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Robert Henry Campbell, letter

May 4, 1861

“We have a good deal of duty to attend to. We go to Reveille at 5 oclock a.m., squad drill at 5½ oclock, surgeons call at 6½ oclock, at 7 we have breakfast, at 8 first call for guard mounting, at 8½ second call for guard mounting, orderly hours 9 until ten, squad drill 10½ to 11½, Battalion drill 11½ to 12½ dinner 1, squad drill again 2½ to 3½, dress parade at 6, retreat at sundown, supper at 7, tattoo at 9½, taps at 10. Besides this we have to walk guard. I have not drank a drop of whisky or brandy since I left and I do not intend to do so until I get back. I think that I can do as well without it as with it. Col. Jackson has forbid the Liquor Dealers to sell to the soldiers, but they still get it on the sly. I believe that there is less whisky drank in our company than in any other company here.”


Author

Name: Robert Henry Campbell

Unit: 27th Regiment Virginia (“Rockbridge Rifles”) Infantry, Co. H

Document Information

Type: Letter

Subject(s):

  • Soldier Life/Camp Life

Event Location: Harpers Ferry, Jefferson Co., WV

Document Origin: Harpers Ferry, Jefferson Co., WV

Source

Robert Henry Campbell to his mother. May 4, 1861. From the Campbell-Varner family papers, VMI Archives Manuscript #0282. Obtained from http://www.vmi.edu/archives.aspx?id=6947. Accessed on February 8, 2010.