1862 February 8

[from the diary of Eugene M. Cox,of the Albemarle Border Guard]

Feb 8 Our company & others [?]
were taken from "Nag's
Head" this morning to
the island to reenforce
our forces as an attack
by land was expected
We got to & landed on
the Island by 12 noon, but
too late to do any good
for our forces had been
whipped & were in full
retreat having been
hotly engaged all the
morning against fear-
ful odds--To our great
dismay we found our-
selves all prisoners
There being no means
of escape from the
island & we complete
ly over powered
So for the first time
in our lives we had
to stack arms & surren-
der as prisoners of war

MSS 2223