แ * LETTER OF GENERAL BUTLER TO ADMIRAL PORTER. "HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA, December 25, 1864. "ADMIRAL: Upon landing the troops and making a thorough reconnoissance of Fort Fisher, both General the Santiago de Cuba. General Weitzel their bomb-proofs, now boldly manned went in person to within eight hundred their guns, adding much to the difficulyards of Fort Fisher and obtained a ties of an assault; and General Ames good view of the work, from which he soon afterward receiving an order to formed the opinion that the defences withdraw his troops, all returned to the had not been materially injured, not- transports, except a portion of the first withstanding the heavy bombardment brigade, which, owing to a heavy rolling to which they had been subjected. He surf, was compelled to remain on shore then returned to General Butler, who till the 27th. General Butler immediwas on board the gun-boat Chamberlain, ately wrote to Admiral Porter, stating within easy range of the fort, and his belief that the fort could not be reported to him that it would be carried by assault, and the attack was butchery" to make an assault under abandoned, much to the regret of Adthe circumstances. General Butler, miral Porter,* who in his report to the after examining the fort carefully, came to the same conclusion, and about five o'clock ordered the troops, of whom only about half had been landed, to be re-embarked, the weather at the time coming on thick and rainy. General Curtis had in the mean time captured the Half-Moon battery, with its garrison of 220 men, and reported to General Ames that he could take the fort. The latter was moving along the beach with Colonel Bell's brigade to the support of General Curtis, leaving it to the other troops then ashore and those in the act of landing to repulse any attack that might be made by the troops of Hoke's command, just arrived from Richmond. General Ames, at that time unaware that it had been determined to re-embark, ordered General Curtis to make an attempt upon the fort, but by the time the latter got ready to do so, night came on; and the fire of Admiral Porter's fleet ceasing almost at the same time, the rebels, who during most of the day had remained within the shelter of We Weitzel and myself are fully of the opinion that the place than wide enough for a thousand men in line of battle. 66 Having captured Flag Pond Hill battery, the garrison of which, sixty-five men and two commissioned officers, battery, and seven officers and two hundred and eighteen men of the Third N. C. Junior Reserves, including its . was taken off by the navy, we also captured Half-Moon commander, from whom I learned that a portion of Hoke's division, consisting of Kirkland's and Haygood's brigades, had been sent from the lines before Richmond on Tuesday last, arriving at Wilmington Friday night. "General Weitzel advanced his skirmish line within fifty yards of the fort, while the garrison was kept in their bomb-proof by the fire of the navy, and so closely that parapet and through the sally-port of the work, capturing three or four men of the picket line ventured upon the a horse, which they brought off, killing the orderly, who was the bearer of a dispatch from chief of artillery of Gen eral Whiting to bring a light battery within the fort, and also brought away from the parapet the flag of the fort. "This was done while the shells of the navy were fall ing about the heads of the daring men who entered the work, and it was evident, as soon as the fire of the navy ceased because of the darkness, that the fort was fully manned again and opened with grape and canister upon our picket line. Navy Department said, "I don't pretend to put my opinion in opposition to that of General Weitzel, who is a thorough soldier and an able engineer, "Finding that nothing but the operations of a regular siege, which did not come within my instructions, would reduce the fort, and in view of the threatening aspect of the weather, wind arising from the southeast, rendering it impossible to make further landing through the surf, I caused the troops with their prisoners to re-embark, and see nothing further that can be done by the land forces. I shall therefore sail for Hampton Roads as soon as the transport fleet can be got in order. "My engineers and officers report Fort Fisher to me as substantially uninjured as a defensive work. "I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant, "BENJAMIN F. BUTLER, Major-General Commanding. "TO REAR-ADMIRAL PORTER, Commanding North Atlantic Blockading Squadron." ADMIRAL PORTER'S REPLY. "NORTH ATLANTIC SQUADRON, U. S. FLAG-SHIP MALVERN, OFF NEW INLET, December 26, 1864. "GENERAL: I beg leave to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this date, the substance of which was communicated to me by General Weitzel last night. "I have ordered the largest vessels to proceed off Beaufort, and fill up with ammunition, to be ready for another attack in case it is decided to proceed with this matter by making other arrangements. "We have not commenced firing rapidly yet, and could keep any rebels inside from showing their heads until an assaulting column was within twenty yards of the works. “I wish some more of your gallant fellows had followed the officer who took the flag from the parapet, and the brave fellow who brought the horse out from the fort. I think they would have found it an easier conquest than is supposed. "I do not, however, pretend to place my opinion in opposition to General Weitzel, whom I know to be an accomplished soldier and engineer, and whose opinion has great weight with me. "I will look out that the troops are all off in safety. We will have a west wind presently, and a smooth beach about three o'clock, when sufficient boats will be sent for them. "The prisoners on board the Santiago de Cuba will be delivered to the provost marshal at Fortress Monroe, uness you wish to take them on board one of the transports, which would be inconvenient just now. “I remain, General, respectfully, your obedient servant, "DAVID D. PORTER, Rear-Admiral. "TO MAJOR-GENERAL B. F. BUTLER, commanding, etc., etc." and whose business it is to know more of assaulting than I do, but I can't help thinking that it was worth while to make the attempt after coming so far." Public opinion coincided with the views of the Admiral, and very general dissatisfaction was caused at the North by the abandonment of the enterprise and the return of the troops to Fortress Monroe. It had not been intended that General Butler should accompany the expedition, and he was freely censured by General Grant for having, before receiving a full report of the reconnoissance of General Curtis, "in direct violation of the instructions given, ordered the re-embarkation of the troops and the return and the return of the expedition." Numerous officers and men, among whom was General Curtis, voluntarily reported to General Grant, that when recalled they were "nearly into the fort," and that in their opinion it could At have been taken without much loss. the request of General Grant, General Butler was on the 7th of January relieved from the command of the Departments of Virginia and North Carolina. The result of the expedition was claimed by the rebels as a triumph for their arms, notwithstanding that the guns of Fort Fisher had been for two days kept almost silent by the fire of Porter's fleet; and in a congratulatory order issued by General Bragg, Generals Whiting and Kirkland, Colonel Lamb, and the officers and men of the garrison, were highly complimented. The rebels, according to their own accounts, fired on the first day of the attack 662 shots Entered according to act of grees A. Bibs by Virus & Torsten in the clerk's office of the diverct court of the imated States for the southern district of New York |