intoa\"detachment。\"ThedetachmentswerenumberedinorderfromtheNorthGate,andthesquadswerenumbered\"one,two,three。\"Ontherollsthiswasstatedaftertheman\'sname。Forinstance,achumofmine,andinthesamesquadwithme,wasCharlesL。Soule,oftheThirdMichiganInfantry。Hisnameappearedontherolls:
\"Chas。L。Soule,priv。Co。E,8dMich。Inf。,1—2。\"
Thatis,hebelongedtotheSecondSquadoftheFirstDetachment。
WhereWirzgothis,preposterousideaoforganizationfromhasalwaysbeenamysterytome。Itwasawkwardineveryway——indrawingrations,counting,dividingintomesses,etc。
Wirzwasnotlongingivingusatasteofhisquality。Thenextmorningafterhisfirstappearancehecameinwhenroll—callwassounded,andorderedallthesquadsanddetachmentstoform,andremainstandinginranksuntilallwerecounted。Anysoldierwillsaythatthereisnodutymoreannoyinganddifficultthanstandingstillinranksforanyconsiderablelengthoftime,especiallywhenthereisnothingtodoortoengagetheattention。IttookWirzbetweentwoandthreehourstocountthewholecamp,andbythattimeweofthefirstdetachmentswerealmostalloutofranks。ThereuponWirzannouncedthatnorationswouldbeissuedtothecampthatday。\"Theorderstostandinrankswererepeatedthenextmorning,withawarningthatafailuretoobeywouldbepunishedasthatofthepreviousdayhadbeen。Thoughweweresohungry,that,tousethewordsofaThirty—FifthPennsylvanianstandingnexttome——his\"bigintestineswereeatinghislittleonesup,\"itwasimpossibletokeeptherankformationduringthelonghours。Onemanafteranotherstraggledaway,andagainwelostourrations。Thatafternoonwebecamedesperate。Plotswereconsideredforadaringassaulttoforcethegatesorscalethestockade。Themenwerecrazyenoughtoattemptanythingratherthansitdownandpatientlystarve。Manyofferedthemselvesasleadersinanyattemptthatitmightbethoughtbesttomake。Thehopelessnessofanysuchventurewasapparent,eventofamishedmen,andthepropositionswentnofartherthaninflammatorytalk。