On March 31st an express was sent to Scott for information
and for the purpose of obtaining forage. A signal gun was fired on the
following morning after their arrival, but not answered.
The right wing having assembled at Fort Drane, General Scott ordered
General Clinch to put his troops in motion on March 25th and take
position on the Ouithlacoochee; but a heavy rain prevented the
movement until the morning of March 26th. General Clinch sent forward
two flatboats drawn on wagons to await the arrival of the troops at
the river. The movement was begun by Major Douglass with his mounted
Georgians. The order of march was in three columns: the center, with
the baggage train, headed by General Clinch, the right consisting of
the Louisiana volunteers, under command of Colonel Persifor F. Smith,
joined the line at Camp Smith, and the left, commanded by Colonel
Bankhert, joined by Lieutenant Colonel William S. Foster's battalion
of United States troops at Camp Twiggs, General Scott and staff with
an escort of dragoons taking position in the center. Colonel Gadsden
was appointed quartermaster general for Florida, and acting inspector
general. When nine miles from Fort Drane information reached the army
that some volunteers left in charge of a broken-down team had been
attacked by the Indians and one man killed. On March 28th the column
reached the Ouithlacoochee and encamped near Fort Izard. The river
bank was occupied by sharpshooters and two pieces of artillery to
protect the crossing. Foster Blodget, of the Richmond Blues of
Augusta, Ga., swam the river and attached a rope to a tree on the
opposite shore and planted the flag of his command. The whole command
was passed over, but the rear division was fired upon by the Indians,
who were quickly repulsed by the six-pounders. On the morning of March
30th a party of Indians was encountered, charged upon, and routed, and
the same party were next day met and driven into the swamp. The column
proceeded on its march and arrived at Tampa Bay on April 5th. They
here learned that Colonel Lindsay had preceded them one day, being
obliged to return for necessary subsistence.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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