burg. The
arguments on both sides were very amusing, and opinion was pretty evenly
divided. We met three trains crammed full of soldiers for Johnston's
army. They belonged to Breckenridge's division of Bragg's army, and all
seemed in the highest spirits, cheering and yelling like demons. In the
cars to-day I fell in with the Federal doctor who was refused leave to
pass through General Johnston's lines; he was now _en route_ for
Richmond. He was in full Yankee uniform, but was treated with civility
by all the Confederate soldiers. I had a long talk with him; he seemed a
sensible man, and did not attempt to deny the universal enthusiasm and
determination of the Southerners. He told me that General Grant had been
very nearly killed at the taking of Jackson. He thought the war would
probably terminate by a blow-up in the North.[37]

I had to change cars at West Point and at Atlanta. At the latter place I
was crammed into a desperately crowded train for Chattanooga. This
country, Georgia, is much more inhabited and cultivated than Alabama. I
travelled again all night.

[36] This rigid inspection is necessary to arrest spies, and prevent
straggling and absence without leave.

[37] Notwithstanding the exasperation with which every Southerner speaks
of a Yankee, and all the talk about black flag and no quarter, yet I
never saw a Federal prisoner ill treated or insulted in any way,
although I have travelled hundreds of miles in their company.

* * * * *

_28th May_ (Thursday).--I arrived at Chattanooga (Tennessee) at 4.30
A.M., and fell in with Captain Brown again; his negro recognised me, and
immediately rushed up to shake hands.

After breakfasting at Chattanooga, I started again at 7.30, by train,
for Shelbyville, General Bragg's headquarters. This train was crammed to
repletion with soldiers rejoining their regiments, so I was constrained
to sit in the aisle on the floor of one of the cars. I thought myself
lucky even then, for so great was the number of military, that all
"_citizens_" were ordered out to make way for the soldiers; but my grey
shooting-jacket and youthful appearance saved me from the imputation of
being a "citizen." Two hours later, the passport officer, seeing who I
was, procured me a similar situation in the ladies' car, where I was a
little better off. After leaving Chattanooga the railroad winds
alongside of the Tennessee river, the banks of which are high, and
beaut