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There is good prospect of fighting for the nine-months men, so we feel very bully. When we get under way in drill we shall have a battalion drill every morning and a brigade drill every afternoon. So I shall learn something of big manoeuvring, if I could only get the smaller ones. To know and to execute are very different things.Under date of November 1st, he writes with much simplicity:—
We are all in splendid spirits and very jolly, and I cannot bring myself now to think of the fight to-morrow in a religious light, though I feel very earnest and determined. I hope I and the regiment will behave well. I think we shall.On the next day the regiment set out on an expedition. While marching in the dark they were attacked, and a short but sharp action took place, in which our sergeant was for the first time under fire. He bore himself bravely and with a coolness that was creditable to so young a recruit. A few days later he writes:—
The interest of our life has fizzled out, and we are not to go on the expedition which is now at Morehead. . . . . We and the Fifth Rhode Island are left behind. Is it not rough to lose the honor of having Charleston on our flags?And again:—
O, do not think of giving up! How can one? I had rather fight forever than go back and be what we must be.As the winter wore away it became evident that he would not be willing to leave the service; and as the term of his enlistment drew towards its close, his appeals for a place in the artillery or cavalry became more earnest. In response to them an effort had already been made to obtain a commission for him, when on the 4th of March, 1863, he suddenly made his appearance in Boston. The cause of this was soon explained. During the last few months the question as to the employment of colored troops had often been discussed by him while in camp, and especially with his friends Simpkins and Sergeant
