work it would have been, even in the coolest weather and under the most favorable circumstances; but under a burning July sun, with no shelter, the work was terribly exhausting. The method of proceeding was to tear up the rails and lay them crosswise with alternate rows of sleepers. When a pile was built as high as the rails could be lifted, a fire was kindled beneath, and the rails, red-hot, were warped and ruined by the weight of the mass of rails and sleepers above. Another way was to heat the middle of a rail red hot and twist it around a tree. In this way about ten miles of this railroad were destroyed by the division in two days, rendering a main line of transportation useless and seriously crippling the rebel communications.

At noon of the 19th, after setting fire to a depot which burned like a tinder-box, we commenced the return march to Jackson. The fatigues and sufferings of this march were partially forgotten in the glad tidings which there awaited us, that the Ninth Corps was under orders to proceed North at

once.

At three A.M., July 20th, the regiment was on the march, and with the exception of a halt from eleven A.M. to three P.M. marched till dark, in all a distance of eighteen miles.

In recalling this day and the one following no man of the Thirty-sixth can fail to be overcome with the memories to which it will give rise. The regiment was a mere wreck. When it halted for the night, on the 20th, one man of Company E dropped down and died of exhaustion, and while on the march one of Company H died from the same cause in an ambulance. When the regiment halted at noon of the 21st it did not stack one hundred guns, and, for no apparent reason whatever, on these two days, the regiment marched a distance of thirty-two miles. The heat and dust were overpowering, and officers forgot all discipline and straggled with the rest. The ambulance and teams were crowded with exhausted men. At nine P.M. of the 21st

the regiment halted about a mile from the Big Black river, bivouacking in a cornfield; a delightful place in some respects, because lying between the hills one could not easily roll out of bed, and the savory diet on which the regiment had regaled for about three weeks could be picked in all its luxuriance from the bed-posts. The single objection to cornstalks two or three inches in diameter for bedding is that they have a depressing influence upon the bones of the hips and back.

July 22d the regiment did not move until noon, and then only four miles, crossing the Big Black river, and camped in a shady wood, with plenty of water at hand. It appeared to have dawned upon some one in command of this division or corps that there is a limit to man's endurance. July 23d reveillé was sounded at two A.M. and, marching at four, we pushed on rapidly, the day being unusually comfortable, and at eleven o'clock A.M., after a march of fourteen miles, arrived at the old camp at Milldale.

The condition of the regiment at this time was miserable indeed. Sixteen cases of small-pox and varioloid, three being officers, were under treatment, and the regimental hospital was filled with sick. The adjutant's morning report of July 24th was as follows: 6 officers and 98 men present sick, and 63 men absent in hospitals, 25 officers and 343 men present for duty.

It was a season of general depression among all, and the only thing to relieve the gloom was the prospect of a speedy departure for the North,-an event most anxiously awaited and desired. To add to the general discouragement, a number of officers of the regiment who had resigned received their discharge. Colonel Bowman, Lieutenant-Colonel Norton, and Lieutenants Tucker and Holbrook left for the North August 2d, making six officers lost to the regiment since its arrival in Mississippi. Major Goodell took command of the regiment July 30th. The resignation of Colonel Bowman left the brigade in command of Colonel David Morrison, of

the Seventy-ninth New York" Highlanders," and the brigade was now composed of the Seventy-ninth New York, Fortyfifth Pennsylvania, Eighth and Seventeenth Michigan, and Thirty-sixth Massachusetts, the entire brigade numbering hardly five hundred men fit for service.

CHAPTER VII.

THE RETURN TO KENTUCKY.

THE days between our arrival at Milldale and the departure for the North were devoted to rest and recruiting the shattered strength of the men. Never was rest so welcome, never so necessary, as now. Various diseases prevailed. Mumps and chills and fever spread rapidly, and it is safe to say that there was not an officer or man in the regiment who could call himself well and hearty. Whiskey, doctored with quinine, was served out at this time as a protection against chills. Although it was of the genuine "lightning" brand "commissary" it probably did little good, the mischief being already done, and the "ounce of prevention" came too late. August 2d all the sick who could be moved were sent off to a hospital boat, and Surgeon Prince went in charge of them. On this day also the following Special Order was received from General Grant:

HEAD-QUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE TENNESSEE,
VICKSBURG, MISSISSIPPI, July 31st, 1863.

SPECIAL ORDER No. 207.

In returning the Ninth Corps to its former command, it is with pleasure that the general commanding acknowledges its valuable services in the campaign just closed. Arriving at Vicksburg opportunely, taking position to hold at bay Johnston's army, then threatening the forces investing the city, it was ready and eager to assume the aggressive at any moment. After the fall of Vicksburg it formed a part of the army which drove Johnston from his position near the Big Black river into his entrenchments at Jackson, and, after a siege of eight days, compelled him to fly in disorder from

the Mississippi valley. The endurance, valor, and general good conduct of the Ninth Corps are admired by all, and its valuable coöperation in achieving the final triumph of the campaign is gratefully acknowledged by the Army of the Tennessee. MajorGeneral Parke will cause the different regiments and batteries of his command to inscribe upon their banners and guidons "Vicksburg and Jackson."

By order of Major-General U. S. GRANT.

T. S. BOWERS, A. A. General.

At eight o'clock A.M., August 4th, orders were received to break camp and proceed to the landing. Never was an order obeyed with more joy and alacrity than this. The regiment was quickly on the march, and, though the day was hot and the road dusty, the march of seven miles was cheerfully borne, for we could not be sufficiently thankful to get away from Mississippi. Upon arriving near the landing, it was found that the boats had not arrived, but were taking in fuel at Vicksburg, and another night must be spent here. A worse, more uncomfortable night the regiment did not experience in Mississippi. As if to improve their last opportunity, swarms of gnats, of the most savage description, attacked the regiment, and few will ever forget that sleepless night. It was indeed a fitting close of the campaign.

The boat arrived in the night, and the forenoon of the 5th was employed in loading her with the baggage, horses, and guns, of Battery E, Second United States. At three o'clock P.M. the regiment marched aboard the fine steamer "Hiawatha," in company with the Forty-fifth Pennsylvania, Twenty-seventh Michigan, and the regulars of Battery E, which crowded the boat most uncomfortably, though her accommodations were large. About four P.M. the boat cast off, and, steaming down the Yazoo, entered the Mississippi at sunset, and as her course was directed northward a worn but happy band of the Thirty-sixth Massachusetts laid down to rest, thankful, after all their trials, to have been spared through that short but fatal campaign.