when, to the unaccountability of all, he fell headlong down into the river.  The water at this point was not more than three or four feet deep, but deep enough to drench him from head to foot.  He rose up, and as usual, quick to place the blame, said:  “If I knew the d——­n man who pushed me off in the water, I’d put a ball in him.”  No one had been in twenty feet of him.  All the consolation he got was “how deep was the water, ’Mucus’?” “Was the water cold?” But awkward as he was, he was quick-witted and good at repartee.  He answered the question “how deep was the water?” “Deep enough to drown a d——­n fool, if you don’t believe it, go down like I did and try it.”

When we reached the other side we were told “no use to put on your shoes or clothing, another river one mile ahead,” the Rapidan here joining the Rappahannock.  Those who had partly disrobed put their clothing under their arms, shoes in their hands, and went hurrying along after the column in advance.  These men, with their bare limbs, resembled the Scotch Highlanders in the British Army, but their modesty was put to the test; when about half-way to the other stream they passed a large, old-fashioned Virginia residence, with balconies above and below, and these filled with ladies of the surrounding country, visitors to see the soldiers pass.  It was an amusing sight no less to the ladies of the house than to the men, to witness this long line of soldiers rushing by with their coat-tails beating a tattoo on their naked nether limbs.  The other stream was not so wide, but equally as cold and deep.

General Kershaw, sitting on his horse at this point, amusing himself at the soldiers’ plight, undertook to encourage and soothe their ruffled feelings by giving words of cheer.  “Go ahead, boys,” remarked the General, “and don’t mind this; when I was in Mexico—­” “But, General, it wasn’t so cold in Mexico, nor did they fight war in winter, and a horse’s legs are not so tender as a man’s bare shins,” were some of the answers given, and all took a merry laugh and went scudding away.

Passing over, we entered the famous Wilderness, soon to be made renowned by the clash of arms, where Lee and Hooker met and shook the surrounding country with the thunder of their guns a few months afterwards, and where Grant made the “echoes ring” and reverberate on the 5th and 6th of May, the year following.  We found, too, the “Chancellor House,” this lone, large, dismal-looking building standing alone in this Wilderness and surrounded on all sides by an almost impenetrable forest of scrubby oaks and tangled vines.  The house was a large, old-fashioned hotel, situated on a cleared plateau, a piazza above and below, reaching around on three sides.  It was called “Chancellorsville,” but where the “ville” came in, or for what the structure was ever built, I am unable to tell.  This place occupied a prominent place in the picture of the Battle of Chancellorsville, being for a time the headquarters of General Hooker, and around which the greater part of his cannon were placed.  We took up camp in rear of Fredericksburg, about two miles south of the city.