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 battlefield. It was our last day "in the Pines."

17

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE ACTION AT PEGRAM FARM.

On the afternoon of September 25th, about five o'clock, orders to move were suddenly received, and immediately the quiet camp became a scene of bustling activity. Tents were hastily stripped from their poles, knapsacks packed in a hurry, and in half an hour, having been relieved by the Fifth Corps, we left our camp. After moving some four miles to the right a halt was ordered about nine o'clock, and the regiment bivouacked in the woods in the rear of the Second Corps.

On the following day tents were pitched, and the men remained idle in camp, the air thick with rumors, until the morning of the 28th, when the brigade marched to the "Gurley House," half a mile from "Yellow Tavern," "in such a manner that the enemy would notice the movement,” to quote from the order received from regimental headquarters.

The 29th was passed in feverish uncertainty, a move being expected at any moment. Staff officers and orderlies were riding to and fro, and cavalry in force moved toward the left; but the regiment did not leave its position. At night the excitement was heightened by the reading of a despatch from General Grant, announcing that the railroad between Petersburg and Richmond had been taken by General Ord, and that General Birney had defeated the enemy north of he James.

The morning of September 30th dawned upon a day of

perfect autumnal beauty; but the balmy air, fragrant with the scent of the pines, the clear sunlight, and cloudless sky left little impress of their loveliness upon the minds of men who, after the broken slumbers of the night, were early astir preparing for battle.

The expected advance began about nine o'clock, the troops passing over the works of the Fifth Corps on the extreme left, and into the debatable land beyond. The column consisted of Ayer's and Griffin's divisions of the Fifth Corps, followed by Potter's and Willcox's divisions of the Ninth Corps. We followed the road through woods for about a mile, when a small country meeting-house, known as Poplar Spring Church, was reached. There our brigade line of battle formed at right angles to the road. Meanwhile the advance of the Fifth Corps had developed near the Peebles house, an outlying fortification of the enemy, consisting of a redoubt and flanking rifle-pits, upon which an assault was made, about ten o'clock, by Griffin's division, and easily carried, with trifling loss. The enemy, not having sufficient strength to resist after the loss of his entrenchments, promptly retreated to his main line, leaving about fifty prisoners and a piece of artillery in our hands.

The divisions of the Ninth Corps were now ordered to the front, and immediately advanced, passing the troops of the Firth Corps, who were quietly resting with stacked arms near the captured redoubt.

The regiment moved forward in brigade line of battle in excellent form, and a rapid advance on the enemy's main line was anticipated; but, soon after passing the Peebles house, a halt was ordered, and the movement came to a complete stand-still.

For three or four hours this fatal and inexplicable delay continued, although it was evident that the advantage of a surprise was thus being thrown away, as the enemy must necessarily have been warned of our presence by the men who had withdrawn from the redoubt. At last, about the