...a body of men appeared on the road, with their backs towards Centrevile and their faces towards Alexandria. Their march was so disorderly that I could not have believed they were soldiers in an enemy's country...but for their arms and uniform...they were all in good spirits, but with an air about them I could not understand...I asked an officer "Where are your men going, sir?" "Well, we're going home, sir, I reckon, to Pennsylvania."..."I suppose there is severe work going on behind you, judging for the firing?" "Well, I reckon, sir, there is." "We're going home", he added, after a pause, during which it occurred to him, perhaps, that the movement required explanation, "because the men's time is up. We've had three months of this work". (en)