Emilio, Luis F., History of the Fifty-Fourth Regiment of Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry , 1863-1865

Besides the usual camp guard the Fifty-fourth furnished details for a long picket line, and a number of posts watching the river.

St. Simon's came nearer a realization of the ideal Eden than one could hope to find the second time. There was a subtile languor in the hum of insects, the song and flight of birds, the splash of the warm green water upon the shore. Grand old oaks, laden with moss and vines, canopied the flowers and verdure beneath. Perfume of shrubs, plants, trees, and grass filled the air, vying with the fresher and more invigorating sweetness from marsh and sea. One could almost see and hear the growth of plant and cane, as the life-giving sun warmed the sap, burst the blossom, and drew the tendril skyward. Gigantic ferns covered the shadier places, while the pools and swamps were beautiful with lilies.

There were a number of deserted plantations on the island, the most notable of which were those of T. Butler King, James E. Couper, and Pierce Butler. The latter was the husband of Fanny Kemble, and his place the one of which she wrote in her ‘Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation, in 1838-39.’ All these places were neglected and abandoned, except by a few old negroes.

Historically, St. Simon's Island was noted ground. Near the camp of the Fifty-fourth were the ‘tabby’ walls of Frederica, founded by Governor Oglethorpe in 1736, of which John Wesley was the minister. In the centre of the island was ‘Bloody Swamp,’ where the invading Spaniards were defeated July 7, 1742. It is a fact not widely known that with the Spanish force was a regiment of negroes and another of mulattoes. During the Revolution the British overran the island. On the next