surrender of Vicksburg through the Union troops, doubting the truth of which General Gardner the next day sent a flag of truce to ascertain if the report was indeed true. General Banks returned official copies of General Grant's dispatches, upon receipt of which the rebel commander, Gardner, again sent out to know upon what terms General Banks would receive his surrender. Terms were arranged and Port Hudson was surrendered on the 9th of July. The scenes and ceremonies attending the surrender and transfer of the second great strategic point on our vast continental river to its rightful owners, were most imposing. From morning till high noon was seen the grand and triumphal march of the Union victorious columns, treading with joyous steps the paths to that famous place. the column the New Hampshire Eighth was assigned to a position of honor, in recognition of the gallant service it had performed in the siege, and was further complimented by assignment to a camping ground on that high bluff midway of the river front, and directly under the stars and stripes it had done so much to defend. The rebel General Gardner surrendered his sword to General Andrews; unwilling hands lowered the banner of secession; a squad of sailors from the fleet drew up to the same point the glorious stars and stripes; salutes and cheers were given with a will, and the Mississippi river, from its mouth to its source, was free!

In

On the 22d of August the Eighth marched back to Baton Rouge. On the way two of the men were gobbled up by the rebel cavalry, they having stopped to bring along a disabled wagon. The regiment remained. in camp north of the capital city of Louisiana, where it continued until the 2d of September, when it embarked on transports and sailed with an expedition to Sabine Pass, Texas, at the mouth of the Sabine river. The pass

was defended by heavy guns, by which was disabled the two gunboats Sachem and Clifton, and the rebels made. prisoners of all on board, numbering about one hundred and eighty men. After some further mishaps the object of the expedition was abandoned and it returned to New Orleans. About the middle of September the Eighth returned to Camp Bisland-the old battle ground of the 13th of April.

Colonel Fearing was absent with two or three officers for the purpose of bringing on conscripts, and Captain Flanders, who had been promoted to Lieut. Colonel, was in command of the regiment. Early in October they moved to Opelousas; and in December were ordered to Franklin, where the regiment was mounted and the name of the organization changed to the Second New Hampshire Cavalry. They were armed with sabers, carbines and revolvers, and drilled in the ordinary cavalry tactics. During the month Colonel Fearing returned with upward of three hundred and fifty recruits for the regiment. On the 4th of January, 1864, two hundred and nineteen of the old men re-enlisted, and without the usual thirty days' furlough they were ordered at once into the field.

At the commencement of the Red River campaign, the Eighth, with the rest of the cavalry division-about fifteen thousand men-marched from New Orleans to Alexandria-three hundred and eighty miles—where they joined General A. J. Smith's forces, who had ascended the river. The Second New Hampshire Cavalry, as the regiment was now designated, was brigaded with five regiments under Colonel Davis. From Alexandria the cavalry pushed the enemy's rear-guard closely, having quite a skirmish at Natchitoches, where the regiment charged through the streets of the town, killing and capturing a number of the enemy.

On the 8th of April the cavalry came unexpectedly upon the enemy at Sabine Cross Roads, where the Second New Hampshire Cavalry at once charged on a brigade and put them to flight. This movement unmasked two divisions of rebel infantry, but they, apparently bewildered by the very audacity of the movement, allowed the regiment to escape unmolested. In the action which followed, a part of the regiment was dismounted and deployed as skirmishers in front of the infantry. These were nearly all captured, numbering forty-seven men-together with Captain Dana W. King, whose horse was shot in the charge-and were carried to the famous prison pen at Tyler, Texas, where they suffered the common lot of Union prisoners of war for several months. A disastrous battle followed, after which the regiment covered the retreat of the infantry, almost continually skirmishing with the enemy. On the march from Alexandria to Morganzia, the regiment saw its hardest experience. Skirmishing by day and marching by night to reach the army whose retreat it was following, without sleep or rest, both men and horses were well nigh exhausted. In one of the numerous skirmishes with the rebels, Lieut. Cobbs, of Company B, was captured, dismounted and disarmed; but before he could be taken to the rear, the regiment made a counter charge to recapture him. Seeing that he was about to be lost to them, a rebel officer shot him with his own pistol. His body fell into the hands of his regiment, and was buried on the banks of the Red river.

At Yellow Bayou, on the 17th of May, the brigade was attacked by about six thousand of the enemy, and were nearly surrounded. They succeeded in cutting their way out by presenting a bold front, and by undaunted courage. At Bayou de Glace, where they stopped to build a bridge over the Atchafalaya river, they were fiercely attacked by the enemy, under General

Dick Taylor. The enemy were resolutely met and quickly routed, losing two hundred and fifty prisoners and two pieces of artillery, and did not afterward disturb the Union army on its march. During the whole of the campaign the Second New Hampshire Cavalry lost ninety-six men killed, wounded and missing. Licuts. Bickford, Newhall and Haskins were wounded in the last two fights.

After arriving at Morganzia the regiment was ordered to New Orleans, to proceed on its veteran furlough. The re-enlisted men started up the Mississippi on the 11th, and arrived at Concord on the 23d of July, where they met with a warm reception. They remained at home until the 29th of August, when they started for Louisiana, and joined their comrades at Camp Parapet, and were soon ordered to Natchez, Miss., where they remained during the fall, doing picket and garrison duty. While stationed here a detachment of the regiment, under command of Major Connolly, participated in an expedition into Louisiana, capturing large quantities of stores and provisions, and bringing in many horses and mules.

Late in the fall the regiment was ordered into Fort McPherson-an extensive earth-work, commanding the city and its approaches. Here the men constructed comfortable winter quarters, cook-houses, etc., out of the debris of houses pulled down to give range to the guns; and the regiment had time for putting their clothing and equipments in good order, and soon presented so fine an appearance as to elicit the high commendations of inspecting officers.

The time of service of the regiment expired on the 23d of December, 1864, shortly after which the nonveterans, and a majority of the officers, under command of Colonel Fearing, were ordered home to be mustered out of service. They reached Concord early in January,

1865, were handsomely welcomed by the State authorities, mustered out, paid, and the regimental organization of the Eighth New Hampshire Volunteers ceased to exist.

VETERAN BATTALION.

At the expiration of the original term of the Eighth Regiment, there remained in service three hundred and five veteran volunteers, and recruits joined subsequent to the original muster-in of the regiment. These, under regulation of the War Department, were organized into three companies of the maximum strength, and designated the "Veteran Battalion, Eighth New Hampshire Volunteers." Though there was no regimental organization, Surgeon Andrew J. Thompson was retained in the service to attend to the health of the battalion. The command dates its organization from January 1st, 1865. Captain Landers assumed command of the battalion by virtue of superiority of rank.

On the 9th of January the battalion was ordered to Vidalia, on the Louisiana shore, directly opposite Natchez. The post was commanded by Brigadier General M. Brayman-Lieut. Marshall, of the Veteran Battalion, being his adjutant general. The defenses of Vidalia consisted of a square redoubt, with bastions at the inland angles, inclosing the court house and jail of the parish, which were used for officers' quarters and for the storage of quartermaster's and ordnance stores. The work mounted four ten pounder rifles and two howitzers, and was garrisoned by the Veteran Battalion,