John D. Billings, The history of the Tenth Massachusetts battery of light artillery in the war of the rebellion

[187] roads where needed, corduroying impassable places over which the army must move, laying pontoon bridges, taking up the same, and all work of kindred nature. They were not called upon to fight except in self-defence, and became very expert in the duties of their department. They gave their mechanical and inventive skill full play in the construction of their officers' quarters, which were marvels of their kind, ofttimes of two stories, with many angles and much ornament, fashioned out of the straight cedar, which being undressed, gave the settlement a rustic appearance truly unique and pleasing. Even the quarters of the rank and file were remarkably ornate, and as cosy and convenient within as they were attractive without. Their streets were corduroyed, and they even boasted sidewalks similarly constructed. A comprehensive photograph of their camp at Brandy Station, in the winter of 1863– 64, would be a valuable feature in any history of the army to which this corps belonged.

In erecting our own quarters for the winter, we made no lofty endeavors of the above nature, but satisfied ourselves with the simplest construction consistent with keeping comfortable. In a former chapter the fact was mentioned of our being furnished with shelter-tents, but no description of these was given. They were pieces of drilling about four feet square, so light that an ordinary rain would easily drive through them. They were provided with buttons and button-holes on three sides. Four of these pieces, buttoned together and pitched over a rectanglar enclosure of logs built ‘cob fashion’ four or five feet high, and suitably provided with bunks, doors, and fireplaces, made on the whole a comfortable abiding-place, and one sufficiently roomy to accommodate the ‘regular boarders,’ but would not