Men extricated themselves from thick shirts.
Presently few carried anything but their necessary clothing, blankets, haversacks, canteens, and arms and ammunition.

"You can now eat and shoot," said the tall soldier to the youth.

"That's all you want to do." There was sudden change from the ponderous infantry of theory to the light and speedy infantry of practice.

The regiment, relieved of a burden, received a new impetus.

But there was much loss of valuable knapsacks, and, on the whole, very good shirts.
But the regiment was not yet veteranlike in appearance.