But what a change a few weeks would make. Charles Johnson recalls,
One regiment in particular I recall as presenting the most motley appearance imaginable. Brown jeans was the prevailing dress, but every conceivable cut of coat and style of hat could be seen, and all, from colonel down, were slouchy in attire, and awkward and ungainly in manner and appearance. A few weeks later the same body of men marched out of Camp Butler to take the cars on the Wabash Railway at the front gate of the enclosure bound for the front and the firing-line; but, what a change! Every man was dressed in a new well-fitting uniform, had on his shoulder a bright new musket that glistened in the sunlight, and moved with firm, elastic step. The whole regiment marched with machine-like precision, and kept step with the rhythmic strains of the band at its head.
