EATTEBAS ISLAND. 



HERBERT, SIDNEY. 



365 



reached Hatteras Light at midnight, having 

 marched 28 miles. The first 10 miles were ter- 

 rible. The sim was shining upon the white 

 sand of the beach, heating the air as if it was 

 a furnace. The men had neither provisions nor 

 water. Having at first rnshed out in haste to 

 repel the enemy, and then being unable to re- 

 turn to their camp, they were prevented from 

 taking a supply. They were unused to long 

 marches ; the sand was heavy, and the soldiers 

 sank into it at every step. As the regiment 

 pushed along, man after man would stagger 

 from the ranks and fall upon the hot sand. A 

 large number of the islanders left their homes 

 through fear of the enemy. They could be 

 seen in groups, sometimes with a little cart 

 carrying their provisions, but mostly with 

 nothing, fleeing for life mothers carrying their 

 babes, fathers leading along the boys, grand- 

 fathers and grandmothers straggling from homes 

 they had left behind. Relying upon Federal 

 protection, they had been friends to the regi- 

 ment, which in an evil hour was compelled to 

 leave them. 



At Hatteras Light they were joined by Col. 

 Hawkins, with 600 men, supported by the 

 frigate Susquehanna and the gunboat Monti- 

 cello. The latter proceeded up the beach, and 

 soon found the enemy marching down with 

 bands playing and flags flaunting in the breeze. 

 The Monticello then ran within a half or three- 

 quarters of a mile of the shore and sent a 10- 

 inch shell into the enemy's front ranks, which 

 exploded with apparent destruction. They at- 

 tempted to retreat, but the gunboat kept on 

 with them, pouring in a storm of shot and 

 shell. They sought shelter in a small copse of 

 wood, but were compelled to break from cover 

 and rush in squads of hundreds across the bar- 

 ren beach, exposed to the fire of the guns. 

 This continued for three hours and a half, and 

 180 shells were thrown at the enemy. The 

 sand was covered with swords, accoutrements, 

 and clothing thrown away. Finally the Con- 

 federate gunboats came down inside, and with 

 barges the troops were taken on board under 

 the cover of night ; not, however, without 

 some loss in embarking, and serious injury to 

 one or two of the vessels by the shells thrown 

 from the Monticello. The loss of the Confed- 

 erate force was unknown, but stated by them to 

 have been one man. They made a prize of the 

 Fanny, estimated at $80,000, and a part of the 

 camp of the Indiana regiment, and took a few 

 prisoners. 



But the force on the island had occasion to 

 contend with the elements, by which' they were 

 threatened with greater destruction than by the 

 Confederate troops. On the night of the 1st 

 of November, a gale of wind commenced with 

 rain, which in the morning had reached a fear- 

 ful violence. About 3 o'clock before daybreak, 

 the waves of the ocean began to sweep over 

 the island into the sound, and at daylight these 

 two bodies of water appeared to be united. 

 Not a spot of land was to be seen. All the 



lower portion of the island where Forts Hat- 

 K-ru-; and Clark were situated was under wa- 

 ter, and all chances of escape were cut off. It 

 was not until a breaker swept across that the 

 soldiers were aware of the presence of a great 

 flood. The waters commenced to decline about 

 7 o'clock in the morning; otherwise if they 

 had continued to rise a few hours more, all 

 must have perished. Much property was de- 

 stroyed, consisting of army stores, &c. A new 

 inlet or channel was also cut between the forts 

 nearly six feet deep. 



HERBERT, SIDNEY, BAROX HERBERT OF LEA, 

 an English statesman, born in Wiltshire, Sept. 

 16, 1810, died near Wilton, England, Aug. 2, 

 1861. He was the second son of the llth Earl 

 of Pembroke by his second wife, a daughter of 

 the Russian Count WoronzofF. He was educat- 

 ed at Oriel College, Oxford, where he gradu- 

 ated with high honors as a classic in 1831. In 

 Dec. 1832 he was elected to parliament for the 

 southern division of the county of Wilts, and 

 continued to represent that county till his ele- 

 vation to the peerage in 1861. His family con- 

 nections had given him a strong leaning towards 

 the Conservatives, but he gradually approached 

 nearer to the Liberal party, and in 1841 sup- 

 ported Sir Robert Peel in his changes of the 

 commercial policy of the Government. He be- 

 came Secretary of the Admiralty in the Peel 

 Ministry, and held this post till 1845, when he 

 accepted the office of Secretary at War, with a 

 seat in the Cabinet. In 1846 he explained to 

 the House of Commons the views of the Gov- 

 ernment in relation to the repeal of the corn 

 laws, and the introduction of the principles of 

 free trade. During the premierships of Lord 

 John Russell and Earl Derby, Mr. Herbert re- 

 mained in opposition, but on the accession of 

 Lord Aberdeen to power, in Dec. 1852, having 

 been sworn a privy-councillor, he again accept- 

 ed the portfolio of Secretary at War. In 1855 

 he resigned on a partial reconstruction of the 

 Cabinet, and for a few weeks under the admin- 

 istration of Lord Palraerston held the Secreta- 

 ryship of the Colonies. On the appointment 

 by the House of Commons of a committee of 

 inquiry into the state of the army before Se- 

 bastopol, he retired from the Government, re- 

 garding the raising of that committee as imply- 

 ing a censure on the Aberdeen Cabinet, though 

 he had been very earnest in that Cabinet in his 

 efforts to promote reform in the management 

 of the army. He remained out of office till 

 1859, when Lord Palmerston urged his accept- 

 ance of his former post of Secretary at War, 

 which he retained till his death, which was 

 said to have been caused by excessive labor. 

 He was raised to the peerage as Baron Herbert 

 of Lea early in 1861. He was an able and ele- 

 gant writer, and his contributions to the re- 

 views on State questions were models of politi- 

 cal writing. In private life he was distin- 

 guished for his abundant charities and his 

 hearty zeal in the organization and promotion 

 of schemes of social benevolence and general 



