From Warriors of the Rebellion
Jump to navigationJump to search
| September 20, 1861 - Rufus R. Dawes to Ephraim C. Dawes (Brother)
|
 Click for full-sized scanned image CAMP NEAR CHAIN BRIDGE, SEPTEMBER 20th, 1861.
You are anxious to know whether we have any skirmishing. No. Our men are all at work constructing forts and digging trenches. You want to know what it has cost
me to uniform. My sword, sash, and sword knot cost $35. My blue dress uniform, thirty-three dollars, undress uniform, seventeen dollars, and overcoat twenty-two dollars. Then I was fool enough to spend thirty dollars on gray, which is now of no use. Buff vest cost four dollars, army shoes, six dollars, and cap
two dollars. My blue dress uniform turns red and is a confounded cheat. My sash is at least half cotton, and it is rapidly fading. My scabbard is metal that tarnishes in half an hour. The army is being terribly fleeced by the Washington
sharps. Fancy uniforms are useless sleeping in the mud. Frank Haskell, our Adjutant, has been assigned to command of Company 'I' and P.W. Plummer of Company 'C is acting as Adjutant. If you are going to be an Adjutant, set to work at once, learning how to 'About face' gracefully."
(To view this page in its Source Category, click HERE)
|
