the fort from the front.

_Tuesday, 30th._--During the forenoon did little else than hold
ourselves in readiness, keeping a bright lookout for the enemy; till at
length we began to think--many of us with a speck of disappointment
mingled with a sort of settled indifference--that we should lose the
chance of giving him a taste of our quality. After noon we were ordered
to shift camp. This augured serious work, inasmuch as the object of the
movement was to contract the camp limits, and thus make room for more
troops within the fort. After the order was issued directing us to
prepare for removal it was curious to note what a change a few minutes
produced in the appearance of the company streets. The first step was
to clear tents. Before each door arms were stacked, and on a blanket
spread on the ground were rapidly piled knapsacks, haversacks,
blankets, boots and shoes, tin-ware, rough boxes, shelving, and an
indescribable variety of loose matter; altogether an astonishing mass
of tent furniture, considering that these canvas houses, some five feet
by six in dimensions, accommodated--if so satirical a remark be allowed
in sober history--four to six persons besides, according to luck and
court favor. Next followed the order to strike tents. In a twinkling
the white walls collapsed, and the sun glared down upon a field flat
and waste. Each mess, directly on having their new site assigned them,
went to work like beavers to rehabilitate their domicils, but it was
dark before the new village was fairly settled. There remained,
besides, for the morrow many supplementary items of work, among which
was the building of company kitchens. Where the ground is level no
preparation of it is needed for this purpose; but on a steep slope a
good deal of digging is necessary. Indeed where there is any
considerable slope whatever, it is better to level the ground. Labor in
constructions for the benefit of your culinary corps is most
judiciously invested. A broad and level plat with convenient
arrangements for boiling the pot and preparing the rations, the whole
covered with a screen of some sort from the sun and the weather, will
give you better coffee, better soup, better everything--not to speak of
the occasional substitution of a bake or a roast in place of the
inevitable boil--than if you have failed to provide for the comfort of
your cooks. All this can be done easily where there are so many
interested hands to help. An enterprising he