pen and pencil. What shall be done with
this pile of treasure? It is evident one man cannot eat the eatables or
smoke the tobacco and pipes. Call in, then, the friendly aid of willing
comrades. They come; they see; they devour!

And now the ever true and devoted citizens of the much and often
besieged city of Richmond conclude to send a New Year's dinner to their
defenders in the army. That portion destined for the camp above
described arrived in due time in the shape of one good turkey. Each of
the three companies composing the battalion appointed a man to "draw
straws" for the turkey; the successful company appointed a man from each
detachment to draw again; then the detachment messes took a draw, and
the fortunate mess devoured the turkey. But the soldiers, remembering
that in times past they had felt constrained to divide their rations
with the poor of that city, did not fail in gratitude, or question the
liberality of those who had, in the midst of great distress, remembered
with self-denying affection the soldiers in the field.

Not the least among the comforts of life in winter quarters, was the
pleasure of sitting under the ministrations of an amateur barber, and
hearing the snip, snip, of his scissors, as the long growth of hair fell
to the ground. The luxury of "a shave;" the possession of comb, brush,
small mirror, towels and soap; boots blacked every day; white collars,
and occasionally a starched bosom, called, in the expressive language of
the day, a "_biled shirt_," completed the restoration of the man to
decency. Now, also, the soldier with painful care threaded his needle
with huge thread, and with a sort of left-handed awkwardness sewed on
the long-absent button, or, with even greater trepidation, attempted a
patch. At such a time the soldier pondered on the peculiar fact that war
separates men from women. A man cannot thread a needle with ease;
certainly not with grace. He sews backwards.

In winter quarters every man had his "chum" or bunk-mate, with whom he
slept, walked, talked, and divided hardship or comfort as they came
along; and the affectionate regard of each for the other was often
beautiful to see. Many such attachments led to heroic self-denials and
death, one for the other, and many such unions remain unbroken after
twenty years have passed away.

It was a rare occurrence, but occasionally the father or mother or
brother or sister of some man paid him a visit. The males were almost
su