Ten years in the ranks, U.S. Army

by Augustus Meyers

I was on camp guard a few times and remember particularly a very distressing night at that camp. It had rained all day, soaking us to the skin; and at night it turned into snow and sleet. We had no guard tent to shelter us and were exposed to the storm all night, sitting on logs around a fire that would not burn and blinded us with smoke. In the morning the storm ceased and soon the sun came out and warmed us. Fortunately I had a change of dry clothing in my knapsack in the tent, which I put on as soon as relieved and experienced no ill effects from the exposure. Although we were experienced soldiers, we had much to learn, now that we were a part of a great army entering upon a campaign. One of the first things that forced itself upon us was that while on a campaign or on marches there could be no company cooks and every soldier had to carry and cook his own rations. This was necessary because companies were constantly divided. Some men were absent on picket or on scouting duty for days at a time. It was only while in a permanent camp or when the army was in winter quarters, as it was called, that we could receive full rations and have the luxury of company cooks and fresh bread instead of hardtack.

The daily ration of hard bread was increased from twelve to sixteen ounces per day and a few other changes were made in the soldiers' rations by law and regulation in July, 1861, to hold good during the war. We lived on what we called "short rations" when on a campaign or a march, the daily allowance being as follows: one pound of hard bread, twelve ounces of salt pork or bacon, or twenty ounces of salt or fresh beef; one and a quarter ounces of ground coffee; two and a half ounces of sugar; half an ounce of salt and sometimes a piece of soap. We generally drew three days' rations at a time, which fairly filled our haversacks. Sometimes we had to carry rations for five days and were obliged to stow away a part of them in our knapsacks. There were times when we had to get along with less than the above allowance.

The haversack was a canvas bag, the knapsack was of the same material—both painted black. The haversack had a canvas lining which could be removed and washed. We made small bags to hold our coffee, sugar and salt; the pork or beef we wrapped up in a piece of paper or cloth and stowed away in the bottom of the haversack, and then filled it up with the hard bread. Each soldier carried a quart cup and a plate made of strong block tin, also a spoon and a steel knife and fork. Those who did not provide themselves with frying pans used their tin plates as a substitute. Our canteens were of strong tin, covered over with thick felt cloth, and held three pints.

We soon learned to make several palatable dishes out of our limited marching rations. We would fry our pork until it was well browned, and after dipping some of the hard bread into water for a few minutes we fried that in the hot pork grease, which made it swell and softened it, for it was very hard bread indeed when eaten raw. At other times we broke the hard bread into small pieces and soaked it in water for an hour or more until it was thoroughly soft and then fried it in pork grease. We also had a way of making a stew in our tin cups, to which the soldiers gave a name that would not look well in print. This stew consisted of pork or beef cut into small pieces, with broken hard bread boiled in water; and if we were fortunate enough to obtain a carrot, a potato or an onion, we had a feast.

We had good appetites. On the third day we generally fasted to a more or less extent, having used up more than the just proportion of our rations on the first two days. If there was any man in the company who could not eat all his rations, he was much sought after by those who were hungry. We boiled our coffee in the quart cups. Sometimes we could buy condensed milk from the sutler when not on a march.

Porter's Fifth Army Corps received orders to embark for Fortress Monroe about March twenty-second, but it was two or three days later that the division of regulars broke camp and marched to a wharf in Alexandria, where we embarked on an old excursion steamer. The crowded boat made her way slowly down the Potomac and when in the afternoon we passed Mount Vernon, where the remains of General Washington repose, the ship's bell tolled and we were ordered to remove our caps as a mark of respect for the Father of his Country.

We found that the soldiers could do no cooking on this boat; some of them tried to make coffee by placing their cups on the hot steam pipes, but they could not get it to the boiling point. A few fortunate soldiers got the firemen of the boat to boil their coffee for them. I had to be content with washing down my frugal meals with cold water. At night we lay on the floor of the saloon and about the decks, wherever we could find room.

Next day we were in Chesapeake Bay, making slow progress, and arrived at Old Point Comfort a little before sunset. Here was an interesting sight—the harbor was crowded with all sorts of boats which had transported the Army of the Potomac and its supplies from Alexandria to Fortress Monroe. There were also several men-of-war and the Monitor—the little "Yankee cheesebox on a raft," as the Rebels called her—which had defeated the redoubtable Rebel ram, the Merrimac, only a short time before. We picked our way carefully among the many vessels and were within a half mile of the dock—a short distance north of the present dock at the Hotel Chamberlin—when suddenly there was a crash which threw us off our feet and caused an ominous creaking and straining of the timbers in the old boat. We had struck something, probably a forgotten wreck, and were beginning to sink rapidly. There was great confusion, with shrieking of whistles, blowing off steam from the boilers, and a rush in search of life preservers. In a few minutes tug-boats came to our assistance and began taking us off. All were saved, but had our boat been going at full speed when she struck, there might have been a heavy loss, even though we had assistance close at hand. We spent a very uncomfortable night, lying on the open dock wrapped in our blankets and overcoats. It was cold, the strong wind which was blowing made us shiver, and were thankful for daylight and the sun's warm rays. Through someone's negligence our three days' rations, exhausted on the previous day, had not been renewed and on this morning many were without anything to eat; I had a hardtack or two and a little sugar; these and a drink of water constituted my breakfast. There was much grumbling and dissatisfaction. One soldier in my company declared that it was enough "to make a dog strike his father." Soon after sunrise our officers, who had spent a more comfortable night at the Hygeia Hotel than we had on the cold dock, joined us and we took up our march to camp.

We passed the fort, crossed Hampton Creek and passed through the village of Hampton, which had been nearly destroyed by the Rebel general, Magruder, who had ordered it to be set on fire the previous year. A few miles further on we came to a flat plain near the James river, where we halted to camp. Many thousands of tents stretched away as far as the eye could reach in the direction of Newport News on the James river; the entire Army of the Potomac was here.

It was afternoon before we received any rations and wood to start fires with which to cook them, for there was no wood to be had in the vicinity and we had to go a long distance for water. After a great deal of trouble we secured some sticks with which to set up our shelter tents; for the officers a few wall tents and some A tents were provided.