The remainder of the party descended the bluff to the beach or shore, and when near the landing we heard the boat returning from the island. How many trips it had made in my absence I do not know, but the number of men on shore had very perceptibly diminished. Here I halted my little army, and having witnessed the confusion among the Federals at a previous landing, I instructed my men to wait until the boat reached the shore. As it came to land we moved forward, and when nearly up with them I called for a surrender, but receiving no reply I ordered “Fire!” and our guns blazed into them. There was a general stampede of those who were able, a large number of them jumping into the river, while some ran along the shore above. All their officers who could do so had left these poor fellows to their fate some time before, except one, a gallant Irish captain of the California regiment, who had swum over to the island to try for some way to get his men over, but failing in that had swum the river back again to share the fate of his company. I think his name was O’Meara,[13] and he deserves the Medal of Honor. This brave gentleman called out, as a last resort in the wreck and confusion, “We surrender, who is in command?” Captain W. N. Berkeley replied, “General White,” and the Captain asked, “General White, what terms will you give us?” My unofficial promotions this day had been much too rapid for my scant military knowledge, and for want of a more professional answer I replied, “The terms of war, sir;” which seemed to suit the captain, for his clear voice called, “Men, General White gives us the terms of war; come out of the river and surrender,” which they did, and then the brave fellow went up the river and brought back a number who had been in hiding there. When gathering them all together, he marched them up the bluff to the plateau where he formed them in line, and handed over to our charge three hundred and twenty-five prisoners, with many arms, ammunition, etc. My untutored form of expressing terms granted may have seemed awkward to the better technically informed soldiers present, but I still think my proposition was as much to the point as that of “Stonewall” Jackson at Harpers Ferry or General Grant’s at Fort Donelson, to wit, “Unconditional surrender, sir.” In regard to this night capture, the official reports of some officers, as published, are so misleading and inaccurate that I feel obliged to call attention to them, and especially that of Lieutenant-Colonel John McGuirk, Seventeenth Mississippi, found in Vol. V., Series 1, page 362, Official Records, which I would be glad for all who may see this little story, to read it, it being too voluminous to incorporate in this.