As we were driving them thru Strasburg, we came to a bridge of stone, a narrow one, and when the Rebel teams passed over it both sides, and we saw them heaped up below in the shallow river, mules and wagons and cannon and ambulances. It was a real stampede alright. From that spot as far as Fishers Hill the ground was com- pletely covered with impliments of war, guns, haversacks, canteens, rifles, and everyting that the Johnnies had thrown away in their mad flight. I picked up a nice rifle that I carried a few days, and finally smashed it at the order of the captain who knew that it maed too much of a lead for me wih all my own equipment. Among the other things I saw an ambulance that had run into a tree, the mules had broken the [els and run away. In the ambulance there were some wounded that were groaning as we passed by.

We went to the top of Fishers Hill and camped in the fort that night. That night when we were all laid down and were asleep, someone was trying to get a cannon (They were Rebels who had concealed then in the fort during the retreat, I suppose) and were trying to get away with the cannon by the aid of mule and a white horse. They ran into Lieut. Gould, who shouted, "Damn you, you're Rebels", and there was a great commotion for a time, and we captured them That ended thee great Battle of Cedar Creek.

The next day I think that we went to the Valley a way. Later we came north again.

Such was the great Battle of Cedar Creek as I sqw it and remem- ber it. Gen. Sheridan, by his ability, and more by his personal held upon his soldiers, turned a defeat and a rout into a remarkable victory for the Union cause. Grant himself, had he been present, could not have done what little Phil Sheridan did.

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"In the battle of Cedar Creek the 8th Vermont played an important part. It enetered the fight two hours earlier than any other Union regiment, and it received the heaviest charge that day. It led the charge back and was a part of the 'arrow-head' which had the honor to first pierce the enemy's line of battle in the afternoon. Main- taining that advance, it was at midnight farther to the front than any other of Sheridan's infantry." (From the desscription of the battle by Herbert E. Hill.)

The battle of Ceder Creek ended the fighting experiences of the 8th Vermont, and "no more men fell in its ranks by hostile bullets."

After the battle we went into camp at Newtown for about 5 weeks. There was nothing but picket duty to do.

While we were lying in camp there, one day the Colonel sent for me, and I went to Thomas' tent. He recognized me as the boy who did not fall out on that forced march in the summer. He wanted to know if I wanted to act as his orderly, and I said, "Yes, sir." Then he spoke to his adjutant, and told him to write off some of the names of the generals in the division, which he did. I, however, could not make out the writing readily, and so I could not fill the bill. So I went back. In a few days the Captain Getchell sent for me, and wanted to know if I wanted to act as one of the "markers" for the regiment. A "marker" is one of the two men that a regiment "lines up in" when it forms in line on dress parade or drills. He said that I would not have anything to carry except the Flag. I said "Yes". He said, "You're one of the markers then." One of them had been killed or wounded at Cedar Creek. Well, I got back to the company and told them what I was going to be, but they set up an awful howl, and told me that I would be killed surely if I ever got into another fight. Then, I went back and told the captain that I did not care for the position.

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Although we had made preparation to go into winter quarters at Newtown, we were not allowed to remain there. Orders came to break camp, and on the 20th of December we left and reached north through Winchester (In the evening we passed thru that village.) At midnight we bivouacked on the frozen ground. When the drum beat "fall in" in the morning, I found a couple inches of snow on my blankets. It was a great sight to see the whole regiment rise up and shake itself of the snow in the bright winter sun-shine. We had coffee and hard- tack, and then continued our march toward Summit Point, half way between Winchester and Harpers Ferry.

Here our brigade had the job of guarding the Baltimore and Ohio R.R. The rest of the army was sent to the Potomac, except the cavalry, to be under General Grant at Petersburg. We built log huts. They were small and had our tents for roofs. We made chimneys out of mud and sticks and had a fire-place inside. There were four or eight men in a hut. Two bunks on a side. Robert and I were in the same hut. Prentice Bullock and Lawrence Kelley were with us, I think. We did picket duty on five miles of that rail- road. We guarded supplies for the cavalry and for us.

One day Mosby's men came near the camp and captured our wood- train, a wagon train of three or four wagons that were sent out to get fire wood, and took eleven men and all the mules, leaving the wagons. We followed them till dark. They could not go fast for the snow was pretty deep and they had put two or three men on a mule, I guess. We couldn't catch them. They took their prisoners to Richmond, all but one who slipped their guards, and came in to our camp the next day.

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The Virginia winters can be cold, as we found out in our camp at Summit Point. During January and February, 1865, there was a lot of snow, at least one foot, and with a crust thick and strong enough to bear a man's weight. Old inhabitants of the Valley said that it was the coldest winter in thirty years, and we believed them.

To make the winter life interesting, we heard often of the presence of the Rebel Gerilla leader, Colonel Mosby, who was supposed to be in that vicinity. We had to watch out for him and his raids, even the Early had long since been defeated at Cedar Creek.

One day in February I was on picket. When I came in that night, Mike Burke came to me and said that he had been picked to go on a raid that night to some places, and that he did not want to go. He wanted to have me go in his place. I was willing, and the orderly sergeant said that it would be all right for me to go.

The detail which consisted of men from all the companies of the regiments of the brigade. I think that there were about thirty- five of us all together that were ordered to report for duty.

We were marched into a big tent where we were lined up, and one of Sheridan's scouts, who had been out that day two or three miles beyond the pickets had found out that there was to be a gathering of Mosby's officers at a party at a certain house that night, told us that we were to go to that house and search the house. The scout looked us over, marching up and down in front of us, eying me and the others closely.

A lieutenant from one of the regiments comanded the detail. We went across the lots on the crust till we struck a cross road. It was a pretty dark night. We followed the road till we came to a lane that led to the house mentioned before. We had seen the lights of the house from a great distance.

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We left three men and a corporal at the enterance of the lane. The house, which was an old hotel, stood back on an elevation The order was given to surround the house and to secrete ourselves behind trees for protections. Then all were reardy the scout approached the door and rapped repeatedly. All the light at once went out, And no answer at first was made. Then came a yell, "You can't come in here you're damned Yankee robbers!" The scout replied, "I am the man who took dinner here, and I want a night's lodging." Then the Scout stepped off the porch and reported to the lieutenant," No use: they won't let me in". The lieutenant at once stepped onto the porch and said, "I have here a warrant or order from General Sheridan to search this house for Mosby's officers. "Can't come in here" a voice answered. The Lieutenant said then, "We'll give you three minutes. Open the door or we'll fire on the house!" Fire away! We won't ever open the door!" was the re- sponse. "Ready,men. Fire into tbe windows." We gave them two or three rounds. Between the rounds the officer demanded that the door be opened. We could hear the women screaming inside when the balls went crashing thru the window glass. "Two men, step up here, and break down the door", was the next order. I was near, so stepped up, and began to knock out the pannels. The door flew open. To our right we saw two old men, who had double barrelled shot-guns pointed at us. The lieutenant said, "Throw down your guns and strike a match and light your candles." One of the men did so. We went in, leaving a guard outside. The lieutenant and the scout and half a dozen men, I one of them, entered the hall, and went into the first door at the left. We looked under a bed and found a boy and pulled him out. He was so scarred that he could not say much. He as about fifteen years of age. I stood guard over him. while the rest went on up stairs and thru the house searching. While I stood there a woman came down the stairs, crying and saying that we had shot her baby. Then another came down, and they sailed around there in their great hoop-skirts. The search revealed no one.

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If there had been any one in the house they had made their escape or had secreted themselves too well for us to find them., Then we took one of the old men and the boy to the next house and there we found a Union family. We had quite a time to get into the house, for they were naturally afraid that we were Rebels who had come to the man of the house. But when we found out who we were, they identified the young fellow as a nephew of the older man, and that he was not a member of the Rebel army. Well, we let them both go, and we went back to camp.

One morning I went down to the stream to fill canteens. As I was stooping down, I saw a lone cavalryman ride down to the opposite bank to water his horse. He told me that 'Abraham Lincoln was assasin- ated last nirht". I carried the sad news to the camp.

On April 15th my regiment with other troops was hurried to Washington by rail, and formed part of the body of infantry that were drawn around the city to prevent the escape of John Wilkes Booth, the murderer.

The next day when it was known that Booth had escaped from the encir- cling line of soldiers, the regiment returned to Summits Point. We were here bit a short time. We went up the Valley for the last time, for Johnson had not surrendered and there was still some fear that he and his rebel army might still make an attempt to make a dash down the Valley. The War was really over, but we did not hear of Johnson's surrender till we had marched a day or so up the Valley. Of course Appemattox had seen Lee's surrender some time before. The War was really over.

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but there was still war in the Valley, and gerillas were still at work in places.

On April 21st we left the valley for the last time, and went to Washington where we were encamped near Fort Stevens, and later the 8th was stationed near the Arsenal in which the assassins were confined. On May 23rd we took part in a review of the 19th Corps by President Johnson. I don't remember that I saw the new president at that time. He did not stand out so prominantly as Lincoln did.

Later, on June 1st we were ordered to board ship for Savanah. This we did not like, for we had seen all we wanted to of the South, and the War was over. We went on board ship however, but at the last minute the 8th Vermont was countermanded to leave the ship. This was done thru the influence of Gov. Smith of Vermont who was in Washington at the time looking after the welfare if the Green Mountain troops, and who prevailed upon Stanton to let us go home, or at least not to go south at this time. We were mighty glad.

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We soon after were ordered to Arlington, Virginia, where we went into camp. I was detailed with a few others to go to Paul's Church on the Mannassas Road to do guard duty to protect the property of the citizens fron depridations of the soldiers. I think that we were at Paul's Church about two weeks. It was a hamlet, having one store. It was thru the war, especially after the Battle of Bull Run, the southern outpowt of the Was- hington defenses. We were quartered in an old church which was used for that purpose throughout the war. I used to go up into the old belfry which was like that on the Congregational Church here In Williston, and there I used to see the names of men from New England Regiments who had been there before me. There was a small cemetery near the church where a few soldiers were buried. Probably the bodies were removed after the war. The old citizens of the place told us that they experienced the ravages of war after Bull Run, and we could see at the time we were there, the signs of the ravages. The citizens took a good deal of interest in us and gave us honey and milk and biscuits. It seemed a lot like home. They were Southerners, of course, but they were anxious to conciliate us, so that we would protect them.

We were moved to Georgetown, D.C., where we went into camp. We camped there and drilled and waited for chances to get transportation far bore. We remained here till after the Grand Review in Wasbington, drilling every day so that we could put in a good appearance. We found this disagreeable.

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After the Grand Review was over we were ready and anxious to see home again. The Regiment made several attempts to get train accomodations, but there were not so many rail-roads as there are to-day, and the cars were in poor con- ditions, and the service too poor to accommodate so many old soldiers at one time. Finally on the third time we got aboard. Box cars! No luxuries for the returned soldier in these times. I rode on top of a box car to New Jersey. Those cars had rail- ings around the edge. We ran our own risk in riding in such a dangerous place. I think that one man was killed by crossing from one car to another. It was hot there on the car tops, and there were plenty of cinders. We crossed the Susquehannah River on a great ferry onto which the cars were run. It was a tedious journey. If the war had lasted another year I do not thInk that there would have been a car left. From New Jersey on we rode in old rickity passengers cars that held to-gether till we got to Burlington, Vermont.

In Burlington We marched to the Town Hall where we were given a great dinner and Welcome Home. This was about the last of May in '65.

After dinner I rode out to Williston with one of the men naned Ingraham, the headquarters drummer boy who had taken me on the honey expedition. He was the biggest daredevil in the army. I've seen him dash into a skirmish line to save his sheep that he was in charge of. Well, we hired horses to ride and came home and staid all night. My people were then living where on the Douglas place on the road that runs paralleI to the village road about a mile north of the village. l don't remember seeing much of Robert on the trip from the south nor at home after arriving home.

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I remember seeing Father and Mother who were probably glad to see me. They killed the fatted calf. It seemed strange to sleep in a house again, and to hear the rats running in the partitions.

The next day wo went back to Burlington and there we were mustered out and received our pay. Robert was there, and must have been with me the day before, but I cannot now remember that he was with me much. I suppose that there was so much excitement that it drove everything else from my mind.

While we were in the army we received $13.00 per month from Uncle Sam and $7.00 state pay. The latter amount went to Mother. She had received that every month while we were away. We were paid something at Burlington, but I do not know how much.

Soon after our return Father bought the Landon place at Tafts Corners and there we went to farming. The next great event was the Griswold Murder which was worse than the War, or so it seemed to soldiers.