Thursday, July 9, 1863.
very dull day it rained rained hard soon after i went out i received a liter from Father to day i went around to marys i spent the
Friday 10
evening with nell cristy did not com i have a letter from tomy cristy and st all […] go past with recruits Sue was in tonight she looked
Saturday 11
lovely John stoped for her very buisy getting the folks ready to go away i went down hom Sarah was quite talketive
Annotation 1
It is possible that the soldiers Davis mentions were trained at Camp William Penn. The camp opened on June 26, 1863 eight miles north of Philadelphia in Cheltenham, adjacent to the home of abolitionists James and Lucretia Mott. Soldiers from Camp William Penn were known to parade the streets of Philadelphia. The Recorder described one such parade on October 10, 1863. Recruitment for the first regiment of black soldiers was taking place as Emilie wrote this entry. Binder, “Pennsylvania Negro Regiments,” 383-417. Wert, “Camp William Penn,” 340-341; Gallman, Mastering Wartime, 47-49.