The Calvin Shedd Papers > Background > Leaving St. Augustine
Leaving St. Augustine
| Date(s) of Letter(s) | Little, Henry F. W.
The Seventh Regiment New Hampshire Volunteers in the War of the Rebellion. Concord,
New Hampshire: The Seventh New Hampshire Veteran Association, 1896.
|
| April 26, 1863 |
"On the
evening of the 5th [May, 1863], the steamer Boston, came in with orders for the
regiment to leave for Fernandina, the transfer being made to relieve the Seventh Conn.
Volunteers; Col. Joseph R. Hawley, commanding that regiment, was ordered to relieve our
regiment at St. Augustine, and on the morning of the 7th, companies A, C, D, E, and G,
under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Abbott, bade farewell to the quaint old city and its
people, where they had passed many happy hours on garrison duty, and embarked on the
steamer Boston, to be followed in a few days by the remainder of the regiment.
We regretted exceedingly to leave St. Augustine, for we had found its climate very
agreeable, and our accommodations had been much better than could be furnished to troops
in garrison, even in time of peace. The health of our regiment had steadily improved
under the beneficial effects of the salubrious climate, and every man of our regiment will
ever hold in the most pleasant remembrance the many happy hours passed at old St.
Augustine, Fla." (Little, pp. 96-97) The Seventh New Hampshire Volunteers were stationed in Fernandina, Florida, for just two months, before they were ordered to Hilton Head, South Carolina. |