Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1878-05-22

uooPs, lolnlng summers column az
IT moved to the support of Heintz
eiman In that battle, and fighting un.
der him to the end. This brieade
mad the honor of being selected to
mold the enemy in check at the pas.
sages OF the Chickahominy, and when
recalled joined Franklin at White
Oak Swamp, in both situations eY
hibltlng the most undaunted courage.
AT the close of this campaign Col
Onei Hoyt was ordered first to North
Caroiina, and thence to South Caro-
lima, where he was engaged in the
slege of Fort Wagner, the first seri-
Gus obstacle to the reduction OF
Charleston The operations were la
oorlous and conducted under the
terrible fire of the enemy and the
more wasting effect of the summer,
heat For forty days the work was
pushed A single paragraph from a
letter written by Colonel Hoyt at the
time VIII illustrate its nature. After
describing the busy scenes of the de-
trall, he says: ''Over all this divers
ity OF labor We're constantly explod-
ing at night the shells of the enemy
Cover johnson : would be called
out from the lockout. There was a
Hash across the harbor. In ten or
nfteen seconds comes report. AWAY
up N the air is seen a steady twinkle
Presently it whistles and .wabbles
and roars ike a coming storm. Down
down on the heads of the men.
crouching behind their mounds of
sand, lower and lower still, and in
very imminent proximity, it winds up
with bang and villainous whir-rr
OF half hundred pieces humming
INTO the marshes, or mayhap into hv
ing muscles of its poor victims
Then the Bull of the Woods would
open Its pyrotechny, and Bee and
Beauregard and the Peanut and Has
kell, and so the thing was kept ND
until, tired and weary and mangled,
the detail went out of the trenches
at dawn"
When all was ready, a hundred
heavy guns opened upon devoted
Wagner and the troops were held in
readiness to assault, Col Hoyt hav-
ing been assigned the task of charg
ing Fort Gregg; but before the time
for the movement had come the enc
my evacuated and the stronghold fell
without blow.
In June, 1861, plan was devised
to capture Charleston by surprising
the garrisons guarding its approach
es. The attempt was made on the
night of the 3rd of July, in three
divisions, Colonel Hoyt, closely sup
ported by other troops, leading that
which was to capture Fort johnson.
The channel was difficult, and the
pilot, either through ignorance or
treachery, utterly failed in his duty.
Colonel Hoyt determined to carry
out his instructions, undertook the
guidance and triumphantly cleared
the bar. But precious time had been
lost, and as he approached the Fort |
he was discovered and a simultane-
Gus rapid fire was opened upon him !
His supports failed to follow, though
of this he was ignorant, and pushing
bodily forward landed with 135 men,
his whole party charged and captur-
ed a two7gun battery. The heavy
guns at Fort johnson, two hundred |
yards beyond, were beginning to |
open their hoarse throats, while the 1
intervals were filed with the sharp
rattle of musketry.
No sign of wavering was seen in I
the intrepid baud as they moved |
steadily forward, led by Col. Hoyt.
They crossed the parapet, struggled
at the crest face to face with the foe,
and began to leap into the fort when
the astounding and mortifying fact |
disclosed that they were unsupport-
ed. The whole garrison was now
alive and swarming upon all sides.
1t was plain that a further struggle |
would be useless and the detachment |
surrendered as prisoners of war
The skill and daring displayed by
Col. Hoyt and his men extorted the
highest praise from friend and foe.
The Charleston Mercury of July
9th, said: The second column un-
der Colonel Hoyt of the Fifty-second |
Pennsylvania, who also had command
of the expedition, attacked the
Brooke gun, and landing, Lieutenant
Boworth of the Second South Caro-
lima Artillery was compelled to fall |
back, after himself and men fighting
bravely. The enemy cheered by this
success, with their commander at
their head waving his sword, advanc-
ed in heavy force upon Fort Johnson;
but these were received with a ter
rife fire by the light and heavy bat
teries on the line"
General Forest In command of the |
department said in orders: THE
boats commanded by Colonel Hoyt,
Lieutenant Colonel Conyngham, and
Lieutenants Stevens and Evans, all
of the Fifty-second Pennsylvania,
rowed rapidly to the shore, and these
officers with Adjutant Bunyan (after-
ward killed. and 135 men, landed and
drove the enemy, but, deserted by
their comrades, were obliged to sur
render to superior numbers. Colo
mel Hoyt bestows unqualified praise
on the officers and men who landed
with him; of these seven were killed
and sixteen wounded He himself |
deserves great credit for his energy
in urging tho boats forward and
bring them through the narrow chan
mel, and the feeling which led him to
land at the head of his men was the
prompting of gallant spirit which
deserves to find more imitators
General Schemmelfnnig said, af-
ter recounting the preliminaries
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