ad seen no service in the field, were talking it over one
evening in the colonel's tent, and conjecturing how they would feel and
act when under fire. Most of them were in anything but a boastful mood,
contenting themselves with modestly expressing the belief that when the
ordeal came and they were put to the proof, they would stand up to the
work and do their duty like officers and gentlemen. Captain Pratt said
little, but, as we were walking away after the conference had broken up,
he placed his arm around my waist, in his favorite, affectionate way (he
had known me from boyhood) and in his most impressive pulpit manner,
said: "Jimmie," (he always addressed me thus) "Jimmie, let others do as
they may, I want to say to you, that the men who follow me on the field
of battle go where death reigneth." As he neared the climax of this dire
prediction, he unwound the arm with which he held me to his side and,
raising it, emphasized his words with a fierce gesture. I confess that I
drew back a step, and felt a certain sensation of awe and respect, as I
beheld in him the incarnation of courage and carnage.

It may or may not be pertinent to mention that the intrepid captain
never led his troop to slaughter; never welcomed the enemy "with bloody
hands to hospitable graves." On account of ill health, he was compelled
to resign in February, 1863, before the regiment marched from Washington
into Virginia. I have always regretted that necessity, because,
notwithstanding his apparent bravado, the captain was really a brave
man, and there was such a fine opportunity in the "Old Dominion," in
those days, for one who really hungered for gore to distinguish himself.
It would have been a glorious sight to see the gigantic captain, full of
the fiery spirit that animated Peter the Hermit when exhorting his
followers to the rescue of the holy sepulcher, charging gallantly at the
head of his men into the place "where death reigneth." There were
several of those places in the southern country.

At the period of the civil war the word "company" was applied
indiscriminately to cavalry or infantry. The unit of formation was the
company. At the present time there is a distinction. A captain of
cavalry commands a "troop." A captain of infantry commands a "company."
A troop of cavalry corresponds to a company of infantry. For the sake of
convenience and clearness this classification will henceforth be
observed in the course of this narrative.

Th