rred to the West, to join General
A.S. Johnston, who had come from California and was organizing an army
in Southern Tennessee.

Magruder, commanding at Yorktown, reporting large bodies disembarking
in his front, Kershaw's Brigade, with several others, were placed upon
cars and hurried on through Richmond to his support, leaving the
other portion of the army to continue the march on foot, or on cars,
wherever met. At Richmond we were put on board small sail boats and
passed down the James River for the seat of war. This was a novel mode
of transportation for most of the soldiers on board. It was a most
bitter day and night. A cold east wind blowing from the sea, with a
mist of sleet, the cold on the deck of the little vessel became almost
unbearable. About two hundred were placed on board of each, and it
being so cold we were forced to go below in the "hold," leaving only a
little trap door of four feet square as our only means of ventilation.
Down in the hold, where these two hundred men were packed like
sardines in a box, caused us to almost suffocate, while to remain on
deck five minutes would be to court death by freezing. Thus one would
go up the little ladder, stick his head through the door a moment for
a breath of fresh air, then drop back and allow another the pleasure
of a fresh breathing spell. So we alternated between freezing and
smothering all the way, a distance of one hundred and fifty miles
or more. I had read of the tortures of the "middle passage" and the
packing of the slave ships, but I do not think it could have exceeded
our condition.

Now it must be remembered that for the most of the time on our march
we were separated from our wagon trains that had our tents, cooking
utensils, and other baggage. Many novel arrangements were resorted to
for cooking. The flour was kneaded into dough on an oil cloth spread
upon the ground, the dough pulled into thin cakes, pinned to boards or
barrel heads by little twigs or wooden pegs, placed before the fire,
and baked into very fair bread. Who would think of baking bread on a
ram-rod? But it was often done. Long slices of dough would be rolled
around the iron ram-rods, then held over the fire, turning it over
continually to prevent burning, and in this way we made excellent
bread, but by a tedious process. It is needless to say the meats were
cooked by broiling. We parched corn when flour was scarce, and
often guards had to be placed over the stock at feed tim