The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1894-01-17
LAST WEEK In WAGNER.
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LASE WEEK LIN W AGNEK.
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in their faces and a discharge Of grape
and canister from the eleven-lpch GAGS
on the parapat Of Gregg. Not man
lauGed Their boats pushei Of in con-
tnsjon, return:eg, as they left, a desult-
orV lice. Taey were soon ouI OF s:gat ID
the darkness. We lost one man beloCg-
ing to Company E, who was kiii:d
by the sabo. Of shot from one o. the
cuos OF Gregg, fred over the heads of
our rneuon the Zach. Il was very hard
20 Gepress these guns sufficiently tc
make them very f'ec.ive' TIE battery
had not been constructed with the ex-
pec,atiou of au attack frcn that cirec-
| lion.
Ii WAS apparent that i. would not oe
| practicable 10 keep iha whole force 90
the psraoet Of Wagner Tonight az usual
IEwas determined 10 reduce it Is much
as 81 ali consistent with pradence. ard
depend on getting the balance ofihe gar
risou in position II time to meet Al as
sault. should The enemy attempt oue.
TIE men were directed to protect tEem.
selves as well IS possible by keep!De
ci2se TO the parapet, which afforded some
shelter except against shells bursting
overhead. The salient angle became
| cnlenab!e, and small squad CT Com
pan: +, St Mathews Rifles, was lett
there.
The commandment was terrific and
grand all night. The fleet Withdrew at
the approach Of darkness, Is was their
custom. The lie Of the Parrot guns
slackeaed somewhat, but the mortars
kept it up incessan.ly. F0u: or five
shells could be seen 10 start at the same
time from a battery behiad the lasL
parallel, and this was frequently repeated
| TIE shells would come flaming through
the air ike ,neteoEs. bursting, as lie
snsny's gua ers seemed to design they
should, sometimes in the air, sometimes
on the parade and sometimes On the
pararet.
During the night it was reported that
the enemy were advancing 10 charge our
works. 1t was a reliet to men and OF,
fcers to believs that the last struggle
was about to be made, and that the aw
fGi cannonade was aDoutt to be exchanged
! for musketrv and haud to hand fight
| with tue bavonets. The enemy again
de playeda . calcium light, this tine turn
ing it upon our fort and lighting up the
works brilliantly. Except in the shadows
it was light enough to read Ordinary
prirt. TO have tried the experiment,
however, would have been certain death.
The men kept Il the shadows OF the
parapet and traveSses. Msj. John Glow
er bad command of two companies end
was charged with the 0efence Of the sea
tsce and flank wall outside ofthe sally
port.
SIXTH OF DECEMBER, SUNDAY.
D ylight cane at las, and With it
the Quickening of the ire from the
Parrots of the enemy. The fleet came
up aga.n and joined in the lombard,
m-nt, and it soon became as grand and
terrible as it was yesterday The fort
! was going rapidly. a large detail was
constantly at work. but the covered
ways and entrances to the magaZ!nes
and bomb proofs could scarcely ot
kept open. The entrance to the Gov
cred way leading into the salient was
entirely closed by the SAND drifts
caused by the enemy's shot and shell:
The bombardment was a repetition OF
yesterday. Men fell oa every side and
the lltCer-bearers and surgeons had as
| much as they could do. 1t was the
custom 20 send the wounded up to the
| CITY at night Our opportunities per
| mtted US to remove very few OF the
dead from the island during the latter
days of the siege. The suffering Of the
men was somewhat allayed by digging
wells ID the bomb-proofs. Tolerabie
water was thus obtained, but not ID
sufficient quantities. The heat was IN
tense and the air in the bomb-proofs
became very foul and hardly supported
lie. The light of the lamps, kept con-
sJantly burning, could hardly penetrate
the gloom. The Rev. A. F. Dickson,
our worthy and efficient chaplain, held
the usual Sundays religious services,
and the voices of the men, singing the
praises of God, could be heard amid
the screaming of solid shot and burst
ing of SHELLS.
About 2 o'clock Z. NJ. Col. Harris and
Capt. F. D. Lee, of the engineer corps
came down from the city to inspect the
fort and report its condition to Gen.
Beauregard. They were of the opinion
that 1t could not be held much longer.
The work was, in their judgment, un-
tenable. Under the directions of Capt.
Lee the damages done by the enemy's
gun bad been promptly repaired till
the last parallel of the besiegers was
completed. It was then no longer pos
sibie, and it was very hard to Keep
from being entirely buried by the sand
drifts occasioned by the bursting shells.
The parapet OF the salient was now
entirely gone, and the ditch in front
filed for space of Fifty feet or more.
at dark the enemy's sap reached the
ditch at point to the east OF this III.
About o'clock, after Col. Harris and
Capt. Lee had made their report. we
received the order Of Gen. Beauregard
through the signal corps to evacuate
the fort. The plan Of evacuation nae
been talked over and agreed upon by
Cul. Keitt and the officers commanding
regiments, in anticipation Of receiving
the order. No one of US can claim for
himself the honor of its arrangements.
The order of Gen. BeauIegard did not
fix 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 sortie, and
throw our command upon the enemy
in their last parallel. We were resolved
to sell our lives as dearly as possible,
and l have no doabt thatcur assault OF
the euemy would have been avery hon
orable death struggle.
In accordance with our plan of eva
cuation the honor of covering the re-
treat fell to the 25th S. G. Y. With a
part of tha. regiment | was to cover