"Three pounds of bacon...

Friday, May 29, 1863,  near Moss Neck

We have returned to camp and have discovered that in our absence, things have gone to pot. When we left here not quite one month ago to follow our Jackson on his march to flank the Yankees across the river, the camp was left without anyone to guard it until our return. A flock of vultures could not have done a better effort at denuding the area of anything useful.

For the first few nights here, we slept with the stars as our covering. The stars are nice but they will not deflect the rain. There was some discussion about whether we should go to the trouble of erecting shelters on the grounds that we may soon move again. Practicality won out over everything else and so we pretended we were beavers. Some have built little cabins and others have erected simple shebangs.

Castles has left us for awhile. He came down with a sickness and left us on the 26th, instant.
Cauthern has absented himself for a similar reason. These brogans that I recently acquired were not as broken in as I had thought. My feet now pain me fiercely but as that is a common complaint in this army, there is no use in going to see Surgeon Keith.

We have not yet drawn picket duty since our return but surely our turn will come. Those who have drawn duty have reported that the Yankee cavalry keeps us under watch from their side of the river. Where is their infantry? Is their cavalry a screen behind which something is happening? Our officers have again sternly admonished us not to engage the enemy in conversation of any kind. We will see how long that lasts.

We are on short rations but that is now normal. Flour has all but disappeared. We are receiving little by way of meat.  Three pounds of bacon would go down very well right now. The fishing is good along the river, we have been told. The soldiers on picket have a chance to land  some fish. Hancock, who had not been on picket, somehow obtained two of the scaly creatures. The Dandy Eights, minus the absent Castles, had a small piece each. We cannot wait to go on picket.

Although the regiment sat out the great battle of Chancellorsville while playing at guarding wagons and prisoners, we are busy putting ourselves ready to do battle. We did not suffer the same wear and tear as did those who fought but marching to and from Richmond is sure to blow out some brogans and wear holes in the more delicate areas of our trousers.

Hancock, both Bartons, Holton, both Crenshaws, Vincent, myself and even Corporal Flynn and Sergeant Harper appointed ourselves a committee of the whole (regiment) to approach Lieutenant Williamson and Lieutenant Stover with a verbal petition. In short, we pleaded that in the next engagement, the regiment be spared from nursemaid duty and be allowed to go after the enemy with our bayonets.

As we were mere privates, we allowed Sergeant Harper to state our case. Corporal Flynn was there to second our wishes. Lieutenant Williamson looked annoyed but he deferred comment to Lieutenant Stover who outranks him as company commander. Lieutenant Stover said that his long absence from the company thanks to his Sharpsburg wound last September, he was yearning to return to action. He made no promises save that he would make sure our petition, which he said he felt the whole regiment held to, would be conveyed by him to the relevant parties in authority. May our petition be granted.

I Send You These Few Lines:

While Jackson's people left their camp, it was unguarded for several days. When the battle was over, the brigade, minus Tooms' unit came back to camp. Anything seemingly left behind by absent owners was fair game for, "Confederate Pickers". The brigade historian,  who was there, James Fitz James Caldwell, wrote of this in his post-war history.

Surgeon Keith is really Assistant Surgeon W.W. Keith. He reports to the regimental surgeon, W.H. Bailey. In Confederate service, typically, each regiment is assigned one surgeon, one assistant surgeon and a hospital steward, a medical NCO. On the Union side, regulations authorize two assistant surgeons per regiment.

Cauthern, John T. Cauthern, is new to the company and this blog. He is from Lancaster, South Carolina and has only recently enlisted in March of 1863. He is, at present, in Company I, the Lancaster Hornets but is in a different squad than Tooms, Duncan, Hancock and the rest of the more familiar names read in this blog.

Once again, the subject of rations takes up diary space. This is a bad time for Lee's army as far as provisioning is concerned. The cavalry is not concentrated but rather is dispersed as there is not enough grass in any one area to support all the horses. All the troops are suffering from malnutrition, if not actual starvation. The longer Lee and his Army of Northern Virginia stay in one spot, the more likely that every morsel of food for man and beast will be consumed. The southern transportation system is failing in its' job of keeping the defenders in a state of healthy subsistence. Much more of this and the army will dissolve.

A "shebang" is an improvised shelter consisting of some upright forked poles sunk into the ground. Other poles act as cross-members to provide a roof, of sorts. Pile brush on top and it will do to keep one dry and out of the Sun.

It is understandable that having missed one great battle, Tooms and his comrades should feel themselves cheated of new laurels. They are eager to do what they have been trained to do, fight and kill. They have been in a few battles. They know what war is about. It means fighting and that means killing...and dying which is fine so long as it's the other guy. The other guy has his own ideas about this whole fighting thing. 

Tooms and his comrades don't know what's coming. You do.