Page:The Story of Aunt Becky's Army-Life .djvu/83

Rh surgeon in charge, was once the home of Washington. It had been an elegant mansion; the rich carving, broken and cut away for relics, showed the perfection of its finish. The yard was full of trees, but no fence enclosed it. It was told to me by the colored family with whom at the next door I obtained a place to sleep, that the cherry-tree cut by Washington's little hatchet grew near the house walls, and its roots yet remained in the ground.

I fully made up my mind to remain on duty where I was assigned no longer than till I found some of our own men, and went out to find something to eat, having fasted since morning.

At the New York Relief, I found some hard tack and coffee, which I relished exceedingly well in my half-famished condition. I found my bed at my lodging-place a mere bundle of straw shook into a dark place which had once been a dish-closet, but the dishes were not in the house now. I lay down with my cloak for sheet and covering, and no fastidious horror of bugs or mice drove sleep from my eyelids: The next morning I awoke quite refreshed, but with an empty stomach began dressing the wounds of the poor sufferers.