tended the army to make.

On the last day of April we crossed the Rapidan, fording its breast-deep
current, considered too strong for the pontoons, and wondering,
especially as the cannonading of the evening previous indicated
resistance ahead, that our advance was not at this point impeded.
Artillery planted upon the circling hills of the opposite shore would
have made the passage, if even practicable, perilous to the last degree.
As it was, however, _in puris naturalibus_, with cartridge-box on the
musket barrel, and the musket on the shoulder, clothing in many
instances bundled upon the head, the troops made the passage. The whys
and the wherefores of no opposition--the confidence of Old Joe having
stolen a march upon Johnny Reb--and the usual surmises of the
morrow--increased in this instance by our having surprised and captured
some Rebel pickets when just about halting, constituted ample capital
for conversation during our night's rest in a pine grove two miles south
of the ford.

With the Army of the Potomac the merry month of May had a lively
opening. After a march from early dawn, we found our Division, about the
middle of the forenoon, massed in a thick wood in the rear of a large
and imposing brick building, which, with one or two buildings of minor
importance, constituted what was designated upon our pocket maps as the
town of Chancellorsville. The region of country was most appropriately
styled "The Wilderness." A wilderness indeed, of tall oaks, and a dense
undergrowth known as "black-jack." There were but few open places or
improved spots. In one of the largest of these, at a point where two
prominent roads forked, stood the large building above mentioned. The
day previous General Lee and his staff had been hospitably entertained
within its walls. Now our fine-looking Commander and his gay and gallant
staff were busily engaged in its lower rooms, while the ladies of the
house of Secesh sympathies kept themselves closely in the upper
story,--their curiosity tempting them however, to occasional peeps from
half-opened shutters at the blue coats below.

At twelve, precisely, just as we had taken a position in the open ground
abreast of the house, the sharp report of a rifled piece, followed
quickly by the fainter explosion of a shell, was heard upon our left.
Another and another succeeded,--indicating that the wood was being
shelled preparatory to an advance in that direction. Slowly we filed to
the left,