The National tribune., 1885-09-24
"CARLETON" CRITICISED.
Why the Troops Were Transferred from North
Carolina to South Carolina.

Carolina to South Carolina.
To THE EDITOR: In your issue of Jan. 3
carleton" begins Chapter LVI of Saving
the Nation -" In February, 1862" This
may be mistake in typesetting; it should
be In February, 1863" But when he says
"Troops sent to South Carolina.-The officers
managing affairs in Washington to satisfy the
public outcry, sent nearly all the troops In
North Carolna-12 900 men-to South Carolina.
1t was great mistake. They could do very
little good there They could not get at Sumter,
nor up to Charleston. They were in position
in North Carolina to be OF great service III cut
| ting the railroad leading south from Richmond.
| The climate of North Carolina was healthful;
| that of the Sea Islands malariouS BY sending
| so many men away, Gen. Foster, commanding
in North Carolina, could make no movement;
| he would have all he could do to hold his own,"
| he talks about matters that he knows very
| little about; for there are many misstatements
| in that short paragraph and some erroneous
ideas conveyed. l think l can throw little
light on the purpose of this transfer of troops,
| why and for what it was done, who commanded
| it, and why it didn't succeed.
| The taking of Sumter seemed to be the
crowning (scntimentaD achievement in the
minds of the North; this occupied the atten-
| tion of the Administration, and many ideas
| were advanced looking to that end. Gen. Eos
|
| in 1861 in Sumter. He was well acquainted
| with the country about the fort. In the latter
part of '62 he either conceived himself or was
directed to look up the idea of making descent
| on Morris Island, making surprise OF 1t, and
before the Johnnes could learn of the destina-
tion of the expedition get foothold close to
Sumter. The idea was good one, the expedl-
tion well planned, the secret of its destination
| we'll kept; for every one thought it intended
| for Wilmington. 1t started, but 1t stopped
| was told by parties likely to know that in the
Fall of '62 Foster had secretly made more than
| one visit in the transport steamer John Faron
to the inlet lying between Folly and Morris
| Islands, and had convinced himself of the feasi-
| bility of the landing.
The expedition was organized with siege
| trains and everything requisite for the pur-
| pose contemplated. Gen. Foster himself went
with it and commanded it. Under him were
| Gen. Stevenson and Gen. Hickman. 1t left
Morehead City, Beaufort Harbor, the latter
part of January, 1868, and in about three or
four days was at Hilton Head. Then the trou-
BILE began. The authorities at Washington,
| authorizing the expedition, didn't think OF 1t /;
but If they had given Gen. Foster letters super
seding Gen. Hunter and leaving Foster i'll COM
| mand of the Department of the South, all would
| have been well. But as soon as the troops got
| into Hilton Head Gen. Hunter claimed au-
thority over ALL Gen. Fosters staff (or a part
| of it, was put under arrest for time, and sub
| sequently ordered out of the Department. This
caused a deal of trouble at the time, and Adj T.
| Gen. Townsend was sent down from Washing
| ton to pacify the parties The only arrange
| ment he made that was apparent was that all
| the troops and material stopped at Hilton Head
| and Gen. Foster and staff returned to North
| Carolina.
OF course all this was seen by the Confeder-
| ates, and it was just as sure rs death that an
attack was to be made on Sumter 1t was now
too late for surprise, and was followed all the
long Summer by fighting on Morris Island and
| at Wagner
| Had Foster been allowed to go on uninter-
rupted, no doubt we should have had great
success; but the jealousy of Hunter and the
| want of thought on the part of the authorities
in not putting Foster in command of both
North and South Carolina spoilt the whole
| arrangement.
The expedition started from Beaufort. N. c.,
Jan. 90, 1863, and the last Of Fosters staff left
| Hilton Head Feb. %, 1868, on the steamer S. L.
| Spaulding, on which boat also was Adj Gen.
Townsend, returning to Washington. d. G.
| 1t was March IA, and not 13, as Carleton
| says, when the rebs attacked Fort Anderson.
| Fort Anderson was hardly worthy the name
it was, rather, an intrenched camp, right at the
| waters edge, across the Neuse River from New
Berne, the Neuse here being about three
! fourths of a mile wide In it were about 215
men, no cannon The rebs appeared at about
daylight, or soon after. Before i read Carrie
| tons" article l never heard that there were two
brigades of troops attacking the place. We at
| New Berne saw only this one battery of light
artillery, and the battery shelled the fort about
| two hours without any reply from our gum
boats The New Berne side of the river was
lined with troops but we could do nothing.
The first shot thrown by our side was from the
bow gun, some two hours after the shelling be-
gan by the rebS. The reason nothing was done
before was, the Hetzel was around in the Trent
| River fires out, and repairing boiler. The only
| tug in the harbor had her fires out and all had
| 10 wait till her steam was up, when she towed
the Hetzcl into position. The first shell from
the HetZel dismOunted q gun Of the rebs, and
they limbered up and left. Our men in Fort
Anderson lay low, close up under the breast
work. AS there was no rebel infantry they
had nothing to do but wait. Our loss was one
| killed and three wounded.
About April l the siege of Washington began.
Gen. Foster was in Washington when the siege
began, and did not, as Carleton " says in this
chapter "come with two brigades." The rebs
| blockaded the river and kept endorsements
away until the Escort ran the blockade with
| 800 or 400 men and some TatiCns, and Gen. Fos-
| ter came opt on her the next day, when she ran
| it again outward. Gen. Foster went to New
Berne, and the day after his arrival there 10
companies of the 23d Mass, of Heckman's Bri-
gade, arrived there from South Carolina. By
|
was allowed to come to North Carolina to assist
Gen. Foster, and this was all Of the troops that
had left the Department in January that ever
returned to it.
"CarletOn's" idea that the troops in North
Carolina were in a position to be Of great serv-
ice in cutting the railroad leading south from
Richmond is not very good ole, as the facts
proved. Raids had been made from New BcIne
| in the Fall of 1S62-one for Tarboro via Wash
ingtOn and Plymouth, but .he sound of trains
coming into Tarboro stopped that another start
ed for and got to Goldsboro, but come back
quicker than il went up; another went to War
saw, on the Wilmington Railroad, about west
of New Berne, and tore up tracks and destroyed
an arsenal at Kenansville and then scurried
back but as far as any permanent hurt to the
railroads, the Department of North Carolina
never inflicted any. A heavy force in New
Berne and about there tended to keep force
watching them, but that it was at any time of
any size except when an attack on Plymouth,
Washington OF New Berpe was to be made is
not to be credited-the rebs had the inside in
every sense.-WILL L. WEIGH, Boston, Mass.
They Didn't Mix Gunpowder in Their Whisky.
To THE EDITOR: In your issue of Sept. 8 !
saw communication from John b. Mason, 1st
s. G. Rifles, asking the name of the regiment
dressed in Zouave suits who charged with such
determination ut the battle of Gaines's Mill,
| june 27 1862 The regiment was the 5th n Y