[79] church and school-house of New England to the soil of Virginia. Then, by freely setting forth at home the demands of the regiment, he provided a ‘chapel-tent,’—the first seen, probably, in our army. He thus describes its dedication:—
Yesterday was a noteworthy day with the Sixteenth Massachusetts Regiment, for on it we dedicated our beautiful tabernacle tent. This tent was presented to us by various patriotic and benevolent citizens of Boston, who desire that religious services may not necessarily be suspended during the sultry heat of summer, or during the fall of the rain, so copious in Virginia, and that our evening prayer and temperance meetings may not necessarily be held in the open air. The subscriptions were secured by a most excellent lady, and she receives the grateful acknowledgments of our entire regiment. The day of dedication was also Forefathers' Day (December 22), which was very appropriate for a Massachusetts regiment, having their tabernacle in the wilderness, as did their fathers. Both army and navy chaplains participated in the exercises. The chaplains were representatives of nearly every sect, including Roman Catholic; but there was entire harmony, and a sweet blending of devout sentiment and Christian, patriotic utterance. Chaplains from North and South, East and West, were there, and from sea and shore, yet no discordant note was uttered. The tabernacle tent was trimmed with holly and live-oak wreaths and crosses, made by the soldiers with a taste which would have surprised our female friends. The ladies of the Hygeia Hospital, who were present, contributed a beautiful cross of mingled evergreen and flowers. Our regimental band played the Star-spangled Banner admirably, and the regimental choir sang the hymns written for the occasion, in a manner which elicited, as it deserved, much praise. Rev. Mr. Fuller's dedication discourse was founded on the text in Isaiah IV. 6, “And there shall be a tabernacle, for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and rain.”Besides these varied labors in the regiment, Chaplain Fuller was an active newspaper correspondent,—writing letters to the Boston Journal, the Boston Traveller, the New York Tribune, the Christian Inquirer, and other journals. Among these letters was a narrative—perhaps the most graphic ever given—of the famous contest between the Merrimack and
