Page:The woman in battle .djvu/389

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SOMETHING BETTER THAN NOTHING.
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on General Winder, and took measures to procure an interview with President Davis. From General Winder I did not obtain much satisfaction; and Mr. Davis, while he was very kind to me, did not give me a great deal of encouragement. I represented to President Davis that I had been working hard for the Confederacy, both as a soldier and a spy, and that I had braved death on more than one desperately fought battle-field while acting as an independent, and that now I thought I was deserving of some official recognition. Moreover, I had lost my husband through his devotion to the cause, and, both for his sake and for my own, I desired that the government would give me such a position in the secret service corps or else where as would enable me to carry on with the best effect the work that he and I had begun.

Mr. Davis was opposed to permitting me to serve in the army as an officer, attired in male costume, while he had no duties to which he could properly assign me as a woman. I left his presence, not ungratified by the kindness of his manner towards me, and the sympathy which he expressed for my bereavement, but none the less much disappointed at the non-success of my interview with him.

Failing to obtain any satisfaction from Mr. Davis, I returned to General Winder, but got comparatively little encouragement from him. He finally, however, consented to give me a letter of recommendation to the commanding officer of the forces in the South and West, and transportation. This was not exactly what I wanted, but it was better than nothing; and I thought that, armed with such a letter, I could scarcely fail to accomplish something that would be satisfactory to myself, and of value to the cause.

On Another Grand Tour.

Having obtained this important document I started off, and, for the last time, made a grand tour of the entire Southern Confederacy. Stopping from point to point, I gathered all the information I could, and thoroughly posted myself with regard to the situation, military, civil, and political, and endeavored to find a place where I could commence active operations with the best chance of achieving something of importance.

I, however, during the course of a long journey, failed to meet with the grand opportunity I sighed for, and met with no adventure worthy of particular record, until finally I reached