Evening of February 1st General Turner and I got on board a
noisy little tug at the wharf which took us to the Ben Deford. We went upstairs
and drank a few whiskey punches, and then to sleep.
In the morning found ourselves off Stono; — tide too low to
let us over the bar; — were rowed ashore, — Gen. Terry, Turner and I. Stopped
at lower end of Folly for an ambulance; rode to Gen. Terry’s headquarters and
took horses to ride to Light House Inlet; crossed in a boat and walked up to
Col. Davies. Col. D. full of a plan for capturing the Sumter garrison.
We went in ambulance to Wagner. The sound of firing had been
heard all the morning. It grew more frequent, and Davies told us it was
directed at a stranded blockade-runner. Just as we got in sight of Wagner a
white smoke appeared in the clear air (the fog had lifted suddenly) and a sharp
crack was heard. It seemed as if a celestial popcorn had been born in the
ether. “There's a shell from Simkins,” said Turner. We went on, and there were
more of them. As we got to Wagner we got out and sent the ambulance to a place
of safety under the walls. They were just making ready to discharge a great gun
from Wagner. The Generals clapped hands to their ears. The gun was fired, and
the black globe went screaming close to the ground over the island, over the
harbor, landing and bursting near the helpless blockade-runner stranded
half-way from Fort Beauregard to Fort Moultrie. We walked up the beach.
Heretofore we had from time to time seen little knots of men gathered to look
at the fight, but now the beach was deserted. Once in a while you would see a
fellow crouching below a sandhill keeping a sharp lookout. We soon came to
Batteries Seymour, Barton and Chatfield, which were firing vigorously. We
mounted the parapet and took a good look at the steamer. She was already a good
deal damaged by one shell amidships.
SOURCES: Clara B. Hay, Letters of John Hay and
Extracts from Diary, Volume 1, p. 158-9.
