idge and keeping pretty well
out of it. That night was cold and rainy and as dark as a pocket, and it
was a difficult matter to make a thirteen-mile march. However, we reached
Knoxville in the early morning of the 17th, and immediately set to work
throwing up fortifications.

Knoxville is located on the north bank of the Holston River, on high
ground elevated about one hundred feet above the general level of the
valley. It was thus easily defended with a small force and our water
supply was secure. The location of the 21st during the siege was on the
north side of the city. We were a little short of rations; indeed, we were
on half rations the whole time. However, I was a very good forager and
managed to have enough to eat most of the time. One time I succeeded in
picking up a pair of geese out in the country. At another time I got a
tub of lard and a fine smoked ham. On another raid I got a barrel of
flour. To cook the flour I was obliged to pay $2.00 for a package of
baking powder worth ordinarily fifteen or twenty cents. The following
story was brought over from the 51st New York one day during the siege.
The regimental teams had been out foraging two or three days before. Some
negroes belonging to Miss Palmer had deserted their mistress and followed
the teams back to camp. A few days later Miss Palmer rode into camp and
inquired for the colonel. The colonel appeared, tipped his hat politely
and placed himself at her service. "Colonel," said she, "your men have
been over to our town and stole all my niggers and I have just ridden over
to camp to see if you will be kind enough to lend me my blacksmith to shoe
this horse." The colonel assisted her in alighting, had her boy hunted up,
and set him to work shoeing her horse.

While in a store a day or two ago, buying a pair of gloves, the cry of
fire was heard outside on the street, and going to the door there could be
seen smoke issuing from the windows on the opposite side of the street and
soon the flames burst forth. The fire spread to other buildings and it
looked for a short time as if nothing could save the city. A New York
regiment chanced to be near by and went to the assistance of the fire
department. That regiment contained a large number of firemen from New
York City. They knew how to fight a city fire and in a very short time the
fire was under control. In the afternoon as our relief picket, to which I
belonged, was on the way to its post, we passed through t