n followed four
hours of the most wearisome night-marching--moving a few
rods at a time and then halting for troops ahead to get out
of the way; losing sight of them and hurrying forward to
catch up; straggling out into the darkness, stumbling and
groping along the rough road, and all the time the rain
coming down in a most provoking, exasperating drizzle. About
daylight crossed back to the north side and halted for
coffee, and then moved forward some four miles and rejoined
the corps, taking position behind the crest of a hill. The
Eighth and Twenty-ninth were left in a work on the hill.

"About 3:30 P. M. orders came to pile knapsacks and be ready
to march immediately. A little after 4 o'clock the brigade
moved to the right, some three-quarters of a mile, into an
open cornfield, and, after halting a few moments, turned
down a road through the woods to the left with Gen. Wm.
Birney, who ordered Col. Shaw to throw out skirmishers and
advance with his brigade down a road which he pointed out,
find the enemy and attack vigorously, and then rode away.
Finding the road turning to the left, Col. Shaw sent word to
Gen. Birney that the designated road would probably bring
him back on our own line. The order came back from Gen.
Birney to go ahead. The road still bearing to the left, word
was again sent that we should strike our own line if we
continued to advance in the direction we were going. A
second time the answer came to move on. A third messenger
having brought from Gen. Birney the same reply, Col. Shaw
decided to disobey the order and call in the skirmishers.
Before it could be done firing commenced and continued
briskly for several minutes, before the men recognized each
other, and it was discovered that we had been firing into
our own Second Brigade--Col. Osborn's. This sad affair,
which would not have occurred had Col Shaw's caution been
heeded, resulted in the killing of the lieutenant commanding
the picket-line and the wounding of many men on both sides.
After this _fiasco_ the brigade moved out into the
cornfield, where it had halted earlier in the day, and
bivouacked for the night. The regiment had been more or less
exposed all day to shell-fire, but lost from it only four or
five men wounded, in addition to the ten or