H. G. Wright to Louis H. Pelouze, March 25, 1862
Jacksonville, Fla., March 25, 1862.
Capt. Louis H. PELOUZE, Acting Assistant Adjutant-General :
CAPTAIN: I have the honor to report, for the information of the general commanding, that I left Fernandina yesterday morning with the Ninety-seventh Regiment Pennsylvania Volunteers in the Cosmopolitan, and arrived here and landed the troops last evening. Having struck upon the Saint John’s Bar, we were obliged to cast off the schooner in tow, laden with camp and garrison equipage and stores; and, as the tide was rapidly falling and the wind high, we were forced to leave her at anchor. The troops consequently had to be quartered in vacant buildings on shore, instead of going into camp, as I had designed.
Last night, or rather this morning, at about 3 o’clock, a party of the enemy, numbering some 50 perhaps, made an attack upon one of our picket stations, and, out of the 7 men composing it, killed 1; severely, and it is feared mortally, wounded another, and captured 3 more. The remaining two escaped. So far as I can learn from the reports and an investigation of the case, the picket was guilty of gross carelessness and suffered itself to be completely surprised.
Yesterday morning it seems that two members of another picket station went out beyond the lines, and have no doubt been captured. Indeed, it is so reported by a deserter from the enemy who has since come in. These occurrences will no doubt have the effect to make the guards more watehful, by proving to them the [consequences] to themselves of any neglect of vigilance in an enemyâs country.
I have to-day looked carefully over the ground in advance of the town, and find it much more difficult to defend and to picket than I had imagined from the map. “Two companies will be necessary for a proper pieket guard; and this daily detail, with the number necessary for camp and provost guards, will bear heavily on the command. Some re-enforcement would be desirable if any troops can be spared.
Considerable fatigue work will be necessary also in cutting down the scrub and timber on the outskirts of the town, which now afford cover to parties approaching the pickets. This labor will be undertaken the moment the vessel referred to as having camp and garrison equipage, &o., arrives.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
Brigadier-General, Commanding.