Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Harvard Memorial Biographies

But he took no part in the seven days campaign. There is a limit to the power of strong will, of enthusiasm, even of frenzy; and for Vincent to command his regiment, or do any duty whatever, was now beyond this limit. He was put into an ambulance; and of what followed he afterwards remembered nothing, until he woke up half-way down James River on board a sick transport. It was like awakening in a tomb. It seemed still to be a dream. He raised himself up, and saw in the long hull two hundred other cots, each with its burden. He saw the attendants gliding noiselessly about. He lay back upon his pillow again to hear unconscious mutterings and deep groans, and breathe that air known only to those who have breathed it, and by them never forgotten. It seemed as if it could not be true.

Vincent remembered always with the greatest gratitude the attentions of a kind lady upon this boat; and through measures taken by her, he found his wife and father ready to receive him on landing at New York. They soon took him to Erie, where he remained till the 1st of October, returning then to the scene of war. He found his regiment doing picket duty on the Potomac, near the mouth of Antietam Creek. It was his regiment now. He had been chosen and commissioned Colonel during his absence.

Both commander and men were rejoiced to be together once more; though sorrow was mingled with Vincent's joy as he looked upon the thinned ranks and war-worn flags. The regiment was soon strengthened by the arrival of recruits and convalescents, and during the pleasant October weeks he brought it up to its old standard of excellence.

The 11th of December found Vincent about to take his part in the battle of Fredericksburg. Before the battle the men of his regiment believed that he would prove a good leader. After it there was scarcely any position to which in their enthusiasm they would not have raised him.

He did not become actively engaged till the 13th. Lying