CHAPTER III. FEBRUARY 7-18, 1862. BATTLE OF ROANOKE ISLAND. — ON THE ISLAND AFTER THE BATTLE. THE morning of February 7th opened with fog, but became clear about eight o'clock. At nine o'clock the signal to get under way was given, and the gun-boats moved rapidly forward, followed by the transports. We soon came in sight of the rebel fleet of eight steam gun-boats, under command of Commodore Lynch, lying between our advance and a long line of obstructions, consisting of rows of driven piles and sunken vessels. The flag-ship" Philadelphia" displayed the motto, "The Country expects every man to do his duty ;" and our gun-boats, dashing forward, in a few minutes were exchanging shots at long range with the rebel fleet, which was now slowly retreating towards an opening in the line of obstructions half a mile from the shore. Having run through the opening, the rebel boats halted defiantly as if hoping to lure our fleet beyond the line of obstructions, into a trap in which they would have been exposed to the concentric fire of three powerful shore batteries, - Fort Bartow, mounting ten guns; Fort Blanchard, four guns; Fort Huger, thirteen guns: Fort Bartow being situated on Port Point, three quarters of a mile on our side of the line of obstructions; Huger on Weir's Point, two and a half miles above Bartow; and Blanchard midway between Bartow and Huger. These batteries were armed with heavy guns, three of which were one hundredpounders, rifled. Fort Bartow, built of sand, at the water's edge, and with a back-ground of sand, might easily escape observation; and, besides, the rebels had masked it with branches of trees. It was currently reported at the time that it had entirely es caped notice, and that our fleet was moving on the enemy without reference to it, but that one of the gun-boats fortunately sprang the rebel trap by firing a shot at that part of the shore as a feeler, and the rebels, thinking that the fort was discovered, opened ATLANTIC Outside Coast Line SOCEAN 00 Troops!! Token by BODIE'S ISLAND SOUND (Not Navigable) Broad SOUND MAIN LAND OF NORTH CAROLINA ight House Duck X PAMLICO SOUND ROANOKE ISLAND 0 1 2 3 SCALE OF MILES fire at once from it. Now the two fleets and Fort Bartow went to work on each other in dead earnest, the transports remaining just outside the line of fire. As we watched the fort we saw the columns of sand spouting fifty feet high into the air as our shot and shell struck the battery and beach, and we hoped and looked for its speedy annihilation. I had never fully realized before that there was a real fighting rebellion against the government, but here they were defiant, with a respectable fleet and powerfully armed forts, killing and dying in their accursed delusion. The heavy cannonading went on for two hours, apparently without any important results, and then we were much pleased to see that the barracks of Fort Bartow had been fired by our shells, and were burning fiercely; the battered fort, however, was still firing from two guns, and required As another hour's hard pounding before it was silenced. soon as Fort Bartow ceased firing, the transports were moved as near the shore as their draught permitted. As we came up, the rebel fleet made a dash forward, and tried to reach us with their guns; but in half an hour were driven back behind the line of obstructions, with one vessel sinking and another disabled. The transports came to anchor off Ashby's Cove, two miles below Fort Bartow. The point selected for the landing was a cleared piece of ground at the foot of the cove, about a hundred acres in extent, which was bordered by thick woods and a deep swamp. As a rebel force, with two pieces of artillery, had been seen on the edge of the clearing, and had fired on a reconnoitering party shortly before, the gun-boats "Picket" and "Delaware" threw a few eightypound shells into the woods, as the troops were rapidly transferred to light draught steamers and boats (the 21st going upon the steamer "Patuxent "). It was nearly five o'clock when the first half dozen regiments, the 21st among them, dashed for the shore, and landed almost simultaneously in the most spirited and gallant manner, the men leaping into the water as the boats grounded, and forming line as fast as they could struggle through the deep mud of the swampy shore. Six of the howitzers of the marine artillery were now got on shore, and posted in sections, with strong supports, on the edge of the clearing and a few rods up a road which ran into the woods towards the rebel position. So far we had met with no opposition. Just at sunset Fort Bartow gave us the last shot fired from her guns, a heavy shell, which exploded harmlessly in the woods. It was beginning to grow dark when Colonel Maggi called us to attention, and told us that the 21st had been honored by being detailed for picket duty and the support of the artillery. We at once advanced a line of skirmishers, supported by the regiment, to establish the picket line. When we had advanced about a quarter of a mile, two rebel shots were fired, and private Henry H. Howard, of Company G, fell, shot through the hips, and crippled for life, the first man in the regiment wounded by the enemy. We now posted a line of pickets entirely covering the division, and passed a long, wet, cold, and sleepless night, without any incident of interest. We had jumped into deeper water than any of the other troops, for our large landing steamer grounded at a greater distance from the shore than the others, and soon were further wet by a cold rain, which lasted nearly all night; but no fires were allowed us, as we were in the immediate presence of the enemy. No officer or man in the regiment was allowed to sleep, and every half hour the supports and reserves to the pickets were formed in line and the men counted. Maggi was everywhere, and commanded a picket line that night as watchful and reliable as ever guarded an army. As soon as morning broke, Colonel Maggi allowed us to have fires, and we made the most of them. Soon after seven o'clock, General Foster, with his brigade (the 1st), and the marine artillery (the 25th Massachusetts in the advance), passed through our lines and up the road, to attack a rebel redoubt in the centre of the island, which commanded the approaches to the rebel camps, and the rear of the shore batteries with which our fleet had been engaged the day previous. In half an hour the crash of artillery and rattle of musketry gave notice that the battle had begun. We were soon pained by the sight of wounded men carried down the road towards the place of landing, where the field hospital had been established, and it was a real relief when (about half-past eight o'clock) General Reno came, and ordered us to the front. Moving about a mile up the road, we came upon the scene of operations. A corduroy road ran through a wooded swamp, from which the trees had been cleared away for a space of a hundred yards or so on each side of the road. At the end of this vista and about half a mile off, the rebel redoubt, hidden in a line of evergreens, was now and then savagely hurling a shell or solid shot at our marine artillery, which was gallantly provoking the enemy's fire; but our artillery sounded like pop-guns, in comparison with the heavy boom of the rebel pieces. The musketry had now lulled down into a straggling fire in the woods on each side of the road, and every few moments a bullet would hiss by like an angry bee on wings of lightning. The first man that I saw stop a bullet was Reuben Weeks, of Company A, who, without moan or cry, fell all in a heap, with a shattered leg. In a few minutes, led by General Reno in person, the 21st waded into the deep swamp on the left of the road, towards the right of the rebel battery. Our flank companies, D and G, accompanied by General Reno, Colonel Maggi, and Adjutant Stearns, now took the advance, in line of battle, and the eight battalion companies followed, marching by the flank, as a support. As we got well into the swamp, we met a regiment of the 1st brigade retiring in a somewhat broken and demoralized condition. As we cleared them, our two companies in advance at once became sharply engaged with the so far victorious rebels, and our eight companies in support gave three hearty cheers. Though the cheering probably did us some good, morally, it brought down upon us, for a time, the undivided attention of the rebel battery, and canister and shell hurtled and crashed around us, doing us, however, little injury, thanks to the shield afforded by the dense underbrush and trees. And so we stayed for a long hour, up to our knees in the tangled morass, moving forward at a snail's pace, without any opportunity to fire a shot, though under the enemy's fire, while our good and true surgeons and chaplain bore many a ghastly comrade from D and G past us to the rear; and, worse than all, now and then we got a shot from some of our own regiments, in the rear. All this time D and G were slowly and steadily driving their antagonists in upon the battery. Our turn came at last. We had almost worked out of the woods, and the rebels had been driven in upon the battery. General Reno now went to the extreme front, and ordered the regiment up to charge. As my company moved to the front through an interval between D and G, I marked with wonder that there was nothing in their appearance to indicate their heavy loss. In D― which I mention specially, as its |