During the night there was some firing between our party and the enemy from under cover in front, with some few wounds, and one man on our side shot through the hat,—­who thereupon, pulling off the injured head-piece, and looking at it gravely, declared he would always thenceforward wear his hat with a high crown; for, said he, had this one been half an inch lower, the bullet must have struck the head:—­which drollery, in consideration of the circumstances, was allowed to pass for an exceeding good stroke.

We passed a disturbed and rather uneasy night, fearful all the time of being cut off or overwhelmed.  But morning breaking at length, a party of riflemen came up from Colonel O’Neal’s camp below, and affairs were immediately changed for the offensive.  The riflemen moved forward against the town, whilst the rangers were posted at several points along the road to guard against surprise from the bushes.  Among these latter I took my stand.  The squad which went forward could not have numbered above sixty men, and was armed with Mississippi rifles only,—­without wheel-piece of any kind, or even bayonets.  I took them for a party of skirmishers, sent ahead to clear the way; yet they were not followed or supported by any additional force that I saw then or afterwards.

As they passed up the road, I observed that the most listless and dead amongst them were at length stirred up and thoroughly awake,—­though not with enthusiasm or martial impatience.  Some seemed uneasy and careworn, and glanced about nervously; had their countenances not been unalterably yellow, they would certainly have been white.  One fellow near the rear was trembling sadly, and carried his rifle in an unreasonable manner,—­promising aimless discharges, and, perhaps, dodgings into the bushes.  But this one was excusable, and I may have slandered him; for ague had shaken the life almost out of him so often that shaking was become natural, and little else could be expected of him; and, furthermore, a pale face or unsteady joints are not always weathercock to a fainting spirit.  In some constitutions these may come from other emotions than fear; and it often happens that your most lamentable shaker will stand you longer at the breach than the man of iron nerve, with a white liver.  I have seen such.  However, the majority of these were resolute and dangerous-looking men, and, though without any marks of inordinate zeal, seemed willing enough to fight whatever appeared.  They held their rifles in the hand cocked, and, as they advanced, threw their eyes sharply into the bushes on either side the road,—­having received orders to shoot the first greaser that showed himself, without awaiting the word.