Up to this time the wet weather had made Sunday services impossible, but Sunday, May 21st, was a grand day and after inspection of quarters the men of the Second and Third Regiments assembled on the lawn at the White House, while flags gayly fluttered, visitors arriving in their best attire, carriages and bicycles on the outskirts, with the ever-present green sward as a background stretching down to the sea, made a memorable picture and as the Governor stepped from the threshold of his cottage he could not but admire the pretty scene.
He motioned that his chair should be placed in the midst of "his boys" instead of a more favorable position but apart from them. He took a lively interest in the service and sang "Onward Christian Soldiers" with as much vim as anybody. Chaplain Glazbrook of the Third early interested his hearers by citing during his discourse an ancient fable of an invincible, conquering warrior and his ultimate end.
As far as appearances went, the last week in camp turned us all into sure enough soldiers, having been fully equipped for field service. The distributing of underwear and clothing was unique in its way. Our Quartermaster took my measure: For blouse, 36-inch; for trousers, 32-inch x 30-inch. This is what was issued to me: Blouse, 38-inch; trousers, 34-inch x 31-inch; blue shirt, 15½-inch; shoes, nothing smaller than 8 or 9. After much protesting I finally consented to take the above to be exchanged later. That later never came. Our Uncle Sammy evidently believed in giving all his soldier boys plenty of room for development.
Each Company now had a cooking arrangement, known as a "Buzzacott," invented by a private of that name in the Regular Army. It consisted of a number of flat bars of iron welded together and resting on legs one foot from the ground and so joined together as to fold up or take apart as necessity demanded, the whole arrangement making a gridiron about two feet wide by four feet long when in use; one field desk and cooking utensils, while each man was provided with one suit of underwear, socks, blue shirt, trousers and blouse of state uniform, campaign hat, web cartridge belt, Springfield rifle, leggings, kit—viz, one each combination frying pan and plate, knife, fork, tablespoon and cup—haversack, knapsack, poncho, blanket and canteen. This outfit would become complete when we received fifty rounds of ammunition and it was just about as much as we could stagger under.
Manasquan had always been an enticing place even during our short stay at camp for rifle practice in former years and it became doubly so now as the boys formed acquaintances there, and notwithstanding the orders, guard running was becoming quite an art and up to this time had been very successful, so when an order was read at dress parade prescribing penalties relating to this subject there were many long faces in the ranks. These penalties were graded according to the seriousness of the offense: guard house one to six days, ditto on bread and water; again for absence without leave, "Carrying a forty pound pack six hours a day for four days." The guilty ones were often seen fore and aft of a wagon bringing sand from the beach for the low places in "Shoulder Strap row" and doing other "chores."
The sentries were given strict orders to prevent this running out at night and the bayonet was sometimes used with disagreeable effect. The bands of discipline were tightened and the Regiment took a great brace. The parades were superb and brought crowds from all the nearby towns, and now that the sun shone the parade ground was a beautiful sight, stretching down to the sea with its hundreds of tents laid out in strict accordance to regulations.
Tent pitching and striking was practiced at every favorable opportunity and was under the charge of a line officer, each Company detail under the immediate supervision of its Artificer, assisted by the Sergeants and Corporals.
Thursday, May 25th, we formed for escort of the Third Regiment. We had a different feeling this time, more of sympathy than otherwise, for they were to do garrison duty at Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook fortifications and at Pompton Plains to guard the powder mills there. It rained hard at midnight just as each section was disembarking at its destination. The Fort Hancock detail had a particularly sorry time of it after leaving the cars.
Monday, May 30th, was observed as a holiday and enough men were gotten together to form a battalion for the purpose of assisting the G.A.R. at their services in Manasquan. This battalion was composed entirely of the Sons of Veterans of the Civil War and was a striking example of how fighting blood runs down through generations. That evening we had parade and review before the Governor. A telegram from the War Department was read in orders directing the Regiment to proceed at once to Chickamauga Park.