the situation
near the Everglades and the Miami River (their principal outlet to
the sea) the water proved bad, and only obtainable for the troops
through pipes laid on the rocky surface of the earth from the
Everglades at the head of the river. It thus came warm, and
sometimes offensive by reason of vegetable matter contained in it.
The reefs--an extension of the Florida Reefs--which lay four miles
from the west shore of the bay, cut off easterly sea breezes; and
the mosquitoes were at times so numerous as to make life almost
unbearable. All possible was done for the health and comfort of
the command. Notwithstanding the location, hotness of the season,
and bad general conditions, the health of the soldiers was better,
numbers considered, than in any other camp in the United States.
A good military hospital was established under capable medical
officers, and, through some patriotic ladies--the wife and daughter
of General W. W. Gordon and others--a convalescent hospital was
established where the greatest care was taken of the sick, and
wholesome delicacies were provided for them. A feeling of unrest
amounting to dissatisfaction, however, arose, which caused the War
Department to order my command to Camp Cuba Libre, Jacksonville,
Florida. It was accordingly transported there by rail early in
August, my headquarters having been at Miami just one month. My
division was then camped in proximity to the St. John's River at
Fairfield, immediately east of Jacksonville. My headquarters tents
were pitched in a pine forest. Here the general conditions were
much better than at Miami, though much sickness, chiefly typhoid
and malarial fevers, prevailed in the corps, my own division having
a far less per centum of cases than either of the other two. The
water was artesian and good, but the absence of anything like a
clay soil rendered it impossible to keep the camps well policed
and the drainage was difficult. Florida sand is not a disinfectant;
clay is. This camp, however, had a smaller list of sick in proportion
to numbers than was reported in other camps farther north.

There was added to my division at Jacksonville, before any were
mustered out, the 1st Ohio (Colonel C. B. Hunt) and the 4th U. S.
Volunteer Infantry (Colonel James S. Pettit), the two constituting
a third brigade, commanded by Colonel Hunt. My division then
numbered about 11,000; the corps something over 32,000.

I commanded the corps, in the absenc