Page:Journal history of the Twenty-ninth Ohio veteran volunteers, 1861-1865.djvu/40

 CHAPTER II.

The Departure from Camp Giddings—At the Front—Death of Lander—Advance up the Valley—Winchester.

Christmas morning, 1861, dawned clear, with the earth bountifully covered with snow, and soon the busy preparations for this the first march were apparent everywhere. Knapsacks were packed, tents were struck, and the camp equipage snugly put into shape for transportation to Ashtabula, and at 10 o'clock the drums beat off- Then the regiment filed out of the enclosure, bidding a fond good-bye, many for the last time, to the old camp, up through the town, where everybody was waiting to wish the "boys" God speed. "Head of column left," and the Twenty-ninth regiment was en-route for Ashtabula and the front, followed by the prayers of fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, and sweethearts, that its every effort might be crowned with success, and that, if heaven so willed, all might return safely to the arms of loved ones, "when the cruel war was over." How beautiful they looked in their new uniform, and how gaily the bayonets glistened in the bright sunlight as each man kept step to the music.

Arriving at Ashtabula, the regiment took cars, and was soon whirling rapidly towards Columbus, where it arrived the following day.

On disembarking from the cars, a march of four miles on the National pike to the west brought the regiment to Camp Chase, where it was assigned to barracks, and the sweets (?) of soldier life began to be more perceptible.