about midday
`` Thus far our fortune keeps an upward course , And we are graced with wreaths of victory ; But , in the midst of this bright-shining day , I spy a black , suspicious , threat ` ning cloud , That will encounter with our glorious sun . '' -- SHAKESPEARE . We left the position near Fairfax Court-House early in September , and marched northward , crossing the Potomac on the 5th at White 's Ford near Edwards 's Ferry . We reached Fredericktown in Maryland about midday of the 6th , after a fatiguing tramp which , for the time , was too hard for me . My wound had again given me trouble ; while wading the Potomac I noticed fresh blood on the scar . We rested at Fredericktown for three or four days . One morning Owens of Company H , while quietly cooking at his fire , suddenly fell back and began kicking and foaming at the mouth .