fact, all regiments and brigades, had been put
in different commands at different times to suit the caprice of
the President or whims of the Department, and now we were Early's
Division.

On the night of the 9th of March we broke up quarters at Bull Run and
commenced our long and tiresome march for the Rappahannock. We were
ordered by different routes to facilitate the movement, our wagon
trains moving out in the morning along the dirt road and near the
railroad. All baggage that the soldiers could not carry had been sent
to the rear days before, and the greater part destroyed in the great
wreck and conflagration that followed at Manassas on its evacuation.
In passing through Manassas the stores, filled to the very tops with
commissary stores, sutler's goods, clothing, shoes, private boxes, and
whiskey, were thrown open for the soldiers to help themselves. What a
feast for the troops! There seemed everything at hand to tempt him to
eat, drink, or wear, but it was a verification of the adage, "When
it rains mush you have no spoon." We had no way of transporting these
goods, now piled high on every hand, but to carry them on our backs,
and we were already overloaded for a march of any distance. Whiskey
flowed like water. Barrels were knocked open and canteens filled.
Kegs, jugs, and bottles seemed to be everywhere. One stalwart man of
my company shouldered a ten gallon keg and proposed to hold on to it
as long as possible, and it is a fact that a few men carried this
keg by reliefs all night and next day. This was the case in other
companies. When, we got out of the town and on the railroad, the men
were completely overloaded. All night we marched along the railroad
at a slow, steady gait, but all order and discipline were abandoned.
About midnight we saw in our rear great sheets of flame shooting up
from the burning buildings, that illuminated the country for miles
around. Manassas was on fire! Some of the buildings had caught fire
by accident or carelessness of the soldiers, for the firing was not to
begin until next day, after the withdrawal of the cavalry. The
people in the surrounding country had been invited to come in and get
whatever they wished, but I doubt if any came in time to save
much from the burning mass. A great meat curing establishment at
Thoroughfare Gap, that contained millions of pounds of beef and pork,
was also destroyed. We could hear the bursting of bombs as the flames
reached the magazines, as