the gunboats and the opposite shore. The city was thoroughly sacked by
the rebels, who carried away more than half a million dollars worth of
plunder. The gunboats and the fort continued to fire upon the town till
nearly every building in it was riddled by schrapnel and solid shot. All
the government buildings, the gas works, and the elegant residences
about the fort were destroyed, and the sun rose the next morning upon
the smouldering ruins of the once beautiful city of Paducah.
To the great relief of the garrison, who were out of ammunition, and who
had been told that they must now rely on their bayonets, the rebels left
the town about midnight, but hung about it for several days. The rebel
killed numbered three hundred, and his wounded at least a thousand. The
Unionists had fourteen killed and forty-four wounded.
THE CAPTURE OF FORT PILLOW, TENN.
APRIL 12, 1864.
Fort Pillow was an earthwork, crescent-shaped, eight feet in height,
surrounded by a ditch six feet deep and twelve feet in width. It was
situated on a high bluff which descended precipitately to the river’s
edge and on the other sides sloped to a deep ravine.
On the twelfth of April, just before sunrise, General Forrest’s command,
consisting of McCulloch’s brigade of Chalmers’ division and Bell’s
brigade of Buford’s division, under the command of Brigadier-General
Chalmers, appeared in the neighborhood of Fort Pillow. The garrison of
this fort comprised nineteen officers and five hundred and thirty-eight
enlisted men, of whom two hundred and sixty-two were colored troops,
including one battalion of the Sixth United States heavy artillery,
commanded by Major L. F. Booth, and one section of the Second United
States light artillery, together with one battalion of the Thirteenth
Tennessee cavalry (white), under the command of Major W. F. Bradford.
The pickets of the garrison were driven in and the fighting became
general, about nine o’clock, A. M. Major Bradford, who commanded,
withdrew all the forces, a portion of which had previously occupied
exterior entrenchments, within the fort, and, as both the black and the
white troops fought gallantly, he was sanguine of making a successful
defence.
General Forrest having assumed the command, he ordered General Chalmers
to advance his line so as to gain a position on the slope against which
the cannon in the fort could not be directed, and where the garrison
with small arms could not reach them without exposing themselves to the
sharpshooters, who, under cover of stumps and logs, forced them to keep
inside the works. This position, within one hundred yards of the fort,
was, after much hard fighting and a severe loss to the rebels, gained by
the assailants. The gunboat New Era shelled the latter continually but
with little effect, although constantly instructed by signals from the
fort of the whereabouts of the enemy. Her guns finally became
overheated, her ammunition almost exhausted, and she was compelled to
cease firing.
Forrest now demanded the unconditional surrender of the fort. Major
Bradford asked to be allowed an hour to consult with his officers and
those of the gunboat. Forrest, perceiving two Union gunboats
approaching, the foremost apparently crowded with troops, refused to
grant more than twenty minutes for the deliberation. There was some
equivocal parleying in the interim, and the rebels are accused of
unfairly gaining some approaches to the fort during the brief truce. The
twenty minutes expired, and it was understood that Major Bradford
refused to surrender.
Forrest, after exciting the rivalry and emulation of the rebel
Missourians, Mississippians and Tennesseeans who surrounded the fort,
ordered the bugle to sound the charge, which was made with a fierce
yell, and the works were carried without a halt in the Confederate line.
The rebels declare that the colored troops retreated toward the river,
with their arms in their hands, firing back, and their colors flying.
This assertion is stoutly denied by the few survivors of the massacre
which followed. The latter affirm that the Federal troops, black and
white, threw down their arms and sought to escape by running down the
steep bank to the river. Some hid themselves behind trees and bushes,
and others leaped into the river leaving only their heads above water,
and were fired upon and slain by the victors as soon as discovered.
The Committee of Congress who made this slaughter the subject of special
investigation, report many acts of barbarity on the part of the rebels,
including the shooting in cold blood of Major Bradford, of entire groups
and lines of prisoners, of the sick and wounded in the hospital, and
even of women and children; the burning of the sick and the wounded in
huts and tents from which escape had been rendered impossible—in a word,
that “no cruelty which the most fiendish malignity could devise was
omitted by them.” General Forrest himself, Lieutenant-General S. D. Lee,
and other rebel officers who were implicated, denied these horrible
charges.
General Forrest admits a loss in the engagement of twenty killed and
sixty wounded. He captured two ten-pound Parrott guns, two howitzers,
two brass cannon, three hundred and fifty stand of small arms, one
hundred and sixty white and seventy-three negro troops and forty negro
women and children. The rest of the garrison was slaughtered, and how
many refugee citizens and negroes besides will perhaps never be known.
OPERATIONS IN FLORIDA IN 1864.
On the fifth of February, in accordance with general instructions from
the War Department, and in pursuance of a plan previously submitted by
him, General Gilmore, commander of the Department of the South, set on
foot an expedition designed to penetrate to the interior of Florida, for
the purpose of procuring an outlet for large quantities of cotton,
lumber and timber, which were stored in that region, and to cut off one
of the most fertile sources of the enemy’s supplies. A further object
which the Federal commander had in view was to obtain recruits for his
colored regiments from the increased negro population then congregated
in that part of the State.
The Confederate force in the State of Florida at that time was much
larger in proportion to the population, than in other Southern States,
as in addition to eight or ten thousand regular troops, the Governor had
enrolled most of the arms-bearing population in a home organization for
self-defence, and thus evaded the sweeping conscription of the Davis
administration which had been so unsparing in other quarters.
On the eighth of February, Brigadier-General Truman Seymour, under
instructions of General Gilmore, landed at Jacksonville, and occupied
the town. His force consisted of seven thousand men, and was conveyed
from the Department headquarters in twenty steamers and eight schooners.
On the afternoon of the eighth he commenced his march for the interior
of the State, his army moving in three columns, which were commanded by
Colonels Barton, Hawley, and Henry. Colonel Barton moved on the main
road, while the commands of Colonels Hawley and Henry marched on
parallel roads to the right of Colonel Barton, which united, at a
distance of only three miles, where the infantry camps were spread for
the night; while a battalion of cavalry, Elder’s horse Battery B, First
artillery, and the Fourth Massachusetts infantry, under Colonel Guy V.
Henry, pushed forward on a reconnoissance toward Lake City, through a
dense pine forest, and over a low, marshy soil. After riding a distance
of eight miles, they surprised and captured an artillery camp of the
rebels, containing four guns, with the camp equipage and officers’
baggage. Only three prisoners were taken, the rest of the force
effecting their escape. The advance of the army reached Baldwin the next
morning, capturing some army stores, and Generals Gilmore and Seymour
arrived at that place in the evening.
Colonel Henry’s command still continued in advance, and on the tenth
captured one thousand barrels of turpentine and a quantity of bacon. A
reconnoitering party was then advanced to ascertain whether the enemy
purposed to defend the south fork of the St. Mary’s river, while the
main body followed with due caution. A skirmish ensued at the fork, in
which four of the Federals were killed and thirteen wounded, when the
enemy retired, losing five of their men. Colonel Henry reached
Sanderson, forty miles from Jacksonville, at six P. M. The place had
been abandoned by the enemy, and a large amount of stores committed to
the flames. On the eleventh the command encamped five miles from Lake
City, which was held by the enemy but evacuated during the night. This
was unknown to Colonel Henry, and, as he was without infantry, he
retraced his steps to Sanderson. The most important property captured
was as follows: Two twelve-pounder rifled guns, two six-pounder guns,
one three-inch gun, two other guns, five caissons, a large quantity of
ammunition, an immense supply of camp and garrison equipage, four
railroad cars, one hundred and thirteen bales of cotton, four army
wagons, one hundred and five horses and mules, a large stock of
saddlery, tanning machinery, three thousand and eighty-three barrels
turpentine, and six thousand bushels corn. Three large warehouses were
destroyed.
On the eleventh telegraphic communication was established between
Jacksonville and Baldwin, and on that day General Gilmore sent
instructions to General Seymour not to risk a repulse in advancing upon
Lake City, and also in case his advance met with serious opposition to
concentrate at Sanderson and the south fork of the St. Mary’s. On the
thirteenth General Seymour was further instructed to concentrate at
Baldwin without delay. This was done at once. Meantime, Colonel Henry
was sent toward the left to capture some railroad trains on the
Fernandina and Cedar Keys railroad, which resulted in a skirmish with a
battalion of cavalry from East Florida, who were repulsed. A
reconnoissance was made at that time by Colonel Scammon along the
Georgia State line, and several small works of the enemy were destroyed.
General Gilmore now departed for Hilton Head, after admonishing General
Seymour to avoid a general engagement with the enemy until he should
receive further instructions, and until the defences at Jacksonville,
Baldwin, and the south fork of the St. Mary’s should be further
advanced.
On the eighteenth of February, however, General Seymour again took the
field, and marched from Jacksonville with a force of five thousand men,
with ten days’ rations, and advanced sixteen miles on the line of the
railroad the first day. On the second day he moved seventeen miles, and
reached Barber’s Station, his men much exhausted by marching over bad
roads. The twentieth proved to be a beautiful day, and the army started
at an early hour, with the cavalry in advance. The line of march was now
across the south fork of the St. Mary’s and towards Sanderson, nine
miles distant, which place they reached without halting. The sky was
clear, and the savannahs, stretching on either side of the sandy road
winding through the pine woods were warm with the sunshine. The infantry
now made a short halt, but the cavalry kept its position about two miles
in advance. The march was resumed at midday toward Lake City. General
Seymour’s force moved in three columns, Colonel Hawley’s brigade on the
left, Colonel Barton’s in the centre, and Colonel Scammon’s regiment on
the extreme right. The cavalry in advance were led by Colonel Henry with
Elder’s battery. In the rear was the colored brigade led by Colonel
Montgomery.
BATTLE OF OLUSTEE.
FEBRUARY 20, 1864.
About six miles from Sanderson the enemy’s mounted pickets, thirty or
forty in number, were met and driven in after exchanging shots. The main
body hurried forward a distance of two miles, when three or four cannon
shot of the enemy fell among the head of the column. Skirmishing
commenced immediately. The artillery dashed into position on the gallop,
the infantry on the double-quick step, and in a brief period of time a
severe battle was progressing. Elder’s battery unlimbered at the head of
the road, Hamilton’s to the left, and Langdon’s on the extreme left,
opening at short range with canister shot. The artillery of the enemy
consisted of four or five guns, and was badly served at first, being
fired too high to do injury. General Seymour’s line of infantry was well
formed for the position. With the exception of a small field of a few
acres, it was in the woods, amid a heavy growth of pine timber, and with
swampy ground intervening between it and the enemy, of whose position
nothing was known. The battle lasted for three hours. Two of the Federal
batteries were disabled early in the action. The Seventh New Hampshire
broke, but was rallied again. The Eighth United States colored fought
well until the loss of their leader, when they fled. The contest closed
at dusk, when General Seymour, finding his force repulsed with some
loss, and the colored reserve unequal to the emergency, retired from the
field, leaving his dead and wounded. The retreat, for a short distance,
was conducted in successive lines of battle, but finding the enemy were
not disposed to follow, the line was changed, and the force retired in
column, Barton’s brigade bringing up the rear, covered by the cavalry
and Elder’s battery. A halt was made at Sanderson, where coffee was
cooked, and some attention given to the wounded. From Sanderson to
Barber’s Station, says a writer, “ten miles, we wended or crawled along,
the wounded filling the night air with lamentations, the crippled horses
neighing in pain, and a full moon kissing the cold, clammy lips of the
dying.” On the next morning the retreat was continued to Baldwin, where
the cavalry of the enemy made their appearance. Many of the wounded were
here sent on cars drawn by mules to Jacksonville, and General Seymour,
knowing that the enemy was following in force, ordered the commissary
stores, worth about sixty thousand dollars, to be destroyed, and resumed
his march to Jacksonville. His loss in killed, wounded, and missing, in
this disastrous and ill-advised expedition, was about twelve hundred.
The following dispatch from the Governor of Florida presents the enemy’s
account of the battle:
“TALLAHASSEE, FLA., February 21.
“TO PRESIDENT DAVIS: I have just received the following dispatch from
General Finegan, dated yesterday:
“‘I met the enemy in full force to-day, under General Seymour, and
defeated him with great loss. I captured five pieces of artillery,
hold possession of the battle-field, and the killed and wounded of the
enemy. My cavalry are in pursuit. I don’t know precisely the number of
prisoners, as they are being brought in constantly. My whole loss, I
think, will not exceed two hundred and fifty killed and wounded. Among
them I mourn the loss of many brave officers and men.’
“I understand that General Finegan also captured many small arms.
(Signed) JOHN MILTON, Governor.”
General Seymour was allowed to occupy Jacksonville unmolested, and that
place remained in undisputed possession of the Federals for the
remainder of the year, while the rebel commander went into winter
quarters at Camp Finegan, eight miles distant towards Baldwin.
* * * * *
General Seymour was relieved from command of the Federal forces in the
State, and shortly after, Major-General Foster was assigned to command
the Department of the South, in place of General Gilmore, who was
appointed to the command of the Tenth army corps, in Virginia.
On the 20th of July General Birney was dispatched from Jacksonville with
a small force to the mouth of the Trent creek, where he destroyed two
bridges, and then advancing to Callohan station on the Fernandina
railroad, he destroyed a telegraph office, some cars, and other
property. Returning to Jacksonville, a few days thereafter, he embarked
on transports to Whitesville, on the north fork of the Black Creek,
where a slight skirmish ensued. Baldwin and Camp Milton were afterwards
occupied by Federal troops, but no military movements of importance
occurred in Florida during the remainder of the year.
BATTLE AT BACHELOR’S CREEK, N. C.
FEBRUARY 1, 1864.
Before daylight on the 1st of February, a Federal outpost at Bachelor’s
Creek, eight miles from Newbern, was attacked by a Confederate force
under General Picket, consisting of a portion of Hoke’s, Corse’s and
Clingman’s brigades. The Federal force was surprised by a superior
force, and after a gallant resistance were defeated, with a loss of
about one hundred in killed, wounded and missing, and three hundred
taken prisoners. The Confederate loss was about forty in killed and
wounded. While it was yet dark, the same force of rebels descended the
creek in barges, and captured and burned the United States gunboat
Underwriter, which was aground between Forts Anderson and Stephen,
within a mile and a half of Newbern.
CAPTURE OF PLYMOUTH, N. C.
APRIL 19, 1864.
A serious misfortune befell the Federal arms on the above date in the
capture of Plymouth, an important town on the Roanoke river, eight miles
from its mouth. This town had been in possession of the Union forces for
about two years, by whom it had been almost destroyed at the time of its
capture. It had since been strongly fortified, and placed in charge of a
brave and competent officer, who added new lustre to his well earned
reputation, by a skillful and soldierly defence. The town was on the
south bank of the river. A breastwork, with several strong forts along
its line, had been constructed, while about a mile up the river, another
defence, called Fort Gray, had been built, which was protected on the
water front by a triple row of piles, with a number of torpedoes
attached.
The rebels had constructed a powerful iron-clad ram, called the
Albemarle, in the river above, which had been equipped for some time,
and was now only waiting the cooperation of land forces to join in
assailing the Federal defences.
Two Union gunboats, the Southfield and Miami, were anchored in the river
opposite the town. General Wessels’ garrison consisted of two thousand
five hundred men, and was composed of the One Hundred and First, and the
One Hundred and Third Pennsylvania infantry, the Eighty-fifth New York,
the Sixteenth Connecticut, two companies of Massachusetts heavy
artillery, two companies of North Carolina volunteers, and the Twelfth
New York cavalry.
About three P. M. on the 17th, the enemy made known his presence by a
fierce artillery fire upon Fort Gray, which continued till midnight, and
was commenced with increased force at daylight the next morning. Before
noon two charges were made on the works, which were repulsed. The
gunboats took position on either side of the town, and did effective
service in driving back the enemy. But now a formidable opponent was
approaching to attack them on their own element. A picket boat stationed
up the river gave warning that the ram was coming down, and preparations
were made to meet the dreaded enemy. The two boats were lashed together,
and thus awaited the onset. When within one hundred yards the gunboats
opened fire, but made no impression on the iron-clad. The ram now bore
down on the Miami, upon whom she inflicted a slight blow, and gliding
off, struck the Southfield on her left side, crushing in her timbers for
a space of six or eight feet square. A shell thrown from the Miami now
struck the ram on her invulnerable sides, and rebounding to the deck of
the gunboat, killed her captain, Flusser, and wounded eight persons. The
boats were torn asunder by their concussion with the ram, and as the
Southfield was rapidly sinking, her crew escaped in the boats; while the
Miami, swinging round with the current, was glad to make her escape from
the unequal contest.
The Albemarle now came down to the mouth of the river, and in that
position held complete command of the town and its approaches, and
effectually shut off all hope of reinforcements or supplies to the
beleaguered garrison, who surrendered to Brigadier-General Hoke,
commander of the Confederate forces, on the ensuing day. General Peck,
the commander of the department, thus eloquently conveyed the
intelligence to his companions in-arms.
“HEADQUARTERS OF THE ARMY AND DISTRICT OF }
NORTH CAROLINA, NEWBERN, N. C., APRIL 21, 1864. }
“With feelings of the deepest sorrow the commanding general announces
the fall of Plymouth, N. C., and the capture of its gallant commander,
Brigadier-General H. W. Wessels, and his command. This result,
however, did not obtain until after the most gallant and determined
resistance had been made. Five times the enemy stormed the lines of
the general, and as many times were they repulsed with great
slaughter; and but for the powerful assistance of the rebel iron-clad
ram, and the floating sharpshooter battery, the Cotton Plant, Plymouth
would still have been in our hands. For their noble defence the
gallant General Wessels and his brave band have, and deserve the
warmest thanks of the whole country, while all will sympathize with
them in their misfortune.
“To the officers and men of the navy the commanding general tenders
his thanks for their hearty cooperation with the army, and the
bravery, determination, and courage that marked their part of the
unequal contest. With sorrow he records the death of the noble sailor
and gallant patriot, Lieutenant-Commander C. W. Flusser, U. S. Navy,
who in the heat of battle fell dead on the deck of his ship, with the
lanyard of his gun in his hand.
“The commanding general believes that these misfortunes will tend, not
to discourage, but to nerve the army of North Carolina to equal deeds
of bravery and gallantry hereafter.”
Sixteen hundred men, and twenty-five pieces of artillery were captured.
The rebel loss in the attack nearly equalled the number of prisoners
taken.
* * * * *
The town of Washington, on the Tar river, was burned in the month of
April, at the time it was evacuated by the Federal forces, by unknown
persons. This act of vandalism, uncalled for and inhuman, was condemned
in unmeasured terms by General Palmer, the Federal commander. The
majority of the inhabitants were loyal in their sentiments, and many had
enlisted in the Federal army.
Captain Melancthon Smith, who was shortly afterwards appointed to
command the navy in the waters of the Sound, adopted vigorous measures
of preparation to meet and subdue the Albemarle, which for the space of
one month had held undisputed possession of the inner waters. On the 5th
of May, with the Sassacus, the Wyalusing, and four other vessels, he
appeared at the mouth of the Roanoke river, when the Albemarle, followed
by a small tender, named the Bombshell, came out to attack the Union
gunboats. It was the design of Captain Smith that the larger gunboats
should get alongside their antagonist, and fire upon her ports or roof,
which were her most vulnerable parts; but the eagerness of the smaller
vessels to engage rendered a near approach dangerous for some time,
despite the signals of the commander; and for half an hour the contest
was without result. The gunboats eluded the efforts of the Albemarle to
ram them, while their fire in turn was harmless to the enemy. But the
Sassacus, watching a favorable opportunity, struck the ram squarely
across her starboard beam, which caused her to careen until the water
washed over her deck and casemates, while from the close proximity of
the vessels, the crew of the Sassacus were enabled to throw
hand-grenades down the deck-hatch of the ram, while they also made
fruitless efforts to get powder into her smoke-stack. But the Albemarle
soon swung clear of her opponent, and in parting sent a hundred-pounder
rifle shot through her starboard boiler, enveloping the Federal vessel
in clouds of steam, and compelling her to withdraw from the contest. The
Bombshell was captured by the Federal vessels, and the engagement closed
without further result, and with no serious injury.
DESTRUCTION OF THE ALBEMARLE.