the army for a man to
compute the length of his furlough by the extent of his wound. The
very least was thirty days, so when a soldier was asked the nature of
his wound he would reply, "only a thirty days'," or "got this time
a sixty days;" while with an arm or foot off he would say, "I got my
discharge" at such battle.

On the 27th of June Hooker was superseded by General Geo. B. Meade,
and he bent all his energies to the discipline of his great army.

General Kershaw, on his promotion to Brigadier, surrounded himself
with a staff of young men of unequalled ability, tireless, watchful,
and brave to a fault. Captain C.R. Holmes, as Assistant Adjutant
General, was promoted to that position from one of the Charleston
companies. I fear no contradiction when I say he was one of the very
best staff officers in the army, and had he been in line of promotion
his merits would have demanded recognition and a much higher position
given him. Captain W.M. Dwight, as Adjutant and Inspector General, was
also an officer of rare attainments. Cool and collected in battle,
his presence always gave encouragement and confidence to the men under
fire. He was captured at the Wilderness the 6th of May, 1864. Captain
D.A. Doby was Kershaw's Aide-de-Camp, or personal aid, and a braver,
more daring, and reckless soldier I never saw. Wherever the battle
raged fiercest, Captain Doby was sure to be in the storm center.
Riding along the line where shells were plowing up great furrows, or
the air filled with flying fragments, and bullets following like hail
from a summer cloud, Doby would give words of cheer and encouragement
to the men. It seemed at times that he lived a charmed life, so
perilous was his situation in times of battle. But the fatal volley
that laid the lamented Jenkins low, and unhorsed Longstreet at the
Wilderness, gave Doby his last long furlough, felling from his horse
dead at the feet of his illustrious chieftain. Lieutenant John Myers
was Brigade Ordnance officer, but his duties did not call him to the
firing line, thus he was debarred from sharing with his companions
their triumphs, their dangers, and their glories, the halo that will
ever surround those who followed the plume of the knightly Kershaw.

The Colonels of the different regiments were also fortunate in
their selection of Adjutants. This is one of the most important and
responsible offices in the regimental organization. The duties are
manifold, and often thankles