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»r C. 'JKr V c<?4 E. MERTON COULTER Tci V 4 / J\ -; . #S> : ‘ . 'V‘ *■-/ HE By j. k^mrnn, ‘ INDEliF.NDEN-’r IN EVERYTHING—NEUTRAI. IN NOTHING ”- tor Four Mouths* VOL. XIX TUIINWOLD (NEAR EATONTON) G A., TUESDAY, JULY A, 1864, NO. 27. First Ttveive-Montlts of the 3rd Georgia Regiment, ’ % BY AN EX-MEMBER. 2 No. 7. About the 1st of October, 1861, information was^reccived that the 20th Indiana regiment had beer* brought up from Hutteras, and had pitched^pamp about twenty or thirty miles be low us, gt Chickamicoruico, on the long strip of land, east of Roanoke Island, that extends along the coast of North Carolina. It waa^also under stood that the yankee schooner, Fanny, was beating ubout^ in the .Sound, with a supply of clothing, ere., ior this Indiana regiment. Im mediately, Commodore Lynch, concluded to capture this vessel, and Colonel Wright resolv ed to go with him. Taking along a detach ment from several different companies, Col. W. went on board-the flag-ship, Curlew, and oft: they steamed: Alter a lew hours, we heard the first gun; • There was a short, sharp engage ment, when the Fanny struck her flag, and a boat was lowered to take possession. Our lolks captured evght hundred or a thousand new over coats, somis saddles, and many other useful ar ticles intended for the 20th Indiana. But we WQre not satisfied with this. The Cur lew came back, and afl bands went to work to supply her, and other boats, with fuel, that we might go down fitter the Indjana ngiment it self. On thursday afternoon, the 3rd October, all the effective •men of our regiment, and of -the 8th Jf. C., tijgether with about sixty or sev enty-remnant of the 7th IN'. C.—embarked on several Mearrttloats. We lay still till alter mid night,, andthen started. The North Carolinians, under Col. Shaw, started ahead of ns, under orders to land some distance below the enemy’s .camp, and cut off'their retreat, while we should *raake a direct attack upon them. A little after suu-up, next morning, on treating Chickami- ■ cornico, we fiisac vueu. a line of soldiers on the beach, and soon they commenced a movement toward the South. We saw a man get on horse back, and gallop, off. (We afterwards found that this \. ns the Colonel.) The retreating col umn must have been four miles distant, but . Commodore. Lynch commenced shelling, in hope ofjnflicting some little damage upon it- The orl : eft: ct was to convert the retreat into ’a most disorderly flight. The Cotton Plant . came alongside of the Curlew, and, it being of light draught, Col. Wnight got on it, and, with Major Lee, and several companies, started for the shore. Lt. Col. Reid was ordered to remain with thd'balance of the regiment on the Curlew, which could get no nearan. shore than it then was. Nothing was said to the Adjutant, and he jurqptd on the Cotton Plant, because he thought-itis place was with ^the head of the regimeef He was ordered back to the Curlew, and tutX'eu to obey, with intense chagrin ex- pregeed%;i his countenance. Col. W. added: would like to bare you with me, but you lust remain, and. assist in landing the other troops. Watch my boat, and when I raise and . t . - - M&fc. - v m ■- lower the flag three times, the other-troops most commence landing.” The Cotton Plant, Capt. Hunter commanding, went off, having on board two 121b. howitzers. The Adjutant borrowed the Commodore’s glass, and knelt on the upper deck of the Curlew, with the glass on the guard, to watch for the signal. It seemed an age. At length, when our ad vance got within a half,or three-quarters of-a mile of the shore, they cast anchor,and leaped in to the water, while the two howitzers commenced throwing shot and shell. All the yankees had not left, and some prisoners were taken. In the mean time, just as the Cotton Plant cast anchor, we had seen the signal: so the rest of us got on an immense, heavy, old Hat, and com menced a tedious approach to the land. No snail ever'Went slower. It seemed at least two hours before we got to where we could wade, and, during that time, the advance had taken possession ofthe yankee camp, which wasqptof sight, among the trees, and, indeed, had all the fun to themselves. When we set foot on shore, the enemy were many miles off,.and some skir mishers bad been sent forward, while a de tachment had been put to the hopeless and hor rible work of. dragging two 121b. howitzers through the sand, to overtake a regiment of flying yankees, that had several hours the start! No horses had been brought, but the field officers procured marsh ponies, and old saddles, from the nearest houses. The Adjutant, very foolishly, concluded it would take too long to do this, so he pushed on, on foot, fp try and over take the advance. He was swift of foot, fora short distance, and passed a good many, but alas ! he could not hold out, and, later in the day, all, in turn, passed him again, and he dropped on the sand exhausted, when Lt. Col. Reid came along, and took him up- behind. (That night, he, too, got a pony, and afterwards rattled on vefy well.) A nice figure, too, the Lt. Col. and Adjutant cut, two tall men, on a small pony, their legs nearly dragging the 3and. Why make a long story of.it? We soon be- gan to get awful hungry, and, du >ng the day, lived on raw potatoes, etc., “grat b!ed”oui oi the patches along the route. The inhabitants had, almost to the last one, deserted their houses, and fled at our approach—whether compelled to do so by the enemy, or really afraid of us, I cannot say. They were the most ignorant, ab ject, degraded whites, take them as a class, that I have ever seen. There may have been exceptions among them, however. On we went, our active, hardy, skirmishers occasionally picking up a blue coat squatted among the rushes, and Conducting him back to tjie camp, where the quartermaster, with a de tail, was busy loading oqr boats with yankee plunder. I will state, here, that we carried back, to Roanoke Island, the wlioie’camp equip age, and the baggage—of which they had a fine supply—of the unfortunate 20thTndiana. Of course the whole route was strown with blank ets, hats, shoes, clothes, and everything the yankees could part with, in order to facilitate their Right. Many of their muakets were thrown- into the marshes, or bent by blows against trees. Just before night, a very few of our very foremost men came on a considerable body of the enemy, in a - small skirt of wood, and open ed (ire on them. The enemy seeing what % mere handful of men were pursuing them, mustered courage to halt a lew moments^ and return the-fire, so that, our men being checked, they all got away. Night found the field and staff near a cluster of deserted houses, where were found some po tatoes, Hour, poultry, meats, etc. Two big wash pots were put in requisition, mutton w&s slaugh tered, which, with flour dumplius, seasoned with salt pork, constituted, decidedly,the most savory stew that can be imagined. Potatoes were also roasted, corn bread baked, and, after the harassing and exhausting day’s work, there was a pleasant bivouac. Soon after satisfying the cravings of hunger, we all lay down, some on floors, but most on the sand, and sankinto a* profound slumbgr. Of course we had, long be fore night, found that the- 8th N. C. regiment had failed, from some cause, to' effect a landing below, to cut off tbo retreat. We afterwards learned that they cast anchor at a bar, over which they could not pass,and got out to wade to shore, fyit. between their vessels and beach., encountered a deep channel, and had to give up their part In the expedition. The next morning, by day break, the regi ment was up, and moving. Orders were sent back for those in charge of the cannon to hur ry up, but they were past hurrying. They had spent the night miserably, as they told me, on the sand, where darkness overtook them, with out food, except, perhaps, a few raw potatoes some of them had in tbeir haversacks. How ever, they resumed their dragging. Late in the morning, some of us arrived within a few miles of Hatteras light-house, where we were informed the enemy had taken refuge, and been reinforced from the fort. A few of our enterprising boys approached very near, and reconnoitred. Col. W. halted the advance and sent back after the rest of the regiment, in tending to attempt an assault on the light house. He thought ’better of it, however, and started the advance back to meet the rear. About noon, most of the regiment was got to gether, and halted in the shade, to obtain food and rest, CoJ. W. was at a house a abort dis tance from the regimeDt. One of the Captains asked Col. Wright’s per mission to move back toward our boats, and, having obtained it, was soon far on his way. Other Captains, on discovering this, requested Lt. Col. Reid to obtain leave for them tc go also, and, finally, he went to see Col. W. about it. Col. W. rather hesitated, but, at length, said something like the following : “You may take the whole command back, but there must be no stragglers in front, or rear. Company “G.” may go forward, as skirmishers (it was thought there were yankees still lurking about in the marshes) but they must not go more than half a mile ahead.” So we started back, and there were stragglers, in spite of everything