Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1871-09-01

i
BODY of men, small as it IVES, without an
force, for they were part OF
The picked men of Genera! ADes's Owls
ion. Who afterwards charged and carried
Fort Fisher by assault. These troops
were not all safely re embarked until MOE
day, the 9Th Of December. The enemy
did not seem to make an effort to preV<ht
this Most Of the transports e~Fe sent
North on Sunday, but General Butler snd
Mond4y. TEE Msior-General command
lug di not reach the headquarters Army
of the james until late in the night OF the |
2S:h of December. Il was a day or SO |
after this before oil the troops had re-
turned to their former CAMPS
! ieneral Butler. In causing q withdrawal ,
! o, the troops that he had l4ud=d on 'he
ibraoh ec'ed under the advice Il two
enxiu~ CT tficers, tHau whom no more
skilled ana learned me m0rrs OF their
Eprofes>icn Ee.3 commissions N the
! United States army. With respect
to tie no ives which prompted this
withdrawal Gener We;tzel said :
After that exs crieuce lin a-saul'Ipg
military worke,) With the lnformauon l
had OBJ aimed from rea1ing and 8'udy-for
lbefore this war l va instructor At the
Military Academy for thee years under
Professor MahaD,-and in face OF the fact
that he'd beer appointed major-eenera
only twenty days before, end eeded CON
J firmatioD not<hStaL ding all that L
went back to General ButIer, aud told him
I con ,idered it would be murd to order
} al a tack on that work with that force. |
= understood Colonel Comotock TO agree
with me perfectly, although did lot ask
Ihim, and General Butler has since said
l that he did.
90 ,estion. Upon dciibcra' ion, aud Of
J ter Gil YOU have since learned, era you en-
8 tirely satisfied with the opinion Jou then
formed ab Ut attacking the fort
e "Auswer. Yes, sir, sln fully satisfied
= from all / have heard since. from the re-
else.-I am fully satisfied that L did II,
; duty there" See page III, Report G
Committee Oh CoudGc. OF Wss.
= Colonel C0nstCck also gave tue follow
ing testimony before the asmo cJmmit-
J. "Onestion. With tho information tba
= General W=i;zei had, would You hav'
e agreed win him, independent OF VIVA
= General Curtis SAID to you ?
"Answer. L should, from the iuforma
tiop had at that time" (Soe p7g5 ~
/ Report Of Committee on Conduct OF til
II War.
A gallant officer and few men, unde
I" tine fire OF the navy guns, approached s
, near to the fort as to ca'rF oil q flag Whlc
II had been cnt Own By a sleil, and wa
As hanging over the parapet Thinkin
g that probably the Reb7is had no observe
IT. be crept upon his hands and knees
the palisadirg, found q hole IN it tuat On
le OF HE shells had made, crept through ih
~ hole and up tt the fl 6, and got it an
"a got away with il, without being OF
i served" (Seo Report of Committe
ne on the Condncs e Ike War, |
IN ~ Bat tins was done viii
the shells If 1be navy were fa
IL ling about til, hoads Of the daring rae
re who entered the works. Had CnrIie
TX brigade charged through tn 8 fire Of tt
* uavy, AID Lad they Teen successful
rs getting pos es~Ion Of a portion OF the for
:. still this would have beea bus the bPg
* ming of their tssk; for il is known tro
fexptrience with the same garrison in Il
~ second expedition. that tn y wOuid ha
Al been Obliged to fight after they got IN
Oh thu fertilization itself The whole of Ge
Az Ames's division did fight this identic
ID garrison, somewhat r-iDfo'cpd inside t
ny fort, CT the coud eXPeuitlon, for near
on seven hours, before there were indicatio
-! hit tie Rebels contemplated giving l
n the battle as 10 t. There can bs but hit
no doubt ihat, had Curtis charged at the tin
-hs unsutp ,rt@d as be was, he would have Il
the most Of his brigade. On the first e
"a" peditiOn the army bad only three and q
'h half hours Of favorable weAh r to land q
51"A mako the necessary arr4nge m nts to char
ran this strou ghod Of the Rebellion. The
io7 cond expedition were accorded three da
1o1 of uninterruptedly beautiful weather. [
net Ca1r';ttao n, +Ha CInndnct of rho W
f i gave the question es to the refusal OF
slHl Major Geue,al cpmmanding the ar
the s ~,l - ,,,;nat;on Tho 70, +in,
7"l covers over W. hundred and sixty pat
l u of printed matter, and after he most n
WI ture deliberAtion the Com mit'ee 70 I'd
VIZ follows In CONCLUSION, your commit
~ would cay, from al the etimony Def
~ 10 tue \, tbas the determination Of Gene
~ Butler not to Assault the fort ems to h
= been fully ju4nfie b all the fact and {
o'0' cumstances then known OE afterwards
ccr aimed"
-, Ia his Instructions to General Butter
,oJ.s LIeutenaut. General dIroc ed "a folio
nnno "Toe object of the expedition wll
W gained on effecting a land ng On TIC me
mt land between Cape Fear RIVER aad
49, q Atlantic North OF the north entrance
q Of tue river. Should such laudipg be
av ! fected, whether the enemy
de. Fort Fisher or the batteries gnf
ould ing IDe emu anco ~ INC iI'ol Vno'0'
the troops should entreuch The m YES,
had by co operating with the Lazy effect
n on reduction and ca )ture Of those places.
o,lA General 3 tler does n, seem 10
7,,c- b. en- u mindful of thee Instructions.
line did not believe that he had effected s
ina landing, as was Contemplated In Gen
.r.s Grants letter to him. There were sixty
re. hundred men beloL gjng to the army bra
Isa,d of the expedition. Out Of this nun
! ch there were only about twenty, hree b
and dred m N landed. There were very
,ere: supplies, no artillery, Tand little
aroe muDitlon placed on shore. This f
WI amounted to abou5 one third of
made troops, aod they were Without the
the cessary supplies. This was mercy O
if It tial landing. General Butter expIal
gain his reason for Withdrawing ns force
9TH the following words ''By goirg aw'
Il a would draw off the enemy's atten ion.
risk I remained there, it would keep his fo
and concentrated at that point /; and if L
driven away by the storm that was cor
sent up, then I should lose the men I had IL
what I'd. acted for the best, according tc
a. he light had"
that The first expedition against Fo:t Fl
his failed to capture the fort, but it acted