ouse,
and they very cheerfully said they would prepare us a supper. They
seemingly were well-to-do, as several colored men and women were about
the premises, who, of course, were slaves. Soon were audible the death
squawks of chickens in the barn-yard, which we heard with much
satisfaction. In due time supper was announced, and we seated ourselves
at the table. And what a banquet we had! Fried chicken, nice hot
biscuits, butter, butter-milk, honey, (think of that!) preserved
peaches, fresh cucumber pickles,--and so forth. And a colored
house-girl moved back and forth behind us, keeping off the flies with a
big peacock-feather brush. Aleck Cope sat opposite me, and when the
girl was performing that office for him, the situation looked so
intensely ludicrous that I wanted to scream. Supper over, we paid the
bill, which was quite reasonable, and went on our way rejoicing, and
reached Bolivar soon after dark, about the same time the regiment did.
But it will now be set down that this was the last occasion when I
"straggled" on a march. A day or so after arriving at Bolivar the word
came to me in some way, I think from Enoch Wallace, that our first
lieutenant, Dan Keeley, had spoken disapprovingly of my conduct in that
regard. He was a young man, about twenty-five years old, of education
and refinement, and all things considered, the best company officer we
had. I was much attached to him, and I know that he liked me. Well, I
learned that he had said, in substance, that a non-commissioned officer
should set a good example to the men in all things, and that he hadn't
expected of Stillwell that he would desert the ranks on a march. That
settled the matter. My conduct had simply been thoughtless, without any
shirking intentions, but I then realized that it was wrong, and, as
already stated, straggled no more.

We went into camp at Bolivar a little south of the town, in a grove of
scattered big oak trees. A few days after our arrival a good-sized body
of Confederate cavalry, under the command of Gen. Frank C. Armstrong,
moved up from the south, and began operating near Bolivar and vicinity.
Our force there was comparatively small, and, according to history, we
were, for a time, in considerable danger of being "gobbled up," but of
that we common soldiers knew nothing. Large details were at once put to
work throwing up breast-works, while the men not on that duty were kept
in line of battle, or with their guns in stack on the line