ertained that in the meantime the lodge building,
with all its furniture and paraphernalia, including the sword in
question, had been accidentally destroyed by fire. And thus passed away
the only trophy that I ever carried off a battlefield. Many years later
I met here in Kansas the late Confederate Gen. John B. Gordon, of
Georgia, and had a long and interesting conversation with him. I told
him the facts connected with my obtaining this sword, and of its
subsequent loss, as above stated. He listened to me with deep
attention, and at the close of my story, said he was satisfied from my
general description of the dead Confederate officer that the body on
which I found the sword was that of W. W. Billopp, lieutenant-colonel
of the 29th Georgia, who was killed in this action. Gen. Gordon also
said that he was well acquainted with Col. Billopp in his life time,
and that he was a splendid gentleman and a brave soldier. It has always
been a matter of regret with me that the sword was destroyed, for I
intended, at the time I sought to reclaim it from the Masonic lodge, to
take steps to restore it to the family of the deceased officer, in the
event that it could be done.

When the Confederates retired from this battlefield of December 7th,
they left their dead and severely wounded on the field, as it was
impossible for them to do otherwise. I walked around among these
unfortunates, and looked at them, and saw some things that made me feel
sorrowful indeed. I looked in the haversacks of some of the dead to see
what they had to eat,--and what do you suppose was found? Nothing but
raw, shelled corn! And many of them were barefooted, and judging from
appearances, had been so indefinitely. Their feet were almost as black
as those of a negro, with the skin wrinkled and corrugated to that
extent that it looked like the hide of an alligator. These things
inspired in me a respect for the Confederate soldiers that I never had
felt before. The political leaders of the Davis and Toombs type who
unnecessarily brought about the war are, in my opinion, deserving of
the severest condemnation. But there can be no question that the common
soldiers of the Confederate army acted from the most deep-seated
convictions of the justice and the righteousness of their cause, and
the fortitude and bravery they displayed in support of it are worthy of
the highest admiration.

After the engagement of December 7th, the Confederates still remained
in our vi