The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1894-01-18
the fort. The plan of evacuation had

regiments, in anticipation of receiving
inc order. No one Of US can claim for
1lmSelf tho honor of its arrangement.
Inc order OF Gen. BeauIegard did not
TX the details, and our plans were not
changed. In the event of our failure
to receive the order to evacuate, as we
could not successfully resist an assault,
as we resolved to make a sortie, and
throw our command upon the enemy
In their last parallel. We were resolved
to sell our lives as dearly as possible,
and have no dOAbt that our assault OF
the enemy would have been very hon
orabie death struggle.
In accordance with our plan Of eva
cuation the honor OF covering the ro.
treat fell to the 25th ). G.. Y. With a |
part Of thas regiment | was to cover |
the retreat Of AL the troops from the |
fort. except a small lctail under Capt. |
lIuguenin, who were to be left to blow |
up the magazines and fire the last gun. |
Ga the approach Of night the Wee Nee
Volunteers and Beauregard Light In
fantrY were ordered to march in from
the sand Hills. This, no doubt, Great
ed the Impression on the enemy that
fresh troops were coming in to relieve
ia" worn out garrison. At dusk Capt.
Crawford, with tho 18th Georgia,
took with 1T a l2-pounder howitZer, to
ra used, if occasion required, 10y tho
2ith Georgia in covering the emOarka.
ton Ct the troops at Cummings Point
thtS duty, at the request of Major
Gardner, had been assigned to the 9th.
a Orpaat work had been hastily thrOWn
lcroSS the island not far above Is itteTy
Gregg, where a stand was to be made
III the event of the enemy'S OverWheln-
ing my command, aad following the re- ..
treating column. Oar guns had been
silent for thirty six hours. 1t had be.
come impossible. as | have already
said, to use the teWgunS which had not
been diSmOunted by tho eneny's fire
Now, however, fire was reopcued from
the Uniy muroar which we EId tit for
ua". The only other one in the fort
was an old Revolutionary piece, which
| recognized AS having seen At the Cit
Aici when | was Il cadet. 1t had been
spiked by the breaking of the priming
%ir", and had been useless for several
days. Cnr firing of this piece was at
irregular intervals. Besides this NOR
tar one gun was also used. AS soon as
the 18th Georgia left, that portion of
the wall occupied by them was covered
by the Clarendon Guards, Company ~
Under the command of Capt. Joseph G.
burgess. Oar men were directed to
kC"p up steady fire, not so rapid as to
create the impression that We were do
ing 1t for effect, nor yet 50 slow as to
induce the belief that the garrison b ad
been weakened. We were anxious to
make the enemy believe that this now
life was occasioned by fresh arrivals.
lhe lire OF the enemy was kept up
hriSkly, and their shells were falling all
around. AS soon us | had information
thHt the 2SLh Georgia had embarked,
and that the boats we're ready for an
Other detachment, ! sent Off COmpan-
les r. ID, T., q and ii. They, like the
Georglans, took with them l2-pound-
er howltzer. We tried to conceal the
fact from our own men that we were
eVacuatlng the fort, and did all that
we could to cause them TO believe that
fresh troops were near to take their
places in the garrison. Great circum-
Spectlon and caution was required.
The enemy were in our ditch aud not
more than fifty feet from us. U have
recently had conversation with Capt.
Remy, of the cruiser Charleston, who
told me that he was with the troops in
our iltch) ~ panic among our men
would have been at once fatal to tho
whole movement. No troops could
have behaved better than the garrison
at Fort Wagner.
The st. Matthew's Rifles, Company
+, Capt. Martin III. Sellers, were posted
behind the flank wall on the outside of
the fort. While the events just par-
rated were trapSpiring inside Of the
fort, First Sergt. Carson, Of Company
+, one OF the best non-commissioned
officers III the service, was killed. Had
he been spared he would certainly have
attained position better suited to his
ability. His comrades, with their bay
oncts, dug grave IN the sand behind
the flank wall and buried him there.
The booming of the enemy's guns and
bursting of shells were his funeral sa.
Lutte. Truly he was buried with the
honorS of war.
~ courier arrived from Cummings
Point with the information that the
last detachment sent off had embarked
| next sent of companies IS, a and *
Col. keitt and his staff left about this
time. l had now with me inside the
fort Company l. Company II was still
holding its position behind the outside
wall. Our SUSPENSE was very great.
Every slack in the enemy'S fire caused
our hopes of escape to sink. The next
shot was welcomed as the harbinger
Of success. We knew then that our
were not discovered. Com
pany had been filling all the posts
made vacant by the withdrawal of the
others. Both companies + and | be-
htved with great bravery and coolness
They now knew that they were cover
ing retreat, and that if pursued they
must be overwhelmed by superior
numbers. Napoleon's old guard never
acquitted themselves with greater
;redlt.
y messenger at length came with the
that the last detachment
ent WAS OFF and the boats again ready.
led out Company in perfect order
nd was joined at the sallypOrC 10y Capt
eIJers with company +. Lieut. T.. b
'roWn and ten men of Company | were |
etaiIed to report to Capt. Huguenin
hat Ollicer with this detail, and few |
lore men Of other commands, had been
rdered by Col Keitt to light slow
latch communicating with the magaZ.
Ie, in which was quantity Of powder
hs match was so timed that the mag
zine would be blown up after the last
oops had left the fort. The journey
tumminu'a Point waa q nurilo,o |