Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 16.djvu/170

 164 Southern Historical Society Papers.

"Well, you are certainly brave men," said I, "to remain here without a commander in this terrible fire, and if you will just stay where you are a little longer I will see that some other officer is sent to lead you."

I went into the fort and reported what had occurred. Another officer was sent, who led these brave men down to Cummins Point, where they joined Captain Sellers and the rest of the detail. It very seldom falls to the lot of an officer to witness such a display of heroism as those fifty Georgians that day showed.

We lost in Lieutenant R. A. Blum an officer who had no superior in the service. [When we were leaving the island, it was thought that it would not be possible to bring away our fallen heroes, and orders were issued forbidding any attempt to remove the dead. Lieu- tenant Blum's company showed their love for him by concealing his body, wrapped in a blanket, among them on the night of the evacua- tion, and safely delivering their sacred trust to the mother who had yielded up her noble son to our cause.]

The enemy came according to programme, but they were the par- ties surprised. As soon as their boats struck the beach they were greeted with a volley in their faces and a discharge of grape and canister from the n-inch guns on the parapet of Battery Gregg. Not a man landed, and their boats pushed off in confusion, returning, as they left, a desultory fire. They were soon out of sight in the darkness. We lost one man belonging to Company E, who was killed by the sabot from one of the guns of Gregg fired over the heads of our men on the beach. It was very hard to depress these guns sufficiently to make them effective. The battery had not been constructed with the expectation of an attack from that direction.

It was apparent that it would not be practicable to keep the whole force on the parapet to-night as usual. It was determined to reduce it as much as at all consistent with prudence, and depend on getting the balance of the garrison out in time to meet an assault should the enemy attempt one. The men were directed to protect themselves as well as possible by keeping near the parapet, which afforded some shelter, except against shell bursting overhead. The salient angle became untenable, and only a small squad of Company F was left there. In making our arrangements for the night, a good many men

were killed and wounded. I posted Lieutenant Ramsay, of

Company H (who had been before this time commissioned to succeed F. C. Jacobs), with eight men in the angle made by the face and flank of the bastion, and proceeded to make proper arrangements