...other defeat at Vicksburg, which meant that the Mississippi was free to the Federals from its source to the Gulf. Diverting incidents occurred, but we were in poor mood for them. As we approached Hagerstown , two grotesque figures stepped into the road about a hundred yards in front of us,--one a negro of six feet and a hundred and eighty pounds, the other a white man of about five feet seven. The negr...