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This was in the April 25, 1861 edition of the Toledo Blade, a note from an Old Soldier to the departing Northwest Ohio Regiment, later knwon as the 14th Ohio.
COUNSEL TO OUR VOLUNTEERS.
How To Prepare For The Campaign
The following hints to our volunteers are timely and should be heeded.
TO OUR YOUNG SOLDIERS
1. Remember that in a campaign more men die from sickness than by the bullet.
2. Line your blanket with one thickness of brown drilling. This adds but four ounces in weight and doubles the warmth.
3. Buy a small India rubber blanket (only $1.50) to lay on the ground or to throw over your shoulders when on guard duty during a rain storm. Most of the eastern troops are provided with these. Straw to lie upon is not always to be had.
4. The best military hat in use is the light colored soft felt; the crown being sufficiently high to allow space for air over the brain. You can fasten it up as a continental in fair weather, or turn it down when it is wet or very sunny.
5. Let your beard grow, so as to protect the throat and lungs.
6. Keep your entire person clean; this prevents fevers and bowel complaints in warm climates. Wash your body each day if possible. Avoid strong coffee and oily meat, Gen. Scott says that the too free use of these (together with neglect in keeping the skin clean) cost many a soldier his life in Mexico.
7. A sudden check of perspiration by chilly or night air often causes fever and death. When thus exposed do not forget your blanket.
"AN OLD SOLDIER."
.
COUNSEL TO OUR VOLUNTEERS.
How To Prepare For The Campaign
The following hints to our volunteers are timely and should be heeded.
TO OUR YOUNG SOLDIERS
1. Remember that in a campaign more men die from sickness than by the bullet.
2. Line your blanket with one thickness of brown drilling. This adds but four ounces in weight and doubles the warmth.
3. Buy a small India rubber blanket (only $1.50) to lay on the ground or to throw over your shoulders when on guard duty during a rain storm. Most of the eastern troops are provided with these. Straw to lie upon is not always to be had.
4. The best military hat in use is the light colored soft felt; the crown being sufficiently high to allow space for air over the brain. You can fasten it up as a continental in fair weather, or turn it down when it is wet or very sunny.
5. Let your beard grow, so as to protect the throat and lungs.
6. Keep your entire person clean; this prevents fevers and bowel complaints in warm climates. Wash your body each day if possible. Avoid strong coffee and oily meat, Gen. Scott says that the too free use of these (together with neglect in keeping the skin clean) cost many a soldier his life in Mexico.
7. A sudden check of perspiration by chilly or night air often causes fever and death. When thus exposed do not forget your blanket.
"AN OLD SOLDIER."
.
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