On my way to the post-office tent to mail a letter home General S. R. Anderson hailed me, and asked where I was going. I told him, whereupon he reached into his pocket and gave me a letter, saying earnestly: “I wish I could put myself into that letter and be sent home.” On the morning of January 13 we had early reveille, struck tents, and moved down to headquarters. Many of our boys were on the sick list, and when we went into Winchester we had only twenty-five able-bodied men left in Company B; and other companies were depleted in proportion. Out of my mess of ten only two of us were ready for duty, and we had the extra blankets of eight men. The town of Winchester was overrun with soldiers, and all the houses were filled to overflowing. On January 14 we started to Romney, Va., which was situated on the bank of the beautiful south branch of the Potomac. On account of the ice and sleet we made only a few miles. On the 13th we crossed Capon River, and made only six miles during the day. The 16th of January we made only nine miles, and camped within eleven miles of Romney, which the enemy evacuated, leaving a lot of stores. On January 17 we were within four miles, and bivouacked with the regiments of Colonels Hatton and Forbes. Our cavalry occupied Romney, and we had nothing to do except to go into the town and get some rations. We were given a lot of provisions and drew quantities of butter, the first and only rations of butter I had seen issued during the war. I went into Romney and took dinner at a private house on January 21. I met Major Yost, our quartermaster, and he said that he had heard that our brigade was going to Hanging Rock, some three miles from Romney, to winter quarters. Was the First Tennessee Regiment to go into winter quarters? We shall see. Friday, January 24, we moved through Romney and reached Hanging Rock, and camped one-quarter of a mile from the Potomac. On January 25 Colonel Hatton’s regiment moved down to Suspension Bridge, and camped near there. Some of our boys who went back to Winchester began coming into camp on January 26. They thought we would have a fight, and did not wish to miss it. On January 29 I crossed the south branch of the Potomac in a skiff, and saw the residence of Colonel Washington, who was on General Lee’s staff, and who was killed in the Cheat Mountain campaign. Colonel Washington was the nearest living relative of General George Washington. We got too near the enemy’s pickets, and had to wait until nightfall to recross the river. At eleven o’clock at night our camp was aroused by the beating of the long roll, and we tumbled out of our tents in quick order. After the regiment was formed, my company was detailed to picket the ford. January 31 closed a very disagreeable week; it had snowed or hailed during the entire week.