ies lost, and of good advice
disregarded. Some soldiers kicked together the expiring fragments of a
camp-fire, and the little blaze which sprang up revealed scores of
pallid faces. In short, we all wanted to go home.

When a boy I had read Plutarch, and knew something of the great warriors
of the old time; but I could not, for the life of me, recall an instance
wherein they had made such an address to their soldiers on the eve of
battle. It was their habit, at such a time, to speak encouragingly and
hopefully. With all due respect, therefore, for the superior rank and
wisdom of the Colonel, I plucked him by the sleeve, took him one side,
and modestly suggested that his speech had had rather a depressing
effect on the regiment, and had taken that spirit out of the boys so
necessary to enable them to do well in battle. I urged him to correct
the mistake, and speak to them hopefully. He replied that what he had
said was true, and they should know the truth.

The morning dawned; but instead of being called upon to lead the
column, we were left to the inglorious duty of guarding the camp, while
other regiments moved forward toward the enemy's line. In half an hour,
in all probability, the work of destruction will commence. I began this
memoranda on the evening of the 10th, and now close it on the morning of
the 11th.

11. At 10 A. M. we were ordered to the front; passed quite a number of
regiments on our way thither, and finally took position not far from the
enemy's works. We were now at the head of the column. A small brook
crossed the road at this point, and the thick woods concealed us from
the enemy. A few rods further on, a bend in the road gave us a good view
of the entire front of his fortifications. Major Keifer and a few other
gentlemen, in their anxiety to get more definite information in regard
to the position of the secessionists, and the extent of their works,
went up the road, and were saluted by a shot from their battery. We
expected every moment to receive an order to advance. After a time,
however, we ascertained that Rosecrans, with a brigade, was seeking the
enemy's rear by a mountain path, and we conjectured that, so soon as he
had reached it, we would be ordered to make the assault in front. It was
a dark, gloomy day, and the hours passed slowly.

Between two and three o'clock we heard shots in the rear of the
fortifications; then volleys of musketry, and the roar of artillery.
Every man sprang to h