I suggested that some rails be pulled out
of a breastwork that ran at right angles to one that we had been
occupying. On lifting these rails a man reported that he saw the body of
a Confederate soldier in the breastworks. I then had a considerable
portion of the breastworks uncovered, and found that they had placed in
them a number of dead Confederates and piled rails and dirt on top of
them, thus forming the breastwork behind which they had fought.
Reporting this on being relieved, I saw it afterward commented on in
some of the Northern papers.

It will be remembered that the battle of Spottsylvania was a very
sanguinary one, the enemy being strongly posted behind breastworks in a
rough-wooded country, and the assaults made on these works had cost our
army a loss of nearly twenty thousand men, killed and wounded. A night
or two before the army moved from there, I was called from my place in
the line of breastworks and directed to report at division headquarters.
On arriving there I was introduced to an officer who, I was told, was a
topographical engineer from army headquarters, and that I was to go with
him. It was a dark night with a drizzling rain falling. As we mounted
our horses he told me that I was selected to conduct a division later in
the night to a position from which they were to assault the enemy's
works, the attack to be made before daylight, hoping to surprise them,
previous assaults in the daytime having proved so disastrous to our men.
He stated that he wanted to have me familiarize myself thoroughly with
the ground where the division was to be placed in position for the
charge so that I could explain it to the general in command, and thus
avoid a chance of confusion among the troops and failure of the attack.

On hearing what was expected of me I was naturally greatly impressed
with the responsibility, fearing that if I made a mistake it might be
very disastrous in its results. We soon reached a small corduroy bridge,
about wide enough for a column of fours to cross, from which a roadway
passed through a piece of woods, as I remember it, a few rods, to a
clearing. We left our horses with our orderlies at this bridge and
walked till we came to the clearing. He told me that a few rods in front
the ground began to ascend, and farther up on this slope was the line of
works the division was to attack and attempt to surprise. He then walked
with me along the clearing to the right, explaining about how many