e
men seemed to regard these massive bars as their first trophies; and if
the rails had been wreathed with roses, they could not have been got out
in more holiday style. Nearly a hundred were obtained that day,
besides a quantity of five-inch plank with which to barricade the very
conspicuous pilot-houses of the John Adams. Still another day we were
delayed, and could still keep at this work, not neglecting some foraging
on the island from which horses, cattle, and agricultural implements
were to be removed, and the few remaining colored families transferred
to Fernandina. I had now become quite anxious about the missing
steamboat, as the inner passage, by which alone she could arrive, was
exposed at certain points to fire from Rebel batteries, and it would
have been unpleasant to begin with a disaster. I remember that, as I
stood on deck, in the still and misty evening, listening with strained
senses for some sound of approach, I heard a low continuous noise from
the distance, more wild and desolate than anything in my memory can
parallel. It came from within the vast girdle of mist, and seemed like
the cry of a myriad of lost souls upon the horizon's verge; it was Dante
become audible: and yet it was but the accumulated cries of innumerable
seafowl at the entrance of the outer bay.

Late that night the Planter arrived. We left St. Simon's on the
following morning, reached Fort Clinch by four o'clock, and there
transferring two hundred men to the very scanty quarters of the John
Adams, allowed the larger transport to go into Fernandina, while the
two other vessels were to ascend the St. Mary's River, unless (as proved
inevitable in the end) the defects in the boiler of the Planter should
oblige her to remain behind. That night I proposed to make a sort of
trial-trip up stream, as far as Township landing, some fifteen miles,
there to pay our respects to Captain Clark's company of cavalry, whose
camp was reported to lie near by. This was included in Corporal Sutton's
programme, and seemed to me more inviting, and far more useful to
the men, than any amount of mere foraging. The thing really desirable
appeared to be to get them under fire as soon as possible, and to teach
them, by a few small successes, the application of what they had learned
in camp-.

I had ascertained that the camp of this company lay five miles from
the landing, and was accessible by two roads, one of which was a
lumber-path, not commonly used, but