April 28, 1863, The Charleston Mercury
From a gentleman of St. Augustine, Florida, who, with his family, was taken to Beaufort by the Yankees, the Savannah Republican gathers the following information of the situation of affairs in Beaufort up to last Saturday:
There are at Beaufort three regiments of whites and two of blacks, all of which, were encamped near the town. There are no gunboats at the town or nearer than Hilton Head. The iron-clads are still at the latter place undergoing repairs. The Yankees manifest great disappointment at the result at Charleston, and severe, in their bitterness, that the place shall yet be taken, even at the cost of their last man. The privates of the army, though, are thoroughly disgusted with the war and anxious to see it closed on any terms. Our informant heard them speaking freely of their loss on the iron-clads, which they said was very heavy. The negros make but trifling soldiers; they unvariably run in a fight and often shoot each other at the posts through awkwardness or mistake. At Jacksonville, after the first fire they came running back into the town at a long trot, and were half frightened out of their wits. Some twenty of them were killed in the engagement with Finegan’s men.
Beaufort now stands on a common, all the fences and out-door improvements having been destroyed together with the ornamental growth of the place. It is kept quite clean and in a wholesome condition. The houses are occupied by both whites and blacks, many of the latter being installed in the stately halls, once the seat of fashion and refinement.