1                          Bucks County Intelligencer, Camp Items.  October 29, 1861  Page 3  Col. 1                          1

 

Camp Items.—Camp Lacey continues to be a point

of much interest.  Thousands of persons visited the camp

during the week, many of them coming a distance of fif-

teen to twenty miles.  The camp ground presents a lively

appearance at all hours of the day, the men being required

to perform five or six hours’ drilling daily, in order that

they may become at proficient as possible in the various

evolutions of a soldier.  They have been practising con-

siderably at “ double-quick ,” and frequently the ground

has shaken under the tread of nearly a thousand men at

full run, marching and countermarching across the spa-

cious enclosure.  These exercises are highly exciting to the

spectators.  It is amusing to see what good time some bing

fat men in the ranks can make.

The ball opened for the week on Monday afternoon, by

the presentation of a national flag to the regiment by the

ladies of Bucks county, the ceremonies of which were wit-

nessed by thousands of spectators.  A brief sketch of the

proceedings was given in our last issue, and the full par-

ticulars will be found elsewhere.  The large crowd of vis-

itors did not all disperse before darkness shut out a fur-

ther view of the volunteers and camp life.

The same afternoon, immediately after dress parade, and

while the regiment was still in line, handsome swords, the

gifts of personal friends, were presented to Capt. Warren

W. Marple and Lieut. James M. Carver.  Capt. Marple’s

sword was presented to him, on behalf of the donors, who

reside in the vicinity of Davisville, by Gen. Davis.  The

Captain received it in a very neat speech, expressing a

determination to put it to good use.  Lieut. Carver’s

sword, the present of a few of his Buckingham friends,

was presented by Richard Watson, Esq., and received by

Col. Davis, both gentlemen making highly patriotic

speeches.

On Tuesday afternoon the entire regiment, with the ex-

ception of the artillery company, marched into town and

paraded through our principal streets, making a fine ap-

pearance.  The men marched remarkably well for raw re-

cruits.  A stranger would have supposed they had been

drilling for months.  This is the result of unremitting at-

tention to the training of the men on the part of the com-

pany officers.

Watson P. Magill and John S. Williams, of Solebury,

visited the camp on Thursday for the purpose of seeing

that each man from that township and the borough of

New Hope was provided with the necessary articles for a

soldier’s comfort.  There are sixty-seven volunteers from

the two districts now in the ranks of the Ringgold Regi-

ment.  Each one is provided with a water-proof blanket,

a pair of home-made stockings, two towels, and many of

them with water-proof covers for their caps.  In addition

to the sixty-seven men now at Camp Lacey, Solebury and

New Hope have furnished as many more to various com-

panies formed in adjoining parts of New Jersey, and to

Capt. Craven’s cavalry company.  They have done well

for their country.

Thursday evening last was the time selected by the old

Doylestown Guards, who had been out in the three months’

service, under Captain Davis, for presenting to their

commander the sword voted him upon the day of their re-

turn home.  At half-past-seven o’clock the Court House

was filled with a large audience, nearly or quite half of

them being ladies.  Captain Edward L. Rogers, a ser-

geant of the Guards, was called to preside.  The weapon

was presented on behalf of the Guards by Edward J. Fox,

of Easton, and was received by Colonel Davis himself, the

acceptance being accompanied by some timely and well-

expressed remarks upon the present war and its causes. 

The sword was a very handsome one, and as a testimonial

of regard from those who shared with him the trials and

dangers of the campaign last spring, will be highly prized

by the recipient.  Subsequently, a sword and belt was

presented to Lieut. Henry W. Haney, of Company A, by

some of his friends in Doylestown.  The address to Lieut.

Haney was made by H. P. Ross, and was responded to by

Richard Watson, for the Lieutenant.  The events of the

evening were interspersed with the music of the Ring-

gold Band.

On Saturday evening last fifteen or twenty recruits for

the artillery company arrived from Reading.  There are

still about forty men needed to make the company full.—

Captain Duncan’s company, from Philadelphia, and Capt.

Walter’s company, from Reading, are both still lacking

twenty-five or thirty men.  All the other companies are

full or will be in a few days, each having the maximum

number of men—101.

The men are still without overcoats, and they have suf-

fered considerably in consequence, from exposure to the

damp, cold and frosty weather of last week.  The coats

are expected to arrive in a day or two, when the outfit of

the men will be complete.  The health of the regiment is

remarkably good, there being only about a half dozen

cases of sickness in the whole camp.  This is remarkable

in a body of over one thousand men.