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sugar and nine of coffee, which allowance was to last us

for three days. In fact this had been our allowance for some time. During all this marching and counter-marching, a desultory firing was kept up by the enemy.

Having drawn this meagre supply of rations, we were marched to the top of a knoll near by and halted. Quite a number of the boys loaded with canteens started off for water. They had hardly gone when the enemy opened the battle in deadly earnest by a tremendous artillery fire. The air seemed filled with shot and bursting shell, the noise of which was deafening. While we stood wondering what we should be called upon to do, General McDowell rode up, and inquiring what regiment we were, ordered us into line at once on the double-quick. As we filed down the knoll, we noticed the hospital men bringing off the zouaves of General King's division on stretchers, and a bloody sight it was. Suddenly we received the order, "On right by file into line!" and we at once found ourselves facing the enemy. We were led by General McDowell, whose courage we had so often doubted. We soon found it was lively work, and the boys were falling fast; but General Tower was close to us with all the words of encouragement at his command. Standing in his stirrups he gave the order to fix bayonets and then to " Charge!" In battle the order to charge is not given in the placid tones of a Sunday-school teacher, but with vigorous English, well seasoned with oaths, and a request, frequently repeated, to give them that particular province of his Satanic Majesty most dreaded by persons fond of a cold climate. At the same time you are ordered to yell with all the power of your lungs. It is possible that this idea may be of great advantage in forcing some of the heroic blood of the body into the lower extremities. Whatever may be the reason, it was certainly a very effective means of drowning the disagreeable yell of the enemy. We charged three times, and on each occasion were successfully driven back by the solid mass of men in front of us. As we fell back from the last charge, General Tower, on horseback (in the midst of Company B), a conspicuous mark for the enemy who were within twenty-five yards of us, was shouting "For God's sake re-form the line!" when he was sent flying through the air, both horse and rider fearfully wounded.

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It was hot work, and the thinness of our line, compared with the solid ranks of the enemy, made it painfully evident that we could stand the terrible fire but a short time longer. Where was our supporting column? Part of the time they had been firing into our backs, under the impression that we were the enemy. Fortunately that error was discovered before much harm was done. Already the enemy had planted some batteries on a neighboring knoll on our left flank, and were giving us the benefit of a raking fire. The order was then given to retire ; but as only part of the regiment heard it, our retreat was irregular and occasioned some confusion and separation of companies.

The brigade retired in fair order, acquitting itself creditably, carrying off all guns except those lost in actual combat, and having checked the enemy's pursuit. That night we bivouacked at Centreville.

General Hartsuff having been sent to the hospital previous to the battle, his brigade was merged with that of General Tower, under whose immediate command we fought.

Among the many curious and affecting incidents of an army life the following possesses more than a common interest: In one of the companies a boy sixteen years of age, after gaining his father's consent, enlisted as drummer, being too young for service in the ranks. The popular idea is that weight and height are necessary qualifications in a soldier. To be sure, as far as appearance goes, the large men have the advantage, but when it comes to fighting qualities, it was shown during the war that the small men could do quite as much execution, and were quite as good soldiers. So far as endurance and bravery go, the "ponies," as they were called, had no superiors.

We were all young mere boys but this boy seemed so very much younger than the rest of us, that few suspected his slight and youthful frame contained so stout and brave a heart. He joined the regiment at Fort Independence, and by a sort of natural selection became the chum of another boy, who, though older in years, was also slight in physical make-up. Perhaps of the hundred men in the company, these two boys would have been the last selected as

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possessing special merit as soldiers. They both did their duty faithfully and without a grumble. It was always the ambition of the younger one to serve in the ranks with his chum and carry a gun. He proved an inferior drummer by very reason of his ambition, but no opportunity was afforded him of making the change until our arrival at Williamsport, Md., when two other boys, possessed with strong Union sentiments, having escaped from their home in Martinsburg, Va., where their family had been terribly persecuted because of the sentiments they expressed, crossed the river and offered their services as drummers in the Thirteenth, the only capacity in which they could be received. They were two bright, intelligent boys, fourteen and sixteen years of age, and were accepted. The opportunity was thus afforded of promoting our young drummer to service in the ranks. A happier boy never lived than he on the day when, with a gun on his shoulder, he paraded with his company. The two boys were now closer than ever. Being of the same height, they were enabled to march side by side and render each other assistance on the long, weary marches of the regiment. They were practically inseparable. When the regiment went into the fight of Second Bull Run, the younger was first killed, whereupon the other took him in his arms to move his body one side, and was immediately killed by a bullet which struck him in the temple. As the army retreated it was an affecting sight to see these two boys, so close to each other in life, now locked in each others arms, in death.

It is not our purpose to give a detailed account of Pope's campaign or to draw any conclusions from it, nor would we if we had the space, as it has been written, discussed, investigated, and rewritten by persons more competent than ourselves to perform such a service. We have made a few extracts from his report, because they appear to add an interest to our narrative. Those who wish to read the full report and it is of great interest to members of the Thirteenth are referred to "Series 1, Vol. XII., Part II., of the Official Records of the War of the Rebellion."

In his report of the campaign, General Pope says:

On the 26th day of June, 1862, by special order of the President of the United States, I was assigned to the command of the Army of Virginia. That army was

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constituted as follows: First Corps, under Major-General Fremont, 11,500 strong; Second Corps, under Major-General Banks, reported 14,500, but in reality only about 8,000; Third Corps, under Major-General McDowell, 18,500; making total of 38,000 men.

It was the wish of the Government that I should cover the city of Washington from an attack from the direction of Richmond, make such dispositions as were necessary to assure the safety of the valley of the Shenandoah, and at the same time so operate upon the enemy's lines of communication in the direction of Gordonsville and Charlottesville as to draw off, if possible, a considerable force of the enemy from Richmond, and thus relieve the operations against that city of the Army of the Potomac.

After General McClellan had taken up his position at Harrison's Landing, I addressed him a letter, stating to him my position and the distribution of the troops under my command, and requesting him in all earnestness and good faith to write me fully and freely his views, and to suggest to me any measures which he thought desirable to enable me to coöperate with him, or to render any assistance in my power in the operations of the army under his command.

In reply to this communication, I received a letter from General McClellan, very general in its terms, and proposing nothing toward the accomplishment of the purpose I had suggested to him. It became apparent that, considering the situation in which the Army of the Potomac and the Army of Virginia were placed in relation to each other, and the absolute necessity of harmonious and prompt coöperation between them, some military superior both of General McClellan and myself should be called to Washington and placed in command of all operations in Virginia. In accordance with these views, Major-General Halleck was called to Washington and placed in general command. Many circumstances, which it is not necessary here to set forth, induced me to express to the President, to the Secretary of War, and to General Halleck, my desire to be relieved from the command of the Army of Virginia and to be returned to the Western country.

From the 18th of August until the morning of the 27th, the troops under my command had been continuously marching and fighting, night and day, and during the whole of that time there was scarcely an interval of an hour without the roar of artillery. The men had had little sleep, were greatly worn down with fatigue, had had little time to get proper food, or to eat it, had been engaged in constant battles and skirmishes, and had performed services laborious, dangerous, and excessive, beyond any previous experience in this country.

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Every indication during the night of the 29th and up to 10 o'clock on the morning of the 30th pointed to the retreat of the enemy from our front. Gens. McDowell and Heintzelman, who reconnoitred the position held by the enemy's left on the evening of the 29th, confirmed this statement. They reported

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to me that the positions occupied by the enemy's left had been evacuated, and that there was every indication that he was retreating in the direction of Gainesville.

On the morning of the 30th, as may be supposed, our troops, who had been so continually marching and fighting for so many days, were in a state of great exhaustion. They had had little to eat for two days previous, and the artillery and cavalry horses had been in harness and saddled continually for ten days, and had had no forage for two days previous. It may easily be imagined how little these troops, after such severe labor, and undergoing such hardship and privation, were in condition for active and efficient service. I had telegraphed to the General-inChief, on the 28th, our condition, and begged of him to have rations and forage sent forward to us from Alexandria with all despatch. I also called his attention to the imminent need of cavalry horses to enable the cavalry belonging to the army to perform any service whatever.

About daylight of the 30th I received a note from General Franklin, herewith appended, written by direction of General McClellan, and dated at 8 o'clock the evening before, informing me that rations and forage would be loaded into available wagons and cars at Alexandria as soon as I would send back a cavalry escort to bring out the trains. Such a letter, when we were fighting the enemy, and Alexandria was swarming with troops, needs no comment. Bad as was the condition of our cavalry, I was in no situation. to spare troops from the front, nor could they have gone to Alexandria and returned within the time by which we must have had provisions or have fallen back in the direction of Washington, nor do I yet see what service cavalry could have rendered in guarding railroad trains. It was not until I received this letter that I began to feel discouraged and nearly hopeless of any successful issue to the operations with which I was charged, but I feel it to be my duty, notwithstanding the desperate condition of my command, from great fatigue, from want of provisions and forage, and from the small hope that I had of any effective assistance from Alexandria, to hold my position at all hazards and under all privations, unless overwhelmed by the superior forces of the enemy. I had received no sort of information of any troops coming forward to my assistance since the 24th, and did not expect on the morning of the 30th that any assistance would reach me from the direction of Washington, but I determined again to give battle to the enemy on the 30th, and at least to lay on such blows as would cripple him as much as possible and delay as long as practicable any farther advance toward the capital.

Tower's brigade, of Ricketts' division, was pushed forward into action in support of Reynolds' division, and was led forward in person by General Tower, with conspicuous skill and gallantry. The conduct of that brigade, in plain view of all the forces on our left, was especially distinguished, and drew forth hearty and enthusiastic cheers. The example of this brigade was of great service, and infused new spirit into all the troops who witnessed their intrepid conduct.