s to whether
he preferred the water hot or cold, but for any one to repeat the question
in his presence, whether on the street or elsewhere, was sure to stir up
the barber's ire. Immediately upon seeing him standing in front of his
shop, our boys began to sing out, "Vater hot, or vater cold?" The old
Dutchman became terribly excited, and the result was that that portion of
the procession which was composed of Company B became sadly demoralized.
As soon as our officers took in the situation, order was at once
restored, and a few minutes of "double quick" enabled us to regain our
position in line. But no sooner had this been done than we saw coming
directly toward us, down the avenue, a regiment which had the appearance
of having just come from "the front." It was a new and strange sight to
us, those "battle-scarred veterans" of the war, and we made up our minds
that the right thing for us to do was to tender them a reception. Without
any orders from our officers, and without even their knowledge, we
immediately came to "company front" and presented arms, to the great
amusement and evident astonishment of those old soldiers. This action on
our part caused us to receive a well-merited reprimand from our officers,
and it was the first and only performance of the kind in which Company B
bore a conspicuous part.

CHAPTER III.

Of the movements of the Eleventh regiment while in Virginia, I will not
weary you with a rehearsal in detail. Our first regular camp was
established on Miner's Hill, the extreme outer part of the defenses of
Washington, and when we reached it on a cold, raw, blustering day late in
the fall of 1862, the wind filling our eyes and mouths with a blinding and
grinding dust, it was the most dismal and dreary-looking place that I ever
saw--with the single exception of Seekonk Plains. We remained here about
three months, building and stockading our winter quarters, drilling and
doing picket duty, and making occasional raids when we felt sure that the
enemy was a safe distance from us. We were in General Robert Cowdin's
brigade, which comprised, in addition to our own regiment, the Fortieth
Massachusetts, the Twenty-second Connecticut, the One Hundred and
Forty-first New York, and the Sixteenth Virginia Battery.

Company B had a fund of one thousand dollars which was raised by the
patriotic citizens of Pawtucket and Central Falls for the purpose of
enabling the officers to procure for the members of th