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[63]
A third incident was of a more personal nature.
I had broken my knee-cap by a heavy fall during our feigned retreat, and the limb had become as rigid as a bar of steel.
My gun detachment was very anxious I should take part in the fight, and, of course, I was eager for it, as I had seen no service, and it had been agreed I should act as gunner and sight the piece.
We changed position several times during the action, in the vain hope of finding a point from which we might fire upon the enemy without imperilling our own men, and I was carried from one to another of these positions, or as near as might be, in an ambulance, driven by a half-witted youth named Grover, employed for that purpose.
As I was getting out of the vehicle, for the third or fourth time, and preparing to hobble painfully up the hill to take my place at the gun, I said to him: “Grover, why don't you go up yonder with me to fight?
You are better able to do it than I am.”
“Yes,” said he, “but there's a differ.”
“Well, what is it?”
I asked; “what is the differ?”
“Why,” said he, “you see, you ‘listed ter git killed and I ‘listed ter drive a avalanche.”
It is of course familiar to students of the financial history of the Confederacy, yet it may not be devoid of interest to the general public, to note that, in the South during the war, banks, municipalities, companies, and, even in some cases, individuals issued fractional notes or shin plasters which passed as currency supplementary to the Treasury notes issued by the Confederate Government.
I am confident every surviving member of our battery, who was with us at Leesburg, will recall the little “dog money” notes issued by the town, ornamented by a picture of a majestic Newfoundland dog lying down before a massive iron safe supposed to be full of currency.
No one, so far as I know, ever questioned the validity of Leesburg's fiat money; certainly we Howitzers experienced no difficulty whatever in getting rid of all we could get our hands upon.
About the middle of November, pursuant to a policy of brigading together, so far as possible, troops from the same State, the Eighth Virginia Regiment was ordered back to
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