and undertook to save the brCape Fear. While they were trying this General Smith's leading brigade, Brigadier General B. F. Potts commanding, entered the town. The enemy's cavalry withdrew for the most party across the bridge. He, however, placed in position a section of a battery and opened fire upon our skirmish line, the shot passing through the houses of Fayetteville. The Fourteenth corps entered the city from the northwest nearly simultaneously with General Smith. The mayor made a formal surrender of the city to Lieutenant Colonel W. E. Strong of my staff. the bridge could not be saved, owing to the complete preparations for its destruction. We found several of our men lying dead in the streets. Captain Duncan reports to me that one of the men was badly wounded and endeavoring to walk away without arms, then the "chivalrous" Lieutenant-General Hampton rode after him and hacked him down with his own saber, thus adding another to his boasted victims. As soon as I saw Major-General Slocum I withdrew from the city and encamped outside. General Blair's column was near the town; General Logan's about five miles to the rear. The enemy made very slight resistance to our crossing the Cape Fear. Captain C. B. Reese, the chief engineer, selected a place for the pontoon about a mile below Fayetteville and opposite Cade's plantation. The banks of the river are very high and exceedingly abrupt. After the bridge was laid the water subsided five or six feet, so that it was with the greatest difficulty that wagons could be gotten over. A small force of infantry, a brigade of the Seventeenth Corps, was sent across and made a bridge-head near Cade's plantation. My headquarters moved across to the vicinity of Cade's house during Monday, March 13.

The 13th and 14th were spent in crossing the command and in distributing what few supplies reached us from Wilmington by steamers. The very day we arrived at Fayetteville we heard the whistle of one of our steam tugs on the river. The steamer had started immediately from Wilmington upon the arrival of Sergeant Amick with his dispatches. Some of General Blair's men had captured a small steamer a few miles below the city, loaded with forage and cotton. The next day a gun-boat arrived from below, and soon after other steamers, bringing us a little sugar and coffee, a few shoes, and quite a quantity of oats. I remained at Cade's plantation until Thursday morning, 16th of March. While here the entire army was relieved from the large number of refugees, white and black, that had joined us at Columbia and during the march. We sent down as many as we could by the steamers above mentioned; the rest, by special directions from your headquarters, were carefully organized, with a guard of men going out of service, and army wagons sufficient to carry food, the little children, and the sick. it was a singular spectacle, that immense column of every color and every possible description, that drew out of camp on Wednesday, the 15th of March, and set out for Wilmington via Clinton. There were 4,500, mostly negroes, from my wing alone.

Since General Johnston had been gradually massing all the troops that he could gather from Hood, from Hardee, and from Bragg, it was thought by the general-in-chief that he might feel himself strong enough to take the offensive, particularly if he could isolate one of our corps. Therefore we departed from the usual method of marching which left each corps to protect its own wagon train. Major-General Slocum organized four divisions, light, i. e., with only wagons sufficient to fight a battle, and sent the general wagon train under convoy of his other two divisions. I did the same in my command. General Slocum's left column was directed via Kyle's Landing and Bentonville; his wagon train on