her sable mantle over the scene. They insisted
on singing until within half a mile of camp, and it would no doubt have
been good music, only the Scotchman insisted on singing "The March of
the Cameron Men," while the Irishmen sung "Lots of fun at Finnegan's
Wake," and the German's sung "Wacht am Rhine." The Yankees sung the
"Star Spangled Banner," and the Welchman sung something in the Welch
language which was worse than all. All the songs being sung together,
of course I couldn't enjoy either of them as well as a Corporal ought
to enjoy the music of his command. Arriving near camp, the music was
hushed, and we rode in, and up to the captain's tent, where I reported
that the corn was unloaded, all right. He said that was all right.
Everything would have passed off splendidly, only one of the Irishmen
proposed "three cheers" for the dandy Corporal of the regiment, and
those inebriated, picked men, gave three cheers that raised the roof of
the colonel's tent near by, because I had hired niggers to do the work,
and let the men have a holiday. I dismissed them as quick as I could,
but the colonel sent for me, and I had to tell him the whole story. He
said I would demoralize the whole regiment in a week more, and I
better let up or he would have to discipline me. I offered to resign my
commission as Corporal, but he said I better hold on till we could have
a fight, and may be I would get killed.

CHAPTER X.

Yearnings for Military Fame--What I Want is a Chance--I Feel
I Could Crush the Rebellion--My Chance Arrives--I am
Crushed--The Rebellion Remains Pretty Well.

As I could get no one to accept my resignation as corporal, which I
tendered after my first service in that capacity, unloading a steamboat,
I decided to post myself as to the duties of the position, so I borrowed
a copy of "Hardee's Tactics," and studied a good deal. Every place
in the book that mentioned the word "corporal," had a particular and
thrilling interest for me, and I soon got so it would have been easy for
me to have done almost anything that a corporal would have to do. But
I was not contented to study the duty of a corporal. I read about
the "school of the company," and the "school of the regiment," and
"battalion drills," and everything, until I could handle a regiment, or
a brigade, for that matter, as well as any officer in the army, in my
mind. This led me to go farther, and I borrowed a copy of a large blue
book the colon