5th. Burge and Tom went to town. Found the teams and got the rest of the clothing. Still unpleasant and chilly. Boys all catching cold.
Saturday, April 5, 2014
Annapolis, April 5, ’64.
Dear Father, — . . . We are having a continued storm here, without the slightest cessation. I don’t think we have had three pleasant days since we have been here. They have with two exceptions been snow-storms, but the snow quickly melted away. The only difference between here and home is that it is much more moderate here than there. I suppose you have had snow all the time.
Our camp here is much better than the Readville one. The soil here is sandy, so that the water is quickly absorbed. An hour or two after the storm is over there is scarcely a puddle to be seen, and the ground is dry and hard almost immediately.
The regiment is in a very healthy condition indeed. We have but seven or eight sick in the hospital. . . .
Johnnie Hayden’s battery has come here from Knoxville. I suppose I shall see him soon, as he is encamped about a mile from where we are.
Horace Howland is coming on to see us, from New York, in the course of a week. We shall have quite a class meeting if he gets here.
Colonel Hartranft, who is in command of the troops now here, said that our camp was the best one around Annapolis. This is quite a compliment for a raw regiment.
I see no probability of our leaving here for some weeks. Burnside has established his headquarters at New York for the present. . . .
Tuesday, April 5. — Rained hard all day. Almost finished Benet. Received letters from Father, Hannah, and Carrie;[1] also from General Peirce. Confoundedly stupid in camp. Major Jarves received letter from Horace Howland, saying that he was coming to see us.
[1] My sister, Mrs. S. S. Gray, who died June 16, 1912.
April 5.—We have just returned from a concert given by the ladies of this place for the benefit of the wounded at the expected battle. There was no attempt at any thing extra.
One young lady sang some simple, old-fashioned ballads with a great deal of taste.
A German, who has charge of the linen-room in the Buckner Hospital, played the violin and piano very well, but the crowning feature of the whole was the singing of Mrs. Dr. Gamble. Her voice is one of the finest amateur ones to which I have ever listened, and is highly cultivated. She sang one song, its name I have forgotten, that brought tears to all eyes. Another, “Ranch Desvache,” was beautiful. She sang, with more taste than I have ever heard an American sing a Scotch song, the “Lass o’ Gowrie,” with which every one was so much pleased that many sent notes requesting her to repeat it, which she kindly did. Mrs. Bears, matron of the Buckner Hospital, sang “Home, Sweet Home,” with a great deal of feeling. It scarcely does to sing such a song at present, as it touches the heart a little too deeply.
April 5 — I took stage-coach in Staunton this morning at six o’clock and arrived in New Market at six this evening. It snowed very fast until noon to-day, and the snow is about four inches deep here at New Market.
Diary And Memoranda, 1864
Apr. 5th. Went to the theatre on Monday, where Edwin Forrest was playing Macbeth. It was the first time I ever saw him. It was splendid. I must say there is a charm in tragedy that captivates me.
Tuesday, 5th—I took dinner at Mr. Curtis’s today, and had a fine dinner. Two other soldier boys were there, Mr. Curtis’s son, Homer and Thomas Fossett, both of the Twenty-fourth Iowa Infantry. The citizens in and around Inland are very loyal, and the vicinity is well represented in the Eleventh and Twenty-fourth Regiments.
Huntsville, Tuesday, April 5. Did not rain to-day but we had but little sunshine. Watched in the hospital from midnight till 4 A. M. with Andy Herron, suffering from severe attack of erysipelas in the face and head. Changed wet cloths on his face every fifteen minutes. While drilling in company in front of officers’ tents, under the order of Sergeant, I and David Evans were taken out of the ranks and Corporal Malish put over us to drill us in front of tents for two hours by order of Captain. He was sitting in front of his tent and said we laughed in the ranks. It being the first time I ever was punished, I was much hurt in feelings, much more so as it was for a crime that I am not aware that I ever committed, and was not observed by any except Captain who was eight or ten rods off. He was out of humor at the company drill and (it being very muddy) as is customary, he must visit his wrath upon somebody. After two hours’ marching as culprits before the whole camp, we were dismissed, but I felt no guilt, as my conduct was not improper.
April 5, Tuesday. The returns of the Connecticut election come in favorably. Buckingham is reelected by a largely increased majority, and the Unionists have two thirds at least of the Legislature. This disposes of another of the Seymours. O. S. Seymour, the defeated Democratic candidate, has respectable abilities and industry. In the latter respect he is very different from T. H. Seymour, the last year’s candidate. The latter was marked by indolence for his own from boyhood. Always lazy, proud, and opinionated, but with genius and a fair share of talents if put to any use. He is excessively fond of adulation, and seeks the caresses of the young and the ignorant. Origen S. is a trimmer in politics, more pliable than Tom, though each has a trait of insincerity. Eaton, who has been rather the leader of the anti-War faction, was a candidate for Representative in Hartford and defeated. It is an evidence of returning sense among some of the community. Last year he was chosen by a majority of some three hundred. Now he is defeated.
April 5.—The government powder-mills, belonging to the rebels, at Raleigh, North-Carolina, exploded this day, and killed several persons.
