At Wolf Run Shoals the regiment bivouacked in line of battle, facing the shoals, and again the men enjoyed a bath in the river. Some rail fences were found about the camp at this point and fires were soon lighting up the darkness. On some of the burning rails were rows of coffee cups, the owners of which were sitting around toasting hard tack and roasting salt pork on the ends of ramrods, bayonets or sticks, some using their plates in which to fry it, holding them over the fire by means of a stick. This was split at one end and into it the rim of a plate was inserted and fastened by winding a string around the stick to give it a good grip on the plate. Sometimes an accident would happen, caused by the sap drying out of the stick, or the string burning off. This would be followed by an angry exclamation and a soldier with a very red face, with his cap pushed back on his head, might be seen making frantic prods with a stick at an overturned plate in his endeavor to get it out of the fire, and save some of his pork which was rapidly being cremated. Many times when a dozen or more coffee cups were resting on a rail over a nice fire, by accident (?) someone would kick over the rail, overturning the cups into it, to the dismay of the hungry owners.
At Centreville, Va., one of the bivouacks on this march, trouble with some other Union troops was narrowly averted, although the men of the Nineteenth were not much concerned in it. An enlisted man had gone to a sutler's team to buy something and was either badly treated or thought he was swindled. At all events, he complained to his comrades, and they, being veterans, and not particularly friendly to the sutlers, joined him in a raid on the tent. In a minute there would have been a crowd about the tent and in another minute there would have been no tent to crowd about, but, anticipating trouble, the sutler sent for help to the general commanding the brigade. That general, instead of sending a request to the corps commander not to allow the men to leave their arms, ordered out a battery and some infantry to protect the threatened point. The men of the Nineteenth were called to Attention and the roll was looked over.
