Diary of Orrin Brown, Robertville, SC
Monday–Feb. 6th
We got up this morning and found ourselves in S. Carolina in a barren scrubby Black Oak country, the soil is sand. We have no marching orders but I think we will move again tomorrow morning, the mail went out again today at 11 AM, I wrote a letter to Mr. Gifford, one of the Ill. regt. found a Piano burried in the sand to keep the yanks from destroying it but it is hard to hide anything so that the yanks cannot find it and S. Carolina will fare worse on this campaign than Ga. did on the other. We drew rations again today 4 days of Bacon and two days of Beans all to last 4 days. Government alows us 15 ozs of Hard bread, or 20 ozs of Soft Bread, 3/4 lb of Poark or 1 1/4 lbs Beef, 8 lbs of Sugar to 100 men and when we get Beans or Rice or Potatoes it is just so much taken from our bread, and less of soft Bread and we do not get more that 2/3 our alowance of Sugar and Coffee although we have all of the Coffee we can use without waisting it. It began to rain about 1 Pm and is still raining tonight. I read 4 chapt. in the Testament today.
Pvt. Brown’s Army diet hadn’t improved any from Tennessee. While Sherman intended to liberally scavenge for victuals again on this campaign, the Army took advantage of supplies brought up the Savannah River while they could do so. This was partly for convenience, but also because the Confederate troops and Southern partisans had had plenty of time to clear out the swampy countryside.
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