April 9.
Everything was going
on quietly until we heard heavy cannonading in the direction of the Ferry
before sunrise this morning. The George Washington, an old steamboat converted
into a semi-gunboat, was cruising in the river and got aground last evening. The
rebels had ample time to send for artillery during the night and they blew her
up. The explosion threw her men into the water and marsh, from which they were
brought out by our pickets and the Chaplain. I judge that not more than a dozen
were killed or wounded. They were sent to the Hospital in Beaufort. I would
like to have the care of them, but we have no accommodations here. One of them
told the Adjutant's wife that he was glad to have me take care of him for he
had often seen me in Worcester. Another was a handsome Providence boy, who was
terribly broken to pieces, but who will recover.1
1 See 1 Records of the Rebellion, XIV. 280–283,
891.
SOURCE: Proceedings
of the Massachusetts Historical Society, Volume 43, October, 1909—June,
1910: February 1910. p. 387
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