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for our country.
We are all making sacrifices; your Sergeant must make his. He cannot go now; every man is wanted at his post.
Tell him that as soon as the exigencies of this occasion will admit he shall have his leave.’
The next night, between midnight and dawn, the wily Rosecrans folded his tents and softly stole away in the darkness; and the rising sun, when it touched with its rays the top of Big Sewell, showed a deserted and silent camp, where the evening before hundreds of white tents had covered the plateau.
Our pursuing cavalry during the day sent back word that the enemy were safe across the swollen river in their rear and the bridge burnt between the two armies.
Pursuit was useless.
The next day a furlough for Sergeant Skaggs came to company headquarters, and there went home to his stricken family a soldier who never afterwards hesitated to peril his life for his commander or the cause they both espoused.
Richmond, VA. 1883.
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