Following the American Civil War Sesquicentennial with day by day writings of the time, currently 1863.

Post image for “We are out of sight of land…,”–Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, Charles Wright Wills.

“We are out of sight of land…,”–Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, Charles Wright Wills.

January 12, 2015

Army Life of an Illinois Soldier, Charles Wright Wills, (8th Illinois Infantry)

On board the steamer Crescent, Atlantic Ocean,

January 12, 1865.

We are steaming on that rolling deep we’ve heard so much of, and which I have already seen and felt enough of. There is but little air stirring and the water is quite smooth, but so near the shore there is always a ground swell, which is to me somewhat demoralizing. We are out of sight of land and just before dark we saw a school of porpoise which looked just like a drove of hogs in the water. Some of the men wanted to go foraging when they saw them. This makes me quite dizzy, but I would not miss it on any account. I saw the full moon rise from the water about 6:30 p.m.

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