Thomas Wentworth Higginson, Harvard Memorial Biographies

[379] former position on Folly Island, taking new ground near the fortifications at Stono Inlet. Here we erected comfortable tents, and solaced ourselves in the intervals of drill and duty with frequent games of chess and such vocal music as we could muster. Captain Crane was the best chess-player of the regiment, and his sweet, clear voice made him a cherished member of our little glee-club.

In July, 1864, we had our first brush as a regiment, on James Island, where we charged and captured a small field battery. I well remember the Captain's appearance as he came up to me after the charge, glowing with exercise and exultation, and the weary expression of his face later in the day, when he had but just come in from a terrible tour of skirmish duty in the open field, under a torrid July sun. He had nearly received a sun-stroke, and, careless of the enemy's shell, lay down on the top of the bushy bank behind which we were sheltered, and slept quietly for two hours. On our final retreat from the island, several days afterward, he returned to the command of Fort Delafield, and we to our old camp near by. He was selected to act as Judge-Advocate of a court-martial, and satisfied his superior officers so well in that position, that he was fast rising to places of high trust. On his table could always be found the standard works in tactics of all arms, in strategy, or in military jurisprudence.

Just before Thanksgiving, in 1864, I visited my parents, then living on St. Helena Island, South Carolina. As an old friend he accompanied me, and during our brief stay on the plantation won the esteem and affection of all whom he met, by his courteous manners, his cheerful temper, and his musical tastes. When about to return, we were startled to hear of a new expedition in progress, and found our regiment at Hilton Head. Captain Crane's company, however, had been left in garrison at Folly Island, and, dreading lest he should be ordered back, he volunteered to act upon the staff of Colonel Hartwell, commanding the brigade of which the Fifty-fifth formed a part. To his great glee he obtained an appointment as acting aid and chief of staff, and we parted at Hilton Head; he with vigor and spirit forwarding the embarkation of the brigade, I on the way to join my company.

After landing at Boyd's Neck, and while marching up to the miserable failure of November 30th, Captain Crane rode along, as we were halted by the roadside, listening to the first shots in the advance, and made a few entries in his note-book, where he said all the events of our campaign should be minutely recorded. An