either flesh nor spirit
quailing. "He himself knew what he would do." And he did wait, and, in
waiting, won. Carleton's faith in Grant, strong from the first, was
now as a mountain, unshakable.

CHAPTER XIV.

CAMP LIFE AND NEWS-GATHERING.

The story of the Wilderness campaign, during which were fought the
greatest musketry battles in the history of the world, with their
awful slaughter, has been told by hundreds of witnesses, and by
Carleton himself in his books; but the life of the camp and how the
great army was handled, how the news was forwarded, and how Carleton
beat the government couriers and all his fellow historians of the
hour, getting the true report of the awful struggle before the
country, has not been told, or at least, only in part. Let us try to
recall some of the incidents.

In the first place, this was the time of the year when the flies and
manifold sort of vermin, flying, crawling, hopping, hungry, and ever
biting, were in the full rampancy of their young vigor. It was not
only spiteful enemies in human form, that sent crashing shells and
piercing bullets, but every kind of nipping, boring, sucking, and
stinging creatures in the air and on the earth, that our brave
soldiers, and especially our wounded, had to face. Even to the
swallowing of a mouthful of coffee, or the biting of a piece of hard
tack, it was a battle. Flies, above, around, and everywhere, made it
difficult to eat without taking in vermin also. Even upon the most
careful man, the growth of parasites in the clothing or upon the
person was a certainty. Within twenty-four hours the carcass of a
horse, left on the field of battle, seemed to move with new and
multitudinous life suddenly generated. The stench of the great
battle-fields was unspeakable, and the sudden creation of incalculable
hosts of insects to do nature's scavenger work was a phenomenon
necessary, but to human nerves horrible. The turkey-buzzards gathered
in clouds for their hideous banquet.

All this made the work of the surgeons greater, and the sufferings of
the wounded more intense; yet, redeeming the awful sight of torn and
mangled humanity, was the splendid discipline and order of the medical
staff. Upon the first indications of a battle, the regimental wagons
of each corps would be driven up to some real or supposed safe place.
It was the work of but a few moments for the tables to be spread with
all their terrible array of steel instruments, while clo