No other started before eight, P. M., so that, by the time we
reached Washington, all offices would have been closed, and we must have
spent the night in the Central Guard-house. I had heard enough of the
foul abominations of that refuge for the imprisoned destitute, to make
me determined never to cross the threshold unless under actual coercion.
I said as much to the cavalry sergeant who had me in charge; suggesting
that, by taking the four A. M. train on the following morning, we should
arrive hours before the Provost Marshal's or Judge Advocate's offices
were open. He was civilly rational about the whole question, and, on my
parole not to attempt escape, readily consented to accompany me to a
house, where I was more at home than anywhere else in Baltimore. There I
remained till long after midnight: though none of us were in the best of
spirits or tempers, that brief return to social life was an
indescribable rest and restorative. I mention this unimportant incident
chiefly because one of the charges brought against me afterwards was
founded on "my having bribed my escort, and spent the whole night at the
house of a notorious Secessionist." The poor sergeant was reduced to the
ranks for dereliction of duty; and I the more regret this, because his
good-nature was _not_ mercenary.
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