Amoaful
was to be left in charge of the 2d West Indians, who had now come
up. Each man received four days' rations and each regiment was to
take charge of its own provision and baggage. The advance started
at seven in the morning, Russell's regiment, Rait's battery, and
the Rifle Brigade. Then came the headquarter staff followed by the
42d and Naval Brigade. The hammocks and rations went on with the
troops. The rest of the baggage remained behind. The road differed
in nothing from that which had so long been followed. It bore
everywhere marks of the retreating enemy, in provisions and other
articles scattered about, in occasional dark stains, and in its
plants and grass trampled into the ground, six feet in breadth,
showing that the usual negro way of walking in single file had
been abandoned. The rate of progression was slow, as the country
had to be thoroughly searched by the advance. There were, too, many
streams to be crossed, each causing a delay.
At one of the villages there was a large camp, where about a thousand
men were assembled to make a stand. The defense was, however,
feeble in the extreme, and it was evident that they were greatly
demoralized by their defeat on the 1st.
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