Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 21.djvu/357

 The Raw Confederate.

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of greater surprise, he ordered me to stand back and await my turn; that all fared alike here. The Bible tells us that " the Serpent is the father of lies." This is doubtless true, but President Tommy was the father of Confederate lies, when he said " that all fared alike here." When my mess was called they had got through the neck and one leg. I got a fair piece of meat, and was given ten pounds of rice and twenty pounds of flour, with some potatoes. I made up the fire, cleaned my spider, pot, and pan, made biscuits, put my rice on to boil. I was told by the sergeant that I must have din- ner ready by 12 o'clock. I ordered the table to be set. After baking three spiders of biscuits I commenced frying meat. I raised the top from the pot of rice, and found that the pot was full. That puzzled me, for it was a very large pot, and when I put the rice and water in it seemed that with a little sugar, one man could eat it all. I dipped out about half of the rice. In three minutes it was boiling over again. At 12 o'clock I had enough boiled rice to feed the reg- iment. Every vessel in the mess was full, also all we could borrow, and five gallons in the ashes, or thereabouts, and before Mess No. 8 was through dinner it was unanimously voted to employ a genuine cook. This we at once did. I want to say to the new soldiers when you cook good rice get a five-gallon pot, one half-pound rice, two gallons water. The pot will be full.

The first long roll was beat at nine o'clock, on a dark, rainy night. Such getting out and excitement we had never seen, or heard of. "What's the matter?" was being asked by everyone, officer and private. No one seemed to know. It was whispered down the line that the Pawnee had run pass Craney Island, and was coming up to Norfolk. One man said it was the artillery's business to attend to the Pawnee and not the infantry's. We were soon formed in line, and on our way to Norfolk, passed on through and soon got into a country road, passed Craney Island without seeing the Pawnee. Next rumor was that the enemy had landed at Sewell's Point in large forces, and were coming up the same road we were on. We were told to keep quiet, and march in close order My chum said he was under the impression that if we were farther apart when the enemy fired into us, they would not kill so many. I thought the same. When we reached Sewell's Point we found everything serenely quiet and happy, to the disgust of the boys who wanted to fight. We were then marched back to camp, wet, hungry and very tired. The