mbition to learn to read and write
was as strong as their love of freedom, and no opportunity
was lost by them to acquire a knowledge of letters. So
ardent were they that they formed squads and hired
teachers, paying them out of their pittance of seven dollars
per month, or out of the bounty paid to them by the State to
which they were accredited. In a number of instances the
officers themselves gave instructions to their command, and
made education a feature and a part of their duty, thereby
bringing the soldier up to a full comprehension of the
responsibility of his trust. "Taps" was an unpleasant sound
to many a soldier, who, after the fatigue and drill of the
day was over, sat himself down upon an empty cracker box,
with a short candle in one hand and a spelling book in the
other, to study the ab, eb, ob's. When the truce was sounded
after a day or night's hard fighting, many of these men
renewed their courage by studying and reading in the 'New
England Speller.' And where they have fought,--died where
they fell, and their bodies left to the enemy's mercy, they
often found in the dead soldier's knapsack a spelling-book
and a Testament. At the siege of Port Hudson and Charleston,
and of Richmond, agents of the Christian Commission and of
various other societies, made a specialty of the
spelling-book for distribution among the soldiers of the
Phalanx, and upon more than one occasion have these soldiers
been found in the trenches with the speller in hand,
muttering, bla, ble."

The historian of the 55th Regiment says:

"A great desire existed among those who had been deprived of
all educational privileges to learn to read and write, and
through the kindness and labors of Dr. Bowditch and others,
a school was established to teach those who desired to
learn. Many availed themselves of this, and many were
assisted by their company officers and their better informed
fellow-soldiers, so that a decided improvement in this
respect was effected among the men during their stay at
Readville."

But it is not necessary to dwell upon the subject to show the eagerness
of these soldiers to learn to read and write, as many of them did.

Lieutenant James M. Trotter,[47] in an article published in Mr.
Fortune's paper, gives this graphic description of "The S