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Date Posted: 05:50:44 06/08/06 Thu
Author: Doug Cooper
Subject: Re: 'About the 8th of March, the Red River expedition was organized and began.'
In reply to: John Pillers 's message, "'About the 8th of March, the Red River expedition was organized and began.'" on 22:11:35 06/07/06 Wed

John - do you have a link to the whole deal or can I get a copy from somewhere? Good stuff!

Doug

>Typos are mine. Excerpts from 81ster (Company I)
>post-war manuscript™:
>
>We steamed down the Mississippir River landing at the
>mouth of Red River. Here we were organized into
>brigades, 81st Illinois, 124th Illinois, 95th
>Illinois, 8th Wisconsin - the Eagle Regiment - and the
>14th Wisconsin.
>...
>Without particular incident, we marched on to
>Alexandria, Louisiana, driving scattering Rebels
>before us. This was a very prosperous rich sugar and
>cotton country, rich in forage, of which we took
>plenty, but we did not destroy property.
>...
>The 13th and 19th from New Orleans had been well
>dressed and well kept with new uniforms, and paper
>collars, but we were ragged and dirty, as we had taken
>clothes for a thirty day trip that had stretched into
>a ninety day one. We took a dislike to the better kept
>men at once.
>...
>The month of May was advancing and the weather was
>becoming hotter. Our old clothes were getting ragged,
>no pay, nothing for nicknacks, only foraging. The
>rebels were near all the time.
>...
>Our pack consisted of a gun, bayonet and cartridge bag
>with forty or fifty rounds of ammunition; haversack
>with three days or less of rations, canteen holding
>three pints of water, a quart can in which to cook
>everything but fries, a frying pan to two or three
>persons, one rubber poncho, one coarse woolen blanket,
>rolled together and tied at the ends and carried
>across our shoulders; practically no clothes, except
>those worn. Such was our marching and camping
>equipment.
>....
>I have always regarded this expedition as a blundering
>failure.
>
>™

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