s brilliant operations in Western Virginia, to command the army of the
Potomac, and he was engaged in the arduous task of organizing the vast
body of loyal troops that rushed forward to sustain the government in this
dark hour of peril.

While at Bladensburg the --th regiment with three others were formed into
a brigade, the command of which was given to Hooker--a name then unknown
beyond the circle of his own friends.

About the first of November the brigade was sent to Budd's Ferry, thirty
miles below Washington, on the Potomac, to watch the rebels in that
vicinity. The enemy had, by this time, closed the river against the
passage of vessels to the capital, by erecting batteries at various
places, the principal of which were at Evansport, Shipping Point, and
Cockpit Point. Budd's Ferry was a position in the vicinity of these works,
and the brigade was employed in picketing the river, to prevent the enemy
on the other side from approaching, and also to arrest the operations of
the viler traitors on this side, who were attempting to send supplies to
the rebels.

It was not a very exciting life to which the boys of our regiment were
introduced on their arrival at Budd's Ferry, though the rebel batteries at
Shipping Point made a great deal of noise and smoke at times. As the
season advanced the weather began to grow colder, and the soldiers were
called to a new experience in military life; but as they were gradually
inured to the diminishing temperature, the hardship was less severe than
those who gather around their northern fireside may be disposed to
imagine. Tom continued to be a philosopher, which was better than an extra
blanket; and he got along very well.

It was a dark, cold, and windy night, in December, when Tom found himself
doing picket duty near the mouth of Chickamoxon Creek. Nobody supposed
that any rebel sympathizer would be mad enough to attempt the passage of
the river on such a night as that, for the Potomac looked alive with the
angry waves that beat upon its broad bosom. Hapgood and Fred Pemberton
were with him, and the party did the best they could to keep themselves
comfortable, and at the same time discharge the duty assigned to them.

"Here, lads," said old Hapgood, who, closely muffled in his great-coat,
was walking up and down the bank of the creek to keep the blood warm in
his veins.

"What is it, Hapgood?" demanded Fred, who was coiled up on the lee side of
a tree, to protect him from t