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“Mr. Davis [Angela’s husband, Joseph]…had always been true to his party and loyal to his state. Now, in a crisis like this, he felt that his allegiance was to the government of the United States, therefore true to his convictions, he became an intense Union man.”

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“…there were threats at time of burning [Joseph Davis’] store, and house, running his d---- ‘Yankee wife’ out of town, etc., however before this political excitement I had never met with a kindlier or more tender hearted people in my life.”

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“During the summer of 1861, Western Maryland was occupied, more or less, by United States troops…At times we were not only surrounded by Union soldiers, but they were right in our midst. The stores were crowded with them. Most of them wanted crackers and cheese, whiskey, and tobacco, cigars and letter paper. Many embracing the opportunity to write home to their friends.”

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“Often at midnight, we were awakened by the rat-tat-tat and shrill notes of fife and drum and the tramp, tramp, tramp of men, followed by heavy baggage wagons… Our population would be increased very suddenly with infantry, cavalry, and soldiers patrolling our streets night and day.”

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“It is very monotonous in Camp… I get up at reveille,- that is, at 5:30 in the morning; call the roll; take the sick to the surgeon, then make my report of the same; then take my breakfast. Then I see that the streets are swept and in order. I see that the sergeants take their men out to drill. In the afternoon I drill three hours, so you see I do not have very hard work.”

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“We suffer for the want of clothing left with our knapsacks when we left Washington. In the evening when it begins to get cold the men will start the cry of "Knapsacks, knapsacks, knapsacks," and keep it up for an hour or more all through the Camp. General Kane has threatened to put a guard over our regiment to find the men who do it. I cannot really blame the men as they do really suffer for the want of them.”

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“Our rations are bad, the crackers are wormy,- the same kind of worms as we find in decayed wood. We break the crackers into small pieces and boil them so we cannot see the worms. We find worms in our bacon and our salt beef has soured in the brine. Were it not that we could buy some food we would go hungry. We had a good dinner yesterday,- boiled cabbage,- some that I think that was cabbaged somewhere. I bought some onions for dinner today…”

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“You see that I am in the hospital… The Hospital was a factory before the war and is a large brick building well calculated for a hospital. There are several tents put up and used for the same purpose. I have had a bilious, intermittent fever and now have enlargement of the liver with diarrhoea [sic]. I have had very good care and with the jar of strawberries that you sent me, which I keep hid under the bed so as to keep them, I relish my food very well. The attendants would not let me have the strawberries and butter if they knew it. The warden examines all the beds in the ward every morning but has not found it yet. I shall never forget the first dinner at this hospital. It was bread, and soup cooked in a caldron which would hold about two barrels. It tasted better than it looked.”

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“There are several men of our Company here but I do not see them as they are in other wards or in tents. This building is four stories high and each story holds two hundred beds. I do not think the half are in this building so you can understand how a sick person can know nothing about another sick person outside of his ward. Each room is called a ward. He has a hard cough and is very thin and weak. you [sic] ask if I cannot get a furlough to go home. I am not sick enough for that as they do not give furloughs unless a soldier is going to die or is permanently disabled.”

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“We passed through Frederick City at four o'clock P. M. It rained hard all afternoon. When passing through the city the people brought out pails of whiskey with tin cups and set them on the sidewalks. Some of the men drank too freely of it.”

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