We Were Accompanied By The General's
Aid-De-Camp, And Also, To Our Great Gratification, By The General's
Daughter.
There had been a hard frost for some nights, but though
the cold was very great there was always
Heat enough in the middle
of the day to turn the surface of the ground into glutinous mud;
consequently we had all the roughness induced by frost, but none of
the usually attendant cleanliness. Indeed, it seemed that in these
parts nothing was so dirty as frost. The mud stuck like paste and
encompassed everything. We heard that morning that from sixty to
seventy baggage wagons had "broken through," as they called it, and
stuck fast near a river, in their endeavor to make their way on to
Lebanon. We encountered two generals of brigade, General Siegel, a
German, and General Ashboth, a Hungarian, both of whom were waiting
till the weather should allow them to advance. They were extremely
courteous, and warmly invited us to go on with them to Lebanon and
Springfield, promising to us such accommodation as they might be
able to obtain for themselves. I was much tempted to accept the
offer; but I found that day after day might pass before any forward
movement was commenced, and that it might be weeks before
Springfield or even Lebanon could be reached. It was my wish,
moreover, to see what I could of the people, rather than to
scrutinize the ways of the army. We dined at the tent of General
Ashboth, and afterward rode his horses through the camp back to
Rolla, I was greatly taken with this Hungarian gentleman.
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