FORT MONROE—AND THE OLD HYGEIA HOTEL, SINCE TORN DOWN. FROM A LITHOGRAPH.

OPERATIONS OF 1861 ABOUT FORT MONROE.

BY JOSEPH B. CARR, BREVET MAJOR-GENERAL, U. S. V.

N the 24th of May, 1861, I arrived at Fort Monroe, with my regiment,

' * the 2d New York Volunteers. Two days before Major-General B. F.Butler had arrived and assumed command of the department. Previous toour arrival the fort contained, besides the regular garrison of four com-panies of artillery, the 4th Massachusetts Volunteers, a regiment of “ three-months” men. We went into camp just over the border of Mill Creek, astream dividing the fort from Virginia, and pitched our tents on a plowedfield near a mansion known as the Segar House. This camp was first calledCamp Troy, and, later, Camp Hamilton. Pickets were placed immediatelyon our arrival, and at once began operations by the capture of nine Confed-erate officers — one of them a surgeon. The prisoners were brought beforeGeneral Butler, confessed to being in arms under the Confederacy, andstated that, when captured, they were on their way to join their regi-ments after a day spent in looking after their homes, located in our neigh-borhood. General Butler saw fit to release them unconditionally.

Within a few days of our arrival in camp we were ordered to pi’oceed toHampton Village, where we expected to encounter Confederates and acquireour first knowledge of warfare. In this we were disappointed; the Confeder-ates had departed, having burned the bridge at Hampton. Save for the evi-dent approach of war, that portion of the peninsula occupied by Union troopsin 1861 seemed a paradise. Great fields of corn and wheat grew on the sunnyplain, and the neighboring farms teemed with stock of all kinds. But thevillas and mansions of the inhabitants were deserted and uncared for; fami-lies were scattered, industries stopped, and sources of income abandoned ordestroyed. The lower portion of the peninsula, to within a few miles of theBethels, was occupied by General Butler’s troops. Within the limits of hiscommand General Butler sought to maintain strict discipline, and to thatend issued various orders relating to the rights and duties of his command,

144