A Raw Recruit's War Experiences

The author recounts his enlistment and nine months' campaign with a volunteer regiment, offering episodic, firsthand recollections of camp life, marches, convalescent duty, and operations near Norfolk, Suffolk, and Yorktown. He mixes practical details — food, pastimes, religious services, knapsack experiences — and scenes of loss and discipline with humorous anecdotes and local color. Rather than a formal regimental history, the narrative emphasizes personal impressions, camaraderie, and the quotidian rhythms and absurdities of military service, closing with the regiment's return home and reflections on honor and sacrifice.