although I am not aware that I inflicted any irreparable damage upon the hearts of the fair ones of Charlotte.
This was in the summer of 1863. General Lee had invaded Pennsylvania, had been defeated at Gettysburg, and had returned to Virginia, to resume again the defence of Richmond. His army was shattered, but defiant still, and, as events proved, was quite competent to do as hard fighting as it ever did, and to ward off the always impending Federal attack on the Confederate capital for a good while to come. But, with the battle of Gettysburg, the important work of the summer in that quarter had culminated, and the attention of the entire Confederacy was now anxiously directed to Eastern Tennessee, where the Federal General Rosecrans was pushing forward, with the evident intention of striking a damaging blow somewhere, and perhaps of forcing his way into Georgia. It was in resisting the forces of Rosecrans, therefore, that distinction was to be won, and not by remaining in the neighborhood of Richmond. As I always liked to be where the heaviest fighting was going on, I concluded that I ought to set my face southward if I hoped to win any laurels.
Hearing that Longstreet's corps had been detached from Lee's army before Richmond, and ordered to re-enforce Bragg, I concluded to wait in Charlotte until it made its appearance on its way southward, and, if possible, travel with it to its destination. A good many of the officers waiting in Charlotte were anxious to take advantage of this opportunity to obtain transportation back to their commands, but it was reported that no one would be permitted to go on the train except Longstreet's own men. It would have been a very serious disappointment and some trouble to many who did not know when they would have such another chance to reach the scene of action, and there was a good deal of growling at the prospect that a prolonged stay in Charlotte might be necessary, when their services were so much needed else where.
I, however, had made up my mind to make a determined effort to go, at every hazard, despite the orders to the contrary; and I proposed to some of the officers, who were impatient to get off, that we should have an interview with General Longstreet, and endeavor to impress upon his mind the imperative necessity we were under of rejoining our regiments immediately. There was a difference of opinion,
