Identified by its services with the history of the war, the First Corps gave at Gettysburg a crowning proof of valor and endurance in saving from the grasp of the enemy the strong position upon which the battle was fought. Its terrible losses in that conflict attest its supreme devotion to the country. Though the corps has lost its distinctive name, history will not be silent upon the magnitude of its services.

The Fifth Corps now consisted of four divisions, as follows:- Ist, General Griffin; 2d, General Robinson; 3d, General Crawford; and 4th, General Wadsworth. The latter division consisted of three brigades: Ist, General Cutler; 2d, General Rice; 3d General Stone. The old Iron Brigade in the main preserved its identity, except it now became the First Brigade, Fourth Division, Fifth Corps. It consisted of the Second, Sixth and Seventh Wisconsin, Twenty-fourth. Michigan and Nineteenth Indiana as formerly, to which had been since attached the Seventh Indiana and a battalion of the First New York Sharpshooters. General Cutler commanded the Iron Brigade, General Wadsworth the Fourth Division and General Warren the Fifth Corps. If the reader will be careful to remember this arrangement, it will often make clear the movements of our regiment and brigade.

NEW FLAG FOR THE TWENTY-FOURTH MICHIGAN.

The old flag of the Twenty-fourth Michigan having become too battle torn for duty, the friends of the regiment in Detroit purchased a new one for it, and its presentation to Colonel Morrow for the regiment called forth a large concourse of people on the Campus Martius, on April 27, 1864. Judge James V. Campbell delivered a patriotic and finished address on the occasion in which, after reviewing the honorable record of the regiment, he said:

There is no duty so pleasant as that of publicly honoring those who have defended their country, I feel proud to express the thanks of the people of this old county to her gallant sons, brave among the bravest, for doing deeds that will crown her with endless glory. The noble veteran Twenty-fourth rests its fame securely in the pages of history whose like the world never saw. Time has never before looked upon so sublime an uprising as its organization. On August 26, 1862, the Twenty-fourth regiment assembled in this place to receive a flag. They were the very flower of our citizens from all parts of the county. The regiment has followed that flag on many a bloody field. At Gettysburg, fourteen different persons bore it aloft and guarded it, nine of whom were killed or mortally wounded on the field and two otherwise wounded. I need follow no more these thinned ranks. Its old flag, begrimed and in tatters, has never been waved over cowards or been dimmed by the blight of disloyalty. We replace it to-day with another blazoned with the memorials of battle and destined we hope to return with greater glories. To you, sir, [turning to Colonel Morrow] I commit this flag. I know it will never be

* * *

dishonored, your gallant men have done too well to fail in the future. Bear to your command the hearty greetings of their fellow citizens, who will never forget the heroes of Gettysburg, the Iron Twenty-fourth.

The following poem by D. Bethune Duffield, Esq., was then read:

1. What tho' fair maids be sighing, and what tho' wives are crying,
As they buckle on the belt;

Our flag is up and flying, and soldier boys are dying,
Where the battle's blows are dealt.

CHORUS-SO march, boys, march with the gallant Twenty-fourth,

And o'er each hill and glade, where our noble boys are laid,
We'll sing the priceless Worth of the Triple State Brigade,
The Ironclad Brigade and the gallant Twenty-fourth.

2. You know the stormy waking when day was slowly breaking,
'Round Frederick's cloudy height;

How like the thunder quaking, our guns the hills were shaking,
And how bloody was the fight.

CHORUS

Then march, boys, march with the gallant Twenty-fourth,

And on Frederick's Esplanade, where our noble boys are laid, etc.

3. At Fitzhugh's bloody crossing, how dark those waves were tossing,
As our boats rushed on their way.

With oar and musket clashing, and bullets round us splashing,
How we stormed on to the fray.

CHORUS

Then march, boys, march with the gallant Twenty-fourth,

And along the river's shade, when the cannon on us played, etc.

4. Then through the midnight marching, our tongues all dry and parching,
To Chancellorsville we prest;

When, from the dead fast piling, the noblest souls were filing,
To the soldier's final rest.

CHORUS - Then march, boys, march with the gallant Twenty-fourth,

And through that dreary glade where those hero boys are laid, etc.

5. Next, thro' Gettysburg we trod; and still trusting in our God,
Thro' those Independence Days,

With our blood we soaked the sod, and o'er hundreds heaped the clod,
Their holy mound of praise.

CHORUS Then march, boys, march with the gallant Twenty-fourth,

And when that grassy glade, by our blue coats was o'erlaid, etc.

6. Then Peck our colors grasping, tho' death his form was clasping,
Still held them up in sight,

Till other hands were reaching, and other boys beseeching,
To bear them thro' the fight.

CHORUS - SO march, boys, march with the gallant Twenty-fourth,

And where they all were laid, Grace, Dickey, Safford, Speed, etc.

7. That flag now rent and tattered, by shell and bullet shattered,

Is sacred in our eyes;

For when the Captain found it, five brave ones were lying around it,
Who fell to save the prize.

CHORUS - Then march, boys, march with the gallant Twenty-fourth,
Since by each broken blade, that on their breasts were laid,
They won immortal birth, for the Triple State Brigade,
For the Iron Clad Brigade and our gallant Twenty-fourth.

8. What tho' fair maids be sighing, and what tho' wives are crying.
As they buckle on the belt,

Our flag is up and flying, and soldier boys are dying,

Where the battle's blows are dealt.

CHORUS-SO march, boys, march with the gallant Twenty-fourth,
And if by hill or glade, in our blanket robes we're laid,

Still our land shall see the worth of our Triple State Brigade,
The Iron Clad Brigade and the gallant Twenty-fourth.

After the reading of the above poem, Colonel Morrow made a long speech exhorting all to rally to the support of the President, to stay up his hands as Joshua stayed up the hands of Moses of old. He bore the new flag back to the regiment and the following color guard volunteered to carry and protect it:

Color Bearers: Sergeant George R. Welch of C and Corporal Thomas Saunders of K. Color Guard: Corporals George Higbee of B, Patrick Coffee of E, Marshall Bills of H, Joseph U. B. Hedger of I, Amos B. Cooley of F, William Thompson of A, John T. Paris of G and Walter Morley of D.

Several of these were promoted to Corporals for this honorable and dangerous task. The old flag was cut in pieces and divided up among the men of the Twenty-fourth as mementos.

Colonel Morrow having returned to the regiment on May 1, 1864, immediately put it in shape for the campaign about to open. Marching orders were received on the 3d of May. The following was the roster of the officers of the regiment at that date, present for duty:

Captain Richard S. Dillon of A was Acting Assistant Inspector-General, and Lieutenant Andrew J. Connor of E was Acting Aide, on the Iron Brigade staff. Both had been appointed to such duties January 6, 1864. Captain John M. Farland of D had been in the hospital in Washington for treatment since March 20, 1864. Captain William Hutchinson of G was in Michigan on recruiting service. Of the thirty-nine commissioned officers originally with the regiment, including the surgeons and chaplain, but ten were left at this time, besides three who were held in Southern prisons: Captain Gordon of I, First Lieutenant Sprague of F, and Second Lieutenant Whiting of A.

M

BATTLE OF THE WILDERNESS.

'AY 1, 1864, the Army of the Potomac lay along the north side of the Rapidan, and Lee's army was well intrenched a few miles south of that stream. Grant had 99,000 men and 274 guns; Lee had 62,000 men and 224 guns. Grant had the most men and reserves from the North to fill up his depleted ranks. Lee had no such reserve from the South to draw on. Boys of seventeen and old men of fifty-five had been gathered into his ranks and the last successful levy had been made. But Lee had the advantage in defensive and inner positions, the country being better adapted to a defensive than offensive campaign. At midnight of Tuesday, May 3, the bugle once more sounded the fall-in call, and the army began its march on the great forward movement to exhaust the military resources of the rebellion.