RED-TAPE

 AND

 PIGEON-HOLE GENERALS:

 AS SEEN FROM THE RANKS

 DURING A

 +Campaign in the Army of the Potomac+. 

 BY

 A CITIZEN-SOLDIER. 

 "We must be brief when Traitors brave the Field. "

 NEW YORK:

 _Carleton, Publisher, 413 Broadway. _

 M DCCC LXIV. 

 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by

 GEO. W. CARLETON, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern District of New York. 

 R. CRAIGHEAD, Printer, Stereotyper, and Electrotyper

 +Carton Building+, _81, 83, and 85 Centre Street_. 

PREFACE. 

"Greek-fire has shivered the statue of John C. Calhoun in the streets ofthe City of Charleston, "--so the papers say. Whether true or not, theGreek-fire of the righteous indignation of a loyal people is fastshattering the offspring of his infamous teachings, --the armed treasonof the South, and its more cowardly ally the insidious treachery thatlurks under doubtful cover in the loyal States. In thunder tones do themasses declare, that now and for ever, they repudiate the Treason anddespise the Traitor. Nobly are the hands of our Honest Presidentsustained in prosecuting this most righteous war. 

In a day like this, the least that can be expected of any citizenis--duty. We are all co-partners in our beneficent government. We shouldbe co-laborers for her defence. Jealous of the interests of her bravesoldiery; for they are our own. Proud of their noble deeds; theyconstitute our National Heritage. 

If these campaign sketches, gathered in actual service during 1862-3, and grouped during the spare hours of convalescence from a camp fever, correct one of the least of the abuses in our military machinery--ifthey lighten the toil of the humblest of our soldiers, or nerve anew theresolves of loyalty tempted to despair, the writer will have no reasonto complain of labor lost. Great latitude of excuse for the existence ofabuses must be allowed, when we consider the suddenness with which ourvolunteers sprang into ranks at the outset of the Rebellion. Now thatthe warfare is a system, there is less reason for their continuance. Reformers must, however, remember, that to keep our citizen-soldieryeffective, they must not make too much of the citizen and too little ofthe soldier. Abuses must be corrected under the laws; but to becorrected at all they must first be exposed. 

Drunkenness, half-heartedness, and senseless routine, have done much tocripple the patriotic efforts of our people. The patriotism of the manwho at this day doubts the policy of their open reproof can well bequestioned. West Point has, in too many instances, nursed imbecility andtreason; but in our honest contempt for the small men of whom, in commonwith other institutions, she has had her share, --we must not ignorethose bright pages of our history adorned with the skill and heroism ofher nobler sons. McClellanism did not follow its chief from Warrenton;or Burnside's earnestness, Hooker's dash, and Meade's soldierly stand atGettysburg, backed as they were by the heroic fighting of the Army ofthe Potomac, would have had, as they deserved, more decisive results. 

The Young Men of the Land would the writer address in the followingpages--"because they are strong, " and in their strength is the nation'shope. In certain prospect of victory over the greatest enemy we have yethad as a nation--the present infamous rebellion--we can well awaitpatiently the correction of minor evils. 

 "Meanwhile we'll sacrifice to liberty, Remember, O my friends! the laws, the rights, The generous plan of power delivered down From age to age by your renowned forefathers, (So dearly bought, the price of so much blood;) Oh, let it never perish in your hands! But piously transmit it to your children. Do thou, great liberty! inspire our souls, And make our lives in thy possession happy. Or our deaths glorious in thy just defence. "

February, 1864. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. PAGE

The Advent of our General of Division--Camp near Frederick City, Maryland--The Old Revolutionary Barracks at Frederick--An IrishCorporal's Recollections of the First Regiment of Volunteers fromPennsylvania--Punishment in the Old First, 9

CHAPTER II. 

The Treason at Harper's Ferry--Rebel Occupation of Frederick--Patriotismof the Ladies of Frederick--A Rebel Guard nonplussed by a Lady--TheApproach to Antietam--Our Brigadier cuts Red-Tape--THE BLUNDER OF THEDAY AFTER ANTIETAM--The Little Irish Corporal's idea of Strategy, 15

CHAPTER III. 

The March to the River--Our Citizen Soldiery--Popularity of Commanders, how Lost and how Won--The Rebel Dead--How the Rebels repay Courtesy, 27

CHAPTER IV. 

A Regimental Baker--Hot Pies--Position of the Baker in line ofBattle--Troubles of the Baker--A Western Virginia Captain on a WhiskeyScent--The Baker's Story--How to obtain Political Influence--DancingAttendance at Washington--What Simon says--Confiscation of Whiskey, 33

CHAPTER V. 

The Scene at the Surgeon's Quarters--Our Little Dutch Doctor--Incidentsof his Practice--His Messmate the Chaplain--The Western VirginiaCaptain's account of a Western Virginia Chaplain--His Solitary Oath--Howhe Preached, how he Prayed, and how he Bush-whacked--His Revenge ofSnowden's Death--How the little Dutch Doctor applied the Captain'sStory, 47

CHAPTER VI

A Day at Division Head-Quarters--The Judge Advocate--The tweedle-dum andtweedle-dee of Red-Tape as understood by Pigeon-hole Generals--Red TapeReveries--French Authorities on Pigeon-hole Investigations--AnObstreperous Court and Pigeon-hole Strictures--Disgusting Head-QuarterProfanity, 59

CHAPTER VII. 

A Picket-Station on the Upper Potomac--Fitz John's Rail Order--Rails forCorps Head-Quarters _versus_ Rails for Hospitals--The Western VirginiaCaptain--Old Rosy, and How to Silence Secesh Women--The Old Woman'sFixin's--The Captain's Orderly, 70

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Reconnoissance--Shepherdstown--Punch and Patriotism--Private Tom onWest Point and Southern Sympathy--The Little Irish Corporal on JohnMitchell--A Skirmish--Hurried Dismounting of the Dutch Doctor andChaplain--Battle of Falling Waters not intended--Story of the LittleIrish Corporal--Patterson's Folly, or Treason, 83

CHAPTER IX. 

Reconnoissance concluded--What we Saw and What we didn't See, and whatthe Good Public Read--Pigeon-hole Generalship and the Press--ThePreacher Lieutenant and how he Recruited--Comparative Merits of BlackUnion Men and White Rebels--A Ground Blast, and its effect upon aPigeon-hole General--Staff Officers Striking a Snag in the WesternVirginia Captain--Why the People have a right to expect Active ArmyMovements--Red Tape and the Sick List--Pigeon-holing at DivisionHead-quarters, 100

CHAPTER X. 

Departure from Sharpsburg Camp--The Old Woman of Sandy Hook--Harper'sFerry--South sewing Dragon's Teeth by shedding Old John's Blood--TheDutch Doctor and the Boar--Beauties of Tobacco--Camp Life on theCharacter--Patrick, Brother to the Little Corporal--General Patterson noIrishman--Guarding a Potato Patch in Dixie--The Preacher Lieutenant onEmancipation--Inspection and the Exhorting Colonel--The Scotch Tailor onMilitary Matters, 116

CHAPTER XI. 

Snicker's Gap--Private Harry on the "Anaconda"--Not inclined to turnBoot-Black--"Oh! why did you go for a Soldier?"--Theex-News-Boy--Pigeon-hole Generalship on the March--The Valley of theShenandoah--A Flesh Carnival--The Dutch Doctor on a Horse-dicker--An OldRebel, and how he parted with his Apple-Brandy--Toasting the"Union"--Spruce Retreats, 137

CHAPTER XII. 

The March to Warrenton--Secesh Sympathy and Quarter-Master'sReceipts--Middle-Borough--The Venerable Uncle Ned and his Story of theCaptain of the Tigers--The Adjutant on Strategy--Red Tapism andMac-Napoleonism--Movement Stopped--Division Head-Quarters out ofWhiskey--Stragglers and Marauders--A Summary Proceeding--Persimmons andPicket-Duty--A Rebellious Pig--McClellanism, 160

CHAPTER XIII. 

Camp near Warrenton--Stability of the Republic--Measures, not Men, regarded by the Public--Removal of McClellan--Division Head-Quarters aHouse of Mourning--A Pigeon-hole General and his West PointPatent-Leather Cartridge-Box--Head-Quarter Murmuring andMutterings--Departure of Little Mac and the Prince--Cheering by Word ofCommand--The Southern Saratoga--Rebel Regret at McClellan's Departure, 178

CHAPTER XIV. 

A Skulker and the Dutch Doctor--A Review of the Corps by Old Joe--AChange of Base; what it means to the Soldier, and what to thePublic--Our Quarter-Master and General Hooker--The Movement by the LeftFlank--A Division General and Dog driving--The Desolation of Virginia--ARebel Land-Owner and the Quarter-Master--"No Hoss, Sir!"--The PoeticalLieutenant unappreciated--Mutton or Dog?--Desk Drudgery and SenselessRoutine, 193

CHAPTER XV. 

Red-Tape and the Soldier's Widow--Pigeon-holing at Head-Quarters andWeeping at the Family Fireside--A Pigeon-hole General Outwitted--Fishingfor a Discharge--The Little Irish Corporal on TopographicalEngineers--Guard Duty over a Whiskey Barrel, 210

CHAPTER XVI. 

The Battle of Fredericksburg--Screwing Courage up to the StickingPoint--Consolations of a Flask--Pigeon-hole Nervousness--Abandonment ofKnapsacks--Incidents before, during, and after the Fight, 225

CHAPTER XVII. 

The Sorrows of the Sutler--The Sutler's Tent--Generals manufactured bythe Dailies--Fighting and Writing--A GlanderedHorse--Courts-martial--Mania of a Pigeon-hole General on theSubject--Colonel and Lieutenant Colonel in Strait-Jackets, 247

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Dress Coats _versus_ Blouses--Military Law--Bill theCook--Courts-Martial--Important Decision in Military Law--A Man with TwoBlouses on, can be compelled to put a Dress Coat on top--A ColoredFrench Cook and a Beefy-browed Judge-Advocate--The Mud March--NoPigeon-holing on a Whiskey Scent--Old Joe in Command--Dissolution ofPartnership between the Dutch Doctor and the Chaplain, 264

CHAPTER XIX. 

The Presentation Mania--The Western Virginia Captain in the WarDepartment--Politeness and Mr. Secretary Stanton--Capture of the DutchDoctor--A Genuine Newspaper Sell, 283

CHAPTER XX. 

The Army again on the Move--Pack Mules and Wagon Trains--A NegroProphetess--The Wilderness--Hooped Skirts and Black Jack--The Five Days'Fight at Chancellorsville--Terrible Death of an Aged Slave--APigeon-hole General's "Power in Reserve, " 295

CHAPTER XXI. 

The Pigeon-hole General and his Adjutant, under Charges--The ExhortingColonel's Adieu to the Sunday Fight at Chancellorsville; Reasonsthereof--Speech of the Dutch Doctor in Reply to a Peace-Offering fromthe Chaplain--The Irish Corporal stumping for Freedom--Black Charlie'sCompliments to his Master--Western Virginia at the Head of a BlackRegiment, 313

RED-TAPE

AND

PIGEON-HOLE GENERALS. 

CHAPTER I. 

_The Advent of our General of Division--Camp near Frederick City, Maryland--The Old Revolutionary Barracks at Frederick--An IrishCorporal's Recollections of the First Regiment of Volunteers fromPennsylvania--Punishment in the Old First. _

"Our new Division-General, boys!" exclaimed a sergeant of the 210thPennsylvania Volunteers, whose attention and head were turned at theclatter of horses' hoofs to the rear. "I heard an officer say that hewould be along to-day, and I recognise his description. "

The men, although weary and route-worn, straightened up, dressed theirranks, and as the General and Staff rode past, some enthusiastic soldierproposed cheers for our new Commander. They started with a will, but theGeneral's doubtful look, as interpreted by the men, gave little or noencouragement, and the effort ended in a few ragged discordant yells. 

"He is a strange-looking old covey any how, " said one of the boys in anundertone. "Did you notice that red muffler about his neck, and howpinched up and crooked his hat is, and that odd-looking moustache, andhow savagely he cocks his eyes through his spectacles?"

"They say, " replied the sergeant, "that we are the first troops that hehas commanded. He was a staff officer before in the Topographical Corps. Didn't you notice the T. C. On his coat buttons?"

"And is he going to practise upon us?" blurts out a bustling red-facedlittle Irish corporal. "Be Jabers, that accounts for the crooked cowroad we have marched through the last day--miles out of the way, andniver a chance for coffee. "

"You are too fast, Terence, " said the sergeant; "if he belongs to theTopographical Corps, he ought at least to know the roads. "

"And didn't you say not two hours ago that we were entirely out of theway, and that we had been wandering as crooked as the creek that flowsback of the old town we are from, and nearly runs through itself in adozen places?"

The sergeant admitted that he had said so, but stated that perhaps theGeneral was not to blame, and added somewhat jocosely: "At any rate thewinding of the creek makes those beautiful walks we have so much enjoyedin summer evenings. "

"Beautiful winding walks! is it, sergeant! Shure and whin you have yourforty pound wait upon your back, forty rounds of lead and powdher inyour cartridge-box, and twenty more in your pocket, three days' rationsin your haversack, a musket on your shoulder, and army brogans on yourthrotters, you are just about the first man that I know of to takestraight cuts. "

 * * * * *

It was a close warm day near the middle of September. The roads weredusty and the troops exhausted. Two days previously the brigade to whichthey belonged had left the pleasantest of camps, called "Camp Whipple"in honor of their former and favorite Division Commander. Situated in anorchard on the level brow of a hill that overlooked Washington, theimposing Capitol, the broad expanse of the Potomac dotted with frequentcraft, the many national buildings, and scenery of historic interest, the men left it with regret, but carried with them recollections thatoften in times of future depression revived their patriotic ardor. 

Over dusty roads, through the muddy aqueduct of the Chesapeake and OhioCanal, hurried on over the roughly paved streets of Georgetown, andthrough the suburbs of Washington, they finally halted for the night, and, as it chanced through lack of orders, for the succeeding day also, near Meridian Hill. Under orders to join the Fifth Army Corps commandedby Major-General Fitz John Porter, to which the Division had beenpreviously assigned, the march was resumed on the succeeding day, whichhappened to be Sunday, and in the afternoon of which our chapter opens. 

A march of another day brought the Brigade to a recent Rebel campground. Traces of their occupancy were found not only in theirdepredations in the neighborhood destructive of railroad bridges, butalso in letters and wall-paper envelopes adorned with the lantern-jawedphiz of Jefferson Davis. The latter were sought after with avidity assoon as ranks were broken and tents pitched; the more eagerly perhapsfor the reason that during the greater part of their previous month ofservice they had been frequently within sound of rebel cannon, althoughbut once under their fire. During the previous day, in fact, they hadmarched to the music of the artillery of South Mountain. 

That night awakened lively recollections in the mind of Terence McCarty, our lively little Irish corporal. His duty for the time as corporal of arelief gave him ample opportunity to indulge them. He had belonged tothe old First Pennsylvania Regiment of three months men, that a littleover a year before, when Maryland was halting between loyalty anddisloyalty, had spent its happiest week of service in the yard of therevolutionary barracks in the city of Frederick. Terence was but twoshort miles from the spot. Brimfull of the memories, he turned to acomrade, who had also belonged to the First, and who with others chancedto stand near. 

"I say, Jack! Do you recollect the ould First and Frederick, and do youknow that we are but two miles and short ones at that from the blissedould white-washed barracks, full of all kind of quare guns and canteenslooking like barrels cut down; and the Parade Ground where our ouldColonel used to come his 'Briskly, men! Briskly, ' when he'd put usthrough the manual, and where so many ladies would come to see ourivolutions, and where they set the big table for us on the Fourth, andwhere--"

"Hold on, corporal! you can't give that week's history to-night. "

"I was only going to obsarve, Jack, that I feel like a badly used man. "

"How so, Terence?"

"Why you see nearly ivery officer, commissioned and non-commissioned, ofthe ould First has been promoted. The Colonel was too ould for service, or my head on it, he would have had a star. Just look at the captainsby way of sample--Company A, a Lieutenant-Colonel, expecting anddesarving an eagle ivery day; Company B, a Lieutenant-Colonel; CompanyC, our own Lieutenant-Colonel; Company D, a Brigadier for soldierlylooks, daring, and dash; Company E, a Captain in an aisy berth in theregular service; Company F, a Colonel; Company G, a Major; Company H, aLieutenant-Colonel; Company I, I have lost sight of, and thelion-hearted captain of Company K, doing a lion's share of work at thehead of a regiment in Tennessee. Now, Jack, the under officers and manyprivates run pretty much the same way, but not quite as high. Bad luckto me, I was fifth corporal thin and am eighth now--promotedcrab-fashion. Fortune's wheel gives me many a turn, Jack! but alwaysstops with me on the lower side. "

"I saw you on the upper side once, " retorted Jack roguishly. 

"And whin? may I ask. "

"When, do you say? why, when you took about half a canteen too much, andthat same old colonel had you tied on the upper side of a barrel on thegreen in front of the barracks. "

"Bad luck to an ill-natured memory, Jack, for stirring that up, " repliedthe corporal, breaking in upon the laughter that followed, "but I nowrecollect, it was the day before you slipped the guard whin the colonelgave you a barrel uniform with your head through the end, and kept mefor two mortal long hours in the hot sun, a tickling of you under thenose with a straw, and daubing molasses on your chaps to plaze theflies, to the great admiration of a big crowd of ladies and gentlemen. "

Jack subsided, and the hearty laughter at the corporal's ready retortwas broken a few minutes later by a loud call for the corporal of theguard, which hurried Terence away, dispersed the crowd, and might aswell end this chapter. 

CHAPTER II. 

_The Treason at Harper's Ferry--Rebel Occupation ofFrederick--Patriotism of the Ladies of Frederick--A Rebel Guardnonplussed by a Lady--The Approach to Antietam--Our Brigadier cuts RedTape--The Blunder of the day after Antietam--The little Irish Corporal'sidea of Strategy. _

The Brigade did not rest long in its new camp. The day and a half, however, passed there had many incidents to be remembered by. Fish werecaught in abundance from the beautiful Monocacy. But the most impressivescene was the long procession of disarmed, dejected men, who had beenbasely surrendered at Harper's Ferry, and were now on their wayhomeward, on parole. Many and deep were the curses they uttered againsttheir late commanders. "Boys, _we've_ been sold! Look out, " cried acomely bright-eyed young officer of eighteen or thereabouts. "That wehave, " added a chaplain, who literally bore the cross upon his shouldersin a pair of elegant straps. When will earnest men cease to be foiled inthis war by treacherous commanders? was an inquiry that pressed itselfanxiously home. 

But the thunders of Antietam were reverberating through that mountainousregion, distinctly heard in all their many echoes, and of course theall-absorbing topic. At 3 P. M. Orders came to move a short distancebeyond Frederick. The division was rapidly formed, and the men marchedjoyously along through the streets of Frederick, already crowded withour own and Rebel wounded, to the sound of lively martial music; butnone more joyously than the members of the old First, whoserecollections were brisk of good living as they recognised in many alady a former benefactress. Bradley T. Johnson's race, that commencedwith his infamously prepared and lying handbills, was soon run inFrederick. No one of the border cities has been more undoubtedly ordevotedly patriotic. Its prominent ministers at an early day took boldpositions. The ladies were not behind, and many a sick and woundedsoldier will bless them to his latest hour. The world has heard of thewell deserved fame of Florence Nightingale. History will hold up to anation's gratitude thousands of such ministering angels, who, moving inhumbler circles, perhaps, are none the less entitled to a nation'spraise. "Great will be their reward. "

To show the spirit that emboldened the ladies of Frederick, a notableinstance is related as having occurred during the Rebel occupation ofthe city under General Stuart. Many Union ladies had left the place. Notso, however, with Mrs. D. , the lively, witty, and accomplished wife of aprominent Lutheran minister. The Union sick and wounded that remaineddemanded attention, and for their sake, as well as from her own highspirit, she resolved to stay. Miss Annie C. , the beautiful and talenteddaughter of Ex-U. S. Senator C. , an intimate friend of Mrs. D. , throughlike devotion, also remained. Rebel officers, gorgeous in grey and giltlace, many of them old residents of the place, strutted about thestreets. The ragged privates begged from door to door. Mrs. D. , and herfriend had been separated several days--a long period considering theirclose intimacy and their present surroundings. Mrs. D. Resolved to visither, and with her to resolve was to execute. Threading her way throughthe crowded streets, heeding not the jeers or insults of the rebelsoldiery, she soon came in front of the Cooper Mansion, to find a rebelflag floating from an upper window, and a well dressed soldierly lookinggreyback, with bayonet fixed, pacing his beat in front. Nothing daunted, Mrs. D. Approached. "Halt, " was the short sharp hail of the sentinel, ashe brought his bayonet to the charge. "Who is quartered here?" askedMrs. D. , gradually nearing the sentry. "Maj. -Gen. Stuart, " was the briefreply, "I want to visit a lady acquaintance in the house. " "My ordersare strict, madam, that no one can cross my beat without a pass. " "_Passor no pass, I must and will go into that house_, " and quick as thoughtthis frail lady dashed aside the bayonet, sprang across the beat, andentered the hall, while the sentry confused, uncertain whether he shouldfollow or not, stood a minute or two before resuming his step. From anupper window Gen. Stuart laughed heartily at the scene, and was loud inpraise of her tact and pluck. 

But all this time our division has been moving through the streets ofFrederick, in fact has reached what was to have been its camping groundfor the night. The reader will excuse me; older heads and more exactpens have frequently, when ladies intervened, made much longerdigressions. 

The halt was but for a moment. An aide-de-camp, weary-looking, on ahorse covered with foam, dashed up to the division commander, bearing anorder from the commander-in-chief that the division must join its corpsat Antietam without delay. The fight might be renewed in the morning, and if so, fresh troops were needed. The order was communicated throughthe brigade commanders to commanders of regiments, while the subordinatefield officers went from company to company encouraging the men, tellingthem that a glorious victory had been gained, that the rebels werehemmed in by the river on three sides, and our army in front; that therewas but one ford, and that a poor one, and that the rebels must eithertake to the river indiscriminately, be cut to pieces, or surrender. Inshort, that we had them. 

These statements were received with the most enthusiastic applause. Asthe Division proceeded on its march, they were confirmed by reports ofspectators and wounded men in ambulances. What was the most significantfact to the men who had seen the thousands of stragglers and skulkersfrom the second battle of Bull Run, was the entire absence of stragglingor demoralization of any kind. Our troops must have been victorious, wasthe ready and natural suggestion. The thought nerved them, and pushingup their knapsacks, and hitching up their pantaloons, they trudged witha will up the mountain slope. 

That mountain slope!--it would well repay a visit from one of our largecities, to descend that mountain a bright summer afternoon. A suddenturn in the road brings to view the sun-gilded spires of the city ofFrederick, rising as if by enchantment from one of the loveliest ofvalleys. Many of the descriptions of foreign scenery pale before therealities of this view. When will our Hawthornes and our Taylors be justto the land of their birth?

Scenery on that misty night could not delay the troops. The mountain-topwas gained. About half way down the northern slope of the mountain theDivision halted to obtain the benefits of a spring fifty yards from theroad. A steep path led to it, and one by one the men filed down to filltheir canteens. The delay was terribly tedious, and entirelyunnecessary, as five minutes' inquiry among the men, many of whom werefamiliar with the road, would have informed the Commanding General ofabundance of excellent water, a short mile beyond, and close by thewayside. Pride, which prevails to an unwarranted extent among too manyregular officers, is frequently the cause of much vexation. Inquiry andexertion to lighten the labors of our brave volunteers would, with everyearnest officer, be unceasing. A short distance further a halt wasordered for coffee, that "sublime beverage of Mocha, " indispensable incamp or in the field. Strange to say, our brigadier, who habituallyconfined himself closely to cold water, was one of the most particularof officers in ordering halts for coffee. 

South Mountain was crossed, but in the dusky light little could be seenof the devastation caused by the late battle. "Yonder, " said a woundedman who chanced to be passing, "our gallant General lost his life. " Thebrave, accomplished Reno! How dearly our national integrity ismaintained! Brave spirit, in your life you thought it well worth thecost; your death can never be considered a vain sacrifice!

Boonsboro' was entered about day-break. The road to Sharpsburg was heretaken, and at 7-1/2 A. M. , having marched during that night twenty-eightmiles, the Division stood at arms near the battle-ground along a roadcrowded with ammunition trains. Inquiry was made as to the ammunition, and the number of rounds for each man ordered to be increasedimmediately from forty to sixty. 

"Pioneer! hand me that axe, " said our brigadier, dismounting. "Sergeant, " addressing the sergeant of the ammunition guard, "hand outthose boxes. " "The Division General has given strict orders, if youplease, General, that the boxes must pass regularly through the hands ofthe ordnance officer, " said the sergeant, saluting. "I am _acting_ordnance officer; hand out the boxes!" was the command, that from itstone and manner brooked no delay. A box was at his feet. In an instant aclever blow from the muscular arm of the hero of Winchester laid itopen. Another and another, until the orderly sergeant had given therequired number of rounds to every man in the brigade. "Attention!Column! Shoulder Arms! Right Face! Right Shoulder Shift Arms!" and at aquickstep the brigade moved towards the field. 

After passing long trains of ambulances and ammunition wagons, the boyswere saluted as they passed through the little town of Keetysville byexhortations from the wounded, who crowded every house, and forgot theirwounds in their enthusiasm. "Fellows, you've got 'em! Give 'em h--l!"yelled an artillery sergeant, for whom a flesh wound in the arm wasbeing dressed at the window by a kind-hearted looking country woman. "Give it to 'em!" "They're fast!" "This good lady knows every foot ofthe ground, and says so. " The good lady smiled assent, and was salutedwith cheer upon cheer. Dead horses, a few unburied men, marks of shot inthe buildings, now told of immediate proximity to the field. A shortdistance further, and the Division was drawn up in line of battle, behind one of the singular ridges that mark this memorable ground. Fragments of shells, haversacks, knapsacks, and the like, told how hotlythe ground had been contested on the previous day. The order to loadwas quickly obeyed, and the troops, with the remainder of the FifthCorps in their immediate neighborhood, stood to arms. 

A large number of officers lined the crest of the ridge, and thither, with leave, the Colonel and Lieut. -Colonel of the 210th repaired. Thescene that met their view was grand beyond description. Another somewhathigher and more uniform ridge, running almost parallel to the ridge orrather connected series of ridges on one of which the officers stood, was the strong position held by the rebels on the previous day. Betweenthe ridges flowed the sluggish Antietam, dammed up for milling purposes. Beyond, on the crest of the hill, gradually giving way, were the rebelskirmishers; our own were as gradually creeping up the slope. Theskirmishers were well deployed upon both sides; and the parallel flashesand continuous rattle of their rifles gave an interest to the scene, ineffaceable in the minds of spectators. 

"Do you hear that shell, you can see the smoke just this side ofSharpsburg on our left, " said the Colonel, addressing his companion. "There it bursts, " and a puff of white smoke expanded itself in the airfifty yards above one of our batteries posted on a ridge on the left. Two pieces gave quick reply. "Officers, to your posts, " shouted anaide-de-camp, and forthwith the officers galloped to their respectivecommands. 

"Boys, the ball is about to open, put your best foot foremost, " said theColonel to his regiment. The men, excited, supposing themselves about topass their first ordeal of battle, straightened up, held their pieceswith tightened grips, and nervously awaited the "forward. " Beyond thesharp crack of the rifles, however, no further sound was heard. Hourafter hour passed. At length an aide from the staff of the DivisionGeneral cantered to where the Brigadier, conversing with several of hisfield officers, stood, and informed him that it was the pleasure of theDivision General that the men should be made comfortable, _as noimmediate attack was apprehended_. "No immediate attack apprehended!"echoed the Colonel. "Of course not. Why don't we attack them?"

The aide flushed, said somewhat excitedly: "That was the order Ireceived, sir. "

"Boys, cook your coffee, " said our Brigadier, somewhat mechanically--abrown study pictured in his face. 

The field officers scattered to relieve their hunger, or rather theiranxiety as to the programme of the day. 

"Charlie, " said the Lieut. -Col. , addressing a good-humored lookingContraband, "get our coffee ready. "

The Colonel, with the other field and staff officers, seated themselvesupon knapsacks unslung for their accommodation, silently, eachapparently waiting upon the other to open the conversation. In themeantime several company officers who had heard of the order gatheredabout them. 

"I don't understand this move at all, " at length said the Colonelnervously. "Here we are, with a reserve of thirty thousand men who havenot been in the fight at all, with ammunition untouched, perfectly freshand eager for the move. The troops that were engaged yesterday have forthe most part had a good night's rest and are ready and anxious for abrush to-day. The rebels, hemmed in on three sides by the river--with amiserable ford, and that only in one place, as every body knows, and asthere is no earthly excuse for our generals not knowing, as this groundwas canvassed often enough in the three months' service. Why don't weadvance?" continued the Colonel, rising. "Their sharpshooters are nearthe woods now, and when they reach it, they'll run like Devils. Whydon't we advance? We can drive them into the river, if they like thatbetter than being shelled; or they can surrender, which they wouldprefer to either. And as to force, I'll bet we have one third more. "

The Colonel, an impressive, fine-looking man, six feet clear in hissocks, of thirty-eight or thereabouts, delivered the above with morethan his usual earnestness. 

The Adjutant, of old Berks by birth, rather short in stature, thick-set, with a mathematically developed head, was the first to rejoin. 

"It can't be for want of ammunition, Colonel! This corps has plenty. Anofficer in a corps engaged yesterday told me that they had enough, andyou all saw the hundreds of loaded ammunition wagons that we passed inthe road close at hand--and besides, what excuse can there be? The RebsI understand did not get much available ammunition at the ferry. Theyare far from their base of supplies, while we are scant fifteen milesfrom one railroad, and twenty-eight from another, and good roads toboth. "

"Be easy, " said the Major, a fine specimen of manhood, six feet two anda half clear of his boots, an Irishman by birth, the brogue, however, ifhe ever had any, lost by an early residence in this country. "Be easy. Little Mac is a safe commander. We tried him, Colonel, in the Peninsula, and I'll wager my pay and allowances, and God knows I need them, thathe'll have his army safe. "

"Yes, and the Rebel army too, " snappishly interrupted the Colonel. 

"I have always thought, " said the Lieut. -Col. , "that the test of a greatcommander was his ability to follow up and take advantage of a victory. One thousand men from the ranks would bear that test triumphantlyto-day. It is a wonder that our Union men stiffened in yesterday'sfight, whose blue jackets we can see from yonder summit in the rear ofour sharpshooters, do not rise from the dead, and curse the haltingimbecility that is making their heroic struggles, and glorious deaths, seemingly vain sacrifices. "

"Too hard, Colonel, too hard, " says the Major. 

"Too hard! when results are developing before our eyes, so that everyservant, even, in the regiment can read them. Mark my word for it, Major; Lee commenced crossing last evening, and by the time we creep tothe river at five hundred yards a day, if at all, indeed, he will havehis army over, horse, foot, and dragoons, and leave us the muskets onthe field, the dead to bury, farm-houses full of Rebel wounded to takecare of, and the battle-ground to encamp upon--a victory barely worththe cost. Why not advance, as the Col. Says. The worst they can do inany event is to put us upon the defensive, and they can't drive us fromthis ground. "

"If old Rosecranz was only here, " sang out a Captain, who had beenitching for his say, and who had seen service in Western Virginia, "hewouldn't let them pull their pantaloons and shirts off and swim across, or wade it as if they were going out a bobbing for eels. When I was inWestern Virginia----"

"If fighting old Joe Hooker could only take his saddle to-day, " chimedin an enthusiastic company officer, completely cutting off the Captain, "he'd go in on his own hook. "

"And it would be, " sang out a beardless and thoughtless Lieutenant--

 "Old Joe, kicking up ahind and afore And the Butternuts a caving in, around old Joe. "

The apt old song might have given the Lieutenant a little credit at anyother time, but the matter in hand was too provokingly serious. Coffeeand crackers were announced, the field officers commenced their meal insilence, and the company officers returned to their respective quarters. 

The troops rested on their arms all that afternoon, at times loungingclose to the stacks. Upon the face of every reflecting officer andprivate, deep mortification was depicted. It did not compare, however, with the chagrin manifested by the Volunteer Regiments who had beenengaged in the fight, and whose thinned ranks and comrades lost madethem closely calculate consequences. Not last among the reflecting classwas our little Irish corporal. 

"Gineral, " said he, advancing cap in hand, to our always accessibleBrigadier, as he sat leisurely upon his bay--"Gineral! will you permit acorporal, and an Irishman at that, to spake a word to ye?"

"Certainly, corporal!" the fine open countenance of the General relaxinginto a smile. 

"Gineral! didn't we beat the Rebs yesterday?"

"So they say, corporal. "

"Don't the river surround them, and can they cross at more than oneplace, and that a bad one, as an ould woman whose pig I saved to-daytould me?"

"The river is on their three sides, and they have only one ford, andthat a bad one, corporal. "

"Thin why the Divil don't we charge?"

"Corporal!" said the General, laughing, "I am not in command of thearmy, and can't say. "

"Bad luck to our stars that ye aren't, Gineral! there would be somebodyhurt to-day thin, and it would be the bluidy Butthernuts, I'm thinking. "The corporal gave this ready compliment as only an Irishman can, andwithdrew. 

At dusk orders were received for the men to sleep by their arms. Butthere was no sleep to many an eye until a late hour that night. Neverwhile life lasts will survivors forget the exciting conversations ofthat day and night. "Tired nature, " however, claimed her dues, and oneby one, officers and privates at late hours betook themselves to theirblankets. The stars, undisturbed by struggles on this little planet, were gazed at by many a wakeful eye. Those same stars will look down asplacidly upon the future faithful historian, whose duty it will be toplace first in the list of cold, costly military mistakes, the blunderof the day after the battle of Antietam. 

CHAPTER III. 

_The March to the River--Our Citizen Soldiery--Popularity of Commandershow Lost and how Won--The Rebel Dead--How the Rebels repay Courtesy. _

An early call to arms was sounded upon the succeeding morning, and theDivision rapidly formed. The batteries that had been posted atcommanding points upon the series of ridges during the previous day andnight were withdrawn, and the whole Corps moved along a narrow road, that wound beautifully among the ridges. 

The Volunteer Regiments were unusually quiet; the thoughts of the nightprevious evidently lingered with them. The American Volunteer is no meremachine. Rigorous discipline will give him soldierlycharacteristics--teach him that unity of action with his comrades andimplicit obedience of orders are essential to success. But hisindependence of thought remains; he never forgets that he is a citizensoldier; he reads and reflects for himself. Few observant officers ofvolunteers but have noticed that affairs of national polity, movementsof military commanders, are not unfrequently discussed by men inblouses, about camp fires and picket stations, with as much practicalability and certainly quite as courteously, as in halls wherelegislators canvass them at a nation's cost. It has been justlyremarked that in no army in the world is the average standard ofintelligence so high, as in the American volunteer force. The sameobservation might be extended to earnestness of purpose and honesty ofintention. The doctrine has long since been exploded that scoundrelsmake the best soldiers. Men of no character under discipline will fight, but they fight mechanically. The determination so necessary to successis wanting. European serfs trained with the precision of puppets, andlike puppets unthinking, are wanting in the dash that characterizes ourvolunteers. That creature of impulse the Frenchman, under all that isleft of the first Napoleon, the shadow of a mighty name, will chargewith desperation, but fails in the cool and quiet courage so essentialin seeming forlorn resistance. In what other nation can you combine theelements of the American volunteer? It may be said that the BritishVolunteer Rifle Corps would prove a force of similar character. In manyrespects undoubtedly they would; as yet there is no basis of comparison. Their soldierly attainments have not been tested by the realities ofwar. 

There was ample food for reflection. On the neighboring hills heavydetails of soldiers were gathering the rebel dead in piles preparatoryto committing them to the trenches, at which details equally heavy, vigorously plied the pick and spade. Our own dead, with few exceptions, had already been buried; and the long rows of graves marked by head andfoot boards, placed by the kind hands of comrades, attested but toosadly how heavily we had peopled the ridges. 

While the troops were _en route_, the Commander-in-Chief in his hack andfour, followed by a staff imposing in numbers, passed. The Regularscheered vociferously. The applause from the Volunteers was brief, faint, and a most uncertain sound, and yet many of these same VolunteerRegiments were rapturous in applause, previous to and during the battle. Attachment to Commanders so customary among old troops--so desirable instrengthening the morale of the army--cannot blind the intelligentsoldier to a grave mistake--a mistake that makes individual effortcontemptible. True, a great European Commander has said that soldierswill become attached to any General; a remark true of the timesperhaps--true of the troops of that day, --but far from being true ofvolunteers, who are in the field from what they consider the necessityof the country, and whose souls are bent upon a speedy, honorable, andvictorious termination of the war. 

A glance at the manner in which our Volunteer Regiments are mostfrequently formed, will, perhaps, best illustrate this. A town meetingis called, speeches made appealing to the patriotic, to respond to thenecessities of the country; lists opened and the names of mechanics, young attorneys, clerks, merchants, farmers' sons, dry-goods-men andtheir clerks, and others of different pursuits, follow each other instrange succession, but with like earnestness of purpose. An intelligentsoldiery gathered in this way, will not let attachments to men blindthem as to the effects of measures. 

About 10 A. M. , our brigade was drawn up in line of battle on a ridgeoverlooking the well riddled little town of Sharpsburg. Arms werestacked, and privilege given many officers and men to examine theadjacent ground. A cornfield upon our right, along which upon the northside ran a narrow farm road, that long use had sunk to a level of twoand in most places three feet, below the surface of the fields, had beencontested with unusual fierceness. Blue and grey lay literally witharms entwined as they fell in hand to hand contest. The fence rails hadbeen piled upon the north side of the road, and in the rifle pit formedto their hand with this additional bulwark, they poured the most gallingof fires with comparative impunity upon our troops advancing to thecharge. A Union battery, however, came to the rescue, and an enfiladingfire of but a few moments made havoc unparalleled. Along the whole lineof rebel occupation, their bodies could have been walked upon, soclosely did they lie. Pale-faced, finely featured boys of sixteen, theirdelicate hands showing no signs of toil, hurried by a misguidedenthusiasm from fond friends and luxurious family firesides, contrastedstrangely with the long black hair, lank looks of the Louisiana Tiger, or the rough, bloated, and bearded face of the Backwoodsman of Texas. ABrigadier, who looked like an honest, substantial planter, lay half overthe rails, upon which he had doubtless stood encouraging his men, whilelying half upon his body were two beardless boys, members of his staff, and not unlikely of his family. Perhaps all the male members of thatfamily had been hurried at once from life by that single shell. Thesight was sickening. Who, if privileged, would be willing to fix a limitto God's retributive justice upon the heads of the infamous, and in manyinstances cowardly originators of this Rebellion!

Cavalry scouting parties brought back the word that the country to theriver was clear of the rebels, and in accordance with what seemed to bethe prevailing policy of the master-mind of the campaign, immediateorders to move were then issued. The troops marched through that villageof hospitals, --Sharpsburg--and halted within a mile and a half of theriver, in the rear of a brick dwelling, which was then taken andsubsequently used as the Head-Quarters of Major-General Fitz JohnPorter. A line of battle was again formed, arms stacked, and an orderissued that the ground would be occupied during the night. 

In the morning the march was again resumed by a road which wound aroundthe horseshoe-shaped bend in the river. When approaching the river, firing was heard, apparently as if from the other side, and a shortdistance further details were observed carrying wounded men and rangingthem comfortably around the many hay and straw stacks of theneighborhood. Inquiry revealed that a reconnoitring party, misled by theapparent quiet of the other side, had crossed, fallen into an ambuscade, and under the most galling of fires, artillery and musketry, kept upmost unmercifully by the advancing rebels, who thus ungraciously repaidthe courtesy shown them the day after Antietam--had been compelled torecross that most difficult ford. Our loss was frightful--one new andmost promising regiment was almost entirely destroyed. 

The men thought of the dead earnestness of the rebels, and as they movedforward around the winding Potomac--deep, full of shelving, sunkenrocks, from the dam a short distance above the ford, that formerly fedthe mill owned by a once favorably known Congressman, A. R. Boteler, towhere it was touched by our line--they reviewed with redoubled force, the helplessness of the rebels a few days previously, and to say theleast, the carelessness of the leader of the Union army. 

The regimental camp was selected in a fine little valley that narrowedinto a gap between the bluffs, bordering upon the canal, sheltered bywood, and having every convenience of water. The rebels had used it buta few days previously, and the necessity was immediate for heavy detailsfor police duty. And here we passed quite unexpectedly six weeks of daysmore pleasant to the men than profitable to the country, and of whichsomething may be said in our two succeeding chapters. 

CHAPTER IV. 

_A Regimental Baker--Hot Pies--Position of the Baker in line ofBattle--Troubles of the Baker--A Western Virginia Captain on a WhiskeyScent--The Baker's Story--How to obtain Political Influence--DancingAttendance at Washington--What Simon says--Confiscation of Whiskey. _

Besides the indispensables of quartermaster and sutler the 210th hadwhat might be considered a luxury in the shape of a baker, who hadvolunteered to accompany the regiment, and furnish hot cakes, bread, andpies. Tom Hudson was an original in his way, rather short of stature, far plumper and more savory-looking than one of his pies, with apleasing countenance and twinkling black eye, that meant humor orroguishness as circumstances might demand, and a never-ending supply ofwhat is always popular, dry humor. He was just the man to manage thethousand caprices of appetite of a thousand different men. While incamps accessible to the cities of Washington and Alexandria, mattersmoved smoothly enough. His zinc-plated bakery was always kept fired up, and a constant supply of hot pies dealt out to the long strings of men, who would stand for hours anxiously awaiting their turn. A movement ofthe baker's interpreted differently by himself and the men, at one timecreated considerable talk and no little feeling. On several occasionsthe trays were lifted out of the oven, and the pies dashed upon theout-spread expectant hands, with such force as to break the too oftenhalf-baked undercrust. In consequence the juices would ooze out, tricklescalding hot between the fingers, and compel the helpless man to dropthe pie. One unfortunate fellow lost four pies in succession. As theycost fifteen cents apiece, the pocket was too much interested to let thematter escape notice. A non-commissioned officer, who had lost a pie, savagely returned to the stand, and demanded another pie or his money. The baker was much too shrewd for that. The precedent, if set, wouldwell nigh exhaust his stock of pies, and impoverish his cash drawer. 

"I say, " said the officer, turning to the men, "it is a trick. He wantsto sell as many pies as he can. He knows well enough that when one fallsin this mud fifteen cents are gone slap. "

"Now, boys, " said the baker blandly, "you know me better than that. I'dscorn to do an act of that kind for fifteen cents. You know how itis--what a rush there always is here. You want the pies as soon asbaked, and baking makes them hot. Now I want to accommodate you all assoon as possible, and of course I serve them out as soon as baked. Youhad better all get tin-plates or boards. "

"That won't go down, old fellow, " retorted the officer. "You know thatthere is hardly a tin-plate in camp, and boards are not to be had. "

A wink from the baker took the officer to the private passage in therear of his tent. What happened there is known but to the two, but everafter the officer held his peace. Not so with the men. However, as thepies were not dealt out as hot in future, the matter gradually passedfrom their minds. 

To make himself popular with the men, Tom resorted to a variety ofexpedients, one of which was to assure them that in case of anenterprise that promised danger, he would be with them. He was taken upquite unexpectedly. An ammunition train on the morning of the secondbattle of Bull Run, bound to the field, required a convoy. The regimentwas detailed. Tom's assertions had come to the ears of the regimentalofficers, and without being consulted, he was provided with a horse, andtold to keep near the Adjutant. There was a drizzling rain all day long, but through it came continually the booming of heavy ordnance. 

"Colonel! how far do you suppose that firing is?" "And are they Rebelcannon?" were frequent inquiries made by Tom during the day. About noonhe asserted that he could positively ride no further. But ride he mustand ride he did. The Regiment halted near Centreville, having passedPorter's Corps on the way and convoyed the Train to the required point. After a short halt the homeward route was taken and Tom placed in therear. By some accident, frequent when trains take up the road, he becameseparated from the Regiment and lost among the teams. The Regiment movedon, and as it was now growing dark, turned into a wood about half a miledistant, for the night. Tom had just learned his route, when "ping!"came a shell from a Rebel battery on a hill to the left, exploded amongsome team horses, and created awful confusion. He suddenly forgot hissoreness, and putting spurs to his horse at a John Gilpin speed, rodeby, through and over, as he afterwards said, the teams. The shells flewrapidly. Tom dodged as if every one was scorching his hair, at the sametime giving a vigorous kick to the rear with both heels. At his speedhe was soon by the teams; in fact did not stop until he was ten Virginiamiles from that scene of terror. But we will meet him again in themorning. 

The Regiment was soon shelled out of the wood, and compelled to continueits march. Three miles further they encamped in a meadow, passed a wetnight without shelter, and early next morning were again upon the road. Thousands of stragglers lined the way, living upon rations plunderedfrom broken-down baggage wagons--lounging lazily around fires that werekept in good glow by rails from the fences near which they were built. The preceding day these stragglers and skulkers were met in squads atevery step of the road. At a point sufficiently remote from danger, their camps commenced. In one of these camps, situated in a fencecorner, the baker was espied, stretched at full length and fast asleep, upon two rails placed at a gentle slope at right angles to the fence. Surrounding him were filthy, mean-looking representatives ofhalf-a-dozen various regiments--the Zouave more gay than gallant inflaming red breeches--blouses, dress coats, and even a pair of shoulderstraps, assisted to complete the crowd. Near by was tied his jadedhorse. 

The baker was awakened. To his surprise, as he said, he saw theregiment, as he had supposed them to be much nearer home than himself. One of his graceless comrades, however, bluntly contradicted this, andaccused him of being mortally frightened when he halted the nightbefore, as although they assured him that he was full ten miles fromdanger, he insisted that these rifled guns had terribly long range. Thebaker remonstrated, and quietly resumed his place by the Adjutant andColonel. 

"I have been thinking, Colonel, " said he, in the course of a half hour, riding alongside of the Colonel, and speaking in an undertone, "that Iran a great risk unnecessarily. "

"Why?" asked the Colonel. 

"You see my exhortations are worth far more to the men than my example. When they crowd my quarters, as they do every morning, I never fail todeal out patriotic precepts with my pies. "

"But particularly the pies, " retorted the Colonel. 

"That is another branch of my case, " slily continued the baker. "Suppose, if such a calamity can be dwelt upon, that I had been killed, and there was only one mule between me and death, who would have run mybakery? who, " elevating his voice, "would have furnished hot rolls forthe officers, and warm bread cakes and pies for the men? Riding alonglast night, these matters were all duly reflected upon, and I wound up, by deciding that the regiment could not afford to lose me. "

"But you managed to lose the regiment, " replied the Colonel. 

"Pure accident that, I assure you, upon honor. Now in line of battle Ihave taken pains to ascertain my true position, but this confoundedmarching by the flank puts me out of sorts. In line of battle thequartermaster says he is four miles in the rear--the sutler says that heis four miles behind the quartermaster, and as it would look singularupon paper to shorten the distance for the baker, besides other goodreasons, I suppose I am four miles behind the sutler. "

"Completely out of range for all purposes, " observed the Adjutant, whohad slily listened with interest. 

"There is a good reason for that position, it is well chosen, and showsforesight, " continued the baker, dropping his rein, and enforcing hisremarks by apt gestures. "Suppose we are in line of battle, and theRebels in line facing us at easy rifle range. Their prisoners say thatthey have lived for a month past on roasted corn and green apples. Nowwhat will equal the daring of a hungry man! These Rebel Commanders areshrewd in keeping their men hungry; our men have heart for the fight, itis true, but the rebels have a stomach for it--they hunger for a chanceat the spoils. The quartermaster then with his crackers, as they mustnot be needlessly inflamed, must be kept out of sight--the sutler, too, with his stores, must be kept shady--but above all the baker. Supposethe baker to be nearer, " said he, with increased earnestness, "and abreeze should spring up towards their lines bearing with it the smell ofwarm bread, the rebels would rise instanter on tip-toe, snuff aminute--concentrate on the bakery, and no two ranks or columns doubledon the centre, could keep the hungry devils back. Our line pierced, wemight lose the day--lose the day, sir. "

"And the baker, " said the Major, joining in the laugh caused by hisargument. 

Shortly after that march, matters went indifferently with the baker. Camp was changed frequently, and over the rough roads he kept up withdifficulty. 

A week after the battle of Antietam, after satisfying himself fully ofthe departure of the Rebels, he arrived in camp. He had picked up by theway an ill-favored assistant, whose tent stood on the hill side somelittle distance from the right flank of the regiment. 

Two nights after his arrival there was a commotion in camp. A tongueycorporal, slightly under regulation size, in an exuberance of spirits, had mounted a cracker-box almost immediately in front of the sutler'stent, and commenced a lively harangue. He told how he had left aprofitable grocery business to serve his country--his pecuniarysacrifices--but above all, the family he had left behind. 

"And you've blissed them by taking your characther with you, " chimed inthe little Irish corporal. 

"Where did you steal your whiskey?" demanded a second. 

The confusion increased, the crowd was dispersed by the guard, all atthe expense of the sutler's credit, as it was rumored that he hadfurnished the stimulant. 

The sutler indignantly demanded an investigation, and three officers, presumed to possess a scent for whiskey above their fellows, weredetailed for the duty. One of these was our friend the Virginia captain. 

Under penalty of losing his stripes, the corporal confessed that he hadobtained the liquor at the baker's. Thither the following evening thedetail repaired. The assistant denied all knowledge of the liquor. Hewas confronted with the corporal, and admitted the charge, and that butthree bottles remained. 

"By ----, " said our Western Virginia captain, hands in pocket, "I smellten more. There are just thirteen bottles or I'll lose my straps. "

The confidence of the captain impressed the detail, and they went towork with a will--emptying barrels of crackers, probing with a bayonetsacks of flour, etc. A short search, to the pretended amazement of theassistant, proved the correctness of the captain's scent. The baker wassent for, and with indignant manner and hands lifted in holy horror, hepoured volley after volley of invective at the confounded assistant. 

"But, gentlemen, " said the baker, dropping his tone, "I've known worsethings than this to happen. I've known even bakers to get tight. "

"And your bacon would have stood a better chance of being saved if youhad got tight, instead of putting a non-commissioned officer in thatcondition, " said one of the detail. "The Colonel, I am afraid, Tom, willclear you out. "

"Well, " sighed the baker, after a pause of a moment, "talk about Job andall the other unfortunates since his day, why not one of them had myvariety of suffering. Did you ever hear any of my misfortunes?"

"We see one. "

"My life has been a series of mishaps. I prosper occasionally in smallthings, but totals knock me. God help me if I hadn't a sure port in astorm--a self-supporting wife. For instance--but I can't commence thatstory without relieving my thirst. " A bottle was opened, drinks had allaround, and the baker continued--

"You see, gentlemen, when Simon was in political power, I waggledsuccessfully and extensively among the coal mines in CentralPennsylvania. In those localities voters are kept underground untilelection day, and they then appear above often in such unexpected forceas to knock the speculations of unsophisticated politicians. But Simonwas not one of that stripe. He knew his men--the real men of influence;not men that have big reputations created by active but less widelyknown under-workers, but the under-workers themselves. Simon dealt withthese, and he rarely mistook his men. Now I was well known in thoseparts--kept on the right side of the boys, and the boys tried to keep onthe right side of me, and Simon knew it. No red tape fettered Simon, asthe boys say it tied our generals the other side of Sharpsburg in orderto let the Rebs have time to cross. If the measures that his shrewdforesight saw were necessary for the suppression of this Rebellion, atits outbreak, had been adopted, we would be encamped somewhat lower downin Dixie than the Upper Potomac--if indeed there would be any necessityfor our being in service at all. 

"He was not a man of old tracks, like a ground mole; indeed like somemilitary commanders who seem lost outside of them; but of readyresources and direct routes, gathering influence now by one means andthen by another, and perhaps both novel. Now Simon set me at work inthis wise. 

"'Tom, ' one morning, says an old and respected citizen of our place, whoknew my father and my father's father, and me as an unlucky dog from mycradle, 'Tom, did ever any idea of getting a permanent and profitableposition--say, as you are an excellent penman--as clerk in one of thedepartments at Harrisburg or Washington, enter your head?'

"At this I straightened up, drew up my shirt collar, pulled down myvest, and said with a sort of hopeful inquiry, 'Why should there?'

"'Tom, you are wasting your most available talent. Do you know that youhave influence--and political influence at that?'

"Another hitch at my shirt collar and pull at my vest, as visions of theBrick Capitol at Harrisburg and the White one at Washington dancedbefore my eyes. 

"'Did you ever reflect, Tom, upon the source of political power?'continued the old gentleman, and without waiting for an answer, fortunately, as I was fast becoming dumbfoundered, 'the people, Tom, thepeople; not you and I, so much as that miner, ' said he, pointing to arough ugly-looking fellow that I had kicked out of my wife'sbar-room--or, rather, got my ostler to do it--two nights before, 'Thatman, Tom, is a representative of thousands; we may represent butourselves. Now these people are controlled. They neither think nor actfor themselves, as a general rule; somebody does that for them. Now, ' ashe spoke, trying to take me by a pulled-out button-hole, 'you might aswell be that somebody as any man I know. '

"'Why, Lord bless you, Mr. Simpson, I can't do my own thinking, and asto acting, my wife says I am acting the fool all day long. '

"'Tom, you don't comprehend me, you know our county sends three membersto the State Legislature, and that they elect a United States Senator. '

"'Yes. '

"'Well, now, our county can send Simon C---- to the United StatesSenate. '

"'But our county oughtn't to do it, '--my whig prejudices that I hadimbibed with my mother's milk coming up strong. 

"'Tut, tut, Tom, didn't I stand shoulder to shoulder with your father inthe old Clay Legion? Whiggery has had its day, and Henry Clay wouldstand with us now. '

"'But with Simon's?'

"'Yes, Simon's principles have undergone a wholesome change. '

"I couldn't see it, but didn't like to contradict the old man, and hecontinued. 

"'Now, Thomas, be a man; you have influence. I know you have it. ' Here Istraightened up again. 'Just look at the miners who frequent your hotel, each of them has influence, and don't you think that you could controltheir votes? Should you succeed, Simon's Scotch blood will never let himforget a friend. '

"'Or forgive an enemy, ' I added. 

"'Tom, don't let your foolish prejudices stand in the way of yoursuccess. Your father would advise as I do. '

"'Mr. S. , I'll try. '

"'That's the word, Tom, ' said the old man, patting me on the shoulder. 'It runs our steam-engines, builds our factories, in short, has made ourcountry what it is. '

"I took Mr. S. 's hand, thanked him for his suggestions, with an effortswallowed my prejudices against the old Chieftain, and resolved to workas became my new idea of my position. 

"By the way, the recollection of that effort to swallow makes my throatdry, and it's a long time between drinks. "

Another round at the bottle, and Tom resumed. 

"'Well, work I did, like a beaver; there wasn't a miner in myneighborhood that I didn't treat, and a miner's baby that I didn't kiss, and often their wives, as some unprincipled scoundrel one day told Mrs. Hudson, to the great injury of my ears and shins for almost a week, andthe upshot of the business was, that my township turned a politicalsomerset. Friends of Simon's, in disguise, went to Harrisburg, weresuccessful, and I was not among the last to congratulate him. 

"'Mr. Hudson, ' said the Prince of politicians, 'how can I repay you foryour services?'

"Like a fool, as my wife always told me I was, I made no suggestion, butlet the remark pass with the tameness of a sheep--merely muttering thatit was a pleasure to serve him. Simon went to Washington--made nostriking hits on the floor, but was great on committees. 

"Another idea entered my noddle, this clip without the aid of Mr. S. Mypenmanship came into play. Days and nights of most laborious workproduced a full length portrait of Simon, that at the distance of tenfeet could not be distinguished from a fine engraving. I seized myopportunity, found Simon in cozy quarters opposite Willard's, andpresented it in person. He was delighted--his daughter was delighted--afull-faced heavily bearded Congressman present was delighted, and afterrepeated assurances of 'thine to serve, ' on the part of the Senator, Icrossed to my hotel--not Willard's--hadn't as yet sufficient elevationof person and depth of purse for that, --but an humbler one in a backstreet. Next day I saw my handiwork in the Rotunda--the admiration ofall but a black long-haired puppy, an M. C. And F. F. V. , as Iafterwards learned, who said to a lady at his elbow who had admired it, 'Practice makes some of the poor clerks at the North tolerably goodpensmen. ' I could have kicked him, but thought it might interfere withthe little matter in hand. 

"'Tom, ' said the senatorial star of my hopes one day, when my purse hadbecome as lean as a June shad, 'Tom, there is a place of $800 a year, Ihave in view. A Senator is interfering, but I think it can be managed. You must have patience, these things take time. I will write to you asearly as any definite result is attained. '

"Relying on Simon's management, which in his own case had never failed, next morning saw me in the cars with light heart and lighter purse, bound for home and Mrs. H. , who I am always proud to think regretted myabsence more than my presence, although she would not admit it. 

"Days passed; months passed; my wife reproached me with lost time--mypicture was gone; I had not heard from Simon; I ventured to write; nextmail brought a letter rich in indefinite promises. 

"Years passed, and Simon was Secretary of War at a time when the officehad influence, position, and patronage, unequalled in its previoushistory. 'Now is your time, Tom, ' something within whispered--notconscience--for that did not seem to favor my connection with Simon. 

"I wrote again. Quarter-Masters, Clerks by the thousands, Paymasters--Iwas always remarkably ready in disposing of funds--and Heaven only knowswhat not were wanted in alarming numbers. Active service was proposed bySimon; but you know, gentlemen, I am constitutionally disqualified forthat. And after tediously waiting months longer, I succeeded withoutSimon's aid in obtaining my present honorable but unfortunate position. 

"And that reminds me of the whiskey, another round, men. " It was taken;Tom's idea was to drink the detail into forgetfulness of their errand. But he missed his men. He might as well have tried to lessen a sponge bysoaking it. The Virginia Captain announced that the Colonel had orderedthem to confiscate the whiskey for the use of the Hospital, and to theSurgeon's quarters the detail must next proceed. The Captain gathered upthe bottles. The detail bowed themselves out of the tent, and poor Tomthought his misfortunes crowned, as he saw them leave laboring under aload of liquor inside and out. At the Surgeon's tent we will again seethem. 

CHAPTER V. 

_The Scene at the Surgeon's Quarters--Our Little Dutch Doctor--Incidentsof his Practice. --His Messmate the Chaplain--The Western VirginiaCaptain's account of a Western Virginia Chaplain--His Solitary oath--Howhe Preached, how he Prayed, and how he Bush-whacked--His revenge ofSnowden's death--How the little Dutch doctor applied the Captain'sStory. _

Taps had already been sounded before the detail arrived at the Surgeon'stent. The only Surgeon present had retired to his blankets. Aroused bythe blustering, he soon lit a candle, and sticking the camp candlestickinto the ground, invited them in. 

And here we must introduce the Assistant-Surgeon, or rather the littleDutch Doctor as he was familiarly called by the men. Considering hischaracter and early connexion with the regiment, we are at fault in notgiving him an earlier place in these pages. 

The Doctor was about five feet two in height, hardly less incircumference about the waist, of an active habit of body and turn ofmind, eyes that winked rapidly when he was excited, and a movable scalpwhich threw his forehead into multiform wrinkles as cogitations beneathit might demand. A Tyrolese by birth, he was fond of his Father-land, its mountain songs, and the customs of its people. Topics kindred tothese were an unfailing fund of conversation with him. Thoroughlyeducated, his conversation in badly-broken English, for he made littleprogress in acquiring the language, at once amused and instructed. Amonghis fellow surgeons and officers of his acquaintance, he ranked high asa skilful surgeon on account of superior attainments, acquired partlythrough the German Universities and partly in the Austrian service, during the campaign of Magenta, Solferino, and the siege of Mantua. Witha German's fondness for music, he beguiled the tedium of many a longwinter evening. With his German education he had imbibed radicalism toits full extent. Thoroughly conversant with the Sacred Scriptures he wasa doubter, if not a positive unbeliever, from the Pentateuch toRevelation. In addition to this, his flings at the Chaplain, hismessmate, made him unpopular with the religiously inclined of theregiment. He had besides, the stolidity of the German, and their coolcalculating practicalism. This did not always please the men. Theythought him unfeeling. 

"What for you shrug your shoulders?' said he on one occasion to a manfrom whose shoulders he was removing a large fly blister. 

"It hurts. "

"Bah, wait till I cuts your leg off--and you know what hurts. "

"Here, you sick man, here goot place, " said he, addressing a man justtaken to the hospital with fever, in charge of an orderly sergeant, atsurgeon's call, "goot place, nice, warm, dead man shust left. " Remarkssuch as these did not, of course, tend to increase the comfort of themen; they soon circulated among the regiment, were discussed inquarters, and as may be supposed greatly exaggerated, and all at theDoctor's cost. But the Doctor pursued the even tenor of his way, entirely unmindful of them. 

About the time of which we write, a clever, honest man died of a diseasealways sudden in its termination, rheumatic attack upon the heart. TheDoctor had informed him fully of his disease, and that but little couldbe done for it. The poor man, however, was punctual in attendance atSurgeon's Call, and insisted upon some kind of medicine. Bread pillswere furnished. One morning, after great complaint of pain about theheart, and a few spasms, he died. His comrades, shocked, thought hisdeath the effect of improper medicine. The Doctor's pride was touched. He insisted upon calling in other surgeons; the pills found in hispocket were analyzed, and discovered to be only bread. The corpse wasopened, and the cause of death fully revealed. As the Doctor walked awayin stately triumph, some of the men who had been boisterous against him, approached by way of excusing their conduct, and said that now they wereperfectly satisfied. "What you know!" was his gruff reply, "you not knowa man's heart from a pig's. "

Many like incidents might be told--but we must not leave these Captainsstanding too long at the door of the tent; with the production of thelight in they came, with the remark that they had brought hospitalsupplies. In the meantime several officers, field and company, attractedby the noise and whiskey; came in from regimental head-quarters. 

"Must see if goot, " and the Doctor applied the bottle to his lips; itwas not a favorite drink of his, and tasted badly in lieu of Rhine wineor lager. 

"May be goot whiskey. "

"Let practical whiskey drinkers have a chance, " said two or three atonce, and the bottle went its round. 

The test was not considered satisfactory until another and another hadbeen emptied. 

The increasing confusion aroused the Chaplain, who hitherto had beensnugly ensconced beneath his blankets in the corner opposite the Doctor. 

"Here, Chaplain, your opinion, and don't let us hear anything aboutputting the bottle to your neighbor's lips, " said a rough voice in thecrowd. The Chaplain politely declined, with the remark that theyappeared too anxious to put the bottle to their own lips to require anyassistance from their neighbors. 

"Chaplain not spiritually minded, " muttered the Doctor, "so far butthree preaches, and every preach cost government much as sixty tollar. "The calculation at the Chaplain's expense, amused the crowd, and annoyedthe Chaplain, who resumed his blankets. 

"When I was in Western Virginny, under Rosecrans, "--

"The old start and good for a yarn, " said an officer. 

"Good for facts, " replied the Chief of the Detail. 

"Never mind, Captain, we'll take it as fact, " said the Adjutant. 

"We had a chaplain that was a chaplain in every sense of the word. "

"Did he drink and swear?" inquired a member of the Detail. 

"On long marches and in fights he had a canteen filled with what hecalled chaplain's cordial, about one part whiskey and three water. Itasted it, but with little comfort. One day, a member of Rosy's staffseeing him pulling at it, asked for it, and after a strong pull, toldthe chaplain that he was weak in spiritual things. 'Blessed are the poorin spirit, ' was the quick answer of the chaplain. As to swearing, he wasnever known to swear but once. 

"I heard an officer tell the Adjutant a day or two ago, that what wasconsidered the prettiest sentence in the English language, had beenwritten by a smutty preacher. I don't recollect the words as he repeatedit, but it was about an old officer, who nursed a young one, and someone told him the young one would die. The old officer excited, said, 'ByG--d, he sha'nt die. ' It goes on to say then that an Angel flew up toheaven, to enter it in the great Book of Accounts, and that the Angelwho made the charge cried over it and blotted it out. That is thesubstance anyhow. Well, sir, if the Third Virginny's Chaplain's oath wasever recorded it is in the same fix. "

"Well, tell us about it, how it happened, " exclaimed several. 

"Why you see, Rosy sent over one day for a Major who had lately comeinto the Division, and told him that 300 rebels were about six miles toour left, in the bushes along a creek, and that he should take 300 men, and kill, capture, or drive them off. The Major was about to make astatement. 'That's all, Major, ' with a wave of his hand for him toleave, 'I expect a good account. '

"That was Rosy's style: he told an officer what he wanted, and hesupposed the officer had gumption enough to do it, without botheringhim, as some of our red-tape or pigeon-hole Generals, as the boys callthem, do with long written statements that a memory like a tarred stickcouldn't remember--telling where these ten men must be posted, thosetwenty-five, and another thirty, etc. I wonder what such office Generalsthink--that the Rebels will be fools enough to attack us when we wantthem to, or take ground that we would like to have them make a standon. "

"Captain, we talk enough ourselves about that; on with the story. "

"Well, four companies, seventy-five strong each, were detailed to gowith him, and mine among the number, from our regiment. The chaplain gotwind of it, and go he would. By the time the detail was ready, he hadhis bullets run, his powder-horn and fixin's on, and long Tom, as hecalled his Kentucky rifle, slung across his shoulder. "

"His canteen?" inquired an officer disposed to be a little troublesome. 

"Don't recollect about that, " said the Captain, somewhat curtly. 

"On the march he mixed with the men, talked with them about all kinds ofuseful matters, and gave them a world of information. 

"We had got about a mile from where we supposed the Rebels were; mycompany, in advance as skirmishers, had just cleared a wood, and wereten yards in the open, when the Butternuts opened fire from a wood aheadat long rifle range. One man was slightly wounded. We placed him againsta tree with his back to the Rebels, and under cover of the woods weredeciding upon a plan of attack, when up gallops our fat Major with justbreath enough to say, 'My God, what's to be done?'

"I'll never forget the chaplain's look at that. He had unslung long Tom;holding it up in his right hand, he fairly yelled out, 'Fight, by G--d!Boys, follow me. ' And we did follow him. Skirting around throughunderbrush to our left, concealed from the Rebs, we came to an openagain of about thirty yards. The Rebs had retired about eighty yards inthe wood to where it was thicker. 

"Out sprang the Chaplain, making a worm fence, Indian fashion, for a bigchestnut. We followed in same style. My orderly was behind anotherchestnut about ten feet to the Chaplain's left, and slightly to hisrear. There was for a spell considerable random firing, but no one hurt, and the Rebs again retired a little. We soon saw what the Chaplain wasafter. About eighty-five yards in his front was another big chestnut, and behind it a Rebel officer. They blazed away at each other in finestyle--both good shots, as you could tell by the bark being chipped, nowjust where the Chaplain's head was, and now just where the officer'swas. The officer was left-handed. The Chaplain could fire right or leftequally well. By a kind of instinct for fair play and no gouging thateven the Rebs feel at times, the rest on both sides looked at thatfight, and wouldn't mix. My orderly had several chances to bring theRebel. Their rifles cracked in quick succession for quite a spell. TheChaplain, at last, not wanting an all-day affair of it, carefully againdrew a bead on a level with the chip marks on the left of the Rebeltree. He had barely time to turn his head without deranging the aim, when a ball passed through the rim of his hat. As he turned his head, hegave a wink to the orderly, who was quick as lightning in taking a hint. A pause for nearly a minute. By and by the Rebel pokes his head out tosee what was the matter. Seeing the gun only, and thinking the Chaplainwould give him a chance when he'd take aim, he did not pull it in asquick as usual. My orderly winked, --a sharp crack, and the Rebel officerthrew up his hands, dropped his rifle, and fell backward, with well nighan ounce ball right over his left eye, through and through his head. Ourmen cheered for the Chaplain. The Rebs fired in reply, and rushed tosecure the body. That cost them three more men, but they got theirbodies, and fast as legs could carry them, cut to their fort aboutthree miles to their rear. We of course couldn't attack the fort, andreturned to camp. The boys were loud in praise of the Chaplain. Theirchin music, as they called camp rumors, had it that the officer killedwas a Rebel chaplain. Old Rosy, when he heard of it, laughed, and sworelike a trooper. I hear he has got over swearing now--but it couldn'thave been until after he left Western Virginny. I heard our Chaplain saythat he heard a brother chaplain say, and he believed him to be aChristian, --that he believed that the Apostle Paul himself would learnto swear inside of six months, if he entered the service in WesternVirginny. Washington prayed at Trenton, and swore at Monmouth, and Idon't believe that the War Department requires Chaplains to be betterChristians than Washington. Our old Chaplain used to say that there weremany things worse than swearing, and that he didn't believe that menoften swore away their chances of heaven. "

"Comforting gospel for you, captain, " said that troublesome officer. 

"He was a bully chaplain, " continued the captain, becoming moreanimated, probably because the regimental chaplain, turtle-like, hadagain protruded his head from between the blankets. "He had no longtailed words or doctrines that nobody understood, that tire soldiers, because they don't understand them, and make them think that thechaplain is talking only to a few officers. That's what so often keepsmen away from religious services. Our chaplain used to say that youcould tell who Paul was talking to by his style of talk. I can't say howthat is from my own reading; but I always heard that Paul was a sensibleman, and if so he certainly would suit himself to the understanding ofhis crowd. "

"Our old chaplain talked right at you. No mistake he meantyou--downright, plain, practical, and earnest. He'd tell his crowd ofbackwoodsmen, flatboatmen and deck hands--the hardest customers that thegospel was ever preached to, --'That the war carried on by the Governmentwas the most righteous of wars; they were doing God's service byfighting in it. On the part of the rebels it was the most unnatural andwicked of wars. They called it a second Revolutionary War, thescoundrels! When my father and your father, Tom Hulzman, ' said he, addressing one of his hearers, 'fought in the Revolution, they foughtagainst a tyrannical monarchy that was founded upon a landedaristocracy--that is, rich big feeling people, that owned very bigfarms. The Government stands in this war, if any thing, better than ourfathers stood. We fight against what is far worse than a landedaristocracy, meaner in the sight of God and more hated by honest men, this accursed slave aristocracy, that will, if they whip us--(Can't dothat, yell the crowd. ) No, they can't. If they should, we would be nobetter than the poor whites that are permitted to live a dog's life onsome worn-out corner of a nigger-owner's plantation. Would you have yourchildren, Joe Dixon, insulted, made do the bidding of some long-hairedlank mulatto nabob? (Never, says Joe. ) Then, boys, look to your arms, fire low, and don't hang on the aim. We must fight this good fight out, and thank God we can do it. If we die, blessed will be our memory in thehearts of our children. If we live and go to our firesidesbattle-scarred, our boys can say, 'See how dad fought, and every scar infront, ' and we'll be honored by a grateful people. ' And he'd tell of thesufferings of their parents, wives, and children, if we didn't succeed, till the water courses on the dirty faces of his crowd would be as plainas his preaching. 

"And pray! he'd pray with hands and eyes both open, in such a way thatevery one believed it would have immediate attention; that God woulddamn the Rebellion; and may be next day he'd have Long Tom doing itsfull share in hurrying the rebels themselves to damnation. 

"And kind hearted! why old Tim Larkins, who had a wound on the shin thatwouldn't heal, told me with tears in his eyes that he had been mother, wife, and child to him. He went about doing good. 

"And now I recollect, " and the Captain's eye glistened as he spoke, "howhe acted when young Snowden was wounded. Snowden was a slender, pale-faced stripling of sixteen, beloved by every body that knew him, and if ever a perfect Christian walked this earth, he was one, even ifhe was in service in Western Virginny. The chaplain was fond of company, and, as was his duty, mixed with the men. Snowden was reserved, much byhimself, and had little or no chance to learn bad habits; that is theonly way I can account for his goodness. I often heard the chaplain tellthe boys to imitate Snowden, and not himself; 'you'll find a pure mouththere, boys, because the heart is pure; you'll see no letters ofintroduction to the devil, ' as the chaplain called cards, 'in hisknapsack. ' By the way, he was so hard on cards, that even the boatmen, who knew them better than their A B C's, were ashamed to play them. Hewould say, 'Snowden is brave as man can be; he has a right to be, he isprepared for every fate. A christian, boys, makes all the better soldierfor his being a Christian, ' and he would tell us of Washington, Col. Gardner, that preacher that suffered, fought and died near Elizabeth, inthe Jerseys, and others. 

"In bravery, none excelled Snowden. We were lying down once, but aboutsixty yards from a wood chuck full of rebels, when word was sent thatour troops on the left must be signalled, to charge in a certain way. Several understood the signs, but Snowden first rose, mounted a stump, and did not get off although receiving flesh wounds in half-a-dozendifferent places, and his clothing cut to ribands, until he saw thetroops moving as directed. How we gritted our teeth as we heard thebullets whiz by that brave boy. I have the feeling yet. We thought hisgoodness saved him. His was goodness! Not that kind that will stare apreacher full in the face from a cushioned pew on Sunday, and gouge youover the counter on Monday, but the genuine article. His time was yet tocome. 

"One day we had driven the rebels through a rough country some miles, skirmishing with their rear-guard; the Chaplain and Snowden with mycompany foremost. We neared a small but deep creek the rebels hadcrossed, and trying to get across, we were scattered along the bank. Iheard a shot, and as I turned I saw poor Snowden fall, first on his kneeand then on his elbow. I called the Chaplain. They were messmates--heloved Snowden as his own child, and always called him 'my boy. ' Herushed to him, 'My boy, who fired that shot?' The lad turned to a clumpof bushes about 80 yards distant on the other side of the creek. LongTom was in hand, but the rebel was first, and a ball cut the Chaplain'scoat collar. The flash revealed him; in an instant long Tom was inrange, and another instant saw a Butternut belly face the sun. Droppinghis piece, falling upon his knee, he raised Snowden gently up with hisleft hand. 'I am dying, ' whispered the boy, 'tell my mother I'll meether in heaven. ' The Chaplain raised his right hand, his eyes swimmingin tears, and in tones that I'll never forget, and that make me a betterman every time I think of them, he said, 'O God, the pure in heart isbefore thee, redeem thy promise, and reveal thyself. ' A slight gurgle, and with a pleasant smile playing upon his countenance, the soul of JohnSnowden, if there be justice in heaven, went straight up to the God whogave it. " Tears had come to the Captain's eyes, and were glistening inthe eyes of most of the crowd. 

The Dutch doctor alone was unmoved. Stoically he remarked, "Very gootstory, Captain, goot story, do our Chaplain much goot. "

The crowd left quietly--all but the Captain, who, never forgettingbusiness in the hurry of the moment, drew a receipt for the transfer ofthirteen bottles of whiskey to the hospital department, which the doctorsigned without reading. 

CHAPTER VI. 

_A Day at Division Head-Quarters--The Judge Advocate--The tweedle-dumand tweedle-dee of Red-Tape as understood by Pigeon-holeGenerals--Red-tape Reveries--French Authorities on Pigeon-holeInvestigations--An Obstreperous Court and Pigeon-holeStrictures--Disgusting Head-Quarter Profanity. _

"The General commanding Division desires to see Lieutenant Colonel ----, 210th Regiment, P. V. , Judge Advocate, immediately, " were words that metthe eye of the latter officer, as he unfolded a note handed him by anorderly. It was about nine in the forenoon of a fine day in October. Buckling on his sword, and ordering his horse, he rode at a livelycanter to the General's Head-Quarters. 

"Colonel, " said the General, pulling vigorously at the same time at theleft side of his moustache, as if anxious that his teeth should takehold of it, "I have sent for you in regard to this Record. Do you know, sir, that this Record has given me a d----d sight of trouble; why, sir, I consulted authorities the greater part of last night, French andAmerican. "

"In regard to what point, General?"

"In regard to what point? In regard to all the points, sir. There, sir, is the copy made of that order detailing the Court. It reads, 'Detailedfor the Court, ' whereas it should be 'Detail for the Court. ' My mind isnot made up fully as to whether the variance vitiates the Record or not. The authorities appear to be silent upon that point. To say the least, it is d----d awkward. "

"General, the copy is a faithful one of the order issued from yourHead-Quarters. "

"From my Head-Quarters, sir? By G--d, Colonel, that can't be. If I havebeen particular, and have prided myself upon any one thing, it has beenupon having papers drawn strictly according to the Regulations. And Ihave tried to impress it upon my clerks. That infernal blunder made atmy Head-Quarters! I'll soon see how that is. " And the General, Record inhand, took long strides, for a little man, towards the Adjutant's tent. 

"Captain, " said he, addressing an officer who was best known in theDivision as a relative of a leading commander, and whose only claim tomerit--in fact, it had to counterbalance many habits positivelybad--consisted of his reposing under the shadow of a mighty name, "whereis the original order detailing this Court?" "Here, General, " said aclerk, producing the paper. The General's eye rested for a moment uponit, then throwing it upon the table, he burst out passionately:"Captain, this is too G--d d--n bad after all my care and trouble ingiving you full instructions. Is it possible that the simplest ordercan't be made out without my supervision, as if, by G--d, it was mybusiness to stand over your desks all day long, see every paper folded, endorsement made, and the right pigeon-hole selected? This won't do. Igive full instructions, and expect them carried out. By G--d, " continuedthe General, striding vehemently across to his marquee, "they must becarried out. "

"Colonel, I see that you are not accountable for this. If the d----dfool had only made it 'Detail of the Court, ' it might have passedunnoticed. "

"General, " suggested the Colonel, "would not that have been improper?Would it not have implied an already existing organization of the court?whereas the phrase in the order is intended merely to indicate who shallcompose the court. "

"It would have looked better, sir, " said the General, somewhat sharply. "Colonel, you are not to blame for this; you can return to quarters, sir. "

The Colonel bowed himself out, remounted his black horse, and whileriding at a slow walk, could not but wonder if the Government would nothave been the gainer if it had made it the business of the General tofold and endorse papers, and dust pigeon-holes. It was generallyunderstood that this occupation had been, previous to his being placedin command of the Division, the sum-total of the General's militaryexperience. And how high above him did this red-tapism extend? TheGeneral had been on McClellan's staff, and through his influence, doubtless, acquired his present position. Were its trifling detailsdetaining the grand army of the Potomac from an onward movement in thismost favorable weather, to the great detriment of national finances, theencouragement of the Rebellion, and the depression of patriotseverywhere? Must the earnestness of the patriotic, self-sacrificingthousands in the field, be fettered by these cobwebs, constructed by meninterested in pay and position? If so, then in its widest sense, is theutterance of an intelligent Sergeant, made a few days previous, true, that red-tape was a greater curse to the country than the rebellion. Theloyal earnest masses would soon, if unfettered, have found leadersequally loyal and earnest--Joshuas born in the crisis of a righteouscause, whose unceasing blows would not have allowed the rebels breathingspells. It is not too late; but how much time, blood, to say nothing ofmoney, have been expended in ascertaining that a great Union militaryleader thought the war in its best phase a mere contest for boundaries. 

The black halted at the tent door, was turned over to his attendant, andthe Lieut. -Colonel joined his tent companion the Colonel. 

His stay was brief. In the course of a few minutes an orderly in greathaste handed him the following note:

"The General commanding Division desires to see Lieut. -Colonel ----without delay. "

The saddle, not yet off the black, was readjusted, and again theJudge-Advocate cantered over the gentle bluffs to DivisionHead-Quarters. 

"Colonel, " said the General, hardly waiting for his entrance, "thesemistakes multiply so, as I proceed in my duty as Reviewing Officer, thatI am utterly confounded as to what course to pursue. "

"Will you please point them out, General?"

"Point out the Devil!--will you point to something that is strictly inaccordance with the regulations? Here you have 'Private John W. Holman, Co. I, 212th Regt. P. V. , ' and then not two lines below, it is, John W. Holman, Private, Co. I, 212th Reg. P. V. ' Now, by G--Colonel, one iscertainly wrong, and _that_ blunder did not come from DivisionHead-Quarters. "

"Will the General please indicate which is correct?"

"Indicate! that's the d----l of it, that is the perplexing question; myFrench authorities are silent on the subject, and yet, sir, you mustsee that one must be wrong. "

"That does not follow, General; it would be considered a mere clericalerror. Records that I have seen have titles preceding and followingboth. "

"There is no such thing in military law as a mere clerical error. Everything is squared here by the regulations and military law. The Generalor Colonel who is unfortunate in consequence of strictly followingthese, will not, by military men, regular officers at least, be heldaccountable. Do not understand me as combating your knowledge of thelaw, Colonel; you may have excused, in your practice, bad recordssuccessfully on the ground of 'clerical errors, ' but it will not do inthe army. There's where volunteer officers make their mistakes; theydon't think and act concertedly as regulars do. Individual judgmentsteps in too often, and officers' judgments play the D--l in the army. Now, in France, their rules in regard to this, are unusually strict. "

"They order this matter better in France then, " observed the Colonel, mechanically making use of the hackneyed opening sentence of "TheSentimental Journey. " "And they manage them better, Sir;--Another thing, Colonel, " quickly added the General, "t's must be crossed and i'scarefully dotted. There are several omissions of this kind that mighthave sent the Record back. By the way, whose hand-writing is this copyin?" said the General, looking earnestly at the Colonel. "A clerk's, sir. " "A clerk! Another d----d pretty piece of business, " continued theGeneral, rising. "Colonel, that record is not worth a G--d d--n not aG--d d--n, Sir! Who ever heard of a clerk being employed? no clerk has aright to know any thing of the proceedings. "

"I have been informed, General, and have observed from published reportsof proceedings of courts-martial, that clerks are in general use. "

"Can't be! Colonel, can't be! By G--d, there is another perplexingmatter for my already over-taxed time, and yet the senseless peopleexpect Generals to move large armies, and plan big battles, when theirhands are full of these d----d business details that cannot be neglectedor delayed. "

The General resumed his seat, ran his fingers through his hair withfrightful rapidity, as if gathering disconcerted and scattered ideas, for a moment or two, and then looking up dismissed the Colonel. 

The black was again in requisition; and again the Colonel's thoughts, with increased feelings of disgust, were directed to what he could notbut think the trifling details that, as the General admitted, delay themovements of great armies, and the striking of heavy blows. T's must becrossed when we ought to be crossing the Potomac; i's dotted when weought to be dotting Virginia fields with our tents. And war soproverbially, so historically uncertain, has its rules, which, ifadhered to, will save commanders from censure--judgment not allowed tointerfere. It would appear so from many movements in the history of theArmy of the Potomac. What would that despiser of senseless details, defier of rules laid down by inferior men, and cutter of red tape, aswell as master-genius in the art of war, the Great, the First Napoleon, have said to all this. Shades of Washington, Marion, Morgan, all theRevolutionary worthies, Jackson, all our Volunteer Officers, of whosemilitary records we are justly proud--

 "Of the mighty can it be That this is all remains of thee!"

Generals leading armies such as the world never before saw, fetteringmovements on the field by the movements of trifling office details atthe desk, which viewed in the best light are the most contemptible ofexcuses for delay. 

This time the old black was not unsaddled;--a fortunate thought, asanother request for the immediate presence of the Judge Advocatecompelled him to take his dinner of boiled beans hasty and hot. 

Whatever the reader may think of the General's condition of mind duringthe preceding interviews, it was to reach its fever heat in this. TheColonel saw, as he entered the marquee, that his forced calmness ofdemeanor portended a storm. Whether the Colonel thought that ahalf-emptied good-sized tumbler of what looked like clear brandy whichstood on the table before him, had anything to do with it, the readermust judge for himself. 

"Colonel, I had made up my mind to forward that Record with the mistakesI have already indicated to you, but after all I am pained to state thatthe total disregard of duty by the Court, and perhaps by yourself, intrifling--yes, by G--d--" here the General could keep in no longer, andrising with hand clinching the Record firmly, continued, --"trifling witha soldier's duty, the regulations, and the safety of the army will notallow it. Colonel, you are a lawyer, and is it possible that you can'tsee what that d----d Court has done?"

"I would be happy to be informed in what respect they have erred, General. "

"Happy to be informed! how they have erred! By G--d, Colonel, you takethis outrageous matter cool. That Record, " said the General, holding itup, and waving it about his head, --the red tape with which the JudgeAdvocate had adorned it plentifully, if for no other purpose than tocover a multitude of mistakes, all the while streaming in theair, --"that Record is a disgrace to the Division. What does that Recordshow?" At this he threw it violently into a corner of the tent. "Itshows, by G--d, that here was an enlisted soldier in the United StatesArmy, found sleeping on his post in the dead hour of night, in thepresence of the enemy, and yet--" said the General, lifting both handsclenched, "a pack of d----d volunteer officers detailed as a court lethim off. Yes, I'll be G--d d----d, " and his arms came down slappingagainst his hips, "let him off, with what? why a reprimand at dressparade, that isn't worth a d--n as a punishment. Here was a chance tobenefit the Division; yes, sir, a military execution would do thisDivision good. It needs it; we'll have a d----d sight now to becourt-martialed. What will General McClellan say with that record beforehim? Think of that, Colonel. '

"I would be much more interested in what Judge Advocate Holt would say, General, on account of his vastly superior ability in that department;and as to the death penalty, General, I conscientiously think it wouldbe little short of, if not quite, murder. " The General had resumed hisseat, but now arose as if about to interrupt;--but the Colonelcontinued:--

"General, that boy is but seventeen, with a look that indicatesunmistakably that he is half an idiot. He has an incurable disease thattends to increase his imbecility. His memory, if he ever had any, iscompletely gone. The Articles of War, or instructions of officers as topicket duty, would not be remembered by him a minute after utterance, and not understood when uttered. I have thought since that I should haveentered a plea of insanity for him. He had not previously been uponduty for a month, and was that day placed on by mistake. The Court, ifit had had the power, would have punished the officer that recruited himseverely. He ought to be discharged; and the Court was informed that hisapplication for discharge, based upon an all-sufficient surgeon'scertificate, was forwarded to your head-quarters a month ago, and hasnot since been heard from. Besides, this was not a picket station, but amere inside regimental camp guard. "

The Colonel spoke rapidly, but with coolness;--all the while theGeneral's eyes, fairly glowing, were gazing down intently upon him. 

"Colonel, if your manner was not respectful, I would think that youintended insulting me by your d----d provoking coolness. Conscience!"said the General, sneeringly, "conscience or no conscience, that manmust be duly sentenced. By G--d, I order it. You must reconvene theCourt without delay. It is well seen it is not a detail of Regulars. Conscience wouldn't trouble them when a d----d miscreant was upon trial. A boy of seventeen! Seventeen or thirty-seven! By G--d! he is a soldierin the Army of the United States, and must be tried and punished as asoldier. An idiot! What need you care about the brains of a soldier? Ifhe has the army cap on his head, that's all you need require. Plea ofinsanity, indeed! We want no lawyer's tricks here. And as to thatdischarge, if it is detained at my head-quarters, it is because it wasnot properly folded or endorsed--may be will not fit neatly in thepigeon-hole. Colonel, " continued the General, moderating his tonesomewhat, "I must animadvert--by G--d, I must animadvert severely uponthat Record. "

"General, " quietly interrupted the Colonel, "you will publish youranimadversion, I trust, so that it can be read at dress parades, and theDivision have the benefit of it. "

"There, Colonel, " said the General, twitching his moustache violently, "there it is again. You appear perfectly courteous--but that remark iscool contempt. I want you to understand, " his tones louder, andgesticulations violent, "that you must take my strictures, tell thecourt that they must impose the sentence I direct, and leave conscienceto me, and no d----d plea of insanity about it. "

"General, " observed the Colonel, rising, "I am the counsel of theprisoner as well as of the United States. I cannot and will not injuremy own conscience, wrong the prisoner, or humiliate the Government byinsisting upon a death penalty. "

"Read my strictures to the court, and do your duty, sir, or I'llcourt-martial the whole d----d establishment. Go and re-assemble yourcourt forthwith. "

As he said this he handed a couple of closely written sheets of largesized letter-paper, tied with the inevitable red-tape, to the Colonel. The Colonel bowed himself out, and the chair in front of thepigeon-holes of the camp desk was again occupied by a living embodimentof red-tape. 

The court was forthwith notified. It immediately met. The strictureswere read, and in case of many sentences, especially towards the close, from necessity re-read by the Judge Advocate. After considerablelaughter over the document, and some little indignation at theunwarranted dictation of "their commanding General, " of which title theGeneral had taken especial pains to remind them at least every thirdsentence, the court decided not to change the sentence, and directed theJudge Advocate to embody their reasons for the character of thesentence in his report. The reasons, much the same as those stated tothe General by the Judge Advocate, were reduced to writing, and dulyforwarded, with the record signed and attested, to their "commandingGeneral. " That record, like some other court-martial records of theDivision, has not since been heard of as far as the Judge Advocate orany member of the court is informed. The poor boy a few days afterwardsentered a hospital, not again to rejoin his regiment. His applicationfor discharge has not been heard of. With no prospect of being fit foractive service--dying by inches in fact, --he is compelled at Governmentexpense to follow the regiment in an ambulance from camp to camp, and onall its tedious marches. 

The profanity in the foregoing chapter has doubtless disgusted thereader quite as much as its utterance did the Judge Advocate. And yethundreds of the Division who have heard the General on hundreds of otheroccasions, the writer feels confident will certify that it is rather amild mood of the General's that has been described. The habit isdisgusting at all times. Many able Generals are addicted to the habit;but they are able in spite of it. That their influence would beincreased without it, cannot be denied. It has been well said to be"neither brave, polite, nor wise. " But now when the hopes of the nationcentre in the righteousness of their cause, and thousands of prayerscontinually ascend for its furtherance from Christians in and out ofuniform, how utterly contemptible! how outrageously wicked! for anofficer of elevated position, to profane the Name under which thoseprayers are uttered, and upon which the nation relies as its "bulwark, ""its tower of strength, " a very "present help in this its time oftrouble. "

CHAPTER VII. 

_A Picket-Station on the Upper Potomac--Fitz John's Rail Order--Railsfor Corps Head-Quarters_ versus _Rails for Hospitals--The WesternVirginia Captain--Old Rosy, and How to Silence Secesh Women--The OldWoman's Fixin's--The Captain's Orderly. _

Picket duty, while in this camp, was light. Even the little tediousnessconnected with it was relieved by the beautifully romantic character ofthe scenery. Confined entirely to the river front, the companiesdetailed were posted upon the three bluffs that extended the length ofthat front, and on the tow-path of the canal below. 

The duty, we have said, was light. It could hardly be considerednecessary, in fact, were it not to discipline the troops. The bluffswere almost perpendicular, varying between seventy-five and one hundredfeet in height. Immediately at their base was the Chesapeake and Ohiocanal, averaging six feet in depth. A narrow towing-path separated itfrom the Potomac, which, in a broad, placid, but deep stream, brokenoccasionally by the sharp points of shelving rocks, mostly sunken, thatran in ridges parallel with the river course, flowed languidly; thewater being dammed below as before mentioned. 

On one of the most inclement nights of the season, the Companycommanded by our Western Virginia captain had been assigned thetowing-path as its station. No enemy was in front, nor likely to be, from the manner in which that bank of the river was commanded by ourbatteries. In consequence, a few fires, screened by the bushes along theriver bank, were allowed. Around these, the reserve and officers not onduty gathered. 

In a group standing around a smoky fire that struggled for existencewith the steadily falling rain, stood our captain. His unusual silenceattracted the attention of the crowd, and its cause was inquired into. 

"Boys, I'm disgusted; for the first time in my life since I have been inservice; teetotally disgusted with the way things are carried on. I'm nogreenhorn at this business either, " continued the captain, assuming, ashe spoke, the position of a soldier, and although somewhat ungainly whenoff duty, no man in the corps could take that position more correctly, or appear to better advantage. "I served five years as an enlisted manin an artillery regiment in the United States army, and left home in thenight when I wasn't over sixteen, to do it; part of that time was in theMexican war. Yes, sir, I saw nearly the whole of that. Since then, I'vebeen in service nearly ever since this Rebellion broke out, and thehardest kind of service, and under nearly all kinds of officers, and byall that's holy, I never saw anything so mean nor was as much disgustedas I was to-day. Boys! when shoulder-straps with stars on begin to thinkthat we are not human beings, of flesh and blood, liable to get sick, and when sick, needing attention like themselves, it's high time thosestraps change shoulders. These damp days we, and especially our sick, ought to be made comfortable. One great and good soldier that I've oftenheard tell of, wounded, of high rank, and who lived a long time ago, across the ocean, refused, although dying for want of drink, to touchwater, until a wounded private near him first had drunk. That's thespirit. A man that'll do that, is right, one hundred chances to one inother respects. We have had such Generals, we have them now, and somemay be in this corps, but it don't look like it. "

"Well, Captain, what did you see?"

"Well, I had sent my Sergeant to get a few rails to keep a poor boycomfortable who had a high fever, and who could not get into thehospital for want of room. The wood that was cut from the hill wasgreen, and the poor fellow had been nearly smoked to death. The Sergeantwent with a couple of men, and was coming back, the men having two railsapiece, when just as they got the other side of the Toll-gate on thehill, the Provost-Guard stopped them, told them there was an orderagainst their using rails, and they must drop them. It did no good tosay that they were for a sick man, that was no go. They thought they hadto do it, and did it. They hadn't come fifty yards toward camp, beforeone of those big six-mule corps-teams that have been hauling rails forthe last four days, came along, and the rails were pitched into thewagon. When I heard of it I was wrothy. I cut a bee-line for theAdjutant and got the Order, and there it was in black and white, that nomore fences--rebel fences--should be destroyed, and no more rails used. Now, I knew well that these corps-teams had hauled and hauled until thewhole establishment, from General Porter down to his Darkies, were inrails up to their eyes, and then, when they had their own fill, thisorder comes, and we, poor devils, might whistle. Here were our hospitalslike smoke-houses, not fit for human beings, and especially the sick. Itwas a little too d----d mean. I couldn't stand it. The more I thought ofit the madder I got, and I got fighting mad, when I thought how oftenthat same General in his kid gloves, fancy rig, and cloak thrown backfrom his shoulders to show all the buttons and stars, had passed mewithout noticing my salute. He never got a second chance, and neverwill. I started off, took three more men than the Sergeant had; went tothe first fence I could find, and that was about two miles--for thecorps-teams had made clean work--loaded my men and myself, and startedback. The Provost-Guard was at the old place; I was bound to pass themsquarely. 

"'Captain, ' said the Sergeant, 'we have orders to stop all partiescarrying rails. '

"'By whose orders?'

"'General Porter's. '

"'I am one of General Porter's men. I have authority for this, sir, 'said I, looking him full in the eye. 

"'Boys, move on!' and on we did move. When the Lieut. Saw us filing leftover the hill towards camp, he sent a squad after us. But it was toolate. The Devil himself couldn't have had the rails in sight of mycompany quarters, and I told him so. 

"'I'll report you to the Division General, and have youcourt-martialed, sir. '

"'Very well, ' although I knew the General had a mania forcourts-martial. 'I have been court-martialed four times, and clearedevery clip. '

"'Now let that court-martial come; somebody's meanness will see thelight, ' thought I. 

"Old Rosy, boys, was the man. I said I was disgusted, but we mustn't getdiscouraged. We have some earnest men--yes, I believe, plenty of them;but they're not given a fair show. It'll all come right, though, Ibelieve. Men with hearts in them; and Rosy, let me tell you, is no runtin that litter. 

"'Captain, ' said he to me one day when I had gone to his head-quartersaccording to orders, 'I have something that must be done without delay, and from what I've seen of you, you are just the man for the work. Ipassed our hospital a few minutes ago, and I thought it was about toblaze; the smoke came out of the windows, chimney, doors, and everylittle crack so damnably. I turned around and went in, and found thatthe smoke had filled it, and that the poor fellows were sufferingterribly. Now, Captain, they have no dry wood, and they must have someforth with, and I'll tell you where to get it. 

"'The other day I rode by a nest of she-rebels, and found that they hadcord upon cord of the best hickory piled up in the yard, as if cut bytheir husbands, before leaving, for use this winter. They have madeprovision enough for our hospital too. Now take three army wagons, asmany men as you need, and go about three miles out the Little Gap Roadtill you come to a new weather-boarded house at the Forks. Make quickwork, Captain. '

"I did make quick work in getting there, for that was about ten, andabout half-past eleven the government wagons were in the yard of thehouse and my company in front. 

"'We have no chickens, ' squalled an old woman from a second-storywindow, 'nor pigs, nor anything--all gone. We are lone women. '

"'Only in the day-time, I reckon, ' said my orderly; the same fellowthat winked at the chaplain. He was one of the roughest fellows thatever kept his breath over night. Long, lank, ill-favored, a whitescrawny beard, stained from the corners of his mouth with tobacco juice;but for all, I'd pick him out of a thousand for an orderly. He wasalways there, and his rifle--he always carried his own--a small bore, heavy barrel, rough-looking piece, never missed. 

"As the old woman was talking from the window, a troop of women, fromeighteen to forty years old--but I am a better judge of horses' agesthan women's; they slip us up on that pint too often--came rushing outof the door. They made all kinds of inquiries, but I set my men quietlyto work loading the wood. 

"'Now, Captain, you shan't take that wood, ' said a well-developedlittle, rather pretty, black-haired woman, but with those peculiar blackeyes, full of the devil, that you only see among the Rebels, and thatthe Almighty seems to have set in like lanterns in lighthouses to showthat their bearers are not to be trusted. 'You shan't take that wood!'raising her voice to a scream. The men worked on quietly, and Ioverlooked the work. 

"'You dirty, greasy-looking Yankee, ' said another, 'born in somenorthern poor-house. '

"'And both parents died in jail, I'll bet. '

"'If our Jim was only here, he'd handle the cowardly set in less timethan one of them could pick up that limb. '

"'You chicken thief, you come by it honestly. Your father was a thiefbefore you, and your mother--'

"This last roused me. I could hear nothing bad of her from man or woman. 

"'You she-devil, ' said I, turning to her, 'not one word more. ' Sheturned toward the house. 

"But they annoyed the men, and I concluded to keep them still. 

"'Sergeant, ' said I, addressing the orderly, and nearing the house, thewomen close at my heels. 'Sergeant, as our regiment will camp near hereto-morrow, we might as well look out for a company hospital. How big isthat house?'

"'Large enough, Captain; thirty by fifty at least. '

"'How many rooms?'

"'About three, I reckon, on first floor, and I guess the upper story isall in one, from its looks through the window. Plenty of room. Bullyplace, and what is more, plenty of ladies to nurse the poor boys. 

"The noses of the women not naturally cocked, became upturned at thislast remark of the sergeant's. But they had become silent, and lookedanxious. 

"'Sergeant, here's paper and pencil, just note down the names of thesick, and the rooms we'll put them in, so as to avoid confusion. '

"The sergeant ran the sharp end of the pencil half an inch in his mouth, and on the palm of his horny hand commenced the list, talking all thewhile aloud--slowly, just as if writing--'Let me see. My mem'y isn'tmore than an inch long, and there's a blasted lot of 'em. 

"'Jim Smith, Bob Riley, Larry Clark, got small-pox; Larry all broke outbig as old quarters, put 'em in back room down stairs. ' The women gotpale, but small-pox had been common in those parts. 'George Johnson, Bill Davis, got the mumps. ' 'The mumps, Sally, the mumps, them's whatkilled George, and they're so catchin'--whispered one of the women--andcontinued the sergeant, 'Bill Thatcher, George Clifton thechicken-pox. ' 'O Lord, the chicken-pox, ' said another woman, 'it killedmy two cousins before they were in the army a week. '--'Put them four, 'said the sergeant, 'in the middle room down stairs. Save the kitchen forcookin', and up stairs put Jim Williams, Spooky Johnson, Tom Hardy, DickCramer, and the little cook boy; all got the measles. ' 'The measles!'screamed out half-a-dozen together. 'Good-Lord, we'll be killed in aweek. ' 'They say, ' said another black eye, 'that that crack MississippiBrigade took the measles at Harper's Ferry, and died like flies. Theyhad to gather them from the bushes, and all over. Brother Tom told me. He said our boys were worked nearly to death digging graves. '

"'That was a good thing, ' observed the sergeant. 

"'You beast!' said the little old woman advancing towards him, andshaking her fist in his face. 

"'And what will become of us women?' screamed she. 

"'A pretty question for an old lady; we calculate that you ladies willwait on the sick, ' drily remarked the sergeant. 

"At this the women, thinking their case hopeless, with downcast looksquietly filed into the house. 

"The boys by this time had about done loading the teams. All the while Ihad watched the manners of the women closely and the house, and I cameto the conclusion that it would pay to make a visit inside. 

"A guard was placed on the outside, and telling the sergeant and two mento follow, I entered. It was all quiet below, but we found when we hadreached the top of the steps, and stood in the middle of the big room upstairs, the women in great confusion, some in a corner of the room, anda few sitting on the beds. Among the latter, sitting as we boys used tosay on her hunkers, with hands clasped about her knees, was the oldwoman. Besides the beds the only furniture in the room was a large, roughly made, double-doored wardrobe that stood in one corner. 

"We hadn't time to look around before the old woman screeched out--

"'You won't disturb my private fixin's, will you?'

"'I rather think not, ' slowly said the sergeant, giving her at the sametime a comical look. 

"Notwithstanding repeated and tearful assurances that there was nothingthere, that the men had taken off all the arms, hadn't left lead enoughto mend a hole in the bottom of the coffee-pot, etc. , etc. , we began tosearch the beds, commencing at one corner. There were two beds betweenus and the old woman's, and although we shook ticks and bolsters, andmade otherwise close examination, we discovered nothing beyond thepopulation usually found in such localities in Western Virginia. 

"The old woman was fidgety. Her face, that at two reflections would havechanged muscatel into crab apple vinegar, was more than usuallywrinkled. 'O Lord, nothing here, ' groaned she, as she sat with her backto the head-board. She did not budge an inch as we commenced at her bed. 

"The sergeant had gone to the head-board, I to the foot. I saw a twinklein his eye as he turned over the rough comfort, his hand reacheddown--he drew it up gradually, and the old woman slid as gradually fromthe lock to the muzzle of a long Kentucky rifle. 'O Lord, ' groaned she, as she keeled over on her right side at the foot of the bed. 

"A glow of admiration overspread the Sergeant's face as he looked atthat rifle. 

"'Well, I swow, old woman, is this what you call a private fixin'?'said the Sergeant. 'A queer bed-fellow you've got; and just look, Captain, ' said he, trying the ramrod, 'loaded, capped, and half cocked. '

"The heavy manner in which the old lady fell over satisfied me that wehadn't all the armory, and I directed her to leave the bed and stand onthe floor. 

"'Can't, can I, Ann?' addressing one of the women. 

"'No, marm can't, she is helpless. '

"'Got the rheumatics, had 'em a year and better, ' groaned the old woman. 

"'Hadn't 'em when you shook your fist under my nose in the yard, ' saidthe Sergeant. 'Get off the bed;' catching the old woman by the arm, hehelped her off. She straightened up with difficulty, holding her clothesat the hips with both hands. 'Hold up your hands, ' said the Sergeant. Hewas about to assist her, when not relishing that, she lifted them up; asshe did so, there was a heavy rattling sound on the floor. The old womanjumped about a foot from the floor clear out of a well filled pillowcushion, dancing and yelling like an Indian. Some hardware must havestruck her toe and made her forget her rheumatism. 

"That bag had two Colt's navy size, two pistols English make, with allthe trappings for both kinds, and two dozen boxes of best make Englishwater proof caps. 

"'Old woman, ' said the Sergeant with a chuckle, 'your private fixin's asyou call 'em, are worth hunting for. '

"But the old woman had reached the side of a bed, and was too muchengaged in holding her toe, to notice the remark. 

"The other beds were searched, but with no success. I had noticed whilethe old woman was hopping about a short fat woman getting behind sometaller ones in the corner and arranging her clothing. The old woman'scontrivance made me think the corner worth looking at. 

"The women sulkily and slowly gave way, and another pillow-case wasfound on the floor, from which a brace of pistols, one pair of longcowhide riding boots, three heavy-bladed bowie knives, and some smallermatters, were obtained. 

"The wardrobe was the only remaining thing, and on it as a centre thewomen had doubled their columns. 

"'Oh, Captain, don't, ' said several at once beseechingly, 'we're allsingle women, and that has our frocks and fixin's in it, ' as I touchedthe wardrobe. 

"'As far as I've seed there is not much difference between marriedwomen's fixin's and single ones, ' coolly said the Sergeant. 

"'There is not one of us married, Captain. '

"'Sorry for that, ' said the Sergeant, leisurely eyeing the women. 'Ifyou'd take advice from a Yankee, some of you had better hurry up. '

"The women were indignant, but smothered it, having ascertained that apassionate policy would not avail. 

"By this time one of the men had succeeded with his bayonet in forcing adoor. The Sergeant had laid his hand on the door, when a pretty face, lit up with those same devilish black eyes, was looking into his halfwinningly, and a pair of small hands were clasping his arm. TheSergeant's head gradually fell as if to hear what she had to say, whenmagnetism, a desire to try experiments, or call it what you will, as'love, ' although said to 'rule the camp, ' has little really to do withthe monotony of actual camp scenes, or the horrors of the fielditself, --at any rate the Sergeant's head dropped suddenly, --a loudsmack, followed instantly by the dull sound of a blow, --and theSergeant gently rubbed an already blackening eye, while the woman wasengaged in drawing her sleeve across her mouth. Like enough some tobaccojuice went with the sleeve, for the corners of the Sergeant's mouth wereregular sluices for that article. 

"The Sergeant's eye did not prevent him from opening the door, however. 

"'Well, I declare, brother Jim's forgot his clothes and sword, ' said oneof the women, manifesting much surprise. 

"'Do you call that brother Jim's clothes?' said the Sergeant, grasping apetticoat, above which appeared the guard of a cavalry sabre, andholding both up to view. 'I tell you it's no use goin' on, ' said theSergeant, somewhat more earnestly, his eye may be smarting a little, 'we're bound to go through it if it takes the hair off. ' The womensquatted about on the beds, down-hearted enough. 

"And through it we went, getting five more sabres and belts, and twoSharp's rifles complete in that side, and a cavalry saddle, holsterswith army pistols, bridles, and a rifled musket, in the other side; allbran new. There was nothing in the lower story or cellar. 

"When I showed Rosy our plunder--and it hadn't to be taken to his tenteither--when he heard of it, he came out as anxious and pleased as anyof the boys, --he was a General interested in our luck more than his ownpay, --he clapped me on the shoulder right before my men, and all theofficers and men looking on, and said: 'Captain, you're a regular trump. Three cheers, boys, for the Captain and company. ' And as he started themhimself, the boys did give 'em, too. 'Captain, you'll not beforgotten--be easy on that point. ' And I was easy, until a fit ofsickness that I got put my fortune for the time out of Rosy's hands. Themen never forgot that trip. The Sergeant often said though, it was theonly trip he wasn't altogether pleased with, because, I suppose, hisblack eye was a standing joke. "

Just then, a sentinel's hail and the reply, "Grand Rounds, " "FieldOfficer of the day, " hurried the Captain off, and the crowd to theirposts. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

_The Reconnoissance--Shepherdstown--Punch and Patriotism--Private Tom onWest Point and Southern Sympathy--The Little Irish Corporal on JohnMitchel--A Skirmish--Hurried Dismounting of the Dutch Doctor andChaplain--Battle of Falling Waters not intended--Story of the LittleIrish Corporal--Patterson's Folly, or Treason. _

An old German writer has said that "six months are sufficient toaccustom an individual to any change in life. " As he might fairly besupposed to have penned this for German readers and with the fixedhabits and feelings of a German, if true at all, it ought to hold goodthe world over. As we are more particularly interested in camps atpresent, we venture the assertion that six weeks will make a soldierweary of any camp. With our Sharpsburg camp, however, perhaps thisfeeling was assisted by the consciousness so frequently manifested inthe conversation of the men that the army should be on the move. 

Hundreds of relatives and friends had taken advantage of the proximityof the camp to a railroad station to pay us a visit, and with them ofcourse came eatables--not in the army rations--and delicacies of allkinds prepared by thoughtful heads and willing hands at home. Notunfrequently the marquees of the officers were occupied by theirfamilies, who, in their enjoyment of the novelties of camp life, thedrills, and dress parades of the regiment, treasured up for homeconsumption, brilliant recollections of the sunny side of war. All this, to say nothing of the scenery, the shade of the wood, that from thepeculiar position of the camp, so gratefully from early noon extendeditself, until at the hour for dress parade the regiment could come tothe usual "parade rest" entirely in the shade. But the roads were good, the weather favorable, the troops effective, and the inactivity was a"ghost that would not down" in the sight of men daily making sacrificesfor the speedy suppression of the Rebellion. The matter was constantlyrecurring for discussion in the shelter tent as well as in the marquees, in all its various forms. A great nation playing at war when its capitalwas threatened, and its existence endangered. A struggle in which inertpower was upon one side, and all the earnestness of deadly hatred andblind fanaticism upon the other. An enemy vulnerable in many ways, andno matter how many loyal lives were lost, money expended by theprotraction of the war, but to be assailed in one. But why multiply? Tenthousand reasons might be assigned why a military leader, without anaggressive policy of warfare, unwilling to employ fully the resourcescommitted to him, should not succeed in the suppression of a Rebellion. The nation suffered much in the treason that used its high position tocloak the early rebel movement to arms, and delayed our ownpreparations; but more in the incapacity or half-heartedness that mademiserable use of the rich materials so spontaneously furnished. 

In the improvement of the Regiment the delay at the Sharpsburg camp wasnot lost. The limited ground was well used, and Company and Battaliondrills steadily persevered in, brought the Regiment to a proficiencyrarely noticed in regiments much longer in the field. 

"Three days' cooked rations, sixty rounds of ammunition, and under armsat four in the morning. How do you like the smack of that, Tom?"

"It smacks of war, " says Tom, "and it's high time. " The first speakerhad doffed the gown of the student in his senior year, greatly againstthe wishes of parents and friends, to don the livery of Uncle Sam. Onewould scarcely have recognised in the rough sunburned countenance, surmounted by a closely fitting cap, once blue but now almost red, andnot from the blood of any battle-field--in the course slovenly worn blueblouse pantaloons, unevenly suspended, and wide unblacked army shoes, the well dressed, graceful accomplished student that commended himselfto almost universal admiration among the young ladies of hisacquaintance. The second speaker, thinking that a more opportune war hadnever occurred to demand the silence of the law amid resounding arms, had left his desk in an attorney's office, shelved his Blackstone, andwith a courage that never flinched in the field of strife or in toilsomemarches where it can perhaps be subjected to a severer test, hadthoroughly shown that the resolution with which he committed himself tothe war was one upon which no backward step would be taken. They wereold friends, and fast messmates. Their little dog-tent, as the sheltertents were called, had heard from each many an earnest wish that theirletters might smell of powder. 

The feeling then with which George uttered this piece of news, and thejoy of Tom as he heard it, can be appreciated. 

"What authority have you, George?"

"Old Pigeon-hole's. I heard him, while on duty about his Head-quartersto-day, tell a Colonel, that the move had been ordered; that the WarDepartment had been getting uncommonly anxious, and that it interferedwith certain examinations he was making into very important papers. "

"I'll warrant it. I would like to see any move in a forward directionthat would not interfere with some arrangement of his. His moves are onpaper, and a paper General is just about as valuable to the country as apaper blockade. "

"Is the movement general?"

"I think it is. "

"Of course then it interferes. George, did you ever hear any patriotismabout those Head-quarters? You have been a great deal about them. "

"No, but I have seen a good deal of punch in that neighborhood. "

"I'll warrant it--more punch than patriotism. A great state of affairsthis. There are too many of these half-hearted Head-quarters in thearmy. They ought to be cleaned out, and I believe that before thiscampaign is through it will be done. If it is not done, the country islost. "

"Country lost! why of course; that is almost admitted about thatestablishment. They say we may be able to pen them up, and as they don'tsay any more they must think that is about all. I heard a youngofficer--a Regular--who seems to be intimate up there say: that therewas no use of talking--that men that fought the way the Southerners--hedidn't use the word Rebels--did, could not be conquered, --that theywere too much for our men, etc. , etc. I could have kicked theshoulder-strapped coward or traitor, may be both, but if I had, oldPigeon-hole would have had a military execution for the benefit of theVolunteers in short order. And then he strutted, talking treason andsquirting tobacco juice--and all the while our Government supporting thescoundrel. West Point was on his outside, but his conversation andvacant look told me plainly enough that outside of a Government positionthe squirt had not brains enough to gain a day's subsistence. But he'sone of Pigey's 'my Regulars, ' and to us Volunteers he can put himself onhis dignity with a '_Procul_, _Procul_, _este Profani_. '"

"George, don't stir me up on that subject any more. I get half mad whenI think that Uncle Sam's worst enemies are those of his own household. We had better anticipate the Captain's order about this in ourpreparations, and not be up half the night. "

"Even so, Tom. "

George was correct; as to a move at least, for early dawn saw theDivision and a detachment from another Division, en route to the river. There was the usual quiet in the camps along which they passed, showingthat George was mistaken as to the move being general. The troopsmarching through a winding and wooded defile, passed the deservedly wellknown Brigade of General Meagher. "Here's Ould Ireland Boys, " said thelittle Irish Corporal, pointing, as his face glowed with pride, to theflag adorned with "The Harp of Ould Ireland, and the Shamrock so green, "the emblems of the Emerald Isle. 

"Their General is an Irishman thrue to the sod, none of your rinegadespalpeens like John Mitchel--fighting for slave-holders in Ameriky, andagainst the Lords and Dukes in Ould Ireland, and the slave-holders asFather Mahan tould me the worst of the two, more aristocratic, big-feeling, and tyrannical than the English nobility. He said, too, that the blackguard could never visit the ould sod again unless helanded in the night-time, and hid himself by day in a bog up to hiseyes, and even then the Father said he believed the blissed mimory ofSt. Patrick, 'Who drove the Frogs into the Bogs, And banished all the Varmint, '

would clean him out after the rist of the varmin. "

"Three cheers for the Irish Brigade" greeted the Corporal's remarks. 

The troops crossed with difficulty and delay at the only ford--andwondered with reason at the activity of the Rebels in having transportedacross not only their army and baggage, but hundreds if not thousands oftheir dead and wounded. The road winding around the high rocks on theVirginia side, must have been in more peaceful times a favorite drivefor the gentry of the neighborhood. Shepherdstown itself adorns a mostcommanding position. On the occasion of this Union visit its inhabitantsappeared intensely Secesh. Not so in the early history of the rebellion;when Patterson's column "dragged its slow length along" through thevalley of the Shenandoah. Scouting parties then saw Union flags frommany a window. True, they streamed from dwellings owned by themerchants, mechanics, and laborers, the real muscle of the country; butthis was true of most of the towns of the Border States, and more earlyenergetic action in affording these classes protection would havesecured us the aid of their strong hands. As it was, these resourceswere in great measure frittered away--gradually drawn by what appearedan irresistible influence into the vortex of the Rebellion--or scatteredwanderingly through the Loyal States, and worn down and exhausted in thesupport of dependent and outcast families. 

Sharpsburg was greatly altered. The yellow Rebel Flag designated almostevery other building as a Hospital. Their surgeons in grey pompouslyparaded the streets. As the troops marched through, they were subjectedto almost every description of insult. One interesting group of Rebelpetticoated humanity standing in front of premises that would not havepassed inspection by one of our Pennsylvania Dutch housewives, heldtheir noses by way of showing contempt. 

"Guess you have to do that, about them diggins. When did you scrublast?" said a bright-eyed officer's servant, whom a few years' serviceas a news-boy had taught considerable shrewdness. 

To annoy others "My Maryland" and "John Brown" were sung by the men. Around a toll-house at the west end of town, occupied by an old ladywhose husband had been expelled with a large number of other patrioticresidents, had congregated some wives of exiled loyal husbands, who werenot afraid to avow their attachment for the old Union, by words ofencouragement and waving of handkerchiefs. They were backed by a reserveforce of negroes of both sexes, whose generous exhibition of polishedivories, to say the least, did not represent any great displeasure atthe appearance of the troops. 

"There are the Reserves, " said one of the boys, pointing to where thenegroes stood. 

"Yes, and if they were called in the issue of this Rebellion would bespeedy and favorable, " said a Captain in musical tones, "and I can'tthink but that this costly child's play will drive the nation into theiruse much sooner than many expect. Let them understand that they are thereal beneficiaries of this war, and they will not stay their hands. Andwhy shouldn't we use them? 'They are one of the means that God andnature have placed in our hands, ' and old Virginia can't object to thatdoctrine. "

"But, Captain, " said his First Lieutenant, "would you fight alongside ofa darkie?"

"Would you drive a darkie away if he came to assist you in a strugglefor life?"

"Yes, but we have men enough without their aid. "

"You forget, Lieutenant, that, as matters now are, we have them fightingagainst us. "

"How so?"

"They raise the crops that feed the Rebel army. They are just as much, perhaps not as directly, but just as really fighting against us as thefounders who cast their cannon. And as to fighting alongside of them, they may have quite as many prejudices against fighting alongside of us. There is no necessity of interfering with either. Organize coloredregiments; appoint colored line officers if efficient, and white fieldand staff officers, until they attain sufficient proficiency forcommand. As to their fighting qualities, military records attest themabundantly. The shrewd 'nephew of his uncle' has used them for years. "

The earnest argument of the Captain made a deep impression upon the men. The desperation of our case, depressed finances, heavy hospital lists, and many other causes, independently of abstract justice, are fastremoving that question beyond the pale of prejudice. 

A halt was ordered, and the men rested on the sward that bordered thehard pike, and in the immediate neighborhood of the village cemetery. Itwas literally crowded with graves, many of them fresh. Large additionshad been made from surrounding fields, and they too were closely takenup by ridges covering the dead of Antietam. 

The surrounding country had suffered little from the ravages of war. Visited occasionally by scouting parties--principally cavalry--of bothsides, there had been none of the occupation by large bodies of troops, which levels fences, destroys crops, and speedily gives the most fertileof countries the seeming barrenness of the desert. The valley had areputation that ran back to an ante-Revolutionary date for magnificenceof scenery and fertility of soil. Washington, with all the enthusiasm ofardent youth, paid it glowing encomiums in his field-notes of theFairfax surveys. In later times, when the destinies of our strugglingcolonies rested upon his ample shoulders, the leaders of the factionopposed to him--for great and good as he was, he had jealous, bitter, and malignant enemies--settled a few miles beyond Shepherdstown, at whathas since been known as Leetown. The farms, with few exceptions, hadnothing of the slovenly air, dilapidated, worn-out appearance, thatcharacterized other parts of Virginia. Upon inquiry we found that thelarge landowners were in the habit of procuring tenants from the lowercounties of Pennsylvania, and that the thrift and close cultivation werereally imported. In the course of time these tenants, with theircustomary acquisitiveness, became landowners themselves, and their farmswere readily distinguishable by the farm buildings, and particularly bythe large substantial red bank barns. 

The troops moved on to a wood, skirting either side of the road, andwere thrown into line of battle. The country was gently rolling, and thewoods in front that crowned the summit of the low ridges were shelledbefore advancing. Occasionally Rebel horsemen could be seen rapidlyriding from one wood to another, making observations from somecommanding point. 

In line of battle by Brigade, flanked by skirmishers, the advance wasmade. To the troops this, although toilsome, was unusually exciting. Through woods, fields of corn whose tall tops concealed even the mountedofficers, and made the men, like quails in standing grain, be guided bythe direction of the sound of the command, rather than by the touch ofelbows to the centre, --over the frequent croppings out of ledges ofrock, through the little streams of this plentifully watered country, the movement slowly progressed. They had not advanced far when a shellscreamed over their heads, uncomfortably close to the Surgeon andChaplain, some fifty yards in the rear, and mangled awfully a stragglerat least half a mile further back. As may be supposed, his fate was astanding warning against straggling for the balance of the campaign. 

Notwithstanding further compliments from the rebels, who appeared tohave our range, a roar of laughter greeted the dexterity with which theChaplain and Surgeon ducked and dismounted at the sound of the firstshell. Of about a size, and both small men, they fairly rolled fromtheir horses. The boys had it that the little Dutch Doctor grabbed athis horse's ear, or rather where it ought to have been; as the horse wasformerly in the Rebel service, and was picked up by the Doctor after thebattle of Antietam, minus an ear, lost perhaps through a cut from anawkward sabre, and missing it fell upon his hands and knees in front ofthe horse's feet. 

As the shells grew more frequent and direct in range, the men wereordered to halt and lie down. The field officers dismounted, and werejoined by the Chaplain and Doctor leading their horses. 

"Colonel, I no ride that horse, " said the Doctor, sputtering andbrushing the dust off his clothes. 

"Why not, Doctor?"

"Too high--very big--" touching the top of the shoulder of the bonybeast, and almost on tip-toe to do it, "had much fall, ground struck mehard, " continued he, his eyes snapping all the while. 

"Well, Doctor, " remarked one of the other field officers, "we have toldyou all along that if you ever got in range with that horse, your lifewould hardly be worth talking about. "

"They not know him, " anxiously said the Doctor. 

"Of course they know him. He has the best and plainest ear-mark in theworld. "

"Pretty close shoot that, anyhow. "

The result of this conversation was, that in the further movement theDoctor led his horse during the day. 

The firing ceased with no damage, save the bruises of the Doctor, andthose received by our tonguey little Corporal, who asserted that thewindage of a shell knocked him off a fence. As he fell into a stoneheap, it is more than probable that he had some good reason for themovement--besides, why cannot Corporals suffer from wounds of that kind, frequently so fashionable among officers of higher grade?

The onward movement was resumed. In the course of half an hour thecannonading again opened, interspersed with occasional volleys ofmusketry. The rattling of musketry became incessant. Advancing undercover of rocky bluffs, the shells passed harmlessly over the Brigade. Wesoon ascertained that the Rebels had made a stand at a point where ouradvance, from the character of the country, necessarily narrowed intothe compass of a strip of meadow-land. Here a brigade of Rebel infantrywere drawn up in line of battle. Their batteries posted on a neighboringheight, were guided by signals, the country not admitting of extendedobservation. The contest was brief. The gleam of the bayonets as theyfell for the charge, broke the Rebel line, and they retired inconsiderable confusion to the wood in their rear. Our batteries soonshelled them from those quarters, and the advance continued--theskirmishers of both sides keeping up a rattling fire. Some Rebelearthworks were passed, and late in the afternoon the track of theBaltimore and Ohio railroad was crossed. The Rebels, before leaving, haddone their utmost to complete the destruction of that much abused road. At intervals of every one hundred yards, piles of ties surmounted byrails were upon fire. These were thrown down by our men. About half amile beyond the road, in a finely sodded valley, the troops were haltedfor the night, pickets posted, and the men prepared their meals closelyin the rear of their stacks. The night was a pleasant one. An open airencampment upon such a night is one of the finest phases of a soldier'slife. Meals over, the events of the day were discussed, or such mattersas proved of interest to the different groups. 

One group we must not pass unnoticed. The majority lounged lazily uponthe grass, some squatted upon their knapsacks, while a large stone wasgiven by common consent to a tall, fine-looking Lieutenant, theprincipal officer present. 

"Corporal, " said he, addressing the little Irish Corporal, "do you knowhow near we are to Martinsburg?"

"Faith I don't, Lieutenant. "

"I do not know the exact distance myself, but we are not over three orfour miles from the road that we took when we guarded the ammunitiontrain from Martinsburg to Charlestown. "

"Oh, it's the ould First ye are spaking about, is it? Ov coorse Iricollect Martinsburg, and the markit-house where I guarded the fiftynagurs that Gineral Patterson had ordered to be arrested for havingstripes on their pantaloons, Uncle Sam's buttons on their caps, andbelts with these big brass U. S. Plates on. Oh, but it was a swatecrowd. The poor divils were crowded like cattle on cars, and it was oneof the hot smothering nights. I couldn't help thinkin', that by and by, if our armies didn't move faster, the nagurs would have little troublegettin' into uniforms. They have a nat'ral concate about such things. One poor fellow rolled the whites of his eyes awfully, and almost criedwhen I ordered him out of his red breeches. "

"The day has not come yet, and need not, " rejoined the Lieutenant, "ifour generals do their duty. Don't you recollect how we were hurried fromFrederick, and after marching seven miles out of the way, made good timefor all to Williamsport--how bayonets appeared to glisten upon everyroad leading into the town; and then our crossing the river, the bandall the while playing 'The Star-spangled Banner, ' and the march we madeto Martinsburg, passing over the ground where the battle of FallingWaters had but a few days before been fought? If that battle had beenfollowed up as it should have been, Johnson would never have reachedBull Run. "

"Be jabers! do you know, Lieutenant, that that fight was all a mistakeupon our part? Shure, our ginerals niver intended it. "

A laugh, with the inquiry "how he knew that?" followed. 

"Didn't I hear a Big Gineral, that I was acting as orderly for while inMartinsburg--for they made orderlies of corporals thim days--tell arichly-dressed old lady, 'That it was our policy to teach our misguidedSouthern brethren, by an imposing show of strength, how hopeless itwould be to fight against the Government. ' The lady said, 'That wouldsave much bloodshed, would become a Christian nation, and would returnthem as friends to their old way of thinking. 'Yes, madam!' said theGineral, 'there is no bitter feeling in our breasts, ' clasping hisbreast. 'The masses south will soon see their country surrounded byvolunteers in great numbers, and that the war, if protracted, mustinvolve them all in ruin. When the war is over, madam, fanatics on bothsides can be hung. '

"'That was a dreadful affair at Falling Waters, General, ' said the lady, with a strange twinkle in her eyes. 

"'Yes, madam, ' replied the General, coloring up to his ears, 'a blunderof some of our volunteer officers. Ordinary military prudence made ussend forward some force to reconnoitre before crossing the main army. These troops were to fall back if the enemy appeared in force. Notunderstanding their orders, or carried away by the excitement of themoment, they engaged the enemy with the unfortunate results to which youallude. '

"Av it would have been proper for a corporal, I would have asked theGineral what Johnny Reb would do while we were taching him all that. Thim's the Gineral's exact words, for I paid particular attention. I putthem thegither with what I had heard from a Wisconsin boy, and I got thewhole history of that fight. "

"Let's have it, " shouted the crowd, now considerably increased, "atonce!"

"Well, you see, they were sent forward to reconnoitre, as the Gineralsaid, and there was a Wisconsin regiment of bear hunters and the like, and a Pennsylvania regiment of deer hunters and Susquehannah raftsmenpretty well forward. These Wisconsin chaps, in dead earnest, broughttheir rifles along all the way from Wisconsin, and, like theSusquehannah fellows, they couldn't kape hands off the trigger if therewas any game about. 

"Well, they got to Falling Waters without stirring up anything; yourecollect, Lieutenant, where that rebel officer's house was burned down, and then the battery that was along with them, seeing somesuspicious-looking Grey Backs dodging in and out of a wood, let themhave a few round of shells just to see whether they were in force ornot, according to orders. The Rebs made tracks for a low piece of groundbehind a ridge, and then formed line of battle. Our men, with a yell, went forward, and when they saw the Rebs in line, these two Colonels, thinking they had been sent out to fight, and that their men didn'tcarry guns for nothing, ordered them to fire; and then they ordered themto load again, in order to relave their hips as much as possible fromthe load of ammunition; and then they fired again; and then, gittin'excited, and thinkin' this work too slow, and that it wouldn't do totake such bright bayonets home, they ordered a charge, and cheering, yelling, and howling, our boys went at the Rebs. The Rebs didn't standto meet them, but fell back behind a barn. The batteries burnedthat, --and then they tried to form line again, but no use. As soon asour fellows gave the yell, they were off like all possessed. They hadprepared to run by tearing the fences down; and then it was trying toform line, and breaking as soon as our fellows howled a little, all theway for five long miles to Martinsburg; and the last our boys saw of theRebs was their straight coat-tails at the south end of the town. Andthat was the whole battle of Falling Waters; and may be Ould Pattersonwouldn't have got to Martinsburg if them Colonels had reported the Rebsin force, and not got excited. 

"But how did you hear all this? You forget that part of it. "

"And couldn't you let that go? I thought I could concale that. 

"Well, you know, Lieutenant, our ould Colonel boarded at the BrickHotel, along the Railroad, above where the long strings of locomotiveswere burned, as the Gineral says, by our 'misguided southern friends;'and I was about there considerably on duty. One afternoon, ajolly-looking little chap, one of the Wisconsin boys, and one after myown heart--and he proved it, too, by trating me to several drinks--camealong with a Rebel Artillery officer's coat under his arm. And we lookedat the coat, and talked and drank, and drank and talked, until theWisconsin chappy put it on, just to show me how the Rebel officer lookedin it. It was a fine grey, trimmed with gold lace and scarlet, and theWisconsin chappy looked gay in it, barring the sleeves were severalinches too long, and the waist buttons came down nearly a foot too far, and it was too big round the waist. And he showed me after every drinkwhat he did and what the Officer did, --and, to tell the plain truth, wegot a drop too much, --and the Wisconsin chappy got turning back-handsprings against the side of the hotel, and I tried to do the same, tothe great sport of the crowd. But it didn't last long. A corporal'sguard took--or rather carried--us to the guard-house, and towardsmorning, when we sobered up, he tould me the whole story. "

"Pretty well put together, Terry. "

"And the blissed truth, ivery word of it. "

The night was wearing away--work before them in the morning--and thegroup dispersed for their blankets, from which we will not disturb themuntil the succeeding chapter. 

CHAPTER IX. 

_Reconnoissance concluded. What we Saw and What we didn't See, and whatthe Good Public Read--Pigeon-hole Generalship and the Press--ThePreacher Lieutenant and how he Recruited--Comparative Merits of BlackUnion Men and White Rebels--A Ground Blast, and its effect upon aPigeon-hole General--Staff Officers Striking a Snag in the WesternVirginia Captain--Why the People have a right to expect active ArmyMovements--Red Tape and the Sick List--Pigeon-holing at DivisionHead-quarters. _

In the misty morning arms were taken and the forward resumed. OccasionalRebel corpses passed showed the work of our sharpshooters. In a shorttime the ground again prevented the movement in line of battle, and thetroops marched by the flank over a road well wooded on each side, untilthey reached what proved to be the farthest point made by thereconnoissance--a large open plateau, bounded on the north and west by awooded ridge to which it gradually rose, and which was said to borderthe Oppequan. On the south, at an average distance of five hundred yardsfrom the road, was a strip of timber land. Slightly west by south, butupon the north side of the road, was a rise of ground, in the rear ofwhich, but upon the south side of the road, were a farmer's house andout-buildings. The troops pursued their march until the head of thecolumn arrived opposite the house. Suspicious-looking horsemen werediscovered on the edge of the woods that crowned the ridge. The orderwas given that the troops should leave the road and take cover on itssouth side, a position not commanded by the ridge. The order was notexecuted before a Rebel officer, on a white-tailed dun horse, the tailparticularly conspicuous against the dark background of the wood, wasobserved signalling to the extreme right of what was now supposed to bethe Rebel line. Almost instantly some half a dozen pieces of artillerywere placed in position, at various points on the brow of the circularridge, completely commanding, in fact flanking our position. Our troops, however, were not disturbed, although every instant expecting a salutefrom the batteries, as the range was easy and direct. While the troopswere being placed in position behind the house the batteries were postedon the rise. A few hours passed in this position. The Rebel batteries inplain view, horsemen continually emerging and disappearing in the wood. Was it the force that we had driven before us? or were the Rebels inforce upon that ridge, making the Oppequan their line of defence? Betterground upon which to be attacked could not be chosen. The long distanceto be traversed under fire of any number of converging batteries, wouldhave slaughtered men by the thousands. But again, if the Rebels were inforce, why did they not attack us? Outflanking us was easy. With asuperior force our retreat could easily be intercepted, and if weescaped at all, it would be with heavy loss. Their batteries threatened, but no firing. All was quiet, save the noise made by the men instripping an orchard in their immediate front, and the commands of theirofficers in ordering them back to the ranks. 

The quiet was provoking, and all manner of discussion as to the Rebelforce, movements, etc. , was indulged in. Many contended that they werebut threatening--others, that they were in force, that was their line ofdefence, and the plateau in front their battle-ground. This decision theGeneral in command seems to have arrived at, as the flaming telegrams inthe Dailies, in the course of a day or two, announced that the Rebelswere discovered in great force, strongly posted in a most defensibleposition. After the lapse of an hour or two, the order for the homewardmarch was given, and strange to say, that although marching by the flankthe last man had disappeared from their view, behind the cover of thewood, before they opened fire. They then commenced shelling the woodsvigorously, and continued firing at a respectful distance, doing nodamage, until night set in. In the course of the afternoon it commencedraining, and continued steadily throughout the night. The troopsencamped for the night in Egyptian darkness, and what was worse, in ameadow fairly deluged with water. 

"Well, what does all this mean?" inquired one of a crowd, huddledtogether, hooded by blanket and oil-cloth, protecting themselves as bestthey could from the falling rain, for sleep was out of question to allbut the fortunate few who can slumber in puddles. 

"What does it all mean, Charlie? Why it means a blind upon Uncle Abrahamand his good people. That's what it means. "

"Well, Lieutenant, I am surprised that a man of your usual reserve andcorrect conversation, should talk in that style about our commander. "

"Sergeant, it is high time that not only individuals, whether reservedor not, but the people at large should denounce this delay that iswearing out the life of the nation. Weeks have passed since the battleof Antietam, and after repeated urgings on the part of the President, and repeated promises on the part of our commander, we have thisbeggarly apology for a movement. Yes, sir, apology for a movement. To-morrow's Dailies will tell in flaming capitals, how the Rebels wereposted in large force in a strong position, and in line of battle uponthe Oppequan, intimating thereby that further delay will be unavoidableto make our army equal to a movement. Now this humbugging an earnestpeople is unfair, unworthy of a great commander, and if he be humbuggedhimself again as with the Quaker guns at Manassas, the sooner thecountry knows it the better for its credit and safety. How can anyliving man tell that the batteries we saw to-day upon the ridge, are notthe batteries we drove before us yesterday? The probability is that theyare. "

The speaker, as intimated by the Sergeant, was a man of reserve, quiet, and to the last degree inoffensive in his manner. A professingChristian, consistent in, and not ashamed of his profession, he had therespect of his command, and a friend in every acquaintance in theregiment. Educated for the ministry, he threw aside his theological textbooks on the outbreak of the Rebellion, and bringing into requisitionsome earlier lessons learned at a Military Academy, he opened arecruiting list with the zeal of a Puritan. It was not circulated, as iscustomary, in bar-rooms, but taking it to a rural district, he called ameeting in the Township Church, and in the faith of a Christian and theearnestness of a patriot, he eloquently proclaimed his purpose and therighteousness of the war. Success on a smaller scale, but like that ofPeter the Hermit, followed his endeavor, and his quota of the Companywas soon made up by the enlistment of nearly every able-bodied young manin the Township. His recruits fairly idolized him, and in their rougherand more unlettered way, were equally earnest advocates of thesuppression of the Rebellion by any and every means. 

"Your Abolitionism will crop out from time to time, like the ledges ofrock in the country we have just been passing through, " said a JuniorLieutenant. 

"Call it Abolitionism, or what you will, " replied his Senior. "I am forthe suppression of the Rebellion by the speediest means possible. I amfor the abolition of everything in the way of its suppression. "

"You would abolish the Constitution, I suppose, if you thought it in theway. "

"I would certainly amend the Constitution, had I the power, to suit theexigencies of the times. What is the Constitution worth without acountry for it to control?"

"There it comes. Anything to ease the nigger. "

"Yes, sir, I thank God that this Rebellion strikes a death-blow atslavery. That wherever a Federal bayonet gleams in a slave State, we cansee a gleam of eternal truth lighting up the gloom of slavery. Therecent Proclamation of the President was all that was needed to placeour cause wholly upon the rock of God's justice, and on that base thegates of the hell of slavery and treason combined, shall not prevailagainst it. "

"Preaching again, Lieutenant, " said our Western Virginia Captain, whowas the Lieutenant's Senior officer, as he strolled leisurely toward thecrowd. "I tell you, Lieutenant, if Old Abe don't make betterpreparations to carry out his Proclamation, he had better turn ChineseGeneral at once. "

"Give him time, Captain. January 1 may bring preparations that we littledream of. At any rate, it places us in a proper position before theworld. What ground had we to expect sympathy from the anti-slaverypeople of Europe, when we made no effort to release the millionsenslaved in the South from bondage?"

"As far as using the negroes as soldiers is concerned, it seems a daybehind the fair. It should have been issued earlier. Why, we could havehad them by thousands in Western Virginny, and officers in our regiment, who were with him, tell me that Patterson could have mustered an army ofthem. Instead of that they were driven from his lines, and when theybrought him correct information as to the Rebels at Winchester, it was'don't believe the d----d nigger, ' and all this while he dined and winedwith the Rebel nabobs about Charlestown. Boys, we commenced this warwrong. I'm a Democrat, and always have been one; but I'm not afraid tosay that we've all along been trying our best to make enemies of theonly real friends we have inside of Rebel lines. Now, I don't like thenigger better than some of my neighbors; but in my opinion, a blackUnion man is better than a white Rebel any day. To say nothing of theirfighting, why don't our Generals use them as servants, and why are theynot our teamsters and laborers? Look at our able-bodied men detailed forservants about Pigeon-hole's Head-quarters. "

"Well, Captain, " interrupted the Sergeant, "Pigey has a bigestablishment, and see if the papers don't make him out a big Generalfor this daring reconnoissance. "

"This daring tomfoolery! If he'd come back to old Rosecrans with hisstory about a few pieces of artillery posted on a ridge, Rosy would wantto know why the d----l he didn't find out what was behind them. "

"He showed great experience a few weeks ago, " continued the Sergeant, "when the Western fellows let off one of their ground blasts. 'Where didthat shell explode?' inquired Pigey, galloping up with his staff andorderlies to our Regimental Head-quarters. 'I heard no shell, ' says theColonel. 'Nor I, ' says the Lieut. -Colonel. 'I did hear a ground blast, 'said the Lieut. -Colonel, 'such as the boys in the Regiment belowoccasionally make from the rebel cartridges they find. ' 'Ground blast!h--l!' says the General, excitedly, his eyes flashing from under hiscrooked cocked hat: 'Don't you think that an officer of my experienceand observation would be able to distinguish the explosion of a shellfrom that of a ground blast?' 'No shell exploded, General, ' said theColonel, 'within the limits of my regiment. ' 'The d----l itdidn't--would you have me disbelieve my own ears? Now, I have issuedorders enough about permitting these unexploded shells to lie about, andI purpose holding the Colonels responsible for all damage. Suppose thatexplosion was heard at corps head-quarters, as it doubtless was, and theinquiry is made from what quarter the rebels threw the shell, what replyam I, as the commanding General of this division, to make?'

"'Tell them that it was a ground blast, ' said a Second Lieutenant, politely saluting. 'I have just been down and saw the hole it made. '

"'You saw the hole! and just below here! The d----l you did! D--n theground blasts!' and the General turned his horse's head and startedtowards division head-quarters at a full gallop, followed by hisgrinning staff. "

"He's not to blame so much, boys, " remarked the Captain. "He was a quietclerk in the Topographical Department when the war broke out, I've beentold, and I've no doubt he dusted the pigeon-holes in his chargecarefully, and folded the papers neatly. When McClellan looked about formaterial to fill up his big staff with, who was so well calculated toattend to the topography of his battle-fields, considering that hefought so few, and most of those he had to fight on the Peninsula, therebels got next day, as our Division General. Now, as Little Mac is notparticularly noted for close acquaintance with rebel shells, the Generalhas had small chance of knowing what kind of noise they do make whenthey burst. His great blunder, or rather, the Government's, is histaking command of a division, if it has but two brigades. I heard aMajor say he had greatness thrust upon him. He's a small man in a bigplace. West Point has turned out some big men, like Rosecrans, Grant, Hooker, and many others that are a credit to the country--men of genuinetalent, who have none of those foolish prejudices, that the regulars arethe only soldiers, and that volunteers are a mere make-shift, that can'tbe depended upon. And West Point, like all other institutions, has hadits share of small men, that come from it with just brains enough tocarry a load of prejudice against volunteers and the volunteer service, and a very little knowledge of the ordinary run of military matters. Anofficer of real ability will never be a slave to prejudice. These smallmen are the Red-Tapists of the army--the Pigeon-Hole-Paper Generals, andbeing often elevated and privileged unduly, because they are from WestPoint, they play the very devil in their commands. Our corps commander, who was a teacher there, has brought a full share of the last kind intothe corps. 

"I wander about a good deal among other camps of this corps, pick upinformation and make myself acquainted without standing on ceremony. Inever wait for that. I always had a habit of doing it, and I honestlybelieve, from what I see and hear, there has been a studied effort, fromsome high commander, to teach these young regular officerstreason, --yes, boys, treason, --because when a man tells me that we can'tconquer the Rebels, and that after a while we'll have to make peace, etc. , I set him down for a traitor; he is aiding and abetting theenemies of his country. If that ain't treason I'd like to know what is. "

"The Captain headed off a lot of young regulars the other evening alittle the prettiest, " said the Sergeant. 

"Let's have it!" said a dozen in the crowd, now considerably increased. 

"The Captain, " continued the Sergeant, "had asked me to take a walk withhim after dress-parade, and we strolled along the Sharpsburg roadtowards Corps Head-quarters. As we got just beyond the house and barnwhere the Rebel wounded are, we came upon a crowd of officers, commissioned and non-commissioned, and some privates. A quite youngofficer, with a milk-and-water face and a moustache like mildew on adamp Hardee, was talking very excitedly about the Administration notappreciating General McClellan; that there wasn't intellect enough thereto appreciate a really great military genius; that European officerspraised him as our greatest General, and that even the Rebel officerssaid that they feared him more than any of our Commanders; and yet allthe while the Abolition Administration tied his hands and fettered hismovements, and all because Little Mac wasn't crazy enough to say thatthe Rebels could be subjugated and their armies exterminated, as somefanatical Regulars and nearly all the Volunteer officers pretend to say. 'Now, I believe, ' said the officer, thrusting his thumbs between hisarmpits and his vest, and puffing out his breast pompously, 'I believe, as Little Mac says, 'we can drive them to the wall;' we can lessen thelimits of their country; but, gentlemen, after all, there will have tobe a peace. '

"I thought, " said the Sergeant, "the Captain was going to break in uponhim here. He threw back his cap till the rim was on top of his head, rammed his hands into his pockets, and edged his way a little furtherinto the crowd, towards the speaker; but he didn't, and the speaker wenton to say:

"'There are the people, too, crazy about a forward movement. Why don'tthey come down and shoulder muskets themselves?'

"The Captain could hold in no longer. He drew his hands out of hispockets, straightened them along his side, like a game roosterstretching his wings just before a fight, and sidling up to the officer, looking at him out of the corner of his eye, he burst out--

"'Why don't they shoulder muskets themselves? I'll tell youwhy, --because we are here to do it for them. They have sent us, they payus, and they've a right to talk, and I hope they will talk. Anythinglike a decent forward movement of this Corps would have saved thedisgrace of the second Bull Run battle. We all know how the Corps laggedalong the road-side, and the Rebel cannon all the while thundering inthe ears of its Commander. '

"'A Volunteer officer, I suppose, ' said the young officer, somewhatsneeringly. 'Where have you ever seen service?'

"'Yes, sir, a Volunteer officer, ' said the Captain straightening up, facing full the officer, and eyeing him until his face grew paler. 'Where have I seen service? In Mexico, as private in the 4th RegularArtillery, while you were eating pap with a spoon, you puppy! You hadbetter have stayed at that business; it was an honest one, at any rate, and Uncle Sam would have been saved some pay that you draw, while, likea dishonest sneak, you preach treason. '

"'How dare you insult a Regular officer?' said a gold-striped, dandifiedfellow, as he twisted the ends of his moustache into rat-tails. 

"'Who the d----l are you?' said the Captain, turning on him so suddenlythat the officer commenced to back; 'with your gold lace on yourshoulders that may mean anything or nothing. What are you anyhow?Captain? Lieutenant? Clerk? or Orderly? Those straps are a good comeoff, boys. ' The crowd laughed. 'I suppose he thinks he's a staffofficer. '

"'I am, and a Lieutenant in the Regular army, ' said the officer angrily, and giving the word 'Regular' the full benefit of his voice. 

"'Regular and be d----d, ' retorted the Captain. 'I want you both tounderstand that I am a Captain in the Volunteer service of the UnitedStates; that that service is by Act of Congress on a footing with theRegular service, and that I'll always talk in this style when I heartreason. I am the superior officer of you both, and have a right to talkto you. I've been in service since the Rebellion broke out, and by themother of Moses, I never heard treason preached by officers in UncleSam's uniform till I got into this Corps. It makes my blood boil, and Iwon't stand it. Pretty doctrine you are trying to teach these soldiers;but I know by their faces they understand the matter better than you, and you can't do them any damage. ' 'That's so, ' sang out several of thecrowd. 'You fellows all talk alike. I have heard dozens of you talk inthe same way, and I believe your ideas are stocked from a higher source. There is something wrong in the head of this Grand Army of the Potomac. The way it's managed, grand only in reviews. '

"'We shall report you, sir, ' said the Rat-tailed Moustache, 'forspeaking disrespectfully of your superior officers. '

"'Report as quick as you please. About that time you'll find anotherreport at the War Department, against two Regular Lieutenants, forspeaking discouraging and disloyal sentiments. '

"'A Volunteer officer would stand a big chance at the Department makinga complaint against Regulars, ' said the officer, as they both backed outof the crowd, followed by a couple of non-commissioned officers andprivates. 

"'You d----d butterflies, ' roared the Captain after them. 'I'll bet tendollars to one that you only stayed in service when the war broke out, because you thought you could trust greenbacks better than Confederatescrip. '

"'You shall hear from us, ' replied Rat-tail, as they walked on. 

"'Am ready to hear from both at once now, you cowardly sneaks, ' sang outthe Captain. 'Don't believe you ever smelt powder, or ever will, if youcan help it. '

"'Boys, ' said the Captain, who had the sympathies of the crowd thatremained strongly with him. 'These shallow-brained fellows and someolder ones that wear stars, that havn't head enough to cut loose fromthe Red-tape prejudice against us Volunteers, are a curse to the Army ofthe Potomac. Is it any wonder that this Grand Army, burdened withsquirts of that stripe, is a burlesque and a disgrace to the country forits inefficiency. In the West, where Regular officers, unprejudiced, gohand in hand with Volunteers, we make progress. But what's the use oftalking, the body won't move right if the heart's rotten. '

"'True as preachin', ' said one of the men, and the sentiment seemedapproved by the crowd, as we gradually took up the homeward step. "

"Has the Sergeant told 'the whole truth, ' and nothing but the truth?"inquired a Lieutenant, a lawyer at home, of the Captain. 

"Yes, sir, " replied the Captain firmly, "and I'll stick by the whole ofit, and a good deal more. "

"Well, I've been slow about believing many statements that I haveheard, " continued the Lieutenant; "but to-day I heard some facts from aColonel in the Second Brigade that fairly staggered me. His Regiment, through some Red-tape informality, has been without tents. Inconsequence, considerable sickness, principally fever, has prevailed. Some time ago he made a request to Division Head-quarters, forpermission to clean out and use the white house that stands near hisRegiment, and that, until lately, was full of wounded rebels, as ahospital. Corps Head-quarters must be heard from. After considerabledelay, the men in the meanwhile sickening and dying, the request wasdenied. The sickness, through the rains, increased, and the applicationwas renewed with like success. The owner, who was a Rebel sympathizer, was opposed, and other like excuses, that in the urgency of the caseshould not have been considered at all, were given. The sickness becamealarming in extent. The Regiment was entirely without shelter, save thatmade from the few pine boughs to be had in the neighborhood. The Coloneltook some boards that the rebels had spared from the fence surroundingthe house, and with them endeavored to increase the comfort of the men. In the course of a day or two, a bill was sent to him fromHead-quarters, with every board charged at its highest value, with therequest to pay, and with notice that in failure of immediate payment theamount would be charged upon his pay-roll. This treatment disgusted theColonel, who is a gentleman of high tone and the kindliest feelings, andangered by the heartlessness that denied him proper shelter for hissick, now increased to a number frightfully large, with a heavy share ofmortality, he cut red-tape, sent over a detail to the house, had itcleansed of Rebel filth, and filled it with the sick. The poor fellowswere hardly comfortable in their new quarters, before an order came fromDivision Head-quarters for their immediate removal. 

"'I have no place to take them to; they are sick, and must be undershelter, ' was the Colonel's reply. 

"'The Commanding General of the Division orders their instant removal, 'was the order that followed. 

"'The Commanding General of Division must take the responsibility oftheir removal on his own head, ' was the spirited reply of the Colonel. 

"That evening towards sunset, the second edition of Old Pigeon, 'Squab, 'as the boys called him, rode up with the air of 'one having authority, 'and in a conceited manner informed the Colonel that the Generalcommanding the Division had directed him to place him under arrest. Nowthese things I know to be facts. I took pains to inform myself. "

The Lieutenant's story elicited many ejaculations of contempt for theheartlessness of some in high places; but they were cut short by theCaptain's stating that he knew the circumstances to be true, and thatOld Pigeon stated the Colonel should wait for his hospital tents, therequisition for which had been sent up months before. It was shelved insome pigeon-hole, and the Colonel was to stand by and see his men sickenand die, while a rebel farmer's house near by would have saved many ofthem. 

"But we're in for it, boys. No use of talking. Obedience is lesson No. 1of the soldier, and you know that we must not 'mutter or murmur' againstour Commanding General, which position Old Pigey so often reminds us heholds. The old fellow half suspects that if he didn't, we'd forget itfrom day to day; for Lord knows there is nothing about the man but hisposition to make any one remember it. Now I am determined to have somesleep. "

"Sleep! such a night as this?" said one of the crowd. 

"Of course; we'll need it to-morrow, and an old soldier ought to be ableto sleep anywhere, in any kind of weather. "

The Captain left. There was a partial dispersing of the crowd, but manya poor fellow shivered in that pelting rain the night long. 

The morning found the enemy at a respectful distance, and the homewardroute was quietly resumed. Late in the afternoon the advance enteredShepherdstown. At this time the rear was shelled vigorously, and as thetroops continued their passage through the town cavalry charges weremade upon both sides. That only ford was again crossed, and the eveningwas well advanced ere the troops regained their camps. 

A day later, and the Dailies, through their respective reporters, toldan astonished public how the brilliant and daring reconnoissance haddiscovered qualities of great generalship in a man who but a short timebefore had figured as a quiet literary man in the seclusion of anoffice. 

"And, be jabers, " said our little Irish Corporal, on hearing it read, "Uncle Sam would have gained by paying him to stay in that office. "

CHAPTER X. 

_Departure from Sharpsburg Camp--The Old Woman of Sandy Hook--Harper'sFerry--South sewing Dragon's Teeth by shedding Old John's Blood--TheDutch Doctor and the Boar--Beauties of Tobacco--Camp Life on theCharacter--Patrick, Brother to the Little Corporal--General Patterson noIrishman--Guarding a Potatoe Patch in Dixie--The Preacher Lieutenant onEmancipation--Inspection and the Exhorting Colonel--The Scotch Tailor onMilitary Matters. _

October was drawing to a close rapidly, when, at last, after repeatedfalse alarms, the actual movement of the army commenced. No one, unlesshimself an old campaigner, can appreciate the feelings of the soldier atthe breaking up of camp. Anxious for a change of scenery as he may be, the eye will linger upon each familiar spot, the quarters, the paradeground, and rocky bluff and wooded knoll, until memory's impress bearsthe lasting distinctness of a lifetime. Those leaving could not banishfrom their minds, even if disposed, the thought that, although but atemporary sojourn for them, it had proved to be the last resting-placeof many of their comrades. The hospital, more dreaded than the field, had contributed its share to the mounds that dotted the hills from thestrife of Antietam. 

 "There is not an atom of this earth But once was living man--"

was a day dream, doubtless, of the poetic boy of eighteen; but howsuggestive it becomes, when we consider how many thousands and hundredsof thousands of mounds rising upon every hill in the border States, attest devotion to the cause of the Union, or treason, in this foulestof Rebellions. 

The route lay, after passing the village of Sharpsburg, through a narrowvalley, lying cosily between the spurs of two ridges that appeared toterminate at the Ferry. On either hand the evidences of the occupationof the country by a large army were abundant. Fences torn down, groundtrampled, and fields destitute of herbage. The road bordering the canal, along which is built the straggling village of Sandy Hook, was crowdedwith the long wagon trains of the different Corps. A soldier could asreadily distinguish the Staff from the Regimental wagons, as the Staffthemselves from Regimental officers. The slick, well fed appearance ofthe horses or mules of Staff teams, usually six in number, owing toabundance of forage and half _loaded_ wagons, were in striking contrastwith the four half fed, hide-bound beasts usually attached to theoverloaded Regimental wagons. Order after order for the reduction ofbaggage, that would reduce field officers to a small valise apiece, while many line officers would be compelled to march without a change ofclothing, did not appear to lessen the length of Staff trains. That thetransportation was unnecessarily extensive, cannot be doubted. That theheaviest reduction could have been made with Head-quarter trains, isequally true. 

"Grey coats one day and blue coats the next, " said an old woman clad inhomespun grey, who came out of a low frame house as the troops slowlymade their way past the teams through the village of Sandy Hook. 

"Right on this rock is where General Jackson rested hisself, " continuedthe old woman. 

"Were there many Rebs about?" inquired one of the men. 

"Right smart of them, I reckon;" replied the old woman; "but Lord! whata lookin' set of critters. Elbows and knees out; many of them hadn'tshoes, and half of them that had had their toes out. You boys aredandies to them. And tired too, and hungry. Gracious! the poor fellows, when their officers weren't about, would beg for anything almost to eat. Why, my daughter Sal saw them at the soap-fat barrel! They said theywere nearly marched and starved to death. And their officers didn't lookmuch better. Lord! it looks like a pic-nic party to see you blue coats, with your long strings of wagons, and all your other fixins. You takegood care of your bellies, the way you haul the crackers and bacon. OldJackson never waits for wagons. That's the way he gets around you sooften. "

"Look here, old woman, " roared out one of the men, "you had better dryup. "

"Yes, and he'll get around you again, " continued the old woman in alouder key. "You think you're going to bag him, do you. You're some onbaggin'; but he'll give you three days' start and beat you down thevalley. They acted like gentlemen, too, didn't touch a thing withoutleave, and you fellows have robbed me of all I have. "

"They were in 'My Maryland, ' and wanted to get the people all straight, "suggested one of the boys. 

The old lady did not take the hint, but kept on berating the fresh menas they passed--taunting them by disparaging comparison with the Rebeltroops. A neighbor, by informing them of the fact of her having twosons in the Rebel service, imparted the secret of her interest. 

 * * * * *

And there is the Ferry, so often pictured, or attempted to be, by penand pencil. Either art has failed, and will fail, to do justice to thatsublimely grand mountain scenery. Not quite three years ago, an iron oldman, who perished with the heroism of a Spartan, or rather, to be just, the faith of a Christian; but little more than a year in advance of thedawn of the day of his hope, centred upon this spot the eyes of acontinent. A crazy fanatic, was the cry, but--

 "Thy scales, Mortality, are just To all that pass away. "

Time will reveal that it was not the freak of a madman, but rather astep in the grand progress of universal emancipation, and that Old Johnhad foundations for his purposed campaign, quite as substantial as thoseupon which better starred enterprises have succeeded. 

"Lor, Massa, if Old John had only had these men, " said a wench to one ofPatterson's Captains, as he paused for a few moments while drilling hiscommand at Charlestown, during that fruitless campaign, so formidable inpreparation, and so much more disgraceful than that of Old John in itstermination, for the latter, in his dying heroism, won the admiration ofa world. 

"Why, what could Old John have done with them?" replied the Captain. 

"Golly, Massa, " said the wench, with a knowing grin; "he would havewalked right through Virginny, and he'd have had plenty of help too. Iknows, many a nigger about here that didn't say nuthin', would havejined him. "

"Why didn't they join him?"

"Lor, Massa, they didn't know it in time. Hadn't any chance. Massawanted us to go see him hung; but only the youngsters went. We coloredpussons neber forget Old John. No sah!"

The men wound their way as best they could beneath the precipitous andtowering rocks of the Maryland Heights, through the teams that blockedup the road, and a short distance above the Railroad Bridge, filed tothe left, and crossed upon the pontoons. As they passed the EngineHouse, the utmost endeavors of the officers could not prevent a bulge tothe right, so great was the anxiety to see the scene of Old John'sheroic but hopeless contest. Denounced by pro-slavery zealots as amurderer, by the community at large as a fanatic, who fifty years hencewill deny him honorable place in the list of martyrs for the cause ofeternal truth!

The town itself was almost a mass of ruins; both sides, at variousstages of the war, having endeavored to effect its destruction. Anotherpontoon bridge was crossed, bridging the Shenandoah--sparkling on itsrocky bed--the _Dancing Water_, as termed by the Aborigines, with theircustomary graceful appropriateness. To one fond of mountain scenery, andwho is not? the winding road that follows the Shenandoah to itsjunction, then charmingly bends to the course of the Potomac, isintensely interesting. But why should an humble writer weary thereader's patience by expatiating upon scenery, the sight of whichJefferson declared well worth a visit across the Atlantic, at a day whensuch visits were tedious three month affairs, and uncertain at that? Warnow adds a bristling horror to the shaggy mountain tops, and from thehoarse throats of heavy cannon often "leap from rock to rock thebeetling crags among" well executed counterfeits of "live thunder. "

The Potomac is followed but a short distance, the road winding by aneasy ascent up the mountain ridge, and descending as easily into anarrow and fruitful valley. In this valley, four miles from the Ferry, ahalt was ordered, and the Division rested for the night and succeedingday, in a large and well sodded field. 

"Gentlemen, " said our Brigadier, in a sly, good-humored way, as he rodeup to the field officers of the Regiment, "the field upon which you areencamped, and all the land, almost as far as you can see, on the left ofyon fence, belong to a Rebel now holding the rank of Major in the Rebelservice. All I need say, I suppose, gentlemen, " and the General left tocommunicate the important information to the other Regiments of theBrigade. As a fine flock of sheep, some young cattle, a drove of porkersthat from a rear view gave promise of prime Virginia hams, and sundryflocks of chickens, had been espied as the men marched into the field, the General's remarks were eminently practical and suggestive. 

"Charlie, what's the state of the larder?" said the Major, with hisusual thoughtfulness, addressing the cheerful mess cook. 

"Some boiled pork and crackers. Poor show, sir!" Such fare, after a hardday's march, in sight of a living paradise of beef, mutton, pork, andpoultry, would have been perfectly inexcusable; and forthwith, theMajor, "the little Dutch Doctor, " and a short, stoutly-built Lieutenant, all armed to the teeth, started off to reconnoitre, and ascertain inwhat position the Rebel property was posted. As they went they canvassedthe respective merits of beef, mutton, pork and poultry, until a shortgrunt from a porker, as he crossed the Doctor's path, ended thediscussion. The Major and Lieutenant cocked their pistols, but withheldfiring, as they saw the Doctor prostrate, holding by both hands the hindleg of a patriarch of the flock. 

"Oh, Heavens! we don't want that old boar!" cried out at once both theMajor and Lieutenant. 

"Goot meat, make strong, goot for health, very, " said the Doctor, holding on with the grasp of a vice, while the boar fairly dragged him, face to the ground, "after the manner of all creeping things. " TheDoctor was in a fix. Help his companions would not give. He could nothold the boar by one hand alone. After being considerably bruised, hewas compelled to release his hold, to his intense disgust, which heevinced as he raised himself up, puffing like a porpoise, bygesticulating furiously, and muttering a jargon in which the only thingintelligible was the oft-repeated word, "tam. " A well-directed shot fromthe Major, shortly afterwards, brought down a royal "Virginia mutton, "as the camp phrase is. Another from the Lieutenant grazed the rear of afine young porker's ham; but considerable firing, a long chase, and manyludicrous falls occurred, before that pig was tightly gripped betweenthe legs of the Lieutenant. 

The expedition was so successful that the aid of some privates wascalled in to help carry to quarters the rich spoils of the chase. As forthe Doctor, --after the refusal of assistance in his struggle, he walkedhomeward in stately but offended dignity, and shocked the Chaplain, ashe was occasionally in the habit of doing, by still muttering "tam. "

A person enjoying the comforts of home, testy as to the broiling of amutton-chop perhaps, for real, unalloyed enjoyment of appetite shouldform one of a camp circle, toasting, at a blazing fire, as the shadesof evening gather round, steaks freshly cut with a camp-knife from fleshthat quivered with remaining life but a moment before, assisting itsdigestion by fried hardees, and washing both down by coffee innocent ofcream. That is a feast, as every old campaigner will testify; but to beproperly appreciated a good appetite is all essential. To attain that, should other resources fail, the writer can confidently recommend amarch, say of about fifteen miles, over rough or dusty roads. 

And then, as the appetites of the men are sated by the hardy provenderof Uncle Sam, varied, as in this instance, by Virginia venison, and theyrespectively fall back and take to

 "Sublime Tobacco! glorious in a pipe;"

what more pleasant than the discussion of the doings of the day, or ofthe times, the recital of oft-repeated and ever-gaining yarns, or theheart-stirring strains of national ballads, while each countenance islit with the ever-varying glow of the fire. 

Upon this evening not only Head-quarters but the Regiment was exultantin the feast upon the fat of a rebellious land. To add to their comfortseveral large stacks of hay and straw had been deprived of their fairproportions, and preparations had been made for the enjoyment of restupon beds that kings would envy, could they but have the sleepers' soundrepose. 

The morrow had been set apart as a day of rest--a fact known to theRegiment, and their fireside enjoyment was accordingly prolonged. 

The camp, more than any other position in life, develops the greatestinconsistencies in poor human nature. The grumbler of the day's march isvery frequently the joker of the bivouac. The worse, at the expense ofman's better qualities, are rapidly strengthened, and the least particleof selfishness, however concealed by a generous nature at the period ofenlistment, fearfully increases its power with every day of service. Thewriter remembers well a small, slightly-built, bow-legged fellow, whowould murmur without ceasing upon the route, continually torment hisofficers for privilege to fall out of ranks to adjust his knapsack, fasten a belt, or some such like purpose, who, on the halt, would amusehis comrades for hours in performing gymnastic feats upon out-spreadblankets. Another, who at home flourished deservedly under the sobriquetof "Clever Billy, " became, in a few brief months of service, the mostsurly, snappish, and selfish of his mess. 

Pipe in mouth, their troubles are puffed away in the gracefullyascending smoke. Many a non-user of the weed envies in moody silence theperfect satisfaction resting upon the features of his comrade thusengaged. Non-users are becoming rare birds in the army. So universal isthe habit, that the pipe appears to belong to the equipment, and thetobacco-pouch, suspended from a button-hole of the blouse, is sogenerally worn that one would suppose it to have been prescribed by thePresident as part of the uniform. 

The crowd gathered about the Head-quarters had largely increased, andwhile luxuriating upon the straw, time passed merrily. The Colonel, whonever let an opportunity to improve the discipline of his command passunimproved, seized the occasion of the presence of a large number ofofficers to impress upon them the necessity of greater control of themen upon the march. The easy, open, but orderly route-step of theRegulars was alluded to--their occupying the road alone, and not spreadout and straggling like a drove of cattle. A stranger seeing ourVolunteers upon the march would not give them credit for the soldierlyqualities they really possess. Curiosity, so rampant in the Yankee, tempts him continually to wander from the ranks to one or other side ofthe road. 

"Well, Colonel, " said a tall Lieutenant, "the Regulars look prim andmarch well, but they have done little fighting, as yet, in this Army ofthe Potomac. "

"You forget the Peninsula, " replied the Colonel. 

"Oh, there they were caught unexpectedly, and forced into it. In thisCorps they are always in reserve; and that's what their officerslike, --everything in reserve but pay and promotion. It is ratherdoubtful whether they will fight. "

"Ov coorse they'll fight, " said the little Irish Corporal, half risingfrom his straw on the outskirts of the crowd; "Ov coorse they will. They're nearly all my own countrymen. I know slathers of them; and didyou iver in your born days know an Irishman that wouldn't fight, anywhere, any time, and for anything, if he had anybody to fight?"

"And a quart of whiskey in him, " interrupts the Adjutant. "As Burns saysof the Scotch--

 "'Wi' Tippeny they fear nae evil, Wi' Usquebagh they'll face the Devil. '"

"Now, don't be comparing an Irishman, if you plaze, Adjutant, to ascratch-back Scotchman. The raal Irishman has fire enough in his bluid;but there's no denying a glass of potheen is the stuff to regulate it. Talk about Rigulars or Volunteers fighting;--it's the officers must dotheir duty, and there's no fear thin of the men. "

"What did you enlist for, anyway, Terence?" broke in a SecondLieutenant. 

"It's aisy seeing that it wasn't for a Lieutenant's pay, " retortedTerence, to the amusement of the crowd, and then, as earnestnessgathered upon his countenance, he continued: "I enlisted for revinge, and there's little prospect of my seeing a chance for it. "

"For revenge?" said several. 

"Yis, for revinge. I had worked early and late at a liv'ry stable, likea nagur, to pay the passage money of my only brother to this country. Faith, he was a broth of a boy, the pride of all the McCarthy's, "--tearswelled in his eyes as he continued, --"just three years younger thanmysilf, a light, ruddy, nately put togither lad as iver left the bogs;and talk about fightin'!--the divil was niver in him but in a fight, andthin you'd think he was all divil. That was Patrick's sport, and fighthe would, ivery chance, from the time whin he was a bit of a lad, tenyears ould, and bunged the ould schoolteacher's eyes in the parishschool-house. Will, he got a good berth in a saloon in the Bowery, wherethey used Patrick in claning out the customers whin they got noisy, andhe'd do it nately too, to the satisfaction of his employer. He did welltill a recruiting Sergeant--bad luck to him--that knew the McCarthys inthe ould country, found him out, and they drank and talked about ouldtimes, and the Sergeant tould him that the army was the place forIrishmen, --that there would be lots of fightin'. The chance of a fighttook Patrick, and nixt day he left the city in a blouse, as FourthCorporal in an Irish Rigiment, and a prouder looking chappie, as his ownCaptain tould me, niver marched down Broadway. And thin to think he wasmurthered by my own Gineral. "

"Who? How was that?" interrupted half a dozen at once. 

"Gineral Patterson, you see, to be shure. "

"Why, Terence, " broke in the Lieutenant, "you shouldn't be so hard uponGeneral Patterson; he's of an Irish family. "

"The Gineral an Irishman! Niver! Of an Irish family! must have beenhundreds of years back, and the bluid spoiled long before it got intohis veins, by bad whiskey or something worse. It takes the raal potheen, that smacks of the smoke of the still, to keep up the bluid of anIrishman. Rot-gut would ruin St. Patrick himself if he were alive andcould be got to taste it. Gineral Patterson an Irishman! no, sir; orthere would have been bluidy noses at Bunker's Hill or Winchester, andthat would have saved some at Bull Run. "

"On with your story, Terence, " said the crowd. 

"Beggin' your pardon, there's no story about it, --the blissid truth, ivery word of it. 

"Will, you see, while our ould Colonel, under the Gineral's orders, hadme guarding a pratie patch--"

"Set an Irishman to guard a potato patch!" laughed the SecondLieutenant. 

"It wasn't much use, " said Terence, smiling, "for they disappeared thefirst night, and the slim college student that was Sergeant of thatrelief was put under guard for telling the officer of the guard, nextmorning, that there had been a heavy dew that night, and it evaporatedso fast that it took the praties along. We lived on praties next day, but the poor Sergeant had to foot the bill. 

"Well, as I was going on to say, while I was helping guard a pratiepatch, an ice-house, corn-crib, smoke-house, and other such things thatwere near our camp ground, and that belonged to a Rebel Colonel underJohnston;--Johnston himself was staling away with all his army to helpfight the battle of Bull Run. Patrick--pace to his sowl--was in thatbattle and fought like a tiger, barrin' that he would have done better, as his Captain tould me, if he hadn't forgot the balls in hiscartridge-box, and took to his musket like a shelaleh all day long. Patrick's regiment belonged to a Brigade that was ordered to keepJohnston in check, and there stood Patrick in line, like a true lad ashe was, clubbing back the Butternuts, striking them right andleft--maybe the fellows belonged to this same Rebel Colonel'sregiment--until a round shot struck him full in the breast, knocking theheart out of as true an Irishman as iver lived, and killing dead theflower of the McCarthys. 

"I didn't know it till we got to Baltimore, and thin whin I riflictedhow the poor boy marched up to fight the bluidy Rebels, and how theykilled him, my own brother, while I--I, who would have given my righthand to save him, --yis, " said Terence, rising, and tears streaming fromhis eyes, "would have waded through fire and bluid to help the darlin', the pride of his mother, --I was guarding a Rebel Colonel's property, whin the whole of us, if we had fought Johnston, as we ought to havedone, might have kept him back and saved our army, and that would havesaved me my brother. And thin whin I remimbered how thick the Gineralwas with the Rebel gentry, and how fine ladies with the divil in theireyes bowed to him in Charlestown, and spit at and cocked up their nosesat us soldiers, while their husbands were off, maybe, murthering mybrother; and how the Gineral, proud as a paycock on his prancingchestnut sorrel, tould us in the meadow that Johnston was too strongfor us to attack, but that if he would come out from behind his big gunsthe Gineral would lay his body on the sod before he'd lave it, whin heintended his body to lie on a soft bed the rest of his life, and how hesaid and did all this while our men, and my brother among them, werebeing murthered by this same Johnston that he was sent to hould back, --Icouldn't keep down my Irish bluid. I cursed him and all his tribe by allthe Saints from St. Peter to St. Patrick, until good ould Father Mahantould me, whin I confessed, that he was afraid I would swear my own sowlaway, and keep Patrick in Purgatory; and the Father tould me that Ishould lave off cursin' Patterson, for the Americans thimselves wouldattend to that, and take to fighting the Rebels for revinge; and he saidby way of incouragement that at the same time I'd be sarving God and myadopted country. And here I am, under another safe Commander. Fourmonths and no fight, --nearly up to the ould First, that sarved threemonths without sight of a Rebel, barrin' he was a prisoner, or incitizen dress, like some we have left behind us. "

"Boys, Terence tells the truth about Patterson's movements, " said thetall Lieutenant. "The day before we left we were ordered to be ready tomove in the morning, with three days' cooked rations. We were told thatour Regiment was assigned a place in the advance, and it wassemi-officially rumored that a flank attack would be made uponWinchester. At this day the whole affair appears ridiculous, as Johnstonhad at that very time left Winchester, leaving only a trifling show offorce, and he never, at his best, had a force equal to Patterson's. Halfof his troops were the raw country militia. But we under-officers werenone the wiser. It was rumored that Bill McMullen's Rangers had foundcharts that informed the General of the extent and strength of the Rebelworks and muster-rolls, that showed his force to be over 50, 000. Thatthose works had no existence to the extent alleged, and that themuster-rolls were false, are now well known. But that night it was alldead earnest with us. Rations were cooked and the most thoroughpreparations made for the expected work of the morrow. Sunrise saw theold First in line, ready for the move. Eight o'clock came; no move, Nine--Ten, and yet no move. Arms had been stacked, and the men loungedlazily about the stacks. Eagle eyes scanned the surrounding country toascertain what other Brigades were doing. At length troops were seen inmotion, but the head of the column was turned towards the Ferry. 'Whatdoes this mean?' was the inquiry that hastily ran from man to man; andstill they marched towards the Ferry. By and by an aide-de-camp directedour Brigade to fall into the column, and we then discovered that thewhole army was in line of march for the Ferry, with a formidablerear-guard to protect it from an enemy then triumphing at Bull Run. 

"Well, Patterson's inertness, to speak of it tenderly, cost the countrymuch blood, millions of money, and a record of disgrace; but it gave aRegiment of Massachusetts Yankees opportunity to whittle up for theirhome cabinets of curiosities a large pile of walnut timber which hadformed John Brown's scaffold, and to make extensive inroads in pryingwith their bayonets from the walls of the jail in which he had beenconfined pieces of stone and mortar. Guards were put upon the CourtHouse in which old John heard his doom with the dignity of a Cato, at anearly date, or it would have been hewn to pieces. A fine crop of cornin full leaf was growing upon the field of execution, and for a space often feet from the road-side the leaves had been culled for carefulpreservation in knapsacks. The boys had the spirit. Their Commanderlacked capacity or will to give it effect. A beggarly excuse was set upafter the campaign was over, --that the time of service of many of theRegiments was about expiring, and that the men would not reënlist, --notonly beggarly, but false. The great mass volunteered to remain as itwas, with no prospect of service ahead. All would have stayed had theGeneral shown any disposition for active work, or made them promise of afight. "

"Golly, " said a tall, raw-boned Darkie, showing his ivories to a crowdof like color about him, as the fine band of the Fencibles played infront of the General's Head-quarters. "Dese Union boys beat deMississippi fellurs all hollur playing Dixie. "

Hardly a face was to be seen upon the streets, but those of thesefriendly blacks. They thronged about the camps, to be repulsed bystringent orders at all quarters. Property they were, reasoned thecommander, and property must be respected. And it was; even pump handleswere tied down and placed under guard. Oh! that a Ben Butler had thenbeen in command, to have pronounced this living property contraband ofwar, and by that sharp dodge of a pro-slavery Democrat, to have givenUncle Sam the services of this property. Depend upon it, that would haveended campaigning in the valley of the Shenandoah, that store-house ofRebel supplies, as it has turned out to be; supplies too, gathered andkept up by the negroes that Patterson so carefully excluded from hislines. 

"And would have saved us this march, " says the Colonel, "a goose chaseat any rate. "

"Yes, and had the policy of using the negro been general at thecommencement of this Rebellion, troops would not be in the field at thisday, " responded the Lieutenant. 

"Why do they not now, come boldly out and acknowledge that slavery is acurse to any nation?" said the Preacher Lieutenant. "It caused theRebellion, and its downfall would be the Rebellion's certain and speedydeath. Thousands of years ago, the Almighty cursed with plagues a proudpeople for refusing to break the bonds of the slave. The day of miraclesis past. But war, desolating war, is the scourge with which He punishesour country. The curse of blood is upon the land; by blood must it beexpiated. We in the North have been guilty, in common with the wholecountry, in tolerating, aiding, and abetting the evil. We must have ourproportion of punishment. Why cannot the whole country meet the issueboldly as one man, and atone for past offence by unanimity in theabolition of the evil?"

"On the nigger again, " said his Junior Lieutenant, assuming, as hespoke, an oratorical attitude. "Why do you not go on and talk about themworking out their own salvation, with muskets on their shoulders andbayonets by their sides, and with fear and trembling too, I have nodoubt it would be. Carry out your Scripture parallels. Tell how thewalls of Jericho fell by horns taken from the woolly heads of rams; butnow that miracles are no more, how the walls of this Jericho of Rebeldomare destined to fall before the well-directed butting of the woollyheads themselves. You don't ride your hobby with a stiff rein to-night, Lieutenant. "

The taunting air and strained comparison of the Lieutenant enlivened thecrowd, but did not in the least affect the Senior, who calmly replied:

"If our Government does not arm the negro on the basis of freedom, theRebels in their desperation will, and although we have the negrosympathy, we may lose it through delay and inattention, and in thatevent, prepare for years of conflict. The negroes, at the outset of thisRebellion, were ripe for the contest. Armies of thousands of them mighthave been in the field to-day. Now the President's Proclamation findsthem removed within interior Rebel lines, and to furnish them arms, willfirst cost severe contests with the Rebels themselves. "

The toil of the day and the drowsiness caused by huge meals, graduallydispersed the crowd; but the discussion was continued in quarters by thevarious messes, until their actual time of retiring. 

 * * * * *

"Inspection! inspection!" said the Adjutant, on the succeedingafternoon, to the Lieutenant-Colonel for the time being in command ofthe Regiment, handing him, at the same time, an order for immediateinspection. "Six inspections in two weeks before marching, " continuedthe Adjutant, "and another after a day's march. I wonder whether thisGrand Army of the Potomac wouldn't halt when about going into battle, tosee whether the men had their shoe-strings tied?"

The Adjutant had barely ceased, when the Inspecting officer, the rankingColonel of the Brigade, detailed specially for the duty, made hisappearance. He was a stout, full-faced man of fifty or upwards, with anodd mixture in his manner of piety and pretension. Report had it thathis previous life had been one of change, --stock-jobber, note-shaver, temperance lecturer, and exhorter--

 "All things by turns, and nothing long. "

The latter quality remained with him, and it was a rare chance that hecould pass a crowd of his men without bringing it into play. His"talks, " as the boys called them, were more admired than his tactics, and from their tone of friendly familiarity, he was called by thefatherly title of "Pap" by his Regiment, and known by that designationthroughout the Brigade. 

The Regiment was rapidly formed for inspection, and after passingthrough the ranks of the first Company, the Colonel pompously presentedhimself before its centre, and with sober tones and solemn look, delivered himself as follows:

"Boys, have your hearts right, " the Colonel clapping, at the same time, his right hand over his diaphragm. "If your hearts are right yourmuskets will be bright. " The men stared, the movement not being laiddown in the Regulations, and not exactly understanding the connexionbetween the heart and a clean musket; but the Colonel continued, "theheart is like the mainspring of a watch, if it beats right, the wholeman and all about him will be right. There is no danger of our failingin this war, boys. We have a good cause to put our hearts in. The Rebelshave a bad cause, and their hearts cannot be right in it. Good heartsmake brave men, brave men win the battles. That's the reason, boys, whywe'll succeed. "

"Can't see it!" sang out some irreverent fellow in the rear rank. 

The Colonel didn't take the hint; but catching at the remark continued, "You do not need to see it, boys, you can feel whether your heart isright. " This provoked a smile on the faces of the more intelligent ofthe officers and men, which the Colonel noticed. "No laughing matter, boys, " he said emphatically, at the same time earnestly gesticulating, "your lives, your country, and your honor depend upon right hearts. " Andthus the old Colonel exhorted each Company previous to its dismissal, amusing some and mystifying others. The heart was his theme, and time orplace, a court-martial or a review, did not prevent the introduction ofhis platitudes. 

Said the Major, after inspection, "The Colonel, in the prominence hegives the heart in its control of military affairs, rather reverses asentiment I once heard advanced by a little Scotch tailor, who had justbeen elected a militia colonel. "

"Let's have it, Major, " said the Adjutant. 

"The little Scotchman, " continued the Major, "had been a notoriousdrunkard and profane swearer. Through the efforts of a travellingEvangelist, he became converted and joined a prominent denomination. Hisconversion was a remarkable instance, and gave him rapid promotion and aprominent position in the church. While at his height, through somescheme of the devil, I suppose, he was elected colonel of militia. Theelevation overcame him. Treat he must and treat he did, and to satisfythe admiring crowd in front of the bar drank himself, until reason left, preceded by piety, and his old vice of profanity returned, withseven-fold virulence. He was discovered by a brother of the church, steadying himself by the railing of the bar, and rehearsing, amidvolleys of oaths, the fragments that remained in his memory of an oldFourth of July speech. 'Brother, ' said his fellow church-member, as hegently nudged his arm. 'Brother!' in a louder key, and with a morevigorous nudge, 'have you forgotten your sacred obligations to thechurch, your position as a--'

"'The church!' echoed the tailor, all the blood of the MacGregor risingin his boots, with an oath that shocked the brother out of allhope--'What's the church to military matters?'"

CHAPTER XI. 

_Snicker's Gap--Private Harry on the "Anaconda"--Not inclined to turnBoot-Black--"Oh! why did you go for a Soldier?"--Theex-News-Boy--Pigeon-hole Generalship on the March--The Valley of theShenandoah--A Flesh Carnival--The Dutch Doctor on a Horse-dicker--An OldRebel, and how he parted with his Apple-Brandy--Toasting the"Union"--Spruce Retreats. _

The movement down the Valley was one of those at that time popular"bagging" movements, peculiar to the Grand Army of the Potomac, and intheir style of execution, or to speak correctly, intended execution--forthe absence of that quality has rendered them ridiculous--original withits Commander. Semi-official reports, industriously circulated from thegold-striped Staff to the blue-striped Field Officer, and by the latterwhispered in confidence in the anxious ears of officers of the line, andagain transferred in increasing volume to the subs, and by them inknowing confidence to curious privates, had it that the principal rebelforce would be hemmed in, in the Valley of the Shenandoah, by ourobtaining command of the Gaps, and then we would be nearest theirCapital in a direct line--we would compel them to fight us, where, when, and how we pleased, or else beat them in a race to Richmond, andthen----. The reader must imagine happy results that could notconsistently be expected, while to gain the same destination overequidistant and equally good roads, Strategy moved by comparatively slowmarches and easy halts, while Desperation strained every nerve, withrattling batteries and almost running ranks. 

"But, Lieutenant, if that's so, " alluding to the purpose of their march, "why are we halting here?"

"Our troops block up the roads, I suppose. "

"We could march in the fields, " rejoined the anxious private, "by theroad-side; they are open and firm. "

"We'll see, Harry, in a day or two, what it all amounts to. May be the'Anaconda' that is to smash out the rebellion, is making another turn, or 'taking in a reef, ' as the Colonel says. "

"Well, " rejoined the Private, "I have endeavored to book myself up, asfar as my advantages would allow, in our army movements; and the nearestapproach to anything like an anaconda, that I can see or hear of, isthat infernal Red-tape worm that is strangling the soul out of the army. What inexcusable nonsense to attempt to apply to an immense army in timeof war, such as we have now in the field, the needless, pettypigeon-hole details that regulated ten thousand men on a peaceestablishment. And to carry them out, look how many valuable officers, or officers who ought to be valuable, from the expense UncleSam has been at to give them educational advantages, are doingclerkly duty--that civilians, our business men, our accountants, could as well, if not better, attend to--in the offices of theDepartments at Washington, in the Commissary and Quarter-Master'sDepartments, --handling quills and cheese-knives instead of swords, andnever giving 'the villainous smell of saltpetre' the slightest chance'to come betwixt the wind and their nobility. '"

Harry, at the time of his volunteering was an associate editor of a wellestablished and ably conducted country newspaper. He had thrown himselfwith successful energy into the formation of the regiment to which hebelonged. A prominent position was proffered him, but he sturdilyrefused any place but the ranks, alleging that he had never drilled aday in his life, and particularly insisting that those who had seenservice and were somewhat skilled in the tactics, although many of themwere far his inferiors in intelligence, should occupy the offices. Fromhis gentlemanly deportment and ability he was on familiar terms with theofficers, and popular among the men. Withal, he was a finely formed, soldierly-looking man. In the early part of his service he was reservedin his comments upon the conduct of the war, and considered, as he wasin fact, conservative, --setting the best possible example oftaciturnity, subordinate to the wisdom of his superiors. 

"Harry, you have been detailed as a clerk about Brigade Head Quarters, "said the Orderly Sergeant of his company, one morning, after he had beenin service about two months. 

Harry did not like the separation from his Company in the least, butnotwithstanding, quietly reported for duty. Several days of deskdrudgery, most laborious to one fresh from out-door exercise, hadpassed, when one morning about eight o'clock, a conceited coxcomb of anaid, in slippers, entered the office-tent, and holding a pair of muddyboots up, with an air of matter-of-course authority--ordered Harry toblacken them, telling him at the same time, in a milder and lower tone, that black Jim the cook had the brush and blackening. 

"What, sir?" said Harry, rising like a rocket, his Saxon blood mountingto the very roots of his red hair. 

"I order you to black those boots, sir, " was the repeated and moreinsolent command. 

"And I'll see you d----d first, " retorted Harry, doubling his fist. 

The aid not liking the furious flush upon Harry's face, with wisediscretion backed out, muttering after he was fairly outside of thetent, something about a report to the Brigadier. Report he did, and veryshortly after there was a vacancy in his position upon the Staff of thatOfficer. Harry, at his own request, was in the course of a week relievedfrom duty, and restored to his Company. Ever after he had a tongue. 

The reply of the Lieutenant to Harry's remarks has all this time been inabeyance, however. 

"Harry, " said that officer, "we must follow the stars without murmuringor muttering against the judgment of superiors, --but one can't helpsurmising, and, " the Lieutenant had half mechanically added when theSergeant-Major saluted him. 

"Where is the Captain, Lieutenant?"

"Not about, at present. "

"Well, " continued the Sergeant, "reveille at four, and in line at fivein the morning. "

Those beds of thickly littered straw were hard to leave in the chillmist of the morning. The warning notes of the reveille trilling insweetest melody from the fife of the accomplished fife-major, accompanied by the slumber-ending rattle of the drum, admitted of noalternative. Many a brave boy as he stood in line that morning, readyfor the march, the first sparkle of sunrise glistening upon his bayonet, wondered whether father or mother, sister or brother, yet in theirslumbers, doubtless, in the dear old homestead, knew that the army wason the move, and that the setting sun might gild his breast-plate as inhis last sleep he faced the sky. 

"Oh! why did you go for a soldier?" sang our little news-boy, tauntingly, as he capered behind a big burly Dutchman in the rear rank, who had encountered all manner of misfortune that morning, --missing hiscoffee--and what is a man worth on a day's march without coffee--becauseit was too hot to drink, when the bugle sounded the call to fall in, hismeat raw, not even the smell of fire about it, and his crackers halfroasted; his clothes, too, half on, belts twisted, knapsack badly madeup. As he grumbled over his mishaps, in his peculiar vernacular, laughter commenced with the men, and ended in a roar at the song of thenews-boy. 

A crowd gathers food for mirth from the most trivial matters. Incidentsthat would not provoke a smile individually, convulse them collectively. Men under restraint in ranks are particularly infectious from theinfluence of the passions. With lightning-like rapidity, to misapply afamiliar line--

 "They pass from grave to gay, from lively to severe. "

Snicker's Gap, which drew its euphoneous name from a First Virginiafamily that flourished in the neighborhood, was one of the covetedpoints. In the afternoon our advance occupied it, and the neighboringvillage of Snickersville; fortunately first perhaps, in force, or whatis most probable, considering results, amused by a show of resistance tocover the main Rebel movement then rapidly progressing further down thevalley. From whatever cause, firing--musketry and artillery--was heardat intervals all the latter part of the afternoon; and as the troopsneared the Gap, they were told that the Rebels had been driven from itacross the river, and that it was now in our possession. Night wasrapidly setting in as the division formed line of battle on the bordersof the village. A halt but for a few moments. Their position was shortlychanged to the mountain slope below the village. Down the valley suddenflashes of light and puffs of smoke that gracefully volumed upwards, followed by the sullen roar of artillery, revealed a contest between theadvancing and retreating forces. That fire-lit scene must be a lifepicture to the fortunate beholders. Directly in front and on the left, thousands of camp fires burning in the rear of stacks made fromline-of-battle, blazed in parallel rows, regular as the gas-lights ofthe avenues of a great city, and illumining by strange contrasts oflight and shade the animated forms that encircled them. Far down to theright, the vertical flashes from the cannon vents vivid as lightningitself, instantly followed by horizontal lurid flames, belched forthfrom their dread mouths, lighting for the instant wood and field, formedthe grandest of pyrotechnic displays. Rare spectacle--in one magnificentpanorama, gleaming through the dark mantle of night, were the steadylights of peaceful camps, and the fitful flashing of the hostile cannon. 

"Fall in, fall in!" cried the officers, at the bugle call, and in a fewmoments the Brigade was in motion. Some in the ranks, with difficulty, at the same time managing their muskets and pails of coffee that had nothad time to cool; others munching, as they marched, their half-friedcrackers, and cooling with hasty breath smoking pieces of meat, whilefriendly comrades did double duty in carrying their pieces. The soldiernever calculates upon time; the present is his own when off duty, and heis not slow to use it; the next moment may see him started upon a longmarch, or detailed for fatigue duty, and with a philosophy apt in hisposition, he lives while he can. 

The road through Snickersville, and up the romantic gorge or gap betweenthe mountains, was a good pike, and in the best marching condition. Atthe crest the Brigade undoubled its files, and entered in double ranks anarrow, tortuous, rocky road, ascending the mountain to the left, leading through woods and over fields so covered with fragments of rock, that a country boy in the ranks, following up a habit, however, not byany means confined to the country, of giving the embodiment of evil thecredit of all unpleasant surroundings, remarked that "the Devil'sapron-strings must have broke loose here. " That night march was a wearyaddition to the toil of the day. A short cut to the summit, whichexisted, but a mile in length, and which the Commander of the Force towhich the Brigade formed part, could readily have ascertained uponinquiry, would have saved a great amount of grumbling, many hard oaths, for Uncle Toby's army that "swore so terribly in Flanders, " could notoutdo in that respect our Grand Army of the Potomac, --and no triflingamount of shoe-leather for Uncle Sam. The night was terribly cold, andthe wind in gusts swept over the mountain-top with violence sufficientto put the toil-worn man, unsteady under his knapsack, through thefacings in short order. Amid stunted pines and sturdy undergrowth, theRegiments in line formed stacks, and the men, debarred fire from theexposed situation, provided what shelter they could, and endeavored tocompose themselves for the night. Vain endeavor. So closely was thatsummit shaved by the pitiless blasts, that a blanket could only be keptover the body by rolling in it, and lying face downwards, holding theends by the hands, with the forehead resting on the knapsack for apillow. Some in that way, by occasionally drumming their toes againstthe rocks managed to pass the night; many others sought warmth oramusement in groups, and others gazed silently on the camp-fires of theenemy, an irregular reflex of those seen on the side they had left--hereglimmering faintly at a picket station, and there at a largerencampment, glowing first in a circle of blaze, then of illumined smoke, that in its upward course gradually darkened into the blackness ofnight. To men of contemplative habits, and many such there were, thoughclad in blouses, the scene was strongly suggestive. Our states emblemedin the lights of the valleys and the mountain ridge as the much talkedof "impassable barrier. " But faith in the success of a cause Heavenfounded, saw gaps that we could control in that mountain ridge whichwould ultimately prove avenues of success. 

"Captain, where did you make the raise?" inquired a young Lieutenant, onthe following day, --one of a group enjoying a blazing fire, for the banhad been removed at early dawn--of a ruddy-faced, sturdy-lookingofficer, who bore on his shoulder a tempting hind quarter of beef. 

"There is a little history connected with this beef, " as he lowered hisload. "Lieutenant, " replied the Captain, interlarding his furtherstatement with oaths, to which justice cannot and ought not to be donein print, and which were excelled in finish only by some choice ones ofthe Division General. "I went out at sunrise, thinking that bystrolling among the rocks I might stir up a rabbit. I saw several, butgot a fair shot at one only, and killed it. While going into a fencecorner, in which were some thorn bushes, that I thought I could stiranother cotton tail from, I saw a young bullock making for me, withlowered horns and short jumps. I couldn't get through the thorn bushes, and the fact is, being an old butcher I didn't care much about it, so Ifaced about, looked the bullock full in the eyes, and the bullock eyedme, giving at the same time an occasional toss of his short horns. Now Iwas awful hungry, never was more hollow in my life--the hardees that Iswallowed dry in the morning fairly rattled inside of me. By-and-by Ismelt the steaks, and a minute more I felt sure that he was a Rebelbeast. Our young cattle up North don't corner people in that way. What'sthe use, thought I, and out came my Colt, and I planted a ball squarebetween his eyes. As I returned the pistol he was on his side kickingand quivering. While looking at him, and rather coming to the conclusionthat I had bought an elephant after all, as I had not even a penknife toskin it with, I spied that sucker-mouthed Aid of Old Pigeon-hole comingfrom another corner of the field, cantering at full jump. I left, walking towards Camp. 

"'Captain, where was that picket-firing?'

"I pointed towards the wood, and told him that I thought it was alongthe picket-line. "

"'It must have been, I suppose, ' said the Aid, in a drawling manner. 'The General was sure it was a rifle. The rest of us thought it a pistolshot, ' he said, as he rode off. 

"When he got into the wood I returned to the bullock, cursing OldPigey's ears for want of experience in shots. They made me come mightyclose to being arrested for marauding. 

"'Oh! whar did you git the jump-high?' said a darkie, who came upsuddenly, pointing to the rabbit which I had put on the fence, withmouth open and a big show of the whites of his eyes. When he saw thecarcass he fairly jumped. 

"'Massa has had me shinning it round de rocks all morning. When I'm onde one side de jump-high is on de oder; and if I go back widout onehe'll cuss me for a d----d stumbling woolly-head. Dat's his name for meany way. '

"I struck a bargain with the boy; he loaned me his jack-knife, and heldthe legs, and I had the skin off as soon as a two-inch blade (hacked atthat) would allow, and I gave him the jump-high, and told him if he'dwatch the beef till I carried this quarter home, I'd give him a forequarter. I knew his Master was as bad off as myself, and would ask noquestions, and then I sneaked up in rear of the General's quarters. "

"That's what I'd call Profane History, " said the Lieutenant, as theCaptain resumed his load. 

"Well, boys! Go into the Third Cavalry four months, as I did; and if anyof you swear less than I do, I'll treat. "

"One fault with the story, Captain, " said another Lieutenant, detaininghim; "you make no application. "

"I didn't intend it as a sermon; what application would you make?"

"A very practical one, Captain. I would apply half a quarter to one man, half a quarter to another. Make a distribution among your friends. "

The Captain, somewhat sold, told them to send down a detail, and hewould distribute. 

The detail returned, well loaded, having performed their dutyfaithfully, with the exception of trimming Sambo's fore-quarter "mightyclose, " as he phrased it. 

That bullock turned out to be merely the first course of a grand fleshcarnival, which lasted the remaining two days of the stay on Snicker'ssummit. The wood and fields almost swarmed with rabbits and quails; butalthough furnishing amusement to all, they were but titbits for thedelicate. By some remissness of vigilance under the stringent orders, cattle, sheep, and hogs were slaughtered on all sides. There was anabundance of them; the farmers in the valley having driven them up, aswas their custom, for the pasture and mast to be found in the fields andwoods. Half wild, the flavor of their flesh was a close approach to thatof game. As may be supposed, where licence was untrammelled, there wasmuch needless slaughter. Fine carcasses were left as they fell, with theloss only of a few choice cuts. As the beasts, especially the pigs, which looked like our ordinary porkers well stretched, could run withgreat speed, the chase was amusing as well as exciting. Red breeches andblue fraternized and vied with each other in the sport, to quarrel, perhaps, over the spoils. 

Few will fail to carry to their homes recollections of that pleasingepisode in the history of the Regiment: the feasts of fat things, thespace-built inclosures around the camp-fires that sheltered them fromthe blast, and were amphitheatres of amusement--recollections that willinterest many a future fireside, destined, with the lapse of time, tobecome sacred as family traditions of the Revolution. And have they notequal claims? The Revolution founded the country; this struggle mustsave it from the infamous and despotic demands of a most foul andunnatural Rebellion. 

"Halloo! Doctor! where did that 'animile' come from, " inquired theMajor, who formed one of a crowd, on the afternoon of the last day oftheir stay in the Head Quarters Spruce Retreat, as the little DutchDoctor strutted alongside of a Corporal of an adjoining regiment, wholed by a halter, extemporized from a musket-strap and a cross-belt, asmall light dun horse. 

"Mine, Major! Pay forty-five tollar--have pay five, only forty yet toget. How you like him? What you tink?"

The "only forty yet to get" amused the crowd, but the Major, with thegravity of a connoisseur, walked around the beast, nipped his legs, andopened his mouth. 

"Doctor, it's a pity to use this beast--only two years old, and nevershod. Is he broke?"

"No. No broke anywhere. Have look at whole of him. "

The crowd laughed, and the Major with them. 

"You don't understand me. Can you ride him?"

"Me no ride him, no saddle. Corporal, him ride all round. "

The Corporal stated that he was broken in so far as to allow riding, andwas very gentle, as indeed was apparent from the looks of the animal. 

"When did you get him, Corporal?" was the query of one of the crowd. 

"I bought four yesterday for four hundred and seventy-five dollarsConfederate scrip. "

"Why, where did you get that?"

"Bought it in Washington, when we first went through, of a boy on theAvenue for fifteen cents. I thought there might be a show for it someday or other. "

The Corporal was a slender, lantern-jawed, weasel-faced Monongahelaraftsman, sharp as a steel-trap. 

"The old fellow, " continued he, "hung on to five hundred dollars forabout an hour. He took me into his house, gave me a nip of old applebrandy, and then he'd talk about his horses and then another nip, tillwe felt it a little, but no go. I had to jew, for it was all I had. I'djust as leave have given him another hundred, but I didn't tell him so. I told him I got it at Antietam. "

"You d----d rascal, " said he, "I had a son killed and robbed there, maybe it's his money. It looks as if it had been carried a good while. "

"I had played smart with it, rubbed it, wet it, and in my breast pocketon those long marches it was well sweated. "

"Suppose it was your son's, " said I, "all is fair in war. "

"That's so, " said the old Rebel. "I have two other sons there; I wouldgo myself, it I wasn't seventy-eight and upwards. "

"Well, looky here, " said I, "this isn't talking horse; we'll manage yoursons, and you, too, if you don't dry up on your treason slang. Now, oldcovey, four hundred and seventy-five or I'm back to camp without them. "

"I turned and got about ten steps, when he called me back and told me totake them. I got a bully pair of matches, fine blacks, that a Colonel inthe Regiment paid me one hundred and twenty-five for at first sight, anda fine pacing bay that our Major gave me seventy-five for, and thisone's left. "

"Doctor, I'm about tired of trotting around after them other forty. They're givin' out cracker rations, and I don't want to be cheated outof mine, and I must go, " said the Corporal, turning quickly to theDoctor. 

The latter personage snapped his eyes, and kept his cap bobbing up anddown, by wrinkling his forehead, as he somewhat plaintively asked thecrowd for the funds. 

"Good Lord! Doctor, you might as well try to milk a he-goat with abramble bush as to get money in camp now, " said the Major. 

"Corporal, " said the Adjutant, a fast friend of the Doctor's, and beingof a musical turn, his partner in many a Dutch duet, as a bright ideastruck him, "you don't want the money now--there are no sutlers about, suppose the Doctor gives you an order on the Pay-Master. "

"Well, " said the Corporal, after some little study, and keeping a sharplook-out on the Adjutant, whose features were fixed, "that's a fact, Ihave no use for the money now. If one of you Head-Quarter officersendorses it, I will. 'Spose it's all straight. "

The Adjutant drew the order, and one of the Field-Officers endorsed it, after the manner of documents forwarded through regular militarychannels:

"Approved and respectfully forwarded. "

It was handed to the Corporal, and he turned to go, leaving the horsewith the Doctor, and giving the crowd an opportunity for their laugh, sofar suppressed with difficulty. He had gone but a few paces when anexclamation from the quondam Third cavalryman called him back, and endedfor the moment the laughter. 

"Where does the old fellow live, Corporal?"

"Keep out that lane to the left, then across lots by a narrow path. Can't miss it. He has no more horses. "

"Don't want horses. "

"That apple brandy it's no use trying for. "

"Boys, " said the Captain, "I'm good for half a dozen canteens of thestuff, I'll bet my boots on it. Who'll go along?"

"I, " replied a sturdy brother Captain. 

"Recollect now. All here at nine to-night to receive our report. No useto tell you that, though, when whiskey is about, " said the firstCaptain, as the crowd dispersed. 

And that report was given by his comrade to the punctual crowd asfollows:

"When I came out to the charred pine stumps on the lane, where I was tomeet the Captain, it was a little before dusk. I was just about clear ofthe wood, when the Colonel's big black mare, ridden by the Captain, camebouncing over a scrub pine and lit right in front of me. The d----lhimself couldn't have made me feel a colder shudder. 

"'What's the matter? Where's your horse?'

"'I thought we had better walk, ' said I, recovered from the fright;'it's only a short distance. '

"'That ain't the thing. There must be some style about this matter. '

"I had noticed that the Captain had on the Colonel's fancy Regulationovercoat, a gilt edged fatigue cap, his over-long jingling Mexicanspurs, and the Major's sabre dangling from his side. I came back, gotthe Adjutant's horse, and rejoined him. 

"'Now, I want you to understand, ' said the Captain, putting on hisprettiest, as we jogged along the lane, 'that I'm General Burnside. Howdoes that strike you?'

"'That you don't look a d--n bit like Burney. He is no fancy man. Yourstyle is nearer the Prince's, --Fitz John. All you want are the yellowkids, ' rejoined I. 

"'Too near home, that. How will Gen. Franklin do?'

"As I knew nothing about Franklin's appearance, I said I supposed thatwould do. Before respectable people I'd have hated to see any of ourGenerals wronged by the Captain's looks, but as it was only a Rebel, itdidn't make any difference. And then the object overcame all scruples. 

"'Well, ' continued the Captain, 'you are to be one of my aids. When weget near the house, just fall back a pace or two. '

"And off he rode, the big mare trotting like an elephant, and keeping mynag up to a gallop. Keeping back a pace or two was a matter ofnecessity. The Captain was full a hundred yards ahead when he haltednear the house to give me time to get in position, his black mareprancing and snorting under the Mexican ticklers in a manner that wouldhave done credit to Bucephalus. He pranced on up towards the house, which was a long weather-boarded structure, a story and a half high, with a porch running its entire length. The building was put up, Ishould judge, before the war of 1812, and not repaired since. A crabbedold man in a grey coat, with horn buttons, and tan-colored pantaloons, looking as if he didn't know what to make exactly of the character ofhis visitors, was on the porch. Near him, and somewhat in his rear, wasa darkie about as old as himself. 

"'Won't you get off your critters?' at length said the old man, hisservant advancing to hold the horses. 

"The Captain dismounted, and as his long spurs jingled, and the Major'ssabre clattered on the rotten porch floor, the old fellow changedcountenance considerably, impressed with the presence of greatness. 

"'I am Major-General Franklin, sir, commander of a Grand Division of theGrand Army of the Potomac, ' pompously said the Captain, at the same timeintroducing me as his Aid, Major Kennedy. 

"'Well, gentlemen officers, ' stammers the old man, confusedly, andbowing repeatedly, 'I always liked the old Union. I fit for it in themilish in the last war with the Britishers. Walk in, walk in, ' continuedhe, pointing to the door which the darkie had opened. 

"We went into a long room with a low ceiling, dirty floor with no carpeton, a few old chairs, with and without backs, and a walnut table thatlooked as if it once had leaves. In one corner was a clock, that stoppedsome time before the war commenced, as the old man afterwards told us, and in the opposite corner stood a dirty pine cupboard. While takingseats, I couldn't help thinking how badly the room would compare with adining room of one of the neat little farm houses that you can see inany of our mountain gaps, where the land produces nothing butgrasshoppers and rocks, and the farmers have to get along by raisingchickens to keep down the swarms of grasshoppers, and by peddlinghuckleberries, and they say, but I never saw them at it, by holding thehind legs of the sheep up to let them get their noses between the rocksfor pasture. "

This latter assertion was indignantly denied by an officer who had hishome in one of the gaps. 

"'Well, ' continued the Captain, 'I only give it as I heard it. The oldman talked Union awhile, said he tried to be all right, but that hissons had run off with the Rebels; and he hemmed and hawed about hisbeing all right until the Captain, who had been spitting fips a longtime, got tired, especially after what the Corporal had said. 

"'Well, my old brother patriot, ' said the Captain, bending forward inhis chair, and putting on a stern look, 'it don't look exactly right. '

"'How! What! gentlemen officers, ' said the old Rebel, pretending, as heraised his hand to his ear, not to hear the Captain. 

"The Captain repeated it louder in his gruff voice, and with a few moreairs. 

"'Why, gentlemen officers?' said the old man, rising, half bowing, andlooking about, ready to do anything. 

"'You know as well as we do, ' said the Captain; 'that you wouldn't lettwo of your neighbors be this long in the house without offering themsomething to drink. Now, my old friend, as you say you're all right, we're neighbors in a good cause, and one neighborly act deservesanother; you might be wanting to have your property protected, or to goto the Ferry, or to send something, and you could hardly get a passwithout a Major-General having something to do with it. '

"At this last the old fellow's face brightened up somewhat. 

"'I'll lose a right smart lot of crops, ' said the old man, drawing hischair close to the Captain in a half begging, confidential sort of away, 'if I don't get to the Ferry this fall. They're stored up there, and I want to go up and show them I am a Union man all right. George, 'turning to the darkie, who, cap in hand, stood at the door, 'strike alight and get the waiter, and three glasses, and bring up some of theold apple in a pitcher. Be careful not to spill any. Liquor is mightyscarce, ' continued he, turning to us, 'in these parts since the war. This 'ere I've saved over by hard squeezin'. It was stilled seven yearsago this fall--the fall apples were so plenty. '

"George had the tallow-dip, a rusty waiter, three small old-fashionedblue glass tumblers, and a pitcher with the handle knocked off, on thetable in good time. We closed around it with our chairs, and the Captainfilled the glasses, and rising, gave for the first round 'The oldUnion. ' Our glasses were emptied; the old man had but sipped of his. 

"'My old friend, you fought in 1812, you say, and hardly touch yourtumbler to the old Union. Come, it must have a full glass. ' Theauthority in the tone of the Captain made the old man swallow it, but ashe did so he muttered something about its being very scarce. 

"'Now, ' said the Captain, refilling the glasses, 'Here is The Union asit is. '

"The old Rebel feeling his first glass a little, and they say anywaywhen wine goes in the truth comes out, said in rather a low, tremblingtone, "'Now, the fact is, gentlemen officers, some Yankees--not you! not you!but some Yankees way up North, acted kind of bad. '

"'That's not the question, ' said the Captain, 'there are bad men allover, and lots of them in Virginia. The toast is before the house, '--theCaptain had already swallowed his--'and it must be drunk;' and theMajor's sabre struck the floor till the table shook. 

"With a shudder at the sound the old man gulped it down. The glasseswere refilled and the pitcher emptied. 

"'Here's to The blessed Union as it will be, after all the d----d Rebelsare either under the sod or swinging in hemp neck-ties about ten feetabove it, ' the Captain shouted, waving at the same time his upliftedglass in a way that brought a grin on George's face, and made the oldman look pale. 

"'Now! now! now! gentlemen officers, ' gasped the old traitor, asif his breath was coming back by jerks, 'that is pretty hard, considerin'--considerin' my two sons ran off 'gainst my will--'gainstmy will, gentlemen officers, understand, and jined the Rebels;' andthen, as the liquor worked up his pluck and pride, he went on, 'and oldStonewall when he was here last, told me himself at this very table thatsuch soldiers the South could be proud of; and Turner Ashby told me thesame thing, and it would be agin all natur for an old man not to feelproud of such boys, after hearing all that from such men, and now youwant me to drink such a toast. That----'

"'Yes, sir, ' broke in the Captain, who had emptied his glass, 'and itmust be done. '

"'The fact is, gentlemen officers, ' the liquor still working up hispluck, 'we Southerners _had_ to fit you. You sent old Brown down to runoff our niggers, and then when we hung him, you come yourselves. Everycussed nigger--and I had forty-three in all--has left me and ran awaybut old George and two old wenches that can't run, and are good fornothin' but to chaw corndodgers. ' The whiskey now worked fast on the oldman, and making half a fist, he said, 'I reckon when hangin' day comessome Blue Bellies will have an airin'. '

"'You d----d grey-headed old traitor!' roared out the Captain, 'theliquor has let the treason out. Now, by all that's holy, drink thattoast standing, head up, as if there was patriotic blood in yourveins--as if you lived in the State Washington was born in--or you'llfind out what it is to talk treason before a Major-General of the armyof the United States. ' Another stroke of the sabre on the floor thatrattled the broken glass in the windows followed. The old man gaveanother shudder, straightened up, steadied himself at the table with hisleft hand, and with a swallow that nearly strangled him, drank off hisglass. 

"'Ha! old fellow, ' said the Captain, grinning, 'you came near cheatinghemp that clip. '

"'George, show us where the apple brandy is, ' he continued, addressingthe darkie. 

"The darkie bowed, grinned, and pointed to the door leading to thecellar way. 

"'Oh, Lord! my spirits! Don't take it, gentlemen officers, I must have amorning dram, and it's all I've got. Let me keep the spirits. '

"'You old d----l!' exclaimed the Captain, as he eyed him savagely, 'spirits have made all the trouble in the country. Yes, sir. Bad whiskeyand worse preaching of false spiritual doctrines, such as slavery beinga Divine institution, and what not, started the Rebellion, and keep itup. Spirits are contraband of war, just as Ben Butler says niggers are, and we'll confiscate it'--here the Captain gave me a sly look--'in thename and by the authority of the President of the United States. Major, where's your canteens?'

"I produced three that had been slung under my cape, and the Captain asmany more. 

"As the old Rebel saw the preparations he groaned out, 'My God! and onlyfour inches in the barrel George! mind, the barrel in the corner. '

"Knowing the darkie would be all right, we followed under pretty stiffloads, the old man bringing up the rear, staggering to the door andgetting down the steps on his hands and knees. 

"The Captain tasted both barrels. One in a corner was commissary thatthe darkie said 'Massa had dickered for just the day afore. ' The otherwas well nigh empty. George, old as he was, had the steadiest hands, andhe filled the canteens one by one, closing their mouths on the cedarspigot. As he did it, he whispered, 'Dis'll make de ole nigger feelgood. Massa gets flustered on dis and 'buses de ole wimin. De commissaryfotches him--can't hurt nuffin wid dat. '

"'There's devilish little to fluster him now, ' said the Captain, as hetipped the barrel to fill the last canteen. 

"The old man had stuck at the bottom of the steps. George fairly carriedhim up, and he lay almost helpless on the floor. 

"'That last toast, ' said the Captain, as we left the room, 'will knockany Rebel. '

"George held the horses, and I rather guess steadied our legs as we goton, well loaded with apple juice inside and out. The Captain's spurssent the black mare off at a gallop, over rocks and bushes, and he leftme far behind in a jiffy. But I did in earnest act as an aid before wegot to camp. I found him near the place where we turn in, fast betweentwo scrub oaks, swearing like a trooper at the pickets, as he called thebushes, for arresting him, and unable to get backward or forward. Hisswearing saved him that clip, as it was dark, and I would have gone pastif I hadn't heard it. "

"I move the adoption of the report, with the thanks of the meeting toMajor-General Franklin and his genuine Aid, " said the Adjutant, after astiff drink all around. 

"I move that it be referred back for report on the Commissary, " said aLieutenant, after another equally stiff round. 

The Adjutant would not withdraw his motion, --no chairman to preserveorder, --brandy good, --drinks frequent, and in the confusion that ensuedwe close the chapter, remarking only that the Commissary was spared tothe old Rebel, through an order to march at four next morning, that cameto hand near midnight. 

CHAPTER XII. 

_The March to Warrenton--Secesh Sympathy and Quarter-Master'sReceipts--Middle-Borough--The Venerable Uncle Ned and his Story of theCaptain of the Tigers--The Adjutant on Strategy--Red-Tapism andMac-Napoleonism--Movement Stopped--Division Head-Quarters out ofWhiskey--Stragglers and Marauders--A Summary Proceeding--Persimmons andPicket-Duty--A Rebellious Pig--McClellanism. _

The order to march at four meant moving at six, as was not unfrequentlythe case, the men being too often under arms by the hour shivering forthe step, while the Staff Officers who issued the orders were snoozingin comfortable blankets. Be the cause what it might that morning, thesoldiers probably did not regret it, as it gave them opportunity to seethe lovely valley of the Shenandoah exposed to their view for the lasttime, as the fog gradually lifted before the rays of the rising sun. TheShenandoah, like a silver thread broken by intervening foliage, lay attheir feet. Far to the right, miles distant, was Charlestown, where oldJohn's soul, appreciative of the beauties of nature at the dread hour ofexecution, seeing in them doubtless the handiwork of nature's God, exclaimed "This is indeed a beautiful country. " In the front, dim in thedistance, was Winchester, readily discovered by the bold mountain spurin its rear. Smaller villages dotted the valley, variegated by fieldsand woods--all rebellious cities of the plain, nests of treason andgranaries of food for traitors. A blind mercy that, on the part of theAdministration, that procured its almost total exemption from thedespoiling hand of war. 

Some in the ranks on Snicker's Summit that fine morning could rememberthe impudent Billingsgate of look and tongue with which Mrs. Faulknerwould fling in their faces a general pass, from a wagon loaded withgarden truck for traitors in arms at Bunker Hill--but an instance oflong continued good-nature, to use a mild phrase, of the many that havecharacterized our movements in the field. Well does the great discernerof the desires of men as well as delineator of the movements of theirpassions, make Crook Richard on his foully usurped and tottering throneexclaim, "War must be brief when traitors brave the field. "

At a later day, in a holier cause, the line remains an axiom. Nor at thetime of which we write was the policy much changed. While all admit thenecessity, for the preservation of proper discipline, of having Rebelproperty for the use of the army taken formally under authorities dulyconstituted for the purpose, and not by indiscriminate license to thetroops, none can be so blind as to fail to see the bent of thesympathies controlling the General in command. During the march toMiddle-Borough, horses were taken along the route to supply deficienciesin the teams, and forage for their use, but in all cases the women whoclaimed to represent absent male owners--absent doubtless in arms--andwho made no secret of their own Rebel inclinations, receivedQuarter-Master's receipts for their full value--generally, in fact, their own valuation. These receipts were understood to be presentlypayable. The interests of justice and our finances would have been muchbetter subserved had their payment been conditioned upon the loyalty ofthe owner. A different policy would not have comported, however, withthat which at an earlier day placed Lee's mansion on the Peninsula underdouble guard, and when you give it the in that case sorry merit ofconsistency, its best excuse is given. 

Beyond some lives lost by a force of Regulars who ventured too near theriver without proper precautions the day after we occupied the Gap, andthe loss of a Regimental head-quarters wagon, loaded with the officers'baggage, broken down upon a road on which the exhorting Colonel, afterdeliberate survey, had set his heart as the safest of roads from theSummit, nothing of note occurred during the stay. Our evacuation of theGap was almost immediately followed by Rebel occupation. 

The statement that nothing of note occurred may, perhaps, be doinginjustice to our little Dutch Doctor, who had the best of reasons forremembering the morning of our departure from Snicker's Summit. To theDoctor the mountain, with its rocks, seemed familiar ground. A Tyroleseby birth, he loved to talk of his mountain home and sing its livelyairs. But that sweet home had one disadvantage. Their beasts of draughtand burden were oxen, and the only horse in the village was a cart-horseowned by the Doctor's father. Of necessity, therefore, his horsemanshipwas defective, an annoying affair in the army. Many officers and menwere desirous of seeing the Doctor mount and ride his newly purchasedhorse, and the Doctor was quite as anxious to evade observation. Hissaddle was on and blankets strapped as he surveyed the beast, nowpassing to this side and now to that, giving wide berth to heels thatnever kicked, and with his servant at hand, waiting until the last filesof the Regiment had disappeared in the woods below. Not unobserved, however, for two of the Field and Staff had selected a clump of scrubpines close at hand for the purpose of witnessing the movement. A rocknear by served him as a stand from which to mount. The horse was broughtup, and the Doctor, after patting his head and rubbing his neck toassure himself of the good intentions of the animal, cautiously took hisplace in the saddle and adjusted his feet in the stirrups. 

The animal moved off quietly enough, until the Doctor, to increase hisspeed, touched him in the flank with his spur, when the novel sensationto the beast had the effect of producing a sudden flank movement, whichresulted in the instant precipitation of the Doctor upon his back amongthe rocks and rough undergrowth. The horse stood quietly; there was nomovement of the bushes among which the Doctor fell, and the mirth of theobservers changed to fear lest an accident of a serious nature hadoccurred. The officers and servant rushed to the spot. Fortunately thefall had been broken somewhat by the bushes, but nevertheless plainlyaudible groans in Dutch escaped him, and when aware of the presence ofthe observers, exclamations in half broken English as to what the resultmight have been. The actual result was that the horse was forthwithcondemned as "no goot" by the Doctor; an ambulance sent for, andnecessity for the first time made him take a seat during the march inthat vehicle, a practice disgracefully common among army surgeons. Thehorse in charge of the servant followed, but was ever after used as apack. No amount of persuasion, even when way-worn and foot-sore from themarch, could induce the Doctor to remount his charger. 

Middle-Borough, a pretty place near the Bull Run Range of mountains, wasreached about ten o'clock in the forenoon of the day after leaving theGap. After the first Bull Run battle the place was made use of, asindeed were all the towns as far up the country as Martinsburg, as aRebel hospital. Some of the inmates in butternut and grey, with surgeonsand officers on parole in like color, but gorgeous in gilding, werestill to be seen about the streets. Greyheaded darkies and picaninniespeered with grinning faces over every fence. The wenches were busilyemploying the time allowed for the halt in baking hoe-cakes for the men. 

In front of the principal mansion of the place, owned by a Major in theRebel service under Jackson, a small group of officers and men wereinteresting themselves in the examination of an antique naval sword thathad just been purchased by a Sergeant from a venerable Uncle Ned, whostood hat in hand, his bald head exposed to the sun, bowing as each newcomer joined the crowd. 

"Dat sword, gemmen, " said the negro, politely and repeatedly bowing, "belonged to a Captain ob de Louisiana Tigers dat Hannar Amander and menussed, case he came late and couldn't get into de hospitals or houses, dey was so full right after de fust big Bull Run fight. His thigh wasall shot to pieces. He hadn't any money, and didn't seem to hab anyfriends but Hannar Amander. "

"Who is Hannah Amanda?" said one of the crowd. 

"My wife, sah, " said the old man, crossing his breast slowly with hisright hand and profoundly bowing. 

"Hannar Amander said de young man must be cared for, dat de good Lorwould hold us 'countable if we let him suffer, so we gab him our bed, shared our little hoe-cake and rye coffee wid him, and Susan Matildar, my darter, and my wife dressed de wound as how de surgeon would tell us. But after about five days de surgeon shook his head and told de Captainhe couldn't lib. De poor young man failed fast arter dat; he would moanand mutter all time ober ladies' names. 

"'Reckon you hab a moder and sisters?' said my wife to him one morning. 

"'Oh, God! yes, ' said de fine-looking young man, for, as Hannar Amandersaid, he was purty as a pictur, and she'd often say how much would hismoder and sisters gib if dey could only nuss him instead of us poorculled pussons. He said, too, he was no Rebel at heart--dat he was fromde Norf, and a clerk in a store at New Orleans, and dey pressed him togo, and den he thought he'd better go as Captain if he had to go, anddey made him Captain. 'And now I must die a traitor! My God! when willmy moder and sisters hear of dis, and what will dey say?' and he went onso and moaned; and when we found out he was from up Norf, and sorry atdat for being a Rebel, we felt all de warmer toward him. He called usbery kind, but moaned and went on so dreadfully dat my wife and darterdidn't know what to do to comfort him. Dey bathed his head and made himcool drinks, but no use. 'It's not de pain ob de body, ' said HannarAmander to me, 'it's ob de heart--dat's what's de matter. '

"'Hab you made your peace wid God, and are you ready for eberlastingrest?' said my wife to him. 

"'My God!' groaned he, 'dere's no peace or rest for me. I'm a sinner anda Rebel too. Oh, I can't die in such a cause!' and he half raised up, but soon sunk down again. 

"'We'm all rebels to de bressed God. His Grace alone can sab us, ' saidmy wife, and she sung from dat good hymn

 "'Tis God alone can gib De bliss for which we sigh. '

"'Susan Matildar, bring your Bible and read some. ' While she said dis, de poor young man's eyes got full ob tears. 

"'Oh, my poor moder! how she used to read to me from dat book, and howI've neglected it, ' said he. 

"Den Susan Matildar--she'd learned to read from her missus' littlegirls--read about all de weary laden coming unto de blessed Sabiour. Wheneber she could she'd read to him, and I went and got good oldBrudder Jones to pray for him. By un by de young man begin to prayhisself, and den he smiled, and den, oh, I neber can forget how HannarAmander clapped her hands and shouted 'Now I know he's numbered wid dearmy ob de Lor'! kase he smiles. ' Dat was his first smile; but I cantell you, gemmen, it grew brighter and brighter, and by un by his facewas all smiles, and he died saying he'd meet his moder and all ob us inHebben, and praising de bressed Lor'!"

The old man wiped his eyes, and there was a brief pause, none caringeven in that rough, hastily collected crowd to break the silence thatfollowed his plain and pathetic statement. 

"But how did you get the sword?" at last inquired one. 

"Before he died he said he was sorry he could not pay us for ourkindness, " resumed the old man. "Hannar Amander said dat shouldn'ttrouble him, our pay would be entered up in our 'ternal count. 

"And den he gab me dis sword and said I should keep it and sell it, anddat would bring me suffin'. And he gab Susan Matildar his penknife. DeSecesh am 'quiring about de sword. I'd like to keep it, to mind de youngman by, but we've all got him here, " said the old man, pointing to hisheart. "I'd sooner gib it to you boys dan sell it to de Rebels, but deSargeant yer was good enough to pay me suffin for it, and den I cantforget dat good young man, I see his grave every day. We buried him atde foot ob our little lot, and Susan Matildar keeps flowers on his graveall day long. Her missus found out he was from de Norf and was sorry'fore he died he had been a Rebel, and she told Susan Matildar shewouldn't hab buried him dere. But Hannar Amander said dat if all deRebels got into glory so nice dey'd do well; and de sooner dey are derede better for us all, dis ole man say. "

This last brought a smile to the crowd, and a collection was taken upfor the old man. 

"Bress you, gemmen! bress you! Served my Master forty-five years and habnuffin to show for it. Our little patch Hannar Amander got, but I triesto sarve de Lor at de same time, and dere is a better 'count kept ob datin a place where old Master dead and gone now pas' twenty years, willnebber hab a chance ob getting at de books. "

The old man had greatly won upon his hearers, when the bugle called themto their posts. 

Our corps from this place took the road to White Plains, near whichlittle village they encamped in a wood for two nights and a day, while asnow-storm whitened the fields. 

 * * * * *

 "Let the hawk stoop, the bird has flown, "

said a boyish-faced officer who was known in the Regiment as thePoetical Lieutenant, to the Adjutant, as he pushed aside the canvas doorof the Office Tent on one of those wintry evenings. The caller had leftthe studies of the Sophomoric year, --or rather his Scott, Byron, Burns, and the popular novelists of the day, --for the recruiting service in hisnative county. The day-dreams of the boy as to the gilded glory of thesoldier had been roughly broken in upon by severe practical lessons, intedious out-post duty and wearisome marches. He could remember, as couldmany others, how he had admired the noble and commanding air with whichWashington stands in the bow of the well loaded boat as represented onthe historic canvas, and the stern determination depicted upon thecountenances of the rest of his Roman-nosed comrades--(why is it thatour historic artists make all our Revolutionary Fathers Roman-nosed? Iftheir pictures are faithful, where in the world do our swarms of pugsand aquilines come from worn by those claiming Revolutionary descent? Isit beyond their skill to make a pug or an aquiline an index to nobilityof soul or heroic resolve?)--as they keep the frozen masses borne bythat angry tide at safe distance from the frail bark--but he then feltnothing of the ice grating the sides of the vessel in which he hoped tomake the voyage of life, nor shuddered at the wintry midnight blast thatswept down the valley of the Delaware. His dreams had departed; butpoetical quotations remained for use at every opportunity. 

"What's the matter now?" says the Adjutant. 

"One of the Aids just told me, " rejoined the Lieutenant, "that theRebels were in force in our front, and would contest the Rappahannock, while the possession of the Gap we have just left lets them in upon ourrear. "

"The old game played out again, " says the Adjutant. "Another stringloose in the bag. Strategy in one respect resembles mesmerism--theobject operated upon must remain perfectly quiet. Are we never tosuppose that the Rebels have plans, and that their vigilance increases, and will increase, in proportion to the extremity of their case? Ourtheorists and routine men move armies as a student practises at chess, as if the whole field was under their control, and both armies at theirdisposal. With our immense resources, vigorous fighting and practicalcommon sense would speedily suppress the Rebellion. Where are our oldfighting stock of Generals? our Hookers, Heintzelmans, Hancocks, and menof like kidney? Why must their fiery energies succumb to a cold-bloodedstrategy, that wastes the materiel of war, and what is worse, fills ourhospitals to no purpose? Those men have learned how to command fromactual contact with men. The art of being practical, adapting one's selfto emergencies, is not taught in schools. With some it is doubtlessinnate; with the great mass, it is a matter of education, such as isacquired from moving among men. "

 "We have the Pyrrhic dance as yet; Where is our Pyrrhic phalanx gone? Of two such lessons why forget The nobler and the manlier one?"

broke in our Poetical Lieutenant. 

"D--n your Pyrrhics, " retorted the Adjutant, snappishly. "For thePyrrhics of past days we have Empirics now. Our phalanxes of old havebeen led to victory by militia Colonels, who sprang from the thinkinghead of the people, glowing with the sacred fire of their cause. Do younot believe, " continued he enthusiastically, "that the loyal masses whosprang into ranks at the insult upon Sumter would have found a leaderlong ere this worthy of their cause, whose rapid and decisive blowswould have saved us disgraceful campaigns, had the nation beenunencumbered by this ruin of a Regular Army, that has given us littleelse than a tremendous array of officers, many of them of thePigeon-hole and Paper order, --beggarly lists of Privates, --Routine thatmust be carried out at any cost of success, --and Red Tape thateverywhere represses patriotism? And then to think, too, of thehalf-heartedness and disaffection. How long must these sneakingCatilines in high places abuse our patience? But what can be expectedfrom officers who are not in the service from patriotic motives, butrather from prospects of pay and position? End the war, and you willhave men who are now unworthy Major and Brigadier Generals, subsidinginto Captains and Lieutenants. Their movements indicate that _they_realize their position fully; but when will the country realize that'strategy' is played out?"

"The whiskey at Division Head-quarters is played out, any way, " said aSergeant on duty in the Commissary Department, who had entered the tentwhile the Adjutant was speaking. 

 "'And not a drop to drink, '"

rejoined the Lieutenant. 

"Then, by Heaven, we are lost, " continued the Adjutant. "Strategy playedout and our General of Division out of whiskey. Yes, sir! those mishapsend all further movement of this Grand Army of the Potomac. But when didyou hear that?"

"I was in the marquee of the Brigade Commissary when a Sergeant and acouple of privates on duty about Pigey's Head-quarters came in with ademijohn and a note to the Commissary, presenting the compliments of theGeneral commanding Division, and at the same time the cash for fourgallons of whiskey. The Captain read it carefully and told the Sergeantto tell the General that he didn't keep a dram-shop. I expected thatthis reply would make sport, and I concluded to wait awhile and see thething out. In a few minutes the Sergeant returned, stating that he hadnot given that reply to the General, through fear, I suppose, but hadstated that the Captain had made some excuse. He said further that Pigeysaid he was entirely out, and must have some. 

"'Tell him what I told you, ' said the Captain, determinedly. Off theSergeant started. I waited for his return outside, and asked him howPigey took the answer. 'Took it?' said he, 'I didn't tell him about thedram-shop, but when he found I had none, he raved like mad--swore he wasentirely out--had been since morning, and must and would have some. Hed----d the Captain for being a temperance fanatic, and for bringing hisfanatical notions into the army; and all the while he paced up and downhis marquee like a tiger at a menagerie. At last he told me that I mustreturn again and tell the Captain that it was a case of absolutenecessity, and that he knew that there was a barrel of it among theCommissary stores, and that he must have his four gallons. '

"I followed the Sergeant in, but he could not make it. The Captain hadjust turned it over to the Hospital. 

"So the Sergeant went back again with the empty demijohn. He told meafterwards that the General was so taken aback by his not getting any, that he sat quietly down on his camp stool, ran his fingers through hishair, pulled at his moustache, and then 'I knew, ' said the Sergeant, 'that a storm was brewing, and that the General was studying how to dojustice to the subject. At length he rose slowly, kicked his hat thathad fallen at his feet to one corner of the marquee, d----g it at thesame time; d----d me for not getting it any how, and clenching his fistsand walking rapidly up and down, d----d the Captain, his Brigadier, andeverything belonging to the Brigade, until I thought it a little toohard for a man who had had a Sunday School education in his young daysto listen to, and I left him still cursing. '"

"He will court-martial the Captain, " said the Colonel, who had enteredthe tent, "for signal contempt of the Regular Service. I recollect acharge of that kind preferred by a Regular Lieutenant against anAdjutant of the ---- Maine, down in the Peninsula. In one of our marchesthe Adjutant had occasion to ride rapidly by the Regiment to which theLieutenant belonged. The Lieutenant hailed him--told him to stop. TheAdjutant knowing his duty, and that he had no authority to halt him, continued his pace, but found himself for nearly a month afterward inarrest under a charge of 'Signal contempt for the Regular Service. '"

Sigel's hardy Teutons lined the road in the vicinity of New Baltimore, through which village the route lay on the following day. Part of hiscorps had some days previously occupied the mountain gaps in the BullRun range on the left. Other troops, led by a Commander whose strategywas singularly efficacious to keep him out of fights, were passing tothe front, leaving a fighting General of undoubted prowess in Europeanand American history, in the rear. Inefficient himself, and perhapsdesignedly so, his policy could not, with safety to his own reputation, allow of efficiency elsewhere. 

That night our Regiment encamped in one of the old pine fields common inVirginia. The softness of the decaying foliage of the pine which coveredthe ground as a cushion was admirably adapted to repose, and upon it themen rested, while the gentle evening breeze sighed among the boughsabove them, as if in sympathy with disappointed hopes and sacrificesmade in vain. 

"Stragglers and marauders, sir, " said a Sergeant of the Provost Guard, saluting the Colonel, who was one of the circle lying cozily about thefire, pointing as he spoke to a squad of way-worn, wo-begone men underguard in his rear. "Here is a list of their offences. I was ordered toreport them for punishment. "

"A new wrinkle, that, " said the Colonel, as the Sergeant left. "OurBrigadier must be acting upon his own responsibility. Our General ofDivision would certainly never have permitted such an opportunity slipfor employing the time of officers in Courts-martial. That list wouldhave kept one of our Division Courts in session at least three weeks, and have given the General himself an infinite amount of satisfaction inexamining his French authorities, and in strictures upon the Records. What have we here, any how?"

No. 1. "Straggling to a persimmon tree on the road-side. "

"That man, " said a Lieutenant, "when he saw our Brigadier coming up, presented him with a couple of persimmons very politely. But it was nogo; the General ordered him under guard and eat the persimmons as partof the punishment. "

"Well, " rejoined the Colonel, "we'll let you off with guard duty for thenight. "

No. 2. "Killing a shoat while the Regiment halted at noon. "

The man charged was a fine-looking young fellow whose only preparationfor the musket, when he enlisted, was previous practice with the yardstick in a dry goods establishment. Intelligent and good-natured, he waspopular in the command, and was never known to let his larder suffer. 

"Was it a Rebel pig?" inquired a bystander. 

"A most rebellious pig, " replied he, bowing to the Colonel. "He gave usa great amount of trouble, and rebelled to the last. " A laugh followed, interrupted by the Colonel, who desired to hear the circumstances of thecase. 

"Right after we had halted on the other side of New Baltimore, "continued the man, "I saw the pig rooting about a corn shock, and as myhaversack was empty, and myself hungry, I thought I could dispose ofpart of him to advantage, and before I had time to reflect about theorder, I commenced running after him. Several others followed, and someofficers near by stood looking at us. After skinning my hands and kneesin trying to catch him by throwing myself upon him, I finally caughthim. When I had him skinned, I gave a piece to all the officers who sawme, saving only a ham for myself, and I was dressing it when up came aLieutenant of the Provost Guard and demanded it. I debated the matter aswell as a keen appetite would allow, and finally coming to theconclusion that I could not serve my country as I should, if halfstarved, I resolved to keep it, and refused him, and he reported me, andhere I am with it at your service, " clapping his hand on a well filledhaversack. 

One-half of the meat was confiscated, but the novelty of the sergeant'spatriotic plea saved him further penalty. 

No. 3. Caught in a negro shanty, in company with an old wench. 

The crowd laughed; while the subject, a tall cadaverous-looking fellow, protested earnestly that he was only waiting while the wench baked him ahoe-cake. 

"Guard duty for the night, " said the Colonel. 

"Poor devil! He will have to keep awake, and can't sing--'Sleeping Idream, love, dream, love, of thee'"--said the poetical Lieutenant, whochanced to be one of the group. 

No. 4. Caught by the General Commanding Division, twenty feet high on apersimmon tree, and Nos. 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 on the ground below; also"Lying. "

"Another persimmon crowd. Every night we are troubled with the persimmonbusiness, " said the Colonel; "but what does the 'also Lying' mean?"

"Why, " said a frank fellow of the crowd, "you see when the old Generalcame up, I said it was a picket station, and that the man up the treewas looking out for the enemy. It was a big thing, I thought, but theGeneral didn't see it, and he swore he would persimmon us. "

"Which meant, " said the Colonel, "that you would lose your persimmons, and go on extra police duty for forty-eight hours each. "

The crowd were lectured upon straggling, that too frequent offence ofVolunteers, and after a severe reprimand dismissed. 

The country abounded in persimmon trees, and their golden fruit was asore temptation to teeth sharpened on army crackers. As the seasonadvanced, and persimmons became more palatable, crowds would thus bebrought up nightly for punishment. This summary procedure was aninnovation by the Brigadier upon the Red-Tape formulary ofCourts-martial, so rigidly adhered to, and fondly indulged in, by theGeneral of Division. The Brigadier would frequently himself dispose ofdelinquencies of the kind, telling the boys in a manner that made themfeel that he cared for their welfare, that they had been entrusted tohim by the country for its service, and that he considered himself underobligations to their relatives and friends to see that while under hiscommand their characters received no detriment, and while becoming goodsoldiers they would not grow to be bad citizens. He made them realize, that although soldiers they were still citizens; and many a man has lefthim all the better for a reprimand which reminded him of duties torelatives and society at large. How much nobility of soul might bespared to the country with care of this kind, on the part of commanders. Punishment is necessary--but how many to whom it is intrusted forgetthat in giving it a moral effect upon society, care should be takenthat it may operate beneficially upon the individual. The General whocrushes the soul out of his command by exacting infamous punishments fortrivial offences, is but a short remove from the commander who wouldbasely surrender it to the enemy on the barest pretext. Punishment hastoo often been connected with prejudice against Volunteers in the Armyof the Potomac, controlled as it has been too much by martinets. That anation of freemen could have endured so long the contumely of a proudmilitary leader when his incapacity was so apparent, will be a matter ofwonder for the historian. The inconsistency that would follow the greatNapoleon in modelling an army and neglect his example in giving itmobility, with eminent propriety leaves the record of its exploits todepend upon the pen of a scion of the unmilitary House of Orleans. 

But the decree "thus far shalt thou come, " forced upon an honest butblindly indulgent President by the People, who will not forget thatpower is derived from them, had already gone forth, although not yetofficially announced to the Army; and it was during the week atWarrenton, our halting-place on the morrow, that the army, with thecitizens at home, rejoiced that the work of staying the proud waves ofimbecility, as well as insult, to our Administration, had commenced. Thehistory of reforms is one of the sacrifice of blood, money, and time. Frightful bills of mortality, shattered finances, nineteen months ofvaluable time, do not in this case admit of an exception. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

_Camp near Warrenton--Stability of the Republic--Measures, not Men, regarded by the Public--Removal of McClellan--Division Head-Quarters aHouse of Mourning--A Pigeon-hole General and his West PointPatent-Leather Cartridge-Box--Head-Quarter Murmurings andMutterings--Departure of Little Mac and the Prince--Cheering by Word ofCommand--The Southern Saratoga--Rebel Regret at McClellan's Departure. _

Writers prone to treat of the instability of Republics, will findserious matter to combat in the array of events that culminated atWarrenton. Without the blood that has usually characterized similarevents in the history of Monarchies, in fact with scarcely a ripple uponthe surface of our national affairs, a great military chieftain, or tospeak truly, a commander who had endeavored, and who had the grandest ofopportunities to become such, passed from his proud position as theleader of the chief army of the Republic, to the obscurity of privatelife. Proffered to a public, pliant, because anxious that itsrepresentatives in the field should have a worthy Commander, by anAdministration eager to repair the disaster of Bull Run, --puffed intofavor by almost the entire press of the country, the day had been whenthe loyalty of the citizen was measured by his admiration of GeneralMcClellan. 

Never did a military leader assume command so auspiciously. Theresources of a mighty nation were lavishly contributed to the materielof his army. Its best blood stood in his ranks. Indulged to an almostcriminal extent by an Administration that in accordance with the wishesof the masses it represented, bowed at his beck and was overlysolicitous to do his bidding, no wonder that this ordinary mind becameunduly inflated. He could model his army upon the precedents set by thegreat Napoleon; he could surround himself by an immense Staff--thetalent of which, however, but poorly represented the vigor of hisarmy, --for nepotism and favoritism interfered to prevent that, as theywill with common men; drill and discipline could make his armyefficient, --for his subordinates were thorough and competent, and hismen were apt pupils; but he himself could not add to all these thecrowning glories of the field. Every thing was there but genius, thatGod-given gift; and that he did not prove to be a Napoleon resultedalone from a lack of brains. 

Now that the glare of the rocket has passed from our sky, and its stickhas fallen quietly enough among the pines of New Jersey, citizens haveopportunity for calm reflection. We are not justified, perhaps, inattributing to McClellan all the evils and errors that disfigure histenure of office. Intellect equal to the position he could not createfor himself, and ninety-nine out of one hundred men of average abilitywould not have descended from his balloon-like elevation with any bettergrace. It is in the last degree unjust to brand with disloyalty, conductthat seems to be a result natural enough to incompetency. That uponcertain occasions he may have been used for disloyal purposes bydesigning men, may be the consequence of lack of discrimination ratherthan of patriotism. 

Whatever might have induced his conduct of the war, the nation haslearned a lesson for all time. Generals who had grown grey in honorableservice were rudely set aside for a Commander whose principal meritconsisted in his having published moderately well compiled militarybooks. Their acquiescence redounds to their credit; but their continuedand comparatively calm submission in after times, when that General, regardless of soldierly merit, placed in high and honorable positionsrelatives and intimate friends, who could be but mere place-men, dependent entirely upon him for their honors, and committed to hisinterests, is strong proof of devoted patriotism. Slight hold had theseneophytes upon the stern matter-of-fact fighting Generals, or theequally devoted and patriotic masses in ranks. In their vain glory theymurmured and muttered during and subsequent to this week at Warrenton, as they had threatened previously, in regard to the removal ofMcClellan. They knew not the Power that backed the Bayonet. In the eyeof the unreserved and determined loyalty of the masses, success was thetest of popularity with any Commander. Not the shadow of an excuseexisted for any other issue. Our resources of the materiel of war werewell nigh infinite. Men could be had almost without number, at leastequal to the Rebels in courage. There was, then, no excuse for inaction, and none knew it better than our reflecting rank and file. 

The effort to inspire popularity for McClellan had been untiring by hisdevotees in position in the army. In the outset it was successful. Liketheir friends at home, the men in ranks, during the dark days thatsucceeded Bull Run, eagerly caught at a name that received suchhonorable mention. That this flush of popularity did not increase untilit became a steady flame like that which burned within the breasts ofthe veterans of the old French Empire, is because its subject lacked thecommanding ability, decision of character, and fiery energy, that madestatesmen do reverence, turned the tide of battle to advantage, andswept with resistless force over the plains of Italy and the mountainsof Tyrol. 

It was with mingled feelings of pleasure and uncertainty, caused by thechange, that the Regiment broke to the front in column of company, andencamped on a beautifully wooded ridge about two miles north ofWarrenton. Pleasure upon account of the change--as any change must befor the better, --uncertainty, as to its character and extent. In theirdoubtful future, Generals shifted position, and succeeded each other, very much as dark specks appear and pass before unsteady vision. Whowould be the successor? Would the change be radical? were questions thatwere discussed in all possible bearings around cheerful camp-fires. 

Whatever the satisfaction among subordinate officers and the ranks, Division Head-quarters was a house of mourning. To the General removedsolely it owed its existence. Connected with his choice Corps, it hadbasked in the sunshine of his favor. With the removal already ordered, "the dread of something worse"--a removal nearer home was apprehended. As a Field Commander, the officer upon whose shoulders rested theresponsibilities of the Division, was entirely unknown previously to hisassuming command. His life hitherto had been of such a nature as not toadd to his capacity as a Commander. Years of quiet clerkly duty in theTopographical Department may, and doubtless did in his case, make anexcellent engineer or draughtsman, but they afford few men opportunitiesfor improvement in generalship. During the McClellan regime this sourcefurnished a heavy proportion of our superior officers. Why, would bedifficult to say on any other hypothesis than that of favoritism. Theireducational influences tend to a defensive policy, which history provesGenerals of ability to have indulged in only upon the severestnecessity. To inability to rise above these strictures of the school, may be traced the policy which has portrayed upon the historic page, toour lasting disgrace as a nation, the humiliating spectacle of a mightyand brave people, with resources almost unlimited, compelled for nearlytwo years to defend their Capital against armies greatly inferior totheir own in men and means. 

Independently of these educational defects, as they must be called, there was nothing in either the character or person of the DivisionCommander to command respect or inspire fear. Eccentric to a mostwhimsical degree, his oddities were the jest of the Division, while theywere not in the least relieved by his extreme nervousness and fidgetyhabits of body. That there was nothing to inspire fear is, however, subject to exception, as his whims kept subordinates in a continualfever. The art of being practical--adapting himself to circumstances--hehad never learned. It belongs to the department of Common Sense, inwhich, unfortunately, there has never been a professor at West Point. His after life does not seem to have been favorable to its acquirement. Withal, the hauteur characteristic to Cadets clung to him, and on manyoccasions rendered him unfortunate in his intercourse with volunteerofficers. Politeness with him, assumed the airs and grimaces of a Frenchdancing-master, which personage he was not unfrequently and not inaptlysaid to resemble. Displeasure he would manifest by the oddest ofgestures and volleys of the latest oaths, uttered in a nervous, halfstuttering manner. Socially, his extensive educational acquirements madehim a pleasant companion, and with a friend it was said he would drinkas deep and long as any man in the Army of the Potomac. Once crossed, however, his malignity would be manifested by the most intolerable andpetty persecution. 

"He has no judgment, " said a Field-Officer of a Regiment of his command;a remark which, by the way, was a good summary of his character. 

"Why?" replied the officer to whom he was speaking. 

"I was out on picket duty, " rejoined the other, "yesterday. We had anunnecessarily heavy Reserve, and one half of the men in it were allowedto rest without their belts and boxes. The General in the afternoon paidus a visit, and seeing this found fault, that the men were not keptequipped; observing at the same time that they could rest equally wellwith their cartridge boxes on; that when he was a Cadet at West Point hehad ascertained by actual practice that it could be done. "

"Do you recollect, General, " I remarked, "whether you had forty roundsof ball cartridge in your box then?"

"He said he did not know that that made any difference. "

"Now considering that the fact of the boxes being filled makes all thedifference, I say, " continued the officer, "that the man who makes aremark such a the General made, is devoid of judgment. "

But he was connected both by ties of friendship and consanguinity withthe hitherto Commander of the Army of the Potomac. His Adjutant-Generalwas related to the same personage. The position of the latter, for whichhe was totally unfitted by his habits, was perhaps a condition precedentto the appointment of the General of Division. 

The fifth of November, a day destined to become celebrated hereafter inAmerican as in English history, dawned not less inauspiciously upon theHead-quarters of the Corps. They too could not appreciate the dry humorof the order that commanded Little Mac to report at Trenton. Theythought alone of the unwelcome reality--that it was but an American wayof sending him to Coventry. The Commander of the Corps had been a greatfavorite at the Head-quarters of the army--perhaps because in this oldWest Point instructor the haughty dignity and prejudice againstvolunteers which characterized too many Regular officers, had itsfullest personification. His Corps embraced the largest number ofRegular officers. In some Regiments they were ridiculously, and forUncle Sam expensively, plentiful, --some Companies having two or threeCaptains, two or three First or Second Lieutenants, --while perhaps theenlisted men in the Regiment did not number two hundred. But thesesupernumeraries were Fitz John's favorites, and whether they performedany other labor than sporting shoulder straps, regularly visiting thePaymasters, adjusting paper collars and cultivating moustaches, was amatter of seemingly small consequence, though during depressed nationalfinances. 

The little patriotism that animated many of the officers attached toboth of these Head-quarters, did not restrain curses deep if not loud. Pay and position kept them in the army at the outbreak of theRebellion; and pay and position alone prevented their taking the sametrain from Warrenton that carried away their favorite Commander. Atelegram of the Associated Press stated a few days later that a list ofeighty had been prepared for dismissal. What evil genius averted thisbenefit to the country, the War Department best knows. It required novision of the night, nor gift of soothsaying, to foretell the troublethat would result from allowing officers in important positions toremain in the army, who were under the strongest obligations to theGeneral removed, devotedly attached to him, and completely identifiedwith, and subservient to, his interests. It might at least be supposedthat his policy would be persevered in, and that his interests would notsuffer. So far the reform was not radical. 

"Colonel, " said one of these martinets who occupied a prominent positionupon the Staff of Prince Fitz John, as with a look of mingled contemptand astonishment he pointed to a Lieutenant who stood a few rods distantengaged in conversation with two privates of his command, "do you allowcommissioned officers to converse with privates?"

"Why not, sir? Those three men were intimate acquaintances at home. Infact, the Lieutenant was a clerk in a dry-goods establishment in whichone of the privates was a junior partner. "

"All wrong, sir, " replied the martinet. "They should approach acommissioned officer through a Sergeant. The Inspecting Officer willreport you for laxity of discipline in case it continues, and place youunder arrest. "

The Brigadier, when he heard of this conversation, intimated that shouldthe Inspecting Officer attempt it, he would leave the Brigade limitsunder guard; and it was not attempted. 

Nonsense such as this is not only contemptible but criminal, whencontrasted with the kind fellowship of Washington for his men, --hissolicitude for their sufferings at Valley Forge, --Putnam sharing hisscanty meals with privates of his command, --Napoleon learning the wantsof his veterans from their own lips, and tapping a Grenadier familiarlyupon the shoulder to ask the favor of a pinch from his snuff-box. Thoseworthies may rest assured that marquees pitched at Regulation distance, and access through non-commissioned officers, will not, if naturaldignity be wanting, create respect. How greatly would the efficiency ofthe army have been increased, had the true gentility that characterizedthe noble soul of Colonel Simmons, who fell at Gaines' Mills, and thatwill always command reverence, been more general among his brotherofficers of the Regular Army. 

These evil results should not, however, lead to a wholesome condemnationof West Point. The advantages of the Institution have been abused, orrather neglected, by the great masses of the Loyal States. In our moralmatter-of-fact business communities it has been too generally the case, that cadets have been the appointees of political favoritism, regardlessof merit; and that the wild and often worthless son of influential andwealthy parents, who had grown beyond home restraint, and who gavelittle indication of a life of honor or usefulness, would be turned intothe public inclosure at West Point to square his morals and his toes atthe same time at public expense, and the act rejoiced at as a goodfamily riddance. Thus in the Loyal States, the profession of arms hadfallen greatly into disrepute previously to the outbreak of theRebellion, and instead of being known as a respectable vocation, wasconsidered as none at all. Had military training to some extent beenconnected with the common school education of the land, we would havegained in health, and would have been provided with an able array ofofficers for our noble army of Volunteers. Among other preparations fortheir infamous revolt, the Rebels did not fail to give this especialprominence. The Northern States have been great in peace; the materialis being rapidly educated that will make them correspondingly great inwar. 

"November's surly blasts" were baring the forests of foliage, when theorder for the last Review by McClellan was read to the Troops. Mutiniesand rumors of mutinies "from the most reliable sources" had beensuspended above the Administration, like the threatening sword ofDamocles; but Abraham's foot was down at last, and beyond murmurings andmutterings at disaffected Head-Quarters no unsoldierly conduct markedthe reception of the order. So far from the "heavens being hung withblack, " as a few man-worshippers in their mad devotion would havewished, nature smiled beautifully fair. Such a sight could only berealized in Republican America. A military Commander of the greatestarmy upon the Continent, elevated in the vain-glory of dependentsubordinates into a quasi-Dictatorship, was suddenly lowered from hishigh position, and his late Troops march to this last Review with thequiet formality of a dress parade. What cared those stern, self-sacrificing men in ranks, from whose bayonets that brilliant sunglistened in diamond splendor, for the magic of a name--the majesty of aStaff, gorgeous, although not clothed in the uniform desired by its lateChief. The measure of payment for toil and sacrifice with them, wasprogress in the prosecution of their holy cause. The thunders of theartillery that welcomed _him_ with the honor due to his rank, reminded_them_ to how little purpose, through shortcomings upon his part, thosesame pieces had thundered upon the Peninsula and at Antietam. 

Massed in close columns by division along the main road leading toWarrenton, the troops awaited the last of the grand pageants that hadmade the Army of the Potomac famous for reviews. Its late Commander, ashe gracefully sat his bay, had not the nonchalance of manner that hemanifested while reading a note and accompanying our earnest Presidentin a former review at Sharpsburg; nor was the quiet dignity that heusually exhibited when at the head of his Staff, apparent. His mannerseemed nervous, his look doubly anxious; troubled in the present, andsolicitous as to the future. Conscious, too, doubtless, as he faced anation's Representatives in arms, how he had "kept the word of promiseto the ear, " and how "he had broken it to the hope;" how while hisreviews had revealed a mighty army of undoubted ability and eagernessfor the fight, his indecision or proneness to delay had made itscampaigns the laughing-stock of the world. His brilliant Staff clatteredat his heels; but glittering surroundings were powerless to avert thememories of a winter's inactivity at Manassas, the delay at Yorktown, the blunders on the Chickahominy, or the disgrace of the day afterAntietam. How closely such memories thronged upon this thinkingsoldiery, and how little men who leave families and business for thefield, from the necessity of the case, care for men if their measuresare unsuccessful, may be imagined, when the fact is known that thissame Little Mac, once so great a favorite through efforts of the Pressand officers with whom he had peopled the places in his gift, receivedhis last cheers from some Divisions of that same Army by word ofcommand. 

 "A long farewell to all his greatness. "

Imbecile in politics as in war, he cannot retrieve it by cringing toparty purposes. The desire that actuates our masses and demands able andearnest leaders has long since dissolved party lines. 

This leave-taking was followed a few days later by that of the CorpsCommander. Troubled looks, shadows that preceded his dark future, wereplainly visible as the Prince passed up and down the lines of his latecommand. 

Another day passed, and with light hearts the men brightened theirmuskets for a Review by their new Commander, Major-General Burnside, or"Burney, " as they popularly called the Hero of Carolina celebrity. 

But the day did not seem to be at hand that should have completed thereform by sweeping and garnishing disaffected, not to say disloyalHead-Quarters--removing from command men who were merely martinets, andwho were in addition committed body and soul to the interests of theirlate Commander, and who, had they been in receipt of compensation fromRichmond, could not have more completely labored by their half-hearted, inefficient, and tyrannizing course, to crush the spirit of oursoldiery. 

"What's the matter with Old Pigey?" inquired a Sergeant, detailed onguard duty at Division Head-Quarters, as he saluted his Captain, on oneof these evenings at Warrenton. 

"Why?" rejoined the Captain. 

"The General, " continued the Sergeant, "was walking up and down in frontof his marquee almost all of last night, talking to himself, muttering, and at almost every other step stamping and swearing. He had a bully oldmad on, I tell you, Captain. He went it in something of this style. "

And the sergeant himself strode up and down, muttering and stamping andswearing, to the great amusement of the Captain and some bystanders. 

The unwillingness to bow to the dictation of the President asCommander-in-Chief in his most righteous removal of their favorite, caused much heart-burning, and gave rise to much disloyal conduct. Thatit was tolerated at all was owing to the unappreciated indulgence orhesitation of the Administration, lest it should undertake too much. Theoperation, to have been skilful and complete, required nerve. Thatarticle so necessary for this crisis is in the ranks, and let us trustthat for the future it will be found in greater abundance at Washington. 

The Southern Saratoga, as Warrenton has been styled among thefashionables of the South, has much to commend it in situation andscenery, as a place of residence. The town itself is an odd jumble ofold and new buildings, and is badly laid out, or rather not laid out atall, as the streets make all possible angles with each other. Yankeeenterprise appears to have had something to do with the erection of thelater buildings. Like other towns of that neighborhood its cemetery isheavily peopled with Rebel dead. At the time of our occupancy many ofits larger buildings were still occupied as hospitals. 

On the day of McClellan's departure the streets were crowded withofficers and men, and the sympathies of the Rebel residents seemedstrangely in unison with those of the chieftain's favorites. Therepresentatives of the clannish attachments which made McClellanism aspecies of Masonry in the army, were there in force. In these bandedinterests brotherly love took the place of patriotism. Little wonder!looking at the record of the McClellan campaigns, that the Rebelspresent fraternized with these devotees in their grief. 

"You have thrown away your ablest commander, " said an elderly man, ofintelligent and gentlemanly appearance, clad in the uniform of a surgeonof the Rebel army, who stood conversing with one of our own surgeons, onthe sidewalk of the main street of the place, while the crowd gatheredto witness the departure of the General. 

"Do you really think so?" rejoined the Union Surgeon, as he earnestlyeyed the speaker. 

"Yes, sir, " said the Rebel, emphatically. "It is not only my opinion butthe opinion of our Generals of ability, that in parting with McClellanyou lose the only General you have who has shown any strategic ability. "

"If that be your opinion, sir, " was the decided reply, "the sooner weare rid of him the better. "

And to this reply the country says, Amen!

"But what a shame it is that military genius is so little appreciated bythe Administration, and that he is removed just at this time! Why, Iheard our Colonel say that he had heard the General say, that in a fewdays more, he would have won a decisive victory, " remarked a youngofficer, in a jaunty blue jacket, to a companion, gesticulating as hespoke, with a cigar between the first and second fingers of his righthand. 

An older officer, who overheard the remark, observed, drily:--"He wasnot removed for what he would do, but for what he had done. "

"And for what he had not done, " truthfully added another. 

Never had General, burdened with so many sins of omission andcommission, as the conversation indicated, been so leniently dealt with, now that the Rebels in their favorite, and with him successful game ofhide and seek, had again given him the slip, and were only in his frontto annoy. As they had it completely in their power to prevent a generalengagement at that point, his remark as to what would have been done wasa very rotten twig, caught at in the vain hope of breaking his fall. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

_A Skulker and the Dutch Doctor--A Review of the Corps by Old Joe--AChange of Base; what it means to the Soldier, and what to thePublic--Our Quarter-Master and General Hooker--The Movement by the LeftFlank--A Division General and Dog-driving--The Desolation of Virginia--ARebel Land-Owner and the Quarter-Master--"No Hoss, Sir!"--The PoeticalLieutenant unappreciated--Mutton or Dog?--Desk Drudgery and SenselessRoutine. _

"It's about time, Bill, for you to have another sick on, " said a livelylad, somewhat jocosely, as he rubbed away at his musket-barrel, on oneof our last mornings at the Camp, near Warrenton. "Fighting old Joe hasthe Corps now, and he will review us to-day, the Captain says, and afterthat look out for a move. "

"Don't say, " drawled out the man addressed; a big, lubberly fellow, famous in the Regiment for shirking duty--who, when picket details wereexpected, or a march in prospect, would set a good example ofpunctuality in promptly reporting at Surgeon's call, or as the Campphrase had it, "stepping up for his quinine. " "Well, " continued he, "Lord knows what I'll do. I've had the rheumatics awful bad, " clappingat the same time one hand on his hip, and the other on his rightshoulder, "the last day or two, and then the chronical diarrhoear. "

"You had better go in on rheumatism, Bill, " broke in the first speaker. "The Doctor will let you off best on that. "

"That's played out, isn't it, Bill, " chimed in another; and to Bill'sdisgust, as he continued, "It don't go with the little Dutch Doctorsince Sharpsburg. Every time his Company's turn would come for picket, while we were at that Camp, Bill would be a front-rank man at theHospital, with a face as long as a rail, and twisted as if he had justhad all his back teeth pulled. The little Dutchman would yell outwhenever he would see him--'What for you come? Eh? You tam shneak. Rheumatism, eh? In hip?' And the Doctor would punch his shoulder andhip, and pinch his arms and legs until Bill would squirm like an eelunder a gig. 'Here, Shteward, ' said the Doctor the last time, as hescribbled a few words on a small piece of paper, 'Take this; makeapplication under left ear, and see if dis tam rheumatism come not out. 'Bill followed the Steward, and in a few minutes came back to quartersornamented with a fly-blister as big as a dollar under his left ear. Next morning Bill didn't report, but he's been going it since ondiarrhoea. "

"He wasn't smart, there, " observed another. "He ought to have done aslittle Burky of our mess did. He'd hurry to quarters, take the blisteroff, clap it on again next morning when he'd report, and he'd have thelittle Dutchman swearing at the blister for not being 'wors a tam. '"

Bill took the sallies of the crowd with the quiet remark that their turnfor the sick list would come some day. 

The Review on that day was a grand affair. The fine-looking manly formof Old Joe, as, in spite of a bandaged left ancle not yet recoveredfrom the wound at Antietam, and that kept the foot out of the stirrup, he rode down the line at a gait that tested the horsemanship of hisfollowers, was the admiration of the men. In his honest and independentlooking countenance they read, or thought they could, character toopurely republican to allow of invidious distinctions between men, who, in their country's hour of need, had left civil pursuits at heavysacrifices, and those who served simply because the service was to themthe business of life. With hearts that kept lively beat with theregimental music as they marched past their new Commander, they rejoicedat this mark of attention to the necessities of the country, whichremoved an Officer, notorious as a leader of reserves, and placed themunder the care of a man high on the list of fighting Generals. "Waterloo, " says the historic or rather philosophic novelist of France, "was a change of front of the universe. " The results of that contest arematter of record, and justify the remark. At Warrenton a great Republicchanged front, and henceforth the milk and water policy of conciliating"our Southern Brethren" ranked as they are behind bristling bayonets, orof intimidating them by a mere show of force, must give way to activecampaigning and heavy blows. 

A rainy, misty morning a day or two after the review, saw the Corps passthrough Warrenton, en route for the Railroad Junction, commencing thechange of direction by the left flank, ordered by the new Commander ofthe Army. The halt for the night was made in a low piece of woodlandlying south of the railroad. In column of Regiments the Divisionencamped, and in a space of time incredible to those not familiar withsuch scenes, knapsacks were unslung and the smoke of a thousandcamp-fires slowly struggled upwards through the falling rain. Itspelting was not needed to lull the soldiers, weary from the wet marchand slippery roads, to slumber. 

At early dawn they left the Junction and its busy scenes--its lengthyfreight-trains, and almost acres of baggage-wagons, to the rear, andstruck the route assigned the Grand Division, of which they were part, for Fredericksburg. "A change of base" our friends will read in theleaded headings of the dailies, and pass it by as if it were a transferof an article of furniture from one side of the room to the other. Little know they how much individual suffering from heavy knapsacks andblistered feet, confusion of wagon-trains, wrangling and swearing ofteamsters, and vexation in almost infinite variety, are comprised inthese few words. It is the army that moves, however, and the host ofperplexities move with it, all unknown to the great public, andtransient with the actors themselves as bubbles made by falling rainupon the lake. The delays incident to a wagon-train are legion. Occurring among the foremost wagons, they increase so rapidly thatnotwithstanding proper precaution and slowness in front, a rear-guardwill often be kept running. The profanity produced by a single chuckhole in a narrow road appears to increase in arithmetical proportion asthe wagons successively approach, and teamsters in the rear find theiringenuity taxed to preserve their reputation for the vice with theirfellows. 

Why negroes are not more generally employed as teamsters is a mystery. They are proverbially patient and enduring. Both the interests ofhumanity and horseflesh would be best subserved by such employment, andthe ranks would not be reduced by the constant and heavy details ofable-bodied men for that duty. Capital and careful horsemen are to befound among the contrabands of Virginia, and many a poor beast, bad inharness because badly treated, would rejoice at the change. 

Quarter-masters, Wagon-masters, Commissaries, _et id genus omne_, havetheir peculiar troubles. Our Regiment was particularly favored in aQuarter-Master of accomplished business tact, whose personal supervisionover the teams during a march was untiring, and whose tongue was equallytireless in rehearsing to camp crowds, after the march was over, thetroubles of the day, and how gloriously he surmounted them. In hisdepartment he held no divided command. 

"Get out of my train with that ambulance. You can't cut me off in thatstyle, " he roared in an authoritative manner to an ambulance driver, whohad slipped in between two of his wagons on the second day of our march. 

"My ambulance was ordered here, sir! I have General ----" The driver'sreply was here interrupted by the abrupt exclamation of theQuarter-Master--

"I don't care a d--n if you have Old Joe himself inside. I command thistrain and you must get out. " And get out the driver did, at theintimation of his passenger, who, to the surprise of the Quarter-Master, notwithstanding his assertion, turned out to be no less a personage thanGeneral Hooker himself. 

"It is the law of the road, " said the General, good-humoredly--candid tohis own inconvenience--"and we must obey it. "

This ready obedience upon the part of the General was better in effectthan any order couched in the strongest terms for the enforcement ofdiscipline. The incident was long a frequent subject of conversation, and added greatly to his popularity as a commander. The men were fondof contrasting it with the conduct of the General of Division, who but afew days later cursed a poor teamster with all manner of profanelyqualifying adjectives because he could not give to the General and hisStaff the best part of a difficult road. 

But perhaps the men held their General of Division to too strict anaccountability. He was still laboring under the spell of Warrenton. Hisnervous system had doubtless been deranged by the removal of hisfavorite Chief, or rather Dictator, as he had hoped he might be. "No onecould command the army but McClellan, " the General had said in hisdisgust--a disgust that would have driven him from the service, butthat, fortunately for himself and unfortunately for his country, it wasbalanced by the pay and emoluments of a Brigadiership. Reluctant toallow Burnside quietly, a Cæsar's opportunity to "cover his baldnesswith laurels, " his whimsical movements, now galloping furiously andpurposeless from front to rear, and from rear to front of his command, cursing the officers, --and that for fancied neglect of duty, --poorlyconcealed the workings of his mind. 

In one of these rapid rides, his eye caught sight of a brace of younghounds following one of the Sergeants. 

"Where did those dogs come from?"

"They have followed me from the last wood, sir. "

"Let them go, sir, this instant. Send them back, sir. D--n you, sir, I'll teach you to respect private property, " replied the General, deploying his staff at the same time to assist in driving the dogs back, as notwithstanding the efforts of the Sergeant to send them to the rear, they crouched at a respectful distance and eyed him wistfully. "D--nyou, sir, I am the General commanding the Division, sir, and by G--d, sir, I command you, as such, to send those dogs back, sir!" nervouslystammered the General as he rode excitedly from one side of the road tothe other in front of the Sergeant. 

The affair speedily became ridiculous. Driving dogs was evidently withthe General a more congenial employment than manoeuvring men. But hisefforts in the one proved as unsuccessful as in the other, asnotwithstanding the aid afforded by his followers, the dogs would turntail but for a short distance. After swearing most _dogmatically_, as anofficer remarked, he turned to resume his ride to the head of thecolumn, but had not gone ten yards before there was a whistle for thedogs. Squab was sent back to ferret out the offender. The whistlingincreased, and shortly the whole Staff and the Regimental officers wereengaged in an attempt at its suppression. But in vain. Whistling inCompany A, found echoes in Company B; and after some minutes offruitless riding hither and thither the General was forced to retireunder a storm of all kinds of dog-calls, swelled in volume by theadjacent Regiments. 

That authority should be thus abused by the General in endeavoring toenforce his ridiculous order, and set at naught by the men in thusmocking at obedience, is to be deprecated. The men took that method ofrebuking the inconsistency, which would permit Regular and manyVolunteer Regiments to be followed by all manner of dogs, "Both mongrel, puppy, whelp and hound, And cur of low degree, "

and yet refuse them the accidental company of but a brace of canines. Asimple report of the offender, supposing the Sergeant to have been one, would have been the proper course, and would have saved a General ofDivision the disgrace of being made a laughing-stock for his command. 

"Talent is something: but tact is everything, " said an eminent man, andnowhere has the remark a more truthful application than in the army. 

A favorite employment after the evening halt, during this three days'march, was the gathering of mushrooms. The old fields frequent along theroute abounded with them, and many a royal meal they furnished. Tofarmers' sons accustomed to the sight of close cultivation, these oldfields, half covered with stunted pines, sassafras, varieties of spicewood, and the never-failing persimmon tree, were objects of curiosity. It was hard to realize that we were marching through a country onceconsidered the Garden of America, whose bountiful supplies and largeplantations had become classic through the pen of an Irving and otherfamous writers. Fields princely in size, but barren as Sahara;buildings, once comfortable residences, but now tottering into ruin, arestill there, but "all else how changed. " The country is desolationitself. Game abounds, but whatever required the industry of man for itscontinuance has disappeared. 

Civilization, which in younger States has felled forests, erectedschool-houses, given the fertility of a garden to the barren coast ofthe northern Atlantic and the wild-wood of the West, could not coalescewith the curse of slavery, and Virginia has been passed by in her onwardmarch. This field of pines that you see on our right, whose tops are sodense and even as to resemble at a distance growing grain, may have beenan open spot over which Washington followed his hounds inante-revolutionary days. The land abounds in memories. The very names ofthe degenerate families who eke out a scanty subsistence on some cornerof what was once an extensive family seat, remind one of the oldColonial aristocracy. Reclamation of the soil, as well as deliverance ofthe enslaved, must result from this civil war. Both worth fighting for. So "Forward, men, " "Guide right, " as in very truth we are in DivineProvidence guided. 

The long-haired, furtive-looking fathers and sons, representatives ofall this ancient nobility, after having given over their old homesteadsto their female or helpless male slaves, and massed their daughters andwives apparently in every tenth house, were keeping parallel pace withus on the lower bank of the Rappahannock. It was the inevitable logic ofthe law of human progress, declaring America to be in reality the landof the free, that compelled these misguided, miserable remnants of anaristocracy, to shiver in rags around November camp-fires. "They arejoined to their idols"--but now that after years of legislativeencroachment upon the rights of suffering humanity, they engage in arebellious outbreak against a God-given Government, we will notlet them alone in an idolatry that desolates the fair face of natureand causes such shameful degeneracy of the human race. Justice! slow, but still sure and retributive justice! How sublimely grand in hermanifestations! After years of patient endurance of the proud contumelyof South Carolina, New England granite blocks up the harbor ofCharleston--Massachusetts volunteers cook their coffee in the fireplacesof the aristocratic homesteads of Beaufort, and negroes rally to aroll-call at Bunker Hill, but as volunteers in a war which insures themliberty, and not as slaves, as was once vainly prophesied. 

 * * * * *

"Who commands you?" inquired a long, lean, slightly stooped, sallow-faced man of about fifty, with eyes that rolled in all directionsbut towards the officer he addressed, and long hair thrown back of hisears in such a way as to make up an appearance that would readilyattract the attention of a police officer. 

"I command this Regiment, sir, " replied the Colonel, who, at the end ofthe day's march, was busied in directing a detail where to pitch theHead-quarter tents. 

"Goin' to stay yer--right in this meadow?" continued the man, in thehalf negro dialect common with the whites of the South. 

"That is what we purpose doing, sir. Are you the owner?"

"Y-a-a-s, " drawled out the man, pulling his slouch felt still furtherover his eyes. "This meadow is the best part of my hull farm. "

"Great country, this, " broke in the Quarter-Master. "Why a kill-deercouldn't fly over it without carrying a knapsack. You don't think thatcamping upon this meadow will injure it any, do you?"

"Right smart it will, I reckon, " rejoined the man, his eyes kindlingsomewhat, "right smart, it will. $1500 at least. "

"What! What did the land cost you?"

"Wall, I paid at the rate of $15 the acre for 118 acres, and thebuildings and 12 acres on it are in this meadow, and the best bit of it, too. "

"Then you want to make us pay nearly what the whole farm cost you forusing the meadow a single night?"

"Wall, I reckon as how the rails will all be gone, and the sod all cutup, and----"

"Well, I reckon, " interrupted the Quarter-Master, "that you ought toprove your loyalty before you talk about claiming damages from UncleSam. "

"Oh! I'm on nary side, on nary side;" and he looked half suspiciouslyabout the crowd, now somewhat increased. "I'm too old; besides, my leftknee is crippled up bad, " limping as he said so, to sustain hisassertion. 

"Where are your children?"

"My two boys and son-in-law are off with the South, but I'm not'countable for them. "

"Well, sir, you'll have to prove your loyalty before you get a receiptfrom me for any amount. "

"Prove my loyalty?" he muttered, at the same time looking blank. "Whatsort of swearin' have you for that?"

"Don't swear him at all, at all, " broke in the little Irish Corporal. "Swearing is no substitute for swinging. Faith! he's up to thatbusiness. It's mate and drink to him. Make him whistle Yankee Doodle orsing Hail Columbia. Be jabers, it is not in his looks to do it withoutchoking. "

Terence's suggestion met with a general laugh of approval. The oldfellow, finding himself in a crowd slow to appreciate his claim fordamages when his loyalty was at a discount, made off towards his house, a dingy, two-story frame near by, reminded by the Colonel as he leftthat he would be expected to keep closely within doors while the troopswere in that vicinity. 

This sovereign of the soil was a fair specimen of the landed gentry ofVirginia. "On nary side, " as he expressed it, when the Federal troopswere in his neighborhood, and yet malignant and dastardly enough tomaltreat any sick or wounded Union soldier that chance might throw intohis hands. The less reserved tongues of his daughters told plainlyenough where the family stood on the great question of the day. Butwhile they recounted to some of the junior officers who were always onthe alert in making female acquaintances, their long lists of famousrelatives, they had all the eagerness of the Yankee, so much despised inthe Richmond prints, in disposing of half-starved chickens and heavyhoe-cakes at extortionate prices. With their dickering propensitiesthere was an amount of dirt on their persons and about the premises, androughness in their manners, that did great discredit to the memory ofPocahontas. 

"You have the old horse tied up close, " casually remarked a spruce youngSergeant who, in obedience to orders from Division Head-quarters, hadjust stationed a guard in the yard of the premises, alluding to an old, worn-out specimen of horseflesh tied up so closely to the house that hishead and neck were almost a straight line. 

"Yon's no hoss, sir. It's a mare, " quickly retorted one of thoseblack-eyed beauties. 

The polite Sergeant, who had dressed himself with more than usual care, in the expectation of meeting the ladies, colored somewhat, but theyoung lady, in a matter-of-course strain, went on to say, "She's the only one left us, too. Preston and Moncure took the rest withthem, and they say they've nearly used 'em up chasing you Yanks. "

Her unlady-like demeanor and exulting allusion to the Rebel cavalrytested to the utmost the Sergeant's qualities as a gentleman. A dickerfor a pair of chickens, accomplished by his substituting a little groundcoffee for a great sum in greenbacks, soon brought about a betterunderstanding, however, on the part of the damsel. 

A few hours later saw the Adjutant and our poetical Lieutenant snuglyseated on split-bottomed chairs in a dirty kitchen. Random conversation, in which the women let slip no opportunity of reminding their visitorsof the soldierly qualities of the Rebels, interrupted by the occasionalbleating of sheep and bawling of calves in the cellar, made theevening's entertainment novel and interesting. So much so that at a latehour the Lieutenant, who had invested closely the younger of the two, said, half sighing, as he gave her a fond look, "With thee conversing, I forget all time, All----"

"Wall, I reckon I don't, " broke in the matter-of-fact young lady. "Sal, just kick yon door around. " As Sal did her bidding, and the full moon onthe face of an old fashioned corner clock was disclosed, she continued, "It's just ten minutes after eleven, and you Yanks had better be off. "

Although the Adjutant was

 "Like steel amid the din of arms; Like wax when with the fair, "

this lack of appreciation of poetic sentiment so abruptly shown, broughthim out in a roar, and completely disconcerted the Lieutenant. They bothretired speedily, and long after, the circumstance was one of thestanding jokes of the camp. 

One of the most prominent and eagerly wished-for occurrences in camp, isthe arrival of the mail. The well filled bag, looking much like one ofthe bags of documents forwarded by Congressmen for private purposes atUncle Sam's expense, was emptied out on the sod that evening in front ofthe Colonel's marquee, and bundles containing boots, tobacco, bread, clothing of all kinds, eatables, and what-not, --for at that time UncleSam's army mails did a heavy express business, --were eyed curiously, bythe crowd impatient for distribution. Most singular of all in shape andfeeling was a package, heavily postmarked, and addressed to the Colonel. It contained what was a God-send to the larder of the mess, --a quarterof fine tender meat. But what kind of animal, was the query. The Major, who was a Nimrod in his own locality, after the most thoroughinspection, and the discovery of a short straight hair upon it, pronounced it venison, or young kid, and confirmed the Colonel in thebelief that he had been remembered by one of his Western friends. Butdeer or dog was a matter of indifference to hungry campaigners. A heartymeal was made of it, and speculation continued until the Brigadier, whohad perpetrated the joke upon the Colonel, saw fit, long after, toreveal that it was mutton that had been taken from some marauders duringthe day's march. 

During the first and second days of the march, cannonading had beenheard at intervals on the right flank. This day, however, the silencewas ominous; and now at its close, with our army in close proximity toFredericksburg, it indicated peaceable, unopposed possession, or delayof our own forces. But of the delay and its cause, provoking as it was, and costly as it has proved, enough has probably been written. AnInvestigating Committee has given the public full records. If we do notlearn that delinquents have been punished, let us hope that the warninghas been sufficient to avoid like difficulties in the future. 

Our army quietly turned into camp among the wooded heights of Stafford, opposite the town of Fredericksburg. The Rebels as quietly collectedtheir forces and encamped on the heights upon the opposite side of theriver. Day by day we could see them busily at work upon theirfortifications. Each morning fresh mounds of earth appeared at differentpoints in the semi-circular range of hills bounding Fredericksburg uponthe South and West. This valuable time was made use of by the pontoontrain at the rate of four miles per day. 

The three Grand Divisions, now that their stately march by the flank wasover, had settled comfortably down among the hills of Stafford. Wood andwater, essentials for camp comfort, were to be found in abundance. Whilethe little parleying between the Commander of the Right Grand Divisionand the civil authorities of Fredericksburg continued, matters weresomewhat in suspense. But a gradual quiet crept over the army, and in afew short weeks that heavily timbered country was one vast field ofstumps, with here and there clusters of pine trees left standing for thecomfort of different Head-quarters. As the timber disappeared, the tentsand huts of the army before concealed in the forests were disclosed, andthe whole country in the vicinity of the railroad was a continuous camp. The few open fields or barrens afforded fine review and drill grounds, and the toils of the march were scarcely over before in all directionscould be heard the steady tramp of solid columns engaged in theevolutions of the field. 

Those who think that duties are light in camp, know nothing of thelegions of reports, statements in duplicate and triplicate, required bythe too often senseless formalities of red tape. These duties varygreatly in different divisions. With a place-man, mechanical in hismovements, and withal not disposed to lighten labor, they multiply to asurprising extent, and subs intrusted with their execution often findthat the most laborious part of the service is drudgery at the desk. Night after night would repose at Regimental Head-quarters beinterrupted by repetitious and in many cases inconsistent orders, theonly purpose of which appeared to be, to remind drowsy Adjutants andswearing Sergeant-Majors that the Commanding General of Division stillruled at Division Head-quarters, and that he was most alive between thehours of nine and twelve at night. Independently of the fact that inmost cases in ordinary camp-life there was no reason why these ordersshould not have issued in business hours, their multiplicity was anuisance. The pen may be mightier than the sword, but in all consciencewhen the pen has been through necessity ignored, and the sword isuplifted for rapid and earnest blows, and the heart of a nation hangs inheavy suspense upon its movements, these travelling Bureaux had betterbe abolished. Superadded to all this, was the labor resulting from themania for Court-Martialing that raged at Division Head-quarters. Mechanical in its movements, not unfrequently malignant in its designs, officer after officer, earnest in purpose, but in some instances perhapsdeficient in detail, had been sacrificed to an absolutism that couldorder the charges, detail the Court, play the part of principal witnessfor the prosecution, and confirm the proceedings. 

"Our volunteer force will never amount to much, until we attain theexact discipline of the French service, " was the frequent remark of aGeneral of Division. Probably not. But how much would its efficiency beincreased, had the policy of the great Napoleon, from whose genius theFrench arms derive their lustre, prevailed, in detailing for desk dutyin quiet departments the mechanical minds of paper Generals. His mastertact in assigning to commanders legitimate spheres of work, and with itthe untiring zeal of a Cromwell that would run like a purifying firethrough the army, imparting to it its own impetuosity, and ridding it ofjealousy and disaffection, were greatly needed in this Grand Army of thePotomac. Nobler men never stood in ranks! Holier banners never flauntedin the sunlight of Heaven! God grant its directing minds correspondingenergy and wisdom. 

CHAPTER XV. 

_Red Tape and the Soldier's Widow--Pigeon-holing at Head-Quarters andWeeping at the Family Fireside--A Pigeon-hole General Outwitted--Fishingfor a Discharge--The Little Irish Corporal on TopographicalEngineers--Guard Duty over a Whiskey Barrel. _

 ----, Penna. , Nov. --, 1862. 

 MY DEAR GEORGE:--This is the first spare time that I have been able to get during the last week for a letter to my dear husband. And now that there is quiet in the house, and our dear little boys are sound asleep, and the covers nicely tucked about them in their little trundle, I feel that I can scarcely write. There is such a heaviness upon my heart. When I saw the crowd at the telegraph office this morning while on my way to church, and heard that they were expecting news of a great battle on the Rappahannock, such a feeling of helplessness, sinking of the heart, and dizziness came over me, that I almost fell upon the pavement. The great battle that all expect so eagerly, may mean our dear little children fatherless and myself a widow. Oh, George, I feel so sad and lonely, and then every footstep I hear at the door I am afraid some one is coming with bad news. Your last letter, too, I do not like. I am afraid that more is the matter with you than you are willing to admit. You promised me, too, that you would apply for a furlough. Lieut. H---- has been twice at home since he went out. You know he is in Sickles' Division. 

 Our precious little boys keep asking continually when papa will come home. Little Georgie says he is a "du-du, " you know that is what he calls a soldier, and he gets the old sword you had in the three months' service, and struts up and down at a great rate. They can both say the Lord's prayer now, and every night when they get through with it, they ask God to bless papa and mamma, and all the Union "du-dus. " I do wish that you could see them in their little "Gadibaldis, " as Harry calls them. When I see Mr. B----and others take their evening walks with their children, just as you used to do with Georgie, it takes all the grace and all the patriotism I can muster to keep from murmuring. 

 Mr. G---- says that we need not trouble about the rent this quarter, that he will wait until you are paid. The neighbors, too, are very kind to me, and I have been kept so busy with work from the shops, that I have made enough to pay all our little expenses. But for all, George, I cannot help wishing every minute of the day that "this cruel war was over" and you safe back. At a little sewing party that we had the other day, Em D---- sang that old song "When wild war's deadly blast was blown, " that you used to read to me so often, and when I heard of "sweet babes being fatherless, " and "widows mourning, " I burst into tears. I do not know why it is, but I feel as if expecting bad news continually. Our little boys say "don't cry, mamma, " in such a way when I put them to bed at night, and tell them that I kiss them for you too, that it makes me feel all the worse. I know it is wrong. I know our Heavenly Father knows what is best for us. I hope by this time you have learned to put your trust in him. That is the best preparation for the battle-field. 

 Do not fail to come home if you can. God bless you, George, and protect you, is the prayer of

 Your loving wife, MARY. 

On a low cot in the corner of a hospital tent, near Potomac Creek, propped up by some extra blankets kindly loaned him by his comrades, toward the close of a December afternoon, lay a slightly-built, ratherhandsome man of about thirty, holding with trembling hand the aboveletter, and hurriedly gathering its contents with an eager but unsteadyeye. The Surgeon noticing the growing flush upon his already feveredcheek, suggested that he had better have the letter read to him. Sointent was the reader, that the suggestion was twice repeated beforeheeded, and then only drew the remark "Mary and the boys. " A sudden fitof coughing that appeared to tear the very life strings came upon him, and at its close he fell back exhausted upon his pillow. 

"What luck, Adjutant?" inquired the Surgeon in a low tone, as he wentforward, cautiously treading among the sick, to admit that officer intothe tent. 

The Adjutant with a shake of the head remarked that the application hadgone up two weeks previously from Brigade Head-quarters, and thatnothing had been heard of it since. "As usual, " he added, "pigeon-holedat Division Head-quarters. "

"Poor Wilson has been inquiring about it all day, and I very much fearthat should it come now, it will be too late. He has failed rapidlyto-day. "

"So bad as that? I will send up to Division Head-quarters immediately. "

The Lieutenant, a week previously, had been brought into the hospitalsuffering from a heavy cold and fever in connexion with it. For someweeks he had been in delicate health; so much so, in fact, that theSurgeon had urged him to apply for a furlough, and had stated in hiscertificate to the same, that it was absolutely necessary for thepreservation of his life. As the Surgeon stated, a furlough, that mightthen have been beneficial, promised now to be of little avail. Thedisease had assumed the form of congestion of the lungs, and theLieutenant seemed rapidly sinking. 

When the Adjutant left the hospital tent he sought out a Captain, anintimate acquaintance of the Lieutenant's, and charged him with aspecial inquiry at Head-quarters, as to the success of the applicationfor a furlough. Thither the Captain repaired, through the well troddenmud and slush of the camp ground. The party of young officers within thetent of the Adjutant-General appeared to be in a high state ofenjoyment, and that functionary himself retained just presence of mindsufficient to assure the Captain, after hearing his statement and urgentinquiry--"that there was no time now to look--that there were so d--nmany papers he could not keep the run of them. These things must taketheir regular course, Captain, --regular course, you know. That's thedifficulty with the volunteer officers, " continued he, turning half tothe crowd, "to understand regular military channels, --channels. " As hecontinued stammering and stuttering, the crowd inside suspended the pipeto ejaculate assent, while the Captain, understanding red-tape to hissorrow, and too much disgusted to make further effort to understand theCaptain, retraced his steps. Finding the Adjutant he told him of hislack of success, and together they repaired to the hospital tent tobreak the unwelcome news. 

At the time of his entry into the Hospital the Lieutenant was impressedwith the belief that the illness would be his last, and he daily grewmore solicitous as to the success of his application for a furlough. Another coughing fit had, during their absence, intervened, and as thetwo cautiously untied the flaps and entered the stifling atmosphere ofthe crowded tent, the Surgeon and a friend or two were bending anxiouslyabout the cot. Their entry attracted the attention of the dyingLieutenant; for that condition his faint hurried breathing, interruptedby occasional gasps, and the rolling, fast glazing eye, too plainlydenoted. A look of anxious inquiry, --a faint shake of the head from theCaptain--for strong-voiced as he was, his tongue refused the duty ofinforming the dying man of what had become daily, unwelcome news. 

"Oh, my God! must I, --must I die without again seeing Mary and thebabies!" with clasped hands he gasped, half rising, and casting at thesame time an imploring look at the Surgeon. 

But the effort was too much. His head fell back upon the blankets. Agurgling sound was heard in his throat. With bowed heads to catch thelatest whisper, his friends raised him up; and muttering indistinctlyamid his efforts to hold the rapidly failing breath, "Mary and thebabies. The babies, --Ma----" the Lieutenant left the Grand Army of thePotomac on an everlasting furlough. 

Mary was busily engaged with the duties of her little household a weeklater, enjoying, as best she might, the lively prattle of the boys, whenthere was the noise of a wagon at the door, and closely following it aknock. "Papa! papa!" exclaimed the children, as with eager haste theypreceded the mother. With scarcely less eagerness, Mary opened the door. Merciful God! "Temper the wind to the shorn lambs. " Earthly consolationis of little avail at a time like this. It was "Papa;"--but Mary was awidow, and the babies fatherless. 

By some unfortunate accident the telegram had been delayed, and thesight of the black pine coffin was Mary's first intimation of her loss. Her worst anticipations thus roughly realized, she sank at the door, aworthy subject for the kind offices of her neighbors. 

A fortnight passed, and the Adjutant was disturbed in his slumbers, almost at the solemn hour of midnight, to receive from an Orderly somepapers from Division Head-Quarters. Among them, was the application ofthe Lieutenant, returned "approved. "

Measured by poor Mary's loss, how insignificant the sigh of the moniedman over increased taxes! how beggarly the boast of patrioticinvestments! how contemptibly cruel, in her by no means unusual case, the workings of Red Tape!

 * * * * *

Occurrences such as these, may sadden for the moment the soldier, butthey produce no lasting depression. 

 "Don't you think I had oughter Be a going down to Washington To fight for Abraham's Daughter?"

sang our ex-news-boy Birdy, on one of those cold damp evenings in earlyDecember, when the smoke of the fires hung like a pall over the campground, and the eyes suffered terribly if their owner made any attemptat standing erect. 

"And who is Abraham's Daughter?" queried one of a prostrate group arounda camp fire. 

"Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean, " continued Birdy, to another popularair, until he was joined by a manly swell of voices in the closingline--

 "Three cheers for the Red, White, and Blue!"

"Not much life here, " continued Birdy, seating himself. "I have justleft the 2--th. There is a high old time over there. They have got thedead wood on old Pigey nice. "

"In what way?" inquired the crowd. 

"You know that long, slim fellow of Co. E, in that Regiment, who isalways lounging about the Hospital, and never on duty. "

"What! The fellow that has been going along nearly double, with bothhands over the pit of his stomach, for a week past?"

"The same, " resumed Birdy. "He has been going it on diarrhoea lately;before that he was running on rheumatism. Well, you know he has beenfiguring for a discharge ever since he heard the cannonading at thesecond Bull Run, but couldn't make it before yesterday. "

"How did he make it?" inquired several, earnestly. 

"Fished for it, " quietly remarked Birdy. 

"Come, Birdy, this is too old a crowd for any jokes of yours. Whosecanteen have you been sucking Commissary out of?" broke in one of hishearers. 

"Nary time; I'm honest, fellows. He fished for it, and I'll tell youhow, " resumed Birdy, adjusting the rubber blanket upon which he hadseated himself. 

"You see old Pigey was riding along the path that winds around the hillto Corps Head-Quarters, when he spied this fellow, Long Tom, as theycall him, sitting on a stump, and alongside of the big sink, that someof our mess helped to dig when on police duty last. Tom held in bothhands a long pole, over the sink, with a twine string hanging fromit--for all the world as if he was fishing. On came old Pigey; but Tomnever budged. 

"'What are you doing there, sir?' said the General. 

"'Fishing, ' said Tom, without turning his head. 

"'Fishing! h--l and d--n! Must be crazy; no fish there. '

"'I've caught them in smaller streams than this, ' drawled out Tom, turning at the same time his eyes upon the General, with a vacant stare. 'But then I had better bait. The ground about here is too mean for goodred worms. Just look, ' and Tom lifted up an old sardine box, half fullof grubs, for the General to look at. 

"'Crazy, by G--d, sir, ' said the General, turning to his Aid, 'Demented!Demented! Might be a dangerous man in camp; must be attended to, 'continued the General; striking, as he spoke, vigorous blows across hissaddle-bow, with his gauntlet; Tom all the while waiting for a bite, with the patience of an old fisherman. 

"It was after three in the afternoon, and the General took the bait. 

"'Must be attended to. Dangerous man! dangerous man!' said he, adjustinghis spectacles. 

"'Your name and Regiment, sir?'

"Tom drawled them out, and the General directed his Aid to take themdown. 

"'Go to your Quarters, sir, ' said the General. 

"'Havn't caught anything yet, and hard tack is played out, ' replied Tom. 

"At this the General put spurs to his horse, and left. Half an hourafterward, a Corporal's Guard came after Tom. They took him up to themarquee of the Surgeon of the Division. Tom played it just as wellthere, and yesterday his discharge came down, all O. K. , and they've gotthe Commissary on the strength of it, and are having a high old timegenerally. "

"Bully boy with a glass eye! How are _you_, discharge!" and like slangexclamations broke rapidly and rapturously from the crowd. 

"But, " said one of the more thoughtful of the crowd, as the condition ofa brother then lying hopelessly ill, with no prospect of adischarge, --although it had been promised repeatedly for monthspast, --pressed itself upon his attention, "how shameful that thisable-bodied coward and idler should get off in this way, when so manybetter men are dying by inches in the hospitals. A General whounderstood his command and had more knowledge of human nature, could notbe deceived in that way. "

"Tom had lounged about Divisions Head-Quarters so much, that he knew oldPigey thoroughly, and just when to take him, " said a comrade. 

"All the greater shame that our Generals can be taken off their guard atany time, " retorted the other. 

"Oh, well, " continued he, "about what might be expected of one educatedexclusively as a Topographical Engineer, and having no acquaintance withactive field service, and with no talent for command; for it is a talentthat West Point may educate, but cannot create. "

"And what is a Tippo, Typo, or Toppographical Engineer, Sergeant?" brokein the little Irish Corporal, who chanced to be one of the group, ratherseriously. "Isn't it something like a land surveyor; and be Jabers, wasn't the great Washington himself a land surveyor? Eh? Maybe that'sthe rayson these Tippos, Typos, or Toppographical Engineers ride suchhigh horses. "

"Not badly thought of, Corporal, " replied the Sergeant, amid laughter atTerence's discovery, and his attempt at pronunciation; "but Washingtonwas a man of earnestness and ability, and not a guzzler of whiskey, anda mouther of indecent profanity. There are good officers in that Corps. There is Meade, the fighter of the noble Pennsylvania Reserves; Warren, a gentleman as well as a soldier. Others might be named. Meritoriousmen, but kept in the background while the place-men, cumberers of theservice, refused by Jeff. Davis when making his selections from amongour regular officers, as too cheap an article, are kept in position atsuch enormous sacrifices of men, money, and time. I have heard it said, upon good authority, that there is a nest of these old place-men inWashington, who keep their heads above water in the service, through thestudied intimacy of their families with families of Members of theCabinet--a toadyism that often elevates them to the depression of moremeritorious men, and always at the expense of the country, --but--

 'Dark shall be light. '

Keep up your spirits, boys. "

"Keep up your spirits, " echoed Birdy; "that is what they are doing allthe time at Division Head-Quarters, --by pouring spirits down, Jim, "continued he, turning suddenly to a comrade, who lounged lazilyalongside of him, holding, at the same time at the end of a stick, a tincup with a wire handle, over the fire, "tell the crowd about thatwhisky barrel. "

Some of the crowd had heard the story, from the manner in which theywelcomed the suggestion, and insisted upon its reproduction. 

"Can't, till I cook my coffee, " retorted Jim, pointing to the black, greasy liquid in the cup, simmering slowly over the half-smothered fire. Jim's cup had evidently been upon duty but a short time previously as asoup-kettle. "But it is about done, " said he, lifting it carefully off, "and I might as well tell it while it cools. "

"About one week ago I happened to be detailed as a Head-Quarter guard, and about four o'clock in the afternoon was pacing up and down the beatin front of the General's Head-Quarters. It was a pleasant sun-shinyspring day, --when gadflies like to try their wings, and the ground seemsto smoke in all directions, --and the General sat back composedly in thecorner of his tent on a camp stool, with his elbow on his knee and hishead hanging rather heavily upon his hand. The flaps were tied aside tothe fly-ropes. I had a fair view of him as I walked up and down, and Icame to the conclusion from his looks that Pigey had either a good loadon, or was in a brown study. While I was thinking about it up comes afellow of the 2--th, that I used to meet often while we were uponpicket. He is usually trim, tidy-looking, and is an intelligent fellow, but on that day everything about him appeared out of gear. His old greyslouch hat had only half a rim, and that hung over his eyes--hairuncombed, face unwashed, hands looking as if he had been scratchinggravel with them, his blouse dirty and stuffed out above the belt, making him as full-breasted as a Hottentot woman, pantaloons greasy, torn, and unevenly suspended; and to foot up his appearance shoesinnocent of blacking, and out at the toes. When I saw him, I laughedoutright. He winked, and asked in an undertone if the General was in, stating at the same time that he was there in obedience to an orderdetailing one man for special duty at the General's Head Quarters, 'andyou know, ' said he, 'that the order always is for intelligentsoldierly-looking men. Well, all our men that have been sent up of thatstripe have been detained as orderlies, to keep his darkies in wood andwater, and hold his horses, and we are getting tired of it. _I_ don'tintend running any risk. '

"'Don't think you will, ' said I, laughing at his make-up. 

"Just then I noticed a movement of the General's head, and resumed thestep. A moment after, the General's eye caught sight of the Detail. Heeyed him a moment in a doubtful way, and then rubbing his eyes, as if toconfirm the sight, and straightening up, shouted--

"'Sergeant of the guard! Sergeant of the guard!'

"The sergeant was forthcoming at something more than a double-quick; andwith a salute, and 'Here, sir, ' stood before the General. 

"Old Pigey's right hand extended slowly, pointing towards the Detail, who stood with his piece at a rest, wondering what was to come next. 

"'Take away that musket, sergeant! and that G--d d--n looking thingalongside of it. What is it, anyhow?' said the General, with asignificant emphasis on the word 'thing. '

"And off the sergeant went, followed by the man, who gave a sly look ashe left. "

"Pretty well played, " said one of the crowd; "but what has that to dowith a whisky barrel?"

"Hold on, and you will see; I am not through yet. 

"About half an hour afterward another man from the same regimentpresented himself, and asked permission to cross my beat, saying that hehad been detailed on special duty, and was to report to the General inperson. This one looked trim enough to pass muster. He presented himselfat the door of the tent and saluted; but the General had taken two orthree plugs in the interim, and was slightly oblivious. Anxious to seesome sport, I suggested that he should call the General. 

"'General, ' said he, lowly, then louder, all the while saluting, untilthe General awoke with a start. 

"'Who the h--l are you, sir?'

"'I was ordered to report to you in person, sir, for special duty. '

"'Special duty, sir! Has it come to this? Must I assign the duty to beperformed by each individual man, sir, in the Division, sir!'

"The disheveled hair, flashing eyes, and fierce look of the General, startled this new Detail, and he commenced explaining. The General brokein abruptly, however, as if suddenly recollecting; and rubbing hishands, while his countenance assumed a bland smile:

"'Oh, yes; you are right, sir, right; special duty, sir; yes, sir;follow me, sir. '

"And the General arose and with somewhat uncertain strides left hismarquee, and, followed by the man, entered a Sibley partly in its rear. 

"'There, sir, ' said the General, pointing, with rather a pleasedcountenance; 'do you see that barrel, sir?'

"'Yes, sir, ' replied the Detail, saluting. 

"'That barrel holds whisky, sir--whisky;'--rising upon his toes andemphasizing the word; 'and I want you to guard it G--d d----d well. Don't let a d--n man have a drop, sir. Do you understand, sir?'

"'Yes, sir, ' rejoined the Detail, saluting, and commencing his beataround the barrel. 

"The General was about leaving the Sibley, when he turned suddenly;

"'Do you drink, sir?'

"'Once and a while, sir, ' replied the Detail, saluting. 

"'Have you had any lately?'

"'No, sir. '

"'By G--d, sir, I'll give you some, sir;' and he strides into hismarquee and returns with a tin cup full of liquor, which he placed uponthe barrel, and told the man to help himself. After the General hadgone, the Detail did help himself, until his musket lay on one side ofthe Sibley and himself on the other. "

"The General knows how to sympathize with a big dry, " said one, as thecrowd laughed over the story. 

Pen cannot do justice to the stories abounding in wit and humorwherewith soldiers relieve the tedium of the camp. To an old campaigner, their appearance in print must seem like a faded photograph, in thesight of one who has seen the living original. Characters sparkling withhumor, such as was never attributed to any storied Joe Miller, abound inevery camp. The brave Wolfe, previously to the victory which cost himhis life, is reported to have sung, while floating down the St. Lawrence:

 "Why, soldiers, why, Should we be melancholy, Whose business 'tis to die?"

Whether induced in his case by an effort to bolster up the courage ofhis comrades or not, the sentiment has at all times been largelypractised upon in the army of the Potomac. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

_The Battle of Fredericksburg--Screwing Courage up to the StickingPoint--Consolations of a Flask--Pigeon-hole Nervousness--Abandonment ofKnapsacks--Incidents before, during, and after the Fight. _

In this wintry weather, striking tents meant stripping the log huts ofthe bits of canvas that ordinarily served as the shelter-tents of thesoldiers. The long rows of huts thus dismantled, --soldiers at rest inranks, with full knapsacks and haversacks, --groups of horses saddled andbridled, ready for the rider, --on one of these clear, cold Decembermornings, indicated that the army was again upon the move. Civilians hadbeen sent back freighted with letters from those soon to see the seriousstruggle of the field; the sick had been gathered to hospitals nearerhome; the musicians had reported to the surgeons, and the men were left, to the sharp notes of sixty rounds of ball cartridge carried in theirboxes and knapsacks, --in the plight of the Massachusetts regiment thatmarched through the mobs of Baltimore, to the music of thecartridge-box, in the first April of the Rebellion. 

The time intervening between the removal of McClellan and the battle ofFredericksburg, was a period of uneasy suspense to the nation at largeand its representatives in the field. Dear as the devoted patriotism, the earnest conduct of the Rhode Island Colonel--the hero of theCarolinas and now the leader of the Grand Army of the Potomac--were tothe patriotic masses of the nation, the fact of his being an untriedman, gave room for gloom and foreboding. With the army at large, thesuspense was accompanied by no lack of confidence. The devotion of theNinth Army Corps for its old commander appeared to have spreadthroughout the army; and his open, manly countenance, bald head, andunmistakable whiskers, were always greeted with rounds for "Burny. " Thejealousy of a few ambitious wearers of stars may have been ill concealedupon that morning, only to be disclosed shortly to his detriment; butthe earnest citizen-soldiery were eager, under his guidance, to dobattle for their country. Time has shown, how much of the misfortune ofthe subsequent week was attributable to imperfect weeding ofMcClellanism at Warrenton. 

Like a lion at bay, restless in easy view of the hosts of theRebellious, the army had remained in its camp upon the heights ofStafford until the arrival of the pontoons. For miles along theRappahannock, the picket of blue had his counterpart in the picket ofgrey upon the opposite shore. Unremitting labor upon fortifications andearthworks, had greatly increased the natural strength of theamphitheatre of hills in the rear of Fredericksburg. Countless surmisesspread in the ranks as to the character and direction of the attack;though the whims of those who uttered them were variant as thereflections of a kaleidoscope. But the sun, that through the pines thatmorning, shone upon burnished barrels, polished breast-plates, andcountenances of brave men, radiant, as if reflecting their holypurpose, has never, since the shining hosts of Heaven were marshalledfor the suppression of the great prototype of this Rebellion, seen moreearnest ranks, or a holier cause. 

The bugles call "Attention, " then "Forward. " Horses are rapidly mounted;and speedily coming to the shoulder, and facing to the right, the armyis in motion by the flank towards the river. Far as the eye could see, in all directions, there were moving masses of troops. Cowardly beneathcontempt is the craven, who in such a cause, and at such a time, wouldnot feel inspirited by the firm tread of the martial columns. 

"Hear 'em! Oh, Hear 'em!" exclaimed an earnest-looking country boy, hastily closing a daguerreotype case, into which he had been intentlygazing, and replacing it in his pocket, as the booming of a heavy siegegun upon the Washington Farm, followed instantly by the reports ofseveral batteries to the right, broke upon the ear like volleyedthunder. A clap of thunder from a clear sky could not have startled himmore, had he been at work upon his father's farm. His earnest simplicityafforded great amusement to his comrades, and for a while made him thebutt of a New York Regiment that then chanced to be marching abreast. Raw recruit as he was, cowardice was no part of his nature, and heindignantly repelled the taunts of his comrades. Gloom deep settled wasvisible upon his countenance, however, although firm his step andcompressed his lip. 

"Terence, " said he, to the little Irish Corporal who marched by hisside, as another suggestive artillery fire that appeared to move alongthe entire front, made itself heard, "may I ask a favor of you?"

"Indade ye may, John, and a thousand ov them if ye plaze, to the lastdhrop in my canteen. "

One of those jams so constant and annoying in the movements of largemasses of men, here gave the opportunity for John to unbosom himself, which he did, while both leaned upon the muzzles of their pieces. 

"Terence, I do not believe that I will be alongside of you many days, "said John, with an effort. 

"Why, what's the matter wid ye, boy? if I didn't know ye iver since youthrashed that bully in the Zouaves, I wud think ye cowardly. "

"It is not fear, Corporal, " continued John, more determinedly. "I'mlooking the danger squarely in the face, and am ready to meet it, and Iwant to be prepared for it. "

"Be jabers, John, " retorted Terence, "ye should have prepared for itbefore you left home. I saw Father Mahan just before I left, and hetould me to do my duty like a thrue Irishman; and that if I was kilt insuch a cause I wud go straight through, and be hardly asked to stay overnight in Purgatory. There's my poor brother, peace to his soul;--and didye hear----"

"But, Terence, " interrupted John, "I am not afraid of death; and for thejudgment after death I have made all the preparation I could in my poorway, and I can trust that to my Maker; but"----and here John clapped hishand over his left breast. 

"Oh, I see, " said Terence. "It's a case of disease of the heart. "

"I want you, in case I fall, to take the daguerreotype that you willfind in the inside pocket on the left side of my blouse, and a sealedletter, and see that both are sent to the address upon the letter, "continued John. 

"Faith, will I, John. But who tould you that you wud be kilt, and meselfthat's alone and friendless escape? Well, I'll take them, John, if Ihave to go meself; and it's Terence McCarty that will not see hersuffer; and maybe--but it's hard seeing how a girl could take a fancy toa short curly-headed Irishman, like meself, after having loved asthrapping, straight-haired man like you. "

How John relished the winding-up of the corporal's offer could not wellbe seen, as an order to resume the step interrupted the conversation. 

Progress was slow, necessarily, from the caution required in theapproach to the river. Over the rolling ground, to an artilleryaccompaniment unequalled in grandeur, the troops trudged slowly along. Here and there was a countenance of serious determination, but the greatmass were gay and reckless, as soldiers proverbially are, of the risksthe future might hold in reserve. 

After a succession of short marches and halts, the forward movementappeared to cease about four o'clock in the afternoon, and the menquietly rested on their arms, as well as the damp, and in many placesmuddy ground would allow. Towards evening countless fires, fed by thedry bushes found in abundance upon the old fields of Virginia, showedthat amidst war's alarms the men were not unmindful of coffee. 

Throughout the day, with but brief cessation, artillery firing hadcontinued. The booming of the siege guns, mingled with the sharp rattleof the light, and the louder roar of the heavy batteries, all causingcountless echoes among the neighboring hills, completed the carnival ofsound. 

Night crept gradually on, the fires were extinguished, the cannonadingslackened gradually, then ceased, and the vast army, save those whomduty kept awake, silently slept under frosted blankets. 

Cannonading was resumed at early dawn of the next day, and the slowprogress of the troops towards the river continued. Before night ouradvance had crossed upon the pontoon bridges, notwithstanding a gallingfire of the Rebel sharpshooters under cover of the buildings along theriver, and was firmly established in the town. Late in the day ourDivision turned into a grove of young pines, a short distance in therear of the Phillips House. Upon beds of the dead foliage, soft ascarpets of velvet, after the fatigues of the day, slumber was sound. 

The reveille sounded at early morn of the next day, --Saturday, thememorable thirteenth of December, --by over three hundred pieces ofartillery, again aroused the sleeping camps to arms, and in the greyfog, the groves and valleys for some miles along the river appearedalive with moving masses. As soon as the fog lifted sufficiently, alarge balloon between us and the river arose, upon a tour ofobservation. It was a fine mark for a rifled battery of the Rebels, andsome shells passed close to it, and exploded in dangerous proximity toour camp. 

Under an incessant artillery fire the main movement of the troops acrossthe river commenced. Leaving our camp and passing to the right of thePhillips mansion, we found our Division, one of a number of columnsmoving in almost parallel lines to the river. On the western slope ofthe hill or ridge upon which the house stood, we came to another halt, until our turn to cross should come. 

Whatever modern armies may have lost in dazzling appearance, whencontrasted with the armies of old that moved in glittering armor andunder "banner, shield, and spear, " they certainly have lost nothing inthe enginery of death, and in the sights and sounds of the fight itself. A twelve-pound battery under stern old Cato's control, would have sentCæsar and his legions howling from the gates of Rome, and have saved thedignity of her Senate. The shock of battle was then a medley of humanvoices, confused with the rattle of the spear upon the shield; now ahell of thunder volumed from successive batteries, --and relieved byscreaming and bursting shell and rattling musketry. The proper use of asingle shell would have cleared the plains of Marathon. Moreappropriately can we come down to later times, when

 "The old Continentals, In their ragged regimentals, Faltered not, "

for the ground upon which our army stood had repeatedly been used as arallying point for troops, and a depot for military stores inContinental and Revolutionary times. How great the contrast between thearmies now upon either side of the Rappahannock, and the numbers, arms, and equipage then raised with difficulty from the country at large. Ourforefathers in some measure foresaw our greatness; but they did notforesee the magnitude of the sin of slavery, tolerated by them againsttheir better judgment, and now crowding these banks with immense andhostile armies. Since that day the country has grown, and with it aspart of its growth, the iniquity, but the purposes of the God of battlesprevail nevertheless. The explosion that rends the rock and releases thetoad confined and dormant for centuries, may not have been intended forthat end by the unwitting miner, nor the civil convulsion that shattersa mighty nation to relieve an oppressed people and bestow upon it theblessings of civilization, may not have been started with that view byfoul conspirators. 

But while we are digressing, a cavalcade of mounted men have left thearea in front of the Phillips mansion, and are approaching us upon theroad at a full gallop. The boys recognize the foremost figure, clad in ablack pilot frock, his head covered with a regulation felt, the brim ofwhich is over his eyes and the top rounded to its utmost capacity, andcheer upon cheer for "Burney" run along the column. With a firm seat, ashis horse clears the railroad track and dashes through the small streamnear by, he directs his course to the Lacy House on the bank of theriver. 

It was near noon when we passed over the same ground, and taking a roadto the right of the once tasteful grounds of that mansion, debouched bya narrow pass cut through the bank to the water's edge. As we did so, some shells thrown at the mounted officers of the Regiment passed closeto their heads and exploded with a dull sound in the soft ground of thebank. With a steady tramp the troops crossed, scarcely the slightestmotion being perceptible upon the firm double pontoon bridge. Anothercolumn was moving across upon the bridge below. Gaining the oppositebank, the column filed to the left, in what appeared to be a principalstreet of the town. Here knapsacks were unslung and piled in the storerooms upon either side. 

The few citizens who remained had sought protection from the shells inthe cellars, and not an inhabitant of the place was to be seen. Notwithstanding the heavy concentrated artillery fire, --beyond some fewbuildings burned down, --nothing like the destruction was visible thatwould be imagined. Deserted by its proper inhabitants, the place had, however, a heavy population in the troops that crowded the streetsparallel with the river. The day previous the Rebels had opened fireupon the town. It was continued at intervals, but with little effect. Z-i-i-s-s! a round shot sings above your head, and with a sharp thudstrikes the second story of the brick house opposite, marking itspassage by a tolerably neat hole through the wall. P-i-i-n-g! screams ashell, exploding in a room with noise sufficient to justify the totaldestruction of a block of buildings. The smoke clears away, ceilings maybe torn, floors and windows shattered, but the building, to an outsideobserver, little damaged. 

From an early hour in the morning the musketry had been incessant, --nowin volleys, and now of the sharp rattling nature that denotes severeskirmishing. On the left, where more open ground permitted extendedoffensive movements, the firing was particularly heavy. But above it allwas the continuous roar of artillery, and the screaming and explosion ofshells. To this music the troops in light order and ready for the fray, marched up a cross street, and in the shelter of the buildings ofanother street on the outer edge of the place and parallel with theriver, stood at arms, --passing on their way out hundreds of wounded menof different regiments, on stretchers and on foot, some with ghastlywounds, and a few taking the advantage of the slightest scratch to passfrom front to rear. Legs and arms carelessly heaped together alongsideof one of the amputating tents in the rear of the Phillips House, andpassed in the march of the day before, had prepared the nerves of themen somewhat for this most terrible ordeal for fresh troops. Many of thewounded men cheered lustily as the men marched by, and were loudlycheered in return, while here and there an occasional skulker would tellhow his regiment was cut to pieces, and like Job's servant he aloneleft. 

From this point a fine view could be had of the encircling hills, withtheir crowning earthworks, commanding the narrow plateau in ourimmediate front. On the right and centre the Rebel line was not to beassailed, but by advancing over ground that could be swept by hundredsof pieces of artillery, while to protect an advancing column ourbatteries from their position must be powerless for good. A stone wallfollowing somewhat the shape of the ridge ran along its base. Properlybanked in its rear, it afforded an admirable protection for theirtroops. As there was no chance for success in storming these works, theobject in making the attempt was doubtless to divert the Rebel attentionfrom their right. 

Column after column of the flower of the army, had during the daycharged successively in mad desperation upon that wall; but not to reachit. Living men could not stand before that heavy and direct musketry, and the deadly enfilading cannonade from batteries upon the right andleft. The thickly strewn plain attested at once the heroic courage ofthe men, and the hopelessness of the contest. 

"Boys, we're in for it, " said a Lieutenant on his way from the right. "Old Pigey has just had three staving swigs from his flask, and they areall getting ready. There goes 'Tommy Totten, '" as the bugle call for"forward" is familiarly called in the army. 

Our course was continued to the left--two regiments marchingabreast--until we neared a main road leading westward from the town. Inthe meantime the movement had attracted the Rebel fire, and at the lastcross street a poor fellow of the 2--th Regiment was almost cut in twoby a shell which passed through the ranks of our Regiment and explodedupon the other side of the street, but without doing further damage. Atthe main road we filed to the right, and amid dashing Staff officers andorderlies, wounded men and fragments of regiments broken anddisorganized, proceeded on our way to the front. There was a slightdepression in the road, enough to save the troops, and shot and shellsang harmlessly above our heads. When the head of the column--really itsrear--as we were left in front, was abreast of a swampy strip of meadowland, at the further end of which was a tannery, our Brigade filed againto the right. The occupation of this meadow appeared to be criminallypurposeless, as our line of attack was upon the left of the road; whileit was in full view and at the easy range of a few hundred yards from athree-gun Rebel battery. The men were ordered to lie down, which theydid as best they could from the nature of the ground, while the mountedofficers of the Division and Brigade gathered under the shelter of thebrick tannery building. 

The movement was scarcely over, before one head and then anotherappeared peering through the embrasures of the earthwork, then a mountedofficer upon a lively sorrel cantered as if for observation a shortdistance to the left of the work. Some sharpshooters in our front, protected slightly by the ground which rose gently towards the west, tried their breech-loaders upon him. At 450 yards there was certaintyenough in the aim to make the music of their bullets unpleasant, and heagain sought the cover of the work. An upright puff of smoke, --then alarge volumed puff horizontally, --shrill music in its short flight, --adull, heavy sound as the shell explodes in the soft earth under ourranks, --and one man thrown ten feet into the air, fell upon his back inthe ranks behind him, while his two comrades on his left were killedoutright, his Lieutenant near by mortally wounded, a leg of his comradeon the right cut in two, and a dozen in the neighborhood bespatteredwith the soft ground and severely contused. Shells that exploded in theair above us, or screamed over our heads; rifle balls that whizzedspitefully near, were now out of consideration. The motions of loadingand firing, and as we were in the line of direction, the shell itself, could be seen with terrible distinctness. There was the dread certaintyof death at every discharge. All eyes were turned toward the battery, and at each puff, the "bravest held his breath" until the smotheredexplosion announced that the danger was over. From our front ranks, whohad gradually crept up the side of the hill, an incessant fire was keptup; but the pieces could be worked with but little exposure, and it washarmless. Fortunately the shells buried themselves deeply beforeexploding, and were mainly destructive in their direct passage. Againthe horseman cantered gaily to his former place of observation on theleft; but our sharpshooters had the range, and his fine sorrel wasturned to the work limping very discreditably. This trifling injury wasall that we could inflict in return for the large loss of life and limb. 

"Well, Lieutenant, poor John is gone!" said the little Irish Corporal, coming to the side of that officer. 

"What, killed?"

"Ivery bit of it. I have just turned him over, and shure he is as deadas he was before he was born. That last shot murthered the boy. It isTerence McCarthy that will do his duty by him, and may be----"

"Corporal! to your post, " broke in the Lieutenant. "Old Pigey is takinganother pull at the flask, and we will move in a minute. "

The surmise of the Lieutenant was correct. "Tommy Totten" again calledthe men to ranks, and right in front, the head of the column took thepike on another advance. The Rebels seeing the movement, handled theirbattery with great rapidity and dexterity, and shells in rapidsuccession were thrown into the closed ranks, but without creatingconfusion. Among others, a Major of the last Regiment upon the road, anold Mexican campaigner, and a most valuable officer, fell mortallywounded just as he was about leaving the field, and met the fate, thatby one of those singular premonitions before noticed in thischapter, --so indicative by their frequency of a connexion in lifebetween man's mortal and immortal part, --he had already anticipated. 

It was now about four o'clock in the afternoon. The day was somewhatmisty, and at this time the field of battle was fast becoming shroudedby the commingled mist and smoke. 

On the left of the road the Brigade formed double line of battle alongthe base and side of a rather steep slope which led to the plateauabove. The ground was muddy and well trodden, and littered with deadbodies in spots that marked the localities of exploded shells. Hungryand fatigued with the toil of the day, yet expectant of a conflict whichmust prove the death scene of many, the men sank upon their arms. Fromthis same spot, successive lines of battle had charged during the day. Brave souls! With rushing memories of home and kindred and friends, theyshrank not because the path of duty was one of danger. 

We were there as a forlorn hope for the final effort of the field. Withgreat exertion and consummate skill upon the part of its Commander, abattery had been placed in position on the summit of the slope. Officersand men worked nobly, handling the pieces with coolness and rapidity. What they accomplished, could not be seen. What they suffered, wasfrightfully apparent. Man after man was shot away, until in someinstances they were too weak-handed to keep the pieces from followingtheir own recoil down the slope, confusing our ranks and bruising themen. Volunteers sprang forward to assist in working the guns. Thegallant Commander, almost unaided, kept order in what would otherwisehave been a mingled herd of confused men and frightened horses. No forcecould withstand the hurricane of hurtling shot and shell that swept thesummit. 

"Lieutenant, take command of that gun, " was the short, sharp, nervousutterance of a General of Division, as in one of his tours of randomriding he suddenly stopped his horse in front of a boy of nineteen, aLieutenant of infantry, who previously to bringing his squad of men intoservice, a few brief months before, had never seen a full battery. 

"Sir!" he replied, in unfeigned astonishment. 

"By G--d! sir, I command you as the Commanding General of thisDivision, sir, to take command of that piece of artillery. "

"General, I am entirely unacquainted with----"

"Take command of that piece, sir. You should be ready to enter any armof the service, " replied the General, flourishing his sword in athreatening manner. 

"General, I will do my duty; but I can't sight a cannon, sir. I willhand cartridge, turn the screw, steady the wheel, or I'll ram----"

"Ram--ram!"--echoed the General with an oath, and off he started onanother of his mad rides. 

"Fall in, " was passed rapidly along the line, and a moment after ourBrigadier, cool as if exercising his command in the evolutions of apeaceful field, rode along the ranks. 

"Boys, you are ordered to take that stone wall, and must do it with thebayonet. "

Words full of deadly import to men who for long hours had been in fullview of the impregnable works, and the field of blood in their front. Ominous as was the command, it was greeted with cheers; and withbayonets at a charge, up that difficult slope, --preserving their line asbest they could while breaking to pass the guns, wounded and strugglinghorses, and bodies thickly strewn over that most perilous of positionsfor artillery, --the troops passed at a rapid step. The ground upon thesummit had been laid out in small lots, as is customary in the suburbsof towns. Many of the partition fences were still remaining, with hereand there gaps, or with upper rails lowered for the passage of troops. For a moment, while crossing these fallow fields, there was a lull inthe direct musketry. The enfilading fire from batteries right and leftstill continued; the fierce fitful flashes of the bursting shellsbecoming more visible with the approach of night. Onward we went, picking our way among the fallen dead and wounded of Brigades who hadpreceded us in the fight, with feet fettered with mud, struggling tokeep place in the line. Several regiments lying upon their arms werepassed over in the charge. 

"Captain, " said a mounted officer when we had just crossed a fencebounding what appeared to be an avenue of the town, "close up on theright. " The Captain partly turned, to repeat the command to his men, when the bullets from a sudden flash of waving fire that for the instantlit up the summit of the stone wall for its entire length, prostratedhim with a mortal wound, and dismounted his superior. Pity that his eyeshould close in what seemed to be the darkest hour of the cause dearestto his soul!

Volley after volley of sheeted lead was poured into our ranks. We werein the proper position on the plain, and a day's full practice gave themexact range and terrible execution. In the increased darkness, theflashes of musketry alone were visible ahead, while to the right andleft the gloom was lit up by the lurid flashing of their batteries. Thisvery darkness, in concealing the danger, and the loss, doubtless did itsshare in permitting the men to cross the lines of dead that marked thehalting-place of previous troops. Still onward they advanced, --thethunder of artillery above them, --the groans of the wounded rising frombelow;--frightful gaps are made in their ranks by exploding shells, andmany a brave boy staggers and falls to rise no more, in that storm ofspitefully whizzing lead. 

Regularity in ranks was simply impossible. Many officers and mengathered about a brick house on the right--a narrow lawn leadingdirectly to the fatal wall was crowded; indeed, caps bearing theregimental numbers were found, as has since been ascertained, close bythe wall, and a Lieutenant who was stunned in the fight and fell almostat its base, was taken prisoner. Nearly every officer who had enteredthe fight mounted, was at this time upon foot. In the tempest of bulletsthat everywhere prevailed the destruction of the force was but aquestion of brief time, and to prevent further heroic but vainsacrifices the order to retire was given. With the Brigade, the Regimentfell back, leaving one-third of its number in dead and wounded to hallowthe remembrance of that fatal field. 

"This way, Pap! This is the way to get out safe, " shouted a Captain ashe rose, from the rear of a pile of rubbish, amid the laughter of themen now on their backward move. The burly form of the exhorting Colonelwas seen to follow the no less burly form of the Captain, and father andson were spared for other fields. 

An effort was made to reform after the firing had slackened, but theincreased darkness prevented the marshalling of the thinned ranks. Outof range of the still not infrequent bullets and occasional shell, anddrowsy from fatigue, the men again lay upon their arms at the foot ofthe slope; and the battle of Fredericksburg was over. 

What happened upon the left, where the main battle should have beenfought, and why Franklin was upon the left at all, are problems thatperhaps the reader can pass upon to better advantage than the writer ofthese pages. His "corner of the fight" has been described, truthfullyat least, whatever the other failings may be. 

We had left the field; but the Rebels had not as yet gained it. Picketswere thrown out to within eighty yards of their line, and detailsscattered over the field to bear off the wounded. No lights wereallowed, and the least noise was sure to bring a shell or a shower ofbullets. In consequence, their removal was attended with difficulty. Theevil of the practice too prevalent among company commanders, of sendingskulkers and worthless men in obedience to a detail for the ambulancecorps, was now horribly apparent. Large numbers of the dead, and eventhe dying, were found with their pockets turned inside out, rifled oftheir contents by these harpies in uniform. 

But little rest was to be had that night. At 8 P. M. The troops weremarched back into the town, only to be brought out again at midnight andre-formed in line of battle about a hundred yards distant from the wall. The moon had now risen, and in its misty light the upturned faces of thedead lost nothing of ghastliness. Horrible, too, beyonddescription--ringing in the ears of listeners for a lifetime--were theshrieks and groans of the wounded, --principally Rebel, --from a strip ofneutral ground lying between the pickets of the two armies. Whatever theobject of reforming line of battle may have been, it appears to havebeen abandoned, as after a short stay we were returned to the town andassigned quarters in the street in front of the Planters' House. 

Fredericksburg was a town of hospitals. All the churches and publicbuildings, very many private residences, and even the pavements in theirrespective fronts, were crowded with wounded. In one of the principalchurches on a lower street, throned in a pulpit which served as adispensary, and surrounded by surgical implements and appliances, flourished our little Dutch Doctor, never more completely in hiselement. Very nice operations, as he termed them, were abundant. 

"How long can I live?" inquired a fine-looking, florid-faced young manof two-and-twenty, with a shattered thigh, who had just been brought inand had learned from the Doctor that amputation could not save his life. 

"Shust fifteen minutes, " was the reply, as the Doctor opened and closedhis watch in a cold, business way. 

"Can I see a Chaplain?"

"Shaplain! Shaplain! eh? Shust one tried to cross, and he fell tead onbridge. Not any follow him, I shure you. Too goot a chance to die, forShaplains. What for you want him? Bray, eh?"

The dying man, folding his hands upon his breast, nodded assent. 

"Ver well, I bray, " and at the side of the stretcher the Doctor kneeled, and with fervid utterance, and in the solemn gutturals of the German, repeated the Lord's prayer. When he arose to resume his labor, thesoldier was beyond the reach of earthly supplication; but a smile wasupon his countenance. 

The Sabbath, with the main body of our troops, was a day of rest. Chanceshots from Rebel sharpshooters, who had crept to within long range ofthe cross streets, were from time to time heard, and shell occasionallyscreamed over the town. To ears accustomed to the uproar of thepreceding days, however, they were not in the least annoying. Overone-half of the army were comfortably housed, bringing into requisitionfor their convenience the belongings and surroundings of the abandoneddwellings. Notwithstanding our slow approach, the evidences of hastyexit on the part of the inhabitants were abundant on all sides. Warehouses filled with flour and tobacco were duly appreciated by themen, while parlors floored in Brussels, and elegantly ornamented, werein many instances wantonly destroyed. 

"Tom, " said a non-commissioned officer, addressing a private whom wehave before met in these pages, "where did you get that box?"

"Get it? Why I confiscated it. Just look at the beauties, " and opening afine mahogany case, Tom disclosed a pair of highly finished duellingpistols. 

"What right have you to confiscate it?" retorted the Sergeant. 

"It is contraband of war, and Rebel property. Record evidence of that. Just look at this letter found with it, " and Tom pulled out of an insidepocket of his blouse a letter written in a most miserable scrawl, assuring some "Dear Capting" of

 "Here's my heart and here's my hand, For the man who fit for Dixy land. "

Monday passed in much the same manner. About 9 P. M. Of that day theRegiment, with others, was employed in throwing up breastworks, anddigging rifle-pits on the west of the town. Expecting to hold it on themorrow against what they knew would be a terrible artillery fire, themen worked faithfully, and by midnight, works strong as the ground wouldadmit of, were prepared. It was a perilous work; performed in the veryface of the enemy's pickets;--but was only an extensive ruse, as at 1 A. M. We were quietly withdrawn and assigned a position in the left of thetown. The sidewalks were muddy, and disengaging shutters from thewindows, loose boards from fences, --anything to keep them above themud, --the men composed themselves for slumber. Before 2 o'clock anexcited Staff officer had the Brigade again in line, and after movingand halting until 4 A. M. , we crossed the lower bridge in much lighterorder than when we entered the place; for notwithstanding urgentsolicitations of officers, from Brigadier down, permission was refusedthe men to obtain their knapsacks. Besides the loss of several thousanddollars to the Government in blankets and overcoats, hundreds ofvaluable knapsacks, and even money in considerable sums, were lost tothe men. The matter is all the more disgraceful when we consider theabundance of time, and the fact, that details had been sent by theColonels to arrange the knapsacks upon the sidewalk, in order that theycould be taken up while the command would pass. It was marched byanother route, however, and in the cold, pelting rain, the men, whilemarching up the opposite slopes of the Rappahannock, had ample reason toreflect upon the cold forethought that could crowd a Head-quarters'train, and deprive them of their proper allowance of clothing. Six hourslater, our Division had the credit of furnishing about the only bootyleft by the army that the Rebels found upon their reöccupation of thetown. 

Sadly and quietly, the troops retrod the familiar mud of their old campgrounds. The movement had been a failure--a costly one in private andnational sacrifices, --and no one felt it more keenly than thebroad-shouldered, independent, and much injured Burnside. Strange thatthis costly sacrifice should have been offered up on ground hallowed inour early struggle for freedom--that the bodies of our brave volunteers, stripped by traitor hands, should lie naked on the plain that bears amonument to that woman of many virtues, "Mary, the mother ofWashington"--that ground familiar to the early boyhood of the GreatPatriot, should have been the scene of one of the noblest, althoughunsuccessful, contests of the war. Fit altar for such a sacrifice! Ashrine for all time of devout patriots, who will here renew theirvows, --of fidelity to this God-given Government, --of eternal enmity totraitors, --and thus consecrate to posterity the heavy population we haveleft in the Valley. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

_The Sorrows of the Sutler--The Sutler's Tent--Generalsmanufactured by the Dailies--Fighting and Writing--A GlanderedHorse--Courts-martial--Mania of a Pigeon-hole General on theSubject--Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel in Strait-Jackets. _

If the reader can imagine the contents of his nearest corner grocerythrown confusedly together under a canvas covering, he will have atolerably correct idea of the interior of a Sutler's tent. Probably, tomake the likeness more truthful, sardines, red herring, and cheese, should be more largely represented than is customary in a cornergrocery. 

Our Sutler, although upon his first campaign, was no novice in thecraft. He could be hail-fellow-well-met with the roughest of crowdsthronging the outside of his rude counter, and at the same time keep aneye upon the cash drawer. And he was behind no one in "casting his breadupon the waters, " in the shape of trifling presents and hospitablewelcomes, in order that it might return at the next pay-day. Notwithstanding all his tact, however, Tom Green was in many respects anawkward, haphazard fellow, continually in difficulty, although ascontinually fortunate in overcoming it. His troubles were known to theRegiment, as the Sutler's interests were individualized to a greatextent, and while all might be amused, he was never beyond the pale ofsympathy. During the long winter evenings, the barrels and boxes in histent seated a jovial crowd of officers, who in games and withthrice-told stories, would while away what would otherwise be tedioushours. Not unfrequently was the Chaplain, who quartered close by, disturbed with a "sound of revelry by night, " to have his good-humorrestored in the morning by a can of pickled lobster or brandiedcherries. 

On one of the merriest of the merry nights of the holidays, our WesternVirginia Captain was the centre of a group of officers engaged in gazingintently upon a double page wood-cut, in one of the prominentillustrated weeklies, that at one time might have represented thestorming of Fort Donelson, but then did duty by way of illustrating a"Gallant Charge at Fredericksburg. "

"There it is again, " said the Captain. "Not one half of our Generals aremade by honest efforts. Their fighting is nothing like the writing thatis done for them. They don't rely so much upon their own genius as uponthat of the reporter who rides with their Staffs. By George, if oldRosey in Western Virginia----"

"Dry up on that, Captain, " interrupted a brother officer. "Old Pigey isthe hero of the day. He understands himself. Didn't you notice howconcertedly all the dailies after the fight talked about the cool, courageous man of science; and just look at this how it backs it all up. Old Rosey, as you call him, never had half as many horses shot under himat one time. Just see them kicking and floundering about him, and theGeneral away ahead on foot, between our fire and the Rebels, as cool aswhen he took the long pull at his flask in the hollow. "

"And half the men will testify that that was the only cool moment he sawduring the whole fight. "

"No matter, " continued the other, "he has the inside track of thereporters, and he is all right with all who 'smell the battle fromafar. '"

"Well, there's no denying old Pigey was brave, but he was as crazy as aboy with a bee in his breeches, " said the Captain, holding up thecaricature to the admiration of the crowded tent. "Our Division gets thecredit of it at any rate. Bully for our Division!"

"Not one word, " breaks in the Poetical Lieutenant, "of Butterfield, withhis cool, Napoleonic look, as he rode along our line preparatory to thecharge; or of Fighting Old Joe, unwilling to give up the field; or ofour difficulty in clambering up the slope, getting by the artillery, which made ranks confused, and so forth, but

 'On we move, though to self-slaughter, Regular as rolling water. '

Never mind criticizing, boys. It will sound well at home. We did ourduty, at any rate, if we did not do it exactly as represented in thepicture. The reporter was not there to see for himself, and he must takesomebody's word, and it is a feather in our cap that he has takenPigey's. "

The conversation was at this stage interrupted by the sudden entry ofthe Adjutant, with a loud call for the Sutler. That individual, notwithstanding the unusual excitement of the night, had been singularlyquiet. Rising from his buffalo in the corner, he approached theAdjutant with a countenance so full of apprehension and alarm as toelicit the inquiry from the crowd of "What's the matter with theSutler?"

"He hasn't felt well since I told him a few hours ago, " said aLieutenant, a lawyer by profession, "that Sutlers were liable to becourt-martialed. "

"And he'll feel worse, " adds the Adjutant, "when he hears this letterread. "

Amid urgent calls for the letter, the Adjutant mounted a box, and by thelight of a dip held by the Captain, proceeded to read a letter signed bythe Commanding General of the Division, and considerably blurred, whichran somewhat in this wise:

 "COLONEL:--

 "Is your Sutler sagacious?

 "Has he ordinary honesty?

 "Has he the foresight common among business men? Is he likely to be imposed upon?"

The letter was greeted with roars of laughter that were not diminishedby the dismay of the Sutler. The Adjutant was forthwith requested by oneof the crowd to suggest to the Colonel to reply--

"That our Sutler was a sagacious animal. That he had the honestyordinary among Sutlers. That if the General was disposed to deal withhim, he would find out that he had the foresight common among businessmen, especially in the way of calculating his profits; and that as faras making change was concerned, he was not at all likely to be imposedupon. "

Loud calls were now made upon the Sutler for an explanation, and withlook and tones that indicated that with him at least it was no laughingmatter, he commenced--

"On the forenoon of the day that we crossed into Fredericksburg----"

"We crossed!" roared the Captain. "Well, that's cool for a man whosuddenly recollected when that Quarter-Master was killed by a shell nearthe Lacy House, just before our brigade crossed, that he had business inWashington. "

"Well, then, that _you_ crossed, " continued the Sutler, correctinghimself hastily, to allow the crowd to make as little capital aspossible out of his blunder, "the General sent for me, and said that hehad been informed that I thought of going to Washington, and wanted toknow whether I would take a horse with me;--pointing to one that wasblanketed, and that one of his orderlies was leading. I looked upon itas an order to take the horse, and thought that I might as well put agood face on the matter. So I told him that I would take it withpleasure. Well, I mounted the horse, thinking that I might as well ride, and took the road for Aquia. But I found out after half an hour'stravel, that the horse was very weak, --in fact hardly able to bear me, and so I took the halter strap in hand and trudged along by his side. Presently I noticed a very bad smell. Carrion is so common here alongthe road that I didn't pay much attention to it at first, but the smellcontinued, and got worse, and I thought it strange that the carrionshould keep with me. By and by I noticed his nostrils, and then foundout to my rage that I, a Regimental Sutler, accustomed to drive goodnags, was leading a glandered horse in a country where horse flesh wascheap as dirt. Well, at Aquia we had a great time getting the horse onthe boat, --indeed, he fell off the gangway, and we had to fish him outof the water. The passengers crowded me, with the horse, into a littlecorner in the stern of the boat, and looked at me as if I deservedlynching for bringing him on board. But that was nothing to the troubleI had with him in Washington. After the boat landed, I led that horsearound from one stable to another in Washington for four mortal hours, but couldn't get him in anywhere; and besides they threatened toprosecute me if I did not have him shot. Finding that I could do nothingelse, I gave a man three dollars to have him taken away and shot. Thething bothered me mightily. I did not want to write to old Pigey, forfear that he might take some course to prevent me from collecting thegreenbacks due me in the Regiment, and I did not like to tell him inperson. Well, I have been putting it off and off for nearly a week pastsince my return--my mind made up to tell him all about it, but delayingas long as possible, until this afternoon he happened to see me, and inabout half an hour afterward sent for me. It was after three o'clock, anunsafe time with the General, and I expected there would be the d----lto pay. From the way in which he asked me to be seated, shook hands withme, and went on inquiring about my stock and business, and so forth, Isaw at once that he knew nothing of it. All the while I was fairlytrembling in my boots. At last says he:

"'Well, how did you leave the horse?' and without waiting for an answer, went on to say that he was a favorite animal, highly recommended by theOhio Captain he had purchased him from, and wound up by repeating theinquiry. 

"There was no chance to back out now, and gathering my breath for theeffort, said I--

"'General, I regret to say, that your horse is dead. '

"'Dead! did you say?' echoed the General, rising. 

"'Yes, sir; I was compelled to have him shot. '

"'Shot! did you say, sir?' advancing; 'shot! compelled to have him shot, sir! By G--d, sir, I would like to know, sir, who would _compel_ you tohave a horse of mine shot, sir. '

"'He was glandered, ' said I timidly. 

"'Sir! sir!! sir!!! d----d lie, sir, --mouth as sweet as sugar. D----dlie, sir, ' retorted the General. 

"The General was furiously mad, his eyes flashing, and all the while hetook quick and long steps up and down his marquee. 

"I attempted an explanation, but he would listen to none; and kept onrepeating 'glandered!' 'shot!' and scowling at times at me;--saying, too, 'By G--d, sir, this matter must be investigated. '

"'General, ' said I, at length, 'in justice to myself, I would like'----

"'Justice to yourself!' shouted the General, looking at me as if hebelieved me mean enough to murder my grandmother. 'Who the h--l everheard of a sutler being entitled to any justice?----you, sir, I'll teachyou justice. Get out of my tent, sir. '

"I thought it best not to wait for another opportunity to get away, andas I sloped I heard the General swearing at me until I had passed theSurgeon's tent. You see what makes the matter worse with the General is, that he has been told several times that the horse was unsound, butwould not admit that as much of a horseman as he professed to be, hadbeen taken in by the 'Buckeye Officer. '"

The recital of the story appeared to have lightened the load upon thebreast of the sutler, and he wound up somewhat humorously, by tellingthe crowd that there was another on the list to be court-martialed, andthat they must give him all possible aid and comfort. 

"Be easy, sutler! there are too many ahead of you on that list, "observed an officer. "Your case can't be reached for some time yet. Itis admitted on all sides that our material, officers and men, are asgood as any in the army; and, for all that, although one of the smallestdivisions, we have more courts-martial than any other division. Why, just look at it. A day or two before the battle of Fredericksburg, twenty-three officers were released from arrest. Thirteen of them, Lieutenants under charges for lying, as old Pigey termed it, when, infact, it was nothing more than a simple misunderstanding of one of hisnight orders, such as any men might make. Poor fellows! over one-half ofthem are out of his power now; but I wouldn't wonder if the Generalwould be presumptuous and malignant enough to respectfully refer theircases to the Chancery of Heaven, with endorsements to suit himself!"

"Well, that brave Lieutenant, " said the Captain, "who asked permissionof the Colonel to charge with our regiment when himself and squad hadbecome separated from his own, has been reinstated. You know that at thetime old Pigey gave permission to the Colonels to send VolunteerOfficers before the board for examination, the Lieutenant-Colonel of hisregiment, instead of sending him a written order, as was customary, sought him out when engaged in conversation with some non-commissionedofficers of his command, and in an insulting manner gave him a verbalorder to report. They had some hot talk about it, and in the course ofit the Lieutenant said that 'he'd be d----d if he came into the army tostudy tactics; he came to fight, ' and on the strength of that, theGeneral had him tried and dismissed. Our Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonelsent up a statement to 'Burney, ' giving a glowing account of his gallantconduct in the fight; and the General seeing how dead in earnest he waswhen he said he came to fight, restored him to his position. "

"I am very much afraid, " said the Lieutenant, slowly, interrupted byfrequent whiffs at a well-colored meerschaum, "that the Colonel andLieutenant-Colonel will have difficulty to save themselves. "

"Save themselves!" echoed several, from different parts of the tent, their faces hardly visible through the increasing smoke. "Why, what's inthe wind now?"

"A good deal more than a great many of you think, " continued theAdjutant. "I think I see the dawning of considerable difficulty. TheColonel, you recollect, was compelled to correct our Division-General insome of his commands, to prevent confusion; and the General, althoughclearly in the wrong, submitted with a bad grace; and then at the lastreview you all remember how a whiffet chanced to yelp at the heels ofthe Staff horses, and how the General--it was after three, yourecollect, G--d d----d the puppy and its ancestry, particularly itsmother, until his Staff tittered behind him, and the Regiments of hiscommand, officers and men, particularly ours, fairly roared. And then, too, when General Burnside saluted the colors, and requested Pigey toride along, how he started off with his Staff, leaving us all at a'Present Arms;' and how the quick eye of Old Joe saw the blunder; andhow he called the General's attention to it, without effect, until'Burney' sharply yelled out, 'General, you had better bring your men toa shoulder, sir;' and then, how the General, amid increased titteringand laughter, rode back, and with a face like scarlet squeakedout--'Division! Shoulder arms!' Now I have heard that the General blamesthe Field Officers of our Regiment with a good deal of that laughter;and that and this Sutler matter will make him provide a pretext foranother Court-martial at an early day. "

 "Double, double, toil and trouble, "

said the poetical Lieutenant. "Why, the Adjutant talks as if he couldsee the witches over the pot; certainly--

 'No lateness of life gives him mystical lore. '"

"No, but--

 'Coming events cast their shadows before. '"

continued the Adjutant, finishing the couplet. "I do not know that anygift of prophecy is given unto me, but I will venture to predict thatthe pretext will be that very order, --outrageous and unreasonable as itis, --that our Brigadier not only flatly and positively refused to obeybefore he left, but told his command that it was unlawful andunreasonable, and should not be obeyed. "

"What! that dress-coat order, " cried the Western Virginia Captain, springing to his feet; "compel a man who has two new blouses, and whobelongs to a regiment that came out with blouses and never haddress-coats, to put a dress-coat in his knapsack besides, when hisclothing account is almost exhausted, and the campaign only halfthrough. Is that the order you mean? By George, you must think that oldPigey is only going to live and do business after three o'clock in theafternoon, if you think that he will insist upon that order. OurBrigadier did right to disobey it. Old Rosey would have put any officerin irons, who----"

"But, Captain, " resumed the Adjutant, "unfortunately we are not inWestern Virginia, and not under old Rosey, as you call him, but in theArmy of the Potomac, where Red Tape clogs progress more than Virginiamud ever did, and where position is attained, not so much by the meritof the officer, as by the hold he may be able to get upon the favoritismof the War Department. "

"Is it possible, " continued the Captain, thrusting his hands into thelowest depths of his breeches pockets, and casting upon the Adjutant ahalf inquiring, half reflecting look, "that this Regiment, which theGeneral himself admits is one of the best disciplined in his Division, and which has been one of the most harmonious and orderly, is to beimposed upon in this way by a whimsical superior officer, who, whateverhis reputation for science may be, has shown himself over and over againto have no sense! I tell you, our men can't stand it. Just look at myown Company, for instance, nearly all married men, families dependentupon them for support, and now when they have each two lined blouses, asgood as new, and their clothing account about square, they are to takeseven dollars and a half of their hard earned pay--more than half amonth's wages--and buy a coat that can be of no service, and that mustbe thrown away the first march. I do not believe that the Governmentdesigns that our Volunteer Regiments should be compelled to take bothblouses and dress coats. The General had better enter into partnershipwith some shoddy contractor, if he intends giving orders of this kind. I tell you, the men will not take them. "

"Come, Captain, no 'murmuring or muttering' against the powers that be, "said the Adjutant. "The men will either take them, in case the order ismade, or go to the Rip-raps. I am inclined to think that the FieldOfficers will not see the men imposed upon. And at the same time theywill not bear the brunt of disobeying the order themselves, and not letthe men run any risk. It is hard to tell, " continued the Adjutant, in ameasured tone, refilling his pipe as he spoke, "what it will result in;but Pigey is in power, and like all in authority, has his toadies abouthim, and you may make up your minds that he will not be sparing in hischarges, or in the testimony to support them. Our Colonel andLieut. -Colonel, I know, feel outraged at the bare idea of beingsubjected to such an order. They are both earnest men, have both madeheavy sacrifices to enter the service, and have never failed in duty, although, like most volunteer officers of spirit, they are somewhatrestiff under authority. The Colonel, being an old soldier, andthoroughly acquainted with his work, is especially restiff under theauthority of an officer so poorly fitted for his position as ourDivision General. But our turn must come. Every Regiment in the Divisionhas suffered from his Court-martialling and studied interference, and sofar we have been fortunate enough to escape. And with the insight I nowhave, I believe the glandered horse and the little whiffet that yelpedand disturbed the General's ideas of a proper Review, will prove to beat the bottom of the whole matter. "

"Tom, " interrupted the Captain, "you will have to put your record inbetter shape. "

"How can I do it?" said the Sutler. 

"By sending Pigey a bill for the three dollars you paid to have thehorse shot. "

The crowd boisterously applauded the proposition, and insisted upon itsexecution. Desultory conversation followed until "Taps" dispersed themto their quarters. 

Grumbling is claimed as a soldier's privilege, and the Sutler's tentbeing a lounging place when off duty, becomes a place of grumbling, muchlike the place of wailing that the Jews have on the outskirts ofJerusalem. 

A fortnight later saw the crowd in their old position, but withcountenances in which it was difficult to say whether anxiety or angerpredominated. 

"Fellows, it is terminating just as the Adjutant prophesied a short timeago in this very place, " said a Captain slightly past the prime of life, but of vigorous build. "In trying to keep the men out of dress coats, the Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel have got themselves into all mannerof trouble, and there is no let-up with old Pigey. I saw them thismorning both as cheerful as crickets, and determined to have the matterthoroughly investigated. "

"Did they intimate any opinion as to what we ought to do?" inquired theAdjutant. 

"Not a word. In that respect they say just as they did before they wereplaced in close confinement, that it is a case in which each man mustact for himself. They are willing to shoulder the responsibility oftheir own acts, and were very indignant when they heard that Pigey hadordered the other Brigade under arms, and two pieces of artillery to betrained upon our camp, as if the whole Regiment was guilty of mutiny, when there was not at the same time a more quiet or orderly Regiment incamp. "

"They understand, " remarked the Adjutant, "however, why that was done. The General must have something to justify this unusually harshtreatment. A charge of simple disobedience of orders would not do it, sohe charges them with mutiny, and trumps up this apprehension and paradeto appear consistent. The Lieutenant-Colonel anticipated it, I know. Iheard him say, while under simple arrest, that he believed that afterthree o'clock they would be placed in close confinement, and on thestrength of it some letters were sent by a civilian giving full details. Well, I am glad that they are in good spirits. "

"In the very best, " replied the Captain, "although the General starts asif he intended giving them a tough through. The Sibley that they wereturned into late last night, was put up over ground so wet that youcouldn't make a track upon it without it would fill with water, and theLieutenant-Colonel had to sleep upon this ground with a single blanket, as it was late when his servant Charlie came to the guard with his rollof blankets, and the General would not permit him to pass. Inconsequence he awoke this morning chilled, wet through, and with a fairstart for a high fever. And then they are denied writing material, books, even a copy of the Regulations. The General relentedsufficiently, to tell an aid to inform them, that they might correspondwith their families if they would submit the correspondence first toinspection at Division Head-quarters; to which they replied--that 'theGeneral might insult them, but could not compel them to humiliate theirfamilies. ' No one is permitted to see them unless by special permissionof the General. "

"And when I saw those three guards to-day pacing about that Sibley, "excitedly spoke the Virginia Captain, "I felt like mounting acracker-box in camp and asking the men to follow me, and find out onwhat grounds, this puss-in-boots outraged in this way men morewell-meaning and determined than himself in the suppression of thisrebellion. But it will all come right. They are not to be crowded clearout of sight in a single day. One of my men told me that he was presenton duty when that wharf-rat of an Adjutant, that the exhorting Colonelis trying to make an Adjutant-General of, came into the General's tentwith the Lieutenant-Colonel, and he said that the General asked theColonel whether he was still determined to disobey the lawful order ofhis superior officer, the Commanding General of the Division?

"'The legality of the order is what I question, ' said the Colonel. 'Anorder to be lawful should at least be reasonable. That order isunreasonable, unjust to the men, and I cannot conscientiously obey it. '

"'This money for the coats does not come out of your pocket, ' said theGeneral, blandly. 'Why need you concern yourself about it?'

"'It comes out of the pockets of my men, General, ' said the Colonel, 'and I consider it my duty to concern myself sufficiently to preventimposition upon them. '

"'Tut, ' said the General. 'You wouldn't hear a Regular officer saythat. '

"'The greater shame for them, ' said the Colonel. 'My men are myneighbors and friends. They look to me to protect their interests. As ageneral thing the Regulars are recruited from the purlieus of greatcities, and are men of no character. '

"'Colonel, ' said the General, sternly, 'listen to this definition of'Mutiny, ' and then, as you are a lawyer, think of your presentposition. '

"The Colonel heard it read and replied that 'it had nothing whatever todo with the case, as there was no mutiny, nor even an approach to it. 'Considering the time of day, the General, so far, had been unusuallycool, but he could keep in no longer. 

"'Colonel, ' said he, in a loud, angry tone, as he advanced towards him, 'by G--d, sir, you are mutinous, sir!'

"'General, ' replied the Colonel, coolly, and looking him full in theeye, 'with all due deference to your superior rank, permit me to say, that if you say I am guilty of mutiny you overstep the bounds of truth. '

"The Colonel's confident manner rather staggered the General, and heturned to the Adjutant, who has been his runner throughout this matter, and called upon him to substantiate his assertion; which he did. 

"With the remark that he would not dare to make such false assertionsaway from the General's head-quarters, the Colonel turned upon himindignantly, and the General called for the Provost Guard to conduct himto the Sibley. Now I tell you, fellows, " continued the Captain, "theGeneral will make nothing out of this matter. "

"He has his malice gratified by the present punishment he is subjectingthem to, as if fearful that they might come unharmed from aCourt-martial. But I don't believe that he will be able to get theRegiment into dress coats, " remarked the Adjutant. 

The Adjutant was right. The Regiment did not get into dress coats;although its Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel slipped into strait-jackets. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

_Dress Coats versus Blouses--Military Law--Bill theCook--Courts-Martial--Important Decision in Military Law--'A Man withTwo Blouses on' can be compelled to put a Dress Coat on top--A ColoredFrench Cook and a Beefy-browed Judge-Advocate--The Mud March--NoPigeon-holing on a Whiskey Scent--Old Joe in Command--Dissolution ofPartnership between the Dutch Doctor and Chaplain. _

Necessity knows no law. Military law springs from the necessity of thecase, and may be said, therefore, to be equivalent to no law. Howeverplausible the principles embodied in the compact periods of Benet and DeHart may appear, in actual practice they dwindle to little else than thewill of the officer who details the court. General Officers, tried ateasy intervals, before pains-taking courts, in large cities, may haveopportunity for equal and exact justice; but Heaven help their inferiorswho have their cases put through at lightning speed, before a courtunder marching orders, and expecting momentarily to move. 

The Act of Congress, with a wise prescience of the jealousies andbickerings always arising between Regulars and Volunteers, provides thatRegulars shall be tried by Regular, and Volunteers by VolunteerOfficers. In practice, the spirit of the law is evaded by thesubterfuge, that a Regular Officer, temporarily in command ofVolunteers, is _pro tempore_ a Volunteer Officer. In the Mexican War, where the number of Volunteer Officers was comparatively small, theremay have been a necessity for this. With our present immense Volunteerforce there can be none whatever; and the practice is the moreinexcusable, when we consider the great amount of legal as well asmilitary ability among the officers of this force. The gross injusticeof this violation of the act, must be apparent to any one upon amoment's reflection. Officers, whose only offence may be their belongingto the Volunteer Service, are too frequently subjected to the tendermercy of a Board of Martinets;--men of long service and tried ability, degraded by the fiat of a court composed of officers as tender inintellect as in years, and whose only recommendation to be members ofthe court, is their recent transfer from lessons in gunnery anddrills;--with patent leather knapsacks, to field or higher positions inthe Volunteer Service. Thus, the officer whose earnestness in the causeand heavy sacrifice of family ties and business affairs, first raisedthe command, --who grew with its growth during months, perhaps years, ofhard service, --saw through his untiring efforts the awkwardness of hismen change gradually for the precision of the veteran, --not unfrequentlyby the snap judgment of men whose only service has been in Pay, Quarter-Master, Commissary Departments, --anywhere but in a FightingDepartment, --finds himself dishonored, his service thrown aside fornaught, and his worst enemy the misuse of the laws he had taken arms tovindicate. 

Not an officer or soldier but must recollect a case in point. Now, thismainly arises from the undue and unjust deference paid by the WarDepartment to Regular Officers, and the curse that attends them andupholds them--Red Tape. _Undue and unjust deference. _ Does not thehistory of the Army of the Potomac prove it? Its heroic fighting, butill-starred generalship!

 * * * * *

"Halloo, Bill! what news from the Sibley?" shouted one of a group ofofficers who sat and lay upon the ground, cheerfully discussing hardtack and coffee in the camp of a grand picket reserve, near theRappahannock. The man addressed would, in build, have made a goodrecruit for the armies of New Amsterdam in their warfare against theSwedes, so graphically described by Irving. Short and thickly set, witha face radiant as a brass kettle in a preserving season, trousers thrustin a pair of cast-away top boots, the legs of which fell in ungainlyfolds about his ankles, a greasy blouse, tucked in at the waist-band, and a cap ripped behind in the vain effort to accommodate it to a headof Websterian dimensions. With all his shortcomings, and they werelegion, Bill's education, unfailing humor and kindness of heart made hima favorite at regimental Head-quarters, where he had long been employedas an attendant. When the sickness of the Lieutenant-Colonel grewserious in the Sibley, Bill took his post by the side of his blankets, and in well-meaning attention made up what he lacked in tenderness as anurse. 

"Nothing new since the trial, " drawled out Bill, seating himselfmeanwhile, and mopping with his coat sleeve the perspiration that stoodin beads upon his forehead. 

"Since the trial!" echoed the officer. "Why, they have not had noticeyet, and the General said he would give them ample opportunity forpreparation for trial. "

"So he did, " continued Bill. "They were put into the Sibley on Mondaynight, and on Thursday night following, about half-past ten, when it wasraining in torrents, and storming so that the guards and myself couldscarcely keep the old tent up, that sucker-mouthed Aid of old Pigey'spopped his head inside the flaps and handed the Colonel andLieut. -Colonel each a letter. Both letters went on to say, that theirtrial would take place the next day, at ten o'clock, at Pigey'sHead-quarters, and that each letter contained a copy of the charges andspecifications, and that, in the meanwhile, they could prepare fortrial, provide counsel, and so forth. The best part of two sheets oflarge-sized letter paper was filled with the charges against each, allin Pigey's hand-writing. 

 "'Disrespectful language towards the General Commanding Division;' 'Conduct tending to Mutiny;' 'Disobedience of Orders;' and 'Violation of at least half a dozen different articles of war. '

"The ink was green yet, as if it had all been done after three o'clock. The Lieutenant-Colonel, you know, told that wharf rat of an Adjutantbefore the General, that he would not dare to make such mis-statementsaway from Division Head-quarters. Well, on the strength of that, he hadhim charged with sending a challenge to fight a duel, and telling hissuperior officer that he lied. Lord! when I heard them read, I thoughtthey ought to be thankful that one of the darkies about DivisionHead-quarters hadn't died in the meanwhile, or there would have been acharge of murder. It might just as well, at any rate, have been murderas mutiny, that we all know. Time for trial!--lots of time! Just thetime to hunt a lawyer, consult law books, and drum up testimony. "

"Timed purposely, of course, " broke in the officer, indignantly, "andthe Court, no doubt, packed to suit. But, " his face brightening, "thereis an appeal to Father Abraham. "

"It is all very well to talk about Father Abraham, " continued Bill, inthe same drawling tone; "but if you have to hunt up Honest Old Abethrough the regular military channels, as they say you have to, he'llseem about as far off as the first old Father Abraham did to that richold Cockey that had a big dry on in a hot place. "

"Bill, " said the officer, as he saw the crowd inclined to laugh at theremark, "this is by far too serious a matter to jest about. Here are twomen of character and position, devoted to the cause body and soul, completely at the mercy of an officer whose conduct is a reproach to hiscommand, and who is malicious alike in deeds and words. "

"Especially the latter, " interrupted Bill, more hurriedly than before. "The Colonel says he was chief witness, and swore the charges rightstraight through, without wincing. The Judge Advocate, they said, was aright clever gentlemanly fellow, but ignorant of law, and completely atthe disposal of the General. I saw him several times when I was passingbackwards and forwards, and he looked to me as if the beef was a littletoo thick on the outside of his forehead, for the brains to be activeinside. Still, the Colonels have no fault to find with him, except thatbetween times he would talk about drinking to Little Mac, and brag aboutthe prospect, as the papers seem to say, of Fitz John Porter's beingcleared. But then most of the Court did as much at that as he did. Hedid his duty in the trial, I guess, as well as his knowledge and oldPigey's will would allow. "

"Well, Bill, give us some particulars of the trials, if you know them, "suggested an officer of a neighboring regiment--the party during theconversation being increased by additions of officers and privates. 

"I only know what I saw passing back and forth, and what I heard fromthe Colonels themselves. They wouldn't allow any one to go within threeyards of the tent in which they held Court; but I'll give you what Ihave, although to do it I must go back a little:--Before it was light onthe day of trial the Major posted off to our Corps Commander with anapplication for a continuance, on the ground of want of time forpreparation. About daylight the General came out, rubbing his eyes, wanting to know who that early bird was?

"'Playing Orderly, sir, ' said he, as his eye lit upon the letter in theMajor's hand. 'Fine occupation for a man of six feet two, with a Major'sstraps upon his shoulders. '

"The Major wilted till he felt about two feet six, but mustered presenceof mind sufficient to tell the General his errand, and how his personalsolicitude had prompted him to perform it himself. The General heard himkindly; stated that he had no doubt but that the Court would actfavorably upon the application, and that it should be referred to them. The Court, when it met, acted favorably, so far as to give the Colonel, who was tried first, fifteen minutes to hunt a lawyer. But they wouldn'tlet the Lieut. -Colonel act, as he was a party, and several others wereexcluded on the ground of being witnesses, although they took good carenot to call them. Both pleaded guilty to the 'simple disobedience oforders, ' and the Court was ashamed to try them upon anything besides butthe 'disrespectful conduct;' in regard to which old Pigey's assertionswere taken, instead of the circumstances being proved. The Colonel wastoo indignant at the treatment to set up any defence, but theLieutenant-Colonel cross-examined old Pigey until his testimony lookedlike a box of fish-bait. The General swore that he had given him 'thelie, ' but upon being questioned by the Colonel, stated that 'he did notbelieve the Colonel intended to call his personal veracity intoquestion. ' In the same manner he had to explain away that duellingcharge. At last he got so confused that he would ram wood into the stoveto gain time, bite the ends of his moustache, play with the rim of hishat, and when cornered as to the Lieutenant-Colonel's character as anofficer, to relieve himself, stated;--that he must say that the Colonelhad hitherto obeyed every order with cheerfulness, promptitude, greatzeal and intelligence, and that his intercourse with the CommandingGeneral had been marked by great courtesy at all times. "

"The Colonel also stated further, that he had testimony to contradictthat Adjutant, or Wharf-Rat, as you know him best by. He had told mebefore the trial to tell that young law student, Tom, a private of Co. C, who heard the conversation that the Adjutant had testified to, to bewithin calling distance during the trial, with his belt on, hair combed, and looking as neat as possible. Well, in Tom came, his face and eyesswelled up from a bad cold, a stocking that had been a stranger to soapand water for one long march at least, tied about his neck to cure asore throat, his belt on properly, but his blouse pockets stuffed outbeyond it with six months' correspondence, and his matted and bleachedhead of hair, through the vain effort to comb it, resembling the headsof Feejee Islanders, in Sunday-school books. A smile played around thelips of the gentlemanly old Massachusetts Colonel, who presided over theCourt, as he surveyed him upon entering, and a titter ran around theBoard, especially among some of the young West-Pointers. The Colonel'sface colored, and the Judge Advocate's eyes glowed as if he had a softblock. But Tom was a singed cat; he always was a slovenly fellow, youknow, and he turned out to be a file for the viper. 

"'Colonel, ' said the Judge Advocate haughtily, 'have you any officerswho are prepared to vouch for the character and credibility of thiswitness, as I see he is but a private?'

"'Yes, sir, if the Court please, ' retorted the Colonelindignantly, --then remembering how this same Judge Advocate had uponformer occasions affected to despise privates, he added: 'His characterand credibility are quite as good as those of half the shoulder-strappedgentry of the Corps. '

"'Colonel, ' said the President, blandly, 'there is an old rule requiringprivates to be vouched for, rarely insisted upon, at this day, however, 'casting, as he said this, a half reproachful look upon the JudgeAdvocate; 'but we desire you to understand that your word is as good asthat of any officer before this Court. '

"The Colonel vouched for him, and Tom was examined, and contradictedstill further than his own cross-examination had done, the statement ofthe Adjutant, besides snubbing the Judge Advocate handsomely. A stringof witnesses, from our Brigadier down to all the line officers of thecommand, was then offered to prove character, but the Court veryformally told the Colonel that a superior officer, the CommandingGeneral of the Division, had already testified to this, and that thisrendered the testimony of officers inferior in rank quite superfluous. So you see from this and Tom's case, Justice don't go it blind inCourts-Martial, but keeps one eye open to see whether the witness hasshoulder-straps on or not. "

"But, Bill, " inquired a lawyer in the crowd, "did not the Colonel offerto prove that the Regiment was amply supplied with clothing, and thatthe order was unreasonable, and that it was not therefore a lawfulorder, as the law is supposed to be founded upon reason?"

"Oh, yes, both did; but the Lieutenant-Colonel was told by thePresident, that if General Burnside were to order the President to makea requisition in dog-days for old Spartan metal helmets for hisRegiment, he would make the requisition. 

"Said the Colonel, 'the President of the United States is by theRegulations empowered to prescribe the uniform. '

"'That, ' said the President, 'General Burnside must judge of. I mustexecute the order, however unreasonable it may seem, first, and questionit afterwards. '

"'Suppose the General would order you to black his boots; or, ' said theColonel, thinking that a little too strongly put; 'suppose that you weresecond in command of a battery lying near a peaceful and loyal town, andyour superior, drunk or otherwise, would order you to shell it, wouldyou obey the order, and question it after having murdered half thewomen and children of the place?' To which questions, however, the Courtgave the go-by, remarking simply, that they did not suppose that theColonel had any criminal intentions in disobeying the order. So, really, it is narrowed down to the disobedience of, to say the least, a mostuncalled for order. "

"And faithful, well intentioned officers are, for what is at most but anhonest blunder, treated like felons, " said one. 

"From their lively and confident manner, " said Bill, "I believe thatthey have assurances from Washington that all will be right. There is notelling how long the Lieutenant-Colonel will last under thisconfinement, however. He has failed greatly, and although so weak as tobe unable to walk alone, the General insists upon the guards being uponeither side whenever he has occasion to leave the tent. Even the sinkswere dug at over one hundred yards distance from the Sibley. And thetent itself is located in such a manner that old Pigey can at all timeshave his vengeance gratified by a full view of it, the three guardsabout it, and my assisting the Lieutenant-Colonel from time to time. Butthe guards esteem, and we all esteem the officers inside the Sibley morethan the General, who abuses his power in his marquee. Letters andnewspapers come crawling under the canvas. Roast partridges, squirrels, apples, and delicacies that officers and men deny themselves of, findtheir way inside, and while my name is Bill Gladdon they shan't sufferthrough any lack upon my part, and I know that this is the opinion ofall of us. "

"You all recollect the Sibley, " said a Lieutenant, "that stands in therear of old Pigey's marquee, in which he gave the collation after thelast corps review, and welcomed our officers as he steadied himself atthe table, with 'Here comes my gallant 210th. ' The Court met in that. "

"Yes, " resumed Bill, "the same. It stands near his cook tent, and whilehis darkies were serving up French cookery, the Judge Advocate did thework allotted him in endeavoring to justify by the trial, in some slightmanner, the General's outrageous conduct. I heard that Tom said, thatafter the Judge Advocate had asked that he be vouched for, and theColonel became indignant, the Judge Advocate said somewhat blandly, "'You must remember, Colonel, that this is not one of your ordinaryCourts of Justice. '

"'That it is not a Court of Justice, ' retorted the Colonel, 'is veryapparent. '

"Both were put through in a hurry, at any rate. The different members ofthe Court said that they all had marching orders, and they had no soonerleft the Sibley than they were upon horseback and on the gallop towardstheir different commands. Our Doctor had detailed an ambulance to takethe Colonels in the rear of the Division. Old Pigey, in his usualmorning survey of the premises, saw it in front of the Sibley, and sentan Orderly to take the rather lively, good-looking bays that were in itand exchange them for the old rips that haul the ambulance his cooksride in. But we did not move then, although they say we will certainlyto-morrow. "

 * * * * *

That inevitable "they say, " the common prefix to rumors in camp as wellas civil life, had given Bill correct information. For next morning, inspite of the lowering sky, the camps were all astir with busy life, andduring the course of the forenoon column after column trudged along overthe already soft roads in a south-westerly direction. The movement wasthe mad desperation of a Commander of undaunted energy. A vain effort toappease that most capricious of masters, popular clamor. The rainsdescended, and that grand army of the Potomac literally floundered inthe mud. 

In an old field, thickly grown with young pines, very near the farthestpoint reached in the march, our Regiment rested towards the close of thelast day of the advance, or to speak more truly, attempted advance. Fatigued with the double duty of struggling with the mud and corduroyingthe roads, the repose was heartily welcome. 

 "It does a fellow good to feel a little frisky, "

sang, or rather shouted, a little Corporal, whom we have met before inthese pages, as he made ridiculous efforts to infuse life into heelsclodded with mud. 

"Talk as you please about old Pigey, boys, he's a regular trump on thewhiskey question. He'll cut red-tape any day on that. Don't you see theboys?" continued the Corporal, addressing a crowd reposing at fulllength upon the freshly cut pine boughs, conspicuous among whom was theAdjutant;--pointing as he spoke to several men in uniform, but boys inyears, who were being forced and dragged along by successive groups oftheir comrades. 

"Couldn't stand the Commissary--stomachs too tender. Ha! ha! Pigey andmyself are in on that. "

"What is up now, Corporal?" queried the Adjutant. 

"Nothing is up; it's all down, " retorted the Corporal, in a halfserious air, as he saluted the Colonel respectfully. "You see, Adjutant, they are bits of boys at any rate, just from school, and the Commissarywas too much for their empty stomachs. I was sent back to hurry up thestragglers, and while we were catching up as rapidly as possible, oldPigey came ploughing up the mud alongside of us, followed by thatsucker-mouthed Aid. I saw at once that Division Head-quarters had a goodload on. With a patronizing grin, said the General stopping shortalongside of a wagon belonging to another corps, and that was fastalmost up to the wagon-bed, while the mules were fairly floating, 'What's in that wagon?' and without waiting for answer, 'whiskey, byG--d, ' he broke out, snuffing at the same time towards the wagon. 'Boys, unload a couple of barrels, ' he continued, good-humoredly, as if tryingto make up for the outrage he has just committed upon the Regiment. Thedriver protested, and the wagon guards said that it could not be takenwithout an order; but it was after three, and old Pigey ripped and sworethat his order was as good as anybody's, and the guards were frightenedenough to let our boys roll out two barrels. No pigeon-holing on awhiskey scent! One barrel he ordered up to his head-quarters, and thehead of the other was knocked in, and he told us to drink our fill, andat it the boys went. Tin cups, canteens, cap-covers, anything that wouldhold the article, were made use of, and they are a blue old crowd, fromthe General down. The boys had had nothing but a few hard tack duringthe day, and it was about the first drink to some, and from the way ittastes it must have been made out of rotten corn and not two months old, and altogether straggling increased considerably. "

"Straggling! why they are wallowing like hogs in the mud, Adjutant! Itis a shame, and if some one of my superiors will not prefer chargesagainst the General and his Adjutant, I will. Men of mine are drunk thatI never knew to taste a drop before, " indignantly exclaimed the WesternVirginia Captain, as, with hat off, face aglow with perspiration, eyesflashing, and boots that indicated service in taking the soundings ofthe mud on the march, he came panting up with rapid strides. "Now, sir, fourteen of my best men are drunk--the first drunken man I have hadduring the campaign--and I'll be shot to death with musketry, soonerthan punish a single man of them. "

"But discipline must be kept up, " said the Adjutant. 

"Discipline! do you say, Adjutant?" retorted the Captain. "If you wantto see discipline go to Division Head-quarters. Why old Pigey isprancing around like a steed at a muster, --crazy! absolutely crazy! Hiscocked hat is more crooked than ever, and the knot of his muffler is atthe back of his neck, and the ends flying like wings. Just a few minutesago he stopped suddenly while on a canter, right by one of my men, lyingalong the road-side, that he had made drunk, and chuckled and laughed, and lolled from side to side in his saddle, and then at a canter againrode to another one and went through the same performance. And hisAdjutant-General--why one of my men not ten minutes ago led his horse toHead-quarters. He was so drunk, actually, that his eyes looked likethose of a shad out of water a day, --his feet out of the stirrups, thereins loose about his horse's neck, his hands hanging listlessly down, and the liquor oozing out of the corners of his sucker mouth. And therehe was, his horse carrying him about at random among the stumps, andofficers and men laughing at him, expecting to see him go over on theone side or the other every moment. Now, it is a burning shame. And I, for one, will expose them, if it takes the hide off. Here are ourColonels confined just for no offence at all, --for doing their duty, infact, --and this man, after having Court-martialed all that he could ofhis command, trying to demoralize the rest by whiskey. Now, sir, thehigher the rank the more severe the punishment should be. Just before westarted Burney had an order read that we were about to meet the enemy, and that every man must do his duty. And here is a General of Division, in command of nine thousand men, as drunk as a fool. "

"Let Pigey alone on the whiskey question, Captain, " interrupted theCorporal, who had in the meantime been refreshing his inner man by apull at his canteen. "He's a regular trump--yes, " slapping his canteenas he spoke, "a full hand of trumps any time on that topic. Like othermen, he drinks to drown his grief at our poor prospect of a fight. "

"A fine condition he is in to lead men into a fight;--but not much worsethan at Fredericksburg, " slowly observed the Preacher Lieutenant, who, as one of the crowd, had been a listener to the story of the Captain. "Drunkenness has cursed our army too much. But we cannot consistently besilent in sight of conduct like this on the part of Commanders. Theinterests of our men"----

"Have a care, Lieutenant, " quietly observed the Adjutant, "how you talk. 'The interests of the men' have placed our Colonels under guard in theSibley. "

"Not bolts, nor bars a prison make, " resumed the Preacher morespiritedly, "and I would sooner have a quiet conscience in confinement, than the reproach of disgraceful conduct and command a Division. "

 * * * * *

Corduroying the entire route had not been proposed, when the armycommenced its movement; but it became apparent to all that progress wasonly tolerable with it, and without it, impossible. On the day after theabove conversation, the army commenced to retrace its steps. Some days, however, intervened before the smoke ascended from their old huts, andthe men in lazy circles about the camp fires rehashed theirrecollections of the "mud march. "

Like our repulse at Fredericksburg, it was, as far as ourCommander-in-Chief was concerned, a misfortune and not a fault. A changein command was evident, however, and the substitution of thewhole-hearted, dashing Hooker for the equally earnest but more steadyBurnside, that took place in the latter part of January, occasioned nosurprise in the army. The new Commander went much farther, than oldattachments had probably permitted his predecessor in going, in removingMcClellanism. Grand Divisions were abolished; rigid inquiries into thecomforts and conveniences of the men were frequent, and senselessreviews less frequent. Bakeries were established in every Brigade, andfresh bread and hot rolls furnished in wholesome abundance, to the greatbenefit of the Government, for hospital rolls were thereby depleted, andreports for duty increased. Rigid discipline and daily drills too werekept up, as "Old Joe" was a frequent visitor, when least expected. Hisconstant solicitude for the welfare of the men, manifested by closepersonal attention, which the men themselves were witness to, ratherthan by concocted newspaper reports, by which the friends of the soldierin their loyal homes might be imposed upon, and the soldier himself notbenefited, endeared him to his entire command. 

 * * * * *

One clear, cold morning, during these palmy days of the army, the men ofthe regiment nearest the Surgeon's Quarters were greatly surprised bythe sudden exit of a small-sized sheet iron stove from the tent occupiedby the Surgeon and Chaplain, closely followed up by the little DutchDoctor in his shirt sleeves, sputtering hurriedly--

"Tam schmoke pox!" and at every ejaculation bestowing a vigorous kick. At a reasonably safe distance in his rear was the Chaplain, in halfundress also, remonstrating as coolly as possible, --considering that thestove was his property. The Doctor did not refrain, however, until itsbadly battered fragments lay at intervals upon the ground. 

"Efry morn, and efry morn, schmoke shust as the Tuyfel. I no needprepare for next world py that tam shmoke pox. Eh?" continued theDoctor, facing the Chaplain. 

"Come, Doctor, " said the Chaplain, soothingly, "we ought to get alongbetter than this in our department. "

"Shaplain's department! Eh! By G--t! One Horse-Doctor and one Shaplainenough for a whole Division!"

The sudden appearance of Bill, the attendant upon the Colonels in theSibley, at the Adjutant's quarters, had the effect of transferringhither the crowd, who were enjoying what proved to be a finaldissolution of partnership between the Chaplain and the Doctor. 

"I know your errand, Bill, " remarked the Adjutant, looking him full inthe face. "An orderly has just handed me the General Order. But what isto become of the Lieutenant-Colonel?"

"You only have the order dismissing the Colonel, then. There was amessage sent about ten o'clock last night, a little after the GeneralOrder was received at the Sibley, stating that at day-break this morningthe Colonel should be escorted to Aquia under guard, and that beforeleaving he should have no intercourse whatever with any of his command. Old Pigey also tried further to add insult to injury, by stating thatthe Lieutenant-Colonel, who cannot, from weakness, walk twenty steps, even though it would save his life, would be released from closeconfinement, and might have the benefit of Brigade limits in our newcamp ground for exercise. You know that is so full of stumps andundergrowth that a well man can hardly get along in it. "

"So an officer of the Colonel's merit and services, " remarked theAdjutant, "was dragged off before daylight, and disgraced for what wasin its very worst light but a simple blunder, made under the mostextenuating of circumstances. Boys, if there be faith in Stanton'spledged word, matters will be set right as soon as the record of thecase reaches the War Department. I am informed that he denounced thewhole proceeding as an outrage, and telegraphed the General; and we allknow that the General has been spending a good portion of the time sincethe trial in Washington. "

"And he came back, " observed Bill, "yesterday morning, in a mood unusualwith him before three o'clock in the afternoon. He had his whole staff, all his orderlies and the Provost Guard out to stop a Maine Regimentfrom walking by the side of the road, when the mud was over shoe top inthe road itself, --and he flourished that thin sword of his, and ravedand swore and danced about until one of the Maine boys wanted to knowwho 'that little old Cockey was with a ramrod in his hand, --' and thatset the laugh so much against him that his Aids returned their pistolsand he his sword, and he sneaked back to his marquee, and issued anorder requiring his whole command to stand at arms along the road sideupon the approach of troops from either direction. "

"Which, " remarked the Adjutant, "if obeyed, would keep them under armswell nigh all the time, and would provoke a collision, as it would be aninsult to the troops of other commands, to whom the road should beequally free. But it is a fair sample of the judgment of Pigey. "

CHAPTER XIX. 

_The Presentation Mania--The Western Virginia Captain in the WarDepartment--Politeness and Mr. Secretary Stanton--Capture of the DutchDoctor--A Genuine Newspaper Sell. _

Presentations by men to officers should be prevented by positive orders;not that the recipients are not usually meritorious, but the practice byits prevalency is an unjust tax upon a class little able to bear it. Acostly sword must be presented to our Captain, --intimates a man perhapswarmly in the Captain's confidence. Forthwith the list is started, andwith extra guard and fatigue duty before the eyes of the men, it makes aunanimous circuit of the command. Active newspaper reporters, from thesheer merit of the officer, may be, and may be from the additionalinducement of a little compensation, give an account of the presentationin one of the dailies that fills the breasts of the officer's friendswith pride, while the decreased remittance of the private may keep backsome creature comfort from his wife and little ones. Statistics showinghow far these presentations are spontaneous offerings, and to whatextent results of wire-working at Head-quarters, would prove morecurious than creditable. 

Our Brigade did not escape the Presentation Mania. Never did it developitself in a command, however, more spontaneously. The plain, practicalsense of our Brigadier was the more noticeable to the men, on account ofits marked contrast to the quibbles and conceit of the General ofDivision. The officers and men of the Brigade had with great care andcost selected a noble horse of celebrated stock upon which to mounttheir Brigadier, and, on a pleasant evening in March, a crowd informallyassembled was busied in arranging for the morrow the programme ofpresentation. The General of Division, so far in the cold in the matter, was just then making himself sensibly felt. 

"Colonel, " said an officer, who from the direction of BrigadeHead-quarters neared the crowd, addressing a central figure, "you mightas well take the General's horse out to grass awhile. "

"Explain yourself, " say several. 

"Pigey has his foot in the whole matter nicely. The General, you know, just returned this evening from sick leave. Well, he and his friends, who came with him to see the presentation ceremonies, had not been atHead-quarters an hour before that sucker-mouthed Aid made hisappearance, and said that he was directed by the General Commanding theDivision to place him under arrest. The fellow was drunk, and theGeneral hardly deigned to notice him. As he staggered away, he mutteredthat there were fifteen charges against him, and that he would find theGeneral's grip a tight one. "

Amid exclamations, indicating that the perplexity of the matter couldnot prevent a sly smile at the ludicrous position in which the Brigadierand his friends from abroad were placed, the officer continued--

"But the General brings good news from Washington. The Colonel andLieutenant-Colonel of the 210th return at an early day. "

"Yes, sir, that is so, " broke in our Western Virginia Captain, who hadjust returned from enjoying one of the furloughs at that time so freelydistributed. "At last the War Department, or rather Mr. SecretaryStanton, for all the balance of the department, as far as I could learn, thought the delay outrageous, fulfils its promise. After theLieutenant-Colonel had been at home on a sick leave for some time, andwe all thought the matter about dropped; what should I see one day buthis name, with thirty-two others, in a daily, under the head of'Dismissals from the Army. ' There it was, dismissed for doing his duty, and published right among the names of scoundrels who had skulked fivetimes from the battle-field; men charged with drunkenness, and everyoffence known to the Military Decalogue. My furlough had just come, andI started for Washington by the next boat, bound to see how the matterstood. The morning after I got there, I posted up bright and early tothe War Department, but a sergeant near the door, with more polish onhis boots than in his manners, told me that I had better keep shadyuntil ten o'clock, as business hours commenced then. I sat down on apile of old lumber near by, and passed very nearly three hours inwondering why so many broad-shouldered fellows, who could make a sabrefall as heavy as the blow of a broad-axe, were lounging about or goingbackward and forward upon errands that sickly boys might do as well. Asit grew nearer ten, able-bodied, bright-looking officers, Regulars, as Iwas told, educated at Uncle Sam's expense to fight, elegantlyshoulder-strapped, passed in to drive quills in a quiet department, 'remote from death's alarms, ' and I wondered if some spirited clerks andschoolmasters that I knew, who would have been willing to have gone bentdouble under knapsacks, if the Surgeon would have accepted them, wouldnot have performed the duty better, and have permitted the country tohave the benefit of the military education of these gentlemen. "

"I see, Captain, that you don't understand it, " interrupted an officer. "Our Regular Officers are not all alike patriotic up to the fightingpoint; and it is a charitable provision that permits one, say, --who ismarried to a plantation of niggers, or who has other Southern sympathiesor affinities, or who may have conscientious scruples about fightingagainst our 'Southern brethren, '--to take a snug salary in some peacefuldepartment, or to go on recruiting service in quiet towns, wheregrasshoppers can be heard singing for squares, and where he is under thenecessity of killing nothing but time, and wounding nothing but hiscountry's honor and his own, if a man of that description can be said topossess any. In their offices, these half-hearted Lieutenants, Captains, and Colonels, are like satraps in their halls, unapproachable, except bypassing bayonets that should be turned towards Richmond. "

"Well, if I don't understand it, " resumed the Captain, "it is high timethat Uncle Sam understood it. If these men are half-hearted, they willwrite no better than they fight, and I guess if the truth could be gotat, they are responsible for most of the clogging in the Commissary andQuarter-Master Departments. But you've got me off my story. At teno'clock I staved in, just as I was, my uniform shabby, and my bootswith a tolerably fair representation of Aquia mud upon them. Passingfrom one orderly to another, I brought up at the Adjutant-General'soffice, and there I was referred to the head clerk's office, and there apleasant-looking, gentlemanly Major told me that the matter would becertainly set straight as soon as the court-martial records wereforwarded; that they had telegraphed for them again and again; and thatat one time they were reported lost, and at another carried off by oneof General Burnside's Staff Officers. As I had heard of records of thekind being delayed before, I intimated rather plainly what I thought ofthe matter, and told him that I wanted to see the Secretary himself. Hesmiled, and told me to take my place in the rear of an odd-looking mixedassemblage of persons in the hall, who were crowding towards an opendoor. It was after two o'clock and after I had stood until I feltdevotional about the knees, when my turn brought me before the door, andshowed me Mr. Secretary himself, standing behind a desk, tossing hishead, now on this side and now on that, with quick jerks, like ashort-horned bull in fly time, despatching business and the hopes of theparties who had it from their looks, about the same time. Right manfullydid he stand up to his work; better than to his word perhaps, if reportsthat I have heard be true. "

"A pretty-faced, middle-aged lady approached his desk, and I thoughtthat I could see a rather awkward effort at a smile hang around theupper corners of his huge, black beard, as his eye caught her featuresthrough his spectacles, and he received her papers. But the gruff mannerin which he told her the next moment that he would not grant it, showedI was mistaken. 

"'But I was told, Mr. Secretary, ' said the woman, in tremulous tones, 'that my papers were all right, and that your assent was a mereformality. I have three other sons in the service, and this boy isnot'----

"'I don't care what you have been told, ' retorted the Secretary, in amanner that made me so far forget my reverence that my toes suddenlyfelt as if disposed to propel something that, strange to say, had thesemblance of humanity, and was not distant at the time. 'You had betterleave the room, madam!' continued the same voice, somewhat gruffer andsterner, as the poor woman burst into tears at the suddendisappointment. 'You only interrupt and annoy. We are accustomed to thissort of thing here. '

"I looked at him as he took the papers of another for examination, andwondered whether we were really American citizens--sovereigns as ourpoliticians tell us when on the stump, and whether he was really apublic servant. But I couldn't see it. 

"Now, civility is a cheap commodity, and, in my humble opinion, theleast that can be expected of men filling public positions is that theyshould possess it in an ordinary degree. 

"Three o'clock came, but it was not my turn yet. In fact, the treatmentof the lady had so disgusted me, that I was quite ready to leave when aservant announced that business hours were over. That evening, I foundout to my great satisfaction that men considerably more influential thanmyself had held the Secretary to the promises he had made them, and thatnotwithstanding all his backing and filling the order for their returnwould be issued. "

The disappointment of the morrow was a standing topic in camp and on thepicket line for the ensuing three weeks. The only doubt that existedwith the Court convened for the trial of the Brigadier appeared to bewhether the numerous charges excelled most in frivolity or malice, as aslight reprimand for writing an unofficial account of an engagement, --anoffence of which several members of the Court had, by their ownconfession, repeatedly been guilty, --was the sole result of its labor. His restoration to command, the presentation, and the return of theColonels followed in rapid succession amid the rejoicings of officersand men. 

--Amid the waste of meadow and woodland that characterized the face ofthat country, the houses of the farmers, or rather, to use thegrandiloquent language of the inhabitants, "the mansions of theplanters, " were objects of peculiar interest. In their quaint appearanceand general air of dilapidation, they stood as relics of thecivilization of another age. Centuries, seemingly, of important eventsin the law of progress are crowded into years of our campaigning. Thesocial status of a large country semi-civilized--whether you regard theintelligence of its people or the condition of its society--is beingsuddenly altered. The war accomplishes what well-designing men lackednerve and ability to execute--emancipation. The blessings of a purercivilization will follow as naturally as sunshine follows storm. 

And yet here and there these old buildings would be varied by oneevidently framed upon a Yankee model. Such was what was widely known inthe army as "the Moncure House. " On a commanding site at the edge of ameadow several miles in length, and that seemed from the abrupt bluffsthat bordered it to have been once the bottom of a lake, this two-storyweather-board frame was readily discernible. Its location made it aprominent point, too, upon the picket line, and it was favored above itsfellows by daily and nightly occupancy by officers of the command. Atthis period the Regiment almost lived upon the picket line. An oldwench, with several chalky complexioned children, whose paternalancestor was understood to be under a musket of English manufactureperhaps, somewhere on the south side of the Rappahannock, occupied thekitchen of the premises. She was unceasing in reminding her militaryco-lodgers that the room used by them as head-quarters, --from the windowof which you could take in at a glance the fine expanse of valley, threaded by a sparkling tributary of the Potomac, --was massa's study, and that massa was a preacher and had written a "right smart" lot ofsermons in that very place. In the eyes of Dinah the room was investedwith a peculiar sanctity. Not so with its present occupants, who couldnot learn that the minister, who was a large slaveholder, had remembered"those in bonds as bound with them, " and who were quite content thatartillery proclaiming "liberty throughout the land" in tones of thunderhad driven away this vender of the divinity of the institution ofslavery. 

In this room, on seats rudely improvised, for its proper furniture hadlong since disappeared, some officers not on duty were passing apleasant April afternoon, when their reveries of other days and rehashesof old camp yarns were interrupted by the sudden advent of an officerwho a week previously had been detailed in charge of a number of men toform part of an outer picket station some distance up the river. Hisface indicated news, and he was at once the centre of attraction. 

"Colonel!" exclaimed he, without waiting to be questioned, "two of ourbest men have been taken prisoners, and the little Dutch Doctor----"

"What has happened to him?" from several at once. 

"Was taken prisoner and released, but had his horse stolen. "

His hearers breathed freer when they heard of the personal safety of theDoctor, and the officer continued--

"And the loss of our men and his horse has all happened through thecarelessness, --to treat it mildly, --of the exhorting Colonel. He is incommand of the station, and yesterday afternoon the Doctor was on dutyat his head-quarters. In came one of the black-eyed beauties that livein a house near the ford, about half a mile from the station, boo-hooingat a terrible rate--that the youngest rebel of her family was dying withthe croup--and that no doctor was near--and all that old story. TheColonel was fool enough to order the Doctor to mount his horse and gowith the woman. Well, the Doctor had got near the house, when out sprangtwo Mississippi Riflemen from the pines on either side of the road andlevelled their pieces at him. The Doctor had to dismount, and they senthim back on foot. Luckily the Colonel, who, as black Charley says, hasbeen praying for a star for some time past, had borrowed the Doctor'sdress sword on the pretence that it was lighter to carry, but on theground, really, that it looked more Brigadier-like, or he would havelost that too. I was on duty down by the river hardly two hours after ithappened, and as there is no firing now along the picket line thesoldiers were free-and-easy on both sides. All at once I heard laughteron the other side, and looking over, I saw a short, thick-set Grey-backriding the stolen horse near the water's edge. Presently two otherGrey-backs sprang on either side of the horse's head, and with pieceslevelled, in tones loud enough for us to hear, demanded his surrender. 

"'Why, shentlemen Rebels, mein Gott, you no take non compatants, mesurgeon, ' said the Grey-back on the horse, in equally loud voice. 

"'No, d--n you! Dismount! We don't want you. You can be of more serviceto the Confederate cause where you are. But we must have the nag. '

"'Mine private property, ' he replied, as he dismounted. 

"'In a horn, ' said one of the Grey-backs, pointing to the U. S. On theshoulder of the beast. 'That your private mark, eh?'

"'You no shentlemen. By G--t, no honor, ' retorted the Grey-back whopersonated the Doctor, as he swelled himself and strutted about on thesand in such a high style of indignation as to draw roars of laughterfrom both sides of the river. 

"That rather paid us with interest for the way we sold them the daybefore. You know they have been crazy after our dailies ever since thestrict general order preventing the exchange of the daily papers betweenpickets. Well, that dare-devil of a law student, Tom, determined to havesome fun with them. So when they again, as they often had before, cameto the river with hands full of Richmond papers, proposing exchange, Tomflourished a paper also. That was the old signal, and forthwith araw-boned Alabamian stripped and commenced wading toward a rock thatjutted up in the middle of the river. Tom stripped also, and met him atthe rock. Mum was the word between them, and each turned for his ownshore, the Grey-back with Tom's paper, and Tom with several of thelatest Richmond prints. A crowd of Rebel officers met their messenger atthe water's edge and received the paper. The one who opened it, bentnearly double with laughter, and the rest rapidly followed as their eyeslit on the stars and stripes printed in glowing colors on the first pageof the little religious paper that our Chaplains distribute so freely incamp, called 'The Christian Banner. ' One old officer, apparently ofhigher rank than the rest, cursed it as he went up the bank as a 'd----dYankee sell, --' which did not in the least lessen our enjoyment of Tom'ssuccess. 

"But with our two men and the Doctor's horse they have squared accountswith us since, and all through the fault of the Colonel. "

In response to inquiries as to how, when, and where, the officercontinued--

"There was a narrow strip of open land between a belt of woods and theriver. The Colonel posted our two men on the inside of the woods, wherethey had no open view towards the enemy at all. That rainy night thisweek the Rebs came over in boats and gobbled them up. The Colonelattributed their loss to their own neglect, and next morning their placewas supplied by four old soldiers, as he called them, from his ownRegiment. That same day at noon, in broad daylight, they were taken. "

"And if he were not a firm friend at Division Head-quarters there wouldbe a dismissal from the service for cause, " said an officer of thecrowd. 

"Our Corps Commander is too much of a soldier to let it go by, " resumedthe officer, "if our Brigadier can force it through DivisionHead-quarters, and bring it to his notice. "

 * * * * *

The order that introduced into the service the novelty of carrying eightdays' rations on a march, had been discussed for some time in theRegiment. That night the Regiment was withdrawn from the picket line, and preparations were forthwith made for a practical illustration of theorder on the morrow. 

CHAPTER XX. 

_The Army again on the Move--Pack Mules and Wagon Trains--A NegroProphetess--The Wilderness--Hooped Skirts and Black Jack--The Five Days'Fight at Chancellorsville--Terrible Death of an Aged Slave--APigeon-hole General's "Power in Reserve. "_

It was some weeks after a Rebel Picket, opposite Falmouth, had surprisedone of our own, who had not as yet heard of the change in the usualthree days' provender for a march, by asking him across the river"whether his eight days' rations were mouldy yet?" that the armyactually commenced its movement. While awaiting the word to fall in, this mass of humanity literally loaded with army bread and ammunitionresembled, save in uniformity, those unfortunate beings burdened withbundles of woe, so strikingly portrayed in the Vision of Mirza. To thecredit of the men, it must be stated, however, that the greatestgood-humor prevailed in this effort to render the army self-sustainingin a country that could not sustain itself. 

Another novel feature in the movement was the long strings of packmules, heavily freighted with ammunition, which were led in the rear ofthe different Brigades. Wagon trains were thereby dispensed with, andthe mobility of the army greatly increased. Stringent orders wereissued also as to the reduction of baggage, and dispensing with campequipage and cooking utensils. 

In lively ranks, although each man was freighted with the prescribedeight days' provender and sixty rounds of ball cartridge, our Division, of almost 9, 000 men, moved, followed by two ambulances to pick up thosewho might fall by the way, in the rear of which were five additionalambulances for the especial use of Division Head-quarters. For a Generalof whom reporters had said that "he was most at home in the field, " thesupply of ambulances, full of creature comforts, was unusually heavy. Onwe moved over the familiar ground of the Warrenton Pike, in common withseveral other Army Corps in a grand march; our Division, with its twoambulances; our General with his five, --and our proportionate number ofpack horses and mules. The obstinacy of the latter animal was sorelypunished by the apparent effort during that march to teach it perpetualmotion. Halt the Division did statedly, but there was no rest for thepoor mule. Experience had taught its driver that the beast would takeadvantage of the halt to lie down, and when once down no amount oftugging and swearing and clubbing could induce it to rise. Hence, whilethe command would enjoy their stated halts by the wayside, these stringsof mules would be led or driven in continuous circles of steady toil. Despite the vigilance of their drivers, a mule would occasionally drop, and his companions speedily follow, to stand a siege of kicks, cuffs, and bayonet pricks, and to be reduced, or what would be more appropriatein their case, raised at length by the application of a mud plaster tothe nostrils, which would bring the beast up in an effort to breathefreely; from which may arise the slang phrase of "bringing it up asnorting. "

Onward they marched, those wearers of the cross, the square, the circle, the crescent, the star, the lozenge, and the tripod; emblemedrepresentatives of the interests of a common humanity in the triumphalmarch that the world is witness to, of the progress of UniversalEmancipation. Landed aristocracies of the Old World may avow theiraffinity to the aristocracy of human flesh and blood that has so longcursed the New; but now that the suicidal hand of the latter has causedthe forfeit of its existence, we are the centre of the hopes, fears, andprayers of the universal brotherhood of man in the effort to blot outfor ever the only foul spot upon our national escutcheon. 

 * * * * *

"De Lor bress ye. I know yez all. Yez, Uncle Samuel's children. Longlooked for come at las, " said an old wench on the second day of ourmarch, enthusiastically to the advanced ranks of our Division, as theywound around the hill in sight of Mt. Holly Church, on the main road toKelly's Ford, curtesying and gesturing all the while with her righthand, as if offering welcome, while with her left she steadied on herhead the cast-away cover of a Dutch oven. A pair of half-worn army shoescovered her feet, and the folds of her tow gown were compressed aboutthe waist, beneath a black leathern belt, the brass plate of whichbearing the letters "U. S. , " wore a conspicuous polish. 

"Massa over yonder, " continued she, in response to a query from theranks, pointing as she spoke across the river. "Hope you cotch him. Golly he'um slyer than a possum in a hen-roost. "

The anxiety of the wench for the capture of her master, and herstatement of a pre-knowledge of the visit of the troops, were by nomeans exceptional. Rarely indeed, in the history of the Rebellion, hasdevotion on the part of the slave to the interest of the master beendiscovered. The vaunted fealty that would make his cause their own, lacks practical illustration. An attempt to arm them will save recruitsand arms to Uncle Sam. Nat Turner's insurrection developed their strongfaith in a day of freedom. Their wildest dreams of fancy could not havepictured a more auspicious prelude to the realization of that faith thanthe outbreak of the Rebellion. Well might

 "Massa tink it day ob doom, But we ob Jubilee. "

The face of the country at this point was adorned by the most beautifulvariety of hill and dale. Compared with the region about Aquia, it hadbeen but little touched by the ravages of war. When it shall have beenwholly reclaimed under a banner, then to be emphatically "the Banner ofthe Free, " an inviting door will open to enterprising business. 

A few miles further on we rested on our arms upon the summit of a ridgeoverlooking that portion of the Upper Rappahannock known as Kelly'sFord. The brilliant cavalry engagement of a few weeks previously, thatoccurred upon the level ground in full view above the Ford, invested itwith peculiar interest. Who ever saw a dead cavalryman? was a questionthat had been for a long time uttered as a standing joke. Hooker'sadvent to command was attended by a sharp and stirring order thatspeedily brought this arm of the service to a proper sense of duty. Among the first fruits of the order was this creditable fight. While noexcuse can be given for the slovenly and ungainly riding, rusty sabres, and dirty accoutrements, raw-boned and uncurried horses that had toooften made many of our cavalry regiments appear like a body of SanchoPanzas thrown loosely together; it would still be exceedingly unfair tohave required as much of them as of the educated horsemen and superiorhorseflesh that gave the Rebel cavalry their efficiency in the earlystages of the war. Since then the scales have turned. Frequentsuccessful raids and resistless charges have given the courage, skill, and dash of our Gregg, Buford, Kilpatrick, Grierson, and others thatmight be named, honorable mention at every loyal fireside. 

While on the top of this ridge, Rush's regiment of lancers, with lancesin rest and pennons gaily fluttering beneath the spear heads, canteredpast the regiment. Their strange equipment gave an oriental appearanceto the columns moving toward the ford. With straining eyes we followedtheir movement up the river and junction with the cavalry then crossingat a ford above the pontoons. The Regiment had been almost continuallybroken up for detached service, at different head-quarters, or for thepurpose of halting stragglers. With many of the men, their serviceappeared like their equipment, ornamental rather than useful, and inconnexion with their foraging reputation, won for them the expressivedesignation of "Pig Stickers. "

Darkness was just setting in when our turn came upon the pontoon bridge, and it was quite dark when we prepared ourselves, in a pelting rain, forrest for the night, as we thought, in a meadow half a mile distant fromthe road. At midnight, in mud and rain, we resumed the march, in convoyof a pontoon train, and over a by-road which from the manner itsprimitive rock was revealed, must have been unused for years. Thestreams forded during that night of sleepless toil, the enjoinedsilence, broken only by the sloppy shuffle of shoes half filled withwater, and the creaking wagons, the provoking halts that would tempt theeyes to a slumber that would be broken immediately by the resumption ofthe forward movement, have left ineffaceable memories. A somewhatpedantic order of "Accelerate the speed of your command, Colonel, " givenby our General of Division, as the head of the Regiment neared hispresence towards morning, reminded us of the "long and rapid march" thatthe Commander-in-Chief intended the army to make. 

On the last day of April we crossed the Rapidan, fording its breast-deepcurrent, considered too strong for the pontoons, and wondering, especially as the cannonading of the evening previous indicatedresistance ahead, that our advance was not at this point impeded. Artillery planted upon the circling hills of the opposite shore wouldhave made the passage, if even practicable, perilous to the last degree. As it was, however, _in puris naturalibus_, with cartridge-box on themusket barrel, and the musket on the shoulder, clothing in manyinstances bundled upon the head, the troops made the passage. The whysand the wherefores of no opposition--the confidence of Old Joe havingstolen a march upon Johnny Reb--and the usual surmises of themorrow--increased in this instance by our having surprised and capturedsome Rebel pickets when just about halting, constituted ample capitalfor conversation during our night's rest in a pine grove two miles southof the ford. 

With the Army of the Potomac the merry month of May had a livelyopening. After a march from early dawn, we found our Division, about themiddle of the forenoon, massed in a thick wood in the rear of a largeand imposing brick building, which, with one or two buildings of minorimportance, constituted what was designated upon our pocket maps as thetown of Chancellorsville. The region of country was most appropriatelystyled "The Wilderness. " A wilderness indeed, of tall oaks, and a denseundergrowth known as "black-jack. " There were but few open places orimproved spots. In one of the largest of these, at a point where twoprominent roads forked, stood the large building above mentioned. Theday previous General Lee and his staff had been hospitably entertainedwithin its walls. Now our fine-looking Commander and his gay and gallantstaff were busily engaged in its lower rooms, while the ladies of thehouse of Secesh sympathies kept themselves closely in the upperstory, --their curiosity tempting them however, to occasional peeps fromhalf-opened shutters at the blue coats below. 

At twelve, precisely, just as we had taken a position in the open groundabreast of the house, the sharp report of a rifled piece, followedquickly by the fainter explosion of a shell, was heard upon our left. Another and another succeeded, --indicating that the wood was beingshelled preparatory to an advance in that direction. Slowly we filed tothe left, proceeding by a narrow winding wood-road until the head of ourcolumn had almost reached the river. A sudden order at this stage forthe right about created considerable surprise, which ceased shortlyafter, as the sharp rattle of musketry, now as if picket firing, and nowswelling into a volleyed roar, told us of a Rebel movement upon ourflank. That our advance upon them in that direction had been quiteunexpected, was apparent from their hastily abandoned camp grounds; rowsof tents left standing, but slit from ridge-pole to pins; abandonedcaissons and ammunition; and the tubs in which their rations of flourwere kneaded, with undried dough in the corners. That they had ralliedto regain their lost ground, was also apparent. 

 * * * * *

"What's the matter, Dinah?" shouted one of our boys to an active youngwench, who was wending her way from the direction of the firing asrapidly as the frequent contact of an extensive hooped skirt with theundergrowth would allow. 

"Dunno zackly, massa! Don't like de racket at all down yonder, " shereplied, making at the same time vigorous efforts to release the holdsome bushes appeared to have upon her, upon either side. A sudden roarof artillery, apparently nearer by, brought matters to a crisis, andscreaming "Oh, Lor, " she loosened her clothing, and sprang out of theskirt with a celerity that showed the perfection of musculardevelopment, and won shouts of applause from the ranks. 

 * * * * *

A sharp engagement was in progress upon a lower and almost parallelroad. The roar of cannon, the explosion of shells, the rattle ofmusketry, --now ragged as if from detached squads, --and now volleyed asfrom full ranks, mingled with the shrill cheers or rather demoniac yellsof the Rebels, pealing their banner cry of "Hell, " in their successivecharges, and the gruff hoarse shouts of our troops, as they dulyrepulsed them, formed a most martial accompaniment to our march. Theunity of sound of well executed volleys, told us how Sykes's Regularsattacked, whilst marching by the flank, halted at the word, faced to theleft with the precision of an ordinary drill, and delivered their firewith murderous exactness. 

A few stray bullets flying in the direction of a temporized corral ofpack-horses in a corner of the wood in the rear of the brick house, frightened their cowardly drivers, who commenced a stampede to the rear;and as we emerged from the road to our old position, the beasts wererapidly divesting themselves of their packs, in their progress throughthe undergrowth. In conjunction with this the frequent and fiercecharges of the Rebel massed columns, favored by the smoke of the burningwoods, made a panic imminent among the troops upon the lower road. Thequick eye of old Joe saw the danger in a moment, and rushing from thehouse and springing upon his horse, he dashed down that road unattended, his manly form the mark of many a rebel rifle. Shouts of applausegreeted him, and the continuous rattle of our musketry told us of theregained confidence of the men, and the renewed steadiness of our line. 

It was now four in the afternoon--the usual time with the Rebels for theexecution of their favorite movement--charging in massed columns. Onthey came in their successive charges, howling like fiends, and with acourage that would have adorned an honorable cause. The steady musketry, but above all the terrific showers of canister from cannon thatthundered in doublets from right to left along the line of ourbatteries, could not be withstood, and they fell back in confusion. Thenature of the ground did not permit an advance of our forces, and wewere compelled to rest content with their repulse. An hour later ourDivision moved by still another road to the left, to a ridge in theneighborhood of Banks's Ford. Upon its wooded summit, with no sound tobreak in upon us save the screaming of whip-poor-wills, which the boyswith ready augury construed to mean "whip-'em-well, " and picket firing, that would occasionally appear to run along the line, we passed acomfortable night. 

Breastworks were the order of the day following, and at noon we wereenjoying our coffee in a cleared space, behind a ridge of logs and limbsthat fronted our entire Division, and which we would have been contentto hold against any attacking force. Cannonading continued at intervals, with occasional musketry firing. As it was considerably to our right, wewere not disturbed in our enjoyment of supplies of provisions obtainedfrom vacated Rebel houses in the neighborhood. Our amusement was greatlycontributed to, by the sight of some of the men dressed in odd clothingof a by-gone fashionable age. But perhaps the most interesting objectwas a Text-book upon the Divinity of Slavery, written by a ReverendDoctor Smith, for the use of schools; its marked lessons and dirtydog-ears shewing that it had troubled the brains and thumbs of youthfulRebels. Instilled into infant minds, and preached from their pulpits, weneed not wonder that they, with the heartless metaphysics of northernsympathy, should consider slavery "an incalculable blessing, " and shouldnow be in arms to vindicate their treason, its legitimate offspring. 

Cannonading had been frequent during the day; its heavy booming at timesvaried by the light rattle of the rifle. From four until eleven P. M. Itwas a continuous roar, save about an hour's intermission between fiveand six. At first sounding sullenly away to the right, then graduallynearing, until at nightfall musketry and artillery appeared to volleyspitefully almost upon our Division limits. It was apparent that ourline had been broken, and apprehending the worst we anxiously stood atarms and awaited the onward. Nearer and nearer the howling devils came;louder and louder grew the sounds of conflict. The fiercest of fightswas raging evidently in the very centre of the ground chosen as ourstronghold. If ever the Army of the Potomac was to be demoralized by theshock of battle, that was the time. But the feeling was not one of fearwith our citizen soldiery--the noblest type of manhood--rather ofeagerness for the troops in reserve to be called into the contest. Justbefore six we heard an honest shout, as the boys would call the cheersof their comrades. It grew fainter; the firing became moredistant--slackened and ceased at six, to be resumed again at seven, uponanother and more remote line of attack. 

The terrible distinctness of this alternate howling and cheering--asperceptible to the ear during the thunders of the fight, as the silverlining that not unfrequently fringes the heavily-charged cloud is to theeye, --is a striking illustration of the power of the human voice. Wewere to have another, however, and that of but a single voice, whichfrom the agony of soul thrown into it, and its almost supernaturalsurroundings, must eternally echo in memory. 

About three hundred yards distant from the left of our Brigade line, inan open field, on elevated ground, stood a large and comfortablelooking farm-house. In the morning it had been occupied; but as itsinmates saw our skirmishers prostrating themselves on the one side indouble lines that ran parallel to our breastworks, and the Rebel advanceat the same time attain the edge of the wood upon the oppositeside, --and the skirmishing that occasionally occurred along the linesgiving promise of a fight that might centre upon their premises, --theypacked up a few valuables and left for a place of safety. But not all. We read of noble Romans offering their lives in defence of faithfulslaves. That species of self-sacrifice is a stranger to our Southernchivalry. In the garret of the building, upon some rags, lay an oldwoman, who had been crippled from injuries received by being scaldedsome months before, and had thus closed a term of faithful service whichran over fifty years, of the life of her present master and of that ofhis father before him. Worn out, and useless for further toil, she hadbeen placed in the garret with other household rubbish. Her poor bodycrippled, --but a casket, nevertheless, of an immortal soul, --was not oneof the valuables taken by the family upon their departure. As thethunders of the thickening fight broke in upon her loneliness, her criesupon the God of battles, alone powerful to save, could be heard withgreat distinctness. Isolated and under the fire of either line, therewas no room for human relief. Her strength of voice appeared to growwith the increasing darkness, and above the continuous thunder of thecannon were the cries--"God Almighty, help me!" "Lord, save me!" "Havemercy on me!" shrieked and groaned in all the varied tones of mortalagony. Long after the firing had ceased, in fact until we moved atearly dawn, our men behind the works and in the rifle pits in frontcould hear with greater or less distinctness, as if a death wail comingup from the carnage of the field, the piteous plaints of thatterror-stricken soul. Rumor has it, that before the building was firedby a shell in the middle of the following forenoon, her spirit had takenits flight; but whether or not, it could not mitigate the retributivejustice to be measured out by that God over us all to whom vengeancebelongs, upon the heads of the ingrates who had left her to her fate. 

We moved, as we have before mentioned, at early dawn on one of thosefair, bright Sabbath days so happily spoken of by "good old GeorgeHerbert;" marching by the right flank along our works, with a hurriedstep. It was between five and six when we neared the front, --passing onour way out, hosts of stragglers and disorganized regiments of theEleventh Corps. They had suffered badly--some said, behaved badly--andsome said, posted in such a way that they could not but behave badly. The merits of the case must remain for decisive history. Concedingequally good generalship to both, it is not amiss to say, that whathappened under Howard might not have happened under Sigel. The desultoryfiring along our changed front showed too plainly the ground we had lostthe day before. In the wood, alongside of the road fronting the rightcentre of our line, our Regiment lay at arms, --listening to awfullyexaggerated stories from stragglers, --watching the posting of artilleryin our immediate front, the entry of Brigades into the wood upon ourleft, and their exit under skilful artillery practice, --and now and thendodging at the sound of the stray shells sent as return compliments fromRebel batteries. 

"Good-bye, Colonel; these brass-bull pups will roar bloody murder atJohnny Reb to-day, " said a fine-looking, whole-souled Lieutenant, incommand of an Ohio battery, pointing to his pieces with pride, as hehurried by at a trot, to relieve a battery on our left centre. 

Poor fellow! How blind we are to futurity! His pieces were scarcely inposition before a shell struck the caisson at which he was adjustingfuses, and his head, picked up at the distance of a hundred yards, wasall that remained unshattered of his manly figure, after the explosion. 

 * * * * *

Files of wounded upon foot, full ambulances, and stretchers laden withthe more serious cases, passed us here. 

 * * * * *

"I am done for, fellows, " said a slightly built, pale-faced sergeant, resting upon his elbow, and pointing to his shattered side, as he wascarried by on a stretcher; "but stick to the old flag; it is bound towin. "

His passage along the line was greeted with cheers, that must havesounded gratefully to ears fast closing to earthly sounds. 

But why individualize? The heroism that may be told of such a day, isbut a drop compared with the thousand untold currents of unselfishpatriotism and high resolve that well up in the bosoms of our Unionsoldiers. Not that daring deeds are not performed by Rebel ranks, but--

 "True fortitude is seen in great exploits, That justice warrants, and that wisdom guides; All else is towering frenzy and distraction. "

About nine in the forenoon, to the sound of lively musketry on our left, our Brigade left in front, crossed the open space in front of the wood, and in the rear of a white plastered farm-house. A narrow wood-road ledus into the wood, and filing to the left we connected with troopsalready in line of battle. The position was hardly taken before the zip!zip!! zip!!! of Minié balls informed us that we were objects of especialinterest to Rebel sharpshooters. In another minute flashes of flame andpuffs of smoke, that appeared to rise from among the dead foliage of thewood--so closely did their Butternut clothing resemble leaves--revealeda strong, well-formed, but prostrate Rebel line. The firing now becamegeneral upon both sides. Fortunately our position was such that theyovershot us. Our men continued to aim low, and delivered an effectivefire. Three times they tried to rise preparatory to the charge, and wereas often thrown into confusion, and forced again upon the ground. Fornearly two long hours the rattling of musketry was incessant. Finally, the Rebels made the discovery that the supply of ammunition wasexhausted upon the right, and the right itself unsupported. It, ofcourse, was the point to mass upon, and on they came in solid columns tothe charge, completely outflanking our right. 

To hold the ground with our formation was simply impossible. The orderto retire was given; and facing by the rear rank--the Regimentspreserving their ranks as best they could in that thicket of black-jack, and carrying their wounded, --among them our Major, shot through thechest--made their way to the open space in rear of the wood. The colorsof our regiment were seized, --but the first Rebel hand upon them relaxedfrom a death shot, --another was taken with the Regiment, --and the flagbrought off in triumph. So completely had they gained our flank thatour ranks became mixed with theirs, and nothing but the opportune fireof our batteries prevented their taking away a Field Officer, who twiceescaped from their hands. 

As our Brigade re-formed in the rear of the batteries, treble charges ofcanister swept the woods of the Rebel ranks. We had suffered heavily, but nothing in comparison to the destruction now visited upon theRebels. To complete the horrors of the day, the wood was suddenly fired, evidently to cover their retreat, and the fire swept to the open space, enveloping in flame and smoke the dead and wounded of both sides; andall this at the very time when throughout the length and breadth of thisChristian land, thousands of churches were resonant with the words ofthe Gospel of Peace. But "Woe be unto those by whom offences come. ""They have taken the sword, and must perish by the sword. "

So completely were the Rebels masters of the only available fightingground that no further effort was made to advance our lines, and thearmy stood strictly upon the defensive. The open space, in which stoodthe Chancellorsville mansion, at this time a mass of smoking ruins, wasin their possession. At arms behind the breastworks we awaited theonset; but although there was occasional firing, no general attack wasmade during the remainder of the day. With the thanks of our CorpsCommander publicly given for services during the fight, our Brigaderested at night, speculating upon which side the heavy firing told thenheard in the vicinity of Fredericksburg. 

During the next day we were stationed as a Reserve upon the right, andcalled to arms frequently during the day and night, when the Rebelswith their unearthly yells would tempt our artillery by charging uponthe works. On the day after we were moved to support the centre, andkept continually at arms. In the afternoon a violent thunderstormraged--the dread artillery of Heaven teaching us humility by itsstriking contrast to the counterfeit thunder of our cannon. Raingenerally follows heavy cannonading. All that afternoon and the greaterpart of the night it fell in torrents. Cannonading in the direction ofFredericksburg had ceased during the day. Sedgwick's disastrous movementwas not generally known, --but our wounded had all been sent off;--ourfew wagon trains and our pack-horses had crossed, --and notwithstandingthe show of fight kept up in front, enough was seen to indicate that thearmy was about to recross the Rappahannock. 

Favored by the darkness, battery after battery was quietly withdrawn, their respective Army Corps accompanying in Regiments of two abreast. 

The movement was in painful contrast to the spirited order that gavesuch a merry May-day to our hope upon the first of the month. In blousesthat smoked that wet night around camp fires kept up for the purpose ofmisleading the enemy, our men stood discussing the orders, and thecounter-orders, and what had happened, and what might happen, from thestep. Hooker had credit for the successful execution of his part of theprogramme. What was wrong below was conjecture then, and does not yetappear to be certainly understood. 

 * * * * *

"Where is Old Pigey?" said one of a group of officers, suddenly turningto a comrade, as they stood about one of their camp fires. "He has notbeen near our Brigade during the day. "

"No! nor near the other, except to damn it in such a style as to drawdown the rebuke of a superior officer, " replied the man addressed. "Follow me, if you desire to see how a 'cool, courageous man ofscience, ' one, whose face, as the Reporters say of him, 'indicatestremendous power in reserve, ' meets this crisis. "

The two retired, and on a camp stool, with cloak wrapped closely abouthim, in front of a fire whose bright blaze gave him enormous proportionsupon the dark background of pines, surrounded by his Staff, his hat morepinched up and askew than usual, and receiving frequent consolation froma long, black bottle, evidently his power in reserve upon this occasion, the General was discovered in a pensive mood. 

"Do you know, " continued the officer, "that he reports, as a reason forhis absence to-day, that he did not consider it prudent to be near ourBrigade during the loading and firing exercise. "

"The torturing of a guilty conscience, " was the reply. "Our men, as truesoldiers, know but one enemy in the field. "

 * * * * *

At length, at two in the morning of the 6th of May, we cautiouslycommenced our movement to the river. The dawn of a rainy day saw usformed in line of battle, supporting artillery planted to protect thecrossing. About eight our turn came upon the swollen stream. The rainpelted piteously as we ascended the steep slope of the opposite bank, and after a day's march over roads resembling rivers of mud, we sleptaway our sorrows under wet blankets, in the comfortable huts of our oldcamp ground. 

CHAPTER XXI. 

_The Pigeon-hole General and his Adjutant under Charges--The ExhortingColonels Adieu to the Sunday Fight at Chancellorsville; Reasonsthereof--Speech of the Dutch Doctor in Reply to a Peace-Offering fromthe Chaplain--The Irish Corporal stumping for Freedom--Black Charlie'sCompliments to his Master--Western Virginia at the Head of a BlackRegiment. _

 "HEAD-QUARTERS, ---- DIVISION. "---- ARMY CORPS, _7th May, 1863_. 

 "General Orders, No. 22. 

 "The term of service of six of the eight Regiments forming my Division is about to expire. In the midst of the pressing duties of an active Campaign there is but little time for leave-taking, yet I cannot part from the brave officers and men of my command without expressing to them the satisfaction and pride I have felt at their conduct, from the time when I assumed command, as they marched through Washington, in September last, to join the Army of the Potomac, then about to meet the Enemy, up to the present eventful period. 

 "The cheerfulness with which they have borne the unaccustomed fatigues and hardships which it is the lot of the soldier to endure; their zealous efforts to learn the multifarious duties of the soldier; the high spirit they have exhibited when called on to make long and painful marches to meet the enemy, and their bravery in the field of battle have won my regard and affection. I shall part from them with deep regret, and wish them, as the time of each regiment expires, a happy return to their families and friends. 

 "---- ----, "Brig. Gen'l Com'g Division. "

However profound the _regret_ of the General at parting, he must, fromthe phraseology of the above Order, have been conscious, that in his ownconduct was to be found the reason that such regret was not in the leastreciprocated by his command. So completely had he aliened the affectionsof officers and men that the ordinary salute in recognition of his rankwas given grudgingly, if at all. When there is no gold in the character, men are not backward in proclaiming that they consider

 "The rank is but the guinea's stamp. "

As their campaign approached its close, he added studied insult to longcontinued injury. His inconsistency, and willingness to make use of aquibble for the accomplishment of tyrannical purposes were shown by hisnon-approval of the requisition for dress coats, when it was handed inby the officer in command of the Regiment, a short time after theremoval of the Colonel and Lieutenant-Colonel for refusing to obey theorder requiring it. Charges had been preferred against hisAdjutant-General for repeated instances of "Drunkenness upon Duty, ""Disgraceful Conduct, " and "Conduct unbecoming an Officer and aGentleman. " They were returned to the Brigadier, through whom they hadbeen submitted, with an insulting note, in which the General tookoccasion to state, by way of pre-judgment, that the charges weremalicious and false, notwithstanding the scores of names appended aswitnesses;--and that no _Volunteer Captain_ had a right to prefercharges against one of his Staff; and that it was the duty of theBrigadier to discountenance any charges of the kind. They were againforwarded, with the statement of the Brigadier, that the charges wereeminently proper, and that he himself would prefer them, shouldobjection be taken to the rank of the officer whose signature wasattached. But pigeon-holing was a favorite smothering process atDivision Head-Quarters, and the drunken and disgraceful conduct of theAdjutant-General remains unpunished. 

Charges supported by a large array of reputable witnesses, ranking fromBrigadier to Privates, were preferred against the General himself, for"Drunkenness, " "Un-officerlike conduct, " "Conduct tending to mutiny, "and the utterance of the following treasonable and disloyalsentiments:--

 "That he wished some one would ask the army to follow General McClellan to Washington, and hurl the whole d----d pack into the Potomac, and place General McClellan at the head of the Government, --that the removal of the said General McClellan was a political move to kill the said General; and that the army had better be taken to Washington, and turned over to Lincoln. "

The charges and specifications, of one of the latter of which the aboveis an extract, alleged that the offence was committed at Camp nearWarrenton, about the time of McClellan's removal. Whether they too havebeen pigeon-holed at Division Head-Quarters is not known. Attention totheir merit was promised by superior officers. The patriotic sacrificesof our citizen soldiery are surely worthy of an unceasing and unsparingeffort to procure loyal, temperate, and capable commanders. A timelytrial, besides affording a salutary example, might have done much inpreventing the disgraceful Rebel escape at Williamsport, which alonedims the glory of Gettysburg. 

 * * * * *

The last that was seen of the exhorting Colonel and his Adjutant, wastheir sudden exit from the wood at Chancellorsville, in an early stageof Sunday's fight, --the one with a slight wound, and the other with aheadache caused by the cannonading, as alleged. A performance which hasnot, thus far, brought the coveted star. 

 * * * * *

"I propose the health of the Assistant Surgeon, " said the Chaplain, at asupper given by the Sutler on the day of our muster out, and theoccasion of the presentation of a costly sword to our worthyColonel, --proposing thereby to make an advance towards healing theirdifferences. The Doctor could not escape; and winking, as usual with himduring excitement, he rose to his feet. 

"My ver goot kind friend, the English language he am a shtranger to me. No shpeak so goot as Shaplain, but py tam, " and the Doctor struck thetable until the plates rattled--"was py the Shaplain over six month, and my opinion is, Shaplains, women, and whiskey not goot for soldiers. "

The Doctor's look and tones were irresistibly ludicrous, and a roar oflaughter at the expense of the Chaplain ran round the board. 

 * * * * *

The Regiment returned with ranks sadly thinned. Many of the survivors;among them, most of the Field and Staff, the poetical and the preacherLieutenants, and privates Tom and Harry, --have re-entered service. Thetwo latter now carry swords. 

 * * * * *

Bill the cook is the presiding genius of a restaurant; his face, in theway of reminding one of hot stews and pepper-pot, his best sign. Charlie, his assistant, was last noticed in a photographic establishmentin Philadelphia; inclosing a full length card portrait of himself inuniform, as a Corporal in a Black Regiment, for the benefit of hismaster's family in Dixie. 

 * * * * *

The little Irish Corporal was heard to tell a brawling peace man, --as hemenaced with the stump of an arm, --lost at Chancellorsville--in a saloona short time after his return, to "hould his tongue; that the boys whohad lost limbs in defence of the country were the chappies to stump forfreedom, and that they would keep down all fires in the rear, while ourbrave boys are fighting in front. "

 * * * * *

A late mail brings the news that our Western Virginia Captain is soon totake the field at the head of a Black Regiment, and that the happiestresults are anticipated from his enforcement of military law andtactics, as learned by him under "Old Rosy, " in Western Virginia. 

 * * * * *

Thus we go on. Necessity hastens the progress of civilization andfreedom. Desolating war--protracted by mistaken leniency--has educatedthe nation to a proper sense of the treason, and nerved it to thedetermination to crush it by all possible means and at every hazard. Theman who has heretofore objected to Negro enlistments, acquiesces whenhis own name appears upon the list of the Enrolling Officer. The daythat saw the change in the miserable, not to say treasonable, policy ofalienating the only real friends we have had in the South, and theirsuccessful employment as soldiers, stands first in the decline of theRebellion. Its suppression is fixed, and is to be measured by the vigorwith which we press the war. 

 "Vengeance is secure to him Who doth arm himself with right. "

 THE END. 

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TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES:

The author, "A Citizen-Soldier", is pseudonym for William H. Armstrong. "Old Pigey" is believed to be based on General Arthur A. Humphreys. 

This text has been edited to standardize representation of censoredwords. Additionally, hyphens have been added to some phrases, to provideconsistency. 

"=" has been used in this text edition of the book to indicate wherethe original book used bold fonts; + has been used to indicate a fontchange.