THE HISTORY

OF THE

FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT

NEW YORK STATE VOLUNTEERS,

IN TT £ WAR FOR THE UNION.

1861-1865.

BY

ABRAHAM J. PALMER, D.D.

(FORMERLY PRIVATE. COMPANY D.)

Illustrated.

" Dulce et decorum est pro pair la inori." — HORACE.

PUBLISHED BY THE VETERAN ASSOCIATION OF THE REGIMENT. BROOKLYN, N. Y.

1885.

FOR SALE BY

CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM,

678 BROADWAY, NEW YORK.

Copyright, 1885, By A. J. PALMER,

TO THE

SONS AND DAUGHTERS

OF THE MEN WHO COMPOSED THE

FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT NEW YORK STATE VOLUNTEERS,

THIS RECORD OF THEIR FATHERS' ACHIEVEMENTS " IN TIMES THAT TRIED MEN'S SOULS,"

IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED,

WITH THE HOPE THAT THEY MAY LOVE THEIR COUNTRY BETTER

FOR KNOWING WHAT HER FREEDOM AND

INTEGRITY HAVE COST.

M167274

A PREFATORY LETTER.

To MY COMRADES :

The most Drifted of modern women has written that. " If

o

you would love a woman without ever looking back upon your love as a folly, she must die while you are courting her; and if you would maintain the slightest belief in human heroism, you must never make a pilgrimage to see the hero."

I hope that in all your homes that double sarcasm is doubly contradicted. This book — which is the poor record of your heroic deeds — has been written chiefly that your children, who daily '' see the hero," may know his history, and when they can no longer see you, that they may still possess the story of your most glorious years.

Three years ago, when I was requested to become the historian of the regiment, I consented conditionally that some one should be procured to write the historical sketch, while I would edit the book and see it through the press. For a while it seemed that we had succeeded in procuring the very services we needed from an officer who had been with the regiment through most of its career. But vexa tious delays occurred, and finally, to our great disappoint ment, an entire miscarriage. Nothing remained but the abandonment of the enterprise — which all lamented — or my assuming the task. With great reluctance I therefore under took it.

I had but little time to give to it, and moreover I felt myself disqualified by the subordinate position I had held in the regiment to write its history. " Privates" were not

VI A PREFATORY LETTER,

always informed of the real object of every movement, and the surmises of " the men" were doubtless often incorrect. Moreover, so many years had passed, the survivors of the regiment were so far scattered, and such meagre data came in response to repeated appeals, that the work has been difficult.

Certain rhetorical infelicities may be accounted for by the fact that I have employed an amanuensis and written by dictation — a mode of composition to which I was unaccus tomed. However, I have cared less for that than for many omissions which have been unavoidable and which all will lament, and for certain inaccuracies which I fear have crept into the narrative despite the greatest care. Nevertheless it will not be safe to trust one's own memory even against this record. A prominent field-officer of the regiment read this history in manuscript, and noted twelve " inaccuracies," in every one of which he proved to be mistaken. Twenty years have made our memories less reliable than we think.

Great care has been taken with the " Roster and Record;" yet there are doubtless many errors, and to some may have come the sorriest fate of a soldier — " to be killed in battle and have his name spelled wrong in the Gazette."

In the company sketches there is some disparity in the space given the several companies : that, however, is be cause the various contributors have not written equally ex tended narratives. This I greatly regret ; but no partiality has been shown. I found it impossible to get sketches of four companies from former members of them, and was therefore compelled to call upon others to prepare them.

It was desired to have a picture of one of the companies in Fort Pulaski. The artist happened to send the negative of Company E. If the means had warranted it, the pic tures of all the companies would have been printed.

There is one thing that will be noticed, for which I ask especial consideration. I refer to the mention of certain personal friends (private soldiers like myself), when, as the narrative has progressed, circumstances have recalled them

A PREFATORY LETTER. Vll

to my mind. I know that their rank in the regiment would not warrant this writing of their names while many who were their military superiors are unmentioned. But when I have been describing a scene chiefly memorable to me be cause of a personal friend in my own company who was there shot dead by my side, I could not forbear to write down his name in loving memory of it, although he was but a private soldier whom few will remember. It is not that I have designed to exalt the private soldier above his officer, nor my friends above the friends of others, nor to call especial attention to the company to which I happened to belong.

I have not wished to claim for the regiment more than its fair share of the glory of the battles in which it participated. I have sought to be generous and just to all ; however, this book does not pretend to contain the history of any regi ment except that of the Forty-eighth New York.

There is doubtless some disproportion in the accounts of the great battles in which we were engaged. The descrip tions of the assaults on Morris Island and Fort Wagner are more extended than any others. Olustee and Cold Harbor were fought while I was absent in rebel prisons, and Fort Fisher after the expiration of my term of service. Con cerning them I have been compelled to rely upon the rep resentation of others. That should be considered if those three great battles are not proportionately described ; but it has always seemed to me that the career of the Forty- eighth Regiment reached, in some sense, its climax in the darkness on the banks of Fort Wagner ; therefore the ex tended space which has been devoted to that battle.

The statement on page 183, of the extremely small num ber of men present with the regiment within Fort Fisher, will occasion surprise; yet it is based upon the authority of two reliable diaries, and it makes the prominent part taken by the regiment in the engagement consistent with its slight casualties. It will be noticed also that three weeks after wards the regiment was greatly reinforced.

While this book has been passing through the press our

Vlil A PREFATORY LETTER.

illustrious commander, General ULYSSES S. GRANT, has fought his last battle, and put his last enemy where, long- before, he had put all others, " underneath his feet." It is a noticeable fact that the U. S. Grant Post, G. A. R., of Brooklyn, to which a number of our comrades belong, should have had the distinguished honor of guarding his remains at Mount McGregor, Albany, and New York. Comrades Brush, Corwin, Frankenberg, Mackellar, Powles, Raymond, and Whitson were among those detailed for that solemn and august duty.

The long delays in the publication of this history, which must have tried your patience, have been unavoidable. For the first two years they have already been explained ; finan cial embarrassments will account for the last year. The MS. of this book has been ready for the printer for more than a year.

There are certain comrades and others to whom I wish to make especial acknowledgments of services which they have rendered to the history: first and chiefly to James A. Bar rett and William J. Carlton ; if their names recur frequently in the book, it is because they have been constantly active during its preparation. Major Barrett has been indefatiga ble in securing subscriptions and given much time to pre paring the Roster and Record, besides conducting a large correspondence. Indeed without him this history would never have been published. Captain Carlton has also given much work to the Roster and Record, and has prepared the valuable tabulations at its close ; he has procured the illustrations, and had the chief charge of printing and bind ing the book. His judgment and experience have been greatly relied on throughout the entire work. I acknowl edge gratefully their gratuitous contributions of valuable time and labor that this undertaking might succeed.

George B. Staley has been the treasurer of the fund for the History, and his fidelity and care of the finances deserve a grateful recognition.

Captain D. C. Knowles has made most valuable contribu-

A PREFATORY LETTER IX

tions, as will appear upon their perusal. The various officers of the Veteran Association have helped the good work on by active sympathy and counsel.

Many comrades have loaned their diaries and letters, and contributed items of interest, and others have generously advanced money to make the publication of the book pos sible.

Although the entire work has been done gratuitously, the cost of publishing this history has been nearly one thousand dollars. It is not supposed that the sales will more than meet the expenses. If, however, there should be a sur plus, it will be turned into the treasury of the Veteran Association.

Among those who have helped by loans of money and large subscriptions are : Lieutenant-Colonel D. W. Strickland, Captain George W. Brush, Lieutenant R. F. Mackellar, Major Barrett, Quartermaster Avery, and Comrades Fletcher, Carlton, Doering, Holton, Hale, Knowles, Marten, Newman, Pugsley, Schultz, Stayley, Stoney, Shannon, Twamley, Tuttle, Wyckoff, and Mr. Benjamin Silliman of the Long Island Historical Society.

Among those who have loaned their diaries and other memoranda, I wish especially to mention Messrs. Acker, Conklin, Fagans, Frankenberg, Hibson, Cummings, Towns- end, Thompson, Wohlfarth, Mrs. Luther B. Wyman, and Mr. Charles Cowley.

General Viele and Colonel Barton have aided with valu able suggestions. Senator George F. Hoar has kindly sent us a copy of the official list of casualties during the war. We are indebted to Henry W. Phillips for a loan of the History of the One Hundred and Fifteenth New York, and for a like favor to Lieutenant-Colonel Isaiah Price, author of the History of the Ninety-seventh Pennsylvania, which has been especially valuable.

Acknowledgments also should be made to the publishers of Lossing's History of the Civil War, from which many of the illustrations are taken, and to Mr. H. P. Moore of Con-

X A PREFATORY LETTER.

cord, N. H., who has given us the use of his negatives for the three pictures taken at Fort Pulaski.

The sister of Colonel Coan has furnished his portrait, and Colonel Barton his. Finally, to all the people who have wished us well and helped us as they were able, we gladly make acknowledgments.

And now this book, which has been to me a labor of love for the past three years, — in writing which I have lived over again many of the experiences herein described, — I send forth to the limited company of readers who will peruse its pages, not without consciousness of its imperfections ; and I send with it greetings to all my comrades who may wel come it, to their children who may treasure it, and to those dear people, unknown to me, who shall read with tears the record of this Forty-eighth New York, because of their loved ones who marched away with us four-and-twenty years ago but did not come back. To all who will care for it, I send it forth with the hope that it may serve, in some sense, to bind us all together into a loyal brotherhood of patriotic men who possess in common many glorious memories, and this one virtue: when our country, in her hour of peril, called us, we did not refuse to answer, nor send " substi tutes," nor wait till we were bribed by bounty or coerced by conscription, but volunteered for her defence.

Whoever is also conscious that he did his duty faithfully, will find in that his best and lasting reward.

A. J. PALMER.

BROOKLYN, November, 1885.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

I'AGE

Organization — July 24 to September 16, 1861 i

Colonel James. H. Perry — Letter of Rev. J. B. Merwin — " Perry's Saints" — Camp Wyman, Fort Hamilton, July 24, 1861— Visit of Inspection by Governor E. D. Morg-an and Staff— The Fete Champetre -Colonel Perry's Horse— Letter from Dr. L. H. King — September 17, 1861, leave Fort Hamilton for the Front • — The Field and Staff, and Commanders of Companies.

CHAPTER II. To the Front — September 17 to December 31, 1861 10

Leave Fort Hamilton— Through New Jersey— Supper at Philadelphia- Through Baltimore — At Washington — At Annapolis — The Forty-seventh New York — Flag Presentation — Last Sermon of Colonel Perry — October 18, embarked on Steamer Empire City — At Hampton Roads— Organization of the Expedition ary Corps— October 29, the Expedition sails— The Fleet— Sealed Orders— The Storm at Sea— Off Port Royal— November 7th, the Battle of Port Royal— Landing at Hilton Head — In Camp — Contrabands — Brigadier-General Viele — Lady Nurses — Drill — "Jeff" — Sickness — End of the year 1861.

CHAPTER III. Port Royal Ferry to Fort Pulaski — January i to May 31, 1862 24

Expedition to Port Royal Ferry— Report of Colonel Perry— Back to Camp- Flags presented— Captain Ward resigns— Private Reilly and the Bombshell- Captain Q. A. Gillmore— January 25, leave Hilton Head— Wreck of the Winfield Scott— Dawfuskie Island— Our Camp revisited in 1884— Major Beard— History of the Locality — Batteries " Vulcan" and " Hamilton" on Jones' and Bird's Islands — Narrative of Captain Knowles — The " Cold Chisel " Brigade — Captain Gillmore on Tybee Island — General Hunter succeeds General T. W. Sherman — April 10, Bombardment of Fort Pulaski— Capitulation— Rattlesnakes— The Goat —News from the North— General Grant at Shiloh— The Sutler— May 25, leave Dawfuskie Island for Fort Pulaski.

Xll CONTENTS.

CHAPTER IV.

PACK

Fort Pulaski — June i, 1862, to May 31, 1863 41

The Fort— In Garrison— Fatigue Duty— Quarters in the Casemates— The Fort revisited in 1884 — Drill — Wreck of the Sutler's Schooner — Death of Colonel Perry — Colonel Barton succeeds to the Command— Captain Knowles resigns — Expedition to Bluffton — General Mitchel succeeds General Hunter — Visit and Address from General Mitchel— His Death — Chaplain Strickland — Pocotaligoand Coosawhatchie — Coosawhatchie revisited — Report of Colonel Barton--Sports at Fort Pulaski— The Theatre— The '• Barton Dramatic Association"—" Talking in the Ranks" — Order of Major Beard — Thanksgiving Day, 1862 — Lieutenant- Colonel Beard resigns— Chaplain Strickland resigns— Flags of Truce— Colored Regiments — Lieutenant Corvvin promoted — Capture of Steamer General Lee — Tybee — A Mammoth Sea-turtle — The Blockade-runner Lndona — Life in the Fort— The Ladies— The Musicians.

CHAPTER V. Morris Island — June i to July 17, 1863 70

General Gillmore succeeds General Hunter — The Department of the South — Operations against Charleston— Admiral Dahlgren succeeds Admiral Dupont— General George C. Strong — The " Fighting Brigade" — June 19, leave Fort Pulaski — Companies G and I remain — At St. Helena Island — Folly Island — Batteries— The Flotilla— Lighthouse Inlet— July 10, the Assault on Morris Island —Death of Captain Lent— The Run up the Beach— The Fatal Halt— Casualties- July ii, Assault on Fort Wagner by Seventh Connecticut, Ninth Maine, and Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania — Their Repulse — Confederate Accounts of it — Building Batteries— A Confederate Sortie — Companies C and D in the Trenches — Lieutenant Tantum and the Rebel — Wilgus.

CHAPTER VI. Fort Wagner — July 18, 1863 95

"Battery" Wagner— Location— Construction— The Model at West Point— The Union Fleet — The Bombardment— The Confederate Garrison — Account of the Confederate General Taliaferro— Strong's "Fighting Brigade" — Putnam's and Stephenson's Brigades in Support — The Three Assaults — Charge of the Fifty-fourth Massachusetts — Their Repulse — Death of Colonel Shaw — Charge of Strong's Brigade— The Sixth Connecticut and Forty-eighth New York in Advance- Terrible Slaughter— Capture of the Southeast Bastion— Confederate Account — Losses— General Strong mortally wounded — Charge of Putnam's Brigade in Support — Its Failure — Lieutenant-Colonel Green killed — Colonel Barton wounded — Captains Farreli and Hurst killed — Lieutenant Edwards killed — Captain Paxson and Lieutenant Fox mortally wounded — The Defence of the Captured Bastion till Midnight— The Mistaken Volley from the Rear— A Costly Blunder— Calls for Reinforcements— Why they never came—" Holding the Fort" — Heroic " Privates" — The Midnight Surrender — Account of Charles Cowley — Account of Confederate General Taliaferro — "The Assailants As sailed" — "Die-no-mores, follow me" — Experiences of Private Conklin — Blun ders — Medals — Fate of the Prisoners — Fort Wagner twice revisited — Its Final Capture. .

CONTENTS. XI 11

CHAPTER VII.

PAGE

Olustee — July 19, 1863, to April 22, 1864 128

After Port Wagner — July 22, leave Morris Island — Hilton Head -St. Augus tine, Fla. — Beaufort, S. C. — Recruits, and Return of Wounded Men — Re-enlist ment of Veterans— Festivities at the Holidays—" Les Enfans Perdu"— February 5, 1864, embark for the Expedition to Olustee — General Seymour advances — February 20, the Battle — Barton's Brigade — Losses — The Retreat — The Enemy — Story of Sergeant Lang— Lieutenant Keenan killed — March 9, Palatka, Fla. — Return of the " Veterans" —Farewell to the Department of the South — April 20, sail from Port Roval.

CHAPTER VIII. Army of the James — April 23 to December 31, 1864 140

Gloucester Point, Va.— The Tenth Army Corps— Grant— Butler— Gillmore— Turner— Barton — Strickland — Review of the Army of the James — May 5, Ber muda Hundred—" Gillmore's Rifles" — May 7, Battle of Chester Heights — May 12, Fort Darling — May 16. Drury's Bluff — The Battle in a Fog — Losses — Death of Captain Moser— Butler " bottled up'' — May 28, leave Bermuda Hundred for Cold Harbor — The Army of the Potomac — Back from Prison — June i to 13, Battle of Cold Harbor — A Gallant Charge— Colonel Barton wounded — Loss of the Colors— Porch— Casualties — In the Rifle-pits— Grant's Change of Base — Covering the '"Retreat" — Back to Bermuda Hundred — President Lincoln — Petersburg — Change of Corps Commanders — Gillmore — Brooks — Birney— Barton's Brigade — June 30, an Assault ordered— Barton's Caution— Picket Duty— Duty in the Trenches — July 30, the Mine — The Explosion — The Assault— The Repulse — Colored Soldiers again — A Fatal Delay— Death of Major Swamrout— Back to Bermuda Hundred — Deep Bottom — Strawberry Plains — August 16. Death of Lieutenants Tantum and Sayres — Death of Captain D'Arcy— Back to Petersburg — Home after Three Years — Charge at New Market Heights — Fort Gilman — Death of General Birney — General Terry — Chapin's F"arm - Winter (Quarters — General Barton resigns— The Twenty-fourth Corps — General Ord.

CHAPTER IX. Fort Fisher to the End — January i to September 12, 1865 174

First Expedition against Fort Fisher — Failure— Back to Chapin's Farm — General Butler removed from his Command — General Ord succeeds him — The Second Expedition — January 13, on Land — January 15. the Assault — Penny- packer's Brigade — Colonel Coan wounded — The Victory — The Race with the Colors— The Roll-call in Fort Fisher— Death of Captain Dunn— Tribute of Admiral Porter — Letter of Secretary Stanton — The Advance towards Wilming ton — Capture of Fort Anderson — The End approaching— General Schofield — The Twenty-third Army Corps— February 21. Battle of Wilmington — Major Elfwing Wounded— Rescue of Union Prisoners — Their Sufferings — March 15, leave Wilmington for Goldsboro' — Sherman's Army — Richmond taken — Ap- pomattox— April 10, Raleigh— Death of President Lincoln— Surrender of John ston— The-End— September 3, Home— September 12, Mustered Out—The Career of the Regiment— Chaplain Taylor— Chaplain Strickland— Surgeon Mulford— Colonel Win. B. Coan.

XIV CONTENTS.,

CHAPTER X.

PAGE

Sketches of the Companies 200

CHAPTER XI. After Twenty Years— April 21, 1881 218

Presentation of the Battle-flags of the Forty-eighth Regiment to the Long Island Historical Society— The Reunion — Collation— The Meeting in the Hall — Programme— Salutation by " Private" Palmer — Prayer by Chaplain Strickland — Sergeant Sparks and Corporal McKie Bearing the Old Flags— Address of Captain Knowles— Address of Rev. Dr. R. S. Storrs — Greeting General Gillmore — The Forty-eighth New York Veteran Association.

ROSTER AND RECORD.

Field and Staff 247

Non-Commissioned Staff 248

Company A 249

Company B 255

Company C 261

Company D 268

Company E 275

Company F 282

Company G 289,

Company H 296

Company I . 302

Company K 308

Band 314

TABLE OF CASUALTIES 315

GENERAL STATISTICS 316

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

The 48th Regiment N. Y. S. Vols. at Fort Pulaski, Ga Frontispiece

Colonel James H. Perry, 48th Regiment N. Y. S. Vols opposite 3

Union Refreshment Saloon, Philadelphia 1 1

Fort Walker 17

Fort Beauregard 17

Plan of Battle of Port Royal 18

Admiral Dupont. . . 19

Map of Sea Islands. 20

Drayton's Mansion 21

Pope's House 21

Fort Pulaski and its Environs 29

General David Hunter » 36

Breach in Fort Pulaski 37

Fort Pulaski 42

A Company of the 48th Regiment N. Y. S. Vols. at Fort Pulaski. opposite 43

Monument to Colonel Perry 44

Headquarters of Generals Hunter and Mitchel 46

General Mitchel 48

The Planter 51

Officers of the 48th Regiment N. Y. S. Vols. at Fort Pulaski opposite 65

Martello Tower, Tybee Island 66

General Gillmore 71

Admiral Dahlgren 72

Obstructions in Charleston Harbor 73

General Strong 77

Siege of Charleston 79

Bomb and Splinter Proof 80

Beacon House, Morris Island 85

Fort Wagner at Point of First Assault 103

XV 1 IL L US TRA 7 'IONS.

PAGE

Fort Wagner — Sea-face Bastion, Point of Second and Third Assaults. . 105

Fort Sumter after the Bombardment 124

Swamp Angel 127

Live Oaks in Florida 138

General Grant 141

Butler's Lines at Bermuda Hundred 1 43

Position at Cold Harbor 1 50

Defences of Richmond and Petersburg 157

Fort Steadman 158

Grant's Headquarters at City Point 164

Pontoon Bridge at Jones' Landing on James River 165

Bullet-proof in the Woods 167

Army Huts at Chapin's Farm 171

Colonel William B. Barton, 481)1 Regiment X. V. S. Yols opposite 172

Land and Sea Front of Fort Fisher 175

Mound Battery at Fort Fisher 178

Interior of Fort Fisher. 180

Pickets 188

Army Signal Telegraph 190

McLean House, Place of Lee's Surrender 191

Place of Johnston's Surrender 192

Colonel William B. Coan, 48th Regiment N. Y. S. Yols opposite 198

ERRATA.

Page 36, (jth line, read Totten for Potter

" 45, 32d " " Company 'B for C

" 67, 7th " " Ladona/£>r Sadowa

" 121, I3th " " Crammer for Cranmer

151, I3th Ingraham for Ingham

" 152, last " " one for five

" 153, first " " five for four, and forty-three for eighty

" 167, first " " two for one, and forty for three

" 167, second " " twenty-five for fifty

" 169, loth " " 2Sth/oriSth

FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT,

NEW YORK STATE VOLUNTEERS.

CHAPTER I. Organization — July 24 to September 16, 1861.

Colonel James H. Perry — Letter of Rev. J., B. Merwin — "Perry's Saints" — Camp Wyman, Fort Hamilton, July 24, 1861 — Visit of Inspection by Governor E. D. Morgan and Staff — The Fet^ Champetre — Colonel Perry's Horse — Letter from Dr. L. H. King — Sept. 17, 1861 — Leave Fort Hamilton for the Front — The Field and Staff, and Commanders of Companies.

HHE precise origin of the regiment, which was first known as the " Continental Guard," but after the date of its muster, as the FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT NEW YORK STATE VOLUNTEERS, is difficult to determine. Lieu tenant-Colonel Barton and Quartermaster Avery deserve perhaps the credit of the very first thought. In the spring of 1861, on President Lincoln's calling for seventy-five thou sand men, these two young men started to raise at least a company of a hundred men in Brooklyn. They rented a room in old Montague Hall, on Court Street, and advertised for recruits. Soon they had more responses than sufficed for a company, and with a fine courage they determined to raise a full regiment.

In response to such an announcement they received let ters from some of the future officers of the Forty-eighth, saying, "We have a number of men on hand ready to join a good regiment : who is to command it?"

FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

That was a question they found it necessary to decide at once. At that time it was announced in Brooklyn that the Rev. Dr. James H. Perry, pastor of the Pacific Street Methodist Episcopal Church, — a clergyman well and widely known throughout the city, — had determined to tender his sword to the Government, for service in its defence. In the public Conference he had declared that as he had been edu cated at the expense of his country at West Point, he felt that she had a claim upon him for any service he could ren der her in her hour of peril. It was a happy thought of Messrs. Barton and Avery to tender to Dr. Perry the com mand of the regiment they had started to raise. They re ceived promptly the following answer: "I have given the matter careful consideration. Our country needs help; there are dark and serious days before it, and this rebellion must be crushed. If you think you can raise the number of men requisite for the formation of a regiment, and will at tend to the detail work of recruiting, . . . you can use my name as Colonel."

These seem to have been the circumstances of the origin of the brave and heroic company of Union soldiers which became known in history as the Forty-eighth New York. The names of Lieutenant-Colonel William B. Barton, Quar termaster Irving M. Avery, and Colonel James H. Perry deserve to stand at the head of its honorable roll.

And yet there were other units of company organizations, which had distinct origins, but which afterwards were joined to the forces that were rapidly recruited, when once the name of Dr. Perry had been authoritatively announced as the commander of the new regiment. Among others, Lieutenant B. R. Corwin had early begun to recruit a company in Brooklyn, under the personal authorization of Colonel Perry, and Captain D. C. Knowles had opened in July a recruiting-office in Trenton, N. J. Others in Mon- mouth County, N. J., and along the valley of the Hudson had gathered little groups of men, and when they learned that Dr. Perry was forming a regiment they gladly offered

JAMES H. PERRY,

FIRST COLONEL 48th, N. Y. S. VOLS.

ORGANIZA TION, 3

themselves and their men. Many religious parents, fearful of the moral contamination of army life for their sons, gladly heard of a regiment to be commanded by an eminent minis ter, and sent their sons to join it. Undoubtedly that was how the organization gained its quaint sobriquet of " Perry's Saints."

As the formation of the regiment was made largely about the personality of its first commander, we will here give a sketch of his life.

JAMES H. PERRY was born in Ulster County, N. Y., June 1 8, 1811. He inherited from a Welsh ancestry splendid natural endowments, both intellectual and physical. He stood fully six feet in height, broad-chested, broad-browed, a man of noble bearing and of a courageous heart. He had early evinced an inclination to a military life, and received an appointment to a cadetship at West Point from President Jackson in return for political services rendered by his father. There was a delay in the forwarding of his credentials, and, supposing that he had failed to receive the promised appointment, young Perry began the study and entered upon the practice of law. He also married. When his appointment finally reached him he instantly relinquished the pursuit of the law, and entered West Point. There his independent and manly character brought him into frequent difficulties, as he would resent the insults which the Southern cadets were accustomed to heap upon the boys from the North. He did not relish being called a " mudsill," and he never was called it a second time. He became a sort of leader to the nobler of the Northern boys chafing under the affronts they habitually received. In one encounter with several of the Southern cadets, who assaulted him in a most cowardly manner while he was unarmed, he barely escaped with his life, but thoroughly whipped his assailants. For that fight he was court-martialled, and sentenced to be dis missed from West Point ; but President Jackson, himself a brave man who could appreciate the courage of a brave boy, not only annulled the sentence, but wrote a letter commen-

4 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, AT. Y. S. VOLS.

datory of the manly conduct of young Perry. During his third year at the Academy he resigned his cadetship, and at the breaking out of the Texas rebellion against Mexico espoused the Texan cause. Perry was commissioned a colonel in the Texan army, and authorized to raise a regi ment at the North. He only succeeded in raising part of a regiment, which he took with him to Texas, and with which he served with great and conspicuous ability. At the battle of San Jacinto there occurred an incident which changed the career of Colonel Perry from that of a man of war to that of a man of peace. General Santa Anna, the com mander of the Mexican army, had been guilty of such duplicity, craftiness, and cruelty that every officer of the Texan army had taken an oath to take his life if they met him in battle. The reason for that desperate determination was the atrocities of Santa Anna at Goliad and at the Alamo. At Goliad he had butchered in cold blood the entire garrison after it had surrendered, and upon the cap ture of the Alamo he had put to the sword every one of that gallant garrison, sparing only one woman, one child, and one servant. Because of these barbarities the Texan army had declared him an outlaw and a bandit, and the Texan officers had bound themselves by an oath to kill him at sight. At the battle of San Jacinto, where Texan independence was finally won, Colonel Perry commanded the left wing of General Houston's army. The battle-cry of the brave Texans was, " Remember the Alamo." In the battle Colonel Perry found himself opposed to a general whom he supposed to be Santa Anna. He rode towards him, and, in a hand-to-hand encounter with swords, killed him. After the battle, when Santa Anna was brought into the Texan camp a prisoner, Colonel Perry learned that his antagonist had been the chief of staff of the Mexican General, and that he had slain unwittingly an honorable soldier. Stung with remorse, he instantly withdrew from the army and came back North. That mistake in the identity of his antagonist at San Jacinto had a singular effect upon Colonel Perry's

OX GA NIZA T10N. 5

whole career. Brave as a lion, he was tender as a woman, and a cloud of remorse for that act shadowed his noble life from that hour until the day in Fort Pulaski when he died. His most intimate friends have always believed that it was this that led to his conversion, and the dedication of his life to the Christian ministry. On returning North after the Texan War he settled in Newburgh, on the Hudson.

I am indebted to his friend the Rev. J. B. Merwin for the following account of the conversion and the ministerial life of Colonel Perry :

" In the early fall of 1836, on a call at Newburgh, I found great in terest because of an event of the Sunday night previous. At the close of the sermon in the Methodist church a prayer-meeting was commenced within the altar. The pastor, Rev. Seymour Landon, gave an invitation to any who desired to give their hearts to the Lord to come forward. Colonel Perry, who recently had returned from Texas, sat in the middle aisle near the door; he instantly rose, and deliberately walked to the altar and knelt for prayers. The man, so conspicuous for his elegant and lofty bearing, wearing the badge of his military office, manifesting so fearlessly his decision, awed the congregation, thrilled the church, and made such an impression that it became the topic of conversation throughout the town. His sincerity was seen in his docility: he sought and followed the advice of his pastor and his brethren. In less than two years from his conversion he was admitted on trial in the New York Conference, and began to preach. His first appointment in 1838 was Burlington and Bristol Circuit, Conn. The usual military parade took place that fall in Burlington, and the Rev. Mr. Perry was invited to act as chaplain. He discharged his duties with such fine dignity and such military form that the event' of that day was the part taken by the chaplain. At the session of the New York Conference in 1841, held in Mulberry Street Church (now St. Paul's), New York City, the preacher assigned to fill the pulpit on Sabbath evening failed to appear. Colonel Perry was asked to take his place. In the spirit of military and ministerial discipline he obeyed orders. The ability he exhibited won for him an invitation to become the pastor of that church. He was not yet elected to elder's orders, and yet he filled what was then the most important appointment of the Conference with conspicuous success. Afterwards he was always assigned to the principal churches. The magnificent physique and marked characteristics of Dr. Perry were elements in the power and efficiency of his ministerial career. In any assembly of men he was

0 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. V. S. VOLS.

likely to be the most noted figure in it — a Saul among his brethren. Tall, well-proportioned, with large head, full clear blue eye, a coun tenance expressive of intelligent manliness, benignity and kindness, and a native dignity and grace of bearing that inspired confidence and respect, with nothing of that pomp and stateliness that repels — these but poorly indicate the character and proportions of his mind and heart. He was noble and manly in all his traits ; in his attachments firm, constant, and reliable ; the soul of honor and courage, always courteous, always a gentleman. Such a man he was, and he brought himself, his gifts, training and attainments into his work as a minister. Many can testify in all the churches to his great usefulness. He was a man of strong nature, had decided opinions, and possessed fine ability as.a ready, dexterous, and cogent debater. He was a zealous advocate for lay-delegation in the Methodist Church. He received from Dickinson College in 1844 the degree of D.D. His manner in the pulpit was calm, dignified, and impressive ; his style was distin guished for its clearness, accuracy, and vigor, and for historic and classical allusions."

He was twice a member of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and his success in the ministry was eminent. It was during the session of the Conference to which he belonged in the spring of 1861 that news of the bombardment of Fort Sumter was received. Rising in his seat, amid an enthusiasm that will never be forgotten, he said, " I was educated by the Government ; it now needs my services. I shall resign my ministry, and again take up my sword."

This was the Christian minister who was to become the first commander of the Forty-eighth Regiment, whose name was " a tower of strength" in its recruiting, who was to lead them to the front, and after ten months of noble ser vice at their head, was to die amid their love and tears, and to live in their memory forever.

From the day that Colonel Perry's name was announced to command the new regiment the work of recruiting went rapidly on.

Lieutenant-Colonel Barton made a journey to Washing ton, accompanied by the Hon. Moses F. Odell of Brooklyn, — an early and loyal friend of the regiment, — and received

OR GA NIZA TION-. 7

a promise from the Hon. Simon Cameron, then Secre tary of War, that when more troops were needed the men they were enlisting would be accepted by the Government.

On July 24, 1 86 1, the first recruits went into camp at Fort Hamilton, Long Island. The camp was named " Camp Wyman," after Mr. Luther B. Wyman of Brooklyn, our early friend and patron, whose interest in us and zeal to promote our welfare never wearied.

The regiment was designated originally the " Continental Guard," the design being that it should be independent of any State — and that is why the overtures of its projectors were made to Washington rather than to Albany. That idea was, however, soon abandoned, as the general policy of the Government was to obtain its soldiers in given quotas from the several States.

Before President Lincoln had issued his famous call for three hundred thousand men to serve " for three years or during the war," under which the Forty-eighth New York was mustered into the service, the noble men who were at work recruiting it had expended between two and three thousand dollars of their own money, and had been liberally aided by Mr. Wyman with means to establish the camp at Fort Hamilton, and to procure blankets and other neces sities for the recruits.

Soon, however, their faith was to 'have its reward. On the renewal of the application to the War Department word was received from Governor E. D. Morgan, the great " War Governor" of New York, that when the regiment was pro perly officered and organized he would come on at once and give it its number and muster it into the service.

Finally, on August 16, 1861, the first three companies were mustered in, namely, companies H, I, and K. After wards the companies were mustered as fast as their quota of men was filled. Companies A and D, August 21 ; Com pany G, August 26 ; Company E, August 27 ; Company F, August 31; Company B, September 5; and Company C, September 10. The time at Camp Wyman was spent in

8 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S, VOLS.

drill, and by the officers in studying the tactics. The writer remembers the night when he first arrived there — on July 30, 1861. Only one tent had been erected, — a round tent, such as a sutler afterwards used, — where all of us slept on the straw, with feet towards the centre. We recall a visit of inspection at Camp Wyman by Governor E. D. Mor gan and his staff. Among the staff that day was a brilliant young gentleman by the name of Chester A. Arthur, late the President of the United States. The officers of the " Continental Guard " gave a fete champetre one evening before we left the camp, which was a fine affair. The only officer, except Colonel Perry, who seemed to have had any elaborate military education (although Lieutenant-Colonel Barton and several others had belonged to the Seventh New York State Militia, and some to other militia regiments) was Lieutenant Elfwing, a Swede, a graduate of the Royal Military Academy of Sweden, and a very skilful swords man, whose service with the regiment was destined to be long and conspicuous, and who is now the U. S. Consul at Stockholm, Sweden. The regiment took form in those days at Fort Hamilton, company by company, and at the final muster it received its number as the Forty-eighth Re giment, New York State Volunteers.

We all remember the noble horse that Colonel Perry rode. It was presented to him by the Methodist ministers of New York and vicinity. I have received a letter con cerning the circumstances of the gift from the Rev. L. H. King, D.D., who writes as follows :

" I had been making a brief call on Colonel Perry, at his head quarters in Brooklyn, and when leaving the thought occurred to me that it would be a handsome thing to do if the ministers would present him a horse, caparisoned and ready for use. At once I commenced raising a subscription. The preachers about New York readily sub scribed $5 each, and Judge Fancher gave me some $60. I had but little trouble in raising the money, but a very hard time in finding a horse suitable for that kind of service. We tried many horses. An old farmer in Ulster County sold me an unsound horse and I prose cuted him, and he was glad to settle and refund before the suit came

ORGANIZA TION. . 9

to trial. Finally, a thorough horseman came and volunteered to get me a horse ; and he found a good one, for which I paid $180 (the horse was afterwards sold for $2480). Betts of New York City made the saddle, bridle, etc., for which we paid him $60. One bright Monday afternoon I rode the horse down to Fort Hamilton. The regiment formed in a hollow square, and I made the presentation-speech from the saddle, to which the Colonel made a brief reply, and mounted his charger and rode away, and that was the last I ever saw of my genial and much-loved friend, Colonel Perry."

All will remember the scene thus described. Dr. King is a man of magnificent physique, not unlike that of Colonel Perry, and when one dismounted and the other mounted the noble steed — which we all came to love — it was a sight to remember. Finally, on September 1 5th, orders were received for us to proceed to Washington; and on September i/th the regiment left Fort Hamilton (964 strong) for the front. The field and staff officers and the commanders of com panies on the day of our departure were as follows: Colonel— JAMES H. PERRY. Lieutenant-Colonel — WM. B. BARTON. Major — OLIVER T. BEARD. Adjutant— ANTHONY W. GOODELL. Quartermaster — IRVING M. AVERY. Surgeon — JOSEPH L. MULFORD. Assistant-Surgeon— PATRICK H. HUMPHRIES.* Chaplain — WM. P. STRICKLAND, D.D. Company A: Captain— Louis H. LENT. B : JAMES FARRELL.

C: " EDWARD R. TRAVIS. D : DANIEL C. KNOWLES.

E : WM. B. COAN.

F: JAMES M. GREEN.

G : " ANTHONY ELMENDORF. H : " DUDLEY W. STRICKLAND. I : " JOSEPH G. WARD. K: SAMUEL J. FOSTER.

* Assistant-Surgeon Humphries' name is given here in order to complete the staff, although in fact he joined the regiment a little later.

CHAPTER II. To the Front— September 17 to December 31, 1861.

Leave Fort Hamilton — Through New Jersey — Supper at Philadelphia — Through Baltimore — At Washington — At Annapolis — The Forty-seventh New York — Flag Presentation— Last Sermon of Colonel Perry— October i8th, Embarked on Steamer Empire City — At Hampton Roads — Organiza tion of the Expeditionary Corps — October 2gth, the Expedition Sails — The Fleet— Sealed Orders— The Storm at Sea— Off Port Royal— November yth, the Battle of Port Royal — Landing at Hilton Head — In Camp — Contrabands — Brigadier-General Viele — Lady Nurses — Drill — "Jeff" — Sickness — End of the Year 1861.

sailed by steamer John Potter from the dock at Fort Hamilton (landing at Pier I, North River, New York City), through Staten Island Sound to South Amboy, N. J., and thence proceeded by rail to Philadelphia. Many will remember the greetings on the way: certain of com panies D and H, whose homes were along the line of the railroad between South Amboy and Bordentown, in New Jersey, were met by their friends at the stations and loaded with gifts and refreshments ; notably Tantum, when we reached his home at Windsor, and Captain Knowles, as we passed his father's farm at Yardville. All will remember also the supper at Philadelphia, at the " Cooper Shop Re freshment Saloon." The noble City of Philadelphia gave a hearty meal to all the soldiers who passed through it, on their way to the front, and often it was the last " square meal" the boys were destined to have for years. We marched through Baltimore with loaded rifles, every man having received forty rounds of cartridge in case of emer gency ; but we were undisturbed : none greeted us with en thusiasm, but no one presumed to insult us. Colonel Perry was somewhat affronted by a pretended invitation to the

TO THE FRONT.

I I

regiment to dine, which proved a fiasco. We reached Wash ington at six P.M. on September i8th; next day we were assigned to temporary quarters in a brick building on Penn sylvania Avenue, not far from Willard's Hotel, and received our rations at the Soldiers' Retreat, but soon went into camp on Capitol Hill. We felt now that we were at the front. Here one day we caught our first glimpse of President Lincoln as he reviewed a regiment of cavalry which was in camp near us. In company with Mrs. Hanley, the writer called at the White House; we sent up our cards, but we were not received. Possibl>**we had forgotten that we had

UNION REFRESHMENT SALOON, PHILADELPHIA.

ceased to be " citizens" and had become soldiers. " Pri vates" and regimental nurses were not expected to call upon the Chief Magistrate on passing through Washington. We learned the lesson of docility slowly, but we did learn it at last.

From September 2oth until October 5th we remained in our camp on Capitol Hill, spending our time at drill ; here we were brigaded, and one day General T. W. Sherman, who was to be our commander, inspected our brigade. On Octo ber 5th we received orders to proceed to Annapolis, Md. We left Washington at twelve o'clock noon, and arrived at

o

Annapolis the same night at eleven o'clock. Application was

12 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N, Y. S.

made to the authorities of St. John's College for permission to quarter the regiment in the college buildings that night, but it was refused ; whereupon Colonel Perry intimated that " bayonets could pick locks," and we did sleep in the college buildings that night. Our rations not having arrived, we were invited by the Third New Hampshire to come to their quarters at the Naval Academy, and partake of coffee and hard-tack as their guests. Next day we went into camp in rear of the college buildings, our camp adjoining that of the Forty-seventh New York. From that day that brave regiment and ours became swotn allies, whose career in the war ran side by side for years, and between the two regi ments a great friendship existed and many mutual courtesies were exchanged.

On the I2th of October, Mrs. Viele, wife of our brigade commander, General Egbert L. Viele, presented the regi ment with a stand of colors. An address of* presentation was made by Governor Hicks of Maryland, to which Colonel Perry responded. That flag was destined to be shot into- shreds at Forjt Wagner.

An amusing incident occurred on the first Sunday we were in Annapolis. The pastor of the Methodist Episcopal Church invited Colonel Perry to preach for him in the even ing. There is a story told, at the expense of the ministerial members of the regiment, that the Colonel excused himself, saying, " You can call on Major Beard, or Captain Knowles,. or Sergeant Irvine, or some of the enlisted men ;" but finally the Colonel did accept the invitation to preach.

The congregation of the Methodist church in Annapolis were startled that night to see a tall and dignified minister ascend their pulpit, arrayed in full regimentals, with his sword at his side ; he unbuckled his belt and laid his sword upon a pulpit chair as he knelt to pray. Many Southern sympathizers in the congregation left the church ; those who- remained heard a noble sermon from a noble preacher. It was his last appearance in a pulpit.

The officers of the regiment received many courtesies

TO THE FRONT. 13

-while in Annapolis, especially from Judge Brewer and his family. We now first learned that we were destined to par ticipate in an expedition which was forming for an attack upon some unknown point on the Southern coast.

On October the i8th we received orders to move, struck camp, and went on board the steamer Mayflower, which took us two or three miles down the river to the steamer Empire City, which lay at anchor in the stream. Our lives and our fortunes were now embarked on that ship, where we were assigned narrow quarters for days to come.

On October 2ist we sailed for Fortress Monroe, where the expedition was to rendezvous. Hampton Roads pre sented an imposing spectacle in those days as the magnifi cent expedition of naval vessels and transports, the greatest that up to that time had ever sailed under the American flag, was there assembled. The military forces, 12,653 in number, were under the command of Brigadier-General T. W. Sherman ; the naval portion of the expedition was com manded by Captain S. F. Dupont. The fleet was composed of fifty war-vessels and transports, with twenty-five coal vessels under convoy of the Vandalia. The organization of the expeditionary corps was as follows :

ORGANIZATION OF THE EXPEDITIONARY CORPS, COMMANDED BY BRIGADIER-GENERAL THOMAS W. SHERMAN, U. S. ARMY, OC TOBER 28, 1861.

First Brigade. Brigadier-General EGBERT L. VIELE.

Eighth Maine, Colonel Lee Strickland. Third New Hampshire, Colonel Enoch Q. Fellows. . Forty-sixth New York, Colonel Rudolph Rosa. Forty-seventh New York, Colonel Henry Moore. Forty-eighth New York, Colonel James H. Perry.

Second Brigade. Brigadier-General ISAAC I. STEVENS.

Eighth Michigan, Colonel William M. Fenton.

Seventy-ninth New York, Lieutenant-Colonel William H. Nobles.

14 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

Fiftieth Pennsylvania, Colonel B. C. Christ.

One Hundredth Pennsylvania, Colonel Daniel Leasure.

Third Brigade. Brigadier-General HORATIO G. WRIGHT.

Sixth Connecticut, Colonel John L. Chatfield. Seventh Connecticut, Colonel Alfred H. Terry. Ninth Maine, Colonel Rishworth Rich. Fourth New Hampshire, Colonel Thomas J. Whipple.

Troops not brigaded.

First New York Engineers, Colonel Edward W. Serrell. ' Third Rhode Island Artillery, Colonel Nathaniel W. Brown. Third U. S. Artillery, Battery E, Captain John Hamilton.

The majority of the Forty-eighth Regiment remained on board the Empire City, although while at Hampton Roads Lieutenants Dunbar and Hatfield, with thirty men of Com pany C, were transferred to the steamer Belvidere, and two companies, K and B, to the steamer Matanzas. It was not until October 2Qth that the expedition finally started ; on that day a noble sight was to be seen in Hampton Roads, \vhen, at the signal from the Wabash, the flagship of Captain Dupont, the great armada sailed away to sea. The Wabash led the way, and was followed by all the ships, moving in three parallel lines and occupying a space of some twelve miles each way ; the transports and war-vessels were inter mingled, so that in case of danger the latter might act as convoys to the former. The transport vessels were the Atlantic, the Baltic (each of which carried a full regiment of men and large quantities of stores), the Vanderbilt, the Ocean Queen, the Ericsson, Empire City, Daniel Webster, and Great Republic (the latter vessel had been employed in a similar service by the British Government during the Crimean War). In addition to these were many smaller vessels, and indeed several mere river-boats, which were taken along on account of their light draught, and which

TO THE FRONT. 15

were not fitted for an ocean voyage. The entire tonnage of the transports was estimated at forty thousand tons.

The ships moved out to sea in three columns, in the fol lowing order : The Wabash, flanked by the gunboats Pawnee, Ottawa, Curlew, Isaac T. Smith, Seneca, Pembina, Unadilla, Penguin, and R. B. Forbes. The Baltic, towing the Ocean Express, led the column on the left, and was supported by the Pocahontas. The Illinois towed the Golden Eagle, and was followed by the Locust Point, Star of the South, Parkersburg, Belvidere, Alabama, Coatzacoalcas, Marion, Governor, and Mohican. The Atlantic led the central line, and was follow ed by the Vanderbilt, towing the Great Republic; the Ocean Queen, towing the Zenas Coffin; and these were followed by the Winfield Scott, Potomac, Cahawba, Oriental Union, Vixen, and O. M. Petit. The Empire City led the right, followed by the Ericsson, Philadelphia, Ben De Ford, Florida, Roanoke, Matanzas, Daniel Webster, Augusta, Mayflower, Peerless, Ariel, Mercury, Osceola, and two ferryboats. The twenty-five coal-barges convoyed by the Vandalia had been sent out the day before, with instructions to rendezvous off the Savannah River, so as to mislead the enemy as to our real destination.

The expedition sailed under sealed orders, of which every ship had a copy, and the instructions were not to break the seal unless the fleet should be dispersed in a storm. Great curiosity existed concerning our destination. Many of the men had never before been at sea, and the quarters of the private soldiers on the transports were cramped and poor, and what with sea-sickness, foul air, and filthy quarters, the discomforts were many. However, the voyage would have been short and less memorable had it not been for the great storm which broke upon us after we had passed Cape Hat- teras. The writer has twice crossed the ocean, and five times since then has passed Hatteras, but never has wit nessed so terrible a storm at sea. It lasted for nearly a week. Four of the transports were lost, but it is a surpris ing fact that not more than a dozen persons perished. With

1 6 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

so large a number of unseaworthy vessels in the fleet, it is wonderful that the casualties should have been so small, for the fury of the storm was terrible. The vessels lost were the Governor, Peerless, Osceola, and Union. The Governor floundered on Sunday, November 3d. She had on board a battalion of marines, but they were saved by the frigate Sabine, excepting a corporal and three men, who were drowned. The Peerless was a small Lake steamer, loaded with beef cattle ; her officers and crew were saved. The propeller Osceola, also loaded with beef-cattle, was wrecked on North Island, and her crew were made prisoners. The Union went ashore off Beaufort, N. C, and her cargo was lost. Her crew and a few soldiers aboard were captured. The steamer Winfield Scott, which was subsequently wrecked while we were on board of her, barely escaped destruction in the storm. The Belvidere, with Lieutenants Dunbar and Hatfield and the detachment of Company C on board, was disabled, and put back to Fortress Monroe. The storm was grand as it was terrible, and it scattered that noble fleet of vessels to the winds. It has often been compared to the tempest which destroyed the Spanish Armada three cen turies before. From the deck of the Matanzas, on which the writer was, on the day before the storm the three long lines of war-ships and transports, that stretched as far away as the eye could see, were visible — a noble and majestic sight. On the morning, when the storm subsided, from that same deck not a sail was in sight. Had they gone down in the sea ? Were they scattered so far apart that no one of the ships was in sight of another? What had become of the weaker and less seaworthy vessels ? It was a time of anxi ety, as the storm itself had been to many a time of terror. The sealed orders were broken, and then for the first time we learned that our destination was Port Royal Harbor, on •the coast of South Carolina.

The fleet arrived off the bar at Port Royal, on November 4th ; soundings were made, and the outer harbor was buoyed, and the next day the naval vessels moved over

TO THE FRONT. \J

the bar, and drove back the mosquito fleet of Commo dore Tatnall. The dangers of the sea were behind us, but we were now confronted by dangers on the land. The Confederates had erected two forts, one on either side of the entrance of Port Royal Harbor: the one on the north at Bay Point, Phillips Island, was named Fort Beau- regard ; that on the south, on Hil ton Head Island, Fort Walker. Fort Walker was a regular work, and mounted twenty -four guns; Fort Beauregard mounted twenty guns. The forces at Fort Walker were commanded by General T. F. Drayton of the rebel army, whose mansion was near by; his com mand numbered 1837 men. The garrison of Fort Beauregard was 640

men, under Colonel R. G. M. Dunevant. In addition to these forces on the land, the Confederates had a little squad-

FORT WALKER.

FORT BEAUREGARD.

ron, already referred to, called the " mosquito fleet," com manded by Commodore Josiah Tatnall. At eight o'clock on the morning of November /th the signal was given for the Union vessels to get underway, and at half-past nine the memorable naval battle commenced. The plan of attack was simple but unique. It was ordered that the ships pass up midway between Forts Walker and Beauregard (which were about two miles apart), receiving and returning the'

18

FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

fire of both, sailing in an ellipse. The Wabash led the way, next came the Susquehanna, then all the ships. This was the first battle in history in which a steam-navy had fought land-batteries while sailing in a circle, although the attack of Admiral Dundas in the harbor of Sebastopol seven years before was somewhat similar. Dupont's great est credit for his work that day lies in the splendid victory

PLAN OF BATTLE OF PORT ROYAL.

which he won with such little loss. The battle was a mag nificent spectacle, as we witnessed it from the decks of the transports anchored off the bar. The ships kept sailing around in their circle, belching forth their fiery volleys, now at Fort Beauregard on the north, and now at Fort Walker on the south ; and all we could do for our comrades of the navy was to cheer them from the transports throughout the day. "At half-past eleven the flag at Fort Walker was shot away ;

TO THE FRONT. 19

at a quarter-past one the fort was abandoned. Fort Beaure- gard also had been silenced, and the garrisons of both had fled. The guns of the Federal navy had done fatal work, for the dead and dying were on every side, and if to fight their guns in the fortifications had been perilous to the enemy, the retreat was hardly less so. Of course it was precipitous, but the majority of both garrisons escaped. The loss on board the fleet was slight ; Dupont reported his casualties at thirty-one, eight only being killed. The vessels engaged were, however, more or less injured by the Confederate

ADMIRAL DUPONT.

guns. The WabasJi, for instance, was struck thirty-four times.

The fact that this was our first victory in the State of South Carolina gave it peculiar celebrity. That State had been the first to secede and the chief promoter of the Rebel lion, and now that the Federal forces had secured a footing •upon its disloyal soil, loyal people everywhere were greatly rejoiced. The American navy covered itself with a lasting glory by its achievements on that day. By the capture of Port Royal the federal forces gained a magnificent naval depot and a firm foothold, from which she was never driven;

20

FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

MAP OF SEA ISLANDS. "SCALE OF M.LES

1

UANbEC

PORT" ROYAL ^ ••__ i i.^^Kr^j^z-^1 .«•_ ~—*«rffcE

the re- g i on of the famous Sea Island cot ton. It also be came a sort of the atre for certain philan- RD thropic experiments of antislavery advocates in those days. Beaufort District was perhaps the richest district in the whole Palmetto State. It con tained fifteen hundred square miles of territory, and annually produced fifty million pounds of rice and fourteen thousand bales of the finest cotton. It had a population of about forty thousand souls, more than three quarters of whom were slaves. The right wing of our regiment landed at Hilton Head Island on November Qth, and the left wing the next day. Transports everywhere were discharging troops, and the harbor presented a most animated appearance. We were marched about a half mile back from the shore, and went into camp in the midst of a cotton-field. Scouting parties were sent out over the island, and they captured horses, mules, chickens, pigs, and about everything they could lay their hands on, and divided the " eatables" between the different companies. That, however, was not considered

TO THE FRON7\

21

" stealing," but "confiscating." From ten to twelve every morning we had battalion drill ; from two to four every afternoon, company drill. Sometimes we were drilled by brigade. The work the boys loved the least was " fatigue duty," though they were compelled to do much of it, work-

DRAYTON'S MANSION.

ing on the fortifications which General Sherman foolishly persisted in erecting. Meanwhile all sorts of rude houses were hastily constructed at Hilton Head; an immense wharf was built ; and vessels of all sorts, laden with all manner of supplies, came from the North, and in a short time quite a

POPE'S HOUSE.

town had sprung up. Meanwhile the gun-boats had sailed up all the little rivers and taken possession of many islands. The aristocratic city of Beaufort, on Port Royal Island, was occupied, only one white man being found in the place ; everywhere the white people abandoned their homes and

22 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

fled, and only the negroes remained behind : they thronged the camps in great numbers, often coming into camp, carry ing in little bundles, all their worldly possessions, having a simple faith that when they reached " Massa Linkum's sol diers" they would be free. The panic which prevailed on these islands of South Carolina at our approach, and the precipitous flight of the enemy made many subsequently believe (as Colonel Perry believed at the time) that had we followed up our victory at Port Royal by marching imme diately against Charleston or Savannah, one of these cities might easily have been taken. On November 24th there was a general inspection and review by Generals Sherman and Viele. Our brigade-commander was General Egbert L. Viele, a well-known engineer, who had been prominent in the construction of the Central Park in New York City, and who has recently been a Park Commissioner, and is at this writing (1885) a member of Congress from New York.

Let me here recall the names of the four ladies who had accompanied us from the North to act as nurses in the hos pital. They were Mrs. Hanley, Mrs. Brooks, Miss Reward, and Miss Fox. Many of the boys who were sick in the hospitals will recall their kindness. Camp-life at Hilton Head was now a mononotous routine ; the climate also was unhealthy. We obtained water by sinking barrels in the sand. Yet our rations were good ; we received our pay regu larly ; the sutler was handy, and on the whole we had a good time. Colonel Perry was a magnificent drill-master; the regiment's efficiency at drill soon became famous. But few changes up to this time had occurred among us.

We received frequent mails from the North ; also boxes which came to us by express from the good people at home. Who does not remember the pleasure he always found in reading his letters and opening his box when it arrived ? One day there came into camp a contraband having two pups for sale. The writer purchased one for a quarter of a dollar ; Arthur McGuigan, of Company D, the other at the same price. The former dog drank a can of condensed milk

TO THE FRONT. 2$

(price fifty cents) the first day. His owner found him an expensive boarder, and disposed of him. McGuigan's dog was named "Jeff," and the company adopted him; and he became at last a hero, and died in battle, years afterwards, at Cold Harbor, being shot dead while barking up a tree at a rebel sharp-shooter. Every one will recall for himself many incidents of those first weeks in camp on the soil of South Carolina. The saddest memory will be that a number of the men who had had the measles on shipboard had taken cold from exposure during the storm, and died after reach ing Hilton Head. But we were not unhappy in those days; here we came to know each other, and began to appreciate the temper of the men with whom we were associated, and with whom we were yet destined to stand shoulder to shoulder in front of fiery batteries and gleaming lines of steel. Thus came to an end the year 1861, and thus ends this chapter, with the regiment " at the front"

CHAPTER III.

Port Royal Ferry to Fort Pulaski— January i, 1862, to May 31, 1862.

Expedition to Port Royal Ferry — Report of Colonel Perry — Back to Camp — Flags Presented— Captain Ward Resigns — Private Reilly and the Bomb shell — Captain Q. A. Gillmore — January 25th, leave Hilton Head — Wreck of the Winfield Scott — Davvfuskie Island — Our Camp Revisited in 1884 — Major Beard — History of the Locality — Batteries "Vulcan" and "Hamilton" on Jones' and Bird's Islands — Narrative of Captain Knowles — The "Cold Chisel" Brigade — Captain Gillmore on Tybee Island — General Hunter Succeeds General T. W. Sherman— April ioth, Bombardment of Fort Pulaski — Capitulation — Rattlesnakes— The Goat — News from the North — General Grant at Shiloh — The Sutler— May 25th, leave Dawfuskie Island for Fort Pulaski.

the first day of the New Year, 1862, we met the enemy for the first time in battle. The engagement is known as that of Port Royal Ferry. At that point, on the Coosaw River, the Confederates made their only stand in defence of the Sea Island District. They had a fortified position there, from which it was determined to drive them. A joint land and naval expedition was formed for this purpose. The former was commanded by Brigadier-General Stevens ; the latter by Commander C. R. P. Rogers. General Stevens' forces consisted of his brigade, Seventy-ninth New York High landers, Fiftieth Pennsylvania, Eighth Michigan, and One Hundredth Pennsylvania (Roundheads), and two regiments from General Viele's brigade, the Forty-seventh and Forty- eighth New York, under the command of Colonel Perry. The naval forces consisted of the gunboats Ottawa, Pembina, Hale, and Seneca, the ferryboat Ellen, and four large launches belonging to the frigate Wabash, each carrying a twelve-pound howitzer. We embarked at Hilton Head on

PORT ROYAL FERRY TO FORT PULASKI. 2$

December 3ist, and the next morning about eight o'clock landed near the cotton-gin on Adams' plantation. The Eighth Michigan of Stevens' brigade were deployed as skirmishers, and the gun-boats, which had also arrived, opened a brisk fire upon the woods in their front. Soon a battery near the ferry opened upon our forces with grape and canister, but the Eighth Michigan quickly silenced them. The Forty-seventh and Forty-eighth New York, under Colonel Perry, constituted the reserve at that little engagement. They were, however, brought into action by being thrown forward in line on the right, about at right angles to Stevens' brigade. As we advanced we soon un masked an ambushed battery, which apparently was well defended, along the skirt of woods in our front. Colonel Perry at once ordered out skirmishers from the Forty-eighth to the front and from the Forty-seventh to the left, to ascer tain if it was practicable to take the battery by the flank. That was barely accomplished before orders were received for us to retire — the enemy had been driven from their for tifications at the ferry.

Meanwhile the sailors observed our movements from the mast-heads of the gun-boats, and threw their shells over our heads into the midst of the enemy. The Highlanders took the fortifications at the ferry with great gallantry, and with a loss of nine wounded. Who will not remember that New Year's Day, when for the first time we heard the " rebel yell"? While the skirmish was in progress we were ordered to protect ourselves by lying down between the corn-rows in the field, Colonel Perry himself, however, standing erect through it all. I cannot better describe our part in the work of that day than by giving entire the report of Colonel Perry. This was the only occasion when he led us in per son in a fight, and therefore the only report of a battle which is from his pen. True the engagement was but a skirmish, and we would have made little note of it in after-years; but because it was our first engagement, and the only one in which we were to be led by the gallant soldier under whom

26 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

we had enlisted, the battle of Port Royal Ferry is cherished in our memory, not with undue, but possibly with dispro portionate interest.

Report of Colonel James H. Perry, Forty-eighth New York Infantry.

HEADQUARTERS FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT

NEW YORK VOLUNTEERS, HILTON HEAD, S. C., January 3, 1862.

CAPTAIN : I beg leave respectfully to submit for the information of the General commanding the following report of the participation of my command in the affair at Port Royal Ferry on the ist instant:

On account of some delay on the part of the Forty-seventh New York, I detained my column at Adams' plantation (the place of land ing) until the latest moment, and finally commenced the march before the arrival of two companies of that regiment. I had advanced per haps three quarters of a mile, when I received an order from the General to bring forward my command with the greatest expedition. We immediately advanced at double-quick until we overtook the sup porting column, when I received notice of the existence of a battery threatening our right flank, and was ordered to attack and capture it. In obedience to the order, I immediately deployed my column, and forming double line of battle advanced upon the position of the enemy, the Forty-eighth New York, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Barton, leading, supported by the Forty-seventh New York, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Fraser.

When my first line was fairly under fire at long range it was halted under shelter of the timber and protected by the inequalities of the ground, and I sent forward two companies of skirmishers, with orders to ascertain the exact position of the battery, the best method of ap proaching it, the number of its guns, and with what force it was supported. The skirmishers were met by a sharp fire of artillery and musketry, but they went forward steadily and rapidly, and soon re ported to me that a marsh covered the front of the enemy's position, and that they had at least four guns, supported by a heavy force of infantry. I then advanced the Forty-seventh New York for the pur pose of manoeuvring upon the left flank and gaining the rear of the enemy before attacking in front. The Forty-seventh pressed through the timber, and had gained a position well on the left and rear, and their advance had exchanged a few shots with the enemy, when I re ceived the General's order to retire, the battery on the river having been taken and the object of the expedition accomplished. I drew off my men without loss. Three members of the Forty-eighth Regi-

PORT ROYAL FERRY TO FORT PULASKL 2-j

ment were slightly wounded, but not a man was disabled or rendered unfit for duty.

I am happy to add, that the men and officers of my command be haved with great steadiness and resolution, obeying the word of com mand under fire as if they had been on drill.

Very respectfully, J. H. PERRY,

Colonel Forty-eighth Regiment ATew York Volunteers.

We spent that first night of the new year on the battle field, not being permitted to build fires lest we should at tract the fire of the enemy, and as we were not prepared with suitable clothing to spend a winter's night out of doors, we shivered ; indeed, with the exception of the winter nights on Belle Island, the writer does not ever remember to have suffered so from the cold as during that long and chilly night at Port Royal Ferry. In the morning we re-embarked and returned to Hilton Head, having destroyed tne rebel works and accomplished the object of our expedition. And so our first engagement with the enemy, though merely — to- quote Colonel Perry's words — "an affair," was a victory. The reason of the Confederates for making a stand at Port Royal Ferry was because the " Shell Road " (the only thoroughfare by land between Beaufort and Charleston) reaches the Coosaw River at this point. Although we whipped the enemy in this little battle they reoccupied their works immediately after we abandoned them, and the Coosaw River continued to be the dividing line between the contending armies for the next three years.

On January I2th a set of colors, consisting of a regimental flag and two " markers," was presented to the regiment from friends in Brooklyn.

On January iSth, Captain Ward of Company I resigned. We remained in our camp at Hilton Head during the most of that month. Many amusing incidents might be recalled, if space would permit, that served to break the monotony of camp-life in those days. For instance, while Company B was on provost-guard one day, Private Patrick Reilly rolled an unexploded eleven-inch bombshell up to a camp-

28 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S, VOLS.

fire and began to probe the vent of it with an ignited stick; of course it exploded, making great havoc everywhere, but leaving Private Reilly absolutely unharmed. From that day he carried the nickname of " Bombshell Reilly.'' At that time Captain Quincy A. Gillmore was chief-engineer of the Department of the South, a gallant soldier, destined hereafter to be associated as our commander with the greater part of our history as a regiment. To him General Sherman intrusted the task of the reduction of Fort Pulaski, at the mouth of the Savannah River. In aid of that under taking it was determined to occupy Dawfuskie Island, S. C., and to construct batteries on two mud islands on opposite sides of the Savannah River, in order to cut off communica tion between Fort Pulaski and the city of Savannah. It was that part of the work which was intrusted to us. On Januar>^25th we broke camp at Hilton Head, and marched to Saybrook's Landing. One wing of the regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Barton, was safely landed at Haig's (or Hague's) Point on Dawfuskie ; all but Corporal Dutcher of Company A, who walked overboard in his sleep and was drowned. (His was the eighth death since leaving Camp Wym'an.)

But while the other wing was on board the Winfield Scott, passing through " Pull-and-be-damned " Creek, the ship went ashore on a tongue of oyster-beds which projected from Long Pine Island. As the tide went down, she broke in two in the middle, and left us " wrecked " upon that barren sea-island. We had on board twenty days' provisions, which were saved. The horses were disembarked with difficulty, being pushed overboard and made to swim ashore. I re member that the colonel's horse insisted on swimming to the opposite bank of the creek, got fast in the mud, and was extricated with great difficulty. Some of the boys went out on a scouting expedition, and succeeded in finding a venerable cow, which they killed. But our brief stay on Long Pine Island is particularly memorable because we there discovered the ugoat;" we took him with us, and he

30 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

became a regimental pet. The steamer Mayflower came to our rescue the next day, and landed us on Dawfuskie Island, where, in a fine piece of woods, on February I, 1862, •we finally went into camp. Dawfuskie Island was a beauti ful spot in those days. Monjion's and Stoddard's planta tions were especially fine. Great forests of pine and oak were on the island, and the magnificent Spanish moss, which is the chief beauty of the far-famed cemetery of Bonaventure at Savannah, festooned the branches of the forest. We erected our tents and built arbors over them, and, gathering moss from the woods, covered the roofs and sides of the arbors with it, until our camp on Dawfuskie be came perhaps the most picturesque of all our " resting- places" in the war. We cleared a parade-ground in front of .the camp, and there the daily " drill " continued.

Since this history was begun the writer has revisited Daw fuskie Island. In company with Captain Knowles of Com pany D, the Rev. W. N. Searles of Kingston, N. Y., and the Rev. A. M. Palmer of Staten Island, he landed again at Daw fuskie, at Cooper's Landing, in April, 1884. We expected to find the Southern planters back in their houses, and that, twenty-two years after we had evacuated their beautiful island, they would have re-established their homes upon it. We were surprised to find it occupied mostly by a few negroes who cultivated little patches of cotton, sweet potatoes, and water-melons, near by their cabins. These cabins were not better than they were in the war ; and the old mansions of the planters were unoccupied, and fallen into decay. A single new and unpretentious house has been erected along the shore. We strolled up the sandy road and easily found the piece of woods where our camp had formerly been. The ground was overgrown with briers and brush, but it recalled many memories of the months we spent there in camp, and the dear fellows who had been our comrades then.

Major Beard of our regiment distinguished himself at this time by removing certain obstructions which the rebels had placed in Wall's Cut, an artificial channel connecting New

PORT ROYAL FERRY TO FORT PULASKI. 31

and Wright rivers. Wall's Cut and Dawfuskie Island were historic places; for on the i6th of September, 1779, when the city of Savannah was in the possession of the English, and was invested by the French forces under Count d'Es- taing and the American army under General Lincoln, Colonel Maitland of the English army arrived at Dawfuskie Island and desired to form a junction with Provost in Savannah. He was unable to do so because the Savannah River was in the possession of the French. He chanced, however, upon some negro fishermen who were familiar with the creeks and marshes thereabouts, and they informed him of the passage through Wall's Cut. Aided by the tide and a dense fog he succeeded by this route in reaching Savannah, and the British garrison thus reinforced, success fully resisted the combined attack of the French and Ameri can allied forces, a few days afterwards. We were therefore on historic ground at Dawfuskie Island.

And now began one of the most difficult undertakings (and one of the most successful) of our entire history. True it was but subsidiary to the work of «our comrades on Ty- bee Island in the reduction of Fort Pulaski, but it was nevertheless of the greatest importance.

Jones' and Bird's Islands are two flat marsh-islands, over flowed twice a day by the tides, opposite each other on the north and south banks of the Savannah River. It was de termined that batteries should be erected upon them to cut off communication between Pulaski and Savannah. It was a work of great difficulty, but it was successfully accom plished, and chiefly by the Forty-eighth Regiment. The Seventh Connecticut, however, and later some other regi ments, aided in the work. To begin with, some eight or ten thousand logs were cut in the woods at Dawfuskie, and car ried on the shoulders of the men to the river-shore. (Who that recalls that lugging of logs will not feel his shoulders ache to this very day ?) Thence the logs were transported on boats to Jones Island, and used to build a causeway, over which the heavy cannons were dragged. The islands them-

32 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

selves are a mere formation of mud, of the consistency of jelly, from four to twelve feet in depth, which the river has deposited upon shoals of sand. The surface is covered with matted sea -grass. It was a herculean task to cross this island, a distance of a mile, and drag heavy cannons over loose planks laid across the logs and place them in batteries. When the guns slipped off in the mud they had to be lifted on the planks again by main strength. But difficult as it was, the task was successfully accomplished, and the guns mounted on heavy plank-platforms at Venus Point. So " Battery Vulcan," on Jones' Island, and subsequently " Bat tery Hamilton," on Bird's Island, opposite, were erected. The work was all done at night. We are glad to be able to furnish from the graphic pen of the Rev. D. C. Knowles (then Captain of Company D), who was in command of the detachment which finally succeeded in moving the guns across the island and erecting them on the battery one dismal night, an account of his labors. He also tells the story of the most ridiculous project ever devised for at tacking an " iron-clad," known among us as the Cold-chisel Brigade. He writes :

"On February 12, 1862, I was ordered to go down to Jones' Island with Lieutenants Miller and Lockwood, and a detail of 150 men. The guns, six in number, had already been landed on the island at a point one mile in a straight line from the point designated for the battery.

" Our task was to drag them over that distance to their destination. The corduroy-road for some reason had been abandoned after being laid a few hundred yards. We reached the spot where the guns were placed about sundown. Just as we were landing, a rebel gun-boat came up the river from the fort, stopped opposite us, about a mile away, and seemed to be curiously scanning our doings. Every mo ment we expected a shell, but for some reason they left us unmolested, and passed on to the city. Had they seen our cannon, which were covered with reeds, and thus screened from observation, they would not have left us so undisturbed to the tender mercies of swamp-fever.

" About dark, Lieutenant Wilson, afterward General Wilson, who captured Jefferson Davis, then a young officer in the regular army, landed, and explained the work to be done. Dividing my men into small reliefs under the command of non-commissioned officers, we at

PORT ROYAL FERRY TO FORT PULASKL 3$

once began the hardest task I ever saw performed by human beings. Six huge guns were to be transported over a mile of mud, so soft and bottomless that we sank ankle deep at every step, and oftentimes were in danger of being utterly mired in the treacherous morass. It was done in thiswise : Planks 18 feet long, 16 inches wide, and very thick, were laid down and gauged like a railroad track, along which we care fully guided the wheels of the cannon. After they were all moved forward the planks were lifted out of the deep mire, carried forward, and laid again. Thus we proceeded the live-long night, and by nine o'clock the next morning every gun was mounted in position. I saw men that night standing upright in the mire knee-deep, fast asleep. The work done, I threw myself on a plank covered with the softest of Carolina soil, myself a pillar of mud, my head softly resting on mud, and with a full South Carolina sun burning in my face, slept as sweetly as a babe in its mother's arms. On this low, marshy island our regiment was quartered, two companies at a time, until the fort was taken. The purpose was to cut off all approach to the fort from Savannah for relief or assistance. Our duties were to support the battery in case of attack, and also to build a parapet before the guns. This was no easy task, as the men were compelled to stand knee-deep in the mud and water in the ditches, and what they threw up was so near the consistency of molasses that it refused to stay until the sun had dried it, when it took the hardness of stone. General Viele, in his report of this work, says : 'These islands, as well as all others in the river, are merely deposits of soft mud on sand-shoals, always covered at high tide, and overgrown with dank grasses.'

" In speaking of the mud-forts built there he also says : ' Although the material of which they are composed (mud highly saturated with water) is of the most unfavorable description, they are both creditable specimens of field-works, and evidence the great labor and persever ance of the troops under the most trying circumstances, the fatigue- parties always standing in water twenty-four hours.'

"One night in February a very high tide rolled in, covering the whole island, putting out our fires, and leaving us wallowing in water from one to three feet deep. We were literally at sea. Amid such discomforts, exposed to cutting winds and malarial odors, we fought with destiny until the middle of April.

" And now I come to an episode that is a type of many a curious plan that our civil war brought forth. Probably no contest ever pro duced so many novel expedients to circumvent an enemy as were born in the fertile brains of our inventive Yankee soldiers. Powder gun-boats, monitors, and mines hurling forts in the air are samples of these extra-military expedients for defeating a watchful foe. The 3

34 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

event I am now about to relate is not a whit behind the chiefest of them in hazard and reckless audacity.

"About the middle of March two deserters from the rebel lines came into our brigade and reported the existence of a steamer at Savannah clad with railroad iron, after the order of the celebrated Merrtmac. They said a movement was on foot to run the vessel down with a body of troops, capture our forts on the banks of the Savannah, and thus open the way to the relief of Pulaski.

" Certain reports of officers making reconnoissances of the river seemed to corroborate the existence of such a vessel, and the fears of our officers were aroused for our safety and the success of our enter prises. Schemes for defence were at once devised, and the plan I now give in detail was adopted.

" It was supposed that the vessel lying low in the water, with slop ing sides of iron like the roof of a house, would steam down the river and anchor directly between our batteries, of which we had two, one on either bank, and proceed boldly to shell us at close range, while all our shot in reply would fly harmlessly from her invulnerable covering. In the mean time the infantry would attack us in the rear, cut off re treat, and take us all prisoners at their convenience. The line of defence, therefore, must include the capture of the vessel by some expedient. The plan devised in the fertile brain of somebody was to take six common row-boats, three on either side of the river, man each of them with six oarsmen, six soldiers, and an officer. The sol diers were to be armed with revolvers, hand-grenades, cold-chisels, and sledge-hammers. The boats were to be well supplied with grap pling-irons and ropes. Thus equipped, when the vessel came, the whole expedition was to row out from either shore, board the vessel by means of the ropes and grappling-irons, keep the gunners from the guns by the free use of hand-grenades thrown into the port-holes, and cutting through the iron roof by means of the cold-chisels and sledge hammers, get inside the vessel and capture her, crew and all. Such, in brief, was the line of defence, Suffice it to say, the boats were selected, the material all sent down to the batteries, and the officer in command of the forts directed to select some one to lead the forlorn hope. I was called to the command. Selecting two lieutenants as assistants, we picked our crews, drilled our men, and awaited the final hour.

" While making preparations, Captain Hamilton, a prominent offi cer in the Third Artillery of the regular army, came down to inspect our progress, and report our condition. He sent for me to visit him in the Lieutenant-Colonel's tent. I explained our preparations, and asked advice. One point seemed to me not to have been well con sidered. I said to him, 'Captain, that vessel has steam and an

PORT ROYAL FERRY TO FORT PULASKI. 35

engine, and it seems to me if we should succeed in getting a force on her sloping sides, and threatening to take her, they would slip their cables, steam up the Savannah, and carry us off to jail with all dis patch.' 'But you must stop her,' said he. 'Well, how?' was my reply. He sat a moment in silent meditation, when he broke out : ' I do not know any better way than to take strong ropes, fasten them to her anchor or some part of the vessel, and then attach the other end to the screw, so that when the wheel starts the rope will wind up and stop its revolutions.' ' Not a very easy thing to do, it strikes me,' said I, ' in such a rapid current as this river, and that too while cannon are thundering in our very faces.' ' Well,' said he, 'it is a desperate case, and we must hold these batteries at any cost. You must do the best you can, at any rate.'

"Just at that moment a thought struck me, suggested by my knowledge of the construction of a steam-boiler and the presence of the cold-chisels. I ventured to suggest it as a new plan of offence. 4 Captain,' said I, ' why could we not board the vessel, strike at once for the smoke-stack, and cutting a hole in it, throw down a bomb shell, blow up these tubes that run through the boiler, and thus let out the steam and scald the crew, and take the whole institution at a blow.'

"The Captain sprang to his feet, with a face all radiant with joy, and with many big words which I do not desire to repeat, declared that the thing should be done, and consequently a huge bomb-shell, with fuse all ready, was placed in each boat as a part of our arma ment. And while we waited the coming of our foe we wrote to our friends the possibility of our fate, and talked together of a grave in the muddy flood of the Savannah. For we all felt assured that nothing less than an interposition of Providence could save us from certain destruction. To row half a mile in the face of such a foe, in such a rapid current, in crowded boats, and board a vessel under such conditions, was an enterprise that had in it few chances of success. Disaster in all probability would have been the end of such an expedi tion. And yet in the face of these convictions we entered on the pro ject with all the ardor of assured victory. The devoted band was denominated 'The Cold-chisel Brigade,' and when the enterprise was finally abandoned the cold-chisels were seized as souvenirs of a project that gained at the time quite a local notoriety.

" Suffice it to say the report was false. No such vessel then ex isted ; and when General Hunter took command of the Department he made an early visit to the batteries to see what the ' Cold-chisel Brigade ' was proposing to do, and with the curt remark, ' What fool got up that plan ? ' he ordered it disbanded."

36 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S VOLS.

While we were at work at the batteries on the mud-islands. Captain Gillmore had succeeded in erecting on Tybee Island the splendid batteries which were destined to demolish Fort Pulaski. The work on Tybee also was of a laborious na ture, it requiring 250 men to move a single cannon with a sling-cart over the sand and mud to its place. However, on the Qth of April Gillmore had n batteries erected, mounting 36 guns. The nearest to the fort were Batteries Potter and McClellan, which were only 1650 yards distant. Each battery had a magazine containing two days' supply of ammunition, and a great powder-magazine, with a capa-

GENERAL DAVID HUNTER.

city of 3000 barrels, was constructed near the martello tower. On March 3 1st General T. W. Sherman was relieved in command of the Department of the South by Major- General David Hunter. General Hunter, accompanied by General Benham, the district-commander, arrived on Tybee Island on the evening of April 8th. At sunrise on the loth he sent a summons to Colonel Charles H. Olmstead, the Confederate commander of Fort Pulaski, to surrender. His refusal was in this memorable phrase : " I am here to defend this fort, not to surrender it." At quarter-past eight o'clock Gilmore's batteries on Tybee opened fire. All day long they

PORT ROYAL FERRY TO FORT PULASKI.

37

hurled their deadly shot and shell upon the doomed fort ress ; all night long, at intervals of fifteen and twenty min utes, they kept up their fire. At sunrise the next morning, with redoubled fury, the batteries continued their work; not until two o'clock in the afternoon did the fort capitu late. It had made a brave defence, for the Parrott projec tiles, some of which had cut their way through six and seven feet of brick wall, had made a terrible breach on the angle of the fort facing Tybee Island. The fight was nearly blood-

BREACH IN FORT PULASKI.

less : the Confederates lost one killed and several wounded ; the Federals only one killed. Forty-seven heavy guns were taken with the fort, 40,0x30 pounds of gunpowder, large quantities of fixed ammunition and commissary stores, and 300 prisoners. Who does not remember watching that mag nificent bombardment from the bank in front of our camp on Dawfuskie Island ? It was a grand spectacle, which never can be forgotten by any one who witnessed it. It demonstrated forever that brick walls could no longer with stand the projectiles of modern artillery. It lifted the name

38 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

of Captain Gillmore into renown. He was promoted to be Brigadier-General of Volunteers. To say that the Confed erates were dumbfounded at their defeat is to speak mildly. I quote from the historical sketch of the (rebel) " Chatham Artillery:" " Not for a moment was it believed that the walls could be breached or the fort rendered untenable by any fire which might be brought to bear from guns located on Tybee Island. This opinion was freely expressed by General Robert E. Lee, and by other officers, whose judg ment. and experience inspired confidence. Such an achieve ment had never in the history of artillery been accomplished by breaching batteries. Novel results, however, were soon to be attained with the aid of rifle-guns and conical shot and percussion shells, for the anticipation of which the mili tary mind had not been prepared by the accepted lessons of former days." That reflection upon their defeat was at least philosophical. For the next month we remained quietly in our camp on Dawfuskie Island, resting after the severe toils on the mud-islands. Many of the men were ill with malarial fevers, contracted during their exposure on the marshes, but the most of them recovered in the balmy air of the spring-time.

Not a few will remember kindly the four lady-nurses, whose names have already been mentioned, who nursed them in the hospital on Dawfuskie, and whose connection with our regiment ceased from that time. Rattlesnakes abounded on the island. Some of the boys — notably Bugler Anthony Schellings — found pleasure in hunting for them ; the writer did not. It was here that Hospital Steward Fisher had his adventure with the goat. The goat had become a regi mental pet, and was facetiously called a member of the Colonel's " staff," as he always presented himself on dress- parade, and took his position near the Colonel. One day Mr. Fisher held a $10 greenback in his hand and shook it towards the goat, saying, " Wouldn't you like to have that, Billy?" The goat opened his mouth, made one jump, and caught the greenback before Fisher could rescue it, and

PORT ROYAL FERRY TO FORT PULASKL 39

instantly swallowed it. The Hospital Steward tried to per suade the Colonel to permit him to rip the goat open ; but that was not to be the fate of Billy : he was destined, years afterward, to make a tough meal for the regiment known as the " Lost Children," who are believed to have stolen and eaten him. Our mails came regularly to the camp on Daw- fuskie, and the papers from the North were eagerly read, and many an argument ensued concerning the merits and dements of the battles which our comrades in the Northern and Western armies were fighting. The officers in their tents told each other how they would have conducted the Campaigns; and the privates round their camp-fires eagerly read the news, and often wished that they were participants in the battles. The writer remembers when the papers arrived which described the first day's fight at Pittsburg Landing. General Grant was greatly blamed for permitting himself to be surprised (as it was supposed) by a superior force, with the river in his rear and Buell's army a long dis tance from him. Not until the next mail arrived did we learn of the great victory that he really had won, and a remark 6f Colonel Perry's, as he laid down the paper, is re called. He said, " If I were the Secretary of War I would dismiss that man Grant for such incompetency." Little did he then know what a catastrophe to the Republic it would have been if his hasty judgment had been carried out. We received our pay every two months in those days — at first in gold, but soon and always afterwards in greenbacks. The sutler's tent was convenient, and he got the most of our money. It recalls an effusion of a South Carolina darkey :

" Big bee sucks de blossom,

Little bee makes de honey ; Colored people grows de cotton, White people gets de money."

By substituting "private soldiers" for "colored people" and the " sutler" for " white people," that doggerel will ap ply very well to our experience in those days. Early in the

40 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

month of May most of the troops who had been with us on Dawfuskie Island were withdrawn. The Sixth Connec ticut and Twenty-eighth Massachusetts, which had encamped near us, left. Finally, on the 23d of May, we received orders to proceed to Fort Pulaski, to do garrison duty there. Our officers felt greatly indignant at that order. It was like putting them in prison to shut them up within the walls of the fort. There was, however, no alternative but for us to go. As a matter of fact, the authorities at Washington did not seem to require much to be done in our Department, but were satisfied that we should hold the sea-islands and occa sionally worry the enemy in a little skirmish ; and perhaps it was as well for us to be in Fort Pulaski as to be anywhere else. On May 25th we left Dawfuskie on the steamer Mattano for the fort, leaving behind, however, companies E and B, under Captain Coan, for picket-duty on the island. They rejoined us the last day of the month. We relieved the Seventh Connecticut, then commanded by Colonel A. H. Terry (the Lieutenant-Colonel was Joseph R. Hawley), in the garrison of Fort Pulaski. Then began our long period of inactivity, for we were destined to remain, as that garrison, a year.

CHAPTER IV. Fort Pulaski— June i, 1862, to May 31, 1863.

The Fort— In Garrison — Fatigue Duty — Quarters in the Casemates— The Fort Revisited in 1884 — Drill — Wreck of the Sutler's Schooner — Death of Colonel Perry — Colonel Barton Succeeds to the Command — Captain Knowles Resigns — Expedition to Bluffton — General Mitchel Succeeds General Hunter — Visit and Address from General Mitchel — His Death — Chaplain Strickland — Pocotaligo and Coosavvhatchie — Coosawhatchie Revisited — Report of Colonel Barton — Sports at Fort Pulaski — The Theatre — The " Barton Dramatic Association"—" Talking in the Ranks" — Order of Major Beard — Thanksgiving Day, 1862 — Lieutenant-Colonel Beard Resigns — Chaplain Strickland Resigns — Flags of Truce — Colored Regiments — Lieutenant Corvvin Promoted — Capture of Steamer General Lee — Tybee — A Mammoth Sea-Turtle — The Blockade-runner Sadowa — Life in the Fort — the Ladies — The Musicians.

I7ORT PULASKI is situated on Cockspur Island, a marshy island about a mile in length and half a mile wide, at the mouth of the Savannah River and at the head of Tybee Roads. It was a brick work of five faces, includ ing the gorge, casemated on all sides with walls fy feet thick and rising 25 feet above high-water. It mounted one tier of guns in embrasure and one en barbette. The gorge was covered by -an earthenwork " demilune" of bold relief ; both the main work and the demilune were surrounded and divided by a moat, 48 feet in width around the main work, 32 around the demilune. Two drawbridges over the moats and a low sally-port formed the communication with the ex terior. A full armament for the work was 140 guns.* When we entered it June I, 1862, everything was in great confusion : the breach made by Gillmore's guns yawned in its side, and the masonry was everywhere broken. For many

* See General Gillmore's Report.

42 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

a weary week the daily details for fatigue-duty worked away at repairing the fort. The brick walls rose again at the breach, the terre-plein was levelled to make a drill-ground ; the companies were quartered in the casemates, the men erecting bunks for themselves by the side of the cannon. The rebuilding of the fort was a long and tedious task, onerous and distasteful to soldiers ; nevertheless it was at last completed, and Fort Pulaski was put in better shape than it had been for years. The guns were remounted, both in casemates and on the parapet ; one company of the Third Rhode Island Artillery under Captain Gould, a detachment of Serrell's Engineers, and the Forty-eighth Regiment com-

FORT PULASKI.

prised the entire garrison. Our men were drilled at the guns, and became at last efficient as artillerists as well as in the drill of infantry. The officers' casemates of course were better than those of the enlisted men, but even there there was a great scarcity of furniture. A steam-condenser was procured, and the water for the garrison was condensed from the moat. The old boilers are there still (1884), rusted and useless, and the great moats are filled with mud and grown up with rushes. A signal station was erected on the para pet, and we were in communication by signal with Brad- dock's Point ; later a submarine telegraph-cable was laid to the fort. Two or three times a week a little steamer made the trip to Hilton Head, bringing mails and stores with regularity. No sutler was allowed in the fort, and many of the boys turned tradesmen. Who will not recall Jackson as

FORT PULASKI. 43

he used to pass through the casemates calling out " Borden's condensed milk" ? The regiment was drilled to the greatest efficiency. Guns were polished in those days, and scales must shine and gloves be worn on parade; and the writer does not remember to have seen even a crack regiment of militia or any other body of soldiers whose evolutions sur passed those of the Forty-eighth when at drill in Fort Pu- laski. But our quarters on the island were circumscribed. The horses of the field-officers were of little use ; occasionally they were exercised from the north to the south dock and around the little dikes on the island. We were a thou sand men, living in narrow quarters. Under that confine ment Colonel Perry pined ; more and more he ceased to take exercise, and sometimes for days would not even ap pear upon parade.

On the i6th and i/th of June a terrible storm broke on the coast. In the height of it a sutler's schooner came ashore on Cockspur Island. She was laden with stores, and with many cases of liquors and barrels of wine and beer. The crew was rescued with difficulty by some of our boys ; but when the liquor came ashore at the breaking-up of the wreck the opportunity for a great spree was more than the men could withstand, and many of " Perry's Saints" " fell from grace." Colonel Perry was greatly mortified at their behavior, and who will not recall the way in which he walked through our quarters in the casemates that day? He was held in such respect that there was no private sol dier, however intoxicated, who was able to recognize him, who did not rise up to salute him, and all disorder ceased every where around the casemates at his approach. Two days afterward, early in the afternoon of June 18, 1862, while in his quarters, he was stricken with apoplexy, and, without speaking a word, died. A great sadness fell upon the regiment, who mourned him as if he had been their father. He had taken great care of" his boys," and they had formed a great love for him. Often in the early morning he was found going around among the cooks, tasting the coffee,

MONUMENT TO COLONEL PERRY

FORT PULASKI. 45,

and ascertaining for himself the quality of the rations that were to be distributed to the men. His death was a calam ity to his regiment as it was an affliction to his friends and a loss to his country. High hopes had been entertained of him ; he possessed such fine qualities of mind, that many who were partial to him anticipated a great career for him in the army. His majestic bearing, his noble face, who can ever forget ? But he never had " a fair field " in the war. It was his misfortune, 1st, to lack that political acquaintance and influence which was necessary to gain position at the outbreak of the rebellion ; 2d, to be assigned to a depart ment where nothing of moment was done ; and, 3d, to have engendered the envy of his immediate military superiors. He was a man of nobler bearing and finer attainments than any of them. His clerical profession also was against him for it was reckoned, however untruthfully, that " parsons" were not the men to fight. We buried him outside the fort, the regiment firing a salute above his grave. But his re mains were afterwards removed to Cypress Hills Cemetery, Brooklyn, L. I., where a noble monument of granite has now been erected to his memory by the comrades of the James H. Perry Post, G. A. R., the survivors of his regi ment, and a generous donation from the Hanson Place Methodist Episcopal Church of Brooklyn. Lieutenant- Colonel William B. Barton succeeded to the Colonelcy ; Major Beard was promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel, and Captain James M. Green, of Company F to Major. Captain Knowles of Company D, to whom we are indebted for the account of the work on Jones' Island, broken in health by exposure, resigned his commission in July, Lieutenant Pax- son became Captain of the " Die-no-mores/' On August 29th Captain Travis of Company C resigned. Other changes occurred among the officers of the regiment at this time, which can be ascertained by referring to the rolls of the companies in this volume. So the long hot summer passed ; yet it was often cool in the casemates, especially at night. But the mosquitoes and sand-flies were the greatest

46 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

nuisance. Life in the garrison was a monotonous routine, the events of one day being repeated the next day and every day, and the diaries which we have examined contain little of interest except in what was personal to the writers. We made two expeditions that summer and fall to Bluff- ton, " on the main," a summer resort of the planters, from the sea-coast islands, destroying the salt-works in the neighborhood, and " confiscating" a piano and such furni ture as could be brought away for the officers' quarters in the fort. The second expedition burned about two thirds of the town by command of General Hunter, in retalia-

HEADQUARTERS OF GENERALS HUNTER AND MITCHEL.

tion for certain unwarlike depredations by the enemy. The spoliation of Bluffton formed the ground of an indignant protest by General Beauregard to General Gillmore a year later, and certain of us lived to be threatened with punish ment for that deed, when we were in Beauregard's power as prisoners of war.*

On October 18, 1862, on returning from an expedition up May River, we lost four wounded from the enemy's firing into us, and one of the wounded men, Corporal George Durand of Company B, died the following day. He was the first man of the regiment to fall at the hands of the

*See " Military Operations of General Beauregard," vol. ii. p. 483.

FORT PULASKI. 47

•enemy. On September 16, 1862, Major-General O. M. Mitchel arrived at Hilton Head, and assumed command of the Department of the South, relieving Major-General David Hunter. General Mitchel had been famed in civil life as an astronomer, and in military life in the West for " doing things." We now anticipated more active service under his command. He visited us at Fort Pulaski, and highly complimented our drill. He made us a brief address on the terre-plein, a report of which (found in The New South of September 20, 1862) is appended :

"SOLDIERS OF THE FORTY-EIGHTH . It gives me great pleasure to meet you here inside of this fortress : a fortress recovered by your own prowess from the enemy; a fortress you now hold; a fortress planned by the Government of the United States and built by it, but which had been seized by the rebels. Those rebels you have dispossessed ; those rebels you have compelled to lower their flag before you, and those rebels you have been instrumental in defeating and capturing. I need not say to you — understanding the nature of this war and all its ob jects — what you are expected to do. You are too intelligent ; you think too much ; you are volunteers, and as volunteers you understand your duty and the responsibilities devolved upon you. I am here a stranger to you ; but I trust not entirely a stranger in name, although this probably is the first time you have had the opportunity of looking upon my face and form. I am here to say that we have an immense work to perform. I am just from the North, where, having conversed and associated with the thinking men of the country, I am satisfied that the work before us is the most stupendous, the most arduous, that has ever been attempted ; and it is a work in which we never can be successful unless we enter upon it with a firm determination never to succumb. I believe that we are fighting the battle of Human Lib erty, not for this country alone, but for the whole world. I believe that the despotisms of the Old World would say, if this Great Repub lic were rent in twain, that it was an absolute fallacy to believe that man can govern himself, and that the interests of the governing class and of the people were so radically diverse as to render all attempts at Republican government failures. If we permit the iron heel of the Southern aristocracy to crush us, I undertake to say before you all, that the last hope of Humanity v/ill die out forever. All lovers of humanity are looking upon us with anxiety. Responsibilities are de volving upon us, greater than have ever before devolved upon any people on the earth. The responsibilities of the French Revolution

48 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

were nothing compared to those under which we labor. That was a contest against oppression, an uprising of the people against tyranny. But this is a contest for human freedom — a contest for the absolute supremacy of the people ; it is a contest in which is arrayed absolute liberty on the one hand, and on the other the most hateful and abom inable aristocracy. And now the grand question is this : Are we to meet with success or not ? We cannot meet with success unless the soldier enjoys the confidence of his officers, and the officers that of the soldier. Now, I am an old soldier — so old, that thirty years ago I was stationed in the regular army at St. Augustine ; and though at that time I had not the slightest idea of reaching the official rank I

GENERAL MITCHEL.

now hold, yet I am now the commanding officer of this Department I have been in the field, and I understand it perfectly. I have fought the enemy through four hundred miles of territory, and never knew what it was to be checked or turned back. [Loud cheers and cries of 'Good,' 'That's the talk,' etc.] I will tell you of another trait of my character. I am very restless. I don't know how to be still. If you were to confine me within a fortress, or upon one of these islands, I should feel as though I were in a penitentiary. I don't know what the object of the Government was in sending me here; but it is the duty of a good soldier to obey orders, without waiting for words of explanation, and as a good soldier I obeyed. I was told that I would receive instructions here — instructions which had been given my pre decessor — and would answer for my guidance. I find that those in structions permit me to do pretty much as I please ; and I shall en-

FORT PULASKI. 49

deavor to do the best I can. I assure you of this : that I will omit no opportunity of giving you active employment. You shall have no time for sighing and lamenting over your inactivity if we can find any thing to do. Be assured that if I can use you, no opportunity will escape for active duty if you are ready for the field. [Prolonged ap plause, with cries of * We're ready,' etc.]

" Now a perfect confidence between the officers and their command ing-officer — between the soldiers and their commanding-general — is- necessary for success. I am delighted with the appearance of this regiment. I don't want any better-looking regiment. You all look like good soldiers — and a good soldier I love. I could get off my horse and take him to my arms. But a mean soldier I contemn and despise. Now, a good soldier knows his duty, and loves his duty, and performs his duty because it is his duty. He obeys an order because it is given him. He treats his military superior with deference because it is his duty. He knows that as a good soldier he must show that military deference to every officer. If this military deference can be mingled with personal respect for your superiors, so much the better; but the two are not to be confounded, nor is one to be mistaken for the other. A good soldier, when he lies down at night, conscious of having performed his duty perfectly, don't care whether he gets up alive or dead. [Cachinnations along the line.] I want you to understand that you have made a free-will offering of yourselves to your country and to the great cause of human liberty. Your lives are not your own. My life is not- my own. A good soldier should be ever striving to better himself. A private should struggle for a place among the non-commissioned officers. Having attained this, he should never be satisfied till he is a lieutenant; and a lieu tenant is good for nothing unless he strives to be a captain. Once made a captain, he should aim to command a regiment, and by faith ful, earnest service to fit himself for the position of a brigadier. Then let him press steadily forward, until the whole country shall take him up, and say, ' Make that man a major-general, and give him an army corps.' But let him stop there. We don't need a commander-in-chief.

" We want many armies. A grand, magnificent army is a glorious sight — the most glorious that the sun ever shone upon. Anybody can become a drilled soldier, and every officer can make drilled soldiers ; but then the next thing is to inspire them with a proper determination to die, if need be, in the performance of their duty. When this is done, an army corps is a soldier himself, instinct with life, and vigor, and determination. Then the commanding officer must have the wisdom, the discretion, and the force to compel victory to perch upon his banner. Your fortunes are to a certain extent in my keeping. 4

50 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

Rest assured that day and night I shall think of you ; day and night I :shall care for you, and your interests shall be in my thoughts. Rest assured that I shall endeavor to see that you get from the Government -all that it has promised you, punctually and systematically. In return, I shall expect from you the most complete and perfect service, the most absolute devotion. When I order you to move, I shall expect you to go forward with spirit and alacrity. When I ask you to attack yonder battery, I shall expect you to march over it, and to plant your bayonets beyond it, halting when the word is given — not before. Now, boys, we understand each other."

The report adds that —

" The General concluded his address amid the most enthusiastic cheers, after which the regiment was dismissed. Subsequently the casemates were visited, and an inspection was made of the quarters and of the well-ordered hospital under the charge of Dr. Mulford, With all that he saw the General expressed his gratification, and in private conversation complimented the Forty-eighth even more warm ly than in his public speech. A dinner at the quarters of Colonel Barton, attended by sweet music from the regimental band, and a personal introduction to the officers of the regiment, were the final features of the visit of General Mitchel to Pulaski."

Our new commander at once planned an advance, having as its final object the capture of Charleston, but initiated by an expedition to destroy the Charleston and Savannah Railroad in the vicinity of Pocotaligo and Coosawhatchie. Before the expedition was ready to start, however, General Mitchel was taken down with yellow-fever. He was re moved from Hilton Head to the more healthful locality of Beaufort ; and there, in the parlors of a fine mansion in that deserted town, on the 3<Dth of October, he died. While he was ill a request came to Fort Pulaski that Chaplain Strick land of the Forty-eighth should visit him. To visit a man sick with yellow-fever was not a coveted duty in those days, and a consultation was held in the fort as to whether the chaplain ought to go. The noble man cut it short by say ing, " If I knew I would get my death, I would go ;" and he did go, and took with him to the bedside of the dying

. t FORT PULASKI. 51

soldier such comforts as a faithful Christian minister can render. Happily he escaped the disease ; perhaps God cares for His workmen when they are at His work. Chaplain Strickland was not destined to die till twenty-two years afterward, — in July, 1884, — at Ocean Grove, N. J., when it was the writer's privilege to speak at his funeral.

General Brannan, who was next in command to General MitcheJ, perfected the arrangements for the expedition during the commanding-general's sickness. He gathered an effective force of between four and five thousand men, on transports, and, accompanied by gunboats, moved up

THE PLANTER.

the Broad River and Bee's Creek, and, landing his forces at Mackey's Point, pushed on some miles in the direction of Pocotaligo. A detachment of three hundred men of the Forty-eighth Regiment and fifty of the Third Rhode Island Artillery had embarked at Fort Pulaski on the steamer Planter, on the 2ist, under Colonel Barton, and accompanied the expedition. We did not land, however, with the main body of troops at Mackey's Point, but proceeded farther up the river for the purpose of cutting the railroad some miles south of Pocotaligo, and hindering the arrival of reinforce ments from Savannah.

»• We were accompanied up the Coosawhatchie River by the gunboats Patroon and Uncas [or Marble/lead^, until

52 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y, S. VOLS.

they got aground, and then we went on alone. The Planter (the famous boat which had been run out of Charleston Harbor by its colored pilot, Robert Small) carried an arma ment of four guns, and they would be some protection. We also got aground at Dawson's Plantation, and Colonel Barton ordered us ashore and marched us straight towards the railroad. We advanced up the narrow road through a dense forest for some two miles toward the village of Coosawhatchie. Just as we reached an open space near the village we heard the whistle of an engine. The men were quickly deployed along the bank of the railroad- Company H, who were in advance as skirmishers, on the left — and were hidden by the underbrush. The train came thundering by, — a long train, mostly of platform-cars,— heavily loaded with Confederate soldiers on their way to rein force General W. S. Walker at Pocotaligo. We were certainly not more than ten yards from the track when the train came by. At a given order we rose and fired. Some of the boys had brought along a little howitzer, which they aimed at the boiler of the engine. It was a terrible and unex pected volley which we fired into them. Their commander, Major Harrison, was killed, and some seventy of them were killed and wounded. The rest jumped from the platform- cars to the ground on the other side of the track with the greatest agility. We captured some prisoners, and one of their flags and some small-arms. The flag belonged to the " Whippy Swamp Guards."

The writer has always felt that our firing into that train was a cruel ambuscade. But such are the practices of war. The conductor of the train on that railroad (by which we visited Coosawhatchie again in the spring of '84) told us that that engine, bearing still the bullet-marks of that day, was yet in use upon the road. Coosawhatchie is now a quiet, sleepy little village, and there is nothing but the ruins of a fortification at the railroad crossing to indicate that that was in any sense an historic spot.

We were followed back to our boat, to which we retreated

FORT PULASKI. 53

through the woods, by a few cavalry, Their parting volley severely wounded Lieutenant Blanding of the Third Rhode Island Artillery, who had accompanied us. Our forces at Pocotaligo were repulsed with great loss. We had succeed ed, however, in destroying the railroad and the telegraph lines, and the three hundred men of the Forty-eighth under Colonel Barton had won the only success of our arms on that day, and had possibly saved the forces of General Brannan from destruction. Chaplain Strickland was greatly indignant at the order to retreat. He insisted that we should have marched straight on upon the " Confederacy," his zeal being greater than his discretion. As a matter of fact, only a quick retreat to our boat, before the enemy could rally from their discomfiture, and come in behind us on a cross-road, saved us all from being captured. We returned to Fort Piilaski feeling that we had won a very "little" victory. I append entire Colonel Barton's report of the affair:

" HEADQUARTERS U. S. FORCES, ON THE SAVANNAH RIVER, ) FORT PULASKI, GA., October 23, 1862. [

"CAPTAIN: I have the honor to report my share in the recent operations against the Charleston and Savannah Railroad. In accord ance with orders from General Mitchel, received on the evening of the 2oth inst., I left this Post at eight o'clock A.M. on the 2ist inst., with three hundred men of the Forty-eighth New York Volunteers and fifty men of Third Rhode Island Artillery (the latter under command of Captain John H. Gould), with three days' cooked and seven days uncooked rations, on board the armed transport Planter.

" On arriving at Hilton Head I received instructions as to my num ber in the line of the fleet, and also directions to report to Brigadier- General Brannan, who commanded the expedition on reaching Mackey's Point, for further orders. Soon after daylight on the morning of the 22d, I reported to General Brannan on board the Ben Deford, and was directed by him to proceed with my command up the Coosawhatchie River — as near to the town of that name as I might deem practicable ; and disembarking under cover of the gun-boats, which were to accom pany me, to move toward the town and, if possible, reach the Charles ton and Savannah Railroad, and destroy it at that point, and the bridge on it over the Coosawhatchie River.

54 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

" I was fully instructed, however, not to hazard too much in order to accomplish the above ; but, if opposed by a force at all superior, to fall back under cover of the fleet. There was some delay in starting, arising from the gun-boats being well to the rear, which I improved in borrowing from Commander Steedman, on board the flag-ship Paul Jones, a twelve-pound dahlgren boat-howitzer and fifty-two rounds of ammunition, which proved of great service to me, and for which I desire to return my thanks. I was also furnished, by General Bran- nan's order, with fifty men from the New York Volunteer Engineers, under command of Captain Eaton, provided with the necessary im plements for cutting the railroad, etc.

"We were soon under way, arid had proceeded some three miles up the river when the gun-boats turned around and went back, in com pliance, as I was informed, with an order from the flag-ship. I how ever continued on my course in the Planter, meanwhile signalling to the flag-officer for at least one gun-boat, in reply to which he kindly sent two, viz., the Patroon and the Marblehead, which followed after the lapse of a few minutes. The river at this point was very narrow and winding, but the water in most places was over twelve feet in depth at low-tide. I found no difficulty, therefore, in reaching a point two miles distant from Coosawhatchie ; but, it now being almost dead low-tide, further progress by water was rendered impossible by the Planter running aground. Throwing a few shells in the woods, I disembarked with my infantry and engineers as expeditiously as pos sible, taking with me the boat-howitzer (referred to above), in charge of Captain Gould, Third Rhode Island Artillery, and a detachment of twelve of his men. The swampy nature of the ground rendered land ing difficult; but, losing no time, I advanced towards the main road, sending a request to the officer in command of the Patroon — the gun boat nearest me, and about one mile and a half astern — to cover the road in my rear as I advanced. I should state here that both the gun-boats were unfortunately aground, and were thus prevented from taking a position nearer to the Planter.

" My advance reported squads of cavalry in sight as the main body entered the road, which it did at right angle to the point of disem barkation. Tfre road proved to be an excellent one — hard and firm, and evidently repaired but an hour or two before, the dirt being still fresh, and the tracks upon it showed plainly that artillery, infantry, and cavalry had just passed over it. I continued my advance toward the town, driving in the enemy's pickets and skirmishing the country as thoroughly as possible, when about one mile from the village the whistle of a locomotive was heard. I was informed by the ' contra band/ who had been furnished as a guide, that it was the ' dirt train '

FORT PULASKI. 55

which always passed at that hour, and which, he said, was well on its way to Savannah. A few moments, however, proved that he had mis informed me ; for when the main body had arrived at a point within a few hundred yards of the town, and when the skirmishers had already reached the railroad track and telegraph line, the train was heard and seen coming rapidly down the road. I quickly placed my battalion in position, and, as the train approached, I directed a heavy and rapid fire upon it with grape and canister and musketry. This fire was very destructive. The train consisted of eight cars, six of which were plat forms crowded with men, the two box-cars filled with officers. There were also two light field-pieces on board. Many were seen to fall at the first fire (among them the engineer), and twenty-five or thirty jumped from the train, most of whom were maimed or killed, the rest, with one exception, betaking themselves to the woods and swamp on the other side of the track. We carried away or destroyed here about thirty stands of arms, mostly rifles, and secured one of ficer's sword and cap and a stand of silk colors belonging to the Whippy Swamp Guards.' We left a number of the enemy's dead and wounded on the track. I have since learned, from the Savannah papers of the 24th and 25th, that among the killed at this point was Major Harrison of the Eleventh Georgia Regiment, which regiment, with the guards named above, was on the train. Immediately after the train had passed, Captain Eaton, by my direction, set vigorously to work tearing up the railroad track and demolishing the telegraph line, and continued this until the retreat was sounded. After this occurrence I concluded if possible to push rapidly into the town and attack the troops while in the confusion of disembarking, and marched forward for that purpose. I had proceeded but a short distance, how ever, before I came in full view of the enemy's forces, advantageously posted on the other side of the public-road bridge, between that and the railroad bridge ; they were flanked on their left by the river, and on the right by a thick swamp, with three pieces of artillery com manding the bridge. They immediately opened fire upon us with their artillery and infantry ; fortunately, however, for us, firing too high. I fired a few rounds in return, when, as it was now nearly night, and the enemy's reinforcements above were double my entire force, I marched slowly back to my boats. During my retreat the skirmish ers frequently observed and encountered small bodies of the enemy's cavalry, who were, however, easily driven off. I directed Captain Eaton of the engineers to destroy the bridges on the road in my rear, which he did thoroughly, thus in a measure hindering the pursuit. The enemy, however, made his appearance and attacked us with infan try and artillery three several times during our embarkation, but on

56 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

each instance we drove them off with serious loss, as they were direct ly under the guns of the Planter and Patroon.

" As soon as the steamer again floated we returned to Mackey's Point, by order of General Brannan, and thence, byway of Hilton Head, to this Post.

" I regret to report that, during the last attack of the enemy, Lieu tenant J. B. Blanding, Third Rhode Island Artillery, at that time in charge of the Planter s guns, was dangerously wounded in the left arm and side; he is now, however, doing well. This was the only casualty on our side during the day.

" It affords me great pleasure to state that every officer and man of my command behaved, during the entire day, in the most commend able manner, evincing only a desire to meet the enemy, and regret at the necessity of retreat.

" Major Green, Acting Lieutenant-Colonel Forty-eighth New York Volunteers, and Captain Strickland, Acting Major do., were especially useful.

" Captain Gould, Third Rhode Island Artillery, also rendered me most efficient service, as did also Captain Eaton, Serrels' Volunteer Engineers, all of whom displayed the utmost zeal, energy, and ability in all they were called upon to perform.

" I have the honor to be, Captain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,

"W. B. BARTON,

" Colonel Forty-eighth New York State Volunteers,

Commanding Post.

" CAPTAIN LAMBERT, Assistant Adjutant- General"

Many personal adventures might be added, while we re mained in Fort Pulaski, did space permit. For instance, the unique experience of a boat's crew of five men, under the command of Lieutenant Perry, who on September 27, 1862, were sent up the river with dispatches under a flag of truce, and who undertook to row past the pickets and take a look at the rebel ram that was being built at Savannah. The fire from the rifles of the pickets did not stop them, but a shot from Fort Jackson did. They were held as prisoners for three days, and then they were let go. Foley, who was one of the crew, and who has told the writer of the adventure, says that the reason the rebels let them go, he suspects, was because they were such a " lively crowd." They

FORT PULASKL 57

did not esteem themselves as the most " shining lights" of " Perry's Saints." Their names were: Lieutenant Perry; Privates Luyster of Company H, Smith of C, McGinniss and Foley of F, and Moon of D.

General Hunter again assumed command of the De partment after the lamented death of General Mitchel, and life at Fort Pulaski resumed with us its monotony. Our duties were all routine. Many sports, however, were en gaged in to while away the time, and all will recall the fish ing for sheep's-head, the duck-shooting in Calabogue Sound, the rowing, base-ball, and other sports. Our baseball nine was a fine success. In games with picked nines from other regiments it generally won the laurels. In a game with the nine of the Forty-seventh New York, played at Fort Pulaski, January 3, 1863, it won by a score of twenty to seven. But the great source of amusement was the theatre. It may be doubted if anything (in that line) was as fine in the war as the three theatres which were erected respectively at Fort Pulaski, Ga., at St. Augustine, Fla., and at Hilton Head, S. C., by the Forty-eighth Regiment, where entertainments of a not unpretentious class were given by the actors and actresses of the " Barton Dramatic Association." It so hap pened that there were in the Forty-eighth several profes sional actors, and especially one scenic artist. Major Barrett, who was its president, has furnished from memory a list of the members of the Association, and a sketch of its career :

James A. Barrett, President.

Robert Dixon, Stage Manager and Tragedy.

James White, Heavy Tragedy.

C. L. Harrison, Scenic Artist and Costumer.

A. J. DeHaven, Property Man and Comedian.

William H. Owen, James Barnes, Joseph Murphy, John Dupree, Comedy and Song.

E. J. Barney, Thomas B. Wood, James S. Wyckoff, J. L. Michaels, Walking Gentlemen.

Lewis W. Burr, Abraham J. Palmer, Leading Ladies.

Vitruvious Witcomb, Old Lady.

N. W. Pease, John Stewart, Chambermaids.

The Regimental Band, Orchestra.

58 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. F. S. VOLS.

Colonel Barton gave us permission to use an out-building, 25x70, for the purpose, and detailed all the mechanics that were needed to do the work ; and in a very short time, con sidering their facilities, they had erected a very well-equipped and attractive little theatre near the north dock, with a stage at one end, private boxes, orchestra, side-scenes (parlor, kitchen, and street), and a drop-curtain on which was painted a picture of the bombardment of the fort. They sent to New York for canvas, paint, costumes, lamps, a printing- press, and books of plays, and improvised a chandelier and foot-lights out of old tin-cans. The theatre seated about one hundred persons. On the opening night an address was delivered by Corporal Michaels, followed by the farce " Family Jars ;" that by " The Flea,"- by Owens of Company H; then an exhibition of light balancing, by De Haven; then the first act of the tragedy of Richard III.; a song by Dick- son ; and the whole concluded with a tableau of Washing ton's grave. It was a fine success. At first we played simple comedy, such as " Box and Cox," " The Secret, or a Hole in the Wall," " Rough Diamond," and the like ; but the dra matic element soon asserted itself and ventured upon three acts of "Othello," against the judgment of most of the officers, who said that they did not care to hear such a piece " mur dered." The company felt that their reputation was at stake, but with White as Othello, Dickson as lago, Burr as Desdemona, and Palmer as EmiHa, the play was pronounced a great success by the few officers who had consented to witness it, and a loud call was made for the production of the whole play in five acts. .This was done and received with great applause. From that time our reputation was established, and the fame of the " Barton Dramatic Associa tion" soon spread throughout the Department. Major Bar rett writes, " Our two leading ladies were said to be the hand somest women in the Department" The regular play-nights were Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays ; but the fort soon became a popular resort for visitors, and we were often called on to give special entertainments for the benefit of guests.

FORT PULASKI. 59.

On the night before the expedition started for Bluffton, the writer played Trudgeon in the " Ghost on the Wall," and captivating the heart of the captain of the transport on which we embarked that night, shared his hospitality during the expedition. In this way incidental benefits came to the actors.

In June, 1863, we closed our little theatre, and in the raz/ tragedy in which we participated on Morris Island, the tragedies we played \vtrt soon forgotten. Subsequently the fixtures of the theatre were transferred to St. Augustine, Fla., when the remnant of the regiment was stationed there after the fatal losses of Fort Wagner. At a later period they built another theatre, 4OX 100, at Hilton Head, where they played to crowded houses of citizens and soldiers, until marching orders sent them once more to the front. The " Barton Dramatic Association" has long been a story of the past, but its memories are pleasant still to all who participated in its pleasures.

Many amusing things occurred at Fort Pulaski, like the adventure of Lieutenant Edwards of Company C (an ex cellent officer but a strict disciplinarian), who had announced to his company that while upon drill, under no circumstances whatever should there be any talking in the ranks, and threatened to punish the first man who should speak a word. Then he proceeded with the drill of his 'company, giving his orders, "forward," " guide right," "left wheel," and so on until the company was facing the stairway that leads to the parapet of the fort, in front of which was an old well, with out any covering, and half-full of water, towards which the lieutenant was walking backwards, saying " left," " left," "left," until suddenly he reached the well and went into it. When he succeeded in pulling himself out, thoroughly wet and mad, he upbraided the company for not warning him of his danger, and was reminded of his order not to speak under any circumstance. He joined heartily in the joke after he had changed his clothing. More ludicrous still was the un happy wording of an order of Major Beard's, which was

60 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

read at parade one night. Some member of the regiment had recently died, and in announcing his death the Adjutant read as follows: " The God of battles will give him a patriot's reward, by order of O. T. Beard, Major Commanding"

But there never was a day of sport in the history of the re giment to be compared with that of Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, 1862. Three steamboats loaded with guests, including •Generals Brannan and Terry, arrived from Hilton Head. We had a sermon by the chaplain in the morning. There was target-shooting, boat-racing, foot-racing, climbing of the greased pole, catching of the greased pig, wheelbarrow races, ludicrous efforts of negroes to pick a gold coin out of a tub •of flour with their teeth, sack-races, hurdle-races, and finally .a grotesque dress-parade, and a great supper, and in every .sense a high day. I append a copy of the programme:

PROGRAMME.

Divine Service at nine o'clock A.M. The Entertainment to com- imence with —

I. TARGET PRACTICE.

Three competitors from each Company. Distance, 200 yards. Best :string in three shots each. First prize — gold medal, valued at $25. .Second prize — silver medal, valued at $15. Third prize — bronze .medal, valued at $10.

II. ROWING MATCH.

Distance, one mile around a stake-boat and return. First prize — -purse of $10. Second prize— purse of $5. Third prize — purse of $2.50.

III. FOOT-RACE.

Three times round terre-plein, and over twelve hurdles three feet "high. First prize — purse of $10. Second prize — purse of $5. Third prize— purse of $2.50.

IV. HURDLE SACK-RACE.

One hundred yards and return ; over three hurdles fifty yards apart and eighteen inches high. First prize — purse of $10. Second prize — purse of $5.

V. WHEELBARROW RACE.

Competitors blindfolded, trundling a wheelbarrow once across •terre-plem. First prize — purse of $10. Second prize — purse of $5.

FORT PULASKL 6 1

•

VI. MEAL FEAT.

Exclusively for Contrabands. Hands tied behind the back, and to- seize with the teeth a $5 gold-piece dropped in a tub of meal. Six competitors, to be allowed five minutes each to accomplish the feat. Prize— $5.

VII. GREASED POLE.

Pole to be fifteen feet high. Prize — $10.

VIII. 'GREASED PIG.

To be seized and held by the tail. Three competitors from each Company. Prize — pig.

IX. BURLESQUE DRESS PARADE.

Each Company will be allowed to enter an equal number of com petitors for each prize.

The usual Dress Parade of the Garrison will take place at 4.30 P.M. Ball— 8 P.M. Supper— 12 P.M. Lunch at all hours. The Third Rhode Island Minstrel Band will play at intervals during the evening. The Band of the Forty-eighth New York Regiment will perform at inter vals during the day and evening. [J51P A steamer will leave the wharf at Hilton Head to convey guests to Fort Pulaski at nine o'clock, Thanksgiving morning.

A correspondent of the New South, from Hilton Head, gave the following account of the affair :

" The steamer Cosmopolitan left here at nine o'clock for the fort, conveying to the scene of festivity General Terry and a crowd of prominent officers, together with quite a number of ladies. The steamers Mattano and Boston followed, with guests from Beaufort, among them General Brannan and a portion of his staff. The guests were greeted at the dock with pleasant music from the excellent band of the regiment, and marched in line to the fort, which fired a salute of thirteen guns in honor of the Generals as the procession entered. The interior was neatly decorated with greens, arranged in circles, stars, and festoons, and presented a very pretty appearance. The guests were received by Mrs. Barton, the amiable lady of the Colonel, whose presence greatly enhanced the charm of the occasion, and to whom, with the other ladies residing at the fort, is due in a great measure the completeness of the arrangements. The games took place upon the terre-plein, and were observed by the guests from the ramparts, which afforded a full and complete view of everything which

•62 FORTY-EIGH7^H REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

transpired. The scene was very striking; the massive wall surround ing the space recalling to mind the ancient arena of Rome, the theatre of the bloody combats of the gladiators. It would take too much space to dwell at length upon the details of this part of the entertain ment ; we shall therefore merely notice the more interesting and amusing features. The games inside the fort commenced with the foot-race, which was watched with great interest, and the fortunate victors rewarded with the several prizes and enthusiastic applause. Next in order came the hurdle sack-race, which created intense mer riment. Half a dozen competitors were tied in sacks with nothing but the head visible, and with their pedal extremities thus trammelled they were required to run a race and jump over two hurdles. The absurd method of locomotion, and the utter helplessness of those who were so unfortunate as to lose their balance and tumble over, elicited shouts of laughter. The wheelbarrow feat also resulted in very laugh able blunders. The competitors for the prize were all blindfolded and placed directly in a line with a certain point, the one coming nearest to the goal being the victor. The fun of the affair consisted in their deviation at every imaginable angle from a straight line, soberly trotting along with the barrows, under the pleasing impression that they were making straight for the goal ; of course the man who was farthest away was greeted with shouts of derisive applause and in cited to further efforts by assurances of victory. The meal feat was perhaps the most ludicrous feature of .the whole. The hands of the negroes competing for the prize were tied behind them, and they were required to take a five-dollar gold-piece from a tub of meal with the mouth. The ludicrous appearance of the contraband's head when it emerged from the meal-tub can be more easily imagined than described. They were very earnest in their search, and it was amusing to see the anxious looks of those standing by lest the one with his head buried in the meal should be successful, and they cheated of their turn. The third one succeeded in obtaining the prize, and was so elated with his success that he was led into a saltatory manifestation of the exuberance of his joy and capered round the tub of meal in real George Christy style. The burlesque dress-parade, which was got up entirely by the privates, and carried out exceedingly well, was a good termination to the comic features of the programme. The uniforms were grotesque in the extreme, while the orders and manoeuvres of the battalion were both original and ridiculous. The occasion was taken advantage of by the men to make some good-natured hits at the officers in the general orders, which, notwithstanding their local character, seemed to be caught and appreciated by all. The games went off with eclat, and -afforded a great deal of amusement. A bountiful lunch was provided

FORT PUI.ASKI. 63

and partaken -of by all during their progress. Generals Brannan and Terry both left early in the evening, and with them many officers and several ladies; still there were many left who incoherently expressed a determination to see it out and ' not go home till morning, till day light did appear,'

" In the evening the steamer Flora arrived from Beaufort, bringing General Saxton and a bevy of ladies in time to take part in the ball, which began at eight o'clock. Three casemates connecting by door ways formed the ball-room, which was handsomely decorated with festoons of evergreens and bunting. The regimental and guard colors were also tastefully distributed around the walls. Excellent music was furnished by the band of the Forty-eighth, and the dancing con tinued till eleven o'clock, when the guests were ushered into the supper-room, a tent one hundred and sixty feet long, the interior of which was beautifully adorned with evergreens and palmetto leaves. The table was really magnificent ; bouquets of flowers in profusion set it off, and produced a very beautiful effect. Considering the limited facilities at command, we are astonished at the completeness of the arrangements and the excellence of the supper provided. The whole affair reflects great credit upon the officers of the regiment, and especially upon the committees who had it in charge. Colonel Barton and Major Green were both assiduous in their attentions to the guests, as, indeed, were all the officers of the garrison. General Saxton and his party left at midnight, to return to Beaufort, on the steamer Flora, but many still lingered, and the festivities were kept up till dawn. We must not forget to mention the Rhode Island Minstrel Band, which played at intervals during the evening. Their performances, which took place in the quarters of Company G, Third Rhode Island Regi ment, were very good, and witnessed by a crowded audience.

" The old walls of Fort Pulaski echoed the sounds of mirth till morning. Never before, we venture to say, did they frown upon so much conviviality and good-cheer; and we have no doubt that should Beauregard with his ram attempt to visit our generous hosts of the fort, he will meet with a reception, if not of the same kind, at least as warm as that extended to their guests on Thanksgiving Day. We are sorry to say that the enjoyment of the occasion was somewhat marred by the long and tedious delay in getting off the next day. The steamer which ought to have left for Hilton Head early in the morning was delayed until afternoon, and colonels, lieutenant-colonels, majors, and officers of every grade, who were all anxious to return to their posts, were subjected to an unnecessary delay of more than half a day.

" The names of some of the victors in the games are as follows : In target practice, John Scanlon, Company A, won the first prize — a gold

64 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

medal valued at $25. In the rowing match, Company F won the first prize, $10 ; C the second prize, $5 ; and B the third prize, $2.50. In the foot race, Charles McCreaf, Company D, first prize, $10; Isaac Cahart, Company H, second prize, $5 ; Edward Lawrence, Company A, third prize, $2.50. In the hurdle sack-race, Patrick Shanley, Com pany G, first prize, $10; James Beith, Company C, second prize, $5. In the wheelbarrow race, John Mclntyre, Company G, first prize, $10;: Patrick Brady, Company A, second prize, $5. In the meal feat, Sam Pope was the fortunate contraband."

The reperusal of the above will recall to the participants the pleasures of that Thanksgiving Day better than any attempted description from memory after the lapse of three and twenty years. It was the most memorable day of festivity in our entire career.

As the writer — on the visit in the spring of 1884, already referred to — re-entered the fort, through the sally-port, past the moats, now filled with mud and grown up with rank grasses, and stood once more on the old terre-plein, memory recalled the scenes of that happy Thanksgiving Day. But the casemates were empty, the water-condenser rusted, the terre-plein itself full of holes filled with stagnant water, the wooden doors rotted, and the whole noble fort far advanced in decay. He thought of the thousand men who once thronged its walls, many of whom had been long dead, and the survivors far scattered. A single sergeant and his wife constitute the garrison. A brood of chickens now pick the grasses on the ramparts where heroes once stood. The silence, the crumbling walls, the dismounted and rusted cannon, and the sight of Pulaski in ruins saddened us.

On December 24, 1862, Lieut.-Colonel Beard resigned. He had been long absent from the regiment upon special duty. His achievements at Wall's Cut and elsewhere had, however, reflected credit upon the regiment. On February 6th Chaplain Strickland left us. He was held in high esteem as a brave and faithful chaplain, and his departure was greatly regretted. A sketch of his connection with the regiment from his own pen, written just before his death in 1884, will

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FORT PULASKI, 65

be found in a later chapter. On February 9th the regiment was inspected by General E. D. Townsend, Adjutant-General U.S. A., and Lieutenant-Colonel Green, Assistant Inspector- General. Both complimented our drill in the most flattering terms. A flag of truce was frequently interchanged between Fort Pulaski and Savannah ; and indeed the correspondence with the Confederates by flag of truce was usually conducted from the fort. In the spring of 1863 the policy of enlisting regiments of colored soldiers was inaugurated in the Depart ment, and certain of our officers and non-commissioned officers were tendered promotion in those regiments. Lieu tenant B. R.Corwin obtained the position of Major in one of them. In many cases, however, the promotion was declined, the men preferring to stay with their old comrades. About this time also there were indications of a new and more serious attempt to capture the city of Charleston. The attack of the iron-clad fleet upon Fort Sumter on April the Qth was unsuccessful; but rumors were in the air that the attempt would not end with that failure. So drew to an end our long imprisonment on garrison duty at Fort Pulaski. Many personal incidents might be recorded, of special interest, however, only to the few, and each of the comrades who reads this history must add from his own memory those that were most interesting to himself. Many mutual exchanges of hospitality occurred among the officers,. and many friend ships and some antipathies perhaps were formed. Few of those things were known, however, to the unpretentious private soldier who has come to be the present historian. On one occasion the Confederate steamer General Lee came down from Savannah under a flag of truce and attempted to go back without orders. She was fired upon by the fort, but was out of range, so the little tug-boat was sent in per- suit of her. We watched the race of the two boats up the river, but the tug was far the faster and soon overtook the General Lee. Two or three shots from the howitzer brought her to terms, and the little tug towed her prize down the river in triumph. Her crew were taken prisoners. One day 5

66

FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

the crew of a picket-boat came down to the fort, bringing their officer with them an involuntary prisoner, and com pelling him to even steer the boat ; they brought also four English carbine rifles, one of which the Colonel gave to his orderly, who carried it from that day until that fatal night at Fort Wagner. Expeditions of a minor order were con stantly being made all through those months up and down the Savannah River, and through the little creeks that were on every side of us ; but the expeditions to Bluffton and to Coosawhatchie were the chief ones that signalized our days

MARTELLO TOWER, TYBEE ISLAND

in Fort Pulaski. We ought to add a few words at least concerning Tybee Island. One company was always detailed to do picket-duty there, the companies taking turns. Their headquarters were in the old martello-tower, which stands upon almost the only solid point of the island. Its quaint walls, built of concrete and shells, were an object of great interest and curiosity to us. It was the most ancient thing in all the country round. The writer's principal memory of several visits to it was the terrible sand-flies and mosquitoes of the neighborhood. Many stories are told, such as the shooting of a wild-hog on the island by Sergeant Allen of

FORT PULASKL 6/

Company I, or the capturing of a large sea-turtle by Cor poral Twamley and two comrades (also of Company I), it requiring the strength of all three to turn the monster upon its back on the sand. The turtle filled three large camp- kettles, and was estimated to have weighed 300 pounds. Company I was on Tybee Island a long while. One night in the fall of 1862 they disabled the blockade-runner Sadowa, hailing from Nassau, firing several shots into her, and she drifted out to sea, and was subsequently captured by the gun-boat Unadilla, which took her in tow to Hilton Head. General Hunter sent a letter of congratulations to Company I ; but one of them writes, " The sailors on the Unadilla got the prize-money." To some, as many incidents perhaps are associated with Tybee Island as with the fort.

Sometimes the monotony of life was broken by the arrival of deserters and contrabands at the fort. A photographer also visited us, and all the companies, and the regiment in line of battle and by division, and the officers had their pic tures taken. We are glad to reproduce in cuts certain of these pictures. So the days went rapidly by, the nights also, unless you were on guard : then they were long enough, for nothing ever happened to break their tedious length. If you spent a wakeful night in your bunk, every hour you would hear the call go from guard to guard around the parapet, as at midnight, " Twelve o'clock and all's well." Sentry would repeat it after sentry, and when it came back to the guard-house the officer of the guard would know that all the sentinels were awake. Fort Pulaski was graced in those days by the presence of a few ladies. We recall with great pleasure Mrs. Colonel Barton, Mrs. Quartermaster Avery, Mrs. Dr. Mulford, and Mrs. Fisher. The writer would have no difficulty to add reminiscences of our life at the fort at much greater length, but perhaps enough has been already recalled. A word ought here be written, how ever, concerning our musicians, who attained the highest skill while in Fort Pulaski. We had an admirable band, whose music was our inspiration in the daily drills and

68 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

parade. Also a magnificent corps of fifers and drummers, Edward Hastings being " chief "musician," and Wm. Smith "" drum-major." We also had three buglers — Anthony Schel- lirtgs, William Andrews, and Joseph C. Hibson. All three were brave soldiers. Andrews and Hibson were both Avounded at Wagner, the latter four times. The leader of the band while we were at Fort Pulaski was William Thomas ; but afterwards, when it was reorganized at St. Augustine, 'George F. Miller became leader, and among its members 'were the following, whose names we are able to recall : Doering, Fitch, Weed, GofT, Stewart, Jones, J. A. and A. ^B. Dupree, Ivans, Shannon, Sweeney, Thompson, Monell, AVhitcomb, and " Frenchy."

They used to call themselves "big blowers," but they were also the best of fellows, as well as good soldiers ; and the splendid music they rendered enlivened many an other wise dull hour dunng that long year of life in Fort Pulaski.

I am glad to be able to close this chapter with selections from a letter which Major Barrett has recently received fiom my old friend, our " chief musician," Edward Hastings :

" NATIONAL SOLDIERS' HOME,

"MONTGOMERY COUNTY, OHIO, June 1 6, 1885.

" MY DEAR FRIEND : My recollection of many things connected with the Forty-eighth New York is very imperfect, as I gave my whole attention to my own duties as principal musician of the regimental field music. Only when in front of the enemy was I otherwise engaged, and then William Smith, the drum-major, and myself took alternate command night and day of the Stretcher Corps attached to the regi ment, and composed mostly of the bandsmen and a few detailed men, the drummers not being strong enough to carry off wounded men. Drum-major Smith was killed at Cold Harbor in June, 1864, and was buried a little in the rear of where he fell. George Rich- man (Abe Palmer's special friend and comrade), who was a drummer in D Company, but got transferred to the ranks on his re-enlistment in 1863, was also killed at Petersburg while in the advanced trenches. James Murther was also wounded, I think, at Cold Harbor or in front of Petersburg.

"The little fellow who was drummer in H Company died, I think, at St. Augustine, while you were recovering from your Fort Wagner wound.

FORT PULASKI. 69

John Stout, also of H Company, who was turned over to me as a fifer, also sickened and died. Your other drummer, Pendleton, enlisted in the Twelfth Regular Infantry after the war — Company A ; but of his subsequent career I know nothing. Most of the boys (the drummers I mean) were in New York and Brooklyn when I was living with you ; but I never saw any of them to my recollection. Dave Johnson was killed by an accident in Hudson Avenue, where he lived. George Shannon, of E Company, who was subsequently Acting-Quartermaster- Sergeant while we were at Raleigh, N. C., when I last heard of him, in 1867, was living with his father, a hatter, in Hudson Street, New York. Bennett, Raymond, Raynor, Morgan, Beith, were all living at the same the time in Brooklyn ; but I know nothing of their subsequent life.

" Stephenson, who succeeded Drum-major Smith, was discharged with the regiment at the same time as myself. He joined the regular army some time after ; but I never heard anything more about him. Of the fifers Le Moine, Tom Bennett, and Andy Thompson, I know only that the first was reported as being poisoned from drinking whiskey. Bennett went to California as fifer in the Seventeenth Regular, and Thompson was living in Newark or Jersey City with his family, whom he had left when he enlisted. . . .

" I wish I could remember anything more worthy of writing; but I can't, unless perhaps questions should revive recollections, which is just possible. EDWARD HASTINGS,

" Late Principal Musician Forty-eighth Regiment N. Y. Volunteers"

CHAPTER V. Morris Island— June i to July 17, 1863.

General Gillmore succeeds General Hunter — The Department of the South — Operations against Charleston — Admiral Dahlgren succeeds Admiral Dupont — General George C. Strong — The "Fighting Brigade"— June 19, leave Fort Pulaski — Companies G and I Remain — At St. Helena Island — Folly Island — Batteries — The Flotilla — Lighthouse Inlet — July 10, the Assault on Morris Island — Death of Captain Lent — The Run up the Beach — The Fatal Halt — Casualties — July n, Assault on Fort Wagner by Seventh Connecticut, Ninth Maine, and Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania — Their Repulse — Confederate Accounts of It — Building Batteries — A Confederate Sortie — Companies C and D in the Trenches — Lieutenant Tantum and the Rebel — Wilgus.

TN the early summer of 1863 the National Administration determined upon a vigorous attempt to take the city of Charleston.

The attack of the ironclads under Admiral Dupont had been unsuccessful, and the Admiral did not seem very sanguine of another attempt. Thereupon the Government removed him from the command of the fleet, and ordered Admiral Foote to succeed him, Admiral Foote died, how ever, a few days afterwards, while on his way to his new post of duty, and Admiral Dahlgren became the new com mander of the South Atlantic Squadron.

At the same time General David Hunter was succeeded in command of the land forces by General Quincy A. Gill- more.

The new General and the new Admiral were to co-operate.

The soldiers in the Department of the South knew now that their hour had come, and they welcomed General Gill- more heartily, and anticipated the coming campaigns with great joy. All felt that there might be serious fighting, but

MORRIS ISLAND. 71

no one then conceived that we were about to enter upon the most fatal and the most fruitless campaign of the entire war.

General Gillmore seems not to have been reluctant to un dertake the work of the capture of Charleston, if we may

GENERAL GILLMORE.

•

judge by the following letter, which is supposed to have been influential in securing him the command :

" NEW YORK, May 23, 1863. " General G. W. CULLUM, Chief of Staff, to the General-in-Chief.

" GENERAL : It has come to my knowledge that my name has been mentioned to the Secretary of War in connection with the reduction of the forts in Charleston Harbor, and it has been urgently suggested to place me in a position where I could direct and control the operations of the land forces against that place. Two or three communications from prominent men here have been sent to the Secretary.

" It is not necessary to inform you, who are so well acquainted with me, that I am not in the habit of pushing myself forward or thrusting my professional opinion unasked upon the notice of those in author ity. In my daily intercourse with gentlemen of my acquaintance I am, however, always free to answer questions; and I have at- sundry times and in sundry places expressed the opinion that the forts in Charleston Harbor could be reduced by the means (naval and military combined) now available in the Department of the South, increased

72 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

by a suitable number of the best heavy rifled guns, provided these have not been sent there since I left the Department one year ago.

" I have also said that I am willing to risk my own reputation upon the attempt, as I did at Pulaski, provided I could be allowed the un trammelled execution of my own plans (as at Pulaski), except so far as; they involve co-operation from the navy.

" You are at liberty to show this letter to the General-in-Chief or any one else.

" I expect to remain here until the evening of the 27th instant, and then go directly to Cincinnati.

" Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

" Q. A. GILLMORE, Brigadier-General."

It is asserted that General Gillmore was selected for the- position because of his superior skill as an engineer, and that the new movement against Charleston was at the sug-

ADMIRAL DAHLGREN.

gestion of the Hon. Horace Greeley. Whereupon General Hunter, smarting under his removal from his command, ad1- dressed an angry letter to the famous editor of the New York Tribune, In which he reminded him of his former out cry "On to Richmond " — "in which," wrote the irate Gen eral, " you wasted much ink, and other men shed some blood."" On June 3d the orders were issued for General Gillmore to

MORRIS ISLAND. 73.

succeed General Hunter, and on June I2th Gillmore reached Hilton Head, and immediately assumed command. We had had some acquaintance with him during the operations on Dawfuskie Island in the siege of Fort Pulaski, but he was now to become our immediate commander, under whom we were destined to march on many long campaigns and to pass through many fiery battles. Gillmore found in the Department of the South nearly 18,000 troops of the finest quality ; for they were veterans, having been two years in the service, and they were volunteers who had rushed to arms in the summer of 1^861, at the President's first call for men. They were, therefore, the best blood of the Repub lic, and their long service had given them every advantage

OBSTRUCTIONS IN CHARLESTON HARBOR.

of discipline and drill. True they had had little experience in battle, but they had been strangely prepared by the years of training and inaction for the desperate work that now awaited them. Although the Department of the South did not extend far into the interior, it ran a long way parallel with the coast, and Gillmore was required to picket a line 250 miles in length, besides garrisoning forts and posts at various places. He was only able, therefore, to concen trate about 11,000 troops for his immediate operations against Charleston. He had, however, 80 guns of the heavi est calibre, and was supplied with materials for carrying on a siege possibly superior to those which any General had ever before possessed in all the history of war.

General Gillmore's plan of operations, briefly stated, was.::

74 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y, S. VOLS.

" First. Make a descent upon and take possession of the south end of Morris Island.

" Second. To lay siege to and reduce Battery Wagner, a strong earthwork near the north end of the island and about 2600 yards from Fort Sumter. The reduction of Battery Wagner would necessitate the fall of Battery Gregg on Cumming's Point.

" Third. From the positions thus secured to demolish Fort Sumter, and co-operate with the navy in a heavy artillery fire when it should be ready to move forward.

" Fourth. The iron-clad fleet to remove the channel obstructions, run by the batteries on Sullivan and James Islands, reach the city, and compel its surrender."

The army was to take the lead in all but the fourth of these distinct operations.

Of the several plans for operations against Charleston which were practicable,' that by James Island had been feebly tried at Secessionville in June, 1862, and had failed. Moreover, the navy could render but little assistance.

Also the plan of forcing an entrancein to Charleston Har bor by the fleet had been attempted and had failed on April 7, 1863.

The plan that was adopted — by way of Morris Island — had the two advantages : it had never been tried, and co operation of army and navy was practicable. Therefore it was adopted — unhappily, we might add, for it proved in many respects disastrous; but it is far easier to criticise campaigns when you are writing after the event than to an ticipate all difficulties beforehand.

There were certain other advantages which the Morris Island plan possessed.

Our forces were already in possession of Folly Island. To cross over Lighthouse Inlet and secure the lower end of Morris Island was believed to be practicable, and it proved to be.

Moreover, the fleet had always a safe harbor close at hand, — in North Edisto Inlet, — which was no slight consid eration, as the monitors were not supposed to ride safely in stormy waters.

MORRIS ISLAND. 75

The mistakes were (as are now apparent) that the posses sion of Morris Island would decide the fate of Charleston, and that Fort Sumter would capitulate, as Fort Pulaski had done when breached by our guns.

Another has truly written that —

" Fort Sumter was regarded as the chief obstacle in the way of the navy in any attempt which it might make to enter the harbor. If that fort could be reduced, or its defensive power destroyed, the fleet, it was argued, could readily remove the obstructions, force an en trance into the harbor, and compel the surrender of the city, when the evacuation of the harbor defences would necessarily follow. It was admitted that the navy alone could not capture Sumter, or even so cripple it as to render it harmless. That must be done by the com bined land and naval forces, and General Gillmore had been selected to command the Department of the South and Admiral Dahlgren the South Atlantic Squadron, for the express purpose of carrying into execution the plan of operations which the former had proposed for the reduction of Fort Sumter and then the capture of Charleston."

It will now be necessary, in order that the reader may un derstand the operations about to be described, that some description of the locality, soon to be so familiar, should be given. I gladly avail myself of an article by General Samuel Jones of the Confederate army, which is at hand :

" The city of Charleston is at the extremity of the narrow peninsula between the Cooper and Ashley rivers. James Island, to the south and east, is separated from the city by Ashley River, and from St. John's Island, to the south and west, by the Stono River. In greatest extent from north to south it is about nine miles, and from east to west about seven miles. On its sea front it is bordered by a narrow sand-bank extending from the entrance to Charleston Harbor to Stono Inlet, about eleven miles in length. About three and three quarters miles from the northern extremity this bank has been cut through by the waters of the ocean, thus dividing it into two islands. The northern part is Morris Island, the southern Folly Island. The channel between them is called Lighthouse Inlet. These islands are separated from the firm land of James Island by Folly River and Creek, Vincent's Creek, and impassable marshes, which are subject to overflow by very high tides, and are intersected by numerous tortuous, narrow, but deep streams.

76 , FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

" The northern extremity of Morris Island, which is called Cum- ming's Point, and Sullivan's Island to the northeast, border the en trance to Charleston Harbor. Fort Moultrie is near the western end of Sullivan's Island and distant twenty-seven hundred yards from Cumming's Point, on which the Confederates had constructed a work called Battery Gregg. Fort Sumter was a brick work of three tiers of guns, built on an artificial island or foundation south of the channel, nearly midway between Sullivan's and James Islands, about 1760 yards from Fort Moultrie on the former, 1980 yards from Fort John son on the latter, 1390 yards from Cumming's Point, and three and a half miles from the city of Charleston.

" About 1300 yards from Cumming's Point, at a very narrow part of Morris Island, was an earthwork of considerable development and strength called Battery Wagner, which extended from the beach on the east to Vincent Creek on the west, presenting to the southward a front of about 275 yards.

"The island is wider in its southern than in its northern part, the southern extremity on Lighthouse Inlet being about one thousand yards in width. Its surface is irregular and broken by sand ridges, form ing at many points secure shelter for troops. It has an area of about four hundred acres, its middle point is five and three eighths of a mile from the nearest point of Charleston, and the main channel into the harbor is parallel to and at about an average distance of twelve hundred yards from it.

"This small sand island has been thus minutely and tediously de scribed, because it was destined to be the camp home for nearly two years of many thousands of men ; it was to become famous as the scene of a siege which will be memorable in military history and one of the most formidable bombardments of which there is any record, the scene of great labor and exposure, much desperate fighting, of sickness and death in all the frightful forms incident to war and to wasting fevers."

A further and more minute description of the portions of the island where we operated will be given as the account- proceeds, but the above, with the help of a good map,* should give the intelligent reader a satisfactory conception of the locality.

To Brigadier-General George C. Strong, a young man but a gallant soldier, who had already " won his spurs" in the war, there was intrusted the delicate task of selecting a

* See Map, page 79.

MORRIS ISLAND.

77

picked brigade of six regiments out of the entire depart ment, with which he was to make the desperate assaults that Gillmore knew would have to be made at the capture of Morris Island. Not more than one brigade of troops •could be handled in such narrow quarters: it was therefore necessary that the brigade should consist of the very best soldiers. General Strong finally selected the following six regiments : Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania, Sixth and Seventh Connecticut, Forty-eighth New York, Third New Hamp shire, and Ninth Maine. They were known in the Depart ment, as they are destined to be known in history, as

GENERAL STRONG. (From *' HARPER'S PICTORIAL HISTORY OF THE REBELLION.")

" Strong's Fighting Brigade." It was esteemed a high honor to be one of the picked regiments, but it was an honor that cost many brave fellows their lives. The brigade won its fame in a single month of time, during which it fought three famous battles, and suffered losses not else where equalled among the same number of men in the whole history of the war. Its brave and honored commander fell at its head on the fiery parapets of Wagner. It was destined for immolation and immortality. On June iSth General Gillmore came to Fort Pulaski, and on the evening of that day a telegraphic dispatch was received by the submarine cable, ordering eight companies of the regiment to prepare

78 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

cooked rations and be ready for embarkation in the morn ing. As may be imagined, great excitement prevailed in the fort at the receipt at last of marching orders. We had been chosen as one of the " picked " regiments. We were in high spirits at that, and because our long and monotonous life on garrison duty was at an end, and at last we were to meet the enemy in battle. We little knew what desperate work was before us, nor could we anticipate how cruel and how fatal it was to be. Two companies were to be left be hind, for the garrison of the fort and for picket duty on Tybee Island ; the companies selected were G and I. They remained with* great reluctance, yet they escaped entirely the perils of the 'fatal campaign on Morris Island. Rations were hastily cooked, and next day we left our old quarters in the casemates, which had been our home for a whole year, and embarking on the steamer Ben De Ford, anchored off Tybee Island for the night, and on the next day, June 20,. landed at St. Helena Island — where the brigade was to ren dezvous — and went into camp.

The next two weeks were spent in brigade drill and organization. We liked our brilliant brigade-commander,. General Strong, the more we saw of him, and we formed a high opinion also of the quality of the regiments with which we were associated.

We missed the Forty-seventh New York, but for the Sixth and Seventh Connecticut especially we had a deservedly high respect. On July 4th we left St. Helena Island by ship, and landed on Folly Island.

General Vogdes had been in possession of Folly Island since the preceding April, had cut roads through its im penetrable jungles, erected batteries at the various points, and kept the island thoroughly picketed throughout. Folly Island is about seven miles in length, and not over a mile in width at its broadest point. On the west it is separated from James Island by Folly River and a succes sion of marshes; on the east it is bordered by the sea; Lighthouse Inlet on the north separates it from Morris

M OX HIS ISLAND.

79

Island. The inlet is about six hundred yards in width. The whole surface of the island was a mass of thorns and briars ; but we cleared a place among them as best we could and went into camp. General Vogdes had succeeded in erecting batteries unobserved by the enemy on the north end of the island, or more properly on Little Folly Island, which easily commanded the enemy's works on the south end of Morris

SIEGE OF CHARLESTON.

Island. They were designed to cover the passage of the troops over Lighthouse Inlet, when they should attempt to carry Morris Island by assault. The batteries were so com pletely masked by thick forests of pine and palmetto, that their very existence was absolutely unknown to the enemy. They were made of sand and marsh sod, embrasured and redetted, with magazines and bomb and splinter proofs, and in twenty days after they were begun Gillmore had forty- eight heavy guns in position upon them. The plan of at-

SO FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

tack was as follows: " Strong's Fighting Brigade" was to be embarked in launches in the night, and at the signal of the first gun from the batteries, in the early morning, was to row across Lighthouse Inlet, land in the surf on Morris Island, and carry the island by assault. It was a bold pro ject, exposing the men to great danger, liable to many con tingencies which might thwart it, but it was deemed the most practicable plan by which Morris Island could be taken. The Confederate fortifications on Morris Island at that time consisted of eight one-gun batteries and two mor tar batteries — one for two mortars, the other for one. All Avere detached and stretched along the sand ridge, designed

BOMB AND SPLINTER PROOF.

to protect the beach, and they were incomplete. Rifle-pits or infantry epaulements were also made, extending westward towards Oyster Point. According to the account of General Beauregard, they were manned as follows: 612 infantry, 289 artillerists, 261 cavalry — a total of 1162 men. The part of Strong's brigade which was to assail them numbered be tween two and three thousand.

To divert the attention of the enemy from Morris to James Island, General A. H. Terry with some three thou sand troops, was now sent up the Stono, landed on James Island and made a feint against the enemy there, but it is doubtful if that had any effect to withdraw troops from Morris Island.

MORRIS ISLAND, 8 1

Everything *as supposed to be in readiness for the as sault, on the night of July 8th, and we were marched to the place of embarkation ; but for some reason there was a delay of twenty-four hours, and we returned to our camp wearied with a long tramp through the sand and underbrush of Folly Island. At three o'clock the next afternoon (July Qth) the brigade again assembled and marched to the place on Folly River, where the boats were in waiting for us. Owing to the insufficient number of launches, after the Third New Hampshire, Sixth and Seventh Connecticut, Ninth Maine, and Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania, and a battalion of sharp shooters had embarked, there was only room in the boats •for four companies of the Forty-eighth Regiment. These were companies A, C, D, and F, under the immediate com mand of Lieutenant-Colonel James M. Green. The other battalion of the regiment, under Colonel Barton, marched to the north end of the island in the rear of our batteries, and awaited the return of the boats the next morning. Si lently, in the stillness of the night, Strong's brigade, packed closely in the boats and escorted by four howitzer launches manned by sailors, rowed up the Folly River and Creek to the entrance to Lighthouse Inlet, and halted. We were thoroughly masked by tall marsh-grass, and so noiselessly did the little flotilla move, that we were unheard and unob served by the enemy. There we rested on our oars the whole night through, awaiting the signal to advance, fearful every moment that we would be discovered by the sentinels on the Confederate works, which frowned upon us from across the inlet. No one who remembers his sensations that night will ever forget them : the sailors who rowed the boats seemed tranquil enough, being more at home on the water, but the soldiers preferred to have terra firma under them when they fought ; the anticipation of having the boat you are in blown to pieces by a shell, and yourself, loaded down with cartridge-box and accoutrements, precipi tated into the water and drowned, was not exhilarating. To face the perils of the water as well as the perils of bat- 6

82 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS,

teries in front, and to anticipate it a long night through, put the courage of the men to a strain, but did not break it, A perfect silence reigned all about us that night ; the screech ing of a sea-fowl as it flew over our heads, the breaking of a twig by some careless foot on the shore, the gentle swash of the sea against the sides of the boats and the beating of our own hearts, were all the sounds we heard. Hours passed, and not a word was spoken. We knew the batteries were ready on Little Folly Island, that they would be unmasked at the first peep of day, that with the firing of their first gun we would be rowed rapidly across that six hundred yards of water that was between us and the beach of Morris Island in our front. Whether we should ever reach it was what we did not know ; and we all feared a deal more that we might be drowned in the inlet, than any danger we should meet from the batteries when once our feet were on the shore.

The forces on Folly Island, which were held in reserve under General Vogdes, consisted of the Sixty-second Ohio, Colonel Pond ; Sixty-seventh Ohio, Colonel Voorhees ; and Eighty-fifth Pennsylvania, Colonel Howell, — who were near the signal-station. The Seventh New Hampshire, Colonel H. S. Putnam ; One Hundredth New York, Colonel Dandy; a battalion of the Forty-eighth New York, Colonel Wm. B. Barton ; and Battery B, First United States Artillery, Cap tain G. V. Henry commanding, — were at the northern end of Little Folly Island, in readiness to follow General Strong's brigade. The formidable batteries which were to perform so important a part were commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Jackson and Major L. L. Langdon, First United States Artillery.

Opposed to us, — if we may accept the authority of Gen eral Jones, — just across Lighthouse Inlet and within easy range, were the detached Confederate battery of eight guns and three mortars, manned by two companies of the First South Carolina Artillery, Captains J. C. Mitchell and J. R. Macbeth commanding, supported by the Twenty-first South

MORRIS ISLAND. 83

Carolina Infantry, about four hundred men, Major Mclver commanding, and a detachment of the First South Carolina Infantry, under Captain Charles T. Haskell (in all about seven hundred). The garrison of Battery Wagner, about three miles distant on the island, was two companies of artillery, Captains C. E. Chichester and J. R. Mathews com manding, and of Battery Gregg, Captain Henry R. Lesesne's company of artillery. All of the artillery on the island was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel J. A. Yates, First South Carolina Artillery. The whole force was commanded by Colonel R. F. Graham, Twenty-first South Carolina Infantry.

There is some disparity in the number of Confederates conceded to have been on Morris Island, by Generals Jones and Beauregard, but the statements of both are given.

Slowly the hours of the night passed, but as the sun rose on the morning of July loth our batteries were unmasked, and thirty-two guns and fifteen mortars opened fire upon the Confederates, to their immense surprise. A few min utes later, four monitors, the Weehawken, Commander E. R. Calhoun ; the Nahant, Commander John Downs ; the Kaatskill, Commander George H. Rodgers ; and the Mon- tauk, Commander D. McN. Fairfax, — which had crossed the bar and taken positions from which some of the Confederate batteries could be enfiladed and others taken in reverse, opened fire with fifteen- and eleven-inch guns on the Con federate left and the four howitzer launches pulled into posi tion and opened on the right, and for nearly three hours about sixty guns, some of them of the heaviest calibre, con centrated a rapid and accurate fire on the Confederate posi tion.

Some delay occurred in our getting off, and it was half- past six before General Strong was finally signalled to ad vance ; then we "pulled for the shore" at " Oyster Point" in our front with vigor. The enemy saw us now, and their batteries opened on us : they did such poor execution, how ever, that they sunk but one of the boats, wounding two men of the Sixth Connecticut, one of whom had his leg

84 • FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

taken off, but he swam to another boat and was rescued from drowning, although he died soon afterward from loss of blood.

It was only a matter of a few moments — that crossing •of Lighthouse Inlet, by the little flotilla of launches ; but they were moments of intense excitement. A brilliant writer has declared that in all the annals of modern war no example can be found where an army thus approached •a hostile shore in boats, landed under a fire of artillery and infantry, and drove the enemy from his fortifications. He likens the descent on Morris Island to the landing of Caesar •on the coast of Britain and of William the Norman at Hastings.*

The men at the oars pulled with their might ; in some boats the men cheered ; in others they remained silent ; it was no time for words ; in twenty minutes we were in the surf. General Strong leaped ashore with the agility of a deer, waved aloft his sword, and shouted to his troops, " Come on, brigade !" It may be questioned if in all the history of the war a more picturesque and striking figure could have been seen than that of the young General as he sprang into the surf that day and called on us to follow him. He lost a boot in the mud and ran up the shelly beach in his stocking-feet. He first ordered the Sixth Connecticut ashore. They obeyed him with alacrity, and at the word carried the sea-face of the earthworks on our right with but little loss, as the enemy fled before them. Then General Strong called for the Ninth Maine to attack the rifle-pits, but the tide of the inlet was so strong that they had been carried above the landing-place, and could not reach the shore in time. The Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania and Third New Hampshire were in the same plight. Then the General called for the Forty-eighth New York ; the sailors at the oars in our boats put us ashore in quick time, and without waiting for further orders we dashed ahead and quickly

*See "Afloat and Ashore," by Charles Cowley.

MORRIS ISLAND. 85

drove the rebels out of the first line of the rifle-pits, then by a flank movement out of the second. It was at that mo ment that we met the first terrific volley straight in our faces from rebel guns ; and there fell dead at the head of his men Captain Lent of Company A — the first officer of the regiment to be killed in battle. But no man stopped; the whole brigade was now ashore, and all rushed on over sand-dunes and batteries, past the Beacon House, and on in the glare of the sun that had now risen, with cheers and shouts, and an eager, impetuous " forward," without stop ping either to tend the wounded or mourn the dead. " It

BEACON HOUSE, MORRIS ISLAND.

was a glorious victory." We captured twelve guns and one hundred prisoners, with many tents and much camp equip age, stores, several Confederate flags, one of which bore the inscription " Pocotaligo," and a number of small arms. By ten o'clock we had captured two thirds of the island. The Confederates retreated before us precipitately behind the breastworks of Fort Wagner. Our skirmishers pushed up to within musket-range of that fortress and were halted. The sun was now high in the heavens aiHd blazed down its scorching rays upon our heads ; the sand blistered our feet; the long night of anxiety and wakefulness, the run of three miles up the beach and over the sand-hills, had exhausted the men. General Strong thought that we could go no far-

86 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

ther, and ordered a halt in order that we might rest and reinforcements be brought up from the rear. The remain ing companies of our regiment, which had also crossed the inlet under fire with the reserve brigade, soon joined us, but that halt in front of Fort Wagner, which seemed at the time to be the act of prudence, if not of necessity, had for us all most fatal consequences. The continuation of our dash for half a mile farther would have swept the enemy that morning off Morris Island, and captured, with a com paratively little loss of life, that great earthwork, Battery Wagner, whose strength was not then anticipated, but which was destined to defy us for months to come, and before whose flaming parapets the majority of us were yet to fall. A Confederate account contains the following passage : " Only a little dash on the part of the Union army would have given them the whole island : all they had to do was to press on with even one half of the troops they had land ed. In my opinion, it did not justify their excess of pru dence ; fortunately, however, it saved us."

For once, we think that " Confederate's" opinion was cor rect. True we were greatly wearied, but we had not run far ther than the enemy, and they were dispirited by flight while we were buoyant with victory. The capture of Morris Island was, however, a splendid achievement. We had done an unheard-of thing in modern military history, and though we had made the assault and the enemy had but defended their earthworks, their casualties far outnumbered ours: they lost in killed, wounded, and captured 294, of whom 127 were prisoners ; our losses were officially reported as 53 killed and wounded — of whom 14 were killed. But four companies of the Forty-eighth were engaged, yet our losses were heavier than that of any other regiment, since we had done the most severe fighting ; Captain Lent was especially mourned by his brother officers, and indeed he was beloved by all the men, and his death was universally lamented.

General Seymour commended very highly the conduct of his troops :

MORRIS ISLAND. 87

•" For the brilliant vigor," he says, "with which the movements of his brigade were conducted the greatest credit is due to Brigadier- General Strong, whose personal example was heroism itself. His re port justly praises his subordinate commanders, and to those I must refer; but I must mention particularly the excellent conduct of Colonel •Chatfield, Sixth Connecticut, who led his regiment in the advance up Morris Island until its colors were riddled by the close fire from Bat tery Wagner. But to the hearty devotion and the cheerful courage of the soldiers of this division, in the patient labors in preparing for the battle and the ready courage with which they fought it, must, after all, be given the highest honors, and their gallant conduct in this brilliant action will always be to their commanders and their country the source of just pride."

The victory of Morris Island has not received much atten tion from historians. I have been unable to find more than a passing account of it anywhere, but it was one of the few occasions in the war when we successfully surprised the enemy in an important engagement, and it may be doubted if such great results were accomplished with such small losses, and certainly never in such a picturesque manner, throughout the war. Nothing had been neglected, nothing unanticipated, and the entire movement was a perfect suc cess. The only criticism that can be made upon it is that already noted — we should have gone on.; Fort Wagner had been ours that day at small cost, but no one then supposed that we were yet confronted by any such formidable earth work as " Battery Wagner" proved itself to be. The night of July loth we rested, weary enough, sleeping on the sand. We had foraged a little that afternoon among the deserted rebel camps. The writer remembers that he captured a pig. Reinforcements had arrived, a pontoon bridge had been thrown across the inlet ; we were not afraid of a counter-as sault, for we had now men enough on the island to have •formed a solid wall across it, many ranks deep. We went to sleep therefore that night feeling that the worst was over, and supposing that the island practically was ours, and that the rebels in Fort Wagner and at Cumming's Point would probably withdraw during the night. General Beauregard

88 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

was greatly blamed by the Confederate authorities for per mitting himself to be surprised by the erection of our bat teries on Little Folly Island. The Confederate Secretary of War wrote him a long letter of inquiry concerning it. Of course he denied it, and laid the blame on somebody else ; but the fact remains that he was surprised, as more candid Confederate military authorities now freely admit.

It was determined that Fort Wagner should be carried by assault early the next morning. Three regiments of the " fighting brigade" were selected to make the assault. They were the four companies of the Seventh Connecticut, com manded by Lieutenant-Colonel Rodman, the Ninth Maine, and Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania. General Strong led them in person. Haply the Forty-eighth was not selected for immolation that morning, possibly because of its more serious losses on the day before. The splendid charge of that early morning — July nth — has been shamefully belit tled in history. True it was overshadowed by the great as sault which was made seven days afterwards, but it was on the part of one regiment at least, the Seventh Connecticut, a magnificent deed of valor. They formed at five o'clock in the morning, and at the word ran forward to the assault. They drove in three lines of pickets and received their successive fire straight in their faces, without firing a shot in return. The Seventh reached the ditch ; the other regiments failed to come up in support. Their behavior has been severely criticised. The writer, however, will not permit himself to- do so. The men of one regiment were likely to be as brave as those of another ; and if some regiments \vere superior to others, those which were inferior were so generally, by the fault of their officers. It is said that when General Strong found that the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania and the Ninth Maine failed to come on to the support of the gallant Seventh Connecticut, he burst into tears, exclaimed bitterly, " It is useless," and ordered a retreat. I am disposed to think, after as careful a study as I have been able to make of the assault, that Major J. W. Hicks, who commanded

MORRIS ISLAND. 89-

the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania, prompted possibly by over- zeal, attacked a different angle of the work rather than fol low the Seventh Connecticut in support, as he had been ordered to do. Though at the time they were blamed for the failure of the -assault, lam unwilling, after more than twenty years, to reflect upon the valor of a gallant regi ment which left in front of Fort Wagner that morning five officers and 130 men out of some 350 who were engaged. The losses of the Ninth Maine were but 34.

Survivors of the Forty-eighth will remember distinctly wit nessing that assault from the summits of the sand-hills, that early morning. The rush of the Seventh' Connecticut like a wave up the beach, its recoil also before the terrible and deadly volleys which were poured into it. The assault failed in everything, except in demonstrating the great and unex pected strength of " Battery Wagner." The Confederate losses were very small, only one officer and five privates killed and the same number wounded ; our losses have never been accurately reported, but they must have been very heavy in proportion to the number engaged. The Confederates- claim to have buried 95 of our men, mostly of the Seventh Connecticut, within their lines, and to have captured 113 prisoners, 40 of whom were wounded. There is a state ment also that 350 wounded men from that assault were carried on the steamer Cosmopolitan to Hilton Head ; among them was Major Hicks of the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania, and Lieutenant-Colonel Rodman, the heroic commander of the Seventh Connecticut, who was severely wounded in the leg. He was the only man brought off from the slopes of the work.

Much confusion has arisen in the various sketches of the campaign on Morris Island by coupling the losses of the loth with those of the nth of July. The battles, how ever, were clearly distinct. By the courtesy of Captain Wm. J. Carlton, to whom I am not a little indebted for data, etc., a copy of a Confederate account of the assault has been obtained, which was printed in a Charleston^

9O FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

paper of April 18, 1883, from the pen of Colonel J. H. Rion, who commanded the enemy's picket -lines that morning. He writes as follows :

" At peep of day my attention was called to a^dark mass approach ing my front. When about twenty-five yards off I ordered the videttes to 'fire by file/ which they did ; then the whole battalion rose, formed lines, and gave an almost simultaneous ' yell.' This meant for me ' All right ;' for Battery Wagner, ' They are coming.' My first line had come to a ' ready ; ' we could see the beard on the faces of the Federals; •* Aim — fire ! ' Then a sheet of fire bursts into the advancing line ; this doubles up their front, but on comes the body at a double-quick ; we fall back, loading as we retire, and form on the left of the second line. •Coming to a ' ready,' 'Aim — fire ! ' and we pour another volley into their faces ; their front staggers, but on come the survivors at a stately double-quick; we fall back to the third line, the whole battalion com ing to a ' ready ; ' they are now within ten steps of us ; ' Aim — fire ! ' for the last time ; the effect is terrific — it appears as when a wind strikes the stalks of a wheat-field. I actually felt sorry for them : it was •' war,' and hence ' fair,' but it did seem to me that we were taking an unfair advantage of them ; they could not stop to fire upon us, for time was all-important to them ; their success depended on reaching the battery without delay, and hence they had to receive these dreadful -volleys without responding ; the enemy dashed on, but barely gave us time to reach the inside of the works before they were repulsed. The Seventh Connecticut, under Colonel Rodman, led the attacking party. It behaved gallantly, not only upon this occasion but likewise at Fort Pulaski, and was never known to flinch anywhere."

This tribute to the courage of our brave comrades of the Seventh Connecticut, by the first " rebel " they met that early morning, is as graceful as it is deserved.

I here add also the account of the Confederate General Jones, — although it contains a quotation from the report of General Strong, — which lays the blame of the failure upon the two regiments in support :

" The assault of Battery Wagner, which the troops were too much •exhausted to attempt on the loth, was made about day-dawn the next imorning by General Strong.

"The garrison of Wagner at that time consisted of the shattered remainder of the troops which had contested the landing the previous

MORRIS ISLAND. 9 1

morning, namely, the Twenty-first South Carolina Regiment, about two hundred men, under Major J. G. W. Mclver ; twenty men of Com pany D, First South Carolina Infantry, Lieutenant Horlbeck com manding; and seventy men of Companies E, H, and I, First South Carolina Artillery, under Captain John C. Mitchell ; also the Gist Guard, Captain C. E. Chichester, and Mathews' Artillery, Captain J. R. Mathews, which had occupied the battery on the roth ; the Seventh South Carolina Battalion, about three hundred men, Major J. H. Rion commanding ; four companies each of the First Georgia Regi ment, Colonel C. H. Olmstead ; and Twelfth Georgia Battalion, Lieu tenant-Colonel H. D. Capers; and three companies of the Eighteenth Georgia Battalion, Major W. S. Basinger — in all about five hundred men, Colonel Olmstead commanding. The aggregate force was about twelve hundred men.

"The South Carolinians manned the guns and the right and right centre of the ramparts. The Georgians, who arrived in the night of the roth, guarded the left and left centre of the work. The Eigh teenth Battalion occupied the southeast bastion, the First Georgia along the sea-front to the left, the Twelfth Georgia Battalion to the right, connecting with the Carolinians. Lieutenant-Colonel Yates commanded the artillery and Colonel R. F. Graham (Twenty-first South Carolina) the whole.

" THE ASSAULTING COLUMN.

"General Strong formed his brigade before day-adwn. The assault ing column consisted of the battalion of the Seventh Connecticut, the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania, and the Ninth Maine. The Seventh Connecticut led the advance,' — Lieutenant - Colonel Rodman com manding. The Third and Seventh New Hampshire were held in re serve. The battalion of the Seveitth Connecticut was deployed in line in front, followed closely in the order named by the Seventy- sixth Pennsylvania and Ninth Maine, each formed in close divisions. They wrere ordered to carefully preserve their intervals and when the Confederates should open fire to rush forward with a cheer, mount the parapet, and carry the battery by storm.

"WHAT LOST THE BATTLE.

" General Strong commanded in person. His instructions were most faithfully carried out by Lieutenant-Colonel Rodman, who led his Seventh Connecticut men under a brisk fire of cannon and musketry to the ditch, and some of them to the top of the parapet, where, it is reported, they bayoneted two Confederate gunners.

92 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

"'But unfortunately/ says General Strong in his report, 'when the enemy opened fire simultaneously along the whole line, and with a range of two hundred yards, the Seventy-sixth Pennsylvania halted and lay down upon the ground. Though they remained in this posi tion but a few moments and afterwards moved gallantly forward, some of them even to the ditch, that halt lost the battle, for the in terval was lost, and the Seventh Connecticut, unsupported, were driven from the parapet. The whole column, including the Ninth Maine, which had reached the ditch on the left, gave way and re treated from the field.'

" The garrison of Wagner had of course expected an attack, and was on the alert all night. When the column was seen advancing in the dim light of early dawn Colonel Graham deliberately held his fire until his enemy was within close range, then opened simultaneously along his whole line, firing rapidly and continuously until the last man of the rapidly retreating column was under cover of the sand hills.

" GALLANTRY OF THE SEVENTH CONNECTICUT.

" The Seventh Connecticut was particularly distinguished on this occasion. Unsupported, and when there seemed no hope of success, some of the men persisted with great daring in their efforts to force an entrance into the work. One brave man sprang to the parapet in front of a thirty-two-pounder, double-charged with grape-shot. Lieu tenant Gilchrist of South Carolina, in command of the gun, struck •by the man's fearless bearing, called to him to come in before the gun was fired. As quick as thought the man's rifle was levelled and a ball whizzed by Gilchrist's head. The discharge of the gun followed, and the man was hurled across the ditch a mangled corpse. This regi ment had been the first to enter Fort Pulaski when it was captured the year before, and tfte officers and men had behaved with much kindness towards Colonel Olmstead and his men who were captured on that occasion. Among the prisoners captured at this time were many of this regiment, who recognized their former prisoners, call ing them by name and were received by them with as much kind consideration as the circumstances permitted.

"THE FEDERAL LOSS.

" General Strong in his official report to General Gillmore, made on the day of the assault, states that his loss that morning was eight officers and three hundred and twenty-two non-commissioned officers and privates. Among the severely wounded was Lieutenant-Colonel Rodman of the Seventh Connecticut. Captain Gray, who succeeded

MORKIS ISLAND, 93

to the command of the battalion of the Seventh Connecticut, reports that one hundred and ninety-one men of the battalion went to the assault and that one hundred and three of them were killed, wounded, and missing, and he adds that their mess contained eleven officers that morning before the assault and but four after it.

" The Confederate loss in the assault was one officer and five en listed men killed, and one officer and five enlisted men wounded."

After the repulse of July nth, General Gillmore and Ad miral Dahlgren held a consultation, and it was determined to erect batteries and to level the parapets of Fort Wagner by a bombardment before it was again attempted to carry it by assault.

The very next day work began — battery-building across the island, 1350 yards from the Confederate fort; and day and night for the next week the work was pushed forward. Guns and mortars were brought from the batteries on Folly Island and mounted on the works on Morris Island. Twen ty-six guns were soon in position. They were three-inch rifle pieces, lo-pounder Parrott's, 30 pounder Parrotts, 20- pounder Parrotts, and eight-inch siege mortars. Battery Wagner was mostly armed with what the rebels called sea- coast howitzers — guns which at short range upon assaulting columns were capable of the most deadly work. Lines of rifle-pits were thrown across the island in front of our bat teries and were constantly being advanced, and duty in the rifle-pits now became a fiery ordeal to the men. The guns of Fort Wagner were never silent.

From Fort Johnson, also on James Island, from Fort Sum- ter, and Battery Gregg they converged upon our lines a most deadly fire. But the work went steadily on from the nth to the 1 8th of the month, building batteries, mounting guns, and preparing for the great bombardment and the great assault. The regiment remained in its position, among the sand-hills in the rear of the batteries when the men were not on picket. This chapter may well conclude with an account of the only incident of any moment that befell us before the fatal assault of July i8th. In the night of the 1 3th or the early morning of the I4th the enemy made

94 FORTY-EIGHTH REGIMENT, N. Y. S. VOLS.

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a sortie upon our picket-lines, which happened at the time to be manned by Companies C and D of the Forty-eighth. These companies had three telescopic rifles, with which from