Newton County GaArchives News.....MR. MOSS'S DIARY AS KEPT DURING SIXTIES July 27 1916 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/ga/gafiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Phyllis Thompson mandpthompson@bellsouth.net February 1, 2004, 11:44 pm The Covington News "This Is As I Saw It. It May Be Different As Others Saw It" He Says of 3d Regiment, Company H. BEGINNING WITH THE YEAR 1861 March, 1862 1.....Three vessels came up within one mile of city and went back to North Carolina waters. Commenced to move to Newland to drill. 2.....This entry is unreadable. 3.....No drilling at the usual hour, 9- 1/2 o'clock. Pickets commenced firing signals. Company H turned out and went to city. The alarm was caused by the Yankees shooting off their guns. We returned back muddy and tired. 4.....Company H went on duty at Elizabeth City. New orders were issued by Major LEE that the guard stand four hours at a time. Some steamer ran up close to the wharf and retired without firing a gun, but kept their guns pointing at us all the time, E. J. Horton telling them to fire away. He was on guard on the wharf. 5.....Col. WRIGHT issued to the citizens orders for all to leave city by the ? th of the month. We heard that a Federal boat had gone ashore on fire, but turned out false. 6.....At 3 o'clock the long roll was beat; the pickets had fired two rounds of signals. Company H turned out and went to Knobs Creek Bridge one mile from Elizabeth City. The Yanks had come out in four yawl boats full of men and fired a few rounds and retreated back to their vessels, doing no harm , only frightening the women and children. 7.....Considerable snow storms, covering the ground three inches. 8.....Company H was on picket duty at Elizabeth City. Lieutenant LUSKIE took a squad of men and burned the wharf at Cobb's point in the evening, putting plenty of tar on before firing. It burned freely. 9.....Six steamers came up to Cobb's point and two companies of the Third Regiment moved to Elizabeth City, the Governor's Guards and Clark Rifles. Heavy firing in the direction of Norfolk. The Merrimac sank the Cumberland, 104 gun ship, and burned the Congress, and disabled the Minnesota,and silenced the batteries at Newport News. The distance from Elizabeth City was 45 miles and we heard them plain where we were. 10....Another alarm, caused by the Yanks shelling the Camden shore. We got the news of the Merrimac success in the evening. 11....On guard at Signal Post, me and Corporal MOORE and NIX. Some of the boys came to us that had been left at Portsmouth. 12....About day two, guns were fired in the direction of Picket Post at Stinking Gut. At night there was another alarm, caused by the guard's shooting a negro. This day was noted for drunkenness and general spree over at Camden Court house. A squad had been sent over there to look out for Yanks and they got tight and some fell in the river, but one had presence of mind. 13....Company H went to Elizabeth City again. T. J. HINEY was arrested and put under guard by order of Major LEE. I got two letters from home. 14....Some artillery shooting below Elizabeth City. 15....THOMAS MABRAY, Corporal, and me and F. M. MORRIS were on guard at the upper bridge on Knobbs Creek. Rain and wind in the first part of the night, then cleared away and the moon shone. The owls made the night lively. We had a stove to put fire in, but were not allowed a light. I saw a black bear come up on the bridge while I was on guard. I heard two caps burst while on guard on the other side of bridge but didn't find out what it meant. I went with a man to his fish warren the next morning down the creek. He got 77 salmon out of it. I got 12 good ones from him for 25 cents. Had high tide in the night; could hear varmints splashing around. 16....The Rev. BOB LESTER preached at our camps at Provience. 17....Company H made up 36 dollars and bought the preacher a Bible and had his name engraved on the clasp and presented to him from Company H. 18....A regular day in the city for Company H. The Yanks ran their boats up close to the wharf but, would not shoot while we were on guard. Our preacher viewed them with his rifle in hand and said he wished they would shoot. 19....Big game of town ball, and rained in the evening. Company H was ordered to put a signal sentinel in the road near the church. 20, 21....Spent the day playing baseball. 22....JAMES DELANEY, JOHN EVANS, JOHN LEVY, WM. GRAVES, GEORGE LEVY, W. J. SMITH and myself went to Sawyer's Landing and me and DELANEY got in a regular dug out and beat anything in the crowd traveling; EVANS and SMITH in a clinker built yawl; GEORGE and JOHN and GRAVES in another boat. We raced to Camden Court House after eggs and whiskey, mostly whiskey. There we found a whipping post and SMITH, he wanted to know how it operated,and EVANS showed him in the thing and left him for the grocery. But EVANS went back and let him out, after SMITH'S agreement to set 'em up. We got plenty of eggs and whiskey. We had to get a North Carolina tobacco wagonner to buy it for us, there was an embargo laid on the soldiers, so they could not get any themselves. We got back to camp only tolerable crooked. To Be Continued This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/gafiles/ File size: 5.5 Kb