They were now in the last stages of scurvy and diarrhea.

Every particle of muscle and fat about their limbs and bodies had apparently wasted away, leaving the skin clinging close to the bone of the face, arms, hands, ribs and thighs--everywhere except the feet and legs, where it was swollen tense and transparent, distended with gallons of purulent matter.

Their livid gums, from which most of their teeth had already fallen, protruded far beyond their lips.

To their left lay a Sergeant and two others of their company, all three slowly dying from diarrhea, and beyond was a fair-haired German, young and intelligent looking, whose life was ebbing tediously away.

To my right was a handsome young Sergeant of an Illinois Infantry Regiment, captured at Kenesaw.