JULY 4. Saturday. The sun rose bright and clear to usher in this most eventful day to the American people, but a sad accident happened early in the morning, which served to mar in no slight degree our rejoicing. A shell which had been lying around the quarters for two weeks with the cap taken off and most of the powder knocked out, and some of the time filled with water, was put in a post fire with the intention of scaring a certain shaky individual, and had been forgotten. Dreggs of Co. E lit it and watched the post fire burn for a while and then he picked it up and carried it and threw it over into the quarters. It no sooner touched the ground than it burst, and as good luck would have it, only one man was hurt. Brown, of Co. E, a fine fellow and a good soldier, was hit in the side, it going through and tearing off part of the lung. He lived but a short time. At 10 o’clock terms were concluded. The Rebs are to be paroled and the officers are to retain their side arms and personal property. Between 10 and 11 o’clock the Rebs marched outside and stacked their arms, after which they returned to camp. At 2 o’clock the troops on the left began marching in. At 3 we formed, and after marching a while in the broiling sun and suffocating dust, our division moved in and up to the courthouse. We passed a large number of Confeds. They are as good a looking set of Reb. troops as we have seen. Most of them are glad they have surrendered. Only a few look sober and sullen. They had holes dug into the side hill to protect them from our shells. They look as if it were a sorry 4th of July for them. Their burial grounds in the different hollows testify to the number they have had killed. The ground back of their camps is badly torn up by our mortars, the trees are all marked up, and the limbs cut off by our shot and shell. Minnie balls, whole shells and pieces, and solid shot cover the ground. They have defended the place bravely and I say “All honor to them.” We marched around the courthouse, stacked arms, and lay there about three hours. Citizens had nice little caves dug into the banks where they took their families and lived during the siege. The mortars have nearly destroyed the town. Large buildings were torn to pieces, each by a single shell. Some went straight through, and some exploded inside and tore them. A few citizens were killed. Citizens are moving back to their ruined dwellings. They look down-hearted and sad, I suppose that in their hearts they wish that the ordinance of secession had never been passed. Two shells struck the courthouse. One took a pillar from the observatory and just nicked the roof as it descended. The other passed down the roof, burst, and killed eighteen. Some of the boys, together with several Confeds, broke into a store and stole a large quantity of tobacco and some other things before the guard came around. A number of gaily dressed Confed officers passed us, among them being Col. Montgomery, chief of Pemberton’s staff.