Page:The woman in battle .djvu/133

Rh bloody field since. Such scenes, however, are inseparable from warfare, and those who take up arms must steel them selves against them. It was the 10th of October, 1861, when I left Leesburg and went to the headquarters of General Evans, where I met quite a number of acquaintances, and was received with great cordiality by them. A young officer of the eighteenth Mississippi regiment invited me to take up my quarters with him; but as I had all my camp equipage with me, I preferred setting up my own tent. Seeking General Evans, I showed him my papers, and asked to be employed. He accordingly sent me to Colonel Burt, of the eighth Virginia regiment, who, however, told me that as he had no vacancy in his command, he could do nothing for me. I had no other resource now but to await events, and see what should turn up in my favor, feeling a little disappointed at not being able to become attached definitely to some command, but with ample confidence in my own ability to take care of myself, and to find some means of having a hand in thd expected battle, whenever it came off. At Hunton's headquarters, I had the pleasure of meeting Colonel Featherstone, of the seventeenth Mississippi regiment. This fine officer I had known when I was quite a small child, and I was decidedly amused at the idea of renewing my acquaintance with him under existing circumstances. He had not the shadow of an idea that the dashing little lieutenant who stood before him was a woman whom he had known as a child. He, however, took a very polite interest in me, and asked where I was from, and a variety of other questions, which I had to draw rather extensively upon my imagination to answer in proper style. I told him that I belonged to Mississippi, and a good deal more of the same kind of fiction, which, if not quite as interesting as the truth would have been, was sufficiently satisfying for the moment.

After we had chatted a little while, Colonel Featherstone invited me over to his tent, and handing out a bottle of whiskey, told me to help myself.

"No, thank you, colonel," I said; "I never drink anything