soners, whether those
arrested for crime, or prisoners of war--those captured from the enemy.
In the case of prisoners sentenced to death by court-martial, the
provost guard were their executioners.

CHAPTER III

ON THE MARCH

We are bound northward through Maryland, the vets tell us, on a chase
after the rebs. The army marches in three and four parallel columns,
usually each corps in a column by itself, and distant from the other
columns equal to about its length in line of battle, say a half to
three-fourths of a mile. Roads were utilized as far as practicable, but
generally were left to the artillery and the wagon trains, whilst the
infantry made roads for themselves directly through the fields.

The whole army marches surrounded by "advance and rear guards," and
"flankers," to prevent surprise. Each column is headed by a corps of
pioneers who, in addition to their arms, are provided with axes, picks
and shovels, with the latter stone walls and fences are levelled
sufficiently to permit the troops to pass, and ditches and other
obstructions covered and removed. It is interesting to see how quickly
this corps will dispose of an ordinary stone wall or rail fence. They go
down so quickly that they hardly seem to pause in their march.

We learn that the Johnnies are only a couple of days ahead of us. That
they marched rapidly and were on their good behavior, all marauding
being forbidden, and they were singing a new song, entitled "My
Maryland," thus trying to woo this loyal border State over to the
Confederacy. We were told that Lee hung two soldiers for stealing
chickens and fruit just before they entered Frederick City.

Much could be written about the discomforts of these marches, the chief
of which was the dust more than the heat and the fatigue. No rain had
fallen for some time, and the roads and the fields through which we
passed were powdered into fine dust, which arose in almost suffocating
clouds, so that mouth, lungs, eyes, and ears were filled with it.
Sometimes it became so dense that men could not be seen a dozen yards
away. The different regiments took turns in heading the columns. There
was comparative comfort at the head, but there were so many regiments
that during the whole campaign our regiment enjoyed this privilege but
once.

Another feature of the march was inability to satisfy thirst. The dust
and heat no doubt produced an abnormal thirst which water did not seem
to satisfy. The w