An earthy and salty home letters

NH Civil War Gal

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In their letters home, they made frequent mention of the elemental functions of nature. Some deferred to diarrhea as "The Virginia Quickstep" or "The Tennessee trots," but more called it "the sh*ts." One Yanke wrote his wife: "I expect to be as tough as a knott as soon as I get over the Georgia Sh*tts," and another, heading his letter "Camp Sh*t," informed his spouse: "To tell the truth we are between a sh*t and a sweat out here."

My favorite:

A North Carolina Reb wrote his wife concerning a comrade: "Marke Kelly....hant a friend in the company, it is thought that he will be put out of office for some misbehaveure with a woman on the cars and beter than all he sh*t his britches and it run down his legs and filled his shoes."

A Reb, annoyed by reports that neighbors were criticizing him for alleged misconduct in camp, wrote his spouse: "The people...that...speakes slack about me may kiss my...Mollie please excuse my vulgar language."
 
I can feel their pain, as there no worst place to be when the Fort Hood Hollar hits then in a tankers suit in the turret of an M60 tank when they do.
 
In their letters home, they made frequent mention of the elemental functions of nature. Some deferred to diarrhea as "The Virginia Quickstep" or "The Tennessee trots," but more called it "the sh*ts." One Yanke wrote his wife: "I expect to be as tough as a knott as soon as I get over the Georgia Sh*tts," and another, heading his letter "Camp Sh*t," informed his spouse: "To tell the truth we are between a sh*t and a sweat out here."

My favorite:

A North Carolina Reb wrote his wife concerning a comrade: "Marke Kelly....hant a friend in the company, it is thought that he will be put out of office for some misbehaveure with a woman on the cars and beter than all he sh*t his britches and it run down his legs and filled his shoes."

A Reb, annoyed by reports that neighbors were criticizing him for alleged misconduct in camp, wrote his spouse: "The people...that...speakes slack about me may kiss my...Mollie please excuse my vulgar language."

Captain Edward S Redington of Whitewater, Wisconsin and Company D 28th WI Infantry, wrote to his wife on June 16, 1863 about a miracle cure for the "Helena Quickstep" he accidentally came up with, and seemed to be very proud of. At times the men would go to their Captains rather than take a chance with the Military Doctors.

"Have a slight attack of Helena Quickstep, but feel much much better tonight and I think I shall be all right in the morning. I have been taking quinine, pain-killer, and whiskey and my head feels rather large and rings like a kettle. The way they got all mixed up was in this way: a bottle of quinine and pain killer got broken in my medicine chest, the quinine soaking up the pain killer, so I put them in another bottle and filled it up with whiskey. A more villainous compound to swallow never passed a man's lips. I have given several of the boys out of the same bottle and it has always cured them without fail. I think I shall apply for a patent on it as a cure for all the ills the flesh is heir to from colic to cholera".
 
We had a city boy in basic training who ran out of toilet paper and decided to use some leaves. Had he been a country boy he might have recognized what poison ivy looked like.

I almost spewed my tea out! Too funny!
 
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