94 WHIP AND SPUR. 



the vague inducement of a railroad-crossing. 

 Union City had struggled into an amphibious 

 subsistence; but it had never thriven, and its 

 corner-lots had but feebly responded to the hopes 

 of its projectors. 



For many a mile around, the forests and 

 swamps were wellnigh impenetrable, and the oc- 

 casional clearings were but desolate oases in the 

 waste of marsh and fallen timber. The roads 

 were wood-trails leading nowhere in particular, 

 and all marked a region of the most scanty and 

 unfulfilled promise. 



General Asboth, seeing (by the map) that it 

 commanded two lines of railroad, sent us to oc- 

 cupy this strategic point, and we gradually accu- 

 mulated to the number of twenty-five hundred 

 cavalry and four thousand infantry, drawing our 

 regular supplies from Columbus; and occupying 

 our time with a happy round of drills, inspec- 

 tions, horse-races, cock-fights, and poker. It was 

 not an elevating existence, but it was charm- 

 ingly idle, and we passed the serene and lovely 

 autumn of 1863 in a military dreamland, where 



