Morris Island, Sep't. 10, 1863.

 

Sis,

            I received your letter yesterday just after returning from an expedition of sailors and Marines against Fort Sumpter, which you will have heard of before this reaches you, so I write at this my first opportunity that you may know I am all right. Just after dinner of the eighth, some twenty of each Company—making in all about a hundred—were ordered to get ready with canteen, haversack and blanket, which was done and on the way to the wharf with about sixty sailors from the camp below about three o'clock. We were then taken along side of the flag ship where after it getting dark we were put on launches, which were about thirty in number, and about twelve o'clock as near as I could judge we were towed down as near to the fort as the steamer could go and there we were cut. We waited there a few minutes and then moved up, our boat being ordered up on the left and to wait until all were landed, and just as we got our position the sentry fired, after challenging us and calling the Corporal of the Guard / and some of the boats had struck the beach. In a minute up went a rocket, and in a minute we heard the guns from Moultrie, Johnson and the batteries on Sullivan's Island and Sumter was playing with musketry and hand grenades as fast as she could and only fired from a howitzer once or twice. She seemed to have two or three hundred men. We were not up many minutes when we saw a tug making for us and we pulled out into shallow water up towards Johnson and coming back around the point of this Island. We went up near the fort again and saw nothing of our men at all so we came back to the flagship. There was only one by the name of Rogers, a Marine, wounded in our boat, which was commanded by Lieut. Lowry of Marines. How many there was of us all, I have no idea, for we were gathered from all the fleet. I hear there are 140 or 150 of us killed, wounded and missing, 27 of them from the battalion. Lieut. Bradford our Quarter Master, who volunteered to go, was killed, and Lt. Meade of Co. B. was taken prisoner. How many of the boats are missing I do not know, but I hear there are seven. There are two that I know / to be struck by shells. We got back to camp about half past eleven yesterday. You will have heard by the time this reaches you of the evacuation of Wagner and Gregg which was on Monday morning. We were called up about the time it was evacuated, and marched down, and got there in time to be too late. As we were not allowed to go around in it anywhere except in the trench facing us, I cannot tell you any thing of its appearance inside. The trench which we were in and which would have had to have been gone over in a charge was about the depth of two men. Pointing upwards where you jump down into the trench is a row of pointed stakes, with any number of lances or boarding pikes covered over with sand, after getting over that you come on planks, with iron spikes in them and then they can flood it. They left six or seven killed and wounded in each fort and there was one in Wagner just able to speak. We stopped there about half an hour and were ordered back. The fleet has been doing nothing yesterday and to-day. It is very dry and warm the last few days, and at nights it gets pretty cool. I feel nothing the worse of my trip to Sumter, and am as well as ever. I will now close. Remember me to all inquiring friends and much love to all

 

Charley

 

P.S.

            I am transferred to the Flag Ship

direct your letters and papers to it,

Charley.

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