Army Life: From a Soldier's Journal

V. IN CAMP AT BATESVILLE

would have refused to obey their own officers and incurred the severest penalty, rather than to allow that particular slave owner to talk one of his slaves out of the army lines. Men are strange beings. Things that move the feelings of men strike a deeper chord than those that only reach their reason. During the world’s history, mere sentiment has led to more wars, than matters of substance. CHAPTER V. IN CAMP AT BATESVILLE. During the afternoon of May fourteenth we crossed Black River. General Curtis, who had come down from Southwestern Missouri, through Northwestern Arkansas is near us and we have crossed to the north side of Black River on the way to join him. We made two easy marches and camped near Batesville on the evening of the sixteenth. Our division is now with and actually a part of General Curtis’ army.1 - Army Life. 68 Maj. Gen. Samuel R. Curtis. From Johnson and Buel, Battles and Leaders of the Civil War. A curious incident happened on Sunday. By invitation, some of our soldiers met with and joined in a prayer meeting at the residence of a widow who lived near our camp. The widow, a very zealous, religious old lady was there and participated with the Union soldiers. In fact it was her prayer meeting. The soldiers were there by her invitation. At this very time, her own son was away from home and serving in the rebel army. This old lady’s religion is so strong that she is much more anxious about the soldiers’ souls than she is as to which side they fight upon. Probably she is right. All good people will, no doubt, agree with her. But, nevertheless, it appears to me that she is rather over-zealous. For a woman to entertain a number of Union soldiers as her invited guests, even though it be to a Sabbath evening prayer meeting, while her own son, with all his hopes for the future, is in the rebel army, and fighting for a cause she is in sympathy with, seems strange to me. I did not go to her prayer meeting. On the twenty-first of May the members of our regiment voted upon the adoption of the proposed new Constitution for the State of Illinois. The vote of our regiment was nearly solid against it. There were only six votes for it in the entire regiment. This was undoubtedly the first vote many of our soldiers ever cast. A very large share of our number were not old enough to vote at the last election in 1860. Our first camp at Batesville was upon very low and wet ground. By general consent it was called “Mud Camp.” Owing to the uncertainty of our future movements we lay at Mud Camp nearly two weeks before looking for a better camp ground. As it began to appear that our stay was to be a protracted one, a high, dry piece of ground was selected for a new camp. The only desirable place we could find was in the woods thickly covered with hazel brush and small trees. We went to work and cleared it off and soon had a first-class camp ground. A WIND CAVE AND THE AGUE. A few miles from our camp there were some natural caves. Many of the boys being anxious to visit them, it was arranged that the soldiers should go in companies, so as to avoid all danger of being captured by roving bands of rebels, of which there were many in the surrounding country. Companies A and B went together. Only those who wished to do so, made the march. The first cave we came to was a small one; the second a more interesting one, known as the “bone cave.” The third and last one we visited - In Arkansas—An Insulate and Destitute Army. 69 was the somewhat celebrated “wind cave.” It is so named from the fact that a strong wind is always blowing out of its mouth. We stopped at its mouth to rest and then explored it to our satisfaction. It proved to be much more interesting than we had anticipated. (Even at this late day I am tempted to interpose a line to say confound that wind cave. It was there I got the ague. The exposure to the unhealthy swamps we had marched through had probably planted...