Camp Federal Hill,
Baltimore, Md., Oct. 8,
1861
"we are mounting the guns daily, and we expect
soon to have 64 guns mounted, all of them 42 lbs Columbiads. They will command
the whole city of Baltimore and the adjacent territory."
Camp Federal Hill, Baltimore, Md.,
Oct. 16, 1861
"In fact we can disperse any crowd of disputants
in the city, by having some one start the cry of 'the Zouaves are
coming.'"
Camp Federal Hill, Baltimore,
Md., Oct. 27, 1861
"It was indeed consecrated ground, and I thought
if those who had shed their blood in defense of their country’s flag
were looking down upon us, they would bless us."
Camp Federal Hill, Baltimore,
Md., Nov. 10, 1861
"It was a magnificent sight to stand
away from the fire to see the fiery stream through the branches of the trees,
while the dark forms of the men as they seemed to flit to and fro around
the blaze, appeared like spectres."
Near Newtown, Md., Nov. 16,
1861
"As we passed Federal Hill we beheld
the remainder of the regiment upon the ramparts ready to salute us, cheer
upon cheer rang in the air from our party, which was answered by those left
behind"
Near Oakhill,
Va., Accomac Co., Nov. 21, 1861
"the last rites are being paid to all
that is left of one who was as gay and light hearted as any of us. The mournful
strains of the fife and drum, playing a dirge, fall sadly upon my ear"
9 miles from
Drummondtown, Va., Nov. 22, 1861
"A pistol presented at his head by one
of our officers soon changed his mind, and he volunteered to show us another
road"
Camp Federal Hill, Baltimore,
Md, Dec. 8, 1861
"We entered the city with colors flying.
When we reached the Fort the whole garrison, with Major Hull at their head,
issued out of the sally port to greet us"
Near Eastville, Northampton
Co., Dec. 14, 1861
"Had we known this affair in time, not
one house would have remained standing to tell the passerby where the place
once stood"
Camp Hamilton, Va., Dec. 31,
1861
"What recollections crowd my mind as
I gaze upon the spot where Duryea’s Zouaves marched so gallantly last
May, and think of the changes that took place so soon after on the memorable
10th of June when 8 of their number laid down their lives"
Eastville, Northampton Co., Va.,
Jan. 15, 1862
"One thing however is missed very, very
much - that is good female society, for we have nothing here to take the
place of the fair and frail sex."
Camp Bay View, Townfield,
Va., Feb. 10, 1862
"Were I an author, what a romance could
I weave out of that log of wood with its luring companion. But I am no writer
- nothing but a soldier fighting for his country’s honor"
Camp Bayview, Va., Mar.
8, 1862
"Just imagine a woman weighing three
hundred pounds, with a countenance built on the same scale of liberality,
and wearing No. 13 brogans, to which she made constant references, and you
have her. But if her body was large so was her heart, and a better souled
person I never met"
Camp Van Buren, Baltimore, Md.,May
20, 1862
"A more wretched, squalid looking set
of men I never laid eyes upon. You might search Five Points through most
minutely and you could not find any to surpass these samples of the boasted
chivalry of the South."
Harper’s Ferry, Va.,
June 1, 1862
"You men sit around your firesides,
and think patriotism is a fine thing, and that the approval of your own
conscience is reward enough, ought to stand out under the peltings of a merciless
rain, with a wary and vigilant enemy around you, night after night, and live
on government rations, viz; salt pork and hard crackers, and only one meal
a day"
Winchester, Va., June 8,
1862
"What punishment should be meted out
to those who have revolutionized the best and happiest government in the
world, caused the best blood of America to flow like water, and make the
finest places in the Union mere deserts."
Camp Goodrich, Near Strasburg,
Va., June 25, 1862
"But examine him closely; watch that
eye and compressed lip with its occasional twitching, and you have a slight
index to that brain which, working night and day, controls our
movements."
Near Warrenton, Va., July 13,
1862
"Who he is I do not know, but still
he is a brother soldier and I think perhaps I may be the next victim. There
is nothing so sublimely beautiful as a soldier’s funeral. The sweet,
though mournful strains, and the sad, slow march of the soldiers, make one
feel there is something in Death. "
In Camp [?]ton, Va., July
31, 1862
"We can whip Jackson, but while we are
waiting here another enemy is decimating our ranks faster than all the guerillas
between here and Richmond. Disease fell, insidious disease is eating the
vitals of the army and counting its victims by the thousands"
Keedysville, Md., Sept. 19,
1862
"A live rebel soldier is a disgusting
sight, but a dead one surpasses description. And that field was full of them,
lying in all positions. Here, one shot through the heart; there, one with
his leg torn off; and still farther on, a trunk without a head"
Bolivar Heights, Va., Nov.
9, 1862
"I hope neither you nor my friends thought
I was dead, for if so, you and they will be sadly disappointed to find I
am still here"
Headquarters, Purnell Legion,
Frederick City, Jan. 31, 1863
"The bandaged head, the empty sleeve, and
the stump of a leg, told a tale louder than words could speak. Those who
spoke flippantly of patriotism as a mere word, should have seen some of the
men I have met. I have seen men, now in this army, who are hardly able to
carry a gun or bestride a horse."
Headquarters, Purnell Legion,
Frederick City, Md., Feb. 16, 1863
"After a battle, none so good as woman can
be found; but must they endure all the privations and hardships simply to
nurse us? Camp is not a place for woman, as my little experience teaches
me."
Headquarters, Purnell Legion,
Frederick City, Md., Mar. 7, 1863
"People stared at us as we rode through the
streets as though we were visitors from the other world. And I assure you
either of us would have made a good picture to illustrate the month of February.
Our hair and whiskers were lumps of ice, while our faces were coated with
the same article."
Headquarters, Purnell Legion,
Camp Monocacacy, Md., June 5, 1863
"The ground is well culled over for relics,
and a few bullets and pieces of shell were all I could find. My companion,
however, found in the woods the lower jaw of a rebel soldier which he has
in his possession."
Headquarters, Purnell Legion Md.
Vols., Fort Delaware, Sept. 17,1863
"This place is very healthy, with the exception
of the portion occupied by the rebels - and that is their own fault. They
are filthy in the extreme, it being as much as the Provost Guard can do to
keep them anyways decent in consequence of their disgusting habits, we bury
from 18 to 20 every day."
Headquarters, Purnell Legion,
Md.Vols. Fort Delaware, October 24, 1863
"Today the papers are full of rumors about
Gen. Meade; but we have become so accustomed to change in the commandership
of the Army of the Potomac, that we do not speculate about it."
Headquarters, Purnell Legion,
Md. Vols.,Chapel Point, near Port Tobacco, Md.,November 27,1863
"Think of the people of this age, living
in the midst of a fine agricultural country (for this is one), sending to
Baltimore (two days travel) for their butter and eggs. This shows how that
'peculiar institution' of slavery develops a country. Had it been abolished
years ago, this would have been one of the most promising sections of the
state. "
Headquarters, Purnell Legion,
Md. Vols.,Chapel Point,Md., December 18,1863
"The principal crop is tobacco, which is
raised in great abundance and of good quality. The livestock raised is generally
horses and negroes, the number of both determining the wealth of the
inhabitants."
Headquarters, Purnell Legion Md.
Vols., Chapel Point, Md., Jan. 24,1864
"We have had considerable trouble with squads
of cavalry from Glasboro Point who visit this section. They are mounted patrols
who are sent out to scour the country, and although under the charge of
commissioned officers, think they have a license to pillage and destroy property,
both public and private. I am ashamed to say that they are New York regiments;
such men hurt the cause in which they are engaged by laying a foundation
for the reports set in circulation by the copperheads."
Headquarters, Purnell Legion Md.
Vols., Chapel Point, Md., Apr. 12,1864
"It was quite amusing to see the party on
their journey; as they marched through the country they sang in concert,
led by the officer who had them in charge, "John Brown’s body lies
mouldering in the grave." I thought if the old man’s spirit was looking
upon the scene, he must have felt that his martyrdom was useful and
glorious."
Headquarters, Purnell Legion Md.
Vols., Chapel Point, Md., June 6,1864
"On the 3d of this month the Regiment was
put out on the skirmish line with orders to drive the rebels out of their
rifle pits, which we did, capturing from 20 to 25 Johnnies, but losing in
the affair eight men killed and twenty-one wounded."
Kirkwood House,Washington, D.C.,
January 10, 1865
"The ladies of this city are as gay and showy
as ever, but I must be so ungallant to them as to say they are not as beautiful
as I had a reason to expect. Like every city there are beauties and belles;
but I think Main Street on a fine summer’s eve can show as fine a procession
of handsome ladies."
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