Washington Artillery

Joined Washington Artillery, Feb 18^th 62

On the 18th I spoke to Lieutenants Whilden and Van Lauten of the same, with both of whom I was acquainted personally, and made application; having been elected I was ordered to join the company in camp in Adam’s Run on the 24th. After having my new uniform made and otherwise equipping myself for the field, I on the appointed day, started for camp, by the Charleston & Savannah Railroad; there were some 24 men aboard the train for the Washington Artillery, and a number among whom were my brother George and some of my friends and former schoolmates, on the way to join the Palmetto Guard at Pocotaligo; in the faces of many of these could yet be [47] seen traces of the parting from home and loved ones, although for the time they were quite lively; my own feelings far from joyful at the thought of “going so far from home” as it was then to me.

Adam’s Run C. & S. R. R.

Arrived at Adam’s Run Station, which is about 22 miles from Charleston by the road, & after bidding farewell to my brother and friends, with my old and new comrades got into the company wagons that were there waiting for us and started for camp; the ride there was a rather unpleasant one as we were too closely packed being 24 men with all the baggage of which, by the way, many had entirely too much, in two wagons left us not room enough to make ourselves comfortable. This, with a ride of three miles through a pine barren over a road where every now and then a stump or root in the same would give us a huge jolt, all this made us very glad to reach camp, to stretch our legs again.

“Camp Lee” La Roches’ Plantation, Feb 24^th 62

Arrived there I met a friend who bade me welcome and invited me to take up quarters in tent “Beauregard” which I did securing the same favor for some of my old [48] comrades of the Zouaves. “Camp Lee,” named in honor of Gen. Stephen S. Lee, a former member of the company and at that time captain of the Washington Artillery in Virginia, was a very pleasant spot on the plantation of Mr. John LaRoche, who was a member of the company, on the Toogoodoo River, the same now owned by my cousin Gerhard Riecke and named after the birthplace of our father’s Vegesack. The camp was skirted on the north and east by pine woods which sheltered it from the cold winds in winter while the heat of the summer was tempered by the breeze from the river; while there I got an insight into plantation life as it existed before the war, as the hands were all at work yet, the owners residing with their families at the village of Adam’s Run which was their summer residence, the war had not yet made any change there; our object there being to prevent the enemy gunboats making a sail up the river and carrying off produce and slaves.

Mustered in, Feb 28^th 62

On the 28^th February 1862 we were mustered into Confederate Service, “for 12 months, for state defense”, by Capt. Rogers of Gen. [49] Evan’s staff, 124 men, rank and file, with 6 guns, 4 brass 6 pounders and 2 brass 12 pounder Howitzers, the same guns that had so often paraded through the streets of the city and belched forth their thunders on the 4^th of July and other occasions though more recently on the adoption of the Ordinance of Secession; our company having been formed and our names called and answered to, the Articles of War were read to us after which we swore allegiance to the Confederacy by raising the right hand while the oath was read. This act changed us from militia to enlisted, though volunteer, soldiers.

Drowning of Sergt. L. D. Owens

After this, our time passed quietly with drills, as light artillery, at the manual and in battery, and the guard duty of the camp, until on the morning of Easter Sunday April 20^th, 1862 when an event occurred that caused a sad feeling throughout the camp; death entered for the first time our hitherto unbroken ranks; that morning a number of our men went to bathe in the river, when one of them Sergeant Leslie D. Owens got beyond his depth and sank to the bottom. [50] He rose and sank again several times, but the others, who thought that he was diving, paid no attention to it until at last, not seeing him rise again they became alarmed and dove after him, but without succeeding in rescuing him. All efforts to recover his body proved for a long time unsuccessful, the bottom of the river was dragged, guns fired on its banks, and men dove down without any result, till at last his body was brought up by an oyster rake; means were immediately tried to restore him, our Surgeon Dr. Cannon leaving nothing untried, but to no avail, it was too late as he had been in the water two hours. That Easter morning, it was beautiful one too, was among the saddest of our experience, death had come amongst us, not in the manner to be expected, but as a thief in the night had taken us unawares. The next day his body was sent under a detachment of our men to the city; and we had seen the last of one, who although many of us had only known him so short a time, had already endeared us to him by his genial nature, and his loss was long [51] regretted by us.

Engagement with gunboat Danbo River April 29^th 62

On the 29^th April, about 12 o’clock, orders were brought by a courier, to harness up immediately as a gunboat was coming up Danbo River; we were soon ready and on the way; arriving on the banks of the river, about 7 miles from camp, nothing could be seen of the boat; about dark the pickets sent us word that she had gone up the river, but was then on her return. 2 guns, under Lieut. Salvo having gone further up the river, the 4 remaining ones were put into position on the river bank and we awaited with anxious suspense the coming of the hated foe; it had now got dark, and after a short time a light steadily approaching told us that she was near. This was a moment of no little importance to us, we were to make our debut among shell and smoke; a serious feeling too pervaded the men, we could not say who would pass unharmed through the coming conflict, nor knew we the mettle of our enemy. Silent the men stood at the guns, not a word was said, but by the kneeling position of our men I could see that [52] a prayer was being sent to the throne of grace in our behalf. I too commended myself to my God, thought of my loved ones, and stood ready for the strife; on, on she comes, silent as a snake approaching her prey, presently she is opposite our battery and in range of our guns, a voice is heard aboard of her giving the sounding of the lead when at the command “Battery, ready! No. 1, fire!” boom went a shell whizzing over the water; boom, boom, boom, Nos. 2, 3, and 4 followed, in the interval of our loading again, the command was heard aboard of her “Run out long Tom and give them grape and canister!” but this had scarcely had been uttered when the exclamation “Oh, God!” sounded over to us, No. 1 had again fired and had struck someone on board; 3 rounds were fired by us the grape and canister of the enemy whistling through the trees overhead the distance from us to the boat being only 50 yards the enemy could not depress the muzzle of their guns enough for so short a range and so his firing did us no harm. But having put a full head of steam on, she was, as she was getting [53] further off, getting the range of us, and the same time getting out of the range of our guns; when the command “Timber to the rear!” told us that Capt. Walter knew that “discretion was the better part of valor”having executed the command we started off at a trot, during which I went head foremost into a hole as it was as dark as pitch, losing my canteen and haversack out of my hand by the shock; I had taken these off during the engagement, on account of being in my way, and had just reclaimed them when we left. Coming to a halt in a wood in the rear, our men were mustered and all found safe and sound, “nobody hurt” at least on our side. We returned to camp satisfied with our exploit, and had the best of the first, or by themselves so called “fighting”section, who had that morning yet boasted that if any, they would be the one to get into a fight, but they had come minus one, they had heard the reports of the guns, but “had smelt no powder” like the soldier says. Next day I went to the scene of action to recover my lost property, which I found where I had lost it. I was then told by the pickets [54] that the boat was lying off White Point repairing; from northern papers we afterwards learned that the name of the boat was the “Hale” but they said nothing of the late welcome we gave her on her visit to our hospitable waters. From a deserter who had been on her at the time, we subsequently learned that several had been killed and wounded on board of her that night.