em and capture what he
could. In this way he captured or destroyed a great many wagons, took
horses, mules and prisoners by the thousands. My younger brother Richard
joined this command in 1864, being a little over 17 years old.

It may seem strange to the present age that a country devastated as this
portion of Virginia was at this time, with so many homes mourning the
loss of their brave sons slain in battle, or maimed for life, with
starvation almost staring them in the face, with the capital of their
country besieged by great armies, with what we would call at this day
deprivation and suffering incomparable, that the people could have any
heart for festivities, such as dances and plays. But such was the fact.
The soldiers during their furlough were received everywhere as heroes,
and were banqueted and entertained as if peace and plenty reigned
throughout the land. Many a parody like the following was gotten off:
"There was a sound of revelry by night," and "Les Miserables" (Lee's
miserables) had gathered there.

But it must be remembered that it was this spirit among the Southern
people that made them endure their hardships and sustain the conflict as
long as they did. It was the women standing loyally by their husbands,
brothers and lovers that made the Southern soldiers ready to play or
ready to fight, regardless of what they had in their haversacks or wore
on their backs.

There was no fixed time for our furlough, but we had places of
rendezvous where we were ordered to meet once a week to receive
instructions. Finally the time came when we were summoned to collect at
Upperville (near the home of our captain) for the march back to the
army.

I do not remember the date, but it was early in March. I do remember the
first encampment we made for the night. We got up the next morning with
six inches of snow covering us, resulting in my horse getting a bad
cold, for during our furlough he was housed in a warm stable. This cold
never left him, and he died from the effects of it several months
afterward.

We were ordered to report at Staunton, Va. It was a long march from
Loudoun county, but we were used to long marches. When we arrived there
we found our regiment awaiting us. Without even a day's rest we were
ordered to Richmond, a still longer march, and after remaining there two
weeks we were ordered to Fredericksburg. A line of this route drawn on
the map would form almost a perfect letter C, and if it had not