unfinished manuscript of his own with him, entitled
"Doubt," and at last persuaded him to let me read it. Finding me
interested, he yielded to my earnest request,--that he would send me
all his poems in manuscript. In due time they came, and with them a
dedication to myself, so gracefully conceived, so beautifully
expressed, that I may be pardoned for inserting it here.

"L'ENVOI.

"TO MRS. FANNIE A. BEERS.

"To you, though known but yesterday, I trust
These winged thoughts of mine.
Be not, I pray, too critically just,
Rather be mercy thine!

"Nor think on reading my despairing rhymes
That I am prone to sigh.
Poets, like children, weep and laugh at times,
Without scarce knowing why!

"Thoughts tend to heaven, mine are weak and faint.
Please help them up for me;
The sick and wounded bless you as a saint,
In this my patron be;

"And as the sun when shining it appears
On dripping rain awhile,
Make a bright rainbow of my fancy's tears
With your condoling smile.

"KINGSTON, February 23, 1864."

At the front, desultory fighting was always going on. Our army under
General Johnston acting on the defensive, although retreating,
contesting every step of the way, and from intrenched position, doing
great damage to the enemy. As the spring fairly opened, our troops
became more actively engaged. From the skirmishes came to us many
wounded. In May, the battle of New Hope Church was fought. General
Johnston, in his "Narrative," speaks of this as "the _affair_ at New
Hope." Judging from my own knowledge of the number of wounded who were
sent to the rear, and the desperate character of their wounds, I
should say it was a _very terrible_ "affair." A great many officers
were wounded and all our wards were full. There came to me some
special friends from Fenner's Louisiana Battery, which was heavily
engaged, losing several men and nearly all the horses. Lieutenant Wat.
Tyler Cluverius, while standing on the top of the breastworks and
turning towards his men to wave his sword, was shot through both
shoulders, a very painful wound, but which the gallant young soldier
made light of, pretending to be deeply mortified because "he had been
_shot in the back_." Although an exceptional soldier, he was a most
troublesome patient, because his strong desire to return to his
command made him restless and dissatisfied, greatly retarding his
recovery. Indeed, he would not remain in be