The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1885-06-24
THE EVACUATION.

memorable seige.
EVACUATION.
There is no operation in the war more
delicate than the evacuation by water Of
d detached and remote fort in the near
presence Of tho enemy. The FcderulS
we're in large force, tho head OF their
column in the sap, which had reached
the moat. Goodness, resolntc. courage,
judgment and inflexibility Oh the part
Of officers, obedience to orders, perfect
discipline and n constant sense Of the
necessity for silence on tho part of the
men were essential for success. One
dcscrtcr to the enemy would have de-
feated it. How easy in the darkness
and confusion of that night to slip around
the curtsin to the sap, just a few steps
neyond, and with II word put in mo-
tiou eleven thousand five hundred Fed
erals. That no traitor was there re.
bounds to the eternal credit Of the gnr-
riSon, md crowns the record that
makes immortal the fame Of Fort Was-
ner.
There was n suspicion in the Federal
mind that some movement was taking
place among the C~onfcdcratcs, but
whether it was All increase OF garrison.
or nm evacuation, 10 II could deter
nine. TO be prepared for any rmcr-
gcncy. n strong calcium light was thrown
upon the fort from one Of the irorclads.
1t was a Shostly glare, which betrayed
those who watched, instead of those
who rctrcatcd. men moved about the
works without discovery, and the lights
IN the front Of the fort decpcncd the
darkness on all other sides, throwing
the shadow of Wagner back over the
sand hills NIL the way to Cummings
Point.
At 8 O'Clock Sunday night a courier
informed Col. keitt that the boats were
at the point in readiness for the cm-
barkation. The wounded were first sent
off. About this time First Sergt. Car
son, Of Company +, 25th South Carolina
VolutecLs, was killed, and Lieut.. j. N.
Mcdonald, commanding Company X,
25,h South Carolina Volunteers, NOR
tally wounded. The former was buried
by his comrades behind the flank wall
Of Wagner. the booming Of the cnemy's
guns and the bursting Of their shells his
funeral salute. To tho admirable dis
cipline Of the crews Of the barges is
mainly due the success Of the cinbarka-
ton. Their boats kept abreast, with the
lenght Of an oar from the g%unwhalc to
the end Of the blade separating them.
The oars thus interlocked never touched
or intcrfcrred with each other. AS each
detachment left, other boats grounded
on the beach to receive their load. and
the cmbarkation was accomplished.
10 the 25th regiment South Carolina
Volunteers was accorded the honor Of
bringing up the rear and guarding the
retreat from the fort. AS courier after
courier arrived from Cummings Point,
with information hat the previous de-
tachmcnt had embarked, Lieut.. Col.
PRESLEY sent off other companies, dis
%tributing those remaining over the works
to keep up tho firing. At last only he
with Companies 1 and F, remained.
The soft sand echoed no foot-step, and
no voice vas raised above a whisper
Even to have spiked tho cannon in Wag-
ner would have notified the Fedorals in
their sap, rot thirty steps away, and so
the armament was left intact. At mid
night the fort, that had stood so much,
was without a sentinel to challenge or
an artillcrist to fire.
SURPRISE oF %FEDERAI.s.
"No n at home !" was the reply re-
ccivcd the next morning when Gen.
Gilmore Knocked at the sallyport for
admission. The elaborate preparation
for an assault: was useless. The FEEDER
ais walked in quietly md took posses
sion. The brief official report of its
capture" (?) hardly conceals the cha
grin felt at the escape" OF the ''oncc
defiant foe" The fuses which should
have given warning Of evacuated works,
like most Confederate fuses, failed to do
duty. The guns thereafter snumeratcd)
fell into hands o! the Federa!s, but to
them they were only so much old iron
or trophies Of war. Nevertheless, to sig
nalize their barren victory they replac-
cd with the "stars and stripes' the little
battle flags floating over Wagner and
Gregg,
SUMMARY.
For ~fihy-cisht days Wagner and
Gregg, with n force never exceeding six
teen hundred men, had withstood a thor
opuh1v orr ~