TERRY." Lieutenant-Colonel C.B.Comstock, aide-de-camp (now brevet brigadier-general), who accompanied the former expedition, was assigned, in orders, as chief-engineer to this.
It will be seen that these instructions did not differ materially from those given for the first expedition, and that in neither instance was there an order to assault Fort Fisher.

This was a matter left entirely to the discretion of the commanding officer.
The expedition sailed from Fort Monroe on the morning of the 6th, arriving at the rendezvous, off Beaufort, on the 8th, where, owing to the difficulties of the weather, it lay until the morning of the 12th, when it got under way and reached its destination that evening.

Under cover of the fleet, the disembarkation of the troops commenced on the morning of the 13th, and by three o'clock P.M.was completed without loss.

On the 14th a reconnoissance was pushed to within five hundred yards of Fort Fisher, and a small advance work taken possession of and turned into a defensive line against any attempt that might be made from the fort.

This reconnoissance disclosed the fact that the front of the work had been seriously injured by the navy fire.