Before they reach the bottom they are an excellent target, and for the first time that most blood curdling of soundsthe half-singing, half-hissing z-z-z-ip of the minie-ballnumbs the ardor of the bravest.

They had just received their Minie rifles and bayonets, and, with the drum-major headgear worn by military companies in those days, presented a very imposing appearance.

The arms and ammunition were: one minie rifle, eight double-barrel guns, nine revolver pistols, 25 pounds gunpowder, 150 pounds shot and balls, percussion caps, etc.

Out among Pemberton's trenches and redans, where the woods were dense on the crowns and faces of the landside bluffs, and the undergrowth was thick in the dark ravines, the minie-ball forever buzzed and pattered, and every now and then dabbed mortally into some head or breast.

The heat was stifling, and the minie-balls were whizzing.