It was beautiful May over all the valley.

White dust flew from the turnpike under the feet of so many marching men and horses, and the wheels of cannon.

Suddenly the Georgia troops that had suffered so severely at McDowell began to sing a verse from the Stars and Bars, and gradually the whole column joined in: "Now Georgia marches to the front And close beside her come Her sisters by the Mexique sea With pealing trump and drum, Till answering back from hill and glen The rallying cry afar, A nation hoists the Bonnie Blue Flag That bears a single star." It was impossible not to feel emotion.

The face of the most solemn Presbyterian of them all flushed and his eyes glowed.

Now the band, that wonderful band of the Acadians, was playing the tune, and the mighty chorus rolled and swelled across the fields.