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

and apparently impervious forest. I'm
mediately beneath us, indeed, that is,
along the descent, and just where the
descent ended, the fields had been clear
ed. One solitary cottage, too, was Wis
ible, about musket shot from the base,
which was surrounded, as almost all
the houses in Virginia are surrounded,
by an extensive orchard, but even it
stood in nook of the thicket, giant
trees in full foliage closing it in Oh
every side There were two roads dis
cernible, one leading away from the
right of the position, the other run
ming close beside the left. The road
on the right was narrow and broken;
it presented the appearance of nothing
more than by-path to some hamlet or
farm house near; that on the left was
of tolerable width, and, though deep
and sandy, exhibited symptoms fgreat
care and labor having been bestowed
upon it. But Of these, neither could
be traced above Il mile, because both
were lost at that distance in the wood.
We descended the hill, with the in
tention of pursuing the tracks on the
right, after we should have examined,
as prudence required us to examine,
the cottage and it's out-buildings.' 1t
was occupied by picket of our own
troops, and, as might be expected, was
already in state of dilapidation. OF
couple of pigs, which had occupied
sty on one side of the little dOmicile,
nothing remained now except the hind
legs of one. and the half of the other,
the rest having been long ago divided
among the messes of the corps which
furnished the guard. The hen-roost,
too, was plundered, at least quantity
of feathers scattered here and there
gave proof that some of the fowLkind
had suffered violent death not long
ago. In other respects the cottage was
circumstanced as most cottages are
which have the bad fortune to fall in
with the line ofan invading army's s out
post,-that is to say, its shell stood un-
injured, but it's interior was in ruins.
Having satisfied our curiosity here,
| and ascertained the direction in which
the advanced sentinels extended, we
were proposing to accomplish our orig
inal design, and to pursue the path to
the right, when the arrival ofa brother
officer out of breath and i'm great haste,
deferred us. He had ventured along
that road, and having penetrated about
a couple Of miles, arrived ut a farm
house of some size. Taking it for
granted that this, like the houses in
St. Benedicts, must be deserted, he had
rashly entered, and escaped being made
prisoner by three or four stout Yam
KEGS, only through their apprehension
that he was not alone. He purchased
fowl from these worthless, and, being
permitted to retire, lost no time, as
soon as the trees hid him from obser-
vation, in hurrying to the camp. With
the account which he gave of mat
ters, we were, at least for the pres
ent, perfectly satisfied; so, returning
to our place of abode under the tree,
We passed the rest of the day in quiet.
As the evening closed in, all the ar
rangements, customary in bivouacs,
were effected. The troops, assembling
near their arms, trimmed and enlarged
their fires, and set down by companies
and sections on the ground beside them
Their great coats were all put on, and
their accoutrements buckled over them
The knapsacks, likewise, packed and
strapped up, were so arranged as that
each might be slung across it's owners
shoulders ut a moments warning; or,
should no alarm occur, supply him with
comfortable pillow for the night.
Arrangements not dissimilar were also
gone into by the officers. Charlton and
myself, for example, having suspended
Il, L. l.
ersacks and pistols within reach, and,
wrapping our cloaks round us seated
ourselves, with our feet towards the
fire, and addressed ourselves, con amore,
to the fragments which remained from
our noon-day repast. We were heith-
er of us much disposed to sleep; nor,
indeed, had the case been otherwise,
should we have found it an easy mat
ter to drop at once into a state of for
getfulness The sun had hardly set,
when every leaf of our tree became
alive with insects, which sent forth
ceaseless chattering, not perhaps loud
enough to break the repose of a sound
sleeper, but sufficiently audible to drive
sleep from the eyes of persons totally
unaccustomed to it, and neither intirm
nor weary. 1t was, however, upon the
whole, an extremely pleasant sound;
and it was not the only sound which
gave us pleasure. Stores continued to
be carried from the ships to the shore
long after nightfall and the cry of the
seamen on the decks, the splash of oars
in the water, and the heavy noise of
casks and carriages, rs they were ron-
ed into the bivouac, all had an effect
in keeping alive the excitement, which
men ever experience on first taking
tho t;alJ n for n lon.r intarval Of uuiot