easy enough, and in a week or two might have been
galloping around camp covered with gold lace, and looking as sweet as
two government pets; but we don't care half as much for staff office as
we do for our discharges. You made the general mad and I am sorry for
that; but after all it's natural, for the commander who discharges the
smallest number of men will stand highest in the good graces of his
superiors. See? So long as he keeps his troops in the service, it
doesn't make a particle of difference whether he keeps them in by
promises or threats. He's a bully fellow, and the despots at Richmond
will reward him."

Some of the sergeant's words were confirmed that very afternoon, and in
a most startling manner. For days it had been whispered about among the
men that there was trouble brewing in General Bragg's corps, and on this
particular day it was brought to a head by the mutiny of a Tennessee
regiment, who stacked arms and refused to do duty. The twelve months for
which they volunteered had expired and they wanted to go home. Before
entering the service they made provision for their families for just one
year, and since that time their State had been over-ran with raiding
parties from both armies, their crops had been destroyed, their stock
killed, their buildings given to the flames, and their wives and
children turned out into the weather. They wanted to see these helpless
ones taken to places of security, and then they would return to a man,
and stand by their comrades until the last Yankee invader had been
driven into the Ohio river. But Bragg said they shouldn't go, and fixed
things so they couldn't. He did just what Beauregard did when Hindman's
Arkansas troops prepared to return to their State to repel the
"invasion" of General Curtis. He told them that if they didn't pick up
those guns in less than five minutes he would have the last one of them
shot, and they picked them up; but in an hour's time it was whispered
through the ramp that all the service old Daddy Bragg would get out of
those Tennesseans wouldn't amount to much. We shall presently see how
much truth there was in the report.

A few days after this the order of which General Howard had spoken was
issued, and read to those regiments in the brigade whose term of service
was about to expire. They were informed that they would now come under
the Conscript Act, and that every man of them who was subject to service
under that Act would be summarily con