No. 1.
Report of Brig. Gen. Rufus Saxton, U. S.
Army.
BEAUFORT, S.C.,
March 14, 1863.
SIR: I have the honor to report that the
expedition which I sent up the Saint John's River, Florida, consisting of the
First Regiment South Carolina Volunteers, Col. T. W. Higginson commanding, and
a portion of the Second South Carolina Volunteers, under Colonel Montgomery,
captured and took possession of the town of Jacksonville on Tuesday, the 10th
instant. As I stated in my last report to you, the object of this expedition
was to occupy Jacksonville and make it the base of operations for the arming of
negroes and securing in this way possession of the entire State of Florida. It
gives me pleasure to report that so far the objects of the expedition have been
fully accomplished. The town is completely in our possession and many
prisoners. There has been constant skirmishing going on for several days, and
in every action the negro troops have behaved with the utmost bravery. Never in
a single instance can I learn that they have flinched. It is my belief that
scarcely an incident in this war has caused a greater panic throughout the
whole Southern coat than this raid of the colored troops in Florida.
The negroes are
collecting at Jacksonville from all quarters. There is a great scarcity of
muskets in this department. I have endeavored to procure suitable ones for the
troops under my command without success. If ample supplies of Springfield
muskets, smooth bore, with buck-and-ball cartridges, could be obtained it would
be of the greatest advantage for this peculiar service. I am convinced that the
enemy will attempt to drive us from our position at Jacksonville. He can only
succeed by the failure of our ammunition. I was obliged to send the expedition
with only 50 rounds of ammunition for its artillery, a limited supply, but I
was unwilling to delay the expedition until supplies could be obtained from the
North.
I beg leave
respectfully to report that I have great difficulty in obtaining suitable arms
from the ordnance depot in this department.
It would, in my
humble opinion, be of great advantage to the service if an officer could be
sent here to report for your information upon its condition.
