Moultrie, Rutledge, Beauregard, Marion, and Bee which could bear were opened upon them, firing as rapidly as was consistent with accuracy. The battery commanders report the following as the number of shots fired and the number which struck. It will be seen from this report that the two 10-inch columbiads in Moultrie, under command of Lieutenant Minott, fired 22 shots, of which 13 took effect, which, considering the distance, I do not think has ever been surpassed. İ witnessed the firing and am happy in saying that it is worthy of commendation. One of the monitors had the knob on the top of the pilot-house smashed into pieces. It will be seen that the 7-inch Brooke gun hit 4 times. I noticed one to be a very severe blow on the side of the turret. The enemy did not return our fire, but after firing a few shots at Sumter returned to the fleet about one hour and a half after the commencement of the action: From Fort Moultrie, twenty-two 10-inch columbiad shots, 13 effective. From Battery Bee, four 11-inch Dahlgren, 1 effective. From Battery Rutledge, thirty-four 10-inch columbiad, 13 effective; two 10-inch rifled columbiad, not effective. From Battery Marion, eleven 7-inch Brooke gun, 4 effective; seven 10-inch columbiad, 3 effective. From Battery Beauregard, three 8-inch rifled, 1 effective; seven 10-inch columbiad, not effective. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Lieut. E. P. STARR, T. A. HUGUENIN, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General. JANUARY 7, 1864.-Affair on Waccamaw Neck, S. C. REPORTS. No. 1.-Brig. Gen. James H. Trapier, C. S. Army. No. 2.-Maj. William P. White, Twenty-first Battalion Georgia Cavalry. No. 1. Report of Brig. Gen. James H. Trapier, C. S. Army. HDQRS. FOURTH MIL. DIST. OF SOUTH CAROLINA, Georgetown, January 8, 1864. GENERAL: I have the honor to report the capture of 4 officers and 20 men belonging to one of the enemy's blockading vessels on this coast, under the following circumstances: The steamer Dan, from Bermuda, in attempting to run the blockade into Wilmington was discovered and chased off. Finding escape impossible she was beached at about 12 m. yesterday, on the Waccamaw Beach, at a point some 12 or 15 miles north of Georgetown entrance. Her officers and crew and her passengers were all landed in safety, the steamer having been first fired. The enemy, in attempting to reach her in barges, encountered a very rough sea and their barges were capsized. Three of their men were drowned; the remainder succeeded in reaching the shore and soon after surrendered to Maj. William P. White, 1 officer and 1 man, without firing a shot, though with arms in their hands. I shall send these prisoners to Kingstree on Monday next, and respectfully request that they be met there by a detachment from Charleston in order that my men may return immediately. I require the services of them all. I am, general, very respectfully, your obedient servant, Report of Maj. William P. White, Twenty-first Battalion Georgia Cavalry. HEADQUARTERS CAMP TRAPIER, Waccamaw Forces, January 26, 1864. CAPTAIN: In conformity to General Orders, No. 128, Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, paragraph 1, I feel it a duty incumbent on me, as well as a pleasure, to notice the meritorious conduct of Junior Second Lieut. Thomas Young and Private Lemuel Robertson, both of Company C, Twenty-first Georgia Cavalry Battalion, who gallantly charged upon 25 Abolitionists on Dubardu Beach, Waccamaw, Š. C., on the 7th instant, armed with cutlasses and pistols, and aided in compelling them to lay down their arms and surrender when there was no supporting forces within threequarters of a mile of the parties. To my surprise, instead of one volley at least, the whole party, commanded by a lieutenant of the U. S. Navy, obeyed the summons, were taken prisoners, and were delivered up to your order. Very respectfully, yours, WM. P. WHITE, Major, Comdg. Twenty-first Georgia Cav. Battalion. JANUARY 25, 1864.-Affair at Bayou Grand, Fla. Report of Brig. Gen. Alexander Asboth, U. S. Army. HEADQUARTERS DISTRICT OF PENSACOLA, Barrancas, Fla., January 27, 1864. GENERAL: I have the honor to submit, in connection with my report of January 10, No. 20, in regard to rebel movements in my neighborhood, the following additional information : Off Mobile the gun-boat Tennessee is not yet over the bar; the small steamer Boston, with two guns and forty bales of cotton, is ready to run the blockade for Havana. The garrison at Mobile was increased with five regiments of infantry from Montgomery. There are in all now eight regiments, 500 to 700 strong each. Fort Morgan is garrisoned at present by 1,000 men; Fort Grant by 300. The rebel force at Pollard is 1,200, employed toward Milton and on the railroad toward Mobile. The cavalry that were stationed between the Blackwater and Escambia have been ordered to Mobile and their 18 R R-VOL XXXV, PT I places supplied by a small force, 120 infantry and a detail of 16 mounted men, to arrest deserters and conscripts. Two companies of cavalry at Camp Withers, this side of Bonsecours Bay, are still there, and two new companies at the head of Choctawhatchee Bay, but this detachment could be taken with their horses and arms very easily if a small steamer could be placed at my disposal. The expedition on the small naval steamer Bloomer (reported in No. 20) was not able to reach the head of the bay, as the Bloomer was retained by commander at East Pass, and the schooner Champion taken by him and his men, making the co-operation of our men impracticable. Notwithstanding these difficulties and disappointments, there are already there 157 men enlisted in the Florida regiments, besides those who entered the [Fourteenth] New York Cavalry and the Seventh Vermont Infantry. Being entirely without fresh beef, I started day before yesterday a party of infantry and cavalry across the Bayou Grand. Twenty men of the [Fourteenth] New York Cavalry fell in, 4 miles from the bayou, with a scouting party of rebel cavalry, and succeeded, by a spirited charge, to capture 10 of them, with horses and arms; our loss, 1 horse. The gallant Colonel Holbrook was in command of the small expedition. Copies of special orders relative to it are respectfully inclosed. Rebel papers state that an expedition of 12,000 men started from New Orleans to make a land attack upon Mobile, and I beg to refer to my several reports relative to the necessity of cutting off railroad communication between Mobile and Montgomery. The re-enforcements predicted are already passing into Mobile from Johnston's (formerly Bragg's) army, and I would therefore most respectfully request that the small steamers and the combined brigade be ordered here, thus enabling me to destroy at once the Mobile and Montgomery Railroad communication, and facilitate and insure the success of the Union force moving by land upon Mobile. I am, very respectfully, general, your obedient servant, ASBOTH, Brigadier-General. Brig. Gen. CHARLES P. STONE, Chief of Staff. Feb. FEBRUARY 5-22, 1864.-The Florida Expedition. SUMMARY OF THE PRINCIPAL EVENTS. 7, 1864.-Occupation of Jacksonville by Union forces. 8, 1864. Skirmish at Ten-Mile Run, near Camp Finegan. No. 1.-Maj. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore, U. S. Army, commanding Department of the South. No. 2.-Brig. Gen. Truman Seymour, U. S. Army, commanding District of Florida. No. 3.-Surg. Adolph Majer, U. S. Army, of engagement at Olustee. No. 4. Col. William B. Barton, Forty-eighth New York Infantry, commanding brigade, of engagement at Olustee. No. 5.-Col. Joseph R. Hawley, Seventh Connecticut Infantry, commanding brigade, of engagement at Olustee. No. 6. Capt. Benjamin F. Skinner, Seventh Connecticut Infantry, of engagement at Olustee. No. 7.-Capt. Charles C. Mills, Seventh Connecticut Infantry, of engagement at Olustee. No. 8.-Col. Joseph C. Abbott, Seventh New Hampshire Infantry, of engagement at Olustee. No. 9.-Capt. Romanzo C. Bailey, Eighth U. S. Colored Infantry, of engagement at Olustee. No. 10.-Lieut. Elijah Lewis, Eighth U. S. Colored Infantry, of engagement at Olustee. No. 11.-Lieut. Andrew F. Ely, Eighth U. S. Colored Infantry, of engagement at Olustee. No. 12.-Col. Edward N. Hallowell, Fifty-fourth Massachutetts Infantry, of engagement at Olustee. No. 13.-Capt. Loomis L. Langdon, Battery M, First U. S. Artillery, of engagement at Olustee. No. 14.-Lieut. John R. Myrick, Battery E, Third U. S. Artillery, of engagement at Olustee. No. 15.-Lieut. Henry H. Metcalf, Company C, Third Rhode Island Artillery, of engagement at Olustee. No. 16.—General G. T. Beauregard, C. S. Army, commanding Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. No. 17.-Brig. Gen. Joseph Finegan, C. S. Army, commanding District of East No. 18.--Lieut. M. B. Grant, C. S. Engineers, of engagement at Olustee. No. 21.-Capt. John F. Wheaton, Chatham Artillery, of engagement at Olustee. No. 24.-Lieut. Drury Rambo, Company A, Milton Light Artillery, of engagement at Olustee. No. 25.-Col. George P. Harrison, jr., Thirty-second Georgia Infantry, commanding No. 26.-Capt. John M. Guerard, Georgia Artillery, of engagement at Olustee. No. 1. Report of Maj. Gen. Quincy A. Gillmore, U. S. Army, commanding Department of the South. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF SOUTH CAROLINA, Hilton Head, S. C., November 9, 1865. ADJUTANT-GENERAL OF THE ARMY, Washington, D. C.: SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a copy of my original report to the General-in-Chief of operations in Florida in February, 1864, prior to and comprising the battle of Olustee. All important documents having any direct bearing on the subject, including Brig adier-General Seymour's report of that battle, are attached in the form of appendices. These are lettered from A to S, inclusive, and are deemed necessary to a thorough comprehension of those operations. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, Q. A. GILLMORE, Major-General, Commanding. HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF THE SOUTH, Hilton Head, S. C., March 7, 1864. SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith copies of certain letters and telegraphic dispatches which comprise the instructions given to Brig. Gen. T. Seymour, relative to operations in Florida prior to the fight at Olustee on the 20th ultimo. A brief narrative of events connected with the recent occupation of Florida, west of the Saint John's River, will not be out of place. Under date of December 22, 1863, I was authorized by you to undertake such operations in my department as I might deem best, suggesting conference with Admiral Dahlgren, &c.* On January 14, 1864, I wrote you that unless it would interfere with the views of the War Department I should occupy the west bank of the Saint John's River, in Florida, very soon, and establish small depots there, preparatory to an advance west at an early day. On January 15, I wrote to the Secretary of War that I had in contemplation the occupation of Florida, on the west bank of the Saint John's River, at a very early day. Under date of January 22, you informed me that in regard to my proposed operations in Florida the Secretary replied that the matter had been left entirely to my judgment and discretion, with the means at my command, and that, as the object of the proposed expedition had not been explained, it was impossible for you to judge of its advantages or practicability. On January 31, I wrote informing you that the objects to be obtained by the operations were, first, to procure an outlet for cotton, lumber, timber, &c. ; second, to cut off one of the enemy's sources of commissary supplies; third, to obtain recruits for my colored regiments; fourth, to inaugurate measures for the speedy restoration of Florida to her allegiance, in accordance with instructions which I had received from the President by the hand of Maj. John Hay, assistant adjutant-general. (See Appendix A.) On February 5, I directed General Seymour (see Appendix G), whose command was already embarked, to go to Jacksonville, Fla., effect a landing there, and push forward his mounted force to Baldwin, 20 miles from Jacksonville, the junction of the two railroads from Jacksonville and Fernandina. A portion of the command reached Baldwin on the 9th, at which point I joined it on the evening of the same day. At that time the enemy had no force in East Florida, except the scattered fragments of General Finegan's command. We had taken all of his artillery. On the 10th, a portion of our forces were sent toward Sanderson, and I returned to Jacksonville. Telegraphic communication was established between Jacksonville and Baldwin on the 11th. On that day I telegraphed to General Seymour (see Appendix J) not to risk a repulse in advancing on Lake City, but to hold Sanderson unless there were reasons for fall * See Vol. XXVIII, Part II, p. 134. |