Southern officers to be the finest in the world. But much was also
made at home. The largest laboratory for making cartridges, of which
I had any knowledge, was in Memphis, afterward removed to Grenada,
Mississippi. Powder-mills were established at various points, one of
the largest at Dahlonega, Georgia; and old saltpeter caves were
opened, the government offering forty-five cents per pound for
saltpeter, and exempting all persons employed in its manufacture
from military duty. Percussion caps were made in Richmond early in
1861, and great numbers were smuggled through the lines, in the
early part of the war. As to the supply of ammunition, my opinion
is, that the South will not lack while the rebellion lasts.

On the 17th of December, I left Camp Beauregard with a car-load of
ammunition, attached to a train of twenty-five box-cars, containing
the 27th Tennessee regiment, Colonel Kit Williams commanding, for
Bowling Green, where a battle was expected. Colonel Williams'
orders were, to go through with all possible dispatch. Here was a
new field for observation to me, and one of great interest. As soon
as I saw my special charge, the car of ordnance, all right, I doffed
my uniform for a fatigue dress, and took my position with the
engineer, determined to learn all I could of the management of the
locomotive. The knowledge I acquired pretty nearly cost me my life,
as will soon be seen,--a new illustration that "a little knowledge
is a dangerous thing."

We left Feliciana in the morning, and ran down the New Orleans and
Ohio railroad to Union City, 18 miles, thence on the Mobile and Ohio
road to Humboldt, which we reached by five o'clock in the evening.
It had now grown dusk. During this time, I had mastered the working
of the engine, when all was in good order; had noted the amount of