to
the order for marching, the Third corps was to precede the Sixth, and
should have been out of camp before we arrived, but as yet not a tent
was struck nor a wagon loaded, and most of the men were asleep in their
quarters. The Sixth corps was obliged to halt and stand in the mud for
hours, waiting for the delinquent corps to get out of the way. Here was
the first blunder of the new campaign.

At length at eleven o'clock we moved again, taking the road to the
Rapidan. Our march was slow and tedious, and instead of reaching the
river at noon as was expected, and as General Meade's orders
contemplated, the head of the Third corps only reached the river at
Jacobs' Ford long after dark, and here again a delay was occasioned by a
mistake of the engineers, who had not brought a sufficient number of
boats to this point to complete the pontoon bridge; a part of the bridge
had therefore to be extemporized out of poles.

The road for several miles was merely a narrow passage cut through the
forest; a dense growth of stunted pines and tangled bushes, filling up
the space between the trees of larger growth. Our corps moved along very
slowly, halting for a moment, then advancing one or two rods, then
standing still again for perhaps several minutes, and again moving
forward for a few steps. This became very tedious. The men were faint
and weary, and withal discouraged. They were neither advancing nor
resting.

From one end of the column of the Sixth corps to the other, through the
miles of forest the shout, coffee! coffee! passed from one regiment to
another, until there could be heard nothing but the vociferous demand
for coffee. At eleven o'clock at night the order "ten minutes rest for
coffee," passed down the line and was received with shouts of approval.
Instantly the roadside was illuminated with thousands of little fires,
over which the soldiers were cooking their favorite beverage.

We crossed the Rapidan at Jacobs' Ford at midnight, leaving Upton's
brigade on the north side as rear-guard, and in another hour the men had
thrown themselves upon the ground without waiting to erect shelter
tents, and were sleeping soundly notwithstanding the severity of the
cold. The Fifth and First corps had crossed at Culpepper Ford and the
Second corps at Germania Ford about noon, and were in the positions
assigned them.

The position assigned to the Third and Sixth corps was not reached.
These corps were ordered to proceed to Robert