n unfrequent
occurrence for the whole division to be called suddenly to arms at
midnight and stand in line until morning. Skirmishes and sharpshooting
continued with little intermission; bullets of rebel riflemen whizzing
through our camps or unceremoniously entering our tents at all times.
Rebel gunboats approached the mouth of the Warwick and by their
assistance the rebel infantry attempted to turn our left flank, but the
troops of our division gallantly met their attack and drove them back.

This state of affairs continued until the 16th of April. That morning,
word passed through the division that we were to make an assault. Orders
came to move, and the division was massed near some ruins, known as "The
Chimneys," in front of one of the rebel forts; the Second brigade
holding the front line, supported by the First and Third brigades. As we
moved round to take our positions, an American eagle whirled above our
heads in elegant circles and at length floated away toward the south,
the boys swinging their hats and cheering the bird with loud huzzahs.

[Illustration: CHARGE OF THE VERMONTERS AT LEE'S MILLS.]

The fort in our front covered the road from Newport News to
Williamsburgh, and could we get possession of it we could turn the
flanks of the enemy, obliging him to abandon his position and enabling
us either to prevent his escape or to harass him in his flight. In front
of the fort the creek had been dammed and a deep morass interposed
between us and the works. General McClellan and his immense suite rode
to the point from which the attack was to be made, and communicating a
few minutes with Generals Keyes and Smith, left the field. Mott's
battery was now brought into position on the open plateau and opened a
fierce cannonade, to which the rebels replied with spirit, dismounting
one of our guns and killing several of the gunners at the very start.
Mott was reinforced by Kennedy's and Wheeler's batteries, and the
hostile guns were soon silenced. Our batteries then advanced within five
hundred yards of the fort, and the gray-coated rebels who were seen to
fill the woods, were soon dispersed. Two companies of troops, from the
Third Vermont, were now ordered forward. Down from the woods they came,
rushed into the water to their waists, and gallantly made for the rebel
rifle pits. The first line of the works was gained and then the second.
The fort was empty, but a ditch to their left was filled with men. They
poured a