Pen Portrait of Camp Yancey in December 1861

Laying aside his attorney's robes for the garb of a private soldier, John P. Hubbard of the 22nd Alabama provided this pen portrait of his first army camp, that of Camp Yancey near Mobile, Alabama in the last days of 1861. In this letter, published in the Southern Advertiser in Troy, Alabama, Hubbard describes the layout of the camp, life in the tents, and the regiment's patient wait for pay. 



Camp Yancey, near Mobile, Alabama

December 23, 1861

Dear Advertiser,

          Of late, this pen has been a derelict in picking up dots as very few have fallen worth picking up, for else it would have been heard from before now. To determine which is the stronger cause of delay would require an impartial jury so near are they in hung in even balance.

Pitching Tents

The first thing to be done on arriving here was to pitch tents. They are pitched in two rows, each about 100 feet long, and face towards a street 40 feet wide running between them from north to south. In the rows the tents are about two feet apart. To the rear (the north) in the prolongation of the line of tents respectively, some 75 feet are the company commissioned officers’ tents, two in number. At the bottom, men’s tents are about 8 by 10 feet in size, and slope upwards on the side to a height of 8 feet, thus rendering it impossible to stand upright in them except right in the middle. They have no flies and are rather inferior articles for a “new style” if one, sitting in judgment upon them, were directed in his decision by the taste of one expert in critical disquisitions on a love of a bonnet, the verdict at least would be that the inventor be “damned to an immortality of fame.”

Officers have wall tents with flies, which compared with the men’s, are very commodious and comfortable. Really there can be no objection urged against them. They say flies will be put on all tents. It is a matter of prime necessity if the winter is to be passed in them. Such are the tents and thus are they pitched on this campground.

Working the Street

          Getting the company street in order was a pestiverous undertaking and required some care and labor. The modus needs no mentioning. Here a lump was dug up and there one dug down; dirt from ditches running along the side, shoveled out, and turnpike style, thrown to the middle, then raked and scraped and dragged, and just as all hands thought it finished for good, some new defect would show itself in a day or so, and all the work was to be done de novo.

          Finally, after working it over about as many times and with as much care as would have been necessary if it were to be forever, the area over which all the Tom Sayer’s, Benecia Boys, Princes of Wales, Japanese and Chinese Toms of all creation and dancing masters generally, would take evening rides in spotted buggies drawn by horses. The force of the term ‘per order’ will be better known, when you are informed that an application for a furlough was returned a few days ago and refused, not because of merit but one reason was because not properly folded “as required by orders.”  This was not done by our regimental or company commanders, but by a higher power. Do not conclude that any of the company complained of the work, for if any of the company ever did such a piece of work without complaining, this company did it.

Camp Fires

          These, which offer so many beautiful coruscations for fancy and spread eagle orations are placed on the front in the prolongation of the line of tents and succeed each other as do the tents. An area of 12 by 15 feet is allowed for each mess’s fire, there being ten men to the mess. Some have built coverings over their fire ground. As to the effect these campfires have on the imagination of the soldier, or how high his poetical feelings rises this pen is silent, but one thing is sure, of a cold night his angry feelings rise considerably if he gets crowded out of his place. So near are the fires that each one is blessed with the smoke of all his neighbors if the wind blows right, and it is sure to do that. This helps account for the smokiness of the weather.

This 1871 lithograph depicting a typical early war Confederate camp scene was printed by Louis Zimmer and was based on a painting by Conrad Wise Chapman of the 59th Virginia. 

Drill Ground

          Next come the cleaning up of the drill ground which is not a “labor of love.” The drill ground is immediately in front of the fires, lying contiguous to them and extending in length about 150 yards in width, about the same as the width of the street between the tents and added to the width of the tents. Each company clears its own ground, own beginning where the other ends, and those all together form the drill ground of the regiment in battalion drill or dress parade.

          The requisites of a good drill ground finished “as per order” is that all trees and stumps be dug up and all uneven places made level. This camp ground having been an unsophisticated old field before its metamorphosis into “champ de Mars” whereon the feet of valorous men keep steady step, marking time to music’s marital breathings, it was not as difficult to put in order by a great deal, as if it had been one of the rich alluvial swamps of Pike County. But easy over he left as was the task, it proved quantum sufficient to fully satiate the most morbid and overwhelming appetite for drill ground clearing. The modus operandi, especially the operandi part of stump and tree digging, in clearing up the ground is much easier to the imagination than to bone and sinew. A correct description of the scene would require a Shakespearian pen, or the pen of Appelles.

Hospital

          On arriving here, hospital arrangements were uninviting and still are not as comfortable as they should be. On reason is the want of time, owing to the regiment having been nearly all the while in transit. On our arrival, a hospital was put under way of construction and stores, such as could be furnished by the surgeons and the belief created that soon proper comforts would be made. The framing was speedily finished when of a sudden, the workmen deserted it, and the sounds of their hammers died upon its completion leaving it a frame, a mere skeleton, striking sign to set at the door of the half prepared for sick men, standing abashed blushing in the morning light and weeping with the pale-faced moon amid the dews of the night, sorrowing at the disappointment of the sick seeing their city of refuge unfinished and deserted.

          The blame rested not upon Colonel Zachariah Deas or the surgeons, for the work had not thus stood long, monument of hesitation and uncertainty, when their feeling hearts could bear it no longer, and the colonel ordered the work to be finished “on his own hook” they say. A few days after, and the regular contractor recommenced his work and now it goes on finely, and soon the sick will be cared for as well as possible.

          A few days ago, the ladies of Mobile have a Tableaux Vivant entertainment for the benefit of sick soldiers in which the body of Colonel Deas figured. This was another noble display of the deep fervor that warms the hearts of Southern women in this contest, and forcibly calls to mind the touching words of the dying hero, doubtful in his merry hours of the soothing power and care of a woman, but owning as she touched the water to his parching lips and endeavored with her tender hands to stanch his bloody wound.

What Brigade

          This regiment, the 22nd Alabama under Colonel Deas, along with the 18th (Colonel Bullock), 19th (Colonel Wheeler), 20th (Colonel Garrott), and 23rd (Colonel Beck) with one or two battalions, a few companies of infantry, cavalry, and artillery constitute a brigade under the command of General Leroy P. Walker.

Pay

          The companies of this regiment have received no pay. A great many (many in this paragraph means all) have about as much money as the Confederacy has paid them, to-wit, “narry red.” In “days lang syne,” the regiment was mustered for pat. It had an electrical effect as if a battle was at hand, and many (all) an eye dilated to popping out of the head dimensions for to them not being used to such sights of late, a dime would look big as a cartwheel and its flashes brighter and more startling than summer lightning. A shinplaster bill would be more enticing and larger than the pictures of Eldred & Older’s circus and menagerie all stuck up together.

Many expected to see the payman walk out with a bag of gold under his arm, inexhaustible as the bag of eggs they saw at the “slight of hand” show and commenced with Robin Roundhead liberality to replenish wasted and worn pockets. Well, the payman like many preachers to their appointments didn’t come. So, that night as ever since the sun went down and the men went without their money. Empty pockets are the worst of crimes.

John P. Hubbard was an 1859 graduate of Howard College in Marion, Alabama and went into law, living in Pike County, Alabama. He enlisted in the 22nd Alabama but was soon released and placed on duty as the conscript enrolling officer in Pike County in August 1862.

Source:

Letter from Private John Patillo Hubbard, Co. I, 22nd Alabama Infantry, Southern Advertiser/Troy Messenger (Alabama), January 1, 1862, pg. 1

Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Arming the Buckeyes: Longarms of the Ohio Infantry Regiments

Image
     A common question that comes up in conversation about Civil War Buckeye regiments is "What were they armed with?" We are fortunate in that the state of Ohio kept good records of how the regiments were armed when they went into service, this being especially true for those regiments which went into service in 1861 and 1862. The state adjutant general's reports for 1861 and 1862 have been heavily drawn upon to construct this article, as well as consultation with Phil Spaugy who has done extensive research on how Ohio's troops were armed during the war.      Buckeyes carried a fairly wide variety of weapons into the field, and the below article breaks this down into weapons of both domestic manufacture and imported arms. The early days of the war found the state of Ohio practically bereft of longarms; as an example, when the 1st and 2nd Ohio Volunteer Militia left the state in late April 1861, they left unarmed, being armed at Lancaster, Pennsylvania on t...
Read more

Bullets for the Union: Manufacturing Small Arms Ammunition During the Civil War

Image
       Civil War bullets are perhaps the most common item collected from the era; the two armies expended bullets by the millions during the four years’ conflict and spent or deformed bullets of all shapes and sizes have made fascinating and affordable collectibles since the guns went silent in 1865.       I recently acquired a display piece featuring 35 different types of small arms ammunition used during the Civil War, including everything from a small .28 caliber ball up to a .69 caliber three-ring Minie and it triggered some questions: how did the Federal army obtain its small arms ammunition during the war? Where did the lead come from to make the bullets, and where and how was the ammunition manufactured? This post seeks to answer those questions. A typical .58 caliber 3-ring Minie bullet   “Whenever the blasts of war blow in the ears of men who trade in the implements of destruction, they are apt to experience more joy than the true ...
Read more

Dressing the Rebels: How to Dye Butternut Jeans Cloth

Image
     In the early days of the Civil War,  the Southern states found themselves with an abundance of cotton but a shortage of cloth with which to make army uniforms. The trade in cloth prior to the war had largely been to send raw cotton or wool north to New England (or Great Britain) where it was converted into usable cloth; but now that trade was broken and the Southern states were thrown upon their own resources in their efforts to properly clothe the Confederate army.  This collection of Confederate enlisted men's frock coats and shell jackets gives some indication of the variety of shades of butternut worn during the war. All of them are shades of yellow brown, some heavier on the yellow and some heavier on the brown. The blue used around the collar or as rank insignia indicates that the soldier was in the infantry. Surviving Confederate uniforms are considered rather rare and command quite a healthy price in the collecting market. For an in-depth study of h...
Read more

The Wizard of Oz and the Civil War

Image
T he 1939 film The Wizard of Oz has delighted viewers for 85 years and ranks as a personal favorite, especially during the Halloween season. While watching it with the family the other night, I wondered if there were any connections between the film and the Civil War. Not surprisingly, the answer is yes and those connections touch both the blue and the gray.           Interestingly both “witches” in the film not only had Civil War ancestors but had connections with Civil War soldiers from Ohio. Margaret Hamilton, the “Wicked Witch of the West,” was born in Cleveland, Ohio on December 9, 1902, to attorney Walter Jones Hamilton and his wife Mary Jane Adams; Margaret’s grandfather was Judge Edwin Timothy Hamilton. Judge Hamilton had served as a private in Co. D of the 84 th Ohio Infantry during the summer of 1862. The 84 th Ohio, a three months’ regiment, served nearly the whole of its service attached to the Railroad District in western Ma...
Read more

The Vaunted Enfield Rifle Musket

Image
     The English-made Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield Rifle Musket was widely regarded as the best infantry arm in the world at the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. Favorable international press describing its efficiency in the Crimean War and in suppressing the Indian rebellion led to the widespread desire of American infantrymen (both Federal and Confederate) to be armed with these accurate and well-made arms. The lock plate of this well-worn P1853 Enfield rifle musket produced in 1862 shows the typical markings of a British-made weapon that made it through the Federal blockade.  ( Army of Tennessee Relics ) Enfield-pattern weapons were imported into the states by the tens and hundreds of thousands during the war years; one estimate stated that the Federal government purchased 500,000 while the Confederates purchased another 400,000. The Confederate government dispatched Captain Caleb Huse to Europe in April 1861 to purchase weapons and Huse focused on se...
Read more

In front of Atlanta with the 68th Ohio

Image
  The arrow corps badge of the 17th Army Corps was worn by many members of the 68th Ohio in the latter days of the war.       Private Edward A. Bigelow of Co. F of the 68th Ohio Volunteer Infantry wrote this brief account of the Battle of Atlanta just two days afterwards to his father back home in Henry County, Ohio. The regiment formed a part of Colonel Robert K. Scott's three regiment all-Ohio brigade consisting of the 20th, 68th, and 78th regiments, being designated the Second Brigade of the Third Division of Frank Blair's 17th Army Corps. Bigelow's letter originally appeared in the Napoleon Press newspaper and was copied in the Toledo Daily Commercial which was providential as no known copies exist today of the wartime Napoleon Press.  
Read more

Charging Battery Robinett: An Alabama Soldier Recalls the Vicious Fighting at Corinth

Image
W riting 30 years after the Battle of Corinth, James A. McKinstry of the 42 nd Alabama recalled his experiences storming Battery Robinett with Colonel William P. Rogers of the 2 nd Texas and expressed guilt that it was perhaps his action that brought about the colonel’s demise. “On seeing a line of Federals approaching, and before giving the situation a thought, I immediately raised my gun and fired full into the breast of a Federal sergeant, who was in front of the column, and only a short distance from us.  'Twas then that Captain George Foster shouted, "Cease firing, men! cease firing!" and waved his handkerchief, then I realized the true situation. 'Twas too late! That fatal volley had been turned on our little band from the muzzles of 1,500 muskets. I was still standing just as I was when I fired my last shot, and within a few feet of Colonel Rogers, when a Minie ball went crashing through my left hip and turned me half round; another went tearing through my ...
Read more

Cook & Brother of New Orleans

Image
    The lockplate of a New Orleans-made Cook & Brother Enfield rifle produced in 1862 shows the fine craftsmanship that became the hallmark of the maker throughout the Civil War. Note the stars and bars flag at left, an emblem used on C&B's production throughout the war and the Cook & Brother, N.O. 1862 markings. Earlier production weapons at New Orleans had the flag located just above the maker's name while later weapons produced in Athens, Georgia would have a modified flag and Athens on the plate followed by the serial number.        In the spring of 1861, two English-born businessmen, Ferdinand and Francis Cook of New Orleans, perceived the need for the South to have its own domestic production of firearms and  set out to prove "that rifles could made here as well as in Yankee land or in Europe." The brothers  elected to produce copies of the British Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield rifle as this was considered the benchmark longarm...
Read more

I Want to See a Battle: A Hoosier at Shiloh

Image
W riting in his diary, Private Manius Buchanan of the 29 th Indiana recalled the eagerness with which his regiment marched towards Savannah, Tennessee with the sounds of the battle of Shiloh ringing in their ears.           “The forced march was kept up until 2 p.m. when we were halted until 4 p.m,” he noted. “The rest was really needed, but the continual question is ‘Why are we stopped here?’ The sound of battle increased in volume and anxiety to be up and doing grows more intense. As I am weak from a late sickness, I am urged to fall to the rear; but no, in common with all, I want to see a battle and fear this will be my only chance.” The regiment would go into action the following afternoon, and of the four neighborhood boys who had enlisted together in Co. B, only Buchanan escaped unscathed. One afternoon's exposure to the horrors of battle was all it took to satisfy this Hoosier's desire to see the elephant. “I wanted to see a battl...
Read more

An Interview with Forrest in May 1864

Image
  “The noise of battle is the only music that ravishes the senses of Forrest.” I t was May 1864. Back east, the Army of Northern Virginia and the Army of the Potomac were locked in the deadly dance of the Overland Campaign while in Georgia, General William Tecumseh Sherman's army squared off against General Joseph E. Johnston and the Army of the Tennessee in the campaign for Atlanta.       Based in relatively quiet northern Mississippi, General Nathan Bedford Forrest bided his time waiting for a Federal advance from Memphis. Earlier in the month, General Samuel Sturgis led a brief campaign into Mississippi but Forrest was sure Sturgis would venture out again. In the meantime, he tried to keep his reorganized command intact despite persistent demands from his superiors that he return the absentees and deserters who inflated his ranks (nearly 1,000 in number) to their original commands.      Around this same time,  an old acquaintance from Me...
Read more