1862 June 29

[Diary of Private E.A. Wood, Co. C. 13^th Mass Infantry, ]

             [
[from the diary of Private E. A. Wood, Co. C, 13th Massachusetts]

                Sunday June 29^th 1862

     Pleasant all day.  also very warm.

We had some baked beans for Breakfast

which were very good.  All we wanted to

make it a splendid Breakfast was

hard, brown bread, some thing that

I have not seen for a good while.

Inspection was at seven O clock.

At Dinner time, Mitchell and myself

bought a dozen eggs for twenty

five cents. (No dinner was given us,

except hard bread)  I got a piece of pork,

and a spider and fried six of them.

Which made a very good dinner for us.

In the Afternoon I walked down to the

Run and took a bath.  I crossed

the run and went to a house

about a mile from where I crossed;

up the creek was the Battle field.

I went into the House and asked

for a drink of water, which was

given me.  I asked the man, that was

[p.2]

in the House, if he was there when the

Battle took place.  He said his Family

was there, but he himself was at

Manassas, The Rebels had ordered him

there, to join the Secesh Army,

a few days before the Battle.

He had got rid some way or reather,

of going into the ranks, and the

Rebels had concluded to let him

return home.  He was at Manassas

waiting for an opportunity to

return home when the Battle took

place.  The woman that was in

the house said that she was

frightened most to death, and

never wanted to be so near

two Army’s again.  I have never

been over all the Battle ground

yet, but think I shall some day.

The man said that he had never

been on to the field, and never

shall if he can help it.  He went

to the edge of it the day after

[p.3]

the Battle   He saw three dead

bodies laying on the ground,

which sickened him of going

any farther.  The Chaplain

preached reather a curious Sermon

to us to day, but a very good

one,  Where do you think he took

his text from.  From Mark Tapley,

a Character in one of Dickens

Novels.  The text is always be jolly

He went on to say that, if

person who was always jolly,

knew how to live.  In what

ever circumstances he may be

placed if things had gone wrong

with him and every thing look

gloomy, be jolly under the circumstance.

He said [a word lined through] that there was no

class of people who ought to be more

jolly than Soldiers.  He said if a

Soldier started on a March with a

Knapsack weighing from twenty to thirty

pounds, should grumble, complain and

weep, the Knapsack would weigh

[p.4]

one hundred and sixty pounds

before he had got ten miles,  But if

a Soldiers starts off with a Knapsack

weighing thirty pounds, and is jolly

when he reaches the end of ten miles

his Knap would weigh thirty pounds

still, it might in some cases

weigh sixty but never over.

He did not mean by being jolly

to laugh at all the bad jokes that

some got off, or to made bad jokes,

but good innocent jokes, something

that our Concience approved off.

Mark Tapley was a man, that in

what ever circumstances he was placed

in to be always jolly.

I think our Chaplain he lives up to his doctrine

for he is always jolly.  After services

we had dress Parade.


[transcript by Mary Roy Dawson Edwards]

MSS 12021