Upon that weary tramp,
And thought that we would have a feast,
When once we got to camp.
But when at last we stopped to rest,
And cooked that little beast,
We never even got a bite,
The general had the feast!
L. M. James.
My company was detailed to guard the ammunition train on its way back into Virginia. Before starting on the march, we had general orders read to us, forbidding all foraging in Maryland. On the first day’s march towards Harper’s Ferry, several of the boys, myself included, noticed a number of small pigs in a field near the road.
As we had been on very short rations for about a week, it seemed to us a good chance to have a feast when we went into camp, so over the fence after the pigs we went. As I raised my gun to fire at a pig, I saw General Griffin, (who commanded our brigade,) and his staff, passing along the road on the further side of the wagons.