This brook could easily be held against a small force, but could at any time and at almost any point be readily crossed by a large one.

North of the town the land rose a little, between the river and the sources of the brook, and then sank to a plain, which had been partially cleared by a previous garrison.

For so small a force as ours, however, this clearing must be extended nearer to the town; otherwise our lines would be too long for our numbers.
This deficiency in numbers at once became a source of serious anxiety.
While planning the expedition, it had seemed so important to get the men a foothold in Florida that I was willing to risk everything for it.
But this important post once in our possession, it began to show some analogies to the proverbial elephant in the lottery.

To hold it permanently with nine hundred men was not, perhaps, impossible, with the aid of a gunboat (I had left many of my own regiment sick and on duty in Beaufort, and Colonel Montgomery had as yet less than one hundred and fifty); but to hold it, and also to make forays up the river, certainly required a larger number.

We came in part to recruit, but had found scarcely an able-bodied negro in the city; all had been removed farther up, and we must certainly contrive to follow them.