The third day from the Springs we pitched our tents near Valley Mountain, and then came the rain every day for some ten days, putting the roads in very bad condition. We were nearly sixty miles from the railroad, and a two-horse wagon could haul only some four barrels of flour, so with an army of about ten thousand men to feed it was a difficult problem. Our rations consisted of two small biscuits for breakfast and a like amount for supper. However, the country afforded some cattle as fine as I ever saw. They were very fat; and if we did not get enough bread and beef, we filled up on tallow. We had also some fine blackberries, which were as large as if they had been cultivated. One day I denied myself the usual two biscuits for breakfast, saved the dough, and had blackberry pies without any sugar for dinner. We had not been in Valley Mountain very long till one night after nine o’clock taps the long roll sounded and we sprang to arms and took up our march toward Mingo Flats. The night was as black as Egyptian darkness. We crossed ravines and waded streams; and finally toward daylight, wet and weary, my regiment halted near an old stable. It would accommodate only a few, and the rest of us made a bed in the long dewy grass and got a few hours’ sleep. The long roll seemed to be a false alarm, and after daylight we marched back to camp very tired and hungry, and without seeing a bluecoat. One day I had been on picket duty near Mingo Flats, and on my return to camp in the evening I passed near General Lee’s headquarters. There was a spring near by where I knelt to drink. General Lee hailed me: “Don’t drink out of that spring; my horse uses it. Come and drink out of this spring near my tent.” Out of deference to the General’s request, I went up and drank of the spring; and as I passed him sitting on a camp stool I threw my hand to gun, palm extended, which is a private’s salute to a general. General Lee returned it with the salute of the hand from the brow, which is a general’s salute to a private. I mention this incident to show General Lee’s regard for the private soldier. It made no difference to him whether a man wore the stripes of a private or the insignia of a major general: he had respect for the one and respect and consideration for the other.