In addition to this, every regiment of the grand Army of the Union in this war has its own history, of peculiar interest to its own especial friends. And I have faith in what Dr. O. W. Holmes once said: "I would not give a fig for a man every one of whose geese were not better than any other man's swans." To us of the old Seventh "all our geese were swans." Whether others believed in us or not, we had faith in ourselves and in one another; we were a mutual admiration society of a thousand and odd men. And the fact is, that, for some reason, but what I cannot say, the Seventh Regiment, from the day it was mustered into service to the day it was mustered out, was always the pride and pet of Ohio, of Northern Ohio especially. In this respect it never had a rival. True, it was a well-disciplined, gallant, fighting regiment; but so were many others. True, it had brave and accomplished officers; but so had many others. True, it had in the ranks men of refinement, education, and high social position; but so had many others. I am at a loss to account for it, but the fact nevertheless was as I have stated it; and as its deeds corresponded with its renown, _its_ doings, of all others, demand a permanent record. And, if I am not mistaken, the reader of the following pages who shall follow the Seventh from the day it was mustered into service, in Cleveland, in 1861, to the day the pitiful remnant of it, after tramping and fighting over almost half the Union, were mustered out of service, in Cleveland, in 1864, will find in them ample compensation for his time. F. T. B. CHICAGO, ILL., _May, 1865_. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE FALL OF SUMTER.--CIVIL WAR BEGUN.--PREPARATIONS BY THE SOUTH. --NOBILITY. 13 CHAPTER II. THE PRESIDENT'S CALL FOR TROOPS.--ORGANIZATION OF THE SEVENTH.-- ITS DEPARTURE FOR CAMP DENNISON.--ITS REORGANIZATION AND DEPARTURE FOR THE FIELD. 19 CHAPTER III. THE PURSUIT OF GENERAL WISE.--TYLER ORDERED TO MENACE GAULEY BRIDGE AND THREATEN WISE'S COMMUNICATIONS. 30 CHAPTER IV. THE SKIRMISH AT CROSS LANES.--GALLANT CONDUCT AND FINAL ESCAPE OF THE SEVENTH REGIMENT. 43 CHAPTER V. REFLECTIONS ON THE SKIRMISH AT CROSS LANES.--BATTLE OF CARNIFEX FERRY. 56 CHAPTER VI. CHARLESTON AND THE KANAWHA VALLEY.--A DOUBLE MURDER.--COLONEL TYLER ASSUMES COMMAND OF THE POST. 63 CHAPTER VII. FLOYD ESTABLISHES BATTERIES ON COTTON HILL.--DRIVEN OFF BY THE FORCES OF GENERAL COX.--BENHAM'S FAILURE TO INTERCEPT HIS RETREAT.--HIS PURSUIT.--SKIRMISH AT MCCOY'S MILLS.--HIS FINAL ESCAPE. 70 CHAPTER VIII. REFLECTIONS ON THE INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY. 77 CHAPTER IX.