storm of battle, and wondered how many of that gallant company have survived to remember that festal evening, with its hopes and fears. February 7.-Clear and mild. I rode over to the city to-day and paid a visit to General Birney at the camp of the Twenty-third Pennsylvania. He was at dinner, and I joined him with a will. I afterward wrote to the President applying for the requisite commission, and after some agreeable general conversation returned to Camp Seminary.

roads, having been informed that a large body of rebel cavalry were a short distance above the town. Meanwhile my friends, informed of my advent, had appeared at doors and balconies and were waving joyful welcome. As I rode past the Pendleton cottage I saw my venerable kinsman waving his handkerchief from the balcony. I responded with the triumphant tidings which I had brought over the river: "Grant has captured Fort Donelson, with fifteen thousand prisoners-Union forever."

February 8.-Mild and misty. At breakfast As I approached my own door there were we all pitched into the authorities for continu- handkerchiefs waving too, and my daughter, ing inactive so long. The genial spring breezes all bright and blooming, ran out to meet me. have begun to thaw men's blood and render the It is strange that my eye should have searched mud and despondency of inaction doubly irk- so persistently for a face that I knew could not some. Our strictures were suspended by hear- be there. My sight grew dim for a moment, ing cheers at a distance. What does that but I quickly rallied, determined to drain to mean? Fort Henry in Kentucky has been the bottom my cup of social joy and triumph. captured by our gun-boat fleet. The reoccu-We talked, laughed, dined, drank wine, and pation of Romney by Lander is also news of congratulated each other. I was at home less national interest, but being nearer home again; Victory had perched upon the National adds to my personal enjoyment. eagles in all quarters. A few days more and the power of the nation would move, sweeping all before it like an Alpine avalanche. Who could for a moment doubt the result?

February 12.—This morning smells deliciously of spring. More drums and cheering for the victory at Roanoke Island. The Fourth New Jersey is paraded and formed in hollow square, facing inward receives the news and responds with three times three.

February 14.-Raining. Having settled my affairs and taken leave of my kind friends of the brigade, I started with horse and baggage for Washington. Having seen General Birney I ascertained that my application had been duly forwarded, but would not be acted upon for two weeks perhaps. I determined to improve the leisure thus afforded by visiting my family at Berkeley-engaging the General to telegraph me at Hancock, Maryland, in case of any move

ment.

I

"Twas as though God himself had set 'Gainst Satan-"

Courage, dear friends! One brief and glorious campaign, and all will be over. We will see our beloved Virginia again free from her bloody oppressors-sitting clothed and in her right mind.

The evil spirits cast out," and peace established in all her borders. The flag that enfolds all that is great and noble in her past history shall wave forever in power and honor over the homes of her living and the graves of her dead children.

In the afternoon I returned to Hancock accompanied by my wife and daughter, and by sunset we were comfortably established in our quarters at Barton's. While here I gathered the following account of Jackson's recent operations in this vicinity:

Having been sent to Winchester in the early part of the winter to protect that place against an anticipated occupation by the National forces, and encouraged by their apathy, he determined, notwithstanding the inclemency of the season, to make an active campaign. He consequently gathered all the available force in the Northwestern Department of Virginia, amounting to about ten thousand volunteers and several thou

February 18.-I arrived at Hancock last night. This morning is bright and balmy as spring. Soon after breakfast I called to see General Williams (of Banks's Division), who holds this place with his brigade. The General, ascertaining that I wished to visit Berkeley, kindly offered me a company of cavalry as an escort. Colonel Knipe, of the Pennsylvania Rifles, also offered me his horse and arms. crossed the river at the head of my troop, and took the road to Berkeley after an absence of nearly seven months. The grander features of the familiar landscape were unchanged, still defying the power of human might and malig-sand militia, with thirty pieces of cannon. With nity; but all the minor landmarks were obliterated. Fences, houses, and barns had disappeared; heaps of ashes and the carcasses of dead horses marked the route over which Jack-Hedgesville, and making several abortive atson's army had advanced and retired. The streets of the village as I entered were silent and deserted, with no signs of life except an occasional face of a woman or child peering from a half-closed door or window.

In the public square I met some negroes who recognized me. Captain Homer halted the escort here, and sent out pickets to guard the

this force he moved into Berkeley and Jefferson counties, completely destroying the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad between Harper's Ferry and

tempts to render the Chesapeake and Cumberland Canal useless by destroying the dams from which it was fed. These attempts brought on some skirmishing along the river, in which the National troops, from the superiority of their ordnance, generally had the advantage. In the beginning of January Jackson moved with his whole force toward Berkeley Springs. The

damn!" Jackson got his pontoons upon the river bank, but so sternly were the opposing shores held by Lander's infantry that neither commands nor persuasion could induce the rebel troops to attempt a crossing.

While matters stood in this position at Hancock, Kelley made a dash from Romney in the

tacked and dispersed a body of militia, storming their redoubt and capturing four cannon with all their stores and baggage. This spirited blow caused the rebel commander hastily to abandon his position before Hancock, and to move on Romney by the Bloomery road. The weather, which had been mild at the commencement of the movement, had now become intense

the most severe suffering to the troops. Kelley meanwhile quietly withdrew from Romney, leaving Jackson to occupy, unopposed, a useless and devastated village which he could not af ford to hold, and from which he could not advance.

place was occupied by a battalion of National | wishing to quiet the alarm of the fleeing wotroops, with two guns of Muhlenburg's Battery. men and children, rode up the street and adAs the rebels advanced by the Winchester road dressed them in the following soothing words: a company of the Thirty-ninth Illinois Infantry "Ladies, don't be frightened, there is no danwas sent out to feel and reconnoitre their col-ger, I assure you-their powder ain't worth a umn; as the reports from the country had been so uniformly false or exaggerated, they were not credited in the present instance. The scouting party encountered the enemy's advance several miles out and made a dashing attack upon it, killing and wounding several and checking the whole column. Perceiving they had fallen upon a greatly superior force, the gallant Illi-direction of Winchester, and at Blue's Gap atnoians retired in good order and unmolested to their post at Berkeley. Jackson was so much deceived by this audacious and unexpected attack that he halted for the night, and next morning advanced as cautiously on the village, occupied by five companies, as if he were in the presence of a large army. The Federals, still incredulous in regard to the enemy's force, held their ground; and Muhlenburg's two guns, post-ly cold, and the march was accomplished with ed on the ridge over the hotel, opened sharply on the columns advancing by the Winchester and Martinsburg roads. The presence of artillery again confused the rebel commander, who had expected to find nothing but infantry opposed to him, and again his march was checked and his opportunity lost. The eyes of the National officers were at length opened by seeing heavy flanking columns moving both to the right and left of their position. They quietly retired with their guns by the Sir John's road, and, crossing the river, joined the brigade under Lander, stationed at Hancock, in Maryland. About four hours after the Illinoians had withdrawn the enemy's advanced cavalry under Colonel Ashby entered the village. Jackson, with his artillery and a brigade of infantry, passed through without stopping, and took position on the bluffs opposite Hancock. Young's brigade occupied the Berkeley Springs Hotel, while the militia bivouacked here and there where they could find a convenient resting-place. The rebel General's plan, it seems, was to capture the force at Berkeley, then cross the Potomac at Hancock, move up the National Turnpike, capture Cumberland, and cut off Kelley, who held possession of Romney. Hancock was defended by Lander with about two thousand men and two guns. He was summoned to surrender by Jackson, and his answer may be better imagined by those who know him than by those who do not. Persons who were present say the oaths were appalling. Immediately after Jack-my studio and served his feed in the desk. Both son's messenger returned the cannon opened. The rebel bombardment was urged to the utmost, and several houses in the centre of the town were perforated by shells, while the women and children were running wildly through the streets seeking an escape from the fire. Muḥlenburg's two guns, already in position, returned the fire with such fatal accuracy as to drive the rebel batteries from the bluff.

During the heat of the bombardment the gallant lieutenant commanding the artillery,

This campaign was as stupidly conceived, and as feebly executed, as any that will be recorded on either side in this war of failures and blunders. It cost the rebel commander about two thousand men hors du combat (chiefly from cold and exposure), and nearly cost him his commission. I was told he was so offended at the strictures that were heaped upon him by his superior officers, and the public generally, that he tendered his resignation, which, however, was not accepted.

During the rebel occupancy of Berkeley my father's property was wasted and plundered with many circumstances of obscene and wanton outrage. Besides large quantities of blankets and bedding which the men took to supply their necessities, a great amount was destroyed from mere spite and malignity. Doors, balusters, and furniture were used for fire-wood, although the place was surrounded with abundance of good timber. Private papers, collections of rare books, choice paintings, portfolios of sketches and engravings, cabinets of curiosities and articles of vertu, were torn, trampled under foot, defaced, or carried away. A chivalric amateur of the arts introduced his horse into

animals left indelible traces of their appreciative tastes behind them. The handsome residence of Mr. Garrison, a gentleman from New Jersey, was needlessly burned, as were several barns and other buildings.

Ill-natured folks might be tickled to hear that our visitors were not altogether partial in their attentions, and that sympathizing friends of the Southern cause fared little better than their avowed and open enemies. Some boxes of clothes and valuables, belonging to Southern

ESTHETICS.

neighbors, had been deposited in our house to insure protection against the Federal Hessians and Vandals. Although special pains were taken to protect them by proclaiming the political proclivities of their owners, they went with the rest. Some neighboring cottages, belonging to well-known friends of the Southern cause, were gutted as ruthlessly as ours had been. For the rest the family received no personal rudeness from either officers or men. Indeed they spoke with feeling of many acts of sympathetic and kindly attention received from individuals during these trying times.

Directly after the departure of the invading army my father took to his bed, complaining of a severe cold, owing, perhaps, to the unusual exposure and discomfort to which he had been

AWO children sat in the twilight,
Murmuring soft and low,

Said one, I'll be a sailor-lad,
With my boat ahoy! yo ho!
For sailors are most loved of all,
In every happy home,

And tears of grief or gladness fall

Just as they go or come."

But the other child said sadly,
"Ah, do not go to sea,
Or in the dreary winter nights
What will become of me?
For if the wind began to blow,
Or thunder shook the sky,

While you were in your boat, yo ho!
What could I do but cry?"

subjected during the occupation of his house by the troops. During his illness he seemed to suffer but little, except from general prostration of vital energy. In his broken and fevered sleep his mind seemed continually occupied with the unhappy condition of his beloved country, and when he died, on the sixteenth of the month, in his seventieth year, his last audible words were, "Forward! Forward! M'Clellan !"

February 21.-To-day I received a telegram from General Birney, informing me of my apThis prompointment as Assistant Adjutant-General, and requesting me to report at once. ises a speedy answer to the patriot's dying cry. The days of impatient and wearing expectancy are at length past, and those of tremendous realization are at hand.

WOODEN LEGS.

Then he said, "I'll be a soldier,
With a delightful gun,

And I'll come home with a wooden leg,
As heroes have often done."

She screams at that-and prays and begs,
While tears-half anger-start,
"Don't talk about your wooden legs,
Unless you'd break my heart!"

He answered her rather proudly,
"If so, what can I be?

If I must not have a wooden leg

And must not go to sea?

How could the Queen sleep sound at night,

Safe froin the scum and dregs,

If English boys refused to fight

For fear of wooden legs?"