Not long after the return of the Forty-Fifth Massachusetts regiment from North Carolina, an informal meeting of some of the members of Company A was held in Boston, which resulted in the formation of a permanent association, known as the "Co. A Associates of the 45th Regt. Mass. Vol. Mil." This association has proved a constant source of pleasure to its members, and has served to keep in fresh remembrance the many and varied experiences of our campaign. The annual reunions are held on the annive

GEORGE P. DENNY, Captain. George E. Pond , 1st Lieutenant. Edw. H. Richardson , 2d Lieut. Charles W. Barstow , Ord. Sergt. George H. Watson , 2d Sergeant. William R. Butler , 3d Sergeant. (Died Jan. 26, 1867.) Wm. E. Wheaton , 4th Sergeant. Geo. F. Woodman , 5th Sergeant. (Promoted.) Charles B. Sumner , 5th Sergeant. Luther F. Allen , 1st Corporal. Augustus S. Lovett , 2d Corporal. Chas. Eustis Hubbard , 3d Corporal. Errol Grant , 4th Corporal. Henry K. Porter , 5th Corporal. Albert A. Chittende

Shortly after the President's call for three hundred thousand nine months' men, in the summer of 1862, a meeting was held by the Independent Corps of Cadets, in their armory in Boston, to consider the expediency of organizing a nine months' regiment, of which that corps should be, as it were, the nucleus. The proposition being favorably received, application was speedily made to Governor Andrew by various members in favor of the movement, for permission to recruit for such a regiment, under the

The mere recollection of the nine days passed on the steamer "Mississippi" is painful, but it occupied too prominent a position in our experience to be omitted in this sketch. After the usual delay on the wharf, attending the embarkation of a large body of men, we filed on to the steamer, and were ushered into our respective quarters. Our company, with five others, were consigned to the stern of the vessel; so, passing down the companion-way, deeper and deeper, darker and darker, until we could,

Returning to the freight house where the night had been spent, we shouldered our guns and knapsacks and started en route for our new home. Passing through the town, and recrossing the railroad bridge, we left the line of the railroad and took the road running along the edge of the Trent. After toiling through the sand for about a mile, we came upon a negro settlement and a long row of stables, once rebel cavalry quarters, now used for government team horses and as a sort of wagon station. An old

The first tap of the drum at early morn of the eleventh instant, aroused us with that faint consciousness of something important before us, with which the sleeper always wakens on the day of some long-expected event. The last preparations were gone through, blankets rolled, canteens filled and lost straps found, while hurry and confusion reigned supreme in the various quarters. At last, everything was in readiness, and as the impatient drums sounded the assembly call, we marched out on the parad

The quiet afternoon and long night's rest refreshed us most wonderfully, and we woke the next morning, Sunday, the fourteenth, free from all fatigue. It was a bright, beautiful day, and we broke camp in high spirits, ready for whatever might happen, and yet with no conception of the dread realities actually before us, and in which we were to enact a part. After marching two or three miles, firing once more commenced at the front, and hurrying on, the regiment was halted at the corner of a road w

Up to the last day's advance, our brigade had been one of the first in line of march, but that last day the 45th was detailed as guard over the baggage train. We were consequently prevented from participating in or even witnessing the battle at the bridge where the railroad crosses the Neuse, a short distance from the town of Goldsboro, which resulted in the destruction of the bridge. Our regiment was drawn up in line by the road-side, awaiting orders, when General Foster and his staff came ridi

We had but fairly settled down to the old story of drill and parade, our lameness healed, and the excitement of the scenes through which we had so lately passed somewhat allayed, when rumors of another expedition began to float about the camp. These were vague at first, but increased in strength from day to day, until we became convinced of their truth by the announcement at dress-parade of the order to be in readiness on a certain day, with three days' rations ready cooked. Having learned wisdo

At an early hour on the long-expected day, the detail for guard left the camp, and soon after breakfast, the rest of the regiment started, in the best possible spirits, for its new quarters, making quite a triumphal entry into the captured city, with band playing and colors flying. Crossing the railroad bridge, we marched directly to Broad street, the parade-ground of all troops occupying the city. There the out-going regiment, the 17th Mass., were drawn up in line to welcome the new-comers; and

It was our good fortune during our stay in Newbern, to participate in a grand review of the 18th Army Corps by our commander, General Foster. We had due notice, and were gotten up in a state of blackness and brightness well nigh bordering on perfection. Blackness having reference to the state of our boots and equipments, brightness to our guns and brasses. The cleansing and polishing and furbishing one does in the army is beyond belief, for by the time you have come to the end of the long list o

It was General Foster's intention to celebrate the anniversary of the battle of Newbern, and the capture of the town, by a parade of the troops in and about the city, and orders to that effect had been issued to the different commanders. But a slight circumstance occurred on the day previous to the anniversary, which caused an entire change in the programme. We had often heard from prisoners the boast that Newbern should not remain in our possession for more than a year, and, sure enough, on the

The evening of our second day in camp, Sunday, April 26, we received an unexpected favor from General Foster, in the shape of an order to march the next morning. The regiment was quickly astir, for rations were to be made ready, cartridge-boxes filled, and all those little preparations gone through with which marching orders always render necessary. After a while, quiet settles down, and we turn in, determined to make sure of one more good sleep at all events. We are roused at early dawn by the

Our camp, which we left so unceremoniously to go to Gum Swamp, was situated on a large plantation, about a mile and a half south of Newbern, and an eighth of a mile from the Neuse. It was but a few rods from the railroad and just outside a long line of earthworks which we were to man in case of an attack from this quarter, they being the outer line of works in this direction. We found that the pioneers had been at work during our absence, and the camp was already laid out in streets, and some of

There had been stories about camp for a day or more, of fighting at Batchelder's Creek, and the death of Colonel Jones, of the 58th Penn., was reported, but we had treated it as a mere rumor. Our astonishment was great when, just before roll-call Sunday evening, May 24th, the order was given to the different companies to prepare for an immediate departure to Batchelder's Creek. The train stood in front of the camp awaiting us, and in twenty minutes from the time the orders were received by the c