t have you
there?' Quick as thought, and before he could realize the
fact, I had seized and recovered the watch, while he held
only a fragment of the chain, and placing it in an inside
pocket, buttoned my coat and replied, 'that is my watch and
you cannot have it.'

"'Just then I discovered Lieut. Ferguson was receiving a
good deal of attention--a crowd having gathered about
him--and the next moment saw his fine new hat had been
appropriated by one of the rebel soldiers, and he stood
hatless. Seeing one of the rebel officers with a Masonic
badge on his coat, Lieut. F. made himself known as a brother
Mason, and appealed to him for redress. The officer quickly
responded and caused the hat to be returned to its owner,
only to be again stolen, and the thief made to give it up as
before.

"'In a little while we (seven officers and eighty-five
enlisted men) were formed in four ranks, and surrounded by a
guard, continued the march 'on to Richmond,' but under very
different circumstances from what we had flattered ourselves
would be the case, when only two or three hours before our
brigade-commander had remarked, as he rode by the regiment,
that we would certainly be in Richmond that night. We met a
great many civilians, old and young, on their way to the
front, as a general alarm had been sounded in the city, and
all who could carry arms had been ordered to report for duty
in the intrenchments. After a few miles march we halted for
a rest, but were not allowed to sit down, as I presume the
guards thought we could as well stand as they. Here a squad
of the Richmond Grays, the _elite_ of the city, came up and
accosted us with all manner of vile epithets. One of the
most drunken and boisterous approached within five or six
feet of me, and with the muzzle of his rifle within two feet
of my face swore he would shoot me. Fearless of
consequences, and feeling that immediate death even could
not be worse than slow torture by starvation, to which I
knew that so many of our soldiers had been subjected, and
remembering that the Confederate Congress had declared
officers of colored troops outlaws, I replied, as my eyes
met his, 'shoot if you dare.' Instead of carrying out his
threat he withdrew his aim and staggered on. Here Lieut.