of the twenty-ninth, we arrived near the line of works occupied by the Eighteenth Corps, but a small proportion of the command was present, so many had fallen out, overcome by fatigue during the march. We were massed under the brow of a hill out of sight of the enemy, where we remained during the day.

10

CHAPTER XVII.

R

SECOND DEEP BOTTOM, -IN THE TRENCHES,-
REAMS' STATION.

UMORS were circulated in the army, that a mine had been successfully completed under one of the enemy's most important forts. Although no one pretended to know its pre

cise locality, or the time when it was to be sprung, we imagined that our forced march from Deep Bottom, formed, in some way, a portion of the programme.

At dark we moved into the trenches, in the front of the site of the Hare House, a locality not wholly unfamiliar to us, and memorable as the scene of our disastrous and unsuccessful charge of June eighteenth. The spot was, however, hardly recognizable, as the works had been advanced, and strengthened, and the Hare House, with all its outbuildings, had been destroyed, and all the landmarks obliterated.

To relieve the troops, was a slow and delicate task,

owing to the proximity of the lines to the enemy's works. We moved up in single file, through narrow covered ways, which were, in reality, nothing more than ditches of about eighteen inches in width, approaching the front in a zigzag direction. During the time occupied in relieving the troops, we were subjected to a severe fire, both of artillery and musketry.

We were in position at midnight, occupying a series of bomb-proofs, which were constructed of large logs, and covered with several feet of earth, as a protection against the artillery of the enemy, and particularly of his coehorn and mortar batteries, which threw their deadly missiles into our lines with most uncomfortable accuracy. The enemy, evidently aware of some sort of a movement in our lines, shelled us incessantly during the night. The troops relieved by us, a division of the Eighteenth Corps, moved to the left, to participate in the assault on the following morning.

We were under arms before daylight, of the thirtieth, and anxiously awaited the explosion of the mine. At about four o'clock, a flash, a terrific explosion, and a mass of red flame, mingled with timbers and earth, like the sudden eruption of a vast volcano, proclaimed that Burnside's mine was a success.

The explosion of the mine was the signal for the entire artillery, along the line, to open fire. Siege guns and light pieces, coehorns and mortars, fired by batteries, and were promptly answered by the enemy.

During the day, a dispatch from General Burnside to General Meade announced that the enemy had left his front, and evacuated the line of works before Petersburg. General Meade, acting upon this information, which he deemed reliable, ordered, through his corps commanders, a general advance.

Our brigade and division commanders were positive that the enemy was in force, on our front, and planned a bit of strategy to prove the fallacy of General Burnside's assertion. In our brigade, we made a show of preparing for a charge, and, by raising our caps above the works and shouting, succeeded in drawing from the enemy's lines a volley, which demonstrated to a certainty that any attempt to advance would be alike disastrous and futile.

Colonel McAllister, commanding the Jersey Brigade, on our right, adopted a similar plan. Placing himself in the centre of his line, he gave the orders in a loud voice, so as to be heard by the enemy. "Take, arms! fix, bayonets! shoulder, arms! charge, bayonets! the third, the battalion of direction! forward, double-quick, march!" As the advance was sounded by the bugle, the men elevated their caps and coats on their muskets, and gave a loud yell, when a perfect shower of bullets greeted them, and convinced the General that the rebels had not evacuated the works in his front.

Heavy firing continued all day, from that portion of

the lines where the mine was exploded; and sharp picket firing, and heavy musketry, also, was kept up in our own front.

The mine itself, was an unequivocal success, but the infantry attack following it was a humiliating failure.

After severe losses, among all the forces engaged, our troops returned to their former positions, leaving large numbers of their dead and wounded in the enemy's hands; and sunset found our line of the morning unchanged.

Various explanations have been made, of the cause of the failure, of what at first promised to be a magnificent victory. These the writer will not discuss, but merely repeat what was the common remark, not only of the men of our own corps, but of the entire Army of the Potomac,- that, had the affair been entrusted to Hancock, with his veteran corps, the result would have been vastly different.

At dark, we were relieved by the same troops that held the works before us, and at midnight, arrived at our old camp in the pine woods, where we were ordered to hold the command in readiness to move at short notice.

We had received the intelligence of the rebel raid into Pennsylvania, the burning and sacking of Chambersburg, and other outrages, and expected daily to be summoned to Washington. It was currently re