A. I did. I would have obeyed any command that General Latta had sent to me; and not only that, I solicited his commands—I asked him what I should do.
Q. What induced you to leave the round-house on Saturday morning?
A. The round-house was on fire, and the men were choking with smoke when we left there, and it was not more than twenty minutes after we left, when the whole thing was a cinder.
Q. How large a crowd did you encounter when you left the round-house?
A. When we left, we came out in perfect order. The moment we came out the crowd fled, and we had no difficulty until we had gone some three or four squares. The crowd had disappeared.
Q. Couldn't you have formed then, after driving the crowd?
A. There was no crowd to drive at that time. We didn't see any crowd except the crowd which ran. My idea was to go to some place where the men could get something to eat. The Third regiment had three rounds of ammunition, and I thought certainly, at the United States arsenal we could get ammunition, and the men could be fed, or we should certainly get ammunition, and get water.
Q. Did it occur to you that it would be good policy to go to the Union depot?
A. Yes; and two of my staff, Colonel Wilson and Colonel Pettit, both advised me to go; but I told them my orders are to go east out Penn avenue, and I am going to obey my orders.
Q. Those were the orders you received from General Latta?