USA > Rhode Island > History of the Fifth Regiment of Rhode Island Heavy Artillery, during three years and a half of service in North Carolina. January 1862-June 1865 > Part 3
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The island was strongly fortified and all of the known landings were guarded by a strong force of the enemy which was to aid in the defence, while a fleet of small gunboats were hovering near, ready to aid the land forces at the first opportune moment. " Where was the best point to attempt a landing?" had been for sometime an anxious query at headquarters. In this case, as in many others, good fortune came from the humblest and most unexpected source. A bright malatto boy, a slave, of sixteen or seventeen years of age, who said his name was " Tom," had escaped from his master-on the island-and sought refuge among our men. It was soon ascer- tained that he had something to tell, and he was sent to General Burnside, who had a long interview with him. "Tom" knew all about the island and the forts and forces there. There was a strong battery about the centre of the island. There were two or three others at different points. There were infantry and artillery there also. " There were," he said, " the ' Overland Grays,' ' Yankee Killers.' ' Sons of Liberty,' ' Jackson Avengers' and the ' O. K. Boys,' from North Carolina," as well as others with less high sounding titles from Virginia. He was asked if he knew of a good landing place. " Oh, yes ; at Ashby's Harbor. I have been there many times," was his reply, and gladly consented to become the needed guide. It was learned that up from this harbor there was a pretty good road to the place where the principal rebel fort was situated. . The informa- tion he gave was of the greatest service and most materially aided in rendering the movement a success. ". He was a quick-witted lad. and he was observed long afterwards at General Burnside's head-
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errand, skirted along the shore for quite a distance, when Lientenant Andrews, contrary to the orders received, directed them to pull to the shore and land. No sooner had they reached the shore and one or two of them got out of the boat, than a company of rebels who had been watching them, concealed by the grass and sedge that lined the shore. rose up and delivered a volley in their faces at short range. Corp. Charles Viall, of Company E, was struck by a bullet right in the centre of the chin, knocking out the teeth, and carrying away the left lower jaw. Some of the others had their clothing perforated. What is surprising is, that considering the circumstances, they were not all killed or wounded. As it was, the honor of being the first in the expedition to shed his blood for the Union, belonged to one of the Fifth. Sergeant Taft returned the fire of the rebels, and the enemy dropped out of sight into their cover of reeds and did not fire another shot. The boat returned to the Spaulding where Surgeon Potter extracted the ball from the wounded man's jaw. The first words uttered by the young man, after he was relieved by the operation, was an emphatic. 'D-n the rebels !' and when his face was properly bandaged and he saw the teeth and pieces of bone, he said, ' Doctor, my jaw is spoilt for hard tack, isn't it?'"
Tugs, barges, in fact any kind of boat that could be utilized had been filled with men, and each steamer of light draft had two of them in tow. At four p. M. the signal to move for the landing pointed out by the boy " Tom," was given. The scene was ani- mated and striking beyond description, the boats dashing up to the shore, each vieing with the other ; the meu jumped overboard as the boats grounded, waded to land, and with cheers of exultation planted the stars and stripes on Roanoke Island. General Foster's brigade had the advance, and in an hour four thousand men were put ashore. The Fifth Battalion landed in two detachments between eight and nine o'clock, and by eleven o'clock all of the troops were put ashore. As fast as the men landed they pushed through the tangled swamp bordering the shore, adding, as they foundered along in the darkness, a coating of black muck to their already drenched cloth- ing. To increase their discomforts rain began to fall. The leading regiments of General Foster's brigade advanced until they were on the causeway running through the centre of the isheid, on which in a strong and commanding position about a mile and a half to the
1
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FIFTH RHODE ISLAND HEAVY ARTILLERY.
north were the fort and other works which were to be assaulted. The gloomy night was succeeded by a cheerless morning. The advance was led by the first brigade, and the rebel works were found to be too strong to attempt an attack until the second brigade under General Reno could come up. The third brigade was held in reserve. Very early in the morning General Parke had directed
Lieut .- Col. Job Arnold.
Major Wright to march the battalion to Ashby's House on the westerly side of the island. where the rebels had erected a small earthwork to prevent the Union forces from landing at that place which was a much better harbor than that at Hammond's where we did go ashore.
The enemy. though inferior in point of numbers. were strongly posted in a fortified position. well defended with artillery. At . last Reno's men had struggled through a deep and tangled swamp. which the enemy had supposed impassable, to the position assigned
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to them, which enabled them to turn the enemy's works and attack their flank, while Foster's assaulted in front. At last the signal was given and the whole line swept forward to the charge, the parapets were mounted with a rush, the enemy were scattered, and the men of Reno and Foster met in the centre of the captured battery. While this was being accomplished the Fifth Battalion was struggling along on its march to the Ashby House. Owing to the almost impassable nature of the ground and the dense fog its direction was lost for a time. Major Wright was ordered to remain at this point and act as a guard to the hospital which was to be established here.
In a short time the wounded began to come in, and, toward even- ing, all were cheered by the news that all of the Confederate forces on the island had surrendered. The battalion bivouacked in the open air, and the night, if possible, was more cold, dismal and un- comfortable than the preceding one. Besides, it was not a pleasant situation to be in such close proximity to the poor fellows, lying wounded or dead in the house and on the piazza, who, in the morning were as full of life and spirits as strength and high hopes could make them.
At this time the hospital arrangements were of the very crudest kind, nor had the sanitary commission yet reached us with its supplies of food and comfort for the wounded, so that there was no nourish- ment except what rations the men brought ashore in their haversacks, which was very improper food for wounded men even had they not, as was generally the case, lost their haversacks when they were brought to the hospital. At this point " Doctor" Diggs, Surgeon Potter's colored servant, showed his ability as caterer and cook. He found some corn meal of which he made gruel and johnny cakes ; he got a detail of a soldier to shoot a steer which he dressed and made beef tea, soup and roasts. He followed a track into the swamp and found two barrels of flour and visited a rebel camp and procured some bacon and cooking utensils, and so he fed forty wounded men and their attendants until they were removed three and four days after. Five boxes of hard bread and two barrels of steeped coffee were sent from the ships in the evening of the second day. Diggs supplied everything else.
Five forts. mounting thirty-two guns, two thousand six hundred and seventy-seven prisoners, three thousand stand of small arms and
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FIFTH RHODE ISLAND HEAVY ARTILLERY.
a large amount of material of war were the field trophies of this victory, and the rebel flag never again floated on Roanoke Island. Our loss in the land and naval engagements were : forty-one killed and one hundred and eighty one wounded in the land attack, while the naval loss was three killed and eleven wounded. The next day, Sunday, February 9th, was devoted to gathering the material fruits of the victory, and to that other always sad duty of giving a field! burial to the dead. In the afternoon the battalion marched to Fort Bartow, where General Burnside had established his headquarters. Here the men pitched camp for the first time since leaving Annapo- lis, a month before, and at once entered upon their duties as garrison of the post and guard at general headquarters. A detachment under Lieut. James Moran was placed in charge of the hospital containing the rebel sick and wounded, with orders to make out the rolls for all the prisoners in it. It was a detail from this detachment which exhumed the body of O. Jennings Wise, late an editor of the Richmond Whig, and an officer in Wise's Legion. Young Wise had been shot and fatally wounded while attempting to escape in a small boat, after the battle. He was the favorite son of Ex- Governor Wise, of Virginia, of .. John Brown " fame, and who was at this time a brigadier-general in the rebel army, and in command of the forces at Roanoke Island. The general was sick at Nag's Head, on the day of the battle, and so escaped capture. The body of young Wise was sent to his friends in the rebel lines.
On the 9th, General Burnside caused the following order to be published :
HDQRS. DEPT. OF NORTH CAROLINA, ROANOKE ISLAND, N. C., Feb. 9, 1862.
General Orders, No. T.
The general commanding congratulates his troops on their brilliant and successful occupation of Roanoke Island. The courage and steadi- ness they have shown under fire is what he expected from them, and he accepts it as a token of future victory. Each regiment on the island will inscribe on its banner, "Roanoke Island, February S. 1862."
The highest praise is due to Brigadier-Generals Foster, Reno, and Parke, who so bravely and energetically carried out the movement -that has resulted in the complete success of the Union arms.
By command of Brig .- Gen. A. E. BURNSIDE,
LEWIS RICHMOND. Assistant .Adjutant-General.
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A few days after the battle a detachment of our battalion under the command of Lieut. William W. Donglas was sent with aide-de- camp Pell to Nag's Head, where they made a thorough search of General Wise's quarters, which resulted in securing considerable cor- respondence, which was of great service to General Burnside. For some days after the battle the battalion remained on duty at the fort. With what rejoicings and firing of salutes the news of this victory . was received at the North, how everybody and almost everything con- nected with the expedition was congratulated and how the commanding general was thanked by officers of all grades, how the Rhode Island legislature then in session, passed resolutions of commendation and voted him a magnificent sword, must be themes for other histories than this.
On the 19th of February, an expedition composed of our bat- talion and a detachment from the fleet, under the joint command of Major Wright and Captain Jeffers of the navy, was sent up Curri- tuek Sound to destroy some salt works about sixty miles from Roanoke Island. The combined force embarked on the stern wheeler, Union, which was always known to the men as the Wheelbarrow, and two launches, each armed with a boat's howitzer, were taken in tow. Everything went smoothly until the " Narrows," some ten miles from the works, were reached. Here, owing to the shallowness of the water, and the very narrow and crooked channel, if such a term could be used where to channel existed as we under- stand the meaning of the term. we were entirely unsuccessful. " We thought our boat could steam over any part of the state in a heavy dew or on a wet day, but this crooked ditch of mud and sand held a better hand than the Wheelbarrow, and had trumps to spare." Every expedient that Yankee ingenuity and sailor skill could devise was made use of. Cables and anchors were carried out on shore and we tried to warp around the bends. We moved backward and then we moved forward. The steamer's bow was jammed into one bank while the wheel. at the stern, threw up the thick black mud at the other. We got in so far that we had quite as much labor and trouble in getting out : and then we tried to go through with the launches, only to find that they drew more water than the steamer. so we finally concluded that we would not destroy those salt work-
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FIFTH RHODE ISLAND HEAVY ARTILLERY.
on this trip. Darkness coming on we managed to get back into the sound, when we cast auchor for the night.
On the way back to the island a landing was made on the main- land to secure a small schooner that had been used by the rebel troops to escape from Nag's Head, on the day of the battle. Here
Capt. George H. Grant.
some of the officers and men received permission to go inland. During their seonting they met with a number of amusing incidents in their efforts to get acquainted with some of the people, and at the ' same time make additions to their army rations. " No man wanted a thing he was not willing to pay for." It was the garden of Eden era of the war. Two of these incidents will show the temper of
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the people at that time. An officer writes: " At one house the party visited, we had a funny experience. When we entered the yard no one was to be seen, not even a dog. We went up to the house, the doors were open and no one in sight. Pretty soon a man, we should judge he was about fifty years of age, came in out of a clump of bushes near the house. We met him on the porch and asked if any one was in. He replied, " No, they are all away ; " whereat some one said he need not be afraid, no one would do him any harm. At once he put on what was meant to be a very bold front. at the same time shaking all over, and said he had never yet seen the man he was afraid of. We assured him we were not there to interfere with peaceable citizens ; that all we wanted was to see if we could not buy eggs, chickens, or something of that kind. We did not talk long before we noticed a commotion under a bed in a room, the door of which was open, giving us a plain view. We soon saw the cause of it in the person of an old woman who had taken refuge there. When she same out the hearty laugh that greeted ber, and the good natured rallying she received. for hiding under the bed put her in great good humor. She went immediately to another room, and the result was that a daughter came out from under another bed. She then went to the back door of the house and, raising her voice to its highest piteh, called to another, who soon responded by coming in from the woods, which, as usual, are con- veniently near all the houses. The daughters proved to be two comely looking young women, and they came in, sat down, and joined in the conversation which now reverted to the subject of what could be bought. We got several things, and, on leaving, the whole family were quite cordial in their adieus."
A private letter of that date gives this experience of another party : " We landed at the place where General Wise landed in his retreat, and we sunk a large seow which he had used to carry troops over on. We took dinner with a Baptist minister who had a Cuion flag flying in his door-yard. He had a large plantation, and owned about fifty slaves. They were tumbling and crawling all about the place, and he seemed like a patriarch surrounded by his family, with men servants, and maid servants. and little children. He gave us chicken and ham, sausage and corn bread, hominy and pudding."
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Upon its return to camp the battalion resumed drilling and guard duty at the fort now known as Fort Foster, varied by fatigue duty in building a large floating dock from the landing out into the sound. This life was very monotonous. A private letter of the date of March 2d, says: " General Burnside came into our tent to-day and sat and talked a long time. He complimented our bat- talion very highly on their proficiency in the rifle drill, and spoke of the neatness of our camp." The day following we learn that " General Burnside very kindly and thoughtfully sent two copies of the New York Herald of the date of February 22d, to our company for their use. He is continually endearing himself to the men by some such aet of thoughtfulness for their comfort. No man could be more beloved and more respected than he is by us all."
Tales of death by accident are common enough at all times, and far too common in the history of most military organizations. Just by way of variety we must tell how one of the " boys " of the Fifth: did not get killed by accident. Private George W. Ford was on guard at headquarters one day. With a comrade he started to go down to camp. Filling his pipe as he walked along, he stopped by an uu- exploded nine-inch shell, lying near the path, and, scratching a match on the shell, he lighted his pipe. He then called to his com- rade, who had passed on. The soldier turned in time to see Ford stoop down put the lighted match in the fuse hole of the shell ; then he was deafened by the noise of the explosion and thoroughly frightened by the flying fragments of iron. The explosion which followed made a hole in the sand deep enough and big enough to bury a horse. But Ford was not hurt. Pieces of the shell fell in the camp of the Eighth Connecticut, a quarter of a mile away. They picked up the fragments of " old iron," "and came down," as one of the men said at the time, to our camp, madder than any Connecticut regiment we had ever before seen, and wanted to know. what " in the name of the Great Jehovah, we were doing."
But the characteristic kindness of General Burnside to his Rhode Island boys, and their toyings with charged shell were soon ended by the preparations for another important movement.
CHAPTER IV.
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THE BATTLE AND CAPTURE OF NEW BERNE.
T HE regiments which were to take part in the new movement received orders to be ready on the 26th of February, but it was as late as the 6th of March before all the preparations were completed and the embarkation of the troops really commenced, and it was not until the 9th that all were finally on board of the transports. The Fifth did not embark until the 9th, and it was divi- ded into two detachments. one composed of Companies B and C, with Major Wright and the battalion staff going aboard the steam ferry-boat Curlew, and Companies A, D, and E, finding quarters on the ferry-boat Eagle.
"At ten o'clock on the morning of the 11th, the fleet assembled off the mouth of Hatteras Inlet, in Pamlico Sound, and, on the morning of the 12th, the commanding general issued a general order, notify- ing his troops that they were on the eve of an important movement, which would greatly demoralize the enemy and materially assist the Army of the Potomac in its operations against the city of Richmond." On the morning of the 12th the fleet was again put under way, this time escorted by fourteen gunboats under the command of Com- mander S. C. Rowan. No pen or tongue can give a full description of the beauty of this morning in the early spring of this climate. It was one that will never be forgotten by those who looked upon it then, and all unite in their glowing narrations of it. "The whole body of the sound was as smooth as a mirror ; not a ripple ruffled its surface, which appeared in the rosy light of the morning like burnished gold. Every vessel in the fleet was decked with flags and the gayest of bunting in one way or another, though the light winds blowing from the north could barely flutter ensign and pennant." As the fleet steamed slowly to the southwest the low lying mainland
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on the right was the nearest shore, and, as it passed along on its way it was steadily preceded by successive columns of black smoke rising from the signal fires lighted to give warning of the progress of the expedition along the coast. Soon after noon the scene changed. for the -ky clouded and by the time the fleet had reached the Neuse and ascended as far as Slocum's Creek, about fifteen miles below New Berne, and the proposed point for the debarkation of the troops, the heavens were dark with portents of rain and storm. Not long after anchors were cast " word was passed from vessel to vessel that General Burnside had been promoted by the President to the rank of Major-General." " On receiving this news the air was rent by cheer upon cheer, which were repeated again and again, clearly showing the love and respect of the soldiers for their commander." Scarcely had the fleet assembled near the mouth of the creek when rain began to fall, and the next morning was rainy and cheerless enough to dispirit men of more than ordinary courage. About eight o'clock, however, the clouds broke, the sun shone out once more. and in an hour the men were in the small boats ready to land. Here. as at Roanoke Island, the water along shore was very shallow, and many of the men were compelled to leave the boats and wade to the firm land ; and, here as there, no sooner had the debarkation fairly commenced than rain began to fall again. Wet as the men were no time was lost at the landing, but as fast as they came ashore the line of march was at once taken up, with a skirmish line from the Twenty-fourth Massachusetts well in advance. Under the effect of the marching men in front, the roads soon became almost impas- sable for those who followed, the sticky mud adhering to their feet and lower clothing at every step until they often became so heavy that the tired men could scarcely lift them. The time spent in land- ing and a march of about twelve miles over such terrible roads used up the whole day. and a half-rain, half-drizzle of the most aggrava- ting character fell nearly all of the time.
During the afternoon the first of two abandoned lines of rebel fortifications was passed. A private letter thus describes it : .: We pursued them past their barracks and past a splendid battery, from which they had removed the guns. This battery extended from the river to the railroad. and was protected by a ditch eight or nine feet
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deep. There were platforms in place for the guns, but the guns were not there. We could have held it with 5,000 men against all the soldiers in North Carolina. It looked absolutely impregnable, except against siege guns, which we did not have. Yet the rebels left it without firing a shot." It was at this point that quite a num- ber of men from the different regiments indulged in considerable foraging in a populous farm-yard, and Sergt. Charles Perrigo, of Company A, was fatally wounded by an accidental shot, which was intended for some pig or turkey.
As soon as one of the detachments of the battalion landed at Slocum's Creek it commenced its march to the front without waiting for the coming of the other. The halt for the night was made as near as possible to the rebel line of fortifications, which was about four miles southeast of New Berne. At dark the leading detachment of the battalion " filed left" off the road and bivouacked for the night. Says an officer : "A tireder set of men than we were can seldom be seen, and as soon as possible we tried to get some rest so as to be as fresh as might be for the work which all knew was to be done the next day. It was almost impossible to find a place to lie down or spread a blanket on, as the level surface of the ground af- forded no drainage for the water to run off, and it was so thoroughly saturated that it could hold no more. The consequence was that it was covered with a sheet of water a few inches deep all over it, ex- cept at the foot of the pine trees, whose roots raised the surrounding surface a little, and with which the whole region round about was heavily timbered."
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