hare, which, he knew, from the
wild yells in the wood, his men were pursuing. But the uproar approached
him--nearer, nearer, and nearer, until he saw the hare bounding towards
him with a regiment at her heels. She spied an opening made by the folds
of the officer's cloak and jumped in, and he embraced his first meal for
forty-eight hours.

An artilleryman, camped for a day where no water was to be found easily,
awakened during the night by thirst, went stumbling about in search of
water; and to his great delight found a large bucketful. He drank his
fill, and in the morning found that what he drank had washed a
bullock's head, and was crimson with its blood.

Some stragglers came up one night and found the camp silent. All hands
asleep. Being hungry they sought and to their great delight found a
large pot of soup. It had a peculiar taste, but they "worried" it down,
and in the morning bragged of their good fortune. The soup had defied
the stomachs of the whole battery, being strongly impregnated with the
peculiar flavor of defunct cockroaches.

Shortly before the evacuation of Petersburg, a country boy went hunting.
He killed and brought to camp a muskrat. It was skinned, cleaned, buried
a day or two, disinterred, cooked, and eaten with great relish. It was
splendid.

During the seven days' battles around Richmond, a studious private
observed the rats as they entered and emerged from a corn-crib. He
killed one, cooked it privately, and invited a friend to join him in
eating a fine squirrel. The comrade consented, ate heartily, and when
told what he had eaten, forthwith disgorged. But he confesses that up to
the time when he was enlightened he had greatly enjoyed the meal.

It was at this time, when rats were a delicacy, that the troops around
Richmond agreed to divide their rations with the poor of the city, and
they were actually hauled in and distributed. Comment here would be like
complimenting the sun on its brilliancy.

Orators dwell on the genius and skill of the general officers;
historians tell of the movements of divisions and army corps, and the
student of the art of war studies the geography and topography of the
country and the returns of the various corps: they all seek to find and
to tell the secret of success or failure. The Confederate soldier knows
the elements of his success--courage, endurance, and devotion. He knows
also by whom he was defeated--sickness, starvation, death. He fought not
men