Supper of hard tack and coffee.–Pretty well exhausted by the march and bad roads.–Diary of Josiah Marshall Favill.

May 15th. At eleven o’clock last night, after all had turned in, and most of us were asleep, an orderly routed me out with written orders to have breakfast, and be ready to march at four o’clock in the morning. I ordered reveille at 2 A. M., and at that hour the regiment turned out and prepared breakfast; we had plenty of time, and so took it leisurely, forming on the color line, in full marching order, just at four o’clock. The brigade did not move until five o’clock, but after once started, did some fine work, never halting till twelve noon, and then only for an hour. We fell in again, continuing the march till four P. M., then filed off into a dense pine woods, and bivouacked for the night. The first part of the day’s march was capital, the weather fine, and the road hard and dry, but about two o’clock in the afternoon, it commenced raining, and at the time we went into bivouac, it poured down in torrents. It is a singular coincidence that when active operations begin, it invariably rains; on the advance to Manassas; the day after landing at Yorktown, and on the day we commenced the pursuit of the rebels to Williamsburg; not to mention the memorable retreat after the battle of Bull Run. If there were any kind of roads in this country, it would not matter so much, but they are all clay, and the center of the road is universally the lowest part of it, in consequence, an hour’s rain makes them impassable for artillery or wagons, and laborious and difficult for infantry. We are a mile from Cumberland Landing, on the Pamunkey, and within two miles of the enemy, who are concentrated and awaiting our approach. After a supper of hard tack and coffee, the men turned in, pretty well exhausted by the march and bad roads; headquarters followed suit, and by nine o’clock all were asleep.