Identifier: warfrominsideorp00hitc (find matches)
Title: War from the inside; or, Personal experiences, impressions, and reminiscences of one of the "boys" in the war of the rebellion
Year: 1904 (1900s)
Authors: Hitchcock, Frederick L. (Frederick Lyman)
Subjects: United States. Army. Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, 132nd (1862-1863) United States. Army Pennsylvania Infantry Regiment, 132rd (1861-1865) United States -- History Civil War, 1861-1865 Personal narratives United States -- History Civil War, 1861-1865 Regimental histories
Publisher: Philadelphia, Press of J.B. Lippincott company
Contributing Library: New York Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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tude of friends. They wereencamped about a mile to the south of our brigade upona beautiful, broad, open plain between the surroundinghills, which gave them a superb parade and drill-ground.Upon this they had laid out a mile race track in excellentshape, and they had provided almost every conceivablesort of amusement that was possible to army life—matches in running, jumping, boxing, climbing thegreased pole, sack races, etc. But the usual pig per-formance had to be omitted owing to the enforcedabsence of the pig. The appearance of a live porkerwould have stampeded the army in a wild chase forfresh meat. The chief events were horse races. The army aboundedin excellent thoroughbreds, private property of officers,and all were anxious to show the mettle of their steeds.Everybody was invited to be present and take such partas he pleased in any of the events. It was a royal galaday to the army; from morning until night there wereexcitement and side-splitting amusement. Nor was there, 200
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The Battle of Chancellorsville throughout the whole day, a thing, not even a small fight,that I heard of, to mar the wholesome fun, until towardsnight our old enemy, John Barleycorn, managed to get insome of his work. The chief event of the day and the wind-up was ahurdle and ditch race, open to officers only. Hurdles andditches alternated the course at a distance of two hundredyards, except at the finish, where a hurdle and ditch weretogether, the ditch behind the hurdle. Such a race wasa hare-brained performance in the highest degree; butso was army life at its best, and this was not out of keep-ing with its surroundings. Excitement was what waswanted, and this was well calculated to produce it. The hurdles were four and five feet high and did notprove serious obstacles to the jumpers, but the ditches,four and five feet wide and filled with water, proved ahete noir to most of the racers. Some twenty-five, allyoung staff-officers, started, but few got beyond the firstditch. Many hors

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