Doc. 126.-the fall of Fort Pulaski, Ga. April 11, 1862.
On Wednesday, April ninth, the batteries on Tybee being completed, order was given to open fire on the following morning, (Thursday,) April tenth. The following special and general orders explain themselves:General orders--no. 17.
headquarters United States forces, Tybee Island, Ga., April 9, 1862.The batteries established against Fort Pulaski will be manned and ready for service at break of day to-morrow. The signal to begin the action will be one gun from the right mortar of battery Halleck, (two thousand four hundred yards from the work,) fired under the direction of Lieut. Horace Porter, Chief of Ordnance; charge of mortar eleven pounds, charge of shell eleven pounds, elevation fifty-five degrees, and length of fuse twenty-four seconds. [448] This battery (two thirteen-inch mortars) will continue firing at the rate of fifteen minutes to each mortar alternately, varying the charge of mortars and length of fuse, so that the shells will drop over the arches of the north and north-east faces of the work, and explode immediately after striking, but not before. The other batteries will open as follows, namely: Battery Stanton, (three thirteen-inch mortars, three thousand four hundred yards distant,) immediately after the signal, at the rate of fifteen minutes for each piece, alternately from the right; charge of mortar fourteen pounds, charge of shell seven pounds, elevation forty-five degrees, and length of fuse twenty-three seconds, varying the charge of mortar and length of fuse as may be required. The shells should drop over the arches of the south face of the work, and explode immediately after striking, but not before. Battery Grant, (three thirteen-inch mortars, three thousand two hundred yards distant,) immediately after the ranges for battery Stanton have been determined, at the rate of fifteen minutes for each piece, alternately from the right; charge of shell seven pounds, elevation forty-five degrees, charge of mortar and length of fuse to be varied to suit the range, as determined from battery Stanton. The shells should drop over the arches of the south face of the work, and explode immediately after striking, but not before. Battery Lyon, (three ten-inch columbiads, three thousand one hundred yards from the work,) with a curved fire, immediately after the signal, allowing ten minutes between the discharges for each piece, alternating from the right; charge of guns seventeen pounds, charge of shell three pounds, elevation twenty degrees, and length of fuse twenty seconds; the charge and length of fuse to vary as required. The shell should pass over the parapet into the work, taking the gorge and north face in reverse, and exploding at the moment of striking or immediately after. Battery Lincoln, (three eight-inch columbiads, three thousand and forty-five yards from the work,) with a curved fire, immediately after the signal, allowing six minutes between discharges for each piece, alternating from the right; charge of gun ten pounds, charge of shell one and a half pounds, elevation twenty degrees, and length of fuse twenty seconds, directed the same as battery Lyon, upon the north face and gorge in reverse, varying the charge and length of fuse accordingly. Battery Burnside, (one thirteen-inch mortar, two thousand seven hundred and fifty yards from the work,) firing every ten minutes, from the range as obtained for battery Sherman; charge of shell seven pounds, elevation forty-five degrees, charge of mortar and length of fuse varying as required from those obtained for battery Sherman. The shells should drop on the arches of the north and north-east faces, and explode immediately after striking, but not before. Battery Sherman, (three ten-inch mortars, two thousand six hundred and fifty yards from the work,) commencing immediately after the ranges for battery Grant have been determined, and firing at the rate of fifteen minutes for each piece, alternating from the right; charge of shell seven pounds, elevation forty-five degrees, charge of mortar and length of fuse to be fixed to suit the range as determined from battery Grant. The shells should drop over the arches of the north and north-east faces. Battery Scott, (three ten-inch and one eightinch columbiad, one thousand six hundred and seventy-seven yards from the work,) firing solid shot, and commencing immediately after the barbette fire of the works has ceased. Charge of teninch columbiads twenty pounds, elevation four and a half degrees; charge of eight-inch columbiad ten pounds, elevation five degrees. This battery should breach the pancoupe between the south and south-east faces, and the embrasure next to it in the south-east face; the elevation to be varied accordingly, the charge to remain the same. Until the elevation is accurately determined, each gun should fire once in ten minutes, after that, every six or eight minutes. Battery Sigel, (five thirty-pounder Parrotts and one twenty-four pounder James, one thousand six hundred and twenty yards from the work,) to open with four and three fourth seconds fuse on the barbette guns of the Fort at the second discharge from battery Sherman. Charge for thirty-pounders, three and one fourth pounds; charge for twenty-four pounder, five pounds; elevation, forty degrees for both calibres. As soon as the barbette fire of the works has been silenced, this battery will be directed, with percussion-shells, upon the walls, to breach the pancoupe between the south and south-east faces, and the embrasure next to it in the south-east face; the elevation to be varied accordingly, the charge to remain the same. Until the elevation is accurately determined, each gun should fire once in six or eight minutes; after that, every four or five minutes. Battery McClellan (two forty — two and two thirty-two-pounders James, one thousand six hundred and twenty yards from the work) opens fire immediately, after battery Scott. Charge for forty-two-pounder, eight pounds; charge for thirty-two-pounder six pounds; elevation of forty-two-pounder four and one fourth degrees, and thirty-two-pounder, four degrees. Each piece should fire once every five or six minutes after the elevation has been established; charge to remain the same. This battery should breach the works in the pancoupe between the south and south-east faces, and the embrasure next to it in the south-east face. The steel scraper for the grooves should be used after every fifth or sixth discharge. Battery Totten (four ten-inch siege-mortars, one thousand six hundred and eighty-five yards from the work) opens fire immediately after battery Sigel, firing each piece about once in five minutes; charge of mortar three and a half pounds, charge of shell three pounds, elevation forty-five degrees, and length of fuse eighteen and a half seconds. The charge of mortar and length [449][450] [451] of fuse vary, so as to explode the shell over the north-east and south-east faces of the work. If any battery should be unmasked outside the work, battery Totten should direct its fire upon it, varying the charge of mortars and length of fuse accordingly. The fire from each battery will cease at dark, except especial directions be given to the contrary. A signal-officer at battery Scott, to observe the effects of the thirteen-inch shells, will be in communication with other signal-officers stationed near batteries Stanton, Grant, and Sherman, in order to determine the range for these batteries in succession. By order of
Map of Savannah River. Brig.-Gen. Q. A. Gilmore. W. L. M. Burger, First Lieut. Volunteer Engineers, Acting Assist. Adjut.-Gen.
The bombardment did not begin as early as was anticipated on Thursday morning. It was postponed an hour or two in order to send a flag of truce, by Lieutenant Wilson, of the Topographical Engineers, to Fort Pulaski, to the commander of the post, demanding an immediate surrender of the works. The following are copies of the demand and reply.
reply.
General Hunter's despatch.
Report of Major-General Hunter.
Report of Brigadier-General Benham.
General Gilmore's report.
Report of Brigadier-General Viele.
Report of Commodore Du Pont.
[458]
Commander Rodgers's report.
Terms of capitulation.
Terms of capitulation agreed upon for the surrender to the forces of the United States of Fort Pulaski, Cockspur Island, Ga.:
rebel officers captured. Col. Chas. H. Olmstead, commanding post. Major John Foley. Adjutant M. H. Hopkins. Quartermaster Robert Irwin. Commissaries Robert D. Walker, J. T. McFarland. Sergeant-Major Robert H. Lewis. Quartermaster's Sergeant Wm. C. Crawford. Ordnance Sergeant Harvey Sims. officers of the Montgomery guard, Savannah. Capt. L. J. Gilmartin, First Lieut. John J. Symons, Senior Second Lieut. Christopher Hussey, Junior Second Lieut. C. M. Murphy. German Volunteers, Savannah. Capt. John H. Steigen, Senior Second Lieut. Henry Warner, Junior Second Lieut. Charles Umback. Oglethorpe light infantry, Savannah. Capt. T. W. Sims, First Lieut. H. C. Truman, Junior Second Lieut. James Ackerman. Wise guard, Macon County, Ga. Capt. M. J. McMullin, First Lieut. T. W. Montfort, Senior Second Lieut. J. D. N. Lullow, Junior Second Lieut. John Blow. Washington Volunteers, Savannah. Capt. John McMahon, First Lieut. Francis Blair, Senior Second Lieut. J. C. Rowland, Junior Second Lieut. A. J. McArthur.
Account by a participant.
On the eighth of April, Gen. Hunter and staff went ashore on Tybee Island. It was intended to open fire the next morning, but a delay of one day was found necessary. Gen. Hunter did not take up his headquarters ashore, though he visited the batteries, and on the first day of the bombardment remained at them. Gen. Benham was in the action both days, but the command was left with General Gilmore. Capt. Pelouze, late Adjutant-General on Gen. Sherman's staff, and now Inspector-General of the Department of the South, volunteered to take command of a battery, and was assigned to two. Lieut. Wilson, who had been engaged in drilling his men, at their guns for several days, acted on the staff of Gen. Gilmore, and exercised a sort of supervision of several of the batteries in conjunction with Lieut. Porter. On the night of the ninth I rode with Lieut. Porter through the batteries. His object was to ascertain if it would be possible to open fire at sunrise in the morning. We visited each battery in turn: first the two mortar-batteries, Stanton and Grant, the furthest from the Fort. These were to be commanded by Capts. Skinner and Palmer, of the Connecticut Seventh. Then batteries Lyon and Lincoln, under Capt. Pelouze. One of them mounted three ten-inch, and the other three eight-inch columbiads. All of these four works were more than three thousand yards from Pulaski. Battery Burnside, under command of Sergeant Wilson, of the Ordnance, mounted one thirteen-inch mortar; battery Sherman commanded by Capt. Francis, consisted of three thirteen-inch mortars. There stretched out an interval of ground beyond this battery, half a mile or more, entirely exposed. One battery, (Halleck, Capt. Sanford,) only interrupted it. Halleck was two thousand four hundred yards from the Fort, and contained the last of the thirteen-inch mortars. The next was battery Scott, Capt. Mason, of the Third Rhode Island, only one thousand six hundred and seventy-seven yards from Fort Pulaski. It containe three teninch columbiads, and one eight-inch. Next came battery Sigel, Captain Seldeneck, of the Forty-sixth New-York, and battery McClellan, Capt. Rodgers. Both of these, which were side by side, were one thousand six hundred and twenty yards distant from the centre of Pulaski. The former mounted one twenty-four-pound James, and five twenty-pound Parrott guns; the latter two twelve pound James, and two thirty-two-pound James Last of all was battery Totten, under Capt. Rod man, where were placed the four ten-inch mortars. All of these nearest batteries were very close together, and, as they were to be so much exposed, connected by trenches or covered ways. The splinter-proofs now were immediately in the rear of the batteries, so that the men could pass directly from their guns to cover. These works were erected on a narrow strip of fast land, and just behind them was a wide swamp, into which it was hoped that most of the enemy's shells would fall. The batteries, though open, were still admirably protected. A man could scarcely be hurt, unless in passing between them, or in the event of a shell falling directly into the works and exploding; when, of course, all in the neighborhood were endangered. The swamp extends into the interior of the Island, and seemed likely to receive some of the shot and shell aimed at the lower batteries, but its position in the rear of those most exposed seemed almost providential. Men were very busily at work without lanterns, at every one of the batteries, piling or filling shells, building revetments to render the parapets still more secure, lowering the terrepleins, deepening the trenches. And Porter went around to each gun, to ascertain if its captain was prepared with whatever would be necessary on the morrow. Some wanted one implement, and some another; these had no priming-wire, and those no friction-tube All the thousand little needs that spring up invariably in an emergency [460] were imperious. Lists were made out, and sent into headquarters, and officers assured that everything possible should be obtained, and the rest must be dispensed with. At the ten-inch mortar battery, fuse-plugs were still wanting, and the ordnance officer was in despair. He had brought out a specimen of one prepared for another piece, in hopes it might serve; and although one trial doubtless convinced him how vain were his hopes, he persisted in poking his plug again and again into the hole; but it was of no use. Here were these four pieces, at this most advanced position, rendered entirely useless. Not one could be fired. Finally, a happy thought struck him; there was a Yankee regiment on the island; all Yankees are whittlers; if this regiment could be turned out to-night, they might whittle enough fuse-plugs before morning to fire a thousand rounds. So we put spurs to our horses, and rode (in the darkness) bravely over the open space which separates the batteries back to camp. The Sixth Connecticut was ordered out to whittle, and did whittle to advantage, providing all the plugs that were used in battery Totten on the two succeeding days. In the ordnance yard was a confused group — wagons waiting for their piles of implements, workmen manufacturing or mending implements and weapons; others providing ammunition; officers making out lists, or filling them up, or giving various orders; every now and then a messenger arriving or leaving, all by night; a lantern burning dimly here and there; and the moon struggling to look down through misty clouds. Camp could be seen beyond some sand-hummocks in the distance; and the incessant roar of the surf prevented all noise of our hammering or shouting from reaching the ears of the beleaguered garrison, unconscious how near its fate was at hand. The sentinel on the walls cried out, “All's well ;” and a private soldier exclaimed: “Ah! you wouldn't say that, if you could see what we are about over here.” It was long past midnight before we were all abed, in the lightkeeper's house; for Gen. Gilmore's headquarters were established in the shanty where the keeper of Tybee light once slept calmly, undisturbed by wars or rumors of wars. Five of us bunked in one garret, in our blankets. We had been used to talk late into the night, but this time all the sleep that could be secured before daylight was necessary. A Major-General and three of his aids lay in the opposite room, no better off than we; a Brigadier and his staff below. One man was awake, without being called, in the morning, and that was Lieut. Wilson, who was to carry the demand for a surrender; and none of the others was later than he. Wilson had fairly earned the honor, which nobody grudged him; but how we feared he might bring back terms! Everything was got ready to open fire, so soon as he should return with a defiance. He bore a written summons from Gen. Hunter, and a man was stationed in the light-house to watch his course. His boat, with its white flag waving under the Stars and Stripes, was allowed to cross the creek that separates Tybee from Cockspur Island. He was met at the shore and detained there. It seemed an age to us who were waiting. Then word came that Ife had started to return; he was ashore; he was at headquarters. “What word did he bring?” “A sealed letter.” Just then Gen. Hunter stepped out of his room, and remarked blandly: “Gen. Gilmore, you may open fire as soon as you please.” O'Rourke, lucky dog, carried the message to Lieut. Porter, who was at battery Halleck, and to have the honor (well deserved) of firing the first gun. A classmate of his, just one year before, had fired the opening gun on Fort Sumter. So appropriately and opportunely was the insult to the Stars and Stripes avenged. The formal demand carried by Lieut. Wilson has probably already been made public. It was felicitous in calling for a surrender and restoration of Fort Pulaski. The reply was gallant: “We are here to defend, not to surrender the Fort.” So Porter opened fire, and the other batteries followed in their order, and Pulaski was not more than four or five minutes behindhand in replying, although she had not anticipated an attack so soon. In a very short while all of our own works were engaged. The great thirteen-inch mortars were long in getting the range, and, to tell the truth, did not succeed in retaining any accurate range at all. Several of the columbiads were dismounted early in the action, but not by the enemy — the accident was owing to some defect in their pintles. Then one of the mortars in battery Sherman became useless for an hour or more ; still, battery Burnside, with its single piece, was doing good execution, and up at battery McClellan the firing was rapid and accurate. Wilson was there. The three Generals and their aids were on the ground; Gen. Hunter remaining all day at a point to the left of battery Lincoln; Gen. Benham being more active, and Gen. Gilmore hard at work, knowing that his spurs were to be won. Pelouze was provoked because one of his guns was dismounted, and O'Rourke was delighted because he was bidden to put it in order, under fire. This was accomplished by the help of a detachment of volunteer engineers, of whom Col. Hall was in command. Aids and orderlies galloped across the dangerous ground, and Generals, more cautious for officers than these for themselves, ordered the younger men to take the least uncovered road. “Down, gentlemen, down,” said General Hunter, when those around him were needlessly exposing themselves. Horses fastened near the battery got frightened at the prodigious noise, and broke their bridles, scampering off to camp; no orderly could be sent, under that fire, for a horse; an aid came along soon after; as a sorry substitute, some quartermaster had lent him a brute that evidently would stand any fire without running; the rider had no spurs nor whip, and he labored the animal with the flat of his sword; so a comrade afoot, but accustomed to ride, sat down on the roadside, took off his own spurs, and fastened [461] them on the aid, who thus won his spurs even earlier than Gen. Gilmore. All this while the fire was becoming more frequent and more accurate, and the reply more vigorous. Shells fell within a few yards of our batteries every few moments, many of them exploding, but most of them went into the marsh. The men soon got so that they could distinguish a casemate from a barbette discharge, and only the batteries on Goat's Point (the nearest to the Fort) could be reached by the guns in embrasure; so the cry, instead of being “cover” every time a discharge was seen, became “Barbette” or “Casemate.” The interval between the discharge and the arrival of a shot was several seconds — quite long enough for those near cover to seek it. Of course in the open intervals there was no cover to be sought. Some would lie flat on the ground, others stalked or rode indifferently along. By and by we could tell when a gun was trained on any particular battery, and even the cry of “Barbette” disturbed but a few. With good glasses it was possible to watch the enemy as he loaded a piece or got it into battery, and if his range was known, then the call was “Rifle,” or by whatever name the piece was distinguished. The rebels told us afterward that they were as skilful as our own men in eluding the fire. By and by the shot and shells began to fall faster within Fort Pulaski--fewer exploded in the air, but clouds of dirt arising told that the parade or the ramparts had been struck. Huge traverses — some of sand-bags, some of sod — had been built in the parapet, which served as an admirable cover for the enemy, but many of these were struck; the bricks began to tumble in many places from the wall; one or two projectiles were seen to enter the embrasures; and at each skilful shot, a shout went up from all our batteries. After a while the men jumped up on the parapets to watch each shot, and regular signals were exchanged between the batteries. The clouds of smoke did not interfere materially with the view, and the windage was slight. Shells could be seen just as they escaped from the tempest of fire and smoke belched out at the discharge, and traced in their passage through the air, sometimes hidden by a cloud, sometimes coming out again, often until they fell within the walls. Two mortar-batteries along the shore outside of the Fort opened during the morning on Goat's Point, whither the enemy directed his hottest fire. At about one o'clock, the halyards attached to the flagstaff were shot away, and the flag came down, but it was immediately raised in a less conspicuous place. During the afternoon, an embrasure in the pancoupe, on the south-east angle of the Fort, was struck repeatedly, and pieces of the brickwork observed to give way. This angle was the nearest point to the batteries, and in a direct line with the magazine of Fort Pulaski--a fact well known to us from plans of the work in our possession. Afterward all the efforts to effect a breach were directed to this spot. Several of the guns, however, which were most relied on to accomplish this object, were out of order; the mortar-shells were observed to fall mostly wide of the mark; and no remarkable result could be noticed even when one fell within the Fort. Numerous marks, however, all along both faces of the work which were exposed, told of the force and accuracy of our firing. By night-fall, the breach was so far effected that it was evident to all it could eventually be converted into a practicable one. The heavy bombardment was discontinued at dark, three mortar-batteries firing one shell each at intervals of fifteen minutes all night long, so as to worry the enemy, and prevent his making any attempt to stop the breach or otherwise repair his damages, but without any idea of doing him material harm. Several of his guns had evidently been dismounted, and others silenced, during the day. The breach had been commenced, but on the whole the result did not seem especially encouraging. It might be less considerable than we flattered ourselves, and the mortar firing had certainly not been a success; we were unable to know how great was the damage we had inflicted; we had, however, lost no men, and had no gun dismounted; but for all that we could tell, the bombardment might last as long as that of Island Number10. The men and officers were very thoroughly tired, with the absolute work they had undergone, and the still more fatiguing excitements; few had had time to eat or drink; many, however, had night duties to perform. Strong infantry pickets were placed, and still stronger supports, lest an attempt should be made to relieve the garrison, or to distract us by some unexpected attack, and many of the preparations necessary for the first day's firing, were renewed in anticipation of the second. The bombardment on the first day began at about half-past 7 o'clock; the firing had been kept up all night, as I have said, one shell thrown every five minutes; but shortly after daybreak all our batteries were opened again. The reply was more vigorous than on the day before. On one side every gun was in readiness, and did good service. The great columbiads under Capt. Pelouze were especially effective; they certainly shook the walls of old Pulaski, and demoralized them to a considerable extent. All along our line the firing was more rapid and more accurate; I frequently counted five shots striking within his walls within five seconds, and sometimes the Fort was struck as often as seven times within as many seconds. Rebel officers told me afterward that, on an average, one out of three of the shots that were fired took effect, and that during all of the second day one shot or shell every minute was the average they received. Early this morning, Capt. Seldeneck, of battery Sigel, was relieved, and Capt. C. R. P. Rodgers, of the frigate Wabash, with a portion of the Wabash's crew, worked several of the guns of this battery during the remainder of the fight. At the same time Capt. Turner, Chief of Commissary on Gen. Hunter's staff, and Lieut. Wilson, undertook to drill a detachment of the Eighth Maine Volunteers, [462] （Col. Rust.) These men were utterly ignorant of their duties, knew not even the names of the different parts of the pieces, but they went to work, were drilled under fire, and in twenty minutes were able to serve their guns with more than tolerable accuracy, and did some of the most effective service during that day. This same regiment lay not more than half a mile in the rear of battery Halleck for more than half of the entire engagement, covered only by some brushwood, but perfectly content with their exposed position, because they were told that it might prove eminently an important one. Early on the second day, especial attention was directed toward the breach; every gun that could be brought to bear upon the pancoupe was trained that way, and the aperture began soon to show the effects. In an hour or two, it became large enough for two men to enter abreast, and the nearest embrasure on its left was also considerably enlarged. Meanwhile, all the other effects of the day before were enhanced; shots struck all over the two exposed faces of the Fort; the two mortar-batteries on the shore of Cockspur Island were silenced, and several of the casemate guns were struck, through the embrasures. A man was hurt in battery Scott, on this morning, by a shell, which fell almost vertically into the battery, and exploded, striking the poor fellow in the head, side, and leg, horribly wounding him, and burying another with fragments of the revetment. The wounded man soon afterward died; the other was unhurt. This was the only casualty of the action on our side, except that a lieutenant received a slight blow in the jaw. The battery put up by Gen. Viele, on Long Island, opened fire this morning, and was sufficiently vigorous in its compliments to merit and receive repeated replies, and affording good service by the destruction it occasioned. The gunboat Norwich, lying somewhere on the right of the Fort, in the direction of the sunken hulk of which I have previously spoken, also became engaged — the distance must, however, have been too great for her to have rendered any special assistance; still she, too, got an occasional answer from the garrison. On this day clouds of red dust were seen to rise more frequently from the Fort, indicating that the brickwork of which it is constructed was hit, and after a while the great breach became so large that the propriety of a storming party was discussed. The lower part of the aperture was partly filled by the debris that fell from above; the arch of the casemate was not only laid bare, but evidently shaken, and a gun in barbette, immediately over the breach, was tottering and ready to tumble below. The breach by its side was also momently becoming wider, and just as Gen. Benham was questioning whether a messenger should not be sent to demand even the surrender before risking so great a loss of human life as must have been incurred in an assault, the rebel flag on old Pulaski was lowered half-way, and a final gun fired from a casemate in the Fort. As the flag was not completely hauled down, uncertainty was felt on our side for a moment, but all firing ordered at once to cease. In a moment more the white flag was raised, and amid cheer after cheer, all along the batteries on Tybee, down came the stars and bars. It was the eleventh of April, a year to a day from that time when the Stars and Stripes were first dishonored by Americans. General Hunter was aboard the McClellan, with his aids, watching the engagement. Gens. Benham and Gilmore were ashore, and rode rapidly out to Goat's Point. It was some moments before we could believe that the Fort had really struck its colors, and that what we had been hoping for and laboring for, and fighting for so long, was actually accomplished. Those who had known of these endeavors from the start shook hands, and as General Gilmore rode along the men cheered him lustily. They knew how much of the credit of this result was due to him. Immediately upon arriving at Goat's Point, Gen. Gilmore, with his Aids, Capt. Adam Badeau and Col. Rust, entered a boat and put off for the Fort. Their passage was rough; the way had never been travelled before by Union sailors since our arrival; the channel was unknown, and the skiff got aground. The heavy sea struck her, and she nearly swamped, but the crew rowed hard, and the Aid and the Colonel bailed out the water with their hats, and, soaking with the salt tides of the Savannah, the party landed on Cockspur Island. A long wooden causeway extends over the marsh perhaps a quarter of a mile, up to the Fort. Badeau was sent in advance, bearing a white flag, to meet the rebel officer who was approaching. This proved to be Capt. Sims, of the Georgia Volunteers, and lately editor of the Savannah Republican. He apologized for the delay, and said he had supposed that the Union party was to land at another wharf; he was taken up to Gen. Gilmore, introduced, and then led the party back to the Fort. At the entrance stood Colonel Olmstead, the commandant. He showed the way to his own quarters, having previously requested that several National officers who were approaching, might, as a matter of courtesy, be desired to remain outside until the preliminaries were adjusted. This was accorded him, and an interview of an hour took place, at which only himself and General Gilmore were present. The terms of the capitulation having been settled, Gen. Gilmore was shown over the Fort by the Colonel, and then took his leave, accompanied by Col. Rust. Messengers from Gen. Hunter had meantime arrived. These, together with Gen. Gilmore's Aid, made the rounds of the Fort under the escort of Col. Olmstead, who introduced us to his officers, and were the only persons present when the swords were delivered. Major Halpine, as the representative of General Hunter, received the weapons. The ceremony was performed in the Colonel's headquarters, all standing. It was just at dark, and the candles gave only a half-light; the weapons were laid on a table, each officer advancing in turn, according to his rank, and mentioning his name and title; [463] nearly every one added some remark; the Colonel's was dignified: “I yield my sword, but I trust I have not disgraced it.” Some of the others were not equally felicitous. Major Halpine, in reply, spoke gracefully of the painfulness of the duty he had been called upon to perform — to receive the swords of men who had shown by their bravery that they deserved to wear them. The scene was touching, for however unrighteous the cause in which these men had been engaged, they thought it was their country's, and they had risked their lives for it. The condition of the Fort showed that they were. brave; and, indeed, was the best justification of their defeat. As soon as the surrender was complete, Colonel Olmstead turned to his officers and began making some remarks to them, upon which his captors withdrew. The American flag was then raised on the ramparts, and Pulaski became again part of the possessions, as well as of the property, of the Union. The arms of the privates had been previously stacked on the parade, and the men marched to quarters. Both officers and men were allowed to remain all night in their usual quarters. The interior of the Fort presented a sorry sight. Blindages had been put up extending on all sides of the rampart, and a part rendered bomb-proof; but shot and shell had burst through many of them, had knocked in walls, had broken down stairways, entered casemates, upset guns, and piled up masses of rubbish and debris all around. Seven guns on the parapet were dismounted, nearly every traverse had been struck and partly torn to pieces; all the passage — ways were obstructed by piles of stones and fallen timber; the magazine had been struck, and part of its outer casing of brick torn away, while at the breach the havoc was, of course, greatest of all. The breach was quite practicable, and so acknowledged by the commandant; the ditch, sixty feet across, was more than half filled up by the fragments that had fallen, and half a dozen men abreast could have entered the aperture. The Colonel declared, however, that he should have held out until nightfall had the magazine not been struck. This, of course, settled his fate, and rendered any prolonged resistance a useless risk of life. Forty thousand pounds of powder, seven thousand shot and shell, and forty-seven guns, were captured. The prisoners were three hundred and sixty in number, and belonged to the Georgia volunteers, the Oglethorpe light infantry, and to a German regiment. They seemed an intelligent set of men, and many of them declared themselves staunch secessionists. They cheered their officers when mustered for the last time under arms. The officers were various in character and apparently in position. The Colonel excited the sympathies of his captors by a bearing at once soldierly and subdued. The officers invited the Unionists to their quarters, where several took supper, and some even slept with the rebels whom they had been fighting a few hours before. There was no bitterness apparent on either side; no desire to introduce personal animosities. The rebels had some three or four men badly wounded, but none killed. One officer, Adjutant Hopkins, was hurt by dust or cement falling in his eyes. They represent that they knew of our proceedings at Tybee, and thought it useless to attempt to interrupt them; they had not anticipated that their walls could be breached; and, indeed, as such an event in breaching, at the distance of one thousand six hundred yards, is unprecedented in war, this expectation is not surprising. They assured us that most of our mortar-shells flew wide of the works, and that most of those which struck did little damage. In proof, they showed places on the ramparts where these enormous missiles had exploded, and yet not forced their way further than the arch of the casemates. In no instance had they sustained any material injury from one of these shells. If several had chanced, however, to strike in the same spot; that is to say, if the range could have been got and then kept, a different story might have been told. As it was, the universal report among officers and men was, that the James projectiles did the effective breaching; that the accuracy of their firing was wonderful, and the force of the shock irresistible. Frequently half a dozen would follow in succession, in the same place. The projectiles were entirely new to the garrison; they called them cart-wheels. The columbiads, however, undoubtedly weakened the walls, and made them more susceptible to the shock of other missiles. The rebels say they sent off a messenger through the swamps to Savannah, with news of the surrender, immediately after hauling down the flag. They remained in the Fort during the next day, when Gens. Hunter, Benham and Gilmore visited it. Colonel Terry, of the Seventh Connecticut, is now in command, having come over with his regiment on the night of the surrender. He and his men well deserve the honor, for their services have been untiring and important throughout the entire investment, and during the actual bombardment. On Sunday, the thirteenth, the prisoners were divided into two parties; the officers and about two thirds of the men were placed in the Ben De Ford, the remainder on the Honduras, and conveyed to Bay Point. Here they were transferred to the Star of the South and the McClellan, for transportation to Fort Columbus, New-York harbor. As the McClellan was leaving the wharf, a sad procession marched down, in dusty and shabby gray uniforms, unarmed, each man bearing his bundle. Just so I had seen them come out of Fort Pulaski, where they had flaunted their flag in our faces so long; but the Stars and Stripes were waving in their old place again, though over dilapidated walls, and those who fought against the nation had been made to feel that the nation had might as well as right on its side. Still, when I saw the dingy crowd on the McClellan sailing off into imprisonment, and silently waving their hats and garments to another [464] tearful and silent throng on the Star of the South, who quietly returned the cheerless salute, I could not but feel that the way of the rebel is hard.--N. Y. Times.Rebel account.
Corporal Law arrived in the Fort, in company with the signal man, whom he went to pilot, at five o'clock Friday morning, the day of the surrender. He remained inside the works during the whole of the bombardment on that day, and left as the flag was lowered, making his way to the South Wharf as the enemy's steamer was approaching the north landing. When the bombardment commenced on Thursday, none of the enemy's batteries on Tybee were visible, except from the smoke which pointed out the different localities to our garrison. The shot and shell from the Fort soon removed all obstacles of trees and sand, when all were discernible. They were four in number--two mortar, one rifle, and one Parrott gun — the last mentioned being a short distance above the burnt chimneys opposite to King's Landing. They all bore chiefly on the south-east angle of the Fort. The firing of the enemy on Thursday was not so effective as to create an apprehension that the work would fall. The enemy were obtaining the range of their guns for the operations of night and the day following. Most of their shells fell outside the Fort, tearing up the earth in every direction. The yard of the V, or demiloon, on the west side, was ploughed up as if dug into pits, by the shell which went over the Fort. Still a large breach was made in the wall, and the rifled guns poured shot and shell through it, utterly demolishing the bomb-proof timbers and damaging the officers' quarters. The north-east casemates were all in which the garrison could bunk with any security whatever, through Thursday night, though but little sleep was enjoyed, as the enemy threw twelve shells per hour into the Fort until daylight. These facts were obtained from the officers of the garrison. Corporal Law witnessed the whole of Friday's fight for himself, mingling freely with the garrison throughout the terrible scene. It is impossible to give his account on paper. The firing from both sides was equally rapid and destructive, so far as could be ascertained. On the part of the enemy, one mortar-battery was completely silenced, a portion of the rifle-battery, and seven out of the ten guns of the Parrott battery dismounted. One mortar had been planted on the north — west corner of Cockspur, on the night of Wednesday, but this was silenced early in the fight, and seven kegs of their powder captured. At the close of the fight all the parapet-guns were dismounted except three--two ten-inch columbiads, known as “Beauregard” and “Jeff Davis,” but one of which bore on the Island, and a rifle-cannon. Every casemate-gun in the south-east section of the Fort, from No. Seven to No. Thirteen, including all that could be brought to bear upon the enemy's batteries except one, were dismounted, and the casemate walls breached, in almost every instance, to the top of the arch — say between five and six feet in width. The moat outside was so filled with brick and mortar that one could have passed over dry-shod. The officers' quarters were torn to pieces, the bomb-proof timbers scattered in every direction over the yard, and the gates to the entrance knocked off. The parapet walls on the Tybee side were all gone, in many places down to the level of the earth, on the casemates. The protection to the magazine in the north-west angle of the Fort had all been shot away, the entire corner of the magazine, next to the passage-way, was shot off, and the powder exposed, while three shot had actually penetrated the chamber; of this Corporal Law is positive, for he examined it for himself before leaving. Such was the condition of affairs when Col. Olmstead called a council of officers in a case-mate, and, without a dissenting voice, they all acquiesced in the necessity of a capitulation, in order to save the garrison from utter destruction by an explosion, which was momentarily threatened. Accordingly, at two o'clock P. M., the men were called from the guns and the flag lowered. Early in the day Col. Olmstead had no doubt of his ability to silence every battery on the Island, and to this end he determined, when night came and the enemy's fire was slackened, to change the position of all his heavy guns, so as to bring them to bear on the enemy. As the day progressed, however, his situation became desperate, and he was forced to yield under the circumstances stated. Corporal Law witnessed the whole fight of Friday, and says a braver and more determined garrison are not to be found in the annals of history. Every man did his duty with alacrity, and there being few guns that bore on the enemy, there was a continued contest as to who should man them. When volunteers were called for to perform any laborious duty, there was a rush of the men from every company in the Fort. All did their duty, and did it fearlessly, throughout the engagement, and to the very moment of the capitulation. Among the last guns fired were those on the parapet, and the men stood there exposed to a storm of iron hail to the last. All this, our informant says, Col. Olmstead and his officers will verify when they have an opportunity of being heard. Corporal Law saw the wounded. A member of the Wise Guards, had one leg shot off and the other badly crushed. One Oglethorpe lost an arm and had the other shattered, and shoulder badly damaged; thinks he could not survive. Another Oglethorpe lost a hand. A member of another company, not recollected, lost a foot. He intended getting a list of names and particulars to bring up at night, not anticipating so early a surrender. Sergeant-Major Lewis told him none of the Savannah boys were seriously hurt. Col. Olmstead also told him he would send up a report at the close of the day's operations, but the enemy's movements toward the Fort were so rapid, after the flag was lowered, he [465] being under no obligations to remain, not being a member of the garrison, he had no time to wait for it, and then made his escape. It may be considered strange that, under the circumstances, no more damage was sustained by the garrison. It is a mystery, but not incredible, after the experience of Moultrie and Sumter.--Savannah Republican, April 23.
