way something of the romance sometimes
suggested to the inexperienced by the phase, 'soldiering in
the Sunny South,' but then a touch of it is worth having for
the light it throws over such historical scenes as those at
Valley Forge.

"We continued in the pursuit of Hood, as far as Huntsville,
Ala., when he disappeared to return no more, and we were
allowed to go back to Chattanooga, glad of an opportunity to
rest. Distance travelled, 420 miles.

"We had no more fighting. There were many interesting
experiences, which, however, I will not take time to relate.
In August, 1865, being in command of the Post at Knoxville,
Tenn., grateful to have escaped without imprisonment,
wounds, or even a day of severe illness, I resigned my
commission, after forty months of service, to resume my
studies.

"I cannot close this paper without expressing the conviction
that history has not yet done justice to the share borne by
colored soldiers in the war for the Union. Their conduct
during that eventful period, has been a silent, but most
potent factor in influencing public sentiment, shaping
legislation, and fixing the status of colored people in
America. If the records of their achievements could be put
into such shape that they could be accessible to the
thousands of colored youth in the South, they would kindle
in their young minds an enthusiastic devotion to manhood and
liberty."

CHAPTER IX.

THE PHALANX AT MARION, TENN.

In the winter of 1864, while Sherman was marching his army toward the
sea, raiding parties and expeditions were sent out from the several
departments to intercept rebel communications, destroy telegraph lines,
railroads and stores; in nearly all of which Phalanx troops actively
participated, and shared the perils and honors of the achievements.

From Vicksburg, Miss., Brevet Brigadier-General E. D. Osband, with the
Third Phalanx Regiment, on the 27th of November captured and destroyed
the Mississippi Central Railroad bridge over the Big Black River, near
Canton, also thirty miles of the railroad, with two locomotives and a
large amount of stores.

In the meantime, General Breckenridge, with a large confederate force,
attacked the Federals under General Gillem, near Morristown, Tenn.,
captured the artillery, with several hundred men, and drove the
remainder of Gillem'