d Jubal's drunk--drunk as a fool."

I was never more highly complimented than at this moment; but the
stunning consciousness of being a prisoner, the bitterest experience of
my life, the unspeakable disappointment, the intense mortification--these
are even to this day poorly mitigated, much less compensated, by the
excessive praises heaped upon me by those Confederate officers for my
supposed bravery. That they were sincere I cannot doubt; for it was
customary on the battle-field for the rebels to strip prisoners of all
valuables, but no one of the fifty or one hundred near me was robbed.
Tiemann, whose life I had perhaps saved, was even privileged to keep his
canteen of whiskey, of which he gave me a drink by and by to keep me in
good spirits! I realized the truth of Burns's lines:

Inspiring bold _John Barleycorn_!
What dangers thou canst make us scorn!
Wi' tippenny, we fear nae evil;
Wi' usquebaugh, we'll face the devil!

FOOTNOTES:

[1] _Personal Memoirs_, vol. i., p. 487.

[2] In New Orleans it was known as "Butler's Dandy Regiment"; for it was
then better dressed than any other. It wore dark blue, which Birge had
procured through his uncle, Buckingham, the war governor of Connecticut.
At the siege of Port Hudson it had distinguished itself above all other
regiments by furnishing as volunteers nearly one-fourth of the
celebrated "Storming Column" of one thousand men called for by General
N. P. Banks the second day after the disastrous assault on that fortress
(June 14, 1863). Birge was selected by Banks to lead the forlorn hope.

[3] Six thousand is Gordon's statement in his _Reminiscences_, page 320.

CHAPTER II

At Winchester--On the Road thence to Tom's Brook, New Market, and
Staunton.

There were two battles that Monday between Sheridan and Early, the first
indecisive, though bloody, a drawn game; the second, after a comparative
lull of several hours, a fierce struggle in which the whole front of the
Sixth, Nineteenth, and Crook's Corps simultaneously advanced, and
Torbert's Cavalry, arriving at last after their unaccountable delay upon
our extreme right, made a magnificent charge crumpling up all the
enemy's left. The victory was real, but not so complete as it should
have been. Sheridan ought to have captured or destroyed the whole of
Early's army. Instead, he had left them an open line of retreat. He took
only five pieces of artillery, nine battle-flags, and some tw