re to be taken, the sick men and unserviceable horses to remain in
camp, and the tents to remain standing as they were until our return. By
this it appeared that it was to be a raid or reconnoissance, not a
permanent change of station. Everyone was busy getting ready for the
march. Rations were issued, cooked and put in the haversacks; ammunition
was distributed and placed in the cartridge boxes; a small bag of oats
was strapped to each saddle; horses were fed and the men took a midnight
lunch. As for myself, I had the foresight to have a tin cup tied to the
cantle of my saddle and, in addition to the cooked meat and hard bread,
put into the saddle-bags some sugar, and a sack of coffee that my good
mother had sent from home and which was received only a few days before.
It was about as large as a medium-sized shot bag, and the coffee was
browned and ground ready for use. I also took a supply of matches. These
things were of inestimable value during the next few days.

Promptly at the appointed hour, two o'clock a.m., "boots and saddles"
and "to horse" were sounded; twelve troops led their horses into line;
twelve first sergeants called the roll, to which every man not excused
from duty responded; and twelve troop commanders gave the order to
mount; when the regiment, responsive to the bugle call, "forward," broke
into column of fours, moved out into Fourteenth street and headed for
Long Bridge. The night was dark and dismal. The rain began to fall. It
was cold and raw, the air surcharged with moisture, chilling one to the
marrow. But as the troopers wore gum coats or "poncho" blankets and top
boots, they were measurably sheltered from the storm at the same time
that they were exposed to it.

Down through the silent, slumbering city the multitudinous tread of the
iron-shod horses awoke strange echoes, while the splashing rain-drops
and lowering clouds did not serve to raise the spirits. It was an
inauspicious beginning of active service, and typical of the many long
and weary weeks of wet discomfort that the Sixth of Michigan was
destined to experience before the summer solstice had fairly passed. The
points of interest,--the public buildings, the white house, the massive
Greek architecture of the Treasury building, the monument, all these as
they glided like phantoms, through the mist, attracted scarcely a casual
glance. Indeed, it is probable that few in that long column took note
that these had passed at all, so deepl