Rested tolerably last night, At 8. A M. The batteries open
on the Forts & keep up a vigorous shelling for 3 hours. P. M. the felled
timber front of the forts where our skirmish line is gets on fire. Rebs open on
them with shell & small arms. Could not see how the skirmishers could stand
the heat & firing but they did it nobly, firing became so heavy at 6. P. M.
the men were ordered to arms Co G. was ordered to the forward rifle pits to reinforce
Co. B as a support to the skirmishers, Capt Ledyard was on duty as Brig off of
the day, which left me in comd of the co. I took them down on the double quick
although almost too week to stand. The bullets whistled thick arond but no one
was struck. At 11. P. M. the heavy firing ceased & I reed orders to keep my
co in the pits all night. I hear of several men being killed but none from our
Regt, hear a report that on our right Smith with some of the heavy Parrots
disables one of the Enemy's gunboat & drives another off 2 miles,
one battery of heavy guns on our left is silenced by the fire save the main
Fort. It is rumored that Thomas has made connection with Steele. The Gunboats
advance slowly taking out the torpedos, advanced about 100 yds and that Genl
Maury commands at Mobile & Genl Gibson at Spanish Fort. We rec mail today
one from cous John who is with Thomas & says under date of 10th Feb that
the comd was preparing for an expedition against Mobile.
SOURCE: “Diary of John S. Morgan, Company G, 33rd Iowa
Infantry,” Annals of Iowa, 3rd Series, Vol. 13, No. 8, April 1923,
p. 582
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