medicines were prepared;
and from one boundary of the Confederacy to the other, the hum of
preparation told that the leaders of the nation had at last awakened to
its real demands.

The mass of the people--who, from the first, had been willing and
anxious, but doubtful what to do--now sprang to their places; moneyed
men made large and generous donations of cash; the banks offered loans
of any amount, on most liberal terms; planters from every section made
proffers of provisions and stock, in any quantities needed; and the
managers of all the railroads in the South held a convention at
Montgomery and proffered the use of their roads to the Government;
volunteering to charge only half-rates, and to receive payment in the
bonds of the Confederate States.

Especially did the women go heart and soul into the work; urging the
laggards, encouraging the zealous, and laboring with sacrificial zeal
upon rough uniforms for the most unprepared of the new troops.

The best blood of the South went cheerfully into the ranks, as the post
of honor; and the new regiments endeavored to be perfectly impartial in
selecting the best men for their officers, irrespective of any other
claim. That they failed signally in their object was the fault, not of
their intention, but of human nature in many cases--of circumstance in
all.

At this time the plan of filling up the regular army was abandoned.
Officers coming from the United States service were, by law, entitled
to at least as high rank in it as they had there held; but volunteers
were asked for and accepted by companies, or regiments, with the
privilege of choosing their own leaders; and these regulars were only
given commands where vacancies, or the exigencies of the service,
seemed to demand it imperatively.

Every hour of the day could be heard the tap of the drum, as the new
troops from depot, or steamer, marched through the town to their camps
in the suburbs; or as the better drilled volunteer companies passed
through to Pensacola, where Brigadier-General Braxton Bragg already had
a considerable force. And toward that point every eye was strained as
the next great theater of action.

All day long the churches were open, and crowds of ladies, from town
and country, assembled in them and sewed on the tough, ungainly pants
and jackets; while their negro maids, collected on the porches, or
under the trees, worked as steadily as their mistresses, many a ringing
guffaw and not unmusi