uccessful.

"In the fall of 1864[26], I resigned my position as Colonel
to assume other duties.

"What took place from then until the regiment was mustered
out of service, I only know from heresay, but it is safe to
say that the regiment maintained its reputation as one of
the best infantry regiments in the 7th Army Corps.

"A short time before I left the regiment, General Marcy,
then Inspector General of the U.S. Army, inspected the
Kansas Division, to which my regiment belonged, and his
report, which is now on file in the War Department, if I am
not mistaken, shows that the 2nd Colored in point of drill,
discipline and military appearance, stood first of all the
regiments in that Division.

"Yours truly,

"SAMUEL J. CRAWFORD.

Lieutenant-Colonel Gilpatrick, promoted from Major, took command of the
regiment succeeding Colonel Crawford, and in December made a forced
march to Hudson's crossing on the Neosho river, by way of Fort Gibson, a
distance of one hundred and fifty miles, on quarter rations, and
returned as escort to a large supply train. It was then, with all the
Phalanx regiments at Fort Smith, ordered to Little Rock, where it
arrived with a very large train of refugees under charge, on the 4th of
February, after a march of seventeen days.

Colonel Gilpatrick says:

"The men suffered severely on the march by exposure to wet
and cold and for the want of proper and sufficient food,
clothing and shelter. Many of them were barefooted, almost
naked, and without blankets."

The regiment remained at Little Rock until the spring of 1865, when it
formed part of an expedition which proceeded some distance south of
Little Rock, and operated against a band of guerillas on the Saline
river, which they succeeded in driving out and partly capturing. On the
25th of July the regiment broke camp and proceeded to Camden, Arkansas,
and was mustered out of the United States service, and proceeding by way
of Pine Bluff, Ark., Memphis, Tenn., and St. Louis, Mo., reached
Leavenworth, Kansas, where the men were finally paid and discharged on
the 27th of November, 1865. These brave men immediately returned to
their homes to enjoy the blessings of a free government.

[Illustration: THE WOODEN HORSE.

A mode of punishment for slight offences.]

FOOTNOTES:

[24] Not less than 70,0