It was recognized that these pest holes might become breeding grounds of flies which would infest the camp and carry contagion. The following extract from a circular shows to what extent this danger was appreciated.
"No doubt typhoid fever, camp diarrhœa, and probably yellow fever are frequently communicated to soldiers in camp through the agency of flies, which swarm about fecal matter and filth of all kinds deposited upon the ground or in shallow pits and directly convey infectious material, attached to their feet or contained in their excreta, to the food which is exposed while being prepared at the company kitchens or while being served in the mess tent. It is for this reason that a strict sanitary police is so important."
Although the Eighth prevented flies breeding in its own camp, it could not prevent them swarming from other camps and spreading contagion. Flies increased and multiplied. A roast of beef exposed for a few minutes looked as black as a mass of charcoal, so dense was its surface packed with flies. Netting was purchased, and an attempt was made to keep all food covered. Some of the officers constructed mess quarters of scantlings covered with fly screens.
For two months the Eighth Regiment, fully realizing the danger to which it was exposed, fought against typhoid and combated it with intelligence and energy. During the last two months of its stay at Chickamauga, it was smitten with a heavy hand, and became the victims of a system which failed to furnish sanitary safeguards against the spread of communicable disease.
Digging was at all times difficult in the territory of the Eighth, as the soil was a hard clay and the outcropping ledges caused the abandonment of many sink holes when half dug. When the rainy season began a new danger threatened the regiment. The sinks would fill with water and stay full. Refilling the holes with lumps of clay that had been taken out, would cause an overflow and pollute the surrounding ground. Sinks had to be abandoned after every heavy rain, and new holes dug.
The ground in the rear of the camp was filled with open pits in which polluted water stagnated. It was noticed that this stagnant water became the breeding ground for insects. The ingenuity of the officers was taxed to invent a method of sealing these sinks. A happy suggestion occurred to a group of officers who had been in the habit of dining at an Italian Restaurant in Boston. They had seen flasks of Chianti sealed with a few spoonfuls of olive oil, and the analogy suggested oil to seal the sinks against insect life. A can of kerosene was secured, and the experiment tried.
As the oil spread over the surface of the water, it was noticed that it apparently interfered with the comfort of the wigglers, as they came to the surface. Crude petroleum was suggested as being stickier than refined oil, and a can was procured in Chattanooga and tried. Experiments showed that this oil often imprisoned the mother insect when laying eggs, and was a complete bar through which the wigglers, when grown, could not penetrate and emerge from the pits. Crude petroleum was purchased by the barrel and used in these open sinks.
From the Eighth Regiment the use of petroleum spread through the First and Third Corps, and subsequently became recognized throughout the country as a means of destroying mosquitoes and other insects that breed in stagnant waters.
The efforts which were made by the Eighth Regiment to maintain a sanitary camp, were recognized in the report of Colonel A. A. Woodhull, Deputy Surgeon General, U. S. A., on conditions in Camp George H. Thomas. Under the various sub-headings of his report, he refers to the regiment as follows:—
Under the sub-heading "Water Supply" he says:—