The easy swinging step, the graceful poise of the musket
on the shoulder, as if it were a toy and not a burden, and the
compactness of the column were all noticed and praised with a
heartiness which was very grateful to my ears. I no longer felt any
doubt that the division stood well in the opinion of my associates.
I enjoyed this the more because, the evening before, a little
incident had occurred which had threatened to result in some
ill-feeling. It had been thought that we were likely to be attacked
at Ridgeville, and on reaching the village I disposed the division
so as to cover the place and to be ready for an engagement. I
ordered the brigades to bivouac in line of battle, covering the
front with outposts and with cavalry vedettes from the Sixth New
York Cavalry (Colonel Devin), which had been attached to the
division during the advance. The men were without tents, and to make
beds had helped themselves to some straw from stacks in the
vicinity. Toward evening General Reno rode up, and happening first
to meet Lieutenant-Colonel Rutherford B. Hayes, commanding the
Twenty third Ohio, he rather sharply inquired why the troops were
not bivouacking "closed in mass," and also blamed the taking of the
straw.
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