The National tribune., 1907-07-25
OSSABAW ISLAND. GA.
A Chapter From the Experience of the
4Sth N. Y.


4sth N. Y.
Editor National Tribune: In all my
readings of the history of the civil
war or the articles contributed to The
National Tribune l never have come
across anything appertaining to the oc-
cupation of Ossabaw Island. on the
coast of Georgia; altho there were no
losses in killed or wounded, but for
fever this place could not be beaten. In
the Spring of 1868. after the James Is
land campaign. the 41th n. Y. We're
recuperating on Hilton Head, s. c. They
We're a lot of boys from the Greater
New York with two companies from
Greene and Duchess Counties. in the
central part of the State. One thing is
certain. there were very few saints
among them. Gen. Hunter, great
friend of the negroes, was at that time
in command of the Department, and
hardly q day passed that there were
not some complaints made to him. es-
pecially from contrabandS that were
selling vegetables, fruit, fowl and other
articles to the troops and were finding
fault in the payment thereof. / do not
wish to insinuate that the boys of the
41th had the most complaints preferred
against them, but it is my firm belief
that these complaints were the cause
OF the regiment being sent to that mar
row, sandy strip of land, that in my
opinion had never been trod by hu-
the mouth of the Ogeechee River, in
Georgia. We were compelled to fill in
and level off the sandy ground, so as
to get space enough to pitch our tents;
there were few trees, the ground was
covered with cactus. palms, wild flow
ers and here and there some creeping
blackberry vines The creek and ad-
joining waters We're plentiTul1y sup
piled with fish and oysters. Alligators
were also plenty; / have seen as many
IL
some of them as large as / ever saw
in my life. Wild ducks, meadow-hens
and snipe could be had at any time.
1t was an ideal spot for sportsman
On the ocean beach, when the moon
was full, we caught sea turtles, one of
which, after being killed, contained 129
full grown eggs. and their meat an
swered us for fresh beef We could
also provide ourselves with fresh pork.
only that it was more of the Wild kind
and had to be shot, after crossing the
marshes, on the main land. Snakes
were also very plentiful, so much so
that Immediately on our occ patton of
the island a force of so men was
sent on a foraging expedition, under
cover of the gunboatS. to the main
land for lumber to. enable us to place
our tents at least three feet above the
ground. 1t was always necessary be-
fore lying down to raise you: blankets
and look thru the tent to see that none
was there. j myself found two garter
snakes under my blanket one day. 1t
was dangerous to go about outside of
the camp without carrying a strong
stick with you. / have come across
blacksnake at least IL feet long, and we
caught rattlers with eight and 10 rat
ties on them
1t was here that my tent mate, Billy
Allen, came into camp late one after
noon with a large piece of solid, bone
less white meat, about four pounds
weight, that l took to be halibut. He
was in hurry, for he had no business
in camp. He told me to cut this up in
small squares and salt it down and by
the time he came in from picket the
next morning to have the whole lot
fried nice and brown for breakfast. He
confided to me that the same was
piece of alligator meat, but not to say
ANYTHING to the others. / had made up
my mind not to eat any of 1t, but when
] saw the bunch the next morning pill
ing into the three high plates of fried
alligator and only six pieces left
made a grab for four pieces and found
that it tasted as fine as any fish / ever
ate
We were entirely isolated from the
rest of the earth; the gunboats were
so far up the river that communication
with them was not to be expected and
II seemed to me that we had been entire
ly forgotten. 1t was my good fortune to
be the owner of large telescope, and
whenever a vessel was seen in the dis
tance / was at once asked for the use
of 1t and we would get on the top of
our little guard house and watch the
movement of the vessel to see IL it was
coming to US. We were so often diSap-
pointed that the Colonel concluded to
ask for volunteers to make a trip in a
small boat to Hilton Head, S. c., end
state our case to the Department Com
mander 1t was a very dangerous un-
dertaking to make trip between the
islands in possession of the enemy a
distance of over 40 miles, at night, and
return; still, Lieut.. Eddy and eight men
answered the call. They got safely to
Hilton Head, but on their return were
stopped by rebel picket, and by not
stopping when hailed received shower
of bullets that wounded four; still,
Lieut.. Eddy, later on Maj. E. EDDY.
urged them to pull for their lives. The
Johnnies hailed them once more. and
discretion being the better part OF
valor, they dropped their oars and were
taken prisoners. The regiment at that
time was hardly able to muster enough
men for camp duty, all hands were
suffering more or less from chills and
fever. Three times a day we were
marched by companies to the hospital
tent and compelled to take our dose of
quinine and whisky. Our complaint
must have been listened to, for after
five months of Robinson Crusoe" life
on the coast of Georgia we were brot
back to Hilton Head, S. c.. and got
ready for our trip to Florida.-Charles
w. Waage, Corporal, 47th N Y, Brook
lyn, n. Y.