"They say you are retreating,' he said, 'but it is the strangest sort of retreat I ever saw. Why, dog bite them, the newspapers have been lying in this way all along. They allers are whipping the Federal armies, and they allers fall back after the battle is over. It was that ar' idee that first opened my eyes. Our army was always whipping the Feds, and we allers fell back. I allers told 'em it was a d-d humbug, and now by - I know it, for here you are right on old W.'s place; hogs, potatoes, corn, and fences all gone. I don't find any fault. I expected it all. Jeff Davis and the rest,' he continued, 'talk about splitting the Union. Why, if South Carolina had gone out by herself, she would have been split in four pieces by this time. Splitting the Union! Why, the State of Georgia is being split right through from end to end. It is these rich fellows who are making this war, and keeping their precious bodies out of harm's way. There's John Franklin went through here the other day, running away from your army. I could have played dominoes on his coat-tails. There's my poor brother sick with small-pox at Macon, working for eleven dollars a month, and hasn't got a cent of the d-d stuff for a year. 'Leven dollars a month and eleven thousand bullets a minute. I don't believe in it, Sir!'"

"As rumors of the approach of the army reached the frightened inhabitants, frantic ef

forts were made to conceal not only their valuable personal effects, plate, jewelry, and other rich goods, but also articles of food, such as hams, sugar, flour, etc. A large part of these supplies were carried to the neighboring swamps; but the favorite method of concealment was the burial of the treasures in the pathways and gardens adjoining the dwelling-houses. Sometimes, also, the grave-yards were selected as the best place of security from the 'Vandal hands of the invaders.' Unfortunately for these people, the negroes betrayed them, and in the early part of the march the soldiers learned the secret. With untiring zeal the soldiers hunted for concealed treasures. Wherever the army halted, almost every inch of ground in the vicinity of the dwellings was poked by ramrods, pierced with sabres, or upturned with spades. The universal digging was good for the garden land, but its results were distressing to the rebel owners of exhumed property, who saw it rapidly and irretrievably confiscated.' If they struck a vein' a spade was instantly put in requisition, and the coveted wealth was speedily unearthed. Nothing escaped the observation of these sharpwitted soldiers. A woman standing upon the porch of a house, apparently watching their proceedings, instantly became an object of suspicion, and she was watched until some movement betrayed a place of concealment. The fresh earth recently thrown up, a bed of flowers just set out, the slightest indication of a change in appearance or position, all attracted the gaze of these military agriculturists. It was all fair spoil of war, and the search made one of the excitements of the march."

In a little more than three weeks the army had accomplished the three hundred miles from Rome, and were close upon Savannah. It had taken M'Clellan as long to traverse the thirty miles between Williamsburg and the Chickahominy, without having seen the face of an enemy. Fort M'Allister, the key to Savannah, was captured by Hazen, how gallantly we must leave Nichols to tell, on the 13th of December, just a month lacking two days after the Great March began.

For a full month after the capture of Savannah there was no apparent movement of the Union force. But Richmond was all the while in Sherman's eye as the real point to which his march was to tend. To reach this he must traverse a part of Georgia, the whole of South and North Carolina, and a part of Virginia. On the 15th of January the troops were in motion for the new field of operations. The enterprise looked hazardous enough. "The march through Georgia," said the fearful Unionists and the confident Confederates, "was safe enough; but this is a march into the jaws of destruction. Sherman is going straight to Lee, who can throw his columns right across the track; Hardee has 30,000 men in front, and the approaches to Charleston are impracticable." But the army pressed on, straight northward, in separate columns as before-the Fourteenth Corps, under

Slocum, on the left; the Seventeenth, under Howard, on the right; the Fifteenth and the Twentieth being in the centre, where also was Kilpatrick's cavalry, ready to dash to either flank. By the 30th Georgia had been left behind, and the invasion of South Carolina was fairly begun. It can not be denied that the army looked with special aversion upon this State. Major Nichols writes:

"Houses are burning, and South Carolina has commenced to pay an installment, long overdue, on her debt to justice and humanity. With the help of God, we will have principal and interest before we leave her borders. There is a terrible gladness in the realization of so many hopes and wishes. This cowardly traitor State, secure from harm, as she thought, in her central posi

tion, with hellish haste dragged her Southern sisters into the caldron of secession. Little did she dream that the hated flag would again wave over her soil; but this bright morning a thousand Union banners are floating in the breeze, and the ground trembles beneath the tramp of thousands of brave Northmen, who know their mission, and will perform it to the end."

And again, after passing the low swampy region:

"The land improves as we advance into the interior. The region through which we are now traveling is rich in forage and supplies, and the army is once more reveling in the luxurious experiences of the Georgia campaign-turkeys, geese, ducks, chickens, nicely-cured hams, potatoes, honey, and abundance of other luxuries

for the soldiers, and plenty of corn and fodder for the animals. The soil does not seem to be very prolific in Barnwell County, as it has a large proportion of sand, yet the planters, judging from their houses and the outbuildings, seem to have been wealthy. Nearly all these places are deserted, although here and there we find women and children, whom it is difficult to persuade they are not at once to be murdered. Wide-spreading columns of smoke continue to rise wherever our army goes. Building material is likely to be in great demand in this State for some time to come.

"It is grievous to see a beautiful woman, highly cultured and refined, standing in the gateway of her dismantled home, perhaps with an infant in her arms, while she calls upon some

passing officers to protect her home from farther pillage; for the advance-guard, who have just been skirmishing with the enemy or some strag glers, have entered and helped themselves to what they needed or desired. No violence is done to the inmates, but household furniture is pushed about somewhat. The men of the house have all run away, as did Cain after killing his brother. Perhaps it is the best protection for their property to leave women at home, for the soldiers always respect a woman, even if they do sometimes enter a house. These people have one cry in common, now that they feel the bitterness of war. They pray God that it may cease upon any terms."

Here is a sketch of veteran soldiers on the march:

FOET M'ALLISTER.

we make, have put the horses, mules, and beef cattle in the best possible condition. Each day, as the army moves forward, large additions are made to the droves of cattle. Our conscription is remorseless. Every species of four-footed beast that South Carolina planters cherished among their live-stock is swept in by our flanking foragers, and the music of the animal creation mingles with the sound of the footfall of the army."

But all soldiers are not veterans. In, or rather about, Sherman's army were a class of men known as "Bummers." How the term originated nobody seems to know. We hope the editor of the next edition of the Slang Dictionary will investigate the matter. A Bummer,

according to Major Nichols, is a raider on his own account-a man who has left his place in the ranks, and has set out on a foraging expedi tion without special orders. Sometimes he is absent for only a few days, at other times he disappears for weeks together. An officer who had to pass from column to column would not unfrequently light upon a camp of Bummers, bearing all the appearance of a regular foraging party, and almost always having proof of abundant success. If asked to what command they belong, one will reply, with an impudent laugh, "We don't answer for any body in particular'bout every corps in the army." There is one distinguishing mark of a Bummer: he is never on foot. Now and then he is mounted on a

THE ARMY MULE.