Twenty-sixth was in the second expedition against Johnston’s army, in which Colonel Smith commanded a brigade, and Adjutant Ferreby who had now recovered from his wound was promoted to lieutenant-colonel and in command of the regiment. At the close of the campaign it returned to Black River, remaining in camp about two months. In the latter part of September it was sent to Memphis and on to Corinth, where Osterhaus’ Division was engaged in repairing the Memphis and Charleston Railroad. Early in November Osterhaus’ command joined General Sherman’s army then moving on toward Chattanooga. The Twenty-sixth reached Lookout Mountain the evening before the battle and took part in the engagement. Lieutenant-Colonel Ferreby was again severely wounded. Under Hooker’s command, which followed the retreating enemy, the Twenty-sixth was in the battle near Ringgold where it did excellent service. Captain J. L. Steele was here mortally wounded and Lieutenants N. D. Hubbard and William Nickel were severely injured. During the month the regiment marched over three hundred miles of the rough mountain country of Alabama and took part in three battles. About Christmas time it went into winter quarters at Woodville, reduced in numbers to about one-half of the original strength, and during the winter it did patrol duty along the Tennessee River where eight men were captured. Early in May the Twenty-sixth joined General Sherman’s army at Chattanooga and for the next four months participated in the marches, skirmishes, sieges, battles and exhausting labors of that famous campaign. The regiment lost eighty men in the various battles at Resaca, Dallas, Kenesaw and Atlanta. After a month’s rest at East Point it joined in the march northward early in October in pursuit of Hood, and on the 16th lost five men in battle at Taylor’s Ridge. In December the regiment was with the army in Savannah and in January, 1865, started on the march through the Carolinas, sharing the labors, hardships and battles of that campaign and at Bentonsville
