We turned in last night in a commotion, for if the “Alabama” should overhaul us what should we do? We could not defend ourselves, nor could we swim ashore. We soon saw, by the way the officers of our boat allowed the other to overhaul us, that they were not afraid. It turned out to be our old friend the “Mississippi,” with the 5th Mass., the balance of the 3d, and a few of ours, who had been left behind. We found afterwards that the men on the other steamer were as frightened as we were, thinking us the "Alabama." Why were the officers so reticent? What needless anxiety they could have saved by promulgating what they knew.
Many had become so tired of sleeping below that they tried the deck and boats, but were always driven down, not at the point of the bayonet, but with a handspike. Two of us arranged a novel sleeping place, and proposed to try it; we got into the chains and tied ourselves to the shrouds, where we could lie and watch the phosphorus below, and wonder if a sudden lurch would shake us off into the drink; but were reserved for another though similar fate, for towards morning we were awakened by a disagreeably damp sensation, and found ourselves drenched with the rain, so we hauled down our colors and crawled below to shake out the balance of the night.
SOURCE: John Jasper Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass. Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 14
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