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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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