To my suggestion that I had a horse on the boat which I must see about, he replied very promptly, "_That could all be done when this business was through._" The meshes of their cursed net were around me, and there was no release; and with as good a grace as I could assume, I wrote my name, and thus I _volunteered_! Does any reader say, "You did wrong--you had better have died than have given your name to such an infamous and causeless rebellion?" I can only answer: It is far easier to say what a homeless youth, hunted for his life for two nights and a day, until exhausted, faint, and friendless, in the midst of an excited and armed populace, _should do_, than it was in the circumstances to do what will stand the test of a high, calm, and _safe_ patriotism. Let none condemn until he can lay his hand upon his heart and say, "No conceivable pressure could overcome me." CHAPTER II. INFANTRY SERVICE. Character of our Regiment. -- No Escape. -- A Fixed Resolve. -- Randolph. -- Camp Life. -- Sabbath. -- Father Daly. -- Washing. -- Fort Wright. -- Grand Defect. -- Rations. -- Stolen Waters. -- Mutiny. -- Sentence. -- Fort Pillow. -- Slaves. -- Aiding the Rebellion. -- Deep Earnestness of the People. -- Strength of the Fort. -- "Pillow's Trot Line." -- No Pay, and the Result. -- Gen. Pillow described. -- Columbus, Ky. -- Hard Work. -- Pillow in the Ditch. -- The Batteries. -- Torpedoes. -- Battle of Belmont. -- False Report. -- Troops cross. -- Untimely Joking. -- The Tide of Battle. -- A Charge. -- Cruelty. -- Victory. -- Why? -- Loss. -- Burial of the Dead. -- How Not to Kill. -- Accident. -- The Military Bishop. The fine horse, which was to have carried me to Nashville and thence to Kentucky, was kindly disposed of by an auctioneer, and the price, minus a handsome commission, handed to me, and then I commenced service in the "Jeff. Davis Invincibles," Co. B, Second Tenn. Volunteers, under command of J. Knox Walker, of Memphis. I still entertained some hope of escape, as I had not yet taken the oath; and I worked hard to obtain information which might aid my purpose. I could find no one to trust, and dare not be too inquisitive about roads and distances. The first regiment raised in Memphis was composed largely of the upper classes, and represented many millions of property. It was of the same type as the 7th regiment of New York, whereas the second contained about 750 Irishmen, chiefly Catholics, in character like the fine 69th New York. We camped in the Fair Ground, a short distance from the city, an inclosure of some seven acres, surrounded by a high board fence, and guarded by thickly stationed sentinels. As these sentinels were not from our newly-formed regiment, but from trusted companies of older standing, I was soon convinced there was no chance of escape, and resigned myself to the necessities of my lot.