THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT. 647

 

tory, that their homes should be protected by my garrison,
and that General Lee had sent word that if the fort fell he
could not maintain his army, (and that meant the loss of our
Cause), is it to be wondered that I felt it my sacred duty,
even after I was shot down, to appeal to officers and men to
fight in defense of the last gateway to the South, as long as
there was a ray of hope?

I had a right to believe that the troops which General Lee
sent to our assistance would rescue us, and if Bragg had or-
dered Hoke to assault with his division late that afternoon,
we would have recovered the works. I have positive infor-
mation that so determined was our resistance that General
Terry sent word to General Ames, commanding the three
brigades assaulting us, to make one more effort, and if un-
successful, to retire. General Abbott, who commanded a
brigade, and who lived in North Carolina after the war, told
Captain Braddy that at one time during our fight, only one
colored brigade held Bragg’s army in check, and they were
so demoralized that five hundred veteran troops could have
captured them. But an all wise Providence decreed that our
gallant garrison should be overwhelmed.

In less than an hour after I refused to surrender, a fourth
brigade, (three were already in the fort), entered the sally
port and swept the defenders from the remainder of the land
face. Major Reilly had General Whiting and myself hur-
riedly removed on stretchers to Battery Buchanan where he
proposed to cover his retreat.

When we left the hospital the men were fighting over the
adjoining traverse and the spent balls fell like hail stones
around us. The remnant of the garrison then fell back in an
orderly retreat along the sea face, the rear guard keeping the
enemy engaged as they advanced slowly and cautiously in the
darkness as far as the mound battery, where they halted.
Some of the men, cut off from the main body, had to retreat as

THIRTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.

best the i ile s
Robert J. Murphy, Captain, Co. A. 8. E. L. Faison, 1st Lieut., Co. A. : hey could over the river marsh, while some few unarmed
H

1: j

2, O.H. Powell, Captain, Co. E. 4. E. L. Hunter, 1st Lieut., Co. F. artil 4 mS

ric WG. Dabddl, O4 Lisl, Bo. ¥. ) ; lerists barely eluded the enemy by following the sea
) ore.

When we reached Battery Buchanan there was a mile of
level beach between us and our pursuers, swept by two 11-