We move early this
morning, but very slow; these swamps prove to be terrible obstacles to
Sherman's seventy thousand. We soon come to the great Saltkatchie swamp at
Beaufort's Bridge: we find the swamp all flooded, about one mile wide, and the
bridge in the middle. Weak commanders would have faltered; things indeed look
frightful, but General Corse gave the command forward. The Seventh led, and
into the great Swamp the Fourth Division passed, and through it they waded, the
water, winter cold, ranging from waist to neck deep. It did seem that some of
the men would perish; that they would be left in that great swamp; but all
passed safely through, and gaining a footing on the opposite side, drove the
enemy far away, who were all the while disputing our passage. The ammunition
train is now ordered to move across (the ammunition being raised out of water's
reach); about midway they swamp, and the soldiers of Corse's Division are
compelled to go back into the swamp and carry the ammunition boxes out to land.
Remaining here until
the trains are crossed, we move forward and join the corps at Midway, on the
South Carolina Railroad. Then began the movement on Orangeburg. We notice that
Black Jack is at the head of the Fifteenth Corps, having arrived from his
campaign on the northern line and assumed command at Pocataligo. We also find
that the mounted portion of the Seventh are now (as the boys say) members of
his staff. We cross the South Fork of the Edisto River at Halmond's bridge and
move to Poplar Springs to support the Seventeenth Army Corps, moving straight
to Orangeburg, which is taken by a dash of the Seventeenth.
From Poplar Springs
we cross the North Edisto River at Skilling's bridge, and on the fifteenth we
find the enemy in
strong position at Little Congaree bridge, but the gallant Logan, with his
thundering Fifteenth, soon ousts them, when we move across and go into camp in
front of Columbia. During the night our camp is shelled from a battery on the
east side of the Congaree, above Grundy, causing considerable stir in the
Fifteenth Corps' camp.
SOURCE: abstracted
from Daniel Leib Ambrose, History of the Seventh Regiment Illinois
Volunteer Infantry, p. 294-6
