[4V50 Gary]

From Neal Wixson's annotated letters from the men of the 100th New York Infantry we have this gem. I did some slight editing with brackets to clarify the passage.

The conscripts in our Regt. as a general thing are pretty good soldiers. But the conscripts in the 52nd and the 104th Pennsylvania Regts are a lot of green horns as soldiers in one Regt[.] [T]hey were with the Regt 4 or 5 months before they would trust them on out[-]post duty. I will give you a little instance which happened a few days ago. One of our corporals got a conscript of the 52d on his post. [W]hen he posted him the sentinel he gave him the countersign or watch word. [T]hen he went away. [B]ut in the course of half an hour returned to see that all was right[;] he goes up to the conscript who was the sentinel on post and asked him if he had the countersign. [H]e answered no[,] did you give it to me[?] [Y]es answered the corpl. Well I must have lost it answered the sentinel upon which he commenced to feel in his pockets and look around on the ground as if looking for the countersign. The corpl could hardly keep from laughing out right but at that moment he observed an officer coming along the picket line so he told the sentinel to halt hin as he came up. [W]hen the officer got near enough Mr. Sentinel call[ed] out "Who comes there". The officer answered "friend with the countersign." "Fetch it here" says the sentinel, "I just lost it a short time ago." Then the Corporal steped forward and told the officer to "advance and Give the countersign" which he did. [T]hen he asked what kind of a man man that was on post[.] [T]he Corpl told him a conspt of the 52d[.] [T]he officer gave orders for him to put another man on the post.