uld have had no Grand Army
Veterans, and no deeds of heroism with which to keep alive the fire of
patriotism in the hearts of their children. Spain in 1898 might have
successfully defied us, and China and Japan have roamed at will over our
land. No; the war was a necessity. It was costly, but was worth all that
it cost. It has made of us a very great nation.

Now I shall go back and tell how it was done. I will do so by narrating
my own experience, and as my experience, with but slight variation, was
the experience of every boy who served in the Confederate army, the
reader will have a fair idea of what the boy's life was during those
four years.

The firing upon Fort Sumter was like throwing a stone into a hornet's
nest. All the North was aroused. Troops came pouring into Washington by
every train. A Massachusetts regiment, in passing through the streets of
Baltimore, was mobbed, and the song "Maryland, My Maryland" was wafted
out on the air.

Maryland boys, under cover of night, were crossing the Potomac to help
drive the invaders back. They came singing "The Despot's Heel Is on Thy
Shore." Rumors flew thick and fast. Now and then shots were exchanged
between opposing pickets as they walked to and fro on the banks of the
Potomac river that separated them. In fact, the curtain was up and the
play had begun. Harper's Ferry, Leesburg and Manassas (see map)[1]
became strategical points, and at each of these the Confederates were
concentrating their forces.

By June 1, 1861, Jos. E. Johnston at Harper's Ferry had an army of
10,000. Gen. A.P. Hill at Leesburg, 3000. Gen P.T. Beauregard at
Manassas, 12,000. These were Confederates. On the Union side, Gen.
Patterson had an army of about 15,000 confronting Johnston, and McDowell
at the head of 35,000 was crossing the Potomac at Washington en route
for Bull Run.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: In reading the book, spread out the map before you and
follow the movements of the armies. There is a detached map with each
book. The main battlefields are marked with a flag, but there are over
50 more; in fact, eliminating the rough mountain ranges, nearly every
foot of Virginia soil covered by this map felt the tramp of the soldier
and heard the hiss of the bullet.]

CHAPTER II.

_From Bull Run to Seven Pines._

"Only a boy! and his father had said
He never could let his youngest go;
Two already were lying dead
Under the feet of the trampling foe."

A