previous next

[4] fire of our skirmishers, cannot be less than forty. Our loss is seven wounded, and two missing. A list is appended.

I have the honor to be, very respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

William M. Fenton, Colonel Eighth Michigan Regiment.


Order referring to Corporal J. Q. Adams.

headquarters Second brigade, Beaufort, S. C., January 7, 1861.
Report relative to J. Q. Adams, Eighth Michigan, Company A, wounded in the battle of the 1st inst., and left on the field:

Negroes Mingo and wife Anthor testify: Saw him in a wagon at the railroad, wounded in the right side; was surrounded by spectators; he would give no information; he received water to drink from them; the rebels asked him if it was right to run them off their own land; he said it was, and there were those behind that would revenge his fall; remaining true to his flag and conscious till twelve o'clock at night, at which time he died.


headquarters Eighth Michigan regiment, camp near Beaufort, S. C., January 7, 1862.
special order:

In consideration of the noble and patriotic action, and heroic death of John Q. Adams, Corporal of Company A, the above report will be entered upon the regimental records, with this order.

By order of



Congratulatory order of Colonel Fenton.

headquarters Eighth Michigan regiment, camp on Port Royal Island, January 8, 1862.
order no. 41:

The Colonel commanding, congratulates the regiment on their coolness and bravery in the battle of Coosaw River, on the 1st inst. The American flag was planted that day by you on the mainland of South-Carolina, and you were the the only regiment directly engaged with the enemy, and have given renown and honor to the State which sent you forth to battle for a nation's rights. Emulate the daring (while you sympathize with the afflictions) of your comrades, who were suffering from wounds in their country's cause, and the Eighth Michigan may yet have an opportunity to strike a harder blow for the Constitution and the Union.

By order of



Boston Transcript account.

Beaufort, S. C., January 2, 1862.
On December 31st, orders were issued at headquarters on Hilton Head, for the Forty-seventh New-York and the Forty-eighth New-York, Col. Frazier and Col. Perry, to be in marching trim in one hour, with rations for three days, and report to Gen. Stevens, commanding the Second brigade E. C., at Beaufort, S. C. At the same time Corn. Dupont issued orders to the gunboats Ottawa, Capt. Rogers, Pembina, Captain Bankhead, the Seneca, the Ellen, and Hale. The Forty-seventh and Forty-eighth embarked on the transports Delaware and Boston, under convoy of the Ottawa and Pembina, all of which, with one thousand men of the Forty-eighth, and about six hundred men of the Forty-seventh, reported ready for service at headquarters, about five o'clock on the 31st December. Gen. Stevens's command consisted of the Seventy-ninth Highlanders, quartered at and near the ferry called Port Royal Ferry, ten miles from Beaufort, and the Fiftieth Pennsylvania, quartered half-way out, and the Eighth Michigan, quartered in town, and the One Hundredth Pennsylvania, ( “Roundheads,” ) also quartered in town. The Roundheads marched and halted at the ferry, a ten-mile tramp over the shell road.

The Fiftieth Pennsylvania and the Eighth Michigan were marched to “Brickyard” Landing, about six miles out on the “Shell road,” and about two and a half miles on a cross-road to the right, there to be conveyed by flat-boats across to the main land, the Seventy-ninth, also, in advance, with Gen. Stevens in person. The boats containing the Forty-seventh and Forty-eighth New-York, were to move at daylight. All knew they were to make a New-Year's call upon the enemy, but none knew where until under way. The Ottawa and Pembina, convoying the troops on the transports, went up Beaufort River, and turned into the Coosaw River — the other gunboats went up through Broad River, and thence into the Coosaw.

The first call of the New-Year was to be at the Port Royal ferry landing, where the rebels had a fort that mounted seven guns. The order for landing was as follows: The Seventy-ninth in advance, landed at “Chisholm's” Plantation, supported by the Fiftieth and Eighth Michigan, under cover of three boat-howitzers, from the Ottawa; the Highlander sent one boat-load ahead as skirmishers, with a negro, “Isaac,” as guide, landed, and, after a short time occupied in deploying, finding all clear of the enemy, sufficient for landing, they disembarked, the Seventy-ninth still in advance with one company as skirmishers, supporting the howitzers, which were also landed.

After advancing about one mile, to within rifle distance of the woods, discovered mounted rebel pickets passing in the road at the woods. The howitzers were immediately brought to the front on double-quick — unlimbered, and threw some half-dozen shells into the woods, and such a scampering you never witnessed before. The deploy of two companies were then sent, right and left, advancing toward the woods, with the balance of the Seventy-ninth on the road, with the howitzers, all on double-quick. They entered the woods, still in pursuit of the fleeing enemy. The route through the woods, I am told, was dreadful for the deploying party, as, when they came out the other side, about one mile, they were bloody, and torn from scratches received by the thorns and underbrush; but what were “scratches” when they “played for a good shot?”

I will say here, that owing to a misunderstanding,


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

An XML version of this text is available for download, with the additional restriction that you offer Perseus any modifications you make. Perseus provides credit for all accepted changes, storing new additions in a versioning system.

hide People (automatically extracted)
Sort people alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a person to search for him/her in this document.
William M. Fenton (4)
T. Stevens (3)
John Q. Adams (3)
N. Minor Pratt (2)
H. Rogers (1)
T. P. Perry (1)
E. B. Hale (1)
Frazier (1)
S. F. Dupont (1)
Chisholm (1)
J. Bankhead (1)
hide Dates (automatically extracted)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: