Soldier’s Hut at Petersburg Battlefield – 8ft by 8ft- Comfy by 1865 standards!

Richard Clow mentions these winter huts in his letters to his sister. Cozy and with four men in one hut the small stove or fireplace would have kept them pretty warm. This is certainly much better than the quarters that Richard stayed in when he was waiting for transport from Boston, and a whole lot better than the ship’s hold aboard the Demolay in which 350 men were placed in the forward hold and only one hatch allowed for the men to get out into the weather on deck. In this situation, the men were four deep front to back in the black hold and many were stabbed by other soldiers as they tried to get out of the bunks over the other men to be ill or relieve themselves,  You can imagine the stench after 4 days! No wonder Richard was so ecstatic to finally get to the battlefront!