of
men and filled hecatombs with its champions. In a few days the Federals
took possession of the town anew, and the Southern element was in turn
oppressed. This is Civil War,--more cruel than the excesses of
hereditary enemies. A year before these people of the Shenandoah were
fellow-countrymen of the soldiery they contemned.

CHAPTER XXIV

CEDAR MOUNTAIN.

There being nothing to eat in the vicinity of the ambulances, I mounted
anew at five o'clock and rode back toward Culpepper. No portion of the
troops of Crawford were visible now, and only some gray smoke moved up
the side of the mountain. A few stragglers were bathing their faces in
Cedar Creek, and some miles in the rear lay several of McDowell's
brigades under arms. Their muskets were stacked along the sides of the
road, the men lay sleepily upon the ground,--company by company, each in
its proper place,--the field-officers gossiping together, and the colors
upright and unfurled. I was stopped, all the way along the lines, and
interrogated as to what was happening in front.

"Any Reb-bils out yonder?" asked a grim, snappish Colonel.

"Guess they don't mean to fight before breakfast!" blurted a Captain.

"Wish they'd cut away, anyway, if they goin' to!" muttered a chorus of
privates.

At the village there was nothing to be purchased, although some sutlers'
stores lay at the depot, guarded by Provost officers. I persuaded a
negro to give me a mess of almost raw pork, and a woman, with a child at
the breast, cooked me some biscuit. There were many civilians and idle
officers in the town, and the streets were lined with cavalry. Mr.
Paine, the landlord, was losing the remnant of his wits, and the young
ladies were playing the "Bonnie Blue Flag," and laughing satirically at
some young officers who listened. The correspondents began to show
themselves in force, and a young fellow whom I may call Chitty,
representing a provincial journal, greatly amused me, with the
expression of fears that there might be no engagement after all. Chitty
was an attorney, who had forsaken a very moderate practice, for a press
connection, and he informed me, in confidence, that he was gathering
materials for a history of the war. By reason of his attention to this
weighty project, he failed to do any reporting, and as his mind was not
very well balanced, he was commonly taken to be a simpleton. As there
was nobody else to talk to, I amused myself with Chitty during the
for