Southern Historical Society Papers, Volume 12.
Reverend J. William Jones, Ed.

[258] but leave when he thought fit. From all I can learn, the Fort is to be held for the present, and now the best guns are being removed. It is a slow and difficult work, however, and it is only at night that we can do anything at all. You may suppose that there is danger, while in a helpless condition, of our being taken prisoners by being cut off, but rest assured that there is not the remotest probability of any such occurrence. You know by this time that I always tell you exactly what I think. We cannot be taken otherwise than by a storming party, and though the Yankees are smart enough to undertake almost any job, I give them credit for being a little too smart to take the contract. Probably it would not pay.

Wednesday Morning.—Yesterday evening at dusk the enemy made an attack on our rifle pits in fiont of Wagner, and after a sharp little fight, were repulsed. They have advanced their saps to within 400 yards of the battery. Our loss was six killed and twenty-five wounded.

The firing continued on us all day yesterday, but nothing like so rapidly as previously; and while I write this morning, the firing is going on slowly again. Last night two of our companies were relieved from here and sent to the batteries on James's Island. Their place was supplied by two picked Georgia companies. There are now only two of our own companies in the Fort-Captain Harleston's and Captain Fleming's.