“I fired instantly, and wounded him, but not severely, for he fired in return, and the bullet whizzed by my ear.  My next shot brought him down, and then I started on a dead run for the woods, regained Rush, and, with our prisoner, we stole swiftly towards our lines.  We were out of sure range before the startled pickets of the enemy realized what was the matter.  A few harmless shots were sent after us, and then we gained our lines.  I am satisfied that the man I shot was a rebel officer visiting the picket line.  Our firing inside their lines could not be explained until the gap caused by the missing sentinel we had carried off was discovered.

“Then they knew that ‘Yanks,’ as they called us, had been within their lines.  Rush, taking the sentinel’s place while I was below the hill, had prevented an untimely discovery of our expedition.  Perhaps it was well that I met the rebel officer, for he was making directly towards the spot where I had left my companion.

“The poor fellow we had captured was so used up that he could scarcely keep pace with us.  He said he had not had any rest worth speaking of for forty-eight hours.  I passed through our lines, now alert, and reported at Division Headquarters.  The general laughed, congratulated us, and said he was glad we had not found Strahan among the dead or seriously wounded, for now there was a good chance of seeing him again.

“I turned over our prisoner to him, and soon all was quiet again.  Captain Markham, of our regiment, greeted us warmly, but I was so exhausted that I contented him with a brief outline of what had occurred, and said I would tell him the rest in the morning.  Satisfied now that Strahan was not crying for water, I was soon asleep again by the side of Rush, and did not waken till the sun was well above the horizon.

“I soon learned that the vedettes of the enemy had disappeared from before our lines, and that our skirmishers were advancing.  After a hasty breakfast I followed them, and soon reached again the ground I had visited in the night.  On the way I met two of our men to whom I had given water.  The other man had meanwhile died.  The survivors told me positively that they had not seen or heard of Strahan after he had fallen.  They also said that they had received a little food and water from the rebels, or they could not have survived.

“The dead were still unburied, although parties were sent out within our picket line during the day to perform this sad duty, and I searched the ground thoroughly for a wide distance, acting on the possibility that Strahan might have crawled away somewhere.

“I shall not describe the appearance of the field, or speak of my feelings as I saw the bodies of the brave men and officers of our regiment who had so long been my companions.

“The rest of my story is soon told.  From our surgeon I had positive assurance that Strahan had not been brought to our corps hospital.  Therefore, I felt driven to one of two conclusions:  either he was in a Confederate hospital on the field beyond our lines, or else he was a prisoner.