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The Steamboat "State of Maine"
On the afternoon of the 28th of October, we were notified to prepare to leave Fort La Fayette on the following morning. We were then locked up in the various casemates and batteries for the rest of that day. The next morning our baggage was sent out to the wharf, we being still kept in close confinement, and a little after mid-day our baggage was brought back, and we were informed that the boat would not be ready that day. We were kept under lock and key all that day, and only permitted to go out to dinner. There was no conceivable reason for this last act of insolent harshness. On the morning of the 30th, we left the Fort on a small steamer, with a file of soldiers, and were carried up to Fort Columbus, on Governor's Island, and alongside of the steamer "State of Maine," which was lying at the wharf. She was a very ordinary looking river steamer, very low in the water, and very dirty. Her upper forward deck was covered with soldiers. She had been engaged in transporting soldiers and horses, and an experienced sea captain of our party, who managed to evade the sentinels and go over the vessel, informed me that between decks forward of the shaft, she was perfectly filthy. There were about one hundred and ten of us, and we were sent on board of the " State of Maine," and directed to pass into the . upper after cabin. This cabin was long and dark, and in it there were about twenty-two or three small state rooms, each containing two berths. It opened, aft, upon a covered deck, which7
