ACROSS COUNTRY WITH A CAVALRY COLUMN. 115 









rections the wagon- master is at- 

 tending to the last details, and 



srettino^ the waQ-ons into line. - _-^-^_- 



The soldiers of the guard, who --- S 



form the escort to the train, are 



standing by their horses, ready to mount. " Boots and sad- 

 dles " has been sounded, and the troops stand near their flut- 

 tering guidons, ofificers in their front, awaiting the command 

 to march. 



It must be confessed they look a rather motley assem- 

 blage for regular troops, as they lounge there in picturesque 

 groups, and their uniforms certainly are rather shabby in ap- 

 pearance. The majority wear the slouched felt hat issued to 

 our troops by the Quartermaster's Department, ungraceful in 

 shape but comfortable and admirably suited for the rough 

 service of the frontier. There are some with the more jaunty 

 forage-cap, and one man wears a civilian's straw hat perched 

 on the back of his head. If you walk down through the 

 different squadrons you can see that the men are about the 

 middle height, sturdy and healthy, the majority of them unmis- 

 takably of American birth, but there is a strong sprinkling of 

 Germans and Irishmen among them. Some have gayly col- 

 ored handkerchiefs knotted about their necks — one strapping 



