to almost a running fire. At the dawn, the officers, having, I suppose, heard the firing, came running from their
warm dry beds, almost out of breath, exclaiming, "poor fellows! are you not almost dead?" We might have been for aught they knew or cared.—However, they marched us off to the village, wet as drowned rats, put us into the houses, where we remained till the afternoon and dried ourselves. It cleared off towards night and about sundown we marched again for camp, which was about twenty miles distant; we marched till some time in the evening when we were ordered to get into the houses, under the care of the non-commissioned officers, the commissioned officers having again taken care of themselves, at an early hour of the night. Myself and ten or fifteen others of our company being under the charge of our orderly sergeant, could not get any quarters, as the people at every house made some excuse, which he thought all true. We kept pushing on till we had got three or four miles in advance of the troops; we then concluded to try for lodgings no longer, but to make the best of our way to camp, which we did, and arrived there in the latter part of the night. I had nothing to do but to endeavour to get a little rest, for I had no cooking, although I should have been very glad to have had it to do.
The rest of the troops arrived in the course of the day, and at night, I think, we got a little something to eat, but if we did not, I know what I got by the jaunt, for I got a pleurisy which laid me up for some time. When I got so well as to work I assisted in building our winter huts. We got them in such a state of readiness that we moved into them about new-year's day. The reader may take my word if he pleases, when I tell him we had nothing extraordinary, either of eatables or drinkables to keep a new-year or house warming. And as I have got into winter-quarters again, I will here bring my third campaign to a close.
