near
Five Forks. It was thought that before morning every man would have his
musket and his supply of ammunition, and the crack of day would see the
battalion rushing into battle in regular infantry style, whooping and
yelling like demons. But they got no arms that night. The march was
steady till broad day of Monday the 3d of April. Of course the men felt
mortified at having to leave the guns, but there was no help for it, as
the battery horses which had been sent away to winter had not returned.
It was evident that the battalion had bid farewell to artillery, and
commenced a new career as infantry.

As the night wore on the men learned that the command was not going to
any point on the lines. That being determined, no one could guess its
destination. Later in the night, probably as day approached, the sky in
the direction of Richmond was lit with the red glare of distant
conflagration, and at short intervals there were deep, growling
explosions of magazines. The roads were filled with other troops, all
hurrying in the same direction. There was no sign of panic or fear, but
the very wheels seemed turning with unusual energy. The men wore the
look of determination, haste, and eagerness. One could feel the energy
which surrounded him and animated the men and things which moved so
steadily on, on, on! There was no laughing, singing, or talking. Nothing
but the steady tread of the column and the surly rumbling of the trains.

As morning dawned the battalion struck the main road leading from
Richmond. Refugees told the story of the evacuation, and informed the
boys from the city that it was in the hands of the enemy and burning,
and the chances were that not one house would be left standing. Here it
became clearly understood that the whole army was in full retreat. From
this point the men began to say, as they marched, that it was easier to
march away than it would be to get back, but that they expected and
hoped to _fight_ their way back if they had to contest every inch. Some
even regretted the celerity of the march, for, they said, "the further
we march the more difficult it will be to win our way back." Little did
they know of the immense pressure at the rear, and the earnest push of
the enemy on the flank as he strove to reach and overlap the advance of
his hitherto defiant, but now retreating, foe.

A detail had been left at Fort Clifton with orders to spike the guns,
blow up the magazine, destroy everything which c