Part 15

Murfreesborough is a small, beautifully-located town, on a high plateau of ground on the right bank of the Meherrin river, surrounded by woods. There were two female seminaries in the place, one a Baptist, the other a Methodist. The people were intelligent, but very much interested in the success of the Confederacy. This place was opened up by the fleet for the purpose of being a depot of supply for Sherman's army, and was intended to be the next point of landing after Sherman left Raleigh. In Murfreesborough there were about one thousand rebels, who gave us great annoyance till they were finally captured by the 3d New York cavalry.

On the following Tuesday, April 4, Acting Ensign Milton Webster and myself went ashore for the purpose of ascertaining the whereabouts of Paymaster J. W. Sands, who had previously gone ashore. At a point midway between the cliff of the river and the town, we met a colored man who told us we had better be careful, as there were rebel cavalry in the town. We then went away from the town in a line parallel with the river, across a ravine which was at right angles with the river. Just as we had crossed the ravine, we saw the rebel cavalry coming down on the opposite side. We took to our heels and ran under fire till we got to the woods, and thence to the fleet. When we arrived aboard the Valley City, we found that Paymaster Sands had returned on board, and had taken about the same route ashore as we had.

On Wednesday, April 5, the marines were put in line and marched into the town under cover of the fleet; but as they marched in the rebels marched out. Acting Ensign J. B. Fairchilds was very seriously wounded by an accidental discharge of his own pistol before starting.

On Thursday, April 6, several officers and men of the fleet were ashore, but did not go into the town. In the afternoon many of our men approached near the city, where the rebel cavalry could be seen plainly. Paymaster J. W. Sands and I had walked about one-half the distance from the river towards the town, when we saw the rebel cavalry. We then returned nearer the river, to a cabin in which two very old colored people lived, in the rear of a large log on which Captain J. A. J. Brooks was standing, we both went into the cabin. After a few minutes' stay there in conversation with the colored people, I happened to look out of the window and saw the officers and men of the fleet running. I immediately said to Paymaster Sands, "The rebels are coming!" Then we ran out of the cabin under fire down toward the fleet. The bullets fell all around me as I was running, and just as I came to a path which led down the cliff, on which a lot of scrub oak was growing, the fleet opened fire, and the branches of the trees over my head were cut by the flying shells. I immediately fell out of range of the shells, and took an unfrequented path which led to the mouth of the ravine. I soon arrived at the mouth of the ravine, near by the river. Meantime the fleet was keeping up a rapid fire. The remainder of the officers and men came down, but soon learned our supposed enemy was the 3d New York cavalry, who also thought we were Confederates. This cavalry force had made a raid from Weldon, and had approached the town from the opposite side from where the fleet was laying, and in so doing captured the rebel cavalry in the town of Murfreesborough. There was fortunately nobody injured. The horses of the cavalry were covered with foam and very much heated--so much so that the saddles were taken from their backs, and they were led around for an hour before they cooled off.

The same afternoon, after the third New York cavalry had arrived, many of the officers of the fleet, feeling they might visit the town with impunity, did so. Captain J. A. J. Brooks, Lieutenant Joseph P. Fyffe of the Hunchback, James M. Battin, chief engineer of the Valley City, Paymaster J. W. Sands and myself, by invitation, took tea with a Mr. C---- of the place.

The next morning, Thursday, April 6, the third New York cavalry marched through the main street and left the town. All the windows of the houses on the main street were closed, and none of their occupants were to be seen. This was done in contempt for the Federal troops. After our cavalry had departed, the officers and the marines returned to the fleet, and at 4:15 p.m. got under weigh, and arrived off Winton at 10 p.m., where the fleet remained for some time.

Wednesday, April 10, at 12 m., the Valley City got under weigh and proceeded by way of Edenton to Plymouth, where we arrived at 2:15 a.m. the following day. At 3:05 a.m. we got under weigh and returned to Winton, where we arrived at 12 m. At this point and time we first heard, through the New York Herald, that the Confederate troops under General Lee had been driven from Petersburg by the Federal troops under General U.S. Grant. There was great rejoicing aboard the fleet. The U.S. steamers Shamrock, Wyalusing and Hunchback, fired a salute in celebration of that event. At 3-1/2 p.m. the U.S. steamers Valley City and Whitehead proceeded to Murfreesborough, where we arrived at 6-1/2 p.m.

Friday, April 14, at 7:50 a.m., the Valley City and Whitehead got under weigh, and proceeded down to Winton, where we met the Wilderness, with Commander Wm. H. Macomb and Lieutenant Commander Earl English aboard, when we received the news that the Confederate forces under General Lee had surrendered to General Grant.

The U.S. steamers Valley City and Whitehead were ordered to proceed to Murfreesborough and deliver the news to the citizens at that place; and now, after having read a copy of the New York Herald, they were thoroughly convinced that the war was over. Saturday, April 15, at 11:45 a.m., the U.S. steamers Valley City and Whitehead got under weigh and proceeded to Winton, where we arrived at 7:55 p.m.

Tuesday, April 18, we first received news of President Lincoln's assassination, which event cast a gloom over the entire nation. At 12:45 p.m., the U.S. steamers Valley City and Whitehead got under weigh and proceeded up the Chowan river to Blackwater river, up which we steamed to Franklin, Virginia, where we arrived at 8 a.m. the following day. We visited the people ashore at different times during our stay at that place. Thursday, April 20, at 8-1/2 a.m., the Valley City and Whitehead got under weigh, and proceeded down the Blackwater river to Chowan river, down which we steamed to its mouth, where we anchored.

There are a great many fish in the Chowan river, and the Valley City has often caught shad and herring by the barrel, in a large seine which the inhabitants of that vicinity use for the purpose.

Saturday, April 22, at 4:25 a.m., the U.S. steamers Valley City and Whitehead got under weigh, and at 8:30 a.m. arrived at Plymouth, where we anchored. At 3:20 p.m., the Valley City and Whitehead got under weigh, and arrived at Edenton at 5:30 p.m., and at 11 p.m. the Valley City and Whitehead got under weigh and steamed toward Hertford, N.C., where we arrived on Sunday, April 23, at 7-1/2 a.m. At 10 a.m. the officers of the two vessels in full uniform went to an Episcopal service held in a church in Hertford. The members of the congregation were sparsely scattered on seats throughout the church. Upon the officers entering and occupying two pews on the left hand side of the church, that portion of the congregation occupying the same range of seats as ourselves very abruptly and hurriedly sought seats on the other side. After listening to a sermon which was nervously delivered, we quietly and orderly returned aboard our respective vessels.

Hertford is a small town on a body of water extending from Albemarle Sound, called Perquimans. The people were usually kind and courteous, after they discovered that our disposition was to be friendly toward them. There were people living there who were in sympathy with the Federal government, and to whose hospitality we were kindly invited and welcomed. One day during our stay at Hertford, Paymaster J. W. Sands and myself procured a buggy and horse, and drove to Edenton, a distance of twenty miles, and returned to Hertford in the evening. The trip was not considered a very safe one, on account of the number of bushwhackers there had been in that vicinity.

Monday, May 1, at 8-1/2 a.m., the Valley City got under weigh, and arrived at Edenton at 2:10 p.m.; and at 5 p.m. left Edenton and arrived at Plymouth at 7 p.m. Tuesday, May 9, the Valley City got under weigh for the purpose of clearing the Roanoke river of torpedoes. The U.S. steamer Iosco, commanded by Lieutenant Commander James S. Thornton, accompanied us.

Saturday, May 13, the Valley City and Iosco arrived at Hamilton, N.C. Captain Thornton, Third Assistant Engineer Amos Harris, Ensign Hull, and myself went ashore and spent the afternoon. In the morning before arriving at Hamilton, Lieutenant-Commander James S. Thornton of the Iosco went ashore, and visited Rainbow Bluff. Captain Thornton made the remark that the place would have been very difficult to capture with any naval force, so strongly was it fortified.

Lieutenant-Commander James S. Thornton was executive officer aboard the U.S. steamer Kearsarge at the time this vessel sunk the rebel blockade runner Alabama, in which the transaction was so quick and complete. Captain Thornton stated that at 11 o'clock a.m., of a Sunday, when he received the report of there being a ship in sight, he was seated in a chair, with his feet resting on the wardroom table, reading the Bible. The rattle for general quarters was rung, and the Kearsarge got under weigh, and proceeded toward the Alabama, sunk her, and by 2 o'clock of the same afternoon the Kearsarge arrived at Cherbourg, France. Comments by the citizens of that place were made on the cleanliness of the Kearsarge after sinking so formidable a vessel as the Alabama.

Monday, May 15, at 1 p.m., the Valley City arrived at Palmyra, N.C. I visited the town. It is a place of about a half-a-dozen houses, about a mile from the right bank of the Roanoke river. At this place Captain J. A. J. Brooks joined the Valley City with the Cotton Plant and Fisher, two steamers which the Confederates had captured from the Federals at Plymouth at the time the Southfield was sunk by the rebel ram Albemarle. There were aboard these boats fifty bales of cotton. In the evening, pilot John A. Wilson ran the Valley City hard and fast aground, so that it took the greater part of the night to get her afloat.

Thursday, May 16, the Valley City steamed up to Ergot's Landing, and took aboard thirty-nine bales of cotton. Thursday, May 18, the Valley City got under weigh and proceeded down the Roanoke river and came to anchor five miles above Hamilton.

Saturday, May 20, at 9 a.m., the Valley City got under weigh, and proceeded to Hamilton, where we came to an anchor. On Tuesday, May 23, in the morning Captain J. A. J. Brooks, Paymaster J. W. Sands and myself went hunting for squirrels. Paymaster Sands separated from us early in the morning. The Captain and I soon came to a mulberry tree, on which he shot a squirrel which was after mulberries; another came and was shot, and before night we shot a dozen. In the evening, upon returning to the vessel, we met Paymaster Sands, who was also returning to the vessel. He had been traveling all day in the woods, but did not shoot a squirrel. We all proceeded to the Valley City, and had the squirrels cooked for supper, of which we ate heartily, for we were very hungry. This was the last supper I ate aboard the Valley City.

The following morning, Wednesday, May 24, at 5:30 o'clock, I was relieved by Acting Assistant Surgeon L. W. Loring, and ordered North on a two months leave of absence; and now I am to say farewell to the officers and crew of the Valley City, with whom I have shared their dangers, their sorrows and their joys, and the old ship I am also to leave, which has buoyed us so safely over the short and rugged waves of the waters of North Carolina, amidst the torpedoes, the sharpshooters, and the artillery of the enemy. This is certainly an occasion of joy, yet mingled with sadness. "Farewell is a word that has been, a word that must be, a sound which makes us linger--yet we must say, farewell."

HOMEWARD BOUND.

I went aboard the Eolus, which proceeded up the Roanoke river, and at 4:30 p.m. we met the Cotton Plant, with Commander W. H. Macomb aboard, eight miles below Halifax. The Eolus, with the Cotton Plant, returned to Edward's Ferry, where we arrived at 7 p.m. I went ashore. This place, which is a large plantation, and was owned by Mr. Wm. Smith, who owns, or did own, quite a number of slaves, who worked the plantation. At this time the slaves were cultivating corn. The male slaves, with hoes to hoe the corn, followed after the female slaves, who drove the horses and directed the cultivators or ploughs. The rebel ram Albemarle was constructed at Edward's Ferry, and there was another ram or iron-clad in process of construction at this place; but it was destroyed by the rebels at the close of the war. I saw the landing where these rams were constructed; the chips from them could be seen lying all around.

Thursday, May 25.--We left Edward's Ferry at 10 a.m., and at 8 p.m. the Eolus came to an anchor near Poplar Point, where we visited the graves of those who had been killed in the late action at this place.

Friday, May 26.--The Eolus, with Commander W. H. Macomb on board, got under weigh and steamed to Plymouth, where we arrived at 12 m. Commander W. H. Macomb went aboard his own vessel, the Shamrock. At 8 p.m. the Eolus got under weigh and steamed towards Roanoke Island, and came to an anchor at 12 p.m. in Albemarle Sound.

Saturday, May 27, at 4-1/2 a.m., the Eolus got under weigh and proceeded to Roanoke Island, where we arrived at 7:15 a.m. At 2-1/2 p.m. I took passage in the boat Washington Irving, which got under weigh and steamed till 9-1/2 p.m., when I changed into the boat Arrow, which steamed two miles up the Dismal Swamp canal, and passed by the wreck of the Fawn, which had been previously captured, sunk and burned by the rebels, and there came to an anchor. During the night I slept on a bench, with my boot for a pillow.

Sunday, May 28, the boat Arrow left Coinjock at 5 a.m., and arrived at Norfolk, Va., at 1 p.m. I took dinner at the National House in that place. At 2-1/2 p.m. I took passage from Norfolk in the Louisiana, and arrived at Fortress Monroe at 3-1/2 p.m. We passed by the wreck of the rebel iron-clad Merrimac. At 5 p.m. the Louisiana got under weigh for Baltimore, where she arrived Monday, May 29, at 6 o'clock a.m.; and then I went by way of Philadelphia home, where I arrived about noon of May 30, 1865.

The atmosphere never seemed to me more salubrious than at this time; the grass never appeared greener, the flowers never seemed to exhale more fragrance, and the people never seemed kinder. It seemed a perfect Paradise compared with the swamps of North Carolina.

During the time of my "leave of absence," I met with the following men of note, all of whom are now dead: Hon. Thaddeus Stevens I met in the reading-room of the United States Hotel at Harrisburg, Pa., seated on a chair with his feet resting on a table, reading the newspapers, a number of files of which he had lying all around him. He would first glance at one file and then at another, till he had examined all. I have heard of two anecdotes told about him. One was, whilst meeting an enemy face to face on the street in Lancaster, Pa., his enemy said to Mr. Stevens, "I never turn out of the road of a fool." The latter said sharply, "I do," and passed around the former. The other incident occurred whilst Mr. Stevens was very ill in Washington, D.C. A friend visited him and complimented him on his appearance. Mr. Stevens very jocularly replied that it was not his appearance that interested him (Mr. Stevens) so much as his disappearance. I have since visited his grave in Lancaster, Pa., which has the following inscription upon the tombstone: