anon, shells burst within our own lines. The light brigade marched, by the right flank, up the river and took position directly in the rear of the city, and under Marye's Heights. To the surprise of all, came the news that General Pratt had resigned and the command of the light brigade had devolved upon Col. Hiram Burnham, of the 6th Me., and that we were soon to assault the heights. Everything was got in readiness, and that calm which precedes a storm rested for a few moments over the scene. The brigade was formed, as my memory serves me, 5th Wis., Colonel Allen, in advance, with five companies of this regiment as a double line of skirmishers; following the 5th Wis. came the 6th Me., under command of Lieut.-Col. B. F. Harris; on the right was, if I mistake not, the 43d N. Y., and the 31st N. Y., while farther to the right was the 61st Penn., Colonel Spear. Between ten and eleven o'clock the order was given to advance. The gallant Burnham, disdaining the bugle call, rode down the line, and in stentorian voice gave the order: "Forward!" The command of Colonel Harris to the 6th Me. was: "Boys, we're going to charge those heights yonder, and we're going to take them, too. Arms aport, double quick, march!" And no grander sight was ever seen in the battles of the Army of the Potomac. Steadily the lines swept on over the beautiful green grass, soon to be reddened with the blood of so many of my comrades.

The shot and shell flew like missiles from a tornado. The grape and canister hurled through the ranks, cutting great gaps in the living walls. Orders were: Orders were: "Close up; steady, boys!" and the next time another voice gave the command. A case-shot or shrapnel had exploded at the head of the 61st Penn. regiment, killing Colonel Spear and fifteen men, and for a time throwing the regiment into confusion. We were now on the very ground where the brave Meagher and his noble Irishmen were so fearfully cut up on December 13, 1862. Of the 6th Me., Major Haycock had fallen, shot through the heart, and Captains Gray, Young, Ballenger, Buck, and Roach were down. We had reached the first line of rifle-pits, and the 6th Me. and the 5th Wis. wildly broke over the rifle-pits, carrying all before them, the rebels in this line throwing down their arms and marching to the rear. A few rods further on, just at the foot of the hill, we came to the second line of rifle-pits. Here the fighting was desperate. The Johnnies would not yield a

foot of ground, and our boys would not turn back. Our line was intact and firm. Although nearly every commissioned officer was killed or wounded, and companies were commanded by sergeants and corporals, the best of discipline prevailed, and the men fought with the courage of despair, maddened by their heavy loss, and the perfidy of the rebels who had surrendered in the first line, and, seeing us temporarily checked, attempted to shoot us from the rear. Men became fiends. The lumber men of Maine and Wisconsin, who had handled pick and spike all their lives on the rivers and log-jams, used their guns in the same manner. Mike Carey, a stalwart Irishman from the town of Topsfield, Me., when he saw the Johnnies breaking, cried out: "Hang Palfrey, boys! hang! boom 'em, damn 'em! boom 'em!" and jumping upon the earthworks he kicked a giant Confederate to the ground and drove his bayonet to the hilt in his breast. Corporal Brown used his gun as a club, and, like a mad demon, brained five men. A wiry little Frenchman, Willet by name, bayoneted man after man, and when implored by a rebel to spare him, for God's sake, cried: "Me know no God; you kill me, me kill you!" And above all this bellowed the guns above our heads, so near now that they could do but little harm.

was won.

The line swept on, and now up the steep hill and over the escarpment of the stone wall pell-mell. Sergeant Gray, the color sergeant of the 6th, was knocked down and the colors badly shattered and torn. Sergeant Hill, of Co. C, 6th Me., grasped the flag, and springing upon the parapet just as a cannon was discharged, the smoke of which blackened his face, planted the standard firmly in the earth, and the stars and stripes floated gloriously from Marye's Heights, and the day The Washington Battery was captured, and in our immediate front seven hundred men of Barksdale's brigade. The courage and heroism of the 5th Wisconsin in this action was not surpassed by that of any regiment in the field. Colonel Allen, badly wounded in the hand, fought like a tiger. Springing through an embrasure, sword in hand, he sabered a gunner at his post and mounted the gun in triumph. The other regiments in the brigade did equally well; and I must not pass by unmentioned the 7th Mass. on our right, under command of the heroic Colonel Johns, who led his men so well. The loss of the 6th Me. was one hundred and thirty-five officers and men,

and that of the 5th Wis. about the same. Colonel Burnham, Colonel Allen, and Lieutenant-Colonel Harris went with their men up the heights, and were among the first to enter the enemy's works. Comrades, this was the storming of Marye's Heights as I saw it. All honor to you of the 7th Mass., and the Green Mountain boys on our left; but bear in mind this fact: The 6th Me. flag was the first one planted upon the Heights of St. Marye.

Throughout the length and the breadth Comrades, this trust keep for millions

Stout were these hearts who fought Ages to come will remember each

Brave were the deeds of this strong Cost of our nation so dear, yet so free!

patriot band.

BATTLE OF RAYMOND.

MAY 12, 1863.

How Gregg's Brigade Fought the Advance of Grant's Army in Mississippi.

By WILLIAM E. CUNNINGHAM, Captain Company F, 41st Tennessee.

HE morning of December 11, 1863, was bright and pleasant. Our men after a march of two hundred miles from Port Hudson, La., were scattered about our camp one mile north of Jackson, Miss. Our march had been tedious, as Grierson's raid a short time before had played sad havoc with the railroad to New Orleans, leaving nothing for fifty miles but the hacked

road-bed. The men were in groups about camp or enjoying a cool plunge in the waters of Pearl river, which ran close by. Many were the surmises as to our destination and as to the object of our march. Many an eye gleamed and brightened as some comrade ventured the prophecy that we were bound for Tennessee, for, with one exception, our brigade was composed of Tennessee regiments. These surmises were cut short by the sharp bugle blast which sounded the assembly. In a few minutes we were ready, and a short march brought us to a hill overlooking Jackson. Halting to form, we began the march through the city. The 41st Tenn., Colonel Farquhasson, was followed by the 3d Tenn., Colonel Walker; then came the 10th Tenn. (Irish), Colonel McGavock; the 30th, Colonel Head; the 50th, Colonel Sugg; and the 1st Tenn. Battery, Major Combs. The rear was brought up by Colonel Granbury, 7th Tex., all

under command of that lamented soldier and gentleman, General John Gregg, of Texas. As we moved down the wide road to the strains of "The Girl I Left Behind Me," I glanced back with a feeling of pride in the splendid array of gallant men, nearly all of whom I knew personally or by regiment. The streets and windows were crowded as we marched along, until we passed the depot and took the Raymond road. Raymond is the county seat, although Jackson is the state capital, both being in the same county. We soon met straggling cavalry, who stopped long enough to tell us of a cavalry raid up from Grand Gulf. We had been itching for a fight and could not have been suited better than to meet the raiders. The country was green with growing grain and presented a peaceful, happy, and contented appearance. The citizens met us kindly and wonderingly. No sound of strife had yet reached that retired spot. Early on the morning of the 12th, the town was overrun with soldiers, having what we called a "high old time. In the midst of fun and feasting the long roll sounded and every man answered promptly. As General Gregg moved through the town, hundreds of people eagerly watched him, little dreaming of the carnage so soon to follow. He formed his command with the right, composed of the 41st Tenn., overlooking the Edwards depot road, and at intervals of fifty or one hundred yards successively, with Captain Graves' three-gun battery in the center, on the Grand Gulf road. This battery was supported by the 10th. We were expecting nothing but cavalry, which we felt we could whip. Skirmishers were advanced in the thick black copse, and almost instantly the quiet was broken by the crack of the rifle, answered by the first big gun in our center.

Suddenly the sound of the skirmisher's rifle was lost in the roar of musketry, while our three pieces belched defiance at the six gun battery of the enemy on the hill opposite. The force of the enemy was developed suddenly, for from right to left along our front of a mile, the battle opened at close range. At this junction, Colonel McGavock advanced to charge the battery, supported by the 3d. We all saw him as with gallant bearing he led his men forward, capturing four guns. This was as gallant a charge as was ever made against terrible odds. In the moment of success, McGavock fell, shot through the heart. Major Grace took command only to fall from a severe