"We have invaded Vermont"

Sunday, October 23, 1864, Petersburg trenches

This is most intokjh intol. I have run out of ink and must mad make-do with a sharp twin and the blacking from the fire. This is very messy. I probably will not be able to read this after awhile.

It has been some time since the Yankees have shot at us or we at them. The weather is turning much colder and wetter. Even so, we are not quite ready to go into winter camp. We all want one more go at them. We need to whip them one more time before retiring to the wrmh of our cabins.

Once again, just like last year and the year before that, some of us have stolen a march on Old Man Winter and have their cabins built, complete with chimneys. The rest of us are waiting, God knows why, a little longer before building shelter. We of the Dandy Eights are of the first mind. We have learned from the last two winters to build early, even if it means ricking a bandoning all our work to go back on the march.

The Crenshaw boys have been inseparable since Troy's return to the company. For months, he has been detailed away from the company as a shoemaker. We had hoped that when he returned, he would bring his pards a new pair of brogans. He did not although the ones he was wearing looked first rate. We need to go after the Yankes again if only to separate them from their brogans.

The Yankee papers that fall into our hands by whatever means tell some interesting stories. We have invaded Vermont. From what the papers say, our troops crossed into Vermont from Canada. Has John Bull finally come into this war on our side.? How could he otherwise permit a foreign army to cross the border?

It has been some time since the Dandy Eights mess has been at full strength. With both Bartons dead and Duncan captured, the Eights have numbered but five for months. By a majority vote, confirmed by our secret handshake, we remaining Eights voted to fill our ranks. As Wilson Crenshaw was already an Eight, it seemed natural to admit his other half, just returned to us, Troy. The other two are White and Terry. As we did not want to do dishonor to Duncan by voting him out in order to vote in his replacement, we elevated Duncan to member in absence. After all, it is not his fault that he is captured.

Our ranks continue to increase if only by one. Louis Cauthen enlisted in Columbia some two weeks ago and has managed to find us in these trenches. He is as fresh as they come but so were we all before we saw the elephant.

This is enough. I must find some real ink or give up writing.


I Send You These Few Lines.


No, there never was any invasion of Vermont by Confederate troops. There was an incident there, however, called the St. Albans Raid. Some two dozen Confederate agents crossed over from Canada into Vermont and established themselves in the town of St. Albans. Several banks were robbed and attempts to burn the town failed. The raid's intent was to draw Union forces away from the fighting fronts. The raid was a failure.

The part about Troy Crenshaw returning to the company after being detailed to make shoes is borne out by the records.

Soldier's messes played a critical role during the war. Soldiers (sailors, airmen and Marines, too) in all of our conflicts have always formed bonds little understood by others. The mess, always unofficial and always established by the soldiers themselves, were where a good deal of the sharing of experiences, in and out of the army, took place. The name of the mess mentioned in this blog, the Dandy Eights, is fictional.  Thomas Duncan, an original member of the Dandy Eights, was captured at Spottsylvania. Another original member, Thomas Barton, Jr., was killed at the Wilderness.

To, "see the elephant" is a term that predates the War. I cannot verify which original meaning is correct so I'll leave that one alone. In this context, it means to have seen combat.

Louis M. Cauthen was a late-comer to the war. He enlisted in Columbia, SC in October of 1864. Eventually, he made his way to Company I of the 12th. In some way, he could be related to George T. Cauthen of the same company but if he is, I have found no evidence of it.

If Private Tooms doesn't find some ink soon, this blog just might come to a conclusion.