LIEUTENANT: At 8.30 o'clock on the morning of February 20, 1864, the
Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Volunteers left Barber's with its colonel,
lieutenant-colonel, 13 line officers, and about 480 enlisted men, the rest of
the regiment having been detailed for other duty. It marched in charge of
wagon train to Olustee, at which place the train was stopped and the regiment
moved forward at the double-quick about 2 miles, where it was formed in line
between the railroad and dirt road, under a sharp fire from the enemy. In this
formation it advanced some 200 yards through a swamp, driving the enemy from
some guns, and checking the advance of a column of the enemy's infantry. After
firing about 20,000 cartridges, the melt of the regiment were ordered to
retreat by Col. James Montgomery, commanding brigade. A new line was formed on
the right of the dirt road, where the regiment staid till after dark, when it
was ordered, through Colonel Barton, to march back to Barber's, where it
arrived one hour after midnight.
Their loss in officers was 3 wounded--Capt. R. H. L. Jewett, First Lieut. H.
W. Littlefield, and First Lieut. E.G. Tomlinson--in enlisted men, killed, 13;
wounded, 63; missing, 8; total, 87.
The State color three times fell and each time was caught up by another
corporal. Sergt. Stephen A. Swails, acting sergeant-major, deserves special
praise for his coolness, bravery, and efficiency during the action; he
received a severe but not mortal wound in the head.
I have the honor to be, very respectfully, your obedient servant,