Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 39.djvu/140

 128 Southern Historical Society Papers.

guns of that battery, helplessly floundering up to our middle in mud. Suppose they discovered us, and there! Forth from the shore came a confused uproar of noise — the shouts of baf- fled men, volleys of musketry, the deep boom of cannon. They have discovered our flight, back in our works ; they have found us out. But not that battery. Periodically its shot goes down the bay, but not towards us. It is still in blissful ignorance and we are still safe.

SAFE at last.

But we must be quick. Our first aim is to struggle up the island, as much out of the range of those guns as possible. All order vanishes ; it is no wonder, situated as we were. Tony B— — and I had stuck together throughout. Looking out on the water we saw a yawl pulled cautiously to the shore. We looked around^no one was nigh, as we thought, no fear of swamping her. In we plunged, rushing up to our necks in water, and throwing our guns in first, pitched into the boat, head over heels, laughing, spluttering, struggling. When we had got upright the boat was full to sinking and we thought we were the only ones near it. We were soon on board of one of the gunboats, and in so incredibly short time that the whole com- mand was ofif that island and sailing jubilantly up the bay. Then that battery found us out, and before we left, sent some right well aimed shots through our rigging. I remember I had curled down on deck near the boiler, for I was wringing wet, and as those shots came viciously near, the thought came, "what a shame to be sunk in this boat after what we have gone through this day." But we were not sunk. We steamed up the bay, touched at Blakely for awhile, (it was stormed' an hour or so after we left), went across to Mobile and in a few days evac- uated the place with the rest of the troops there and surrendered shortly after at Meridian, Miss.

Secretary Staunton (page 31, of his report for '65) states that there were actually mustered into service of United States, from the 15th of April, '61, to the 14th of April, '65, 2,656.553 men. ^Nlr. Staunton, who had free access to the Confederate