154
CAMPAIGNING TO NO PURPOSE.
The colonel drew from his pocket a pair of gloves spotlessly white, and,handing them to the corporal, said: “ Put on those; I washed them myself!”
This was an unforgotten lesson to the whole regiment that it was a soldier’sduty to attend himself to his personal neatness.
In a camp of soldiers, rumor, with her thousand tongues, is always speak-ing. The rank and file and under-officers of the line are not taken into theconfidence of their superiors. Hence the private soldier is usually in igno-rance as to his destination. What he lacks in information is usually made upin surmise and conjecture; every hint is caught at and worked out in possi-ble and impossible combinations. He plans and fights imaginary battles.He manoeuvres for position, with pencil and chalk, on fanciful fields, at thesame time knowing no more of the part he is actually performing in somegreat or little plan than the knapsack he bears. He makes some shrewdguesses (the Yankee’s birthright), but he knows absolutely nothing. It is thiswhich makes the good-will and confidence of the rank and file in the com-mander so important a factor in the morale of an army.
How we received the report or whence it came I know not, but it wasrumored one morning that we were about to move. The order in realitycame at last, to the distress and dismay of the sutlers and the little Germanwoman who kept the grocery round the corner. We left her disconsolate overthe cakes, pies, and goodies which had been liberally purchased, but whichwere yet unpaid for when we fell into two ranks, were counted off, andmarched to conquer the prejudices of other sutlers.
We took the cars on February 25th and were hurried through a number oflittle sleepy-looking villages of Maryland [see map, p. 124]. The next morn-ing found us at Sandy Hook, about half a mile from Harper’s Ferry ; thence,after about three hours’ delay, we marched to a place opposite the promon-
B.A. CUSTOM**
SUTUR
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A SUTLER’S TENT. BASED UPON A WAR-TIME PHOTOGRAPH.