"What!" he returned, "is there a reserve army?"
I assured him there was, and that with the regiments on their way from the West and Northwest, sixty or seventy thousand men would be at Nashville for Mitchel's disposal in three or four weeks!
Leadbetter then asked, "What do you soldiers think is going to be done with such a large army?"
"We are confident," I answered, "that Chattanooga will first be captured, then Atlanta, and afterwards Mitchel may probably strike for some point on the coast, so as to cut the Confederacy in halves."
The general rubbed his forehead for a moment, then exclaimed,—
"It's a grand plan. They can do it if they have men enough. But I had no idea that Mitchel had such backing."
How I did wish that he had! but I knew better.
Then wheeling his chair directly in front, and fixing his eye steadily on me, he continued,—
"I am much obliged to you for this information. Now, sir, I want you to tell me just how many men you had on that train, and to describe each one so that I may know them when I get hold of them."
This was too much! I answered, "General, I have freely told you whatever concerns only myself, because I thought you ought to know that I am a soldier under the protection of the United States government. But I am not base enough to describe my comrades."