t up; until the call had gone through
every corps. The old staid rub-a-dub of the English drummer is giving
place to the stirring French rat-a-plan. And there was one band that
generally led off in a splendid style. They did beat their drums lively
and sharply. Not being obliged to be up with the sun and cook our own
breakfast, we generally contrived to get a little more sleep. After
breakfast, the bands were playing for guard-mounting; and we sat gazing
down into the valley from our tent upon the large army corps encamped
below. We were on the western slope of the Blue Ridge, through whose
gaps not many days before, a few miles farther north, Franklin had
successfully fought his way. Still farther up, Burnside, with Reno and
Hooker under him, had at South Mountain driven the enemy in--that battle
which came to us so welcome, the first victory after Pope's disasters,
and the retreat from the Peninsula. The valley below us was Pleasant
Valley. The opposite side to our tent was a short spur of the Blue
Ridge; the southern extremity of which is the Maryland Heights, so well
known in the history of the surrender of Harper's Ferry. The valley
between is fertile and highly cultivated, full of mountain springs and
brooks, emptying into one stream of sufficient size to turn the wheels
of a large mill; the water is delicious; the prevailing limestone does
not reach this valley. In the morning before the army moved there, the
little river was clear as crystal; at night it was changed into an
opaque white color, a stream of soapy water; a pleasing witness to the
cleanliness of our men. There were no clothes lines, however, but many
of the washers were so scantily off for clothing that they put their
garments on to dry. The farmhouses in the valley are mostly of stone. It
is a most charming and beautiful place, and appropriately called
'Pleasant Valley.' The farmers are prosperous; and the land so rich that
it sells for the high price of seventy and eighty dollars an acre. The
mountains rising on the sides of the valley are thickly wooded; and in
the cultivated fields between were crowded the tents of the ninth army
corps. With the exception of one or two new regiments who had wall
tents, the soldiers were under little shelter tents, of which each man
carries a piece. The infantry were encamped in divisions and brigades;
the cavalry generally picketed along a fence; the horses and men, except
the officers, without shelter. The encamp