Sunday, June 19, 2011

One Soldier's Service in the Confederate Army

A friend gave me an account of her Great-Grandfather's story of his service in the Confederate Army. He was 14 when the War started and he was wild to join, but  his parents made him wait until he was 16!

He says: "In the 2 years (he served) I was never in a hospital, never had a tent, never was sick, never wounded. I had one large firm all wool blanket my mother gave me from the household supply. My cousin and buddy, Willie, had another of the same kind form his house. When we camped at night, if time and conditions suited, we would take up leaves or straw or boughs, cover it with one blanket and cover ourselves with the other."

He went on: "If it was raining, we would cut two sticks about 3 feet long with crouched top, stick them in the ground 6' apart, connect from crotch to crotch with a long stick or fence rail, stretch one blanket over it, tent fashion, like an inverted v and lie down underneath and cover with the other blanket. If we got wet it was unfortunate, but unavoidable and that was all there was to it."

This old soldier wrote his memoirs in 1931 and died in 1932.  In my next blog I will tell you about one of the "tricks" they played on the Yankees!

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