the Potomac was
never known to "go back" on such a man. His advent as commander was
signalized by a modest order announcing the fact, and matters moved on
without a ripple upon the surface. Routine work, drills, and picket duty
occupied all our time. Some of our men were required to go on picket
duty every other day, so many were off duty from sickness and other
causes. Twenty-four hours on picket duty, with only twenty-four hours
off between, was certainly very severe duty, yet the men did it without
a murmur. When it is understood that this duty required being that whole
time out in the most trying weather, usually either rain, sleet, slush,
or mud, and constantly awake and alert against a possible attack, one
can form an idea of the strain upon physical endurance it involved.

The chief event preceding the Chancellorsville movement was the grand
review of the army by President Lincoln and staff. The exact date of
this review I do not remember, but it occurred a short time before the
movement upon Chancellorsville. Owing to the absence of Colonel Albright
and the illness of Lieutenant-Colonel Shreve, the command of the
regiment devolved upon me, and I had a funny experience getting ready
for it. As a sort of preliminary drill, I concluded I would put the
regiment through a practice review on our drill grounds. To do this
properly, I had to imagine the presence of a reviewing officer standing
before our line at the proper distance of thirty to forty yards. The
ceremony involved opening the ranks, which brought the officers to the
front of the line, the presenting arms, and dipping the colors, which
the reviewing officer, usually a general, acknowledged by lifting his
hat and gracefully bowing. I had reached the point in my practice drill
where the "present arms" had been executed, and the colors lowered, and
had turned to the front myself to complete the ceremony by presenting
sword to my imaginary general, when lo! there rose up in front of me, in
the proper position, a real reviewing officer in the shape of one of the
worst looking army "bums" I ever saw. He assumed the position and
dignified carriage of a major-general, lifted his dirty old
"cabbage-leaf" cap, and bowed up and down the line with the grace and
air of a Wellington, and then he promptly skedaddled. The "boys" caught
the situation instantly and were bursting with laughter. Of course I
didn't notice the performance, but the effort not to notice it almost