The National tribune., 1896-11-05

a large force of cavalry was coming. We
| hastily got into our boat and crossed over
| to the island, where we gathered in the
/ captured boats.
On the morning of Dec. Is was sent with
two companies to take possession of lizard
Smiths plantation, which the enemy had
been occupying since my visit there on the
10Th. ! had boats enough to take over the
two companies at once, and we started before
it was daylight, hoping to surprise them;
but we were discovered by their sentinel,
who fired upon us while crossing. We land
ed about quarter of a mile from the rice
mill and other plantation buildings, and L
sent one company to make a detour OF the
right to cover our flank, while l took the
direct road to the rice mill.
When we started the topography of the
country was unknown to us. The first OBJ
stacle was canal about II feet wide and OF
unknown depth, spanned by single plank.
We crossed on this and made quick rush
for the enemy, who gave us one volley that
| hit nobody. We did not fire shot They
escaped with their guns and ammunition.
We captured all their provisions, some OF 1t
| cooking on the fire, and from that day we
had enough to eat.
The enemy did not make any positive at
tack on me that day, but displayed such
| large force that at night Col. Hawley ordered
me to return to the island. For the next
few days there was good deal of firing on
both sides with both cannon and muskets;
but in the end we drove off their artillery,
although they succeeded in landing shell
into our rice mill and burning it. We had
| large force of both soldiers and negroes at
work gathering and thrashing rice, and had
scores of hungry visitors from the regiments
on the Georgia shore who did not even have
rice to eat
Every day at high tide rebel gunboat
came up stream and threw monster shells
upon the island, and the terror of the negroes
was comical to behold. They would dive
under houses or hide behind fences, and
seemed to think that if out of sight they
were safe.
1 was engaged for two or three days in
gathering all of the boats / could find on the
island, and on the 10Th, with fiatboats and
owboats nearly the whole brigade, with
some artillery, crossed to the South Carolina
| shore.
On Dec. 90 a accommodating party of about
600 men went out towards the Union Cause
way, in South Carolina. This was the only
road left open by which the enemy could
get out of Savannah. We could see their
wagons moving on this road and large
body of troops. Our commander did not
| think his orders justified him In attacking
at that time, and the next morning 1t was
found that Gen. Hardee had lett Savannah
| in the night. We then received orders to
recross to the Georgia shore and march TO
Savannah.
Our regiment was the last to recross to the
I,oVl- ho
enemy pressed US so hard that we were COM
PEELED to turn back and fight them. Our
friends of the ID Mass. had nearly reached
the Georgia shore, when they learned the
bad fix we were in, and Immediately re-
turned to our help. The enemy held US
there from noon until after dark, when they
withdrew and then we got into our boats
and returned to the island, where we passed
| the night
The next day we crossed over into Georgia
and marched to Savannah, where we made q
| camp near the bank of the river, about two
miles from the city. This ended the great
march to the sea, and was holiday excur-
sion compared with what followed it.
On Jan. II our division crossed into South
Carolina on floating bridge that had been
built of rice barges, and it is no exaggeration
| to say that until we reached GoldsbOro. n.
c., March "a, it rained fully one-balf of the
time day and night. The right wing of the
army was taken on transports to Hilton
| Head, S. c., and commenced its march from
there. While we were in South Carolina.
and before the rest of the left wing could
cross, the rains commenced.
The whole country was under water, and
our floating bridge washed away. Then we
marched up river to Perrysburg Landing,
where we found a camp that was few
| inches above the water, and where we had
the gunboat Pawnee for company. When
the rains had ceased little the remainder
of the left wing of the army marched up the
west side of the river to Sisters Ferry, we
ON the east side keeping pace with it and
| fighting every day for our forage. We had
to wait some days for the river to subside,
when pontoon bridge was laid and the left
wing crossed over. Some transports came
up with supplies, and our wagons were
| loaded therefr0m.
On Feb we started on the long M arch
There were sandy ridges, where the roads
were passable but for more than half Of the
way we built corduroy roads, using fence
rails where they could be found, and cutting
timber where there were no rails. Every
| little stream in that fiat country was from
one to three miles wide and the water from
six inches to two feet deep. The only way
to get wagon along was to have as many
men as could get about it and push it through
the mud and water.
| The right wing of the army, being nearest
| the coast, had the shortest line of march and
| also the most swamp and mud. The left
wing was the exposed flank, and the enemy's
cavalry made it very interesting for the for
| age parties Sometimes it happened that
| the Fourteenth Corps were on the same road
ahead Of us; then we did not have much to
eat, but when we were ahead, we did not in
tentionally leave anything that was edible
for man or beast.
We reached Graham Station, on the
| Charleston & Augusta Railroad, Feb. Z, and
here occurred that scene in destroying rail-
road track that is SO well illustrated and de-
scribed in the Century Magazine for October,
1857, by Gen. Slocum. The General believed
and said at the time that regiment of men
could not overturn a railroad track, and pro-
posed to back up his opinion with bottle
| of whisky.
Col Hawley, then brigade commander
promptly accepted his offer and sent for his
regiment. Our men were just cooking
coffee when ordered to fall in without arms.
Capt. Woodford, Of Hawley's staff explained
| what was wanted, and we marched to the
railroad track where Gen. Slocum and lot
of other officers were gathered to see them
fail.