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At five P.M., May 29th, the fleet of transports, laden with troops, set sail from City Point. A trip down the James, at any time, is not uninteresting; but when accompanied by a fleet of vessels laden with troops, through scenes renowned in early American history, as well as for recent bloody conflicts, all other travel touches the level of stupidity. Here is the site of Jamestown, the first permanent settlement on the continent; there a portion of a wall, a part of the ruins of its first meeting-house; here, also, the same year that brought our Pilgrim Fathers to Plymouth Rock, was sown the seed of discord in African slavery, which was to engulf the nation in a bloody strife. On either side were the ruined mansions and broad acres of Virginia's opulent aristocracy; here Malvern Hill, and, further on, Harrison's Landing, with places of lesser note in McClellan's peninsula campaign.

Speculations were rife as to our destination, which changed into conviction, as we rounded Fortress Monroe, and at half-past nine, the 30th inst., turned our prow up the York River. The morning was clear and cool, and the transports, as they moved forward, looked more like beehives, with swarming freights of blue-coated heroes. At West Point, the confluence of the Pamunkey and Mattapony rivers, word was received that Gen'l Grant had crossed the former river at Hanovertown the day previous, and hence we entered that crooked stream. At its mouth, broad sweeps of marsh line

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it on either side, bounded by wooded bluffs. Some of the transports appeared to be headed north, some south, some east, and some west; in fact, the stream is so crooked that it was humorously stated, one of the neighboring farmers had maintained a fruitless lawsuit for twenty years to determine upon which bank of the stream his farm lay. Late in the evening we arrived at White-House Landing, remaining on board until morning.

Early the 31st, the scene was animating as viewed from our deck. Troops debarked, and, quickly forming, moved out to the fields beyond to make room for others, while large groups clustered under a tree near the ruins of the Custis mansion, giving away to undisguised hilarity. At this mansion Washington had plied his courtship with Widow Custis, but all that remained of the mansion's former grandeur was a desolate chimney. Traces of Sheridan's raid ten days previous lay about, with sickening effluvia, while half-burned ties, and twisted rails, told of former pretensions as a railroad station.

Our march to the front began about three P.M., through, rather than over, roads so powdered that our course could be traced by rising columns of dust in front and rear, which, in settling, reduced features, uniform, and foliage to one common gray. The heat was terrible, not a breath of air relieving its intensity. Sweat trickled down our dusty faces, and our tongues were parched by the quantities of dust inhaled. Occasional traces of mounds remained over the hastily-buried dead of the peninsula campaign, but without a name or distinguishing mark. Deep reverberations were heard through the forests in quick succession, reminding us the deadly fray still progressed, and that the Union commander was in earnest, when he said, "I intend to fight it out on this line, if it takes all summer!" It is said that Alexander the Great when charged by Darius with wanton aggression, replied, "I am master of Asia; if you care to debate the

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point, do so like a man on the field of battle. I shall take care to find you wherever you are." Our modern Alexander believed in the superior courage and endurance of the Union army, and was convinced that the battles of the Army of the Potomac had never been fought through. Satisfied with their invincible spirit, Gen'l Grant gave notice to the enemy that he was master of Virginia, and that he should debate the point only in battle, taking care to find them wherever they were.

About eleven o'clock P.M., we bivouacked at New Castle, but, on the morning of June 1st, received orders from Gen'l Grant to report at New Cold Harbor. This was the original intention, but a clerical error in the order received at White-House Landing, substituted "New Castle" for "New Cold Harbor. The error was a costly one, not so much from the inconvenience and fatigue of the additional march, as, had we arrived the night previous, we could have seized important positions in advance of the rebels, and avoided the fearful loss afterward sustained in attempting to recapture them. A forced march of twenty miles was made, under a scorching sun, over a road ground to powder by the tramp of Sheridan's cavalry the day previous, and through a country fetid with putrefying carcasses of animals, the stench from which was sickening and intolerable.

The morale of the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt. was such that Capt. Denny, Provost Marshal of the Eighteenth Corps, commanding the rear guard, reported only four stragglers from our numbers. At three P. M. we came upon the rear of the Sixth Corps at Old Church, eleven miles from Richmond, this force being en route from the right to the extreme left of the Army of the Potomac.

The Army of the Potomac was the nation's idol. Into it, more than any other army, had been poured unstinted treasures and supplies; but divided counsels, and a wily foe, had loaded it with misfortunes. It consisted of veterans,

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many of whom considered the services of other Eastern troops pastime and skirmishing, compared with that exacted of them. Their numbers exceeded that of all other Eastern divisions combined, and the strife and carnage attending their engagements seemed to belittle the contests of less pretentious forces. They had endured long and fatiguing marches, and their courage and endurance had been equal to the most trying emergencies. Every field, from the Potomac to the Chickahominy, had drank deep of their life-blood, and though discouraged by frequent and disastrous defeats, they never shrank from meeting the enemy. As Gen'l Palfrey well says: "Its story is a sad one, for it was always better than its commander, and marched and fought, endured and achieved, rarely animated by victory." It is not to be wondered at, with such convictions and experiences, this army discounted the services of a corps formed from troops along the coast, and greeted us sarcastically, "Hallo! Parlor Soldiers!"

The Army of the Potomac was directly in front, with the Sixth Corps taking position, four columns deep, at the left, near New Cold Harbor. Warren's Fifth Corps rested with its left on Woody's farm, a mile north of Gaines' Mill road, and its right near Bethesda Church. Burnside's Ninth Corps, with line deflected to the rear, and right, rested near Gilman's Mills, while Hancock's Second Corps was at the extreme right, advantageously situated to protect the flank, or act as a reserve. The whole line extended, irregularly, eight miles, with Sheridan's Cavalry on the left, and Wilson's at the right. We copy the following from Gen'l Smith's report: --

"The converging lines at Cold Harbor rendered its occupation of inestimable value, and Gen'l Sheridan was ordered on the 31st to seize the position with his cavalry, and hold it until the arrival of the Sixth and Eighteenth Corps, who were ordered to his support.

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Accordingly, on the morning of the 1st, he occupied the place, after a sharp encounter.

"Gen'l Lee, realizing the value of the strategical point, had been hastening forward Longstreet's Corps, and at the time of our arrival, was pressing Gen'l Sheridan at all points with overwhelming numbers. The arrival of the Eighteenth Corps was opportune to his veterans, whose prowess still held the enemy at bay, and who had been expecting us, with no knowledge of the cause of our delay. The precise terms of my orders was 'to hold the road from Cold Harbor to Bethesda Church, and to co-operate with the Sixth Corps in an attack.' The attenuated line of the left, with character of my instructions, led me to act on the latter part of instructions.

Gen'l Smith advanced the Eighteenth Corps, in a single line, to unite with the forces on either side, -- Devens' Division on the left, Brooks in centre, and Martindale at the right. Devens' and Brooks' Divisions relieved the right of the Sixth Corps, and, charging upon the enemy, drove them from the works, capturing five hundred prisoners; but, being unable to hold their advance, were driven back, with a loss of about eight hundred killed and wounded. A portion of Martindale's Division was ordered to their support, but darkness intervened, and the order was countermanded.

On the arrival of the Twenty-Seventh Mass Regt. at Cold Harbor, Companies F and H were deployed, and, advancing through a belt of woods and marsh, were soon sharply engaged with the enemy. Here they remained during the night, subjected to scathing volleys, with a loss of John W. Madison, of Westfield, wounded through the shoulder, and of Daniel B. Pomeroy (Granville), of Company F, mortally wounded in the side. Madison was wounded in the left lung, the ball lodging near the shoulder-blade. The ball forced a piece of his rubber blanket, one inch wide and one and one-half inches long, into his lung, which remained there five years and three months, when he succeeded in coughing it

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up. The ball still remains. He now resides at Hatfield, Mass. About dark, the rest of the regiment took position at the left, supporting Devens' Division, near Rickett's Division of the Sixth Corps. From this point the Twenty-Seventh Mass. marched through a strip of timber, and, pressing to the extreme front, relieved Drake's New York Brigade. The position was in a ploughed field, subjected to an enfilading fire from the enemy's works, from which frequent sorties were made on us during the night. A heavy rain converted the field to a sea of mud, in which we laid down, to protect ourselves from the missiles of death. Such was the introduction of the Eighteenth Corps and of the Twenty-Seventh Regiment to the Army of the Potomac. During the night, Hancock's Corps moved to the extreme left, with orders for the Ninth Corps to follow, but the movement was detected by Gen'l Lee, and the latter corps was attacked so vigorously that its removal was delayed until the 5th inst.

The following letter, picked up by one of our men on this field, is too suggestive to need comment:--

My Sainted Love, -- If the Yankee cusses will let me alone, I will write you. U. S. Grant is a "bull-dog," and Meade a match for the d--l. No matter how deep we get into the woods, the Yanks are sure to find us. They fight more fiercely than I have ever seen them before. They build strong works, and then our brave officers order us to charge them. We have done so, and get h--l every time. My dear, you will excuse this language, for if you were here you would say h--l, too. Do not blame me, my sainted love, but I really wish I was out of this army and joined to you in the holy bond of matrimony.

I must close; the Yankees are coming.
Truly your own, J. Graham, Sg't C. S. A.

At early light a now unknown brigade relieved Companies F and H of the Twenty-Seventh Mass., and a part of

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Devens' Division relieved the remainder of the regiment, when Major Walker retired to seek the former companies. Under cover of darkness the enemy succeeded in constructing and occupying an advanced line of rifle-pits, and opened a cross-fire upon the position captured by Barton's Brigade the night previous. While cooking our morning rations, a major of Gen'l Devens' staff rode up in haste, ordering the Twenty-Seventh Mass. to Barton's assistance, and offering to lead us to position. After making a short detour through some woods to the right, and into a newly cleared field, we were suddenly attacked by the enemy under cover of woods in front. The first volley cut our lines seriously. Fortunately the felled timber afforded some protection to our men. After holding this position for a short time, we were enabled to reach the cover of the woods, where we remained until afternoon, when Major Walker returned with orders to rejoin the brigade. Of this engagement Capt. Caswell, temporarily in command of the Twenty-Seventh Regiment, writes:--

. . . "Whether the enemy had taken a new position unknown to the officer directing us, or that he had lost the exact position, or directions, I am unable to say. He was at the head of the regiment near me when we were fired upon, but, from that moment, I have never seen or heard from him. . . . I soon discovered if we could reach a position eight or ten rods to the right, we would be out of the enemy's range, and succeeded in reaching it without further loss."

The loss to the Twenty-Seventh Regiment was four killed and fourteen wounded, most of whom fell by the first volley:--

Killed.
Rollin Cowles, Amherst, Company D; throat cut; grape shot.
Ephraim Marsh, Jr., Leverett, Company D.
Charles D. Mullet, Amherst, Company D.
Rodolphus L. Baker, Company E.

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Wounded.
Company B. -- William A. Brizzee, Hubbardston; shot in thigh, shoulder and left leg.
Company C. -- Dwight Russell, Amherst; finger.
Company D. -- Sergt. Ptolemy P. Cutler, Amherst, both legs and thigh; fatal.
Sergt. Edward B. Dickinson, Amherst; hip and head; slight.
Sergt. John F. Russell, Hadley; shoulder, side and thigh; fatal.
Sergt. Simeon E. Preston, Amherst; head; slight.
Private Watson E. Carr, Huntington; left leg, right foot; fatal.
Private Marshall A. Cowles, Hadley; hand.
Private Henry Hawley, Amherst; left ankle; severe.
Private Henry B. Sears, Amherst; right thigh.
Private Frederick H. Smith, Hadley; right arm.
Company F. -- Private Hiram Spooner, Southampton; abdomen; fatal.
Company I. -- Private Homer R. King, Ludlow; chin; slight.
Company K. -- Private William H. Fuller, Chicopee; leg and abdomen; fatal.

Orders were issued for a general assault along the entire line at 4.30 P. M., but owing to a tempest of wind and rain the time was changed to half-past four the following morning. It was well that mortal vision could not penetrate the veil that hid the morrow. Thousands lay down that night to their last earthly sleep, and tens of thousands to a rest whose reveille would be a call "to arms," for ere another sun should cast its rays upon them, these fields would reek with human gore. Such hours were rich in thoughts of home. All the letters at hand were read and re-read by flickering lights, until every word was traced upon the heart and every stroke of the pen seemed eloquent with love. These letters were then committed to the flames, so that no misfortune could place them in treacherous hands. Little packages, taken from the inner pocket, were carefully unfolded, and a

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long look taken of the dear ones at home. Strong men sat pale and thoughtful, forming resolutions, the effects of which were to be seen in the morrow's contest. A few were apparently hilarious and thoughtless. One by one they laid themselves upon the ground and were soon lost in slumber. Sleep, brave comrades! the morning's struggle will call for all your courage and strength.

Says Gen'l Smith, in a letter to the author, "A circular order was received on the evening of June 2, 1864, requiring all corps commanders to attack the enemy in their front at 4.30 A. M. the next day. There was no plan of battle, and no concert of action, and the result might have been predicted. I lost too many good men there ever to forget the battle."

The rain still fell; a dark, gloomy morning ushering in the 3d of June. At early dawn, the Twenty-Seventh Regiment was quietly awakened, and, hastily disposing of "hard-tack and coffee," marched in advance of the brigade, to the extreme left of the Eighteenth Corps, near Getty's position, of the Sixth Corps. Passing under cover of a wooded elevation, into a ravine with a small "run," we followed it until we reached the edge of the woods, in plain sight of the enemy's works. A terrific artillery combat soon opened from Hancock's left to the extreme right, under cover of which we countermarched, obliquely, up another ravine, and immediately deployed as skirmishers. Quickly advancing up the bank of the ravine, and over its crest, we encountered and drove the enemy's pickets from two lines of rifle-pits into their main works, one hundred yards distant. Here they opened a raking fire, before which it was madness to advance, and we crouched behind the enemy's works, in reverse. Comrades De Forrest and Richards, of Company F, were killed in this movement. It was a position trying the stoutest hearts. Before us, on a commanding eminence, were the enemy's works, with salients near our right and left,

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and with centre well refused. Behind them lay Gen. Hill's rebel corps, with nine stands of colors in view, and giving blows with a mailed hand upon our slender column. Midway, between the fire of contending hosts, we crouched behind the captured "rifle-pits," the air rent with an unearthly contest.

Gen'l Smith, who had fixed his headquarters upon a hillock covered with trees, about five hundred yards to the rear, came to the position where the brigade was forming, and held a hurried conversation with Gen'ls Martindale and Stannard, during which our artillery ceased firing, and "the recall" was sounded for the Twenty-Seventh Regiment.

The position assigned for assault was a commanding one, at the right of a road leading from Cold Harbor to Gaines' Mills, and constituted the key to the enemy's position. It was considered the most desirable route for advance, either directly upon Richmond or for a flank movement to the left across the Chickahominy. The position of the two armies, reversed, was essentially the same as occupied by them in the battle of Gaines' Mills, June 27, 1862. The fields between the armies were undulating, with ravines, hillocks, and timber, but for the most part arable and recently ploughed. Across the field, fifteen hundred yards from our works, was a serrated line of pine woods skirting the crest of a low hill, along which, a year previous, the enemy had constructed permanent and formidable works of logs and earth, which, at this time, were green with sod. In front of these were two lines of redans and curvettes, one hundred and three hundred yards distant, the latter bordering a ravine which ran southwesterly and obliquely to the enemy's works. The crest of this ravine was fringed with brush, and the field interlying, dotted with stunted oaks. Back of this was the hillock occupied by Gen'l Smith during the engagement; then a ravine, near which many of our dead were buried; then a cleared space of one hundred yards, followed by

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woods, in front of which was a line of intrenchments captured June 1st; beyond, another cleared field, and on the opposite side, the position of the Eighteenth Corps previous to the assault.

The enemy's position was some fifteen feet higher than the field in front, and was supported by such a force as to render it fairly impregnable. Military usage, as taught and practised hitherto, would have shunned such a fastness, for nothing but dire necessity justifies the hurling of men against such a wall. Von Moltke, the German chieftain of the Franco-German war, was wont to assault such places by successive approaches with strong lines of skirmishers. Every advance was held, until succeeding lines of skirmishers had brought forward his entire force. This was repeated until the Germans were able to get so near as to charge with their whole army over a very limited space, or, as was often the case, until they held the works of the French in reverse. It is possible that a vastly superior army in numbers, might have secured the reduction of this stronghold by attrition, but a reasonable economy of life would have suggested approaches or more extended siege operations, or the forcing of its evacuation by flank movements, as more humane. It is stated that Gen'l Grant has included this charge of June 3d, at Cold Harbor, as "one of the three mistakes of the war."

The Star Brigade was formed in double column, the Twenty-Seventh Mass., Major Walker, and the Twenty-Fifth Mass., Col. Pickett, forming the first line, supported by the Twenty-Third Mass., Col. Elwell, and the Fifty-Fifth Penn., Capt. Nesbitt, the whole brigade hardly exceeding six hundred men. The Ninth New Jersey Regiment failed to participate, their transport having grounded in coming up the river.

As the Twenty-Seventh Mass. took position, Capt. E. K. Wilcox of Company I -- aide-de-camp to Gen'l Stannard --

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came forward to the left of the line, and against protest, declared his purpose to join the regiment in the assault. The line was speedily formed, when Gen'l Smith's voice rang out on the morning air, "Forward!" The brigade with a shout sprang up the hill, over the crest and the first line of riflepits, into the riven field. Forward, struggling like maddened billows amongst breakers, -- mown down by scores, -- but onward, till the second line of rifle-pits are reached; over, and the gallant men like a wave shorn of its strength, sink under the terrible storm. Again they struggle to breast the iron hail, crouching to escape its fury, for that brigade had never learned to acknowledge defeat in the open field.

"Thrice the assailants shook them free,
Once gained their feet, and twice their knee,"

till the crumbling ranks sank under the withering fire, unable to reach the goal, or retrace their steps to friendly shelter.

"Into ten mortal minutes was crowded an age of action, ten minutes of the figment men call time, and yet that scant space decided a battle. There are a thousand details, ten thousand episodes, but the essential was this, -- that first rush carried our force butt up against a line of works which we were unable to break, or, if broken, hold. Conceive the fierce onslaught, midst deafening volleys of musketry, thunderings of artillery, and the wild, mad yell of battle; see the ranks mown down as they contend for every inch they advance, until the lines crumble and break before the iron tempest. Conceive of all this, and you will then be able to individualize acts as they occurred along the line." Each man in the "Star Brigade" was a host, and the sum of their heroism an immortal action. It was a repetition of the lustrous charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, whose heroic action Tennyson has so vividly set forth, and which, aptly, with little change, has been applied to this action, in Denny's "Wearing the Blue."

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"Forward the Star Brigade!
Was there a soul dismayed?
Not though the soldier knew
Some one had blundered.
Theirs not to make reply,
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs but to do or die,
Into the field of Death
Charged the six hundred.
"Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them,
Volleyed and thundered;
Stormed at with shot and shell,
Boldly they charged, and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell,
Charged the six hundred."

It was almost impossible to move and live, the lifting of a head of hand being a signal for volleys of musketry. Many lay surrounded by the dead, which they so arranged as to make defences, behind which the living might crouch their heads, and escape the plunging fire of the adversary. Trees of considerable size were so riddled by rifle-shots, that they fell before the storm. The surface of the field seemed like a boiling caldron, from the incessant pattering and ploughing of shot, which raised the dirt in geysers and spitting sands. Some of the wounded attempted to work back to the ravine during the day, but only a few succeeded. Doubtless many of those who died would have been saved, could their wounds have been cared for. Major Walker and Capt. Wilcox were instantly killed as they passed the last line of rifle-pits, the first by a rifle-ball through his neck, the latter pierced by several fatal shots. Both were at the head of the column cheering their men onward. So thick were the dead, and such the necessity that the living should appear to be so, that one of our men lay a considerable time

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without knowing all were dead about him. The second line, (the Twenty-Third Mass. and Fifty-Fifth Penn.) with such of the first line as failed to pass the rifle-pits, fell behind the earth-works in reverse, and stubbornly resisted all attempts of the enemy to advance.

Thus the day passed till darkness spread its pall over the scene, when

"They that had fought so well,
Came thro' the jaws of Death,
Back from the mouth of Hell,
All that was left of them;
Left of six hundred."

As we leisurely passed the brave Sixth Corps, crowds of them greeted us in cordial sympathy, exclaiming, "If you are parlor soldiers, you charge and fight like h--l!" We had received a bloody initiation into the Army of the Potomac. From that time the Star Brigade was in full standing with the army, and we heard nothing more of "parlor soldiers." The whole army had been ordered to advance, on that fatal morning, but, having neither plan or concert of action, success was impossible. Hancock's Second Corps which moved to the extreme left the day previous, assailed the enemy near Watts Hill, gaining a temporary advantage, but were forced to retire with a heavy loss. Gen'l Tyler and several colonels were killed. Barlow's Division sustained the brunt of the battle at that point; McKeon's Brigade of Gibbon's Division fought with conspicuous gallantry, their commander falling in the contest. The Sixth Corps, under a desolating fire, carried the first line, but made no farther progress against the batteries posted on their front. Warren, on our right, suffered little, while for some unaccountable reason, Burnside's Ninth Corps failed to move until afternoon. His inactivity allowed the concentration of a portion of Hill's Corps upon us.

The Eighteenth Corps constituted the centre of the

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army, and had a most important part assigned them. Two years previous, Gen'l McClellan held the heights on our front, unfortified; and, though the enemy were massed in double column, and were hurled against the position with desperate fury, it was carried only after two days' struggle, by an army double our own, and with terrible loss. The position of the contestants was now reversed, with the additional advantage to the enemy, of heavy and permanent fortifications. They were fighting with the desperation born of despair, in their last Thermopylæ before reaching the defences of their capital. It was an evidence of the discipline and courage of the Union arms, that such an assault could be made. The loss sustained in three days, had been equal to the aggregate strength of the Eighteenth Corps. The official loss as reported, was seventeen hundred and five killed, nine thousand and forty-two wounded, and twenty-four hundred and six prisoners, an aggregate loss to our army of thirteen thousand one hundred and fifty-three men; while that of the enemy (confessedly correct) was about eleven hundred. The loss of the Eighteenth Corps was about three thousand, and that of the Star Brigade three hundred and forty-seven men, or more than half its effective strength. A few hours after the first assault, Gen'l Meade sent orders to each corps commander to renew the assault. The order passed from corps to divisions, brigades and regiments, but not a man stirred, the immobile columns making a silent but emphatic protest against further sacrifice.

It is worthy of record as to the confidence of the commanding general in the Star Brigade, that when Gen'l Smith received orders to assault this position, he was ordered to select his best brigade. None other would do, as it is customary to select for storming columns the elite of the army. Gen'l Smith remarked just before the charge, "It is simply an order to slaughter my best troops! I have no discretion left me."

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The "Herald" correspondent wrote upon the field: "Stannard's Brigade (Heckman's old command) again covered itself with glory, charging across an open field, and through dense woods filled with the enemy and continuous lines of rifle-pits. The slaughter was terrible, but they held their position through the day. A perfect hail of musketballs and shell, poured down on those devoted men, and repeated charges were made to drive them from their advanced position, but with a tenacity and courage that deserves to be immortalized, they held their ground until the enemy gave up in despair." Another wrote: "Stannard and Stedman's Brigades, of Martindale's Division, lost heavily. They were in the hottest of the fight, and advanced to the second line of the enemy's works. Stannard proved a worthy successor of the fighting Heckman, and the old brigade, under his orders, again covered itself with glory. Genl. Stannard, though wounded, refused to leave the field." Still another correspondent wrote: "The results were equally disastrous to our whole line, and only the Eighteenth Corps succeeded in making any decided advance in their lines, and retaining it. A rebel major, while viewing the carnage of the field, during the truce of the 7th, remarked to Surgeon Fish of the Twenty-Seventh, "It was one of the bravest and most useless charges I ever witnessed."

The losses of the Massachusetts regiments in the Star Brigade were as follows:

Twenty-Third Mass. Regt., three killed, forty-six wounded, five prisoners.

Twenty-Fifth Mass. Regt., fifty-three killed, one hundred and thirty-nine wounded, twenty-eight prisoners.

Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt., fifteen killed, sixty-five wounded, four prisoners.

We append a detailed account of the casualities of the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt.: --

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Killed.

Maj. William A. Walker, Greenfield.

Capt. Edward K. Wilcox, Springfield.

Lieut. Samuel Morse, Chicopee.

Company D.

Dwight Barrett, Belchertown; Henry E Potter, Hadley.

Company E.

Henry Glover, Douglas; James E. Thompson, Monterey.

Company F.

Harvey DeForest, Lee; Reuben A. Richards, Springfield.

Company G.

Sergt. Edwin C. Hendricks, Chicopee; Sergt. Irvin Chapin, Chicopee.

Company H.

Levi Edson, Amherst; John Bulfin, Cheshire.

Company I.

Eland Merritt, Palmer.

Company K.

David Bolio, Pittsfield.

Wounded.

Company A.

Corp. Frederick Jessimine, Westhampton; abdomen, fatal.

Company B.

Capt. A. W. Caswell, Gardner; slight.

Sergt. Albert D. Pond, Athol; left thigh. George H. Dodge, Leverett; left thigh, fatal. Thomas Barbour, Easthampton, contusion.

Company C.

William B. Saxton, Deerfield; leg, flesh wound, serious. Patrick Bain, Jr., Deerfield; contusion, thigh, severe. John Richards, Hatfield; left arm and side, flesh wound, right knee and thigh amputated, fatal.

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Company D.

Capt. P. S. Bailey, Springfield; right leg, slight.

Sergt. Edward B. Dickinson, Amherst; forehead, figures "27" driven into the skull.

Corp. Chester Dickinson, Jr., Amherst; right arm. Corp. Medad Vinton, Amherst; leg. Lewis H. Freeman, New Salem; head. William W. Lind, Granby; head, slight. Cornelius O'Connor, Amherst; head. Jacob L. Rust, Amherst; finger amputated.

Company E.

Lieut. H. Smith Newell, Chicopee; right leg, severe.

Corp. William W. Cummings, Warren; foot, slight. Martin Gaitley, Lanesborough; wrist. Rufus Groat, Pittsfield; leg and right hand. John H. Hewitt, Monterey; abdomen, fatal. Joseph W. Huntley, Great Barrington; slight. Augustus H. Martin, Lenox; arm.

Company F.

Capt. John W. Moore, Tolland; temple, slight.

Sergt. Hiram G. Everton, Westfield; thigh and finger, slight. Sergt. George W. Cone, Westfield; side, contusion. Sergt. George F. Green, Granville; right ear. Sergt. Charles H. Pratt, Tolland; right forefinger. Sergt Calvin J. Treat, Granville; leg.

Corp. Daniel W. Bates, Southampton; stomach, contusion. John W. Brewer, Granville; wrist, slight. Emerson J. Cowles, Westfield; left lung, fatal. Louis H. Fuller, Northampton; foot. Chauncey P. Howe, Granville; slight. Michael Horrigan, Tolland; shoulder, severe. Stephen W. Knox, Granville; right hip, severe. George Manning, Lenox; abdomen, severe. Leroy S. Oakes, Dana; fingers, slight. Francis Sackett, Ashburnham; hand, severe. George M. Searle, Westfield; slight. Edward N. Smith, Huntington; chest, severe. Charles W. Territt, Granville; left side, severe; Ward I. Vining, Southwick; finger, slight; George Welcome, Southwick; leg, slight. George Welcome, Jr., Southwick; head, slight.

Company G.

Sergt. George Chalmers, Holyoke; left leg, flesh wound. George S. Lombard, Chicopee; shoulder, contusion. Michael Murphy,

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Chicopee; slight. Isaac Smith, Northampton; groin, severe. William D. Steele, Chicopee; thigh. Ebenezer Sherman, Chicopee; slight.

Company H.

Capt. William McKay, Adams; foot, slight.

Corp. Joseph M. Montgomery, Adams; right shoulder. Dennis Dillworth, Adams; finger. William J. Lowell, Worcester; back, slight.

Company I.

Lieut. William F. Harrington, Pittsfield; right arm, severe.

Philander Pike; back, severe. Daniel R. Sanger; both thighs, severe. James Waters; shoulder, slight.

Company K.

Sergt. Charles F. Hale; hand, slight. Orrin Burlingame, Jr.; leg, slight. Frederick Gutberlet; right elbow, fatal. Jerry Harrington, 1st; finger, slight. George R. Ring; finger, slight. Thomas A. Ring; face, slight.

Prisoners.

Sergt. Joseph H. Cowles, Company E, Mount Washington.

Private Levi Bosquet, Company E, Becket. Private Chauncey P. Howe, Company F, Granville. Private Ebenezer Sherman, Company E, Chicopee.

Major William A. Walker was born at Portsmouth, N. H., in 1828. His parents, William and Elizabeth Perley Walker, were descendants of New Hampshire's earliest settlers, and were devout members of the Methodist Church. Their children, however, were brought up under the ministrations of the Unitarian Church, Rev. A. P. Peabody, pastor. Deacon John Foster, superintendent of the Sunday school, did much to give direction and strength to Major Walker's character. After graduating at Portsmouth high school, he removed to Boston and entered the house of E. V. Ashton & Co., then under charge of Daniel Haskell, Esq., who afterwards became the honored editor of

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the Boston "Transcript." Major Walker connected himself with the State militia, and held a commission therein. He was also deeply interested in the Boston Mercantile Library, and at one time was its vice-president. From Boston he removed to Greenfield, where he was identified with religious and educational interests, and was an enthusiastic worker in the Sunday school, and a valued member of the general school committee. He was in active sympathy with all that was intended to promote the welfare of the young. When the war broke out, he aided in the enlistment of the Greenfield company, and was commissioned captain, with assignment to that company. He was at no time absent from his command upon the field, save at Drewry's Bluff, from which place he had returned to camp at Cobb's Hill, expecting to rejoin his command the following morning. Although laboring under a presentiment of the fatal consequence of the contest at Cold Harbor, he was at the head of the column, cheering on his men, when he fell, mortally wounded. Major Walker was of a thoughtful mind, with a quiet reserve, which was often mistaken for coldness and dissociability; but to those who knew him best, it was but the shrinking of a refined nature from the immoralities and repulsive concomitants of war. He indulged in no ribaldry, nor tolerated it with even tacit approval in his presence. His action on the field resulted from principle and consecrated patriotism, rather than from a love of adventure and recklessness. As a result, what he did was well done; and if there were no lustrous actions to mark him in history, neither were there any mistakes or shortcomings for which to condone.

Capt. E. K. Wilcox.

Edward Kirk Wilcox, son of O. W. and Mary Ann Wilcox, was born at Springfield, Aug. 24, 1841. He fitted for college at Williston Seminary, Easthampton, and with Alexander Hyde, Esq., of Lee, entering Williams in 1858, but

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after two years decided upon a business instead of a professional life, and was temporarily with his father at Springfield. He was of the first to enlist at his country's call, and mustered as sergeant-major of the Tenth Massachusetts Regiment, June 21, 1861, marching with them to the front. Upon the organization of the Twenty-Seventh Regiment he was appointed first lieutenant, and assigned to Company I, Capt. Henry A. Hubbard. On account of the sickness and early death of his captain, he was in command of the company in all its North Carolina service, and was promoted captain, Feb. 13, 1862. Indifferent to danger, he was a spirited leader, with coolness and efficiency, inspiring his men by his own demeanor. He was with the regiment on provost duty at Norfolk, during the winter of '63 and '64, but upon the organization of the "Red Star Brigade," was appointed acting assistant adjutant general on Brig. Gen'l C. A. Heckman's staff. After reaching Bermuda Hundreds, he was appointed aide-de-camp to Gen'l Weitzel commanding the Second Division, Eighteenth Army Corps, and participated in all the actions of the Army of the James. Of the battle of Drewry's Bluff, May 16, 1864, he wrote, "It was the hardest fight I ever was in. How I escaped I cannot tell, as I was under fire seven or eight hours carrying orders into the thickest of the fight."

May 17th, Gen'l Stannard assumed command of the brigade, and Capt. Wilcox was transferred to his staff as acting assistant adjutant general First Brigade, First Division, Eighteenth Army Corps. May 30th, the Eighteenth Army Corps started for White-House Landing, effecting a junction with the Army of the Potomac at Cold Harbor on the eve of June 1st. Stannard's Brigade was led immediately into action, and its frequent changes and the nature of its service, rendered Capt. Wilcox's duties incessant and onerous. Says Durfee's "Annals of Williams College:" "It so happened that as he was passing through his regiment, the morning

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of the 3d, a charge was ordered." Unconsciously, this does not do him full credit; it did not happen. Instructions as to the charge had passed through his hands at three o'clock the day previous, and he was there from plan and purpose. He placed himself in front of the line, when one of his brother officers said, "Coxey, go back where you belong; this is no place for you!" to which he replied, "I am going with you; my place is where I can serve my country." When Gen'l Smith's voice rang out on the morning air, "Forward!" with a ringing cheer and call to his men, he dashed forward, foremost of all. Gaining the enemy's curvettes, he dashed over them in advance of the column, with his face set on the enemy's main line just in front, when he fell pierced with a dozen bullets. "Coxey," as he was generally known, was popular, genial, courteous and affable. His urbanity, frankness and kindness, insured lasting friendship. His often expressed preference was, that he might be allowed to return to his command, and share with them the honors and dangers of the field. His name is now borne by Post 16, Grand Army of the Republic, Springfield, Mass., an excellent painting of him gracing their hall.

Lieut. Samuel Morse enlisted from Chicopee as the first sergeant of Company G, and re-enlisted Dec. 23, 1863. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant Dec. 8, 1863. We have no knowledge of his parentage, or early life, but we can speak of him as a royal comrade. As a soldier he was faithful to duty, and courageous on the field; and as an officer was conspicuous and daring. He fell at the extreme front, beyond the captured rifle-pits.

Capt. Moore was in command of the left wing of the regiment, and to avoid the leaden hail, dropped upon the ground near a small pine tree; in this position he was grazed by a musket-ball on the left temple and foot, while another shot passed through his coat between his body and left arm.

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Corp. Cowles of Company F, was lying by the side of Capt. Moore, when, seeing a rebel expose himself above the works, he said, "Captain, I'm going for him!" He fired and the Johnnie dropped, but in an instant a storm of bullets poured around him, one of which pierced Cowles' left lung. Comrade Cowles died at the Harwood Hospital, Washington, D. C., June 27, 1874. Corp. Frederick Jessiman of Company A, received a fatal wound in his abdomen, and was the last member of that company present for duty. Comrade Jessiman was a faithful, conscientious, unassuming soldier. He died at White-House Landing, June 8, 1865, and sleeps with the great army of "unknown United States soldiers."

Much of the fatality of this field might have been averted, but for the enemy refusing to honor a truce until the 7th, when the sickening stench from the dead compelled them to accede to our request for "an opportunity to remove our wounded, and bury our dead." No valid reason was given for this heartless delay, and the feeling prevailed -- perhaps uncharitably -- that it was that suffering, exposure and neglect, might complete the deadly work of their rifles. Various expedients were resorted to for removing our wounded, some being reached under cover of darkness, others aided by comrades who crept up to them, and though forced to remain prostrate, aided them to the rear. Others were so far to the front, and so covered by the enemy's fire, that trenching was resorted to, while now and then some brave soldier picked up a wounded comrade, and by a wonderful providence, reached the rear unharmed. Over the crash of arms came the wail of the wounded, with cries for aid, and many efforts were made to relieve their wants. The great cry was for water, "Give me some water!" "Oh! if I only had some water!" for the pain of the wound is often forgotten in the thirst caused by the loss of blood. Canteens of water were thrown to our suffering comrades where possible, and

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handkerchiefs or lint attached to sticks and stones cast to them for use. Everything was done which ingenuity or bravery could devise, to relieve their sufferings, and many heroic acts might be narrated, were it not invidious where all were heroes. Every effort to succor the wounded was at the peril of the life or limb of him who made it.

Here, for the first time, we met, and went into action under the eyes of two home regiments. Gen'l Eustis' Brigade, of Getty's Division, Sixth Corps, consisted of the Seventh, Tenth and Thirty-Seventh Mass., and Second Rhode Island Regiments. The Tenth Mass. were completing their term of enlistment, with thirteen engagements inscribed on their standard, and a record of which they were justly proud. Their experience from the outset had been with the Army of the Potomac, having shared its varied fortunes. The Thirty-Seventh Mass., Col. Oliver Edwards, left the State Sept. 7, 1862, and though younger by sixteen months than the Tenth Mass., its record challenged any claim of precedence or excessive valor by its elder. Its escutcheons already bore the hard contested fields of Fredericksburg, Salem Heights, Gettysburg, Wilderness and Spottsylvania, with many of lesser note, and was destined to bear all the future contests of the Army of the Potomac, until a glorious victory should crown their labors. These regiments for the first time were permitted to see the mettle of the Twenty-Seventh Mass., and exulted in its valor with a pride akin to that awakened by their own achievements. Said one of the members of the Thirty-Seventh Regiment to the writer, "It was one of the most terrible charges I ever witnessed, and, as I saw great gaps in your line closed up, and the terrible struggle against that desolating fire continued, my manhood deserted me. I gave away to tears, -- tears of sorrow for the terrible carnage; tears of pride that we boasted a common ancestry."

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Thus closed a month that had told fearfully on our effective and numerical strength. May 4th we left Yorktown with seven hundred and forty-four men for duty, but at roll-call the night of June 3d, only five officers and seventy-eight men responded to their names. Two hundred and thirty had been killed or wounded, two hundred fifty-three taken prisoners, leaving one hundred and seventy-eight who had broken down in service, or were on detached duty, as pioneers, teamsters, in the ordinance department or ambulance corps. Many of the "special duty men" were now called back to the regiment, so that by the 7th inst., four officers and one hundred and sixty-one men reported for duty. After being relieved the evening of the 3d, we rejoined our division at the centre of the Eighteenth Corps, occupying advance fortifications, and exposed to continual fire, which made necessary unusual care in moving about our position. During the night the enemy made several sorties and kept up a merciless fire, causing Capt. Caswell, now commanding the regiment, to send for reinforcements. We succeeded, however, in holding our position unaided during the night. We were sharply engaged during much of the 4th, and Lieut. E. H. Coombs fell mortally wounded, with Thomas W. Norton of (Springfield) Co. E, wounded in the thigh, and John R. Ryan of (Lee) Co. E, wounded in the foot.

Lieut. Edgar H. Coombs, Or, as he was better known, "Sergt. Coombs," was mustered into the United States service, from Lee, Oct. 1, 1861, as first sergeant of Company E, and re-enlisted Dec. 23, 1863. He was an active participant in all the engagements of our regiment, and hitherto had escaped unharmed. He had just received a commission as second lieutenant, dated April 18, 1864, but under which he had not mustered. While sitting behind a tree, drinking a cup of coffee, a rifleball

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glanced from a limb above and crushed through his skull, near the coronal suture, sinking into the brain. He was removed to the regimental hospital, but all efforts to arouse him from carus seemed fruitless, until his friend Amos F. Whittaker began removing his valuables for safe-keeping. As a ring was being taken from his little finger, he gave the only sign of consciousness, by rubbing his thumb over the place where it had been. Its associations could only be surmised, but his thoughts evidently clustered around it to his latest moments. After a few hours of unconscious suffering, he passed away, and his body was buried upon the field. He rests with the great army of the "unknown," but there is no more sacred vault for the nation's martyred dead than the fields which their deeds and life-blood have consecrated.

June 5th, as Lieut. F. C. Wright, acting adjutant of the regiment, was engaged in the defence of our position, a rifleball inflicted a fatal wound in his right thigh.

Lieut. Frederick Clark Wright

Was born at Northampton, Mass., March 25, 1839. He was the fourth son of Ansel and Elizabeth Bullens Wright, and was in direct descent from the earliest settlers of Massachusetts Colony. His early life was shaded by years of sickness and debility, retarding his development physically and intellectually. Later he overcame his physical weakness, rapidly acquiring proficiency equal to his years, and becoming a general favorite with his companions in the militia and fire companies of his native town. In the hour of his country's need, impelled by a sense of duty, and in sympathy with a popular movement, he found little difficulty in deciding his course. He was mustered into service June 21, 1861, as a private of Company C, Tenth Mass. Regt. Vol. Infantry, and went with them to the front. Serving in

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the ranks until October, 1861, he received a commission as second lieutenant, with assignment to Company G, Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt., and also Oct. 30, 1862, merited promotion to first lieutenant of Company K. Duty with him was pre-eminent, and was discharged from a high sense of honor and patriotism.

Lieut. Wright was popular as an officer and associate, and with those intimate with him the opinion prevailed that in his subordinate position he was hardly at his best. Whether as a company officer, acting adjutant, quartermaster, or "chief of harbor police" at Norfolk, Va., he was more than ordinarily efficient and successful. In action he was cool and daring, and never willingly away when his regiment was engaged in battle. Absent at the beginning of the siege of Little Washington, he was satisfied only when he had run the enemy's batteries and rejoined his company. At Drewry's Bluff, when most of the regiment, and his own company, were captured, he bravely fought his way out, escaping with a trifling wound in the ankle. June 3d he was in the thickest of the battle, and now fell at the extreme front. As he was borne to the rear, an officer of the regiment exclaimed, with tears, "One more of our bravest and best!" His wound was dressed without removing the ball, by Surgeon Fish, one of his closest friends, and from the first was considered moretal. He was removed to Arlington Hospital, Arlington, Va., where he was attended by his brother, Ansel Wright. Later, typhoid pneumonia intervened, which, with the weakness and exhaustion caused by his wound, terminated his life, June 27, 1864. His body was taken to his native town, and buried with civic and masonic honors.

The enemy continued a brisk fire upon our position, the 5th and 6th of June, with several fruitless attempts to dislodge our men. The reply of the Twenty-Seventh was, however, as sharp as the assault, and held the enemy in check along our front. Finding it impossible to dislodge us,

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the enemy opened with mortars, dropping shell in uncomfortable proximity, and interfering seriously with the movement of our ammunition and supplies. Bombproofs and gopher holes were constructed to protect those not on duty, and these men, while safely ensconced in their retreat, indulged in laughter and wit over the unceremonious movements and shyings of comrades along the works.

There is a flexibility in man which yields to the unavoidable, relieving much of its sufferings, and extracting sweet from every bitter experience. This adaptation of our soldiers to varied experiences, with a perennial flow of good humor, gave stamina and courage to the army. The effects of the battle must terminate with the battle, in order to nerve the men for future conflicts. Soldiers, like machines, are not to question, but obey. Manhood and intellect were subordinated, in enlistment, to a great end. Others were to think and direct. There can be no doubt but that intelligence and thoughtfulness made better soldiers, as comprehending the importance of movements contemplated, yet it is the duty of a soldier to act, and not ask the reason, why?

After sharp skirmishing on the 7th, the enemy agreed to a truce for burying the dead; only two hours were allowed for this sad and herculean task. Four days of sun and rain, with the severe heat of summer, had passed over our slain, and the air was laden with insufferable putrescence. We breathed it in every breath, tasted it in the food we ate and water we drank. What seemed intolerable to us, was doubly so to the enemy, from their nearness to the dead, and from the fact that the prevailing winds, wafting over the field, carried the fumes directly to them. The granting of the truce was a necessity rather than a virtue. Along the lines white flags were flying, and the enemy, with little else to do, were lounging about, with coarse and unfeeling jokes, such as, "You uns got it right smart, I reckon." Corp. Weiser, of Company F,

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and six men were detailed to assist in the sepulchral work, and, under Surgeon Fish, repaired to the scene of our contest of June 3d.

The ground was strewn with bloated and discolored forms, every feature so distorted that recognition from this source was impossible. Major Walker's body was found lying in front of the advance line of works, head to the foe, and was recognized by Surgeon Fish by his haversack and by papers in his pockets. He called a party of bearers, engaged in removing the dead, and placed the body on a stretcher. The surgeon then turned to an officer near by to ask "where they were burying the officers," but on looking back found to his distress that the bearers had disappeared with the body. Midst the rapid-moving crowd it was impossible to recognize the parties bearing the body, and every means to recover the remains proved unavailing. It was impossible to censure any one, as decomposition had progressed so far as to leave the remains in a loathsome state. Capt. Wilcox's body was recovered, and buried by members of Gen'l Stannard's staff. Lieut. Morse was also identified and buried.

The recognition of the private soldiers was almost impossible from the similarity of uniforms, excessive decomposition, and the great haste required. Unless papers or ornaments on their persons revealed their identity, they were buried as "Unknown." Now and then some poor wounded one was found, in all the horrors of a living death. For four long days and nights they had remained upon that field, with ghastly wounds, without food, water or care, and surrounded by remains exuding a stifling stench. Who can depict the terrible sufferings of those long, long hours of horror, or the intense joy with which -- if reason was not unthroned -- they received the rough but hearty care now given them? Nature gave but few the endurance to bridge such an awful chasm, so that the work was chiefly with the dead. Long trenches were dug, in which they were laid,

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side by side, with such winding-sheets as their blankets afforded.

"The old army blanket, the shround-destined blanket,
Which e'en to the last served the martyr so well." -- Peck.

As the sepulchral work progressed, the notes of a dirge unutterably mournful and sad, came floating over the field from the bands within our lines. This requiem was our only service for the dead.

The utmost haste failed to entomb the immense mass of our slain, before a signal-gun gave notice that the "truce had expired." At the next gun the dogs of war would be let loose upon any remaining on the field, and hence our burial party hastily retired. A few moments later we were again engaged in the deadly fray. Those comrades participating in the burial were so overcome by the stench as to be unfit for duty for several days. From the one hundred and fifty-five thousand graves of the "Unknown" buried on our battle-fields and in our national cemeteries, comes the demand that our country should adopt some expedient for the recognition of her dead; if no better, the affixing of an official number to their names at state and national head-quarters, which number should be attached to some protected portion of the clothing of each man, as a means of identification. This method was adopted during the last Prussian war, with good results. It had been the practice with the Twenty-Seventh Mass., when in camp, to write the name of the deceased, and, after enclosing it in a vial securely corked, to bury it with the remains. This plan had also been adopted by the Fifth Corps Hospital under Dr. Reams. Such a practice throughout our army, or better, perhaps, the two plans combined, would have made it possible to have recognized all our dead upon the field or in the subsequent work of gathering them into national cemeteries.

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To narrate the experiences of each day would be to repeat the story of marchings and countermarchings from front to rear, and from right to left, subjected to a fire which was hardly less annoying at the rear than at the front. "Spent balls" at the rear were glancing and richochetting in every direction, and "mortar shells" dropping where and when least expected; from neither of which could we find full protection. At the front the shots came direct, and, with watchfulness, the rifle-pits were effective defence against them. There is no doubt that our terrible repulse had given Gen'l Lee's army new courage and prestige. Flaming telegrams and dispatches were constantly being sent to Richmond, recounting the courage and victories of their troops, with the terrible carnage suffered by the Yankees. On the evening of June 9th, a rebel band in Longstreet's Corps came to the front, and in a tantalizing way discoursed their national airs, which were responded to by Union bands with our national airs and "Rally round the Flag." This music was as good as medicine to our worn troops, and for a time the sound of strife gave place to a musical soirée:

"Her unoffending charms
Had quelled the savage clash of arms."

Our position, the evening of the 9th, was within pistol-shot of the enemy, the shells of both forces rushing a mad race over our heads. The previous night one officer and thirteen men had been killed or wounded here by one of our own shells; and the consequent insecurity of this position was not at all reassuring. The Eighty-Ninth New York Volunteer Regiment of infantry, an old acquintance of the Burnside Expedition, had now been added to the Star Brigade, giving it an effective strength of about nine hundred men. With this addition we were able to hold our position against the most determined assaults of the enemy. Joseph Mattis

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of Windsor, Company E, was wounded during the day by a musket-ball upon the head and right ear. June 11th the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt. was detailed as sharpshooters, relieving the One Hundred and Forty-Eighth New York Regiment of Stedman's Brigade. We soon acquainted ourselves with the positions and tricks of the enemy's sharpshooters, who, like many of our men, were in the trees, picking off any who showed their heads above the defences. It was the work of only a few moments to place every tree under surveillance, and every puff under the cover of a dozen muskets. It was "Greek mit Greek" the entire day, in which our men providentially escaped unharmed.

Volumes of thrilling interest might be written of the work of comfort and consolation by the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, during these days of our country's peril. The Sanitary Commission gave material aid, and prepared the way for the other. Rev. Dr. H. W. Bellows, it is said, was the original mover for this Commission, and when he presented the matter to Secretary of War Stanton, the latter received him coldly, saying, "I hate philanthropists!" Dr. Bellows quickly replied, "And I hate generals! But I mean bogus generals, and you mean bogus philanthropists." Stanton's opposition was thus disarmed, and an order permitting its work granted. It was henceforth the great channel through which the homes of the North reached their sons in the field. The supplies offered through this medium were as broad and deep as the love and patriotism of the loyal North. While the main object of the Sanitary Commission was to relieve suffering, it also sought to prevent sickness by contributions for those in active service. Large quantities of vegetables were forwarded to the front to relieve a tendency to disease, which the want of them had caused. The work of the Christian Commission was to minister to the religious wants of the army, supplementing the work of the chaplains, and supplying their place when there were none. Their distinctive

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field was in the hospitals, or among the wounded at the rear. Kneeling beside the sick or wounded to assuage pain, they extended the consolations of the gospel of Christ, and supplicated for spirits passing into eternity. They received the last message and token for the loved ones at home; tenderly holding the hand as the spirit fled, and closing the eyes in its last long sleep. Many a home was cheered through them by news from the wounded, and rejoiced that there were those willing to do the work -- in the name of the Master, -- which they were denied the opportunity to do.

The results of June 3d, proving that Richmond could not be taken in that direction, led Gen'l Grant to decide on a movement which had been contemplated from the first; -- that of uniting the Armies of the Potomac and James. Burnside's and Warren's Corps were successively withdrawn from the right, and placed in reserve, shortening our front to four miles, and leaving the Eighteenth Corps as the right flank. Sheridan's Cavalry were started off, as a diversion, to destroy the Virginia Central Railroad, and co-operate with Gen'l Hunter at Lynchburg; while our line was gradually advanced as if intending another assault. June 12th, the army formed almost a square, with its left resting upon the Chickahominy, and its position strongly entrenched. Early in the evening, Wilson's Cavalry and the Fifth Corps were moved across the Chickahominy at Long Bridge, and strongly posted through White Oak Swamp. The rest of the army -- save the Eighteenth Corps -- followed quietly and rapidly, and reached the James River at Wilcox Landing, without opposition, June 15th. The Eighteenth Corps also received instructions to return to White House Landing where transports were awaiting them. A strong line of cavalry, with horses tethered conveniently near, replaced the infantry along the entire front, and continued the contest until nearly dawn, when they hastily mounted

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and pressed after the column to the James. So stealthy and successful was the movement, that no suspicion entered the mind of Gen'l Lee of our intention, until the morning revealed our deserted fields.

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At nine o'clock, the evening of June 12th, the Twenty-Seventh Mass. quietly abandoned the position last noted at Cold Harbor, and made a forced march of twenty miles through suffocating dust, arriving at White-House Landing at six o'clock, the morning of the 13th. Here we lay down upon the grass under cover of the gunboats, enjoying refreshing and needed rest; when, late in the afternoon, we embarked upon the steamer "Claymont." Stiff and sore from the march of the previous night, and worn by continuous service, the men threw themselves upon the deck and were soon unconscious of the heat of the sun, or the varied scenery through which they passed. During the march to White-House Landing, Peter Wilson was taken prisoner, but eluded the vigilance of his captors, and made his way to the Sixth Corps on their march to the James, and rejoined our regiment before Petersburg. The fleet rendezvoused at Yorktown till three A.M., the 14th, passed Fortress Monroe two hours later, Fort Powhattan, a relic of 1607, about three P.M.; and Harrison's Landing at five P M., arriving at Broadway Landing about nine P.M., where the troops immediately debarked.

The criticism that this change of base was a tacit admission of defeat, and that Gen'l Grant could have reached City Point without loss, instead of sacrificing eighty thousand men, while having the humanity of the argument, loses sight of the following material considerations: the necessity

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of re-establishing confidence in our arms; of crushing the esprit de corps, the numerical force, and the material resources of the enemy; and also that the movement now made was contemplated from the first. The Army of the Potomac, for more than a year, had gone into battle with a depressing doubt, rather than with the inspiration and expectation of victory. They were invincible against, but insufficient for victorious assault. In the field the armies had met like two opposing seas, and in the recoil each had suffered so severely that at the most it could only be claimed "they had checked the enemy." The Confederates had unbounded confidence in their commanding general, and in spite of misfortunes, contemptuously left our army in its defences along the Rappahannock, and annually engaged in devastating raids in Pennsylvania and Maryland. They were equal to any sacrifice, and fearlessly coped with any force, with an enthusiasm seemingly beyond the reach of our arms.

Before the battle of Cold Harbor, all this had been reversed. Invincibility and valor were now the animating spirits of the Union army, and while the rebel army fought fiercely, they refused a contest save with the greatest odds, or behind the strongest fortifications. Gen'l Grant's instructions to Gen'l Butler were also significant, as appears from his words, . . . "the necessity of covering Washington . . . makes it impossible to unite the forces at the beginning of any move. . . . . Should the enemy be forced into their intrenchments in Richmond, the Army of the Potomac would follow, and by means of transports, the two armies would become a unit." With Lee's original force around the city of Petersburg, we could not have secured or held a foothold before its fortifications. All was now changed, for, when trusting on shorter lines to strengthen threatened points, Lee detached a corps for the annual raid upon Maryland, he found his arm paralyzed and the attempted diversion

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futile. The confidence and numerical strength of the rebel army were destroyed, and though it was capable of effective defence, the struggle was continued, as Gen'l Lee admitted, only to improve the terms of surrender.

At two o'clock A.M. June 15th, the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt., with the Star Brigade, moved across the Appomattox River on pontons at Point of Rocks, the Twenty-Fifth Mass. in advance. Here the Eighteenth Corps united with Hincks' Colored and Kautz' Cavalry Divisions, the entire force being under command of Maj. Gen'l W. F. Smith, with Petersburg as its objective point. After some delay, Kautz' Cavalry moved to the left, well out to the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad; Hincks' Division to the Jordan Point turnpike, supported by Brooks' Second Division, Eighteenth Army Corps; while Martindale's First Division, with the Star Brigade at the front, followed the Appomattox or Petersburg turnpike. With this arrangement, the force advanced without opposition until about nine o'clock, when Martindale's Division encountered the enemy's pickets near the railroad crossing, and slowly drove them to their works. Our whole force was deployed and advanced in line of battle, each organization furnishing its own skirmishers. Martindale's right rested near the Appomattox River, followed in order by Brooks and Hincks, with Kautz' Cavalry at the left flank. We advanced through tangled thickets, swamps, ravines and open undulating fields, until a shell from the front warned us that we were approaching the rebel defences.

The Star Brigade was on the right of the City Point Railroad and the Twenty-Seventh Mass. upon the left of the turnpike, about two miles from Petersburg, whose spires were visible from our position. Cautiously advancing through a considerable thicket, we emerged into an open field, half a mile from and in full view of the enemy's works. On a bluff at the left was a fort commanding the

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railroad, known to the enemy as Battery Five, which opened a fierce fire of shot, shell and canister upon us as we advanced. An hour later we moved at double-quick across a deep ditch into a position covered by a slight elevation with scattering timber, to avoid the enemy's fire, which had already inflicted a loss upon the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt. of eleven men severely wounded. Among the first wounded was Corp. H. H. Weiser, Company F, Westfield, whose arm was shattered by a cannon-ball near the shoulder, inflicting a mortal wound. The opposing works consisted of strong redans connected with Battery Five on the bluff by a line of rifle-pits. The field intervening was a low meadow cut by ditches and ravines, with the railroad piercing it at the left, and was completely covered by hostile guns. The position was naturally strong, and if defended by a determined force, could have been carried only by most desperate valor and frightful carnage. The enemy's centre and left were even stronger than in front of Martindale's Division.

The surroundings and defences were so entirely different from that indicated in information given Gen'l Smith, that it required considerable time to arrange our forces for assault. The distance intervening between the armies was such that infantry was yet unavailable, and the crossing of such a field so forbidding, that Gen'l Smith deemed it prudent to delay attack until the arrival of our artillery, which, unfortunately, did not reach us till about seven o'clock in the evening. The troops were forced to hold position, meantime, under a terrific fire from Battery Five, and a battery of Napoleon guns in the meadow on the banks of the Appomattox River, at our right, the latter enfilading our position.

During this delay narrated, Private H---- of Company --, of our regiment, was sitting in the shade with his back to the enemy, about ten feet from where Gen'l Stannard

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was standing. Against the jeers of his comrades, and in spite of the fatigue, H---- had clung to his knapsack in all our movements, and at this time had it strapped upon his back. A six-pound shot came ricochetting along the ground, hitting the knapsack, and sending its owner sprawling upon the ground. On picking himself up, H----, in a wild, confused manner, felt for his head and then his knapsack, and, to the boys' assurance that he was still safe, responded with a sickly smile. Gen'l Stannard, seeing he was all right, exclaimed, "That's a mighty lucky knapsack, boy!" "Yes," responded H----, "and I always carry it!" There was no use of arguing the knapsack question with H---- after that.

A cloud of battle still crested the enemy's works, when, at seven o'clock, a battery of twelve-pounders at our left and rear, opened upon the enemy. This was a battery from Hancock's Corps, and its perfect execution was greeted with most enthusiastic cheers. Under cover of this fire Gen'l Smith, to save slaughter by a movement in force, advanced a strong line of skirmishers from each division, with instruction to force the enemy's position if possible. Advancing at double-quick, under a terrible fire, they cleared the ditches, ravines, and meadow, forward and onward, until, to the surprise of all, they scaled the enemy's works and turned the captured guns on the retreating foe. A shout of victory rent the air, and the entire force sprang forward with an enthusiastic rush to their support. The Star Brigade captured the redans on their front and two Napoleon guns. Hincks' Colored Division fought nobly, capturing the works on their front and several hundred prisoners. Burnham's Brigade captured Battery Five on the bluff, with two hundred prisoners and eleven guns. It was now quite dark, and for reasons which will appear, Gen'l Smith gave orders to hold our position and bivouac for the night. The casualties

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of the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt. during the day were:

Capt. William McKay; left side; slight.

Company B.--Corp. William B. W. Bliss, New Salem; contusion, leg.

Company C.--Silas Cowles, Hadley; through both hips; fatal. Sidney Davis, Northampton; slight. Madison R. Olds, Hadley; contusion, left thigh.

Company E.--William A. Keep, Otis; contusion, right foot.

Company F.--Corp. H. H. Weiser, Westfield; right arm; fatal.

Company G.--Ephraim Wilson, Pittsfield; contusion, left shoulder.

Company H.--Corp. Joseph H. Montgomery, Adams; contusion, thigh.

Company K.--Charles A. Willard, Springfield; left leg, severe.

While the Eighteenth Corps had been thus engaged, the Army of the Potomac had succeeded in reaching James River at Wilcox Landing without material opposition, and were crossing by pontons to Windmill Point. Hancock's Second Corps had the advance, with orders to reach Harrison's Creek on the City Point R.R. as speedily as possible. From defective maps this corps was led astray and did not reach supporting distance of Gen'l Smith until orders suspending operations for the day had been executed. Gen'l Hancock, waiving seniority of rank, offered the co-operation of his corps to continue the advance, which Gen'l Smith did not think it wise to accept. Petersburg could still have been captured the morning of the 16th, and doubtless would have been but for an order of Gen'l Meade's to "await the arrival of the Ninth Corps" (Gen'l Burnside), which he said might be expected by the middle of the forenoon. This corps did not arrive in position until afternoon, and this delay proved fatal. During the afternoon the rebel troops were seen

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across the Appomattox pouring toward Petersburg; and when the advance was made, instead of raw recruits of old men and boys to oppose us, their works were defended by Lee's veteran troops. That a great mistake had been made cannot be denied; but, with facts from history, it is easier to accuse Gen'l Smith, than to prove neglect or inefficiency at a time when information and appearances were so misleading. The truth evidently is, there should be a division of responsibility.

Gen'l Grant, in his report upon this action, criticises Gen'l Smith, claiming that "our advance confronted the enemy's pickets before daylight, and that the attack was needlessly delayed, and, when made, might have been pressed to a successful occupation of Petersburg; asserting the night was clear, the moon shining brightly, and favorable for further operations." In the interest of impartial history it should be said that all the information with which Gen'l Smith had been furnished proved singularly incorrect as to the position and strength of the enemy and the routes to their works. This was true, also, of that furnished to Gen'l Hancock, who, to co-operate, was ordered to "take position on the City Point Railroad where it crosses Harrison's Creek," which creek was miles away, and far within the enemy's lines. This error led to considerable delay in his column reaching the field of action. On file in the War Department is a paper on matters relative to this movement, which has this endorsement by Gen'l Meade: "Had Gen'l Hancock or myself known Petersburg was to be attacked (that day) Petersburg would have fallen." This shows that in addition to inaccurate and inadequate knowledge, there was no general understanding that a combined attack was to be made, and in the absence of specific instructions, Gen'l Smith was bound to act according to his best judgment, even though it should afterward prove erroneous.

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Gen'l Smith in his report, after detailing the operations of the day, says: "We had thus broken through the strong line of rebel works, but heavy darkness was upon us, and I had heard some hours before that Lee's army was rapidly crossing at Drewry's Bluff. I deemed it wiser to hold what we had, than by attempting to reach the bridges at Petersburg, to lose what we had gained, and have the troops meet with a disaster. I knew also that some portion of the Army of the Potomac was coming to aid us, and therefore the troops were placed so as to occupy the commanding positions and wait for daylight." In corroboration of Gen'l Smith's information it is an assured fact that Hoke's Division crossed the James at Drewry's Bluff quite early the morning of the 15th, and took position in the rebel works before Petersburg about eight o'clock that evening; so that, had we advanced, we should have found the works now manned by veteran troops. With subsequent information, however, there is ground to believe an assault by the Union forces might have resulted in the capture of Petersburg. So far as the arrival on the field of Gen'l Smith's Corps may be a matter in dispute, our memoranda indicate a slight skirmish with the enemy at the railroad crossing about nine A. M.; near the field an hour later; exposed to a severe artillery fire at eleven A. M.; an order for a charge issued at twelve M., but delayed from a lack of artillery.

In obedience of Gen'l Smith's order to hold our position for the night the Twenty-Seventh Mass. bivouacked near the captured works, but soon after dark the entire regiment was ordered on picket. The night was uneventful to us, one of our men sarcastically, yet truthfully, remarking, "The Johnnies are too busy fixing another line for us." At the left, during the evening, there was a sharp engagement for a short time, when everything lapsed into perfect quiet. On the morning of the 16th, as indicated, Gen'l Meade

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being present, assumed command, delaying the advance until late in the afternoon, at which time a considerable part of the Army of the Potomac was in position before Petersburg. By the best information we can get, Beauregard was now in command at Petersburg with fourteen thousand veteran troops and a few emergency men, Lee and the remnant of the rebel army not reaching there until the morning of the 18th. The enemy maintained a harassing fire of artillery on our position during the entire day, but without reply from our forces. At six o'clock P.M. a general artillery engagement opened along the line, under which the Twenty-Seventh Regiment, with others, moved forward as a diversion, in favor of an attack at the left by the Second and Ninth Corps. The engagement lasted most of the night, with questionable success. At eleven o'clock our regiment returned to its position in line, and bivouacked for the night. The 17th we held our position under the enemy's guns without loss. A general assault was ordered for June 18th.

At half-past three the Twenty-Seventh Mass. awoke from the fitful slumbers of the soldier, and partaking of their scanty repast (commissary supplies were very short at the time), fell into line two hundred and three strong. At nine o'clock A.M., the order to advance was given, and the first line of rebel works was carried by us without determined opposition. A deafening contest right and left convinced us the enemy had been surprised on our front, but were disposed to yield elsewhere only to superior force. To avail himself of the vantage we had gained upon the enemy's flank, Gen'l Martindale decided to assault the enemy's new position some half a mile in advance, and by noon had deployed his troops for that purpose. The Twenty-Seventh was halted on a knoll near the Appomattox, within rifle-shot of the enemy's works, and as an attack was imminent, with orders that none should leave the ranks.

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Col. Pace's residence, known as Greencroft, with a "well-sweep" just in front, was too great a temptation, however, for gnawing stomachs and parched throats. Many of our men risked the enemy's fire which swept the surroundings, and succeeded in quenching their thirst with delicious water. A table in the house, laden with fragments of the morning's repast, afforded a few crumbs of comfort, and in about as little time as required to tell it, all were back in position, without a misgiving for their disobedience.

At one o'clock we charged forward, capturing a second line from the enemy, driving them into their main works, a short distance in front. The heat of the sun was intense, while the smoke of battle rolled over us from Burnside on the left, clinging close to the ground and obscuring our surroundings. The enemy now massing on our front, poured in a heavy fire of artillery and musketry, under which, begrimed with powder, smoke and dust, we hugged and almost burrowed the earth for safety. Stedman's Brigade and the Eighty-Ninth New York, of the Star Brigade, were ordered to assault the enemy's position, but after a gallant charge were repulsed and obliged to lie down, unable to return, from the fierceness of the enemy's fire. The Star Brigade present, consisted of the Twenty-Seventh Mass., Capt. John W. Moore, commanding; the Eighty-Ninth New York, Col. Fairchild; Ninth New Jersey, Col. McChesney; and the Fifty-Fifth Pennsylvania, Capt. Hill. The Twenty-Fifth Mass., Capt. Parkhurst, had been temporarily detached the day previous for service near the river; while the Twenty-Third Mass., Col. Elwell, was left at Point of Rocks the 15th, and did not rejoin the brigade until the 20th inst.

At two o'clock Lieut. James H. Fowler of the Twenty-Seventh Mass., now aid to Gen'l Stannard, brought orders for the Twenty-Seventh Mass. and Fifty-Fifth Penn. Regiments to carry forward and align upon the right of the

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Eighty-Ninth New York, who were three hundred yards in advance, and to charge the enemy's works. The Twenty-Seventh sprang to arms, charged at double-quick up an abrupt ascent, over a high fence beyond the crest, down to an open field covered with half-grown oats, but with no evidence of the force before us with which we were seeking to align. Still the order was "Forward!" and nerved by an irresistible impulse and an unswerving courage, the advance continued into the grain, our course trailed with mangled forms of dead and dying. Onward, till every officer but Lieut. Jillson was wounded, and he endeavoring to aid Lieut. Cooley from the field. Onward--under sergeants, till these too had been almost annihilated, when a sweeping volley from the enemy at close range brought the depleted ranks to the earth like reeds before a tempest. As by a common impulse all dropped into the friendly cover of the grain, which secreted us sufficiently to protect us from the enemy's aim. Endurance, courage and valor had been taxed to their utmost, but in vain.

Capt. Moore, our commander, was wounded soon after passing the fence, followed in quick succession by Capt. McKay and Lieut. Cooley. The bodies of Sergts. Meacham, Brewer and Calwell, with Corpls. Eggleston and Oaks and other slain, with scores of wounded, marked our perilous advance. The two Brewer brothers, of Company F, lay near each other in the embrace of death, having fallen within a few seconds of each other; Bolio, Dunakin and Prior, of Company D, were lying near by. We seemed in danger of utter extinction. A furrow through the field served us well as a partial protection from the enemy's fire, while cups and bayonets were briskly used to draw the earth from under us, and place it on the exposed side. Others again, sought shelter behind fallen comrades, and strengthened the human breastwork by throwing dirt against the bodies. While lying on the field Sergt. (afterwards

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Lieut.) E. L. Peck made the following memorandum in his diary. "A charge and a repulse. Awful slaughter! We are literally cut to pieces. Ten are killed outright and are lying near me. Many are in the agonies of death; not an officer left; bullets flying like hailstones; here I lie, my knapsack in front of me as a protection from bullets. Some are heaping up earth against them for protection. The cries and groans of the wounded and dying are awful. They lie scattered around, and we cannot help them. To raise our heads is sure death. I am half choked. Shall die by some means or other soon, by bullets or sunstroke."

It seemed as if the sun were standing still a second time, and this time for the benefit of the Amorites. Napoleon never longed for night to come at Waterloo with more earnestness than these battle stayed soldiers on that fatal field. To advance was death or capture; to retreat would but double the loss already sustained. While the waving grain concealed us from the enemy, it also prevented the air from reaching us, so that we almost broiled under the rays of the sun. At length darkness came, and we stealthily gathered our dead and wounded, and moved to the rear. Sergt. Major Henry W. Tryon of Granville, though wounded severely in the leg, and unable to walk, refused assistance, that others, more unfortunate might be cared for; and also because of the exposure such efforts would entail upon those caring for him. He crawled back, dragging his wounded limb, until within reach of the ambulance corps. Sergt. Hiram Everton of Westfield was in advance of most of the regiment, and was wounded by a Minie-ball passing entirely through his body, just above the hip. Sergt. Everton was one of the best soldiers in the regiment, and though never absent from our engagements, had escaped unharmed until now. With characteristic courage he endured his sufferings until dark, when with his gun for a crutch, he hobbled back to the lines, and was carried to the hospital. Comrade

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Everton survived his wound until Sept. 27, 1881. Search for the wounded and the burial of our dead occupied much of the night, as the enemy were constantly on the alert. Our dead were buried in a ravine in front of the Greencroft mansion, from which we started at nine o'clock. Sergts. Brewer, Meacham and Caldwell were laid side by side. Lieut. Jillson was ordered by Gen'l Stannard to remain near the headquarters of the brigade, and gather any of the regiment who might return, and then report to him for duty. Knowing the men would be famished from hunger, Lieut. Jillson procured and cooked rations in readiness for them, and rallied the regiment just in front of Greencroft during the night. Our casualties for the day proved to have been eleven killed and twenty-eight wounded.

KILLED.

Company D. -- Levis M. Bolio, Amherst; shot in head. Henry Dunakin, Hadley; shot in head. Fred. S. Prior, Hadley; shot in head.

Company E. -- Sergt. George W. Brewer, Great Barrington; shot in breast.

Company F. -- Corp. C. T. Eggleston, Westfield; shot through side. Charles C. Brewer, Granville; shot in breast. John W. Brewer, Granville; shot in head. Leroy S. Oaks, Dana; shot in head.

Company H. -- Sergt. Bernard Calwell, Adams; shot in head.

Company I. -- Anthony C. Pott, Ludlow; shot in head.

Company K. -- Sergt. J. W. H. Meacham, Shelburne; shot in head.

WOUNDED.

Capt. John W. Moore, Tolland; left hand, severe. Sergt. Major H. W. Tryon, Granville; left leg, severe.

Company B. -- Charles Sears, Athol; hand. Alonzo J. Thomas, Shutesbury; neck.

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Company D. -- William D. Brackett, Blandford; lower jaw and neck, severe. Charles A. Pettingill, Belchertown; arm, slight. James A. Preston, Amherst; right shoulder, severe. Elmer P. Snow, Springfield; eye, slight. William H. Snow, Springfield; both legs, severe.

Company E. -- Charles H. Davis, Pittsfield; right arm, hip, and body, fatal. Thomas Jones, Great Barrington; hand, amputated.

Company F. -- Lieut. S. P. Cooley, Granville; left shoulder and side, severe. Sergt. Hiram G. Everton, Westfield; through the body. Charles H. Allison, Springfield; both thighs, severe. William H. Bush, Westfield; head, severe. Alfred Holcomb, Southwick; leg and finger. Malachi Horner, Southwick; left leg, flesh wound. Henry Walker, Sandisfield. Peter Wilson, Southwick; groin.

Company G. -- Corp. F. E. Nutting, Northampton, left shoulder, severe. Edward Bride, Northampton; leg and arm, flesh. Aretas Walters, Holyoke; shoulder. Lewis Wellspeak, Springfield; arm and leg, slight.

Company H. -- Capt. William McKay, Adams; left side.

Company I. -- Arthur N. Hotchkiss, Springfield; elbow, slight. Marshall G. Rice, Springfield; left foot, amputated.

Company K. -- Patrick Harrington, Springfield; head and left arm, severe. Samuel L. Sherman, hand, slight.

Capt. John W. Moore was wounded by a musket-ball in the left hand. Lieut. Sherman P. Cooley of Granville, was wounded severely in the side, under the pain from which he was staggering along trying to follow his men, when Lieut. Jillson came and urged him to go to the rear. Lieut. Cooley objected, saying, "Jillson, you are the only officer left, and I won't leave you!" when another ball struck him in the shoulder, and he fell into Lieut. Jillson's arms, and was borne off the field. Lieut. Cooley had previously received wounds at Cold Harbor, and there, also, refused to leave the field.

Amid the grim surroundings of the field, there are often humorous experiences which disarm fear, and provoke laughter.

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G---- W---- of Company F, was sure to turn up when there was fighting or fun, and under the most trying circumstances, would dryly perpetrate the most side-splitting jokes. After the charge, like many another, he was trying to find some hollow spot to deposit himself, as a defence from the hostile fire, but found it difficult to spread himself thin enough upon the ground. This feeling was a common one under fire, but to W---- it had an uncomfortable application. Nature had endowed the brave old fellow with generous abdominal proportions -- well, he was large all around, too much so to admit of protection in ordinary excavations. Falling upon his face he thrust his head into a furrow, the remainder of his body cutting a most ridiculous figure, and exclaimed, "There! fire away! I've got a place for my head, any way!"

The assault of the 18th was ordered by Gen'l Grant, under the impression that Gen'l Lee's army was not yet fully present, or the works so far perfected as to be invulnerable. Had the attack been made the 17th his surmise would have proved correct, but Gen'l Lee, with his entire army, arrived early the morning of the 18th. The Union army assailed the enemy along the entire front, with a loss of ten thousand killed and wounded, but without any advantage save on our immediate front. Intrenchments and systematic approaches were now the only expedients. Having placed himself on the south of Richmond, the objective point, neither change of base nor flank movement could now avail, except so far as Gen'l Grant might attempt to cut the south side railroads, over which the enemy secured supplies. To this end future movements were directed.

The morning of the 19th Sergt. E. L. Peck presented Gen'l Stannard with a list of casualties in the Twenty-Seventh Mass. the day previous, when the general, noticing the sergeant's modest uniform, inquired, "How is this? Where are your officers?" A look into the hospitals would

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have answered the question. The Twenty-Seventh Mass. now mustered one officer and eighty men, and, worn by the fatigues of the day and night previous, lay down to sleep, regardless of the shells which fell around them during the entire day. During the evening, the Eighteenth Corps was relieved by the Sixth Corps and marched back to Point of Rocks, reaching there about midnight. We camped on the same grounds occupied by us previous to our departure for Cold Harbor, experiencing the novel sensation of rest undisturbed by z-z-p of ball or bursting shells. While here Gen'l Smith took occasion to promulgate the following complimentary address:--

To the Eighteenth Army Corps:--

The General commanding desires to express to his command his appreciation of the soldierly qualities displayed during the campaign of the last seventeen days.

Within that time they have been constantly called upon to undergo the hardships of a soldier's life and be exposed to all of its dangers.

Marches under a hot sun, have ended in severe battle; after the battle, watchful nights in the trenches, gallantly taken from the enemy; but the crowning point of the honor they are entitled to has been won since the 15th instant, when a series of earthworks, on most commanding positions, and of formidable strength have been carried, with all the guns and material of war of the enemy, including prisoners and colors. The works have all been held and the trophies remain in our hands.

The victory is all the more important to us, as the troops have never been regularly organized in camp, with time to learn the discipline necessary to a well organized corps d'armée, but they have been hastily concentrated and suddenly summoned to take part in the trying campaign in which they have engaged. Such honor as they have won will remain imperishable.

To the colored troops, comprising the Division of General Hincks, the General commanding would call the attention of the veterans of the Eighteenth Corps; they have stormed the works

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of the enemy and carried them; taken guns and prisoners, and in the whole affair, they have displayed the qualities of good soldiers.

By command of Major-General Smith. Wm. Russell, Assistant Adjutant-General.

The same day Gen'l Stannard was relieved from the Star Brigade and assigned to the command of the Second Division, Eighteenth Army Corps. The brief time which we served under him was eventful, and we parted with the deepest regrets. A man of rough exterior, he was not choice in language to express his disapproval of inefficiency or unsoldierly conduct. Cool, fearless, and daring, he was the embodiment of a soldier in camp or field. His rough exterior covered a warm and sympathetic heart, with a glowing admiration for courage and bravery. His expressions of pride in the heroic conduct of the Twenty-Seventh will always be cherished by us as a tribute from one who exemplified in himself a high standard of courage and patriotism. His appreciation of his brigade is best evinced in his farewell order:--

Headquarters First Brigade, Second Division, Eighteenth Army Corps, In the Field, Bermuda Hundreds, Va., June 20, 1864.

General Order, No. 15.

Having been assigned to another command, the General commanding desires, in taking leave of his brigade, to convey to them his pride and satisfaction in connection with the uniform courage, endurance and ready obedience which has characterized the entire command during his short but eventful connection with it.

The memorable 3d of June when, at Cold Harbor, Col. Pickett of the Twenty-Fifth, Major Walker of the Twenty-Seventh, Col. Elwell with the Twenty-Third, and Capt. Nesbitt with the Fifty-Fifth so gallantly charged the enemy's almost impregnable works; and again during the more recent trying campaign in front of Petersburg, when the Eighty-Ninth (N. Y.), Col. Fairchilds; Twenty-Seventh Mass., Capt. Moore; Twenty-Fifth, Capt. Park-hurst,

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and Fifty-Fifth (Penn.), Capt. Hill, have so unflinchingly, during the 15th, 16th and 18th of June pressed the enemy home to the last earthworks, will remain forever engraved on my heart. To whatever sphere of duty I may hereafter be called, I shall always carry with me the proud recollection of the deeds of the "First Brigade," and the calm reflection that they will never disgrace the laurels which they have nobly won by their blood.

By command of Brig. Gen'l Stannard, Wm. L. Kent, Capt. and A. A. A. General.

The Fifth Maryland Regiment was here added to the Star Brigade, so that it now consisted of seven regiments, with Col. Fry of the Fifth Maryland in command. The Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt. was now under command of Capt. P. S. Bailey, and contained four line officers and one hundred and fourteen men present for duty. Our wounded and sick were scattered in hospitals, from that of the corps near the scene of action, to those at Fortress Monroe, Washingington, Philadelphia, New York, and those within our native State. The public spirit and resources of loyal homes were taxed to the utmost to provide for the increasing number of patients within these hospitals, and no history of the war would be complete without a generous acknowledgment of the invaluable aid rendered by patriotic women of the North in relieving the sufferings incident to its prosecution.

At this time the Twenty-Seventh Mass. Regt. sustained a loss it could ill afford, in the resignation of Chaplain C. L. Woodworth. He had followed all our varying fortunes, ready to minister to our spiritual and physical comforts. He was kind and sympathetic, cheerful and familiar, yet ever maintaining a consistent walk and an elevating influence. His special work was never forgotten, nor neglected with lame apologies; but in all his duties he was persevering, efficient, and popular. Without belittling himself, or his office, Chaplain Woodworth placed himself in contact with

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all, obtaining a warm place in our esteem. The terrible desolation which had befallen "his men" was too much for his sympathetic heart to endure. Seven hundred and forty-four men had left Norfolk with him, six weeks before, in the vigor and prime of life. The privilege of performing the last sad rites of earth over his honored dead had often been denied him by the exigencies of service; but many others had been committed to the dust under his faithful care, and little mementoes secured and forwarded to loved ones by his hand. He had aided in binding up wounds, and staying the ebbing tide of life, and had received the last words of farewell and remembrance, and penned them to the bereaved at home, until, as he said, "My men are all gone. The service and exposure to which the few remaining are called puts them beyond my reach, even if I could bear the mental agony their presence revives." On the 20th of June he bade us farewell and returned to Amherst, where he had been settled previous to the war. It is fitting to say that though we lost his presence, he has always maintained an active interest in all that pertained to us. Chaplain Woodworth is at present engaged with the American Home Missionary Society, with headquarters at the Congregational House, Boston, Mass. The remainder of our army experience was passed without a chaplain.

Our withdrawal from the front was of short duration, as the extended Union lines required the entire army for defence and active operations. We reached the front again at eleven P.M. June 21st, and relieved the Vermont Brigade, some distance to the left of our former position, and within two hundred yards of the enemy. The various assaults along the line since the 15th inst., had resulted in a loss of fifteen thousand men, and it was clear, with the time the enemy had now gained, that whatever we did must be through systematic approaches, rather than by a coup de main. Growing in strength from day to day, the Confederate

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lines of defences had become so formidable that to take them by assault was impracticable. Their lines consisted of heavy forts and a chain of redans, connected by infantry parapets of powerful profile; while the approaches were completely obstructed by abatis, stakes and entanglements. Beginning at the Appomattox in front of our position, they enveloped Petersburg east and south, stretching westward beyond the farthest reach of the Union arms. A continuation of works on the north of the Appomattox, protected the city and the Richmond and Petersburg Railroad, via Walthall and Drewry's Bluff to the James River, then north of the James encircled Richmond, the whole constituting the most formidable series of defences engineering could devise. The whole system extended in an almost continuous line of upwards of sixty miles.

The cities of Richmond and Petersburg, although twenty-two miles apart, were within the arc of a circle, against any threatened point of which, the enemy, with their railroad, could throw a preponderating force with great celerity. A surprise was fairly out of question, because, working on the periphery of the circle, Gen'l Grant required days for a movement which the enemy could provide against in as many hours. Although assailed, Richmond and Petersburg were at no time strictly under siege, as the western roads were open, and tenaciously held by the enemy. Through this section passed the Lynchburg and Southside railroads, connecting at Danville with a southern network of railways furnishing uninterrupted communication through the Confederacy. These roads, though poorly equipped, by running day and night, were able to furnish the enemy with needed supplies.

The Union army held the investing lines of Petersburg, under the eye of Lieut. Gen'l Grant, but with Maj. Gen'l Meade as the immediate commander. Gen'l Butler's forces still occupied the entrenchments at Bermuda Hundreds. An entrenched camp was held north of the James River at Deep

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Bottom, and was connected with Bermuda Hundreds by pontons. The enemy's force consisted of Hill's, Ewell's and Longstreet's Corps within Petersburg, with detachments under Beauregard, advanced close to our lines near Point of Rocks. The enemy had about sixty-five thousand available infantry, besides artillery and cavalry, around Petersburg and Bermuda Hundreds.