It had taken much valuable time to organize the Army of the Potomac, and now more time was lost in perfecting the details of the coming campaign. It was General McClellan’s desire to strike “all along the line” at the same time, thus giving the Confederates no opportunity to rally from one point to another. The enemy was to be attacked not only in Virginia, but also in North and South Carolina, in Kentucky and Tennessee. Had this plan been executed without delay, it is possible the war would have been of short duration. But delay after delay occurred at Washington, and meanwhile battle after battle took place elsewhere. At last, after numerous changes in the plan of campaign, it was decided between the administration and the general-in-chief that the army should be transported by boats to Fortress Monroe, at the extreme point of the peninsula formed by the York and James Rivers, and then march up past Yorktown, and lay siege to Richmond, if the Confederate Capital could not be taken in any other way. It was argued that, as the route from the water to Richmond was less than ninety-five miles in length, and as the troops would be perfectly fresh after their sea voyage, they ought to be able to make a steady movement forward, in which case Richmond might be taken with but little trouble. The anticipated movement of the army was, of course, kept a secret from the public and the privates until the last moment. It was not until the middle of March that word came into camp that the Goreville Volunteers, now regularly attached to a regiment of Pennsylvania Volunteers, were to move two days later. “Where are we going to move to?” questioned Louis, of Harry Bingham, who had brought the word from Captain Paulding’s headquarters. “We are to cross the Potomac, that’s all I know,” answered Harry. “Perhaps we are to follow the rebels from Centerville,” said Louis, for he heard how the Confederate forces had left that vicinity. “Maybe. We’re going somewhere, that’s certain.” It was a cool but clear day when the volunteers broke camp and struck out on a march which lasted the best part of ten hours. They went into camp in a sweet potato field, and by sunrise the day following were again on the tramp. “I guess we are marching around for fun,” laughed Harry Bingham. But he soon found out his mistake. That afternoon they reached Alexandria and here were waiting a whole host of vessels to receive them. The regiment to which the Goreville boys belonged was taken on a boat named the _Boston Queen_. “Sure and they are going to send us south on a voyage of discovery,” said one of the men. “I wonder if they’ll land us at Charleston?” “Charleston!” shrieked Jerry Rowe. “If they do that, we’ll all be killed. Why, that is where they bombarded Fort Sumter.” “Never mind, Jerry, if you are killed, remember you died for your country when you didn’t want to,” said Moses Blackwell, and a laugh went up, while Jerry groaned dismally.