At the time Hunter was making his retreat from the Valley of Virginia, it was decided to mislead the enemy by sending out a courier with false dispatches to be captured.

There was a call for a volunteer for this service.

Charley was the first to offer, with that spirit of generous self-sacrifice that was one of his pleasantest traits when a boy.

He knew what he had to expect.

Capture meant imprisonment at Andersonville; our men had now a pretty clear understanding of what this was.