“Hello, Sam!” was shouted by several of his old comrades, and one ventured to ask what he had left his first love for?
Sam’s reply was about as follows: “I was willing to serve my country, but I’m cussed if I ever liked that heavy infantry business. It was a dirty, mean trick for them to enlist us for flying artillery and then change to heavy, and I didn’t propose to tread mud with a big knapsack on my back, a musket and 40 rounds of ammunition, so I just transferred myself to the cavalry.”
About this time the bugles sounded “forward” and as Sam rode away with the dusty troopers he called out; “Good-bye old company H,” and that was the last we ever saw of him, but I doubt not he rendered good service in the cause for he was not a bad fellow, even if he did prefer cavalry to heavy artillery.
CHAPTER XIII.
GRANT’S HEADQUARTERS AT CITY POINT.
City Point, a little insignificant wharf town on a point of land at the intersection of the Appomattox with the James River, about 25 miles from Richmond and seven or eight miles from Petersburg, leaped into world-wide importance in 24 hours in June ’64.
Gen. Grant made his headquarters there until the surrender of Lee and it was the base of supplies for the army of the James, as well as the army of the Potomac.
Think if you can what it would mean to Sackets Harbor, if an army of 75,000 to 100,000 men should make that town the base of its operations against Watertown, and over on the Pillar Point shore was another army half as large.