Diary of Orrin Brown, Savannah, Georgia
Monday–Jan. 2nd
The weather is cold but clear this morning. There is a detail of 12 men out of each company of our regt. made this morning for the purpose of ditching our camp ground, our company had to work till 11 AM then we were relieved for the rest of the day. The weather has come off clear and warm. I wrote a letter today for Mr. Meeker. Read 7 Chapt. in Testament today.
We don’t ditch around our tents today, but Sherman’s army was not yet acquainted with Leave No Trace. We also these days don’t usually pitch canvas tents, which tend to rot when exposed to the combination of earth and rain. I like to think of myself as a hardy camper, although I’m none too sure how well I would have held up to Pvt. Brown’s months on months of cold, wet, clothes sleeping under the stars. Just one of the reasons life expectancy is a bit longer in this century than his.
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