which Corporal Sutton had helped to
construct, and along which he could easily guide us. The plan was to go
by night, surround the house and negro cabins at the landing (to prevent
an alarm from being given), then to take the side path, and if all went
well, to surprise the camp; but if they got notice of our approach,
through their pickets, we should, at worst, have a fight, in which the
best man must win.

The moon was bright, and the river swift, but easy of navigation thus
far. Just below Township I landed a small advance force, to surround
the houses silently. With them went Corporal Sutton; and when, after
rounding the point, I went on shore with a larger body of men, he met
me with a silent chuckle of delight, and with the information that there
was a negro in a neighboring cabin who had just come from the Rebel
camp, and could give the latest information. While he hunted up this
valuable auxiliary, I mustered my detachment, winnowing out the men who
had coughs (not a few), and sending them ignominiously on board again: a
process I had regularly to perform, during this first season of catarrh,
on all occasions where quiet was needed. The only exception tolerated at
this time was in the case of one man who offered a solemn pledge, that,
if unable to restrain his cough, he would lie down on the ground,
scrape a little hole, and cough into it unheard. The ingenuity of this
proposition was irresistible, and the eager patient was allowed to pass
muster.

It was after midnight when we set off upon our excursion. I had about
a hundred men, marching by the flank, with a small advanced guard,
and also a few flankers, where the ground permitted. I put my Florida
company at the head of the column, and had by my side Captain Metcalf,
an excellent officer, and Sergeant Mclntyre, his first sergeant. We
plunged presently in pine woods, whose resinous smell I can still
remember. Corporal Sutton marched near me, with his captured negro
guide, whose first fear and sullenness had yielded to the magic news of
the President's Proclamation, then just issued, of which Governor Andrew
had sent me a large printed supply;--we seldom found men who could read
it, but they all seemed to feel more secure when they held it in their
hands. We marched on through the woods, with no sound but the peeping of
the frogs in a neighboring marsh, and the occasional yelping of a
dog, as we passed the hut of some "cracker." This yelping always made
Cor