Q. Their uniforms—the buttons and straps were not cut off?
A. O, no; they were all in good trim. I was somewhat amused in finding them washing their feet in a trough, when I came out there, and, under the circumstances, I thought it was a little funny. It was not so much so after all. They told me the trouble they were in. I want to say just here, there was a good deal of fault found with men who didn't go through this town in a military way. I am not one of the persons who find fault with the military in that way, and a company of soldiers without any orders is a mob—is not very good shape—and I think it is better that they didn't happen to come in just at that time. They said, however, they had no commanding officer. Their general commanding was back; the first division of Philadelphia; and they had nobody to give them orders, and they didn't know what to do, or what right they would have to come at all—didn't want to come without some authority, and gave that as a reason why they didn't.
Q. Did they have arms?
A. They had their cavalry arms.
Q. Sabers and carbines?
A. Sabers and carbines—pistols.
Q. Did they have ammunition?
A. That I did not inquire into. They had their arms in the bar-room there. I did not inquire, but I presume they had ammunition.
Q. Did they tell you they had become separated from their command?
A. As I understood it, they didn't belong to the command that they were with when they got to Altoona. General Brinton was at Harrisburg, and they belonged to his division.