DIY History | Transcribe | Civil War Diaries and Letters | George C. Burmeister diary, 1861

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1861-06-22 -- 1861-06-23

Sat. 22. 
The steamers J. C. Swan and D. A. Jannary left for St. Louis this morning, some one said there was an out break of rebellion in that city. It was also stated by some officers in my presence that Gen. Lyon would not accept our Regiment on account of its poor equipment, this does not suit us as it will deprive us of the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the honorable foe. Our food consists of water crackers, bacon and coffee, and not enough of it. This is the greatest difficulty, whilst our officers are living upon the fat of the land, and have many privileges and extras of which the private is entirely ignorant. The boys are very noisy and keep up a terrible fuss until late at night depriving us of rest.

Sun. 23. 
It rained pretty hard this forenoon, after it cleared off I took a bath in the "big muddy" and came out pretty yellow. I was agreeably surprised to hear my name mentioned by a young corporal of company A 1st Regt. Mo. Vol. I found him to be A. Schuster, I also saw his brother H. Schuster, I had a pleasant time with them. I occupied the latter part of the day in writing letters. Met Philip Schmidt, my old friend of St. Louis, who is adjutant of the 2d Regiment M.V. I slept in the Zouave's quarters, and found to my horror that they were favored by the many footed insects called body lice. whew!!

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Sat. 22. The steamers J. C. Swan and D. A. Jannary left for St. Louis this morning, some one said there was an out break of rebellion in that city. It was also stated by some officers in my presence that Gen. Lyon would not accept our Regiment on account of its poor equipment, this does not suit us as it will deprive us of the pleasure of making the acquaintance of the honorable foe. Our food consists of water crackers, bacon and coffee, and not enough of it. This is the greatest difficulty, whilst our officers are living upon the fat of the land, and have many privileges and extras of which the private is entirely ignorant. The boys are very noisy and keep up a terrible fuss until late at night depriving us of rest. Sun. 23. It rained pretty hard this forenoon, after it cleared off I took a bath in the "big muddy" and came out pretty yellow. I was agreeably surprised to hear my name mentioned by a young corporal of company A 1st Regt. Mo. Vol. I found him to be A. Schuster, I also saw his brother H. Schuster, I had a pleasant time with them. I occupied the latter part of the day in writing letters. Met Philip Schmidt, my old friend of St. Louis, who is adjutant of the 2d Regiment M.V. I slept in the Zouave's quarters, and found to my horror that they were favored by the many footed insects called body lice. whew!!