OUR COLORS ON SUMTER.

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It was a notable event; and when, as the battle-scarred ensign touched the peak, the flags waved, the score of bands struck up patriotic airs, the shouts of the assembled thousands welled up from within those battered walls, and the thunders of more than one hundred cannon from forts, batteries, and menof-war, shook the very harbor, then it seemed that the downfall of a cursed conspiracy and the triumph of the Union were fittingly proclaimed on ground desecrated by the one and forever hallowed by the other.

Six flags of our brigade were taken to Fort Sumter on this occasion by the color-sergeant of the Fourteenth, by order of Gen. Washburn; and the colors of the regiment were rarely flung to the breeze amid more enthusiasm than was stirred on the sand-bags and débris of ruined but grand old Sumter. And yet on the evening of that gala-day in Charleston Harbor, while the ships were brilliant and the waters a blaze of light from the splendid naval illumination,—at that very hour the noble and beloved war President, of a Union restored, was shot down by a Rebel assassin. The news did not reach the troops. in Savannah until the 18th.

The army loved Abraham Lincoln, and sincerely mourned his loss; sorrow being tempered by the strong desire for an adequate expression of the universal indignation.

April 22 Capt. O. H. Marston of Company K, having been made lieutenant-colonel of the regiment, assumed command, and held it until the battalion mustered out of service. No colonel was appointed to succeed Col. Wright, because of an insufficient number of men to allow of more than two field-officers.

On the 25th the troops of the post were reviewed by Gen. Q. A. Gillmore, commander of the department. On the 30th the regiment was mustered for pay, and the same day a report was received of Johnston's surrender to Sherman.

May 2 the troops in Savannah paraded in memory of the martyred President, minute-guns being fired all day. It was ordered that regimental colors be draped for six months.

Thus the army witnessed great dramatic contrasts, and experienced wonderful revulsions of feeling. It was but a few days

before, when, in the wild, glad delirium of joy, and the intoxication of triumph, the soldiers of the Union were celebrating the downfall of Richmond and the surrender of Lee. Some of the Fourteenth boys engaged in the combination-whiskey ration business to such an extent, that, in celebrating the fall of Richmond, they were found in a lethargy equal to that into which the Southern Confederacy had fallen.

However the grand old Army of the Potomac might rest on its arms, we in Savannah were impressed with the feeling that great vigilance and activity were indispensable farther south. No one could predict what the desperate Southrons might do.

It was asserted that the scattered fragments of the Rebel armies would retire to the mountains of North Carolina and Georgia, and there continue the struggle. Again, it was feared that the South would be overrun and converted into a realm of terror by marauding guerilla-bands. Among the possibilities was the attempt to retain the Gulf States, contracting the Confederacy to narrower bounds. Jeff Davis had escaped; and it was not known what fanaticism he might be able to excite, and maintain for an indefinite time. No one anticipated the actual and utter collapse which so directly followed Lee's surrender. The Fourteenth expected to see important service before secession should be finally and indisputably stamped out.

May 3 Gen. Washburn took his brigade out for drill, and it was never handled in better fashion. The day was made gala and conspicuous in Savannah by the firing of nine hundred guns, and by other demonstrations, in honor of Lee's surrender. On the 5th the Fourteenth received orders to be ready to march at once.

The stay of the regiment had been pleasant. Most of the officers occupied better quarters than any they had previously enjoyed. Important positions were held by officers and men. The rank and file enjoyed remarkable privileges. Acquaintances and even friends were made; while it is to be just whispered that several of the Yankee boys became "engaged" to the Savannah girls, some of the troths being plighted in good faith. Members of the regiment were engaged in teaching

A SNARLING SOLDIER.

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in the colored evening-schools, and in many ways ties were being formed which made a continuance in Savannah very agreeable. But the instability of military associations with places was emphasized by the order alluded to.

THE VOLUNTEER GRUMBLER.

Among the grievous chronic complaints with which perhaps every camp and regiment was afflicted, that of growling won for itself a distinguished consideration. There was hardly a company which could not boast of its champion fault-finder; and this unhappy patriot never enjoyed a fair day, a good ration, or a brilliant dress-parade.

His cursing apparatus anticipated all the triumphs of the Gatling gun, and he was at all times judicially impartial in the delivery of his denunciatory volleys.

If he was a pest, it is to be set to his credit that he saved camp-life from monotony: if his constant refrain was miserere, and he ever demonstrated himself an unabatable nuisance, still he formed a handy and legitimate butt for jokes, and often unwittingly gendered and diffused a tonic joviality throughout his company street; while some of his ilk were promoted to be patriarchs of discontent, their surpassing qualities as unmitigated scolds entitling them to a regimental or even wider notoriety.

This unamiable defender of the flag vented his lugubrious whines on all occasions, and he astonished the raw recruits by the promiscuousness of his complaints. His plaint anticipated reveille, and survived tattoo. After listening to his hourly diatribes for about two years, we became accustomed to them, and, if not so eagerly anticipated, they were at least as familiar, as the dinner-call or taps; and if by any miracle his howls could have ceased for a day, a sense of loss would have pervaded the entire battalion.

But he never died; he never was shot; he was so tough that diarrhoea or chills-and-fever never could make any respectable headway in his system; he never was in hospital, except long

enough to get some points against surgeons, nurses, diet, and medicines. Whatever was, was wrong with our snarling comrade; and it was with great pity that we pondered the possibilities of his home life. There he must have been a tyrant: in the army he was a fangless serpent. If he remained in camp, he declared that he never got a chance at a good thing; if he was detailed for duty, he complained that the hardest service always fell to his lot. The rations were either poor or insufficient. Somebody was constantly taking some advantage of him: he was always losing something, and darkly hinting at theft.

He had not character enough to warrant knocking him down, and in games of meanness he took the laurel at every joust. There was nothing sly about the growler: he showed a bare breast, and the spot which in ordinary men held a soul was transparent on all occasions. His "cussedness" was genuine, rugged, and artlessly open. He always escaped punishment for any infraction of discipline, for what court-martial would so demean itself as to try him? and "general repulsiveness" could not be adjudicated or recompensed even on a "drum-head."

It can be inferred that there was small chance for getting even with this nuisance. He annihilated single antagonists by a discharge of sewage-wrath, of which he had an undisputed monopoly.

A general attack he received with complacency; torrents of gibes, sneers, and denunciation merely serving as grateful appetizers for the next ration. In fact, the only occasions on which "Old Incorrigible" was thoroughly happy were those when he was being thoroughly abused. He enlisted with a whine,

served his full time with an unending growl, and was mustered out with a ribald curse.

While the reader may be assured that this character is not in the least overdrawn, he must also understand that its illustrations were few and far between.

"Nature hath framed strange fellows in her time."

"God made him, and therefore let him pass for a man."

IN THE PINE FORESTS.

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At 4.30 A.M., May 6, the Fourteenth broke camp in Savannah, and at seven o'clock marched out of the city across the rice-swamps, westward, and into the splendid hard-pine forests so abundant in Georgia. The column, under our brigade commander, Gen. Washburn, consisted of the Fourteenth, the Twelfth and the Fourteenth Me., the Eighth Ind., and a section of the Third R. I. Battery. We were informed that Augusta was our destination; that we were to go via Sister's Ferry, where the steamer would form our temporary base of supplies. It was important that Augusta should be occupied by a Union force, and there was sufficient hazard in the expedition to relieve it from all monotony, or suspicion of uselessness.

The first day's march was a hard one, in oppressive heat and almost intolerable dust, while no water could be obtained throughout the forenoon. The column halted at 1.30 P.M., and bivouacked in the woods, having marched thirteen miles. On the 7th, reveille sounded at two A.M.; and at four o'clock the brigade was in column. A bridge being down over Ebenezer Creek, a detour of five miles was necessary. The march this day was through long stretches of forest. Halted at noon, and bivouacked in a beautiful pine-grove, five miles from Effingham C.H., having marched seventeen miles.

On the 8th the march was resumed at 4 A.M., the Eighth Ind. leading the column. The different regiments, by turn, led the march. A cloudy, rainy day. Sister's Ferry was reached at four P.M., marching seventeen miles; and the boat was waiting for us. Three days' rations were issued, and three more loaded upon wagons. Several sick ones were transferred to the boat.

It is to be borne in mind that there were but eight companies of the Fourteenth in this expedition; Company C was at Fort Pulaski, while H was on special duty in Savannah. The column left Sister's Ferry at seven A.M., the men being in excellent spirits, cheering; while the bands led off with lively airs, the Fourteenth being in advance, and a brisk lead the regiment made of it.

There was an exciting competition between the regiments, in