CHAPTER V.

CAMP-LIFE.

Around the Pickets-Evening Dress Parade - Bristling Bayonets Tempered in the Rays of the Setting Sun-Next Day's Work — Lights and Shades - Heavy Fogs-Funeral Dirge-Sunset on the Brine-Ten Little Mounds-The First Burial - Grand Review on "The Point"- Christmas and Sunshades-Grant and RosecransOne Brace of Pistols put to Flight Three Gun-boats-New Year's in Camp-"Hotel de Louvre"-Five Serenades-Joy and HilarityGeneral Grant-Dr. Aigner, of New York-First Rebel Ball - Battle of Fort Henry.

As my husband became convalescent, I was urged to try the tonic virtues of a horseback ride, the only practicable mode of exercise for a lady in camp. On a bright afternoon, the horses, restive under the inactivity of their present life, were brought to the door, and a party of three couples set out. A cir cuit around the pickets was first in order, over embankment and through intrenchment. The exhilarating breeze and verdant fields and foliage were a welcome contrast to the heavy air and barren walls of a long-occupied sick-room. At every step of the spirited steed I seemed to inhale new life, and get hope and heart afresh. Giving free rein to the willing horses, we were soon lost in the mazy windings of the encampment. The picket course was passed, attended with much difficulty, and even danger; but our reward came, when we emerged from

the dense forest, just in time to get a full view of evening dress-parade.

The fog that usually lingered in nook and glen had disappeared, and the scene was as brilliant as nature and man could make it. The prairie sunset irradiated the whole vault of heaven, bathing the camp-ground in bright but subdued hues, and the air was sweet with the breath of autumnal roses. On the left spread afar the broad Mississippi, dotted with steamers, whose shrill calliopes incessantly pealed through the air; busy insects trilled out their evening song, and the myriad voices of nature blended with the perpetual strain. To the right, the tented ground, with its white tufts, formed a lively contrast to the dark forest and the blue heavens. Regiment by regiment the rank and file stood in even and unbroken line; the official bow was interchanged, and deep-toned voices sent the word of command to seven thousand men. The shrill fife, the mellow bugle, and the heavy tones of the drum echoed from the distant plain and gave life to the enchanting scene. Bristling bayonets flashed and gleamed in the light of the setting sun, as though being tempered by fire for a near to-morrow's bloody work. Long and earnestly did we gaze upon the fascinating scene, which, brilliant as it was, thrilled us with sadness as we remembered the conflict beneath which this fair Southern land was to become a waste. Returning to the Bird House, we dismounted, well pleased with the lights, in spite of the shades of army-life.

The next morning "the Point" was enveloped in a denser fog than ever. The farther end of the Bird House was lost in the dim obscure. The confusion that prevailed, the loud-voiced orders, the beating of the drum, the tramp of men and the clatter of hoofs, created a confusion one might imagine to have reigned ere the beasts of the field, the fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea were classified. A slow, dripping rain completed the gloom of the surroundings, but amid its steady fall a muffled sound of music in the distance was heard, and all too soon the melancholy of its tone was apparent. It was the funeral dirge of ten brave soldiers who fell the night before while on scouting duty. Their victorious comrades, bearing honorable wounds, wet and weary, had just returned from the foray, and with inverted arms and muffled drums bore them to the obscure graves, where they are to rest, unknown. Brave fellows! deep gratitude from many a heart accompanied them, and our earnest prayers went forth in behalf of the bereaved hearts and homes far away, on which no shadow of the sad event as yet rested.

Those frequent fogs, and the effect they produced on animate nature here, were all convincing that color is the glory of the world-the chosen visible expression of the Divine beauty-symbol of the "playimpulse" of the Almighty power. Not until we get a drab world do we so fully realize that God has not expelled us from the enchanted Garden of Eden. The many-hued rainbow, a sunset on the prairie or the boundless sea, are displays of color which, if

occurring three or four times in a century, would awaken universal astonishment, and become the "sensation" of every generation in turn. Yet these beauties, a type of which exists ever and every where, are frequently passed by unnoticed, unless immortalized in poetry or isolated and rendered more grossly palpable in art. The soldier's obscure grave-the rude box containing him; the rough stick or stone that marks his resting-place in the trackless forest— were, in the early part of the war, such as to cause one to turn with a grateful relish to "Greenwood," where art has robbed the tomb of all its terrors. - There they lie, ten little mounds, the first-fruits of our war. The venerable trees, whose branches swayed and sighed mournfully above the dark deeds of a slave plantation, now seemed to affectionately stretch their arms over the heroes who had fallen to render "free" the soil that nourished them. The last clod of earth was placed, the final salute was fired, and officers and men turned from the burial to the life of danger that was so soon and so sure to bring them to a like abode. It was our first soldier's burial, and we remembered it.

The next day the sun rose bright and clear, and the spirits of the whole encampment rose with it. Thus do we ever respond to the voice of nature. A grand review was to take place that day, and the interest manifested by all showed that these displays had not been quite as frequent in the West as they had been on the Potomac. It was our first Western Grand Review. Some Mexican veterans asserted

that they had been through an entire campaign and had not seen a grand review, hence they advised all to attend. It was the day before Christmas, yet parasols and fans were indispensable to our comfort. On reaching the field, the long lines of infantry and cavalry were prancing to and fro, and bands were sending forth their liveliest strains. Gaily-caparisoned horses waltzed in unison with the spirit of the day, and the vast plain moved in unbroken lines of regiments, brigades, and divisions. These finally halted, and awaited the arrival of five Major-Generals, which, at this early period of the war, was the crowning interest of the day. For a moment all eyes were turned towards the river, and the plumed hats and significant stars were soon seen ascending the hill. The generals raised their hats in response to the cheers at their approach, and their steeds in dazzling saddle-cloths stepped proudly through the human avenues that parted, as if by magic, to let them pass. Fair ladies waved their snowy 'kerchiefs, and showered blessings upon them, and brave men sent up one loud and prolonged cheer for the hero veterans who were to fight our battles for freedom. Generals Grant and Rosecrans were of the number; the former riding the white war-horse Jack, afterwards presented to the Chicago Sanitary Fair. A glorious day closed in upon glad hearts, and no "Grand Review" on the Potomac was ever more highly enjoyed.

Next day the door suddenly opened, and a soldier, in breathless excitement, entered.