The Soldier
Today, I went up to Fort Snelling to sign up. There is talk that there is to be a shooting war. I've heard that it could last until 1999. I have also heard that it is to be better than a circus. Although I have never been to the circus I have heard that it is very exciting. The reason I had to go all the way to Fort Snelling is because I am 17 years old and am not legally an adult. If I were to sign up in my home town of Winona, someone would rat me out, then I would have been used as a runner or a drummer boy. When I finally got to Fort Snelling I signed up without question of my age. The colonel read me the rules of being a solider, some of these being you must not steal from your fellow soldiers, you may not have contact with the enemy, and you may not trade with the enemy. After I signed my name to the paper I then got a uniform. It was not really a uniform just a flannel shirt and a hat. March 21, 1861 Today I got on the ferry and headed to Fort Snelling. I said bye to my mother who did not want me going but did not have a big problem with it. The moment we got to the fort they started to drill us. We have started marching and shooting. We mostly only shoot blanks because we must save real bullets for real battle. March 23, 1861 These past days have been very harsh. We have drilled the whole time, and when we aren't drilling we are shooting, and when not shooting we are eating. They barely give us enough time to sleep. The past three days I have maybe gotten eight hours of sleep. Also the food here is so horrible. April 01, 1861 Drill, Drill, Drill. That's all we do. I am so sick of it. I feel like quitting. Even though my ma had taught me to never give up. I am so sick of this food. Also, we have started to fire more and more real bullets. The problem is that they want us to hit targets that are a quarter of a mile away. Now I have been hunting for most of my life and I know that rifles cannot hit targets an eighth of a mile away let alone a quarter of a mile. To tell you the truth, I don't think there will ever be a shot fired in this so called war. April 20, 1861 I have now eaten my words because earlier in the week the rebs fired at Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter is a fort in North Carolina. Now we are heading east. We have not been told where we are heading but we are traveling on a train. This is the first time I have ever traveled on a train. The captain of our train has told us that were are in the city of Chicago, Illinois. The food on the train is so much better than at Fort Snelling. June 22, 1861 War is the worst thing in the world. I have just been in a battle that they called Bull Run.