d the
men, and no new campaign could be undertaken until the wrecked and
burned lines of communication were restored, the army reclothed and
otherwise put into proper shape, and the necessary steps taken to make
Murfreesboro safe as a new base of supplies.

As the readers of the former volumes of this series know, the Riverlawn
Cavalry was one of the first to be organized in the State of Kentucky,
at the time when the Commonwealth was still undecided as to whether it
should remain in the Union or throw its lot in with the Confederacy.
The original body of men, forming two companies, had been raised very
largely by Noah Lyon, the father of Dexter, who had used them in putting
down the lawless uprisings of the Home Guards of the neighborhood--a mob
of unprincipled fellows who, under the guise of wishing to defend
Kentucky's neutrality during the great conflict, secretly plotted to aid
the Confederacy, and later on, when the Commonwealth declared for the
Union, promptly joined the ranks of the Secessionists.

From two companies the command had developed to a full regiment of
twelve companies, of which Noah Lyon was colonel. Following his father
into the war, Dexter had, by hard work and a bravery which sometimes
bordered on recklessness, risen from the ranks until he became senior
major, while his cousin Artie, of about Deck's age, had well earned the
commission of a captain. Both had been wounded more than once, Artie
rather seriously, and both were known to care little or nothing for the
injuries received in such a righteous cause.

The first duty of the Riverlawns as a regular military body had been to
put down the raids of several bands of guerillas operating in counties
bordering upon, or near, the Tennessee State line. Successful in these,
the command had become a part of the Union army, and as such had taken
an active part in the battle of Mill Springs, or Logan's Crossroads, as
it is sometimes called. After this had come a series of operations on
and around Duck River, and in the entrenchments before Corinth, and then
had come the advance of Rosecrans's forces upon Murfreesboro, ending in
the bloody battle of Stone River, which, while hardly a victory, caused
the shattered forces of the Confederate General Bragg to retreat, and go
into winter quarters at Tullahoma.

Although each of the Lyons fought with the warmth and enthusiasm of a
true Kentuckian, not one of the members of the several families living
at Riv