Our garments told the whole story of the hard campaigning we had undergone.

Now, with months of the wear and tear of prison life, sleeping on the sand, working in tunnels, digging wells, etc., we were tattered and torn to an extent that a second-class tramp would have considered disgraceful.
This is no reflection upon the quality of the clothes furnished by the Government.

We simply reached the limit of the wear of textile fabrics.
I am particular to say this, because I want to contribute my little mite towards doing justice to a badly abused part of our Army organization -- the Quartermaster's Department.

It is fashionable to speak of "shoddy," and utter some stereotyped sneers about "brown paper shoes," and "musketo-netting overcoats," when any discussion of the Quartermaster service is the subject of conversation, but I have no hesitation in asking the indorsement of my comrades to the statement that we have never found anywhere else as durable garments as those furnished us by the Government during our service in the Army.

The clothes were not as fine in texture, nor so stylish in cut as those we wore before or since, but when it came to wear they could be relied on to the last thread.