CHICKAMAUGA. 59 



ping awkwardly about the yard. It was a 

 question of something to eat, I suppose, or 

 perhaps of a feather for the family nest, and 

 precedents and appearances went for nothing. 

 Two or three minutes afterward I came face 

 to face with another apparition, a horseman 

 as graceful and dignified, not to say majestic, 

 as the nuthatch had been lumbering and un- 

 gainly ; a man in civilian's dress, but visibly 

 a soldier, with a pose and carriage that made 

 shoulder-straps superfluous ; a man to look 

 at ; every inch a major-general, at the very 

 least ; of whom, nevertheless, — the heat or 

 something else giving me courage, — I ven- 

 tured to inquire, from under my umbrella, if 

 there were any way of seeing some of the 

 more interesting portions of the battlefield 

 without too much exposure to the sun. He 

 showed a little surprise (military gentlemen 

 always do, so far as I have observed, when 

 strangers address them), but recovered him- 

 self, and answered almost with affability. 

 Yes, he said, if I would take the first turn to 

 the left, I should pass the spot over which 

 Longstreet made the charge that decided the 

 fate of the contest, and as he spoke he pointed 

 out the field, which appeared to be part of 



