Camp Moore #2

At Camp Moore, a large field served as the Parade Ground, cleared of pine trees by men who passed through the camp and retaining much the same size and shape it had during the war. As companies organized into regiments there, the men learned discipline, the manual of arms, and the schools of the company and battalion on this ground. Individual companies of 64-100 men drilled there and became proficient at marching and moving as organized bodies of troops. Drill masters were hired to assist with instruction because most officers were not trained when they arrived. Each day, the men drilled as squads of 10-12 men, then as companies of 64-100 men, then as regiments of about 1000 men, and each afternoon the entire camp held a dress parade that General Taylor, commander of Camp Moore, reviewed. The main camp lay beyond the tree line to the south and continued to the banks of Beaver Creek, while the upper camp, called Camp Tracy by the men, stood to the east behind the cemetery.

Kentwood, Louisiana · United States