After the fall of
Spanish Fort and Blakely, all hope of holding Mobile was given up.
The works around the city were made to be manned by eight thousand,
but, after the capture of the garrison at Blakely, our forces were
too much reduced to hold the place. When evacuated, the place was
not threatened, but might have been completely invested in a week's
time. All the heavy guns were destroyed: we destroyed seven
twenty-four pounders. The total loss of guns must have amounted to
three hundred. We left Mobile by boat, and each man with a musket.
It is a heavy fall for us who have been in artillery for three
years, and now find ourselves as infantrymen, much to our displeasure.
As much as I dislike it, I shall keep my musket until something
better turns up...."
The history of the battery, from first to last, is that of thorough
soldiers, brave in battle, uncomplaining, cheerful, even _jolly_,
under the most trying circumstances, bearing with equanimity the
lesser ills of a soldier's life, with unshaken fortitude and
undiminished devotion to "The Cause," indescribable hardships and
discouragements.
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