although one of them was in
command of his own brother.

At half-past one Fort Walker was found untenable, and the work of
abandoning it was begun. The evacuation was completed in great haste,
many valuables were left behind, and not even the guns were spiked.
Still the entire garrison escaped to mainland, although the Federals
had three thousand troops who might have made them all prisoners. Not
long thereafter, Fort Beauregard also yielded to fate, and the day was
won by the Federals.

[Illustration: The Fight at Hilton Head.]

The landing of the troops was at once begun. Thirty large boats bore a
Connecticut regiment of one thousand men to the beach. Their bright,
fresh uniforms, their muskets glittering in the sun, and their
regular, swaying stride as they marched up the sandy beach to the
martial strains of the regimental band, made a striking picture.
They clambered over the ramparts, and in a few moments the stars and
stripes floated from the staff which had but lately upheld the flag of
the young Confederacy. Within the forts, all was carnage and
confusion: dismounted cannon, surrounded by the dead bodies of the
gunners, heaps of shells, and fragments of woodwork, were piled about
the parade-ground and in the trenches. The story of the terrific
bombardment was graphically told by those horrible evidences of death
and destruction. And well might the scene be a horrible one. For over
five hours, fifty shot a minute had been discharged at the forts, and
most of them did execution. When one recollects that each shot of the
great guns cost eight dollars, we get a vivid idea of the money spent
in war.

Immediately upon the capture of Hilton Head, the victors began making
it a great naval and military station. Great storehouses were built,
wharves constructed, and vast intrenchments thrown up for the defence
of the spot. The slaves, escaping from the neighboring plantations,
came in droves, begging to be allowed to work; but they received but a
cold welcome, for they were still looked upon as property, and the
officers did not wish to be charged with enticing them away from their
masters.

The news of the occupation of Hilton Head by the Northern armies
caused the greatest consternation in the cities of Charleston and
Savannah, From both places people fled into the interior, expecting an
immediate advance of the Union troops. But the armies were set to
digging, not to marching, and soon the affrighted citizens r