Towards night a threatening black cloud arose in the south, while a fresh wind was blowing from the opposite quarter. There were a number of war-vessels in the Roads, and among them the brig “Perry,” a very snugly-rigged and peculiarly trim-looking vessel. About six o’clock, the latter was observed to be making sail, and in the course of a few minutes was heading towards Cape Henry, speeding before the breeze like a bird. It was but a short time before the hull of the vessel was lost to view; but against the dark background of the clouds, from out of which there frequently came flashes of lightning, the snowy sails of the brig were for a long time plainly visible.
At short distances apart, along the shore near which she was passing, were Confederate sand-batteries. As the brig approached them, suddenly a flash of flame was seen to dart out of the woods on the shore, and quickly in response a flash from under the white sails of the vessel,—for her hull was still invisible,—and then, after the lapse of a few seconds, came reverberating across the dark water the sullen boom of a gun, mingled with a peal of thunder. This fine display continued till some time after it was quite dark, when the rain began to descend in large drops, driving the spectators from the parapets. There was a succession of heavy rainstorms, accompanied by severe thunder and lightning, lasting nearly all night.
When the Third and Fourth regiments retired from the service, the seven three-years’ companies became so many unattached and independent commands, the necessities of whose members, as well as the true interests of the Government, demanded that they should speedily become an organized body, having a responsible commander and such other officers as the actual needs of field life always require. General Butler, appreciating the situation of these soldiers, promptly issued the following order:—
“Headquarters Department of Virginia, } Fortress Monroe, Va., July 16, 1861. }
“Special Orders, No. 144.
“Captain Barnes, Massachusetts Volunteers, is assigned to the command of the companies of Massachusetts Volunteers now in the department and not organized into a regiment. Captain Barnes will appoint from the subalterns of his command an officer to perform the duties of an Acting Assistant Quartermaster and Acting Assistant Commissary of Subsistence.
“(Official.) By command of Major-General Butler.
“(Signed)T. J. Haines, A. A. A. G. “(Signed)Wm. D. Whipple, A. A. G.”
Captain Barnes, upon assuming command of these troops (which were designated by Adjutant-General Schouler, in his reports, as the First Battalion of Massachusetts Volunteers), appointed First Lieutenant John B. Collingwood, Adjutant; First Lieutenant Joshua Norton, 3d, Acting Assistant Quartermaster; and Sergeant Henry S. Braden, Sergeant-Major.
By an order from General Butler, also dated July 16, Captain Leach was directed to proceed with his company to the little island in Hampton Roads known as the Rip-Raps, to relieve a detachment of the Third Regiment there stationed. Here, some years before, the Government had begun the erection of a fortification called Fort Calhoun, the name of which was changed during the war to Fort Wool. Several guns had been mounted about the partially-completed works, and on the wharf a rifled cannon of heavy calibre, known as the Sawyer rifle. The island was then being used as a place of confinement for Confederate prisoners and Federal soldiers under sentence of court-martial, though at the time Captain Leach took command, there were only four or five prisoners at the place, and those civilians, who had been captured by the Union gunboats in the act of transporting from the eastern shore of Virginia to the enemy’s camp at Yorktown, arms and munitions of war; but, later in the year, a part of the prisoners captured by General Burnside in his Hatteras expedition were sent here, swelling the number to about sixty. These prisoners were comfortably quartered in a part of one of the barracks occupied by Captain Leach’s men, and were provided with the same rations as the soldiers, which were ample and wholesome, being treated in many respects by our men more like companions than prisoners; they were usually allowed the liberties of the island, subjected to little if any restraint, passing the long summer days in fishing from the wharf, and watching the movements of our war-vessels.
On the 26th of July, Captain Tyler’s company, then commanded by Captain Wilson, was also ordered to Fort Wool. With the exception of mounting cannon, a work never regarded by the soldiers with much favor, the duties imposed upon the garrison here were very light, the limited size of the grounds making it impossible to conduct any military evolutions, beside a simple dress-parade, and hence the men were exempted from drill duty, an immunity, however, that was not at all to their advantage.
A short time before the transfer of Captain Leach’s company to this post, a number of the privates and non-commissioned officers of his command had been detailed for guard duty on board the United States gunboat “Anacosta,” then commanded by Commander Collins, U. S. N., the same officer who afterwards, while in command of the “Wachusett,” so distinguished himself by the capture of the Confederate war-steamer “Florida,” in the Bay of San Salvador.
The operations of the enemy in the vicinity of Sewall’s Point, at the mouth of the Elizabeth River, about two and a half miles from the Rip-Raps, rendered it essential to maintain a close watch of that locality, as a successful night attack upon the little garrison at Fort Wool was entirely feasible. The duty performed by the “Anacosta” was that of watching at night the hostile shore, and warning our fleet in Hampton Roads of the approach of fire-rafts and floating torpedoes. Some time in August, the “Anacosta” was relieved, and the guard ordered to return to their company.
The country which lay between our lines and those of the enemy was to a great extent heavily wooded, was from ten to twelve miles in length, and extended from the shore of the Chesapeake Bay to the James River. Here and there throughout this wild region, in little clearings in the forest, often miles apart, were farm-houses and a few acres of cultivated land, and threading the whole country were numerous roads and horse-paths. This whole region was a common scouting-ground for both armies, and a love of adventure often led our soldiers to advance, in squads of ten or twenty, far into the country.