made
fires a luxury. How to have shelter and warmth at the same time was a
puzzle.

Spurred on by the emergency, my thoughts ran very fast, until they were
brought to a stop and concentrated upon one idea. All my hunting about
the neighborhood failed to result in finding any bricks. Some old pieces
lay about, and these were gathered up, together with some old camp
kettles. The latter were battered as nearly flat as possible, and then a
trench was dug from just inside the front of my tent to and under the
rear end. The sides of the trench were built up a few inches, the old
kettles placed across, and the whole heaped over with sand. We built a
sort of chimney upon the outside end of the long tunnel thus made, and a
fire was then started at the inner end of the opening. The draught drew
the smoke and heat through the extemporized radiator, and before long we
had the sand giving out a very satisfactory degree of warmth. Many
pleasant hours were spent in spinning yarns while warming out feet on
this product of necessity.

The 47th Indiana was soon ordered away on a campaign, and we were moved
into the permanent quarters which they had occupied at Fort Curtis. They
had left a portable bakery, all their cooking and heating stoves, as
well as many smaller conveniences, and of these we took possession, thus
finding compensation for some of our hardships.

It is an unwritten military law--at least it was so decided by our
general at the time--that property abandoned in quarters becomes the
property of the next occupants, by right of possession.

In about ten days after our removal to the cabin I was awakened one
morning by a captain in the regiment recently moved out. He announced
the fact that they had returned and were in camp on the hill, about half
a mile distant. The courteous manners of the man, my realization of what
it then meant to be in a dog-tent without fire, and my confidence in my
own ability to find a substitute, induced me to give him my stove,
formerly his. A little later he came back with some of his men, and was
about to take away all the other stoves and things left behind. The
company was turned out under arms to resist, but the warfare was
confined to words, and the dispute was settled by the decision
mentioned.

It is pertinent to state here that I was in command of my company at the
time, owing to the absence of our chief on other duty, and that his
promotion shortly after gave me my rank as captain