January, the month of good resolutions and merry greetings, finds the opposing armies in front of Petersburg still grimly plying their guns and wishing for the end of the war. In the campaign from the Rapidan southward to the end of the year, Grant has lost in killed, wounded and captured more men than Lee was reputed to have had under his command when the fight began, yet the line in blue in front of the beleaguered city is just as persistent, just as vigorous as when the siege was started. While the exhaustless resources of the North are indicated by Lincoln's call for a half million more soldiers and follows that with a proposition to draft 300,000 more, Lee is writing the Confederate Secretary of War, "There is nothing within reach of this army to be impressed. The country is swept clear. Our only reliance is upon the railroads. We have but two days' supplies." General B. F. Butler, after the failure of the Fort Fisher attack has been relieved and sent home to Lowell, and General Terry is organizing a new expedition against the great fortification and ere the month is over his success will be heralded the country over. In its snug cabins or huts, the Potomac Army is gaining strength for the signal which will draw the men from their repose and send them forward. The winter is unusually severe, but, well clad and covered, the men in blue wot little of the sufferings of their adversaries in gray who are passing through all of the anguish which their fathers knew at Valley Forge. Of the Fifth Corps it need be said only that it and its many regiments are writing letters home, reading the matter sent them from those same homes, watching the foe and looking toward the end. The end of the month was signalized by the arrival of the so-called Peace Commission, consisting of Vice-President Alexander H. Stephens of the Confederacy and others who, February 3rd, met President Lincoln and Secretary Seward at Fortress Monroe, but, as the President would not enter into any negotiations without assurance of unconditional acknowledgment of perpetual union and the abolition of slavery, which the Confederates were not prepared to grant, nothing came of the meeting.

It is in this same January that Major A. R. Small, in his history of the Sixteenth Maine[U] has the following very Jan. 31, '65 pleasant words about the Thirty-ninth, words that the members of the Bay State Regiment thoroughly appreciate and fully reciprocate:

Though the men in the ranks knew it not, nor for that matter did the majority of the officers, yet it is stated that on the last night in January orders went to the several Corps of the Potomac Army to be ready to march. From that moment activity was prevalent; increased firing along the front concealed to some extent the work of the railroad in bringing up the necessary supplies from City Point. As early as the 4th of February came orders to the Regiment to be ready to move at a moment's notice. The 5th brought the order to report at brigade headquarters where the other regiments of that body were found, and the Corps was joined at 7 a. m. As usual Gregg's cavalry had preceded us and as on several former occasions the Fifth Corps leads the infantry to be followed by the Second and a repetition of the Hatcher's Run incidents of last October and December. The Fifth Corps is to pass around the enemy's right flank while the other troops assail in front; Crawford's Division to which the Thirty-ninth belongs marches last. Our direction is toward Dinwiddie Court House within two miles of which we camp for the night. Monday, the 6th, we are detailed for picket duty; in the afternoon we cross Hatcher's Run and in the first battle-line we are at the right, the enemy being strongly entrenched at Dabney's Mills. The first attempt to dislodge the rebels is unsuccessful, but in a second charge we take the works which, however, we are compelled to vacate because of lack of support.

The events of this day so far as the Second Brigade is concerned are effectively told by Major Isaac Hall, historian of the Ninety-seventh New York, at this time a part of the Brigade:

The foregoing wagon incident is told in quite a different manner by a survivor of our Regiment who believes in giving credit to him to whom credit is due:

The particular part borne by the Thirty-ninth was to form in line at 8 a. m. and then to be deployed as skirmishers in front of the Brigade. Thus advancing, the skirmishers of the enemy were driven from three lines of rifle pits back into their main works which were near. At 5 p. m. our line was ordered to advance upon them, but the assault proving unsuccessful the line fell back to its original position where it remained exposed to a galling fire till late at night, when it was relieved. Wednesday, the 8th, was spent in bivouac, a couple of miles back of the scene of Tuesday's activities. The next day (9th), the Regiment went on picket and, when relieved on Friday, the 10th, it moved back to its old camp, near the Jerusalem Plank Road to get the men's baggage that had been stored there. After this ebulition, which cost the Fifth Corps 1,165 killed and wounded and 154 missing, quiet again fell on the army, and on the 11th, moving out to the extreme Union left near Hatcher's Run, camp was again pitched and winter quarters were once more prepared. One writer says that the Brigade was camped near the Goshen House, the Fifth Corps being massed in rear of the Second. However disagreeable such variations in what many would have made a peaceful winter may have been to the soldiers, there is not a doubt that the lesson of constant watchfulness was thoroughly impressed upon everyone, officers as well as men. Here, subjected to the accustomed routine of camp and picket duty, February wore away.

The beginning of March brought little if any variation on the ending of the preceding month, yet there was a feeling in most minds that the month would bring on the commencement of active hostilities. Everybody knew that Sherman had reached North Carolina, and that General Joe Johnston, with such forces as he could secure, was trying to prevent the further advance of the triumphant army northward. The line whose beginning we heard announced amid the thunders of Spottsylvania had encompassed Petersburg and was slowly but surely extending towards that never ending left. Though the army Mar., '65 did not know it, General Lee in these March days had sought an interview with Grant with reference to some solution of the problem so long under consideration. The latter had wisely referred the matter to Washington, whence Lincoln warned the Lieutenant General against having any conference with Lee unless to accept his surrender. Save for just a little vigor shown by Sheridan and his cavalry there was practically nothing doing in the Old Dominion till away past the middle of the month when, on the 25th, the Confederates made their charge upon Fort Steadman, in front of the Ninth Corps, the very last aggressive movement on the part of the Army of Northern Virginia, effectually demonstrating to the exacting Confederacy that its soldiery had fired its last charge of ammunition in attack and that hopeless resistance and flight were the only resources left.

As side lights to the story of a single regiment in the great struggle, it might be said that United States Senator E. B. Washburn of Minnesota came down from Washington, arriving at City Point March 10th, the bearer of the medal which Congress had voted to General Grant for his distinguished services; the presentation was made in the main cabin of the steamer which brought the Senator, the evening of the 11th, the day itself having been given to a ride through the army and a review of some of the troops. General Meade and staff were present at the presentation, which was made in eloquent words by Washburn, a personal friend of Grant, and the latter received his honor with all the modesty that ever characterized all of his acts. While all this was taking place and the infantry of the great army was gaining strength for the coming ordeal, Sheridan and his ever untiring cavalry were continuing the raid on which, with 10,000 riders, he had started from Winchester, February 27th and, like a cloudy pillar by day and one of fire by night, he had ridden southward, once more administering severe punishment to Early and his followers; between Staunton and Charlottesville, had destroyed mills and factories, a considerable portion of the James River Canal, railroad bridges and tracks; and now, with his wearied horsemen, is approaching White House on the Pamunkey River.

Nor was March altogether one of idleness for the Thirty-ninth, since the new quarters constructed in February had to be maintained, and ordinary policing of camp will insure an appetite for any healthy soldier, and picket duty added kept everybody busy even if they were not marching and fighting. A newspaper correspondent of the day, having been through the camp and finding it extremely well kept, commented on the same in exceedingly complimentary terms, concluding with, "and the soldiers are spoiling for a fight," which, coming to the observation of the men, one of them thus moralized in his diary, "To say that a soldier is anxious for a fight and is eagerly waiting for a combat with the enemy is talk that savors of nonsense; only a lunatic would use such words. A soldier can be brave and can most ardently wish for the overthrow of the enemy, and be willing to fight if he must, but he never desires battle when strategy will do just as well, unless drunk or crazy like some of the newspaper men." Thursday, the 9th of March, brought along a pleasure in that the Regiment passed in review before that most excellent former division commander, General John C. Robinson, who had been so severely wounded at Laurel Hill and was just getting about once more. On the 14th, General Warren conducted a review of the entire Corps, a fact that set men to remarking that a move-out would soon be in order. Two days later, the 16th, another exhibition of our soldierly attributes and attainments was made for the edification of Secretary of War Edward M. Stanton and others, the Thirty-ninth acquitting itself in a praiseworthy manner.

The expiring thrust of the Rebellion, the assault and temporary capture of Fort Steadman on Saturday, the 25th of March, called for immediate aid from different March 25, '65 parts of the line, the Thirty-ninth with others; coming at five o'clock in the morning it was a great surprise to all of us; though the attack was about ten miles to the right, the noise of heavy artillery was excessive, and the Fifth Corps in light marching order was ordered to the rescue at once. The response was immediate and eager, and the Corps had a commendable pride in itself as it moved out of its several camps with brave Warren at its head, marching briskly towards the conflict, but before the scene could be reached the firing ceased and we were halted till, all danger passed, we were ordered back to camp. Near the Gurley House the Corps was reviewed by President Lincoln, it being not a little interesting that the President and his family had arrived at City Point the night before and he was near enough to see the 1600 prisoners taken at the Fort as they marched by.

It was March 24th, or the day before the assault on Fort Steadman, that Generals Grant and Meade issued their orders for the general movement against the enemy, the same to begin on the 29th. The Fifth Corps was in reserve and occupying camps in the rear of and to the left of the Second Corps. Griffin's (First) Division was on the right, closely connecting with the Second Corps; Ayres' (Second) was next at Griffin's left and Crawford's (Third) was still further to the left and near the Halifax Road. The movable force of the Potomac Army consisted of the Second and Fifth Corps and Sheridan's Cavalry. By the orders of March 27th General Warren was to march at 3 a. m. on the 29th and, crossing Hatcher's Run at W. Perkin's house, thence to march to the junction of the Old Stage Road and the Vaughn Road and from that point to open communications with the Second Corps, having accomplished which he was to move to a position in the vicinity of Dinwiddie Court House. These orders were subsequently somewhat modified. How near these days were to the end no one realized, though Grant had been exceedingly apprehensive that Lee would endeavor to move out from his entrenchments and, if possible, effect a junction with Johnston to the southward, yet not even his far seeing mind realized that less than two weeks separated these late March days from the final wind-up. History is to be made rapidly in the coming days; Sheridan is to "push things," and the latest enlisted man is to march and fight feeling that every step and blow are telling against the effort to disrupt the Union.

The right of Lee's army is the object that Sheridan and his forces are seeking. He has his cavalry well in hand and had asked for the Sixth Corps, having in the Valley learned some of its qualities, but that Corps was so placed in the entrenched lines that its withdrawal was impracticable, and the Fifth was sent instead. Proverbially rainy, March of 1865 outdid itself and so watered the scene of hostilities that movements of any kind seemed almost impossible. [V]Warren's advance began at 3 a. m. on the 29th according to schedule, General Joshua L. Chamberlain commanding the First Brigade of Griffin's (first) Division in the lead; the crossing was made by pontoons over Rowanty Creek, the name given to the stream made by the union of Hatcher's and Gravelly Runs. The Corps was halted at the Quaker Road whence, to insure against surprise, advance guards and supports were pushed to within two miles of Dinwiddie Court House. At 10.12 a. m. Warren was ordered by General Meade to move up the Quaker Road to Gravelly Run and thence to throw out parties to the right that he might find the left of Humphreys, commanding the second Corps. At noon he was ordered to cross the Run and advance to Boydton Plank Road which was done, though considerable delay was occasioned by reason of the stream not being fordable and the laying of a pontoon bridge was hindered by the exceptional steepness of the banks of the stream. About this time the enemy was developed and his skirmishers March 29, '65 were driven back till near the junction of the Quaker and Boydton Roads. Here, supported by Gregory of Griffin's Second Brigade, Chamberlain attacked and drove the rebels beyond the junction. It was about 6 p. m. when the assault was made, the sun being about half an hour high. Pushing on rapidly to the Plank Road, we went into bivouac at nine o'clock, holding the Plank Road from Gravelly Run to near Rainey's house where Griffin halted for the night, his pickets on the right reaching those of the Second Corps.

Sergt. Wm. A. Mentzer, Company A, recalls that in falling back he and his tentmate, I. H. Mitchell, in their anxiety to get a few more shots at the foe stopped behind an old shed, but they waited a bit too long, for the Rebels were near enough to get a cross fire on them, on which they started back in a hurry, but within a very few rods Mitchell got a shot which went right through him; however, his height was just right to enable him to throw his arm over Mentzer's shoulder and thus they weathered the storm of bullets, which, he said, made the mud through which they were running fairly bubble, for the enemy was determined to get them, and glad enough they were to reach the reformed line of the Regiment. Mitchell's wound healed all right and in 1913 he survives with his Sergeant to tell the story.

From right to left, the Fifth Corps divisions are Griffin's, Ayres's and Crawford's, the latter in which was the thirty-ninth being nearest Gravelly Run. During the night began the severe rain already alluded to, coming in torrents till the afternoon of the 31st. Full of swamps and ravines, the sand and clay were easily transformed into quicksands; much of the way was quite impassable unless corduroyed; a part of the land was covered with dense forest and undergrowth, so that being very flat the water was quickly carried off. Rowanty Creek, over which the Corps had gone on the 29th, rose so rapidly that on the 30th the pontoon bridge was one hundred feet too short and the wagons of the Corps had to wait until mid-day of the 31st. Notwithstanding this condition, Griffin's Division was advanced up the Boydton Road until the enemy was driven into his main line of works along the White Oak Road. During the 30th, the Thirty-ninth Regiment was on the skirmish line all day while those behind were busy entrenching, though the work was slow since all the tools that could be obtained belonged to the pioneers, those in the wagons not being available, as stated before. It was observed, as an interesting fact, that the advance was then occupying substantially the same position held by Hancock in October of the preceding year. On this 30th of March, General Ayres, according to directions, sent out one of his brigades on a reconnoisance; his advance reached the Holliday house without opposition, crossing a stream which was to play an important part in the operations of the next day, going over the same with so much ease that he did not deem it worthy of mention as an obstacle in his report, though then the rain was falling furiously. Meanwhile Crawford and his Third Division had relieved the two remaining brigades of Ayres's Division and now occupied the line from Gravelly Run to Rainey's house.

During these movements the proceedings of the enemy were quite visible and from captures made by our troops it was learned that there was a considerable tendency of the Confederates towards Five Forks. In reporting this information to headquarters, Warren suggested that Griffin be relieved by Humphreys and that the entire Fifth Corps should support the advance of Ayres, intimating that, if allowed to do this, he could effectually block the White Oak Road and prevent its further use by the enemy. At 9 p. m. orders were received substantially in accord with General Warren's proposition, and Warren at once disposed of his forces so that Ayres should lead, supported by Crawford and Griffin whenever the arrival of Humphreys would permit. At 8.15, in the morning of the 31st, March 31, '65 Ayres is informed by General Warren that Merritt's cavalry has been driven from the White Oak Road and that he must observe his left with the utmost care lest the enemy assail him from the west as well as from the north, a possibility at every step of the movement from the Rapidan southward. Still heavily falls the rain, diminutive brooks become swiftly flowing streams and ordinary creeks speedily grow to be roaring torrents.

It was 10.30 when Ayres's advance was made, but it seemed that the enemy was like minded with the Union Army and he too was approaching with a far larger force than that of the Federals. The Union line slowly withdrew to its original position while other troops were hurried to its support but without avail and to add to the dangers of the situation a heavy column of the enemy was discovered approaching from the west. Unable to withstand the Confederate advance, our lines gave way in considerable confusion. Crawford's Third Division was thrown into the breach but was too unsteady to stay, and so fell into the general retreat before the enemy. The Thirty-ninth had been thrown forward as skirmishers, they were known as the skirmishers for the Brigade, being near the Holliday house and holding their place with steadiness, but, outflanked by the enemy, of necessity they fell back with the rest. General Baxter, commanding the Brigade, strengthened the line of the Thirty-ninth with the Eleventh Pennsylvania, both regiments being composed of hardened campaigners who did their best; but the odds were too great and they slowly gave way, expecting to rally on the division which, however, had fallen back to the branch of Gravelly Run. Lieut. Colonel Tremlett who, as a member of the Twentieth Regiment, had been inducted into battle at Ball's Bluff, here received his mortal wound and was borne from the field. Captain Willard C. Kinsley, Company K, was also mortally wounded and the command of the regiment devolved upon Captain Cooper of Company F.

When General Warren reached the scene of conflict and realized the situation he seized the flag of a Pennsylvania regiment and rode up and down the lines, trying to stem the retreat but without avail, it being evident that the men would not stop on the western side of the branch of Gravelly Run, mentioned in the advance of Ayres on the 30th. Still waving his flag and trying to halt the men on the eastern side of the stream, he succeeded in once more forming a well ordered line and the approach of the enemy was effectually withstood and Griffin's men recrossing the branch drove the enemy back. By this time Humphreys, still further to the east, sent reinforcements so that the rebels were effectually prevented from making any further serious attack. At 2.30 in the afternoon the Union Army again advanced and effectually drove the enemy back over all the ground won in the forenoon and never halted until it was on the White Oak Road, the Confederates themselves saying it was one of the most gallant charges that they had ever seen. "Crawford now reached the road and, following the line of the rebel entrenchment to the east, connected with Miles of the Second Corps, who had advanced and driven the enemy into their works to the east and to the Plank Road." Ayres also had not fired a musket in this advance, was halted just before reaching the road, and, still covering the left near the house of W. Dabney, looked down the road towards Five Forks. The enemy had failed in his effort to double up the Union left and what was worse for him had lost the White Oak Road and was effectually penned up within his works.

All this time Sheridan was having more trouble than usually fell to the lot of Little Phil. He was near Dinwiddie Court House and the cavalry of the enemy was making a more stubborn showing than was their wont, indeed the men in blue were yielding to those in gray and late in the afternoon, Warren sent a brigade (Bartlett's) of Griffin's Division to Sheridan's relief, this being the first of April 1, '65 the Fifth Corps to move to the assistance of Sheridan in response to his call for infantry.

April 1st, so often mingled in Anglo Saxon minds with fooleries of all descriptions, was one of intense earnestness to the long time rivals along that line, reaching from the other or further side of James River to Five Forks, a distance of nearly or quite forty miles. Good Bishop Berkeley's aphorism as to the Star of Empire and its western way has another application as General Ord and his divisions from the Twenty-fourth and Twenty-fifth Corps leave the north side of the James to Weitzel and his colored troops, and moving westward occupy space to the left of the Sixth; from the right of the latter, Parke and the Ninth Corps extend to the James. Humphreys and the Second Corps are between Ord and the Fifth Corps, while Sheridan and his troopers are at the extreme left, making sure that the Confederates shall not escape to the southward. So generally have the rebel lines been reduced at Lee's left, it seems strange that the Union troops in that locality did not advance into the all but empty trenches. A wonderfully alert line of men is that which, looking northward, sees the earthworks which must be stormed, and that right early. The showing of Confederate cavalry at the Union left, with the constant coming of infantry, demands its destruction and this is the task that Sheridan has set for himself on this day.

The last day of March saw Sheridan at the close of a day not entirely to his liking, and a portion of the Fifth Corps was hurrying to his aid. General Horace Porter in his "Campaigning with Grant" says, "The Fifth Corps had borne the brunt of the fighting ever since the army had moved out on March 29th; and the gallant men who composed it, and who had performed a conspicuous part in nearly every battle in which the Army of the Potomac had been engaged, seemed eager once more to cross bayonets with their old antagonists. But the movement was slow, the required formation seemed to drag, and Sheridan, chafing with impatience and consumed with anxiety, became as restive as a racer struggling to make the start." For many reasons the advance of Warren's men towards Five Forks was slow; Ayres and the Second Division went first and reported to Sheridan or one of the latter's staff officers before daylight of the 1st; under orders, the commands of Griffin and Crawford began their march towards Five Forks before daylight of the 1st. The movement was made with considerable caution because of information as to the positions of the enemy, stated the night before by Sheridan, and with consequent slowness. At 7 and 8 a. m. respectively Griffin's and Crawford's Divisions halted and were permitted to cook their breakfasts and to rest, General Warren halting with them. In the formation of the Corps finally, Crawford was on the right, Ayres on the left with Griffin massed in rear of Crawford's right flank; Baxter's Brigade in which the Thirty-ninth was ranged held the extreme right of the Third Division.

The orders were to advance to the White Oak Road and to swing to the left, keeping the sun over the left shoulder. When the advance was made it was found that the line was half a mile too far to the right and a readjustment was necessary. In this effort, Crawford's Division was thrown directly into the air and it seemed as though he were marching away from the field. General Warren[W] hastened Apr. 1, '65 to rearrange the confused line, an effort not unaccompanied with difficulty. In this particular movement, as a regiment in the Third Division, the Thirty-ninth bore its part and of this Captain Charles H. Porter says:—

It was a very wide sweep that the Third Division made and in its progress a battery was captured, the division being under fire all of the time, and this advance of Crawford's men caused an evacuation of the enemy's entrenchments. Again quoting Captain Porter, we have:—

Long years after the war Sergt. Wm. A. Mentzer of "A" was wont to tell of seeing Sheridan at Five Forks with his Staff, riding along the rear of our lines, shouting, "See the Sons of B——s run! Give them H—L, boys!" "After going a little way into the woods we came to the rear of the Rebel works, where I saw a lad behind the same firing at our folks. Jamming on my bayonet I jumped to the works and ordered him to come out; he looked up and had the impudence, with a smile on his face, to say, 'I wish you would let me fire these five cartridges.' I think I swore some and told him I'd put the bayonet right through him unless he came out at once, and he came. When going to the rear with my prisoner I saw General Warren riding the same way, but not till the next morning did I know that our great and good leader had been relieved of his command."

April 2d, as usual when the most important military operations are to be undertaken, is Sunday and at 4.45 a. m. signal guns announced the general advance of the Union Apr. 2, '65 forces in front of Petersburg, from the Appomattox to Five Forks and beyond. Within half an hour, Wright of the Sixth Corps sends word to Grant that he has carried the enemy's lines in front of his position, and Parke of the Ninth reports that he has captured the outer works with artillery and 800 prisoners, and, before seven o'clock, the Lieut. General telegraphs President Lincoln at City Point the good news. This is the day in which Richmond, the Confederate Capital, lulled into fancied security, quite ignorant of the havoc along the Petersburg lines, is actually attending church and President Davis is summoned from his pew in St. Paul's church with the overwhelming news that the Yankees are coming. How pandemonium broke loose, how the iron clads and other ships in the James River were destroyed; how the three bridges which spanned the James were burned; and Richmond, itself, by a fire set by the Confederates and extinguished by the Union troops, suffered worse than Columbia from the alleged inhumanity of Sherman—all this is history. Every man who wore the blue seemed to have a mission to find someone in gray and the latter, be it said to his everlasting credit, was nothing loath to be found.

Until the afternoon of the 2d, the Fifth Corps was employed on the field of Five Forks in caring for the wounded, burying the dead and destroying the old arms of the captured Confederates. After these accomplishments the Corps, now under General Griffin, received orders to proceed towards Petersburg, Chamberlain's Brigade of Bartlett's Division (till yesterday, Griffin's) leading. Whatever opposition was encountered, it was speedily swept away and, at Church Road Crossing of the South Side Railroad, fifteen miles from Petersburg, a passing train of cars was captured. Crossing the railroad he was ordered to push out if possible to the Cox Road, crossing the line of march at right angles. The First Division continued towards Sutherland Station, still nearer Petersburg, while Crawford's coming up, at about 3 p. m., went over the road with cheers, thence passing down the same about seven miles it turned to the left, marching till 6.30 before halting for the night. In some places the stream at which the stop was made is called Namozine while General Humphreys' map has it Whipponock and here some annalist says the enemy got combative during the evening and the Thirty-ninth, as usual, went out on skirmish duty, when a few shots seemed to settle the matter for the rebels, of whom nothing more was heard during the night.

The great Confederate army that had withstood our onslaughts so many years is clearly trying to escape "on the run" is the thought in the minds of those who follow. The Union cavalry, led by the fiery Custer, is keeping the rear guard of the enemy in plain sight and the infantry is following as rapidly as it can. With the exception of Willcox's Division of the Ninth Corps, which is occupying Petersburg, the entire Potomac Army is in the chase; it is the day when Godfrey Weitzel marches into Richmond and extinguishes the conflagration started by the retiring foe; President Lincoln, leading his son, Tad, enters Petersburg and personally congratulates Grant on the great victory; of the meeting General Horace Porter says, "I doubt whether Mr. Lincoln ever experienced a happier moment in his life." The Fifth Corps follows hard after the cavalry, picking up many prisoners with five pieces of abandoned artillery and a number of wagons. At night, with Crook's Division of cavalry, the Corps encamps on the Nazomine Road, near Deep Creek. On the morning of the 4th, the Corps moves directly and rapidly towards Jetersville, a station on the Richmond and Danville R. R., Sheridan thinking that the rebels are collecting at Amelia Court House about eight miles northeast of Jetersville. On arriving we are ordered to entrench with a view of holding the point until the main army can come up. The position of the Corps is an exposed one, of which Sheridan in his report says, "The enemy lost its last chance of escape by failure to advance and attack the comparatively Apr. 4, '65 small force and so march on its way to Burkeville." However, luckily for the troops at Jetersville, the Confederates are not reaching the Court House as rapidly as Sheridan thinks and by the afternoon of the 5th, the Second and the Sixth Corps are up and ranged in line with the Fifth. While not described in detail, the whole world knows that everybody was busy in those days with scant time for sleep at night, but through the bewildering maze of horse and foot, it is ours to follow only the men of a single corps and that the Fifth. Many a page might be given to reciting the incidents of Sailor's Creek, the last pitched battle in the East, but our regiment was not in it. At last Sheridan had obtained his wish and the Sixth Corps, having been sent to him, wins renown in this final struggle, while the Fifth moves off at the right of the Second through Paineville on Deatonville. It proved a long, rapid and tiresome march, a distance of thirty-two miles to Ligontown Ferry, experiencing no greater variety on the way than the destruction of abandoned army wagons, gun carriages and caissons of the enemy and the capture of some prisoners.

Says Powell in his History of the Fifth Army Corps, "No army in the world could stand such losses as Lee was meeting every day, and no troops could long endure the strain and fatigue of marching all night and fighting by day, as Lee's men were now enduring. They were by this time deprived of everything, even food, and those captured presented a pitiable condition." Though the slumbers of the Union Army are not as prolonged as they may have been at other times, nevertheless there are halts and rations are had, and with full stomachs and a boundless supply of ammunition the pursuit is maintained. Friday, the 7th, General Meade orders Griffin with the Fifth Corps to proceed to Prince Edward Court House while the Second and the Sixth keep up the direct pursuit. Our Corps crosses the South side R. R. at Rice's Station, just fifty miles west of Petersburg and forty from Appomattox. General Grant's first letter to General Lee, relative to surrender, bears the date of the 7th and the answer of the great Confederate, asking for terms, is dated the same day. Whatever his intentions, Lee does not await the statement of Grant, but pushes on through the night towards the west on his hopeless task. The morning of the 8th beholds the tireless Second Corps, closely followed by the Sixth, in eager pursuit. The Fifth Corps also has an early start and striking the Lynchburg R. R. at Prospect Station, twenty miles from Appomattox, at about noon, follows thence Ord's forces towards Appomattox Court House and at 2 a. m. of the 9th, Sunday, bivouacks about two miles from the site of the immortal scene so soon to be enacted having marched twenty-nine miles from Prince Edward's Court House.

Meantime, on the 8th, Grant and Lee had again exchanged courtesies, the former writing to Lee that his surrender could be accepted only on the understanding that his soldiers should not take up arms against the United States until properly exchanged, and the famous Virginia names the 9th as the day for their meeting, stipulating however that it need not necessarily lead to his surrender, and 10 a. m. as the hour. All this is not known to the rank and file, who for ought they know are still due for weeks of marching and fighting, though for the last few days there has been considerably more of the former than of the latter. Accordingly there was no surprise abroad when the familiar assembly call rang out on the morning air of the 9th and without rations the day before, or breakfast this morning, at four o'clock, the Corps moved from its bivouac and reached the headquarters of General Sheridan at 6 a. m. The cavalry evidently was hotly engaged and the Twenty-fourth Corps was moving out when Ayers of the Fifth (Second Div.), followed by Bartlett and the First Division, took position also. General Griffin reported that the failure of the Third Division to be in line with the others was entirely the fault of the commander, though Apr. 9, '65 he had been notified of the necessity of keeping well closed up; as a result the division did not reach its proper position till after hostilities for the day were over.

The 9th day of April will figure in history as one of the most important dates ever recorded; the correspondence, now passing between Grant and Lee, will rank with the other all but sacred documents in our national records. Hostilities had begun and our lines were pressing forward, driving the enemy, when a message was received from Sheridan that fighting should cease as the Confederates were about to surrender. On the scenes that follow—those beneath the famous apple tree and within the parlor of Wilmer McLean, where foemen "worthy of their steel" were assembled—it does not behoove us to linger, for they are as familiar as household tales throughout the land. The two pre-eminent figures, those of Grant and Lee, meet face to face, each one increasing the esteem in which he must be held as long as the Nation lives.

While the great majority of the triumphant army, setting their faces homeward, start on the return march the next day after the surrender, to the troops of General Ord and the First Division of the Fifth Corps is entrusted the honor as well as task of receiving the formal "laying down of arms" by the beaten Confederates. This crowning event does not take place until the 12th, the Fourth anniversary of the firing upon Sumpter, when at nine o'clock in the morning General Joshua L. Chamberlain of Maine, having asked for the services of his old Brigade, the Third, had the same ranged in line to receive the oncoming Southrons. "It was not long before a column of gray was seen marching down the valley which sent a thrill of excitement through every individual present. The Union troops were brought to attention. Evans' Brigade of Gordon's Corps led the advance of the Confederates. As its head reached the extreme right of Chamberlain's line, it was wheeled into company line first and subsequently into general line confronting the Union troops. Then each regiment stacked arms, unslung cartridge boxes and hung them on the stacks, and finally laid down their colors. It was a trying scene. And then, disarmed and colorless, they again broke into column and marched off, disappearing forever as soldiers of the Southern Confederacy."[X]

While to the Fifth Corps came the honor of receiving the formal surrender of the Confederates the fact that the men had to linger here, at least some of them, until the 15th brought upon them certain hardships, disagreeable in spite of their pleasure over the successful ending of the campaign. For some reason, perhaps the destruction of bridges on the route, supplies did not reach the army, so that there was positive suffering on account of lack of food. Only a few days before, hungry rebel stomachs had been filled through the foresight and kindness of Grant, and now the victorious Yankees are experiencing want themselves; somehow there comes to mind the Scriptural expression, "He saved others, himself He cannot save." To crown all, a severe rain fell during the 14th, so without tents and minus rations, the soldiers passed a miserable day and night. It was about noon of the 15th, that the Corps began its retrograde movement, but the rain had rendered the roads well nigh impassable, hence the course backward had few of the features of a triumphal procession, everyone being on the lookout for expected rations, but none arrived, and after dark came the orders to halt, break ranks and make the best of the situation for the night; meanwhile the rain was falling incessantly. The 16th dawned cold and raw and under the circumstances the men were as comfortable when marching as when nominally resting. At noon the Appomattox was reached Apr. 14, '65 and, on a temporary bridge it was crossed, and soon after Farmville was gained, a place more conspicuous in history than in fact.

Here, at 4 p. m., came the dispatch announcing the death of President Lincoln and the already discouraged men had a deeper pitch of woe to bear, naturally the rank and file of them ascribing the assassination to the Confederate leaders rather than to a half-crazed actor. It is said that to properly drape their colors, some of the bearers actually dipped their handkerchiefs in ink. The next day, Monday, the 17th, the homeward route was resumed by way of Burkeville, and on the 21st the Second Brigade encamped at Blacks & Whites Station on the Southside R. R. Evidently the Fifth Corps was distributed along the road, for Powell mentions Sutherland Station, near Petersburg, as the camping place, reaching the same on the 23d; and a diarist of the Thirty-ninth, who was at corps headquarters, places the same at Nottoway Court House. However placed, in due time the army learned of the surrender of Johnston in North Carolina on the 26th. Here too were welcomed back many of the men who were captured in the Weldon R. R. incident, among them being Major F. R. Kinsley upon whom devolved the command of what was left of the Regiment.

We observed May Day by breaking camp and resuming the march towards the North, passing through Petersburg on the 3d, taking hurried glances at what had occasioned us so many months of toil and danger. The James River was reached at Manchester, just across from Richmond, so as to pass through the former Capital of the Confederacy on Saturday, the 6th, taking note in passing of Libby Prison, Castle Thunder and the State House. Near the latter to review the Army of the Potomac, excepting the Sixth Corps, were standing Generals Meade, Henry Wager Halleck and other officers. The Sixth Corps was still doing guard duty along the railroad, between Burkeville and Danville. On the 9th, we pass over the famous battlefield of Fredericksburg where Massachusetts regiments suffered so severely. We cross the Rappahannock on pontoons below the city, this being our tenth and last time, and Friday, the 12th of May, beheld us on Arlington Heights, near Fort Albany and almost on the very spot of our first camping ground when, in September, '62, we crossed the Potomac and entered the enemy's country, thus ending where we began. What days of wearisome marching, long and dreary vigils on picket line and vidette, what dangers of the embattled field the interval covers! The extended line marks our duties along the Potomac, in Washington, from Harper's Ferry to Antietam and thence southward to the Rapidan, with a backward turning to Bull Run and Thoroughfare Gap, through the Wilderness, Spottsylvania and Petersburg, the pursuit, surrender and return, till now the circle is complete. With so much behind us, what wonder that visions of home become more and more absorbing!

However, there yet remained the Grand Review for which in part Sherman's Army had made the trip from North Carolina, and it was an inspiring sight to see the many tents of the men who had made the world-famous "March to the Sea" as they were spread over the heights back of Alexandria. Very likely the Review was worth all it cost, but to the men who had to undergo the fatigue incident to it, there was no little bitter mingled with the sweet; some even claimed that the exhibition of Tuesday, the 23d, when the Potomac Army marched in review was the most exacting they had ever taken and they thought it was for the express and only purpose of gratifying a sightseeing proclivity of certain authorities well up the line; Sherman's men paraded on the 24th. The next night, that of the 25th, there was an illumination by the Army of the Potomac, candles being lighted on every tent and rockets were sent up. The brigades turned out, every man carrying a candle and thus marched to corps headquarters, May 23, '65 where hearty cheers were given for General Griffin. For the remainder of the month there is little more than a waiting for the final muster-out and occasional visits to Washington, Alexandria and other near-by points of interest.

The coming of June simply intensified the home-longing and the feeling that we must go very soon. The ceremony of muster-out began on the 2d, terminating on the 3d, on whose night comes the statement that we will depart at 8 a. m. of the 4th. According to schedule, we start, the day being Sunday, and march into Washington and there wait till 2 p. m., when the train is taken for Baltimore; the same proved to be a slow one for we do not reach the city until five o'clock. Then comes the march through Baltimore, the boarding of another train and an all night's ride to Philadelphia, arriving in time for a breakfast at the Cooper Shop, whose hospitality we had tested on our way southward in September, '62. Thence we ride through New Jersey to New York city, where a lunch is furnished by the New England Relief Association, before going on board a steamer bound for Providence, whence by rail we reach Boston early in the morning of the 6th. The wait in Boston is very short and another train transports us to Readville at 8 a. m. and we are assigned to quarters there. By a singular coincidence Lieut. Colonel Tremlett who had been severely wounded at Gravelly Run, March 31st, and was sent home to Boston, dies this very day in his Beacon Street home. While passes were readily given to the homes represented, all were glad to return and receive their discharges and pay on the 14th of June. Thus ends the story of devotion and sacrifice of a regiment that had gone forth to help save the Union and whose members now are returning to the paths of peace. They have made an honorable record, not alone pleasing to themselves but to the hundreds of those to follow and who, in the years to come, will call their memory blessed.

They are returning to their homes,

—Bryant.