over the well, and, peeping down, would say, "Well, he's in
there," and go off, and others would come and talk about his "being in
there." The poor fellow stayed in that well all night. The next morning
we got a long rope from a battery and let it down in the well, and soon
had him on _terra firma_. He was worse scared than hurt.

TUSCUMBIA

We arrived and remained at Tuscumbia several days, awaiting the laying of
the pontoons across the Tennessee river at Florence, Alabama, and then we
all crossed over. While at Tuscumbia, John Branch and I saw a nice sweet
potato patch, that looked very tempting to a hungry Rebel. We looked all
around, and thought that the coast was clear. We jumped over the fence,
and commenced grabbling for the sweet potatoes. I had got my haversack
full, and had started off, when we heard, "Halt, there." I looked around,
and there was a soldier guard. We broke and run like quarter-horses,
and the guard pulled down on us just as we jumped the fence. I don't
think his gun was loaded, though, because we did not hear the ball
whistle.

We marched from Decatur to Florence. Here the pontoon bridges were
nicely and beautifully stretched across the river. We walked over this
floating bridge, and soon found ourselves on the Tennessee side of
Tennessee river.

In driving a great herd of cattle across the pontoon, the front one got
stubborn, and the others, crowding up all in one bulk, broke the line
that held the pontoon, and drowned many of the drove. We had beef for
supper that night.

EN ROUTE FOR COLUMBIA

"And nightly we pitch our moving tent
A day's march nearer home."

How every pulse did beat and leap, and how every heart did throb with
emotions of joy, which seemed nearly akin to heaven, when we received the
glad intelligence of our onward march toward the land of promise, and of
our loved ones. The cold November winds coming off the mountains of the
northwest were blowing right in our faces, and nearly cutting us in two.

We were inured to privations and hardships; had been upon every march,
in every battle, in every skirmish, in every advance, in every retreat,
in every victory, in every defeat. We had laid under the burning heat of
a tropical sun; had made the cold, frozen earth our bed, with no covering
save the blue canopy of heaven; had braved dangers, had breasted floods;
had seen our comrades slain upon our right and our left hand; had heard
guns that ca