t. This was the last we saw of our
baggage, as it was plundered and stolen by camp-followers and shirkers
who stayed behind.

Having recuperated somewhat during my stay in camp I had set out, with
the battery, for the march, but a few days of hot sun soon weakened me
again, so I had to be excused from duty, and remain with the wagons.
Part of a day with them was sufficient, so I returned to the battery,
sick or well. Soon after my return, about sundown, Arthur Robinson, of
Baltimore, whom I had regarded as a sort of dude, brought me a cup of
delicious tea and several lumps of cut loaf-sugar. Cut loaf-sugar! What
associations it awakened and how kindly I felt toward the donor ever
afterward! As I dropped each lump into the tea I could sympathize with
an old lady in Rockbridge County, who eyed a lump of it lovingly and
said, "Before the war I used to buy that _by the pound_."

[Illustration: WILLIAM M. WILLSON

(Corporal)]

On the following morning, August 18, Gen. J. E. B. Stuart came dashing
into our camp bareheaded and, for him, very much excited. He had just
narrowly escaped capture by a scouting-party of Federal cavalry at a
house near Verdiersville, where he had passed the night. Leaving his
hat, he mounted and leaped the fence with his horse. His adjutant,
however, Major Fitzhugh, in possession of General Lee's instructions to
General Stuart, was captured, and thus General Pope informed of the plan
of campaign. Four days later General Stuart, with a large force of
cavalry, having passed to the rear of the Federal army, captured, at
Catlett's Station, General Pope's headquarters wagon with his official
papers and personal effects. As his plan of campaign was to be governed
by General Lee's movements, these papers were not very reliable guides.

Our stay in this bivouac was only thirty-six hours in duration, but
another scene witnessed in the afternoon leaves an indelible impression.
To escape the arduous service to which we had for some time been
subjected, a few, probably eight or ten men, of Jackson's old division
had deserted. Of these, three had been caught, one of whom was a member
of the Stonewall Brigade, and they were sentenced by court-martial to be
shot. As a warning to others, the whole division was mustered out to
witness the painfully solemn spectacle. After marching in column
through intervening woods, with bands playing the dead march, we entered
an extensive field. Here the three men, blindfolde