de on horseback, forty or fifty miles per day,
was to her a mere matter of amusement, and in the recent march of the
19th Illinois, from Winchester to Bellefonte, she is said to have
taken command of the vanguard, and to have given most vigorous and
valuable directions for driving off and punishing the infamous
bushwhackers who infested the road. These and similar things had so
much excited the admiration of Colonel Turchin's men, that they would
have followed his gallant lady into the field of battle with all the
enthusiasm that fired the hearts of the French chivalry when gathered
around the standard of the Maid of Orleans. As soon as Colonel Turchin
was arrested, Mrs. Turchin suddenly disappeared. The next that was
heard from her she was in Washington City; and now the story goes,
that when she left the South she hastened to Chicago, enlisted the
sympathies of noble-hearted men in the cause of her husband,
prevailing upon a delegation of noble Illinoisans to accompany her to
Washington, and, with their assistance, secured the confirmation of
the Colonel as a brigadier-general of volunteers. Truly, in the
lottery matrimonial, Colonel Turchin had the fortune to draw an
invaluable prize.

All that has been alleged against Generals Turchin and Mitchel
authorizing the sacking of Athens, Alabama, appears to have reacted;
and, except General Rousseau, they were the most popular officers in
that region.

The 18th Ohio was stationed at Athens, and encamped upon the
fair-grounds. Here they were assailed by Scott's rebel cavalry. They
resisted for some hours, when, learning through their scouts that an
overwhelming force of the enemy were advancing against them, they
thought best to retire, which they did in good order. As they passed
through the town, on their way to Huntsville, some rash, inconsiderate
rebel sympathizers jeered at and insulted them, cheering lustily for
Jeff Davis and the Southern Confederacy. One or two of them, also,
seized their guns, and when the rebel forces made their appearance,
joined them in pursuit of our soldiers. A feeling of vindictive wrath
sprang up in the minds of the boys of the 18th, and when they met the
19th Illinois and other troops, who, under command of Colonel Turchin,
were coming to the rescue, they naturally magnified their own loss,
and told the rescuers exaggerated stories of the manner in which they
had been treated by the citizens of Athens.

Under those circumstances the who