The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1902-06-19
A FRIEND WITH THE
COUNTERSIGN.
tContinu ed from first paGe.)

SohluedSt-d wei uSct VI
narily, but now showing no recent wear.
l stationed Jeeter near the spot with
strict orders to be on his guard. The
place chosen was off in the woods, per-
haps 200 yards from the junction of the
two roads.
As soon as it was completely dark
went afoot down the branch road, in
tending to get to the river, and then come
up its bank. and get into the Confederate
lines from the rear. if possible.
With little trouble l succeeded in reach
ing the river. l could see nothing on the
| farther side. The river was swift and
full. At my right l could hear cars roll
| ing. l stood for q while and listened to
the rushing waters. Somewhere i'll the
south dog was barking. Noises came
from my right rear, where. no doubt, Con
| federates We're busy around their camp
fires. BY this time Lydia must have
reached Fredericksburg.
l wondered why the branch road had
not been picketed; yet. of course, the enc
my had no reason to fear an attack from
this direction. Their cavalry were in their
front on the main road as far as Guiney'S
Station, if not farther, lowering around
the flank of Meade's Army. and cOntinu-
ally giving us trouble. These troops had
reached Milford but yesterday. They
were defending the bridge; that was their
| business, and nothing else. l went on up
the river bank very slowly, knowing that
| had all night before me. and that on the
next morning l should have but n short
distance to ride before / should meet
Hancock's Corps advancing. l was glad
| that had not bsen compelled to cross the
river. On the river bank the walking
was very muddy, as the water was now
slowly falling; l diverged Il little TO my
right. and soon reached a hill. from
which, by climbing Il tree. l had as good
view of my surroundings as the dark
ness would allow. a little to the north
west were few camp-hrcs. Directly
west, and beyond the river | supposed,
were II any. Between the two lights there
was a great gap of darkness. BY CON
tinuinS up the river | should reach the
rear of the regiment in the rifle pits;
pickets might have been posted merely OH
the paths and road, and | might slip be-
tween them. So l continued to creep on
and found no pickets whatever; ut last |
stood by the side of the rond-thc main
road from Bowling Green to Milford
half n mile in the rear of the riie-pits
and had yet seen no one. In the road
however, there was movement. | saw Il
few men walking toward the bridge. and
few walking up the hill toward the rifle
pits. l waited until they had disappeared
in the darkness. and then walked into the
road and up the hill, with my rifle OH my
shoulder, whiStling. and walking fast in
order to ovcrtake the man ahead of me.
passed him without speaking; | soon
overlook the next one
did you see that fellow back yon-
der?" / asked
NO he said.
you must have passed him. said
why"
Because he is limpng''
Il didn't notice it; he's got a sore foot.
l reckon
whats your company" I asked.
C. said he; whats your'n:"
III" said l.
'That's Cap'n Johnson's company
from AppOmattOX. amt il
l understood from this that the rcgi-
ment was from Virginia.
| made no reply: | needed no stronger
testimony that the aforesaid company was
under the said Captain: yet that distin
gushed officer might nevertheless be aJ-
sent from his command. and Lieut.. John
Doe. or words to that effect. night now
be in charge Mr. Bcrwcl's priidence
was not wasted. Capt Johnson was ii
prisoner ut the time, and the company was
under the command of Lieut.. Elam.-Ed.i !
Wasn't that a hell of time We had |
down at Walthal?" asked the man.
you are right said !. without the |
least knowledge of the locality mentioned.
Lees had to call for help" said he. /
"Ycs" said J.
But we licked en- he said.
'Do You know how many REGIMENTS
there are on the other sidc?" | asked
"None but the 11th,' said he; ''brt
more's coming. The whole of Ktmpers
Brigade will be here tonight, they say;
and Hokes whole divisions down the
road a piece
There were some questions ! wanted to
ask of others that i could not ask Of this
man. They would have sounded strange
TO him. coming from Il member of his own
regiment: I was row willing to get rid of
him. but he. made an effort to keep M.
"Do you know how far it is to Spott-
sylvania ?' he asked.
"Oh. about II miles, reckon said I;
IL or 10"
81 expect we will have tc march there
said he
WHY" I asked.
because Lee is needing help so bad"
well" said l. u reckon the Yankees
are needing help about as bad as he is.
You reckon Bearregard will Gomez"
"Not him." said my friend. I'VE did
not whip 'em had enough for that, but
didn't we give 'em scissors while it last
ed? Didn't We, thought
81 doubt very much if we have to
march to Spottsylvania." said |.
Because some say that Lees falling
back now. or getting ready to fall buck"
Wonder where he'll stop, them he
asked
wish I could tell YOU said l.
We were now at the top of the hill.
and very near the rifc-pits The mam Iii
verged a little in order to 90 in the lirec-
ton of Co. G.. ] went on alone, but soon
halted.
Just what TO do now did not know.
man walking about in these lines with
his gun on his shoulder might be won
dered at. The force was too small to JUS
tify such proceeding as natural one
Had it been n long line of battle, compos
ed of brigades and divisions, my course
would have been simple; ! could have
mixed with any of the men. and inquired
for any brigade or regiment that ! should
have selected as mine for the time being
but to inquire for Co. II of this one regi-
ment and not start for it at once would
be peculiar. i stood for a short while in
the darkness, trying to think what step
would be best to take next ] had already
found that but one Virginia regiment was
here; that there was another one-the
l1th Va, probably, on the other side of
the river, and that these two regiments
were part of Kemper's Brigade. and that
they had come from Beauregard's army
very recently to reinforce Lee
1t seemed to me that / had enough in
already. What was the need
regiment? ! must rather find. if possible,
-NV.. u !