“I saw but little of Patsy after this. Active operations were soon commenced, our regiment was broken up and the companies scattered over the islands and swamps about Charleston and Savannah, where they took a prominent part in the following: Siege and surrender of Fort Pulaski, Ga., from January 1 to April 15, 1862; battle of Secessionville, James Island, near Charleston, June 16, 1862; battle of Pocotaligo, S. C., on the Charleston and Savannah Railroad, October 21, 1862; capture of Morris Island and Fort Wagner, and in the bombardment and memorable siege of Fort Sumter, 1863, and many other smaller engagements.
“In the spring of 1863 I met his captain (Brayton), who had been a Lieutenant in my company and afterward Colonel of the regiment, and asked him how ‘Patrick Egan’—that was the boy’s name—‘was getting along.’
“He answered, ‘Egan is getting along all right. He is one of my best boys. I have just made him a corporal.’
“The first time I met Patsy after this was on the disastrous battlefield of Olustee, Florida, February 20, 1864. He was then a Sergeant and had charge of a section of his battery, which was temporarily attached to a four-gun Battery M of the First United States Artillery. When I was ordered to retire from the field with the remnant of the battery in which I was then serving, E, Third United States Artillery, by the late Senator Hawley, who was then Colonel of the Seventh Connecticut, and Acting Brigadier-General, we passed near to where young Egan was, with his two guns in position.
“I rode up to him and exclaimed, ‘Patsy, what are you doing here?’
“His reply was, ‘We are doing the best we can.’
“Not seeing any officers present, I then said to him, ‘You had better get out of here as soon as possible, or you and your men and guns will all be captured.’
“He limbered up, withdrew a short distance and fired a few more shots of cannister which, I have no doubt, checked, at a critical moment, the advance of the enemy.
“It was now dark, and I believe these were the last guns fired at the Battle of Olustee, where the Union troops under Gen. Truman Seymour lost 1,900 men in killed, wounded and missing, and five pieces of artillery, out of a force of about 4,500 men engaged.
“The Confederates were supposed to have about 6,000 troops, commanded by General Finnegan, and their loss was reported to be little over 900.