Benjamnin F. Butler, Butler's Book: Autobiography and Personal Reminiscences of Major-General Benjamin Butler

Admiral Porter says in his report that I had a bad class of transports.¹ If it was so they were such as were furnished me by General Grant's quartermaster. But that statement is not true. They were transports of an excellent class, as is shown by the fact that they rode out, without the loss of a man, one of the most considerable gales that ever occurred on the coast.

On the 20th of December, while lying off Beaufort, I sent to General Grant a report detailing the movements and operations up to that time.²

I intended to go out of port the afternoon I sent off that report, but it blew very strongly and continued to blow very hard until Tuesday night, when it held up a little.

I then sent Capt. H. C. Clarke of my staff to Admiral Porter, who was lying under Cape Lookout, to say to him that I would be finished coaling the vessels and be down there Saturday night ready to commence the attack on Sunday morning, when I hoped the sea would be smooth. Captain Clarke went down, but could not return until the next day, when he reported to me that he had arrived off Beaufort on his return during the night before, but that it was so rough as to be impossible for him to get his boat in, although it was a very good light-draft steamer.

He had seen Admiral Porter, who had told him to say to me that he would explode the powder vessels at one o'clock that Thursday night. Captain Clarke said to him that it would be impossible for me to get there with the land force because the vessels were not coaled, although they were doing the best they could, but that he would go right back and inform me. He left Admiral Porter at one o'clock on the afternoon of Friday to come back but did not reach me until the next morning for the reasons aforesaid.

Having this information that the powder-boat was to have been exploded at one o'clock the night before,--and at the time I received the information it had been exploded,--I started immediately for Fort Fisher, ordering the transport fleet to follow me, each vessel as fast as it got coaled. Most of them got off directly.

I got down near Fort Fisher between four and five o'clock, and found the fleet engaging the enemy and bombarding the fort. I remained there in sight until the signal was made to cease firing,