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182 NortH Carotina Troops, 1861-’65.

the rear of his position and a strong skirmish line deployed
immediately in rear of his own line. He quietly faced his
men about and commenced to move forward in regular order,
and passing along the line whispered instructions to each
man. Noticing a dense swamp some distance in front and to
the right of the line of march, he had instructed the men to
watch him and as they neared the swamp, at a given signal
from him, to stoop as low as possible and run for the swamp.
They had been moving all the while between the skirmish
lines, the original one which was now in their rear and the
new one which was thrown out after capturing our works,
which was now in front. When they reached what seemed
the most favorable position, the signal was given and prompt
ly obeyed by every man. As they made the break it was dis-
covered for the first time that they were Confederates, and
fired upon. Three of his men were shot dead, but all of the
others, though fired at repeatedly, succeeded in reaching the
swamp, which was quickly surrounded, but not a single one
was captured. During the night they quietly left the swamp
and attempted to make their way through the lines: As the
night was dark they were guided in their course by the guns
at Fort McAllister, but after swimming the Ogeechee river
and proceeding for some distance, the firing at the fort ceased
and about the same time a battery of heavy guns opened in an
entirely different direction, causing them to lose their course.
This brought them again to the Ogeechee river, which they
recrossed and after travelling all night, found themselves at
daybreak next morning on the same ground they had left the
evening before, and again in the rear of the enemy. They
eould make but little headway during the day but, the fol-
lowing night brought them near the lines of the two contend-
ing armies, which were now facing each other around and
near the city. It was now daylight and the fighting was in
progress all along the lines which, at this point, were only 4
short distance apart. Discovering a short and unoceupied
space in the Federal line, they made a sudden dash, at the
same time signaling to our troops not to fire. They were dis-

covered and drew the combined fire from the right and left of
the enemy’s line, but reached our line safely.

FirtretH REGIMENT. 183

On 10 December, Sherman commenced the investment of
the city of Savannah, and on the 13th the small garrison at
Fort McAllister were forced to surrender. The enemy now
controlled the river above and below, and the last means of
escape for Hardee’s army had been cut off. General Sher-
man sent in a flag of truce and demanded an unconditional
surrender of the city. The reply of General Hardee, charac-
teristic of the man and soldier, was: “I have plenty of guns,
and men enough to man them, and if you ever take Savan-
nah you will take it at the point of the bayonet.” This was
“bluff” in all of its perfection, as we then had not exceeding
5,000 regular troops all told, and were trying to gain time,
hoping almost against hope, that some means of escape might
be provided. The fighting continued day and night all alon
our lines, but no general assault was ever made. The fall of
Fort McAllister enabled the Federal fleet to enter the river
and thus establish Sherman’s communication with the outside
world. While Sherman was hesitating and wasting time
over at Hilton Head arranging with General Foster for re-
inforcements of men and heavy guns with which to contend
with our little army of about 5,000, while he already had
more than ten to one, we were keeping up the fight all along
the line and at the same time kept a detail working night and
day constructing a pontoon bridge across the river. This
was accomplished by collecting such small flat boats as could
be found along the river and arranging them in line, using
car wheels as anchors. The heavy timbers about the wharf
were utilized as stringers from one boat to another, and then
using planks from buildings, which were torn down for the
purpose, as a flooring, by laying them across these.

The boats, being of various sizes and shapes and of une-
qual supporting power, made a very uneven surface, and the
flooring being of a variety of lengths and thickness, still fur-
ther increased a tendency to slide to the low places and other-
wise get out of place, especially as it was entirely unsecured.
In addition to the pontoon bridge, it was necessary to con-
struct a long stretch of roadway across an impassable swamp
and bog between the river and roads traversing the rice farms.
This was done effectually by the liberal use of rice straw and