Joseph T. Derry , A. M. , Author of School History of the United States; Story of the Confederate War, etc., Confederate Military History, a library of Confederate States Military History: Volume 6, Georgia
Clement Anselm Evans, Ed.

Chapter 3:

• Georgia troops in Virginia
-- Laurel Hill, Carrick's ford and First Manassas -- death of Bartow-Cheat mountain, Greenbrier river and camp Alleghany -- Georgians in North Carolina-events at Pensacola.

Gen. George B. McClellan, commanding the Federal army in western Virginia, opened his campaign about the same time that Gen. Robert Patterson began his advance against Johnston in the Shenandoah. But McClellan had carried his campaign to a triumphant conclusion more than a week before the disaster to the Federal arms at Manassas. Hence the campaign of Laurel [65] Hill was the first of the war. The total force under the command of General Garnett at Laurel hill and Rich mountain, after the arrival of Ramsey's First Georgia, amounted to 4,500 men, a large number of whom were sick in the hospital. Against this little Army McClellan advanced with 20,000 men. On the 7th of July General Morris, commanding one of McClellan's divisions, about 8,000 strong, marched to a position one mile and a half in front of Laurel hill, while McClellan himself, with the rest of his force, advanced to Roaring creek, about two miles from Colonel Pegram's position on Rich mountain. The First Georgia moved out in front of Laurel hill July 8th, and soon encountered the Federal skirmishers, who, after the shelling of the woods by their artillery, attempted to occupy a position which included a round hill in front of Belington. Lieutenant-Colonel Clark, seeing them, quickly deployed his men, and exclaiming, ‘Up the hill, boys! and remember you are Georgians,’ led a gallant charge, which drove back the enemy with some loss. For several days skirmishing continued in front of Laurel hill, and on the 9th, while in ambuscade before the camp, the Georgians were under a heavy fire for several hours. On the 11th General Rosecrans led a strong force from McClellan's army around Pegram's left flank, and about two miles in rear of his position. While Rosecrans was making his attack at Rich mountain Morris was subjecting Garnett's troops at Laurel hill to a lively bombardment.

Late in the evening of the 11th Garnett was notified that Rich mountain could no longer be held. Accordingly he gave orders for the immediate evacuation of Laurel hill. In a pouring rain, which had continued almost without intermission since the previous morning, the Confederates began their retreat to Beverly, sixteen miles distant from Laurel hill and only five miles from Rich mountain. When within five miles of Beverly Garnett, being falsely informed that the Union troops had [66] occupied that place, retraced his steps almost to his abandoned camp, and leaving the pike at Leadsville turned off upon an almost impassable road over Cheat mountain into the valley of the Cheat river, following the stream northward toward St. George in the forlorn hope of turning the mountains at the north end of the ridges and then regaining his communications. On the 13th the pursuing Federals overtook the Confederates between Kaler's and Carrick's fords. The First Georgia and Taliaferro's Twenty-third Virginia, with a section of artillery under Lieutenant Lanier and a cavalry force under Captain Smith, constituted the rear guard. The Georgians were ordered to hold the enemy in check until the wagon train had passed, and then retire behind the Virginians, who were to defend the train until the Georgians had formed in a new position. This system of retiring upon positions suited for defense was pursued without loss until Carrick's ford was reached, where the Twenty-third Virginia, whose turn it was to face the enemy, suffered considerable loss. At the next ford, General Garnett was killed, after giving the order for the rear guard to march as rapidly as possible and overtake the main force. Here the direct pursuit ceased. The Confederates, now commanded by Colonel Ramsey, marched all night and at daylight passed Red House in Maryland, not far from West Union, where there was a large Federal force under Gen. C. W. Hill, who had orders to intercept the Confederates; but by the time Hill's advance reached Red House the Southerners had turned the mountains and were moving southward on fairly good roads. Garnett's half-famished men, who had been marching without food, or opportunity to obtain any, moving now through a friendly country found no further difficulty in getting all needed supplies. They had lost the greater part of their wagon train at Carrick's ford. At the little town of Petersburg the people turned out en masse with abundance of food for the exhausted Confederates, who [67] from this point moved by easier marches to Monterey in Highland county.

On the day of the combat at Carrick's ford, the larger part of six companies of the First Georgia regiment, under Major Thompson, became separated from the main body of the army. Concealed behind the thick mountain undergrowth, they watched the army of General Morris march by, and then started over the pathless mountains to escape to the southeast if possible. After wandering about for three days without food, trying to appease their hunger by chewing the inner bark of the laurel trees, they were rescued by a Virginia mountaineer named Parsons. He took them to his own farm where, with the assistance of his neighbors, he killed several beeves and fed the starving Georgians. With well-filled haversacks they resumed their march under the guidance of Parsons, who led them safely to the Confederate camp at Monterey, where they received a joyous greeting from their comrades, who had thought them captured. The greater part of the missing referred to by Colonel Ramsey in his dispatch from Petersburg, W. Va., when he reported hundreds of them captured, had now come in with their arms and under their officers. At Monterey news of the glorious victory at Manassas revived the hopes of the despondent troops and gave them courage for any new enterprise that might be required.

Having been informed that McDowell was on the march to attack Beauregard at Manassas, Gen. J. E. Johnston, leaving part of his force to watch and impede the progress of Patterson in the Shenandoah valley, skillfully eluded the Federal commander and led 8,000 men to Manassas. Johnston himself, with Bee's brigade, joined Beauregard on the morning of July 20th. Stonewall Jackson's brigade also came up and was placed in position. Col. Francis Bartow with two regiments of his brigade, the Seventh Georgia under Col. Lucius J. Gartrell, and the Eighth under Lieut.-Col. William M. [68] Gardner, reached the field on the evening of July 20th, and early on the morning of the 21st was stationed between McLean's and Blackburn's fords. Later in the morning he was sent along with Bee's brigade to the support of Cocke at the Stone bridge, where the Federal main attack seemed about to be made. About the same time Col. N. G. Evans made his movement to the rear, and facing north met the unexpected attack of the Federal column by way of the Sudley road. When Evans was about to be overwhelmed by this attack, Bee and Bartow went to his assistance. ‘As Bee advanced under a severe fire,’ General Beauregard reported, ‘he placed the Seventh and Eighth Georgia regiments, under the chivalrous Bartow, at about 1 a. m., in a wood of second-growth pines, to the right and front of and nearly perpendicular to Evans' line of battle. A fierce and destructive conflict now ensued. The fire was withering on both sides, while the enemy swept our short, thin lines with their numerous artillery, which, according to their official reports, at this time consisted of at least ten rifled guns and four howitzers. For an hour did these stouthearted men of the blended commands of Bee, Evans and Bartow breast an unintermitting battle-storm, animated surely by something more than the ordinary courage of even the bravest men under fire. It must have been indeed the inspiration of the cause and consciousness of the great stake at issue which thus nerved and animated one and all to stand unawed and unshrinking in such an extremity. . . . The Eighth Georgia regiment had suffered heavily, being exposed, as it took and maintained its position, to a fire from the enemy already posted within 100 yards of their front and right, sheltered by fences and other cover. It was at this time that Lieutenant-Colonel Gardner (commanding the Eighth) was severely wounded, as were also several other valuable officers. The adjutant of the regiment, Lieutenant Branch, was killed, and the horse of the regretted Bartow [69] was shot under him.’ Finally Sherman's and Keyes' Federal brigades, having found a passage of Bull Run above the Stone bridge, threatened the rear of these gallant and stubborn fighters, and General Bee was compelled to order them back. But valuable time had been gained, during which Jackson had brought his brigade up to an advantageous position, and the disorganized troops had been rallied on the new line formed by Beauregard and Johnston. The Georgians now joined in the impetuous charges which swept the enemy before them in the struggle for possession of the hills, also in the final assault under which the Federal army broke and fled in disorder and panic.

‘The victory,’ said the general commanding on the field won by Confederate gallantry, ‘was fraught with the loss to the service of the country of lives of inestimable preciousness at this juncture. In the open field near the Henry house, and a few yards distant from where Bee fell, the promising life of Bartow, while leading the Seventh Georgia regiment, was quenched in blood.’ His death caused great sorrow in the State, but no soldier could have died more gloriously. His name was coupled with that of Bee, and was heard in every home of the South, as well as at every camp-fire. His dying utterance, as he fell, caught in the arms of the gallant Colonel Gartrell—‘They have killed me, but never give up the fight’—was a bugle call to valorous deeds that found an echo in the hearts of the thousands of Southern patriots ready to do or die in the cause of their native land. Nor did less honor belong to the gallant Gardner, who, desperately wounded, lingered for months between life and death. Neither should the just meed of praise be withheld from the many heroes of Manassas, both living and dead, of whom not a name has been recorded on the scroll of fame.

Gen. George B. McClellan, now high in the esteem of the North on account of his successes in western Virginia, [70] was called to the east to take command of the army so disastrously defeated at Manassas. A large part of the Federal army in western Virginia followed McClellan to Washington. It therefore seemed a favorable time for the Confederates to recover what they had lost in that frontier of the Confederacy. Just before the defeat of Garnett, Henry R. Jackson, of Georgia, had been commissioned brigadier-general in the army of the Confederate States and assigned to command at Monterey. He had sent forward Col. Edward Johnson with the Twelfth Georgia to reinforce Garnett, when he received news of the loss of Rich mountain and the retreat of the force under Garnett. He now hastened to join the Twelfth, but encountering Scott's Forty-fourth Virginia in retreat, deemed it best to return to Monterey and organize a force to check the apprehended farther advance of the enemy.

General Jackson remained in command at this post, organizing the troops collected there; and under Generals Loring and Lee commanded the Monterey division, which included the two Georgia regiments brigaded under Col. Edward Johnson. Early in August, Henry R. Jackson moved his command to Camp Bartow, on the Greenbrier river, at the head of a little valley known as Traveler's Repose. General Loring had immediate command of all the troops in the vicinity of Huntersville. In August Gen. Robert E. Lee was sent to take command of the department of Western Virginia. He planned an expedition against the Federal garrison at Cheat mountain pass. About the middle of August it began to rain, and continued to do so without much intermission for six weeks, causing great sickness and suffering among the troops. The attack upon the Federal position at Cheat mountain was fixed for the morning of September 12th. Colonel Rust, with the Third Arkansas, from Jackson's command, was to lead his regiment to a point in the rear of the Federal position, and Gen. Samuel R. Anderson, [71] with two regiments, from Loring's command, was to support him. Jackson was to advance from the Greenbrier and Loring from Huntersville. Jackson's advance was preceded by about 100 men from the First and Twelfth Georgia regiments, led by Lieutenant Dawson of the Twelfth. whose duty it was to clear the way of the enemy's pickets. After performing this task, and while on their way to join the main body, they were mistaken for Federals and fired upon. Several shots were fired before the mistake was discovered, and two men were killed and one wounded. All the troops reached the places assigned them with remarkable promptness and at the time appointed. The attack by Rust was to be the signal for the advance of all the troops, but a misconception of orders caused Rust to wait until the golden opportunity had passed. As the only hope of success was in a surprise, which was no longer possible, the troops were withdrawn to their original positions.

The fact that Rust's detachment was from Jackson's force led to unjust criticism of General Jackson, which he felt the more keenly because he knew it was unjust. Some time later, Mr. Benjamin, secretary of war, wrote to him:

It gives me pleasure to assure you that there is not a syllable in General Lee's report that reflects in the remotest manner any discredit on you, and I hope you will not feel offended at my expressing surprise that you should attach any importance or feel any sensitiveness in relation to sensational articles or reports in the newspapers, I see my own action and opinions almost daily misconceived or misrepresented on ‘the most reliable information’ with perfect equanimity, and you may well trust to your own well-earned reputation as a perfect shield against all anonymous attacks.

At Camp Bartow, on the Greenbrier river, General Jackson and the six regiments of his division, reduced in effective numbers to 1,800 men, worn by privations and discouraged by previous failures, were attacked October [72] 3d by 5,000 Federals under command of Brig.-Gen. J. J. Reynolds. Colonel Johnson, of the Twelfth Georgia, with an advance guard of 100, held the hostile force in check for an hour, giving the remainder of the command time to prepare for defense, and inspiring them to the fight. Among the memorable incidents of this mountain battle was the heroic conduct of Private J. W. Brown, of Company F, First Georgia, who, upon hearing the order for the advance guard to fall back, exclaimed, ‘I will give them one more shot before I leave,’ and while ramming down his twenty-ninth cartridge fell dead at his post. in forming the line of battle the First Georgia held the extreme right, where a flank attack was feared. Maj. George H. Thompson commanded the regiment, Colonel Ramsey having been cut off by the enemy while serving with Johnson on the advance guard, and LieutenantCol-onel Clark being on detached duty at Staunton. Next to the First was stationed the Twelfth. Under the heavy fire of the enemy, who having been repulsed on the left concentrated against the right and center, the Twelfth was ordered to the center, where a small detachment under Lieutenant Dawson was already posted near the shallow river. Promptly and with the coolness of veterans, the regiment moved under the enemy's fire, without reply, to a position where it assisted in the repulse of the Federal attack. Reynolds, who had expected to destroy the Confederate force, was compelled to retreat precipitately to his mountain fastness.

Gen. H. R. Jackson, the commanding general, received the hearty congratulations of President Davis and the war department. In a letter to Secretary Benjamin acknowledging this appreciative notice, General Jackson wrote:

How much needed by this branch of the army, by soldiers as well as by officers, some expression of approval was, can only be known by one personally familiar with the campaign in this part of Virginia, unequaled in its [73] peculiar hardships, in the asperities of country and climate which have been encountered, in sickness and suffering, in disappointed hopes and untoward results, fate seeming at times to have decreed a terrible antithesis —the misery and obscurity here, the sympathy and the glory elsewhere. As you must be aware, this command is mainly composed of the wrecks of General Garnett's army, and the annals of warfare might be searched in vain to find a more pitiable picture of suffering, destitution and demoralization than they presented at the close of their memorable retreat.

In November General Jackson was tendered the command of a brigade in a contemplated division of Georgians, to be commanded by Gen. E. Kirby Smith in the army of Northern Virginia, then called the army of the Potomac; but this organization was not completed, and as will be subsequently noted, Jackson felt that his duty was in another field. Early in December Loring's forces were withdrawn from West Virginia and sent to Stonewall Jackson near Winchester. With them went the First Georgia.

Edward Johnson succeeded to command of the Monterey line, and in December occupied Camp Alleghany, holding the mountain pass. There, with about 1,200 effective men, including the Twelfth Georgia under Lieut.-Col. Z. T. Conner, he brilliantly repelled an assault made by 1,750 Federals under command of General Milroy, December 13th. Johnson's right being fiercely assailed, he sent to that part of the field five companies of the Twelfth Georgia, Hawkins', Blandford's, Davis', Hardeman's and Patterson's, under Lieut. U. E. Moore. Johnson says in his report:

Gallantly did the Georgians move up, and taking position on the right, receive a terrible fire from the enemy. By this time the extreme right had been forced back, but seeing the Georgians, who came up with a shout, they joined them, and moved upon the enemy, who taking advantage of some fallen trees, brush and timber, poured upon them a terrific fire. . . . I cannot speak in [74] terms too exaggerated of the unflinching courage and dashing gallantry of those 500 men who contended from 7:15 a. m. until 1:45 p. m. against an immensely superior force of the enemy, and finally drove them from their positions and pursued them a mile or more down the mountain. . . . Lieutenant Moore, whilst gallantly leading a charge, fell mortally wounded. This gallant officer was ever ready for an expedition involving danger; he was truly brave. Captains Davis, Blandford, Hardeman and Hawkins, their officers and men, behaved admirably. Captain Davis and his company were conspicuous for their gallantry and good conduct throughout the fight. Adjutant Willis, Lieutenants McCoy, Etheridge, Marshall and Turpin deserve particular mention for their good conduct.

Surg. H. R. Green was slightly wounded in the hand by a spent ball while caring for the wounded. The other companies of the Twelfth were not so severely attacked. The loss of the regiment was greater than that of any other Confederate command on the field—6 killed and 37 wounded.

Meanwhile the Thirteenth Georgia and Phillips legion had been undergoing the suffering from exposure and fever which the command of Gen. J. B. Floyd had endured in the Gauley valley, and after the return of the expedition against Gauley bridge they were ordered to join General Lee in South Carolina. The First Georgia volunteers, now in Loring's division, and under Stonewall Jackson's command, took part in the Romney expedition which set out from Winchester on January 1, 1862. The morning of that day was as beautiful and mild as May, but before night the weather became very severe. The snow and sleet made it impossible for the loaded wagons to keep up, and for several nights Jackson's soldiers bivouacked without tents and without a sufficient supply of blankets. Their sufferings were terrible, but they pressed on, driving the Federals out of Bath and across the Potomac, occupying Romney, and clearing the whole of Jackson's district of Union troops. [75]

Toward the close of 186 1 the Georgia forces at the front in Virginia were as follows: Bartow's old-time brigade—the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth and Eleventh infantry—under Gen. S. A. M. Jones; and Brig.-Gen. Robert Toombs' brigade—First regulars, Second, Fifteenth and Seventeenth volunteers, and Blodgett's Georgia battery —were included in Van Dorn's division of Beauregard's army. The Twenty-first infantry, Col. John T. Mercer, was in Trimble's brigade of Kirby Smith's division; in Col. Wade Hampton's brigade, under General Whiting, in the vicinity of Dumfries, were the Nineteenth, Col. W. W. Boyd, and the Fourteenth, Col. A. V. Brumby; in General Wigfall's brigade of the same division was the Eighteenth infantry, Col. William T. Wofford, and in the garrison at Manassas, under Col. G. T. Anderson, were the Twenty-seventh regiment, Col. Levi B. Smith, and the Twenty-eighth, Col. T. J. Warthen. The Thirty-fifth infantry, Col. Edward L. Thomas, was in General French's brigade in the Aquia district, guarding the lower Potomac and subjected to frequent naval shelling by the enemy. One company from Georgia, and Alabama and Mississippi troops, composed the Jeff Davis legion, part of J. E. B. Stuart's cavalry brigade, the nucleus of the afterward famous cavalry corps of the army of Northern Virginia. The Sumter Flying artillery, under Capt. A. S. Cutts, had won great honor in the affair at Dranesville, and suffered severe loss. ‘The conduct of the brave, true and heroic Cutts,’ wrote General Stuart, ‘attracted my attention frequently during the action—now serving No. 1, and now as gunner, and still directing and disposing the whole with perfect self-command and a devotion to his duty that was, I believe, scarcely ever equaled.’ This battery and Hamilton's and Lane's were assigned to the reserve artillery under Colonel Pendleton.

In General Magruder's district, the peninsula, the Sixth, Tenth and Sixteenth, under Alfred H. Colquitt, [76] Lafayette McLaws and Howell Cobb, and Cobb's legion under T. R. R. Cobb, well sustained the reputation of the State. McLaws was promoted brigadier-general and assigned to important command, and Colonel Colquitt was given charge of a brigade including the Sixth and Sixteenth. Late in the year the Twenty-third regiment, unarmed, was sent forward to Yorktown. An unfortunate incident in the history of Cobb's legion is preserved in the official reports of General Magruder. It appears that a scouting party had been fired upon, and he had sent forward an ambuscading force to the vicinity of New Market bridge. ‘While the troops were moving into position on the morning of November 13th,’ says Magruder, ‘two of my vedettes approached the infantry position of the Georgia legion, at the time commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Garnett. From some cause, after a short parley, they turned and rode off at full speed. At this a fire was opened upon them without orders from the commander. I regret that in the effort to cause the fire to cease (many of the officers being in front at its commencement), Major Bagley was killed, Captain Morris and one private wounded, and Colonel Garnett's horse shot under him.’

During the period in the fall of 1861, when the descent of a Federal naval expedition was feared at all points of the coast, some of the Georgians who had been called to Virginia were ordered to North Carolina for service. M. A. Stovall's Third battalion, the Twenty-fourth, and Colonel Wofford's Eighteenth were at Goldsboro; but in November Stovall's battalion was transferred to east Tennessee.

The Third Georgia, Col. A. R. Wright, moved into North Carolina early in September, for the purpose of reinforcing Fort Hatteras, but that yielding to the enemy before they could reach it, the regiment took possession of Roanoke island and set to work putting it in condition for defense. On October 1st Colonel Wright learned [77] that the Federals had landed a regiment on Hatteras island near Chicamicomico, and with the co-operation of Commodore Lynch, commanding the steamers Curlew and Raleigh and the tug Junaloski, he started out with a detachment of 150 men to try conclusions. At 5 p. m. they came in sight of the steamer Fanny unloading supplies at the new Federal post, and opened fire upon her. Though a gallant resistance was made, the Fanny was compelled to surrender with two guns and about 50 men. The gun of the Curlew in this little naval battle was manned by a detachment of Captain McWhorter's Georgia company, with good results. On the 4th, with a considerable force conveyed by Commodore Lynch's flotilla, Colonel Wright returned to Chicamicomico and landed to attack the Indiana regiment at that place. The latter retreated, abandoning camp and supplies and losing some 30 prisoners. The Georgians pursued along the sand until the Federal forces made a junction. During this advance Wright's command was somewhat annoyed by the firing of the Federal steamer Monticello, but sustained no loss. This exploit of the Georgians was the only episode during 1861, in North Carolina, which resulted in advantage to the Confederate arms. In December the Third was sent to Savannah.

The Georgia volunteers who arrived at Pensacola, Fla., in the spring of 1861, found the city and navy yard in the hands of a small force under General Bragg. These Georgia commands were Ramsey's First Georgia regiment, Villepigue's First Georgia battalion, Capt. Isadore P. Girardey's Washington artillery from Augusta, and the Fifth Georgia regiment. After being in camp and on duty near Fort Barrancas for six weeks the First Georgia, about the 1st of June, was ordered to Virginia. The services of this regiment in that State have already been described. The Confederates also garrisoned Fort Barrancas, a little west of the navy yard, on the mainland, and Fort McRee, on a peninsula running down in the [78] gulf about two miles from Barrancas. A mile and a half east of McRee and a little further south of Barrancas, on the western extremity of the sandy island of Santa Rosa, which thence stretches forty miles eastward, stood Fort Pickens, which, aside from Fortress Monroe and Key West, was the only fortified post held by the United States within Confederate territory. On the mainland between the navy yard and McRee, a number of batteries were placed, and preparations were on way for an attack which should bring Pickens also under the Southern flag. Between the hostile guns lay the bay of Pensacola, and on the river seven miles northward lay that city, well out of the range of fire. The Federal garrison was reinforced by several companies, and Col. Harvey Brown was put in command. Supply ships could approach without incurring the fire of the Confederate batteries, and warships were sent to blockade the port and assist in the defense of the fort. There were no offensive operations throughout the summer. The Second brigade of troops was put under command of W. H. T. Walker, promoted to brigadier-general, and he had in charge two Alabama regiments, Villepigue's Georgia battalion and two independent companies, in all about 2,300 men, with Fort Barrancas and three-fourths of all the batteries. But General Walker soon tired of inaction and was transferred to Virginia. The troops were dispirited by the delay in attack and many were sick.

Finally on October 9th the long projected descent on Santa Rosa island was made. For the attack, to be made at night, about 1,000 men were selected, divided into three bodies, designated for the time as battalions, and placed under the command of Gen. Richard H. Anderson. The First battalion was led by Col. James R. Chalmers of Mississippi, and the Second by Col. J. Patton Anderson. The Third, 260 strong, under Col. John K. Jackson, of Georgia, was made up of volunteers from the Fifth Georgia regiment and the Georgia battalion. [79] An independent company of 53 men, selected from the Fifth Georgia regiment and Captain Homer's company of artillery, lightly armed with pistols and knives, carrying materials for spiking cannon, burning and destroying buildings and gun carriages, was placed under command of Lieutenant Hallonquist. Lieutenant Nelms, adjutant of the Fifth regiment, was attached to this command, and Surgeon Tompkins was one of the medical officers in attendance.

The troops were carried to Pensacola by steamer on the night of the 8th, then embarked on other boats about midnight, and two hours later were landed secretly on the sandy island several miles beyond Fort Pickens. The object was to put the forces between the fort and the camp of the New York Zouaves, under Col. Billy Wilson, and capture the latter. For this purpose Anderson's and Chalmers' battalions took opposite sides of the island, followed by Jackson and Hallonquist at first in the rear of Chalmers. After a march of three or four miles a sentinel suddenly encountered by Chalmers' command was shot down, the alarm thereby being given to the Federal camp. Jackson immediately pushed his way through the thickets to the middle of the island and advanced as speedily as possible toward the camp. His command of Georgians rapidly drove in or shot down the outposts, and a rush of a few hundred yards brought them at charge bayonet into the camp ahead of either of the battalions. But they found the camp deserted, the Zouaves having been warned in time by the unfortunate shot at the sentinel. The Georgians speedily burned the tents, storehouses and sheds, but as daylight arrived before a newly-concerted advance could be arranged against the enemy's batteries between the camp and fort, such as would insure success, the march back to the boats was ordered. During the withdrawal a sharp skirmish occurred with two Federal companies which attempted to intercept the retreat. While the troops were embarking [80] there was an unfortunate delay which enabled the enemy to approach and open fire, under which a number of men were killed or wounded. Among the killed was the gallant Lieut. Llewellyn A. Nelms, Fifth regiment. The medical officers and the guard placed over the hospital building of the camp were captured by the Federals. A number of Georgia officers and enlisted men were distinguished for gallantry in this affair, Capt. Hugh M. King, on the staff of General Anderson, displaying ‘commendable zeal and activity’ in superintending the destruction of the camp. Company D, First Georgia battalion, had a sergeant, corporal and 34 men in the fight, and of these Serg. A. C. Hollingsworth and Privates Lewis Barker, James B. Higgins and James E. Holmes were killed, C. H. Witcher, W. M. Elder, J. W. Sewell and J. H. Day were wounded, and J. M. L. Jones, H. C. Jones and J. R. Cox were captured.

During the 22d and 23d of November, 1861, there was a heavy bombardment of the Confederate forts and batteries by Fort Pickens, assisted by the warships Niagara under Flag-Officer McKean, and the Richmond under Captain Ellison. Colonel Villepigue with his ‘Georgia and Mississippi regiment,’ the First Georgia battalion, occupied Fort McRee. The Federal steamers taking position as close as possible reinforced the heavy guns of Pickens. General Bragg reported that this would rank with the heaviest bombardment then known in the world's history. The houses in Pensacola, ten miles off, trembled from the concussions, and immense quantities of dead fish floated to the surface in the bay and lagoon. Fort McRee was assailed by the broadsides of the two Federal vessels throughout the 22d, which, on account of the structure of the fort, the inmates were unable to return. ‘Assailed at the same time from the south by Fort Pickens and its outer batteries, the devoted garrison of this confined work seemed to be destined to destruc-tion. Three times was the woodwork of the fort on fire, [81] threatening to expel its occupants, and as often extinguished. The magazines were laid bare to the enemy's shells, which constantly exploded about them and a wooden building to the windward, on the outside of the fort, taking fire, showers of live cinders were constantly driven through the broken doors of one magazine, threatening destruction to the whole garrison.’ Throughout their stay at Pensacola the Georgians won the favorable attention of Bragg, the general commanding, and when he was about to be transferred to another field, he asked that the Fifth Georgia might be one of the regiments to accompany him, and that Col. J. K. Jackson be promoted to brigade command. In February, 1862, the Fifth was sent to Knoxville, and in the following May, Pensacola and its defenses were abandoned by the Confederates. Capt. I. P. Girardey's battery (the Washington artillery of Augusta) and the Thirty-sixth Georgia regiment, formerly Villepigue's First Georgia battalion, also accompanied General Bragg. [82]