. Strange stories of the Civil War . n to the south, and rode for hoursas-rapidly as we could ride, directly towardsthe enemy. Before darkness came on wehad made thirty miles from the place of ourescape; and then turning sharply up the93 STRANGE STORIES OF THE CIVIL WAR mountain, we rode as far as horses couldclimb, and, abandoning them, pushed onthrough the whole night to the very summitof the Blue Ridge. There we could see therebel camp-fires in the valley, and at break ofdawn we could view their entire lines. The length of this weary day, and theterrible pangs of hunger and thirst whichwe s
. Strange stories of the Civil War . n to the south, and rode for hoursas-rapidly as we could ride, directly towardsthe enemy. Before darkness came on wehad made thirty miles from the place of ourescape; and then turning sharply up the93 STRANGE STORIES OF THE CIVIL WAR mountain, we rode as far as horses couldclimb, and, abandoning them, pushed onthrough the whole night to the very summitof the Blue Ridge. There we could see therebel camp-fires in the valley, and at break ofdawn we could view their entire lines. The length of this weary day, and theterrible pangs of hunger and thirst whichwe suffered on this barren mountain, belongto the mere common experience of a soldierslife, and I need not describe them here. We had to go still farther south to avoidthe scouts and pickets, and finally struckthe Shenandoah twenty miles to the rear ofEarlys entire army. There we built a raft,and floated by night forty miles down thatmemorable stream, through his crafty pickets,until the glorious old flag once more greetedus in VII THE FIRST TIME UNDER FIREThe Experience of a Raw Recruit IHEN the President ordered thearmy to be filled up by recruiting,drafting, or otherwise, and thepeaceful moneyed men of theNorth were roused to protect their personsby draining their pockets, I was moved bylove of country, of adventure, and three hun-dred dollars, to offer myself as a recruit in the Cavalry Regiment. So, under the protection of a strong body of infantry, Iand fifty others were first jolted forty mileson a cattle-car, then marched twenty-fivemiles to corps headquarters, then fifteenacross country to our brigadier-commander,and then back again near the place whencewe started to the camp of the accompanying on foot the movements7 95 STRANGE STORIES OF THE CIVIL WAR of our mounted troops for the next threeweeks, it suddenly occurred to some memberof the Generals staff that we might perhaps bemore efficient on horseback; and so we weretransported back on the car
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