there were times when no
rations were issued for three or four days. On one march, from
Petersburg to Appomattox, no rations were issued to Cutshaw's battalion
of artillery for one entire week, and the men subsisted on the corn
intended for the battery horses, raw bacon captured from the enemy, and
the water of springs, creeks, and rivers.

A soldier in the Army of Northern Virginia was fortunate when he had his
flour, meat, sugar, and coffee all at the same time and in proper
quantity. Having these, the most skillful axeman of the mess hewed down
a fine hickory or oak, and cut it into "lengths." All hands helped to
"tote" it to the fire. When wood was convenient, the fire was large, the
red coals abundant, and the meal soon prepared.

The man most gifted in the use of the skillet was the one most highly
appreciated about the fire, and as tyrannical as a Turk; but when he
raised the lid of the oven and exposed the brown-crusted tops of the
biscuit, animosity subsided. The frying-pan, full of "grease," then
became the centre of attraction. As the hollow-cheeked boy "sopped" his
biscuit, his poor, pinched countenance wrinkled into a smile, and his
sunken eyes glistened with delight. And the coffee, too,--how delicious
the aroma of it, and how readily each man disposed of a quart! The
strong men gathered round, chuckling at their good luck, and "cooing"
like a child with a big piece of cake. Ah, this was a sight which but
few of those who live and die are permitted to see!

And now the last biscuit is gone, the last drop of coffee, and the
frying-pan is "wiped" clean. The tobacco-bag is pulled wide open, pipes
are scraped, knocked out, and filled, the red coal is applied, and the
blue smoke rises in wreaths and curls from the mouths of the no longer
hungry, but happy and contented soldiers. Songs rise on the still night
air, the merry laugh resounds, the woods are bright with the rising
flame of the fire, story after story is told, song after song is sung,
and at midnight the soldiers steal away one by one to their blankets on
the ground, and sleep till reveille. Such was a meal when the mess was
fortunate.

How different when the wagons have not been heard from for forty-eight
hours. Now the question is, how to do the largest amount of good to the
largest number with the smallest amount of material? The most
experienced men discuss the situation and decide that "somebody" must go
foraging. Though the stock on hand is