The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1896-08-07

many previous occasions had done the
duty of bed, and which | confidently
anticipated would be called upon to
discharge a similar duty i'm times that
were vet before me. On my right
flank, that is to say, slung over my left
shoulder, lay black leathern haver.
sack, containing spare shirt, a pair
of stockings, dressing utensils, a forag-
ing cap, three pounds of boiled pork
and two pounds and half Of sea-bis-
cult. On my left breast again rested
horn, filled with rum, such as pursers
usually serve out, whilst wooden keg,
for the conveyance of water, hung over
my neck on the very middle of my
back. All these things the reader will
be pleased to observe, were necessary;
yet they by no means added to the
agreeable nature of our feelings in the
mean time; whilst they certainly took
away very largely from the personal
elegance Of such as were laid under the
necessity of carrying them. On the
present occasion. however, no one re-
gardcd appearances. We looked only
to such arrangement as might promise
to add little to our comforts; and as
We're equally loaded no man had
an opportunity of quizzing or deriding
his cOmrade
We reached our ground, as l have
already informed you, about half an
hour before noon: and seldom have |
looked upon a more spirit-stirring spec
tacle than the position presented. Just
under the ridge of a gentle eminence,
extending, perhaps, about three or
four hundred yards from one extremity
to the other, were piled in order of
open columns the arms of the different
regiments, whilst the men to whom
these arms belonged were scattered here
and there in groups of twenty, thirty,
and fifty, over the whole slope. Some
We're lying at full length upon the
grass, basking in the beams off sultry
sun, and apparently made happy by
the very feeling of the green sod under
them. Others were running and leap
ing about, giving exercise to the limbs
which had so long been cramped and
confined on board ship. Whilst in the
immediate rear of the muskets. num-
erous fires were blazing, upon which
camp kettles and other culinary uten-
sils were placed. and beside which the
cooks of the different companies were
moving in all the dignity of office. A
little apart from the men again, and
surrounding each cotorie its own small
fire, sat many officers in parties oftwo,
three, or four; whilst others were stroll
ing aoout with the careless step and
countenances of men, who looked for
ward to danger as a pastime, and con-
fdentally anticipated success. The
very summit of the hill, again, was
empty, except that three pieces ofcan-
.,oxr,nl - hn ,,,,11,S Of soh
were pointed toward the distant coun-
try; and few sentinels walked their
solitary rounds beside them. Such
was the general appearance of our biv
ouac, as it was first established on the
banks of the Patuxent.
The Subaltern has informed you,
that officers employed upon active ser
vice lay aside all idea Ola general mess,
and live together as the tie of friend
ship, or sense of mutual convenience,
may dictate. Like your correspondent,
| too. had friend and one whom |
sincerely valued. As he is still in the
service, and has risen, as his merits de-
served that he should rise, to an ele-
waited rank, YOU will excuse me, if in
stead of giving his real name. | call
him, for distinction sake, Charlton.
He was, and is, as good soldier as
any in the army, and at the period
to which | now allude. commanded
the company to which | was attached
as lieutenant. My first inquiry on
reaching the corps was naturally for
him, nor did it require very minute
search in order to discover him. |
found him sitting under a tree, on a
spot of ground considerable removed
from all neighbors \ fire was burn
ing hard by. beside which his servant
and my Portuguese boy were resting
not idly, but in the act of watching
a potful of greens and potatoes, which
they had carried off from one of the
gardens near. \ couple of cheeses,
with som. pork and biscuit, were
spread upon the grass; and horn
drinking cup stood beside them. This
was our dinner, which had been pre-
pared for some time. and was kept
waiting only for me. We had break
tasted at five in the morning, and were
therefore quite ready for it, even thus
early; and we addressed ourselves to
it with the promptitnde of men, whose
appetites were neither sickly nor fas-
tidious.
Having performed this most neces-
sary of all duties, our next business
was to take a survey, as taras it might
be practicable and safe so to do, of the
nature of the ground on which we were
posted and of the country beyond it.
With this view We ascended to the top