THE REBEL CAMP.
Upon a high plateau, the heavy trees had all been cut away over a large area. They were designed for the construction of an abattis, and though nothing had been done beyond chopping down the heavy timber, the large trunks and limbs, lying in all directions, would have presented almost insurmountable obstacles to the approach of cavalry or artillery, had the rifle-pits, just beyond, been filled with men.
Crossing the rifle-pits, the Unionists were in the enemy’s camp, though still more than half a mile from the fort. Here were the wall tents of a regiment, all standing in complete order, with the camp-fires still blazing, the copper pots of soup for dinner boiling over them, and the half-made biscuits in the pans. Inside the tents everything was just as the enemy had left it—pistols, shot-guns, muskets, bowie-knives, clothing, tables partially set for dinner, letters half-written, with the ink scarcely dry upon the open page, cards thrown down in the midst of the game, overcoats, blankets, trunks, carpet sacks, and so on through all the articles of camp life. It seemed as if the men were out at guard-mounting, and expected to return in ten minutes.
Along the river bank were long rows of log barracks, enough to accommodate two or three thousand men, and finished comfortably. Inside they bore the same indications that the inmates had decamped without a moment’s warning.