that winter--it is well worthy of remark that the health of the army was
never better. At one time that winter there were only 300 men in
hospital from the whole Army of Northern Virginia--which seems to
suggest that humans don't need as much to eat as they think they do.
That army was very hungry, but it was very healthy! It looks like cause
and effect! But it was a very painful way of keeping healthy. I fear we
would not have taken that tonic, if we could have helped it, but we
couldn't! Maybe it was best as it was. Let us hope so!

Well, the winter wore on in this regular way until the 3d or 4th of
February, when our quiet was suddenly disturbed in a most unexpected
manner. Right in the dead of a stormy winter, when nobody looked for any
military move--we had a fight. The enemy got "funny" and we had to bring
him to a more serious state of mind, and teach him how wrong it was to
disturb the repose of gentlemen when they were not looking for it, and
not doing anything to anybody--just trying to be happy, and peaceable if
they could get a chance.

=Confederate Fashion Plates=

Leading up to an account of this, I may mention some circumstances in
the way of the boys in the camp. Living the hard life, we were--one
would suppose that fashion was not in all our thoughts; but even then,
we felt the call of fashion and followed it in such lines, as were open
to us. The instinct to "do as the other fellow does" is implanted in
humans by nature; this blind impulse explains many things that otherwise
were inexplicable. With the ladies it makes many of them wear hats and
dresses that make them look like hoboes and guys, and shoes that make
them walk about as gracefully as a cow in a blanket, instead of looking,
and moving like the young, graceful gazelles--that nature meant, and men
want them to look like. Taste and grace and modesty go for nothing--when
fashion calls.

Well, the blind impulse that affects the ladies so--moved us in regard
to the patches put on the seats of our pants. This was the only
particular in which we could depart from the monotony of our quiet,
simple, gray uniform--which consisted of a jacket, and pants and did not
lend itself to much variety; but fashion found a way.

There must always be a leader of fashion. We had one--"The glass of
fashion and the mould of form" in our gang was Ben Lambert. He could
look like a tombstone, but was full of fun, and inventive genius.

Our uniform was a short ja