. Our men stood firmly, almost like rocks
before the surging sea. We were soon engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand
conflict with the advancing columns.

In Byron's "Corsair" we find a description of the scene:

"Within a narrow ring compressed, beset,
Hopeless, not heartless, strive and struggle yet,--
Ah! now they fight in firmest file no more,
Hemmed in--cut off--cleft down--and trampled o'er,
But each strikes singly, silently, and home,
And sinks outwearied rather than o'ercome,
His last faint quittance rendering with his breath,
Till the blade glimmers in the grasp of death."

At this important juncture my faithful horse was shot under me, and we
both fell to the ground. Meanwhile our little party, outnumbered ten to
one, was hurled back by the overpowering shock of the Rebels, who rode
directly over me. Injured somewhat by the falling of my horse, and
nearly killed by the charging squadrons, which one after the other trod
upon me, I lay in the mud for some time quite insensible. How long I lay
there I cannot tell; but when I returned to consciousness the scene had
changed. I was in the hands of a Rebel guard, who were carrying me
hastily from the hard-fought field. My arms had been taken from me, and
my pockets rifled of all their valuables, including my watch. I was
unceremoniously borne to the vicinity of an old building, where I met a
number of my comrades, who with me had shared the misfortunes of the
day. And thus ended three years and more of camping and campaigning with
the Harris Light.

What I saw and endured, thought and experienced, during a little more
than a year among the Rebels, in several of their loathsome prisons, may
be found recorded in a volume I published in 1865, entitled "The
Capture, Prison-Pen, and Escape."

FINIS.

+------------------------------------------------------+
| Transcriber's Note: |
| |
| Some inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in |
| the original document have been preserved. |
| |
| Typographical errors corrected in the text: |
| |
| Page xii Hull's changed to Hall's |
| Page 21 pic-nic changed to picnic |
| Page 41 Leesburgh ch