SOLDIER 51 



night I had been on duty and I was thoroughly worn out, 

 but they had n't done with the 25th yet. May 25, we were 

 called in and relieved at 9 a.m. by the 12th Maine. As I was 

 relieving my men, followed by the 12th Maine, we had to 

 pass over a plateau commanded by the sharpshooters of 

 the enemy. The bullets whistled most unpleasantly near 

 and killed one of the 12th. I saw him fall and called upon 

 his comrades to bring him in, but not one started, and I 

 actually had to go myself with one of my own company and 

 pick up and bring in the dying man. We naturally sup- 

 posed after being relieved we should get some repose; but 

 hardly had we come in, when we were ordered to fall in. 

 We marched out of the woods and up over the hill and the 

 intrenchments taken the day before, and immediately 

 came under a sharp fire from sharpshooters. The . . . 

 having disgracefully abandoned their position, we were or- 

 dered in to drive the rebels out, and after a sharp skirmish 

 of half an hour we drove them clean out of the woods and 

 into their rifle-pits, while we occupied the woods, — the 

 extreme edge of the woods, — and kept up such a sharp 

 fire that not a mother's son of them durst lift his head above 

 the works. We were just in time to save the 12th Maine 

 from being flanked and cut to pieces. In the afternoon 

 General Weitzel's brigade attacked, and after a severe 

 fight drove the rebels out of the woods. This was going on 

 on our right and we could hear the yells and hurrahs, the 

 crackle of musketry and roar of artillery, and other con- 

 comitants of the fight, but we could see nothing and we sat 

 and fidgeted round, not knowing when our turn might 

 come. 



At 8 p.m. we were relieved by the 159th [New York], 



