been given, for no babbling tongues broke
in on the depression which seemed to
weigh on all alike. One might almost
have fancied the men were still asleep, so
quiet were they with heads bowed on the
hands which clutched their rifles. Even
the mounted officers sat motionless upon
their horses, some with their foreheads
stooping to the saddle bow; and from
whispering sounds that escaped their lips
they might have been praying.

Some two years later, when these soldiers
of the people had grown veterans in the
art of destruction, their bearing prior to a
battle had changed considerably. Where
they had no stomachs for fighting before,
they had now become very gluttons, and
slept as soundly in their bivouacs, awaiting
the reveille that was to awake them
perhaps to death, as ever they did in their
own beds in peaceful times. It was
notably so with the Southerners, whom I had
joined shortly after the commencement of
hostilities, that this great improvement had
taken place. A long list of victories—
though mostly barren ones—had given
them confidence in their prowess, and they
cheerfully prepared to meet the fresh
armies which the North was for ever
placing in the field.

Some two years later, then, I was hastening
westwards with a detachment of troops
belonging to Longstreet's corps, anxious to
reach the general in time to assist at a
great battle which threatened in the
neighbourhood of Chattanooga. The pickets of
the rival armies had been engaged daily,
and a collision between the entire forces
was imminent. Tired and dusty, I came
up with the head-quarters of the first army
corps bivouacked on the summit of a hill
in a small enclosure that surrounded a
planter's house. The palings that fenced
off the ground had been torn down, and a
battery, with the men lying by the guns,
and infantry supports sleeping on their
arms, now formed the only fence. A
couple of tents had been pitched on the
lawn for the accommodation of Generals
Longstreet and McLaws, and around,
covered by blankets, and their heads
pillowed on saddles, lay sleeping the
members of the staff. The only person
disturbed by my late arrival was Captain
Goree, who found me a covering, and I
was soon stretched out like the rest.
Considering that a large army was bivouacked
in line of battle, we being near the left
centre, the silence was remarkable; for
beyond the occasional neighing or stamping
of the horses, and the dull rumbling of
baggage trains in the rear, not a sound
jarred the still air as I settled myself to
sleep.

It appeared to me that I had only just
glided into the unconsciousness of slumber,
when an unusual sound disturbed me, and
made me restless. I grew uncomfortable,
and threw my head from side to side, and
at last became thoroughly aroused. There
was no mistaking what had awakened me,
for I saw it strike the ground some few
yards in front of where we were lying.
It was a three-inch rifled shell, but
fortunately for us it did not explode, and only
thudded into the soft earth. I twitched at
Goree's blanket, and told him to "wake up,
for we were being shelled," to which he, in
the coolest possible manner, replied: "I
know it; they've been at it some time."

But the missiles were now coming fast
and furious, and to think of any further
rest was out of the question, so we rose in
anything but a good temper, yawning and
shivering to our feet. It was scarcely
dawn, and a heavy veil of mist clung
around the hill, making our plateau an
island in a gauzy sea. It was impossible to
discover the battery from which the shells
came; all we knew was that they were
being plentifully supplied at the rate of
about half a dozen a minute. Whilst I
was staring through the vapour in the
direction from whence the firing proceeded,
General McLaws made his appearance
from his tent, in somewhat scanty costume,
to inquire into the cause of the hubbub,
but he was speedily satisfied, for one of
these hollow bolts went through the
canvas, and buried itself in the warm nest
of blankets from which he had just
emerged. A few seconds sooner and the
general would have been caught napping.
At the apex of this small hill, not more
than an acre in extent, were massed, as I
have stated, a regiment of infantry in
support of a battery of artillery, and it is
wonderful to me, considering that shot and
shell were whizzing in all directions, that
not one of the staff was hurt, and, indeed,
that the list of casualties should have
comprised only two killed and a few wounded.
The family residing in the house had taken
refuge in the cellar, where they could listen
to the merry crashing going on above their
heads as the solid shot tore through the
scantling of the wood-constructed building.

As though undisturbed by the din,
General Longstreet completed his toilet
before issuing from his tent, and when he
sauntered up to our circle, he was calmly
filling his morning pipe. With a smiling