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

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

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

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

July 22d. To-day Captain Morse, who was severely wounded at Spottsylvania, returned to duty and resumed command of Company C. Lieutenant Davidson also returned from the hospital. Private Judson Maynard, of Company H, was wounded July 23d. The regiment went to the front

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

July 24th. A regiment of colored troops was at work all day building a new covered way through our camp in the woods, which necessitated a change of some of our quarters and bomb-proofs. Captain Smith on duty as brigade officer of the day. A heavy storm set in and the rain poured in torrents nearly all the night, and the weather was very cold. The men were soaked and chilled, and it was a rough night to stand at a loop-hole and watch. The sufferings of the troops in the front lines during this siege from hunger, thirst, protracted watching, constant danger, from burning heat by day and chills by night, from sudden changes in the temperature that rack the strongest frames, from the numberless exposures and hardships and privations

can never be adequately portrayed. They will live, however, in the memories of those who endure and survive them.

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

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

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

CHAPTER XX.

THE MINE AFFAIR.

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

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

relieved. Toward evening troops were massed in our rear, filling all the covered ways and passages leading to the front line. Reserves from other corps filled our camp in the woods. The troops were under arms all night.

Before daylight on the 30th the regiments on our right and left had been relieved. Notice was sent two or three times that no relief had been sent to our regiment, and each time the order came back to hold the line until relieved. All our efforts to have the relief on our right and left extend so as to cover our front having failed, we were obliged to remain on duty in the pits. Before the sun had reached the meridian we were satisfied that what we regarded a great misfortune proved to be our salvation. Colonel Pleasants was directed to explode the mine at half-past three o'clock A.M. The First Division was ordered to charge through the aperture which would be made in the enemy's works and advance directly to the crest, or Cemetery Hill. The Third Division was ordered to cover the left. The Second Division was ordered to advance, if possible, to the right of the explosion, and to establish a line on the crest of a ravine running nearly at right angles to the enemy's line, and protect the right flank from the enemy's attack. At the appointed hour the fuse was lighted, and all waited in deep silence for the expected explosion. On account of dampness the fuse was extinguished, and the valuable time slipped rapidly away. We all know the story of the brave Lieut. Doughty and Sergeant Reeves, of the Forty-eighth, who nobly volunteered to go into the mine to ascertain the cause of failure to explode. The break in the fuse was found and relighted. At forty-two minutes past four we witnessed a volcano and experienced an earthquake. With a tremendous burst, which shook the hills around, a column of earth shot upwards to an enormous height, bearing the "Elliot salient," its guns and garrison, and making a crater or chasm one hundred and thirty-five feet long, ninety-seven feet wide, and more than thirty feet deep. The garrison, consisting of two