We ran in sight of our gunboat fleet which was anchored at the mouth of Mobile Bay. At ten p. m. we cast anchor in Pensacola Bay, near Fort Pickens, Florida.
The morning of the 26th brought to view some grand sights in that mild tropical climate that were new to us. There stood two large forts. Fort Pickens and Fort Barancas with their monstrous guns pointing out through many embrasures. There also stood the lighthouse towering up two hundred eighty-four feet above sea level.
We hoisted anchor and ran over to the wharf. We got off of the vessel, marched out eight miles, and went into camp near Fort Redoubt, which is below the city of Pensacola, Florida. This was a beautiful, sandy shore beach covered with a pine forest.
At eight o’clock the left wing of our battalion came in on the ship “St. Mary.” On the morning of the 27th the balance of our brigade, commanded by General Andrews, came in, and we all moved out one mile and went into camp.
All of the regiments were lined up in camp, making a fine show of camp life. Each company went to work and ornamented their quarters with evergreen and white and yellow sand, writing numbers and names in the white sand with the yellow sand. This was the most magnificent camp that I ever saw. There were pictures of animals, birds, and all kinds of flowers in front of our tents.
We lay here until February 11, 1865, with nothing to do except to have battalion drill four hours each day. The remainder of the time we put in by wading out in the bay and carrying out shoulder loads of oysters. We were having a good time then, but we did not know when the storm would come, although we did know that come it would.
We had protracted meeting and several marched down in the bay and were baptized.
On the 12th we had grand review by General Granger. We had no more drill after the 16th. One day a salute of eleven shots was fired over the arrival of General Asboth.
On the 17th and 18th we had target shooting, and in the evening Generals Asboth and Andrews came over to see the Twenty-fourth Indiana perform on dress parade. On the 29th a brigade came in and we sent our baggage and camp equipage over to Fort Pickens. This fort mounted two hundred eighty heavy pivot guns. This is the place where Major Brown held against General Bragg’s army at the commencement of the war. I was in the lookout, two hundred eighty feet above the sea level. One can see for miles over that vast blue water. Two ships came in with a battery on each vessel.
March 8th we received marching orders, but lay here until the morning of the 11th. At six o’clock we marched out through the peninsula, and after traveling twelve miles came to the town of Pensacola. This had the appearance of a nice city, but fire had consumed the most of the buildings.