val here, the Government was unable to
supply us with uniforms, or weapons of war, and our appearance was far
from being _a la militaire_, as Captain Duffie would have it. Coming as
we did from colleges and schools, from offices and counting-rooms, from
shops and farms, and some from no occupation at all, each with the
peculiar dress he wore when he enlisted, and already pretty well worn
out by our labors at Camp Howe and extensive travelling, we were a most
unsightly, heterogeneous mass of humanity, and were a subject of no
little sport to our better-clad fellow-soldiers. Especially was this the
case when on a certain day General B. F. Butler reviewed the troops of
this department, and we were made to appear before him and the multitude
with our hats and caps, our coats and jackets, in nearly all colors, and
many of them in rags and shags. We certainly had nothing to recommend us
to the consideration of military men, except the courageous spirit that
throbbed in our generally robust frames. But we were hopeful of better
days, when we might have the appearance and equipage as well as the
internal qualities of soldiers.

But the Government was so wholly unprepared for war, that our supplies
were received very slowly. First came our uniforms, which every man
donned gladly, and yet with a feeling that the last link to civil life,
for the present, was severed, and that henceforth in a very peculiar
sense we belonged to our common country.

A few days after our arrival at Camp Oregon, we were joined by the men
who belonged to our regiment from other States. This added fresh
enthusiasm, as well as new strength, to our ranks. However, there is as
yet nothing in our _tout ensemble_ to distinguish us from infantry or
artillery, except the yellow trimming of our blue uniforms, whereas the
infantry has the light-blue trimming, and the artillery bright red.

_August 23._--To-day I am happy to make the following entry in my diary,
namely: the regiment was furnished with sabres, Colt's revolvers and
all the necessary appendages, consisting of belts and ammunition-boxes.
Every man has now a new care and pride--to keep his sabre bright, and
his entire outfit clean, that he may wear them with pleasure to himself
and honor to his comrades. The morning and evening of the 24th were
spent in sabre exercise, with which we were all delighted. This is the
first development in us of the cavalry element as such, and we begin to
feel our indivi