, speech-making and vari ous Gther perf(Jrmances t)() numer ous to menti ,m. The .old guard always have the privilege of going t o t ,)wn in preference t " :")thers. At twelve the drum beats for dinner and we all march f .)r the table in good order and in quietness we partake of ('ur meals; which generally C"l1sists :)f beef S 8 UP, fried or bo iled pc) tatoes, bread and crackers, ice water, beans, rice, dried apples, etc., etc. We have tea and c offee for breakfast and supper -also plenty of fried or boiled ham. After dinner we are at liberty until five when we again have t o fall in for drill and drill til supper and at sund own the r oll is called and the guard detailed. At eight ,, 'clock we are required to be in the barracks and at nine we g(1 to bed and at ten we have t o extin(cid:173) guish all lights and cease talking. We have te, go to the City every Saturday t o the grand review of troops; which is the m'Jst magnificent sight I ever beheld. To see five or six thousand men uniformed and equipped in military style and drilled t o a lmos t perfection, marching and parading \.,ith bands of music and the numberless (almost) flags floating in the breezes, every man stepping at the same time, which with the Page 3- Civil War Letter (Camp Houghtaling) roar of artillery flying in every direction, is a sight that one can little imagine if they have never witnessed the same. Wm. Gregg, Geo. Wakefield and Em Campbell have just arrived from "Villa Ridge". They report themselves and companys generally well and are calculating to re-enlist f'Jr the War. I also learn fr ·)m than (and fr 1m (,thers) that Quinn will proBably go in again f or the war. As for myself, I am not fully deter(cid:173) mined as to what course I shall take in the matter; But am certain of one thing, that I shall never go in our present c ompany as there will not be over from 10 to 15 that will go and the company will probably be broken up. The "Life of a Soldier" suits me so well that you need not be surprised to hear that I have joined SJme other company and am off for the Wars. I think, however, that I shall go to Ottawa before entering upDn the duties of a Soldier in the regular service. Pomeroy is keen for going but will doubtless do as I may determine. If I go he will go als0, If not, neither will he. Two companies under command · ,f C:Jl. 061esby went yesterday to Columbus; a Secession tllwn 20 miles down the River in Kentucky; on board the Steamer City of Alton, supposing that the "Cheney" in employ of the government had been stopped by Secession troops as she was behind time. But upon arriving they were surprised to find that the many thousand S.C. Troops that were rep orted to be stationed at that point were not to be found. A large Secession Flag was taken and being satisfied with even this much gain up c'n the Rebels they hnisted the flag upon the bow of the Steamer wrong side up to sh:)w their contempt fur the three stripes and seven stars that these Rebellious traitors are foolhardy enough to suppose will ere long wave triumphantly over this broad land of ours. I was in town when the Steamer came in and saw the flag and the presentation of the same to General Prentiss; and his speech in return. He said among :,ther things that he would soon lead us to Memphis where we could capture many more such trait.]ruus emblems; and on the morrow (today) he we'uld inform us when we were to advance upon the enemy. I suppose General McClelland will be here today and that we shall find nut what \oJe are going to d,) in the future. Some think we will go irrnnediately to Memphis \'7hile some think we will remain in Camp here. It is my impression, however, that we will in a few days have an electir'n for the purpose of ascertaining what p ortion of the three months trO tl pS will re-enlist and taking them, will form them into regiments and proceed 'irmnediately down the River; discharging from service those that refuse to re-enlist. In this, however, I may be mistaken. For my part I would much like to go South. "Our Boys" went for the first time last Saturday to the dress parade (artillery) and were complimented by Col. Wagner, Commander of the Artillery Battalion, as being the finest and best drilled Company on the ground, doing the fastest firing much to the chagrin of the Chicago Company, who pride themselves of being a little superi'Jr to other companies, coming frr;m "inferior t'_'wns". In answer t o your questi on as to what the trouble is in regard to the Chicago troops not being Page 4 - Civil War Letter (Camp HoughtalingL honored enough, I will give y ou my npini :m on the subject. It is simply this - they appear, by their actions, t o think that outside of Chicago there is n0 band o f men quite as gc) ()d as themselves. They have drawn from Government their uniforms, arms, etc., etc., are far better equipped than many other companies that as much deserve to be "honored" as they do. They get as much t o eat and wear as any of the So ldiers (are better uniformed) and have no guard duty t l.l perform except ar ound their own camps while the rest of us have to guard the lines surr ounding the City; a distance of 6 t o 7 miles, besides guarding the different lines at and around eamr. Defiance. There are men in all of the Companies that find a great deal f) f fault and think they are not as well treated as they should be but I think there is but slight difference in the treatment or hon0rs of the different companies except that I may mention that the Quincy Co. appear t o h Dld all the important offices. In regard to Dr. Sims, I can only say that he is a very successful physician and appears to be a gentleman in every sense (J f the word; and as for honors I have never heard a word mentioned in relation thereto but conc1ude there is n ::J thing very seri ous or it would have been generally known here. We have as yet received no pay n or do I know when we will, but presume it will be in a short time. We shall get a new unif ,"lrm in a few days; expressly for dress parade, keeping the c:;ne we have for fatigue dress. POmer(lY has gone ('n guard and ,.ill not be back f or 24 h