in the tantalizing prospect of fried oysters for supper; or to gather a crowd on the edge of the little
swamp, and endeavor to capture an alligator; or to watch the fairy-like sailing craft and war-like
steamers, as they glided to and fro, so near us. All these were pleasant at first, but the novelty
would not last forever. The discomforts, on the contrary, were present continually. There was
endless heat above, and restless sand below, -- sand, sand, sand in everything. Mouths, noses,
ears and even eyes were filled with it, and victuals were all seasoned with the everlasting and
omnipresent nuisance. To partially balance this, was the strange but grateful fact, that we had
only to dig holes a few feet deep in the sand, on the gulf side, to find plenty of the freshest and
purest water.***

As a part of the forces under command of Major General Canby, destined for the
reduction of Spanish Fort, [the regiment] left Mobile Point on the 17th of March, and moving
slowly, on account of the condition of the roads and the difficulty of moving the trains, took
position on the 27th in the trenches before Spanish Fort.**

On the 17th of March [the regiment] moved, under General Canby, toward Spanish Fort, taking
position in the trenches there on the 27th, where it took part in the siege until the fort was
evacuated, April 8. The next day the regiment marched to Fort Blakely, arriving in time to
witness its capture by the forces under command of General Steele.*”°

March 17th, the 13th A[rmy]. C[orps]. of which we form a part, broke camp at Mobile
Point at 4:30 A. M., marched 10 miles and camped for night near Navy Cove. Country rough,
sandy, and pine timber.*”!

... at 6:30 [a.m., March 17, 1865] the march commenced. The day proved perfectly beautiful.
Moving up the beach on the eastern side of the point, we soon entered the wood, left the gulf
behind, and after a march of eight or ten miles, pitched camp in a very good place at about
2p.m°”

The day's march [March 18] was ten miles, through pine timber, over alternate marsh and
sand. In the morning there was a jolly scene, when we waded across a small and shallow arm of
the bay. The whole division formed in columns closed in mass; and at the word all proceeded to
roll up their pants and prepare to wade.... It was a scene for a comic artist -- those heavy columns

 

338

A. F. Sperry, History of the 33rd Iowa, p. 125.

339

Annual Report Of The Adjutant General... 1865, p. 300.

340

Hosea W. Rood, Wisconsin At Vicksburg, p. 165.

_°™ Evergreen City Times, Sheboygan, May 6, 1865, p. 1/3-4 (no. 1/14 of note).

342

A. F. Sperry, History of the 33rd Iowa, p. 129.
140