About this time I was made familiar with a feature of army life to which I have made only slight reference. As a member of a general court-martial, day after day and week after week was occupied in the examination of charges of the gravest character, involving the liberty and life of scores of officers and men. It was the highest tribunal by which those composing the rank and file of the command could be adjudged. Questions of the gravest moment, and of supremest interest to those concerned, were discussed and determined. It was a responsibility shared only by the highest judges in the land, and life and death often hung upon our decisions. A photograph of army life is incomplete without this feature, and while the duty is the gravest and the most solemn which an officer is called upon to perform, it is as necessary to the well-being and efficiency of an army as the ordinary courts of justice to the preservation of the state.
January 30, the Enfans Perdus, an independent battalion, was consolidated into the 47th and 48th New York regiments. The number received by us was about one hundred and fifty. On the 31st, the veterans left for New York, under the charge of several officers. February 4, those left behind received orders to prepare six days' cooked rations, and be in readiness to march, and on the 5th, with the left wing of the 115th New York, they embarked on board the steamer Delaware. On the 6th they left Hilton Head, in company with a number of transports, under the convoy of a gunboat, and proceeded to Florida; the force numbering in all from six to seven thousand men, and comprising artillery, cavalry, and infantry. The artillery and cavalry were under the immediate command of Colonel Henry, and the infantry under Colonels Barton, Hawley, and Scammon, with General Seymour in command of the whole expedition. Its object was to aid the Union people of the state in withdrawing it from Confederate control. General Gilmore accompanied the troops as far as Jacksonville, where they disembarked, and, after seeing that all necessary arrangements were made which could promote the success of the enterprise, returned to Hilton Head, leaving with General Seymour instructions not to attempt an advance beyond Baldwin without further orders, nor unless well assured of success. His intention was to hold and fortify several important points, including Jacksonville, as centres of Federal authority, and reopen those sections to trade. But General Seymour, apparently satisfied that he could not be successfully opposed by any Confederate forces within the state, conceived the idea of destroying the railroad, and cutting off communication with Georgia. As soon as notified of this intended movement, General Gilmore sent a despatch to stop it, but was too late to prevent the massacre which followed. On the 20th a general advance was ordered, and the troops proceeded towards Lake City, about five thousand in all; Colonel Henry with the cavalry in advance, followed by three columns of infantry; Colonel Hawley, with his brigade, on the left; Colonel Barton in the centre; and Colonel Scammon, with his regiment, on the right. In the rear was a brigade of colored troops, under Colonel Montgomery. Near Olustee they came upon a strong force of Confederates favorably posted in the woods, with a swamp in front, over which our troops must pass to reach them. Before they were well aware of the vicinity of the enemy, a murderous fire was opened on them, at a distance of little more than a hundred yards, and for more than two hours they could scarcely do more than stand up to be slaughtered, the nature of the ground and the strength of the enemy effectually preventing any advance. No severer test could be applied to men than they suffered at the battle of Olustee, and when, at evening, the troops were withdrawn, nearly one-fourth of their number were dead or wounded. The most of the latter were left on the field, under the care of Surgeon Defendorf of our regiment, who volunteered to remain with them; an act of bravery and self-sacrifice which cannot be too highly commended. The testimony of those engaged in this affair, as we gather it from journals and other sources, is that it was the most trying position in which they were placed during the war, and the heroism displayed by our men is accounted marvellous. The retreat to Jacksonville was such as might have been expected from broken, dispirited, and defeated troops, with a strong body of the enemy in their rear, flushed with victory, and determined upon their destruction. On the way back, the stores at Baldwin were burned, and when the broken columns were gathered at Jacksonville, it was found that twelve hundred men had been sacrificed, five pieces of artillery and a large number of small arms left in the hands of the Confederates, while the purpose of the government in ordering the expedition was completely frustrated. Our own regiment, whose conduct in the affair was beyond all praise, suffered terribly.
While these events were transpiring, the veterans, and the officers sent with them, were enjoying the comforts of home and the society of friends once more. But the time was all too short, for on the 9th of March we were securely housed in Fort Schuyler, waiting for transportation to the South, which was furnished on the 11th, when we embarked on the steamer Arago, and on the morning of the 16th landed at Hilton Head. Some of us took the opportunity to visit our wounded men in the hospitals. Among them was Sergeant Thompson, whose journal has been of so great service in the composition of this history. It is a pleasure to record of him that he was a faithful soldier, and that, in the recent battle of Olustee, he was conspicuous for coolness and bravery. His services as a soldier ended at this time, and we hope that his subsequent career has been both successful and happy.
Late on the evening of the 16th, we started on the steamer Dictator, to join the other portion of the regiment, which was stationed at Palatka, on the St. John's River, where we arrived on the 18th. The camp was located on the outskirts of the town, and protected by entrenchments. The village consisted of some thirty or forty houses, with three churches, and was almost entirely deserted by its former inhabitants, only a few Union men remaining with their families. Very little occurred, during our stay at Palatka, of special interest. There were occasional alarms, and several attacks by small bodies of Confederates. Pickets were stationed at some distance on the hills back of the town, and the country between was frequently patrolled by guards who were mounted for the purpose.
On the afternoon of the 25th, an expedition was started for the interior, consisting of forty men, with guides, under the command of the writer. We were conveyed up the river about fifteen miles, in the gunboat Ottawa, to what was called Dunn's Creek, through which we proceeded in small boats. The beauty of this stream is impressed on my memory with wonderful distinctness. At its point of junction with the St. John's, and for some little distance, it was narrow, with considerable current, but, as we proceeded, it broadened out, and moved so sluggishly that, at times, it seemed caught and held by the rank growth of grasses and other plants which filled its bed and covered its surface. The branches of the overhanging trees intermingled above our heads, and the pendent moss and dense foliage formed a canopy, through which the sunbeams struggled with dim and softened light, while on either bank the shrubs and trailing vines presented an almost impenetrable wall of bright green leaves and fragrant flowers. Only the songs of birds that fluttered about us broke the stillness, for every one was strangely impressed and subdued by the marvellous beauty by which we were surrounded. Silently we pursued our way, except when an occasional opening broke the spell that bound us, until, shooting out of the darkness which had gradually enveloped us, we emerged into the bright moonlight which lighted up the waters of Dunn's Lake. A sharp row of two hours or more brought us to Booth's Landing, where we disembarked. Our object was to capture a few obnoxious individuals who were making special trouble for the Union men who lived in that region; and the night was spent in visits from house to house, much to the discomfort of the inmates. Some very ludicrous scenes occurred, for, while the utmost consideration was used, consistent with the success of our plans, sometimes the occupants of the houses were startled most unceremoniously from their sleep by the tramp of armed men, who entered without knocking, and occupied without permission. A few captures were made, including a Confederate soldier home on leave, and on the following day we rowed back to camp, having accomplished upwards of fifty miles within the twenty-four hours. April 1, one of our pickets was captured, and we never heard of the man afterwards.
A FLORIDA SWAMP AND JUNGLE.
April 14, we bade good-by to Palatka, and started for Hilton Head. At Jacksonville we were transferred to the steamer Ben De Ford, and ordered to Beaufort, where we spent a day. On the following day, bidding a final adieu to the Department of the South, we headed for Fortress Monroe, where we made but a brief stop, our destination being Gloucester Point, opposite Yorktown, on the York River.