ed so
much coolness and bravery in the battle which followed, that we forgave
him his first scandalous appearance. But the distrust of him before the
battle can readily be imagined.

No one who has not been through the experience can realize the anxiety
of the private soldier respecting the character and capacity of his
commanding officer. His life is in the general's hand. Whether he shall
be uselessly sacrificed, may depend wholly upon the coolness or
readiness for an emergency of the commander; whether he has had two
drinks or three; whether he has had a good night's rest, or a good
cigar. The private soldier regards a new and unknown commander very
much as a slave does a new owner, and with good reason. Without
confidence on the part of the rank and file, victory is impossible.
Their soldiers' confidence in Stonewall Jackson and Lee doubled the
effective strength of their armies. When in the Franco-Prussian war a
German regiment was called upon for a charge, each man felt that the
order was given because it was necessary, and that what he was doing
was part of a comprehensive scheme, whose success might very likely
depend upon whether he did his assigned part manfully. The French
soldier in that war had no such feeling and, of course, the result of
that campaign was not long in doubt. In Napoleon's time, the confidence
of the rank and file was such that time and again he was saved from
defeat by the feeling of the attacked corps or detachment that it
_must_ hold its ground, or probably imperil the army. Oh, the sickening
doubt and distrust of our generals during the first years of the war!
Our soldiers were as brave as ever trod the earth, and thoroughly
imbued with the cause for which they were fighting; but the suspicion
that at headquarters there might be inefficiency or drunkenness; that
marches and counter-marches had no definite purpose; that their lives
might be uselessly thrown away--you would have to go through it to
realize it! At the beginning of the war, the Southerners had a vast
advantage over us in that respect. Generally speaking, they started out
with the same able commanders they had at the end.

Our colonel was thoroughly disliked and distrusted. As he was the
ranking colonel of the brigade, he was placed in command of it; so you
see we did not feel particularly happy over the situation, especially
as we knew the Confederate army was only twenty-two miles off.

The steady, cold rains of the fir