Folly Island

One night there was a stir in camp when it was found that the rebels were trying to cross, and next morning Lieutenant Parker told me he thought they were on Hall Island, so that after that I did not go over again.

While planning for the expedition up the Edisto River, colonel higginson was a whole night in the water trying to locate the rebels and where their picket lines were situated about july the boys went up the edisto to destroy a bridge on the charleston and savannah road this expedition was twenty or more miles into the mainland colonel higginson was wounded in this fight and the regiment nearly captured the steamboat john adams always assisted us carrying soldiers provisions etc she carried several guns and a good gunner edward heron henry batchelot a relative of mine was a steward on this boat there were two smaller boats governor milton and the enoch dean in the fleet as these could go up the river better than the large ones could i often went aboard the john adams it went with us into jacksonville to coal and folly island and gunner heron was always ready to send a shell at the enemy one night companies k and e on their way to pocatalogo to destroy a battery that was situated down the river captured several prisoners the rebels nearly captured sergeant king who as he sprang and caught a reb fell over an embankment in falling he did not release his hold on his prisoner although his hip was severely injured he held fast until some of his comrades came to his aid and pulled them up these expeditions were very dangerous sometimes the men had to go five or ten miles during the night over on the rebel side and capture or destroy whatever they could find While at Camp Shaw, there was a deserter who came into Beaufort.

He was allowed his freedom about the city and was not molested.

He remained about the place a little while and returned to the rebels again.

This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.

On Morris and Other Islands.

fort wagner being only a mile from our camp i went there two or three times a week and would go up on the ramparts to watch the gunners send their shells into charleston which they did every fifteen minutes and had a full view of the city from that point outside of the fort were many skulls lying about i have often moved them one side out of the path the comrades and i would have quite a debate as to which side the men fought on some thought they were the skulls of our boys others thought they were the enemies but as there was no definite way to know it was never decided which could lay claim to them they were a gruesome sight those fleshless heads and grinning jaws but by this time i had become accustomed to worse things and did not feel as i might have earlier in my camp life it seems strange how our aversion to seeing suffering is overcome in war how we are able to see the most sickening sights such as men with their limbs blown off and mangled by the deadly shells without a shudder and instead of turning away how we hurry to assist in alleviating their pain lined up their wounds and pressed the cool water to their parched lips with feelings only of sympathy and pity about the first of june eighteen sixty four the regiment was ordered to folly island staying there until the latter part of the month when it was ordered to morris island we landed on morris island between june and july eighteen sixty four this island was a narrow strip of sandy soil nothing growing on it but a few bushes and shrubs the camp was one mile from the boat landing called ponnell landing and the landing one mile from fort wagner colonel higginson had left us in may of this year on account of wounds received at edisto All the men were sorry to lose him.

They did not want him to go.