With a companion I found shelter in the open vestibule of a church a little south of the station. Next morning we got breakfast at one of the cheaper hotels, and this was destined to be one of our very last meals eaten from dishes placed on a white tablecloth.
Despite the seriousness of their journey, many of them were still star-struck by their surroundings in Illinois' Capital City.
Despite the seriousness of their journey, many of them were still star-struck by their surroundings in Illinois' Capital City.
During the forenoon several of us visited the home of President Lincoln and picked some flowers from the front yard and sent them home in letters.
Around noon they boarded yet another train - this one on the Wabash Railway - and headed for Camp Butler, seven miles east of Springfield. They arrived at the camp and passed through a gate near the railway. The gate was guarded by a uniformed soldier with a gun in his hands. On the other side of the gate they found an enclosure of about forty acres, surrounded by a high, tight-boarded fence. Charles Johnson described the camp in this way:
Along two sides of this enclosure were rows of long, narrow buildings, which were known as barracks. At one end was the office of the Post Commandant, and nearby, the Commissary and Quartermaster's Department. At the other end was the Hospital, Guard-House, Sutler's Store, etc. In the center was a large open space, used as a drill-ground. In the middle of the rear end, as at the front, was a large gate for teams to pass through, and beside it a smaller one, for the egress and ingress of the men; both were guarded by an armed soldier, and no one could go out without a pass signed by the Post Commandant.
Looking at the camp, I'm sure more than one of them realized they were in the Army now.
