Downing’s Civil War Diary.–Alexander G. Downing.

Saturday, 7th—This morning we found that during the night our ship was driven by the high wind upon a sand bar in the bay. Here we lay, a cold northwest wind blowing across our deck forty feet above the water. But we fared better than the boys below, for, on account of their being so sick, it was reported that their floor was difficult to stand on even after the ship had stopped. They ran a small side-wheel steamboat alongside of the ship and set a tall ladder on the wheelhouse, reaching up to our deck, and one by one we climbed down the ladder to the other boat, which hauled us to the shore. We were glad to leave that ship. Some of the boys declared that they would rather walk the entire distance than ride on any ship. We marched out about two miles from town and went into camp in a heavy pine timber. Here we have plenty of wood with which to build a good fire, as a cold rain commenced to fall this afternoon.