At all events, I got into a conversation; and the troops drifted along, passing down the roadway closely by fours, and every regiment had its banner, regimental or national, sometimes furled and sometimes afloat. The old gentleman says:—
"General, what troops are these passing now?"
As the color-bearer came by, I said: "Throw out your colors. That is the 39th Iowa."
"The 39th Iowa! 39th Iowa! Iowa! 39th! What do you mean by 39th?"
"Well," said I, "habitually, a regiment, when organized, amounts to 1,000 men."
"Do you pretend to say Iowa has sent 39,000 men into this cruel Civil War?" [Laughter.]
"Why, my friend, I think that may be inferred."
"Well," says he, "where's Iowa?" [Laughter.]
"Iowa is a State bounded on the east by the Mississippi, on the south by Missouri, on the west by unknown country, and on the north by the North Pole."
"Well," says he, "39,000 men from Iowa! You must have a million men."