CAMPAIGNING WITH MAX. \\\ 



in time to ford our last man across before it rose 

 to an impassable depth. And then for two days 

 we pressed forward, in company with the whole 

 column, through the rough, rocky, and wooded 

 country, reaching Okolona only at nightfall. 



Here we struck the marvellous prairie region 

 of Northeastern Mississippi, literally a land flow- 

 ing with milk and honey. An interminable, fer- 

 tile, rolling prairie lay before us in every direc- 

 tion. The stern rule of the Confederacy had 

 compelled the planters to offset every small field 

 of cotton with a wide area of corn, until the 

 region had become known as the granary of the 

 Southern army. Not only must every land- 

 owner devote his broadest fields to the cultiva- 

 tion of the much-needed cereal, but one tenth of 

 all his crop must be stacked for public use in 

 cribs at the side of the railroad. 



It was an important incident of our mission 

 to destroy everything which directly or indirectly 

 could afford subsistence to the Rebel forces ; and 

 during the two days following our arrival at 

 Okolona, while we marched as far south as West 



