" We have now got fairly at work, and our
camp presents a noisy and busy scene, from
dawn till dark. All the companies are now
in, comprising in all, officers and men, about
one thousand, perhaps a little more, counting
the band. You will see the list of reimen-
tal officers before this reaches you. None of our
boys have been promoted except R. N.
Bevans and O.W. Ludden. They have posi-
tions in the Regimental Band.
Our fare, at first, was poor, and grew no
better so fast that Tuesday noon it was de-
cidediy bad, and the boys were grumbling
loudly in all the companies. At supper it was
worse than ever--the boys cursed the cook,
contractors and waiters, and they left the ta-
ble, taking several pans of the obnoxios beef.
A crowd was collected in about a minute, the
beef was paraded in irons of the quarters, and
then kicked about the parade ground till the
pans were well bettered, the crowd then dis-
persed with three cheers for the beef and three
groans or the Commissary. This was follow-
ed by our earnest protest againt the "grub"
and manner of serving it. The conscquence
has been, that, since then the fare has been good,
and served to us regularly at the quar-ters.
Some five of our boys were too unwell for
duty yesterday. May-Day was fine, and our
Company went up to Minnenaha. The sight
was new to me, and fully realized my expec-
tations. Among our visitors at the Fort
have been a number of young ladies from the
school of Minneapolis, who sang for us " The
Star Spangled Banner," " Red, White and
Blue," and other patriotic songs.
Yesterday we had the first regimental drill.
The uniforms had not arrived and we paraded
in our shirt sleeves. The red shirts of the
" Red Wing " contrasted well with the blue and
grey of the other companies. AS for
lodging, our apartments are well ventilated.
We have straw beds minus tick, the floor for
bedsteads, one blanket for under sheet, one
for quilt, and one for spread, all of course No
1, as there is but one to a man. " J. A. W.
