previous next
[544]

Doc. 140.-Captain Jocknick's reconnoissance.


Report of Captain Jocknick.

Washington, N. C., June 25, 1862.
sir: Having within the last few days received a number of reports from various sources in regard to certain fly-trap contrivances made by the rebels on the Greenville road, for the purpose of catching my mounted patrols whenever they should venture beyond their usual limit of four miles, I made yesterday a reconnoissance with my company to Tranter's Creek, a distance of eight miles, where they were said to have a large force on each side of the stream. I advanced cautiously, with my advance-guard dismounted and acting as skirmishers, but could discover no signs of the presence of an enemy until we struck the bridge, where our late engagement took place. Here, within reach of our rifles, and partially concealed behind the trees, we could just discover, in the bend of the road on the other side of the stream, two mounted pickets, whom my men were exceedingly anxious to relieve from all further troubles in this world; but, as I did not wish to make a noise until the object of my reconnaissance was accomplished, their lives were spared. I found the bridge partially destroyed, the mill where they made their last stand entirely deserted, and no traces whatever of the presence of a large force. In the direct road to Greenville, and a mile from this point, is another bridge, which Lieutenant Allis crossed at the time of his engagement; but, although I made a careful reconnoissance of that locality, no rebel pickets could be seen. About twelve feet of the centre of this bridge had been sawed off, and a breastwork of logs and lumber constructed on the other side; but, as I said before, no indications of the presence of rebel troops could be found.

I mention these little particulars merely to show that our late battle at Tranter's Creek has had a salutary effect on the enemy, and that we shall probably not be molested here for some time to come.

Very respectfully, your obedient servant,

G. F. Jocknick, Captain Commanding Company I, Third New-York Cavalry. First Lieutenant R. M. Hall, Adjutant Third New-York Cavalry, Newbern, N. C.

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 Places (automatically extracted)
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.
G. F. Jocknick (3)
R. M. Hall (1)
Doc (1)
Allis (1)
hide Dates (automatically extracted)
Sort dates alphabetically, as they appear on the page, by frequency
Click on a date to search for it in this document.
June 25th, 1862 AD (1)
hide Display Preferences
Greek Display:
Arabic Display:
View by Default:
Browse Bar: