Henry Wilson Storey's History of Cambria County, V.II, p.168

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History of Cambria County, V.2

168 HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.

Virginia Apple Jack somewhere. A general drunk was the result and they came back about midnight with Apple Jack jolting out of their ears brim full and every man his own commander, consequently a lively demonstration occurred on our picket front and we had to form in camp and stand in line, shivering until after daylight.
    You remember I told you I had a chimney made of consecrated bricks, well, such is actually the case and I have had it taken down and transported whenever we moved and rebuilt again in different style of architecture but all to no purpose it only smokes the one way. The man who built it became disgusted and declared the devil was in it but I don't believe that could be. I told the fellow he was guilty of a great impiety but the hardened wretch declared that he could not see the sin of tearing down any church in Virginia. Building chimneys now has taken possession of every body's mind with something like hallucination, in fact the first question asked after the usual salutations is "How does your chimney draw?" or "Come around and see my hearth!" Some of these are large enough to contain a poor man's family and pile on a cord of wood at once.
    As everything now is at a standstill in this army the regular order of exercises and amusement is horse racing at Sheridan's headquarters, and these are of every variety from a steeplechase to the hurdle and it is not any more strange to have a race on Sunday than it is for a chaplain to take a drink on week day. I think we'll be a pious people when the war is over and we all get back again to God's Country, at the present little time is devoted to it. * * *

    Capt. Suter wrote as follows to D. J. Morrell, on the excellent morale of the 54th Regiment after New Market:

Near Strasburg, Va., May 20th, 1864
Mr. Morrell,
    Dear Sir: Your letter of the 18th was received today. When I wrote you on the 3d from Winchester it was under the pressure of considerable clamor from the greater portion of the men, who persuaded themselves to believe they were humbugged and would be kept as heretofore in comparative idleness all summer and probably not get their furlough at all. Since that time things have assumed a more military shape to us. The campaign being opened and I think we are permanently relieved from monotonous border duty upon the railroad and its vicinity, there is consequently a new spirit infused into all the men. They find themselves in the field and having already had a pretty sensible smell of gunpowder there are few who would take their furlough at present if offered. They have now got into a fighting humor and think of nothing else.
    We had a severe engagement at Newmarket last Sunday and I believe there has not been a battle in this war when men

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168	HISTORY OF CAMBRIA COUNTY.
Virginia Apple Jack somewhere. A general drunk was the result and they came back about midnight with Apple Jack jolting out of their ears brim full and every man his own commander, consequently a lively demonstration occurred on our picket front and we had to form in camp and stand in line, shivering until after daylight. You remember I told you I had a chimney made of consecrated bricks, well, such is actually the case and I have had it taken down and transported whenever we moved and rebuilt again in different style of architecture but all to no purpose it only smokes the one way. The man who built it became disgusted and declared the devil was in it but I don't believe that could be. I told the fellow he was guilty of a great impiety but the hardened wretch declared that he could not see the sin of tearing down any church in Virginia. Building chimneys now has taken possession of every body's mind with something like hallucination, in fact the first question asked after the usual salutations is "How does your chimney draw?" or "Come around and see my hearth!" Some of these are large enough to contain a poor man's family and pile on a cord of wood at once. As everything now is at a standstill in this army the regular order of exercises and amusement is horse racing at Sheridan's headquarters, and these are of every variety from a steeplechase to the hurdle and it is not any more strange to have a race on Sunday than it is for a chaplain to take a drink on week day. I think we'll be a pious people when the war is over and we all get back again to God's Country, at the present little time is devoted to it. * * * Capt. Suter wrote as follows to D. J. Morrell, on the excellent morale of the 54th Regiment after New Market: Near Strasburg, Va., May 20th, 1864 Mr. Morrell, Dear Sir: Your letter of the 18th was received today. When I wrote you on the 3d from Winchester it was under the pressure of considerable clamor from the greater portion of the men, who persuaded themselves to believe they were humbugged and would be kept as heretofore in comparative idleness all summer and probably not get their furlough at all. Since that time things have assumed a more military shape to us. The campaign being opened and I think we are permanently relieved from monotonous border duty upon the railroad and its vicinity, there is consequently a new spirit infused into all the men. They find themselves in the field and having already had a pretty sensible smell of gunpowder there are few who would take their furlough at present if offered. They have now got into a fighting humor and think of nothing else. We had a severe engagement at Newmarket last Sunday and I believe there has not been a battle in this war when men