Very soon a brigade of the enemy advanced and attempted to charge, but were met by a fire so steady and rapid that it recoiled again. Three times it attempted to charge, and each time was driven back, and the regiment held undisputed possession of the ground until it was withdrawn with the rest of the brigade. For its conduct on that day the regiment was complimented upon the field by General Terry, commanding the division, and especial credit was awarded to Lieut. Colonel Henderson for his coolness and determination. At the close of this action the regiment returned to camp near Ware Bottom Church.

On the 12th the advance was made upon Drury's Bluff. The next day the Seventh supported the Third New Hampshire in the bloody assault made by them on the right of the enemy's works, and afterward skirmished beyond the works up to other batteries. On the next day it advanced on the main works of the enemy, investing them, and was heavily engaged all day. The next day was Sunday, and the troops were allowed to rest. On Monday they again advanced until the whole. line retired, when halting from time to time to repel attacks of the enemy, it fell back upon its camp at Bermuda Hundred.

From this time until the 9th of June, the regiment was on constant and severe duty, on what was then the disturbed and threatened front at Bermuda Hundred, and nearly every day under fire. On that day the regiment marched across the Appomattox, thence toward Petersburg, being a part of the force commanded by Major General Gillmore on that day. The skirmishing was light, though the artillery fire of the enemy was considerable; but the attempt to assault the works being abandoned, the regiment returned to camp at Bermuda Hundred, that night.

On the 16th of June, the Seventh under command of Lieut. Colonel Henderson, was engaged in a very spirited fight in front of Bermuda Hundred, in which less than two brigades held in check nearly all day the main column of the enemy in its transit from the north to the south of the James. From this date followed picket and fatigue duty until August 15th, when the Seventh was in that force which crossed to Deep Bottom, first pressed upon New Market Heights, and afterward assaulted and carried a part of the enemy's works at Deep Run. The Seventh was in this assault, and was one of the last to retire from the field, which had been nearly won. Here Lieut. Colonel Henderson fell mortally wounded-an officer of the rarest qualities, admired and loved while living, and deeply mourned while dead.

On

On the 21st the regiment again reached camp, and rested until the 24th, when it was moved across the Appomattox, into the intrenchments before Petersburg. There it remained until September 28th, in severe duty and under almost constant fire, when it was again a part of the column which advanced north of the James. the 29th of September, the advance was made upon New Market Heights, which were carried, and the troops continued to advance, first to Laurel Hill, then up the Darbytown Road, to within three miles of Richmond, thence Terry's division retiring, rested within intrenchments at Laurel Hill.

On the 1st of October, Terry's division again advanced toward Richmond on the Darbytown Road, and the Seventh, which had been under command of Lieut. Colonel Rollins for several days, Colonel Abbott being again in command of the brigade, occupied the left of the line of skirmishers, which advanced within two miles of the rebel capital, under a severe fire of artillery, and was one of the five regiments which had at that time, and for some months afterward, advanced nearest

to Richmond. Returning again that night, the regiment rested until the 7th, when the enemy attacked furiously General Berney's right at Laurel Hill. In that attack the Seventh Regiment was in line, with no intrenchments before them, and with the rest of the Second brigade of Terry's division, withstood nearly the whole of the heavy onset of the rebel division under General Field, driving them back, after a severe fight, with heavy loss. The regiment rested until the 18th, when it was again engaged in the reconnoissance on the Darbytown Road, lasting during a day of sharp fighting. On the 27th it was in another reconnoissance on the Darbytown Road, lasting until night of the 28th, the fighting being almost entirely on the skirmish line, when it returned to camp.

The Seventh New Hampshire was one of the regiments selected for the expedition to New York City, on the occasion of the Presidential election. On the 3d of November it broke camp, marched to Deep Bottom, and took transports for Fortress Monroe, where it arrived on the evening of the 4th. The whole force took transports and arrived at New York on the 7th, and the Seventh disembarked at Fort Richmond. On the morning of the 8th they were taken to the 'city, lying on board the army transport, in East River, near Fulton Ferry, three days, prepared for any emergency which might arise to require their services. But they were not called upon, and on the 11th the Seventh returned to Fort Richmond, and on the 14th re-embarked, and returned to their old camp ground, near Laurel Hill, on the 17th, where the men at once commenced erecting winter quarters. In December one hundred and ninety-five men, having served their full term of enlistment, were mustered out, and one hundred and eleven recruits were received. These were most of

them substitutes, who had enlisted for the high bounties then being paid, and thirty-five of them deserted during the winter.

On the 4th of January, 1865, the Seventh Regiment marched to Bermuda Hundred, and there embarked on board transports and proceeded to Fortress Monroe, and there received sealed orders to be opened off Cape Henry. The orders directed that the fleet should rendezvous twenty-five miles off Beaufort, N. C., and it was then known that the expedition was a second trial against Fort Fisher. On the morning of the 12th of January the monitors and ironclads made their way southward, followed by the frigates and gunboats, and they by thirty transports. The next morning the continuous mounds of Fort Fisher appeared in view. The transports made the beach in a smooth sea, and General Terry's force disembarked. The movements of the troops have been given in the sketches of the Third and Fourth Regiments, and need not be repeated here. The brigade in which was the Seventh was not ordered up until five o'clock in the afternoon. It did not enter the fort until dark, and was not brought fairly into action until ten o'clock. At that hour, the regiment commanded by Lieut. Colonel Rollins, led the assault on the sea angle of the fort, and half an hour later planted its colors on the bastion of the surrendered work. While innumerable rockets from the fleet lighted up the sky to the eastward, cheer on cheer went up from the victorious troops within the fort. The Seventh, with one other regiment, formed in line southward of the fort, and pressed on toward battery Buchanan, which, with about a thousand prisoners, soon surrendered, and the whole of the immense fortifications, which had been considered impregnable, fell into the possession of the Union army.

After the conquest of Fort Fisher the Seventh was

occupied in strengthening the works in front of Wilmington, in making reconnoissances, and in picket duty, until the 19th of February, when the enemy commenced retiring and Terry to pursue. Reaching Wilmington on the 22d, the enemy, dispirited and disheartened, was still followed ten miles further, to a place called Northeast Ferry. The regiment, with the rest of its brigade, was then ordered back to Wilmington, and assigned to the garrison of that place. Early in June it was sent to Goldsborough, where it remained until ordered to be discharged. The Regiment was mustered out of the United States service on the 20th of July. At Manchester they were received by the citizens with many demonstrations of respect and given a warm welcome by a large concourse of people. At 'Concord an escort and refreshments awaited them, and Governor Smyth, on behalf of the State, addressed the regiment, thanking them for the good service they had performed and the honor they had won. Three hundred and twenty men and twenty-two officers returned. Of these less than one hundred were among those who left the State with the regiment in January, 1862. Of the original field and staff only one remained. The first colonel and the second lieutenant colonel had fallen in battle.