rother,
Rodney Fisher, a young man, and captain in the regular cavalry, met with
a remarkably heroic death at Aldie, Virginia. He was leading what was
described as "the most magnificent and dashing charge of the whole
campaign," when he was struck by a bullet. He was carried to a house,
where he died within a week. He was of the stock of the Delaware
Rodneys, and of the English Admiral's, or of the best blood of the
Revolution, and well worthy of it. It was all in a great cause, but
these deaths entered into the soul of the survivors, and we grieve for
them to this day.

Our sufferings as soldiers during this Emergency were very great. I
heard an officer who had been through the whole war, and through the
worst of it in Virginia, declare that he had never suffered as he did
with us this summer. And our unfortunate artillery company endured far
more than the rest, for while pains were taken by commanding officers of
other regiments, especially the regulars, to obtain food, our captain,
either because they had the advance on him, or because he considered
starving us as a part of the military drama, took little pains to feed
us, and indeed neglected his men very much. As we had no doctor, and
many of our company suffered from cholera morbus, I, having some
knowledge of medicine, succeeded in obtaining some red pepper, a bottle
of Jamaica ginger, and whisky, and so relieved a great many patients. One
morning our captain forbade my attending to the invalids any more.
"Proper medical attendance," he said, "would be provided." It was not;
only now and then on rare occasions was a surgeon borrowed for a day.
What earthly difference it could make in discipline (where there was no
show or trace of it) whether I looked after the invalids or not was not
perceptible. But our commander, though brave, was unfortunately one of
those men who are also gifted with a great deal of "pure cussedness," and
think that the exhibiting it is a sign of bravery. Although we had no
tents, only a miserably rotten old gun-cover, and not always that, to
sleep under (I generally slept in the open air, frequently in the rain),
and often no issue of food for days, we were strictly prohibited from
foraging or entering the country houses to buy food. This, which was a
great absurdity, was about the only point of military discipline strictly
enforced.

At one time during the war, when men were not allowed to sleep in the
country houses (to prot