ell," said I, "I have some pabulum here; let's go to the
mess and give them a snack." They said, "That little bit wouldn't be a
drop in the bucket with all that mess; let's just go down yonder to the
branch and have one real good old-fashioned repast." So off we went to
the branch, and by the time they were through congratulating me on
getting back before the battery had "gotten into it," my haversack was
empty. The battle had been fought by Johnson's division, the enemy
whipped and put to flight. The next day we started in pursuit, passing
through McDowell, a village in Highland County, and near this village
the fight had occurred. The ground was too rough and broken for the
effective use of artillery, so the work was done by the infantry on both
sides. This was the first opportunity that many of us had had of seeing
a battlefield the day after the battle. The ghastly faces of the dead
made a sickening and lasting impression; but I hoped I did not look as
pale as did some of the young cadets, who proved gallant enough
afterward. We continued the pursuit a day or two through that wild
mountainous country, but Milroy stopped only once after his defeat, for
a skirmish. In a meadow and near the roadside stood a deserted cabin,
which had been struck several times during the skirmish by shells. I
went inside of it, to see what a shell could do. Three had penetrated
the outer wall and burst in the house, and I counted twenty-seven holes
made through the frame partition by the fragments. Being an
artilleryman, and therefore to be exposed to missiles of that kind, I
concluded that my chances for surviving the war were extremely slim.

While on this expedition an amusing incident occurred in our mess. There
belonged to it quite a character. He was not considered a pretty boy,
and tried to get even with the world by taking good care of himself. We
had halted one morning to cook several days' rations, and a large pile
of bread was placed near the fire, of which we were to eat our breakfast
and the rest was to be divided among us. He came, we thought, too often
to the pile, and helped himself bountifully; he would return to his seat
on his blanket, and one or two of us saw, or thought we saw, him conceal
pieces of bread under it. Nothing was said at the time, but after he had
gone away Bolling, Packard and I concluded to examine his haversack,
which looked very fat. In it we found about half a gallon of rye for
coffee, a hock of bac