The thing's got to happen some day, an' every day that it don't happen increases the chances that it will happen the next day." Some months later I folded the sanguine Sergeant's stiffening hands together across his fleshless ribs, and helped carry his body out to the dead-house at Andersonville, in order to get a piece of wood to cook my ration of meal with.
On the evening of the 17th of February, 1864, we were ordered to get ready to move at daybreak the next morning.

We were certain this could mean nothing else than exchange, and our exaltation was such that we did little sleeping that night.

The morning was very cold, but we sang and joked as we marched over the creaking bridge, on our way to the cars.
We were packed so tightly in these that it was impossible to even sit down, and we rolled slow ly away after a wheezing engine to Petersburg, whence we expected to march to the exchange post.

We reached Petersburg before noon, and the cars halted there along time, we momentarily expecting an order to get out.

Then the train started up and moved out of the City toward the southeast.