The Republican journal., 1906-05-10
THE VOLUNTEER NAVY.
BESIEGED BY THE REBELS AT WASH
INGTON, N. c. OFFICIAL REPORIS.
PROMOTION.

PROMOTION.
In nv last We were at Newbern, y.
c.. awaiting orders. A few days AFTER
arrival there we were ordered TO pro-
coed to Washington, n. G., where we
arrived the night before Christmas, re-
heving the gunboat Miami. Washing,
ington is one of the most delightful
little places ever saw. 1t is located
on the Pamlico river, Is miles from us
mouth. The entrance To this river IS from
the Pamlico sound, and is about 90 miles
distant from Newbern and the same
distance from Hatteras Inlet. Here,
as at all other towns we held, the We'll
TODD people, with but few exceptlonS'
left on our approach. In every place
there were a few Onion people that re-
manned, But most of them were poor
people that the government had to feed,
while they stood ready to betray us to
the enemy at the first opportunity. Our
duty as guard ship below the town was
delightful during the winter Quite
little commerce was carried on With the
inland port. Camp followers from the
North followed the army III, and there
were several large stores occupied by
Northern men, who had all things need
fnj and had permits from Gen. B. +.
Butler. commanding the land forces, to
sell to all persons who would take the
oath of allegiance: and most OF them
would take it i'll order to buy pound
of coffee and break it as soon as an op-
por.unity offered. They were mostly
'poor whites" and illiterate, as all the
poor people of the South We're at that
time. A free public school among them
o,,l Of aud not
in ten knew the nature of an oatll
Cotton. tar, turpentlne ana !eo"eSo
were quite plentiful among tie people
outside the town, aud as the govern
ment wanted the turpentine and the
Tar and the SPECTATORS from the North
wanted the cotton and tobacco, the COM
handing general established a trading
post on shore for two days in each week
Tuesday and Friday This post was
lust outside of US as guard ship and
those were pretty lively days for us, as
we had to see that nothing contraband
went either in or out. A band OF guer-
illas infested the country Whereabouts,
known as Whitford's guerlllas, and bore
the same relation to the army here that
did Mosbv's guerillas to the Army of
the Potomac, and it was generally be-
lieved by us that at least three-fourths
of those who came III to take the oath
of allegiance were Whltford's men, VINO
took the oath two days III the week ana
broke it the other five. Tins continued
until the last days OF March, When IL
began to be rumored that the rebel
General A. P. Hill, and his entire army
CORPS of p. Oo0 men, had left Lees army
near Richmond and were advancing on
the town for two purposes. VIZ, to drive
the Yankee hordes from the land and
to live off the land until such time as
the armies of the Potomac were ready
to move in the spring.
For several days during the last OF
March the rumor was rife that large
force from the rebel army was ap-
preaching the town. This was consld-
cred unreliable for some time, but at
last the runor became so strong that 1t
could be seen III the rebel faces. March
18th it became known to all that y. I.
Hills whole army was approaching
DISPATCHES We're sent Immediately lol
remtorcementS and for ammunition
and supplies for BOTH army ana navy,
The MON forces which held the town at
that time were the two gunboats Lomsl
ana and Commodore IIuil-the former
guarding the upper end Of the town and
the latter the iOWeI--aud the land forces
We're tile 27th Massachusetts, part OF
PENNSYLVANIA regiment. Company !, Isl
New York Cavalry and Ransom's bat
tery. This was all there was to contend
with an army more than SIX times our
strength. unless we were promptly re
iutorced Though every effort WAS mace
to get aid to us they did not succeed,
though /, 100 men We're started Oh trans
ports for our relief from every part OF
the sound, and also nine gunD0atS. me
rebels had succeeded III erecting a SIX
gun battery miles below Washlngten,
on quite a high promontory known as
Hil's Point. and this one battery kept
the whole army and the nine gunboats
at bay during the II days we were be-
selged above, with the exception Of
one gunboat which on the seventh day
of the seige ran by the battery and
brought us ammunition and other sup
plies, of which we were sOreiy IN need.
The next day the army transport ES-
cOrt having on board the 9TH Rhode
Island regiment, came past the battery
to the assistance Of the army. 1t was a
great relief, for they were being hafd
pressed by tie enemy on all sides and
nothing but the gunboat Commodore
Hull saved the garrison during the
first seven days of the siege. Ihis was
acknowledged by all.
March 31St we became collF!hceu
that the town and its garriSons were
completely surrounded by the rebels,
who occupied both sides of the river as
far down AS IIIll's Point. About sun
set on that day we were ordered by
Commander Renshaw, the senior officer
present, to get underway and move
down the river about two miles and
take a position off Rodman's Point and
shell the woods and roads leading to
the town. which we did, and continued
firing until midnight. Then, finding
that we were eXpending great deal OF
ammunition without knowing what exc
cution it was doing and realizing that
we should soon be short of ammunition
we ceased firing, but fired one gun every
half hour, reserving our amunltlon Tor
something more definite to shoot at.
When we took up our position on the
left bank of the river a large lighter
containing a 12-pound howitzer and
one company Of the 27th Massachu-
sets, Captain Lyons commanding,
landed at Rodman's Point, which was
on the right bank of the river, and
moved out about half mile to DO
picket duty, and if possible prevent
the rebels from occupying the Point.
bou+ , n'r1ork i'm hp morning hearing