the enemy surrendering. The last prop was knocked
from under the Confederacy; their great source of supplies was cut off.
Blockade-running was ended. General Sherman would have a new base of
supplies. Richmond would soon have to be evacuated. The day the fort was
captured, Ben Butler was in Washington, demonstrating to the
authorities, theoretically, why Fort Fisher was impregnable. Captain
Breeze and Lieutenants Cushing, Preston, and Porter, from the flagship
Malvern, had command of the sailors. Preston and Porter were
fellow-prisoners of mine at Columbia. Both were killed early in the
attack, Preston by a shell from the fleet, and Porter by a bullet.
Cushing, with all his bravery, was not the last officer of the retreat
down the beach--not by long odds. It is now a matter of history that
Captain Breese with two hundred sailors actually got inside the fort and
remained there until nightfall. That is all bosh. The fact is, they were
behind the sand-dunes when the panic occurred--it being much safer to
remain there than to be running the gauntlet down to the sea. After dark
they retreated in good order. If they had really got into the fort, I
will guarantee that they would not have remained there very long. The
sailor who got closest to the traverses was an ensign from the gunboat
Sassacus, and he was killed. Ensign Dayton, my fellow-officer, had not
been seen by me since we landed. When I next saw him it was on board the
Nereus. He said he had been with Captain Breese. He received some very
plain talk from me for not helping to look after our own men. There was
enough to be attended to--the wounded to be sent to the vessel, the dead
to be identified and buried, and, the most difficult job, to corral the
live ones and get them off to the Nereus. They were scattered all over
our newly acquired territory. It was not every day they could get
ashore, and they were certainly making good use of their opportunities.

Early in the morning the dead sailors were laid side by side, forming a
long row. Their caps, having the ship's name on in gilt letters, were
placed on their breasts, and a slip of paper, giving his full name, was
fastened to each man's shirt. It was a weird sight. All of them were
fine-looking young men. I had placed the names on the men belonging to
the Nereus, and went towards the fort, and as I got near the traverses I
was nearly thrown off my feet by a sudden shaking of the ground; then I
saw an immense conical