ROBERT KENDERDINE. 325 



now, when they had brought him nigh to death's door. He 

 knew the change from a dainty diet to the rough and some- 

 times scanty fare of the soldier ; from a life of ease to a series 

 of long marches, followed often by picket duty, and the drudg- 

 ery of life in camp or in the trenches. He knew what it was 

 to be sick, without the care we give our dumb animals at 

 home. So when one night, at 11 o'clock, with his squad of 

 convalescents he heard the hospital gates clang behind him, 

 and marched through the dark streets and chilling air to take 

 the cars and rejoin his old comrades, he knew what was before 

 him. His description of his " March to the Regiment" was at 

 times pathetic, although his arm}^ letters were full of noble 

 resolve, of hope for the future, and scorn for those who at home 

 were making rear attacks on the defenders of the Union. As 

 the little band marched through the cheerlees streets on their 

 way to fresh devotion and sacrifices for their country they were 

 watched like convicts. A friend accompanied Robert until the 

 surly guard warned him away. At the station the group sat on 

 the curbstone until the train should leave. Travelers descended 

 from carriages and sought the warmth of the depot. The ladies, 

 as they glided by the Boys in Blue, gathered their skirts closer 

 that they might not be defiled by contact, while their escorts 

 glanced sidewise as if they were looking at beings of a difterent 

 race from themselves. And they were not wrong if they thought 

 so. Better the humblest private than the citizen, no matter 

 what his talent, wealth, station or profession of godliness, who 

 would pass him by without an encouraging word or sympa- 

 thetic thought. 



Boarding the train the ride to Washington w^as made partly 

 in a box car. Some of the soldiers w^ere drunk, and Robert 

 spent much of his time in endeavors to keep them from falling 

 out of the car. He stopped awhile in the Capital to visit some 

 friends. One of these w^as as the comforters of Job. He was 

 an intense patriot at the beginning of the war and joined the 



