ent an orderly after the force stationed at the milk-house, and
he came, and I sent him, with the same result. It was evident I was
frittering away my command, with no good result, so I looked at my
tactics, and decided to hold a council of war. My aide, orderly, and
reserve, three besides myself, composed the council of war. We three
were in favor of ordering up the other corporal and man from the
cross-roads, but I opposed it. I did not want the other corporal to have
any finger in the pie. So I decided that the four of us would go in a
body to the house and demand the surrender of the rebel captain. We
rode down the lane where the other men had gone, and it was a question
whether we ever came back alive. I thought they had a trap door in the
house, which probably let the soldiers down suddenly into a dungeon.
Certainly unless there was something of the kind my men would have come
back. As we dismounted at the door; and walked up the steps, the door
opened and a fine looking rebel officer appeared smiling.

"Come in, Captain, with your men, and join me in a glass of wine," said
the rebel.

I had never been called "Captain" before, and it touched me in a tender
spot. The rebel evidently thought I looked like a captain, and I was
proud. He had probably watched my maneuvers, and the way I handled my
men, and thought I was no common soldier.

"Well, I don't care if I do," said I, and we walked into a splendid old
room, and were bidden to be seated.

"Hello, Corp," said my Iron Brigade, as he took his legs down from a
table, and poured out a glass of whisky from a bottle near him, "This is
the divil's own place for an aisy life."

"Gorporal," said my Dutch fellow soldier, as he poured out a glass of
schnapps, "Led me indroduce you mit dot repel. He is a tasy, und
don'd you forgot aboud it. Mishder repel, dot ish der gorporal fun my
gumpany."

The rebel smiled and said he was glad to see me, and hoped I was well,
and would I take wine, or something stronger. I took a small glass of
wine, but the rest of the fellows took strong drink, and my Iron Brigade
was already full, and the Dutchman was getting full rapidly. Finally I
told the rebel officer that I did not like to accept a man's hospitality
when I had such an unpleasant duty to perform as to arrest him, but
circumstances seemed to make it necessary. He said that was all right.
In times of war we must do many things that were unpleasant. We took
another drink, and