. If the train had
been going at full speed, other cars would have been involved, and
there is simply no telling how many would then have been killed and
wounded.

On what little things does the fate of man sometimes depend! If in
response to my suggestion Jack Medford had promptly said, "All right,"
we would have jumped on that flat car, and then would have been caught
in the smash-up. But he took a mere fraction of time to look and think,
and that brief delay was, perhaps, our temporal salvation.

We arrived at Bolivar during the afternoon of the 24th and re-occupied
our old camp. The work of fortifying that place was pushed with renewed
vigor, and strong lines of breastworks, with earthen forts at
intervals, were constructed which practically inclosed the entire town.
But we never had occasion to use them. Not long after our return to
Bolivar, Gen. Grant became satisfied that the point the enemy would
assail was Corinth, so the most of the troops at Bolivar were again
started to Corinth, to aid in repelling the impending attack, but this
time they marched overland. Our regiment and two others, with some
artillery, were left to garrison Bolivar. And so it came to pass that
the battle of Corinth was fought, on our part, by the command of Gen.
Rosecrans on October 4th, and the battle of Hatchie Bridge the next day
by the column from Bolivar, under the command of Gen. Ord,--and we
missed both battles. For my part, I then felt somewhat chagrined that
we didn't get to take part in either off those battles. Here we had
been rushed around the country from pillar to post, hunting for
trouble, and then to miss both these fights was just a little
mortifying. However, the common soldier can only obey orders, and stay
where he is put, and doubtless it was all for the best.

Early on the morning of October 9th, a force of about four thousand
men, including our regiment, started from Bolivar, marching southwest
on the dirt road. We arrived at Grand Junction at dark, after a march
of about twenty miles. Grand Junction was the point where the Memphis &
Charleston and the Mississippi Central railroads crossed. We had not
much more than stacked arms, and of course before I had time to cook my
supper, when I was detailed for picket, and was on duty all night. But
I didn't go supperless by any means, as I made coffee and fried some
bacon at the picket post. Early next morning the command fell in line,
and we all marched back to Boliva