said she had a son in the rebel army, and she knew we must be
hungry and wet, for it was still raining hard.

The officers at this time experienced difficulty in getting food to eat.
The men were supplied with rations and forced to carry them, but rations
were not issued to officers--though they might purchase of the
commissary such as the men had, when there was a supply. The latter were
supposed to provide their own mess, for which purpose their mess-kits
were transported in a wagon supplied to each regiment. The field and
staff usually made one mess, and the line or company officers another.
Sometimes the latter messed with their own men, carrying their rations
along on the march the same as the men. This was discouraged by the
government, but it proved the only way to be sure of food when needed,
and was later on generally adopted. We had plenty of food with our
mess-kit and cook, but on the march, and especially in the presence of
the enemy, our wagons could never get within reach of us. Indeed, when
we bivouacked, they were generally from eight to ten miles away. The
result was we often went hungry, unless we were able to pick up a meal
at a farm-house--which seldom occurred, for the reason that most of
these farmers were rebel sympathizers and would not feed us "Yanks," or
they would be either sold out, or stolen out, of food. The tale
generally told was, "You 'uns has stolen all we 'uns had." This accounts
for the entry in my diary that the next morning I marched without
breakfast, but got a good bath in the Monocacy--near which we
encamped--in place of it. I got a "hardtack" and bit of raw pork about
10 A.M.

On the 13th of September, we passed through the city of Frederick, Md.
It is a quaint old town, having then probably three thousand or more
inhabitants and a decided business air. The rebels, they claimed, had
cleaned them out of eatables and clothing, paying for them in
Confederate scrip, and one man told me they would not take the same
scrip in change, but required Union money; that this was demanded
everywhere. General McClellan passed through the streets while we were
halted, as did General Burnside shortly after. A funny incident occurred
with the latter. General Burnside, as usual, was accompanied by a single
orderly, and had stopped a moment to speak to some officers, when a
handsome, middle-aged lady stepped out of her house and approached. She
put out her hand and, as the general clasped it, she