CHAPTER II.
The Departure from Camp Giddings—At the Front—Death of Lander—Advance up the Valley—Winchester.
Christmas morning, 1861, dawned clear, with the
earth bountifully covered with snow, and soon the busy
preparations for this the first march were apparent everywhere.
Knapsacks were packed, tents were struck, and
the camp equipage snugly put into shape for transportation
to Ashtabula, and at 10 o'clock the drums beat off- Then
the regiment filed out of the enclosure, bidding a
fond good-bye, many for the last time, to the old camp,
up through the town, where everybody was waiting to
wish the "boys" God speed. "Head of column left,"
and the Twenty-ninth regiment was en-route for Ashtabula
and the front, followed by the prayers of fathers,
mothers, brothers, sisters, and sweethearts, that its every
effort might be crowned with success, and that, if heaven
so willed, all might return safely to the arms of loved
ones, "when the cruel war was over." How beautiful
they looked in their new uniform, and how gaily the
bayonets glistened in the bright sunlight as each man
kept step to the music.
Arriving at Ashtabula, the regiment took cars, and was soon whirling rapidly towards Columbus, where it arrived the following day.
On disembarking from the cars, a march of four miles on the National pike to the west brought the regiment to Camp Chase, where it was assigned to barracks, and the sweets (?) of soldier life began to be more perceptible.
