The two great evils attending war are drinking and gambling. In 1863 the drink habit was much lessened in our army because the drinks were scarce and hard to get. Mr. McGrew kept a drug store on the Square in Shelbyville, and by some means it was ascertained that he had some whisky in the cellar, and one night some soldiers got into it and took the whole stock, consisting of about half a barrel; and the old mill, situated on the river, was frequently robbed of its stock; and in unloading commissaries at the depot the soldiers would make _mistakes_ and throw meat under the depot, and at nightfall bring it to camp. The mania for gambling continued unabated. I have seen men gamble all night, and do a good deal of nodding on duty the next day. If they did not have money to gamble with, chips for fun would not be much amusement. I have seen on the march, just previous to an engagement, bits of pasteboard (decks of cards) scattered along so that the line of march could almost be designated by the scraps, and also by letters torn and scattered, because a soldier did not wish to be found dead on the field of battle with a deck of cards in his pocket, or prying eyes to read his letters from home; but I have never yet seen a soldier discard the little pocket Testament that his mother gave him when she sent him forth with her prayers. [Illustration: THE GAMBLING MANIA.] Shelbyville was a place that could easily be flanked, and Rosecrans was preparing for it. General Bragg hoped to give him battle on better vantage ground (for us), and selected Tullahoma, and we prepared to retire to that point in good order if General Rosecrans would permit. Our army commenced to retire—the infantry in front, General Wheeler’s cavalry in the rear. Early in the morning I was on detail to proceed to the Nashville and Chattanooga depot and load up the commissaries. We worked with a will, and thought that we could get everything in the cars, but some of the detail early in the day found a lot of whisky and commenced to get drunk. About 3 P.M. we heard a tremendous boom, boom of our artillery on the Square, followed by a fusillade of musketry. The Federal cavalry had approached from the front and flank. Lieutenant J. R. McDaniel’s (or Wiggins’s) battery made a gallant resistance, and succeeded in getting his pieces away with the loss of only two. He lost a number of his men, however, the enemy riding into their midst and cutting them with sabers. In attempting to cross the Duck River bridge General Wheeler found it blockaded and swam his horse above it, having the belt of his sword shot away. As soon as I saw the stampede on the Square I ran into the depot, got some clothing and shoes out of a box there, and went down under the depot (which had open sides) and bivouacked in the dust with hogs and fleas, which were very industrious. After leaving the Square the Federal cavalry rode rapidly toward the depot. One of my detail, seeing them coming, staggered out