themselves with whatever their fancies chose—­ludicrous fancies in too many cases.  Hams could be seen on bayonets.  Comstock got a lot of smoking tobacco and held to it tenaciously, refusing to divide.  Cans of vegetables, and sardines, and preserved fruits; coffee, sugar, tea, medicines—­everything, even to women’s wearing apparel, was taken or burnt.  Our regiment lay by a muddy pool whose water we were forced to drink, though filth—­even horses’ bones—­lay on its margin, and I know not what horrors beneath its green, slimy surface.  Before daylight of the 28th we marched northward in the glare of the burning cars and camps.  We crossed Bull Run on a bridge, some of the men fording; here we got better water, but not good water.

In the forenoon we readied Centreville and halted.  Nobody seemed to know the purpose of this movement toward the north.  Were we making for Washington?  I had the chance of speaking to the Captain.  He told me that he thought Jackson’s corps was in a close place, but that he had no doubt we should be able to hold our own until Longstreet could force his way to our help.  We were between Pope’s army and Washington, and it was certain that Pope would make every effort to crush Jackson.

About two o’clock the troops were put in motion, heading west, down the Warrenton pike.  It now appeared that only A. P. Hill’s division had marched to Centreville; the other divisions of Jackson’s corps were at the west, and beyond Bull Run.  After matching a mile or two we could see to the eastward and south, great clouds of dust rolling up above the woods, evidently made by a column in march upon the road by which, we had that morning advanced from Manassas to Centreville.  We knew that Pope’s army—­or a great part of it—­was making that dust, and that Pope was hot after Jackson.  We crossed Bull Run on the stone bridge and halted in the road.  It was about five o’clock; the men were weary—­most of us had loaded ourselves too heavily with the spoils of Manassas and were repenting, but few had as yet begun to throw away their booty.  My increased burden bore upon me, but I had as yet held out; in fact, the greater part of my load—­beyond weapon, and accoutrements—­consisted in food which diminished at short intervals.  We could not yet expect rations.

We had rested perhaps half an hour.  Again we were ordered to march, and moved to the right through woods and fields, and formed line facing south.  How long our line was I did not know; I supposed the whole of Hill’s division was there, though I could see only our regiment.  Soon firing began at our right and right front; it increased in volume, and artillery and musketry roared and subsided until dark and after.  At dark, the brigade again moved to the right, seemingly to support the troops that had been engaged, and which we found to be Ewell’s division.