efeated general, though he
undoubtedly was--so badly, indeed, that he was never given any command
of importance afterwards.

On Saturday, September 6, we received orders to join the Army of the
Potomac--again under the command of "Little Mac"--at Rockville, Md.,
distant about eighteen miles. This was our first march. The day was
excessively hot, and Colonel Oakford received permission to march in the
evening. We broke camp about six o'clock P.M. It was a lovely moonlight
night, the road was excellent, and for the first six miles the march
was a delight. We marched quite leisurely, not making over two miles an
hour, including rests, nevertheless the last half of the distance was
very tiresome, owing to the raw and unseasoned condition of our men, and
the heavy load they were carrying. We reached the bivouac of the grand
Army of the Potomac, of which we were henceforth to be a part, at about
three o'clock the next morning. Three miles out from the main camp we
encountered the outpost of the picket line and were duly halted. The
picket officer had been informed of our coming, and so detained us only
long enough to satisfy himself that we were all right.

Here we encountered actual conditions of war with all its paraphernalia
for the first time. Up to this time we had been playing at war, so to
speak, in a camp of instruction. Now we were entering upon the thing
itself, with all its gruesome accessories. Everything here was business,
and awful business, too. Here were parks of artillery quiet enough just
now, but their throats will speak soon enough, and when they do it will
not be the harmless booming of Fourth of July celebrations. Here we pass
a bivouac of cavalry, and yonder on either side the road, in long lines
of masses, spread out like wide swaths of grain, lie the infantry behind
long rows of stacked guns. Here were upward of seventy-five thousand
men, all, except the cordon of pickets, sound asleep. In the midst of
this mighty host the stillness was that of a graveyard; it seemed almost
oppressive.

Halting the regiment, Colonel Oakford and I made our way to the
head-quarters of Major-General Sumner, commanding the Second Army Corps,
to whom the colonel was ordered to report. We finally found him asleep
in his head-quarters wagon. A tap on the canvas top of the wagon quickly
brought the response, "Hello! Who's there? What's wanted?"

Colonel Oakford replied, giving his name and rank, and that his regiment
was