1L
ANNIVERSARY OF THE CAPTURE
OF FORTIFICATIONS
v
fjie Assault
Fisher
a vral rotter w
AC"1'1 . cciv. and on his reore-
. , j-, w r4- nrilHir e
. p:i.si: v
vr " rtrrdrl in bv General
;eUt";''.i.n eond expedition was or-
rrTlt. L '
L'J" , TV. a
fleet was ordered to
rirnUn!) nnrl HilpVi
Bcau!J"" irt en ontprpd "t.h
-pis as cvjuiu -T
the rest, anchored outside,
if01,,' hands worked day and night
Hne and filling up with ammuni
Anv one who has
inn dlv'1" w
fcC Jon that coast in the winter
-enea thA rlifflr.rilttea with
, ,a Will UUUii vw
Tf L ve not, no adequate idea can
riven, woito vi.
' ., nnrronr.( and. aa WA
cOIlnW1 v""v" " -
pre in the open sea, the vessels roll
j so that frequently we had to use
r'p lines jui uxi. vr v i vim
lu ' X..m hpin r washed overboard.
' niany occasions vessels had to slip
Sir" cables and go to sea to ride out
me storms.
Withstanding an tnis, m two
ffeelS We were leuuy iu inagoiu,
-ad this time success seemed to be in
That gallant soldier, General
the air.
Alfred Terry, was in commana oi. tne
contingent; his men were en
thusiastic and anxious for the fight.
.
i!ld u6 ana. .rt.ui.Liii ai x unci itwb
. ...... m n Hoalf nwm
jinr the very uest icauuo. wu.o
."reed between the commanders that
i naval brigade be landed to assist
rtp army in the assault, by attacking
.. 1 r..,1 T.
the sea tace ot me iurw iiiie mo
grjny went in on ine noimwesi angie.
Volunteers were called for from: the
aavy for this service, and it was grat-
jfring to see me omcera ana mea
wma forward, almost in a body, for
i job they Knew wouia do a aespern
p one. so many voiunieerea- taat
fIly a detail had to be made from
each ship, and there weremany sore
ly disappointed ones when the names
irere published
It was my good fortune to be of-
er of the deck when the order came
on board directing the movement, and
5o I had my name put first on the list
of those who volunteered. - At this
time there were four classmates on
board Harris, Kellogg, Morris and
Erans. All volunteered, and as only
two could go, we agreed that Harris
2nd Kellogg, being in the first section
of the class, should have one chance
between them, and Morris and I be
ing in the section section, should have
the other chance. Harris won his
chance on the toss of a penny; but
I, being a Virginian and having no
particular family ties, insisted that I
should go rather than Morris, who
came from New York and would be
sadly missed if he were killed. To
all of this Morris naturally objected,
and we seemed a long way from any
conclusion, when he suggested that
ve leave the selection to Lieutenant
Commander George Bache, who was to
command the men from the Powhatan,
vbich was done, andBache i selected
me.
January 13th f oundms .gainlnifront
o? Fort Ksher, -end this time we came
to stay. The fleet opened on the
fort, and kept up a constant and aoM
carate fire. We Boon found a great
difference in the garrison from the
one we had fought in the first attack;
They stood up and fought their guns
most gallantly, and would iot be driv
en into the bombproofs. A' division
of gunboats was sent close in to cov
er the landing of the troops, which
wa3 done by the boats of the fleet in
a sea heavy enough to make care
necessary. I was in charge of the
commodore's barge, a very handsome,
krge, able boat.' fit to cajrv thirtv-
or forty men. We made thev first
anncg with over two hundred boats
ad the sight wag a notable one as.
"6 pulled in. an occasional, .she!
splashing among ns, andthe- bulfets
muttering on thensurf ace ' of the- wat
er.
As soon as the order wasgive;a-- io
na we went for the beach, at ful
fpeea, and, after passing the first
weakers, turned our boats and back
ei them in until our passengers could
ja almost with dry feet but to ge
ttem out of the boats at the rieh
foment was almost impossible. They
"iua wait too long, and as -a result
pst of them were rolled up on the
Jach by the surf, soaking wet. But
fe on shore it was glorious to see
they knew their business and the
"v tney did it. As soon as they
801 their feet thftv snrearl out. into
a skirmish line, and . tbe rifles be-
u to crack. When I came in with
second load those on shore had
mred some cattle Snd. were skin
rsinem, and did not -seem the least
"worried by the fire of the skirm
isheri
s only three or four hundred
yards
away. Before dark we had al
the
s. -"-uugU) auu euuugu iuuuium-
.-7 ana stores to make them safe
(Z comrortable in case it should
1, completed the landing of stores
p i. EUIPlies and some thirty-pound
j mtL guns, which were lmmediate
g Pct n position facing General
rnHg' who coming from the di-
rruj or Wilmington
to re-enforce
garrison of Fort-Msheri the
14th V as Kept nuring tne
while the army eot into nosition
assault, which had been tlx
TUP or the afternoon of the 15th.
fee p.remonitions that men have be-j-
gomg into battle are very cur
W ?articularly when .they come
a fi' We nai on board the Powhatan
e young seaman named Flanni
Wtoj!? came from, Philadelphia. On
am5ht of the lth of January, he
in . . 1 ....
las 1, . ' wiin a smaii dox in
hand
. and said to n& "Mr. Frana.
oh Fort
Described
will you be kind enough to take charge
of this box for me it has some little
trinkets in it and give it to my sis
ter in Philadelphia?" I asked him. why
he diiTnot deliver it homse'lf, to wheh
he repled, "I am gone ashore with
you tomorrow, and will be killed." I
told him how many bullets it required I
to kill a man in action, and in other I
ways tried to shake his conviction, but!
it was no use he stuck tp it. He
showed no nervousness over it, bat
seemed to regard it as matter ot
course. I took te box and,, after mak
ing proper memorandum, put it
away among my things. On the af
ternoon of the next day when we were
charging the fort and just 'as we came
under Are; at about eight hundred
yards, I saw Flannigan reel out to
one side and drop, the first man hit.
wun a Dunet through his heart. I
stepped quickly to. his side and ask
ed if he were badly hurt; the only
reply was a' smile as he -looked un
nto my face and rolled over dead.
The box was delivered as he request
ed, and I afterwards assisted in get
ting a pension for his sister.
January 16th proved a beautiful day
for our work, clear and warm enough.
with a smooth beach for our landing.
At early daylight the whole fleet open-
ea on the fort and poured shells in
on it at a feaful rate. After a hastv
dinner at noon . the signal was made
at one o'clock, 'Land naval brigade."
n a few minutes we were off, cheered
by our shipments, and pulling for the
shore, where we landed unopposed and
without serious accident, about one
mile ' and a half from the northeast
angle ot Fort Fisher. On the way
ashore some evilly disposed person
fired a shot at. us, which struck the
stroke oar of my boat, cut it in two,
and sent the handle spinning across
my stomach with such force that I
thought I was broken in two. On
anding we were quickly formed in
three divisions, with the marine bat
talion in the lead.
During the forenoon a force of fire
men bad landed "under. Lieutenant
Preston to dig rifle pits, well to the
front, and these were to be occupied
by the marines, who were to keep
down the rebel fire until the sailors.
armed with cutlass and revolver,
reached the parapet. When the di
vision were formed, we advanced un
til we reached a point about twelve
hundred yards from the fort, where
we halted and waited the signal to
charge, which was to be the blowing
of the steam whistle on the flagship,
repeated by other vessels of the fleet.
All the guns - that we - could - see had
been dismounted or disabled in the
bombardment, but after we landed
there was one large rifle that opened
on us and did some damage. The
shells generally struck short of us,
and would, then ricochet down the
level beach, jumping' along for all
the world like rabbits. To avoid this
shell fire the divisions bad been mark
ed by the flank to take advantage of
what shelter the slope of the beach
offered. It thus happened that the
three divisions forged on abreast cf
each other, and we charged in this
formation threecolumns abreast, the
marines leading. While we were wait
ing for the army-to report ready, our
men; bad a good rest, and seemed to be
in excellent spirits. The rebels were
firing at us slowly, but doing no dam
age to speak -of. Curious little puffs
of sand showed where the Enfield rifle
balls were striking, but they only hit
a man now and then by accident.
At 3 , o'clock the order to charge
was given, and we started for our
long run of twelve hundred yards over
the loose sand. The fleet kept tip a
hot fire until we approached within
about six; hundred, yards of the fort
and then : ceased firing. The rebels
seemed, to understand our slgna
and almost before the last gun was
fired manned the parapet and opened
on us with twenty-six hundred mus
kets. The army had not assaulted
so .the whole garrison concentrate!
its fire on us. Under the shower 0.1J
bullets the marines broke before
reaching the rifle pits that had been
dug for them, and did not appear again
as . an organization in the assault
Most of the, men and many of the of
cers mixed in with the column of sail
ors , and went on with them. Abou
five hundred 'Jyards-from the fort the
bead of the - column suddenly stop
ped, and, as if by magic, the whole
mass of men went down like a row
ot fallling brick; in a second every
man was flat on his stomach. The of
ficers called on the men, and . they
responded instantly, starting forward
as fast as they could go. At abou
three hundred yards they again went
down, this time under the effect o:
canister added to the. rifle fire. Again
we rallied ,them, and once more start
ed to the front under a perfect hal
of lead, with men dropping rapidly in
every direction. we were now so
close that we could hear the voices
of the rebels, and what they said need
not be written here. The officers were
pulling their caps down over the!
eyes, for it was almost impossible to
look at the deadly flashing blue line
of parapet, and we all felt that in a
few minutes more we should get our
cutlasses to work and make up for
the fearful loss we had suffered.
At this moment I saw Colonel Lamb,
the Confederate commander, gallantly
standing out on the parapet and cat
ing on his men to get up and shoot
the Yankees. I considered him with
in ranee of revolver, so took V de
liberate shot at him. As I fired a.bul
let rinned through the front of my
coat across my breast, turning, me
cmrletoIy around, I felt a burning
. Cast Tuesday, Januaryf 15, was the anniversary of the fall of Fort Fisher. It
is appropriate to reproduce at this traie extracts of the battles there from . Admiral
Robley B. Evans book, "A Sailor's Log," which was handed The Dispach by Capt.
Edgar D. Williams, who is very much interested in the construction of an improved
road all the way to Fort Fisher. .Captain Williams has appeared beiore the Board
of County Commissioners a number of times in behalf of the proposed roadway
and says that he expects to attend and present the. matter at every regular meeting'
until . be gets favorable actiefn. He expects to present to' the national government
the matter of making Fori Fisher a national park, which project was extensively
advocated here some years ago. The extracts from Admiral Evans' history, repro-
on this page, will doubtless be read with interest.
sensation, like a hot iron, Over my
heart, and saw something red coming
out of J.the hole in my coat which I
00k for blood. I knew, of course, that
if a bullet had gone through this por-
ion of my body I was done for; but
that was no place to stop, so I went
on at the head of my company. As
we approached the remains of the
tockade I was aware that one particu-
ar sharp-shooter was shooting at me,
and when we were a hundred yards
away he hit me in the left leg, about
three inches below the knee. The
force of the blow was so great that 1
anded on my face in the sand. I
got a silk handkerchief out of my
pocket, and with the kind assistance
of my classmate, Hoban Sands, soon
stopped the blood, and again went to
he front as fast as I could.
About this time the men were stumb-
ihg over wires which they cut with
their knives they proved to be wir
es to the torpedoes over which we
had dharged, but they failed to ex
plode. My left leg seemed asleep, but
was able to. use it. The stockade, or
what remained of it, was very near,
and I determined to lead my company
by the flank through a break in it
and then charge over the angle of the
ort, which now looked very difficult
to climb. I managed to get thorugh
the stockade: with seven others, when
my sharpshooter friend sent a- bullet
through , my right knee, and I realiz
ed that my chance of going was set
tled. . I tried to stand up, but it was
no use; my legs would not hold me,
and besides this I was bleeding dread
fully, and I knew that was a matter
which had; to be looked to. I heard
some one say, "They are retreating!
and looking bacK 1 saw our men
breaking from the rear of the columns
and retreating. All the officers, in
their anxiety to be the first into the
fort, had advanced to the heads of
the columns, leaving no one to steady
he men in behind; and it was in this
way we were defeated, by the men
breaking from the rear. Two minutes
more and we should have been on the
parapet, and then nobody can even
guess what would have happened, but
surely a dreadful loss of life; As'
the men retreated down' the beach
they were gathered up and put into
the trenches to oppose Bragg, and
there, served until after the fort was
captured. Of the eight of us who went
inside the stockade all were shot
down j one, the colour bearer of my
company, waB halfway up the parapet
when he received his death wound.
When J received the wound in my
right knee I began at once to try to
stop the flow of blood. I used for the
purpose one of the half dozen hand
kerchiefs with which I had provided
myself, but I was bo tired and weak
from loss of blood that I was some
time doing the trick. In the mean
time my sharpshooter friend, about
thirty-five yards away, continued to
shoot at me, at the same time address
ing me in very forcible but uncompli
mentary language. At the fifth shot,
I think it was, he hit me again, tak
ing off the end of one of my toes,
tearing off the sole of my shoe, and
wrenching my ankle dreadfully. I
thought the bullet had gone through
my ankle, the pain was so intense.'
For some reason, I don't know why,
this shot made me unreasonably an
gry, and, rolling over in the sand so
as to face my antagonist, I addressed
a few brief remarks to him; and then,
just as some one handed me a fresh
ly loaded musket, I fired, aiming at
his breast. I knew all the time that
I should kill him if I shot at him.
had not Intended to do so until
ot me in the toe. My bullet went
a lltle bigh, striking the poor chap in
the throat and passing out at the back
of his neck. He staggered around,
after dropping his gun, and finally
pitched over the parapet and rolled
down near me, where he lay dead. I
could see his feet as they projected
over a pile of sand, and from their
position knew that he had fought his
last fight. Near me wasf lying the
cockswain by my boat, Campbell by
name, who had a cannister ball
through his .lungs and was evidently
bleeding. to death. When he sawtthe
result of my shot he said, "Mr. Evans,
let me crawlf over and give that
another shot." He . was dead almost
before I ould tell him that the poor
fellow did ndt require any further at-
tentiohTfrom us.
One of the marines from thev Pow
hatan, a splendid fellow named Waa
mouth, came through the stockade,
quickly gathered me up under One
arm, and before the sharpshooters
could hit him laid me down in a place
of comparative safety; but a moment
afterwards the fleet opened fire again,
and the shells from the New Iron
sides and the monitors began falling
dangerously near us. Occasionally
one would strike short and, exploding,
send great chunks of mud and pieces
of log flying in all directions. Was-
mouth again picked me up, and, af
ter carrying me about fifty yards,
ped me into a pit made by a large
shell. Here I was entirely protected
dropped me into a pit made by a large
called to him to take cover, but-he
said each time, "The bullet has not
been made. that will kill me." I was
vv? drowsy -and aimostT flsleep' when
I beard the peculiar thug of a bullet,
and looking up, found poor WasmOuth
with his hand to his neck, turning
round and round, and the blood spurt
ing!' out in a steady stream. The bul
let had gone through his neck, cut
ting the jugular, and in a few minutes
he dropped in the edge of the surf
and bled to 'death. He certainly was
an honour to his uniform. (
Just as our men began'to breaks the
army made their charge, and were able
to make a lodgment on the northwest
portion of the works before the rebels
Who had taken us for the main assault
ing column, saw them. When they dls-
ered them, however, they went at
them with a savage yell, and . for sev
en hours fought them desperately, the
same bombproof in several cases be
ing captured and recaptured five or
six times. A number 'of sharpshoot
ers remained on the sea face and
northeast angle, and shot at every
moving thing. No doubt this was ow
ing to the fact that quite a number ofl
marines were scattered about the
beach wherever they could find cover,
keeping up a steady fire.
After Wasmouth was killed I soon
fell asleep, and when I awoke it was
some time before I could recall my
surroundings. The tide had come in,
and the hole in which I was lying
was nearly full' of water, which had
about covered me and was trickling
into my ears. VI could see a monitor
firing, and apparently very near, and
the thought came to me that I could
swim off to her if I only had a bit of
plank or driftwood, but this I could not
get. It was plain enough that I should
soon be drowned like a rat in a hole
unless I managed to get out some
how. Dead and wounded men were
lying about in ghastly piles, but no
one to lend me a helping hand. By
this time I could not use my legs -in
any way, and when I dug my hands
into the sides of .my prison and tried
to pull myself out the sand gave way
and left me still lying in the water,
Finally, I made a strong effort, and
rolled myself sideways out of the
hole. When I got out I saw a marine
a short distance away, nicely covered
by a pile of sand, and firing very de
liberately at tbe. fort. I called to him
to pull me in behind bis pile of sand,
but he declined, on the ground that
the rebel fire .was too sharp, for him
to expose himself. I nersuaded v him
with my revolver to change his mind,
and in two seconds he had me in a
place of safety that is to say, safe
by a small margin, for. when he red,
the rebel bullets would snip the sand
within a few inches of our heads. If
the marine had known that my re
volver was soaking wet, and could not
possibly be fired, I suppose I should
have been buried the next morning, as
many other poor fellows were. As
soon as I could reach some cartridges
from a dead sailor lying near me ' I
loaded my revolver, thinking it might
be useful before the job was finish
ed. When 1 was Jerked in behind this
pile of sand, I landed across the body
of the only coward I ever saw in tho
naval service. At first I was not con
scious that there was a man under
me,-so completely had he worked him
self into the sand; be was aotua&r
below the surface of thev ground. The
monitors were firing over us, and as a
shell came roaring by he pulled his
knees up tohis chin, which hurt me,
as it jostled my broken legs. I said,
"Hello! are you wounded?" "No, sir,"
he replied, "t am afraid to "move."
"All right, then," I said; "keep quiet,,
and j don't hurt my legs again!" The
next; shell that came over he did the
same thing, and the next; notwith
standing my repeated cautions. So I
tapped himvbetween'the eyes with the
butt of my revolver, land he was quiet
after that. The poor .creature was so
scared that he would lie still and cry
as the shells flew over us. As I said
before, he was the only , coward T I
ever saw in the naval service.
From my new position! could see
the army slowly fighting its way from
one gun to another, and it was a mag
niflcient sight. They knew their busi
ness thoroughly, these gallant fellows
from the Army of the Potomac, and in
the end, at ten o'clock that night, won
a victory that will live as long as her
oic deeds are recorded. I can recall
to this "day the splendid courage of
General. Curtis, leading his brigade;
he seemed to stand, head and should
ers above those around him; and while
I looked at,, him he went down, but
was soon on his feet,-only to go down
a second time, shot tin the eye. As
darkness approached? and the cold be
gan to befelt, our men seemed to fight
with more desperate , determination!,
and the advance was more rapid. The
Confederates were doing, and had
done, all that, human i courage could
do, but they were wearing out, and
the arrival of fresh .brigades on our
side discouraged them. -The
scene on the beach at this time
was a pitiful one 4ead and wounded
officers and men as far as one could
see. As a rule, they lay quiet on the
sand , and took their punishment like
the brave lads they were, but occa
sionally the thrist brought on 'by loss
of blood was more than they could
bear, and a sound-wave would drift
J altlg.' "Water, "fcatex. w&terl ' and
s
then all would be quit again. It was
one of the worst of the awful features
of war.. Just as the, sun went down,
and it did not seem to go very slow
ly that afternoon, I saw an officer
coming up the beach dressed in an
overcoat and wearing side arms. As
he approached me I recognized Dr.
Longstreet, and begged him to lie
down, as the bullets were singing
around his head. He took a canteen
off a dead marine and gave me a
swallow of sand and water, and did
the same for another wounded man.
Then, turning, his face toward me, he
said, "We will have tyou all off the
beach tonight," an& was moving on to
the front, when a bullet struck him
in the forehead. He sprang several
feet in the air, fell at full length on
his back, and lay quite still and 4ead.
His resignation had been accepted a
week before, and as soon as this
fight was done he was going home to
Norfolk to be married.'
After the death of Dr. Longstreet
I saw another man coming toward me;
but he was taking advantage of all
the cover he could get, and arrived
without accident. He was a reman
from the gunboat Chieopee, and said
he had come after me, but had only
a coal shovel with which to aid me.
He said if I could sit inxthecoal-shovel
he could drag me off! The twilight
was deepening, and it seemed im
probable that a sharpshooter could hit
either of us, so I managed to get
seated on the shovel, and the fireman,
with both, hands behind him on the
handle, started to pull me off, but nad
gone only a few steps when a bullet
struck bim, passing through both arms
below the elbows. That ended my
trip on a coal-shovel, and I spent the
time until dark making my friend as
comfortable as possible. Tben I heard
some one calling my name, and in
a few minutes two men came who
said Captain Cushing had sent them
to find me and bring me off. They
had only their hands, but they used
them most willingly and tenderly. One
would put me on his back and carry
me, while the other held me on. When
the first one was tired, the two would
change places; and thus I was car
ried, shot through both legs, a di3
tance of a mile and a half.
The outfit for the care and comfort
of the wounded, consisted of a large
fire made of cracker boxes and drift
wood, a fair supply of very bad whis.
key and a number of able and intel
ligent medical officers. To the vicin
ity or mis Diazmg nre, 1, among a
large number of wounded men, was
carred, and stretched out on a piece
of plank with my head. on a cracker
box, where I enjoyed the warmth,
which was very grateful in the chill
of the January evening. My clothing
was saturated with blood and salt
water, and thoroughly filled with sand.
My wounds were in the same condi
tion. A rebel gunboat in the bayou
back of the fort was using our fire
as a target, and finally succeeded in
landing a shell fairly in the middle
of it, much to our discomfort. When
the shell exploded several men were
killed, and the fire blown about over
the rest of us. The doctor finally
got to : me, and after cutting off my
trousers and drawers well up on my
thighs, split them down the sides and
threw them into the re. Then he
ran a probe, first through one hole,
then the other, said I was badly
wounded, gave me a stiff glass of
grog, and passed on to the next man,
leaving me practically naked. A broth
er officer, seeing my condition, took
the i cape off his overcoat and wrapped
It about my legs, and this, with the as
sistance of the grog, soon ' made me
comfortable
About half past nine that night Cap
tain Breese, who commanded the brl
gade, succeeded in getting a lifeboat
in through the heavy surf breaking
on the beach, and at once wounded
officers were tumbled into her, while
the "crew stood in the water holding
her head on to the seas. My turn
came at last, and two friends landed,
me in the boat with my legs hanging
over the stern; then the crew jump
ed in, the cockswain sat down calm
ly on my knees, gave the men the
word, and out we went through the
surf in beautiful style. The, boat was
from the gunboat Nereus, Captain
Howell commanding, and to her we
were taken. ; We found -her rolling
in the trough of the sea, but the of
ficer of the deck had air the prepara
tions made, and we were quickly hoist
ed up to the davits, and willing hands
soon transferred us to. the deck. Just
as they Were putting me on a cot,
before taking me below, I saw a sig
nal torch on the parapet of the fort
calling the flaship, and a moment lat
er Iread this signal: - "The fort -is
ONE--and then everything - broke
loose! Nobody waited for the - com
pletion of .the signal;, all. hands knew
what that last letter would be. There
was a great burst of rockets , and blue
lights, and the men manning: the rig
ging cheered as. the guns roared with
saluting charges. Long after I was
comfortably swung ? In the . wardroom
I could bear the : fleet rejoicing over
the downfall of the great rebel strong
hold
The officers of the Nereus, from the
lcapMln;wdown pent the nightdoing
The
First Fort
Fisher
Admiral Porter assumed command
in November, and at once began as
sembling a powerful fleet. ,Every pre,
paration was made for active service.
Boilers and " machinery were over
hauled, . magazines, shell rooms, and
storerooms replenished, and constant
targetf practice was had with all guns, j
By the end of November the largest
fleet ever' seen under the American
flag was assembled in Hampton Roads,
all classes from the largest monitor
to the small-gunboat, being represent
ed. Our destination was a secret,
carefully guarded; but we surmised
from what was taking place that some
important move was contemplated, and
in this we were not mistaken. It was
evident from the daily target practice
that the admiral meant we should hit
something when the time for action
came, and the landing of the men on
the beach for drill was an indication
of possible shore service.
The Tichonderoga, anchored near
us, was firing at target one morning,
and making such good practice that
we: were all watching her. with great
nterest, when one of her pivot guns,
a large calibre Pairott, was fired.
There was a lerriSc report, as if
he shell had burst at r e muzzle of
the gun, a great cloud of smoke, and
ust then something struck close to
ner, . malting a great spiasn m tne
water At the same time, or shortly
afterward, the shot she had fired fell
near the target. About two feet of
the muzzle of the eun had .blown off
straight up in the air,- and come down
within, twenty feet of the ship. It
was the most curious of the many ac-
cidens we had then and afterward
with the Parrott rifles. This particu
lar gun, though two feet shorter than
it was intended to be, was continued
in service, and . did good work.
Early in December the troopships ar
rived thirteen thousand men under
General JB. F. Butler and still our
destination was a secret.
About this time I received a letter
by flag of truce from my brother, who
was serving as a captain of "scouts on
General Lee's staff, in which he said,
We will give you a" warm reception
at Fort Fisher when you get there!"
showing that our intended move was
not so much of a secret to the rebels
as it was to us. The information mus
have been sent from Washington, as
no one in the fleet, outside the ad
miral's immediate official family, knew
anything about it. When I showed
the letter to Commodore Schenck,
which I was required to do by the
regulations, he seemed much surpris
ed, and sent me with it at. once to Ad
miral Porter, who was very indignant
when he had read it. For myself.
thought my brother had only made, a
good guess; there were only a few
important places on the soatharn
coast remaining in the hands of the
rebels, and, as our . preparations pure
ly indicated au important move, he
guessed, and guessed '.orrectly, that
we were after the most important of
the lot.
Toward the middle of December all
our preparations had been completed,
and we put to sea under sealed orders.
It was ga grand sight as we passed
Cape Henry; all the water as far as
one could see was covered with ships,
and among; them the flower of the na
vy. Commodore James Fmdiay
Schenck commanded the thrid division
of the fleet, and flew his flag on the
Powhatan. The fleet was formed in
three columns, the transports and
8toreships in the centre .
After passing Cape Henry we ex
perienced beautiful weather, and got
around Hatteras in almost a dead
calm, much to the delight of the
troops, who were dreadfully crowded
on the troopships. Oh December 22d
the fleet, having parted company with
the transports, anchored in column
thirteen miles off the mouth of Cape
Fear river, andx then, of course, we
know what we had in hand. That af
ternoon it came on to blow hard from
southeast, and when the sun went
down the sight was a grand, and
threatening one. The seven monitors
at the head of - the column held on
well at their anchors, but would dis
appear entirely from sight as the
heavy seas swept over them. The
ships ''soon began to drag, and all
hands were kept on deck during the
entire night, ready to do what was
possible in case of collision. When
daylight came the monitors were still
in place, but the rest of the fleet was
scattered over a space of sixteen mil
es, and nowhere could we make out
a single transport.' At sundoWn of the
23d the fleet was again anchored in
good condition, none the worse for the
all In their poVer to make us com
fortable. We t had a good supply of
whiskey and a pitcher of morphine
and water, and they gave us plenty
of both. Shortly after daylight sig
nal was made to transfer all wound
ed men on board to the Santiago de
Cuba, and for vessels, having deaii m
board to hoist colours at half-mast
I shall never forget the sight that
greeted me when I was carried on
deck to be put in the boat. The fleet
lay Just ; in the position in which - it
had fought the day before, and U
seemed to me-that every ship had
her flag at half-mast lazily flapping
In the drizzling rain. The weather
was cold and raw, and our , wounds
were stiff and sore, and every move
ment of those . helping us caused in
describable suffering. In the excite
ment of the charge, getting wounded
was fun, but we had a different prob
lem to solve, and It required real
nerve to fact it. .- $ Y. hl'JL
imp:
shaking up it had had; but still we
I t '4 i
wondered what had become f of th; '
transDofts. as none of them " ahowedi .' fli '
up. It turned out later that they were!
safely anchored weir inshore "of ;us.
waiting for the stragglers, who ; hac
been blown out of place in the gale,
to come up.
Before leaving Fortress Monroe,
General Butler had proposed a. "powTI
der boat," by the explosion of which;
he hoped to seriously injure theVforts
on Federal Point, including . Fori
Fisher. Indeed, he was confident that
he would dismount most of the guns
and level the works. An old steamer,!
the Georgania, had been, loaded .Witt
turned over to the navy to explode, j .,
at the proper spot. A crew of vcluu! J
teers, commanded by Captain " A. i ci j -Rhind,
had her in charge, and on thec
evening or uecemDer zn toos ner in
in the navy believed for momenti f ji 1
that she would do much harm,i"but!
none of us anticipated how littleiu
iurv would come from the explosion.!
At eleven o'clock that night Admlri
al Porter steamed about the Heet :iri
t-'i;
his flagship, the side-wheeled steamii
Malvern, and made signal: "Powder
boat will blow up at 1:30 a. m. :;Be
prepared to get under way, and standi
in to engage the fort!" After thatL:
there was no sleep for any one; we-
stood and watched and waited as theL i
one came, and no explosion, and we'!jr?
were fearful of some mishap; but Justv-; Hi
as the bells struck two o'clock iUcIn
came. At first a gentle vibration, then; 1L .
the masts and spars shook as .iftoeyr,
would come down about our ears; andj ii!j;:; ;',
then came the low rumble like distant! jjli-j
thunder, while the sky to tne ; west-i a .
ward was lighted up for a few seconder! :jti t
and then great masses of powdetVi f; i 1
smoke hung over the land like thundei- VS' 5 ?
clouds. Tne powaer Doat naa -diowe - ,;( n
up surely, and as the fleet rapidly1 , j
formed for battle there was great cur-ti:o
iosity everywhere to see what the ;efi j 1
feet had been. : ti ii
At daylight we were heading infqill. M 1 i
the fort, and almost in range, wheni j p
we saw General Butler's flagship com y 1 v
ing in at full speed, heading straightp j i
at Fort Fisher, which looked to" us-i. ;:1;' :
very grim and strong, and totally un4 1 );
injured. Everything was very qletun-Wj;:
til the general got fairly within range,; !
when there was a flash from the fort -1 t. '
and a prolonged roar, and all the ,guns n
on that face of the work openedrptfV'iiii
his ships. If he had had any : notion" ' '( "'
that he could land unopposed hewap!j
quickly undeceived, and the waytbatl;l
ship turned and got offshore spoke
well for the energy of her fireropm V .
force! The last we saw of her 3; she;j lij ,
was running. East as fast as, her en-p'n
gines could carry her. The powder
uua,u uau pruveu a lauuic,- turn, 1.1107? , n .1
eeneral was erievouslv diBaoTointed.7i,
A rebel newspaper reported thatJ.a 'jj j I
Yankee gunboat had blown up on thaM ', , 1
The fleet stood on in column, the--,
monitqrs leading until in . position
the rest anchored
in succession' a sf 3 Hv
they reached their places. It wasa13' :'i ;
beautiful evolution and beautifully per-P f ;''
formed. As soon as the monitors v H,1
came in range, alL the guns that wouldf - 1
bear opened furiously; and as the; V :
range was only seven hundred yards, !; '
the hits were frequent. The' rebels. I
occuiu kaj ujuuuus cijr iiximbxj uiat.
they would do nothing with the iron-.
clads, so they held their fire xior the
wooden ships. , Then the Minnesota
took her place, and as herianphor, m
went down her batteries opened, first , !
a broadside from the spar deck, and j,:
then her gun deck broadside roarodj .
its Christmas greeting. At the samei
moment all the rebel guns replied, and,.,
the ship was completely enveloped :
3 XI .....t-.. At 1 . J I
iu Lilt; lrum ner own guns ana
the bursting rebel shells. For a mo
ment it looked as if she must be .dis
ttuitsu, out uit;ii ner guns oegau -speak
out with a welcome sound, and; ;i
we knew she was all right. The IWn-r'i
bash and the Colorado, followed V u,
Minnesota, and' quickly dropped -into fy'
their places, opening as they did iso . i
. i j it. ,i . -. . - j
with their tremendous batteries. , In
rapid succession each vessel of f the
fleet passed them on the' off side,' fir
ing through the intervals v between l i i
them, and thus the battle line was m
JkAAUW. ' ...III Vfc. VUV . t M-lL V V V. . Vm,
shells coming over the vessel engaged
gave us a foretaste of what was in
store for us, but the losses were
wonderfully few.
Just as the - Powhatan dropped hot
anchors an incident occurred whicTi
caused much . bitter comment after
ward. The Brooklyn, the next ship to
us in line, - waa commanded by Cap
tain James Alden, whose conduct at
the battle of Mobile Bay had not met
the approval of Admiral Farragut. la
taking his position in line he held his
fire until his anchor was down,' when
he red a broadside very smartly, wblcfx j j
brought from 1 the admiral' the, signal j
"Well done, Brooklynl" the ? only 6ig4 i:
nal of commendation made during' tho r 4
fight. The "general feeling -as that'f.i
it was a; theatrical -!perfOrmftnceC and i 4,
that the signal did injustice to ' many; i
veteran officers who bad handled their !
ships with consumate skUL However, t i
the signal undoubtedly 'wenttfar; to- H
ward removing Ahe' stigma of -Mobila 4
Bay, and the friends of Captain ; Alden i
rejoiced over it - ':X'fA'
We had been up, manyVof. .us,"" I1 j
nighty and ; our - only breakfast ' bad
been coffee; and hard-tack ' As;wfe ap- j
proached our position Commodore j '
Schenck sent me aloft with a. pair of
glasses to locate, if possible, ' soma ,
(Continued on Page Sixteen).
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