n this plan of
attack, we hoisted our flag once more, ordered the drum to beat Yankee
Doodle, and retreated in most excellent order from the field--our foe
not venturing to pursue us.

The week wore slowly and uneasily away. The clouds of war were gathering
rapidly, and the low roll of distant thunder announced that a battle
storm of no ordinary importance was near at hand. Colonel Averitt, by
some traitorous trick of war, had heard of our former defeat, and
publicly taunted our commander with his failure. Indeed, more than one
of the villagers had heard of the disastrous result of the campaign, and
sent impertinent messages to those who had been wounded in the
encounter. Two or three of the young ladies, also, in the girls'
department, had been inoculated with the _fun_ (as it was absurdly
denominated), and a leather medal was pinned most provokingly to the
short jacket of the captain by one of those hoydenish Amazons.

All these events served to whet the courage of our men, and strange as
it may appear, to embitter our hostility to our victorious foe. Some of
the officers proceeded so far as to threaten Colonel Averitt himself,
and at one time, I am confident, he stood in almost as much danger as
the protector of his flock.

Saturday came at last, and at the first blast of the bugle, we formed
into line, and advanced with great alacrity into the enemy's country.
After marching half an hour, our scouts hastily returned, with the
information that the enemy was drawn up, in full force, near the scene
of the Persimmon bush battle. We advanced courageously to within
speaking distance, and then halted to breathe the troops and prepare for
the engagement. We surveyed our enemies with attention, but without
alarm. There they stood right before us!

"Firm paced and slow, a horrid front they form;
Still as the breeze, but dreadful as the storm!"

Our preparations were soon made, and at the command of the captain, we
separated into single files, one half making a _detour_ to the right,
and the other to the left, so as to encircle the foe. Our instructions
were to spare all non-combatants, to pass by as unworthy of notice all
minor foes, and to make a simultaneous rush upon the proud champion of
our adversaries.

By this masterly manoeuvre it was supposed we should be enabled to
escape unharmed, or at any rate without many serious casualties. But as
it afterward appeared, we did not sufficiently estimate the stren