"
"Shepard, you must be sunstruck!"
"My mind was never clearer. What I saw at close range General Pope
himself saw at long range. He and his staff and a detachment came near
enough to see the looting and burning of all our stores--I don't suppose
so many were ever gathered together before. But I was right there.
You ought to have seen the sight, Colonel, when those ragged rebels who
had been living on green corn burst into our camp. I've heard about the
Goths and Vandals coming down on Rome and it must have been something
like it. They ate as I never saw anybody eat before, and then throwing
away their rags they put on our new uniforms which were stored there in
thousands. At least half the rebel army must now be wearing the Union
blue. And the way they danced about and sang was enough to make a loyal
man's heart sick."
"You told all this to General Pope?"
"I did, sir, but I could not make him believe the half of it. He insists
that it can only be a raiding detachment, that it is impossible for a
great army to have come to such a place. But, sir, I was among them.
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