Letters Of A Civil War Surgeon by Major William Watson Prof. Paul Fatout

Author:Major William Watson, Prof. Paul Fatout [Major William Watson, Prof. Paul Fatout]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, History, Modern, 19th Century, Americas, United States, Civil War Period (1850-1877), Military
ISBN: 9781786254832
Publisher: Golden Springs Publishing
Published: 2015-11-06T05:00:00+00:00

3 — 1864

EARLY IN FEBRUARY, 1864, the 105th Regiment, and doubtless other units, were sent to Pennsylvania. Possibly the trip was one of those morale-raising displays, like bond rallies of World War I. Major Watson had chided Pennsylvanians for sluggish lack of patriotism. Perhaps Governor Curtin also believed that home folks might be stimulated by the presence of their own veteran regiments. On February 10, General Meade made a short speech in Philadelphia, and probably some of his troops were there too. On the day after, Major Watson and his regiment were on the other side of the state, in Pittsburgh, he having arrived there separately from his outfit. From that city he wrote on February 11:

I arrived here safely yesterday noon. Camp Copeland is distant 9 miles from the City. In all probability I will report there this afternoon. I fortunately met the Colonel and so avoided going to Camp by reporting to him in the City....The Colonel says we will return to the Army of the Potomac but don’t know how soon....Acting upon your advice I called for a “Jack Salmon.” It was decidedly the finest fish I ever eat [sic].{67}

It is pleasant to see him, like other soldiers temporarily released from camp life, making the most of city advantages when he had them. Whatever the purpose of this junket, it lasted about ten days, after which he and others rejoined the Army of the Potomac near Culpeper, Virginia. “We arrived at our present Camping ground day before yesterday,” he wrote on February 23,

and are busily engaged constructing quarters. We are located between Brandy Station and Culpepper [sic]—about three miles from the latter place. Our Camp is on a hill in a large pine woods with plenty of wood and water convenient. Altogether it is one of the best sites for a Camp I have ever seen. I have no tent—mine having been condemned and turned in when we went north. I expect a new one to day or tomorrow. We were a long time getting here in consequence of the difficulty in procuring transportation—and the Officers, having no tents or shelter, were compelled to stop at the Hotels. The delays were pleasant hut very expensive. It cost me over a hundred dollars to get here. I am now going to be very economical—will subsist entirely upon government rations for at least four months in order to make up for the extravagance of the past two. In order to see the Girls I obtained the Colonel’s permission to leave Harrisburg for Baltimore before the Regt. Unfortunately the train was delayed and instead of getting in at 5 o’clock did not get there till after 10 o’cl. The Regt. came in at 12 o’cl. the same night and the Colonel sent me word he would leave for Washington at 10 in the morning. I therefore had but an hour or two with the Girls....I have a good deal of business this afternoon and besides there is a Division review and our Regt.

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