A
correspondent writes to The Middlebury Register, to
give to inexperienced
American Civil War soldiers some hints for the
preservation of health, from what he has learned in the
field. After warning the new recruit that the enthusiasm of
the first week will soon tone down to stanch realities,
which he must meet and face as a man — that he cannot live
as carelessly about his health as he can at home, where warm
rooms and comfortable beds and well-cooked meals are at his
service from day today, and that he must act the physician
for himself, to a great degree, and be watchful against any
predisposition to
disease, he proceeds to give some special
directions as follows:
They consist
of a program of articles to be taken by the recruit when he
goes into
camp, or to be sent to him by his friends, when he
shall have reached a point where he can be addressed.
Let him have
with him two pairs of well-knit socks, two firm woolen
shirts, a large crash towel, a piece of Castile soap, to be
used as often as possible in bathing the entire body; a
woolen cap, sometimes called a
smoking cap; two large
old-fashioned silk pocket-handkerchiefs, which may be used
to hang from the neck, as a protection against a blazing
sun, or as a veil to cover the face when sleeping out
nights, amid miasmas and creeping vermin, or as a bandage
for wounds. He should also have constantly with him a supply
of Cayenne pepper, such as is obtained from the drug-stores
under the name of
“capsicum.”
The benefits
arising from the use of this latter article [Cayenne pepper]
are incalculable. A single pinch in a glass of flat warmish
water will nullify the effects and the uncomfortable
sensation from having drunk too much water during the day;
will help the sentinel keep awake at his post at night, by
warming and invigorating the whole system. A good pinch
eaten at each meal, or when a cup of tea or coffee is drunk,
will aid digestion, assist in preventing acidity of
stomach, and is besides a great antagonist of the diarrhea,
dysentery, flux, and "looseness," which are the
great
scourges of the army. A level teaspoonful of capsicum, taken
daily in eating or drinking, or both, or two fingers full
taken two or three times a day, will do more toward warding
off the fever and ague than ten times the cost in rum and
quinine. There should always be carried in the knapsack also
a largo piece of gutta percha cloth, to spread upon the
ground at night for the soldier to spread his blanket on
when he goes to bed. To these suggestions may be added the
injunctions to eat, as far as possible, regularly, to shun sutlers' tents, with their detestable pies and cakes, and
their poisonous preserved meats, as one would shun a contact
with the leprosy; to maintain, in short, a perfect system of
living, just as far as
duty in camp will allow.
If my friend
who may read this, and who is going soon to buckle on his
armor for the cause of his country, will treasure the hints
I have thrown out, and act upon them, he will add a hundred
per cent to the probabilities of his returning to his
father's house, that knew such keen anguish and bitter
mourning when he was called to leave it. Once more, my
soldier friend, before you leave your home, supply yourself
with envelops and writing paper, and with a good substantial
lead pencil; upon the envelops have postage stamps placed,
and have them directed in a strong, plain hand to the
address of those you will want to write to when far away —
your father, your loving and ever watchful mother, or your
sister.
And then, when you stop anywhere, for a day or such
a matter, write something home, if it is not more than six
lines, and tell your anxious friends how you are. And to
your parents too and relations of the soldiers, I must say,
write often to him. Write long letters. Give all the news
you can think of. Let every line be full of love, of kind,
affectionate interest and encouragement, and you cannot tell
how much sunshine you will put into his heart, and how much
better soldier and man he will become for your
thoughtfulness of him. I speak of all these things “whereof
I have seen.”
