t was also ordered to the Department of the South,
It left Boston July 21st, 1863, on the steamer "Cahawba," and arrived at
Newbern on the 25th. After a few days of rest, to recover from the
effects of the voyage, the regiment was put into active service, and
performed a large amount of marching and of the arduous duties required
of a soldier. Many skirmishes and actions of more or less importance
were participated in. February 13th, 1864, the regiment took a steamer
for Jacksonville, Fla., and spent considerable time in that section and
at various points on the St. Johns river. In June the regiment was
ordered to the vicinity of Charleston, and took part in several of the
engagements which occurred in that neighborhood, always sustaining and
adding to the reputation they were acquiring for bravery and good
soldierly conduct. The regiment passed its entire time of active service
in the department to which it was first sent, and returned to Boston,
Mass., where it was mustered out, amid great rejoicing, on the 23rd of
September, 1865.

The battles in which the 54th Regiment were engaged were some of the
most sanguinary of the war. The last fight of the regiment, which, like
the battle of New Orleans, took place after peace was declared, is thus
described by the Drummer Boy of Company C, Henry A. Monroe, of New
Bedford, Mass.:

BOYKIN'S MILL.[27]

One wailing bugle note,--
Then at the break of day,
With Martial step and gay.
The army takes its way
From Camden town.

There lay along the path,
Defending native land;
A daring, desperate band
Entrenched on either hand
In ambuscade.

A low and dark ravine
Beneath a rugged hill,
Where stood the Boykin Mill
Spanning the creek, whose rill
Flows dark an deep.

Only a narrow bank
Where one can scarcely tread:
Thick branches meet o'erhead;
Across the mill-pond's bed
A bridge up-torn.

One single sharp report!
A hundred muskets peal,--
A wild triumphant yell,
As back the army fell
Stunned, bleeding, faint.

As when some mighty rock
Obstructs the torrent's course,
After the moment's pause
Twill rush with greater force
Resistless on.

A moment's pause and then,
Our leader from his post,
Viewing the stricken host.
Cried 'Comrades, all is lost
If we now fail!'

Forming in single file.
They gaze with bated brea