hort repose at Hartsville was interrupted by the most welcome and
stirring summons we had ever received. This was an order from General
Kirby Smith to Colonel Morgan, to meet him at Lexington, Kentucky, on
the 2nd of the coming month (September).

It will be impossible for the men, whose history I am writing, to ever
forget this period of their lives. The beautiful country in which it was
passed, the blue-grass pastures and the noble trees, the encampments in
the shady forests, through which ran the clear cool Tennessee waters,
the lazy enjoyments of the green bivouacs, changing abruptly to the
excitement of the chase and the action, the midnight moonlit rides
amidst the lovely scenery, cause the recollections which crowd our
minds, when we think of Gallatin and Hartsville, to mingle almost
inseparably with the descriptions of romance. In this country live a
people worthy of it. In all the qualities which win respect and love, in
generosity, honesty, devoted friendship, zealous adherence to what they
deem the right, unflinching support of those who labor for it, in
hospitality and kindliness, the Creator never made a people to excel
them. May God bless and prosper them, and may they and their children,
only, at the judgment day, "arise from that corner of the earth, to
answer for the sins of the brave."

CHAPTER X.

Bidding our friends at Hartsville farewell, we set out for the heart of
Kentucky on the morning of the 29th. Never were men in higher and more
exultant spirits, and cheer after cheer rang from the front to the rear
of the column, and when these evidences of enthusiastic joy at length
ceased the way was enlivened with laugh, jest, and song. Passing by the
Red Sulphur Springs, we reached Scottsville, in Allen county, Kentucky,
on that night and encamped at 12 o'clock a few miles beyond. Stokes' and
Haggard's regiments of Federal cavalry were reported to be in that
section of the country, and the necessity for somewhat careful scouting
could not be ignored. We saw nothing of them, however, and resuming our
march early the next morning, reached Glasgow about 10 A.M.

At Glasgow we found rumors prevailing, as yet undefined and crude, of
Kirby Smith's advance through Southeastern Kentucky. Our friends in
Glasgow welcomed us with their usual kindness and after enjoying their
hospitality for some hours, we marched off on the Columbia road.
Encamping that night at Green river, we reached Columbia, in Adair