the names of no battles in which we were engaged, although we
took part in several very lively skirmishes, and for an entire day stood
in line in a broiling sun, expecting every moment to be ordered to take
part in a fight which was going on directly in front of us, across the
river at Suffolk, Virginia. The roar of the artillery and the rattle of
the musketry saluted our ears from morning until night; the ambulances
passed by us all day long with the wounded and the dying, and some of our
men who were on guard at the hospitals, which comprised the churches,
rendered assistance as nurses. As matters turned, however, the rebels
retreating, the services of our regiment were not required. But had they
been, there is no reason to doubt that the Eleventh would have acquitted
itself in such a manner as to have done honor to the State which sent it
into the field. One who knew the Eleventh regiment well, writes as follows
concerning it: "I feel warranted in saying, without fear of contradiction,
that no State sent into the service during the war, any better regiment,
in everything that goes to make a good regiment, than this nine months'
regiment; and I do not hesitate to say here and everywhere, that in the
character of the enlisted men, in the fidelity with which they performed
every duty, disagreeable as well as agreeable, it had no superior."

But while little opportunity was given the Eleventh regiment to acquire
distinction in the field, yet it performed a service which, while bringing
no renown to the regiment, was as important as it was disagreeable, and
which subjected not only the men but the officers to very many unpleasant
experiences. I now refer to the arduous duty which the regiment performed
at the Convalescent Camp, midway between Washington and Alexandria. Here
we found between ten thousand and fifteen thousand old soldiers who had
been discharged from the hospitals in and around Washington, waiting to be
sent home or back to their regiments. Long lines of ambulances went back
and forth every day between the camp and Washington, carrying those to
whom transportation to their homes or regiments had been furnished, and
bringing from the hospitals others to take their vacant places. The camp
was in a very filthy condition when we arrived there, and the men greatly
demoralized. Of course our appearance as a guard over these old soldiers
was anything but welcome, and they were not slow in acquainting us with
the fa