e driving of the beeves would have been
monotonous, but the constant change of scene kept us in good spirits,
and our darkies always crooned old songs when the road passed through
woodlands. After the beeves were marketed we spent a day in the city,
and my father took my brother and me to the theatre. Although the
world was unfolding rather rapidly for a country boy of twelve, it
was with difficulty that I was made to understand that what we had
witnessed on the stage was but mimicry.

The third day after reaching the city we started on our return. The
proceeds from the sale of the cattle were sent home by boat. With only
two horses, each of which carried double, and walking turn about, we
reached home in seven days, settling all bills on the way. That year
was a type of others until I was eighteen, at which age I could guess
within twenty pounds of the weight of any beef on foot, and when I
bought calves and yearling steers I knew just what kind of cattle they
would make at maturity. In the mean time, one summer my father had
gone west as far as the State of Missouri, traveling by boat to
Jefferson City, and thence inland on horseback. Several of our
neighbors had accompanied him, all of them buying land, my father
securing four sections. I had younger brothers growing up, and the
year my oldest brother attained his majority my father outfitted him
with teams, wagons, and two trusty negro men, and we started for the
nearest point on the Ohio River, our destination being the new lands
in the West. We embarked on the first boat, drifting down the Ohio,
and up the other rivers, reaching the Ultima Thule of our hopes within
a month. The land was new; I liked it; we lived on venison and wild
turkeys, and when once we had built a log house and opened a few
fields, we were at peace with the earth.

But this happy existence was of short duration. Rumors of war reached
us in our western elysium, and I turned my face homeward, as did many
another son of Virginia. My brother was sensible enough to remain
behind on the new farm; but with nothing to restrain me I soon found
myself in St. Louis. There I met kindred spirits, eager for the coming
fray, and before attaining my majority I was bearing arms and wearing
the gray of the Confederacy. My regiment saw very little service
during the first year of the war, as it was stationed in the western
division, but early in 1862 it was engaged in numerous actions.

I shall never forget