the Northern camp on the Potomac to give field concerts to the troops. They were hailed with great delight everywhere, for they possessed musical powers of rare excellence. But suddenly it was discovered that abolition sentiments were being scattered in song amongst the soldiers. An inspiring poem by Whittier was the immediate cause of displeasure to General McClellan and the Hutchinsons were banished northwards by the following order :

By direction of Major-General McClellan, the permit given to the Hutchinson Family to sing in the camps, and their pass to cross the Potomac, are revoked, and they will not be allowed to sing to the troops."

The poem which occasioned the coup-de-main is Luther's Hymn, "Our God is a strong fortress," by Whittier. But I cannot afford space for the stanzas here.

The work of organising, drilling, and reviewing went on with unerring regularity during the summer, autumn, and winter of 1861. New regiments from the North continued to arrive, until the Army of the Potomac numbered 200,000 men-a force double the strength of the Army of Northern Virginia in our front. The country grew impatient for an advance upon the enemy. The Administration urged upon McClellan the importance of victory towards sustaining the national credit at home and abroad. But, no; we must await the falling of the leaves, for batteries.

masked by foliage had brought defeat to our army at Bull's Run! And we waited, and the leaves disappeared, and the December snows fell upon frozen ground; and the world grew suspicious that the Army of the Potomac was as immovable as the Virginian hills upon which it was encamped.

A pretty poem, entitled "The Picket of the Potomac," went "the rounds of the press" during the time of which I speak. It is said to have been found in the pocket of a dead Confederate soldier who was shot while walking his "beat." But the author's name has never transpired, to my knowledge. The verses ought to be preserved: their insertion here may not be considered inappropriate.

"THE PICKET OF THE POTOMAC.

"All quiet along the Potomac,' they say,
'Except now and then a stray picket
Is shot, as he walks on his beat to-and-fro,
By a rifleman hid in the thicket.'

'Tis nothing-a private or two, now and then,
Will not count in the tale of the battle;
Not an officer lost-only one of the men
Breathing out all alone the death-rattle

All quiet along the Potomac to-night,

Where the soldiers lie peacefully dreaming;
Their tents in the ray of the clear autumn moon,
And the light of the watch-fires gleaming.
A tremulous sigh from the gentle night wind

Through the forest leaves slowly is creeping,
While the stars up above, with their glittering eyes,
Keep watch while the army is sleeping.

There's only the sound of the lone sentry's tread,
As he tramps from the rock to the fountain,
And thinks of the two in the low trundle bed,

Far away in the hut on the mountain.
His musket falls slack; his face, dark and grim,
Grows gentle with memories tender,

As he mutters a prayer for the children asleep,
For their mother-may Heaven defend her!

The moon seems to shine as serenely as then,
That night when the love yet unspoken
Leaped up to his lips, and when low-murmured vows
Were pledged never more to be broken.
Then, drawing his sleeve roughly over his eyes,
He dashes the tears that are welling,
And gathers his gun closer up to his side,
As if to keep down the heart-swelling.

He passes the fountain, the blasted pine tree,
The footstep is lagging and weary;

Yet onward he glides, through the broad belt of light,
Towards the shade of a forest so dreary.

Hark! Was it the night wind that rustled the leaves?
Is't the moonlight so suddenly flashing?

It look'd like a rifle-'Ah! Mary, good night!'
His life-blood is ebbing and dashing.

All quiet along the Potomac to-night;

No sound save the rush of the river;

But the dew falls unseen on the face of the dead-
The picket's off duty for ever."

CHAPTER VI.

WITH MCCLELLAN ON THE PENINSULA.

"The Austrians do not know the value of time."-NAPOLEON. "He is a phenomenon; I would follow him blindfolded."

P

"STONEWALL" JACKSON.

RESIDENT LINCOLN advocated an advance on Richmond by way of Manassas Junction, while General McClellan favoured a route via the peninsula formed by the York and James rivers. The General carried his point; and during the last days of March, 1862, the Army of the Potomac was transferred to the neighbourhood of Fortress Monroe. Our advance was checked at Yorktown by a force under General Magruder. We next encountered the enemy at Williamsburg, where finally his position was turned by Hancock's Brigade, and where the fate of the day was decided according to General McClellan-through the gallantry of the Fifth Wisconsin. Colonel Cobb

deployed three companies as skirmishers, and, supporting them with the rest of the regiment, advanced against Ewell's Brigade. The enemy's cavalry first appeared, but were soon obliged to withdraw into the woods. Ewell's infantry next moved forward in line, and Colonel Cobb was ordered to "fall back, fighting!" To fall back was contrary to every atom of the Colonel's nature; but he endeavoured to obey the General's order. Urged repeatedly to retire, Cobb at last exclaimed: "By, I'll not fall back another inch!" General Hancock was overlooking the situation; the enemy was close upon his brigade line, and he is credited with having said to his men, "Now, gentlemen, charge!" For the precise language used I cannot vouch; that his brigade swept the field is a matter of history. Two days after the fight General McClellan rode up in front of the colors of our regiment in line, and said: "I have come to thank you for the bravery and discipline which you displayed the other day; on that day you won laurels of which you may well be proud-not only you, but the army, the State, and country to which you belong. Through you we won the day, and 'Williamsburg' shall be inscribed upon your banner. I cannot thank you too much; and I am sure the reputation your gallantry has already achieved will always be maintained.”

General Johnston, in command of the enemy, withdrew his forces behind the extensive works surrounding Richmond, constructed under the super