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Document Spotlight-Horse and Rider Edition

Recently transcriber Mystakaphoros brought us a somewhat lighthearted letter detailing the ragtag conditions that soldiers and government officials often faced. Now, it isn’t the conditions that are funny; it’s the way the writer describes them. He describes the equipment given to the cavalry as “catchpenny;” he laments that some horses could go “scarce a mile but something broke.” And yet another horse is “is so miserably jaded with the journey thus far that I am afraid to risk him.” It is possible to sense the writer’s frustration, even while we are chuckling at his language.

Read the original document here.

It is not too late–there are many more documents awaiting transcription. Take a moment to register (http://wardepartmentpapers.org/scripto/register.php) and choose a document to begin your adventure. You will be doing important work by adding to the historical record, and you never know what you will read!