nd even soap,
was utterly forgotten, nor could they be procured. Soap, for instance, we
would think could be obtained anywhere; but unfortunately the rebels
entertained a notion that if they only washed they would be clean; an idea
which any one, who ever saw them, will admit to be too preposterous to
require contradiction. But preposterous or not, they acted up to it, and
immediately on entering a place proceeded to appropriate every square inch
of soap that could be found therein; so that when we came along a few days
afterward, nothing saponaceous could be obtained for love or money, and in
consequence, the absence of that essential frequently compelled us to
imitate the habits of our "Southern brethren" much closer than was
agreeable.

Our stay in Carlisle was pleasant--_very_ pleasant--for in addition to the
hospitable treatment we received as individuals, our regiment was honored
by the presentation of a flag from the ladies of the city. But we could
not stay there always; and at reveille, on the glorious Fourth of July,
without seeing as much as a single fire-cracker, or hearing an allusion to
the American eagle, or the flag of our Union, we turned our backs on
civilization and marched for the mountains, taking a bee-line for
Gettysburg, where, although unknown to us, the greatest battle of the war
was raging. General Smith having previously detailed the Twenty-second to
remain as a guard for the city, we came very near being ingloriously left
behind; but, at the urgent request of Colonel Aspinwall, and to our own
infinite gratification, we were permitted to accompany the column to the
front.

We now formed a portion of a division commanded by Gen. W. F. Smith,
composed of that portion of the New York militia formerly stationed in the
vicinity of Harrisburg, and who had joined us at Carlisle, consisting, I
believe, of the Eighth, Eleventh, and Seventy-first regiments of New York,
the Tenth, Thirteenth, Twenty-third, Twenty-eighth, Forty-seventh,
Fifty-second, and Fifty-sixth of Brooklyn, the Seventy-fourth and
Seventy-fifth of Buffalo, and one or two others from the interior of the
state, besides two Philadelphia batteries, a few Pennsylvania troops, and
the regular cavalry from the Carlisle barracks; and from this time until
our return our adventures became identical with those of the whole
division.

The day was clear and beautiful, the roads good, and, as we reached the
mountains, the scenery became magnifi