The General established head-quarters along-side the house where we first discovered the Rebel party.  Our position is the most beautiful one we have yet found.  To the west stretches an undulating prairie, separated from us by a valley, into which our camping-ground subsides with a mild declivity; to the north is a range of low hills, their round sides unbroken by shrub or tree; while to the south stretches an extensive tract of low land, densely covered with timber, and resplendent with the colors of autumn.

Before dark the whole of Asboth’s division came up and encamped on the slopes to the west and north:  not less than seven thousand men are here.  This evening the scene is beautiful.  I sit in the door of my lodge, and as far as the eye can reach the prairie is dotted with tents, the dark forms of men and horses, the huge white-topped wagons,—­and a thousand fires gleam through the faint moonlight.  Our band is playing near the General’s quarters, its strains are echoed by a score of regimental bands, and their music is mingled with the numberless noises of camp, the hum of voices, the laughter from the groups around the fires, the clatter of hoofs as some rider hurries to the General, the distant challenges of the sentries, the neighing of horses, the hoarse bellowing of the mules, and the clinking of the cavalry anvils.  This, at last, is the romance of war.  How soon will our ears be saluted by sterner music?

Camp Hudson, October 15th. We moved at seven o’clock this morning.  For the first four miles the road ran through woods intersected by small streams.  The ground was as rough as it could well be, and the teams which had started before us were struggling through the mire and over the rocks.  We dashed past them at a fast trot, and in half an hour came upon a high prairie.  The prairies of Southern Missouri are not large and flat, like the monotonous levels of Central Illinois, but they are rolling, usually small, and broken by frequent narrow belts of timber.  In the woods there are hills, rocky soil, and always one, often two streams, clear and rapid as a mountain-brook in New England.

The scenery to-day was particularly attractive, a constant succession of prairies surrounded by wooded hills.  As we go south, the color of the forest becomes richer, and the atmosphere more mellow and hazy.

During the first two hours we passed several regiments of foot.  The men were nearly all Germans, and I scanned the ranks carefully, longing to see an American countenance.  I found none, but caught sight of one arch-devil-may-care Irish face.  I doubt whether there is a company in the army without an Irishman in it, though the proportion of Irishmen in our ranks is not so great as at the East.