e to prevent
soldiers from robbing the horses of their corn.

At midnight the captain of the sloop notified us that we were now at
our place of disembarkation, and we began to scramble up the ladder,
a small lamp hanging near by and out on deck. The wooden wharfs were
even with the deck, so we had no difficulty in stepping from one to
the other. But the night was pitch dark, and our only mode of keeping
direction was taken from the footsteps of the soldiers on the wharf
and in front. Here we came very near losing one of our best soldiers.
Jim George was an erratic, or some said "half witted" fellow, but was
nevertheless a good soldier, and more will be said of him in future
In going out of the hold on deck he became what is called in common
parlance "wrong shipped," and instead of passing to the right, as the
others did, he took the left, and in a moment he was floundering about
in the cold black waves of the river below. The wind was shrieking,
howling, and blowing--a perfect storm--so no one could hear his call
for help. He struck out manfully and paddled wildly about in the
chilly water, until fortunately a passing sailor, with the natural
instinct of his calling, scented a "man overboard." A line was thrown
Jim, and after a pull he was landed on shore, more dead than alive.

"How long were you in the water, Jim?" someone asked.

"Hell! more dan t'ree hours," was the laconic and good-natured reply.

Had we lost Jim here, the regiment would have lost a treat in after
years, as time will show.

We went into camp a mile or so from the historic old Yorktown, if a
few old tumbled down houses and a row of wooden wharfs could be
called a town. The country around Yorktown was low and swampy, and the
continual rains made the woods and fields a perfect marsh, not a dry
foot of land to pitch a tent on, if we had had tents, and scarcely a
comfortable place to stand upon. Fires were built, and around these
men would stand during the day, and a pretense of sleep during the
night. But the soldiers were far from being despondent; although some
cursed our luck, others laughed and joked the growlers. The next day
great numbers visited Yorktown through curiosity, and watched the
Federal Fleet anchored off Old Point Comfort. Here happened a "wind
fall" I could never account for. While walking along the beach with
some comrades, we came upon a group of soldiers, who, like ourselves,
were out sight-seeing. They appeared to be somewha