ting at the
Wilderness no apparent advantage had been gained, and we assumed that
the army had been unsuccessful and that it was an attempt to retreat. We
soon came to a house outside of which I saw a colored woman apparently
dressed up, since it was Sunday. I called out to her and asked what road
we were marching on. Upon hearing her reply, "The road to Spottsylvania
Court House," a thrill of satisfaction instantly passed through every
man in the column, since then we realized that we at last had a general
and that our movement was south and towards the rear of Lee's army. From
that time until the end of my service I never had any misgiving as to
Grant's capacity to lead us to final victory.

It was on this morning that I first saw General Grant. The road ahead
was blocked and our men were lying in it when some one called out, "Get
your men to one side to allow General Grant to pass." Grant, however,
gave directions not to disturb the tired men, many of whom were asleep,
and turned into a field. We were all up, however, anxious to see him. He
appeared riding a small black horse with his feet not more than two feet
from the ground. He had a couple of staff-officers with him, one of whom
was Captain Parker, an Indian, and an orderly. His unpretentious
appearance excited the comment of all, and had we not been told who he
was he would have attracted no more attention than an ordinary line
officer.

CHAPTER XIV

A little after noon the regiment reached a position in the vicinity of
Spottsylvania, where details of men were given me and I was instructed
to go into the woods and establish a line of skirmishers in a favorable
location. We found the underbrush in these woods on fire, so using a
portion of the men to beat out the fire I placed the remainder on a line
which we occupied until the next day, when we were moved to another part
of the field. It was so difficult to keep my men awake that, in order to
avoid a surprise, I went along the line at frequent intervals during the
night, sometimes being obliged to wake up some of them.

While in front of Spottsylvania Court House I was in command of a force
that held the line of works on the road to that town. We were under fire
most of the day until, towards evening, the enemy retired. With the
desire to have my men get a little refreshment, I suggested that some
part of the men cook coffee while the others remained in the trenches in
line. There being no firewood