8 6 The American Civil WarPrivate Robert Augustus Moore, who wrote his
diary in three 5 x 3-inch (12.7 x 7.6cm)
leather-bound volumes. (Author's collection)barely live for the smoke from burning green
juice wood. Cold - cold, indeed.'
Unlike soldiers who resented every
moment spent on drill, Moore understood
that such labor paid off in discipline on the
battlefield. He lamented his regiment's
shortage of trained officers early in the war.
'Went out this evening on battalion drill,' he
wrote in June 1861, 'made a very bad show,
many of the companies need drill in the
school of the soldiers & need some better
officers.' Leaders who lacked apparent zeal
for the war angered Moore, who in
November 1861 applauded when 'Orders
were read out this evening on dress parade
informing officers that they could not resign
& go home, or that their resignations would
not be accepted unless recommended by the
Surgeon. This, I think, is right as a great
number are resigning for no other purpose
than to get home.' Shortly thereafter he
grumbled that 'the majority of the men of
our Regt. are becoming very wild &
contracting many bad habits.'
Moore seems to have remained steadfastly
in the ranks except when ill. In a typical
pattern, contagious diseases swept through
the 17th Mississippi during the war's first
summer. Moore and many others in his
company endured a bout with measles in
June 1861 that sent them to hospitals in
Culpeper. Although he recovered in time to
fight at First Manassas, a fever landed him
back in the hospital at the end of July.
Other physical problems plagued Moore
and his comrades in the 17th, including sore
feet when on the move. On 12 March 1862,
the regiment 'marched but six miles' and
had 'a large number of lame men ... who
had to be hauled. Nearly all complain of
their feet. The Pike is bad marching as the
rocks are so rough.' Here as in many other
campaigns, most notably Lee's invasion of
Maryland in 1862, roads with crushed stone
surfaces wreaked havoc on poorly shod or
barefoot soldiers.
Old and new loyalties sometimes clashed
in Moore's ruminations. On 8 January 1862,
his thoughts turned to an earlier war when
all Americans had celebrated Andrew
Jackson's victory over the British in the
Battle of New Orleans. 'This is the
anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans,' he
wrote somewhat wistfully, 'but we are so
situated that we cannot celebrate it. Think
we will have others more closely connected
with the present generation to celebrate in
the future, yet we should never forget the
immortal hero of New Orleans.'
As a southerner and slaveholder, Jackson
represented a thoroughly acceptable hero for
Moore. Although he never specifically
mentioned slavery in his diary, Moore
obviously believed the institution formed an
essential element of southern society. He
often labeled all northerners abolitionists, as
when he mentioned receiving troubling
news from Mississippi in February 1862:
'Have received a letter from home. The
Abolitionists have committed many acts of
vandalism.' Earlier in the conflict, he lauded
white southern women willing to sacrifice
their sons for the Confederacy. 'When such
sentiments are felt & expressed by the