An Enlisted Man's Gripe

 This entry is from Cyrus F. Jenkins Civil War Diary, 1861 - 1862 as found at Digital Library of Georgia.

Jenkins was an enlisted man in the Meriwether Volunteers, Company B, 13th Georgia Infantry Regiment.  The misspelled words and grammar in this excerpt are the writer's own.

Sunday morning August Sept 1st. 61

I got permission to leave the camp for the purpose of going upon the mountain to get a view of the sourrounding country In company with a commissioned officer consequently I needed no written permission a thing that I abhored so much that I never gratified my curiosity in rambling unless by slipping, off or going with a commissioned officer, Although it may become necessary to carry a pass when near the enemy. then it is necessary that private and officer may account for themselfs  but here where no enemy is near, why should a private Soldier carry a pass. when an officer can go at will, for what — is an officer but a man! is he more honest because the privates have made him what he is? does his country feel dearer to him in consequence does it instill new principals and new patriotism in his bosom. or is it because he usurps the power that his fellow man has given him. I have digressed for enough. . . .

Private R. Cecil Johnson of 8th Georgia Infantry Regiment and South Carolina Hampton
Legion Cavalry Battalion in uniform, From the Library of Congress Collection