officers at this time.

May 28th. There was lively firing this morning on the picket lines, but
the cannons were quiet. We were expecting reinforcements and we needed
them if we were ever to take Port Hudson. This was the seventh day of
the siege and we were pretty well fagged out. We had to fight for every
foot of ground. But we had carried the first two earthworks by storm.
It had been one continual fight since we started in but there was a
cessation of hostilities for a short time, and the lull was a great
relief, for my ears had been half-deafened by the awful roar of
artillery and cracking of musketry. There were three men killed and
about twenty wounded, and thirty in our regiment missing. Again in our
little company we had several wounded, one fatally. So I think that I
must have been in great danger several times, but I felt that a kind
Providence watched over me, and brought me out safely. The regiment at
this time was under the command of Major McManus, Colonel Bissell being
sick with remittent fever at Bayou Sara and the lieutenant-colonel
prostrated at New Orleans. The colored regiments fought bravely and
made some splendid charges.

May 31st. There has been some firing by the infantry and artillery
during the day. About ten o'clock last night we withdrew our forces
very cautiously, bringing away all the wounded we could reach, but
there were some poor unfortunates lying up under the breastworks that
it was impossible to reach. Every time we tried to get to them the Rebs
would fire on us. We threw them canteens of water but it was of little
use. We marched back and lay upon the battlefield of the preceding day.

June 1st. We marched back into the woods and were there in support of a
battery. It was very trying for us. The Rebs had a perfect range on us
and several times a day they would throw those immense twelve-inch
shells right into our midst. We could hear them coming for several
seconds and we all stood close to the trees for protection. There must
have been a large number killed that day. The next day there was a
cessation of hostilities to bury the dead. At about seven o'clock the
enemy made a terrible onslaught on our right but they were repulsed
with heavy loss. We fell into our places expecting to be called into
action but we were spared for once. We remained there until the 7th
when Lieutenant-Colonel Weld came up from New Orleans and assumed
command.

June 7th. We were ordered to the front t