eceived boxes from home filled with good things, and we swam in the
waters of the bay; the sun was very hot, but there was always a good
breeze.

One of the boys, a rather awkward fellow, received a box from home. It
contained among other things a box of dried prunes; he stewed some of them
for sauce. He had no more than got them finished when the order was given
to fall in for inspection. In his haste he upset his pan of sauce on his
gun and equipments; line was formed and along came the colonel, the
captain and the inspecting officer. He presented his gun to the inspecting
officer; but to the surprise and horror of the officer, his gloves of
immaculate whiteness, were covered with a soft brown sticky substance. He
looked at his gloves for an instant, and with an oath demanded "What is
that?" and the king of the awkward squad made answer, "It is nothin' but
stewed prunes." For an instant military discipline was powerless, but the
man was sent to his quarters and was later dealt with.

By the last of July the report was abroad that we were to leave soon and
instead of going up the James River to reinforce McClellan, as we expected
to do, on the 3d of August we started to join Pope. We sailed up the
Potomac to Aquia Creek. We landed on the 4th, and took train for
Fredericksburg, arriving there in a short time and went into camp about a
mile from the town.

There we remained until the 12th, and who of the 21st boys does not
remember how we enjoyed the delicious fresh spring water that was so
abundant there, after drinking the North Carolina surface water?

Directly after our arrival there, heavy picket posts were sent out on all
the roads leading to the camp. I was in the detail which was established
near the village of Falmouth, a little pine grove near the house of the
local physician furnished us a fine camp ground. The physician was a man
about sixty years old, of one of the "first families of Virginia," and
"secesh" through and through. Occasionally he would come over to our camp
and talk with us. He was free to concede that his sympathies were with the
South, and spoke with freedom of the superiority of the southerner; he
was very certain the Confederacy would be established. We answered his
assertions respectfully, but quietly determined to give the old man a jolt
if we had a chance. The night before we left there, Harding Witt appeared
at my tent door at about three o'clock in the morning; the way was clear.
A