Shells fly over us.  We lie down on the slope of a hill which rises to our left, and darkness grows, and the noises cease.  No breaking of ranks for rest or for water; the long night through we lie on our arms.

Morning comes; we have no water; the men eat their rations dry.  At sunrise the march is again begun, through fields and woods and down country roads; we go southeast.

The Yankees have gone.  At nine o’clock we halt; a field.  Company C, the right of the regiment; is thrown forward as skirmishers.

Again we march; again we halt, the brigade in line of battle.  An orderly comes to Captain Haskell.

“Company H! ATTENTION!”

Every man is in his place—­alert.

“Forward—­MARCH!”

“By the right flank—­MARCH!”

“HALT!—­FRONT!”

“Company—­as skirmishers—­on the right file—­take intervals—­double-quick—­MARCH!”

I did not have very far to go.  The company was deployed on the left of Company C. Then we went forward in line for half a mile or more, through woods and fields, the brigade following in line of battle.

About eleven o’clock we had before us an extensive piece of open land—­uncultivated, level, and dry.  In the edge of the woods we had halted, so that we might not get too far ahead of the brigade.  From this position we saw—­some six hundred yards at our left oblique—­a group of horsemen ride out into the field, seemingly upon a road, or line, that would intersect our line of advance.  Our men were at once in place.  The distance was too great to tell the uniforms of the party of horsemen; but, of course, they could be only Yankees.

Captain Haskell ordered Dave Bellot to step out of the line.  The horsemen had halted; they were a small party, not more than fifteen or twenty.  Captain Haskell ordered Bellot to take good aim at the most eligible one of the group, and fire.

Bellot knelt on one knee, raised his sight, put his rifle to his shoulder, and lowered it again.  “Captain,” said he, “I am afraid to fire; they may be our men.”

The Captain made no reply; he seemed to hesitate; then he put his handkerchief on the point of his sword and walked forward.  A horseman advanced to meet him.  Captain Haskell returned to Company H, and said, “They are General Jackson and his staff.”

Again we went forward.  Prom the brow of a hill we could see tents—­a camp, a Yankee camp—­on the next hill, and we could see a few men running away from it.  We reached the camp.  It had been abandoned hurriedly.  Our men did not keep their lines perfectly; they were curious to see what was in the tents.  Suddenly the cracking of rifles was heard, and the singing of bullets, and the voice of Captain Haskell commanding, “Lie down!”