"Macomb Eagle", August 12, 1865
Chapter II, "History of the 84th Regiment"
All the necessary preparations having been made, on the 1st day of September, 1862, Capt. Ewing of the U. S. Army mustered in the regiment for the term of three years or during the war. In his inspection of men as he proceeded to muster, he rejected some from each company as unfit for service. These we noticed were generally boys from seventeen to twenty years old, most, if not all, of whom would have made excellent soldiers, and who would, as a general thing, have endured the hardships incident to a soldiers life better than men of more mature age. The fact has been remarked by many that boys of this age proved more capable of enduring the toils, privations and fatigue of actual service than those of any other age. Those who were rejected by the mustering officer regretted very much that they could not be received, but many of them subsequently were taken by other regiments, and we met them from time to time in Dixie. – The original muster-in-rolls show that . . . company C three officers and ninety-two enlisted men . . . field and staff, nine officers and four enlisted men; making the aggregate strength of the regiment nine hundred and forty-six, officers and men.
Two days after muster the regiment was ordered to be in readiness for a move at any moment – and this order continued in force for the succeeding twenty days. The drill was continued every day, and every effort put forth to render the regiment thoroughly acquainted with all the evolutions required in actual service. On the 4th day of September a large pic nic party came from Macomb, Vermont, and intermediate neighborhoods, to our camp, and enjoyed a brief visit and a good dinner with the boys before they went into the field. They brought an abundance of delicacies for the palate, but their presents was enjoyed far more than all. The day passed very happily, but toward evening, when the hour for separation and parting came, pearly tears were welling from more eyes than belonged to fond mothers, wives, daughters, and sweethearts.