Chapter 32 - In Camp

CHAPTER XXXII

IN CAMP

The boys caught Shaffer upon their shoulders and carried him in triumph to the camp.  Kevic seated himself on the ground and proceeded to pick the briars out of his feet muttering to himself “who’d a thought old Mike could jump the way he did?”

In the evening when the detail for pickets was made, the orderly called the name of Shaffer, Michael.  To this Shaffer objected stating that he had the rheumatism real bad.  The orderly clinched the matter by saying that “it looked like it today when he beat Kevic jumping.”  Freddy lost his dollar but the company had one more man for duty.

On the night of the 21^st of February the heaviest snow of the Winter fell, measuring eight inches.  As the sun made its appearance the battery on the hill,  Knap’s, suddenly and unexpectedly to us, began firing.  Thinking that we were being attacked, we rushed out of our tents in our stocking feet unmindful of the snow.  It was soon apparent to us that there was no enemy in view and after a moment’s reflection we came to the conclusion that it was a salute fired in honor of the birth of the Father of his Country, our immortal Washington.

After the boys found out that they had been fooled and that there were no rebels to fight, then soldier-like, they commenced to growl at the snow.

About this time, Levy Ulrich, John Haas, Reuben and Peter Gemberling visited us.  During their stay we had several rumors of contemplated attacks from the rebels, which had the effect of giving them a taste of army life.

The ground “Kevic,” so named from the fact that it was a dugout with a frame made of pine saplings and then covered with ground, with a trap door in the side of the roof like a cellar door for an entrance, occupied the right of the front row of the company tents, next to the cook-house
occupied by W. S. Keller, John P. Haas, F. B. Ulrich and the writer, was built more with view to handiness and comfort than for ornament.  Two springs, one in the lower corner of the chimney and the other under the bunk on which we slept, furnished the mess with all the water needed, and which were covered over with cracker box. lids whenever the quarters were inspected for sanitary purposes by the medical department directors.

On the afternoon of the 1^st of March some one of the boys hung a large piece of pork down the copious chimney of the Kevic, and as there was at the time ­a blazing fire in the hearth, it did not take long to roast the fat out of the pork which dropped down on the fire added fuel to the flame, and soon the chimney was on fire.

Several of the bays who were watching the sport, placed an old tub on the chimney, this procedure soon filled the Kevic with smoke and fire.  The inmates were calmly taking a snooze, entirely unconscious of the destruction which was pending over them.

The smoke was making its egress through the ground roof, and when Yankee Garman opened the door to see how matters were progressing, the flame and smoke shot forth like from the bowels of Visuvious.

The cry of fire was raised, and the first we knew, Company E burst through the rear of our tent and we soon found ourselves snaked out of the tent with Keller, Haas and Ulrich promiscuously piled on top of us, and in a few seconds the inside of the tent was gutted.

We managed to get on our feet just in time to see Parks and Ed. Fisher empty a tub of water down the chimney to outen the fire.

The Kevic presented a frightful appearance after the fire, and had we known who it was that committed the joke on us, he would have paid dearly for the fun.  As it was, we could do nothing but grin and bear it.  Hoping that time would make all things even.

On the following morning after the fire the company was drawn up in line and a ration of “whiskey and quinine” administered to all.   As may well be imagined there were quite a number of wry faces in the company, and for once to the surprise of the orderly, there was no one to be found that desired an “extra” ration; however there were several who thought it a pity to spoil the quinine (?).

Close in the wake of this sanitary move came the order that the men must all be vaccinated.  The afternoon of the 5^th of March found the Officers of each Company marching their men to the Doctors’ quarters in their shirt sleeves.  Arriving at the hospital, all were ordered to bare the left arm above the elbow, after which they were formed in open order and the doctors passed up and down the lines and inoculated the bare arm of each and every one thus making it a memorable day by the shedding of much loyal blood.

As we marched to our quarters W. E. Fausnacht got up the following poetic effusion, the sentiment of which was certainly shared by the rest of the boys:

We are vaccinated as you see,

And from small-pox now are free;

The fever we have fixed

With quinine and whiskie,

And could they make us bullet-proof

Oh, how happy we would be.

On the afternoon of the 7^th of March when the regiment had dress-parade, and after the regular routine of the parade was gone through with, Adjutant McKee, read a general Order from the War Department dismissing from the service Dr. Levi Oberholtzer, for disloyalty charged upon the violation of articles regulating the government of the Army and Navy of the United States.

After the dress parade an animated discussion took place in the company concerning Dr. Oberholtzer’s dismissal.  A number of the boys took sides for and against the Doctor, and which was brought to a sudden close by the Captain, who threatened to dismiss all the disloyal ones on the same terms that the Doctor was, the loyal ones he proposed to add two years more of service.  This announcement settled the loyal side and when the Doctor’s friends found that they had no one to dispute with, they also stopped and quiet was restored.

General Hooker was laboring hard to efficiently to re-organize the Army of the Potomac, having made simple, yet effective arrangements, one of which was the selection of different emblems, by the wearing of which the Division and the Corps were at once made known to those who were aware of the different badges and the troops which they respectively designated.

The badge which in the future was to be made historic by the bravery and gallantry of the 12^th Corps, was the Star.  In accordance with the. regulation, the 1^st Division was represented by the red star, the 2^nd Division (to which we were attached) by the white star; the color of the 3^rd Division was blue, we however had no 3^rd Division.

When the first batch of these stars, which were made of merino, were issued to us, the members of the company at once proceeded to sew them on their coats, thus showing their willingness to aid our Commander-in-Chief to carry out all his designs that tended in the direction of placing the Army on a solid footing.  Little did we then suppose that the White Star we then received should become so well and favorably known to the of the whole country, both North and South, as it did during the three succeeding years.

On the 15^th of March we saw the first soldier buried in the field, Samuel Mullen of Company B having died on the 10^th was buried under a tree, near the woods back of the town where the Brookville road enters the Dumfries road.  The regiment escorted the corpse to the place of interment.  David Fetters read a chapter in the Testament, made a short and impressive prayer, a squad of comrades fired over the grave and the last sad rights were performed, and with the Drum-corps playing a lively tune, the regiment returned to its quarters.

Some comrade, more thoughtful than the rest, had taken part of the lid of a cracker box and improvised a tablet to mark his last resting place, which bore the following inscription:

“Sleep, Soldier sleep, thy weary day is o’er.”

To which was added his age, company, name and regiment.  The board was nailed to the tree under which the grave had been dug.