river; and at times one might sit in the
door of his tent and see as many as six or seven funeral parties bearing
comrades to their humble resting places.

Hospital steamers plied constantly from the White House to Washington,
Alexandria and Philadelphia, bearing thousands of these victims of
disease; and many, with stoic indifference, lay down in their shelter
tents and gave themselves over to death, without even applying to
comrades or surgeons for assistance.

Everywhere at the north, men were seen on cars and steamers, on the
streets and in the houses, whose sallow countenances, emaciated
appearance, and tottering steps, marked them as the victims of
"Chickahominy fever." Express cars groaned with the weight of coffins
containing the remains of youths who but a few months before had gone to
the war in the pride of their strength, and had now yielded, not to the
bullets of the enemy, but to the grim spirit which hovered over that
river of death.

Our army seemed on the point of annihilation from disease; and matters
were constantly growing worse. At White House landing, great temporary
hospitals were established, where hundreds languished, and waited their
turn to be sent north.

Thus, for nearly a month, the two armies looked each other in the face,
each engaged in throwing up defenses against the approach of the other,
but neither attempting to bring on any general engagement. The pickets
of the two opposing forces were within speaking distance, but they
contented themselves with watching each other, and, as a general rule,
amicable relations existed between them. But occasionally, when a
belligerent regiment would be on picket on one or the other side, some
fellow, who imagined he had a capital chance to pick off an opposing
picket, would blaze away; when in a moment the whole line on either side
would flash with the discharge of musketry. Night demonstrations on the
part of the enemy were so common, that it was a rare thing for our
troops not to turn out at midnight, or at two or three o'clock in the
morning, and stand under arms until after daylight.

The men of our Third brigade were a part of the time engaged in building
a strong fort, near the river bank, which, in honor of our dashing
brigadier, was named Fort Davidson.

A new regiment was added to Davidson's brigade during the month of June,
the Twentieth New York. The regiment was composed entirely of German
Turners. Nearly every man had served his