| After signing up, the soldiers went to a camp to receive equipment and prepare for their new career. Imagine the task of trying to mold a completely untrained group of strangers into a fighting force. In a letter to the "Shelby County Democrat" published on July 3, 1863, one soldier commented: "The 99th is much better today than when first brought into the field. There is not half as much coarseness and vulgarity in the regiment as there was when we were at Camp Lima. Then the men were strangers to each other, had just left their homes, and were wholly unprepared to meet the obligations of soldiers...Soldiering is not a Fourth of July sport, but a laborious and self-sacrificing work." | |
| Private Dwight (shown at right) of
the 20th Ohio vividly remembered his first days as a soldier. The brass band in the town escorted the young
soldiers to the train for the ride to Camp Chase, near Columbus. As the train pulled away
from the station, a cold sweat came over him as he realized what he had done. The first
night he slept on the wooden floor of a hut, as there were no cots for the men. The next
day the men were informed they had enlisted for three years, much to the surprise
of Dwight and the others. Ill-fitting clothes were issued, and the men began the comical
act of trying to drill, when none of them had any experience in such an activity. The new recruits were supposed to pass a physical examination. Private Ruggles of the 20th Ohio recalled the examination by the camp doctor. The doctor told him: "Well, I must see whether you are sound or not. Hold out your hands; work your fingers; touch your hands over your head. Are you ruptured?" Answering the question 'no' meant that Ruggles was in the army. |
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