regiment was attached, soon declared that the young woman was as
self-possessed under a hot fire of shot and shell as he was himself--and
that was a good deal for the gallant commander to acknowledge of one of
the opposite sex!

Annie was provided with a fine horse, a side-saddle, and saddle bags, as
well as two pistols which she carried in her holster, but never used,
and so fitted out she rode fearlessly to the front in the skirmish of
Blackburn's Ford and in the first battle of Bull Run. Her keen eye was
always quick to discover where there was need of assistance, and she
would gallop to a wounded soldier who was too severely hurt to go to the
rear, dismount, and regardless of the fire of shot and shell often
whizzing around her, would skilfully bind up his wounds, give him water
or a necessary stimulant, say a cheery word,--then gallop on to her next
patient. So tender and soothing a nurse was she that the soldiers called
her "Gentle Annie," and many an eye watched with eager affection as the
horse carrying her girlish figure came in sight following the troops.

In the second battle of Bull Run, on the 29th of August, 1861, Annie was
standing on a part of the battle-field where there was a rocky ledge,
under the protection of which some wounded soldiers had crawled. Seeing
this, Annie lingered behind the troops, helped several other injured men
to the same retreat, and was soon busy dressing their wounds. One of the
fellows was a fine looking boy whose lips were parched and his eyes
brilliant with fever. She gave him a refreshing drink, then bound up his
wounds, receiving in return a bright glance of gratitude and a faint
"God's blessing on you," just as the rebel battery literally tore him to
pieces under her very hands, while at the same moment she saw the enemy,
almost within touch, and she was obliged to make a hasty flight or she
too would have been killed.

On another part of that bloody battle-field of Bull Run, tireless in her
activity, although sick at heart from the ghastly sights and sounds of
the day, she was kneeling beside a soldier and tenderly binding up his
wounds, when she heard a gruff voice repeating her name, and looking up,
to her astonishment saw brave General Kearney, checking his horse by her
side, watching her with genuine admiration in his eyes. "That's right,"
he exclaimed. "I am glad to see you here, helping those poor fellows,
and when this is over, I will have you made a regimental s