Co. D, as usual, was assigned to a place on the hurricane
deck of the boat. After we had stacked arms, and hung our belts on the
muzzles of the guns, I hunted up a corner on the forward part of the
deck, sat down, looked at the river and the scenery along the
banks,--and thought. There came vividly to my mind the recollection of
the time, about fourteen months previous, when we started out from St.
Louis, down the "Father of Waters," bound for the "seat of war." The
old regiment, in every respect, had greatly changed since that time.
Then we were loud, confident, and boastful. Now we had become
altogether more quiet and grave in our demeanor. We had gradually
realized that it was not a Sunday school picnic excursion we were
engaged in, but a desperate and bloody war, and what the individual
fate of each of us might be before it was over, no one could tell.
There is nothing which, in my opinion, will so soon make a man out of a
boy as actual service in time of war. Our faces had insensibly taken on
a stern and determined look, and soldiers who a little over a year ago
were mere laughing, foolish boys, were now sober, steady, self-relying
men. We had been taking lessons in what was, in many important
respects, the best school in the world.

Our voyage down the river was uneventful. We arrived at the mouth of
the Yazoo river on the evening of June 3rd. There our fleet turned
square to the left, and proceeded up that stream. Near the mouth of the
Chickasaw Bayou, the fleet landed on the left bank of the stream, the
boats tied up for the night, we went on the shore and bivouacked there
that night. It was quite a relief to get on solid ground, and where we
could stretch our legs and stroll around a little. Next morning we
re-embarked at an early hour, and continued up the Yazoo. During the
forenoon we learned from one of the boat's crew that we were
approaching a point called "Alligator Bend," and if we would be on the
lookout we would see some alligators. None of us, so far as I know, had
ever seen any of those creatures, and, of course, we were all agog to
have a view of them. A few of the best shots obtained permission from
the officers to try their muskets on the reptiles, in case any showed
up. On reaching the bend indicated, there were the alligators, sure
enough, lazily swimming about, and splashing in the water. They were
sluggish, ugly looking things, and apparently from six to eight feet
long. Our marksmen opened f