CHAPTER XV.
DETECTION AND ARREST IN NEW ORLEANS.
Taking a Rest at Nashville. Again on the March. I join General A. S. Johnston's Army. Wounded in a Skirmish. Am afraid of having my Sex discovered, and leave suddenly for New Orleans. In New Orleans I am suspected of being a Spy, and am arrested. The Officer who makes the Arrest in Doubt. The Provost Marshal orders my Release. I am again arrested by the Civil Authorities on Suspicion of being a Woman. No Way out of the Scrape but to reveal my Identity. Private Interview with Mayor Monroe. The Major fines and imprisons me. I enlist as a private Soldier. On arriving at Fort Pillow, obtain a Transfer to the Army of East Tennessee.
ROM Fort Donelson I went, with what speed I could, to Nashville, and took rooms at the St. Cloud Hotel. I was utterly used up from fatigue, exposure, anxiety, and bitter disappointment; and both I and my negro boy Bob who had been taken quite sick during the battle needed an opportunity to thoroughly rest ourselves. It was an immense relief to reach a good hotel, where I could have a shelter over my head, a comfortable bed, and wholesome food ; but such was the restlessness of my disposition, and the agitation of my mind, on account of the terrible scenes through which I had just passed, that T could not keep quiet ; and scarcely had I recovered a little from my fatigue, than I was eager to be in motion again.
The Excitement in Nashville.
Nashville was in an intense state of excitement over the unexpected result of the attack upon Fort Donelson; and, stimulated, perhaps, as much by the turmoil around me, and by the apprehensions that were felt by every one, lest the Federals should follow up their success by marching on the city, my old eagerness to be an active participant in the contest which was being waged, returned with all its former force, and I was
