ENLISTED MEN.

Company A. Wounded.—Sergeant Thomas J. Ames, Private Caleb Winch.

Company B. Wounded.—Private William Turnbull.

Company D. Wounded.—First Sergeant John A. Stearns.

Company E. Killed.—Dwight Colburn.

Died of Wounds.—Josiah W. Davis.

Company G. Wounded.—Sergeant Hiram W. Olcott. Corporal Alexander Cooper.[18]

[18] Corporal Alexander Cooper was killed November 22, 1866, at Warwick, Mass., by the falling of a derrick at the raising of the Soldiers' Monument in that town.

Killed and Died of Wounds,—
Commissioned Officers1
Enlisted Men2
3
Wounded,—Enlisted Men6
Total Casualties9

That evening there were in the line less than one hundred men, with four commissioned officers,—Captains Smith and Ames, First Lieutenant Fairbank and Adjutant Hodgkins,—all that remained for duty of the four hundred and ninety-five men in line on the morning of the 6th of May. Assistant Surgeon Bryant, who had not been absent from the line an hour, was on duty at the Field Hospital, and Quartermaster Tuttle was in charge of the wagons and baggage. On the 6th of May we had twelve officers in the line of battle; we were joined at Spottsylvania by Captain Smith and Lieutenant Brigham. From this number four—Captains Bailey, Holmes, Buffum, and Lieutenant Daniels—had been killed in action. Five—Major Draper, Captains Morse and Barker, and Lieutenants Marshall and Burrage—had been wounded, and were absent on that account; and one—Lieutenant Brigham—had been sent to General Hospital at Annapolis. Of the four in the line, three—Captains Smith and Ames and Lieutenant Fairbank—had been struck by the bullets of the enemy, but not seriously injured. The total loss of the regiment, as officially reported to the Adjutant-General, including the men of the Twenty-ninth Massachusetts and Forty-sixth New York, was—

Com. Officers.Enlisted Men.Total.
Killed44549
Wounded5191196
Missing2222
Total9258267

Late that evening General Potter relieved the Third Division, and occupied the entire front of the corps, connecting with the Second Corps on the right, and the Fifth Corps on the left, holding the advance as a skirmish line.[19]

[19] On the evening of the 18th the following order was issued by General Burnside:—

Head-quarters 9th Army Corps,
June 18, 1864.

General Order No. 24.

The Commanding General takes great pride in assuring this command of the high appreciation in which their services, after the fatigues of the recent movement, are held at the Head-quarters of the Army, and quotes with pleasure the expression used by the Commanding General of the Army of the Potomac in speaking of the brilliant assault on the morning of the 17th. He writes: "It affords me great satisfaction to congratulate you and your gallant corps on the successful assault on the morning of the 17th. Knowing the wearied condition of your men from the night march of over twenty-two miles, and the continued movement through the night of the 16th, their persistency and success is highly creditable."

The Commanding General can only add that in this, as in the previous and succeeding events of this unexampled campaign, the Ninth Corps has, through every trial, invariably proved true to its history and to its promise.

By command of Major-General Burnside.
LEWIS RICHMOND,
Ass't Adj't Gen'l.

CHAPTER XVIII.
IN THE TRENCHES.

On the morning of June 19th the regiment was relieved from duty in the front line, and withdrew to the pine woods from which we advanced the day before. We were soon joined by most of the men who had fallen out on the march, or had failed to find the regiment in the constant changes of position, and the effective strength reported at brigade head-quarters was one hundred and fifty-one; commissioned officers four, enlisted men one hundred and forty-seven. A strong line of intrenchments was erected on the high ground near the railroad. One hundred men were detailed for fatigue duty on the line, and worked through that hot June day with pickaxe and shovel. The enemy's firing was very close, and during the night was quite severe. Our batteries kept up a steady fire on the rebel lines.

The operations of the last two days had been conducted in the hope of capturing Petersburg before the whole army of Northern Virginia could be brought to the rescue. The enemy had taken up a new line on commanding ground nearer the city. The attack and repulse of the 18th had developed the great strength of that line, and convinced the commanding-general that further assault would be hopeless. The heroic courage and desperate valor of the troops had availed only to secure a strong position near the enemy's line. "No better fighting has been done during the war," said General Burnside in his report; but either the attacks had not been properly directed or adequately supported. Orders were now issued for the troops on the right to hold and strengthen the lines.

The 20th was but a repetition of the 19th. It was a noisy day in the front; but being one of comparative quiet to us in the woods, the time was improved in making up regimental reports for the campaign from Spottsylvania, and a list of casualties. Several vacancies existed among the commissioned officers, in consequence of the deaths and resignations since April 23d, and seven of the companies were commanded by non-commissioned officers. On the 5th of June, at Hanover Town, Captain Smith forwarded to Governor Andrew a list of recommendations for promotion; but as no commissions had been received, and the exigencies of the service required additional officers, the duties devolving upon the few commissioned officers present being onerous and severe, another list was made up this day, and transmitted through the regular channels to the Governor of the State. This list included the following non-commissioned officers:—

Sergeants White, Hancock, Wright, Woodward, and Stearns had previously been recommended for commissions as second lieutenants, but no officers in that grade could be mustered, on account of the reduced numbers of enlisted men. Major Draper, who at this time was in Massachusetts, submitted to the Governor another list of recommendations about this date; but before either list could receive attention other changes became necessary, and all of the sergeants recommended in the foregoing list, with the addition of First Sergeant Harwood, were commissioned as first lieutenants. Some of these brave and deserving men, who had nobly earned their rank, were at this time absent on account of serious wounds received during campaign, and before they could recover and rejoin the regiment circumstances had arisen which prevented their being mustered into the service in the rank to which they were commissioned.

June 20th Captain Smith was detailed for court-martial duty at division head-quarters, and the regiment was in command of Captain Ames. At dusk a colored regiment from the Fourth Division came up in our rear, and we anticipated a night attack in force; but the men quietly laid aside their equipments, and being furnished with pickaxes and shovels went on fatigue duty in the front line. During the night the firing was very severe. Our position, though not subjected to the exposure of the front line, was under fire continually. The bullets of the enemy rattled among the trees, singing their death-song by day and night. On the night of June 20th private John McGrath, Company I, was wounded and sent to the rear. It was the third wound he had received during the campaign. During these days the front, or main line, was strengthened with abatis, and traverses, and a covered way built to the rear.

On the 21st the regiment remained in the woods preparing for a review, which had been ordered for the afternoon. At four o'clock we were in line, and moved to the wide open plain in rear of the woods, the scene of the action on the 17th. The First Brigade was reviewed by General Potter. The Seventh Rhode Island was on the right of the line, and the Second New York Mounted Rifles, acting as infantry (recently assigned to this brigade), on the left. The review was well conducted, and, considering the circumstances of the occasion, the troops presented a fine appearance. To all of us it was a novel parade,—marching to the music of the bands, the discordant barking of the dogs of war, and the distant screeching of the death-laden shells.

At midnight we were ordered to the main line to relieve the Second Brigade, and the regiment was sent out on picket. The night was very clear, and the moon being at the full revealed everything about us as clear as daylight. The duty of relieving the picket line was extremely hazardous, and it was half-past two o'clock A.M. before the work was completed. The men were obliged to crawl out singly from the railroad-cut, and the men relieved were exposed to a close and merciless fire in leaving the line. It was daylight before our line was fairly in position, and we settled down to the first day of the long siege-life before us. About sunrise the cooks came out with coffee, and John L. Finney, cook of Company K, received a shocking wound in the face, in consequence of raising his head a little too high. His escape from instant death was miraculous. After daylight it was impossible for a man to look over the top of the pits. The rebels fired twenty shots where we fired one, and their sharp practice enabled them to skim the tops of the pits; their shots were well aimed, and the bullets flew all about us.

The picket line itself was found to be very peculiar. It was separated from the main line by the deep cut of the Norfolk Railroad, which crossed our rear diagonally. The ground on the right at the railroad was quite high, falling off rapidly toward the swampy ravine on the left; the slope being toward the enemy's line, which enabled them to command all the ground between the railroad-cut and their own line. The troops of the Second Brigade had worked industriously to establish good cover for the picket-line; but the position on the left was so dangerous, and so near the enemy, that but little progress had been made in erecting a line of pits at that point. There was a space of five or six rods between Companies H and C, which could not be crossed by daylight on account of its nearness to the rebel lines. During the day the men on the right took up railroad sleepers from the track, and laid them on the tops of the pits; small loop-holes were then made under the logs, and in this way the men secured some protection for their heads while watching a chance to fire upon the enemy. They were soon able to inflict some damage on the sharp-shooters opposite.

By degrees some improvement was made on the left, but the progress was very slow and tedious, as only one man from each company, C and H, could work toward each other, on account of the close fire. The left was in a bad and dangerous condition. In the event of an attack which we should fail to repulse, the whole line would be exposed to capture, as it would be madness to attempt to escape to the railroad and over the rising ground in our rear. The enemy seemed to know that new troops were in the pits, and were unusually hostile. They evidently anticipated an attack, as a heavy movement was in progress on the left by the Second and Fifth Corps, and a fierce fight raged about three miles beyond the Jerusalem Plank road for the possession of the Weldon Railroad.

It was thought in our lines that the enemy would make a counter-attack, and the batteries in our rear lines kept up a steady fire, while the men were constantly on the alert, crouched in the narrow pits, ready to resist an attack. It was a day long to be remembered,—our first day in the front line of trenches. It was one of the longest and most tedious days of our service; but how many such days were we to experience! There we lay in the dust, under the blazing, broiling midsummer sun, which beat full upon us, without a leaf of intervening shade. The water in the canteens was hot and sickening, and, to add to our discomforts the offensive odors from unburied corpses around us were borne to us on every breath of that sultry summer air. But the longest day must end, and at last the sun declined, and the welcome shades of evening settled on us. Quiet reigned for a little while, but about ten o'clock the rebels were discovered crawling up toward our left. A severe musketry fire was opened upon them, and they were forced to retire. After midnight the firing ceased, and our pioneers buried some of the dead bodies near us, and made some progress in perfecting the picket line on the left. Jno. H. Barton, of Company E, badly wounded in the abdomen, and Abiel Fisher, of G, wounded in the arm, were the casualties in the trenches that day.

At two o'clock on the morning of the 23d the Forty-eighth Pennsylvania commenced to relieve our regiment in the picket pits. Owing to the sharp firing the process was slow and dangerous, but we reached the main line about half-past two, and were allowed an hour's rest. At half-past three we were aroused by orders to be ready to attack at any moment. We were under arms throughout the day, and were exposed to the fire of the enemy, by which Orin Taylor, of F, was severely wounded, and the Adjutant of the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts, standing near our right, was killed. At nine o'clock in the evening the brigade was relieved by the Second Brigade, and returned to the line in the pine woods, after forty-eight hours' duty in the front.

During these few days, to quote from Captain McCabe's "Defence of Petersburg," "the enemy [the Union army] plied pick, and spade, and axe with such silent vigor that there arose, as if by the touch of the magician's wand, a vast cordon of redoubts of powerful profile, connected by heavy infantry parapets, stretching from the Appomattox to the extreme Federal left,—a line of prodigious strength, and constructed with amazing skill, destined long to remain, to the military student at least, an enduring monument of the ability of the engineers of the Army of the Potomac."

Siege operations had now fairly commenced on the right, extending along the line from the Appomattox to the Jerusalem Plank road, and we had entered upon the daily round of life which was to continue for the next fifty days,—the regular routine of duty in the picket line and the main line,—a routine which, in the history of the campaign, can be expressed in the simple, yet significant, phrase, "The Siege of Petersburg." But in that daily routine there transpired much that is interesting and painful to the survivors of our regiment, and the account of our operations during those eventful days will be embodied in a diary of the siege.

CHAPTER XIX.
DIARY OF THE SIEGE.

The next two days, June 24th and 25th, were passed in comparative quiet in the woods. We were under arms nearly all the time, as an attack upon the enemy from our right was anticipated. The firing on that line, held by the Eighteenth Corps, was very heavy, but no attack was made. The heat was intense, and the men in the trenches suffered greatly. Our diet was somewhat improved by the arrival of some supplies of ale and porter, with a little ice thrown in, from the United States Sanitary Commission Depot, which had just been established at City Point.

On the night of the 25th we were ordered to the front, and relieved the Ninth New Hampshire in the trenches. During the night most of the men were busy with the pickaxe and shovel. We were subjected to a severe artillery fire all day, and the picket fire was close. Large bodies of colored troops were at work filling gunny-bags and ammunition-boxes with sand, to be used on the top of the parapets for the protection of loop-holes. Private Hezekiah Hall, of Company I, was severely wounded, and the Adjutant of the Second New York Rifles, while passing through our line, was killed. At midnight we relieved the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania in the picket line, getting fairly into the pits about daylight. The duty was about the same as when we were there on the 22d. The line had been made continuous and much improved. Abatis had been placed in front, and a covered way continued from the main line. This covered way was very deep, and protected with high embankments and gabions. The firing was very constant and the range perfect. Corporal Charles Gilbert, of Company H, and Private George F. Bradford, of Company B, were wounded, the former mortally. We had our first experience under the mortar-firing of the enemy. They fired twenty-four-pound shells with great precision.

The advanced position which we occupied was but little more than one hundred yards from that portion of the main line of the enemy known as the "Elliott salient." The line occupied by our brigade was directly in front of this work. In rear of this portion of our line the ground declined suddenly into a narrow ravine, which widened into a meadow, which afforded a position for massing troops, and screened working-parties from the observation of the enemy in the salient in front. After Colonel Curtin had been wounded in the attack of the 18th, which secured this position, the command of the brigade devolved on Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasants, of the Forty-eighth Pennsylvania. Being frequently on the front line he had observed this ravine, and as he was by profession a practical civil and mining engineer it occurred to him that a mine could be successfully excavated there. He carefully examined the ground, and having satisfied himself that the work could be accomplished he unfolded his plan to General Potter, who approved it, and he in turn conferred with General Burnside, who was much pleased with the proposal, and ordered that the work should be commenced.

This was done at noon of the 25th, by Col. Pleasants, with his own regiment, the Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, which had been detailed for this purpose. Most of these men were miners from Schuylkill County, and familiar with such operations. Colonel Pleasants entered upon the work with great enthusiasm, although he received but little encouragement outside the Ninth Corps. Generals Burnside and Potter seemed to be the only high officers who believed in its success. There were many discouragements attending its commencement, as it was ridiculed at army head-quarters. Col. Pleasants was denied mining picks, but straightened out army picks. His instruments were poor and old. He was obliged to make his surveys and measurements on the front line, exposed to the fire of the sharp-shooters. He had no wheelbarrows; but the men nailed strips of boards for handles on old cracker-boxes, and brought out the earth in these. He had also to contend with official indifference and coolness; yet the brave man toiled on with undaunted spirit. As we lay in our picket pits this 27th day of June we could distinctly hear our comrades delving beneath us. The earth as it was brought out was piled up in the ravine, and covered with fresh bushes to conceal it from the observation of the enemy. The mortar shells from the enemy's bombs dropped continually in the ravine around the entrance to the mine, causing great annoyance to the men, but not interrupting the work. The day passed without special incident. We were relieved at night and went back to the woods.

June 28th. We prepared muster-rolls for two months' pay at our camp in the pine woods. Some of the regiment went to City Point to obtain from the regimental baggage the necessary blanks for muster, and met Captain Levi N. Smith, formerly First Lieutenant of Company D, who was now forwarding commissary, feeding the entire army of the Potomac and General Butler's command. He warmly welcomed his old comrades in arms, and gave expression to his abiding interest in the regiment. The regimental sutler was also found at City Point, with a cargo of supplies to be forwarded to the front as soon as he should be permitted to land.

The next day we relieved the Second Brigade in the trenches. In placing the pickets, Sergeant C. Henry Moseley, commanding Company B, was seriously wounded by being shot through the right hand.

The 30th was passed at the front in the heat and dust. The firing was very sharp, especially on the right, where much artillery ammunition was used. Captain Ames was again slightly wounded in the left hand. He went to the rear to have the wound dressed, and returned immediately to the front. Effective strength this day, five commissioned officers, including assistant surgeon and one hundred and seventy-three enlisted men; total, one hundred and seventy-eight. Twenty-three were sick in hospital.

July 1st. On duty in the trenches; pickets unusually lively. They are extremely hostile toward us. On the left, along the Fifth Corps line, there is no firing by day, and the men from both armies get water from a spring between the lines. Here there is no cessation by day or night. It may be caused by the nearness of our line, the suspicion of a sudden attack, or because of the presence of colored troops in our working parties. Our losses are severe, averaging fifteen a day on our division line. Corporal James H. Barry, of Company I, a gallant soldier, who was wounded May 6th, was killed in the trenches to-day by a sharp-shooter. At night the regiment retired to the woods.

July 2d and 3d. On duty in the rear. Heavy siege guns were sent to the front to be placed in a new battery to be built in our line. On the 3d we were mustered for pay. The line was short, indeed, compared with our last muster, at Catlett's Station. How many in that brief time have gone from the toils and pains and hardships of a soldier's life to sleep in soldiers' graves! How many names are to-day transferred from the rolls of these companies to the roll of the honored dead! To-day the Sanitary and Christian Commissions sent a generous supply of hospital and other stores, to aid in celebrating the national holiday to-morrow. These were distributed equally among the companies. The staff of our national color was shattered by a bullet to-day. Both staves are now broken, and the flags are riddled with bullet-holes. They are also stained with the blood of heroes who have borne them unto death. At dark we relieved the Second Brigade.

July 4th. Regiment in the trenches. The heat was intense, and the men pitched their shelter-tents over the top of the trenches. This kept out the sun, but excluded also the air. General Burnside and the division commanders were on the front line together in the afternoon, and the regimental prophets predicted an immediate attack; but the hours dragged along, and the day proved to be remarkably quiet. A request was transmitted to the State authorities for a new stand of colors. One year ago we commenced the Jackson campaign, which proved so disastrous to the regiment. The anniversary was frequently mentioned by the men. Then we hoped to spend this day in peace at home. Now we dare not hope for a speedy ending of the war. Then Gettysburg and Vicksburg encouraged the belief that the weight of the struggle had passed. Now Atlanta, Petersburg, and Richmond, bid prolonged defiance. But the end is coming!

July 5th. Passed without incident. Firing less severe than usual. The monotony of siege life unbroken. Regiment relieved at nine in the evening.

July 6th. First Lieutenant Fairbank received his commission as Captain, vice Warriner, resigned, and was mustered in. Information was received that all the vacancies among the commissioned officers have been filled by promotions from the ranks. This information was received with pleasure, as it will increase the working-force and efficiency of the regiment. To-day private H. A. Murdoch, of Company H, was wounded in the arm.

July 7th. To-day the Fourth Rhode Island arrived from Yorktown via City Point, and was assigned to our brigade. Its commander, Colonel W. H. P. Steere, being the senior officer, assumed command of the brigade. More sanitary supplies, consisting of twenty-five pounds of white sugar, a dozen cans of milk, vegetables, a few bottles of sherry, brandy, etc., were received from the Commissions, and distributed among the sick. There is much sickness in the command. The extreme heat, arduous duty, and constant exposure to danger, are wearing on men who up to this time have borne all the hardships of the campaign. At night the regiment relieved the troops in the picket line, in the old position. The works daily show the labor expended upon them. They are now very strong, and their condition much improved. Rumors prevail that an assault is to be made to-morrow.

July 8th. The duty in the trenches to-day was very severe, owing to the intense heat, and the sharp, incessant firing. Our men had good range, and replied to the enemy shot for shot. Enemy on the alert, and asking about the mine. They regard it as a great joke, and threaten to countermine. More rumors of an assault from our front. Lately our men discovered an ice-house in front of our line, a little to the left of our position, and for a while it has been neutral ground for one or two men from the opposing lines to get ice, to the extent that if any one has been seen near the ice-house they have not been fired upon. To-day, however, Corporal Lucius Lowell, of Company F, in endeavoring to get some ice, was fired upon, and received two bad wounds in the breast and wrist.

July 9th. Still on duty in the trenches. Intensely hot. To-day we received the cheering news of the sinking of the rebel pirate "Alabama" by the United States Steamer "Kearsarge." This information was received with loud cheering. The rebels across the way wanted to know the cause of our joy, and were answered by a double-shotted salute from all our artillery, which made them burrow for an hour. At night we were relieved.

July 10th. In the woods, suffering from intense heat, and tormented by myriads of flies, which were as hostile as the rebel pickets in our front. Sergeant Thomas H. Haskell, who was wounded in the right hand at Spottsylvania, and yesterday, though not fully recovered, returned to duty with a First Lieutenant's commission, was mustered and assigned to the command of Company B. Several enlisted men also returned, and the effective strength at night was one hundred and ninety; six commissioned officers and one hundred and eighty-four enlisted men, with fourteen sick in the hospital.

July 11th. The day was very hot, relieved by showers at night. At nine o'clock the regiment went to the front and relieved the Seventeenth Vermont on picket. To-day a siege order was issued from army head-quarters, regulating the operations of the siege.

July 12th and 13th. Regiment on duty in the trenches. The firing has been very light, and entirely suspended at times. For the first time since the opening of the campaign the enemy has been friendly, even to the extent of sitting upon the rifle-pits and talking across to our men. Some have waved papers, and have come half way to our lines to proffer an exchange. It soon transpired that their object was to obtain northern papers for intelligence concerning the rebel invasion of Maryland under General Early, and the destruction of northern property. Their anxiety was very great; but we received imperative orders forbidding any exchange of papers, or holding any communication with the enemy. Captain Smith fired upon some men of another regiment who went out to exchange papers, and refused to obey his orders to return. At night artillery and mortar firing was resumed. At midnight we were relieved.

July 14th and 15th. In the pine woods. Many rumors in circulation of an immediate attack to be made from our front. The work of constructing forts and batteries goes on night and day. At half-past eight P.M., on the 15th, we relieved the Seventeenth Vermont in our old position in the trenches. The night was dark and misty, and the enemy kept up an incessant firing. Corporal Albert Foskett, Company H, was wounded and taken to the rear. The sick belonging to the Ninth Corps were removed to the hospital at City Point,—a fact which caused other rumors of attack to be circulated.

July 16th. The regiment was in command of Captain Ames, as Captain Smith was detailed as division officer of the trenches.

July 17th. The regiment was exposed to a very close fire throughout the day. The mortar shells dropped all around us, the practice being unusually good. Private Jerry Harrigan, of Company K, was mortally wounded. The only consolation while we are under this trying fire is that our practice is as good as the enemy's.

July 18th. In the woods. Captain Barker, who was wounded at Cold Harbor, June 3d, returned to duty, with a commission as Major,—vice Draper, who has been commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel,—and assumed command of the regiment. Lieutenant Marshall, who was wounded at the Wilderness, also returned to duty, with a commission as Captain, and was assigned to Company A. In leaving the trenches this morning private Leonard A. Chapman, of Company K, was fired at by a sharp-shooter and instantly killed.

July 19 and 20th. The weather was rainy, rendering the trenches very uncomfortable. A large fort, called "The Fourteen-Gun Battery," has been constructed in our division line, and garrisoned by a regiment of Connecticut Heavy Artillery.

July 21st. Private Martin Maynard, of Company D, was wounded in the leg and suffered amputation. There has been no change in our tour of duty. The system has been reduced to a science; so, also, has been the hostility of the enemy. Notwithstanding the strong condition of our works, and the great improvements constantly made, the watchful sharp-shooters of the enemy have unerring aim upon the loop-holes, and the least exposure on the part of any of our men is sure to draw a murderous fire. In the rear we are out of the range of their sharp-shooters, but exposed to the chance shots which every moment are sent into the woods.

July 22d. To-day Captain Morse, who was severely wounded at Spottsylvania, returned to duty and resumed command of Company C. Lieutenant Davidson also returned from the hospital. Private Judson Maynard, of Company H, was wounded July 23d. The regiment went to the front at night, and resumed its duty in the trenches. To-day the mine was completed, and our comrades of the Forty-eighth Pennsylvania are rejoicing. In spite of obstacles and discouragements the great work has been successfully accomplished. The men report that they can distinctly hear the enemy in the fort over their heads. With proper tools the work which has consumed four weeks could have been performed in ten days. Colonel Pleasants received many congratulations on the success of his undertaking. His report of his operation is intensely interesting. The main gallery is five hundred and ten feet long, with two lateral galleries,—the left thirty-seven feet, the right thirty-eight feet in length, averaging about four and one-half feet high by the same width, and will require eight magazines, four in each lateral gallery, or about twelve thousand pounds of powder. Eighteen thousand cubic feet of earth have been excavated. Whatever may be the result of the explosion, and the attack which may be made, there can be no doubt of the great success which has crowned the determined efforts of Colonel Pleasants and his hard-working regiment.

July 24th. A regiment of colored troops was at work all day building a new covered way through our camp in the woods, which necessitated a change of some of our quarters and bomb-proofs. Captain Smith on duty as brigade officer of the day. A heavy storm set in and the rain poured in torrents nearly all the night, and the weather was very cold. The men were soaked and chilled, and it was a rough night to stand at a loop-hole and watch. The sufferings of the troops in the front lines during this siege—from hunger, thirst, protracted watching, constant danger, from burning heat by day and chills by night, from sudden changes in the temperature that rack the strongest frames, from the numberless exposures and hardships and privations—can never be adequately portrayed. They will live, however, in the memories of those who endure and survive them.

July 25th. After a very stormy night we were blessed with a cool, comfortable day. An invigorating breeze soon dried the mud in the trenches, and restored the buoyant spirits of the men. This morning private Jesse Gleason, of Company F, a brave and faithful soldier, was killed by a sharp-shooter, and was buried in the woods near regimental head-quarters, where so many of his comrades sleep. Thus, one by one, they go, just when we need them most. To-day, Colonel Steere, our brigade commander, went home on account of sickness and disability, and Colonel Bliss, of the Seventh Rhode Island, assumed command of the brigade. The regiment returned to the woods at night. The covered way through our camp was finished.

July 26th. In the woods all day. Large fatigue parties at work. Lieutenant Davidson was mustered in, and assigned to Company G. News was received of a great battle at Atlanta, and the death of General McPherson.

July 27th. The regiment was marched to the open ground in rear of the woods, and treated to the luxury of an hour's battalion drill! The mine was charged with powder, eight thousand pounds being placed under the rebel fort. General Burnside asked for a charge of twelve thousand pounds, but received only eight thousand pounds. Troops put under orders to be in constant readiness to move. Perhaps our siege days are nearly ended. The regiment went to the trenches at night. The weather was rainy and cold.

CHAPTER XX.
THE MINE AFFAIR.

July 28th. A day of anxiety and suspense. The troops expected an explosion of the mine, and an assault upon the enemy's lines. A great force on fatigue duty, carrying out bags, barrels, gabions, and stakes, and preparing the covered ways and traverses to facilitate the movements of troops. During the afternoon three pieces of the Third Vermont Artillery bombarded a house just inside the rebel works in our front, and finally demolished it. It was a busy day along the lines.

July 29th. Another long, anxious day. The regiment was on duty in the front line. The weather was excessively hot. The position of the enemy was examined and our own works were visited by many general and staff officers, and there were certain indications all around us of an impending attack. All sorts of rumors prevailed, and various theories were advanced; but toward night we received positive information that the mine will be exploded at half-past three to-morrow morning. The Ninth Corps is to attack as soon as the explosion occurs. General Meade has overruled General Burnside's plan of attacking with the colored division, and ordered him to select one of his white divisions to lead the assault. The position has been determined by lot, and fallen to General Ledlie and the First Division. Our men would be more hopeful of the result had the choice fallen upon General Potter. Our division is to support the attack. We are to be relieved in the trenches by colored troops of the Eighteenth Corps, and form with the division as soon as relieved. Toward evening troops were massed in our rear, filling all the covered ways and passages leading to the front line. Reserves from other corps filled our camp in the woods. The troops were under arms all night.

Before daylight on the 30th the regiments on our right and left had been relieved. Notice was sent two or three times that no relief had been sent to our regiment, and each time the order came back to hold the line until relieved. All our efforts to have the relief on our right and left extend so as to cover our front having failed, we were obliged to remain on duty in the pits. Before the sun had reached the meridian we were satisfied that what we regarded a great misfortune proved to be our salvation. Colonel Pleasants was directed to explode the mine at half-past three o'clock A.M. The First Division was ordered to charge through the aperture which would be made in the enemy's works and advance directly to the crest, or Cemetery Hill. The Third Division was ordered to cover the left. The Second Division was ordered to advance, if possible, to the right of the explosion, and to establish a line on the crest of a ravine running nearly at right angles to the enemy's line, and protect the right flank from the enemy's attack. At the appointed hour the fuse was lighted, and all waited in deep silence for the expected explosion. On account of dampness the fuse was extinguished, and the valuable time slipped rapidly away. We all know the story of the brave Lieut. Doughty and Sergeant Reeves, of the Forty-eighth, who nobly volunteered to go into the mine to ascertain the cause of failure to explode. The break in the fuse was found and relighted. At forty-two minutes past four we witnessed a volcano and experienced an earthquake. With a tremendous burst, which shook the hills around, a column of earth shot upwards to an enormous height, bearing the "Elliot salient," its guns and garrison, and making a crater or chasm one hundred and thirty-five feet long, ninety-seven feet wide, and more than thirty feet deep. The garrison, consisting of two hundred and seventy-eight men of the Eighteenth and Twenty-second South Carolina and Pegram's Petersburg Battery, were completely buried. Pleasants' work had been terribly successful. Before the deafening report of the explosion had subsided more than one hundred pieces of artillery along the line opened a terrific fire, adding grandeur to the scene. Under cover of this fire the First Division charged over the intervening space into the crater, but halted there instead of moving forward. General Griffin's brigade of our division began to move almost at once, passing through and into a portion of the line from which the rebels were driven, and moved to the right. The smoke and dust were so dense at this time that nothing could be seen, and the leading regiments got farther to the left than was intended, coming thus in contact with some of the troops of the First Division. The movement was also embarrassed by some of the First Division moving to the right and huddling in the vacant works instead of moving forward. When our brigade moved forward through the covered way, the men became intermixed with troops of another corps, who were moving out. Still the main portion kept on its way, crossed the cornfield and passed into the crater, under a fearful fire of the enemy, who had now somewhat recovered from the first alarm, and had returned to man their deserted works.

The troops of the Second Division moved forward as best they could; but as the First Division had halted, and would not move forward, it was almost impossible to make any progress. The ground to the right of the crater was found to be much cut up with small pits and traverses, which were now filled by the enemy, who kept up a severe fire from these as well as from a line of pits on the ravine. Finding that General Griffin's brigade, which had lost heavily, was being thrown into confusion by being mixed with the troops of other divisions, and that the enemy was rallying rapidly, General Potter directed him to move forward without any reference to other troops and attack the enemy in front. In passing his command over and through the troops which were in confusion Griffin's brigade became much broken up. The fire by this time was very hot, and it was impossible to properly re-form his ranks. However, several pits of the enemy were charged and some ground was gained.

Our brigade commander was ordered to follow on, with such troops as he had, and closely support and cover the right flank. He sent forward the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts, Fourth Rhode Island, and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, to form on the right, leaving the Seventh Rhode Island in reserve, and holding the Second and Fifty-first New York to send forward if there was room. Finding that he could not get in, in consequence of the stopping of troops, and the great confusion caused by a crowd of troops in such limited space, he was ordered to move a portion of the brigade to the right, and charge down the enemy's line, and also, at the same time, to attack the enemy at the ravine. The Fifty-eighth Massachusetts, Fourth Rhode Island, and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania were formed to charge down the enemy's line to the right, and the two New York regiments to attack near the ravine. This last attack was to instantly follow the first, as soon as the colors of the leading regiments could be seen moving forward.

The ground over which the first three regiments was to charge was an open field, fully in range of the enemy's musketry and artillery. Just as the troops were moving forward, the direction of these regiments was changed, in compliance with a peremptory order from General Burnside to attack the crest. Accordingly these three regiments charged directly up the hill toward the battery in the woods. The charge was a gallant one, under a murderous fire of grape and canister from the enemy's artillery, which was brought to bear from every direction; yet the little band kept on, and the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania had nearly reached the house on the top of the hill, when the line wavered, and, for want of support, was obliged to fall back to the covered way or ditch leading to the work which had been previously taken.

While this was being done the two New York regiments charged the enemy at the ravine: the Second New York on the right, and the Fifty-first on the left of it, some considerable distance intervening. The line was carried and some prisoners captured. The position reached by the Second New York was within twenty yards of the rebel fort at the old barn. By this time Griffin's brigade had been extricated from the terrible confusion near the crater, and had moved forward slowly, under a hot fire, a step at a time, and the whole of the Second Division was beyond the enemy's line and to the right of the exploded fort. As General Potter was re-forming and connecting his lines preparatory to charging the hill, the Fourth Division (colored) unexpectedly advanced, and attempted to pass over the men in the crater, and charge the enemy's lines through our division. In this they were but partially successful. General Potter, at the time the colored division moved out, had the right of his division nearly connected with the Fifty-first New York, near the ravine, and partly covered the three regiments which had charged the hill and fallen back into the covered way. Soon after the arrival of the colored troops the enemy, with two divisions, under Generals Mahone and Ransom, made an assault, when these troops broke and fled in confusion into the crater. The situation, difficult enough before their arrival, now became alarming. An indescribable scene of confusion followed. Colors of our regiments, which had been planted on the parapets, were thrown down and trampled under foot in the dirt as the lines came crowding into the crater, or sought shelter wherever it could be found from the terrible fire that was poured upon them. White men and colored lay indiscriminately together.

The enemy's fierce assault was repulsed by our division. It was, however, immediately renewed, and a desperate hand-to-hand fight ensued. The brigade fought as men seldom fight. The Forty-fifth Pennsylvania captured a rebel flag, and Captain Gregg had a personal encounter with a rebel officer, which made him famous throughout the division. The color-bearers of the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts were both wounded and captured. The colors of two other regiments which had been planted on the parapet were literally torn to pieces and the staves broken. The losses in killed and wounded were very great, and more than one hundred prisoners were captured from the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts and Forty-fifth Pennsylvania.

The fighting up to this time was as desperate as any during the war. For five long hours of that intensely hot day the troops of our division had been actively engaged, exposed to a severe fire of artillery and musketry, which steadily increased until it became as terrible as any endured in the campaign. The enemy brought artillery to bear from every direction, commanding the front and flanks, sweeping, also, the rear of the line, and commanding all the approaches, inflicting great damage. The heat was overpowering. In addition to the killed and wounded more than two hundred in our division had been prostrated by heat. Hundreds of men, besides, were so exhausted physically that it was simply impossible for them to load and fire. They suffered greatly from thirst, as it was impossible to obtain any water. The fire from our line had slackened considerably, while that of the enemy steadily increased. A steady concentric fire was poured into the crater, and the horrors of that place cannot be adequately portrayed.

The enemy had been so roughly handled in their assault after the colored troops had fallen back that they did not seem inclined to renew it, but kept up a continuous fire at short range which was very effective. Although it had been a lost battle since morning, General Potter at noon was making preparations to connect the line and intrench it, when he received orders to withdraw his troops at discretion. But this was a most difficult movement to execute, on account of the mingled mass of troops in the crater, and an attempt to retire was to run the gauntlet of almost certain death. There were some brave spirits there who endeavored to restore order, and inspire courage to make a stand to cover the withdrawal. While the troops were retiring the enemy made a furious assault with a fresh division, in overwhelming numbers, on the lines about the crater, and forced the troops holding them to give way and fall back or surrender. Those escaped who could, and at two o'clock those remaining in the crater surrendered. Most of the troops of the Second Division were withdrawn, the last regiment to retire being the Second New York Rifles, at four o'clock, two hours after the surrender of the crater.

The loss of the division in the action was nine hundred and three killed, wounded, and missing, including seventy-five commissioned officers, out of less than three thousand rank and file, including two batteries of artillery. The brigade lost two hundred and seventy-one, which was very severe, considering the numbers engaged. The Forty-fifth Pennsylvania lost sixty-eight out of eighty[20] taken into the fight, and the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts brought out only twenty-eight muskets out of nearly two hundred engaged. The losses in the other three regiments engaged were less severe. The heroic bravery of the brigade was never more conspicuously displayed than amid the trials of that dreadful day. "All the officers and men of the command," says General Potter, in his official report, "fought with the greatest courage and determination."

[20] The losses of the rebels in their charges upon our lines was no less severe. The Sixth Virginia carried in ninety-eight men and lost eighty-eight. The Sharp-shooters carried in eighty men and lost sixty-four, their commander falling, while leaping upon the parapet, pierced by eleven bayonet wounds. The Forty-first Virginia lost one-fourth its number; the Sixty-first within a fraction of half its number. The loss in the Sixteenth was nearly as great as in the Sixth, proportionally. See McCabe's "Defence of Petersburg," Southern Historical Society Papers, Dec., 1876, pp. 293, 294.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, as the Second New York Rifles returned from the rebel lines and marched through our pits with colors flying high above the top of the pits, our men told them they had better lower their colors unless they wanted to draw the enemy's fire and receive a shelling. They gave no heed to the caution and kept the flags flying. The words were scarcely uttered before we heard the never-to-be-forgotten whistle of a mortar shell, and the next instant it struck squarely in the pits and exploded within three feet of the colors. None were killed; but one of the Second New York had a hand blown off, and one of our men had his face filled with the hard dirt from the bottom of the pits. The shot had the effect to bring down the flags to a trail, and the regiment, with bowed heads, passed out of the pits.

That evening the remnant of the brigade resumed its position in the trenches, and picket-firing was renewed. During the evening Private J. Wesley Packard, of Company B, was shot in the head and instantly killed while standing as sentinel at a loop-hole from which he had fired several shots which attracted the attention of the sharp-shooters. He had returned from the General Hospital only three days before, had picked up a musket and equipments in the rear, and this was his first day's duty in the trenches. Private J. L. Walker, of Company E, was badly wounded in the thigh.

Thus ended a day which proved to be the saddest in the history of the Ninth Corps. Its total loss was three thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight men. We have not attempted to describe the action, or even to give a complete narrative of the part taken by our own division. The action has been the subject of investigation and discussion by Congressional Committees, Military Courts, historians, and critics. Hundreds of pages of testimony and reports have been printed. Wide differences of opinion have existed, and still exist. It is no part of our duty to attempt to reconcile these differences, but only to record our part in the great drama, and leave to future historians the task of weighing arguments and the incidents of that dreadful day, and the responsibility of awarding praise and censure. Of one fact, however, we may be certain. Other troops than the white divisions of the Ninth Corps should have been selected to enter the breach and make the assault. Not that these were wanting in courage and devotion to the cause. The record of their bravery from the Rapidan to Petersburg is unsurpassed in the annals of that campaign; but from the commencement of the siege they had become much worn down by constant labors in the trenches, under an almost incessant fire for a period of forty days, in which they lost on the average one man in eight. During all these days, from a distance of less than two hundred yards, they had surveyed the powerful works of the enemy becoming stronger and stronger by day and by night. The fire of the rebel sharp-shooters had been so close and unerring that no portion of the body could be for a moment exposed without drawing the deadly bullet. The labor under a broiling midsummer sun had been most exhaustive. Many of the men were enfeebled by disease, all were weakened by confinement, and the experiences of such a life as we had led for six weeks, had, in a measure, weakened the vigor and spirit of all. It was General Burnside's plan to assault with the colored division, which had been drilled for weeks for that special purpose. They were fresh, and had taken but little part in the campaign. The fighting at Petersburg on the 15th of June by the colored troops of the Eighteenth Corps had aroused a spirit of emulation, and they were anxious for the opportunity of taking part in the campaign. Many who saw their advance on the 30th were satisfied that, if they had been permitted to lead the assault, they would have secured the crest of Cemetery Hill, and achieved a brilliant victory. Such was the opinion of the lieutenant-general before the Committee on the Conduct of the War.

CHAPTER XXI.
THE SIEGE CONTINUED.

After the Battle of the Crater, the brigade settled down to the former round of siege duty. On the morning of the 31st the regiment mustered for duty twelve commissioned officers, and one hundred and seventy-nine enlisted men. It was a day of sadness throughout the corps. The intense heat continued. The dead in front of our lines resembled a heavy skirmish line lain down to rest. A flag of truce was sent out several times to endeavor to obtain a brief armistice for the removal of the wounded and the burial of the dead; but all efforts were unavailing. The enemy was busy repairing his demolished works, and hundreds of our brave men found a grave in the crater, where the concentric fire of the enemy had been most deadly. Among this number was the brave and gallant Major Prescott, of the Fifty-seventh Massachusetts, formerly captain of our Company B. Major Barker was on duty as brigade officer of the day. Dr. Bryant was detailed for service at the Fourth Division Hospital, to assist Dr. Prince in caring for the hundreds of wounded of that division. At eleven o'clock that night, after four days' incessant duty in the trenches, the regiment was relieved and returned to the pine woods. The monthly return of the regiment made that day bore upon the rolls as the total strength, present and absent, five hundred and thirty-two,—a decrease, from all causes, of four hundred and four men since the 31st of May, when we numbered, present and absent, nine hundred and thirty-six.

August 1st. A truce of several hours' duration prevailed along our front, and the dead between the lines were buried and all the wounded were removed. The regimental sutler arrived with a large stock of goods. Lieutenant Davidson was mustered as Captain and assigned to Company G. The weather continued intensely hot.

August 2d. The heavy siege guns were removed from the batteries to-day. The firing continued incessantly on the front line. A thunder-shower tempered the heat.

August 3d. We were aroused at three o'clock, and waited a long time in line, ready to move at a moment's warning. A rebel attack was anticipated, but their line did not advance. By way of exercise we had a battalion drill in the open field from eight to nine, and found it hot work. To-day all the vacancies in non-commissioned officers were filled by appointment and the warrants were issued. At eight o'clock the regiment went to the trenches. The firing all night was unusually severe, the enemy being more hostile than ever since the explosion of the mine.

August 4th. A day of fasting and prayer throughout the northern States, by proclamation of the President. By order of General Meade all unnecessary work was suspended. But the work of death was not suspended. Private Thomas Oakes, of Company A, was shot through the head while on duty at a loop-hole, and died in a few moments. He was a brave soldier, and always at his post.

August 5th. The intense heat continued, and the last day has recalled vividly the hot temperature of Mississippi, which we were enduring one year ago. In the afternoon one of our mortar shells exploded a magazine in the enemy's fort near the railroad, causing great commotion in Rebeldom. They immediately opened with musketry and artillery, making a great noise, which continued for a long time, but their firing gradually settled down into an ordinary picket fire. The regiment was relieved at night.

August 6th and 7th. Regiment in the woods. The troops electrified with the news of Farragut's great victory in Mobile Bay. Heavy artillery, and mortar firing.

August 8th. Regiment on duty in the trenches. Major Barker division officer of the trenches. Our head-quarter baggage was sent to City Point. Private Henry Russell, Company D, was mortally wounded by a shot in the head while at his post of duty. Our artillery practice to-day was very effective, and a great fire was seen inside the rebel lines near sundown, caused probably by the explosion of some of our shells. The Seventh Maine Battery is now used as a mortar battery, and its practice is very effective. The rebel picket fire during the entire night was uncomfortably hot.

August 9th. On duty in the trenches. Seventeen boxes of good things arrived from home, for men in our regiment. At half-past seven P.M. Lieutenant-Colonel Draper arrived in camp, and upon the return of the regiment from the picket-line assumed command. He had been absent since May 6th, and had recovered from the severe wound received that day in the first charge in the Wilderness. He received a soldier's welcome from the remnant of the gallant regiment he that day commanded. A smart thunder-shower at night cooled the heated atmosphere, and afforded great relief. Rumors are afloat that we are soon to be relieved in this position by another corps. Private Henry E. Graves, of Company K, while on duty at a loop-hole, was badly wounded in the eye by the explosion of his musket.

August 10th. Our effective strength this morning was twelve commissioned officers, one hundred and sixty-two enlisted men; total, one hundred and seventy-four, with twenty sick in hospital. Lieutenant-Colonel Draper and Major Barker were mustered in on their new commissions. A court of inquiry is to investigate the circumstances attending the disaster of July 30th, and we shall probably get the "facts." Corporal Fred L. Perry, of Company E, was dangerously shot in the right arm, and narrowly escaped bleeding to death. He will have to suffer amputation at the shoulder.

August 11th. The victories of Admiral Farragut at Mobile confirmed, and the intelligence was passed to the enemy in a double-shotted salute. The regiment went to the front at night. Large fatigue parties at work, constructing new and powerful works on the hill between the woods and the picket. Great quantities of lumber, gabions, poles, and building material, were hauled up at night, and the work was pushed rapidly. The enemy's rifles command this crest, and they made music all night.

August 12th. On duty in the trenches. The enemy opened from a new battery on Cemetery Hill, the shells from which reach corps head-quarters. Much artillery was moved from the works on our left to the rear, and aided to put in circulation a rumor of a new movement toward Richmond.

August 13th. Very heavy cannonading was heard on the right, from General Butler's front, across the James. The Second Corps went over last night, and there are indications of a heavy movement. Our men were under arms and ready. It was a happy day in our camp, on account of the arrival of the paymaster with four months' pay.

August 14th. On duty in the trenches. For the past fortnight the weather has been intensely hot and dry, and to-day is no exception. Charles H. Wheeler, of Company I, wounded in the shoulder. Exposed to severe thundershowers in the afternoon. General Burnside relinquished the command of the Ninth Corps, and with his personal staff left for Washington, leaving General Willcox in command.[21] The corps under orders to be ready to move at a moment's notice. At half-past nine our line was relieved by troops of the Eighteenth Corps, and the regiment moved back to the woods in the midst of a pouring rain. At half-past eleven the regiment was aroused and under arms, and at one o'clock on the morning of Monday, August 15th, we left our camp in the woods and moved to the rear. Upon reaching the open plain we marched toward the left, and it was reported that we were to support an assault to be made by the Fifth Corps. The night was black as ink, and as we floundered about in the darkness among the stumps we soon lost all traces of the road, and continued moving to the left and rear until daylight revealed our position. We then countermarched to General Warren's head-quarters. The Fifth Corps was quietly withdrawn soon after daylight, and their lines occupied by our corps.

[21] General Willcox was soon relieved by Major-General John G. Parke, who was assigned to the command of the corps.

Our brigade relieved the Third Brigade, First Division, Fifth Corps, and our regiment took possession of the splendid line of works occupied by the One hundred and eighteenth Pennsylvania. The works were bomb-proof, and the camp regular and perfectly clean, reminding us of the camp of the Seventeenth regulars, at Catlett's Station. The enemy was found to be comparatively peaceful here. There was no firing whatever during the day, and our pickets were relieved by daylight without any molestation. The "Johnnies" were plainly seen walking about within their lines with impunity, and the regiment we relieved informed us that the utmost harmony and good-feeling prevailed on the picket line. To us who for sixty days had been exposed to an incessant and hostile fire it was a great relief to be able to stand upright without the certainty of being shot. The enemy, however, had frequently opened upon the main line with artillery, and to resist the fire the main works had been strengthened and elaborated to the perfection of field fortifications. During the afternoon and evening the rain came down in a deluge, filling the bomb-proofs and trenches, inundating the camp, and making everybody generally miserable. The Fifth Corps, after being relieved, concentrated for a movement to the left, to be supported by the First and Third Divisions of our corps, which were in reserve.

Our little regiment, which could ill afford depletion, had lost while in the trenches on the right, from the 20th of June to the 14th of August, seven men killed or mortally wounded, and eighteen wounded; a total of twenty-five,—a slow but sure wasting of some of the most valuable material of which the regiment could boast.

August 16th. The weather continued rainy and uncomfortable. Not a shot was fired on our line. Dr. Bryant to-day received a fully earned and well-deserved promotion, and was commissioned Surgeon of the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts Volunteers. There is, however, some doubt as to his being able to muster in on account of the greatly reduced numbers of that regiment, it being below the minimum, and having two assistant surgeons. It will be a calamity to lose the services of Dr. Bryant. During the entire campaign he has been at his post, and his duties have been very arduous and unremitting, from the fact that he has been the only medical officer with the regiment. He has remained constantly with the regiment, always in close proximity during an advance, and ready and willing to perform any duty in the camp or on the field.[22]

[22] For the reason given above Dr. Bryant was not able to muster in on his commission as Surgeon of the Fifty-eighth, and remained with the Thirty-sixth until the close of the war.

August 17th. A day of frequent heavy showers, settling at night into a cold storm, making the ground soft and miry. It was a day of comparative quiet, but we had a heavy force on picket. A vigorous movement is in progress on the right, and the cannonading throughout the day was severe. General Hancock has crossed the James with the Second and Tenth Corps, and a division of cavalry, and has had a spirited engagement.

August 18th. The day was quiet within the lines, with rain at short intervals and heavy showers at times. The trenches and bomb-proofs were very uncomfortable, and required much baling out to keep the water down. General Lee having sent a considerable force from his lines to resist General Hancock's advance north of the James, advantage was taken of his movement to send General Warren and the Fifth Corps to the left, to extend that flank across the Weldon Railroad, about three or four miles distant. General Warren reached the railroad early in the forenoon, and while moving toward Petersburg was met by the enemy, and a fierce battle ensued, attended with considerable loss to the Fifth Corps; but the railroad was secured and held, and at nightfall General Warren established his line across it.

About nine o'clock that evening we were ordered to prepare three days' cooked rations, and be ready to move at daylight. The meaning of that order was well understood. During the night the enemy seemed to be aware of some unusual movement in our lines, and subjected us to a very severe artillery fire, which was general along the entire line.

At ten o'clock on the 19th we were relieved by Mott's division of the Second Corps, which had just recrossed the James, and the division moved to the left, following the other two divisions of our corps, which had been ordered to reinforce General Warren. We were exposed to a hot fire while leaving the pits, but none in the Thirty-sixth were injured. The rain poured in torrents nearly all day, and the men were thoroughly drenched. The route was circuitous, and we marched nearly six miles over very bad roads. As we neared the lines, the artillery and musketry fire of the troops in our front indicated that a heavy battle was in progress. The division of the enemy which General Warren encountered yesterday had been heavily reinforced, and had broken through the skirmish line, extending from the right of the Fifth Corps toward the left of the main line of works in front of Petersburg, with a heavy column, and turned Warren's right flank, causing great confusion and heavy loss, especially in prisoners. In the midst of this exciting battle the First and Third Divisions of our corps reached the ground at a most critical moment, and, forming hastily on General Warren's right, pushed rapidly forward with the troops of the Fifth Corps, and drove the enemy in great confusion to his intrenchments. The fighting was desperate and bloody. The rebel troops consisted, among others, of Mahone's division of A. P. Hill's corps.

In the rapid advance of our lines a gap was created between the Ninth and Fifth Corps, and our division was at once deployed to fill it. We formed in a clearing and pushed forward into the woods for about a quarter of a mile, and went into position across a wood road. In less than ten minutes we had a good protection of logs; but were not allowed to remain long in possession, the brigade being ordered to deploy as skirmishers. The Thirty-sixth first formed on the left of the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, but were soon filed to the extreme right, when, by General Potter's order, we were at once returned to our original position on the left of the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, near the wood road. Captain Raymond, of the brigade staff, was sent by General Potter down this road to reconnoitre. In a few moments he rode into a large party of the enemy's skirmishers, and narrowly escaped capture. His orderly was killed, and as he attempted to return to the line the pursuit was so close that several of the enemy were captured. It was an exciting event, and proved that the enemy was in force in our front. Owing to the marching and countermarching in deploying, it was nearly dusk before the line was fairly established. General Potter ordered an advance, but upon moving forward it was discovered that we had broken connection with the First Division on our left, and were obliged to extend in that direction. Accordingly the Fifty-first New York was deployed between us and the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania. Owing to the storm, the darkness, and the low, dense undergrowth, we were unable to advance beyond a short distance, and remained through the night in this position, widely deployed in the dense wood, without intrenchments or fires. The storm was quite severe, the rain fell in torrents, and the ground was soaked with water. It proved to be one of those cheerless, dismal nights, of which we had experienced so many during the eventful campaign,—nights the recollection of which causes a shudder, even after the flight of years.

The first glimmer of daylight found the line of battle ready to advance; but no trace of the enemy could be discovered. Company D, the Color Guard, and Pioneers were formed as a reserve under charge of the Adjutant, and ordered to support the centre and keep well up to the skirmish line in the advance. At half-past eight o'clock the order was given "Forward! Guide Left!" The dense undergrowth rendered it very difficult to maintain a good line, as the regiment covered considerable ground. After advancing about three hundred yards we reached a cornfield about one hundred yards wide, with woods beyond. We moved across this field and halted in the edge of the forest, and connected our left with the right of the First Division. We were then ordered to build a line of breastworks. We had just completed a fine line of works, and were eating our dinner of roasted corn, gathered from the cornfield, when we were ordered to the left to reinforce that portion of the line, as an attack was anticipated. We accordingly moved a distance of about a hundred yards to the left, to that portion of the line which had been held by the Second New York Rifles, which had moved further down. Although they had occupied the position two hours, not a tree had been cut, and no protection whatever had been secured. Our men went to work with a will and soon had a good line of breastworks. We had just nicely settled down for the second time when the Adjutant-General came up at a gallop to order the regiment to extend to the right, as the enemy was threatening the extreme right, and it had been found necessary to extend in that direction. We moved back to the first line of breastworks we had built, not a little angry at being obliged to build intrenchments for the Second New York.

The portion of line we now occupied was the scene of the fearful struggle the previous day, when the charging enemy, under Mahone, encountered the advance of our troops under General Willcox. Both lines were charging and met at short range, when a desperate fight ensued, in which the enemy was obliged to retire. His dead lay thickly all about us, and the ground bore evidence of the heavy loss sustained by the enemy at this point.

The men were under arms all the afternoon, expecting an attack. There was sharp musketry both on our right and left, but no unusual disturbance along our front. During the evening Lieutenant-Colonel Draper was temporarily in command of the brigade, in consequence of the absence of Colonel Bliss. At nightfall Captain Hodgkins, acting Adjutant, was detailed upon the staff of General Ferrero, and Lieutenant Haskell, of Company B, was assigned to duty as Adjutant and entered at once upon this service. The tri-monthly report of this date showed the effective strength to be thirteen commissioned officers and one hundred and seventy-six enlisted men; total, one hundred and eighty-nine, with four commissioned officers and ninety-five enlisted men on extra or special duty with the corps.

The movement for the possession of the Weldon Railroad, although attended with heavy losses, had thus far been successful. General Warren's line was now firmly across the railroad, and the position strongly fortified. Our corps was on his right flank, covering much ground between him and the main line of works; a large cavalry force guarded the flanks, and artillery had been put in position to repel any attack the enemy might be disposed to make. It was felt that another attempt would be made by the rebels to drive out or break our line. The night shut in cold, dark, and rainy. The men were under arms, prepared for any emergency.

Early the next morning there were indications of another attack, and the enemy soon renewed his efforts to regain the railroad. A heavy cannonading from thirty pieces of artillery, which crossed their fire over Warren's position, was kept up for an hour, when a desperate assault was made by Haygood's South Carolina brigade, on the extreme left, with the intention of turning that flank while a heavy attack was made in front. The charge was made with great vigor, but was handsomely repulsed, with heavy loss in killed and wounded. Five hundred prisoners and three battle-flags were captured, with comparatively little loss to the Fifth Corps. The attempt was not renewed, but the enemy retired to his works, and our line was so strengthened as to render any further attack a matter of little probability.

CHAPTER XXII.
IN THE PINES.

The excitement and activity caused by the successful operations at the Weldon Railroad subsided in a great degree by the 22d, the enemy having abandoned the futile task of striving to regain his lost ground, and we were left in quiet and complete possession of this important line of communication. The regiment was leisurely employed during the day in strengthening the intrenchments, and skirmishers were advanced for half a mile or more into the wooded swamp in its front, but without developing the rebel position.

On the 23d the whole division line was drawn back a short distance, and works of a more permanent character than those first thrown up were begun.

The camp sheltered by these defences became known as that "In the Pines," and deserves more than passing notice. The Ninth Corps now held that part of the line which extended from the right of the Fifth Corps on the Weldon Railroad to the left of the Second Corps, near the Jerusalem Plank road,—a distance of about four miles. At the point occupied by the regiment the line ran along the edge of a belt of pine timber fronting an open field of varying width, which separated it from a deep, swampy forest, the trees in the border of which were felled at random, forming with their prostrate trunks and interlacing branches that formidable barrier known as a "slashing." Through this maze were narrow winding paths for the passage of the pickets who were posted in the standing timber beyond. The breastworks were higher than was customary, the earth being thrown up from the front, leaving a ditch, just outside of which was planted a bristling abatis. Well-built earthworks for artillery were thrown up at available points, the open ground in front of the regiment being swept by an enfilading fire from two. An observer standing upon the works in front of the tents of the Thirty-sixth commanded a far-reaching view of the defences, which, as they stretched away on either hand until hidden by the trees, presented one of the best specimens of entrenchment to be seen on that wonderful line, which extended for more than thirty miles, and which, with the opposing works of the enemy, nearly as long, made the greatest achievement in field fortification the world ever saw.

This position was held by the regiment from August 23d until September 25th; and relieved from the harassing duty in the trenches to which we had been so long subjected, and confident in the security of our defences, we joyfully improved a period of needed and grateful rest.

The regimental camp was laid out in an orderly manner, the absence of underbrush and large size of the pine growth giving it the appearance of a picnic grove, and was in striking contrast to the dusty and sun-scorched quarters it had frequently been our lot to occupy.

The weather, although cool at times, was generally delightful, and the duties were light. Beyond the regular details for picket and police, and an occasional bloodless reconnoissance, there was little call for service, and the men at their leisure washed and mended their war-worn garments, and dealt out long-deferred vengeance to predatory vermin; guns were cleaned, and brasses polished; barbers' chairs of marvellous construction, attended by thrifty veterans, were well patronized; long-absent sutlers returned with their wagons groaning beneath heavy burdens; in short, we were once more "in camp."

The terrible losses sustained by the Ninth Corps during the bloody campaign of the summer had sadly thinned its once crowded ranks. Regiments, that in April marched from Annapolis in all the pride and confidence which strength inspires, now mustered around their tattered colors meagre and skeleton battalions. The loss in commissioned officers was especially large, and the need of a reorganization of the corps was painfully apparent. In furtherance of this object General White, commanding the First Division, was relieved, by orders dated September 1, and the regiments composing that division were transferred to the Second and Third Divisions. On the 13th of September the designation of the several divisions of the corps was changed as follows: the Third to be First, under command of Brigadier-General O. B. Willcox; the Second to remain unchanged, under command of Brigadier-General R. B. Potter; the Fourth (colored) to be the Third, under command of Brigadier-General Edward Ferrero. The corps was under the command of Major-General John G. Parke.

This change strengthened our brigade by the addition of the Twenty-first (now a battalion) and Thirty-fifth Regiments Massachusetts Volunteers.

The following is a list of the regiments composing the brigade after the reorganization, with the number (commissioned officers and enlisted men) present for duty in the latter part of September:—

Fourth Rhode IslandVolunteers217
Seventh Rhode Island"165
Forty-eighth Pennsylvania"491
Forty-fifth Pennsylvania"291
Fifty-first New York"368
Thirty-sixth Massachusetts"228
Fifty-eighth Massachusetts"123
Thirty-fifth Massachusetts"514
Twenty-first Massachusetts"102

Soon after its arrival at the pines the Thirty-fifth Massachusetts received over three hundred and fifty recruits, entirely made up of substitutes from Germany. The camp of these exiles was near that of the Thirty-sixth, and their ignorance of the language and queer foreign manners caused an amused interest in them; but when at night, as became their custom, they gathered around the camp-fires, and, in an isolation almost pathetic, sung the songs of Faderland, the effect was striking, and we could not but listen with feelings of sympathy and sadness as the grand old chorals resounded through the solemn pines.

September 14th, First Lieutenant Henry S. Burrage, who was wounded at the battle of Cold Harbor, returned to the regiment, and was mustered in as Captain of Company D.

During this peaceful month the ornamental duties of a soldier assumed prominence, and the frequent sharp command "Fall in!" became more suggestive of a drill and dress-parade than of hurried march or wearisome watch in the trenches. On the 15th the regiment paraded for brigade inspection, and on the 21st participated in a review of the brigade by General Potter, presenting on both occasions a steady and soldierly appearance that cast no discredit on its past record.

Lieutenant-Colonel Draper, as President, and Captain Smith, as Judge-Advocate, of a court martial convened at division head-quarters, gave attention to the trial of deserters, most of the cases being those of either ignorant foreign substitutes or unscrupulous bounty-jumpers.

On the morning of the 16th the prevailing quiet was broken by the unusual sound of firing in our front, followed by the hasty falling back of a portion of the picket line. The breastworks were hurriedly manned in anticipation of an assault; but after some desultory firing the enemy prudently withdrew, evidently satisfied as to the strength of our position, for no further attempt was made to disturb the line at this point. In the forenoon of September 25th the Third Division was reviewed, and a large number of interested spectators from our regiment were in attendance, criticising with veteran keenness the military bearing of the "colored troops."

But the easy life in which the luxury of idleness was broken only by the routine of camp duty was to be rudely ended; the friendly shelter which for a while we had enjoyed was to be exchanged for the deadly exposure of the battle-field. It was our last day "in the Pines."

CHAPTER XXIII.
THE ACTION AT PEGRAM FARM.

On the afternoon of September 25th, about five o'clock, orders to move were suddenly received, and immediately the quiet camp became a scene of bustling activity. Tents were hastily stripped from their poles, knapsacks packed in a hurry, and in half an hour, having been relieved by the Fifth Corps, we left our camp. After moving some four miles to the right a halt was ordered about nine o'clock, and the regiment bivouacked in the woods in the rear of the Second Corps.

On the following day tents were pitched, and the men remained idle in camp, the air thick with rumors, until the morning of the 28th, when the brigade marched to the "Gurley House," half a mile from "Yellow Tavern," "in such a manner that the enemy would notice the movement," to quote from the order received from regimental head-quarters.

The 29th was passed in feverish uncertainty, a move being expected at any moment. Staff officers and orderlies were riding to and fro, and cavalry in force moved toward the left; but the regiment did not leave its position. At night the excitement was heightened by the reading of a despatch from General Grant, announcing that the railroad between Petersburg and Richmond had been taken by General Ord, and that General Birney had defeated the enemy north of the James.

The morning of September 30th dawned upon a day of perfect autumnal beauty; but the balmy air, fragrant with the scent of the pines, the clear sunlight, and cloudless sky left little impress of their loveliness upon the minds of men who, after the broken slumbers of the night, were early astir preparing for battle.

The expected advance began about nine o'clock, the troops passing over the works of the Fifth Corps on the extreme left, and into the debatable land beyond. The column consisted of Ayer's and Griffin's divisions of the Fifth Corps, followed by Potter's and Willcox's divisions of the Ninth Corps. We followed the road through woods for about a mile, when a small country meeting-house, known as Poplar Spring Church, was reached. There our brigade line of battle formed at right angles to the road. Meanwhile the advance of the Fifth Corps had developed near the Peebles house, an outlying fortification of the enemy, consisting of a redoubt and flanking rifle-pits, upon which an assault was made, about ten o'clock, by Griffin's division, and easily carried, with trifling loss. The enemy, not having sufficient strength to resist after the loss of his entrenchments, promptly retreated to his main line, leaving about fifty prisoners and a piece of artillery in our hands.

The divisions of the Ninth Corps were now ordered to the front, and immediately advanced, passing the troops of the Fifth Corps, who were quietly resting with stacked arms near the captured redoubt.

The regiment moved forward in brigade line of battle in excellent form, and a rapid advance on the enemy's main line was anticipated; but, soon after passing the Peebles house, a halt was ordered, and the movement came to a complete stand-still.

For three or four hours this fatal and inexplicable delay continued, although it was evident that the advantage of a surprise was thus being thrown away, as the enemy must necessarily have been warned of our presence by the men who had withdrawn from the redoubt. At last, about the middle of the afternoon, the impatient and well-nigh disgusted soldiers were again ordered forward.

Our regiment moved by the flank toward the Boisseau house,—an abandoned dwelling that became prominent during the operations of the ensuing days,—gathering, in wayside gossip with adventurous sharp-shooters who had been looking after an opportunity for fancy shooting at the front, the cheering news that the rebel works, toward which we were advancing, had been strongly reinforced during our long halt. About five o'clock the Second Brigade, General Griffin, which was pushing forward on our right, slightly in advance, became engaged with the enemy's skirmish line, and General Curtin was ordered to make connection with that command. This was immediately done, our brigade forming in two lines of battle, as follows: Thirty-fifth Massachusetts, Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, Fifty-eighth Massachusetts, and Fifty-first New York, in the first line; Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, Twenty-first Massachusetts, and Thirty-sixth Massachusetts, in the second, though extending further to the left than the first line. The Seventh Rhode Island were in the rear with entrenching tools, and the Fourth Rhode Island acted as provost guard, their term of service having nearly expired.

By this formation the Thirty-sixth came into position on the extreme left of the brigade, and halted for a few moments near the Boisseau house, at a fence running along a sorghum field. Captain Burrage, with the skirmishers of the regiment, covered the front and left of the regiment, the line extending from the woods to the Boisseau house. The firing on our right now increased as the Second Brigade became hotly engaged, and our line was ordered over the fence, which was hastily crossed, and an advance of a few yards made into an open field, which extended a long distance to the right, exposing to view a large part of the brigade line of battle, while the enemy was concealed in the woods beyond. Here the regiment first met the whizzing rebel bullets, which became so troublesome as to cause the men to lie down; and, although the prostrate attitude was eminently adapted to the situation, the recumbent warriors may have been shamed, and were certainly encouraged, by the example of General Curtin, who at this juncture reached the front, and, followed by a single orderly, rode along the line of his brigade, as coolly as if on review. His horse was soon after shot under him, and a valuable saddle, sent as a present from his friends in Pennsylvania, fell into the hands of the enemy.

We momentarily expected an order to charge, but found that the situation was changing on the right, to which attention was drawn from the fact that at that point the line seemed to be falling back, which soon proved to be the case. Our regimental line stood inactive, no special pressure being brought to bear by the enemy in our front, until the retrograde movement became communicated to the regiment on our right, when we realized that the rebels, tired perhaps of waiting for our assault, had boldly sallied from their works and, sheltered by the surrounding wood, had successfully flanked our line.

As the whole force covering our right vanished, the regiment was subjected to a galling fire from that direction as well as the front. Colonel Draper then ordered a change of front, but seeing that the enemy's movement threatened to cut us off from our forces in the rear he changed the order to a movement by the left flank in the same direction.

The sorghum before mentioned save us a slight shelter, and we hurriedly made our way through it, the vicious "zip" of the rebel bullets giving us an incentive to haste. Reaching the ravine between the Boisseau house and the sorghum field we found remnants of several regiments of the First Division, which had fallen into disorder, still gallantly holding their ground, gathered in little groups around their colors. Here a stubborn stand was made, and the chief conflict of the day on the part of our regiment was fought. Many acts of individual gallantry might be mentioned, the officers, and in some noticeable instances the enlisted men, doing brave and serviceable work in rallying the scattered squads and endeavoring to check the advance of the enemy. But the force was unequal to the task, the Thirty-sixth being the only regiment that retained its organization; and the position soon became extremely critical.

A line of the enemy's skirmishers now appeared at the mouth of the ravine, on our left flank, and coolly picked off our men without opposition, our fire being mainly directed at the greater body of the rebel force, which had meanwhile pressed well around to our right, having cut off and captured a part of our brigade and driven back the remainder. The regiment could hold its ground but a short time under the demoralizing effect of a sharp fire from three sides, and Lieutenant-Colonel Draper, seeing that further resistance would be useless sacrifice, seized the colors, against the protest of Color-Sergeant Rawson, and gave the order to retire.

A lively scattering over the fences and through the grounds of the Boisseau house ensued, each man doing his level best to preserve a life for future usefulness to his country, and little breath was taken until the shelter of a reserve line and a section of Roemer's battery was secured. Here General Potter was found sitting gloomily on his horse, to whom Colonel Draper reported with fifty-two men of our regiment and twenty men of the Fifty-sixth Massachusetts as "the remains of his division." The men of the Fifth Corps and that part of the Ninth held in reserve had by this time been so disposed as to check any further advance of the enemy, and the battle ceased as darkness came on. The remnant of our regiment proceeded to the new line, which was found with difficulty in the dark, and remained for a short time in position at the edge of a piece of woods, picking up occasional stragglers.

During the evening we were ordered back to the line of works taken by the Fifth Corps in the morning, where we were soon joined by a detachment of about sixty men, under Captains Ames and Morse, which became separated from the colors in the retreat. As each party had for a time good reason for supposing the other to be in the hands of the enemy, the reunion was a joyful one. At roll-call the regiment mustered one hundred and forty-three men, the largest number by far of any regiment in the division, although some had three times that number in the ranks before going into action. The casualties in the Thirty-sixth were four killed, sixteen wounded, and sixteen missing,—a surprisingly small number in view of the perilous position in which the regiment was placed. The killed were Corporal Robert F. Webb, Company A, Privates Lyman H. Gilbert, Company E, Rufus H. Carter, Company I, and Belthezar Margenot, Company K,—the last two being transferred men from the Twenty-first Regiment. Sergeant Lucius L. Merrick, Company E, who rejoined the regiment the night before, was mortally wounded and died ten days later. Merrick was known throughout the regiment, and respected by all for his manly Christian character. He was a graduate of Amherst College, and at the time of his enlistment was preparing for the ministry. He had been twice wounded, at Knoxville and in the Wilderness, and was about to receive a commission in a regiment of colored troops. He was one of the best soldiers in the regiment, and his death caused sincere grief. Sergeant Charles Underwood, of Company D, was wounded in the knee near the Boisseau house, and fell into the hands of the enemy. His leg was amputated, and in a short time he was sent through to our lines. A second and third amputation followed a year or two later, and he died. Sergeant-Major Washburn was shot through the face, receiving a very severe wound, and Captain J. B. Smith, serving on the staff of General Potter, was shot in the hand, and suffered amputation of a finger.

Of the four divisions engaged the loss fell chiefly on ours, the number of missing being very large. The official report of casualties in the division was,—killed fifty-one; wounded two hundred and eighty; missing, one thousand three hundred and thirteen. A large proportion of the missing were from the First Brigade, as the regiments in its first line were cut off by the enemy's flank movement, and nearly all of the Fifty-first New York, and a large number of the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, and Fifty-eighth Massachusetts were captured.

The Second Brigade of our division first received the shock of the evening's charge, and when it was seen that it could not withstand it, the Seventh Rhode Island, in reserve, was ordered to form a new line near the Pegram house, and an order which, unfortunately, was not received by him, was despatched to General Curtin to fall back to the line thus established. If this movement had been made it is probable that the heavy loss in the brigade would have been avoided. Speculation as to the causes which occasioned this disaster to our corps is, perhaps, unprofitable, and can afford but little consolation; but one fact seems clear, that the delays and blunders of general officers, rather than cowardice or misconduct of the men fighting at the front, brought about the mortifying result. The vexatious and apparently needless halt after the first success of the Fifth Corps in the morning has been alluded to. This gave the enemy time to reinforce his threatened line, and the rebel commanders, thoroughly familiar with the ground, had their customary advantage of being able to direct their movements understandingly.[23]

[23] This action is called by the Confederates the battle of Jones' Farm. Lane's North Carolina brigade formed the enemy's right; one of Wilcox's brigades the left, with McRae's North Carolina brigade as a support. The latter, however, "rushed forward to participate in the fight." See History of Lane's North Carolina Brigade, in Southern Historical Society Papers, 1881, pp. 354-356.

During the night a storm began, and the day following was one of the most dismal and uncomfortable ever experienced by the regiment. No movement was attempted, but details were employed in reversing the works behind which we were bivouacked, so they might afford protection in case of an advance by the enemy. The work was very difficult, as the constant rain gave the freshly turned earth the consistency of mud. The aspect of the men, as they painfully prodded the moist ground with sticky shovels or crouched around smoky and sputtering fires, was lugubrious in the extreme, and their feelings corresponded with their looks. Occasional shots were exchanged by the pickets, and one man of the regiment, while sitting near a fire, was wounded by a stray bullet.

CHAPTER XXIV.
AGAIN IN THE TRENCHES.

The morning of October 2d was bright and clear, and the lines were soon formed for an advance. We moved forward about a quarter of a mile, to a point not far distant from the Boisseau house, where we fell to in earnest and began the construction of a line of works which were destined to be our protection for many weeks.

We were greatly annoyed during the forenoon by a sharp-shooter, evidently posted in a tree, and by the raking fire of a battery, also screened by trees, which occasionally caused a lively scattering by sending a shell whizzing diagonally across our line. One of these burst in the ranks of Company K, wounding three men and killing two; one of the killed being Sergeant Daniel A. Burton. The fire from the battery slackened in the afternoon, but the "reb" sharp-shooter kept at work so persistently that it seemed extremely desirable to put a stop to his fun. Accordingly, Colonel Draper detailed James Knowlton, of Company E, and Corporal Frank Bell, of Company F, two good shots, to relieve us from this annoyance if possible.

They crept out some distance beyond the picket line, found cover, and waited for indications. They had not long to wait, for soon the crack of a rifle was heard, and from a tree in the edge of the woods back of the enemy's picket line rose a telltale puff of smoke. Both took careful aim, fired, and to their delight saw a gray-clad Johnny come tumbling heels over head out of the tree. The next morning the rebel pickets told ours that the man shot was a lieutenant of sharp-shooters. After this successful shot the work in the trenches was pursued with more safety and peace of mind, and by nightfall a strong rifle-pit stood between us and the enemy, behind which we pitched our tents and sought repose with a pleasant consciousness of being once more "in camp."

The day had been full of work and interest. The part of the new line built by the Thirty-sixth was on open ground, while the rebel position was masked by thick woods, and the fire from unseen batteries and sharp-shooters was harassing in the extreme. During the morning General Meade, accompanied by a brilliant staff, passed along the line and halted in the rear of the regiment, probably furnishing an additional inducement to the rebel gunners to serve their pieces well. In the evening Major Barker, Captain Fairbank, Captain Burrage, and some of the men, went over the ground in front of our lines, under cover of the darkness, and buried our dead, whom the enemy had stripped of their clothing and left where they fell.

October 3d passed more quietly. Shots were occasionally fired on the picket line, but no hindrance was experienced in the work of strengthening the fortifications, which was the principal business of the day. Engineers were engaged in laying out forts, two of which, named Fort Fisher and Fort Welch, were in time completed, and formed a prominent feature of the defences, as the line here made an angle, the works to the left of these forts being the protection for the extreme left of the army of the Potomac.

October 4th. Comparative quiet prevailed until the afternoon, when there was a lively breeze on the picket line. In our immediate front, and held by our pickets, was a deserted house, to which reference has already been made, lately occupied by Dr. Boisseau. As this house stood on rising ground, and commanded a view of the enemy's line, it was surmised that it might be made the object of an attack. In anticipation of such an event, Captain Morse, with his company, was, on the 3d instant, detailed as a reserve picket force, and took up a position in a small rifle-pit near the house a short distance to the rear of the picket line. The rebels had during the day kept up a desultory fire, which made the position of the few men stationed in the building somewhat uncomfortable; but nothing unusual was noted until about four o'clock, when the enemy attacked the picket line of the Second New York, of our brigade. The capture of this line let the enemy into the rear of the picket pits of the Thirty-Sixth, and those adjacent to the house were precipitately evacuated; but the reserve force held its ground until convinced that the enemy was present in superior numbers, when it fell back, leaving the house and a few men in his possession. Our loss was four men captured,—Corporals Charles Bottomley and George H. Mills, of Company C, and privates Reuben Jackson and Lyman McDowell, of Company E. Mills and Bottomley were shortly afterwards paroled; but Jackson and McDowell were fated to swell the ranks of that mighty army the story of which is sadly told by the words, "Died in rebel prisons." The picket line was at once reinforced, and the captured posts were retaken. A second attack of the enemy was unsuccessful. After dark, in accordance with orders, Captain Burrage, who was brigade officer of the day, gave directions for the burning of the building. It was soon a mass of flame, and presented a brilliant spectacle, the weird effect being heightened by the sharp crack of the rifles as the outposts on both sides blazed away at random, each desirous to show to his antagonist that he was not to be caught napping. At daylight on the morning of the 5th the disputed property was a heap of ruins, and our pickets who had been drawn back, on account of the fire, took possession of their old pits without opposition.

We were now for several days kept busy in the construction of earthworks, and the regimental camp was twice moved; but by the 7th instant we were well settled, and were made happy by the ever-welcome appearance of the paymaster.

This day was also marked by the arrival of a new stand of colors. The old flags, which in the wanderings of over two years of active service had been borne in ten States of the Union, and in both victory and defeat had been zealously guarded as the emblems of our organization, State and National, were now returned to the care of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts. Stained by the elements and blood, and torn by shot and shell, with both staves shattered by rebel bullets, they gave silent but faithful testimony to the vicissitudes through which the men who followed them had passed.

During this month an unexpected loss befell the regiment, caused by the retirement from the service of Lieutenant-Colonel Draper and Captain Morse, who left for home October 13th, to the great regret of their comrades of the Thirty-sixth, whether officers or enlisted men. Although young men, both were veteran officers of tried courage and recognized ability, and we would gladly have retained them; but their term of service had now expired, both having served in the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts before entering the Thirty-sixth. Lieutenant-Colonel Draper was soon after brevetted Colonel and Brigadier-General "for gallant and meritorious service."

Major Barker succeeded to the command of the regiment, and soon after received a commission as Lieutenant-Colonel, dating from October 12th, 1864. The command of Company C devolved upon First Lieutenant P. G. Woodward.

On the 14th inst. the regiment was for the first time in its history ordered out to witness a military execution. The condemned was a private of the Second Maryland, named Merlin, who by the division court-martial, of which Lieutenant-Colonel Draper was president, had been found guilty of an attempt to desert to the enemy. The division was formed in an open field on three sides of a square, in the centre of which the doomed man was seated, blindfold, on a coffin placed at the side of an open grave. Familiar with death as the spectators were, it was an impressive scene as the firing detail silently drew up before the criminal, and at a preconcerted signal (the dropping of a handkerchief) discharged a volley which sent the soul of the deserter to its final account.

With the exception of the removal of the camp to a point nearer the breastworks there was continued quiet until the 25th when rumors of a movement became rife, and toward night orders were received to pack up and be ready to march at dusk. We were soon in readiness, but the night passed without the arrival of the expected order. The next day brought additional indications of a contemplated movement of considerable magnitude, and at one o'clock P.M. tents were struck, and the regiment marched to a large field near by, where, after participating in a brigade drill, it bivouacked for the night. The time allowed for rest was brief, however, as the sleeping soldiers were aroused at two o'clock on the morning of the 27th. While we awaited in the darkness the momentarily expected order to "Fall in," a mail arrived and was distributed by the flickering light of the army candle, and many a man as he read the welcome message from home felt, as he thought of the morrow, that it might be for him the last.

The movement in which the regiment was about to engage we found to be one of great importance, from the result of which much advantage to our arms was hoped. General Grant, it appeared, had decided to make one more attempt to turn the enemy's right flank, and, if possible, interrupt his communications, before the weather should become so bad as to render the roads impracticable for aggressive warfare. A large part of the troops attached to the Second, Fifth, and Ninth Corps were withdrawn from the entrenched line for this purpose. The duty assigned to the Fifth and Ninth Corps was to advance upon the extreme right of the enemy's works, and capture them if possible, thus turning his flank; while the Second Corps was to make a detour to the west, cross Hatcher's Run in the vicinity of Burgess' Mills, and operate against the Southside Railroad.

At four o'clock we were on the road, and soon reaching the left of our line marched through an opening made in the works for our passage. The column then moved forward over an uneven country, heavily wooded in parts, and quite unfamiliar to the officers in command. The Fifth Corps worked its way with difficulty to a position to the left of the Ninth, and a general advance was attempted. The Third Division (colored) of the Ninth Corps led in this movement, and struck the enemy's line about two miles from our intrenchments. The black men behaved admirably, driving the rebels to the shelter of their fortifications, which were found to be so formidable and well garrisoned that an escalade was deemed unadvisable; and the position gained was simply held, for a time, to await the result of the movement to the left. The other divisions of the Ninth Corps remained in support of the Third Division, and the regiment busied itself during the day in throwing up a line of rifle-pits, behind which it bivouacked at night. The night was rainy, and our condition anything but comfortable, as we wearily waited for the day.

The weather improved on the morning of the 28th, but, instead of the anticipated assault, we found that preparations were being made for the withdrawal of our forces, as it transpired that the operations of the two corps on our left had proved unsuccessful. Crawford's division, of the Fifth Corps, had crossed Hatcher's Run, with the intention of gaining a position behind the rebel right flank; but became separated in the thick forest, and had remained all night in a dangerous plight, but was fortunately withdrawn without serious loss. The Second Corps had advanced, as directed, to Burgess' Mills, where it was thrown into some confusion by an assault of the enemy, from which it soon rallied and drove back the assailants, capturing many prisoners, and, although partial success was gained at this point, the evident strength of the rebel forces made further offensive operations unadvisable.

Our division was ordered to retire about noon, and, in conjunction with a division of the Fifth Corps, executed a very pretty manœuvre. The troops of the Ninth Corps formed in line of battle, leaving an opening through which those of the Fifth passed by the flank; the latter then in turn formed in line and in like manner guarded the passage to the rear of the other column. The movement was conducted with the coolness and regularity of a parade, notwithstanding the rattling fire of the skirmishers, which furnished an exciting accompaniment. After reaching our old line of defence we marched quietly back to our lately abandoned camp, and reoccupied it.

Soon after the return from this unprofitable excursion the regiment received a material addition to its strength by the consolidation with it of the Twenty-first Battalion Massachusetts Veteran Volunteers. This command was the remnant made up of reënlisted men of the Twenty-first Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers, and was justly proud of its long and brilliant record. On account of the smallness of its numbers it was ordered to join our larger force; but its veteran members were naturally averse to the change, as by it their old regiment lost its identity in a younger one; neither did the men of the Thirty-sixth regard with favor the accession of recruits in this wholesale manner, as their ten companies were now compacted into seven, and their accustomed formation lost. Military necessity is regardless of sentiment, however, and the change was peacefully made, the new-comers being pleasantly received; and they faithfully served with the regiment until its departure for home, when they were transferred to the Fifty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteers.

The following regimental order in reference to this consolidation and organization was issued:—

Head-quarters Thirty-sixth Regiment,
Massachusetts Volunteers, November 1st, 1864.

Regimental Orders No. 28.

In obedience to Special Orders from War Dept., A.G.O. No. 358, the Thirty-sixth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers is consolidated into seven companies, and the Twenty-first Battalion Massachusetts Volunteers is transferred to the Thirty-sixth Regiment to complete the organization.

The Thirty-sixth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers is consolidated as follows:—

CompaniesK and B to B.
"G and I to G.
"C and H to C.

The Twenty-first Battalion to be H, I, and K.

Commissioned officers are assigned as follows:—

Co. A,Capt.J. A. Marshall;1st Lieut.Saml. Osborne.
"B,"Wm. H. Hodgkins,"Austin Davis.
"C,"J. B. Smith,"P. G. Woodward.
"D,"H. S. Burrage,"E. F. Emory.
"E,"J. B. Fairbank,"G. W. Harwood.
"F,"T. E. Ames,"J. Hancock.
"G,"A. S. Davidson,"W. H. Brigham.
"H,"E. F. Raymond,"J. R. Davis.
"I,1st Lieut. F. M. McDermott; 2d Lieut. A. R. Mott.
"K,Capt. C. W. Davis; 1st Lieut. W. H. Sawyer; 2d Lieut. W. H. Morrow.
By order of T. L. BARKER,
Thomas H. Haskell, Adj't.Maj. Comd'g Reg't.

Many of the officers were absent from the regiment, serving in various capacities: Captain Hodgkins was A.C.M. Third Division, Ninth A.C; Captain Smith, Provost Marshal, Second Division, Ninth A.C; Captain Ames. A. Aide-de-camp, First Brigade, Second Division, Ninth A.C; Captain Raymond, Assistant Inspector General, Second Division, Ninth A.C; Captain Davis, on detached service; Lieutenant Austin Davis, on detached service, recruiting in Massachusetts; Lieutenant Brigham, absent, sick at Annapolis, Md.

The uncertain and disagreeable weather, characteristic of a Virginia winter, had now set in, and stormy days came with such frequency that the more enterprising and active men began the work of "fixing up their tents." The experience gained at Falmouth and Lenoir's Station was of value, now that the erection of mud chimneys and log underpinnings became a frequent occupation. The hospitality of the thrifty ones who first became the happy owners of fireplaces was often subjected to a severe strain, when their improvident friends crowded in to view the improvements, and, beguiled by the genial warmth, outstayed their welcome.

Little of severe duty fell to our lot at this period, the work of picketing the front constituting the main employment; and this was quite a peaceful pursuit when compared with that of the summer, as there was no firing on the line, and our relations with the enemy's outposts were generally friendly.

This feeling of confidence, however, was broken, November 1st, by the capture of Captain Burrage. He was on duty as brigade officer of the day, and his instructions allowed him to exchange papers, if an opportunity offered,—an exchange having taken place at this point almost daily for some time. In visiting the picket posts, in company with the division officer of the day, Captain Burrage found a rebel officer waiting to exchange papers on a road which ran through the woods where our division had suffered so severely September 30th. Leaving the division officer of the day, Captain Burrage walked down the road and met the rebel officer. The latter had with him three Richmond papers, and these Captain Burrage, who had only a single Washington paper, received, promising to bring out another paper in the afternoon. Having made his rounds of the picket posts on our brigade front, Captain Burrage carried the papers he had received to General Curtin's head-quarters. On revisiting his lines, in the afternoon, he learned that the rebel officer had not appeared. After waiting a while, wishing to fulfil his promise even to an enemy, he concluded to call some one out from the rebel line. Unfolding the paper, and waving it in his hand, he walked down the road to the point where he exchanged in the morning. Then passing an angle in the wood he came in sight of the rebel picket line, which was about fifty yards distant. Halting, and still waving his paper, he saw a rebel soldier leave his post as if to go for an officer. In a minute or two the soldiers stood up in the rebel pits, levelled their muskets, and an officer called out, "Come in, or we'll fire!" To attempt to escape was useless, and Captain Burrage was compelled to go in.

General Curtin at once gave orders to capture, in retaliation, the first rebel officer found approaching our lines to exchange papers. For a while the enemy made no efforts in this direction; but, about a fortnight later, Roger A. Pryor, formerly a General in the Confederate service, but now a courier attached to General Lee's head-quarters, came over to exchange papers near the place where Captain Burrage was captured. A captain of the 11th New Hampshire, who had not forgotten General Curtin's order, met him, and, drawing his revolver on him, marched him into our lines. Pryor was at once sent to Fort Lafayette, in New York harbor, and after some negotiations, continued through several months, both Captain Burrage and General Pryor were at length exchanged.

CHAPTER XXV.
IN WINTER QUARTERS.

During the latter part of November the Ninth Corps was ordered to the right of the line to relieve the Second Corps, which had been on duty in the trenches in front of Petersburg since the movement of the Ninth Corps to the Weldon Railroad, in August. On the 29th the brigade marched to the vicinity of Hancock Station, on the military railroad, and was assigned to the main line of trenches, the Thirty-sixth being detailed for duty in Fort Rice as its permanent garrison. Thus, after an absence of nearly three months, the regiment was again on duty in the old line, a little to the left of the position it occupied during the summer months. Though in a new location all the scenes around us were familiar. Immediately on our left stood the celebrated Fort Sedgwick, better known in military histories as Fort "Hell,"—a name given to it by the soldiers on account of its exposed situation, which invited the fire of the enemy's artillery. It was frequently subjected to terrific cannonading from the guns opposite.

In front of us stood the grim batteries in the enemy's main line of defence. The principal battery in that portion of the line was in Fort Mahone,—called by the rebel soldiers Fort "Damnation," for the same reason which won for Fort Sedgwick its profane sobriquet. The brigade extended from Fort Meikle on the right, held by the Fifty-eighth Massachusetts, connecting with the left of the First Division, to Fort Davis, about forty rods to the left of Fort Sedgwick, held by the Seventeenth Vermont, Fifty-Sixth Massachusetts, and Thirty-first Maine, which constituted the right of General Griffin's (Second) brigade.

The principal duty devolving upon the regiment during the winter was picket duty in the trenches. The picket line was an intrenched work about one hundred and fifty yards in front of the fort, and about the same distance from the rebel picket line. Little of an exciting nature occurred during the day, but at night the picket-firing was kept up by both sides. There was more or less artillery firing from the main lines on each side, the shells going over our heads. When the enemy became aware of the change of troops in their front, and the substitution of the Ninth Corps for the Second, they supposed that the colored troops still belonged to the Ninth Corps, and their firing was sharp and continuous; but after being told that the colored regiments had been transferred to another department they subsided into their usual round of firing. At times the batteries indulged in lively duels. Almost directly in front of the line occupied by the regiment was a battery containing one or more eight-inch columbiads, which threw its shells to a great distance in the rear of our main lines, and annoyed the signal station at the Avery house, the range of which they had obtained. In one of the artillery duels our guns in Fort Sedgwick poured such a fierce fire into this battery as not only effectually to silence it, but finally, by a lucky shot, to burst the gun which had caused so much trouble.

During the raid which General Warren made with the Fifth Corps to Nottaway, in December, the regiment was ordered to be in readiness to march, but was not withdrawn from the fort; and again, in February, during the movement to Hatcher's Run, it was expected that the regiment would be ordered to the left; but the order to be prepared for movement was not followed by orders to leave.

Now and then an incident transpired to enliven the spirits of the men. On one occasion, after some days of extremely cold weather, firewood became very scarce on the picket line, and one of our sergeants called out to the enemy that he proposed to cut down a large tree which stood midway between the picket lines. He accordingly went out, followed by five men with axes; but before he could begin the work of chopping, he was joined by a rebel lieutenant and four men with an axe, who had come out for the same purpose. As each side claimed the tree it was agreed that both parties should assist in cutting it down, and then divide it as equally as possible. The top fell toward the enemy's lines, and two men stood on the trunk, back to back,—they who had stood so often face to face,—and cut through the trunk, our men taking the butt and the enemy the branches. That night the blaze of the little fires in the rear of each picket line added to the comfort of the men in their weary watches.

On the 31st of January a truce was declared during the passage of Vice-President Stephens and the Peace Commissioners from Petersburg to City Point. Many of the men along the entire Petersburg front crossed the lines to "confer with the enemy" in the peaceable exchange of coffee and sugar for tobacco and such other commodities as the "Johnnies" had.

During a portion of the month of January the regiment was commanded by Captain Fairbank, in the absence on leave of Lieutenant-Colonel Barker. Adjutant Haskell also received a leave of absence, and some of the enlisted men were permitted to go home on furlough.

Once or twice battalion drill was ordered on the open ground in rear of the fort; but, as the enemy had perfect range of the place, they did not propose to allow any show or parade in force, and their well-directed shots rendered any exposure for such a purpose impracticable.

Tidings of the steady and successful march of General Sherman's army were frequently received, and information of the capture of Fort Fisher, Wilmington, and Charleston was communicated to the enemy in shotted salutes of one hundred guns from all the batteries in the main line of works.

Toward the close of February there were many indications that the enemy contemplated the evacuation of Petersburg, and attempt a junction with the army of General Johnston in North Carolina. Desertions from the troops along our front became very frequent, and the statements made by these men tended to arouse the apprehension of the commanding officers lest the enemy should elude our grasp. The pickets were kept constantly alert, and on dark and foggy nights scouts were sent out to ascertain if any movement was being made by the enemy. For the month succeeding the 25th of February there were numerous indications of changes in the enemy's position. These movements were accompanied with much yelling and firing on the part of the confederates, and whenever the scouts or skirmishers advanced they were followed to our lines by large numbers of deserters. One night, early in March, we saw the flames of an extensive fire in Petersburg, and heard distinctly the ringing of the bells. The reserves were under arms, and moved up to the main line, prepared to follow any withdrawal of the enemy. After the excitement had subsided the rebel pickets informed us that the fire in the city was accidental. Thus week by week, and month by month, the winter passed away, and the warmer sun and opening ground and balmy air proclaimed the approach of spring, that season for more active and exciting work. Toward the middle of March enormous quantities of supplies were forwarded to the left. The trains were loaded with provisions, and the tops of cars covered with men returning to their regiments from hospitals and convalescent camps.

Old soldiers needed not to be reminded that an active campaign would soon be inaugurated, and with the proverbial instinct begotten of experience began that personal preparation for effective work and rapid marching in selecting what things to throw away. Inspections became more frequent and exacting, and the fact of a speedy movement "was in the air." Sutlers were ordered to City Point. The reserve division was moved to the left of Fort Davis, to stake out and fortify a new defensive line covering the left and rear of the Ninth-Corps line, and in a few days had a strong line of intrenchments.

While these preparations were in progress, in fact, while the army of the Potomac was under marching orders, the enemy suddenly and unexpectedly assumed the offensive. On the night of the 24th of March, the day General Grant issued his orders for a forward movement of his armies, a strong force of the enemy, consisting of Gordon's corps and Bushrod Johnson's division, the whole commanded by General Gordon, was prepared for an attack on the right of the Ninth Corps. Before daylight on the morning of the 25th three heavy columns of the enemy charged and captured the main line on our right from Battery Nine to Fort Haskell, including Fort Stedman, the principal work in that portion of the line. The columns after reaching the works charged to the right and left of the aperture, and advanced a heavy line to the rear to seize the military railroad and sever connections with City Point. By this time a portion of the Third Division, under General Hartranft, reached the scene of action, and attacked the enemy with such vigor as to drive him into Fort Stedman and the adjoining lines. With the reinforcements from this division the troops on the right and left of the works held by the enemy were enabled to form a line perpendicular to the main line, and not only successfully resisted any attempt of the enemy to advance, but confined him to that portion of the line already occupied.

Preparations were at once made to retake the captured line; and General Hartranft's division, by a gallant charge, succeeded in reoccupying the works, and captured more than nineteen hundred prisoners. While this movement was in progress on the right, the troops of the Second and Fifth Corps, on the left of the Ninth, attacked and captured the enemy's strongly intrenched picket line in their front, gaining very valuable ground, capturing nearly a thousand prisoners, repelling several desperate attacks of the enemy to recapture the works.

In the action at Fort Stedman the regiment was represented by Captain Hodgkins, who was serving on the staff of General Hartranft, commanding Third Division. It was an action in which the Ninth Corps won deserved credit, exacting from the enemy a bloody price for his temerity, and fully avenging the disaster at the explosion of the mine eight months before.

Comparative quiet was maintained by the enemy for a few days following their repulse on the 25th. On the 27th General Sheridan and the Cavalry Corps arrived in rear of our lines, and moved to the left. On the 29th the surplus artillery of the army of the Potomac, two hundred pieces, was sent to the Ninth Corps, and the several corps designated for the turning movement on the left moved out. The operations of the army had begun on a grand scale.

CHAPTER XXVI.
THE FINAL ASSAULT AT PETERSBURG.

The enemy's works from the Appomattox to a point in front of Fort Sedgwick were part of the old interior line of defences. At this point the old line turned to the enemy's right, forming an angle, but the works were continued parallel with our front by a kind of spur, which diverged from an old line and swept down toward Hatcher's Run. The Ninth Corps fronted the whole of this old line to the angle and about two miles of the spur. When the main army moved to the left, on the 29th of March, the corps was disposed so as to hold our front line to Fort Davis, and a line of works running back from that point and covering our left and rear. In other words our left was curved backward into a fish-hook shape, and our position became isolated.

On the night of the 29th a considerable detail of the regiment was sent out to level a disused parapet, some two or three hundred yards in front of the fort. While at work the men were startled at about ten o'clock by the sound of rapid cannonading on the right. Looking toward the Appomattox they saw the air filled with shells, the burning fuses appearing like gigantic fireflies. It was an attractive spectacle, and for a few moments the men leaned on their spades and gazed; but as the firing ran rapidly down the line, and mortar-batteries and pickets began to open in their immediate front, there was a sudden and unanimous decision that a view from the inside of the fort was not only preferable, but of the most pressing importance. The regiment turned out and took position in the fort ready for action, but nothing occurred beyond the noise and a few casualties.

General Parke received orders on Thursday afternoon, the 30th, to assault the enemy's works at some point in his front, at four o'clock, the following morning. The point of attack was left to his discretion. He had already selected the position in front of Fort "Hell" (Sedgwick), on the Jerusalem Plank road, and at nightfall Hartranft's division and Potter's division, except the Thirty-sixth and the other regiments garrisoning the forts, were massed in rear of Fort Sedgwick. Before midnight, however, orders were received suspending the assault, the troops were returned to their camps, and, although everything was constantly on the qui vive, there was no movement for the ensuing two days.

Shortly before five o'clock on Saturday, the 1st of April, General Parke received orders to assault at four o'clock the next morning, and the same dispositions were made as before. At ten minutes before ten in the evening came a telegram from General Meade, directing Parke to open all his artillery at once, push forward skirmishers, and follow them up with columns of assault. Before the necessary arrangements were completed these orders were modified by instructions that the assault in force should be contingent on developments of weakness on the part of the enemy. The artillery opened, and the skirmishers demonstrated all along the line. The enemy was found to be in force and everywhere prepared except opposite the line between Forts Hays and Howard, where Griffin's brigade of our division surprised and captured two hundred and fifty pickets. The original plan was accordingly adhered to, and preparations for assaulting at four o'clock the next morning were made.

At three o'clock General Parke entered Fort Rice, and established his head-quarters for the coming battle. Potter's and Hartranft's divisions, and Harriman's brigade of Willcox's,—all of which had been lying massed behind Fort Sedgwick for two hours,—moved forward at the same hour and formed a column between our main line and picket line. The enemy's pickets were in close proximity to ours, but the movement was executed so quietly as to give no warning to them. The formation was in column of regiments. On the right of the Jerusalem Plank road, its left resting on the road, was Hartranft's division of Pennsylvanians, six regiments, the Two hundred and seventh leading; the Two hundredth and Two hundred and ninth were held in reserve. On the right of Hartranft was a second column, consisting of Harriman's brigade, of Willcox's division, five regiments, with the Thirty-eighth Wisconsin leading, and the Twenty-seventh Michigan and Thirty-seventh Wisconsin in reserve. On the left of the Jerusalem Plank road, right resting on the road, was a third column, our own division, minus the Thirty-sixth and five other regiments which were in the forts. Griffin's brigade, six regiments, led by the One hundred and seventy-ninth New York, had the advance, supported by our own brigade, Curtin's, with the Thirty-ninth New Jersey in front, followed in order by the Forty-eighth Pennsylvania, the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, and Fifty-eighth Massachusetts. At the head of each of these three columns was a storming party, flanked by pioneers with axes to cut away abatis, etc.; and a detail of one hundred men from the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery accompanied them to serve captured guns. Ely's brigade, of Willcox's division, occupied our line from the Appomattox to near Fort Morton, opposite the Crater, and the Fifty-first Pennsylvania, of Harriman's brigade, was stretched along the part of the line at the Crater vacated by its brigade on the moving to the left to join in the main assault. To mislead the enemy as to the real point of attack, these troops on the right were ordered to make a strong demonstration at four o'clock, which was to be followed by the advance of the three columns along the Jerusalem Plank road.

Such was the situation in the trenches at Petersburg just before dawn on that eventful April day. Only a few hundred yards in our front, veiled partly by darkness and partly by the morning mist, stood the grim fortifications which had so long defied us that they had begun to seem impregnable. Behind them lay the left wing of that army whose right had been driven the day before, reeling and bleeding, from the field of Five Forks. Upon the valor of this unscathed remnant depended the salvation of Lee, and, knowing the quality of that valor, there were few in Fort Rice whose hearts did not beat anxiously for the columns in blue out there in front of Fort Hell, silently awaiting the signal to advance. Along the opposing line our chief of artillery counted ninety-one guns, ranging from six-pounders to eight-inch columbiads (one of which we remember as making some very poor practice at our signal station in the rear of Fort Rice), and thirty-five mortars, from Coehorns to ten-inch. Against them we had four four and one-half inch Parrotts, eleven thirty-pounder Parrotts, forty-two light twelve-pounders, thirty-four three-inch Rodmans, four ten-inch, fourteen eight-inch, and twenty-two Coehorn mortars,—in all ninety-one guns and forty mortars. Just what troops were in our front it is impossible to tell. The prisoners brought into Fort Rice during the day were Alabamians; and a rebel colonel, who was interviewed at Farmville by a member of the Thirty-sixth, said he commanded an Alabama brigade occupying the line opposite Fort Rice. The salient opposite us (Miller's or Reeves') appears to have been manned by a battery from Mobile. Our old friends of the Thirty-fourth Virginia (Bushrod Johnson's division) were relieved several days before the assault, and were at Five Forks. The difficulty is that the rebels made no official reports of the closing engagements of the war, and such unofficial accounts as are accessible are meagre in details.

At four o'clock the artillery opened and fired vigorously for several minutes. Then Willcox made his demonstrations on the right. The Fifty-first Pennsylvania captured some of the pickets at the Crater, and Ely's brigade carried about two hundred yards of the enemy's main line; but were finally compelled to fall back. At half-past four the main attack began. The columns moved at quick time and very little cheering. The picket line was broken instantly. As we stood at the parapet in Fort Rice, peering into the mist, we could see little or nothing of the assault; but we could hear the blows of the pioneers' axes on the chevaux de frise, and the shouts of command. The musketry fire of the enemy increased, and following the flash of their cannon we could distinguish the "whish" of the double charges of canister. Presently new sounds came over the field. Exultant Yankee cheers told us our boys were inside the works. Then we heard short, sharp summons to surrender, coupled with epithets and rifle-shots, as the "Johnnies" took the chances of flight. The first gray-back we saw was a short, jaunty chap, who trudged across the field, toward the fort, alone and quite unconcerned, passed through a little gap in the abatis, climbed the parapet, and, coolly bidding us good-morning, asked if we had some hard bread and coffee. As he sat in the bomb-proof and regaled himself he told us he belonged to a Mobile battery in position opposite us, and that when he heard the Yanks coming he prudently retired to the magazine, only to emerge after his battery had been cleaned out, and the Yanks were in full possession. Afterward a considerable party of prisoners were brought in,—Alabamians, a sullen, indomitable-looking crowd, boasting of how they would have whipped us if they had had nearer our numbers. The captures in this charge were twelve guns and eight hundred prisoners. Describing the assault, General Parke says in his official report:—

"The stormers and pioneers rushed on, and under a most galling fire cut away and made openings in the enemy's abatis and chevaux de frise. They, now closely followed by the assaulting columns, which, undeterred by an exceedingly severe fire of cannon, mortar, and musketry from the now aroused main line, pressed gallantly on, capturing the enemy's works in their front. Colonel Harriman's column, reinforced by the two reserve regiments, swept up to the right until the whole of what was called by the enemy 'Miller's salient' was in our possession. Potter's column swept down to the left. This part of the enemy's line was heavily traversed, affording him a strong foothold, and he fought from traverse to traverse with great tenacity. We drove him slowly back for about a quarter of a mile, when, being reinforced and aided by strong positions in the rear, he checked our further progress in that direction. A most gallant, but unsuccessful, attempt was made to carry his rear line. The captured guns were at once turned upon the enemy, served at first by Infantry volunteers, and then by details from the First Connecticut Heavy Artillery volunteers from the batteries in the rear.

"Just after we broke through the enemy's lines, and at a most critical time, I was deprived of the valuable services of Brevet Major-General Potter, who was severely and dangerously wounded. I directed Brigadier-General S. G. Griffin to assume command of his division, and by him the division was ably and gallantly commanded during the rest of the day. It being by this time fully daylight, no further attempt was made to advance; but attention was turned to securing what we had gained, and restoring the organization of the troops, unavoidably much shattered by the heavy fighting and the advance over broken ground in the darkness.

"This was rendered the more difficult by the great loss we had sustained in officers, especially field officers, and by the very exposed position occupied by our troops. The captured line was promptly recovered, and made tenable as possible, the difficulty being increased by the forts and batteries on that line being open in the rear.

"By reason of these untoward circumstances much time elapsed before I considered the troops in sufficiently good shape for another forward movement, and in the meantime I received, at 7.30 A.M., the following despatch:—

"'Head-quarters Army Potomac,
7.26 A.M., April 2d, 1865.

"'Maj. Gen. Parke,—General Meade sends for information the following from the Lieut. Gen.

"'As I understand it, Parke is attacking the main line of works around Petersburg, whilst the others are only attacking an outer line which the enemy might give up without giving up Petersburg. Parke should either advance rapidly, or cover his men and hold all he gets.

'ALEX. S. WEBB,
Bvt. Maj. Gen. and Chief of Staff.'

"At 7.45 I received the following despatch:—

"'Head-quarters Army Potomac,
April 2d, 1865, 7.40.

"'Maj. Gen. Parke,—The General Commanding directs that you hold on to all you have got, and not to advance unless you see your way clear.

'ALEX. S. WEBB,
Bvt. Maj. Gen. and Chief of Staff.'

"About this time the enemy made an attempt to get up a charge on us, but our fire was so hot that they did not get many men outside their lines.

"We then held a distance of about four hundred yards on each side of the Jerusalem Plank road, including several forts and redans. The enemy made no further movements, with the exception of being very busy, planting more guns, and keeping up an incessant and murderous fire of sharp-shooters, until just before eleven o'clock, when he made a heavy and determined assault on the captured line; but we repulsed him at all points, with much loss. It being evident to me that the enemy was resolved to regain, at all hazards, the portion of their lines held by us, and nearly all my reserve being in, and learning from General Wright that he was moving toward Hatcher's Run, leaving a wide gap between us, I deemed it advisable to report the state of affairs to army head-quarters, and request reinforcements.

"The request was promptly complied with, and Benham's and Collis' brigade from City Point, and Hamlin's brigade of the Sixth Corps, were ordered to my support. The enemy continued to make heavy and desperate attempts to recapture his lost works, but without success. But, though my men stood up nobly to their work, this long and wearisome struggle was beginning to tell upon them."

At about three P.M. the enemy succeeded in regaining a few of the traverses on the left, which gave them a flank fire upon a small detached work on the left of Plank road, held by one of the regiments of Curtin's brigade, and occasioned its temporary abandonment; but, General Collis reporting to me with his brigade about this time, I at once put him in under direction of General Griffin, and the enemy was again driven from the portion of the line he had just retaken.

Between four and five o'clock P.M. General Hamlin arrived, with his brigade from the Sixth Corps, and I directed him to report to General Hartranft, by whom he was placed in support of the left of his line. These reinforcements having rendered my line secure I was disposed to make another effort to drive the enemy from his position in the rear, but the exhausted condition of my troops forced me to reluctantly abandon the idea.

"We accordingly strengthened ourselves as much as possible, whenever practicable transferring the enemy's chevaux de frise to the front of the reversed line and on the right, connecting by a cross-line the extreme point we held with our main line."

General Hartranft speaks in his report of three rebel charges to retake the works,—one at quarter past eleven A.M., one at five minutes past one P.M., and one at three P.M. These charges were delivered from the line of works in the rear of and commanding the captured line. The assault at three o'clock was in plain view from Fort Rice, and seemed to us the most formidable. Collis' brigade, consisting of the Sixty-eighth and One hundred and fourteenth Pennsylvania, the Twentieth New York State Militia, and the Sixty-first Massachusetts, was just going up to the line, when the rebels emerged from their works and came on with such steadiness and determination that a portion of our line wavered, as we could plainly see, and many men broke precipitately to the rear. Collis' line appeared to waver too, as if undetermined whether to go forward to the line or fall back. It was a critical moment. General Parke and his staff watched, with evident anxiety. All day long the boys had laid along that line under a galling fire from front and flank. A heavy mortar, planted at our right, between the enemy's first and second line, in a pit fifteen or twenty feet deep, as we afterward discovered, had kept up a fatal practice upon them in spite of all our gunners' efforts to silence it. Traverse by traverse they had driven the "Johnnies" down the line, paying for every foot of ground with their blood; and now it looked as if all might be lost. But no! Where one man quailed, a dozen stood undaunted, answering the rebel yell with Yankee cheers and bullet. We saw some of our color-bearers leap upon the works and wave the flags. It was like an inspiration. The line became firm. Collis' brigade wavered but for a moment, and then swept forward magnificently and opened fire. The gallant Connecticut Heavies, who were serving the guns in the captured works, stuck to business unflinchingly, only piling in the canister a little faster when the infantry line showed signs of weakening. There was a mighty cheer as we saw the column of gray break and surge back whence it came. We could hardly have been more exultant, indeed, had we known then that the last armed rebel we were destined to behold had disappeared forever from our view.

Although the Thirty-sixth took no active part in this engagement, as a regiment, many of the men performed laborious and dangerous service in carrying ammunition up to the captured line. Major Raymond, of General Potter's staff, Major Hodgkins, of General Hartranft's, and Captain Ames, of General Curtin's, were of course actively engaged. As a matter of general interest, a tabular statement of the losses in the corps are appended:—

Command.Killed.Wounded.Missing.Total.Aggregate.
C.O.E.M.C.O.E.M.C.O.E.M.C.O.E.M.
First Division1282220612224256280
Second Division101103756439450731781
Third Division7912543014035561594
Artillery Brigade612012627
Total18235851,21051561101,5741,682

CHAPTER XXVII.
CLOSING SCENES.

Heavy skirmishing was kept up during the night along the Ninth-Corps line, and the batteries on our right opened at short intervals, according to orders. The regiments of our brigade which had borne the brunt of the fighting the day before were relieved, and returned to their former positions in the main line about midnight. The evacuation of Petersburg was anticipated, and General Parke instructed the troops to exercise the greatest vigilance, in order to detect at the earliest possible moment any movement of the enemy. Soon after midnight the skirmishers advanced, but found the enemy's pickets still out in strong force. Explosions occurred in the city, and all indications pointed to a speedy retreat.

After an anxious, wakeful night to the garrison of Fort Rice, the morning of the 3d of April dawned clear and beautiful. With the first approach of day the troops in front advanced, found the enemy's works deserted save by a few pickets, who were captured, and pushed forward toward the city only to find that it had already been abandoned. The first sound that greeted our ears was the glad cry, "Our flag waves over Petersburg!" It was, indeed, true. The sound of battle had died away. The enemy, who had withstood our advance for so many months, had vanished from our view. Ely's brigade of the First Division was the first to enter Petersburg. The formal surrender was made to Colonel Ely at twenty-eight minutes past four A.M., and the flag of the Second Michigan was hoisted over the Court-House. Great cheering followed, which was renewed later by the receipt of the glorious tidings that our army was in possession of Richmond, and that the enemy was in full retreat.

Soon after daylight the troops returned from the city to their former positions, to prepare for a forward movement. Orders were received to break camp, and be ready to march at a moment's notice. Haversacks were filled, and everything was prepared for an immediate advance. Never were marching orders more cheerfully obeyed. The day, for which we had toiled, and fought, and prayed so long, had dawned upon us, and few, indeed, of that garrison resisted the impulse to ascribe all the glory to the God of battles. Soon after sunrise the regiment partook of its last breakfast in the bomb-proofs of Fort Rice, which had been its home for four months. At nine o'clock orders were received to move in the direction of Petersburg, and in a short time the command moved over the breastworks, across the picket line, through the enemy's defences which had been the scene of the sanguinary battle of the day before, and marched to Cemetery Hill, where a halt was ordered. While resting here a cavalcade approached. It was the escort of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States. As the men recognized Mr. Lincoln their enthusiasm could not be restrained, and amid the thundering cheers which he graciously acknowledged, the President rode on toward the city, where he received a grand ovation.

At eleven o'clock the column marched into the city, by the main street, and we were soon surrounded by the colored people, who gave expression to their joy in tears and smiles and shouts of welcome. Hundreds of children thronged around the soldiers, and many asked for bread, which was freely given to them by the happy men. Many of the soldiers divided their substance with the poor whites remaining in the town, and one of our men was seen feeding five little children at one time with the rations which he carried, leaving him a short supply for the next three days. We were soon informed that the reason of this keen desire for food was owing to the fact that for some time previous the price of flour had been $1,050 a barrel! At such a price, with scarcity of Confederate scrip, it is not to be wondered at that many poor people were made happy at the sight and taste of bread.

At noon the corps was concentrated in the city proper. The remainder of the Army of the Potomac, without even entering the city which it had besieged for ten weary months, had hurried westward, to intercept the retreating enemy, and was marching on the river road. General Parke was ordered to leave one division to guard Petersburg and the railroad, and move with the rest of his corps, as guard for the wagon-trains, on the Cox road. At one o'clock the preparations were completed, and the Second and Third Divisions resumed the march, the Second having the right, leaving the First Division to guard the city. About a mile and a half west of the city the road forks: the northern road (nearest the Appomattox) being called the river road; the southern, which runs parallel with the Southside Railroad and crosses it many times, being called the Cox road. Just west of Sutherland Station, where Sheridan's force struck the railroad, the river road forks, the southern fork being known as the Namozine road, named from the stream whose course it follows. The regiment marched all the afternoon, and at night bivouacked beyond Sutherland Station, twelve miles from Petersburg, on the Southside Railroad. Generals Grant and Meade slept there that night.

On the 4th the march was resumed. The roads were badly cut up, and the enormous trains, with the reserve artillery, moved slowly, rendering the march difficult and tedious. The country improved in appearance as we advanced westward. The peach-trees were in full blossom, and everything about us tended to inspire hope and courage. We passed several hospitals filled with the enemy's wounded, and during the day many rebel prisoners passed to our rear en route for Petersburg under guard. Nearly all of them were worn down with hard fighting and hunger, and many were fed from the commissary supply train. At night the regiment bivouacked near Beasley's,—a great tobacco plantation,—about twenty-five miles from Petersburg, the division occupying a line seventeen miles in extent, covering an extended front, and picketing all the roads leading south.

On the 5th the march was resumed. The movement was from left to right, covering the entire line of road occupied by the moving trains. The division on the left of the line moved first to the right, and extended the line in that direction, covering the Southside Railroad. At night the regiment bivouacked at Black's and White's Station, thirty-five miles from Petersburg. On the sixth, at noon, the regiment left camp and marched ten miles, to Nottaway Court-house, where corps head-quarters had been established. Here the regiment was detailed to guard a supply train to army head-quarters, which were supposed to be at or near Jetersville, a station on the Richmond and Danville Railroad, about fifteen miles north of Nottaway Court-house. We marched all night over a rough road, and reached Jetersville at eight o'clock, on the morning of the 7th, to find that army head-quarters had moved during the night to High Bridge, on the Southside Railroad, and were still some fifteen miles in advance of us.

After a short halt, for the men to make coffee and the teams to be fed, we moved forward, following the line of the Danville Railroad in the direction of Burkesville. Arriving within five miles of the latter place, our direction was again changed to the north-west, and the regiment proceeded across the country to Rice's Station, on the Southside Railroad, which place was reached about eight o'clock on the morning of the 8th. The regiment had now been marching two days and nights in search of army head-quarters, without sleep, having halted for refreshment but twice since leaving Black's and White's, and then only long enough to make coffee. At Rice's Station the regiment was relieved from further guard duty with the train, and went into camp. In the meantime the remainder of the brigade had moved forward to Burkesville, about eight miles in our rear. A despatch was at once sent to General Curtin, commanding the brigade, informing him of our position, and asking for orders; in reply to which we received orders to proceed to Farmville, ten miles in advance, on the Southside Railroad, and relieve the provost-guard at that place.

On the morning of the 9th, the regiment marched to Farmville, a town situated on the Appomattox river, five miles west of High Bridge, and fifteen miles north-west of Burkesville. We reached this place about noon. The regiment was at once detailed as provost-guard, and Lieutenant-Colonel Barker was appointed provost-marshal. The town contained a population of about two thousand; and here we found a large number of wounded Confederate soldiers, and many prisoners captured in the movement to this place a day or two before. The troops relieved by our regiment moved westward, to join their commands in the pursuit of Lee's army. This was the ever memorable day when, at half-past three o'clock in the afternoon, General Lee, at Appomattox Court-House, twenty miles distant, surrendered the remnant of the army of Northern Virginia to General Grant.

Intelligence of the surrender was quickly transmitted to head-quarters, and no pen can portray the effect upon the men as the glorious news spread from camp to camp like a conflagration. Men who in the stern hour of battle had been unmoved and undaunted; in gloom and disaster cheerful and hopeful; in hunger, privation, weariness, and sickness calm and unruffled,—now shouted and wept in turns like children, and gave expression to their feelings in yells of delight. The goal had at length been won; the trials and hardships and sufferings of weary years had culminated in victory. Some of the men of our regiment, on duty at the church, entered it for the purpose of ringing the bell, but could find no bell-rope. Not to be baffled in his purpose, Michael Sullivan, of Company F, climbed up through a scuttle-hole over the gallery, and found a ladder under the seats, by which he ascended into the belfry. There remained about six inches of rope attached to the tongue of the bell, which he seized and struck with all his force, his head meanwhile being inside the bell. He rang the bell as long as his strength would permit, and its joyful peal was heard with astonishment by the town's people, and great delight by the troops. At night bonfires were blazing everywhere, and a long time elapsed before quiet was restored.

The next day the remainder of the brigade moved to Farmville, and encamped south-west of the town. General Curtin was assigned to duty as post commander. Division and corps head-quarters remained at Burkesville. Lieutenant-Colonel Barker, as provost-marshal, established his head-quarters in a large building formerly used as a store, situated on the main street, in the central part of the town. The regiment was quartered in the town, and furnished safeguards of from one to five men to protect the property of the citizens in various places in the surrounding country. Guard duty in the town was also performed by the regiment. The duty was arduous and wearisome, as it included not only the regular guard duty, but the labor of issuing rations to the impoverished citizens, who poured into the town from all directions for food. A careful record was preserved of all to whom relief was afforded, with the quantity of rations issued to each, involving a vast amount of clerical labor. In addition to this duty paroles were made out for all the Confederate prisoners found in the place, and for hundreds of others who came to the village from Appomattox Court-House. During the stay of the regiment at this place the following number of Confederate soldiers were paroled by the provost-marshal:—

Officers and men in the General Hospital582
Officers in the Institute22
Detailed Hospital Attendants34
Hospital Stewards4
From the field of Appomattox1,742
Total2,384

On Saturday, April 15th, Captain Henry S. Burrage, who had been absent since November 1st, when he was captured in front of Petersburg, returned to the regiment, and on the following day he was appointed Acting Assistant Adjutant-General on General Curtin's staff. Late in the afternoon of that day a telegram was received from Washington, announcing the assassination of President Lincoln. At first this information was regarded as a hoax or a camp rumor; but all doubt was soon banished, and the sad intelligence was confirmed in the formal announcement of his death by General Meade.

The sad intelligence cast a shadow of gloom over the entire nation; but nowhere was the sorrow more profound than among the soldiers of the army of the Potomac. The closing days of that wonderful life had been spent in its camps, and within sound of some of its last terrible battles. The heart almost crushed by the burden of responsibility and care, borne throughout the long years of war, had been lightened and cheered by its glorious victories, and the men were bound to him by ties of admiration and affection. The general sorrow which pervaded the army was shared by the citizens of Virginia. They felt that the South had lost its best friend, and while they appreciated and applauded the magnanimity of General Grant, now that the war was virtually ended, they relied upon the warm heart of the President to inaugurate measures for reconstruction which should unite the hearts of the people of the North and the South. Nowhere was this feeling more general than among the people of Farmville. As soon as the death of the President was formally announced the Mayor, in accordance with the generally expressed wish of the citizens, convened the Common Council, and the following official action was taken:—

Town Hall, Farmville, Va., April 18th, 1865.

A called meeting of the Common Council of Farmville was held this day at Town Hall.

The object of the meeting being explained, and an official communication from General Curtin, commanding this post, having been read, announcing the death by assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, and the orders of the General commanding this department as to the proper observance of the day of the funeral obsequies of the late President, the following action was taken:—

Resolved, That the Common Council of the Town of Farmville have heard with profound regret the tragic fate of the late President of the United States; that we regard the event as a great national calamity, particularly and especially to the South; and while we deplore the country's loss, we at the same time feel the warmest sympathy for the family whose head has been so suddenly and ruthlessly hurried into eternity.

Resolved, That we cordially approve and will conform to the order of the Commanding General in the proper observance of the day of the burial of the late President, and recommend to the citizens suspension of all business operations, and unite in the common hope that this afflictive dispensation of Providence may not impede the restoration of peace and happiness to our country.

Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be furnished General Curtin, commanding post.

(Signed) W. W. H. THACKSTON, Mayor.

J. H. Mottley, Clerk.

The day following (April 19th) being the day appointed for the funeral obsequies of the lamented President at the national capital, in accordance with general orders from the commanding General, all unnecessary labor was suspended. It was a day of sadness in the camps, though the sun shone brightly and the songs of birds filled the air. In the afternoon a memorial service was held in the Presbyterian church, which was very largely attended by the citizens and soldiers, and a memorial discourse was delivered by Rev. Mr. Severance, of Farmville. As the congregation sat in reverent attitude, listening to the solemn music and the words of prayer and eulogy, it was hard to realize that the beloved President had indeed finished the work of life. We remembered him then as we had seen him on that triumphant morning, only sixteen days before, when, in response to our thundering cheers, the careworn face was lighted with joyful smiles as he rode into the city which the victorious army of the Potomac had won.

Now a whole nation was in tears. In one short week it had been plunged from the summit of happiness into the valley of mourning. Flags, lately mast-head high in every breeze, were trailing, and joyful hearts were in sorrow at the great calamity which had befallen the nation. Nowhere was Lincoln more beloved and honored than in the army, and nowhere that day were there deeper expressions of sincere and poignant grief.

On the 21st of April our stay at Farmville came to a sudden end, upon the receipt of orders to march to Petersburg and City Point. The brigade, with the exception of the Thirty-sixth, had marched the day before. At half-past seven A.M. the regiment left Farmville and marched, via Rice's Station, to Burkesville, where we arrived at four P.M. Here we received the gratifying intelligence that the remainder of the journey was to be made in cars, and not on foot. A train was soon in readiness, and at eight o'clock P.M. we left Burkesville, and, at a rate not exceeding five miles an hour, proceeded to City Point, which place was reached at four o'clock on the morning of the 22d. As the journey was made direct, passing through Petersburg in the night by rail, we had no opportunity of looking again upon the scenes of our battles and hardships for ten weary months. It would have been gratifying had we been permitted to survey the scene of the battles in June, the crater and the lines of earthworks, undisturbed and in security from the deadly bullet; but it was destined that our latest recollection of that war-scarred ground should be associated with the scenes of strife and carnage.

Upon reaching City Point the regiment went into camp not far from the landing, to await the arrival of the remainder of the brigade, which was marching by the highway. On the 24th, at noon, the brigade arrived, and went into camp near by, and on the 26th, at ten o'clock at night, we went on board the steamer "Vidette," and lay at the wharf until daylight, when we steamed down the James river, past historic scenes, reaching Fortress Monroe at two P.M. The journey was continued, and Alexandria was reached at noon of the 28th. The brigade marched through Alexandria in column of companies, and proceeded to the high ground beyond the city, in front of Fort Lyon, where we found, in a comfortable camp, that portion of the corps which had preceded us.

On the 30th, Private James Dolligan, of Company K, one of the men transferred from the Twenty-first, was instantly killed, while sitting in his tent, by the careless firing of some colored troops, who were discharging their pieces near by. This was the last casualty in the regiment.

Camp-life near Alexandria was comparatively easy and pleasant. Many of the restraints of the service were removed, although the discipline was fully maintained. The men were allowed more personal liberty; many were permitted to visit Washington, and many others availed themselves of the opportunity of visiting Mount Vernon, which, throughout the war, had been regarded as sacred ground, and had not been molested by either Confederate or Union troops.

Occasionally the camps were brilliantly illuminated at night. On the night of the 12th of May an unusual scene was witnessed in a torchlight parade. The men had carefully saved all the candles that could be obtained. These were placed in the muzzles of their guns, the muskets being used as torches. After forming in line of battle many evolutions were executed, and the various movements presented a novel and beautiful spectacle to all beholders.

On the 21st of May the long-expected and eagerly awaited orders were received from the War Department for the speedy muster-out of all regiments whose term of service should expire before October 1st. Preparations for this happy event began immediately. Soon the camp was in a state of busy excitement. Cracker-boxes and barrel-heads were converted into use as tables, and all the camp-writers were busily engaged in preparing muster-out rolls and discharge papers.

This agreeable employment was interrupted temporarily by orders to proceed to Washington, and participate in the grand reviews of the army of the Potomac and the West. Early on the morning of the 22d of May the regiment, with the entire corps, proceeded in light marching order to Washington, and bivouacked for the night on the open ground east of the capitol. On the morning of the 23d the men were astir early, preparing for the review. The Ninth Corps followed the cavalry, having the right of the column of infantry. The corps marched in column of companies at half distance, with a front of eighteen files. The First Division, constituting the garrison of the defences of Washington, had the extreme right, and was followed by the Second and Third Divisions, with their respective brigades, in numerical order. The day was superb. Not a cloud obscured the sun, and none who marched in the ranks of the veteran and victorious army of the Potomac on that brilliant day will ever forget the splendid pageant.

The infantry, being in light marching order, presented a fine appearance. The men were dressed in their best, wore white gloves, and nearly all carried bouquets in the muzzles of their guns. The tattered, blood-stained banners were garlanded with flowers, and many of the officers' horses wore brilliant wreaths. Great preparation had been made for this magnificent pageant. Stands for spectators had been erected at every convenient spot, and the great crowds in attendance were excited to the highest pitch of enthusiasm by the martial display. Thousands of school-children sang patriotic songs and showered bouquets of flowers as the column passed. At the White House great stands had been erected on both sides of the avenue, and at this point, amid immense cheering and the thunder of artillery, the army passed in review before President Johnson, the leading Generals, and the Governors of the States. Here one face was missing. Here all that seemed wanting to complete the sense of triumph was the form of Abraham Lincoln, at whose call these veterans had left their homes in defence of their country, and who, since the close of the fighting, had been called to his reward. Recollections of him, and the memory of comrades who had fallen rushed upon us. Our feelings found fitting expression in the language of Brownell's poem:—

"And in all our pride to-day,
We think, with a tender pain,
Of those who are far away;
They will not come home again.

"And, lo! from a thousand fields,
From all the old battle-haunts,
A greater army than Sherman wields,
A grander review than Grant's!

"Gathered home from the grave,
Risen from sun and rain,
The legions of our brave
Are all in the ranks again.

"The colors ripple o'erhead,
The drums roll up to the sky,
And with martial time and tread
The regiments all pass by,—
The ranks of our faithful dead
Meeting their President's eye."

For more than six hours the march continued through the streets of Washington, amid scenes as magnificent as those when the armies of Rome carried their victorious eagles through the streets of the Eternal City. After passing in review, the regiment continued its march through Georgetown, and at night occupied its regular camp.

After this all was bustle and activity in preparation for our muster-out and return home. Day after day the air was filled with the music, and cheers, and good-byes of the troops who had been mustered-out, as they left their comrades in battle and the scenes of war, to go to their homes and engage in the pursuits of peaceful life. Reviews and parades were substituted for guard duty and drill. On the 3d of June, the anniversary of the terrible day at Cold Harbor, General Parke reviewed the Second Division, and on the 5th General Curtin, temporarily in command of General Hartranft's division, was tendered a complimentary review by the regiments of his old (First) brigade. This was the last parade of this veteran brigade, and elicited the following commendation from General Curtin:—

Head-quarters Third Division, Ninth Army Corps,
Near Alexandria, Va., June 6, 1865.

To the Officers and Men of the First Brigade, Second Division, Ninth Army Corps:—

I desire to express to you, one and all, my heartfelt appreciation of the kindly feelings which prompted the review of last evening. On that occasion your appearance was as gratifying to me as honorable to yourselves. In your movements you exhibited that true soldierly bearing which, on the field and in the camp, has ever distinguished the soldiers of this brigade. In the Carolinas, in Maryland, in Kentucky, in Mississippi, in Tennessee, and in Virginia, your valor and heroic endurance have won for you an imperishable name. Victory has at length crowned your efforts, and the efforts of the brave men associated with you.

In parting with you who are about to repair to your homes allow me to express my sincere thanks for the prompt and cheerful manner in which you have at all times performed every duty while under my command. To those of you who remain allow me to say, be patient. I trust the day is not far distant when it will be practicable for you, also, to return to your homes. Until that day arrives let your bearing be such as not to detract from, but to add to, your present well-earned reputation. As you go to your homes you will bear with you the proud consciousness of duty successfully performed, and will receive from your countrymen the applause of a grateful people; while in all the years to come, as you revert to the scenes now so rapidly closing, it will be your pride to say, "I fought with Burnside and the Ninth Army Corps," and there will be associated with all this your part in the history of the First Brigade, Second Division.

To the families and friends of your comrades, who have so nobly fallen in the defence of their country, I tender my heartfelt sympathy.

JOHN I. CURTIN,
Brevet Brigadier-General.

On the 6th all preparations for muster-out having been completed, orders were received for the regiment to be in readiness to depart on the following day. That evening the regiment organized a torchlight procession, and, escorted by the brigade band, marched to the camp of our comrades of the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania. It was the last time these organizations, which had been so intimately associated since September, 1862, were to meet as regiments. During the entire term of the Thirty-sixth, through all the vicissitudes of its service, this gallant regiment of Pennsylvanians had never been separated from it; and in every battle in which we had been engaged we had felt their strong support upon our right or left.

After a season of fraternal conversation Colonel Gregg, of the Forty-fifth, delivered the following address:—

"Officers and Men of the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts Volunteers:—

"Nearly three years of toil and blood have passed since our first acquaintance with you. Thinned in numbers, we had then just left the victorious fields of South Mountain and Antietam. From that day to the present—in camp, on the toilsome march, and in the conflict of battle—you have stood side by side with us, contending for our country against treason and oppression. Your record is one of which the glorious old Bay State may well be proud; and we are sure she will ever count your organization one of the noblest she has sent to the field.

"Amid scenes of conflict we have learned to love and honor you; and as the blood of our heroes has there mingled together, so have our hearts been united in one fraternal bond of union, which time cannot sever. With the brave men of the Thirty-sixth by our side, we were always sure of hearty support and final victory; each vied with the other in deeds of valor and trials of endurance, and both shared equally the honors won.

"Together we have thus fought, together we have rejoiced and wept,—rejoiced at the success of our united arms, wept for the fallen brave around us.

"Now all is changed. The white-winged messenger of Peace beckons us from scenes of conflict to once more resume the avocations of industry and domestic tranquillity. You are about to leave us and return to your homes in the old Bay State. We have met probably for the last time. Here, under the folds of our colors, let us strengthen these feelings of love and affection which have so closely united our destinies in the field. Let us, also, in remembrance of our comrades who have so nobly fallen, and whose memory we will always cherish, pledge ourselves anew to the flag and the country we love.

"Brave and faithful sons of Massachusetts, the victory is won! Return to your homes, and, as you recount the valor of your arms, say that the Keystone boys of the Forty-fifth, sons of your ancient sires, defended with you the liberties of our fathers assailed by rebellion and wrong.

"Comrades of the Thirty-sixth, we bid you an affectionate farewell!"

This address was received with great applause. Appropriate responses were made by members of the Thirty-sixth; and we returned, late at night, with the conviction that we bore with us the esteem and affection of that gallant regiment.

On the march back to their quarters the regiment halted at the camp of each regiment of the brigade, and exchanged farewell cheers and greetings with our comrades, who were to remain in the service yet a little longer.

On the eighth of June, in accordance with orders, the recruits and the Twenty-first men were transferred to the Fifty-sixth Massachusetts, and the regiment was mustered-out of the service of the United States by Lieutenant Rose, division mustering-officer. At three o'clock P.M., escorted by the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, Colonel Gregg, and the brigade band, we marched to Alexandria. The Forty-fifth had made special preparations for this parade. All the non-commissioned officers carried small American flags on their bayonets, and the regiment presented a splendid appearance. At Alexandria we bade our comrades good-by with cheers, and embarked for Washington. After considerable delay at the latter place cars were loaded with the troops and baggage, and the homeward journey commenced. Many delays and discomforts attended this journey; but they were all borne with a spirit of equanimity and resignation, because we knew this to be the last excursion of the kind we should ever make. Philadelphia was reached at noon of the 9th, and the regiment enjoyed the hospitality of the city at the famous Cooper Shop refreshment-rooms, receiving a warm greeting, and obtaining abundant cheer, and much-needed rest. Late in the afternoon the journey was resumed. New York was reached during the night, and the regiment marched to the battery, where quarters were provided. The next day, about noon, the regiment took the cars on the Shore line. Soon we were within the limits of the dear old mother Commonwealth, and on the evening of the 10th we arrived at Readville, where we pitched our tents for the last time. During the following day, Sunday, many friends and former comrades visited the camp, and warm welcomes were extended. On Monday, the 12th, Company B received an ovation from the citizens of Charlestown, and on Tuesday, the 13th, the entire regiment visited the city of Worcester, and received a most hearty and generous public greeting. The little band of bronzed and hardy veterans presented a strange contrast to that regiment of more than one thousand men, who, nearly three years before, had marched the same streets on the journey to the front; but the reception compensated for these years of toil and hardship.

The following account of the reception is taken from the "Worcester Spy" of June 14:—