hastily gathered troops, which consisted partly of hundred-days men, invalid corps men, citizens, and clerks detailed from the government offices. A skirmish occurred just after dark, which resulted in a loss to our side of two hundred and eighty killed and wounded, and a retreat of the enemy, with equal loss. At ten in the evening the regiment marched two or three miles up the road, by Fort De Russy, to Fort Kearney, and after much shifting, lay down on their arms to sleep. In the morning, Companies C and H were sent to man a battery, but returned in half an hour. Early had learned of the presence of the Sixth Corps, and also of the 19th, (Emory's,) which had opportunely arrived from New Orleans; and he concluded not to capture the Capital, and Capitol, Congress and Archives, Arsenal and Navy Yard, Lincoln and Cabinet, until (as Pollard says,) another and uncertain time.' He had begun his retreat toward Snicker's Gap, and pursuit was instantly made by the Sixth and a division of the 19th Corps, under command of General Wright. Our brigade moved up the river at 2:20 P. M., and bivouaced late in the evening near Potomac Cross Roads."

The pursuit was continued to Snicker's Gap, and then this much marched regiment returned, with the 6th, to Washington, almost upon the double-quick. "Tenallytown was reached on the 23d, by way of the Chain Bridge, and the stiff, lame, sore, tired, hungry men, found thirty-six hours rest, new clothing, new shoes, soft bread, and surreptitious Whisky-for all which they were truly thankful; also cross-cannon badges (the emblem of the artillery service) to adorn their hats, for which they would have been more thankful, if this badge had not been to them such a bitter mockery!"

Within forty-eight hours, Early stood upon the banks of the Potomac, shewing an evident intention of marching into Pennsylvania, or anywhere else he could do the most damage. So, within three days after its return to Washington, the regiment found itself on the march again, which culminated in the bloody Shenandoah Valley. Our troops were in pursuit of Gen. Early 3

9 It was on this march, as the author has been informed, a somewhat zealous chaplain introduced into his prayer a couplet from a grand old hymn, but made it have quite a different meaning from the usual one, from his method of accentuation, thus:

Early! my God! without delay,

We haste to seek thy face!"

From this time till the date of the battle of Winchester, there was not much of incident that occurred in our regiment. There was drilling, reorganization, skirmishing, marching and countermarching, Gen. Sheridan being now in command, till the 19th of September, when the bloody battle of Westchester was fought. Adjutant Vaill's account is given entire:

serve.

"At three o'clock on the morning of the 19th of September, the advance was in motion. Our brigade started from Clifton about daylight, and having struck the Berryville pike, moved five or six miles towards Winchester, and halted for an hour about two miles east of the Opequan, while the 19th Corps was crossing. The Cavalry had previously moved to secure all the crossings, and firing was now heard all along the front, and continually increasing. The 6th and 19th Corps, following Wilson's Cavalry, which fought the way, crossed at and near the pike bridge, our brigade wading the stream a few rods north of it. West of the creek, the pike passed through a gorge over a mile long, from which the rebels had been driven by the cavalry. The 19th Corps and a portion of our own had moved through and formed a line of battle some distance beyond, under a heavy artillery fire, when our division emerged from the gorge and filed to the left into a ravine that ran across the pike, where it was held in readiness as a reThis was about half past nine. The fighting now waxed hotter, louder, nearer: nevertheless, some of the men found time, while their muskets were stacked in this ravine, to dig potatoes from a neighboring field. At length the enemy made a vigorous charge upon the center of the front line, at the point where the 3d Brigade of the 2d Division joined the left of the 19th Corps. The line broke, and retreated in complete disorder, each broken flank doubling and crowding back on itself, and making for the rear. The enemy pushed his advantage and came rolling into the breach. It was the critical moment of the day,-for if he had succeeded in permanently separating the two parts of the line, there would have been no possible escape from utter defeat for Sheridan's army. At this juncture Gen. Russell, who was watching from the rise of ground just in front of the ravine, where his division lay, exclaimed, 'Look here! it is about time to do something! Upton, bring on your brigade.' The brigade was at once moved out of the ravine, passed through a narrow strip of woods, crossed the pike, halted for a moment in order to close and dress

up compactly, then went at a double-quick by the right flank into the gap that had been made in the first line, and made a short halt, just in rear of a piece of woods, out of which the remnants of the 2d and 3d Divisions were still retreating, and on the other side of which was the advancing line of Rodes' and Gordon's rebel divisions. The first fire that struck our brigade and regiment during the day, was while coming to this position. General Russell was killed by a shell at the same time, having been previously. wounded and refused to leave the field. It was this movement of our brigade that checked the enemy, until the lines were restored and the two or three thousand fugitives brought back. Some of our men began to fire, but were quickly ordered to desist. After a very few minutes the brigade was pushed forward, the left half of it being somewhat covered by woods, from which position it instantly opened a terrific fire, while the 2d Connecticut, which constituted the right half, passed to the right of the woods into an open field of uneven surface, and halted on a spot where the ground was depressed enough to afford a little protection, and only a little; for several men were hit while getting there. In three minutes the regiment again advanced, passed over a knoll, lost several more men, and halted in another hollow spot similar to the first. The enemy's advance had now been pushed well back, and here a stay was made of perhaps two hours. Colonel Mackenzie rode slowly back and forth along the rise of ground, in front of this position, in a very reckless manner, in plain sight and easy range of the enemy, who kept up a fire from a piece of woods in front, which elicited from him the remark, 'I guess these fellows will get tired of firing at me by and by.' But the ground where the regiment lay was very slightly depressed, and although the shots missed Mackenzie, they killed and wounded a large number of both officers and men behind him. Lieut. Candee merely raised himself from the ground on his elbow to look at his watch, but it was enough to bring his head in range of a sharp. shooter's ball, and he was instantly killed. About three o'clock,

an advance of the whole line having been ordered by Sheridan, the regiment charged across the field, Mackenzie riding some ten rods ahead, holding his hat aloft on the point of his saber. The distance to the woods was at least a quarter of a mile, and was traversed under a fire that carried off its victims at nearly every step. The enemy abandoned the woods, however, as the regiment approached, in consequence of which the line obliqued to the left,

and halted. Companies F and D were here detached and taken off to the right, on a small reconnoisance, but were soon brought back, and the regiment proceeded to the right of the woods and partly through them, and advanced to a rail fence which ran along the side of an extensive field. Here, for the first time during the whole of this bloody day, did the regiment have orders to fire; and for ten minutes they had the privilege of pouring an effective fire into the rebels, who were thick in front. Then a flank movement was made along the fence to the right, followed by a direct advance of forty rods into the field. Here was the deadliest spot of the day. The enemy's artillery, on a rise of ground in front, plowed the field with canister and shells, and tore the ranks in a frightful manner. Major Rice was struck by a shell, his left arm torn off, and his body cut almost asunder. Major Skinnner was struck on the top of the head by a shell, knocked nearly a rod, with his face to the earth, and was carried to the rear insensible. General Upton had a good quarter pound of flesh taken out of his thigh by a shell, and was laid up for some weeks. Colonel Mackenzie's horse was cut in two by a solid shot, which just grazed the rider's leg, and let him down to the ground very abruptly. Several other officers were also struck: and from these instances, as well as from the appended list of casualties, some idea may be gained of the havoc among the enlisted men at this point. Although the regiment had been under fire and losing continually, from the middle of the forenoon until now, it was almost sunset, yet the losses during ten minutes in this last field, were probably equal to those of all the rest of the day. It was doubtless the spot referred to by the rebel historian, Pollard, when he says, 'Early's artillery was fought to the muzzle of the guns.' Mackenzie gave the order to move by the left flank, and a start was made; but there was no enduring such a fire, and the men ran back and lay down. Another attempt was soon made, and after passing a large oak tree a sheltered position was secured. The next move was directly into the enemy's breast work. They had just been driven from it by a cavalry charge from the right, and were in full retreat through the streets of Winchester; and some of their abandoned artillery, which had done so much damage, stood yet in position, hissing hot with action, with their miserable, rac-a-bone horses attached. The brigade, numbering less than half of the muskets it had in the morning, was now got into shape, and after marching to a field in the eastern edge

of the city, bivouaced for the night, while the pursuit rolled miles away up the valley pike.

Roll call revealed the fact that the regiment had lost one hundred and thirty-six in killed and wounded,-fourteen of whom were officers. Company A, out of its entire list of officers and non-conmissioned officers, had left only 1st Sergeant Henry Williams,-who had command of the Company during nearly the whole of the fight, and two corporals. Company H had three noble officers killed, including Captain Frederick M. Berry, of whom Colonel Kellogg once said, that he was the most perfect officer, gentleman, and man, all things considered, in the regiment. Companies A, B, and E, suffered heavily, C and G still more; and D, F, and I, most of all.

"But, unlike Cold Harbor or Petersburg, there was victory to show for this fearful outlay. And it was the first cup of palpable, unquestionable, unmistakable VICTORY that the 2d Connecticut, with all its marching and fighting, had ever tasted."

In summing up his operations in the Valley, Sheridan afterwards adds:

"At Winchester, for a moment, the contest was uncertain, but the gallant attack of General Upton's brigade of the 6th Corps, restored the line of battle, until the turning column of Crook, and Merritt's and Averill's divisions of cavalry, under Torbert, sent the enemy whirling through Winchester.""

On the morning of the 20th of September, the army moved rapidly up the valley in pursuit of the enemy, who had continued his retreat, during the night, to Fisher's Hill, south of Strasburg, which Early considered the very Gibralter of the Valley.

Vaill thus describes the part taken by the 2d Conn. H. A. in this battle

"But Sheridan's report merely considers the affair as a whole; and it will therefore be necessary for us to review it from a regimental stand-point. The regiment moved from bivouac near Winchester before daylight on the 20th, and by the middle of the afternoon, encamped just south of Cedar Creek, remaining until the afternoon of the next day, when it moved off to the right of the pike, taking a circuitous route through wooded ravines and over wooded hills, and at length came out upon open fields about