reached Viola near sundown, and camped in a large field near the place.

At daylight all were up and had breakfast, expecting the usual early move.
The morning was foggy, but at 8 o'clock the mist cleared away, and two
hours later we were on the road.

We now turned off to the right, crossing a small creek; and, as we were
now off the McMinnville pike, our expectations of going to that place
vanished. We were once more nonplussed as to what was really our
destination. As usual, various opinions were expressed.

It would really be laughable to an outsider to hear the surmises and
"yarns" of the men about this, that and the other. One thing, however, was
quite evident: that from the direction we were taking, we would soon be
among the Cumberland mountains; and it further looked as if we were
heading towards Chattanooga.

We soon found ourselves on a road over which we had marched nearly a year
previous, and which leads from McMinnville to Altamont. This road is a
succession of twists and turns, being similar to a street in Boston: it
had no apparent beginning, nor ending.

After a tedious day of it--meeting with some slight accidents--at night we
came near a large Female Seminary, and camped in the woods close by, and
two miles from Collins river.

Started at 8 o'clock the next morning, and soon thereafter crossed Collins
river. The road was now ascending, being in many places quite steep, and
it was with much difficulty that we were enabled to transport our heavy
guns. The horses were all pretty well used up at the end of the day, and
some of them had given out entirely.

On Wednesday morning, according to orders of the previous evening, we got
an early start, and at five o'clock were all on the road. The horses were
suffering for want of food, as we had no forage for them, and we were
obliged to send them back on the road for a supply.

The road now lay through a thinly settled part of the country, and very
rocky and uneven. Water was scarcely to be obtained, and for the want of
which there was much suffering. Frequent halts were found necessary, to
rest both men and horses. At 2 o'clock we had made about fifteen miles;
had now gained the summit, and were about to descend the mountain. We
found this part of the road more heavy than that of the morning. In going
down a steep pitch, the reach of the forge was broken, and a little
further on, two caissons broke down. The men belonging to the detachments,
together