truth dawned upon him, the captain at first looked "sold" and
disgusted, and then joined in the general laughter.

We halted that night near Prince Edward's Court-house, after a march of
eighteen miles. Here we rejoined the brigade.

April 8th we made the most trying march of all. We lost some time by
going out of the way, and made frequent halts during the forenoon, as if
uncertain of the direction, or suspicious of the movement of the enemy.
About noon we reached Prospect Station, thirteen miles from Farmville.
In the afternoon we settled down to hard marching. We did not halt for
supper. The sun went down, night came on, and still we marched on. By
nine o'clock conversation had ceased--no breath could be wasted in
words. Even "Sport" could no longer muster spirit to crack a joke on any
body. You could only hear the "tramp, tramp" of feet, and the occasional
clatter of a saber. But there was no grumbling. We knew this was the
last forced march. One more blow, and treason would be crushed in the
dust. As the column, from time to time, became clogged by some
obstruction ahead, and halted for a moment, the men would sink down on
the ground, most of them just where they stopped, to catch brief rest
for their aching limbs. At such times I would be sound asleep in a
moment, and more than once the column was marching on and myself with it
when I awoke.

Midnight came, and still we pressed on relentlessly. About one in the
morning we saw lights ahead, which indicated that a halt had been made.
Never did rest and sleep seem sweeter, nor a mile seem longer. It
required a distinct effort of the will to compel each single step. But
at last the task was accomplished. We had marched forty-two miles since
sunrise, and lay within striking distance of the enemy.

The company was represented by Dunn, Bovard, Mike Coleman, Sergeant
Hasler, and myself. The rest had broken down under the terrible strain
and fallen behind. Without removing any thing, I threw myself on the
ground, and knew no more until I was aroused at daylight to go on.

Just after sunrise we halted--for breakfast, they said. It was rather a
grim sort of a joke. Scarcely one in fifty had any thing to eat. A few
had coffee, and fires were made, and we went through the regulation
motions of getting breakfast. This done, we started on again.

It soon became evident that the enemy had been brought to bay. The
confused noise of battle rang through the air. We had halted i