had never seen soldiers before, their fine appearance as they marched by,
dressed in their uniforms, with their guns, bayonets, drums, and full
military equipment, made a lasting impression on my childish mind.

At the beginning of the war, my father wished to move from the State where
we were then living. Missouri was a slave State and he knew that there was
trouble ahead. Perhaps father would have had his way, had not God shown
mother in a dream that he would protect us, and that we would be as safe in
Missouri as in any other place. Subsequent events proved that we did well
to obey God, for none of our stock or property was taken. The deaths of my
brother and sister were the most severe trials through which we had to
pass.

In January, 1862, the Federal soldiers again came to our neighborhood and
camped near the same place where I had first seen them; but, at this time,
the scene excited in me entirely different emotions. Snow was on the
ground; the weather was very cold; and the soldiers took rails and made a
large bonfire to keep themselves warm. The sky was lit up with the flames,
and to me, in my nervous condition, the scene was frightful.

That same evening some of the soldiers went down to our little town (then
called Belmont, afterwards Windsor), brought back to the camp with them the
hollow trunk of a tree containing a swarm of bees, and laid it down to take
out the honey. Mrs. Hammond, the wife of our nearest neighbor on the east,
who lived but a short distance from the camp, thinking that they were
planting a cannon, became frightened and came over to our house with her
two little children. She was afraid there was going to be a battle, and
sought our house as a place of safety. She wanted to stay all night. Father
pitied her; and in spite of the fact that the children were sick with
diphtheria, he felt that he could not turn her out.