Reaching the open
country, we saw forts and camps on all sides; some of the tents being
placed immediately on the ground, while others were raised over a
basement of logs, laid lengthwise, like those of a log-hut, or driven
vertically into the soil in a circle,--thus forming a solid wall, the
chinks closed up with Virginia mud, and above it the pyramidal shelter of
the tent. Here were in progress all the occupations, and all the
idleness, of the soldier in the tented field: some were cooking the
company-rations in pots hung over fires in the open air; some played at
ball, or developed their muscular power by gymnastic exercise; some read
newspapers; some smoked cigars or pipes; and many were cleaning their
arms or accoutrements,--the more carefully, perhaps, because their
division was to be reviewed by the Commander-in-Chief that afternoon;
others sat on the ground, while their comrades cut their hair,--it being
a soldierly fashion (and for excellent reasons) to crop it within an inch
of the skull; others, finally, lay asleep in breast-high tents, with
their legs protruding into the open air.
We paid a visit to Fort Ellsworth, and from its ramparts (which have been
heaped up out of the muddy soil within the last few months, and will
require still a year or two to make them verdant) we had a beautiful view
of the Potomac, a truly majestic river, and the surrounding country.
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