Private John Vira from Company I died today in St. Louis. He was from Springfield.
The 130th regiment started up Bayou Teche today. This country was attractive and many delightful
homes were passed. The houses, half hidden in trees, had wide porches and large windows that reached to the floor.
At this time oranges were ripening and many orchards they passed were bending under the weight of fruit. Nearly all the fences were made of cypress. This wood was split into thin board-like pieces and the posts were also cypress with mortises for the horizontal pieces. The fence was very neat, but must have taken a great deal of time and labor to build.
The division halted tonight for dinner, and every man seized one or more pieces of this fence, and
made a fire to heat their coffee pots and toast their slices of salt pork. Nearly every man carried an old tin can that previously contained fruit or oysters. They filled these cans with water and, when it came to a boil, added ground coffee.
They would toast a thin slice of bacon or salt pork on the end of a stick. The fat that dripped off was caught on a hard cracker this became their butter.
The 130th regiment started up Bayou Teche today. This country was attractive and many delightful
homes were passed. The houses, half hidden in trees, had wide porches and large windows that reached to the floor.
At this time oranges were ripening and many orchards they passed were bending under the weight of fruit. Nearly all the fences were made of cypress. This wood was split into thin board-like pieces and the posts were also cypress with mortises for the horizontal pieces. The fence was very neat, but must have taken a great deal of time and labor to build.
The division halted tonight for dinner, and every man seized one or more pieces of this fence, and
made a fire to heat their coffee pots and toast their slices of salt pork. Nearly every man carried an old tin can that previously contained fruit or oysters. They filled these cans with water and, when it came to a boil, added ground coffee.
They would toast a thin slice of bacon or salt pork on the end of a stick. The fat that dripped off was caught on a hard cracker this became their butter.
