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HISTORY of the FIFTY-FOURTH REGIMENT
of
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEER INFANTRY
1863-1865
by Luis Fenollosa Emilio
Published:
Boston:
The History Book Company
1894.
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CHAPTER XIV.
CHARLESTON AND SAVANNAH
pp. 277 -
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the strong positions along the
railroad havinb been abandoned by the enemy, the
road to Charleston was now open to the Coast
Division for an advance without opposition.
Colonel Hallowell on February 15, was ordered
with the Fifty-fourth, one Hundred and
Twenty-seventh New York, some artillery, and a small
force of cavalry to proceed to Ashepoo by way of a
road above the railroad leading through Blue House.
We moved at noon of a bright, warm day, the
companies on picket joining the regiment as it
passed. From recent rain the road was heavy
with clayey mud, making marching most wearisome.
There was constant delay passing through overflowed
places, or while bridges were being repaired.
We reached Blue House and a mile beyond at 8 P.M.,
making but six miles. Three bridges had been
rebuilt, and two more were reported just in front.
Colonel Hallowell, finding it
impossible to longer pursue that route, then moved
back. We were on a causeway, and in turning
around, a wagon stalled and was abandoned. The
Fifty-fourth secured from it one hundred and thirty
pairs of trousers and three hundred pairs of shoes,
free of government charges. After one of the
hardest marches the Fifty-fourth ever made, we
reached Salkehatchie fort at 3 A.M. on the 16th.
Our advance troops were, on the 15th, at the
junction of the roads to Jacksonboro and Parker's
Ferry. |
[Page 278]
February 16, Colonel Hallowell was directed
to move forward again by way of Combahee Ferry; and
at 9 A. M. the Fifty-fourth proceeded, with the
usual rests, over a rough country. Much
standing water was found in places, and at times the
wading was knee-deep. In the afternoon we came
to a higher point, where a view of the region
bordering the river was obtained. Spread below
us was the finest tract we saw in the South, - a
cultivated country, thickly spotted with
plantations. It was the famous and fertile
valley of the Combahee, devoted to rice culture.
The negro quarters and mills had been burned by our
advance. After crossing a bridge over the
river, we moved on a mile and rested after a march
of twelve miles.
With fine weather again, on the 17th the Fifty-fourth
marched at 9 A.M. toward Ashepoo, which being only
eight miles distant and the road excellent, we
reached at 1 P. M. There we camped near the railroad
bridge on the plantation of Col. Charles Warley.
The mansion of this gentleman of wealth and
prominence had been plundered by the first comers;
and fine books, furniture, and household effects
were strewn about, making a sad scene of wastage and
pitiless destruction.
Reveille was sounded by the Fifty-fourth bugles at
sunrise on the 18th. Foraging parties brought
in immense quantities of corn, poultry, sweet
potatoes, and honey. Many of the field-hands
were found on the plantations, and our coming was
welcomed with joyful demonstrations. A Dr.
Dehon and his son were brought in and
entertained by the brigade staff that night.
Refugees and contrabands were coming into our camps
in considerable numbers.
Having repaired the bridge over the Ashepoo, the First |
[Page 279]
Brigade crossed on
the 19th. and marched for the South Edisto.
Our Second Brigade remained. Dr. Dehon
had been sent to General Hatch, but returned
that afternoon. Lieutenant Ritchie relates
the following particulars of this gentleman's
troubles: -
"While gone, his ' chattels ' had been helping
themselves and carrying furniture off by whole
boat-loads. Dehon brings an order from
General Hatch that his 4 slaves shall be
permitted to choose for themselves whether to go
back to the plantation with him or not.
Dehon got us to back this up, and as a
consequence, loses all his slaves, young and old."
Just at dark, we received the great news that
Charleston was evacuated by the enemy. Cheer
after cheer rang out bonfires were lighted; and the
soldiers yelled long and frantically. Far into
the night nothing else was talked about around the
camp-fires.
Brigade crossed on the 19th. and marched for the South
Edisto. Our Second Brigade remained.
Dr. Dehon had been sent to General Hatch,
but returned that afternoon. Lieutenant
Ritchie relates the following particulars of
this gentleman's troubles: -
" While gone, his ' chattels ' had been helping
themselves and carrying furniture off by whole
boat-loads. Dehon brings an order from
General Hatch that his 4 slaves shall be
permitted to choose for themselves whether to go
back to the plantation with him or not. Dehon
got us to back this up, and as a consequence, loses
all his slaves, young and old."
Just at dark, we received the great news that
Charleston was evacuated by the enemy. Cheer
after cheer rang out bonfires were lighted; and the
soldiers yelled long and frantically. Far into
the night nothing else was talked about around the
camp-fires.
Our Third Brigade having arrived at Ashepoo on the
20th, at 1 P. M., the Second Brigade moved for
Jacksonboro and the Edisto, where our advance had
crossed that day in boats. The Fifty-fourth
arrived at the Edisto by 5 P.M., going into bivouac
in a pine grove but thirty miles from Charleston.
We were detained there by repairs upon the burnt
bridges over the river until noon of the 21st, when
the march was resumed. Just beyond, we passed
a Rebel work mounting four guns. Proceeding
three miles, the Second Brigade turned to the right
into a road running nearly parallel with the main
route, and four miles farther brought us to Adam's
Run. This was a small hamlet with numerous
rough barracks, - an old and important camp of the
Confederates. Beyond, some four miles, we
camped at a cross-road about 6 P. M., where the One
Hundred and Second United States Colored Troops
joined us at |
[Page 280]
9 P. M. During that day the country was
thoroughly scouted as the division advanced by the different roads.
February 22 we resumed the onward march at 9 A. M., the
Fifty-fourth in rear, and passed through woods nearly the whole day,
with here and there a plantation and cultivated fields. By
orders everything along the road was burned. Foraging parties
brought in all kinds of provisions which they loaded into every
description of vehicle wagons, carts, and even antiquated family
coaches were used, drawn by horses, mules, and bullocks, which, with
the contrabands, made our train a curious spectacle. Some
twelve miles from the Ashley River we passed an abandoned battery of
three guns commanding Rantowle's Ferry; another was found on the
right at Wallace's. The Fifty-fourth camped at dark ten
miles from Charleston. Our bivouac was a festive one, for
supplies of chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese, honey, rice, meal,
sheep, and beef, were in profusion. Only a few armed but
ununiformed men had been seen, who, when we followed, escaped, and
were thought to be guerillas.
A move was made early on the 23d, our Second Brigade in
advance, the Third Brigade following. The First Brigade
remained to secure abandoned guns, for the whole region was thickly
studded with works. We marched rapidly over good roads,
arriving at the Ashley at 1 P. M. There, across the river, we saw
Charleston, long the Mecca of our hopes; but the bridges were
burned, so we camped with our long train, impatiently awaiting
orders to cross. Captain Emilio was made acting
assistant provost-marshal of the division, with Company E and a
company of the One Hundred and Second as the guard. While
there, the weather was rainy and chilly. On the 25th orders
came
LIEUT. THOMAS S. BRIDGHAM LIEUT.
WILLIAM McDERMOTT
LIEUT. CHARLES M. DUREN
LIEUT. CHARLES O. HALLETT
LIEUT. EZEKIEL G. TOMLINSON
LIEUT. CHARLES JEWETT, JR.
[Page 281]
for the First
Brigade to report to General Potter, our
Second Brigade to take post on Charleston Neck and
the Third Brigade to remain. At 6 P. M. we
marched to a wharf, but as transportation was not
furnished, returned again to camp. With this
day the Fifty-fourth completed its longest term of
field service.
General Hardee in command of Charleston,
disregarding General Beauregard's
orders, deferred abandoning the city until the last
moment. For some days previous to February 17,
trains loaded with army supplies and citizens with
their effects were being sent away. At the
last the place was largely deserted by its people,
the streets littered with refuse and the books and
papers of the merchants, and stores and residences
showed few signs of occupancy. From James
and Sullivan's islands the Confederates moved
to the city on the 17th, thence taking the road to
Cheraw, their ranks depleted by desertion as they
marched. Detachments were left in the city
until the 18th with orders to burn every building
holding cotton. They fired a large shed at the
Savannah railroad wharf and another on Lucas Street.
Lucas's mill and Walker's warehouse
were destroyed. The bridge over the Ashley was
burned. A terrific explosion occurred at the
Northeastern Railroad Depot, filled with ordnance
stores, causing great loss of life and communicating
the flames to several adjoining blocks.
Not only on land but on the water was this fell work
carried out. The gunboats "Palmetto State,"
"Chicora," and "Charleston" were fired, and blew up
with deafening reports; and vessels in the
shipyards, torpedo-boats, and blockade-runners, were
scuttled or burned. Over 450 pieces of
ordnance in the city and vicinity were abandoned, |
[Page 282]
besides immense
stores of provisions and army supplies. That
the whole city was not obliterated in consequence of
these acts of General Beauregard and
his subordinates, can only be attributed to the
exertions of our soldiery and the negro inhabitants.
Our companies at Morris Island passed the winter months
with little of moment to disturb the quiet of
garrison life. At about 1 A.M., on February
18, the bridge over the Ashley River was discovered
burning, fires were seen in various parts of
Charleston, and the storeship "John
Ravenel " was a mass of flames lighting up the
harbor. At 6 A. M. the magazine of Battery Bee
blew up. When day dawned, a heavy fog covered
the waters, but at 7.45 a.m. it lifted. With
powerful glasses no enemy could be seen at Sumter,
James, or Sullivan's Island, although Rebel
flags were over the works.
Lieut. Col. A. G. Bennett, Twenty-First United
States Colored Troops, commanding Morris Island,
gave orders for his force to gather at Cumming's
Point, and had boats prepared to transport the
troops. Major Hennessy,
Fifty-second Pennsylvania, was sent to Sumter, and
Lieut. John
Hackett, Third Rhode Island Artillery, to
Moultrie, and the navy despatched Acting Ensign
Anson to Moultrie, and Acting
Master Gifford to Mt. Pleasant. At all
these points, about 9.30 A.M., the Rebel flags gave
place to the stars and stripes planted by these
officers.
Lieutenant-Colonel Bennett, with Lieut. J. F.
Haviland, One Hundred and Twenty-seventh New
York, joined on the way by other boats containing a
few officers and men of the Fifty-second
Pennsylvania and Twenty-first United States Colored
Troops, reached Mills's wharf on the city
front at 10 A.M., after hoisting the United States
flag over |
[Page 283]
Castle Pinckney and
Fort Ripley. There they were welcomed by a
gathering of colored people, who cheered them and
the national symbol. Soon George W.
Williams, Dr. Albert G. Mackey, and other
citizens appeared, and representing that the Rebel
rear-guard was still in the place, begged
protection, and assistance in quelling the flames,
which threatened the total destruction of the city.
Major Hennessy was despatched to the
arsenal, and Lieutenant-Colonel
Bennett with the remainder of his force, which
had been increased by the arrival of some of the
Third Rhode Island Artillery, moved to the Citadel.
Guards were soon sent to public buildings,
storehouses, and important points, and the abandoned
fire apparatus, manned by negroes, firemen, and
soldiers, was put into use, checking the fires.
Captain Walton and Lieutenant Newell
with Company B, and Captain Bridge
with Company F, on the 18th, proceeding from Morris
Island in rowboats, reached Charleston after the
advance troops under Lieutenant-Colonel Bennett.
Being the first considerable body of colored
soldiers to arrive, their march through the streets
was a continual welcome from crowds of their people
of both sexes. Upon reaching the Citadel,
officers and men were placed on provost duty.
Lieutenant Edmands and his
Fifty-fourth men at Black Island, with the
Fifty-second Pennsylvania companies there, rowed to
Fort Johnson, where they remained until the 19th and
then joined Company F in Charleston.
General Schimmelfennig, with a force from
Cole's Island, crossed to James Island on the night
of the 17th. He early discovered the
evacuation, and at 1 P.M., on the 18th, entered
Charleston after crossing the Ashley.
General Potter learned of the abandonment on the
19th, and moved |
[Page 284]
from Bull's Bay
through the Christ Church lines to Mt. Pleasant on
the 20th. Potter, on the 22d, with a
force, followed Hardee's track to St.
Stephen's depot, but as the latter had burned the
Santee River Bridge, he returned.
Into the war-ravaged city of Charleston, with its
shattered buildings, disrupted grass-grown streets,
deserted wharves, and scuttled hulks, the
Fifty-fourth entered at 9 A.M., on the 27th, having
crossed the river on the steamer "Croton." We
could not but be exultant, for by day and night, in
sunshine and storm, through close combat and
far-reaching cannonade, the city and its defences
were the special objects of our endeavor for many
months. Moving up Meeting and King streets,
through the margin of the "burnt district," we saw
all those fearful evidences of fire and shell.
Many colored people were there to welcome the
regiment, as the one whose prisoners were so long
confined in their midst. Passing the Mills
House, Charleston Hotel, and the Citadel, the
Fifty-fourth proceeded over the plank road one and a
half miles to the Neck, where the Confederate
intrenchments extended clear across the peninsula.
Turning to the right, we entered Magnolia Cemetery,
through which the line of works ran, and camped
along it among the graves. It was the extreme
right of the fortifications, fronting Belvedere
Creek. The One Hundred and Second took post on
our left. Brigade headquarters were at the
Cary house near by. Companies B and F,
relieved in the city, re-joined the regiment that
day.
Our camp among the tombstones seemed a desecration of
the beautiful grounds which should have been sacred
to the dead; but our foes were responsible for
constructing the lines there. Lieutenant
Cousens, on the 28th, was sent for our camp
effects at Morris Island, and as a portion
|
[Page 285]
was brought in small
boats, some damage by water resulted to company
books and officers' baggage. Major
Pope, on March 1, with Companies C, E, H, and I,
visited the Benjamin Whaley place thirteen
miles distant, moving over the plank road and
fording Nine-Mile Run on the way. At the
plantation the detachment rested for the night,
receiving abundant supplies from the negroes.
Some fifty hands were found there, and the next day
returned to Charleston with our force.
There was bad weather the first week of March; then
warm and springlike days came. We received a
large number of men who had been detailed, detached,
or were sick when the Fifty-fourth left Morris
Island. Details were furnished for picket
duty, generally along the plank road.
Headquarters for the line were at the Four-Mile
House, which had been a tavern, but was then
occupied by a hospitable Irishman - Lawler by
name - and his wife. Opportunities were given
officers and men to visit the city, where they
wandered about, deeply interested in sight-seeing.
Several Fifty-fourth officers were detailed there,
and always entertained visiting associates.
The most interesting building to us of the
Fifty-fourth was the jail, - a brick structure
surmounted by a tower and enclosed with a high wall,
where the prisoners of the regiment were confined
many months with black and white criminals as well
as other Union soldiers.
Of the townspeople but some ten thousand remained,
largely blacks, all mainly dependent upon our
bounty. The whole banking capital of
Charleston was lost. A loyal edition of the
"Courier" newspaper was being issued; the "Mercury"
had decamped to Cheraw. Schools were opened,
and market-wharves designated. The post-office
was estab- |
[Page 286]
lished at the
southwest corner of King and George streets, the
headquarters of the commandant at the northwest
corner of Meeting and George streets, and General
Hatch, the district commander, was at No. 13
King Street. Applicants thronged the
provost-marshal's office to take the oath of
allegiance, and the recruiting of colored troops was
going on rapidly.
Regimental orders, on the 8th, directed the line to be
formed as below, with Company F on the right, -
E G
D A H B I K
C F
The brigade having been ordered to Savannah, on the
12th, Lieutenant-Colonel Hooper marched the
right wing to the city and embarked on the steamer "
W. W. Coit," which in the afternoon ran down the
harbor past the now silent batteries on either side,
and arrived at Hilton Head about midnight.
Proceeding in the morning, the steamer entered the
Savannah River and tied up at the city front at
noon. Disembarking, the wing moved out Bull
Street and to the edge of the place, where on high
ground it took possession of a fine camp of board
shelters constructed by Sherman's men, near
the One Hundred and Second United States Colored
Troops, camped on our right. Major
Pope, with the left wing, left Charleston March
13 on the steamer " Chas. Houghton," arriving at
Hilton Head about midnight. There the men
disembarked on the pier, while the vessel went
elsewhere to coal. At 3 P.M., on the 14th,
this wing proceeded by way of Shell Creek and the
inside channel, arriving at Savannah four hours
later.
Upon the 14th also the Thirty-third United States
Colored Troops arrived, and with the Fifty-fourth
and One Hundred |
[Page 287]
and Second United
States Colored Troops, made up the colored brigade
under Colonel Hallowell, who occupied
No. 109 Broad Street, procured for him by
Lieutenant Ritchie at the same rent as
the Jacksonville houses. Pvt. Maj. Gen.
Cuvier Grover commanded the district, and his
division of the Nineteenth Corps held the posts. Pvt.
Brig.-Gen. E. L. Moleneux commanded the defences.
Savannah was a most attractive city, with wide, shaded
streets, numerous parks, and many good buildings,
and elegant residences. All the approaches to
it had been well fortified by the enemy, for there
were heavy works on the river and a line of
fortifications from the Savannah to the Little
Ogeechee River. Beyond, facing this land
defence, were the works thrown up by the besiegers.
On every side were the deserted camps of
Sherman's and Hardee's armies, marked by
debris, rough shanties, cleared spaces, and
approaching roads. When captured, the
population was estimated as twenty thousand, of whom
thousands were supported upon army supplies or those
sent from the generous North by ship-loads.
The most attractive spot was the beautiful cemetery
of Bonaventure, with its majestic live-oaks and
wooded paths. Savannah had fallen by siege in
every war; to the British in 1788 and 1812, and to
the Federal troops in 1864.
It was a busy time, our short stay there, for returns
were in arrears, and the books had to be written up.
Clothing was issued and drills resumed. The
regiment furnished picket details in proper turn for
the brigade. It was delightful weather, the
gardens already blooming with camellias, japonicas,
and Cape Jessamine. On the 18th, the
Fifty-fourth with the whole division was inspected
by Brig. Gen. Seth Williams, U. S. A.
Our regiment was in |
[Page 288]
excellent condition,
and the colored brigade made a good appearance,
numbering twenty-three hundred men.
It seemed that the government, having paid us once in
the two years' service, was allowing that to
suffice, for six months' pay was due at this time.
The officers were penniless, and had to send North
for money or borrow it to subsist upon. Sherman's
victorious progress, Sheridan's brilliant
successes, Lee's inability to hold back
Grant, and the whole seaboard fallen, made it
manifest that the war was virtually over. The
Fifty-fourth then expected but a brief period of
garrison duty, followed by a homeward voyage,
without again hearing a hostile shot; but a new
field of service was before them, for after a review
of the troops on the 25th by General
Grover at "The Plain," orders came for the
Fifty-fourth and One Hundred and Second United
States Colored Troops to proceed to Georgetown, S.
C.
The following changes took place among the officers at
Savannah, - Lieutenant Emerson
re-joined; Lieutenant Knowles resigned
at the North; Captains Emilio and
Homans were mustered out at the expiration of
their personal terms of service; Lieutenant
Chipman was promoted captain of Company D;
Lieutenant Duren, still at the North, was
appointed adjutant.
On the 27th Lieutenant-Colonel Hooper embarked
with the right wing on the steamer "W. W. Coit,"
accompanied by Colonel Hallowell.
The same day Major Pope with the left
wing boarded the steamer "Canonicus." After getting
to sea, both transports touched at Hilton Head and
then went on to Charleston, where Colonel
Hallowell was directed to report to General
Hatch. Bad weather and the want of coal
prevented sailing thence until the morning of the
31st, when the voyage was resumed. |
LIEUT. ALEXANDER JOHNSTON
LIEUT. HENRY W. LITTLEFIELD
LIEUT. DANIEL B. SPEAR
LIEUT. ALFRED H. KNOWLES
LIEUT. FREDERICK E. ROGERS
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