would have been at his mercy. We had no bread stuff of consequence in
the wagons, and only few beef cattle in the enclosure. For two days
our bread supply had been cut off. Now had such conditions continued
for several days longer, and a regular siege set in, Lee would have
had to fight his way out. Lumber was difficult to obtain, so some
houses were demolished, and such planks as could be used in the
construction of boats were utilized, and a pontoon bridge was soon
under way.

In this dilemma and strait an accident in the way of a "wind fall" (or
I might more appropriately say, "bread fall") came to our regiment's
relief. Jim George, a rather eccentric and "short-witted fellow," of
Company C, while plundering around in some old out-buildings in our
rear, conceived the idea to investigate a straw stack, or an old house
filled with straw. After burrowing for some time away down in the
tightly packed straw, his comrades heard his voice as he faintly
called that he had struck "ile." Bounding out from beneath the
straw stack, he came rushing into camp with the news of his find. He
informed the Colonel that he had discovered a lot of flour in barrels
hidden beneath the straw. The news was too good to be true, and
knowing Jim's fund of imagination, few lent ear to the story, and most
of the men shook their heads credulously. "What would a man want
to put flour down in a straw stack for when no one knew of 'Lee's
coming?'" and, moreover, "if they did, they did not know at which
point he would cross." Many were the views expressed for and against
the idea of investigating further, until "Old Uncle" Joe Culbreath, a
veteran of the Mexican War, and a lieutenant in Jim George's company,
said: "Boys, war is a trying thing; it puts people to thinking, and
these d----n Yankees are the sharpest rascals in the world. No doubt
they heard of our coming, and fearing a raid on their smoke houses,
they did not do like us Southern people would have done--waited until
the flour was gone before we thought of saving it--so this old
fellow, no doubt, put his flour there for safety." That settled it.
"Investigate" was the word, and away went a crowd. The straw was soon
torn away, and there, snugly hidden, were eight or ten barrels of
flour. The Colonel ordered an equal division among the regiment,
giving Jim an extra portion for himself.

By the 13th the bridge was completed, and the waters had so far
subsided that the river was fordable in