regiment noted for straggling). With roars of laughter the boys shouldered their muskets and knapsacks for another hard day's march through the pine barrens. Lieutenant-colonel Clark is remembered as a staunch advocate of temperance, whose interests were ever for the men. Major Clemmer, as a genial, bluff soldier, whose songs often enlivened the dreariness of the camp or bivouac; and Quartermaster Gibbs, as a man of prompt execution, who expected equal promptness from others. Many anecdotes and incidents of them could be narrated by the page, but I remember that the introduction to the volume is not the place for sketches of this kind; and I fear that I have already introduced much that does not strictly belong to this part of the book. I beg pardon for any seeming trespass in this direction. This introduction, written in the midst of other pressing duties, with frequent interruptions, now most affec tionately inscribes this volume to every member of the Twenty-ninth regiment of Ohio Veteran volunteer infantry; to their wives and their children. I am happy to enjoy this privilege of saying a few words in Dr. SeCheverell's book to my old comrades. My prayer is that God will bless every surviving member of the regiment, with their families, also the widows and orphans of deceased members, and that when the battle of life is over, we may wear the victor's crown in heaven. R. H. HURLBURT, M.D., D.D., Late Chaplain Twenty-ninth regiment, O. V. V. I. MARION, IOWA, July 18, 1882. TWENTY-NINTH O. V. V. I. CHAPTER I. The South Preparing for War-The Fall of Sumter-The Grand Rally to the Support of the Flag-Formation of the Regiment. President Lincoln, in his inaugural address of March 4, 1861, said: "I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists. I believe that I have no lawful right, and I have no inclination to do so." The South had apparently decided otherwise, and continued the preparations for secession, begun under the administration of, and so ably seconded by that old imbecile, James Buchanan. The outlook became so fraught with danger to the Union, that on April 7th a naval expedition sailed from New York to the relief of Fort Sumter. Its arrival off Charleston harbor was followed by a furious bombard. ment of the fort by the rebel batteries of General Beauregard. The capitulation on April 13th, of the little handful of gallant men who so bravely defended their country's flag, was followed by an outburst of patriotic indignation perhaps never before witnessed in the history of the world. In an incredibly short space of time the President's call for seventy-five thousand men was filled by citizens eagerly marching to the defense of the National capital. The rebels meanwhile were busily engaged in appropriating or destroying the available arms and munitions of war belonging to the Government. At Bull Run, a few miles from Washington, General Beauregard massed his rebel horde, and here, on July 21st, General McDowell gratified the insane “On to Richmond" cry, by giving them battle. The result was the complete overthrow of the Union army, which retreated in the wildest disorder to Washington. This event cast a deep gloom over the entire North (barring the copperhead element). More than twice the time allowed by the knowing(?) ones to crush the Rebellion (sixty days) had elapsed, and yet it was growing stronger every day. The North was not yet awake to the magnitude of the work it had undertaken. The first patriotic outburst was on the wane; the sympathy of England and the encouragement given to the rebels by the "copperheads" in the North, gave a prestige to the Southern cause which, to many, bespoke the final success of treason. In this dark hour of our country's peril, that brave old hero, Joshua R. Giddings, with B. F. Wade, E. B. Woodbury, and other well known associates, feeling that they had been disappointed in the acts of another regiment, made up in part of soldiers recruited in this district, obtained permission to organize regiment number Twenty-nine, which should be made up as far as possible, of those in political sympathy with the projectors. The report of the soldiers already returned from the three months' service, and who were generally ready to go again, seemed to indicate who they wished for commanders. Major Lewis P. Buckley, of Akron, educated at West Point, was generally desired as colonel, and Thomas Clark, of Cleve |