s bravery as shown time and again in battle and
under severe fire.

Ever ready and always pushed to the front in time of danger of an
attack, the Twenty-fifth was an organization of which the state need
not be ashamed. When it was in the field it was an honor to the army
and to the volunteer service of our country, and now that fifty years
have rolled by the heart of many a survivor swells with just pride as
he says to his children and grandchildren: "I was a member of the
Twenty-fifth Connecticut."

In closing this brief sketch of the Twenty-fifth Regiment, of which
Colonel Bissell is the author, you will see that he was very proud of
the men under his command and if you could have seen him drilling his
regiment at that time, as I still see him in memory, you would know
that he fairly worshiped them. I am sure the men would have followed
him into any fire against overwhelming odds. And now he is gone, the
men that are left cherish his memory.

INTERESTING REMINISCENCES AND EXPERIENCES BY SAMUEL K. ELLIS.

In opening the subject of my experiences as a private in the War of the
Rebellion, I hardly know how to begin as this is the first time I have
attempted to write at length upon this subject. I earnestly hope that
all those who read this little book will excuse all grammatical errors.

Fifty years have come and gone and as my life has been spared to see
the fiftieth anniversary of my army life, and as I kept a diary during
my term of service in the War of the Rebellion, I thought it no more
than right and just to myself and descendants that I leave in book form
some of the many experiences I saw and passed through during that time.
It seemed to me that it was a grand opportunity on this the fiftieth
anniversary to do it, if I ever did. Hoping that this account of my
army life may be highly appreciated and prized by my children and
grandchildren and any others that may be interested, I will endeavor to
give a complete account as I saw and recorded events.

I was a Vernon Center boy but was working in the town of Glastonbury,
when the war broke out, with Hubbard and Broadhead at teaming and farm
work. At this time the gloom was deep but the people were not
discouraged. At the request of the governors of eighteen loyal states,
President Lincoln, on July 2nd, 1862, called out three hundred thousand
men for three years' service, and on August 4, ordered a call for three
hundred thousand men for nine months. At