War Diaries (December 1) (nonfiction)
From Gnomon Chronicles
War Diary quotations for December 1
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Diaries
Ruffin Thomson: December 1, 1862
They [sic] boys have just been paid off, receiving the bounty and two months’ wages, and most of the company are getting rid of it as rapidly as possible gambling. Yesterday was Sunday and I sat at my fire, and saw the preachers holding forth about thirty steps off, and between them and me were two games of poker, each one was trying to fill his pockets at the expense of his neighbor. Chuck-a-luck and faro banks are running night and day eager and exciting crowds standing around with their hands full of money. Open gambling has been prohibited, but that amounts to nothing.
- Ruffin Thomson, letter - 1 December 1862, from Ruffin Thomson, 18th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, to his mother Hannah Lavinia Thomson. He comments extensively on food, clothing and supplies, including the provisions being used by his body servant “Press.”
