saying to yourself when you glance at it: "Willard is no longer
talking about enlisting but has really entered the army." You are
right, I now wear the Union Blue.

Many of our home friends will doubtless wonder why I have
sacrificed my professional prospects at a time when they first
began to look cheering, in order to share the hardships and perils
of a soldier's life. But I need not explain, to _you_, my reasons
for doing so. When our country is threatened with destruction by
base and designing men, in order to gratify personal ambition and
love of sway, it becomes her sons to go to her rescue and avert the
impending ruin. The rebelling South has yet to learn the difference
between the _true principles_ of the Constitution and the
_delusion_ of "State rights." It is as easy to die a volunteer as a
drafted soldier, and in my opinion, is infinitely more honorable.
I shall return to my studies as soon as the Rebellion is put down
and the authority of our Government fully restored, and not _until_
then.

Let me give you a sketch of our movements thus far. Having reached
Troy at 3 o'clock on the afternoon of the day you and I parted, I
spent the remainder of the evening until 8 o'clock in the city. At
that hour we embarked for New York, and the boys had a very
exciting and enthusiastic time on board the steamer Vanderbilt.
Wednesday was spent at 648 Broadway, Regimental Headquarters of the
"Harris Light Cavalry;" and on that night we came by train to our
present camp: or, rather, as near it as we could, for it is two
miles from the nearest station. The spot is picturesque enough to
be described. An old farm, surrounded by stone fences that look
like ramparts, constitutes the camp. The Hudson and Harlem rivers
are in full view, and the country around is full of beauty. On the
first night we _bivouacked_ upon the bare sod, with no covering for
our bodies but the broad canopy of heaven. It was not until a late
hour on the following afternoon that our white tents began to dot
the ground and gleam through the dark foliage of the trees.

Crowds of visitors from the neighboring village come out every day
to see us. My health was never better, and this sort of life
affords me keen enjoyment. The very roughness of it is
invigorating. My present wr