The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-03-19

them until their heads strike the borses
in front and then fall back into a trot
again. Every soldier is now holding
tight rein. for he knows that IL his
horse should stumble and fall 1t would
oe death TO man and horse; that their
/ lives would be crushed out under the
hoofs OF a hundred horses
an order goes up the line Sturgeon
10 the rear! Surgeon TO the rea.r!' I'VE
hsten FOR the surgeon. but hear him
not. The call is in vain There is no
help now for wounded soldier. The
brave old surgeon who never before
tatied to answer call of wounde ed
comrade is poWerless. He Is but an
atom in this avalanche of cavalry and
must move with 1t or sink beneath It.
FOR moment we pity the poor wound
ed soldier and imagine all sorts Of hor-
rible things that might have happened
to him. but for q moment only. The
impending dangers soon drive from our
minds all thoughts of HIM
AS we ride along Il soldier says
Look! there is the Ohio river" We
look, but see only few dim. Kicker
ing lights In the distance. The soldier
- deceived by his excited imagination
Darkness pervades eVerything The
world is shut out from our view. but
.. what n medly Of discordant sounds
I'LL our ears The laundering OF tho
horses boots on the rocky roads. the
rafting Of our equipments, the bowling
OF dogs. y tackass in the distance
hrays long and loud. and it sounds as
u ne were laughing and mocking us
and the soldiers laugh back at him.
Our nerves are at high tension we
know not what lies concealed in this
darkness, nor at what moment we may
ride into some death trap prepared for
us by the enemy. Escape seems i'm
possible. yet we would not exchange
places with the proudest carpet knight
in the land. for there Is glory in riding
with Morgan tonight.
Halt! Silence! No talking." are the
orders that come to us in quick sue
cesston. We halt and ponder over the
meaning OF these orders. Tho crisis
seems TO be near. Is 1t to give us Vic
tory or defeat? Fame or death? The
delay becomes irksome, and the heat,
the gloom, and tho uncertaintv are
terribly depressing. "Forward!', and
we, gallon on more rapidly than ever.
Excited voices are heard ahead The
talking grows louder and more distinct
as IT comes down the column, and at
last wo catch tho sound OF the words
I'VE have captured Cincinnati.'' Hung
err, wearincss, heat and dust arc all
forgotten, and we ride eXultantly
through the darkness and listen for
some confirmation Of the glorious news.
We are certain OF success ana our
hearts throb with JOY as we gallop
along 4 paved street perhaps in the
very centre Of tho city, and think OF
our little band Of two thousand Con-
federates capturing tho great city OF
Cincinnati and - armies OF Federal
soldiers. But, we ask ourselves, why
do we not stop II the city has surrend
cred? We do not stop. but gallop on,
and our JOY gradually vanishcs as tho
monotonous cry comes down tho lines
Close UP! Close up!'
An hour or so later q drowsy soldier
says In n tone OF disgust, ''Wc have
passed Cincinnati" We look back in
tho darkness and feel somewhat re-
loved, but disappointed. Tho great cx-
poctation that u fcw moments ago MI
ed our hearts With Joy is never to he
realized. We arc never to march
through tho streets OF Cincinnati, az
victorious Confederate soldiers, but Hc