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day, reinforced late in the afternoon by one of McPherson's brigades, and with its help we soon cleared the way, taking a thousand prisoners, five cannon, etc., in the pursuit, and gaining a position which threatened the enemy's whole line; as the result, the greybacks abandoned Grand Gulf. Moving onward by the shore of the Big Black, Logan's division encountered more greybacks, on the Twelfth, near Raymond; their batteries were posted to 'rake' the road as we came up, and they made a sudden assault upon one of our guns in position at the front but the charge was met with a salute of grape and canister heavier than they had reckoned upon, and they were thrown in confusion by it. A final, brilliant attack, with fixed bayonets, by the Eighth Illinois completed the battle almost as abruptly as it had opened, and left the greybacks 'nowhere' that I could see; while during the strife McPherson and Logan were riding before the lines under constant fire, winning the regard of their men by their careful and skilful arrangements.

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"On the fourteenth, we drove in the pickets near Jackson, the State capital, but were spared a battle here by the retreating foe; and when the sun set, rays shone warm upon our flag waving from the dome of the State House. Then followed a sweeping destruction of railroads, factories, army stores, everything but private property in the city. I count our possession of Jackson as a great loss to

the Confederacy, for it is considered a large, important place in this region. We were now due west from Vicksburg, urging our way thither, and eager to grapple with the 'rebs.' whenever they came in sight. At Champion Hills we found a large force of Pemberton's grey backs (he commands at Vicksburg, you know), entrenched strongly upon a narrow ridge, with part of the line protected by a dense forest. Hovey's men bore away the palm here. They fought as a ferret attacks a rat—not yielding their hold for an instant, though at some points opposed by ten times their own number. We, with our general, were in line of battle at a distance, but were sent late in the afternoon to Hovey's relief; and together we won the field. While the men

were hardly pressed by an out-numbering force, a friend suggested to an Indiana lieutenant the necessity of withdrawing his force more to the rear, in order to avail himself of a shelter near by, for the regiment was in a dangerous place, exposed to a merciless fire. No sir,' replied the officer, 'the Forty-seventh never gives back an inch,' and these were probably his last words, for a moment afterward he fell, shot through the heart. His death caused a mist before the eyes of many a brave fel-. low, who had been animated by the example of his faithfulness at the post of danger. The Hoosier State was represented more largely than any other in this conflict at Champion Hills, and her gal

lant sons did not betray her honor. An Indiana colonel was wounded in the thigh at a time when we were forced back for the moment, and a panic was to be feared in the ranks. Meeting a group of frightened men in the rear, he recalled them to their senses, saying, 'Don't be discouraged, men. They're driving us now a little, but it will be all right in an hour. We are taking Vicksburg to-day, boys; if you'll only do your duty it's bound to fall.' No more valiant fighting was done on the field than the service of the Twenty-fourth Iowa, 'the Methodist regiment,' as it is called, for a majority of officers and privates are members of that Church. Late in the afternoon the Major was wounded, and on his way to the hospital he overtook a stalwart greyback, whom he brought up a prisoner to the Provost-Marshal's office. In the evening after the grim work of the day was done, the regiment held a prayer meeting in the woods, and for a mile away, you might have heard their grand singing of 'Old Hundred.'

"Next morning we renewed the pursuit to the Big Black, on whose banks the Butternuts had turned to make a last resistance against the march of Grant's army. They had fortified a good position, protected on the shore side by a plain bounded by a stagnant bayou, but while we were answering their fire Gen'l Lawler discovered a way of approach to their rifle pits, and these once gained the question of success was settled in our favor; we took the fort with its

contents-arms, corn, and various stores. In this succession of battles no one has behaved more creditably than my faithful friend in arms, Sergeant Bruner, of the Twenty-third Wisconsin, a man who has led his charge in thirteen engagements, and, strangely enough, has escaped without a wound. At Port Gibson he was first to enter the Fort, and plant the colors; as also at Champion Hills, when the line faltered he bore them onward with the words, ' Follow, boys; don't flinch from your duty,' and they took the entrenchment. At the Big Black we were near losing him, for twice he was captured, and twice rescued by his comrades. His 'specialty' is for flags, as may be noted from his guardianship of Old Glory,' and by the three Confederate ensigns he has captured and handed over to General Grant.

"That night we built a couple of floating bridges, for the old ones had been destroyed, and by the next night, March 18th, the army had crossed the river; the roads to Vicksburg were now guarded and the city was invested, Porter watching on the river, while we drew the lines tighter and tighter on shore. He had secured Haines' Bluff, a military depot on the Mississippi, whence an expedition, led by Lieutenant Walker, set out for the neighboring valley, and received the surrender of Yazoo City. A great amount of property, comprising unfinished rams, arm mills, machine shops, etc., the whole

worth at least two million dollars, was burned here in the navy-yard. This stroke, together with the loss of eight thousand men, available fighting force in the Confederate ranks, shows what men in earnest can do, when guided by a clear head.

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But we had not yet began the task assigned us, of making the rebel stronghold our own. An assault was ordered on the 19th, and on that day one of Sherman's Divisions planted the Stars and Stripes on the works, after bearing them over reddened heaps of slain men. The experience was a costly one, but it taught us that the whole place must be won by siege before even a part could be held; for, as each tier of works is protected by riflepits or advanced batteries, we could not retain the ground we had gained. Three days later we tried a second assault, firing so rapidly that not a greyback head dared lift itself. The rebels thought to harm us by lighting the fuses of shells, and throwing them over the works to roll in among us; we outwitted them, however, by coolly throwing back the missiles to explode on their side-a result contrary to their calculations. Ah, what a deadly struggle we made! You would have thought the six-mile line of the enemy's works was one long burial trench for our ardent on-coming hosts. Two brigades of the Thirteenth corps swept over a lunette work of great strength, and amid fire and blood set the flag on its front; immediately it was entered by twelve men,

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