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Creek, a tributary of the Neuse, about eighteen miles from Newbern. This was the spot which General Burnside had selected for the landing of the troops. On the way to the river, the Picket, one of the gunboats, had fallen in with two boats laden with grain. They were chased ashore, captured, and the crews, a planter and his sons, carried to General Burnside, who received them with great kindness, purchasing some meal of the owner, and presenting him beside with that much sought for luxury, under the blockade, a supply of coffee. Another boat was picked up containing a party of young colored people, who had come out, as they said, "to look after their friends."

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The next morning, Thursday, the 13th, all was ready for the disembarkation of the troops. At daylight," says a correspondent, who has furnished the public with an animated account of the scenes which followed, "the rain was falling heavily, and it seemed as if we were to have every disadvantage of weather added to the obstacles which lay in the path of our advance on the city. By eight o'clock, however, patches of blue sky were to be seen here and there, and in a little time the rain ceased. The signal to prepare for landing hoisted on each of the brigade flag-boats was greeted with cheers throughout the fleet, and it was not long before the different regiments were in the launches, ready for the signal to land. At nine o'clock the Patuxent, laden with troops, headed for the mouth of Slocum's Creek, followed by the Alert with fourteen boats in tow, the Union with the 4th Rhode Island aboard, the Pilot Boy with twelve launches, Levy with thirteen, and the Alice Price, General Burnside's flag-boat. The Price, steaming past the others, led the advance, and, running to within a few yards of the shore, stopped and signaled the Pilot Boy to follow in her wake. From the transport fleet to shore the boats sailed in a long, graceful sweep,

with flags flying, bands playing, and 5,000 bayonets flashing in the sunshine, which now streamed over the fleet.

"It was almost ten o'clock when the Alice Price stopped near the shore. Her paddles had hardly ceased their revolutions when a small boat, containing Sergeant Poppe and three men of Captain Wright's company of the 51st New York, put off from her side, and carried the stars and stripes to land. When the color-sergeant planted his colors, and the dear flag was given to the breeze, one long, loud shout went up from the flotilla and fleet. The signal to cast off tows was now given, and the swarm of boats made the best of their way to the beach; but the water shoaled so gradually to the westward of the creek that they grounded while yet sixty yards away. In a moment the soldiers were over the gunwales, and the water was swarming with them, as they waded to land carrying their pieces and ammunition under their arms to keep them dry. The crowd was so great that some boats containing portions of the 8th Connecticut and one of the Massachusetts regiments headed for the opposite bank of the creek, and the men were all ashore before the error was seen and an order could be sent them to land with the others. In the boat flotilla there were six navy barges with howitzers, the whole battery being under command of Lieutenant R. S. McCook of the Stars and Stripes, and the guns respectively of J. B. Hammond, Acting Master of the Hetzel; E. C. Gabaudan (Commodore Rowan's clerk) of the Delaware; Lieutenant Tillotson (Union Coast Guard) of the Perry; Lieutenant T. W. B. Hughes (Union Coast Guard) of the St. Lawrence; C. H. Daniels of the Decatur, and Mr. E. P. Meeker (Commodore Goldsborough's secretary) of the Ohio. Each gun was drawn by twelve sailors, assisted, as occasion required, by soldiers who stepped from the ranks and lent a hand with cheerful alacrity. Beside this battery of navy guns, two Wiard rifled

THE UNION TROOPS GO FORWARD.

12-pounders were landed from the transports-one from the Cossack, under command of Captain J. W. Bennett, and the other from the schooner Highlander, under Captain E. G. Dayton. The Cossack's gun was worked, in action, by Mr. Stroud, the second officer of the ship, with great gallantry and precision.

"Along the river, by the mouth of the creek, the ground was marshy and miry enough to make the labor of dragging the field-pieces very heavy. Our path led for a little distance through a fringe of woods, in which the Spanish moss was hanging from almost every tree-a sadcolored drapery, but quite appropriate, I thought, for the journey to the spirit-world that many were then treading. I recollect standing beneath a thick canopy of this moss with the gallant young Hammond, who fought so bravely at Roanoke, to watch the men as they labored to get his gun through a bit of mire, and thinking which of these twelve would meet his death before we got to Newbern. Alas! every man of them was killed or wounded. After leaving the woods we came upon a strip of beach, and, after marching a mile through the sand, ankledeep, struck across a piece of fallow land and came upon the county road. One of the finest sights of the day was the march of the column diagonally across this clearing, the thick-set hedge of bayonets shining like frosted grass in the sunshine, and the long line of blue-clothed men, undulating like a great snake, over the inequalities of the ground. A little way up the road we found an extensive cavalry barracks, some distance back, in a wooded ravine. So great had been the hurry of leaving that the officers had left their breakfast untouchedthe men theirs in the mess-tins. Furniture, books, clothing, all the conveniences of camp life, were strewn about the cantonment, and in the stables one solitary little pony was found tied, and appropriated by an aide-de-camp, whose undignified appearance when mounted

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elicited many a jest and laugh from his friends of the several staffs.

"The rains of the week preceding had brought the country into a sad plight, and our troops marched for five miles through mud and water, such as one would hardly expect to find this side of the heavy clays of Yorkshire. There was no straggling or hanging back, however, for the officers met every loiterer with the order to close up ranks and keep together. The 24th Massachusetts, having the right of the 1st brigade, was, of course, at the head of the column; the 11th Connecticut brought up the rear of the 3d brigade. We had proceeded perhaps five miles when the skirmishers came upon a clearing with a line of breastworks and batteries apparently a mile in extent. The column was immediately halted, and a reconnoissance being made by Captain Williamson, Topographical engineer on General Burnside's staff, it was found deserted. The work must have required the labor of a thousand men for a month, being constructed in the most thorough and scientific manner. A deep and wide moat extended along the front, and an abattis of felled timber had been made on both flanks. No guns had been mounted, the enemy probably thinking the division was to move first on Norfolk, and that no great haste was required in preparing the nice little thing for our reception. A mile further on, a road crossing our line of march ran down to the river. Thinking that the enemy might have a fortification on the beach, with a large supporting body of infantry, a reconnoissance was ordered by General Foster, and Lieutenants Strong, Pendleton, Captain Hudson, and others of his aids, riding down found a large battery, which had been deserted in haste. They waved a white. handkerchief as a signal to the gunboats, and a boat put off immediately from the Delaware, and the national flag was hoisted on the parapet.

"All the afternoon it had been rain

ing by showers, the intervals being filled with a continuous drizzle, which alone would have wetted the men to the skin, so that when night was approaching without our having met the enemy, it is not strange that we should have looked with anxiety for the order to halt. General Reno's brigade had been turned off on the railroad at the first point where the county road crossed it, with the view of flanking the enemy while the main body attacked them in front. The two bodies met at another crossing, and here a man coming on horseback from Newbern was arrested, and gave us the information that Manassas was evacuated. The joyful news was passed along the columns from regiment to regiment, and was hailed by such a tempest of cheers as made the welkin ring indeed. Imagine the cheering of a whole army, itself on the march to a battle, on hearing such joyful tidings as these! Whether true or false, the effect of the story was excellent, for when the order "forward" was given, the men sprang into their places with a cheerful alacrity which could hardly have been expected of jaded men. At six o'clock, we had advanced to within a mile of the enemy's line of fortifications, and a halt was ordered. Generals Burnside and Foster and their staffs were riding some distance in advance, even of the skirmishers of the 24th, and I certainly expected that we should all (for I happened to be with the party for an hour or so) be bagged by some marauding squadron of rebel cavalry, who would dash out and take us in the rear. Captain Williamson and Captain Potter and Lieutenant Strong were sent ahead to reconnoitre, and after riding half a mile, came upon some cavalry pickets, by whom they were hailed, and whom they challenged in return. On their reporting to General Burnside, the column was ordered to halt and bivouac for the night on both sides of the road. It was a wet, miserable night, the rain-drops showering

down upon us from the trees, and the sodden leaves and woods-mold making anything but a comfortable couch. However, we cut down some yellow-pine trees for fuel, and, by the genial warmth of bivouac fires, were soon smoking pipes and making feeble attempts to forget our weariness and wetness.

"In the morning, at six o'clock, all the Generals were in their saddles, and at seven the column was in motion. The column of General Reno, on the railroad, was the first to move, the 21st Massachusetts, as the right flank regiment, leading the advance. The regiment had not proceeded far, before, on turning a curve in the road, they saw a train of cars, which had brought reinforcements to the enemy, standing on the track. In front of the locomotive, on a platform car, had been a large rifled gun, which was evidently to be placed in position to rake the road. Our men, however, advanced at the double-quick and poured in a volley with such accuracy of aim that the enemy, who had already rolled the gun and caisson off the car, did not stop to unload the carriage, but ran into the intrenchments, and the train was backed toward Newbern, leaving the platform-car standing on the track. The 21st had got within short range before discovering the formidable nature of the enemy's earthworks, but now fell back, and, forming line of battle in the woods, opened fire. The 51st New York was moved to the left and ordered forward to engage a series of redans, the 9th New Jersey occupying the left of the line, and the 51st Pennsylvania held in reserve, in rear of the 9th, a little to the left. Meanwhile General Foster's brigade had advanced up the main road to the clearing, when the 24th Massachusetts was sent into the woods to the right of the road, and opening a heavy fire on the enemy commenced the action of the 1st brigade. The 27th was sent to their left to support them, and, news being received that the enemy were trying to

PROGRESS OF THE CONFLICT.

outflank us on the right, the 25th was sent out to resist the movement. The 23d being moved to the front next in line of battle, opened fire upon the enemy, which was replied to by very heavy volleys, and a cannonade from a park of field pieces behind the breastworks. The very first cannon-shot killed LieutenantColonel Henry Merritt of the 23d, the ball passing through his body. As he fell he threw up his arms and said "Oh dear! Oh dear!" General Foster's line of battle was completed by moving the gallant 10th Connecticut to the extreme left, to a position where they had to fight under the most discouraging disadvantages. The ground was very wet, swampy, and cut up into gullies and ravines, which mostly ran toward the enemy, and, of course, while offering no protection from his fire, exposed them on elevations and in valleys. The regiment had shown, at Roanoke, however, the behavior of veterans, and nothing else could have been expected at this time, but that they would stand their ground to the last.

"General Parke's brigade, which had followed the 1st brigade up the main road, was placed in line between the 10th Connecticut and the 21st Massachusetts, the 4th Rhode Island holding the right of line, the 8th Connecticut the next place, the 5th Rhode Island next, and the 11th Connecticut on the left. Our line of battle was now complete, the 24th Massachusetts on the extreme right and the 51st Pennsylvania at the extreme left, and extended more than a mile. The naval battery was in position at our centre, with Captain Bennett's and Captain Dayton's rifles alongside, and were all worked with the greatest gallantry throughout the day. The officers in charge of the pieces, without exception, I believe, displayed perfect coolness, and stood by their guns in some cases when a single man was all the assistance they had to work them. This was the case with Acting-Master Ham

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mond of the Hetzel, and Lieutenant T. W. B. Hughes of the Union Coast Guard, the former losing every man, and the latter all but one. The battle had waged for something less than an hour when the 21st lost one of its noblest officers, in the person of Adjutant Frazer A. Stearns, the young man who bore himself so bravely in the difficult and dangerous charge on the right of the enemy's battery on Roanoke Island. Poor Stearns received a bullet in his right breast and fell dead in his place. He was the son of the President of Amherst College, and possessed the love of his commanding officer and the whole regiment. Lieutenant-Colonel Clark, who is in command of the 21st, was affected to tears when relating the circumstances of his untimely death, for he felt almost the love of a father for the young man.

"The fire of the enemy was now telling so severely upon the 21st that Colonel Clark ordered the regiment forward on a double-quick, and at the head of four companies entering the breastworks from the railroad track, in company with General Reno, the colors were taken into a frame house which stood there, and waved from the roof. The men at the nearest guns seeing the movement, abandoned their pieces and fled, and the four companies being formed again in line of battle, charged down the line upon the battery. Colonel Clark mounted the first gun and waved the colors, and had got as far as the second, when two full regiments emerged from a grove of young pines and advanced upon our men, who, seeing that they were likely to be captured or cut to pieces, leaped over the parapet and retired to their position in the woods. At this time Captain J. D. Frazer of Company H was wounded in the right arm, and dropped his sword, but taking it in his left hand, he attempted to escape with his company, fell into the ditch, and was taken prisoner, and dragged inside again over the parapet. A guard of three men was placed over

him, his sword was taken, but his revolver being overlooked, he seized the opportunity offered by a charge of the 4th Rhode Island, and by the judicious display of his pistol, captured all three of his guard. On being driven from the battery, Colonel Clark informed Colonel Rodman of the 4th Rhode Island of the state of affairs inside, and that officer, unable to communicate with General Parke in the confusion of the fight, acted upon his own responsibility, after consultation with Lieutenant Lydig, one of the General's aids, and decided upon a charge with the bayonet. As the 4th was one of the most prominent regiments in the action, it will be well to go back a little in our narrative, and trace them up to that point. Their position in the line of battle, as ordered by General Parke, was in front of a battery of five guns, and the rifle-pits or redans which were situated immediately in the rear of and protected the right flank of the main battery of nine guns. Until the charge was decided upon by Colonel Rodman, the regiment had been firing, like the rest of the line, by companies and otherwise. When the command was given to charge, they went at the double-quick directly up to the battery, firing as they ran, and entering at the right flank, between a brick-yard and the end of the parapet. When fairly inside, the Colonel formed the right wing in line of battle, and at their head charged down upon the guns at double-quick, the left wing forming irregularly, and going as they could. With a steady line of cold steel, the Rhode Islanders bore down upon the enemy, and, routing them, captured the whole battery, with its two flags, and planted the stars and stripes upon the parapet. The 8th Connecticut, 5th Rhode Island, and 11th Connecticut, coming up to their support, the rebels fled with precipitation, and left us in undisputed possession.

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ing was very heavy. The 21st was engaging the battery of five small pieces, the 51st New York the first of the redans, the 9th New Jersey the next two, and the 51st Pennsylvania were still in reserve. Lieutenant-Colonel Robert B. Potter of the 51st New York, when in advance with Captain Hazard's company of skirmishers, was shot through the side and fell, but making light of the wound, he got his servant to put on a bandage, and in a few minutes had returned to his place and was cheering on his men. The regiment was drawn up in a hollow, or ravine, from which they would move up to the top of the eminence, discharge their volleys, and retire to such cover as the inequalities of the ground might furnish. General Reno, becoming impatient at the loss of life which his regiments, and particularly Colonel Ferrero's, was suffering, wished the regiment to advance as soon as possible, so Lieutenant-Colonel Potter took a color over the brow of the hill into another hollow, and from here charged up an acclivity and over brushwood and abattis into the redan. The 51st Pennsylvania, for a long time held in reserve, was ordered up to participate in the decisive charge of the whole brigade upon the line of redans, and passing through the 51st New York, as it was lying on the ground after having exhausted all its ammunition, came under the heaviest fire, and without flinching or wavering moved to its place, and rushed, with the other regiments, upon the defences of the enemy. The movement of Colonel Hartrauft's regiment was excuted in the most deliberate manner, and proved a complete success. ment of the 3d brigade was supported by a charge of the 4th Rhode Island from the captured main battery upon the works which were being assailed, and the enemy, already demoralized by the breaking of their centre, fell back before the grand charge upon the left and front of their position, and fled in confusion. On our extreme right the brave 24th,

The move

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