wer of
nice white handkerchiefs, which were thrown from the windows of a large
brick block by a company of ladies. Each of these souvenirs was
delicately perfumed and bore the name of the fair donor. We were also
treated to another supper here, which, had we not fared so very
sumptuously at Pittsburgh, would have been pronounced the _ne plus
ultra_ of feasts. After eating till we could eat no more, a fresh supply
was brought on with which to fill our empty haversacks for the remainder
of the journey.

I was busily occupied all night, in company with a squad of men, in
transferring the baggage across the river to Covington in ferry-boats,
and loading it on board the train which was to convey us to Lexington,
which city we reached the following day, having been six days on the
journey from Newport News. We encamped on the State Fair Grounds, west
of the city, a spacious and charming location, adorned with elegant
shade trees, and surrounded with the stately suburban residences of some
of the chivalry of Kentucky. You may perhaps infer that we were somewhat
influenced by our aristocratic surroundings when I inform you that while
here, our fire-wood consisted mainly of black-walnut, the ordinary
fence-rails in that vicinity being composed of that material.

The Sunday following our arrival here, the regiment was visited and
briefly addressed by the venerable General Leslie Coombs, of Kentucky,
that staunch and life-long enemy of secession, who was a friend and old
acquaintance of Colonel Browne. His tall and manly form, his long,
flowing white hair, and his stately bearing, together with his stirring
and patriotic remarks in favor of the preservation of the Union and the
vigorous prosecution of the war, made an impression upon my mind that I
shall never forget.

After a week's sojourn here, our brigade turned its face southward and
commenced what subsequently proved to be a long series of marches back
and forth across the State, protecting exposed points and preparing for
a probable meeting with the rebels either under General Breckenridge or
General Morgan, who were constantly menacing the southern borders of the
State. And besides, the mountainous districts thereof were infested with
marauding bands, mainly under the general direction of Morgan, who were
carrying on a guerrilla warfare both against the Unionists of the State,
who constituted a majority of all the people, and also against the Union
forces stationed ther