. Wagons broke down, and,
cutting the harnesses, men mounted the horses and rode
off toward Centreville. Muskets were thrown away and
filled the road for a long distance. It was there that I
picked up my gun, begged a pocket full of ammunition, and
resolved to do my share when the terrible Black Horse
Cavalry reached us--for it was reported that they were
coming at full speed. Ere long I reached Centreville
again, and left the rush to look for my wagon. It had
gone, long before, in the grand stampede for Washington.
That didn't worry me much then--I thought I would find my
brother again; and fight in company with the boys I grew
up with. So I waited and waited at Centreville till the
sun got low. I saw at length that it would be useless to
try to find anybody. There were several roads; and all
were full of disorganized troops.

But the first mad rush was over. _All_ the army did not
run. _I_ did not run a step. It was nearly sunset when I
left Centreville; and, as I was terribly hungry, I
stopped, after going about a mile, and joined two of N.
Y. 69th regiment who were having a regular feast out of a
broken down and abandoned sutler's wagon. I remember that
I ate a whole can of roast chicken and many sweet
biscuits, and washed the whole down with some sherry wine
drank from the bottle--my first experience in wine
drinking.

Much refreshed, I took up my musket and started for
Washington with an oddly mixed crowd of gay militia
uniforms representing parts of many regiments. Yet there
were still behind us good, orderly, full regiments, that
stayed in Centreville till after midnight and came into
Washington late the next day in fine marching order.
_They_ did not run, and my brother's regiment was one of
them. It was 10 P. M. when I reached Fairfax Court House.
There I rested, sitting on a rail fence, as a motley
crowd poured by, each squad saying that the Black Horse
Cavalry was coming. So I clung to my musket, though my
shoulders began to get a little sore. It was after
midnight when I started again. The night was very dark,
for heavy clouds obscured the moon. The road, very rough
in itself, was now full of materials thrown out of
wagons. There were shovels, pickaxes, boxes, barrels,
iron mess-kettles, musket