But it was his methods of thought which
always impressed me chiefly: superficial brilliancy he left to others,
and grasped at the solid truth. Of course his interest in the war and in
the regiment was unbounded; he did not take to drill with especial
readiness, but he was insatiable of it and grudged every moment of
relaxation. Indeed, he never had any such moments; his mind was at work
all the time, even when he was singing hymns, of which he had endless
store. He was not, however, one of our leading religionists, but his
moral code was solid and reliable, like his mental processes. Ignorant
as he was, the "years that bring the philosophic mind" had yet been his,
and most of my young officers seemed boys beside him. He was a Florida
man, and had been chiefly employed in lumbering and piloting on the St.
Mary's River, which divides Florida from Georgia. Down this stream he
had escaped in a "dug-out," and after thus finding the way, had returned
(as had not a few of my men, in other cases) to bring away wife and
child. "I wouldn't have leff my child, Cunnel," he said, with an
emphasis that sounded the depths of his strong nature. And up this same
river he was always imploring to be allowed to guide an expedition.

Many other men had rival propositions to urge, for they gained
self-confidence from drill and guard-duty, and were growing impatient of
inaction. "Ought to go to work, Sa,--don't believe in we lyin' in camp,
eatin' up the perwisions." Such were the quaint complaints, which I
heard with joy. Looking over my note-books of that period, I find them
filled with topographical memoranda, jotted down by a nickering candle,
from the evening talk of the men,--notes of vulnerable points along the
coast, charts of rivers, locations of pickets. I prized these
conversations not more for what I thus learned of the country than for
what I learned of the men. One could thus measure their various degrees
of accuracy and their average military instinct; and I must say that in
every respect, save the accurate estimate of distances, they stood the
test well. But no project took my fancy so much, after all, as that of
the delegate from the St. Mary's River.

The best peg on which to hang an expedition in the Department of the
South, in those days, was the promise of lumber. Dwelling in the very
land of Southern pine, the Department authorities had to send North for
it, at a vast expense. There was reported to be plenty in the enemy