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.