Page:The Story of Aunt Becky's Army-Life .djvu/82

50 dress wounds. It was a hard morning's work, and at eleven o'clock I was relieved, having an opportunity to go on to Fredericksburg. There I knew were men over whose wounds not even a cleansing sponge had been passed—men whose limbs were literally alive with a crawling mass of maggots.

It was a tedious journey; the roads were broken and rutted by the heavy trains which passed over them, and we were till four o'clock reaching our destination. My boat companion and Miss Robertson were both with me in the ambulance, and even in the midst of my anxiety, I could not suppress a laugh, as the hideous groans escaped from under the horrible bonnet, each time when the shaky vehicle seemed to lose its balance.

All day, the wounded who were able to crawl, were passing us on their way to Belle Plaine, eager to get to some shelter, where food and attention were possible. My brother was in the throng, but fortunately I did not know it then.

At about three o'clock it set in to rain, and we went in our drenched clothing through the muddy streets to report to Surgeon Dalton for duty. He assigned me to the Fifth Corps. I protested against it; said that my regiment was in the Ninth Corps, and I could not be put permanently in any other. He assured me that I could get relieved when my Corps came in, which they had not then done, and I went out through the rain and mud to find something to do.

The house to which I went and reported to the