GLOOM
"He was a man, take him all in all,
I shall not see his like again"--SHAKESPEARE.
The time came for A.P. Hill to follow on after Longstreet We broke camp on the 15th, and marched day after day through Culpeper; Chester Gap, Front Royal and Berryville. On the 25th of June we forded the Potomac for the last time, crossing below Shepherdstown at the ford by which we had advanced nine months before in our hurried march from Harper's Ferry to Sharpsburg. We passed once more through Sharpsburg, and advanced to a village called Funkstown, in the edge of Pennsylvania, where our division rested for three days.
On the 29th, Sergeant Rhodes and I went foraging. At some small farmhouses far off in the hills we found provisions to sell at cheap prices. Our Confederate money was received with less unwillingness than we might have expected. We got onions, cheese, and bread--rye-bread. Rhodes was carrying a tin bucket; he wanted milk. Coming back toward camp at sunset, we met in a lane two fine cows--a boy driving them home from pasture. We halted. Rhodes ordered the boy to milk the cows; the boy replied that he could not milk. "Well, I can," said Rhodes. I held the sergeant's gun, and he soon drew his bucket full. Meantime, I was talking with the boy.
"When did you see your brother last?" I asked.
"About two months ago," said he.
"Is he the only brother you have?"
"Yes, sir."
"How does he like the army?"
"He liked it at first; Father tried to keep him from going, but he couldn't."