d Company Richmond Howitzers. The
careless man who made the trouble was also an artilleryman, from one of
the other batteries.

Shortly after this accident, after a quiet day, the men retired to their
huts, and the whole camp was still as a country church-yard. The pickets
on the river's edge could hear those on the opposite side asking the
corporal of the guard the hour, and complaining that they had not been
promptly relieved. Suddenly a terrific bombardment commenced, and the
earth fairly trembled. The men, suddenly awakened, heard the roar of the
guns, the rush of the shots, and the explosion of the shells. To a man
only half awake, the shells seemed to pass very near and in every
direction. In a moment all were rushing out of their houses, and soon
the hillsides and bluffs were covered with an excited crowd, gazing
awe-struck on the sight. The firing was away to the right, and there was
not the slightest danger. Having realized this fact, the interest was
intense. The shells from the opposite lines met and passed in
mid-air--their burning fuses forming an arch of fire, which paled
occasionally as a shell burst, illuminating the heavens with its blaze.
The uproar, even at such a distance, was terrible. The officers, fearing
that fire would be opened along the whole line, ordered the cannoniers
to their posts; men were sent down into the magazine with lanterns to
arrange the ammunition for the heavy guns; the lids of the limbers of
the field-pieces were thrown up; the cannoniers were counted off at
their posts; the brush which had been piled before the embrasures was
torn away; and, with implements in hand, all stood at "attention!" till
the last shot was fired. The heavens were dark again, and silence
reigned. Soon all hands were as sound asleep as though nothing had
occurred.

The next morning an artilleryman came walking leisurely towards the
camp, and being recognized as belonging to a battery which was in
position on that part of the line where the firing of the last night
occurred, was plied with questions as to the loss on our side, who was
hurt, etc., etc. Smiling at the anxious faces and eager questions, he
replied: "When? Last night? Nobody!" It was astounding, but nevertheless
true.

On another occasion some scattering shots were heard up the river, and
after a while a body came floating down the stream. It was hauled on
shore and buried in the sand a little above high-water mark. It was a
poor Confede