Tweet
Gents-
I have been reading the book "The Union Must Stand; The Civil War Diary of John Quincy Admas Campbell- 5th Iowa Volunteer Infantry and I thought I would share a passage from it. Lt. Campbell came from a family of newspapermen so he was well educated and used to writing about what he saw. He kept an extensive diary during the war and wrote many letters home to family, friends and to several newspapers detailing the endeavors of the 5th Iowa. This particular passage was written by Lt. Campbell on December 4, 1862 while "Camp(ed) on the Tallahatchie River" and published by a local Iowa newspaper on December 18, 1862. In it he is trying to convince the readers that the Rebel Army is anything but under equipped.
"I have heard it said again and again-have heard it iterated and reiterated-have seen it in print and heard it proclaimed from the house tops that the rebel army is in a naked, starving condition,-one third of them have no shoes, no blankets, no bread, &c, &c. Now I wish to enter a protest against all this. I have seen, (since I have been in the army) thousands of dead, wounded, and captured secesh, and I have never seen one who was barefooted or who had not comfortable clothing. They are not dressed in uniform, nor are they as well clad as Uncle Sam's boys but they are far from being destitute. I judge that they have plenty of food because we always find plenty when we glean where they have been. From what I have seen I judge the whole: Expede Herculem."
I have been reading the book "The Union Must Stand; The Civil War Diary of John Quincy Admas Campbell- 5th Iowa Volunteer Infantry and I thought I would share a passage from it. Lt. Campbell came from a family of newspapermen so he was well educated and used to writing about what he saw. He kept an extensive diary during the war and wrote many letters home to family, friends and to several newspapers detailing the endeavors of the 5th Iowa. This particular passage was written by Lt. Campbell on December 4, 1862 while "Camp(ed) on the Tallahatchie River" and published by a local Iowa newspaper on December 18, 1862. In it he is trying to convince the readers that the Rebel Army is anything but under equipped.
"I have heard it said again and again-have heard it iterated and reiterated-have seen it in print and heard it proclaimed from the house tops that the rebel army is in a naked, starving condition,-one third of them have no shoes, no blankets, no bread, &c, &c. Now I wish to enter a protest against all this. I have seen, (since I have been in the army) thousands of dead, wounded, and captured secesh, and I have never seen one who was barefooted or who had not comfortable clothing. They are not dressed in uniform, nor are they as well clad as Uncle Sam's boys but they are far from being destitute. I judge that they have plenty of food because we always find plenty when we glean where they have been. From what I have seen I judge the whole: Expede Herculem."