Ufni-nell Uniuetaity ffiibravy Sltliaca, New fork THE JAMES VERNER SCAIFE COLLECTION CIVIL WAR Literature THE GIFT OF JAMES VERNER SCAIFE CLASS OF 1869 1919 . .». — Qows when this volume was taken. To renew this book copy the call No. and give to the librarian. RULES All Books subject to Recall All borrowers must regis- ter in the library to 'borrow books for home use. All books must be re- turned at end of college year for inspection and repairs. Limited books must be r»> turned within thef our weak limit and not renewed. Students must return all books before leaving town. Officers should arrange for the return bf books wanted during their absence from town. Volumes of periodical! and of pamphlets are hdd in the library as much ai possible. For special pur- poses they are given out for a limited time. Borrowers should not uae their library privileges for the benefit of other personi. Books of special value and gift books, when the giver wishes it, are not allowed to circulate. Readers are asked to fa- port all cases of booln marked or mutilated. Do not deface books by marks and writing. CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 3 1924 092 908 536 Cornell University Library The original of tliis book is in tlie Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924092908536 H ^ HISTORIES SEVERAL REGIMENTS AND BATTALIONS NORTH CAROLINA GREAT WAR l86l-'65. WRITTEN BY MEMBERS OF THE RESPECTIVE COMMANDS. EDITED BY WALTER CLARK, (Lieut. -Colonel Seventieth Regiment N. C. T.)- VOL. PUBLISHED BY THE STATE. RALEIGH: E. M. UzzELL, Printer and Binder. 1901. l-L CONTENTS. PAGE. Preface v Generals from North Carolina, by the Editor xi Regiments and Brigades, by the Editor xiii Naval Ofpiobhs from North Carolina, by the Editor xiv Organization — • Adjutant-General's Department, by Major A. Gordon 3 Quartermaster-General's Department, by Major A. Gordon— 23 Subsistence Department, by Major A. Gordon 37 Ordnance Department, by Major A. Gordon 39 Pay Department, by Major A. Gordon 45 Board op Claims, by Major A. Gordon 45 Adjutant-General's Department, by Major W, A. Graham 50 Bethel Regiment, by Major E. J. Hale 69 First Regiment, by Colonel H. A. Brown 135 Second Regiment, by Captain Matt. Manly 157 Third Regiment, by Captains John Cowan and J. I. Metis 177 Third Regiment, by Colonel W. L. DeRosset 215 Fourth Regiment, by Colonel E. A. Osborne 229 Fifth Regiment, by Maj. J, C. MacRae and Sergt.-maj. C. M. Busbee, 281 Sixth Regiment, by Captain Neill W. Ray 293 Sixth Regiment, by Major A. C. Avery 337 Seventh Regiment, by Captain J. S. Harris 361 Eighth Regiment, by Drummer H. T. J. Ludwig 387 Ninth Regiment (First Oav.), by General Riifus Barringer 417 Ninth Regiment (First Cav.), by Colonel W. H. Cheek 445, 775 Tenth Regiment (First Art.), Companies B, F, G, H, K (Heavy Batteries), by Colonel S. B. Pool 489 Tenth Regiment (same Companies), by Lieutenant J. W. Sanders — 499 Tenth Regiment, Company C (Light Battery), by Captain A. B. Williams 537 Tenth Regiment, Light Batteries A, D, F and I, by Captain J. A. Ramsay j 551 Eleventh Regiment, by Col. W. J. Martin and Capt. E. R. Outlaw, 583 Twelfth Regiment, by Lieutenant W. A. Montgomery 605 Thirteenth Regiment, by Captain R. S. Williams 653 Thirteenth Regiment, by Adjutant N. S. Smith 689 Thirteenth Regiment, by T. L. Rawley 701 Fourteenth Regiment, by Colonel R. T. Bennett 705 Fifteenth Regiment, by Lieutenant H. C. Kearney 733 Sixteenth Regiment, by Lieutenant B. H. Cathey 751 Sixteenth Regiment, by Captain L. Harrill 771 PREFACE. More than two thousand years ago Pericles, speaking of his countrymen who had fallen in a great war, said: "In all time to come, whenever there shall be speech of great deeds they shall be had in remembrance." More truly than to the Athenian soldiery can these memorable words be applied to those North Carolinians who for four long years carried the fortunes of the Confederacy upon the points of their bayonets. With a voting population at the outbreak of the war of less than 115,000, North Carolina furnished to the Confederate cause, as appears from Major Gordon's article herein, 127,000 troops, or more than one-fifth of the men who marched beneath the South- ern Cross, in addition to the Militia and Home Guards who ren- dered useful, though short, tours of duty, under State au- thority. In the first battle of the war, at Bethel, North Caro- lina was at the front and the first man killed in battle was Wyatt from Edgecombe. When the great tragedy was closing at Appo- mattox it was the men of Cox's North Carolina Brigade, of Grimes' Division, who fired the last volley at the foe. The two great pivotal battles of the war were Gettysburg in the East and Chickamauga in the West. Upon them turned the issue of the great struggle, and in both the men who fell farthest to the front, nearest to the muzzles of the enemy's guns, were from North Carolina regiments. This is demonstrated not only by the nar- ratives of eye-witnesses in these volumes but by the monuments which the Federal Government has erected on those great battle- fields to indicate the "high-water mark" to which the tide of Southern success rose, and from which, after those days of historic struggle, it painfully and slowly but surely ebbed away. Not, therefore, in boast, but in sober historic truth, on the cover of these volumes, has been inscribed the lines which tell the story of North Carolina's fidelity to duty: VI Preface. . "First at Bethel. Farthest to the Front at Gettysburg and Chickamatjga. Last at Appomattox." It is to tell the plain, unvarnished story of the men at the front that these sketches have been written by those who partici- pated therein, and by the authority and at the expense of the State they are now printed in order to hand down to posterity an authentic account of what the soldiery of this State suffered and did in the discharge of their duty. It was inscribed upon the stones piled above the Spartan dead who died at Thermopylae: "Stranger, go tell it in Lacedemon that we lie here in obedience to her command." North Carolina can never forget that in obedience to her command more than 40,000 of her bravest, best and brightest young men fill soldiers' graves from "the farthest north" at Gettysburg to that far Southern shore " Where the mightiest river runs, mingling with their fame forever." These dead have not died in vain. The cause of Southern Independence for which they fell has passed forever from among men. Not an advocate remains. But as long as valor shall move the hearts of men, as long as the patient endurance of hardship, and fatigue, and danger in the discharge of duty shall touch us, as long as the sacrifice of life for the good of one's country shall seem noble and grand, so long shall the memory of the deeds recorded in the plain, sober narratives in these volumes, written by men whose gallantry is surpassed only by their modesty, and who were more eager to handle the sword than to use the pen, be preserved and cherished by their coun- trymen. The story of these volumes is briefly told. At the meeting of the State Confederate Veterans Association at Raleigh, N. C, in October, 1894, on motion of Judge A. C. Avery, seconded by F. H. Busbee, Esq., it was "Resolved, That a history of each regiment and organization from North Carolina which served in the Confederate Army Preface. vii shall be prepared by a member thereof, and that Judge Walter Clark be requested to select the historians from each command and to supervise and edit the work; and further, that the Gen- eral Assembly be memorialized to have these sketches printed at the expense of the State." On motion of Captain W. H. Day, Judge A. C. Avery, Gen- eral Robert F. Hoke and Lieutenant-Colonel Wharton J. Green were appointed a committee to present this memorial and pro- cure the passage of the legislation desired. Already at that date (1894) nearly thirty years had passed since the close of hostilities and the steady advance of the years had driven gaps in our ranks wider than those made by the leaden hail of battle. Suitable men for the work were difficult to find for many of the regiments, and when found they often pleaded the press of business, loss of memory and increasing infirmities. But by persistent effort competent historians were secured for each regiment, except the 73d, 74th, 76th, 77th and 78th. (which being Senior Reserves, over forty-five years of age during the war, had few survivors left), and some of the battalions. As to the Senior Reserves, the only resource was to utilize some sketches heretofore written. But here another difficulty arose. Among those who promised to write the story of their regiments some died and others procras- tinated. The latter class was large by reason of the failure of the General Assemblies of 1896 and 1897 to assume the publication by the State. This, however, was done by the General Assembly of 1899, the bill being introduced and eloquently championed by Hon. H. Clay Wall, member from Richmond county and historian of the Twenty-third Regiment. Upon the passage of the act the vacancies caused by death or declination were filled up and the remaining sketches (with a few exceptions) being in hand by the spring of 1900, and the others promised, publication was begun. The printing was, for certain causes, however, so much delayed that the General Assembly of 1901 passed an act to expedite the completion of the work, which is now guaranteed to be finished during the current year. VIII Preface. The work of the several historians and of the Editor has of course been one of love and without pecuniary compensation. We would that our labors could have been worthier of the sub- ject and of our noble comrades living and dead. The State assumed the cost of publication and the work is its property, as the deeds it commemorates are the noblest inheritance of its people and their sure gage of fame. It was thought that it would add vividness to these pen-and- ink sketches of their deeds to give engravings of as many of the actors in those stirring times as could be readily obtainable. The selection of these was left, of course, to the several regimental historians. No line was drawn at rank. The only restriction has been that each picture shall have been taken "during the war or soon thereafter" — the object being to present the men as they then looked — and that the subject made an honorable record in the Great War. Major C. L. Patton, a Southerner residing in New York City and the head of a great publishing house, kindly and without remuneration undertook the supervision of the engravings and their proper grouping to go with the histo- ries of their respective commands. In this way it is believed that the interest of the work has been greatly enhanced and that this will grow as the years diminish the number of survivors. Many of their descendants, perchance, will look back as a patent of nobility to the men whose names or whose features are pre- served in these volumes. The cost of the engravings has heen defrayed by the relatives or friends of the parties. A few maps have been also added to illustrate the text. The requirement that the history of each command should be written by a member thereof was to insure authenticity. But as by reason of wounds or other temporary absence few men were every day of the four years present with their commands, and the lapse of time might cause errors of memory, the several historians were requested to refresh their memories by conversation and cor- respondence with their surviving comrades, and they also had access to the publication by the Government of the invaluable series of "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Preface. ix Armies." In addition, the sketch of each regiment as sent in was published in the newspaper of largest circulation in the section in which the regiment was principally raised, and sur- vivors were requested to note errors and omissions and to com- municate them to the writer of the regimental history. This was a heavy tax upon the columns of the press, but with the patriotism which has always characterized the editors of North Carolina this service was cheerfully and freely rendered without charge or compensation. The Confederate Veterans of North Carolina are greatly indebted for this great service in rendering onr histories more full and accurate to the Raleigh News and Observer and Morning Post, the Wilmington Messen- ger and Star, the Charlotte Observer, the Fayetteville Observer, the New Bern Journal, the Asheville Citizen, the Wayuesville Courier, and perhaps others. During the compilation of these sketches we have, up to this date, lost no less than nine of the writers of these sketches by death. Captain John Cowan, TJiird North Carolina; Captain Neill W. Ray, Sixth North Carolina; Professor H. T. J. Lud- wig. Eighth North Carolina; General Rufus Barringer, Ninth North Carolina ; Colonel Stephen D. Pool, Tenth North Caro- lina; Colonel W. J. Martin, Eleventh North Carolina; Sergeant H. C. Wall, Twenty-third North Carolina; General Robert B. Vance, Twenty-ninth North Carolina; Captain M. V. Moore, Sixth-fifth North Carolina, and there were others who died before completing their sketches and for whom substitutes were had. If errors or omissions of importance are discovered by any of our comrades as these volumes successively issue from the press, they are requested to promptly communicate the needed correc- tion to the historian of the regiment concerned, that proper amendment maj' be made among the Errata in the last volume. The most scrupulous and exact accuracy is earnestly desired in these volumes. North Carolina has grandly known how to make history. She has till now always left it to others to write it. Hence she has X Preface. never had full justice done the memory of her sons. With these volumes the reproach is taken away. Herein the historian will find authentic, reliable material, compiled by the gallant men who saw the deeds they narrate. From these volumes some yet unborn Thucydides or Macaulay of the future may draw some of his material for that history which shall transmit to all time the story of this most memorable struggle, and the historians in these pages shall have thus contributed their share in per- petuating the fame of their State and of their comrades to the most distant times. Walter Clark. Raleigh, N. C, 26 April, 1901. GENERALS FROM NORTH CAROLINA. By WALTER CLARK, LiEUT.-Coi,. Seventieth N. C. T. From General Ainsworth, Chief of the Eecord and Pension OflBce at Washington, in whose custody are the "Archives of the War Depart- ment of the Confederate States," I have procured the following certified list of the Generals appointed from North Carolina, with the date of com- mission of the highest rank attained by each, and graded accordingly to seniority of commission: LIEUTENANT-GENERALS. ^^ame. Bate of Rank. 1. Thbophilus H. Holmes 10 October, 1862 2. *Daniel H. Hill (not sent to Senate) 11 July, 1863 MAJOE-GBNEBALS. 1. W. H. C. Whiting (killed in battle) 28 February, 1863 2. BoBEKT Ransom, Jr 26 May, 1863 3. William D. Pender (killed in battle) 27 May, 1863 4. Robert F. Hoke 20 April, 1864 5. tSiEPHEN D. Ramsbue (killed in battle) 1 June, 1864 6. Bryan Grimes 15 February, 1865 brigadier-generals. 1. Richard C. Gatlin 8 July, 1861 2. L. O'B. Branch (killed in battle) 16 November, 1861 3. J. Johnston Pettigrew (killed in battle) 26 February, 1862 4. James G. Martin 15 May, 1862 5. Thomas L. Clingman '---17 May, 1862 6. George B. Anderson (killed in battle) 9 June, 1862 7. Junius Daniel (killed in battle) 1 September, 1862 8. James H. Lane 1 November, 1862 9. John R. Cooke 1 November, 1862 10. Robert B. Vance 1 March, 1863 11. Alfred M. Scales 13 June, 1863 12. Matthew W. Ransom 13 June, 1863 13. Lawrence S. Baker 23 July, 1863 14. William W. Kirkland 29 August, 1863 15. Robert D. Johnston 1 September, 1863 16. Jambs B. Gordon (killed in battle) 28 September, 1863 17. tWiLLiAM R. Coz (temporary) 31 May, 1864 XII Generals from North Carolina. 18. tTHOMAS F. Toon (temporary) 31 May, 1864' 19. tW. Gaston Lewis (temporary) 31 May, 1864 20. RuFus Baheinger IJune, 1864 21. fJoHN D. Bakey (temporary) _. ,3 August, 1864 22. Aechibald C. Godwin (killed in battle) 5 August, 1864 23. William MacRae 4 November, 1864 24. CoLLETT Leventhoepe 3 February, 1865 25. William P. Roeeets 21 February, 1865 This is a full list of the Generals appointed from North Carolina. There were several other Generals who were born in North Carolina but who went into the service from other States of which they had become citizens and which justly claim them, as Generals Braxton Bragg, Cad- mus M. Wilcox, Jeremy F. Gilmer, Gabriel J. Rains, Felix ZollicOfFer, Ben. McCullough, and possibly others. On the other hand. General D. H. Hill, born in South Carolina, had long been a citizen of this State, and General W. H. C. Whiting, born in Mississippi, and General John R. Cooke, of Missouri, threw in their lot with us and were appointed from this State and commanded North Carolina troops the whole war. General James Conner, of South Carolina, and General Alfred Iverson for a whilecommanded North Carolina brigades, but they were appointed from their respective States and do not figure properly in a list of Gen- rals from North Carolina. It is worthy of note that one-half of the Major-Generals and one in four of the Brigadier-Generals from this State were killed in battle or died of wounds during the war. The parole lists at Appomattox were signed by Bryan Grimes, Major General, and by James H. Lane, John R. Cooke, Matt. W. Ransom, William R. Cox, William MaoRae and William P. Roberts as Brigadier Generals. " Official Records of Union and Confederate Armies, Vol. 95, pp. 1S77-1S79." The parole lists at surrender of Johnston's army were signed by Daniel H. Hill and Robert F. Hoke as Major-Generals, and Thomas L. Clingman, W. W. Kirkland and Lawrence S. Baker, Briga- dier-Generals. " Official Records of Union and Confederate Armies, Vol. *Por some unexplained reason, President Davis did not send in General Hill's appoint- ment as LieatenantGenerat to the Senate and he was never confirmed as such by'that body, though at the President's request and by virtue of the President's appointment he served in that capacity. As LieatenantGeneral he commanded a corps in the Army of the West at Chicbamauga in 1863. Later he resljmed his rank of Major-Genera!. fMajor-General Ramseur was a temporary Major-General, and Brigadiei'-Generals Cox, Toon, Lewis and Barry were temporary Brigadier-Generals. These temporary appoint- ments were peculiar to the Confederate army. They were made to a command whose head was absent in prison or wounded, upon whose return It was contemplated that the temporary appointee would go baoli to his previous rank, though while occupying Iiis temporary grade he had the same rank and authority as if permanently appointed. In point of fact, each of such appointees held his rank to the close save General Barry," who went back to the colonelcy ot the Eighteenth Eegiment, being disabled by wounds' very soon after his appointment, whereupon General Conner was temporarily placed in com- mand of the brigade until the return of General Lane, the permanent Brigadier who had been absent wounded. ' Generals from NoiiTH Carolina. xiii 98, pp. 1061-1066." The other general officers from North Carolina above named were at the time of the above surrenders either dead, or ■wounded, prisoners or on detached service. REGIMENTS AND BRIGADES. North Carolina furnished seventy-eight full regiments and some twenty battalions to the Confederacy, besides a few scattering companies and a large number of individuals who served in commands from other States, of both which latter we have no data recorded in these volumes. The composition of brigades was so often changed that it was found useless to record it here. Of the regiments the Tenth, Thirty-sixth and For- tieth were artillery, and the Ninth, Nineteenth, Forty-flrst, Fifty-ninth, Sixty-third, Sixty-fifth and Seventy-fifth were cavalry regiments. Most of the battalions were artillery or cavalry. The Seventieth, Seventy-first and Seventy-second Regiments and three battalions were Junior Reserves — boys seventeen years of age, who, however, did good service at the battles of Southwest Creek and Benton- ville, and a portion of them at the bombardments of Wilmington and of Fort Branch on the Roanoke, and in other minor actions. They were brigaded and were commanded first by Colonel F. S. Armistead, then by Colonel Nethercutt and later by General L. S. Baker, and composed one of the brigades of Hoke's Division. They also aided at Belfield, Va., to repulse the enemy's advance southward. The Seventy-third, Seventy-fourth, Seventy-sixth, Seventy-seventh and Seventy-eighth were Senior Reserves, between the ages of forty-five and fifty, and rendered good service, a portion of them being under fire. All the above, being regularly in the Confederate service, have a part in these volumes. Besides these there were regiments and battalions of Home Guards, composed of those exempt from Confederate service by reason of being State officers (as justices of the peace, county officials, etc.), or for other causes, who rendered service from time to time, for short tours of duty, under the orders of the Governor. Also, in the early part of 1862 there was service rendered by Militia ordered out for short periods, in emer- gency, notably those under- Brigadier-Generals David Clark, Collett Leventhorpe and Jesse R. Stubbs for the defense of the Roanoke after the fall of Roanoke Island, and a regiment of Militia shared in the battle of New Bern. There was also doubtless valuable service rendered by the Militia in other parts of the State. But from the scope of this work, and the dearth of material at this late date, no adequate account is herein given of the services of our Militia and Home Guards, though at the time their aid was valuable. XIV Generals from North Carolina. NAVAL OFFICERS. The following appear, in the Confederate Archives, as the highest officers in the Navy, appointed from North Carolina, though there were many others of lesser rank: Name, Date of Rank. James W. Cooke Captain 10 June, 1864. John N. Maffitt Commander 13 May, 1863. James Iredell VVaddell First Lieutenant 6 January, 1864. Captain Cooke commanded the ram "Albemarle" at the capture of Plymouth, 20 April, 1864, b}' General E. F. Hoke, for which victory General Hoke and himself, with the officers and men under their com- mand, were voted thanks by the Confederate Congress. General Hoke's commission as Major-General bears that date in recognition of his service. Lieutenant James Iredell Waddell, as commander of the "Shenan- doah," was the last to bear the Confederate flag, not having heard of the fall of the Confederacy till August, 1865, when he was in mid Pacific. Commander J. N. Maffitt' s services were also conspicuous and are well known. Walter Clark. Raleigh, N. C., 26 April, 1901. ORGANIZATION OF TROOPS. ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT; QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT; COMMISSARY DEPARTMENT; ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT. By major, a. GORDON. ORGANIZATION OF TROOPS. THE ADJUTANT-GENERAIv'S OFFICE. HOW GOVERNOR ELLIS RAISED THE FIRST TEN REGI- MENTS OP STATE TROOPS FOR THE WAR, AUTHORIZED BY THE LEGISLATURE — THE VOLUNTEER SERVICE — ORGANIZATION OF OTHER REGIMENTS DURING THE WAR — THE STATE'S CARE FOR ITS TROOPS. By MAJOR A. GORDON, Staff of Adjutant-General of North Carolina. The Legislature met May 1, 1861, and authorized Governor Ellis to raise ten regiments of State Troops for the war before the State Convention met. An Adjutant-General and other staff officers were authorized for these troops. Major James G. Martin, on his arrival at Raleigh, after his resignation from the United States Army, was appointed by the Governor Adjutant- General of this corps. Most of the officers of these regiments were appointed by the Governor prior to this, and several of them were well advanced in recruiting. The first six regiments were put in camp and were soon armed, drilled and equipped, and sent to Virginia. The Fifth and Sixth participated in the first fight at Manassas. The Seventh and Eighth were not ready for some time afterwards. When fully recruited and equipped the Seventh was sent to New Bern, N. C, and the Eighth to Roanoke Island. The Ninth (First Cavalry) was camped at Warrenton and everything done to equip it for service as fast as circumstances would permit. There was considerable trouble in getting this regiment ready for service. Horses were purchased in Kentucky, and after getting the horses neither the State nor 4 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Confederate States could furnish saddles and sabres. An agent of the State was dispatched to New Orleans to purchase saddles to make up the number wanted ; this done, there still remained a deficiency in sabres, which could not be purchased. The Second Cavalry, formerly Spruill's Legion, was camped at Kittrell Springs, both of these regiments having about sabres enough to do for one. In this condition of affairs the Governor and Gen- eral Martin appealed to the officers of the Second Cavalry to give up enough of their sabres to equip the First Cavalry, which they did with some reluctance, and with the assurance of the Adju- tant-General that the State would do everything in its' power to equip the Second Cavalry as soon as possible. The First Cav- alry was soon after this ordered to Virginia. Every effort was made to get the Second ready for service, which was done late in the fall of the year, and it was then> ordered to New Bern, N. C. The Tenth Regiment State Troops was artillery. Five com- panies of this regiment were light batteries — Eamseur's, Reilly's, Brem's, Moore's and Sutherland's : the first two were sent to Virginia, the other three remained in the State till later. During the first year of the war the other companies were assigned to duty in the forts below Wilmington. These regiments were all transferred to the Confedei-ate States, and the State had very little to do with them from that on, except to furnish clothing to the men and horses to the cavalry regiments and light batteries.. The Adjutant-General's office of North Carolina was practically done with them on their transfer to the Confederate States. Now, let ns look at the volunteers and see what had been done in that line. Colonel John F. Hoke was Adjutant-General under the old laws of the State, and it was through his office that the volunteers were organized. The First Volunteers were organized ahead of any other regiment in the State; the Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth and Seventh soon followed. The first six were sent to Virgina, the Seventh to Hatteras. The Eighth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, Thirteenth and Fourteenth Volunteers were organized between the 15th of June and 18th of July, 1861. All of these regiments, when organized, armed Organization of Troops. 5 and equipped, were transferred to the Confederate States. Colo- nel John F. Hoke was elected Colonel of the Thirteenth Vol- unteers, and he resigned the office of Adjutant- General. The Governor ordered General Martin to take charge of both offices, that of the State Troops and Volunteers, until the Legislature met, when that body elected General Martin Adjutaut-Geueral of the State, and conferred upon him all the military power of the State, subject to the orders of the Governor. It con- solidated under him the Adjutant-General, Quartermaster-Gen- eral, Commissary, Ordnance and Pay Departments. The double sets of Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.. State Troops, and 1, 2, 3,. 4, etc.,Volunteers created some confusion, especially at Rich- mond, where they were unable to keep up the distinction. This led to an understanding between the two offices that the State Troops should retain the nun^bers 1 to 10, and the First Volun- teers to be numbered Eleventh Regiment North Carolina Troops (First Volunteers), etc. This caused some little dissatisfaction at first among the volunteers, but it soon passed away. There was some irregularity about the election of field officers of the Ninth Volunteers, and the Governor withheld the commissions. Into this vacant number was placed Spruill's Regiment, the Nineteenth North Carolina Troops, Second Cavalry. The next regiment organized was the Twenty-fifth at Ashe- viile on the 15th of August, the Twenty-sixth at Raleigh on the 27th of the same mopth, and the Twenty-seventh soon followed. Most of the companies of this regiment were intended originally for the Ninth Volunteers. The Twenty-eighth Regiment was organized at High Point, September 21st. We are now in Sep- tember, 1861, with twenty-eight regiments organized and twelve or thirteen more in sight at the Adjutant-General's office, and as yet neither the Convention nor Legislature had made any pro- vision for clothing the troops; and if it was expected that the Confederate Government would furnish clothing, it was getting very plain that the troops would suffer before the winter was over. In this state of affairs the Legislature directed General Martin, late in the month of September, to provide winter cloth- 6 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. ing, shoes, etc., for the North Carolina Troops. The time was very short, and it was no small task, and he went about it with his usual energy. He organized a clothing manufactory in Ral- eigh, under Captain Garrett, an efficient officer in that line of business ; every mill in the State was made to furnish every yard of cloth possible, and, in addition, Captain A. Myers was sent through North Carolina, South Carolina, and as far as Savannah, Ga., purchasing everything that could be made avail- able for clothing the troops. In addition to what the State fur- nished on such short notice the ladies of North Carolina, God bless them, nobly came to the assistance and furnished blankets, quilts, etc. Many carpets were torn up, lined with cotton, and rqade into quilts; by the combined efforts of the ladies and State officers the troops of North Carolina were clothed during the first winter of the war, if not exactly according to military regu- lation, in such a manner as to prevent much suffering; and after this winter the State was in better condition to supply the wants of her troops. Mention will be made of this subject hereafter, when we come to the fall of 1862. We will now take up the organization of the troops. Next comes the Twenty-ninth at Asheville, September 24th; the Thir- tieth, October 7th, at Weldon; the Thirty-first soon followed at Haleigh, and before it was well armed was sent to Roanoke Island. From a combination of circumstances, which could not be overcome at the time, this regiment was the worst armed that the State sent to the front. The State did not have the arms to furnish, and the Confederate States declined to furnish any more arms to twelve-months volunteers. Great trouble was experi- enced in furnishing arms from this time till late in the spring of 1862. The Thirty-second was organized with six companies of North Carolina infantry, that went to Norfolk, Va., without the formality of going through the State offices. Additional com- panies were added by the State to make up the regiment. The Thirty-third was composed of companies enlisted for the war. Some of them were intended for the first ten regiments of State Troops, and being slow in recruiting, were left out; but enough Organization op Troops. 7 were added to make a full regiment. The Goveruor appointed the field officers for this regiment. When armed and equipped it was ordered to Newbern. The Thirty-fourth was organized, as far as my memory serves, at High Point, October 26th, and when ready for service was sent to Virginia. The Thirty-fifth was organized near Raleigh, November 8th, and in January was sent to New Bern. The Thirty-sixth was made up of artillery companies. Serving in the forts below Wilmington, they were all in service several months before being organized into a regi- ment. The Thirty-seventh was organized at High Point, No- vember 20th. When the officers recruiting companies for this regi- ment tendered them to the State they were told that arms could not be furnished by the State. They then proposed to come to camp with their private rifles, and, if necessary, go to the field with them. They brought them tp camp. When they were supplied with better arms I am unable to state. The Thirty-eighth was organized at Raleigh, January 17, 1862. When ready it was sent to Virginia. The Thirty-ninth was organized at Asheville, and when armed and equipped went across the mountains to Tennessee (Decem- ber 1, 1863). The Fortieth was heavy artillery, and thecompa-, nies forming this regiment were on duty in the forts below Wil- mington several months before its organization as a regiment (September, 1862). The Forty-first was a cavalry regiment, and the companies put in this regiment were also on duty many months before a regimental organization. This was the last of the twelve-months volunteers. The dates given in Moore's " Roster " of the commissions of the field officers of the Thirty- ninth, Fortieth and Forty-first are not correct. These regiments were organized soon after the Thirty-eighth, which is given cor- rectly, and before the Forty-second, which took place April 22, 1862. The State had in January, 1862, forty-one regiments armed and equipped and transferred to the Confederate States Army; twelve of these for the war, one for six months, twen- ty-eight for twelve months, and, in addition, several battalions and independent companies. The above is what was accom- 8 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-65. plished between the passage of the ordinance of secession and the middle of January, 1862. The Forty-second, although mentioned above, belongs to the troops raised in the spring of 1862, and will be mentioned hereafter with them. The foregoing narrative is well known to all those who have kept up with the military history of the State. We will now take up matters not so well known — official business between the Executive office and the Adjutant-General's office; also mat- ters relating to the defense; all of which are so blended to- gether that the history of the one cannot be given without the other. This is more particularly the case, as the Adjutant-General of North CaroHua was for several months in command of the defenses of the State, while Adjutant-General also. The State was invaded by a large military force under Gen- eral Buruside, who captured Roanoke Island on the 8th of Feb- ruary, 1862. It was very plain to military men that the object of the Buruside expedition was the capture of New Bern, Golds- boro and Raleigh, which it was expected to do, while McClel- lan's army was to do the same at Richmond, Va. Both armies expected to move at the same time. The Adjutant-General of North Carolina was very much concerned about the safety of New Bern, N. C. He sent an officer of his staff to look at the forts and find out the number of troops available for the defense. That officer was shown the defenses by Major Robert F. Hoke, then of the Thirty-third, serving at New Bern, afterwards Major- General. After inspecting the forts, etc.. Major Hoke remarked that unless greater energy was displayed in the near future than in. the past the place could not be successfully defended, all of which was plainly to be seen. This state of affairs was reported to the Adjutant-General. He in turn reported the matter to the Governor. The Legislature, at the fall session of 1861, directed the Adjutant-General to reorganize the militia of the State, and appointed him Major-General of the same when called into ser- vice. General Martin believed that the Legislature expected something more than a paper organization of the militia, and he requested the Governor to call out ten thousand State militia to Organization of Troops. 9 help defend New Bern. This the Governor declined to do, on the ground that he expected the Confederate Government to defend the place. Whether he wrote to the Government or not for re-inforcements cannot be stated positively, but the impression in the Adjutant-General's office was that he did. No re-inforce- ments were sent, and on the 14th of March, 1862, New Bern fell into the hands of Burnside. On the following day General Martin went to Kinston to confer with General Branch, to find out the actual condition of his army, and see if the State could render any assistance. That day the writer went to the Govern- or's office, the Adjutant-General doing this daily, to receive the Governor's orders, if any. While there the defenseless condition of the State was discussed by ex-Governor Bragg, who was pres- ent, and at this time aide to Governor Claris. Governor Bragg was in favor of calling out the militia, and somewhat urged the Governor to do so. This Governor Clark declined to do, but authorized the Adjutant-General's office to write to the militia captains of the State "to have one-third of their command in readiness." This order was somewhat changed in the Adjutant- General's office — made more effective. The captains were ordered to detail (draft was probably the word used) one-third of their men; the men so drafted, or any others, were given permission to volunteer for the war. This order struck a wave of patriotism that was floating over the State from east to west, which was almost dormant for some months on account of the Government refusing to furnish arms to twelve-months volunteers. Promi- nent men in every county of the State vied with each other in raising troops, and many of those not actually going to the field were as busy helping as those going. Instead of getting one- third, the writer believes that fully two-thirds of those liable to service volunteered under this call. In all, twenty-eight regiments and several battalions promptly volunteered. The Adjutant- General's office was daily crowded by men offering companies for service. The Eleventh Eegiment (Bethel) was reorganized at High Point, April 18th; the Forty-second at Salisbury, April 22d, and at Camp Mangum, near Raleigh, were organized the 10 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Forty-third, Forty-fourth, Forty-fifth, Forty-sixth, Forty-sev- enth, Forty-eighth, Forty-ninth, Fiftieth, Fifty-second, Fifty- third, Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth, all between the 21st of April and 19th of May. The Fifty-first was recruited in the Cape Fear district and organized at Wilmington. The State had now in a very short time fifteen splendid regiments organized and ready for service, except the arms, which will be mentioned later. All the military departments of the State were taxed to the utmost to clothe, feed and equip this large number of troops who so promptly came to the defense of the State, In addition to those mentioned above twelve or thirteen more regiments were in sight at the Adjutant-General's office, to be taken care of when fully recruited. On or about the 15th day of May, 1862, General Martin was surprised by receiving a letter from General R. E. Lee and a Brigadier-General's commission in the Confederate States Army, and informing him that he was expected to take command at Kinston on or about the first of June, relieving General Rob- ert Ransom. This commission at first General Martin declined, and wrote General Lee that he had a commission from the State of North Carolina, and as the troops to be commanded would be from the State, he would prefer to serve with the commission he had. To this General Lee replied that the Government did not wish to call him out under his State commission, and that every available man in North Carolina was to be moved to Virginia except four regiments, which he was to take from camp at Raleigh to Kinston, and that "he was expected to take com- mand during the emergency." These were the words used by the great chieftain. Under the circumstances he accepted, though not a very agreeable position to be in, the command of a large State, with only four or five available regiments, and an enemy esti- mated at upwards of twenty thousand in his front. On or about the night General Martin received his commission as Brio-adier- General the Governor of North Carolina received a communi- cation from the War Department of the Confederate States Army giving him in full the plan of the campaign to crush McClellan's army, and asking his co-operation with the North Carolina Troops Organization of Troops. 11 in camp not yet turned over to the Confederate States. This was to reconcile him to the moving of all the troops then in the State to Virginia. The statement above, that the War Depart- ment would communicate the plans of one of the most famous battles of the world more than a month before a shot was fired might, without explanation, seem incredulous. The State of North Carolina had at this time fifteen regiments, each near a thousand strong, not yet turned over to the Confederate States. These troops were raised on the Governor's call for the defense of the State, as shown in this narrative, and he could have kept them for that service if so disposed. This was the only body of reserve troops in the Confederacy, at least no other State had anything approximating it, and it was very important for Gen- eral Lee to receive this re-inforcement, hence everything was made fully known to the Governor of North Carolina. In brief, the plan, as told me by my chief, was to concentrate everything that could be taken out of North Carolina and elsewhere on McClel- lan's army and crush it before Burnside could move from New Bern. It seemed to be understood that the 1st of July was the time fixed for the movement of Burnside's army ; this was given by the Confederate States War Department from Richmond. The Governor of North Carolina was informed that the defense of his State would be an easy problem after the defeat of McClellan's army, and would not be overlooked. The Governor and Adjutant-General of North Carolina went into the plan heart and soul, and did everything in their power to make it a success; they, and they alone, knowing what the Con- federate Government and'General Lee expected North Carolina and them to do. About this time the State received a shipment of arms from England, landed at Wilmington, exact number not recollected now, probably two thousand. They were given, to the troops now waiting for them. The Confederate Government now came to the assistance of the State in arming the troops at Camp Mangum, and before the 1st of June every one of them was armed and ready for service. The troops serving 12 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. in the State were quietly and gradually withdrawn and sent to Virginia. General Holmes, who was in command, moved to Petersburg. Branch's Brigade was withdrawn and Daniel's Brigade also; the latter had a brigade, though not yet a commis- sioned brigadier. Ransom's command moved on the 2d of June to Eichmond, and on that date General Martin took command at Kinston. His brigade consisted of the Seventeenth, Forty- fourth, Forty-seventh and Fifty-second. The Fiftieth was ordered to Plymouth and the Fifty-first was still at Wilming- ton. This left six regiments of infantry in the State. The Sec- ond Cavalry was on picket duty as close to New Bern as possible. The three artillery regiments, Tenth, Thirty-sixth and Fortieth, were on duty in the forts below Wilmington, except the light batteries of the Tenth, which were in Virginia ; this was the force in the State on the 2d of June, 1862. The Twenty-ninth and Thirty-ninth were in the Army of Tennessee; all the rest in Virginia. Everything-passed off quietly for two or three weeks — a calm before the desperate struggle. When the struggle com- menced at Richmond, General Lee was fearful that Burnside would find out the defenseless condition of North Carolina, and move forward. Every night he telegraphed to General Martin at Kinston, "Any movements of the enemy in your front to-day?" On the night of the sixth day's fighting at Richmond the War De- partment telegraphed to the Governor of North Carolina, "Any troops in your State that can be spared?" The reply was, "None but Martin's Brigade at Kinston; you can move it if wanted." It was ordered to Virginia that night and left early next morning, but the seven days' fighting was over before it got there, and it was ordered to camp near Drury's Bluff. The State had now left in it two regiments of infantry, the Fiftieth and Fifty-first, the last ordered from Wilmington to Kinston. One cavalry regi- ment and three artillery regiments, the Twenty-ninth and Thir- ty-ninth, as already stated, were in the Army of Tennessee, the other forty-seven regiments in Virginia — that was North Caro- lina's contribution to the spring campaign of 1862. And if the defeat of McClellan's army was not as complete as expected, it Organization of Troops. 13 certainly, from the foregoing showing, was not the fault of North Carolina or North Carolinians. From the Governor down to the humblest private, all nobly did their duty. The Governor exposed his own Capital to save that of the Confederacy and a sister State; only one regiment of infantry, one of cavalry, two or three batteries of artillery between him and an army estimated about twenty thousand strong. The risk taken in North Caro- lina at this time was very great. After the battles at Richmond matters remained quiet for a few weeks, both in Virginia and North Carolina, and the i^djutant-General of the latter State, with his brigade, was camped near Drewry's Bluff. In a short time the enemy commenced raiding in North Carolina, and the Governor telegraphed to the War Department to send General Martin and his brigade back to North Carolina. General Lee ordered General Martin to take command of North Carolina, but would not let the brigade return. On showing him the con- dition of the State, he allowed one regiment to return, and directed General Martin to organize more troops for the defense of the State. General Martin returned to Raleigh, assumed his duties as Adjutant-General of the State, and also commanded the troops on duty. We will now glance at the organization of more regiments. The Fifty-sixth was organized at Camp Mangnm, July 31st; the Fifty-seventh, if memory serves right, was organized at Salis- bury ; the Fifty-eighth, Sixtieth, Sixty-second, Sixty-fourth and Sixty-fifth were organized west of the Blue Ridge, and when armed and equipped went to the Army of Tennessee. McDowell was the first Colonel of the Sixtieth, not Lieutenant- Colonel, as put down in Moore's " Roster." The Fifty-ninth and Sixty-third were cavalry regiments, and were raised and organized in the East. When ready for service, both of them went to Virginia. The Sixty-first was organized at Wilmington. All of these regi- ments volunteered for the defense of the State, as originally called for by the Governor in the Adjutant-General's order of March 6th or 7th; also the Sixty-sixth and Thomas' Legion. The Sixty-sixth was formed out of Nethercutt's and Wright's 14 North Carolina Teoops, 1861-65. Battalions. Some of the companies of this regiment had been on duty since 1861, but the regiment was not organized till 1863. The next regiment is the Sixty-seventh, Whitford's. Captain Whitford had a company in the Tenth Regiment, which was raised in the East, and was probably on duty at New Bern when that place fell into the hands of the enemy. At all events, when he was in camp at Swift Creek, in June, 1862, he kept a com- plete system of picket duty all the way to New Bern, and some- times brought communications from there. These services were considered so valuable that his company was detached from the Tenth and another company put in its place, and he was authorized to raise additional companies, which he continued to do till he had a large regiment. It was principally recruited near the enemy's lines. Here the writer will branch off a little and state that the peo- ple of the East, under the trying circumstances in which they were placed, were loyal to the State and Confederate Govern- ments. Every person that could move from New Bern did so when it fell into the hands of the enemy. The young men and old men also from the surrounding country flocked to the nearest camps, hence the raising of the Sixty-seventh Eegiment. The Sixty-eighth was raised in the extreme eastern counties of the State under the same circumstances as the Sixty-seventh. The Sixty- eighth was not transferred to the Confederate States, but remained in the State service till the end of the war. Moore's "Roster" does not give the strength of this regiment. The writer was on duty in it for a short time in ] 864. It might safely be put down at one thousand then, perhaps more before the surrender. It was well known that there were many prominent men in the East opposed to the war. The so-called Governor Stanly, when in New Bern, tried to communicate with them, and proba- bly succeed in getting letters to some of them. He also made a trip up the Pamlico to see some of the prominent men there. This was reported by scouts at the time. He did see one or more prominent men of that section, but he got no aid or encourage- ment there. He was plainly told that there was no Union senti- Organization of Troops. 15 ment in the State, and it is more than probable that the plain truths told him at there interview led him to resign and leave the State soon afterwards. The writer found out accidentally about this interview after the war was over. One prominent man of the East lost his life trying to serve the Confederacy in a diplomatic way. I allude to the Hon. James Bryan, of New Bern. In June, 1862, he applied to the Commanding-General for permission to go North by flag of truce; it was at a time when no flags were permitted, consequently Mr. Bryan's application was sent to the War Department. In a few days an answer was returned that President Davis wanted to see Mr. Bryan. He was informed of this, and promptly went to Richmond. He was requested by President Davis to go to Washington and sound the public men there upon what terms they would be willing to a separa- tion. This was all the writer learned of the mission. He went to Washington, remained there some time, and then returned to New Bern, which place he was not permitted to leave, and died there of -yellow fever. This is a case of which nothing was ever known in the State. There are some doubts in my mind as to his own sons knowing of the mission he had from the President. We will now get back to the Adjutant-General's work proper. The next regiment is the Sixty-ninth; this was originally Thomas' Legion, and had been on duty since 1862. Two battalions belonged to this organization ; both of them were detached in Virginia, and with the view of getting more efScient service, the legion organization was discontinued in the winter of 1864 and the regimental adopted. This regiment was raised in the West, and remained on duty there till the end. The next and last regiment of the line is what Moore puts down as the Seventy- fifth. This was the Seventh Confederate Cavalry, and was originally recruited by orders from the War Department. Two companies of this regiment were from Virginia, two from Georgia, six from North Carolina. The f ,d officers of this regiment were appointed by the War Department. At the request of General Martin the Hon. 16 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. E. R. Bridgers, of the Confederate Congress, got a law passed through that body that the North Carolina Troops in the Sev- enth Confederate Cavalry should be detached with the view of organizing a full regiment of North Carolina Troops. The com- panies from Virginia and Georgia were very weak in men and horses, and as the regiment was on duty in North Carolina in the summer and fall of 1863, it was recruited so as to make it almost, if not altogether, a North Carolina regiment. Besides above, through the Conscript Bureau of the Confederacy, there was organized the Seventieth, Seventy-first and Seventy-sec- ond (Junior Reserves), who were nearly twelve months in service, and the Seventy-third and Seventy-fourth (Senior Re- serves), who rendered short tours of service. There were also a number of battalions, but the writer is not able to give much of a history of them. They seem to be pretty well accounted for in Moore's "Roster," except Henry's Battalion. This had six com- panies in it, and was probably five hundred strong. Lieutenant- Colonel Kennedy's Battalion was composed of Georgians and North Carolinians, as Moore states. Kennedy was a. native of North Carolina, moved to Georgia, raised some of his command in the State of his adoption, moved with them to North Caro- lina and raised more. These irregularities the Adjutant-Gen- eral's office tried to prevent, but sometimes they were in service before anything was known of the case. Some companies went to Virginia without reporting to the Adjutant- General's office. This, if memory serves right, was the case with the First Bat- talion, and perhaps others. We will now try to give a history of the clothing of this large army the State put in service. When the Legislature in 1861, directed General Martin to furnish clothing for the North Carolina Troops, there were then only about thirty regiments in service. In less than a year that number was more than doubled and it became very plain to General Martin that the resources of the State were not adequate to the demands of the army. la August, 1862, he laid the matter before Governor Clark and asked permission to buy supplies abroad and a ship to transport ■Okganization of Troops. 17 them. The Governor's term of service being near an end, he declined to give any orders, and requested the matter to lie over till Governor Vance was inaugurated. Soon after Governor Vance's inauguration General Martin brought the matter to his attention. The Governor- took it under advisement for a few days. Soon his attention was called to the subject again, and he requested General Martin to come to the Executive ofBce that night and meet two or three prominent men, when the matter would be discussed on both sides. The Hon. B. F. Moore was the leader of those present. He took the ground that the Governor and Adjutant-General had no authority by law to pur- chase a ship, and that they would both be liable to impeachment if they did so. General Martin took the ground that the laws of North Carolina made it his duty to furnish clothing to the troops, and voted funds to do this; that the resources of the State were not equal to the demand ; that transport ships were used in all modern armies, and that they were as necessary as wagons, mules, etc., of which the law made no mention. The Gov- ernor reserved his decision that night, but when asked for it the next day he authorized General Martin to buy the ship and clothing for the troops, and signed sufficient bonds for this purpose, which were afterwards placed in the hands of the State agent sent abroad. The next thing for the Adjutant-General to do was to get a man of ability and responsibility to be sent as agent to England. The Governor made no suggestions on this point. On the recommendation of Major Hogg, Mr. White, of Warrenton, was selected as State agent to go abroad to purchase the ship and supplies, and Colonel Thomas Crossan was sent to command the ship, and well did they perform this and every other duty intrusted to them by tlie State. In due time the steamer "Lord Clyde" was purchased, afterwards named "Ad- Vance," and arrived safely in Wilmington with supplies for the troops. Governor Vance got a great deal of credit for this, while General Martin, who was the real author of it, got practically none. From this time forward it is certain that the North Carolina Troops were better clothed than those of any other State. In March, 2 18 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-65. 1863, the Legislature declared the office of Adjutant-General vacant for the reason that General Martin had accepted a commis- sion from the Confederate States. He never drew any salary from the government for the services he rendered while Adju- tant-General of North Carolina. After this he resumed com- mand of a brigade, and the duties of the office were next per- formed by General D. G. Fowle for a few months. The troops of the State were practically organized before General Martin left the office. The only regiments that were raised afterwards were the Sixty-seventh and Sixty-eighth, and perhaps two or three battalions besides the Junior and Senior Reserves. In March, 1863, the writer's connection with the Adjutant- General's office ceased, and he is not able to give any detailed history of what took place afterwards. Major Graham, who was assistant to General Gatlin, can su|)ply this part of the nar- rative. There is nothing said here of the troops who took the forts on the coast and the Fayetteville Arsenal early in 1861. Major Graham Daves, who was Private Secretary to Governor Ellis, could furnish this. No man in the State is more able or better qualified to do it. The three reports would give as com- plete a history as can be secured at this late date. The three war Governors of the State, Ellis, Clark and Vance, are dead. The four war Adjutant-Generals are also dead, Hoke, Martin, Fowle and Gatlin, and with them a great deal of the war history of the State is lost, but the secretaries of the former and assistants of the latter are still living, and enough can yet be collected to make a I'espectable showing. Governor Vance is known to history as the War Governor of the State. The rec- ords show that fifteen regiments were organized before Governor Ellis' death, and there were at least fifteen more in active state of recruiting. All the other regiments of the North Carolina Troops were organized during Governor Clark's term, with the exception of the Sixty-seventh and Sixty-eighth and some two or three battalions — exclusive of Reserves organized under the Conscript Bureau. It was Governor Vance that authorized the purchase of the supplies from abroad and a ship to transport them. This act Organization of Troops. 19 endeared him to the people of the State more than any other act of his life, perhaps more than all the others combined, numerous and creditable as they were. Something might be expected here as to the probable .number of troops sent to the field. The writer, stating facts as known to him,- does not like to go into the realms of conjecture. Major Moore has devoted a great deal of time and attention to the matter and, although his work is unfortunately not complete, it is the best there is. He furnishes the names for several regi- ments that had from fifteen to eighteen hundred men. It is almost certain, from what is known of the rest of the regiments, that if a correct list could be had the whole line of seventy-three regiments would average sixteen hundred each ; the battalions, eight thousand, total. This would give a total of nearly one hundred and twenty-five thousand men actually in the field dur- ing the war. Add to this the Senior Reserves, etc., and there is an aggregate of one hundred and twenty-seven thousand men, a very moderate estimate, probably. The exact number will never be known unless an effort is made in the near future to get the names of those missing before their comrades are dead. A few words in regard to the records in the Adjutant-Gen- eral's office. When troops were mustered into service the origi- nal muster-rolls were deposited in the Adjutant-General's office. Soon after the first troops were transferred to the Confederate States the Adjutant-General requested them to send copies of their muster-rolls to Raleigh. Several of the commanding offi- cers objected, as involving too much clerical work in time of war. The matter was dropped by the Adjutant-General, as he had no power to enforce this request. He, however, requested a copy of the monthly regimental returns, which most of the command- ing officers sent. Here it may be proper to say something in regard to the cloth- ing furnished by the State. All the clothing was manufactured by the State and then turned over to the Confederate Quarter- master at Raleigh, his receipts taken for the same and the issues made by him. So hard pressed was the Confederacy that on one 20 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. or two occasions during the writer's service in Raleigh it had to draw on this depot for the troops of other States. The State presented claims to the Confederate States for the clothing fur- nished, which were paid, if there were any funds on hand to pay with. The Convention appointed a Board of Auditors at Raleigh to audit the war accounts of the State. The board consisted of the Hons. B. F. Moore, P. H. Winston and S. F. Phillips, who audited all the accounts of the diiferent war bureaus of the State. During General Martin's term of office they never found a mis- take in a single voucher or disbursement, as everything was strictly according to law, something extraordinary in time of war. This they were at all times ready to admit, although not very ardent admirers of the military policy of the State. It is conceded by all that the State of North Carolina put more troops in the field during the war than any other Southern State. We can go further, and claim that these troops were bet- ter armed and equipped before leaving the State, and certainly better clothed during the entire war, than those of any other State. The State of North Carolina was the only one thait fur- nished clothing for its troops during the entire war. It was the only State that engaged in direct trade with England, purchas- ing its supplies and transporting them with its own ship. In this respect it was not only ahead of its sister States, but also of the Quartermaster's Department Confederate States Army, for that department never owned a transport ship during the whole of its four years' existence, although its credit abroad was ample for years. It is probably true that it got some supplies through the blockade, by the " Sumter " and other vessels, before they were turned into armed cruisers, but it is here asserted, without fear of successful contradiction, that the Quartermaster's Department Confederate States Army never owned or purchased a transport ship during the war. And, as a matter of history, it was in the fall of 1863 before any regulations were adopted by the Con- federate States in regard to getting supplies by blockade-runners. An order was issued then requiring all vessels to take out and in Organization of Troops. 21 one-third of their cargoes for the Confederate States. This was one year after North Carolina was running the blockade in full blast with its own steamer. That ought to be sufficient proof of our claims. Now, if our claims are correct that the State furnished more troops, and that they were better equipped and clothed than those of our sister States, there must be some reason for this. All of these things could not happen by accident. In the opinion of the writer there were three reasons : 1st. When the Legislature elected General Martin Adjutant- General of the State it conferred ample power on him and voted him sufficient money. He had power and money combined, both very essential in war. 2d. General Martin brought to the discharge of this office a great deal of energy and mature judgment, which a long expe- rience in the line and staff of the United States Army gave him, and he went into it heart and soul, expecting to win, and so well did he lay the foundations of the business at Raleigh that none of his successors, so far as known, made the slightest change in the methods adopted by him. Third and last reason. The intense loyalty of the people of the State made the matter much easier for the success of the cause desired. There was no staying inside the enemy's lines in North Carolina. These were the causes of North Carolina's superior military establishment. Mention has been made here of the loyalty of the people of the East; it would not be just to the West if omitted. The great majority of the people of the West were equally as loyal and true as their brethren of the East. No taint of disloyalty was attached to any prominent man in the West: this the writer knows well, as he was on service there the last eight months of the war. It is, however, true that there was a streak of disloy- alty in a few of the counties bordering on East Tennessee. This was not occasioned so much by Unionism as a dislike to be con- scripted into the army. Several men from that section went across the lines to Tennessee and joined the notorious Kirk's command. 22 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Three or four companies of North Carolinians were in that com- mand, which gave a great deal of trouble during the last months of the war, and in one of these raids killed the Hon. W. W. Avery, of Burke, while he was at the head of a band of citizens pursuing the raiders. The War Department, at the suggestion of General Martin, who commanded this district at the close of the war, suspended the conscript law, and there were no more runaways. Major A. C. Avery was also authorized to raise a regiment for local ser- vice. Some progress was made in recruiting several companies for this regiment, but the Major was captured during Stoneman's raid. The regiment was never organized, and, as far as known, the Major did not get his colonel's commission. This was the last effort made to raise troops in the State before the war closed. The writer has now given all the information that memory can furnish at this late date; but one secret remains, and that has been sealed in his breast since July, 1861, and here it is: On the day after the battle of the first Manassas Governor Clark got a telegram from the War Department informing him that there was not powder enough in the Confederacy for another day's fight, and requesting him to put nitre agents in the field. This state of affairs was known only to five men in North Caro- lina, Governor Clark, Colonel Barringer (his aide). General Mar- tin, Mr. Pulaski Cowper, the Governor's Secretary, and the writer. Here, as elsewhere, the Adjutant-General's office of North Caro- lina promptly came to the rescue and appointed several nitre agents throughout the State. Their names cannot be given at this late date or any detailed history of their operations, though they were considerable, and continued until the end of the war. It was at the request of the Adjutant-General's office of North Carolina that Colonel Gorgas, Chief of Ordnance Confederate States Army, took possession of the Salisbury Machine Shop, which was turned into an arsenal, and also the Cranberry Iron Works both of which were so serviceable to the Confederacy. It is prob- able that mistakes were made of omission and commission, but who could have guided such a revolution without making them? If MAJOR JOHN DEVEREUX, Quarter Master General. Okganization of Troops. 23 we consider the condition of the State and the Confederacy, both entering the war without a supply of arms and only one day's supply of powder, as stated above, it is a wonder to those who topk an active part in the war that so much was accomplished with such slender means to begin with, and it must remain a wonder to future generations also. Such was the condition of affairs at Raleigh in the spring of 1862 that spears had to be manufactured and put in the hands of several of the new regi- ments coming to Camp Mangum. No guns of any kind or pat- tern could be obtained. No doubt some of these spear-heads are lying around Camp Mangum yet, if not eaten up by rust. I have now complied with the request made of me, and regret very much that this history is so meagre, particularly in regard to the organization of the troops, but I have not a scrap of mili- tary history of any kind except Moore's " Roster," and cannot give anything like a full history. It is the best I can do from memory. Following this will be given a history of the operations of the Quartermaster, Commissary, Ordnance and Pay Departments of the State. QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL' S DEPARTMENT. The Quartermaster's Department of the State of North Caro- lina at the commencement of the war was under the direction of Colonel L. O'B. Branch, Quartermaster-General, Lieutenant- Colonel Samuel J. Person, Majors A. M. Lewis, T. B. Venable, Wm. S. Ashe and John W. Cameron, Captains Abraham My- ers Robert Rankin and Moses A. Bledsoe. There are very few records of the early operations of the department available for this report; in fact, it seems few. have been published. This is probably owing to Colonel Branch's resignation from the department to accept command of the 24 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Thirty-third Regiment North Carolina Troops during the sum- mer of 1861; but that it was ably and well managed, as was every- thing else that Colonel Branch and the officers associated with him had anything to do with, is well known to the writer ajid those who had any business transactions with the department. The rapid and satisfactory equipment of the troops hurriedly called into service fully attest this. Most of the officers of the department followed the example of their chief and took service in other positions. On the 20th of September, 1861, the department was reorgan- ized according to the law passed on that date, and General James G. Martin was elected chief of all the war departments of the State. Major John Devereux was appointed Chief Quarter- master, which position he kept from that date to the end of the war. It was under his immediate direction and supervision that the operations of the department were so ably conducted during the rest of the war. He was assisted by Captain Moses A. Bledsoe, in charge of transportation and other duties; by Captain Abra- ham Myers, in purchasing supplies, and Captain I. W. Garrett, the latter in charge of the clothing manufactured by the State. After Captain Garrett's resignation Major Dowd was put in charge of that business. In addition to the above there were two State agents, Captain W. H. Oliver in the eastern and Captain •James Sloan in the central part of the State. The names of these agents do not appear on the " North Carolina Roster," as they were not staff officers, but both of them performed valuable services, and should not be lost sight of here. By the law of September 20th the Governor was required to furnish clothing to the North Carolina Troops in the field, then about thirty thousand men. The officers of the department and the resources of the State were taxed to the utmost to accomplish this before severe weather, as no preparations had been made for it by the State and no law on the subject prior to September 20th, probably supposing that the Confederate States would supply the troops after they were transferred, but it was getting plainer every day that the Government was not able to do it. The unpleasant Organization op Troops. 25 truth must be stated that the Government did not realize what was ahead of it, and lacked energy to supply the troops from the beginning. In confirmation of this statement the views of the Hon. Judah P. Benjamin, Secretary of War, will be given under the head of Ordnance Department. Everything that could be made available in the State for clothing the troops was purchased, and the factories cheerfully furnished every yard of cloth they could. Major Devereux and his assistants were quite busy collecting and Captain Garrett equally so manufac- turing. As fast as the articles were received every effort was made by all the officers of the department to furnish the troops with clothing before the severe weather of winter set in. With the large and valuable help given by the ladies of the State, who furnished blankets, quilts and carpets to be cut up into the size of small quilts and lined, and many other articles, the troops of North Carolina were clothed during the first winter of the war in such manner as to prevent much suffering. In the spring and early summer of 1862 the department was again severely tried to furnish supplies to the large number of troops who volunteered for the defense, of the State, but with good management and energy it provided for them all, about twenty-five new regiments and several battalions, putting at that date the number of regiments up to sixty-five. In the fall of 1862 it was getting plain that the resources of the State were not adequate to the demands of such a large army, especially as the Confederate Government was also drawing supplies from the State, although the Quartermaster-General of the Confederate States Army agreed to withdraw his agents and let the State purchase everything and turn over to the Confederate States what was not needed for the North Carolina Troops. This agreement was not kept. It is probable that the necessities of the Quartermaster's Department compelled it to break the agree- ment— we will be charitable on this point. General Martin, in his report to the Governor in November, 1862, says: "Some articles are very difficult to be obtained at any price', especially blankets and shoes. In regard to shoes. 26 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. there are materials enough in the State to supply all that are required for our own troops and citizens at reasonable prices, provided the agents of the Confederate States do not come into competition with us and speculators can be prevented from tak- ing them out of the State." Governor Vance, in his message to the Legislature in Novem- ber, 1862, says in regard to clothing: "I beg to call your atten- tion to the great and almost insurmountable difficulties encoun- tered by the Quartermaster's Department in providing clothing, shoes and blankets for our troops. During the administration of my predecessor an arrangement was entered into, according to a resolution of the General Assembly, with the Quartermas- ter's Department Confederate States Army, by which North Carolina was to receive commutation for clothing her troops, and clothe and shoe them herself. And on our agreeing to sell to the Confederate States all the surplus supplies that could be pro- cured in the State, they agreed to withdraw their agents from our markets and leave the State the whole field without com- petition. This would have enabled the State to clothe and shoe her troops comfortably, and it could have furnished to the Confed- erate States all that was to be had anyhow at reasonable rates; but it was immediately violated. The country was soon and is still swarming with agents of the Confederate States, stripping bare our markets and putting enormous prices upon our agents. This is especially the case in regard to shoes and leather. The consequence has been our troops could not get half supplies from home and nothing at all from the Confederate Government be- cause of our agreement to furnish them ourselves." Notwithstanding the difficulties encountered, as above stated, the operations of the Quartermaster's Department for the twelve months commencing October 1, 1861, and ending September 30, 1862, were very large and, all things considered, very satis- factory. General Martin, in his report to the Governor, says the dis- bursements for the year are as follows (we omit cents): Organization or Troops. 27 Clothing, .... $1,263,042 Camp and garrison equipage, 269,404 Mules, wagons and harness, 20,600 Forage, 15,630 Horses for two regiments of cavalry, 142,459 Wood, 3,114 Miscellaneous, consisting of trans- portation, buildings, hospital ex- penses, etc., .... 213,304 Pay of troops. 1,032,427 Bounty, ..... 1,572,745 $4,532,725 Showing a total for the department for the year of over four and a half million dollars. We will now copy a statement of the issues of clothing, camp and garrison equipage issued by the Quartermaster's Depart- ment at Raleigh, N. C, to North Carolina Troops during the fiscal year ending September 30, 1862: "Hats 8,918, caps 61,949, coats 27,380, jackets 48,093, over- coats 22,598, pants 85,779, drawers 85,597, shirts 110,723, pairs socks 47,155, blankets 28,185, pairs shoes 75,809, pouches 927,. guard-caps 627, knapsacks 33,471, canteens 25,598, canteen- straps 9,676, haversacks 30,264, camp kettles 3,156, mess pans 6,703, spiders 597, pots and ovens 1,227, oven lids 161, hatchets 784, axes 1,919, axe handles 1,739, picks 938, pick handles 933, tents 4,282, officers' tents 531, hospital tents 287, tent flies 452, pounds nails 6,012, spades and shovels 1,583, drums 215, fifes 82, flags 22, flag-staffs 11, pounds castings 1,734, pairs boots 32, knapsacks 935, tin cups 340, plates 220, buckets 15, yards wool cloth, 11,810, yards cotton cloth 2,178, dozen buttons 14,023, pounds thread 89, yards carpeting 521, frying-pans 25, blank books 2, bed sacks 220, stoves 3, coffee-pots 21, saws 5, augers 2 broom 1, cap-covers 418, oil-cloth caps 45, yards oil-cloth 20, 28 NoETH Cakolina Teoops, 1861-65. letters 6,000, figures 4,000, mattresses 9, camp-stools 42, buckets 38, bedsteads 112." All of these articles were manufactured in the State, and showed plainly that the department was quite busy and energetic. It is here due to the memory of three able, faithful and efficient offi- cers, who had charge of the business under their chief, to state that most of the purchases and payments for these supplies were made by Major John Devereux, the articles of clothing were manufactured by Captain Garrett, except shoes, which were made in different establishments and issued to the troops by Major Pierce. This brings us down to the operations of the department in getting supplies through the blockade. To General Martin be- longs the credit of engaging in this business. He tried to get Governor Clark's consent to it, but on account of his official term expiring soon he left the matter to his successor. Soon after Governor Vance's inauguration General Martin explained to him everything about the supply of clothing, etc., and asked his approval of the scheme to purchase a ship in England and get supplies from there. The Governor took the matter under advisement. His attention was called to the matter again a few days later. On that occasion he asked General Martin to call at the Executive office that night and he would call in two or three lawyers, as he would like to have both sides of the question discussed. The meeting that night was quite warm, that is, the discussion of the law between the Hon. B. F. Moore, the spokesman of those present, on one side, and General Martin on the other; the law and everything connected with the mili- tary supplies being discussed. The Hon. B. F. Moore took strong grounds against the State entering the blockade business, and finally told Governor Vance and General Martin that if they engaged in the business they would both be liable to im- peachment. General Martin took the ground that the laws of the State made it his duty to supply clothing to the troops in the field; that a large sum of money was appropriated for the pur- Organiza.I'ion of Troops. 29 pose without any restriction as to where purchases were to be made; that the supplies of the State were not adequate; that the Con- federate States were paying the State large sums of money for clothing; that the Confederate notes could be turned into cot- ton and with cotton bonds buy the ship and clothing without any additional expense to the State, the cotton bonds and cot- ton itself used simply as bills of exchange, where neither the State notes nor Confederate currency would be available. As to the purchase of a ship, General Martin took the ground that he had as much right to do that as to purchase many other articles not mentioned in the law, it being well known that transport ships are a part of the equipment of all modern armies. The Governor reserved his decision that night, but next morning, when called upon for it, decided to support General Martin in his effort to sustain the army. The Governor at no time expressed any opinion of the law until his final approval came, although he had called in able and influentiallawyers to hear their opinions. The facts of the case are that the law did not authorize or prohibit blockade-running. The manner of getting the clothing was left to the discretion of the Quartermaster-General, subject to the approval of the Governor. General Martin did not want to violate the law — no man was more particular in that respect — and if it had looked like a violation Governor Vance would not have approved it. This was the only law on which there was any difference of opinion during the war. Governor Vance approved General Martin's construction of it, the Legis- lature approved the Governor's action, and that ended the legal question raised. Governor Vance received a great deal of credit for the blockade-running, but it is safe to say that had it not been for the energetic manner in which General Martin advo- cated this measure it would not have been commenced, although he got very little credit for it, except from the few who were aware of the facts. It is true that Governor Vance deserves credit for his approval of the liberal construction of the law which authorized it, after hearing the opinions of able and inilu- eutial lawyers against it. In addition to their opinions there was 30 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. the influence of an able and unscrupulous politician at Raleigh, who at this time tried to throw every obstacle in the way of the success of the Confederate cause. He thought he could control Vance, as he had been influential in nominating and electing him. Vance, however, sided with the army. This was the first step in getting away from that influence. The above is the inside history of what took place before the Governor's approval of the blockade business. After the Gov- ernor's approval of the scheme, General Martin appointed Mr; John White, of Warrenton, N. C, State agent to go abroad, and also Colonel Thomas N., Crossan, formerly of the United States Navy, both of whom were to act together for the purchase of the ship. The Governor promptly signed the bonds for the pur- chase of the ship and supplies, and they were placed with Major John Devereux, who, as chief disbursing officer of the Quarter- master's Department, had charge of the matter from that time forward. In due time they' were turned over to Mr. White, when ready to go abroad. It is proper here to state that Mr. White and Colonel Crossan purchased a first-rate steamer, the "Lord Clyde," a splendid vessel in every respect. All the busi- ness intrusted to Mr. White and Colonel Crossan was ably and satisfactorily done ; no better agents could have been selected. Colonel Crossan made two or more trips in charge of the "Ad- Vance" and then retired. The '"Ad-Vance" made seven or eight trips to Wilmington and took in a large amount of military supplies for the North Carolina Troops and for the Confederacy also. The writer has tried to get the exact amount of army supplies imported by the State, but regrets to say that he has not been able to do so, although kindly assisted by Mrs. Hinsdale, who placed her father's papers (Major John Devereux), or rather "what was left of them not captured by the Yankees," at his disposal. The papers wanted could not be found. The fol- lowing report from Major Devereux to the Governor is pub- lished : Organization of Troops. 31 STATEMENT OF BLOCKADE OPERATIONS. Sum raised on cotton bonds Advanced by parties in England Disbursements now due in Wilmington Sum raised on rosin bonds Cash balance Sterling — One-half steamer "Ad- Vance" on hand — original cost £35,000, less 10 per cent, tear and wear __ One-fourth interest in three steamers — ■ 3,788,066 pounds cotton at 5d. Sale of 4,080 bales cotton at £50 £. s. 119,700 98,969 1 250 47,500 47,248 18 £313,668 15,750 15,000 78,918 204,000 £313,668 The report says: "Orders have been sent out by the Governor for scythe-blades, railroad findings and other articles not charged in the above account, no bill of them having been received. Mr. White's salary as commissioner has not yet been settled, and is not charged. Owing to the difficulties of communication, Colonel MacRae has not settled his account for the transaction by which rosin bonds were issued. It is believed that £6,000 would be the utmost extent of any further charge to be made. There is a large amount of goods, consisting of cloth, blankets, shoes, cot- ton and wool cards, card machines and factory findings now on the way and in the islands, of which no account has been taken. The goods are paid for, and, when received, will much increase the above balance. The purchase money of the "Ad- Vance" was partly paid in bonds, as entered above, and partly in cotton. The cotton is added to the stock on hand." Major Devereux's report above shows plainly that the fears of the Hon. B. F. Moore and others that the State might sustain loss were groundless. The cotton paid for the ship and supplies without drawing on the State Treasury. At all events, what was not paid at the date of the above report was paid after- wards. 32 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Mr. White's report, which accompanied the Governor's mes- sage in May, 1864, was not published, and cannot be given here. The writer asked Captain William H. Oliver, who took an "active part in purchasing supplies for the blockade-running, for a statement. He says : "Early in 1863 I was commissioned by Governor Z. B. Vance an agent for the State of North Carolina to purchase cotton for blockade-running purposes. The instruction which I received through Major John Devereux, Chief Quartermaster for North Carolina, was to buy every bale of cotton that I could purchase, and to pay a stipulated price of twenty cents per pounds. I went at once to the sections nearest the Federal lines, so as to get all the cotton out of the reach of the Federal troops if a raid should be made by them. " In a short time I purchased about seven thousand bales and paid for the same about seven hundred thousand dollars. On account of the scarcity of railroad accommodation it was a tedious matter to get the cotton moved. "Arrangements had been made to ship the cotton as fast as possible by running it through the blockade at Wilmington, N. C. A large portion of the cotton was taken to Graham, N. C, it being unsafe to leave it in the eastern part of the State. "Mr. John White, of Warrenton, N. C, was appointed agent for the sale of it in England. Mr. White sailed from Charles- ton, S. C.,on the steamer "Leopard" on the 15th day of Novem- ber, 1862. A number of cargoes were shipped to him, and from a report of his to Governor Vance it will be seen that he pur- chased with the proceeds of cotton and North Carolina cotton bonds — "The steamship "Lord Clyde," afterwards known as the "Ad- Vance," at a cost of £35,000— $175,000. 150,115 yards gray cloth 6-4 wide. 11,023 " " " 3-4 " 28,582 " " flannel 6-4 " 83,173 " " " ^3-4 " Organization op Troops. 33 2,978 yards brown canvas padding. 25,887 pairs gray blankets. 37,692 " woolen socks. 26,096 " army shoes. 530 " cavalry boots. 1,956 Angola shirts. 7,872 yards gray flannel shirts. 1,006 cloth overcoats. 1,002 " jackets. 1,010 pairs cloth trousers. Quantity of sole and harness leather. 20,000 pairs army shoes. 10,000 " gray blankets. 1,920 " flannel shirts. 5,800 yards army cloth 6-4. 10,000 " " " 7,000 pairs cotton and wool cards. 5 machines for making cotton cards, with wire sufficient to keep them running twelve months. "A large quantity of the cotton was delivered by order of Gov- ernor Vance to Messrs. John Newland & Sons, at Saxapahaw Factory, to be manufactured into cloth and yarn. The cloth was delivered to the Quartermaster for the use of the army and the yarn was exchanged in Virginia for leather, which was made into shoes. The card machines were put up in Mr. William H. Willard's factory, and a large number of pairs of cards were made and distributed by me all over the State. "At the close of the war about two hundred bales of the cotton were at Graham, N. C, and it was taken by Colonel D. Heaton of the United States Treasury Department. " Very respectfully, "William H. Oliver." We give Captain Oliver's statemeut with the full knowledge and understanding that it is by no means complete. It embraces only a portion of the articles received. 3 34 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. The Governor, in his message to the Legislature in Novem- ber, 1863, says: "The enterprise of running th< lockade and importing army supplies from abroad has proven a most com- plete success. You will see from the report that large quantities of clothing, leather and shoes, lubricating oils, factory findings, sheet-iron and tin, arms and ammunition, medicines, dye-stuifs, blankets, cotton bagging and rope, spirits, coffee, etc., have been safely brought, besides considerable freight for the Confederacy. Two thousand and ten bales of cotton have been sent to Liver- pool, the proceeds of which were deposited to the credit of the State, less the amount of the expenses of the vessel. With what we have imported and the purchases in our home markets I think I can safely say that the North Carolina Troops will be com- fortably clothed to January, 1865." It will be seen that the Governor mentions several articles not in Captain Oliver's -statement, such as "arms, ammunition, medi- cal supplies," etc. In fact, neither of the reports are complete, for the State continued to bring in supplies for twelve months after the date of the Governor's message. The most complete and trustworthy report we have on the subject is Governor Vance's address before the Association of the Maryland Line, delivered in Baltimore, February 23, 1885. He said : "By the general industry and thrift of our people, and by the use of a number of blockade-running steamers, carrying out cot- ton and bringing in supplies from Europe, I had collected and distributed from time to time, as near as can be gathered from the records of the Quartermaster's Department, the following stores: Large quantities of machinery supplies, 60,000 pairs of hand cards, 10,000 grain scythes, 200 barrels bluestone for the wheat growers, leather and shoes for 250,000 pairs, 50,000 blan- kets, gray-wooled cloth for at least 250,000 suits of uniforms, 12,000 overcoats (ready-made), 2,000 best Enfield rifles (with 100 rounds of fixed ammunition), 100,000 pounds of bacon, 600 sacks of coffee for hospital use, $50,000 worth of medicines at gold prices, large quantities of lubricating oils, besides minor Organization of Troops. 35 supplies of various isinds for the charitable inatitutions of the State. Not only was the supply of shoes, blankets and clothing more than sufficient for the supply of the North Carolina Troops, but large quantities were turned over to the Confederate Grov- ernment for the troops of other States. In the winter succeed- ing the battle of Chicamauga I sent to General Longstreet's Corps 14,000 suits of clothing complete. At the surrender of General Johnston the State had on hand, ready-made and in cloth, 92,000 suits of uniforms, with great stores of blankets, leather, etc. To make good the warrants on which these pur- chases had been made abroad the State purchased and had on hand in trust for the holders 11,000 bales of cotton and 100,000 barrels of rosin. The cotton was partly destroyed before the war closed, the remainder, amounting to several thousand bales, was captured, after peace was declared, by certain officers of the Federal army." This shows that the operations of the blockade-running were a complete success, and fully justified the judgment and expecta- tions of Governor Vance and General Martin when they engaged in it. We will now drop the blockade-running and look at the issues to the troops. General Gatlin, in his report to the Gov- ernor, under date of May, 1864, says: " quartermaster's DEPART.MENT. " This department has furnished clothing, camp and garrison equipage, pay, bounty and transportation for the troops and paid other miscellaneous accounts. The disbursements for the eighteen months ending the 31st of March, 1864, are as follows (we omit cents) : Clothing, camp and garrison equipage, $ 6,862,043 Mules, wagons and harness, . . 14,147 Forage, 5,593 - Horses for two regiments of cavalry and artillery, ' 147,801 36 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Wood, $ 6,655 Miscellaneous, 204,143 Pay of troops, .... 432,071 Bounty, 1,669,974 Cotton, 2,150,998 Advances to officers, . . . 186,803 $11,680,128 "The Confederate States have paid for clothing since the 1st of January, r863, the sum of $6,008,373.38, and there is still due for clothing turned over in the first quarter of the present year $1,247,236." It seems from General Gatlin's report that the State was issu- ing clothing to the army at the rate of nearly five million dollars a year. Notwithstanding all that the State of North Carolina did for the army, it is well known to those who were in the army that it was often greatly in want of shoes and clothing, and it is sad to contemplate what would have been the condition of the gallant Army of Northern Virginia without the great help which North Carolina gave it, ia which most of her troops were. It is well known that the Army of the West was still harder pressed for supplies. It had no State to do for it what North Carolina did for Lee's army, and it appears from Governor Vance's speech at Baltimore that the State had to dispatch "14,000 suits of clothing complete" to General Longstreet's Corps of that army, after the battle of Chicamauga. And after furnishing its own troops and other Confederate troops when necessary, the State had on hand at the surrender "92,000 suits of uniforms and great stores of blankets and leather." The reports fully show that the Quartermaster's Department of the State of North Carolina was ably managed from the beginning to the end. In this respect it was a long way ahead of the Confederacy, which was so sorely pressed all the time. We have no later reports of what was done the last year of the war, but as the State of North Carolina had an abundant supply of everything, and the Confederacy had not, it is reason- able to suppose the issues were very large. Organization of Troops. 37 SUBSISTENCE DEPARTMENT. The Subsistence Department of the State of North Carolina at the comoaencement of the war was under the direction of Colonel William Johnston, Major D. G. Fowle, Captains Wm. W. Morrison, David Schenck, Augustus S. Merrimon and John Devereux. Colonel Johnston was a man of energy, with broad views and enlarged ideas. One of the first things he did after it was plain that the war was coming was to send an agent to Louisville, Ky., to purchase a large amount of supplies at that place, which he had hurriedly shipped to Chattanooga before an embargo was placed on the railroads. By so doing he got a large lot of provisions from an exposed point and saved the resources of the State. Had this example been taken by the Confederate States Commissary the supplies of the Confederacy would not have been so scant. On the 1st of September, 1861, Colonel Johnston resigned to take charge of the railroad of which he was president, and all the other officers of the department accepted other duties. After the reorganization of the department.in September, 1861, Major T. D. Hogg was Chief Commissary, and continued in charge to the end of the war. The writer tried to get reports of the operations of the department from the officers still living, but failed, except one letter from Major Hogg, in which he says : "Judge Clark asked me to write out the Commissary Depart- ment, and I told him I did not know there was anything to write. Also, that you told me when we first met that General Martin, when he asked for anything in my department, would expect me to have it. I made up my mind that if .the. people would part with their commissary stores and take paper money for payment General Martin should have what he called for. The conse- quence was that my supplies grew during the whole war, and at the close of it I was feeding about half of Lee's army. Major, 38 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Carringtou would come to me begging, and I told him to get Yaoce's order and he should have anything I had." This is not very long, but it is a very important historical .fact that near the end of the war the North Carolina Commissary was, feeding about half of Lee's army. General Martin's report in November, 1862, says: SUBSISTENCE DEPARTMENT. The disbursements for the year are, . $586,767 Sales to Confederate States, . |1 57,412 Value of stores on hand, . . 24,395 181,807 Actual expenses of the department, $404,960 General Gatlin's report gives The actual expenses of the department, $1,080,958 Sales to Confederate States, . 301,197 Stores on hand, . . . 410,070 711,267 Actual expenses of the department, . $369,691 This is the last published report in May, 1864. As the de- partment had $410,070 in supplies on hand and still adding from March 31, 1864, till the end of the war, it was able to furnish considerable to Lee's army. No department of the Confederate States Government was so severely criticised as the Commissary. In the army and out of it, in the newspapers, particularly the Richmond Examiner, and even in the halls of Congress, its inefBciency was forcibly pointed out. The soldiers of the Confederacy had for about a year only one-third of a pound of meat ration issued to them. Many believed it was due to want of energy of the department. Presi- dent Davis finally made a change, but, alas, so late that no human being could overcome the disadvantages which surrounded the Confederacy. Therefore, those who are familiar with war events will not be in the least surprised to learn that the better managed Commissary of North Carolina was, before the end of the war, " feeding about half of Lee's army." Organization of Troops. 39 ORDNANCE DEPARTMENT. A writer in the Enoydopcedia Britanica, under the head of North Carolina, says: "At the breaking out of the war between the States in 1861 North Carolina, strongly averse to secession, sought by every means to avert the conflict, remaining unmoved after all the surrounding States had seceded, and was forced into the struggle almost last of the Southern States, and when there remained only the alternative of a choice of sides. Being near the seat of war, and yet for the most part outside of it, the State contributed more largely to the commissary supplies of the Con- federacy, and also sent into the field a larger number of troops and lost more men in battle than any other Slate, her soldiers having a conspicuous share in all the great battles from Bull Run to Petersburg." There is the case clearly, correctly and concisely stated. The State so averse to war had to choose sides, and when President Lincoln called for troops Governor Ellis replied, "I can be no party to this wicked violation of the laws of this country, and especially to this war which is being waged upon a free and independent people." Governor Ellis seeing plainly the dangers that threatened the State, a few days later ordered the capture of the Fayetteville Arsenal and the forts on the coast. With the heaven-born inspiration of a great com- mander, he did not delay to give the enemy time to capture or destroy the arsenal, as was done in the two great Southern States of Virginia and Missouri. In the former the arsenal at Harper's Ferry was destroyed by United States soldiers and in the latter it was captured and the guns turned against the brave Missourians. For the following list of arms captured at Fayetteville the writer is indebted to his friend, Mr. Cowper, who obtained the informa- tion from Colonel Pemberton and Major Hale : [From the Observer, Thursday, April 25, 1861.1 "The arsenal was surrendered on Monday, April 22, 1861, at 3 P. M. 40 ISToETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. "The arsenal buildings and machinery have probably cost the United States more than a quarter million dollars. The ma- chinery especially is very perfect for the manufacture of every implement of war. There are four brass six-pounders and two brass twelve-pound howitzers, forming a complete "battery," in military phrase, with all the horse trappings, and two old make iron six-pounders, thirty-seven thousand muskets and rifles, with other military stores and a large quantity of powder. Lieu- tenant John A. Pemberton of the Fayetteville Light Infantry is temporarily in charge of the arsenal." We beg leave to branch off a little and here state that Colonel Pemberton has now in his possession the first cannon-ball shot from the Federal side at Bethel on North Carolina Troops, which came near killing General D. H. Hill. The capture of the Fayetteville Arsenal, with its thirty-seven thousand stand of arms, placed North Carolina in the front rank of Southern States. Ten or twelve thousand of these were given to the State of Virginia, not quite so fortunate as North Caro- lina, on account of the destruction of the arsenal at Harper's Ferry, already mentioned. These arms were rapidly placed in the hands of the North Carolina Troops as fast as recruited, and there appeared to be no trouble till it came to the turn of the Thirty-first North Carolina Troops. This regiment was organ- " ized on the 19th of September, 1861, and the writer well recol- lects several interviews from both Colonel Jordan and Lieuten- ant-Colonel Fowle in regard to arms for their regiment. The arms of the State were already issued, and the Confederate Gov- ernment refused to furnish arms to twelve-months volunteers. The officers of the Thirty-first had to collect arras in the counties in which the companies were raised ; as far as memory serves principally from the militia the old arras they had. In this condition the regiment was sent to Roanoke Island, the worst armed up to this date turned over by the State. But it was the best the State could do. From that time till the spring of 1862 the State was greatly pressed for arms. Some old arms were Organization op Teoops. 41 collected from the militia, altered aad repaired and made service- able. General Martin made contracts with several establish- ments for this kind of work. His report to the Governor shows that contracts were made by which three hundred were to be altered and repaired every month. The Confederate States fur- nished arms for the Thirty-third North Carolina Troops, as that regiment was enlisted for the war; but at present memory can- not recall any other arms received from the Government till the spring of 1862, when the troops at Camp Mangum were armed to go to Richmond. In the fall of 1861, month not recollected now, the Hon. Judah P. Benjamin, Secretary of War, in a letter to the Governor of North Carolina, said it would not be necessary to make large contracts for military supplies for any great length of time, as the war would not last long, or words to that effect. This baneful idea entertained by the head of the War Depart- ment no doubt paralyzed all the departments of the Government, and most valuable time was lost in procuring war materials. With a very imperfect blockade the first year of the war, very little advantage was taken of it by the Confederate Government, and none by the States. It is undoubtedly true that the Gov- ernment imported some war materials, but nothing commensurate ^with its wants. In the fall of 1861 from every Southern State came a call for arms, with the Government unable to supply but very few. The Governor of the great Commonwealth of Vir- ginia, unable to get arms from the Government, sent an officer to the Governor of North Carolina with a request for arms, hoping that some could be furnished. The Governor of North Caro- lina had none to furnish. From " Pollard's Southern History of the War" it appears that the Southwest was equally as bad off for arms as the States of Virginia and North Carolina. The historian, in writing about General A. S. Johnston's army at Bowling Green, Ky., in October, 1861, says: "He repeatedly called upon the Government for re-inforcements. He made a call upon several States of the Southwest, including Tennessee, for a large number of troops. The call was revoked at the 42 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. instance of the authorities in Richmond, who declined to furnish twelve-months volunteers with arms." The fact of the case is, the Government had very few arms to furnish, and volunteering came almost to a stop on that account. The writer is satisfied that North Carolina could duriug the fall and winter of 1861 have had ten thousand more men iu the field had there been arms to put in their hands. What is true of North Carolina, with its thirty-seven thousand stand of arms to start with, must be equally true in regard to the other States. The Confederate Government could have had one hundred thou- sand more men in the field in the spring of 1862 if it had used energy in getting arms for them. With cotton selling in the South for ten cents in currency and in Liverpool for forty to fifty cents in gold, and only an imperfect blockade, there was no valid reason why the arms should not be on hand. The idea entertained by the War Department, as above stated, we fear, is responsible for it all, and found the South unprepared at every point attacked in the spring of 1862. This unprepared condi- tion cost the South millions of property, important territory never firmly regained, thousands of valuable lives, and perhaps its independence. The valor of the Confederate soldiers, who at every point fought against fearful odds, saved the South from being overrun in the spring of 1862, and not the energy dis- played by the Government in getting prepared for the struggle. We will now return to North Carolina history proper. Gov- ernor Clark and General Martin, though both extremely hopeful of the final results of the war, were not so hopeful as the Secretary of War. Soon after the Secretary's letter was received the Governor dispatched an agent to England to purchase arms for the State. The first installment, two thousand, was received in the spring of 1862, no transportation could be obtained for them sooner; and Governor Vance reports two thousand more received by the "Ad- Vance." This is all we can trace up, but believe more were received. During the fall of 1861 General Martin made arrangements with several small establishments in the State to make arms. Organization of Teoops. 43 He engaged two Frenchmen to make sabres, swords, bayonets, etc., at Wilmington. They manufactured a large number, which were immediately given to the troops, sabres being greatly needed for the cavalry. Some mechanics in Guilford county entered into a contract to make three hundred new rifles per month. The Governor referred to this contract in his message to the Legislature. As near as can be ascertained, ten thousand rifles were received under this contract, making a total of fifty- one thousand stand of arms put in the hands of soldiers by the State of North Carolina. A large number of old arms were al- tered and repaired, of which no accurate account can be given here. The State encouraged every effort for manufacturing every- thing needed for the troops. Here we will copy a report of the issues of the Ordnance Department of the State of North Caro- lina from June 30, 1861, to September 30, 1862: "Twenty-one thousand one hundred and forty muskets, 6,831 rifles, 609 Hall's carbines, 2,241 pistols, 2,057 swords, 43,898 cartridge-boxes, 22,773 belts, 39,999 waist belts, 41,131 cap pouches, 33,889 bayonet scabbards, 24,096 gun slings, 1,390,934 cartridges, 34,244 pounds cannon powder, 44,754 pounds mus- ket and rifle powder, 1,572,850 musket caps, 64,959 pounds lead, 1,660 saddles, 1,136 saddle-bags, 1,327 bridles, 1,193 halters, 834 bridles, 104 martingales, 838 holsters, 18 sets artil- lery harness, 4,105 pounds musket balls, 253 pounds buckshot, 81 boxes cannon ammunition, 893 double-barrel shotguns, 13 single-barrel guns, 559 pounds blasting powder, 93,000 shot- gun caps, 1,361 pairs spurs, and 2 six-pound field brass pieces." General Martin's report of the expenditures of the department from October 1, 1861, to September 30, 1862, was $512,713. General Gatlin's report from October 1, 1862, to March 31, 1864, was $1,160,595. No later reports were published, and owing to the death of all the officers who had charge of the department, no detailed account can be given for the last year of the war. In connection with the Ordnance Department will be given an account of the effort made by the State for the manufacture 44 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. of powder. General Martin, in his report to the Governor, says: "The State, through Governor Clark, advanced Messrs. Waterhouse & Bowes ten thousand dollars towards erecting the Raleigh Powder Mill. After the mill was put in operation it was destroyed by explosion. At the solicitation of Governor Clark they purchased the paper mills for the purpose of build- ing another mill, and twelve thousand dollars was advanced to them. Both of these sums are to be refunded in four equal installments. This sum, with the private funds of Messrs. Waterhouse & Bowes, being inadequate to complete the mill, you [Governor Vance] advanced them eight thousand dollars. The mill will be near enough completed by the first of Decem- ber to commence operation, and will yield weekly about four thousand pounds powder." The above investment was secured by mortgage to make the State safe. The enterprise proved a complete success, and we find in General Gatlin's report the following year that the State turned over to the Confederate Government over half a million dollars' worth of powder and paid the State for the amount ad- vanced. There is every reason to believe it did equally as well the last year of the war, though no reports are available. The State also engaged in the manufacture of ammunition. General Gatlin, in his report, says: "The operations of the car- tridge and moulding factory were for a time impeded on account of the great difficulty of procuring lead, but a good supply of that article having been accumulated by means of the State's importing vessels, the factory is now in full operation." The policy of the State from the commencement of the struggle was to encourage the manufacture at home of everything needed, and the Adjutant-Generals of the State always had the ready approval of Governors Clark and Vance for everything that was likely to succeed and help the Confederate cause. From these reports it can be seen that the State was engaged in importing arms and manufacturing them in the State also, making sabres, swords saddles, etc. Also in aiding the development of the powder mill and the manufacture of ammunition. Nothing that could be of service to the Confederacy was overlooked. Organization of Troops. 45 PAY DEPARTMENT. The operations of this department were under the charge of Major A. M. Lewis, Paymaster, assisted by Lieutenant E. G. Lewis, Assistant Paymaster. Its duties being clearly defined by law, did not involve any of the intricate questions of supply and demand of the other departments. It is, however, proper to state here that the duties were at all times satisfactorily performed. The disbursements under this head are included in the Quarter- master's Department. .BOARD OF CLAIMS. The Convention appointed a Board of Claims, or rather board of auditors, composed of the Hons. B. F. Moore, Samuel F. Phillips and P. H. Winston, three very able lawyers. It was the duty of this board to examine all the accounts and see that the expenditures were made according to law. To the eter- nal honor of the disbursing officers of the State of North Caro- lina during the war, this learned body was not able to find any mistakes or any disbursements not strictly within the letter of the law. We will now sum up what North Carolina did during the war. It put in the field not less than one hundred aud twenty-seven thousand men, and in all probability more, and issued to them, without the assistance of the Confederate States, fifty-one thou- sand stand of arms and all the necessary equipments. It fur- nished horses for two regiments of cavalry and several light batteries, with all the necessary equipments for both branches of 46 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. the service. Also equipments for the three other regiments of cavalry, where the men furnished their own horses. It had sabres, saddles, etc., manufactured for the cavalry before the Confederate States could supply the troops raised with them. It furnished transportation to the troops to camps of instruction and well drilled them before they were turned over to the Con- federate States. It furnished subsistence, clothing, camp and garrison equipage for the troops as raised, and continued to clothe them to the end of the war. When its supplies of cloth- ing and shoes were found inadequate it sent to England, pur- chased a fine steamer and brought in several cargoes of army supplies and various other things greatly needed. To lessen the risk of capture, it sold one-half of the "Ad-Vance" and invested in three other steamers. It shipped to England a large amount of cotton to pay for the ship and supplies. The money paid by the Confederate States for clothing was invested in cotton, and with the cotton more clothing and supplies were purchased. This was able financial management without costing the State one dollar; and it kept the troops of North Carolina well clothed during the war. The State bought a large portion of the provisions used in the early part of the war at Louisville and horses for the first cav- alry from the blue-grass regions of Kentucky, securing them from remote points and saving State supplies, before the Con- federacy awoke to the importance of getting supplies from ex- posed places. We will give a detailed statement of the expenditures by North Carolina for the war. General Martin's report from October 1, 1861, to September 30, 1862: Quartermaster's Department, . . $4,502,729 Subsistence, .... 404,956 Ordnance, 512,731 General Gatlin's report from October 1, 1862, to March 31 1864: Organization of Troops. 47 Quartermaster's Department, . . |11, 680,131 Subsistence, 1,080,958 Ordnance, 1,160,595 Sales of powder to the Confederate States, 521,563 There is no published report of the ex- penditures from the commencement of the war to September 30 — we estimate low, 600,000 No published report of the expenditures later than March 31, 1864— we estimate, 6,000,000 $26,363,663 Here we have a total of over twenty-six million dollars con- tributed by North Carolina to the war, without mentioning the arms taken at Fayette ville. In regard to the estimate of six millions for the last year of the war. General Gatlin says in his report "there is still due $1,247,235 for clothing turned over in the first quarter," showing that the issues of clothing alone would araouut to about five million dollars. One, million for all the other articles is undoubtedly below the mark. The State of North Carolina exercised its full sovereign powers in the prose- cution of the war from the beginning, and did not become an applicant for support from the Confederate Government. On the contrary, the Government was always heavily in debt to it for supplies of all kinds. If a correct and unbiased history of the war is ever written it will undoubtedly be seen that North Carolina put more men in the field, according to its white population in 1860, than any other State North or South, and that its devotion to the cause and energy in prosecuting the war cannot be matched by any other State. The pages of history may be searched in vain for greater achievements by any State or country than those accomplished by North Carolina during the war. With its ports blockaded, fur- nishing twenty-six million dollars' worth of supplies to the Con- federate cause, a considerable portion of which was brought from 48 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. abroad, and, as Governor Vance says, "considerable other freight for the Confederacy." Last, though not least, from Major T. D. Hogg's report it appears that the Commissary Department of North Carolina "was feeding about half of Lee's army" before the sun of the Confederacy went down. In every department the State of North Carolina ably sustained the army and Gov- ernment, almost stepping outside of its legitimate duties in engag- ing in the manufacture of powder and ammunition for the Gov- ernment, as already mentioned. We can state without fear of contradiction, that no Southern State can show anything approxi- mating this record. The State of North Carolina has reason to be proud of the record made by her troops in the field, which is known wherever the English language is spoken. It has equal reason to be proud of the record made by the executive and military departments of the State. Great credit is due to the three War Governors of the State — Ellis, Clark and Yance. Each and all of them supported the Confederate Government without any friction, which, unfor- tunately, was not the case in some other States. Credit is also due to Colonels Hoke, Branch and Johntson for valuable services during the early stages of the war, to General Martin for the splendid condition in which the troops of North Carolina were organized andthe efficiency of the military departments established according to his directions, and for his energetic perseverance in advocating the blockade-running until he finally secured its approval, and to General Gatlin for the efficient discharge of the duties while he was Adjutant-General. General Fo'wle was so short a time in charge that nothing of any special importance occurred to note here. But while giving credit to each and all of these, we must not overlook the valuable services performed by three unassuming, faithful and efficient officers at Raleigh, Major John Devereux, Chief Quartermaster, who, in addition to his other duties, so ably managed all the details of the blockade business; Major T. D. Hogg, Commissary, whose store-houses were always well filled, and Captain A. W. Lawrence, Ordnance Officer. They and their assistants had to perform all the detail Organization of Troops. 49 duties of the vast amount of business done at Raleigh during most of the war, all of which was well done. We cannot close this narrative without saying something about the women of the State of Noi'th Carolina. No women in any age or country were more devoted to a cause than were those of North Carolina to the Confederacy. The women of the State, by their love, devotion and fortitude, contributed as much to the Southern cause as the men who were fighting the battles, and they are now foremost in raising monuments to the dead and preserving the records of the struggle, as they were foremost in all good works during the war. In the dark and dismal winter of 1861, when neither the State nor Confederacy was able to sup- ply the troops as they should have been, the women of North Caro- , lina, in addition to what they contributed through the State officers to be sent to the army, sent direct during the last three months of that year, according to "Pollard's History," three hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars' worth of supplies, which were recorded at the passport office in Richmond and permits given to have them taken to the army. This is the only record we have of voluntary contributions, but we know they were continued to the end of the war. Many cases have come to the knowledge of the writer where these kind acts were continued to disabled soldiers and their families long after the war was ended. I will now bid the old guard farewell. Though temporarily absent from the State, I hope to be there again before the final roll-call; but be that as it may, the glorious achievements of the North Carolina Troops, with which I have been humbly associ- ated during the war, will remain dear to me as long as memory lasts. Respectfully submitted, A. Gordon. HuLDA, La., April 9, 1900. ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE. JANUARY I, 1863, TO THE SURRENDER— THE BREAK-UP. By MAJOR WILLIAM A. GRAHAM. Major Gordon, Assistant Adjutant-General during General Martin's administration, in closing his article on the history of the Adjutant-General's office to that time suggested that I should continue the history to the close of the war. This is the object of this paper, with such addenda as may appear of interest. The Adjutant-General, I think, was elected or confirmed by vote of the General Assembly. Governor Vance was elected Governor in August, 1862, and inaugurated January 1, 186.3. The principal candidates for Adjutant-General were Hon. (after- wards Governor) Daniel G. Fowle, of Wake, and Captain John Randolph (of Northampton county), Company H, Second North Carolina Cavalry. The Legislature, by resolution or act, con- ferred upon the Governor the right to appoint the Adjutant- General. Daniel G. Fowle was appointed. Major R. S. Tucker was appointed Assistant Adjutant-Gen- eral. He commanded an independent cavalry company, which was placed in the Third North Carolina Cavalry on the forma- tion of that regiment. After several months' service General Fowle resigned on account of a disagreement between him and the Surgeon-General as to the right of the latter to report directly to the Governor and not through the Adjutant-General's office the Governor sustaining the Surgeon-General. Brigadier-Gen- eral R. C. Gatlin was appointed. He had been an officer in the United States Army, was brevetted for gallantry in the Mexi- Organization of Tkoops. 51 can war, and had served as Brigadier-General in tiie Confederate army. In October, Major Tucker resigned and Captain W. A. Gra- ham, of the North Carolina Cavalry, was appointed Assistant Adjutant-General. He had been wounded at Gettysburg, July 3d. The officers of the department to the close of the war were Brigadier-General R. C. Gatlin, Adjutant-General; Major W. A. Graham, Jr., Assistant Adjutant-General; Lieutenant John B. Neathery, Assistant Adjutant-General; Lieutenant I. H. Ben- nett, Assistant Adjutant-General; Lieutenant T. W. Slocum, As- sistant Adjutant-General. Roll of Honor Department — Major James H. Foote, Assistant Adjutant-General. Surgeons — Edward Warren, M. D., Surgeon-General; Otis F. Mason, M. D., Surgeon in charge Richmond Hospital. Quartermaster — Major John Devereux, Quartermaster; Major Henry C. Dowd, Quartermaster; Captain Thaddeus McGee, As- sistant Quartermaster. Commissary — Major Thomas D. Hogg, Commissary. Paymaster — Major W. B. Gulick. Ordnance Officer — Lieutenant Josiah Collins. The passage of the conscript act by the Confederate Con- gress early in 1862 declared all men between eighteen and forty-five years of age subject to military duty, except those designated by the States as necessary for State service and exemp- tions specified by law. These exemptions were preachers, school teachers, overseers of twenty negroes, manufacturors and their laborers, editors and printers, and perhaps others not now recol- lected. The Confederate States, through its conscript bureau, executed the law, collecting and forwarding the conscripts to the armies. There was nothing for the State to do along this line. The State exempted the State and county officers, justices of the peace, officers of the militia regiments and the Sixty-seventh and Sixty- eighth Regiments North Carolina Troops, Henry's Battalion, 52 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Wynn's Battalion and some companies which had been enlisted as State forces. The State officers, justices of the peace and militia officers were organized into companies and by counties into battalions and were designated by law as Home Guards. The field officers were appointed by the Governor for the different counties. Colonel Collett Leventhorpe, who had been Colonel of the Thirty-fourth Regiment and also Colonel of the Eleventh Regiment, and who had been severely wounded at Gettysburg, was appointed to command the State Home Guard, with the rank of Briga- dier-General. The force when called into the field made, I think, four regiments. It was used to arrest deserters from the Confederate army, quell disturbances, and was called to Wil- mington in December, 1864, to assist in repelling General B. F. Butler's attack. I do not recollect that it was ever actually engaged in battle with the Yankees. In 1864 Congress extended the ages of service in the conscript act so as to include seventeen to eighteen and forty-five to fifty years. The former were designated Junior Reserves, the latter Senior Reserves. They were organized by counties into compa- nies of each class and these into regiments and battalions. The conscripts (eighteen to forty-five years) were not so organized, but when they reported to the bureau they were assigned to regi- ments whose ranks had been reduced in numbers, without any consideration as to where the companies were enlisted. There were three regiments and several battalions of Junior Reserves and two of Seniors. ROLL OF HONOR. In 1862 this department of the Adjutant-General's office was established. Major James H. Foote was appointed to manage it. The object was to procure a history of each soldier furnished by the State, and have it arranged by companies and regiments. Blanks were prepared similar to muster-rolls.for a description of the service of each soldier. These were copied into books pre- pared after the same manner. A history of the regiment as a whole was to precede the history of the soldier by companies. If the Organization of Thoops. , 53 officers to whom these blanks were sent to be filled had attended to having it properly done the history of the North Carolina soldiers would have been complete. Many of these officers (under false ideas of modesty, perhaps) paid little attention to the matter, and the blanks were either never filled or not returned to Major Foote when completed. Deeds of themselves and com- rades which would add lustre to the record and correct or con- tradict misrepresentation by others will never be known. The average North Carolinian is a queer citizen, in that he seems to hold the opinion that if a man or a company perform the duty assigned, and is satisfied at the time with their conduct, it does not matter whether any one else knows of it, or what opinion they may have of the transaction. I think about two-thirds of the companies returned the blanks more or less completed. They were copied in the books and are now in the Adjutant-General's office or the State Library at Raleigh. IMPRESSING negroes TO WORK ON THE FORTIFICATIONS. This was done by the Home Guard. The orders were issued from the Adjutant-General's office, and perhaps would now be mistaken for a circular from political headquarters, as they con- tained the following sentence: "This order is to embrace all male negroes between twenty-one and forty-five years of age in your district." The number called for being stated by the Confederate author- ities, one out of a specified number (generally eight, I think) was taken. None were taken from those owning only one, unless the quota was unfilled from those owning more. Sometimes it was necessary to "lump" the owners and decide in some way which one negro should be selected. After collecting the negroes they were|earried to the designated places and turned over to the Confederate officers. THE "ad- VANCE." The "Ad- Vance" continued to run the blockade to Ber- muda, making a trip in about sixty days, carrying out cotton and Bringing supplies for the soldiers. North Carolina clothed 54 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. the soldiers she furnished the Confederacy and the Government paid the State. The consequence was that the North'Carolinians were better clothed than the troops of any other State, and this fact gave Governor Vauce a warm place in the soldiers' hearts. The Governor had a supply of cotton and wool cards imported by the "Ad-Vance," which were very valuable to the soldiers' wives and daughters in preparing yarn for clothing. I suppose some of these, although well worn and now discarded, are held as heir-looms by women of this generation. It was necessary in running the blockade to use coal that would not make much smoke. A supply was kept on hand for the ship at Wilmington. In September, 1864, the Confederate Cruiser "Tennessee," coming into Wilmington, took on its de- parture the coal intended for the next trip of the "Ad-Vance." This made it necessary to use inferior coal, and, being tracked by the smoke, the "Ad- Vance" was pursued by the blockading fleet and captured. Governor Vance called the attention of the Legislature to this, and recommended that demand be made on the Confederate Government for payment for the ship and cargo. THE officers OF THE HOME GUARD. The officers of the Home Guard appreciated their position as much as any set of men connected with the war. If the corre-. spondence of the office has been preserved there are many letters and reports that would be entertaining to those who were further to " the front." One captain (from Moore county, I think) wrote about as follows : "Mr. Gov. Vance: " Dear Sir : — If I was Governor, I'll agree to go to hell if I wouldu't be Governor." Then followed a complaint of some man in his neighborhood who was distilling corn, which he thought ought to be kept for the soldiers' families, and he desired authority and orders to stop him forthwith. Oeganization of Troops. 55 OLD men's guard. In the summer of 1864, in many of the towns, the men above the Senior Reserve age, or exempt from disability, formed com- panies, procured arms and drilled " in the cool of the evenings" several times a week. They presented a picture of a peculiar type. I have frequently seen one of them who served in the United States Congress in Monroe's administration repairing to the rendezvous under a silk umbrella, raised to ward off the sun, while his colored dining-room servant brought up the rear, carrying the musket with which he was to drill. He was not alone in thus showing his zeal for his country's defease. As they stood in line the commander often repeated the command : "Gentlemen, please keep your pieces erect." lee's army in 1865. Each month there were sent to the regimental commanders of North Carolina Troops blanks for reports, partly to ascertain how much clothing it was necessary to prepare. The reports which came in March, 1865, one month before the surrender, showed thirty-five thousand men for duty, as I now recollect. PREPARATIONS FOR EVACUATION. It seemed certain that General Sherman would reach Raleigh in his march, and in February and March, 1865, the books and papers not necessary for daily use were boxed and shipped to Statesville. General Joe Johnston's army, with General Beau- regard's (the latter were troops serving on the coasts of South Carolina, Georgia and North Carolina), assembled between Ral- eigh and Goldsboro, near Selma. At the invitation of General Johnston, Governor Vance reviewed these troops. After General Lee evacuated his lines around Richmond all people who appre- ciated the situation believed the end was nigh. It was no sur- prise when at the depot at Hillsboro, on Monday night, April 11th, the train brought the news " General Lee has surrendered." Governor Swain had written Governor Graham to meet him in 56 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Raleigh the next day to confer with Governor Vance on the situation. They were thus on hand when needed. General Johnston, after the battle of Bentonsville, having announced his intention to evacuate Raleigh at an early day, Governor Yance sent them as a commission to General Sherman to se- cure the city from pillage,' to preserve the property of the State, and to learn what his intentions were as to the officers of the State. Governor Graham prepared the papers, and a per- mit to pass the lines having been signed by Lieutenant-General Hardee, an engine drawing a coach in which were the commis- sioners, Surgeon-General Warren, Majors Devereux and Hogg, and Colonel J. G. Burr, of the Governor's staff, was started. For some reason General Johnston or President Davis tele- graphed General Hardee to withdraw the permit He signalled the outposts and the train was stopped, and started on its return. General Kilpatrick's advance, traveling the dirt road, struck the railroad ahead of the car, and, although it bore a white flag, fired into it, commanding a halt, and insisted they were prisoners. They were sent to General Sherman's headquarters, who said they had come out in good faith and should be allowed to return the same way, but that it was now too late to go that night. They laid their business before him. Governor Graham spent the night with General Sherman in his tent. Governor Swain, with General Frank P. Blair, who had been a student at Chapel Hill under his presidency. LINCOLN on the CAPTURE OF DAVIS. General Sherman, in conversation, told Governor Graham that he had seen the President the week before, and asked him if he wished him to capture Jeff Davis. Mr. Lincoln replied: "I will tell you a circumstance. Once there was a temperance lecturer in Indiana, who, on going home after the lecture with a sister, asked for a drink of water. She asked him if he would not like to have something stronger in it. "He replied: "If you could get a little in " unbeknownst " to me, I would't care if you did." Organization of Troops. 57 This appears to have been said at a Cabinet meeting. After- wards, when Stanton, Secretary of War, seemed anxious to capture President Davis, General Sherman remarljs in a post- script to a letter to Chief Justice Chase ("Records War of Rebel- lion," p. 412, No. 100) "to this hour the War Department has sent me no orders to hunt for, arrest or capture Jeff Da\'is, but on the contrary, as near as I know, their wish is that he escape, provided it be unknown to them." GOVERNOR VANCE LEAVES RALEIGH. General Sherman agreed to have measures taken to pre- serve the property of the State and city. As to the affairs of the State, he said that when " there was no interference with him he had nothing to do with them, but left them for the courts to deal with." General Hardee informed Governor Vance that he would "uncover" the city at 12 o'clock that night. At that hour Governor Vance left Raleigh and pro- ceeded to Hillsboro. General Sherman returned the commis- sioners to Raleigh early the next morning, as the Confederates were leaving and the Yankees entering the city. Governor Graham was to endeavor to go on to Governor Vance and Gov- ernor Swain to remain in Raleigh to see that protection was afforded. Between St. Mary's and where the Agricultural and Mechanical College- now stands Governor Graham found him- self between the lines and a brisk skirmish just opening. The Confederates retiring, he saw no opportunity of reaching Governor Vance, and returned to the city to make other arrange- ments. Report that he had been wounded between the lines had reached General Sherman, and he seemed much relieved to find it not so. Conveyance was procured from a friend, and Governor Swain joining him, they came on to Hillsboro the next day, reaching there about 8:30 P. M. They found Governor Vance taking tea with Governor Graham's family. The commissioners made their report, but as Raleigh had 68 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. been evacuated it was thought best to make no attempt to return until the Confederate authorities had been conferred with. The following is a copy of the papers carried by the com- missioners. ("Records War of Rebellion," p. 178, No. 100): State of North Caholina, Executive Department, Raleigh, April 12, 1865. General W. T. Sherman, Commanding U. S. Forces: Sir :— Understanding that your army is advancing on this capital, I have to request, under proper safe conduct, a personal interview at such time as may be agreeable to you, for the purpose of conferring upon the subject of a suspension of hostilities, with a view to further communica- tion with the authorities of the United States touching the final termi- nation of the existing war. IE you concur in the propriety of such a proceeding I shall be obliged for an early reply. With high respect, your obedient servant, Z. B. Vance. Headquarters Military Division op the Mississippi — In the Field, Gulley's Station, N. C, April 12, 1865. His Excellency, Z. B. Vance, Governor of North Carolina: Sir: — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your communi- cation of this date, and inclose you a safeguard for yourself and any member of the State government that chooses to remain in Raleigh. I would gladly have enabled you to meet me here, but some interruption occurred to the train by the orders of General Johnston after I had passed within the lines of my cavalry advance, but as it came out of Raleigh in good faith it shall return in good faith, and will in no measure be claimed by us. I doubt if hostilities can be suspended as between the army of the Confederate Government and the one I command, but I will aid you all in my power to contribute to the end you aim to reach, the termination of the existing war. I am truly, your obedient servant, W. T. Sherman, Major- General. (Inclosure). Headquarters Military Division op the Mississippi — In the Field, Gulley's Station, N. C, April 12, 1865. All officers and soldiers of this army are commanded to respect and protect the Governor of North Carolina and the officers and servants of the State government, the Mayor and civil authorities of Raleigh, pro- Organization of Troops. 59 vided no hostile act is committed against the oflBcers and men of this army between this and the city. W. T. Sherman, Major-Oeneral Commanding. The train of cars now here in charge of Colonel James G. Burr of the stafi' of Governor Vance can pass to and from Raleigh without let or hindrance until further orders. All guards and pickets will see that it is not interfered with or destroyed. W. T. Sheeman, Major-Oeneral Commanding. The Governor's staff was now as follows: The writer, As- sistant Adjutant-Greneral, Colonel D. D. Ferrebee, Lieutenant Julius Juthrie, C. S. Navy, and Captain James A. Bryan, Ord- nance Officer Lane's Brigade, who was in Raleigh at the time of the evacuation of Richmond. THE GOVERNOR AND STAFF ON THE MOVE. We left Hillsboro on Saturday morning, going to Haw River, whence Governor Vance went by train to Greensboro, to meet President Davis, but he had left before his arrival. The staff spent the night with Mr. Swepson. Water-courses were much swollen by recent rains, and we had to swim several creeks en route to Haw River — the river was very high. Planks were laid across the railroad bridge, teams were unhitched and the wagons and cannon pulled over by hand. The teams were either led over or swam through the river. Next day we went to Company Shops (now Burlington), and received a telegram from the Governor to come on to Greens- boro. The news of Lee's surrender seems to have been kept from Johnston's army. As we passed through the camps near Greensboro that evening about dark I heard a soldier calling to a comrade and telling him that it was certainly so, "for he had seen one of Lee's men in Greensboro that day who had his parole." It had been more than a week since the surrender, and it is remarkable how it could have been kept from being known to the whole army. 60 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. RAIDED BY WHEELER's CAVALRY. At Greensboro there were large quantities of cloth and other supplies belonging to the State. These had been guarded by the Home Guard, but on the coming of Johnston's army Lieu- tenant-Colonel A. C. McAlister, Forty-sixth North Carolina Troops of Lee's army, who was in Greensboro with a portion of his regiment, was assigned to the duty. Some of Wheeler's Cavalry determined to take the cloth, and organized a crowd of about fifty for the purpose. They were warned not to go, and told' with whom they had to deal, but on they came. When they were within one hundred yards of Colonel McAlister's division the front rank began to fire over their heads, hoping thus to stop them, but still they came on. He then commanded: "Men, lower your pieces. Fire!" Three were unhorsed, and so badly wounded that they died. The others precipitately left the field, and there was no further trouble with the State's supplies. The North Carolina officers about Greensboro of Lee's and Johnston's armies besought Governor Vance to have these sup- plies issued or to let the soldiers take what they wanted, as "the end had come." He was willing for each one to have what was necessary for his personal use, but said " it was the State's prop- erty, and he had no right to destroy it." As we' came from Hillsboro, about eight miles out we over- took two of Wheeler's Cavalry with one horse to a buggy, another tied to this one, while one of the men was eopiing from a house leading another, followed by a woman and half a dozen children, begging him to leave the horse. These were the family of a soldier in Lee's army, the horse the only work animal they had. The Governor met him at the road and told him if he did not give up that horse he would "arrest him and go to General Johnston's headquarters to see that he was shot as a horse thief." The horse was released. The thanks and rejoicing of the mother and family was a touching scene. The buggy was loaded with what had been plundered from citizens. This straggling, plun- dering horde, known as " Wheeler's Cavalry," seemed to be an Organization of Troops. 61 organization to itself, and it is to be regretted that the brave men who were with the General at the front have been so often confounded with this crowd. To us, who had served with Jeb Stuart, it was a new "arm of the service"; we had seen noth- ing like it, although we had been almost to Harrisburg, Penn., in our campaign. The nearest approach was the stragglers on the Gettysburg campaign, whom General Stuart designated as " Company Q," and disbanded by general orders, referring to them as a " disgraceful organization." governor VANCE MEETS JEFF DAVIS. From Greensboro the Governor telegraphed President Davis for a conference. I accompanied him to Charlotte, but was not present at the conference, which was held in Mr. Thomas W. Dewey's parlor (now the Observer building). The proceedings were about as follows: After a general conversation on the sit- uation. Governor Vance said: " Mr. President, I have come to see what you wish me to do." The President replied in substance that "it was a time for every man to stand to his post and do his duty." After a short silence. General J. C. Breckinridge, Secretary of War (the Cabinet being present), said: "Mr. Presi- dent, I do not think you have answered the Governor's ques- tion." Mr. Davis replied rather tartly: "Well, what would you tell him to do?" General Breckinridge said: "The end is evi- dently near, and .he should make the best terms he can for his people and his State." Mr. Davis replied: "You would?" THE ARMISTICE. Generals Johnston and Sherman had agreed upon terms to close the war, which were submitted to their respective govern- ments for approval. A truce or armistice was declared until the decisions of the governments were known. The day I was in Charlotte, James H. Orr and some one else went towards Lin- colnton to carry General Stoneman notice of the armistice. That day the bridge at Rozzelle's ferry was burned. General E. D. Johnston, who was in the peach orchard on the Mecklenburg 62 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. side, with a few others in line, had a silver dollar in tis breast- pocket badly dented by a ball fired by Stoneman's men from the Gaston side of the river. There was a large quantity of leather and rubber belting and some cloth in a house standing about where Mr. Clinard's store now is. That afternoon some of the citizens broke the store open and helped themselves to the goods — as they thought the Confederacy was dead, they administered on its effects. THE CROWD WAS BROKE. At 12 o'clock that night we went in a box-car to Salisbury and "put up" at the hotel kept by Dr. ^Y. H. Howerton. He declined to take Confederate money in payment for breakfast and lodging. Governor Vance had not a cent of specie. I had seven dollars. When I left Hillsboro my father had fifteen sil- ver dollars belonging to my brother James (who was with Lee), and he gave me seven of it. He did not have a cent of specie of his own. At that time he was a Confederate States Senator. Neither he nor Governor Vance had favored secession in the beginning, but when they gave their adhesion to the Southern cause they nobly stood by it. The currency with which the nation paid its soldiers they considered good enough for them, and there is no stronger proof of faithfulness to duty assumed in our history than this incident affords. Dr. Howerton declined to receive the silver, but said it ,was useless to take Confederate money, and simply marked our names paid. I think General Wade Hampton was also present, and, like the Governor, had nothing but Confederate money. Dr. Howerton did the same for him. After breakfast we went to the depot and down to the old round-house. While in it we heard firing at the depot, first an occasional shot, then vollies. We thought Sherman had advanced and that we were prisoners. Some one had fired the boxes of ammunition piled on the depot platform. THE RETURN TO GREENSBORO. On the return to Greensboro, the Confederacy being at an end, Governor Vance was desirous to communicate with General Sher- Organization of Troops. 63 man. He went with Generals Johnston and Breckinridge and Hon. J. H. Reagan to Hampton's outpost, near Strayhorn's (now University Station). Here the others held several consultations, to none of which was the Governor invited. He took offense at this treatment and the manner of his transportation back to Greensboro. I bore several letters between him and General Johnston on the subject. All was satisfactorily adjusted. While at General Hampton's outpost news came of Lincoln's assassination, and Governor Vance abandoned his trip to Raleigh. During the armistice several hundred of General Johnston's soldiers came to Governor Vance's headquarters (the brick office opposite the court-house — Messrs. Scott's law office) and called on him and General J. C. Brown, of Tennessee, for speeches. They responded on the close of the war on the basis laid down by Generals Johnston and Sherman. While in Greensboro Gov- ernor Vance was entertained by his warm personal friend and colleague in the United States Congress, Hon. John A. Gilmer. On going into Governor Vance's room on Sunday morning, he informed me that we were prisoners; that the Yankees had occu- pied the town the night before. It was concluded that flight was impossible, even if advisable; that I should go up town and surrender, and tell them that he was ready to do so. On going to the court-house, I fovind that the Yankees, who had come by train from Danville, had returned. Sherman's affront to halleck. President Johnson had rejected the Johnston-Sherman plan to close the war. Stanton, as Secretary of War, and General Halleck, as Commander-in-Chief, had ordered Generals Sheridan and Wright "to pay no attention to General Sherman's armis- tice," but to push into North Carolina and capture President Davis. The subsequent history of this order, and how General Sherman publicly affronted General Halleck in Richmond and Stanton at the grand review in Washington, makes an interesting chapter of history, but I cannot spare space for it in this con- nection. It can be gotten from the official "Records of the Re- 64 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. bellion," No. 100. General Johnston Dotified General Sherman of the presence of these troops. He complained to General Grant, and they were withdrawn. Johnston's surrender. Governor Vance went that day half way to Danville by rail to meet Governor Smith (Extra Billy) for consultation. They held this to themselves, and I do not know the trend of the conversation, but it was concluded that nothing could be done. Generals Johnston and Sherman having on April 26th agreed upon terms for the surrender of Johnston's army similar to those between Lee and Grant, Brigadier-General Hartranft, of Pennsylvania, came to Greensboro to arrange and accept the paroles. He had no orders as to the ofBcers of the State govern- ment. General Schofield, who had been assigned to this depart- ment, came to Greensboro and took quarters at Governor More- head's. I bore a message from Governor Vance to him, request- ing an interview. It was a bright moonlight night; the sentinel was stationed in the front walk, about one hundred yards from the house; when I was fifty steps from him, bringing his gun "to ready," he called out: "Halt; who goes there?" I replied: " Friend, without the countersign." He answered back, " Who? " I repeated my reply, with the addition, " I have a message from Governor Vance to General Schofield." He called the corporal of the guard, I advanced, and on explaining my errand to him, I was conducted into the house. General Schofield soon came in, and on reading the paper, remarked : " Tell the Governor I will be happy to receive him at his convenience," I named 8 :30 o'clock for our return. Mr. Gilmer and I think Major A. M. McPheeters, the Gov- ernor's Private Secretary, accompanied us. Governor Morehead also came iu the room. After a little introductory talk, the Governor told General Schofield that he desired to talk with him about matters in the State, and particularly about his (the mountain) section of it. He thought there would be much trouble and turmoil if the troops kept there for police duty Organization op Troops. 65 should be those who had enlisted in the United States service from that section; it would be best to send regulars and not vol- unteers. General Stoneman thanked him for the suggestion, and said he would consider it. One of the cavalry regiments of the United States army was sent there. It was the regiment to which Captains Hayes and Ward belonged. After discussion as to matters belonging to the State for some time, the Governor asked him what he would do with him. He replied he had no orders as to him or any civil officer. The Governor replied that he would in a day or two join his wife at Statesville, and if wanted he would be found there. LAST MAN TO LEAVE THE CONFEDERACY. The Governor asked General Schofield to forward to Presi- dent Johnson a communication asking for a permit to send a commission to Washington to arrange with the Federal authori- ties as to the affairs of the State. Governor Graham was sum- moned by telegraph from Hillsboro. He prepared a paper to be sent to President Johnson, asking that he and Hons. John A. Gilmer and Bedford Brown be sent a permit to visit Washing- ton. Mr. Brown was summoned from his home in Caswell county, and a conference was held as to the mission. President Johnson refused to receive the commission or send a permit, as requested; but a short time afterwards summoned Governor Holden, whom he appointed Provisional Governor. Governor Holden had done more to promote secession than any man in the State. A day or two aftewards, at about 9 o'clock. Governor 'Vance boarded the train for Salisbury and Statesville, and at 10:30 I did likewise for Hillsboro, being, as I claim, the last man in North Carolina to leave the Confederacy. A few weeks afterwar4s Governor Vance was arrested at Statesville and con- fined for several weeks, with other Southern Governors, in the old Capitol at Washington. W. A. Graham. Machpblah, N. C, April 26, 1900. Regimental Histories. 'BETHEL '' REGIMENT (FIRST VOLUNTEERS). 1. D. H. Hill, Colonel. 2. James H. Lane, Major. 3. J. B. Starr, Lieut.-Colonel. 4. Charles B. Cook, 2d Lieut., Co. H. 6. E. J. Hale, Private, Co. H. 6. Thomas Capehart, 23 Lieut., Co. M. 7. J. M. Sims, Private, Co. C. £. W. B. Taylor, Corporal, Co. C. 9. E. F. Hoke, Major. (Picture in 21st Regiment.) 10. W. G. Lewis, 2d Lieut., Co. A. (Pic- ture in 43d Regiment.) 11. P. M. Parker, 2d Lieut., Co. I. (Pic- ture in 30th Regiment.) 12. F. W. Bird, 2d Lieut., Co. L. (Picture in nth Regiment.) THE "BETHEL" REGIMENT. THE FIRST NORTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEERS. By MAJOR EDWARD J. HALE. "First at Bethel; last at Appomattox!" is an epigram which embodies the spirit of all the serious acts of North Carolina. She has not exhibited those boastful qualities which seem to characterize the peoples of new countries. She had passed her century before she discovered that it was the making, not the ■writing, of history which chiefly distinguished her, and recorded the fact in her recently adopted motto. It may be said of her as the Duke of York said of Richard's noble father : "In peace, was never gentle lamb more mild; In war, was never lion raged more fierce." When we consider these peculiarities of our mother State, assimilating her more nearly than her sisters to old-world com- munities, with their repose and reserved strength, we will be prepared to understand the secret of the surprises which she gave to her neighbors. It will also explain why so few general offi- cers were accorded to her at first, and so grudgingly, and how it came about, before the war had ended, that the North Carolina contingent in the Army of Northern Virginia were masters of the situation. Indeed, no thoughtful soldier of that army, ob- serving the course of events in the last year or two of ithe war, could hesitate to believe that if it had lasted a year longer the leadership of the army, saving Lee himself, would have been supplied by North Carolinians — that is to say, by those who contributed the greater number of soldiers as well as the greater 70 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. losses in battle. The turning of the tide at Gettysburg, so dis- heartening to the South, seemed only to inspire the troops of our glorious State with greater fortitude as they entered upon the losing battle which Grant's new methods imposed in the death grapple of 1864 and 1865. Bearing these things in mind, we may review with composure the attitude of North Carolina before the outbreak of hostilities, and feel the thrill of compensated pride at the celerity and pon- derousness of her blows afterwards — whether delivered by the First Regiment, setting the pace at Bethel Church, or by any of its successors. The contrast in her two moods constitutes one of the sublimest episodes of history. The General Assembly of North Carolina met on the 19th of November, 1860. South Carolina passed her ordinance of seces- sion on the 20th of December. Mississippi followed on the 9th of January, 1861; Florida, on the 10th; Alabama, on the 11th; Georgia, on the 19th; Louisiana, on the 26th; and Texas, on the 1st of February. Amid the profound agitation which these events produced, North Carolina preserved her equanimity as a State, though her people were divided. Those who favored join- ing the newly formed Confederacy advocated the calling of a convention. Those who opposed secession opposed the calling of a convention. There were, however, a large number who opposed secession as inexpedient, who nevertheless favored the calling of a convention. Such a body, it was thought, could observe the course of events, and be ready for action if circum- stances required. On the 30th of January the General Assembly passed a bill for an election to determine the question of calling a convention and at the same time for choosing members of the convention if called. The 28th of February was named as the day for the election. The call of the convention was rejected by a narrow majority, some seven hundred and fifty; but the number of dele- gates chosen who were known as "unionists" — that is, wh& thought secession inexpedient unless coercion of the seceded States were attempted — was eighty-two; while the number of those The Bethel Regiment. 71 who were known as " secessionists " — that is, those who favored immediate action — was thirty-eight. FKOM PEACE TO WAE. On the 12th of April hostilities began in Charleston harbor. On the 15th, Mr. Lincoln issued his proclamation for coercion. On the 17th, Governor Ellis issued his patriotic rejoinder, con- vening the General Assembly in "special session" on the 1st of May. On the 18th of April the leading organ of the majority contained an editorial which voiced their sentiments, as these were affected by such a stupendous change in their affairs, and which it will be enlightening to quote as follows: " It is needless to remind our readers how earnestly and hon- estly we have labored to preserve our once great and glorious and beneficent Union. In its existence we have believed were involved that inappreciable blessing, peace; that sound form of liberty and law inaugurated by the Constitution of the United States; and the security, nay, even the existence, of that domes- tic iustitution out of which have arisen all our national troubles. In the new aspect of affairs, we see no reason to change any opinion that we have expressed, that the difficulty ought to have been peaceably settled, and would have been if good men had been influential. We believe now, as heretofore, that by the exercise of that patience which the immense issues at stake de- manded, there would have been a peaceful settlement. We believe now, as heretofore, that a fratricidal war for such a cause is a wrong of which we would not be guilty for a thousand worlds. But with all these opinions unchanged, there is a change in the condition of affairs — a change with which neither we nor the people of North Carolina have had aught to do — over which they have had no control, but which of necessity will shape their action. The President's proclamation is "the last feather that breaks the camel's back." It shows that the professions of peace were a delusion and a cheat, or, if ever really entertained, that peaceful intentions have been abandoned. War is to be prose- cuted against the South by means of the seventy-five thousand 72 iNOETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. men called for; and North Carolina has been officially required to furnish a quota of the seventy-five thousand. Will she do it? Ought she to do it? No, no! Not a man can leave her borders upon such an errand who has not made up his mind to war upon his own home and all that he holds dear in that home. For ourselves, we are Southern men and North Carolinians, and at war with those who are at war with the South and North Carolina. With such feelings we attended the large and almost impromptu meeting of Tuesday last, and one of us was unex- pectedly called upon to take a part in that meeting. Its calm and dignified determinations met his full concurrence, though it was the saddest public duty he was ever called upon to perform. The future seems to us full only of evil. A civil war, in which it will be hard to say whether victor or vanquished is the greater sufferer. A civil war, whose end no man can see, but full every day of its long and sad years of woe, woe, woe. The impover- ished, the down-trodden, the widow and the orphan, will here- after heap bitter imprecations upon the bad men who have brought these terrible evils of desolation and death upon a great and prosperous and happy people. Thank God! that we can say we have labored for peace, and have had no wish but to avert the dire calamities in a way honorable to both sections." History — history which the government is preserving in im- perishable records — has shown with what unequaled fidelity the people in whose behalf these words were written redeemed their new obligations. It was in harmony with these noble character- istics that North Carolina should have been (with exception of her daughter, Tennessee) the last State to secede from the Union, and, as the world now knows, the foremost, once having taken the fate- ful step, in all that was required to make secession good — in harmony with her conservative and peace-loving disposition, once the battle was joined, that she poured out her blood and treasure in greater volume than any of her sisters; that, possess- ing but one-tenth of the white population of the seceded States, she contributed one-fifth of their armies; and that she mustered at Appomattox a greater number of arms-bearing men than all The Bethel Regiment. 73 others of them. That she should also have supplied the chief portion "of the Confederacy's troops engaged in the first pitched battle of the war may not be attributed to accident, but rather to the complete condition in which she sent her first troops across the Virginian border, her First Regiment of Volunteers. For this reason they were sent to Yorktown, which was then the post of danger. The hastily assembled meeting referred to in the editorial quoted was a public meeting held on Tuesday, the 16th of April, the day on which Mr. Lincoln's proclamation was received in the most of the towns of the State. Its resolutions called for the taking of "all proper steps to maintain, secure and defend the rights of North Carolina as one of the Southern States"; request- ing the Governor to "forthwith convene the General Assembly, with a view to legislative action in this crisis"; and pledging their support and adherence " to the Governor and authorities of the State in such manner as may be deemed necessary to be taken to assert our rights and defend our soil." Similar meetings were held and similar resolutions adopted in all the towns and counties as soon as news of the proclamation came to hand. The remarkable feature of this movement was that it was not concerted; yet it was simultaneous, and the voice of the people throughout the length and breadth of the State was as that of one man. With sublime confidence in themselves, they had declared for peace in the face of unprecedented clamor; but, with no less significance, they made it known that, if the time of action should come, they would not be behind the foremost. Thus the State which had declared for the Union, two to one, on the 28th of February, became an armed camp, marshaled for ■resistence to the Union, on the 17th of April, less than fifty days. NORTH CAROLINA ORGANIZES HER FIRST REGIMENT. It was under such circumstances that the troops which formed the First Regiment volunteered. They were the cream of the State's uniformed militia, and they included in their ranks, when 74 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. filled and ready for leaving home, probably the highest average order of men ever mustered for war.* Local industries in North Carolina at that day were in a com- paratively high state of development. These companies were completely equipped in an incredibly short time. More than half their members were either new, or were literary and profes- sional men who had enrolled themselves in them as a matter of local pride.f The State supplied arms, but all other equipments — uni- forms, tents, knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, and so forth — were required to be supplied by the volunteers or their organizations. The large harness and other leather manufactories, carriage fac- tories and metal working establishments which were a marked feature of our dispersed industrial development before the war, each locality taking care of its own volunteers, supplied a much more efficient means for meeting such an emergency than the present system of concentration which the adverse result of the war introduced. We have recently witnessed the deplorable delay with which the volunteers in the late Spanish war were equipped, notwithstanding the unlimited resources of the reunited Republic, with its more than doubled population and its concen- trated wealth. Contrast with this the record of the North Caro- lina of 1861, as follows: The companies of the First Regiment volunteered on the 17th of April, 1861; they were formed into a regiment at the State capital by successive orders from the Adjutant- General's office, issued on April 19th, May 9th, May 12th and May 16th; three of them (the two Fayetteville companies and the Lincoln company) were in Richmond on the 18th of May, the other seven arriving on the 21st; and they had fought and won the first battle of the war by the 10th of June! *The Charlotte Democrat of May 1, isiil, aaid: "This regiment is said to be the finest looking body of men ever assembled in the State." tTheYorktown correspondent of the above paper, writing on May 27th of the extra- ordmary character of the rank and file of the First Regiment, said that among the pri- vates were " two editors and a number of lawyers and doctors." The chaplain too the Kev. Mr. Yates (smce a. distinguished Doctor of Divinity), was taken from the ranks of Company B, one of the Charlotte companies. The Bethel Eegiment. 75 ITS COMPLETENESS OF EQUIPMENT AND ORGANIZATION. Military men know that this astonishing result could not have been accomplished if completeness of equipment and organiza- tion had been sacrificed to celerity of movement. It is believed that no other regiment, then or afterwards, was set out in the field in such style as the First North Carolina Volunteers when they were mustered on the plain of Yorktown in the last week of May. Such was the judgment, also, of impartial critics. The Petersburg (Virginia) Express of Monday, May 20, 1861, con- tained the following : "Three companies of the First Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers — the Fayetteville Independent Infantry, Captain Huske; the Fayetteville Light Infantry, Captain Starr, both from Fayetteville, and the Southern Stars, Captain Hoke, from Lincoln county — arrived in this city by a . special train from Raleigh at 7 : 30 o'clock on Saturday evening. Each company had its full complement of one hundred and nine men, thor- oughly armed and in the best spirits. If we may form an opin- ion of the whole regiment by the material and appearance of the above three companies, we should unhesitatingly pronounce it to be one of the finest in the world. North Carolina marshals her bravest and her best for the coming contest, and sends to Vir- ginia men who will uphold and transmit without blemish to posterity the honorable and enviable glory and fame of their patriotic sires. Drilled to perfection and armed to the full — with brave hearts to lead and brave hearts to follow — they will do their duty, and that nobly." The same paper of Wednesday, May 22d, said : "The remainder of the First Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers, numbering seven companies and over seven hundred 76 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. must say that this is the best equipped regiment which has yet made its route through our city. Everything seems to have been provided for them that a soldier could desire — arms, ac- coutrements, knapsacks, haversacks, canteens — in fact, nothing is wanting." Said the Richmond Examiner ot Thursday, May 23, 1861: = " Without waiting for the form of a legal secession, the State of North Carolina commenced sending her gallant sons to join those who were already in the tented field. On Wednesday morning the rest of the regiment (of which the first installment arrived on Sunday*), amounting to seven hundred, reached this city by the southern road at one o'clock. They were soon formed into line and marched through the city, in splendid style, to the airs of a fine band. Those who saw their close columns and steady march as they moved down Main street, in perfect order, their polished muskets glistening in the moonlight, with Done of the usual attendants of loafers and negroes crowding upon the ranks, describe the scene .as almost spectral in its ap- pearance, so regular and orderly were its movements." The value of these voluntary testimonials from the newspapers of the capital State will be apparent when it is remembered that nearly all the troops which had come to Virginia from the origi- nal Confederate States passed over the same Petersburg and Richmond highway. The fact that the troops of those States had been organized and drilled for at least six months, and de- sired war, accentuates the achievement of North Carolina, which dealt with men who were private citizens a month before, and who, for the most part, were opposed to war: Nor was expert testimony lacking to the same effect. Dr. Battle, of the University, reports that General Gabriel J. Rains, when he visited the First Regiment on the Yorktown Peninsula, declared that it was "the best regiment he had ever seen." (General Rains was graduated from the United States ^Saturday night. The Bethel Regiment. 77 Military Academy in 1827, and from that time until the breaking out of the war served with distinction in the regular aripy. At the time of his visit he was a general officer of the Confederacy and in command of the First Division of Magruder's Peninsula Army). THE REGIMENT AS ORGANIZED. By reference to the Adjutant-General's orders in the appen- dix to this article it will be seen that several changes were made in the companies assigned to the First Regiment. When com- plete and ready for departure for Virginia its organization was as follows: Daniel H. Hill, Colonel. Charles C. Lee, Lieutenant-Colonel. James H. Lane, Major. J. M. POTEAT, Adjutant. John Henry Wayt, Commissary. Dr. Peter E. Hines, Surgeon. Dr. Joseph H. Baker, Assistant Surgeon. Dr. John G. Hardy, Assistant Surgeon. Rev. Edwin A. Yates, Chaplain. Company A — Edgecombe Guards — Captain, John L. Bridg- ers; First Lieutenant, Whitmel P. Lloyd; Second Lieutenant, William S. Long; Junior Second Lieutenant, W. G. Lewis. Company B — Hornet's Nest Rifles — Captain, Lewis S. Wil- liams; First Lieutenant, William A. Owens; Second Lieuten- ant, William P. Hill; Junior Second Lieutenant, Thomas D. Gillespie. Company C — Charlotte Grays — Captain, E. A. Ross; First Lieutenant, E. B. Cohen ; Second Lieutenant, Thomas B. Trot- ter; Junior Second Lieutenant, C. W. Alexander. Company D — Orange Light Infantry — Captain, Richard J. Ashe; First Lieutenant, James R. Jennings; Second Lieutenant, Richard B. Saunders; Junior Second Lieutenant, Richardson Mallett. Company E — Buncombe Miflemen — Captain, William Wallis 78 NoETH Carolina Teoops, 1861-65. McDowell; First Lieutenant, Washington Morrison Hardy; Second Lieutenant, George Henry Gregory; Junior Second Lieu- tenant, James Alfred Patton. Company F — LaFayette Light Infantry — Captain, Joseph B. Starr; First Lieutenant, Frank N. Koberts; Second Lieutenant, John A. Pemberton; Junior Second Lieutenant, George Sloan. Company G — Bu7'ke Rifles — Captain, Clark Moulton Avery; First Lieutenant, Calvin S. Brown; Second Lieutenant, John A. Dickson; Junior Second Lieutenant, James C. S. McDowell. Company H — Fayetteville Indepmident Light Infantry — Cap- tain, Wright Huske; First Lieutenant, Benjamin Robinson Huske; Second Lieutenant, Charles BettsCook; Junior Second Lieutenant, Hector McKethan. Company I — Enfield Blues — Captain, D. B. Bell; First Lieu- tenant, M. T. Whitaker; Second Lieutenant, F. M. Parker; Junior Second Lieutenant, Cary W. Whitaker. Company K — Southern Stars — Captain, William J. Hoke; First Lieutenant, Wallace M. Reinhardt; Second Lieutenant, Robert F. Hoke; Junior Second Lieutenant, Ed. E. Sumner. The field officers were the three ranking officers of the North Carolina Military Institute at Charlotte, Colonel Hill, known by his old army title of Major, being the commandant. They were all men of distinction in their profession. Hill had been graduated from West Point in 1842; had par- ticipated in nearly every important engagement in the Mexican war; and had won the brevet of captain at Contreras and Cheru- busco, and of major at Chapultepec. He resigned from the army in 1849 to become Professor of Mathematics at Washing- ton College, Virginia. In 1854 he became a professor in David- son College, and, in 1859, commandant and manager of the Military Institute at Charlotte. At the outbreak of the war he was made commandant of the camp of instruction at Raleigh. Lee was graduated high in his class at West Point in 1856; became Second Lieutenant of Ordnance in the army; resigned his commission in 1859, and became a professor at the Charlotte The Bethel Regiment. 79 Military Institute. He was made major and second in command at the camp of instruction at Raleigh. Lane was one of the two "star graduates" of his class at the Virginia Military Institute, and a graduate of the University of Virginia. He became Assistant Professor of Mathematics and Tactics at the Virginia Military Institute; later, professor of those departments at the Florida State Seminary; and then Pro- fessor of Natural Philosophy in the Charlotte Military Institute. He was made drill-master and adjutant of the camp of instruc- tion at Raleigh. AT THE FRONT IN VIRGINIA. The regiment was immediately sent to the front, and, as we have seen, reached Richmond in two detachments — the first, composed of the two Fayetteville companies and the Lincoln company, under Colonel Hill, arriving there on Saturday night, the 18th of May; and the second, composed of the remainder of the regiment, Under Lieutenant-Colonel Lee, arriving on Tues- day night, the 21st. Thus, as the Richmond Examiner said. North Carolina had patriotically anticipated the legal act of secession, and she had actually put nearly four hundred of her troops on Virginia soil before its occurrence. No other State, it is believed, did as much. The regiment went into camp at Howard's Grove, and remained at Richmond until the Friday following. May 24th. As North Carolina was still technically in the Union, and Virginia, whose ordinance of secession was passed on the 17th of May, did not transfer her military establishment to the Con- federacy until June 7th, our North Carolina troops on Virginia soil were for some days in the position of allies of Virginia. As such they were under the supreme command of General Robert E. Lee, Commander-in-Chief of the Virginia forces. General Lee had but three weeks before (April 20th) resigned his posi- tion in the United States Army as Lieutenant-Colonel of Albert Sidney Johnston's Second Regiment of Cavalry. His appear- ance at this time was strikingly different from that in which he 80 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. subsequently became familiar to the Army of Northern Virginia. His hair was close cropped, his complexion fresh and ruddy, his face smooth-shaven, except for a black, military-looking mus- tache. His movement was quicker; his figure — graceful, as can- not be forgotten, and erect to the last — more lithe. He was, altogether, a phenomenally handsome man, the model of a sol- dier. 'In a year's time he looked ten years older. ' EVENTS LEADING TO THE FIRST CLASH OF ARMS. Of the four lines* by which General Scott had planned the invasion of Virginia — from Washington; from Fortress Mon- roe; by the Cumberland Valley; and from Ohio, by the Kana- wha, into Western Virginia — that from Fortress Monroe became the natural one, with the transfer of the Capital of the Confed- eracy from Montgomery to Richmond. Except that the first mentioned served the double purpose of protecting the Federal Capital, the Fortress Monroe line would undoubtedly have claimed his chief attention. The splendid base which that great military work, one of the largest in the world, supplied, and the ideal route which the Yorktown Peninsula presented for his marching troops, with the broad waters of the James and the York Rivei's open to his navy on either flank, were considerations which must otherwise have fixed his choice. It is probable that the situation at the moment of the First Regiment's arrival in Richmond would have destined them to Northern Virginia; but circumstances were rapidly shifting the theatre of operations. After the evacuation of the Gosport Navy Yard by the Fed- eral authorities on the 21st of April, Richmond was thrown into alarm by the reports of the approach of the Federal gun-boat "Pawnee'' up the James. On the 6th of May Federal vessels chased steamers to within twelve miles of Gloucester Point, on the York River, opposite Yorktown, and fired upon them. On May 7th the special agent of the Confederate Government reported to the Secretary of War (L. P. Walker), from Rich- mond, that intelligent and distinguished men in Richmond *Major Jed Hotchkiss, in Confederate Military History, Vol. Ill, page 43. The Bethel Regiment. 81 " believe Virginia on the very brink of being carried back, and say no man but President Davis can save her. * * * There is disappointment that he does not assume entire direction of affairs here. * * * General Lee has ordered Louisiana troops to Harper's Ferry. * * * "phe South Carolina troops refuse to move unless under orders from Montgomery."* On the 11th of May, Rev. Dr. W. N. Pendleton (afterwards brigadier- general of artillery), who had been a classmate of President Davis at West Point, wrote to the President at Montgomery as follows: "As you value our great cause, hasten on to Rich- mond. Lincoln and Scott are, if I mistake not, covering by other demonstrations the great movement upon Richmond. Sup- pose they should send suddenly up the York River, as they can, an army of thirty thousand or more; there are no means at hand to repel them, and if their policy shown in Maryland gets footing here, it will be a severe, if not a fatal, blow. Hasten, I pray you, to avert it. - The very fact of yonr presence will almost answer. Hasten, then, I entreat you; don't lose a day." On the 18th of May (the day after Virginia's secession) the United States ship "Monticello" fired on the Virginia battery at Seweli's Point, and again on the 21st. On the 22d, Majpr-General Benjamin F. Butler, United States Army, was transferred from the Depart- ment of Annapolis and assigned to' the command of the Depart- of Virginia, with headquarters at Fortress Monroe; a^nd nine additional infantry regiments were sent there. On the 23d, a Federal regiment made a demonstration against Hampton, three miles from Fortress Monroe. At Hampton and other points in the Peninsula country there was considerable disaffection to the Confederacy. It was under these circumstances that the destination of the First North Carolina Volunteers, the crack regiment of the day, was decided. They were ordered to Yorktown, the " post of danger and of honor,"t as the papers of the day described it. Breaking camp at Richmond on the 24th of May, they proceeded ♦Confederate Military History, Vol. Ill, page 128. tFayetteville Observer, May 27, 1861. 6 82 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. by rail to West Point, ou the York River, and by^steam-boat (tlie " Logan ") the rest of the way, landing at Yorktown the same afternoon. Upon the boat was Colonel John B. Magruder, of the Provisional Army of Virginia, lately a distinguished artil- lery major of the United States Army, who had just been assigned (May 21st) to the command of the Department of the Peninsula, including the York and James Rivers. Between the time of the regiment's arrival at Yorktown and the 6th of June it was kept incessantly at work, drilling and in- trenching. While engaged in the latter it was interesting to these new disciples of Mars to trace the outline of Cornwallis's works erected in defense against 'their forefathers four score years before. Sometimes their spades and picks would renew, some- times demolish, those ancient war marks, and occasionally they would unearth a souvenir of battle. A company of mounted men, called the Old Dominion Dra- goons, appeared shortly after the regiment's arrival, having their rendezvous at Yorktown; though doing picket duty between Yorktown and the enemy's posts at Hampton (three miles from Fortress Monroe) and Newport News, some twenty-one miles away. At Newport News, General Butler had caused a very strong intrenched camp to be established, garrisoning it with several regiments, among them the Seventh New York, the First Vermopt and the Fourth Massachusetts, together with a portion of the Second United States Artillery. On the 28th of May two more companies of Virginia cavalry were ordered to Yorktown, and Cabell's Battery of light artillery was transferred thither from Gloucester Point. On the 10th of June the Louisiana Zouaves (the First Louisiana Battalion), under Lieutenant- Colonel Coppens, were ordered from Richmond to Yorktown. At the same time a number of companies of Alabama troops were concentrated at Yorktown from Gloucester Point and Rich- mond and organized into a regiment under Colonel John A. Winston. Major George W. Randolph (the successor, shortly after, of Mr. Walker as Secretary of War) had a small battalion of artillery at Yorktown; and Lieutenant-Colonel William D. The Bethel Regiment. 83 Stuart, of .the Third Virginia Regiment, and Major E. B. Mon- tague, were sufficiently near to reach Bethel Church, each with three companies, on the morning of the lOtb, the day of the battle. Such was the military situation — so far as the troops with which we had to confront General Butler were concerned — for several days before and after the battle of Bethel. About two weeks before, a party of some three hundred Federal troops had come up from Hampton and occupied Bethel Church. They remained a day or two, and left a number of incriptions on the walls of the church — "Death to the Traitors!" "Down with the Rebels!" and the like — which were read with interest by our men upon arrival. Colonel Magruder determined to put a stop to these bold incursions, and made his dispositions accordingly. the battle of bethel.* On Thursday, the 6th of June, Colonel Hill, under orders from Colonel Magruder, proceeded with the First North Caro- lina Regiment to Big Bethel Church. This place is situated on the Hampton road about thirteen miles from Yorktown-, some eight miles from Hampton, and about the same distance from Newport News. Major Randolph, with four pieces of artillery, accompanied the expedition. The march from Yorktown was accomplished by about dusk. It was a trying one, as it was made in heavy marching order, with knapsacks, haversacks, canteens, loaded cartridge-boxes, often a Bible in the knapsack, and with a tin cup and an extra pair of shoes dangling from either corner of this rather boxey affair. The light marching order of Jackson's foot-cavalry was as yet a sealed chapter of the regulations. A drizzling mist had set in before dark, and it was the regiment's first experience at cooking with ramrods and bivouacking without tents. •There is no detailed account of the battle of Bethel in the offlcial records. Indeed, General Butler (" War of the Eebellion," Vol. II, page 82) declares that it would serve no useful purpose, liowever interesting such an account would be, to attempt to make it in the abseuce of a " map of the ground and details." Endeavor has been made, therefore, in this article, to construct such an account by a comparison of the various official reports of both sides which have been published. 84 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. There was not even a hamlet about the church at that time^ and no doubt it is the same to-day — simply a grove beside and on the west side- of the road, with a large, unpainted woodeu country meeting-house standing in the midst of the grove and facing the road. The regiment had traversed a sandy level up to this point, but here the land falls oif to the southward and to the right and left of the road, the depression on the right, back of the church, being somewhat precipitous. A creek which forms the headwaters of the northwest branch of Back River flows in this depression, a branch of the creek coming through the ravine back of the church. A flat wooden bridge carried the road over 'the creek, a hundred yards or so southeast of the church. Some three miles beyond Big Bethel was Little Bethel Churchy where our mounted pickets had an outpost. The two maps* herewith illustrate the country adjacent to the battlefield and the battlefield itself. On the morning of the 7th, Colonel Hill made a reconnais- sance of the ground with a view to fortifying it. He gives the result in his official report as follows: " I found a branch of Back River on our front, and encircling our right flank. On our left was a dense and almost impassable wood, except about one hundred and fifty yards of old field. The breadth of the road, a thick wood, and narrow cultivated field covered our rear. The nature of the ground determined me to make an inclosed work, and I had the invaluable aid of Lieutenant- Colonel Lee of my regiment in its plan and construction. Our posi- tion had the inherent defect of being commanded by an immense field immediately in front of it,t upon which the masses of the enemy might be readily deployed. Presuming that an attempt would be made to carry the bridge across the stream, a battery *Upon map No. 1, of Plate No. XVIIl, of the atlases accompanying the Government's publication, " War of the Rebellion," as a basis, an outline map has been prepared of so much of the York Peninsula as may be useful for the present purpose. A map of the battlefield of Bethel has also been prepared from a tracing of the original map made by General Lewis (then Second Lieutenant of Company A) a few days after the battle. The positions of the Federal troops have been located by a study of their oflJicial reports. Those of tho Confederates are as given in Lieutenant Lewis's map, and are those' held just before the opening of the battle. There were some important changes afterwards^ and these are noted in detail further on. t Across the stream. 1. Ship Point, 2. Camp Payetteville (Cockletown). 8. Camp Eains. The Bethel Eeg.iment. 85 was made for its especial protection, and Major Randolph placed his guns so as to sweep all the approaches to it. The O(?cupation of two commanding eminences beyond the creek and on our right would have greatly strengthened our position, but our force was too weak to admit of the occupation of more than one of them. A battery was laid out on it for one of Ran- dolph's howitzers." There were but twenty-five spades, six axes and three picks in possession of the command, but these were plied so vigorously all day and night of the 7th and all day on the 8th that the work began to show the outlines of a fortified camp. On the afternoon of the 8th, Colonel Hill learned that a ma- rauding party of the enemy was within a few miles of the camp, and called for a detachment to drive them back. Lieutenant Frank N. Roberts, of Company F, "promptly responded," says Colonel Hill in his report, "and in five minutes his command was en route." Colonel Hill detached Major Randolph, with one howitzer, to join them, and Lieutenant-Colonel Lee (of the First Regiment) volunteered to take command of the whole. They came upon the marauders, five miles off, "busy over the spoils of a plun- dered house." A shell from the howitzer put them to flight. Soon after information came that seventy-five marauders were on the Back River road. Colonel Hill called upon Captain McDowell's company. Company E, "and in three minutes it was in hot pursuit." A howitzer was detached to join them, and Major James H. Lane (of the First Regiment) volunteered to command the whole. The marauders were encountered, after a long march, near New -Market Bridge. Within sight of the flags, at Hampton and hearing of the drums calling to arms. Lane opened fire and drove the enemy across the bridge, wound- ing a large number of the marauders and capturing one. Col- onel Hill afterwards declared that the boldness of this attack, made under the very guns of the enemy's chief camp, brought on the battle of Bethel. As a result of this expedition, so the 86 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. citizens reported, two cart loads and one buggy load of dead and wounded were taken into Hampton. None were hurt on our side. Colonel Magruder carue up the same evening and assumed command. On the uext day (Sunday) a fresh supply of intrench- ing tools enabled the men to make further progress on the works. Colonel Hill says in his report : " We were aroused at 3 o'clock on Monday morning* for a general advance upon the enemy, and marched three and a half miles, when we learnedf that the foe, in large force, was within a few hundred yards of us. We fell back hastily upon our intrenchments, and awaited the arrival of the invaders." Meanwhile, information of the activity of our troops had reached General Butler at Fortress Monroe. He organized a force consisting of nearly all of seven infantry regiments and of artillery sufficient for serving four gutis, which were carried with the expedition. In his report to Lieutenant-General Scott he says that his instructions to this force were "to drive them (the rebels) back and destroy their camp" at Little Bethel. This being accomplished, a couple of regiments were "to follow im- mediately upon the heels of the fugitives, if they were enabled to get off, and attack the battery on the road to Big Bethel while covered by the fugitives." General Butler's confidence was destined to receive a rude shock. He had but recently left the Annapolis department, where he would have become familiar with the circumstances of the evacuation of Alexandria on May 6th, J and of the Confed- erate disaster at Philippi, in Western Virginia, on June 3d.§ Prestige, so far, was decidedly against us, and General Butler's expectation of the surprise and rout of our forces was not un- natural. Prestige counts for much in war as in other human affairs, and it was a matter of vast consequence upon which side *June loth. ■fA purse of S225 was made up by the officers of the regiment after the battle and pre- sented to the old lady who brought the information. t" War of the Rebellion," Vol. II, pages 23-27. llbid., pages G9-74, The Bethel Regiment. 87 it should remain after the first serious shock of arms. Great as was the responsibility, therefore, which fate and their own state of preparedness had thrust upon our North Carolinians, they were presently to exhibit a signal proof of their ability to meet it. General Butler laid his plans carefully.* Instructions were given Brigadier-General Pierce, commanding at Hampton, to send forward Colonel Duryea's Fifth New York Regiment (Zouaves) at one o'clock on the morning of the 10th, by way of New Market Bridge, and thence by a by-road to a point between Little Bethel and Big Bethel, with the object of taking our out- post there in the rear. Colonel Townsend's Third New York Regiment, with a couple of mountain howitzers, was instructed to support Duryea, marching about an hour later. At the same time Colonel Phelps, commanding at Newport News, was directed to send out a battalion under command of Lieutenaut-Colonel Washburn in time to make a demonstration upon Little Bethel in front, and to have him supported by Colonel Bendix's Sev- enth New York Regiment with two field-pieces. Washburn's Battalion was made up of three hundred men from the First Vermont and three hundred men from Wash- burn's own regiment, the Fourth Massachusetts. The two field- pieces were of the Second United States Artillery (regulajs), under command of Lieutenant Greble. The two mountain how- itzers with Townsend were manned by a detachment from Col- onel Carr's Second New York Regiment, " under the direction of a non-commissioned officer and four privates of the United States Army." The two supporting regiments, Townsend's and Bendix's, were expected to effect a junction at the fork of the road leading from Hampton to Newport News, about midway between New Market Bridge and Little Bethel. The movement was so timed that the attack on Little Bethel should be made at daybreak. In case of failure .to surprise the outpost at Little Bethel, General Pierce, if he thought it expedient, was directed to attack the work at Big Bethel. •" War of the RebelliOD," page 77 et seq. 88 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. In General Butler's "plan of operations" were instructions to "Burn up both the Bethels. Blow up, if brick." Artillerists to "handle the captured guns," and "spikes to spike them," were also to be provided. Everything went according to the plan, up to a certain point. Duryea and Washburn had arrived at the places assigned thena, and Bendix's supporting regiment had arrived at the fork of the road where the junction was to be made with Townsend. As day dawned Townseud's Regiment, with General Pierce and his aide-de-camp in advance, were within a hundred yards of Bendix's position, when suddenly the latter opened upon Townsend's col- umn with both artillery and musketry, killing two and wound- ing nineteen, four of the latter being officers. General Pierce says that he was on the point of ordering a charge upon the sup- posed enemy when the mistake was discovered. Duryea and Washburn, hearing the firing in their rear, "reversed their march," to use General Butler's expression, and joined their belligerent reserves. Pierce held a council of war, decided to attack Bethel, and sent to Butler for re-in forcemeats, who dispatched to him Colonel Allen's First and Colonel Carr's Second New York Regiments. The enemy's forces, therefore, which were engaged against us at i^ethel, may be summed up as follows: First New York, Colonel Allen,*- . . 750 Second New York, Colonel Carr,* . . 750 (A detachment acting as artillerists). Third New York, Colonel Townsend, . . 650 Fifth New York, Colonel Duryea, . . 850 Seventh New York, Colonel Bendix,* . . 750 First Vermont,! 300 Fourth Massachusetts,! .... 300 (Both under Lieutenant-Colonel Washburn). Second U. S: Artillery, Greble's Detachment, say, 50 Total, 4,400 *Thi8 is the average of the known strength of Duryea's and Townsend's Regiments IS given in Pierce's report, "War of the Rebellion," Vol. II, page 83. ' fBendix's report, Ibid.^ page 88. The Bethel Regiment. 89 General, staff and couriers, and four guns. General Pierce's General Order No. 12, given in his report, also mentions Colonel McChesney's command as one of those designated to be held in readiness along with Allen's and Carr's. If also sent forward, that would swell the total to some 5,200. While these proceedings were taking place with the enemy, the First North Carolina Volunteers were hurrying forward, over Lee's and Lane's familiar course, towards New Market Bridge. It is certain that neither of the marching columns was aware of the action of the other — the North Carolinians starting out from Big Bethel at three o'clock in the morning, and Butler's army from Hampton and Newport News at one o'clock and two o'clock. Except for Bendix's daybreak fight and the consequent delay, we should probably have come upon Duryea's and Wash- burn's troops a little to the Yorktown side of Little Bethel. Our forces as assembled for battle may be thus summarized: First North Carolina Regiment, Colonel Hill, . 800 Three companies of the Third Virginia Regi- ment, Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart,* . . 208 Three companies of Virginia troops. Major Montague (estimated), . . . .150 Battalion of Virginia Artillery, Major Randolph (estimated), . . . . . .150 Douthatt's, Phillips's and Jones's companies of Virginia Cavalry (estimated), . . . 100 Total, 1,408 Randolph reports one rifled (iron) Parrott gun, three how- itzers, and one rifled howitzer on the ground. He sent, besides, one howitzer to the "Half- Way House," some three miles away, and one howitzer had previously been posted "in the rear of the road leading from the Half- Way House." At nine o'clock the head of the enemy's column (Bendix's Seventh New York) appeared in the road, half a mile away, and ♦Stuart's report, " War of the Rebellion," Vol. II, page 97. 90 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. soon they seemed to fill it. Who will forget that tremendous moment, ushering in the war! A few minutes after nine o'clock a shot from Eandolph's Parrot gun, aimed by himself, screamed away at them. It hit the earth just in their front and ricocheted.* They fell away from the road like a mist before the sun, their artillery at once replied, and the battle began. The positions of the several companies of the First North Carolina Regiment at the opening of the battle, and their changes of position during its progress, were as follows: Company A, Captain Bridgers, was posted in the dense wood, or swamp, beyond the works, beyond the creek, and to the left of the road. They were deployed as skirmishers. When Brown's howitzer was spiked and abandoned. Company A was transferred to the right, where they attacked the enemy and recovered the howitzer. Company B, Lieutenant Owens, on the south face of the works. From this position the company took part in the repulse of the enemy^'s first attempt on our right and in the repulse of Winthrop's attack. Company C, Captain Ross, on the left of Company B, and occupying the adjacent part of the east face of the works. After the temporary capture by the enemy of Brown's abandoned how- itzer, Company C was ordered (with Company A) to recapture it. When this was done they were returned to their original posi- tion, where they took part in the repulse of Winthrop's attack. Company D, Captain Ashe, at the northeast angle of the works. Company E, Captain McDowell, on the north and northwest faces of the works. Company F, Captain Starr, in the woods to the north and left of Company D's position, with exception of a detachment under Lieutenant Roberts, stationed at a ford a mile below the bridge. Company G, Captain Avery, was thrown beyond the stream, to the right of the road, near an old mill-dam, where they took part in the repulse of the enemy's first advance on our right. *Bendix says in his report: "Before we had got ready for action the enemy opened their Are upon us, striking one man down at my side at the first shot." The Bethel Regiment. 91 Subsequently they were mover! forward to the support of the howitzer which had replaced the spiked and abandoned one. Company H, Captain Huske, on the west face of the works, on the right (north) of Montague's Battalion. Shortly after the fight began Company H was moved forward to the support of the main battery (Randolph's), southeast of the church. When Winthrop made his attack upon the southeast angle, half of the company, under Lieutenants Cook and McKethan, were sent thither by Colonel Magruder, where they took part in the repulse of Winthrop. Company I, Lieutenant Parker, on the right (north) of Com- pany H's first position, and extending to the northwest angle of the works. During the progress of the battle Company I was deployed in front of its position in the works and remained thus until it was over. Company K, Captain Hoke, in the woods on the left (north) of Company F. During the battle Company K was deployed one hundred and fifty yards in front of its position, in anticipa- tion of Winthrop's skirmishers striking there. Upon their fail- ure to do this, it was withdrawn to its original position. At the close of the battle Company K was sent forward, as described further on. Lieutenant- Colonel Stuart's three companies were stationed on the hill to the extreme right, beyond the creek, where he com- pleted the slight breastwork erected to protect his command. Major Montague's three companies were stationed on the west face of the works, back and northwest of the church. Upon Stuart's retirement to this point, shortly after the action began, Montague's command was ordered to a point a mile and a quarter to the left. The enemy making no demonstration in that quar- ter, they took no other part in the action. Randolph's artillery was posted as follows: The Parrott gun and one howitzer in the main battery on the right of the road, near the front of the church; a howitzer under Captain Brown in the battery erected on the right, beyond the ravine; a howitzer near the bridge, on the right of the road; the rifled howitzer on 92 North Carolina Troops, 18 61-'65. the left of the road, behind the right of the redoubt erected there.* The three coQipanies of cavalry (dismounted) were posted in rear of the whole.f A detachment of fifteen cadets from the North Carolina Mili- tary Institute was posted beside the last mentioned howitzer. How these dispositions for defense appeared to the attack- ing party is revealed by their reports of the battle. Captain Judson Kilpatrick, of Duryea's Fifth New York (afterwards the cavalry general who had the interesting experi- ence with Wheeler's Cavalry near Fayetteville in 1865), with two companies of his regiment, acted as the enemy's advance guard. He says that he drove in our pickets at eight o'clock, and then made an "armed reaonnaissance" of our position and forces. He was much impressed with what he saw. He "found the enemy with about- from three to five thousand men posted in a stroug position on the opposite side of the bridge, three earth- works and a masked "battery on the right and left; in advance of the stream thirty pieces of artillery and a large force of cavalry." J General Butler's view, from Fortress Monroe, was different. He reiterated in his report his conviction that we had not more than a regiment during the battle, and that if his orders " to go ahead with the bayonet," after the first volley, had been obeyed, the "battery" would have been captured. When within a mile of our position, General Pierce halted his *The following is a summary of such portions of Major Randolph's i-eport as are useful to the present purpose; The howitzer on the right (under Captain Brown) was spiked early in the action by the breaking of a priming-wire, and was withdrawn. It was re- placed near the close by Moseley's howitzer, brought up from the Half- Way House. The ford on the left being threatened, the howitzer at the bridge was withdrawn and sent to that point. The rifled howitzer was withdrawn from the left of the road and sent to the rear when tliat was supposed to be threatened. The same disposition was subsequently made of the howitzer in the main battery near the church, leaving only the Parrott gun there. Randolph says in his report: "The fire was maintained on our side for sometime by the five pieces posted in front"; but one of them being spilled and another sent to the ford early in the' action, "the fire was continued with three pieces, and at no time did we afterwards have more than three pieces playing upon the enemy." He reports ninety- eight shot altogether fired by his artillery. As his first shot was shortly after nine o'clock and his last at half past one o'clock, that would be an average of one in three minutes. The three wounded in his battalion received their injury, in the words of his report, "from the fire of musketry on Our left flank, the ground on that side between us and the enemy sinking down so as to expose us over the top of the breastwork erected by the North Carolina regiment." (The fire of musketry alluded to was from Winthrop's attaclt- ing force). fMagruder's report, " War of the Rebellion," Vol. II, page 91. JKilpatrick's report, " War of the Rebellion," Vol. II, page 89. The Bethel Regiment. 93 column, and thea, witliiu eight hundred yards of our works, formed his troops in line of battle. Duryea's Fifth New York was placed od the right (our left) of the road. Washburn's Vermonters and Massachusetts men, after some preliminary movements, were also sent to the right and placed in extension of Duryea's line. Townsend's Third New York was formed on the left (our right) of the road. Bendix's Seventh New York, which had brought up the rear in the march from the scene of his daybreak fusillade, was now ordered to the front.* The head of his column was dispersed, as we have seen, by Randolph's opening shot, after which, as Beudix reports, he did the best he could "as skirmishers in the woods" (on our left), finally taking position with Washburn's command. Bendix had one piece of artillery with him when he first moved to the front. This seems to have been joined by the three other pieces, when all were served, under Greble's command, in or near the orchard to the left (our right) of the road. The first movement upon our lines was made by two com- panies of Townsend's Regiment, advancing as skirmishers against our right. They were promptly driven back by our artillery, one of Stuart's companies, and companies B and G of the First North Carolina. Meanwhile, Duryea's and Washburn's troops, advancing against our left, made several attempts to charge our works, but, were prevented by the creek. f During these attempts they approached the old ford below the bridge, where Colonel Hill had posted a picket of some forty men under Lieutenant Roberts. This led Colonel Magruder to re-inforce the latter with Werth's company of Montague's Battalion and the howitzer at the bridge, which latter drove back the enemy with one shot. J Townsend now moved forward his whole regiment in line of battle against our right, with one hundred of Duryea's Fifth Regiment (Zouaves) as skirmishers on his right. In this forward *Bendix's report, "War of the Rebellion," page 88. tPieree's report. Ibid., Vol. II, page 85. tWerth's report Ibid., page 103. 94 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. movement, TowDseDd reports that one of his companies (presum- ably the one on his left flank) got separated from the rest of the regiment by a "thickly- hedged ditch" (probably the ravine mentioned in Stuart's report), but continued to march forward in line with it. Captain Brown's gun having been disabled and withdrawn some time before, Colonel Stuart reported to Colonel Magruder the advance of this heavy force (which he estimated at fifteen hundred, accompanied by artillery), and the advance, also, of " a line of skirmishers down the ravine on my right," obscured from his own view but discovered by his scouts. He was accordingly directed by Colonel Magruder to fall back to the works occupied by Montague, back of the church, and the whole of our advanced troops (that is, those across the creek, on the right of the road) were withdrawn. At this critical moment Colonel Hill called Captain Bridgers, with his Company A, of the First North Carolina, out of the swamp (on the left) and directed him to occupy the nearest ad- vanced work (on the right of the road). He also ordered Cap- tain Eoss, with his Company C, of the First North Carolina, to the support of Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart. "These two captains, with their companies," says Hill, "crossed over to Randolph's battery, under a most heavy fire, in a most gallant manner. As Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart had withdrawn. Captain Ross was detained at the church, near Randolph's battery. Captain Bridgers, however, crossed over and drove the Zouaves out of the advanced howitzer battery, and re-occupied it. It is impos- sible to overestimate this service. It decided the action in our favor." Of this decisive movement Colonel Magruder says in his hasty report, made the same day: "Whilst it might appear invidious to speak particularly of any regiment or corpsj whefe all behaved so well, I am compelled to express my great appreciation of the skill and gallantry of Major Randolph and his howitzer battalion and Colonel Hill, the officers and men of the North Carolina regiment. As an instance The Bethel Regiment. 95 of the latter, I will merely mention that a gun under the gallant Captain Brf)wn of the howitzer battery having been rendered unfit for service by the breaking of a priming-wire in the vent, Captain Brown threw it over a precipice, and the work was occu- pied for a moment by the enemy. Captain Bridgers, of the North Carolina regiment, in the most gallant manner, retook it and held it until Captain Brown had replaced and put in posi- tion another piece, and defended it with his infantry in the most gallant manner. Colonel Hill's judicious and determined action was worthy of his ancient glory." In Colonel Magruder's second report, dated June 12th, he again refers to the subject, saying: "I cannot omit to again bring to the notice of the General Commanding-in-Chief the valuable services and gallant conduct of the First North Carolina Regiment and Major Randolph of the howitzer batteries. These officers were not only prompt and daring in the execution of their duties, but most industrious and energetic in the preparations for the conflict. The firing of the howitzer batteries was as perfect as the bearing of the men, which was entirely what it ought to have been. Captain Bridgers, of the North Carolina regiment, re-took in the most daring manner, and at a critical period of the fight, the work from which Captain Brown of the artillery had withdrawn a disabled gun to prevent its falling into the hands of the enemy, and which work had been subsequently occupied by the enemy. Captain Bridgers deserves the highest praise for this timely act of gal- lantry." Stuart was now sent back to his original position; he and Captain Avery, with his Company G, of the First North Caro- lina, drove off some skirmishers advancing through the orchard ; and the enemy's operations ceased on that side of the road. It is interesting to note that the same company of Townsend's men who were separated from the rest of their regiment, and were supposed by Stuart to be moving to outflank him, were 96 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. mistaken by Townsend for a flanking party from our side. Townsend says, referring to this company of his regiment: "Upon seeing among the breaks in the hedge the glistening bayonets in the adjoining field, I immediately concluded that the enemy were outflanking us, and conceived it to be my duty immediately to retire and repel that advance. I resumed, therefore, my original position on the left of Colonel Duryea. Shortly after all the forces were directed to retire, the design of the reconnaissance having been accomplished." A very potent body of men that separated company proved to be. We were now as secure, says Colonel Hill, as at the beginning of the fight, and as yet had no man killed. Foiled on our right flank, the enemy now made his final efibrt upon our left. A column consisting of Washburn's command of Vermont and Massachusetts troops, led by Major Theodore Winthrop, of Gen- eral Butler's staff^, crossed over the creek and appeared at the angle on our left. They came on with a cheer, no doubt think- ing that our work was open at the gorge and that they could enter by a sudden rush. "Companies B and C, however," says Colonel Hill, "dispelled the illusion by a cool, deliberate and well directed fire. Colonel Magruder sent over portions of com- panies G, C and H of my regiment to our support, and now began as cool firing on our side as was ever witnessed. The three field officers of the regiment were present, and but few shots were fired without their permission. * * * They (the men) were all in high glee, and seemed to enjoy it. * * * Captain Winthrop, while most gallantly urging on his men, was shot through the heart,* when all rushed back with the utmost precipitation." Major Theodore Winthrop, the officer referred to, was Gen- eral Butler's acting military secretary, who represented General Butler upon General Pierce's staff. He was of the old Massa- *Private G. W. Buhman aad private Steve Kussell, of Company H (Fayettevillel pri- vate Molver, of Company 0 (Charlotte), and Captain Ashe, Company D (Chapel Hill) for his negro servant, claimed the firing of the fatal shot. The Bethel Regiment. 97 chusetts family of Winthrop, but the son of Francis Bayard Winthrop, of New Haven, Connecticut. The fight at the angle lasted but twenty minutes. It seemed to completely discourage the enemy, and he made no further effort at assault. It is no doubt to this period that Colonel Ma- gruder refers in his report when he sets the ending of the battle at half past twelve o'clock, whereas Major Randolph says the last shot was fired at half past one o'clock. Meanwhile, Colonel Allen's First New York and Colonel Carr's Second New York had come up. General Pierce threw Allen's Regiment into the lane on his left which Townsend's Third Regiment had occupied at the beginning of its advance, and from which it had now retired ; and he placed Carr's Regi- ment in the position which had been occupied by Duryea's Fifth Regiment, now withdrawn. Under protection of this new line the dead and wounded were ordered to be collected and carried off. The retreat then began, Allen's and Carr's Regiments cov- ering the rear. The following extract from Major Randolph's report gives us a glimpse of Alien's and Carr's Regiments as they arrived on the field: "After some intermission of the assault in front, a heavy col- umn, apparently a re-inforcement, or reserve, made its appear- ance on the Hampton road and pressed forward towards the bridge, carrying the United States flag near the head of the column. As the road had been clear for some time, and our flanks and rear had been threatened, the howitzer in the main battery* had been sent to the rear, and our fire did not at first check them. I hurried a howitzer forward from the rear, loaded it with canister and prepared to sweep the approach to the bridge, but the fire of the Parrott gun again drove them back. The howitzer brought from the Half- Way House by Lieutenant Moseley arriving most opportunely, I carried it to the battery on the right to replace the disabled piece. On getting there, I *By the "main battery" Major Randolph means the one near the church, containing the Parrott gan and a howitzer. 7 98 North Carolina Troops, 1861 -'65. learned from the infantry that a small house in front was occu- pied by sharp-shooters, and saw the body of a Carolinian lying thirty yards in front of the battery, who had been killed in a most gallant attempt to burn the house. I opened upon the house with shell for the purpose of burning it, and the battery of the enemy in the Hampton road being on the line with it, and supposing probably that the fire was at them, immediately returned it with solid shot. This disclosed their position, and enabled me to fire at the house and at their battery at the same time. After an exchange of five or six shots a shell entered a window of the house, increased the fire already kindled, until it soon broke out into a light blaze, and, as I have reason to be- lieve, disabled one of the enemy's pieces. This was the last shot fired.* They soon after retreated, and we saw no more of them." Lieutenant John T. Greble, of the Second United States Ar- tillery (regulars), was killed "by a cannon shot," says General Butler, and General Pierce tells us that this occurred "just at the close of the action." He was in command of the enemy's artillery, and was regarded as an able as well as a gallant officer. Captain Hoke, with his Company K, of the First North Caro- lina, now advanced and explored the woods in front. Upon his ascertaining that the road was clear, some one hundred dragoons, under Captain Douthatt, pursued the enemy as far as New Mar- ket Bridge, which the latter tore up behind hipi. "The enemy in his haste," says Colonel Hill, "threw away hundreds of can- teens, haversacks, overcoats, etc.; even the dead were thrown out of the wagons," and "the pursuit soon became a chase." THE TWO CRISES OP THE BATTLE. It will be seen that there were two crises in the battle; one when Bridgers made his brilliant charge and recaptured the redoubt from which our troops had withdrawn upon the advance of Townsend's Regiment and a portion of Duryea's; the other *Elsewhere ia his report, " War of the Rebellion," Vol. II, page 99, Major Randolph fixes the hour at which the cannonading ceased at half past one. The Bethel Regiment. 99 when Company B, re-inforced by portions of Companies C, G and H, repulsed "Winthrop's bold attack. It is probable that the failure of either of these splendid efforts of the North Caro- linians would have given victory to the enemy. The ordeal which those companies underwent in running the gauntlet of the enemy's concentrated fire, in passing in the open from the left to the right and from the right to the left, was a trying one for unseasoned troops, but from which not a man flinched. A SUMMARY. Summing up the achievements of his command, Colonel Hill says: "There were not quite eight hundred of my regiment engaged in the fight, and not one-half of these drew trigger during the day. All remained manfully at the posts assigned them, and not a man in the regiment behaved- badly. The com- panies not engaged were as much exposed and rendered ecjual service with those participating in the fight. They deserve equally the thanks of the country. In fact, it is the most try- ing ordeal to which soldiers can be subjected, to receive a fire which their orders forbid them to return. Had a single com- pany left its post our works would have been exposed ; and the constancy and discipline of the unengaged companies cannot be too highly commended. * * * j cannot speak in too high terms of my two field officers, Lieutenant- Colonel Lee and Ma- jor Lane. Their services have been of the highest importance since taking the field to the present moment." In another part of his report. Colonel Hill says: ''We had never more than three hundred actively engaged at any one time" — meaning troops of all arms. For Colonel Hill's acknowledgments to his staff and to his company officers and others in detail, the reader is referred to the extract from his report given in the appendix to this article. After the battle was over and the enemy had retreated, the Louisiana regiment arrived, after a forced march from York- town. On the other hand, as a set-off against this ex post facto re-inforcement, it is worth recording that an associated press dis- 100 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65 patch, dated at Fortress Monroe, June 10th, stated that Colonel McChesney's Regiment formed a reserve for General Pierce's army, and also that Colonel Hawkins's Regiment had "moved from Newport News" during the day. Yorktown being exposed, the battlefield was occupied by cavalry, and the i-emainder of the troops, including the Louisiana regiment, were marched back to the former place the same night. THE DEATH OF WYATT. The body of the Carolinian whom Major Randolph saw lying thirty yards in front of the recovered battery was that of private Wyatt, of Captain Bridgers's Company A (Edgecombe Guards), of the First North Carolina Regiment. When Bridgers recap- tured the battery he found in his front the house mentioned by Major Randolph, used as a shelter for the enemy's sharp-shooters^ as described. At Colonel Hill's suggestion, Captain Bridgers called for five volunteers to burn it. Corporal George Williams and privates Henry L. Wyatt, Thomas Fallon, John H. Thorpe and R. H. Bradley responded. At once they leaped the works and went on their dangerous mission. "They behaved with great gallantry," says Colonel Hill in his reporb. On the way Wyatt was killed, and the others were recalled. Of Wyatt, Colonel Magruder's report says : " Too much praise cannot be bestowed upon the heroic soldier whom we lost. He was one of four who volunteered to set fire to a house in our front which was thought to afford protection to our enemy, and advanc- ing between the two fires, he fell midway, pierced in the fore- head by a musket ball. Henry L. Wyatt is the name of this brave soldier and devoted patriot. He was a member of the brave and gallant First North Carolina Regiment." In the Virginia volume of the "Confederate Military History," Major Jed Hotchkiss, its author, says: "It is generally admitted that young Wyatt was the first Confederate soldier killed in action in Virginia daring the civil war." As that was also the first battle of the war, it may be recorded that Wyatt was the first Confederate soldier killed in battle in that war. "BETHEL" REGIMENT (FIRST VOLUNTEERS). 1. George Williams, Corporal, Co. A. 3. R. H. Bradley, Private, Co. A. 8. Henry L. Wyatt, Private, Co. A. (The 4. Jolin H. Tllorpe, Private, Co. A. first Confederate soldier slain in bat- tle, June 10, 1861, at Bethel.) The Bethel Ebgiment. 101 Private John H. Thorpe, an honor graduate of the University of North Carolina, one of the four companions of Wyatt, after- wards a captain in the Forty-seventh Rgiment, thus describes the death of Wyatt : " When we got there [the redoubt] I saw a Zouave regiment of the enemy in line of battle about three hundred yards away. Our boys popped away at them, but the fire was not returned. Then, in good order, they marched away down the New Market road. Probably the order to retreat had been given the whole Federal army. A few minutes later Colonel Hill, passing from our right through the company, said: 'Captain Bridgers, can't you have that house burned?' and immediately went on. Cap- tain Bridgers asked if five of the company would volunteer to burn it, suggesting that one of the number should be an officer. Corporal George T. Williams said he would be the officer and four others said they would go. Matches and a hatchet were provided at once, and a minute later the little party scrambled over the breastworks in the following order: George T. Wil- liams, Thomas Fallon, John H. Thorpe, Henry L. Wyatt and R. H. Bradley. A volley was fired at us as if by a company, not from the house, but from the road to our left. As we were well drilled in skirmishing, all of us instantly dropped to the ground, Wyatt mortally wounded. He never uttered a word or a groan, but lay limp on his back, his arms extended, one knee up and a clot of blood on his forehead as large as a man's fist. He was lying within four feet of me, and this is the way I saw him. * * * To look at Wyatt one would take him to be tenacious of life; low, but robust in build, guileless, open, frank, aggressive." Wyatt's body was soon taken off the field by his comrades, who carried him to Yorktown the same night, where he died. He had apparently not recovered consciousness from the time he was struck. His body was carried to Richmond the next dav, where he was buried with military honors from the Rev- erend Mr. Duncan's church. 102 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Camps were named for Wyatt during the war; his portrait has been placed in the State Library at Raleigh; and his memory, as well as that of the First Regiment, is perpetuated in the in- scription: "First at Bethel; last at Appomattox!" cut upon the Confederate Monument in front of the Capitol. Henry Lawson Wyatt was a son of Isham and Lucinda Wyatt, of Tarboro. He was twenty years of age at his death. His parents had moved to Tarboro in 1856 from Pitt county, though he was born during their early residence in Richmond, Va. IMPORTANCE OP THE BATTLE OP BETHEL. The battle of Bethel was but a small afikir in itself, if we compare it with the sanguinary conflicts between vast bodies of men of which it was the precursor. But it made a profound impression upon the country, raising the enthusiasm of the South to the highest pitch,* repressing disaffection there, and at the same time chilling the ardor of their adversaries at the North. It was the cause of crimination and recrimination between the Federal officers engaged and responsible for it, and their several adherents. Loud calls were made in the Northern press for the removal of General Butler, notwithstanding the placatory assur- ances, in anticipation, which his official reports contained. Among the latter were the declarations that " we have gained much more than we have lost," and that "while the advance upon the bat- tery and the capture of it might have added eclat to the occasion, it would not have added to its substantial results." The chief of these appears to have been that "our troops have learned to have confidence in themselves under fire." The New York Tribune declared that the President would do well to make peace with the Confederacy at once, if he was not willing to send gen- erals into Virginia who were " up to their work." The Herald, *An illustration is presented by the experienoeof Lieutenant W.E. Kyle (commander of sharp-shooters in General iVToRae's Brigade), who was a private in Company H. After the battle of Bethel he wrote of the victory to his relatives in Christiansburg Va. his native place. The fact that this native of Virginia had been able to take part in winning a victory over the invaders of Virginia, because he had become a citizen of North Carolina and a member of a North Carolina regiment, excited the emulation of the youth of his old home to such an extent that great numbers, who had held back, hastened to enter the service. The Bethel Regiment. 103 which sustained General Butler as "evidently the right man in the right place," said that the Confederates had at Bethel "six batteries of rifled cannon and sixty-eight twelve-pound howit- zers," and enough men to admit of the capture (there or there- abouts) of " twelve thousand prisoners." The Charleston (S. C.) Courier of June 17th contained this: "By a letter received in this city yesterday, we learn that a great reaction has taken place among the moneyed men of New York and Boston, and that petitions are now circulating to be laid before Congress, asking the peaceful recognition of the Southern Confederacy and the establishment of amicable relations by friendly treaties. The petitions set forth that unless the war is brought to a close very speedily New York and Boston are ruined cities." In the South, on the other hand, the result was hailed as an augury of the early triumph of the Confederacy, which had thus demonstrated its ability to overcome four times its numerical strength on the battlefield — a disproportion almost exactly repre- senting the relative populations of the two sections. In the Virginia Convention, on the 17th of June, Mr. Tyler (ex-President of the United States) submitted a series of reso- lutions, which were unanimously adopted, eulogizing Magruder, Hill and their officers and men for the recent brilliant victory at Bethel Church. Mr. Tyler followed the reading of his resolu- tions in a speech of great eloquence and force. There was, he said, but one instance on the whole page of history that could be cited as a parallel to the victory at Bethel Church — that was the battle and the victory of Buena Vista, "where the, gallant Davis, now our President, with his Mississippi regiment, and the invincible Bragg, with his grape and canister, turned the fortunes of the day and routed an enemy of about five to one." The Richmond Dispatch said: "It is one of the most extraor- dinary victories in the annals of war. Four thousand thoroughly drilled and equipped troops routed and driven from the field by only eleven hundred men. Two hundred of the enemy killed, and on our side but one life lost. Does not the hand of God seem manifest in this thing? * * * The courage and con- 104 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. duct of the noble sons of the South engaged in this battle are beyond all praise. They have crowned the name of their country with imperishable lustre and made their own names immortal. With odds of four to one against them, they have achieved a complete victory, putting their enemy to inglorious flight, and giving to the world a brilliant pledge of the manner in which the South can defend its firesides and altars." The Richmond Whig said: "The rush, the dash, the elan of our boys was, however, the great and distinguishing feature of the affair. Cool and determined as Bonaparte's veterans, they pitched into the fight with the gaiety of school-boys into a game of ball. They have taken the step which is the augury and earnest of victory. Their dashing bearing, in the face of four times their number, will inspire a spirit of emulation among all our forces, and lead to the rout of the invaders wherever they show themselves." Nor was there any disposition to withhold credit from North Carolina as the chief actor in the great achievement. The press of the capital Slate was" lavish in its praise of our regiment. Said the Petersburg Express: "All hail to the brave sons of the Old North State, whom Providence seems to have thrust forward in the first pitched battle on Virginia soil in behalf of Southern rights and independence." Said the Richmond Whig: "The North Carolina regiment covered itself with glory at the battle of Bethel." Said the Richmond Examiner, the leading paper of the Con- federacy: "Honor those to whom honor is due. All our troops appear to have behaved nobly at Bethel, but the honors of the day are clearly due to the splendid regiment of North Carolina, whose charge of bayonets decided it, and presaged their conduct on many a more important field. Virginia's solemn sister is justly jealous of glory; her simple, honest, courageous popula- tion are weary of the grand silence of their forests of pine ; they have come out to fight with a deep determination to make their mark, which both friends and foes have yet to fathom. Of this occasion North Carolina may be content. No forced praise and The Bethel Regiment. 105 empty compliments are necessary now ; for every statement of the facts, made no matter by whom, or how, brings out the steady valor and decisive action of her sons and representatives in a light too clear to leave any place for error, or cause for regret, except that the foe neither would nor could await their advancing line of steel." In our own State, Governor Ellis promptly recommended to the Convention that Colonel Hill, the commander of the North Carolina Troops, be promoted to the rank of Brigadier, and that a full brigade be formed and placed under his command. In the Convention, on June 15th, Mr. Venable offered a reso- lution, which was unanimously passed, as follows : "Resolved, That this Convention, appreciating the valor and good conduct of the ofiScers and men of the First Regiment North Carolina Volunteers, do, as a testimony of the same, authorize the said regiment to inscribe the word ' Bethel ' upon their banner." CASUALTIES IN THE BATTLE -OF BETHEL. There appears to have been no regular return made by Colonel Magruder of th'C losses sustained on our side. The following is a summary compiled from the reports of the commanders of the several bodies of Confederate troops engaged or on the ground : Command. Killed. Wounded. Total. Hill's First North Carolina Regiment, 16 7 Randolph's (Virginia) Howitzer Bat- talion, 3 3 Stuart's three companies of the Third Virginia Regiment, Montague's three companies, The three companies of Virginia Cavalry, Grand total, 1 9 10 106 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. The names of these ten are as follows : First North Carolina. — Henry L. Wyatt, private, Company A, mortally wounded; Lieutenant J. W. Ratchford, aide-de-camp to Colonel Hill, wounded; Council Rodgers, private, Company A, severely wounded; Charles AVilliams, private, Company A, severely wounded; S. Patterson, private. Company D, slightly wounded; William AVhite, private. Company K, wounded ; Peter Poteat, private. Company G, slightly wounded. Randolph! s Howitzers. — Lieutenant Hudnall (commanding the howitzer in Hill's lines on the left of the road), wounded; H. C. Shook, private under Hudnall, wounded ; Johu Worth, private under Hudnall, wounded. The tabulated report of the Federal losses which General But- ler gave in his report to Lieutenant-General Scott, dated June 16th (that being the only one which appears printed in any of the Federal reports), is as follows : CASUALTIES IN THE UNITED STATES FORCES AT BIG BETHEL, JUNE 10, 1861. C'omma//*s\ Killed. Wounded. Missing. Aggregate Staff, 1 .. ■ . •• 1* Infantry, Fourth Massachusetts, 1 1 First New York, . . . 2 1 3 Second New York, 2 1 3 Third New York, . . . 2 27 1 30 Fifth New York, . . 6 13 19 Seventh New York, . . 3 7 2 12 First Vermont, . . . 2 3 1 6 Second United States Ar- tillery, 1 1* Total, .... 18 53 5t 76 *The staff officer killed was Major Theodore Winthrop. Lieutenant John T. Greble (Second United States Artillery) was also among the slain. ■j-Colonel Magruder's report gives three as the number of pri3oners taken by us. The Bethel Regiment. 107 In Colonel Magruder's second report (June 12th) occurs this: "I have now to report that eighteen [Federal] dead were found on the field, and I learn from reliable citizens living 6n the road that many dead, as well as a great many wounded, were carried in wagons to Harapton. I think I can safely report their loss at from twenty-five to thirty killed and one hundred and fifty wounded. I understand the enemy acknowledge one hundred and seventy-five killed and wounded." Colonel Hill's report says: "The enemy must have lost some three hundred. I could not, without great disparagement of their courage, place their loss at a lower figure. It is inconceiv- able that five thousand men should make so precipitate a retreat without having sustained at least that much of a reverse." General Pierce, commanding the Federal troops, says in his report* of June 12th to General Butler: "For killed, wounded and missing, please refer to my former report." The " War of the Rebellion" records, from which the reports quoted in this article are derived, contain but one report from General Pierce, that of June 12th. General Butler's first report, dated June 10th, says: "I am informed by him [Geiieral Pierce] that the dead and wounded had all been brought off." He adds: "Our loss is very consid- erable, amounting, perhaps, to forty or fifty, a quarter part of which, you will see, was from the unfortunate mistake, to call it by no worse name, of Colonel Bendix." General Butler's second report, dated June 16th, says: "It is a pleasure to be able to announce that our loss was much less even than was reported iu my former dispatch, and appears by the official report furnished herewith."* He adds: "I have been very careful to procure an accurate account of the dead, wounded and missing, in order that I may assure those friends who are anxious for the safety of our soldiers and an exact account may be given of all those injured. There is nothing to be gained by any concealment in this regard. The exact truth, which is to »The inclosure is the tabulated return given above, showing eighteen killed, fifty- three wounded and five missing. 108 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. be stated at all times, if anything is stated, is especially neces- sary on such occasions." No reason is given by General Butler for inchiding in his report this protest against concealment of the truth.* As will be observed, the reports are contradictory. Colo- nel Magruder, after duly ascertaining the number of their dead left by the enemy and found by our men upon the field, stated that there were eighteen. General Pierce informed Gen- eral Butler that " the dead and wounded had all been brought off." Again: General Butler's first report set the losses' at, "perhaps, forty or fifty." His second report announced that the loss (given therein at. seventy-six) was much less than in the former dispatch — that is, less than forty or fifty. Taking the statements quoted altogether, it would seem that Colonel Hill's chivalric method of estimating the enemy's losses for him»is the more satisfactory. ARMS IN USE AT BETHEL. In studying the battle of Bethel, the fact must not be lost sight of that the weapons used were different from those of the pres- ent day. Otherwise we should be unable to comprehend the statement in General Pierce's report that he formed his line of battle, apparently with a sense of security, at only eight hundred paces from our works, or the statement in Major Randolph's report that the advance guard of the enemy remained for ten or fifteen minutes at a distance of "about six hundred yards in front of our main battery" before fire was opened upon them. Although that was less than forty years ago, it is a fact that the theory of the instantaneous explosion of gunpowder still prevailed ; Armstrong had not invented his gun-jackets of wrought iron coils; and the rifled Parrott which played such an *The associated press accounts of Jane loth, published in the Northern papers, said : "This has been an exciting and sorrowful day at Old Point Comfort." The same papers contained a letter dated the same evening from Old Point, which said: "It has been ascertained that there were one hundred killed and two hundred wounded. And even now it is thought from the scenes witnessed at Portress Monroe that the battle was far more sanguinary in its effects than the latter version would indicate. They are still bringing in the killed and wounded by boats and other conveyances, as I close this let- ter." The Baltimore Sun learned from a passenger on the boat from Old Point that "the number of killed and wounded was estimated at Fortress iVIonroe at one thousand at least. The fire of the Confederates was extraordinarily fatal." The Bethel Eegiment. 109 important part in the artillery fire at Bethel was merely cast-iron. The small arms which were used with such deadly effect by Companies A, B, C, G and H, of the North Carolina' regiment, were either smooth-bore Springfield muskets, carrying a round ball weighing an ounce, or " buck and ball," or they were rifles that carried a round bullet quite as innocent as the musket ball of pointed tips and hollow-coned bases. It is tVue that French chasseurs were armed with a rifle throwing an elongated ball with a hollow-coned base as far back as 1840, or thereabouts, and that Captain Minie had improved this by adding an iron cup to fit into the cone, and that the English had substituted a wooden plug for Minie's cup in their Enfield rifle of 1855. But we are not a military people, and, in peace, have rarely, if ever, as a government, kept abreast of the other civilized nations in improved arms, though teaching them many lessons during war. There is no reason to believe that at the outbreak of the war of 1861 the stock of arms owned by the United States was different at any of their arsenals from those found in the Fayetteville Arsenal, which were of the kind referred to above. We find Governor Ellis, on the 25th of May, 1861, notifying President Davis that thirty-seven thousand stand of arms in the Fayetteville Arsenal (of the kind referred to) were at his dis- posal, and we find General Butler, on the 27th of May, in his report to General Scott,* appealing to the latter to send him more ammunition, especially "buck and ball," suitable to the smooth- bore musket, with which "the major part of my command is provided." Again, in General Pierce's reportf of Butler's "plan of operations" for the Bethel expedition, we find this item: "Duryea to have the two hundred rifles; he will pick the men to whom they are intrusted." Indeed, the papers of the day ridiculed the talk about "improved arms," declaring that it was the men (the man behind the gun, we call it now) which was the important thing. J Major Randolph reports that his navy howitzers were mounted •" War of the Rebellion," Vol. II, page 63. 'flbid.^ page S3. tRiohmond Dispatch, June, 1861. no North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. upon the running-gear of ordinary wagons, thus seriously inter- fering with their turning in the ordinary road, and that the fuses for his most effective piece, the rifled Parrott, were already cut, and for nothing less than four seconds, too great an interval for the distance between the opposing forces at Bethel. The enemy's equipment was no doubt more complete, but, with the exception of the defects noted by Major Randolph as above, there is no reason to believe that either side had the advantage in arms. All the armies at that period were armed with muzzle-loaders, except that of the Prussians, who had adopted, a couple of decades before, a needle-gun, then so clumsy and defective that no other nation followed her example. It was 1864 before the Spencer maga- zine rifle made its appearance in our war (in the hands of Sheri- dan's command). It was not until the same year that the gen- eral adoption of breech-loaders was even so much as recom- mended for the British army; and Sadowa, which humbled Austria, and made the German empire possible because the Prussians used their needle-guns and the Austrians their muzzle- loaders, was not fought until 1866. Indeed, it was nearly the close of the campaign of 1864 before our engineer officers began to recognize the change required in field defenses by the use of such long-range weapons as we then possessed. These were chiefly the Enfield rifle, which had come into use by us some thirty months before. After the battle of Bethel two more companies were assigned to the regiment, as follows: Company L— Bertie county — Captain, Jesse C. Jacocks ; First Lieutenant, Stark A. Sutton; Second Lieutenant, Francis W. Bird; Junior Second Lieutenant, J. J. Speller. Company M— Chowan county— Captain, J. K. Marshall; First Lieutenant, (Dr.) Llewellen Warren ; Second Lieutenant, E. J. Small; Junior Second Lieutenant, Thomas Capehart. The Bethel Regiment. Ill PROMOTION OF COLONEL HILL AND CLOSING SERVICE OF THE REGIMENT. The history of the First Regiment from this time until the date set for its muster out of service, November 13th, was un- eventfuly It changed its camp a number of times, and it Sid a great deal of drilling, digging and other work on fortifications — uncongenial labor for the kind of men who composed its ranks, but performed cheerfully and without murmuring. On the 22d of August the regiment was moved from York- town to Ship Point, a place some eight miles distant, uear the . mouth of Poquosin River, and facing the Chesapeake. On the 3d of September an election was held for a successor to Colonel Hill, who had just been promoted (September 1st) to be Briga- dier-General. Lieutenant-Colonel Charles C. Lee was elected Colonel; Major James H. Lane, Lieutenant-Colonel; and Lieu- tenant Robert F. Hoke, of Company K, Major. "The new Ma- jor was Second Lieutenant of his company, and had been com- mended by Colonel Hill, in his report of the battle of Bethel, for "great zeal, energy and judgment as an engineer officer on various occasions." He was. a native of Lincolnton, and was educated at the Kentucky Military Institute. Hill was generally regarded as the officer entitled to the chief credit for the victory at Bethel. Indeed, Major Randolph, in his admirable report to Colonel Magruder of the operations of his artillery, made occasion to say: " I am happy at having an opportunity to render my acknowledgments to Colonel Hill, the commandant of the North Carolina regiment, for the useful sug- gestions which his ^perience as an artillery officer enabled him to make to me during the action, and to bear testimony to the gallantry and discipline of that portion of his command with which I was associated. The untiring industry of his regiment in intrenching our position enabled us to defeat the enemy with a nominal loss on our side." An officer of the regiment* says, as a matter within his knowledge, that it was dne to Colonel •Lieutenant J. A. Pemberton, of Company F. 112 The Bethel Regiment. Hill that the stand against Pierce's advancing army was made at the strong position (which Hill had intrenched) on the York- town side of the creek instead of on the Hampton side. Never- theless, Magruder, as the ranking officer, was made a brigadier- general on the 17th of June. North Carolina was still the Bceotia which unfriendly critics had pictured her in the period of agitation preceding the war; and we find that in January, 1862, out of a list* of ninety-three general officers of the Con- federate army, but six (Holmes, Hill, Loring, Gatlin, Rains and Branch) were accredited to North Carolina. Of the five full generals, none were from that State; of the fourteen major- generals, five were ahead of Holmes, our only one; and of the seventy-four brigadiers, twenty-one appear ahead of Hill, the first North Carolinian in the list. Nevertheless, North Caro- lina had so many more troops in the field at that time than her proportion, as compared with several other States, that in the call for troops made by the Confederate Government in February, 1862, her quota was less than half that of the others.f Once in the national arena. General Hill rose to great distinc- tion. He became a major-general in the course of a few months and lieutenant-general in July, 1863. On the 6th of September, after having thoroughly fortified Ship Point, the regiment was moved to Cocklestown, six miles distant from Yorktown and nine miles from Bethel. On the 9th of September, Mr. John W. Baker, Jr., presented a flag to the regiment in behalf of the ladies of Fayetteville, in whose honor the camp was then named "Camp Fayetteville." Upon the flag the word "Bethel" was inscribed, in accordance with the resolution of the State Convention. On the 21st of September, Lieutenant-Colonel Lane was elected Colonel of the Twenty-eighth Regiment, then being organized at High Point. An election for Lieutenant-Colonel to fill the vacancy resulted in the election of Captain Joseph B. Starr, of Company F. The new Lieutenant-Colonel was a native of Fay- *Oharlestoa (S. C.) Courier. tFayetteville Observer, February 24, 18C2. The Bethel Regiment. 113 etteville; educated at Middletown Academy, Counecticut; an adventurous visitor to California at the age of seventeen, and a prosperous wholesale merchant in his native town at the outbreak of the war. He was described at the time as "a rigid disciplin- arian, but loved and respected by his company." The field officers were now as follows: Colonel, Charles C. Lee; Lieutenant-Colonel, Joseph B. Starr; Major, Robert F. Hoke. In addition to the staff officers named in the first part of this article, J. B. F. Boone had become Quartermaster, and after him. Lieutenant R. B. Saunders, of Company D. Changes were made in the company officers as follows: Company A — After the battle of Bethel, Captain Bridgers was made Lieutenant-Colonel of Heavy Ai^tiHery (Tenth Regi- ment North Carolina Troops), though resigning shortly after- wards. On the ,7th of September, First Lieutenant Whitmel P. Lloyd was made Captain; Junior Second Lieutenant W. G. Lewis was made First Lieutenant, and Kenneth Thigpen, Junior Second Lieutenant. Company B — Captain "Williams was appointed by the Sec- retary of the Treasury Produce Loan Agent for North Carolina, and resigned. First Lieutenant Owens became Captain, the other Lieutenants went up one grade, and Junius French became Junior Second Lieutenant. Company F — An election was held on September 30th to supply the vacancy caused by the promotion of Captain Starr. The next three officers went up one grade each, and Orderly Sergeant Benjamin Rush, Jr., was elected Junior Second Lieu- tenant. Company G — Second Lieutenant John A. Dickson died of pneumonia shortly before the regiment was disbanded, and Cor- poral M. D. Arrafield was elected to succeed him. Company I — Captain Bell resigned August 31, 1861. Sec- ond Lieutenant Francis M. Parker was elected to succeed him and Carr B. Corbett was elected Junior Second Lieutenant. On the 16th of October, Captain Parker was elected Colonel of the 8 114 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Thirtieth Regiment, and First Lieutenant M. T. Whitaker be- came Captain. Company K — Upon the promotion, on September 3d, of Sec- ond Lieutenant E. F. Hoke to be Major, Orderly Sergeant Wil- liam R. Edwards became Junior Second Lieutenant. Subse- quently Second Lieutenant Sumner appears to have resigned,* when Lieutenant Edwards became Second Lieutenant, and Ser- geant Albert Sidney Haynes succeeded him as Junior Second Lieutenant. There were no changes in the other companies. While the regiment was at Camp Fayetteville, in September, a meeting of the officers was held, of which Captain C. M. Avery was chairman and Lieutenant Richardson Mallett was secretary, to protest against a proposition to change the name of the regi- ment. The proceedings of the meeting will be found in the appendix to this article. On the 8th of October the regiment was moved to Camp Rains, four miles distant from Camp Fayetteville ; on the 20th to Bethel Church; on the 24th to Yorktown; on the 25th back to Bethel Church; and on the 1st of November to Yorktown. On the 8th, 9th and 11th of November detachments of four companies each left Yorktown for Richmond, where the regiment was mustered out of service on the 12th, and returned to North Carolina by the 13th. STRENGTH OF THE REGIMENT. Moore's "Roster" gives one thousand one hundred and thirty- six as the total number of officers and men in the "Bethel Regi- ment." There must have been many more than that, for there were twelve companies in it, and the newspapers of the day reported the ranks as being very full. The records of the Fay- etteville Independent Light Infantry, which served as Company H of this regiment, show one hundred and nineteen as the num- ber serving in that company, whereas the "Roster" gives the names of but one hundred and five. The same rate of error in the rest *Southern Historical Society's Papers, Vol. XVIII, page 64. The Bethel Eegiment. 115 of the regiment would give a total of one thousand two hundred and eighty-seven. A TRAINING SCHOOL FOR OFFICERS. The First Regiment has been described as a nursery or train- ing school for officers. Two circumstances, the one growing out of the other, made it so, viz.: its unique personnel and its short term of service. The companies composing it had volunteered immediately upon the receipt of Mr. Lincoln's proclamation and for the long term of service prescribed by the existing State law. But the State authorities limited its service to six months,* a pro- ceeding due, it is believed, to their recognition of the remark- able character of its rank and file. How far the view described was justified by the result will appear from the subjoined list of members of the First Regiment who became commissioned offi- cers in other commands of the Confederate service. As will be seen, four of them were general officers. Hill, as already stated, reached that rank in September, 1861; Lane attained it in No- vember, 1862; Hoke in January, 1863; and Lewis in the summer of 1864. Upon Colonel Hill's promotion. Major Lane received a com- plimentary vote for Colonel and almost a unanimous vote for Lieutenant-Colonel. When he was elected Colonel of the Twen- ty-eighth Regiment, the First Regiment presented to him a sword of honor and other valuable testimonials. He was described by the press of the day as "deservedly the most popular man, per- haps, in the regiment." He distinguished himself at Hanover Court House, in 1862, in extricating his regiment when cut oiF by the overwhelming force of Fitz John Porter, and was praised by General Lee therefor. Upon the death of General Branch at Sharpsburg he was urged by Stonewall Jackson for promotion to Brigadier-General. When appointed to that rank, six weeks afterwards, he was but twenty-seven years of age, being then the youngest general officer in the service. His brigade of North •Adjutant-General to Colonel Hill, April 19, 1861. 116 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-'65. . Carolinians became one of the most famous in military history. At Spottsylvania, when Hancock overran Johnson's Division and took the right wing of Lee's army in rear and enfilade. Lane's promptness and military genius and the discipline and courage of his brigade stayed the victorious host and threw them back upon their reserves. He was, in the campaigns of 1864 and 1865, the senior brigadier of the "Light Division" of the Army of Northern Virginia. Except for the sudden opening of the campaign of 1865 earlier than was expected, he would, it was understood, have received the rauk, which he had long before won, of, a division commander. At the outbreak of the war, when the junior officers were in the habit of drilling their squads in the streets about the Capitol Square in Raleigh, the late Mr. Badger took great interest in watching them from his residence. He singled out young Hoke,, the Second Lieutenant of the Lincoln company, as the likeliest of them all, and often said that he was destined to high com- mand. He became Major of the First Regiment in September, as we have seen. After the disbandment of the regiment he was appointed Major of Colonel Branch's Regiment, which was just then being organized, and which became the Thirty-third. Upon Branch's promotion in January, 1862, he was promoted to be Lieutenant-Colonel. Colonel Avery having been captured at New Bern, Lieutenant-Colonel Hoke commanded the regiment in the battles about Richmond in 1862. He was promoted to be Colonel, and took part in the Second Manassas and Sharps- burg campaigns. Upon Colonel Avery's return, he was assigned to the command of the Twenty-first Regiment, of Trimble's Brigade. This brigade he commanded in the battle of Fred- ericksburg with such notable skill that he was appointed Briga- dier-General in the succeeding January (1863). On the 17th of April, 1864, he won fame by the capture of the fortified town of Plymouth and three thousand prisoners. Congress voted him- a resolution of thanks, and he was appointed a Major-General,. with rank from the date of his victory. Upon the organization of the First Regiment, William G. The Bethel Regiment. 117 Lewis was Junior Second Lieutenant of Company A. Upon its disband ment he had risen to First Lieutenant. On the 17th of January, 1862, he was appointed Major of the Thirty-third Regi- ment; on the 26th of April, 1862, he was promoted to be Lieu- tenant-Colonel of the Forty-third Regiment; for his services at the siege of Plymouth, 1864, he was promoted to be Colonel; and for his services in Beauregard's campaign against Butler, shortly after, when he commanded Hoke's old brigade, he was promoted to be Brigadier-General. He participated in Early's victorious march down the Shenandoah Valley to Washington and in the subsequent battles with Sheridan. In the retreat from Petersburg, in a desperate fight of the rearguard at Farm- ville, two days before the surrender at Appomattox, he was severely wounded and taken prisoner. This gallant officer par- ticipated in thirty-seven battles and heavy skirmishes. officers contributed to other commands in the confederate service. GENERAL OFFICEES. Daniel H. Hill, Lieutenant-General, P. A. C. S.; Robert F. Hoke, Major-General^ P. A. C. S.; James H. Lane, Brigadier- Oeneral, P. A. C. S.; William Gaston Lewis, Brigadier-General, P. A. C. S. OFFICERS OF THE GENERAL STAFF. J. W. Ratchford, Major, A. A. General, P. A. C. S.; E. J. Hale, Jr., Major, A. A. General, P. A. C. 8.; J. C. MacRae, Captain, General L. S. Baker's Staff (also Major of Battalion in Western North Carolina); Charles W. Broadfoot, First Lieuten- ant, A. D. C. to General T. H. Holmes (also Lieutenant-Colonel First Regiment Junior Reserves); Theo. F. Davidson, Lieuten- ant, A. D. C. to General R. B. Vance; Thomas J. Moore, Lieu- tenant, Artillery Officer to (general D. H. Hill. Surgeon Peter E. Hines, a distinguished physician, became Medical Director of the Department of Petersburg, and then, by authority of the Secretary of War, was appointed Medical Director of the General Hospitals of North Carolina. 118 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. REGIMENTAL AND BATTALION OFFICERS.* Colonels — James H. Lane, Twenty-eighth Regiment; Fran- cis M. Parker, Thirtieth; Charles C. Lee, Thirty-seventh; Clark M. Avery, Thirty-third; William J. Hoke, Thirty-eighth; James K. Marshall, Fifty-second; William A. Owens, Fifty-third; Eobert F. Hoke, Twenty-first; James C. S. McDowell, Fifty- fourth; Hector McKethan, Fifty-first; Washington M. Hardy, Sixtieth; W. G. Lewis, Forty-third; Robert L. Coleman, Six- tieth; John H. Anderson, Second Junior Reserves. Total, 14. Lieutenant-Colonels — John L. Bridgers, Tenth Regi- ment; H. W. Abernathy, Thirty- fourth; Francis W. Bird, Elev- enth; John T. Jones, Twenty-sixth; Joseph H. Saunders, Thirty- third; Eric Erson, Fifty-second; Alfred H. Baird, Sixty-fifth; Joseph B. Starr, Fifth Battalion; Charles W. Broadfoot, First Junior Reserves; Whitmel P. Lloyd, Senior Reserves. Total,^ 10. Majors — Egbert H. Ross, Eleventh Regiment; Benjamin R. Huske, Forty-eighth; Charles M. Stedman, Forty-fourth; James R. McDonald, Fifty-first; W. W. McDowell, Sixtieth; James C. MacRae, Battalion in Western North Carolina; F. J. Hahr, Commandant Conscript Camp; John N. Prior, Senior Reserves,^ Inspector Eighth District, Conscript Bureau. Total, 8. Adjutants — French Strange, Fifth Regiment; J. C. Mac- Rae, Fifth; Stark A. Sutton, Forty-fourth; Richardson Mallett, Forty-sixth; E. J. Hale, Jr., Fifty-sixth; W. C. McDaniel, Fifty-fourth; John H. Robinson, Fifty-second; Spier Whitaker, Jr., Thirty-third; Thomas J. Moore, Fifty-ninth; E. M. Clayton, Sixtieth; John W. Mallett, Sixty-first ; Junius French, Twenty- third. Total, 12. Other Staei' Officers — William R. Edwards, A. Q. M., Thirty-eighth Regiment; George W. Wightman, A. C. S., Fifth;. J. T. Downs, A. C. S., Sixty-third; George B. Baker, A. Q. M., Conscript Camp; John G. Hardy ^of Burke), Surgeon, Sixth Regiment; J. Geddings Hardy (of Buncombe), Surgeon, Sixty- «In the lists which follow the colonels, lieutenant-colonels, majors and adi-utants of the regiments of the line are placed in the order of date of commission; the comnlnv ofBcers, alphabetically. ' .u^auj t The Bethel Eegiment. 119 fourth; D. McL. Graham, Assistant Surgeon, Thirty-seventh; Charles G. Gregory, Assistant Surgeon, Thirtieth; L. L. Warren, Surgeon; Jesse H. Page, Chaplain, Seventeenth. Total, 10. Non-commissioned Staff — Charles Haigh, Sergeant- Major, Sixty-third Regiment; E. P. Powers, Sergeant-Major, Fayette- ville Armory Guard. Captains — S. B. Alexander, Company K, Forty-second Regiment; W. E. Ardrey, K, Thirtieth; M. D. Armfield, B, Eleventh; George B. Atkins, B, Fifth Battalion; T. J. Brooks, D, Forty-first Regiment; Calvin S. Brown, D, Eleventh; Thomas Capehart, Third Battalion; Thomas W. Cooper, C, Elev- enth Regiment; E. M. Clayton, K, Sixtieth; D. A. Culbreth, C, Fifty-fourth; Lawson A. Dellinger, A, Fifty-second; Alex- ander R. Carver, B, Fifty-sixth; W. D. Elma, I, Thirty-seventh; J. F. Freeland, G, Eleventh; S. A. Grier, D, Sixty-third; B. F. Grigg, F, Fifty-sixth; W. L. Hand, A, Eleventh; A. Sidney Haynes, I, Eleventh; H. W. Home, C, Third; Lemuel J. Hoyle, I, Eleventh; James R. Jennings, G, Eleventh; G. B. Kibler, B, Fifty-fourth; W. J. Kincaid, D, Eleventh; Jesse W. Kyle, B, Fifty-second; J. A. McArthur, I, Fifty-first; Robert Mc- Eachern, D, Fifty-first; John McKellar, A, Sixty-third; D. A. Monroe, K, Thirty-eighth; James H. Morris, F, Forty- third; E. R. Outlaw, C, Eleventh; Thomas Parks, B, Elev- enth; B. F. Patton, B, Sixtieth; T. W. Patton, C, Sixtieth; L. A. Potts, C, Thirty-seventh; Alexander Ray, D, Fifty- third; K. J. Rhodes, E, Fifty-sixth; Frank N. Roberts, B, Fifty-sixth; David Scott, D, Fifty-third; George Skirven, Mallett's Battalion; George Sloan, I, Fifty-first Regiment; E. J. Small, F, Eleventh; John F. Speck, G, Fifty-seventh; Edward W. Stilt, I, Thirty-seventh; L. B. Sutton, F, Fifty- ninth; John M. Sutton, C, Third Battalion; Frank M. Tay- lor, G, Thirty-second Regiment; W. B. Taylor, A, Eleventh; William T. Taylor, B, Fifty-sixth; John H. Thorpe, A, Forty- seventh; Isaac N. Tillett, G, Fifty-ninth; M. C. Toms, A, Six- tieth; J. J. Watford, F, Fifty-ninth; W. P. Wemyss, D, Fay- etteville Armory Guard; Carey Whitaker, D, Forty-third; Sol. 120 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. H. White, G, Thirty-second; J. Marshall Williams, C, Fifty- fourth; James M. Young, K, Eleventh. Total, 57. First Lieutenants — C. W. Alexander, Company A, Eleventh Eegiment; W. R. Alexander, I, Sixtieth; John H. Anderson, D, Forty-eighth; Thomas W. Baker, T>, Forty-third; K. J. Braddy, C, Thirty-sixth; G. W. Buhman, B, Forty-first; John A. Burgiu, K. Eleventh; E. M. Clayton, B, Sixtieth; W. A. Connelly, A, Avery's Battalion; David A. Coon, I, Eleventh Regiment; Thomas C. Fuller, B, Fifth Battalion; David P. Glass, K, Thirty-fifth Regiment; Charles Carroll Goldston, H, Forty-sixth; Joseph L. Hayes, F, Fifth; A. J. Hauser, D, First; H. R. Home, A, Fifth Battalion; W. E. Kyle, B, Fifty-second Regiment; H. C. Lowrance, D, Sixtieth; Jarvis B. Lutterloh, E. Fifty-sixth; M. S. Marler, B, Fifty-fourth; James McKee, C, Seventh; J. P. McLean, H, Fiftieth; J. H. Myrover, B, Fifth Battalion; O. P. Pittman, B, Sixty-third Regiment; D. H. Ray, A, Fifth; Thomas RufSn, D, Fifty-ninth; Angus Shaw, K, Thirty-eighth; Thomas G. Skinner, Fifth Battalion; J. J. Speller, Commandant Conscript Camp Guard; Ed. E. Sumner, D, First Regiment; R. W. Thornton, B, Fifty-sixth; G. W. Westray, A, Forty-seventh; J. S. Wliitaker, D. Forty-third; T. L. Whitaker, D, Twenty-fourth; John Whitmore, B, Fifth Battalion; B. Franklin Wilson, K, Forty-second Regiment; E. J. Williams, I, Thirty-first. Total, 37. Second Lieutenants — Marshall E. Alexander, Company B, Fifty-third Regiment; W. T. Battley, E, Fayetteville Arm- ory Guard; William Beavans, D, Forty-third Regiment; W. R. Boon, B, Fifty-first; O. J. .Brittain, D, Eleventh; John W. Burgin, K, Eleventh; Charles B. Cook, A, Sixty-third; Au- gustus Cotton, E, Seventeenth; G. A. Cotton, E, Seventeenth; S. W. Davidson, C, Sixtieth; T. F. Davidson, F, Sixtieth; W. T. Dickerson, K, Eleventh; S. H. Elliott; J. P. Elms, I, Thirty-seventh; G. H. Gregory, J. C. Grier; P. B. Grier, Eleventh; George H. Haigh, Conscript ,Bureau; R. H. Hand, A, Eleventh Regiment;' M. M. Hines, B, Twenty-third; James W. Huske, B, Fifty-second; Isaac Jessup, B, Fifth Battalion; The Bethel Regiment. 121 R. B. Kerley, B, Fifty-fourth Regiment; J. G. McCorkle, E, Eleventh; J. H. McDade, G, Eleventh; D. M. McDonald, B, Fifty-sixth; H. A. McDonald, K, Thirty-eighth; McMat- thews (of Mecklenburg); James D. Nott, A, Sixty-third; O. A. Ramseur, I, Eleventh; Benjamin Rush, B, Fifth Battal- ion; J. M. Saville, H, Eleventh Regiment; H. H. Smith, A, Fifth; B. W. Thornton, B, Fifty-sixth; J. H. Triplett; J. L. Warlick, B, Eleventh; Portland A. Warlick, B, Eleventh; R. M. Warlick, K, Forty-ninth; Jones M. Watson, G, Elev- enth; James W. Williams, G, Eleventh; G. W. Wills, D, Forty- third; Joseph H. Wilson, K, Forty-second; G. W. Worjey, K, Eleventh. Total, 43. A recapitulation of the foregoing gives: Four general offi- cers, seven officers of the general staff, fourteen colonels, ten lieutenant-colonels, eight majors, twelve adjutants, ten other staff officers, fifty-seven captains, thirty-seven first lieutenants and forty-three second lieutenants; total, two hundred and two. From this must be deducted the number of names which appear more than once. Three of the general officers appear also iu the list of colonels; five of the officers of the general staff appear also in the regimental and* battalion field and staff, and one of them twice; an adjutant appears also in the list of line captains; and a lieutenant of a regiment of the line appears in another list. Nearly all the .officers enumerated held more than one office, by promotion; but it was necessary to repeat only those just mentioned. Deducting these eleven, we have a net total of one hundred and ninety-one commissioned officers con- tributed by the First Regiment to other commands in the Con- federate service — being more than the full complement required for four regiments. Of these officers, the commands of more than two-thirds of them formed part of the regular establish- ment of the Army of Northern Virginia: that is to say, the division of D. H. Hill and the brigades of D. H. Hill, Lane, Hoke and Lewis were of that army — as were also the commands of three of the officers of the general staff above mentioned; of ten of the colonels; of five of the lieutenant-colonels; of three of 122 North Cakolina Teoops, 1861-65. the majors; of ten of the adjutants; of six of the other regimental staff; of forty-five of the captains; of twenty-five of the first lieu- tenants; and of twenty-nine of the second lieutenants. Deduct- ing from this total of one hundred and fo%, five names which have been counted twice therein, we have a net total of one hundred and thirty-five commissioned officers contributed by the Bethel Regiment to that immortal army. FROM BETHEL TO APPOMATTOX. The list of members of the First Regiment who were present at the battle of Bethel and who also surrendered at Appomattox must, in the nature of things, be short, for death and disabling wounds and other of the adverse chances of war would leave but few survivors of those who found their way into the Army of Northern Virginia. For example, to go no further than the grade of colonel, it will be found that of the fourteen officers of that i-ank con- tributed by the First Regiment to other commands, five (Lee, Avery, Marshall, Owens and McDowell) were killed or mor- tally wounded in battle, while two others (Parker and W. J. Hoke) were disabled by wounds and retired, and another (Lewis, who had reached the grade of general) was, as described above, wounded and captured two days before the surrender. Again, there are no doubt omissions in the list which has been obtained, though every effort has been made to secure the names of all. Subjoined is a list of those who have been reported by the com- pany historians. The names (including General Lane's) are ar- ranged alphabetically, and the company or command in which each served at Bethel and at the surrender are set opposite: John Beavans, private Company I — Seargeant Company D, Forty- third. D. McL. Graham, private Company H — Assistant Surgeon Thirty-seventh. E. J. Hale, Jr., private Company H — Major, A. A. G. (Lane's staff). W. E. Kyle, private Company H — First Lieutenant Com- pany B, Fifty-second. The Bethel Regiment. 123 James H. Lane, Major and Lieutenant-Colonel — Brigadier- General. J. A. McKay, private Company H — private Williams's Battery. John H. E-obinson, Sergeant Company H — Adjutant Fifty- second. Charles M. Stedman, private Company H — Major Forty-third. W. B. Taylor, Corporal Company C — Captain Company A, Eleventh. J. S. Whitaker, private Company I — First Lieutenant Com- pany D, Forty-third. Spier Whitaker, Jr., private Company D — Adjutant Thirty- third. J. Marshall Williams, private Company H — Captain Com- pany C, Fifty-fourth. CONCLUSION. The facts collated in this history of the First North Carolina Regiment exhibit its remarkable character. They show that it was the natural outgrowth of the conditions from which it sprung; that it expressed the peculiarities of the people whom it repre- sented, their gentleness^ in manner, their resoluteness in deed; that the celerity and completeness with which it was organized and equiped have no parallel in our history; that it spilled the first blood in battle in defense of the cause which its State was almost the last to embrace; that, while it had never before heard a hos- tile bullet, it exhibited the discipline and behaved with the steadi- ness of veterans at Bethel Church; that its victory there was won against odds which represented the numerical superiority of the North over the South; that in this, and in other respects, its triumph in that initial battle produced consequences of the most far-reaching kind, possibly holding Virginia in the Confederacy, and certainly reshifting the theatre of war; that it raised the hopes of the South to the highest pitch and correspondingly de- pressed those of the North; that its contributions of trained sol- diers to the rest of the army constitute a unique feature of mili- tary history; and that in this, and in all other respects, it deserved the place assigned it by the authorities of the State as Fugleman of the regiments. 124 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-65. APPENDIX. Adjutant-General's Orders Organizing the First Regiment. Reference has been made to orders from the Adjutant- Gen- €ral's office issued on April 19th, May 9th, May 12th, May 15th and May 16th, organizing the regiment. They were as follows : Adjutant- General's Office, Raleigh, April 19, 1861. Colonel:— You are hereby commanded to organize the Orange Light Infantry, Captain Ashe; Warrenton Guards, Captain Wade; Hornet Nest Eifles, Captain Williams; Enfield Bluea, Captain Bell; Lumberton Guards, Captain Norment; Duplin Rifles, Captain Kenan; Charlotte Grays, Captain Ross; Thomasville Rifles, Captain Miller; Granville Grays, Captain Wortham; Columbus Guards, Captain Ellis, into a regi- ment to be designated the "First Regiment of North Carolina Volun- teers." The cadets of the North Carolina Military Institute can be attached to this regiment with the consent of their parents and guardians. The seat of war is the destination of the regiment,, and Virginia, in all prob- ability, will be the first battle ground. The service of this regiment will not exceed six months, but the men should be prepared to keep the field until the war is ended. The gray or the blue blouse will be recognized as a suitable uniform. Arms are now in Raleigh for the use of the regiment, and the men will be fur- nished with them promptly. The regiment will be moved into Virginia as soon as possible, but will not be led into battle until the field officers are of the opinion that the men are fit for such duty. You will order an election for field oflBcers of the regiment on Friday, the third day of May. The cause of Virginia is the cause of North Carolina. In our first struggle for liberty she nobly and freely paured out her blood in our defense. We will stand by her now in this our last efibrt for independ- ence. By order of the Governor: J. F. Hoigi:, Adjutant- Oeneral. Colonel D. H. Hill, Commanding Camp of Instruction, Raleigh, N. C. The Bethel Regiment. 125 Adjot ANT- General's Office, Ealeigh, May 9, 1861. {General Orders No. 7). , The following companies of volunteers now stationed in this city are hereby organized into a regiment, to be mustered into the service of the State agreeably to such regulations as shall hereby be determined upon, viz.: 1. Edgecombe Guards, Captain John L. Bridgers. 2. Enfield Blues, Captain D. A. Bell. 3. Hornet Nest Rifles, Captain Lewis S. Williams. 4. Burke Rifles, Captain 0. M. Avery. 5. Buncombe Rifles, Captain W. W. McDowell. 6. Southern Stars, Captain W. J. Hoke. 7. Randlesburg Rifles, Captain A. A. Erwin. 8. LaFayette Light Infantry, Captain W. G. Matthews. 9. Orange Light Infantry, Captain Richard J. Ashe. The companies will be ari'anged in the regiment and the relative ranks of the officers will be fixed when the same shall have been mustered into service. The commanding oflicer of the camp of instruction will hold an elec- tion for field ofiicers of the above regiment at 10 o'clock a. m. the 11th inst. The companies not already at the camp will repair there at the time designated, where they will be stationed until further orders. * *********** All orders heretofore issued inconsistent with the foregoing are hereby annulled. Arms will be issued to the troops as soon as they shall have been or- ganized into regiments. By order of the Governor: J. F. Hoke, A djutant- General. AdjutaNt-Genekal's Office, Raleigh, May 12, 1861. {Special Orders No. S). The following return of the election for field officers for the regiment of volunteers organized at the camp of instruction in this city, pursuant to General Orders No. 7 frofti this oflace, dated May 9, 1861, is published for the information of all concerned: Camp op Instkuction, Raleigh, May 11, 1861. To General J. F. Hoke, Adjutant- General: Sir: — In accordance with instructions, I hereby transmit the result of the election this day held for field ofiicers of the First North Carolina Regiment : 126 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-65. For Colonel— D. H. Hill received 652 votes; Charles 0. Lee, 39; C. 0. Tew, 2; scattering, 3. For Lieutenant-Colonel— Charles 0. -Lee received 657 votes; Mr. Bur- gwyn, 29; D. H. Hill, 13; Major Stokes, 2; scattering, 4. For Major — James H. Lane received 610 votes; Mr. Lovejoy, 83; scat- tering, 5. Respectfully submitted, Charles C. Leb, Major Camp of Instruction, Acting Colonel. The officers elected as above will enter upon their duties accordingly, and all persons placed under their command will respect and obey them accordingly. By order of the Governor: J. F. Hoke, A djutant- General. Officers commissioned as per above date, the 11th. Adjutant-General's Office, Raleigh, May 15, 1861. Sir: — You are hereby detailed to muster in the troops of the First Regiment this afternoon at four o'clock p. m. A justice of the peace will be requested to be present to administer the necessary oath. J. F. HOKB, Adjutant-Qeneral. Colonel C. C. Lee, Camp of Instruction, Raleigh, N. C. Adjutant-General's Office, Raleigh, May 16, 1861. {Special Orders No. 5)- Colonel: — The Randlesburg Rifles, Captain Erwin, not having the number of men required by law, are detached from the First Regiment, and the Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry,* Captain Huske, are ordered to supply their place, and will take the same position in the regiment occupied by that company. Major Lane is detached as mustering oflicer to muster into the service of the State the Fayetteville Light Infantry. The LaFayette Light Infantry, Captain Starr; the Fayetteville Inde- pendent Light Infantry, Captain Huske, and the Southern Stars, Cap- *This company and the LaFayette Light Infantry were detained, by orders at Fav- etteviUe, for service in the capture of the United States Arsenal at that place which was .effected on the 22d of April. They were put to guard duty over that great property until May 1st, when the LaFayette left for Ealeigh, and May 9th, when the Independent com- pany followed. For this reason they were not included in the earlier orders for organi- zation of the regiment. ° The Bethel Regiment. 127 tain Hoke, will leave for Richmond, Va., on Saturday morning, and will have two days' rations of meat and bread for each member of the company. The remaining companies will move for the same point on Monday or Tuesday next, and will have a like supply of provisions pre- pared. By order of the Governor: J. F. Hokb, A djutani- Oeneral. EXTRACT FROM COLONEL HILL'S OFFICIAL REPORT OF THE BATTLE OF BETHEL. A detachment of fifteen cadets from the North Carolina Mili- tary Institute defended the howitzer under Lieutenant Hudnall, and acted with great coolness and determination. I cannot speak in too high terms of my two field officers, Lieutenant-Colonel Lee and Major Lane. Their services have been of the highest importance since taking the field to the present moment. My thanks,' too, are due, in an especial manner, to Lieutenant J. M, Poteat, Adjutant, and Lieutenant J. W. Ratchford, Aide, both of them cadets of the North Caro- lina Institute at Charlotte. The latter received a contusion in the forehead from a grape-shot, which nearly cost him his life. Captain Bridgers, Company A; Lieutenant Owens, commanding Company B ; Captain Ross, Company C ; Captain Ashe, Com- pany D; Captain McDowell, Company E; Captain Starr, Com- pany F; Captain Avery, Company G; Captain Huske, Company H; Lieutenant Whitaker, commanding Company I; Captain Hoke, Company K, displayed great coolness, judgment and efficiency. Lieutenant Gregory is highly spoken of by Major Lane for soldierly bearing on the 8th. Lieutenants Cook and McKethan, Company H, crossed over under a heavy fire to the assistance of the troops attacked on the left. So did Lieutenant Cohen, Company C. Lieutenant Hoke has shown great zeal, energy and judgment as engineer officer on various occasions. Corporal George Williams, privates Henry L. Wyatt, Thomas Fallon and John Thorpe, Company A, volunteered to burn the house which concealed the enemy. They behaved with great gallantry. Wyatt was killed and the other three were recalled. 128 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Sergeant Thomas J. Stewart and private William McDowell, Company A, reconnoitered the position of the enemy, and went far in advance of our troops. Private J. W. Potts, of Company B, is specially mentioned by his company commander; so are Sergeant William Elmo, Company C; Sergeants C. L. Watts, W. H. McDade, Company D; Sergeant J. M. Young, Corporal John Dingier, privates G. H. A. Adams, R. V. Gudger, G. W. AVerley, John C. Wright, T. Y. Little, J. F. Jenkins, Company E; E. W. Stedman, M. E. Dye, H. E. Benton, J. B. Smith, Company F; G. W. Buhmann, James C. MacRae, Company H. Casualties — Private Henry L. Wyatt, Company K, mortally wounded; Lieutenant J. W. Ratchford, contusion; private Coun- cil Rodgers, Company A, severely wounded; private Charles Williams, Company A, severely wounded; private S. Patterson, Company D, slightly wounded; private William White, Com- pany K, wounded; private Pet^r Poteat, Company G, slightly wounded. Permit me, in conclusion, to pay a well-deserved compliment to the First Regiment North Carolina Volunteers. Their patience under trial, perseverance under toil and courage under fire have seldom been surpassed by veteran troops. Often work- ing night and day, sometimes without tents and cooking uten- sils, a murmur has never escaped them to my knowledge. They ha\^e done a large portion of the work on the intrenchments at Yorktown, as well as those at Bethel. Had all of the regiments in the field worked with the same spirit there would not be an assailable point in Virginia. After the battle they shook hands affectionately with the spades, call- ing them "clever fellows" and "good friends." The men are influenced by high moral and religious senti- ments, and their conduct has furnished another example of the great truth that he who fears God will ever do his duty to his country. The Bethel Regiment. s 129 THE protest against CHANGING THE REGIMENT'S NAME. IFrom the FayeiteviUe Observer, October 7, 1861.'] MILITARY MEETING. At a meeting of the ofHcers of the First Regiment North Carolina Volunteers, now stationed at Camp Fayetteville, near Yorktown, Va., on motion, Captain C. M. Avery was called to the chair, and Lieutenant R. Mallett appointed secretary. The chairman explained the object of the meeting to be to take the sense of the officers of this regiment relative to the change of our title. On motion of Lieutenant Thigpen, Cap- tains R. J. Ashe, W. W. McDowell and Lieutenant B. R. Huske were appointed a committee to draft resolutions for the action of the meeting. The committee withdrew and in a short time returned and reported the following preamble and resolu- tions, which were unanimously adopted, and ordered to be for- warded to the Richmond Dispatch and Examiner, the North Carolina State papers, and the Charleston Mercury, for publi- cation : "Whereas, on the 28th day of September, A. D. 1861, to our, surprise and mortification, an order from Colonel J. G. Martin, Adjutant-Generill of the State of North Carolina, was read, directing that this regiment should in future be known as the Nineteenth Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers; there- fore, be it "Resolved, That having been iha first regiment from North Carolina to enter the State of Virginia; the first regiment from any State to meet and repulse the invader; the first regiment to receive the approbation of our countrymen by resolutions of their national and State couucils; that having been intrusted by the people of North Carolina with a flag upon whose folds is in- scribed 'The First Regiment of North Carolina' by the hands of ouf country-women; and that having been exposed to the dan- gers of battle and endured the hardships of camp, in this our only campaign, as the First Regiment, we do hereby enter, in behalf of those whose graves may be seen, humble though th«y 9 130 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. be, in sight of their trials and labors; in the name of those whose" enfeebled health attests their patience and fortitude; and in the name of those who yet live, proud of their appellation and of the associations of which it reminds them, our most earnest pro- test against said change. "Resolved, That we have shown by all of our actions since the call for volunteers our earnest desire to promote the good of the cause, and that while we are still willing to make further sacri- fices for the same plirpose, we are not willing to surrender our name to minister to the caprice of any one, or to subserve the convenience of a few office clerks, and that we will never submit to such an imposition until we have exhausted every means of redress consistent with our eificiency and character." C. M. Avery, R. Mallett, Chairman. Secretary. Note. — It is probable that if the action recorded in the above proceed- ings had been Ijnown, the Bethel Regiment would have been placed first in Moore's "Roster," in accordance with the fact that it was the first regiment organized by the State. It is placed in the "Roster" after the Eleventh Regiment, which succeeded it. THE BETHEL FLAG. The Atlanta Journal in 1881 contained an article concerning the "Flag of Bethel," from which the following extracts will be interesting: "The color company of the First North Carolina Regiment was Company E, formerly the Buncombe Riflemen, of Asheville. The flag they carried into Big Bethel fight was the first one bap- tized in blood in a field engagement during the war. This flag was made by Misses Anna and Sallie Woodfin, daughters of Colonel Nicholas Woodfin; Misses Fannie and Mary Patton, Miss Mary Gaines, Miss Kate Smith, and perhaps other young ladies of Asheville, N. C, and presented to the Buncombe Rifle- men. The flag was made of red, white and blue silk, the mate- The Bethel Regiment. 131 rial contributed from the dresses of tiie young ladies. Miss Anna Woodfin was chosen, in behalf of the young ladies, to pre- seiit the flag, her father making the presentation speech. Cap- tain W. W. McDowell, in behalf of his company, received it. The Misses Woodfin are cousins of the late lamented Henry W. Grady. This flag was taken to Richmond, and when the Rifle- men became the color company of the regiment it became the regimental flag of the first fight of the war. On the return home Captain E. M. Clayton, now of Clarksville, who had suc- ceeded Captain McDowell in the command of Company E, brought the flag with him, and has sacredly kept it through many vicissitudes until the present day. After it came out of service Miss Anna Woodfin wrought on its white bar with blue silk the word 'Bethel.'" The flag which was presented to the First Regiment by the ladies of Fayetteville on the 9th of September, 1861, and upon which the word "Bethel" was inscribed in accordance with the resolution of the Convention, is now in possession of Mr. E. R. McKethan, of Fayetteville. THE OLDEST MILITARY COMPANY IN THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES. The Fayetteville Independent Light Infantry, which went into the service as Company H of the First Regiment, was the oldest military organization in the South. It is the oldest in the United States, with the exception of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Boston. It was formed in 1793 to assi,st President Washington against Citizen Genet, of France, and has had an unbroken organization since. It served in the war of 1812, at the same time maintaining a company of "substitutes" in the field at its own expense; it was of the escort of General Lafayette on his visit to Fayetteville in 1825; it sent a detail of its members to the Mexican war ; it served in the war between the States, as we have seen, as Company H, First North Caro- lina Regiment; and it served in the recent war with Spain as Company A, Second North Carolina Volunteers. 132 North Carolina Troops, 1861 -'65. In 1819, by special act of the Legislature, for its long and distinguished services, its commanders, from that time forward, were endowed with the rank of major, and its four next officers with that of captain, a distinction conferred upon no other com- pany in the State. It represented North Carolina at the Phila- delphia Centennial in 1876, at the Yorktown Centennial in 1881, and at the Constitutional Centennial at Philadelphia in 1887; and was one of the two organizations from North Caro- lina in the line at the Dewey celebration in New York, Septem- .berSO, 1899. ITS ORGANIZATION AFTER THE RETURN FROM YORKTOWN. [Extract from Major J. C. MacRae's Address on the Eighty-first Anniversary.'] The organization of your company was not lost after its return from Yorktown; and on February 22, 1862, an election of offi- cers was had, and Peter M. Hale, who had been a private through the whole tour of service in the field, was elected Major Commanding. This was a just tribute to one who had, in the intimate association of camp-life, endeared himself to all his comrades. In March, 1862, the company again offered its ser- vices in defense of our liberties. It was then composed of about forty men; but before its services were accepted most of the members had volunteered in other commands and gone to the front. So on the 1st of April, 1862, when the Clarendon Guards went to Fort Fisher, they carried in their ranks the commander and twelve men of your company — all that was left. NOTES OF THE COMPANIES. In addition to the large list of officers contributed by the First Regiment to other commands in the Confederate service it is believed that the majority of the remainder of the regiment re- enlisted, though it has been impossible to trace them all. Al- though the Eleventh Regiment was officially known as the suc- cessor of the First Regiment, and numbers of its officers came The Bethel Eegiment. 133 from the latter, but a small portion of its rank and file was thus derived. The authorities relied on for the history of the sev- eral companies indicate that the men of companies A, B, C, D, G, H, I, K, L and M were scattered in their re-enlistments through diiferent regiments. Captain Ross, of Company C, and some of his officers went into the Eleventh Regiment as Company A, but Moore's "Roster" shows but three privates common to the two companies. Company E (Buncombe) seems to have gone largely into the Sixtieth Regiment and other commands in the Army of Tennessee. Company F went largely into Starr's Bat- tery, Company B, Fifth (Thirteenth) Battalion. The first death in the regiment was that of private Julius Sadler, of Company B, who fell from the platform of the cars on the way from Richmond to Yorktown, May 24th, 1861, and was instantly killed. Private Hilton, of the same company, be- came one of Hampton's famous scouts. Of Company C (the Charlotte Grays) not a member was of age. Lieutenant David A. Coon, of Company K, was wounded nine times, and still carries several balls in his body. Private James M. Abernathy, of the same company, became Assistant Surgeon to Surgeon General Warren in the State service, and private J. F. Reinhardt became a noted scout. [The writer is indebted to General Lane for valuable documents; to General W. G. Lewis for items concerning Company A; to Major J. G. Harris, Captain W. B. Taylor and Lieutenant J. H. Wilson for items concerning Companies B and C; to Doctor Kemp P. Battle and David McCauley, Esq., for those for Company D; to Hon. Theodore F. David- son and B. F. Patton, Esq., for Company E; to Colonel J. B. Starr for Company F; to Judge Avery for Company G; to Captain John H. Robin- son for Company H; to Colonel F. M. Parker for Company I; to Profes- sor Charles L. Coon and Sheriff (Lieutenant) David A. Coon for Com- pany K; to Hon. F. D. Winston and Captain L. B. Sutton for Company L, and to W. M. Bond, Esq., Mr. J. R. B. Hathaway and Captain Thomas Capehart for Company M.] E. J. Hale. Faybttevillb, N. C, April 9, 1900. FIRST REGIMENT. 1. H. A. Brown, Colonel. 5. L. C. Latham, Major. S. M. S. Stokes, Colonel. 0. John Benbury, Captain, Co. A. 3. J. N. Harrell, Lieut.-Colonel. 7. T. D. Boone, Captain, Co. F. 4. T. L. Skinner, Major. 8. John A. Morgan, 1st Lient., Co. A. !). J. C. Scarborough, Sergeant, Co. I. FIRST REGIMENT. By colonel HAMILTON A. BROWN. "While we envy not others their merited glory, we feel it to be our bounden duty to North Carolina, to our gallant soldiers, and to our dead heroes, that we should be fairly represented in history's story." — Gen- eral Eamsbue. This regiment was organized at the race track near Warren- ton in the spring of 1861, Governor Ellis appointing Mumford Sidney Stokes, Captain of Cpmpany B, from Wilkes county, Colonel; Matthew W. Ransom, of Halifax county, Lieutenant- Colonel, and John A. McDowell, of Bladen county. Major. Colonel Stokes had been an officer in the United States Navy for more than ten years. He was also Major of a North Caro- lina regiment in the Mexican war, and was presented with a handsome sword by his soldiers after that war. Colonel Ransom was a distinguished statesman and lawyer of Weldon, and was promoted to Brigadier-General during the war. Major McDowell was a successful business man of Bladen county. The other field and stafiF officers by succession and appoint- ment were as follows: John A. McDowell, Colonel from Lieu- tenant-Colonel; H. A. Brown, Colonel from Lieutenant-Colonel; John A. McDowell, Lieutenant-Colonel from Major; H. A. Brown, Lieutenant-Colonel, promoted from Company B; J. N. Harrell, Lieutenant-Colonel, promoted from Company F; John A. McDowell, Major; T. L. Skinner, Major, promoted from Company A; J. S. Hines, Major, promoted from Company C; J. N. Harrell, Major, promoted from Company F; L. C. La- tham, Major, promoted from Company G. 136 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Adjutants — J. S. R. Miller, Caldwell county; French Strange, Cumberland county; T. H. W. Mclntire, New Han- over county; L. J. Curtis, Wilkes county; John A. Morgan, Per- quimans county. Sergbant-Majors— T. H. W. Mclntire and W. G. Allen, Wm. H. Proffett and J. Edward Purvis. Quartermasters — G. L. Dudley, J. D. Boone. Commissaries — J. W. Hackett, Owen Fennell, R. A. Spain- hour. " Surgeons— H. I. Macon, C. J. Gee, N. M. Scales, L. C. Coke. Chaplains — J. H. Spainhour, J. K. Howell,W. R. Gwaltney. COMPANY officers. Company A — Chowan County — Captains: T. L. Skinner, J. A. Benberry, F. W. Bond, T. L. Johnston. First Lieutenants: J. A. Benbury, J. L. Bratten, L. C. Benbury, T. L. Johnston, J. A. Morgan. Second Lieutenants: L. C. Benbury, T. L. Johnston, J. A. Morgan, A. R. Stamer, J. D. Williams, W. H. McNider. Enlisted men, 121. Company -B — Wilkes County — Captains: M. S. Stokes, J. B. Gordon, H. A. Brown, T. S. Bouchelle. First Lieutenants: M. A. Parks, T. S. Bouchelle, J. A. Hampton, W. W. Vannoy, L. J. Curtis. Second Lieutenants: T. S. Bouchelle, J. A. Hamp- ton, W. W. Vannoy, J. W. Peden, T. C. Miller. Enlisted men, 170. Company C — New Hanover County — Captains: J. S. Hines, H. L. Fennell, W. H. Thompson. First Lieutenants: H. L. Fennel, W. H. Thompson, J. J. McMillan, T. H. W. Mclntire. Second Lieutenants: Owen Fennell, W. H. Thompson, J. J. Mc- Millan, O. R. Scott, Charles Marsteller. Enlisted men, 164. Company D — Orange and Lincoln Counties — Captains: E. M. Scott, J. W. Williamson. First Lieutenants: Edward Sum- First Regiment. 137 ner, A. P. Houser. Second Lieutenants: A. J. Houser, Wm. Howard, A. W. Cheek, P. H. Grady, J. G. Scott, D. E. Stokes. Enlisted men, 167. Company E — New Hanover County — Captains: J. A.Wright, F. W. Moore. First Lieutenants: J. L. "Wboster, J. G. Wright. Second Lieutenants: J. G. Wright, G. L. Dudley, R. F. Lang- don. Enlisted men, 140. Company F — Hertford and Northampton Counties — Captains: J. N. Harrell, Thomas D.Boone. First Lieutenants: W. S. Shep- pard, J. P. Jenkins, Second Lieutenants: C. F. Lyop, J. P. Jenkins, T. D. Boone, J. F. Adkins, L. C. Lawrence. Enlisted men, 156. Company G — Washington County — Captains: L. C. Latham, N. J. Whitehurst. First Lieutenants: N. J. Whitehurst, J. A. Latham. Second Lieutenants: J. A. Latham, T. S. Holliday, T. N. Bishop, J. M. Hargett. Enlisted men, 152. Company H — Martin County — Captains: R. W. Rives, J. S. R. Miller, Alfred Mizel. First Lieutenants: N. B. Fagan, J. R. Mizel. Second Lieutenants: E. Burrows, J. R. Mizel, J. H. Keen, J. M. Guyther. Enlisted men, 152. Company I — Wake County — Captains: J. H. Foote, J. H. Fowler. First Lieutenants: H. J. Fowler, W. D. Scarborough, J. A. Harlsfield. Second Lieutenants: H. J. Fowler, J. H. Terrell, H. L. Patterson, M. F. Scarborough, E. A. Carver. Enlisted men, 158. Company K — Halifax County — Captains: S. H. Gee, W. H. Day. First Lieutenants: A. L. Pierce, C. Branch. Second Lieutenants: W. R. Williams, John Wynn, D. E. Stokes, R. J. Day. Enlisted men, 157. In July, after the organization was perfected, the regiment was ordered to Richmond, and was assigned to General Holmes' Brigade, at Brooks' Station, near the mouth of Acquia Creek. 138 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. While here Company B was detached and ordered to the mouth of Acquia Creek to man the heavy guns in the batteries stationed there, and was engaged in several skirmishes with the enemy's gun-boats. In the spring of 1862 a portion of the North Carolina Troops, iucluding this regiment, was ordered to Golds- boro to meet an advance of the enemy from New Bern. About this time Lieutenant-Colonel Ransom was elected Colonel of the Thirty-fifth Regiment, and accepted; Major McDowell was made Lieutenant-Colonel; Captain Skinner, of Company A, Major. The regiment having been again ordered to Richmond, arrived on the ibattlefield of Seven Pines just after the battle had been fought. Here it remained for several weeks, chiefly on picket duty, with an occasional skirmish with the enemy, and lost several of its men. While here a new brigade was formed, composed of the First and Third North Carolina, the Fourth and Forty-fourth Geor- gia, and Brigadier-General R. S. Ripley was assigned to its command, Major-General D. H. Hill being in command of the division. SEVEN days' battles. On the 26th of June, after a circuitous and fatiguing night march, the regiment arrived in the vicinity of Mechanicsville. Here a detail of one company from each regiment was made, and Major DeRosset, of the Third, was placed in command. The object of this select battalion was to clear the way and examine the bridge across the Chickahominy. (A mine was thought to have been placed under it by the enemy). In order to under- ' stand their duties more fully, the officers were sent to the top of a hill near by, from which could be seen the route intended, etc. On this hill, and in range of the enemy's guns, a group of dis- tinguished Confederates were assembled, composed of President Davis, Mr. Randolph (Secretary of War), Generals Lee, Long- street and D. H. Hill, waiting to hear General Jackson's guns on the north side of Mechanicsville before ordering an advance. General Jackson being delayed. General Lee ordered an ad- vance of this portion of the line after hearing the guns of Gen- First Regiment. 139 eral A. P. Hill at Meadow Bridge. After the battalion alluded to had examined and crossed the bridge, and cleared the field of skirmishers, Ripley's Brigade, having been selected as the assault- ing column, was ordered across the bridge and to form line of battle. It advanced to the attack in front of the splendid artil- lery of the enemy strongly posted across the pond at Elyson's Mills. The slaughter was terrific, yet the regiment pressed forward in the face of this murderous fire for more than half a mile, advancing steadily to what seemed inevitable destruction, till it reached the pond, when it was ordered by the right flank and took shelter in a skirt of woods below. In this assault Col- onel M. S. Stokes was mortally wounded, Lieutenant-Colonel McDowell badly wounded and Major Skinner killed. Captains James A. Wright, of Company E; R. W. Rives, of Com- pany H; four Lieutenants, and more than half of the men of the regiment were killed and wounded. On the 27th, the enemy having retreated, this regiment, with the army, pursued him in the direction of Cold Harbor by way of Bethsaida Church. There being now no field officers and but few company officers in the regiment. Major W. R. Cox, of the Second Norih Caro- lina Regiment, was ordered to fake command in this battle. In the charge that followed through the dense ,undergrowth this regiment became separated from its brigade, and acted as a support to Garland's Brigade. It lost several men, killed and wounded. The following day was spent in burying our own and the Federal dead. The next day the Chickahominy was crossed at Grape Vine Bridge and the march continued in the direction of White Oak Swamp via Savage's Station. Here, after a sharp skirmish, the enemy was repulsed. From this point the regiment marched in the direction of Malvern Hill by way of Quaker road, and turn- ing to the right after passing the church, was soon under fire from the enemy's guns on Malvern Hill. The troops taking shelter under the crest of the hill, formed line of battle and were ordered by General Hill to assault the strong natural position of the enemy on the plateau. Arriving 140 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. at the crest and in full view at close range of the enemy's infan- try and artillery, this regiment, together with the third, went by the left flank, in perfect order, and took advantage of a cut in the road. At this place that gallant soldier, Colonel Gaston Meares, of the Third, was killed while bravely leading his regi- ment. General Charles Winder, of the Stonewall Brigade, then assumed command of this and the Third Regiment. Night came at last to end this bloody and disastrous struggle, the enemy retreating. The next day the dead of these two regi- ments (First and Third) were found nearer to those of the enemy than were those of any other troops on this part of the line, proving that they approached nearer the enemy's line of battle than any of the regiments that fought on this part of the field. The regiment suffered heavily iu this engagement. Among the killed was Captain John Benbury, of Company A, beloved and mourned by the entire regiment. At this battle Captain Brown, of Company B, was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, and Cap- tain J. S. Hines, of Company C, Major. The regiment remained for several days in this locality, Major-General D. H. Hill's Division, of which it was a part, having been left to watch McClellan's movements. While here, Lieutenant-Colonel Brown and Major Hines were detailed to go to Raleigh to pro- cure the regiment's quota of conscripts. They returned with about five hundred. These men proved to be excellent material for soldiers, brave and willing, as was fully proven on many a bloody field afterward. After being assigned to their proper companies and sufficiently drilled, the regiment, with the divis- ion, was moved by rail to Orange Court House. SOUTH mountain CAMPAIGN. About the 9th of August the regiment moved in the direction the army had taken, passing the battlefield of Cedar Mountain, and was in reserve at Second Manassas and antilly. After- wards it crossed the Potomac at Point of Rocks and camped near Frederick, Md., where it remained for several days, then crossed the South Mountain at Crampton's Gap and remained First Regiment. 141 at Boonesboro until the 14th, when it participated in the battle at the Gap, its position being on the right of the Braddock road. At one time during this battle six companies were hotly engaged, losing several men. SHARPSBURG CAMPAIGN. After dark the army withdrew and moved in the direction of Sharpsburg, where it arrived on the morning of the 15th, tak- ing position iu a cornfield on the ridge north of the town. Here we fared abundantly on green corn and pumpkins, till the firing of the enemy's artillery in the afternoon admonished us of more important matters. Oq the following day this regiment, with the brigade, while supporting a battery, was subjected to a heavy fire from the enemy's artillery across the Antietam. At daylight on the 17th the firing began at close range. The troops were soon moved by the left flank, at double-quick, and occupied a posi- tion at a burning farm building. After a hard battle of an hour, General Ripley having been wounded in the neck, the ad- vance to the front and left was ordered by Colonel Doles, of the Fourth Georgia, now in command. The troops obeyed with alacrity, manifesting more than their usual determination and efficiiency, crossed a formidable fence and moved through a skirt of woods in which General Mansfield, commanding a corps of the enemy, was killed. After an irresistible effort on our part, the Federals were driven from, and we gained possession of, the celebrated cornfield. There being now a lull in the firing, three distinct lines of the enemy could be plainly seen approaching. As they advanced they were reviewed by a Federal officer, with hat in hand, riding rapidly in front of each line. We were near enough to hear the angry and determined cheers of his men. On, on, this vast army approached our thin ranks. Word was passed: "Fix bayonets, boys!" We nerved ourselves for the attack, which was murderous beyond description, con- tinuing for more than an hour and a half. Ripley's Brigade, after bearing the brunt of the battle, was ordered to retreat, the 142 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. enemy not pursuing. The manner of this. retreat was slow and in order and under General Hill's personal supervision. Observ- ing an abandoned caisson, he, Hill, ordered the soldiers to remove it from the field, remarking: "We will not leave the enemy so much as a wheel." The retreat was continued to the Dunkard Church on the Hagerstown road, where, after being supplied with animunition, our lines were reformed, the enemy making no further demonstrations on that day. The following day the troops rested on the field, in plain view of the enemy's lines, and during the night crossed the swollen Potomac. The loss of the regiment in this battle was more than fifty per .cent, of the number engaged, including some of its best officers and men, among the number Captain Bouchelle, of Com- pany B. After resting for several weeks in the lower valley, the army moved by way of New Market Gap, passing Orange Court House in the direction of Fredericksburg. While in bivouac for the night near Gordonsville, General Hill issued an order requiring company commanders to see that the bare- foot men made moccasins for themselves of the hides 'just taken from the beeves. The next morning on the march General Hill observed one of the soldiers, private Vanhorne, of Company H, without shoes or moccasins, and immediately arrested. Captain Miller of that company for disobedience of orders. Captain Mil- ler demanded and obtained an investigation, which showed that he had until a late hour, and after marching twenty-one miles, as- sisted his men in carrying out the General's order; that at mid- night private Parker, of Company B, arrived in camp bare- foot, cold and hungry, and was naturally attracted to the butch- er's-pen where, learning of the recent order of Hill, he went to work at once to shoe himself. As he wore number twelve shoes, it took so large a portion of the material that there was none left for private Yanhorne. Upon this statement of facts Captain Miller was released. Be it stated, however, to the credit of both Parker and Vanhorne, that their shoeless feet had marked the bloody dust on many a hard fought field. The regiment and brigade continued its march to Port Royal on the Rappahannock, where it remained for several days. First Regiment. 143 first battle of fredericksburg. 'On the morning of the 12th of December the troops moved back in the direction of Fredericksburg, marching the greater part of the night and reaching Hamilton's Crossing on the morning of the 13th. In this battle this regiment was in the sec- ond line until the evening of the first day, when it took posi- tion in the first line. The enemy being driven back, the Con- federates lay on the field, anticipating another furious battle, and " bitterly thought of the morrow." Before dawn the line was advanced to the railroad, within three hundred yards of the enemy, but no blood was shed this day, and but one shot was fired. This was from a small cannon of the enemy, aimed at a Georgia Lieutenant in the act of robbing a dead Federal in front of picket-lines. He soon beat a hasty retreat, amidst the cheers and jeers of both armies. The enemy sent a flag of truce on the 14th, asking permission of General Jackson to remove their dead and wounded, who were lying in heaps on that por- tion of the railroad occupied by this regiment. The permission was promptly granted by the General. The troops were em- ployed during the dark and rainy night following in tearing up the railroad — an extremely difficult task — as orders were giv^n to accomplish this work in silence, as well as in the dark, " without lights and without noise." The enemy retreated, and thus ended the first battle of Fredericksburg. After this the regiment built and occupied winter quarters on the Rappahannock, near Skinker's Neck. There the winter of 1862-'63 was spent on picket duty along the river. While sta- tioned at this point the regiment, which had been in Major- General D. H. Hill's Division, was now changed to Jackson's old division, commanded by Major-General Trimble, and our gallant Georgia comrades, the Fourth and Forty-fourth Regi- ments, were exchanged for the Tenth, Twenty-third and Thirty- seventh Virginia Regiments. These regiments, with the First and Third North Carolina, formed a new brigade, and Brigadier- General R. E. Colston was assigned to command it. It will be seen from this statement that the First and Third North Caro- 144 . North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. lina Regiments had not been, up to this time, brigaded with other North Carolina troops, nor were they so brigaded during the war. Without the slightest reflection on our gallant friends and comrades in arms — the Georgians and Virginians — we do assert that it was both unfortunate and unjust that these regi- ments were not immediately associated with their own State troops, for these two being the only regiments from North Caro- lina in this, the Stonewall Division, trouble and discomforture were necessarily entailed by such an arrangement. Our mails were miscarried, we were often neglected, and sometimes forgot- ten, in the distribution of army stores, clothes, provisions, etc. The field of promotion was also narrowed, and our achievements on the field frequently shared by others. Governor Vance made repeated efforts to effect a more satisfactory arrangement, with- success. CHANCELLORSVILLE CAMPAIGN. On the 29th of April this regiment left its camp at Skinker's Neck and marched to Hamilton's Crossing, thence in the direc- tion of Chancellorsville. On the 2d of May, Saturday morning, while waiting in the road on the east of Chancellorsville, the members of this regiment witnessed an interview between Gen- erals Lee and Jackson. These generals went apart from their staff ofiBcers and sat down upon the leaves. General Lee un- folding a map that he had taken from his pocket, and pointing out to General Jackson with a pencil on the map, who nodded assent. In a short while General Jackson arose and called Major Pendleton, his chief of staff, and through him ordered the troops to move by the left flank. Then commenced that grand strategic movement that has since been the wonder and admira- tion of the world. Rapidly marching around the enemy's lines to his right and rear, crossing the plank-road and arriving on the old turnpike about 4 p. m., two and a .half miles west of Chancellorsville, having marched in all more than fifteen miles in a few hours, and about five miles in a direct line from the starting point in the morning, Jackson's Corps had been de- tached from the main body of the army to make this attack. First Regiment. 145 On this march regimental commanders were ordered |o march in rear of their regiments with a guard of strong men with fixed bayonets, to prevent straggling. Immediately on arrival at the stone road the troops were formed in three lines of battle, Col- ston's Brigade being in the second line. The order to advance was obeyed with promptness. Rushing on towards the enemy's camp, the first scene that can be recalled was the abundant sup- ply of slaughtered beef and rations cooking. We captured piles of fat knapsacks and piles of fatter Dutch- men. Private Alexander Faw, of Company B, remarked that the thick woods through which we were passing was like a strainer, letting the lean and the lesser Dutchmen escape, while we secured the fat ones'. The Federal General Schimmelfennig's Brigade suffered heavily as prisoners. In the language of a North Caro- lina General, " Hungry men seized provisions as they passed the camp, and rushed forward eating, shouting and firing." The whole affair was a wild scene of triumph on our part. Thus continued the pursuit until night, when the enemy made a stand within a mile of the Chancellor house. Here great confusion ensued. The two front lines having become mingled, were halted and reformed. This regiment, being in better allignment than most of the others. General Jackson in person ordered it to advance as skirmishers in front of the line. Shortly after being thus deployed it was charged by a company of Federal cavalry, which proved to be a part of the Eighth Pennsylvania. The greater portion of them were unhorsed and captured. This was a critical period in the battle, and General Jackson seemed un- usually anxious. He gave instructions to the Colonel of this regiment to fire upon everything coming from the direction of the enemy. These instructions were turned over to Colonel Avery, of the Thirty-third, who relieved this regiment, and obedience to them resulted in that most distressing calamity, the wounding of Gen- eral Jackson by his own men. On being relieved, this regiment assembled on the road, rejoined its brigade, and protected itself as well as possible from the terrific cannonading of the enemy 10 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. that followed. On Sunday, the 3d instant, the regiment was formed on the right of the road, and, advancing, captured the first line of the enemy's works — a barricade of huge logs with abatis in front. The portion of these works that crossed a ravine and swamp, and which was favorable to the occupancy of the enemy, was assaulted three times by the Confederates before it was finally held. This regiment, with the major part of the brigade, participated in the last two of these charges. It was then that General J. E. B. Stuart, who was in command (Gen- erals Jackson and Hill having both been wounded on the even- ing before) ordered the whole line forward. The enemy's earth- works in front were carried by storm and many pieces of artil- lery which occupied them were captured. We were now in full view of the Chancellor house, and the captured guns were turned on the fleeing enemy. Soon the Chancellor house was in flames, and a glorious victory perched upon our banners. The Confederate line was again moved forward and executed a wheel to the left, bringing this regiment and brigade immedi- ately to the Chancellor house, hence this brigade, which had been commanded since early in the day by Lieutenant-Colonel Brown (Captain Latham being in command of the regiment, Colonel McDowell and Major Harrell having been wounded), was the first of the Confederate troops to reach the Chancellor house, Lieutenant-Colonel Brown being the fifth brigade com- mander that day, as per his report in " War Records." During one of these assaults alluded to above this brigade became de- tached from the division, and when it arrived at the Chancellor house was between two of Major-General Rodes' brigades. On the 6th the brigade marched to U. S. Ford on the Rappahannock. While here the enemy was permitted by General Lee to lay a pontoon-bridge and send over several hundred ambulances to the battlefield of Chancellorsville for his wounded. The officers of this regiment and brigade acted on the part of the Confed- erates to carry on these negotiations, and General Sharp, Deputy Provost Marshal of the Army of the Potomac, acted on the part of the enemy. A whole week was consumed in effecting this First Regiment. 147 object, after which the brigade was removed and operations resumed. The troops now returned to the viciuity of Freder- icksburg. Early in June, soon after the Chancellorsville battle, Major- General Edward Johnson was assigned to command the Stone- wall Division, and General George H. Stewart to command Cols- ton's Brigade. The division was now composed of Paxton's, or the First Brigade, known as the Stonewall Brigade, Jones', or the Second Brigade, and George H. Stewart's, the Third Brigade. WINCHESTER CAMPAIGN. From its bivouac near Fredericksburg the army now marched in the direction of Winchester, the Second Corps crossing the Blue Ridge at Chester Gap. Arriving at Winchester, it partici- pated in the battle of the 13th and 14th of June, which was very disastrous to the Federals und Milroy. After the battle on the evening of the 14th, Johnson's Division was ordered to inter- cept and capture the routed enemy, and for this purpose the di- vision marched all night, and by a circuitous route by way of Jordan's Springs, arrived at daybreak near Stephenson's Depot, on the Valley pike. During a sharp battle at this place, in which the regiment was sorely pressed. Lieutenant John A. Morgan, with a squad of men, saved the day by taking command of and operating a Confed- erate battery which this regiment was supporting, after nearly all the regular artillerymen had been killed or wounded. Several hundred of the enemy threw down their guns and surrendered. Portions of four regiments, with their colors, sur- rendered to this regiment. At this stage of the battle the regiment volunteered to reconnoiter the field to the Carter house, a mile distant, and succeeded in capturing two hundred horses. It was then that General Johnson ordered the regiment to mount these horses and pursue Milroy, who had escaped in the direction of Harper's Ferry. It failed in this object, how- ever, and, after a day's travel of many miles, returned to camp with no further victory to boast or booty to claim; but, 148 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. on the' contrary, entirely satisfied with its equestrian expedi- tion, and realizing that there could be better things in a soldier's experience than to "jiue the cavalry." In this last battle the regiment lost the gallant Captain Miller, of Company H, for- merly Adjutant of the regiment. On the 18th the regiment crossed the Potomac at Shepherdstown and encamped near the Dunkard Church, on the battlefield of Sharpsburg. While here the Eev. George Patterson, the Chaplain of the Third North Carolina Regiment, having been solicited, read the burial service over the noble heroes of the First and Third Regiments who had fallen in this battle in 1862 and were buried near this church. This solemn and touching scene will ever be one among the memorable incidents in the annals of the war. GETTYSBtlRG CAMPAIGN. From this camp the regiment, with the brigade, marched via Hagerstown to Chambersburg, Greencastle and McConnellsburg to the vicinity of Carlisle and on to Gettysburg, having marched twenty-five miles the last day, but arrived too late to participate in the engagement of the first day. The position of the regiment the next day was about two miles east of the town, the regiment being the left of the brigade and extreme left of the army. The greater portion was deployed as sharp-shooters. In the charge that took place at 4 p. M. this regiment, after crossing Rock Creek, assembled on the right, and with the brigade as- saulted and captured the enemy's works at the southeast base of Gulp's Hill. Lieutenant Green Martin, of Company B, was the first to enter the works, where he received a mortal wound. At this juncture the officer in command of this regiment sent a mes- sage to Major-General Johnson to the effect that with re-inforce- ments he could cut the Baltimore pike. Smith's (Extra Billy) Virginia Brigade was sent, but arrived too late to accomplish the desired end. On the morning of the 3d the second line of the enemy's works, strongly posted on Gulp's Hill, was assaulted. The fighting here was desperate, the enemy using his artillery at close range and with great effect. The attack failed and we fell First Regiment. 149 back to the works that we had first captured and at night re- treated to the position occupied on the first day, west of the town, leaving most of our dead, thirty-eight in number, on the field. "Victory deserted the Southern arms on the gory field of Gettys- burg. Though ten thousand of her heroic dead and wounded lay scattered from bloody Gulp's Hill to stony Round Top, yet the ghastly sacrifice did not attain the end for which it was made. Standing amidst the wreck and carnage of that fatal field, Lee realized for the first time the loss of his great captain, Jackson, upon whose banners victory ever perched. This was the last offensive movement that the Gonfederacy was able to sustain. Next day we turned our faces toward Virginia, and after several skirmishes and hard marches, arrived at Williams- port, Md., and forded the swollen Potomac on the 15th, the men having to put their cartridge-boxes on their bayonets to keep them above the water. After various marches via Front Royal and Page Valley, and with some skirmishing, we reached Orange Gourt House early in August, participated in the Bristow cam- paign in October, by having an occasional skirmish with the enemy. On the 27th of November this regiment was engaged in a short, sharp fight at Payne's Farm, where the commanding officer of the regiment, Lieutenant-Golonel Brown, was shot through the hand, when lock-jaw threatened, and the com- mand was turned over to Gaptain Latham. In this battle the enemy was driven from the field after a loss of several of the regiment's best men. At Mine Run the regiment was engaged in several skirmishes, but in no general battle. Thus ended the campaign of 1863, and the regiment built winter quarters near the Rapidan, and did picket duty along the river at Mitchell's Ford during the winter of 1863-64. Golonel McDowell having now resigned, Lieutenant-Golonel Brown was promoted to Golonel, Major Harrell to Lieutenant- Golonel and Gaptain Latham to Major. The regiment was now thoroughly reorganized and the vacancies filled with competent company officers, carefully selected, all of them an honor to their 150 North Carolina Troops, 18 61-65. State, as subsequent events bore ample testimony. The perfect discipline and efficiency attained by this regiment during this winter, and the high compliment afterwards paid it on the bat- tlefield of the Wilderness by Lieutenant-General Ewell and Major-General Johnson, were due in a great degree to tl^p efficient management and co-operation of Lieutenant-Colonel Harrell and Major Latham, not only on the field, but to their assistance in training and drilling the men in camp. Credit is also due to the faithful assistance of competent and willing company officers, several of whom, among them Captains Boone, Thompson, Day^ Johnson, Mizell and others, had been promoted from the ranks, and were veterans of many a bloody field in previous campaigns. E,ev. W. R. Gwaltney, Chaplain of the regiment, wrought a good work here also. A large chapel was constructed, in which regu- lar services were held for the soldiers. He also established a. school for them, which did much to improve their condition in every way. THE WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN. On the 4th of May camp was broken and the regiment, with the brigade and division, marched in the direction of Locust Grove and met the enemy on the evening of the 15th in the first day's battle of the Wilderness, where, after a hard fight, a por- tion of the regiment captured two pieces of artillery and more than one hundred prisoners in an opening on the old stone road. The regiment had witnessed and had taken part in the capture of many batteries, but the manner of this capture was both novel and thrilling. The Colonel of the One Hundred and Forty- sixth New York, Jenkins, whose regiment was opposite in the enemy's line, being killed, his command gave way and sought protection in a gully in rear of the battery. A portion of the First Regiment, Lieutenant O. R. Scott being one of the lead- ing spirits, suddenly emerged from a thicket of pines and at- tacked the battery on the flank. Here the fighting was desper- ate, clubbed-guns and bayonets being used. -"Twas claw for claw, and the devil for us all." Lieutenant Shelton, command- ing this battery (Battery D, New York Light Artillery), Cap- First Regiment. 151 taiu Wlnslow having been wounded, at last surrendered two guns, the other two escaping. This portion of our regiment, having crossed the road and obliqued too far to the right, was now in rear of the enemy's lines opposed by General Rodes on the right of the road. At length General Rodes succeeded in routing this portion of the enemy's line and a perfect stampede ensued. We could only avail ourselves of the above-named gully, from which we had just captured so many of the enemy, while this vast herd of fleeing Federals came rushing through and over us without firing a gun or speaking a word. While we were yet in this temporary concealment, Lieutenant-Colonel Lightfoot, of the Sixth Alabama, in pursuit of the routed foe, dashed up to this battery, mounted the guns and, with flag in hand, claimed the capture. We in turn rose up from this now famous gully and, to his astonishment and disappointment, proved to him that the prize and the honor were ours. The remaining portion of the regiment, with the brigade, arrived in time to assist in reclaiming the battery from Colonel Lightfoot and the Sixth Alabama. The ene'my being re-inforced, made another advance, and we were in turn driven back to our first position, leaving the guns between the lines. We, however, removed them from the field on the night of the 6th, after the firing had ceased. SPOTTSYLVANIA CAMPAIGN. On the night of the 7th the movement was commenced by the right flank and the march was continued throughout the next day, the 8th, through the dust, heat and smoke (the woods being on fire), the regiment arriving in the evening near Spottsylvania Court House. The enemy was marching on a road nearly parallel with ours, and where the roads came together, at sundown, a brisk engagement took place. While going into this action, on the right by file into line, color- bearer W. H. Lee was decapitated by a shell. Captain Thompson picked up the colors, and bore them until the regiment had finished the movement and taken- its place in 152 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. line. Just before advancing a volunteer was called for to bear the colors in the battle. A stripling, with gosling voice, tat- tered jacket, ragged trousers and powder-burnt face, in the im- mediate presence of the murderous legions of Hancock, and bear- ing the thenceforth honored name of Reams, stepped to the front and said : "I'll take the ilag, Colonel," and the flag, its folds still dripping with the warm blood of noble Willie Lee, was deliv- ered into his hands. Lieutenant-General Ewell, who had wit- nessed the tragic death of gallant Lee, inquired: "What youth is that who has left his father's fold and come here and assumed the duties of a veteran?" On being told that it was John Reams, of Company F, he said that he would gladly approve any recommendation that might be made for his promotion, but the 12th came before the promotion, and on that day the regi- ment was captured by the enemy. Color-bearer Reams, deter- mined not to surrender the flag, tore it from the staff and carried it in his bosom to a Northern prison. The night of the 8th and the day of the 9th were spent in building works. On the 10th, General Doles' works having been captured immediately on the left, this regiment and brigade were sent to his assistance. After a most sanguinary battle of two hours, in which we lost some of our bravest and best men. Lieutenant Larkin Curtis among the number, the works were recaptured and we returned to our position in line. The regi- ment rested on the 11th. On the morning of the 12tb, dark and rainy, a fitting prelude to a day that was dark in the fullest sense of the term, the enemy made a desperate assault on the salient angle occupied by Jones' Brigade, this regiment being immediately on the right of it. For a short time the fighting was desperate. The terrific onslaught of this vast multitude was irresistible, there being a rectangular mass of twenty thou- sand Federal troops, not in line of battle, but in column of regi- ments doubled on the centre, supported by a division on each flank, in all more than thirty thousand troops concentrated against this one point. The portion of the works assaulted by this for- midable colnijin was little more than four hundred yards wide. First Regimemt. 153 The Confederate troops occupying this angle were Jones' Brigade and the First Regiment, numbering about two thousand. The clash of arms and the murderous fire around this bloody angle are indescribable. Every one who was present will ever remember the wreck and the anguish of that dark and direful day. Let it also be remembered that this regiment did its whole duty here, as on all other occasions; that it did all that mortal man could do, and proved even in defeat true to its State and country. All but about thirty of the whole regiment were captured, the Col- onel wounded and captured and recaptured three times; the last time from the enemy's ambulance corps, who, in turn, were made prisoners, and bore him to the Confederate rear instead of the Yankee rear, as was their intention. A hickory tree, said to be sixteen inches in diameter, was cut down by min- nie balls alone and fell near our works. From this time until the close of the war the regiment was a mere company, but pre- served its organization, and was, with the Third, transferred to Cox's Brigade and participated in all the battles in which that brigade was engaged between Spottsylvania and Richmond. VALLEY CAMPAIGN OF 'l864. About this time General Early .was assigned to command the Second Corps, and was ordered to Lynchburg to meet Hunter's raid, at which point the corps arrived on the 18th, and after some skirmishing the enemy withdrew during the night and was driven from this portion of Virginia, leaving his artillery and a portion of his train. General Early then marched in the direction of Staunton, passing Lexington; the cemetery in which General Jackson had been buried lay on the right of the road which we traveled. "We passed into the cemetery with muffled drums, field officers dismounting, bands playing funeral dirges, banners drooped and arms reversed. A mound covered with beautiful June flowers, a flag-staff standing near, told the men who had followed him wherever he had led that beneath that unostentatious pile of valley soil lay the body of Stonewall Jackson. A hush as deep as midnight fell upon those men in 154 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. their ragged gray, and the eagle eyes of the veterans grew moist, as they thought of the glory they had won under the leadership of the most unique soldier of the age." From this point Jthe army marched in the direction of Washington City by way of the Valley and Monocacy Junction, near Frederick, where abat- tle took place, the enemy being greatly damaged. Next day, after a long march through the dust and heat, the regiment and the army reached Silver Spring, in view of the dome of the Capi- tol, where, after some further skirmishing. General Early find- ing himself confronted by an overwhelming force and his flank threatened, withdrew to the Valley by way of Leesburg and Snicker's Gap. General Early now organized a corps of sharp- shooters from the different regiments in the Second Corps, this regiment furnishing its quota, and its Colonel was appointed to command the corps of sharp-shooters thus formed. After this the sharp-shooters were engaged in almost daily skirmishes with the enemy, and took part in the battles of Win- chester, August 17th; Cliarlestown, August 21st; Smithfield, August 29th; Bunker's Hill, September 3d, and in the bloody and disastrous battle of Winchester, September 19 th, in which the veteran General Rodes, who had ever been equal to occasion, was killed, and also some of our bravest and best officers and men, the true and genial Captain Tom Boone, of Company F, being among the wounded in this unfortunate battle. In this engagement the Confederates, ten thousand in number, met thirty thousand of the enemy. General Early retreated and took posi- tion at Fisher's Hill, where he was again overpowered, and re- treated up the Valley to Waynesboro. The Confederates being re-inforced, returned down the Valley, and marched, on the night of the 18th of October, around the end of the Mansanutton mountain, crossed the Shenandoah at Bowman's Ford, and at- tacked the enemy at daylight in his rear, the sharp-shooters cap- turing twelve pieces of artillery before the main body arrived. This strategy on the part of General Early was pronounced by military critics to be equal, or even superior, to that of General Lee at Chancellorsville. Oa account of overwhelming odds, the First Regiment. 155 Confederates were prevented from following up their advantages, and our decided victory of the morning was turned into a signal defeat before the day was over. A portion of this regiment and the sharp-shooters were under the immediate command of Gen- eral Ramseur, who, collecting his veterans behind a stone fence, and fighting like a lion, in this his last battle, was mortally wounded. Although this regiment had never been in his com- mand it had, as if by accident, been thrown with him in many bloody battles, and his undaunted courage and heroic conduct inspired many a faltering spirit to revive and "rush on to victory or to death." A patriot, a hero, a martyr! "Out of its scabbard, never hand Waved sword from stain as free." The army again retreated up the Valley, and after the defeat of Sheridan's Cavalry at Rhode's Hill, near Mt. Jackson, the Val- ley campaign of 1864 ended. After this the Second Corps of the Army of Northern Virginia returned to Petersburg and took up winter quarters within a few miles of the city. About the middle of February, 1865, the First, with the other troops of the corps, moved south of Petersburg, to near Sutherland's Depot. Here the regiment remained until about the middle of March, when the troops were ordered into the trenches in front of Petersburg, and there it remained until the night of the 24th of March, when that portion of the regiment, with the sharp-shooters which had been engaged in the assault and capture of Fort Stedman before daylight, as a portion of the assaulting column, including its commander, Colonel Brown, was captured by the enemy, under the command of General McLaughlen, but was shortly afterwards recaptured, and in turn captured General McLaughlen and his com- mand. General McLaughlen asked permission to surrender his sword to General Gordon. Permission was granted, for the reason that it was not certain that he was a prisoner, or would be long, as captures and recaptures were so frequent. Upon his surrendering his sword to General Gordon, he was 156 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. moved back to the Confederate rear and was safe, a prisoner. After this the fort was stubbornly held by the Confederates against great odds for more than four hours, when, by a sudden rush on the part of the enemy on the right, the lines were closed and the greater part of the sharp-shooters, together with Colonel Brown, their commander, were cut off and forced to surrender. , APPOMATTOX. The march from Petersburg to Appomattox was but a series of engagements until the memorable day of the 9th of April. This brigade was now commanded by that veteran soldier. General W. R. Cox, who, as his men were retiring, ordered a halt, and the com- mand was given: " Right about, face! " It was promptly obeyed, and once more, and for the last time, these few ragged, foot-sore and half-starved North Carolinians stood in the strength of their invincible manhood, opposed to the men they had met and had driven back on many a bloody field. Once more the command rang out in the clear, firm voice of the intrepid Cox: "Ready, Aim, Fire!" And the last volley fired by the Army of Northern Virginia was by North Carolina troops, this regiment among the number. "Defeated, but not dishonored." And so should we, as true sons of Carolina, in the education of our children, teach them to ever refuse that savage lesson that " Might makes right." Teach them that "Right lives in a thousand things; Its cradle is its martyr's grave, Wherein it rests awhile until The life that heroisms gave Revives again at God's own will, And rights the wrong." Note.— This imperfect sketch of the First Regiment has been written from memory and such memoranda as could be collected. Much assist- ance has been rendered by Captain T. D. Boone, a member of the regi- ment. Also, acknowledgments for suggestions and favors are due Judge Walter Clark and Colonel T. S. Kenan. H. A. Brown. Columbia, Tenn., April 9, 1900. SECOND REGIMENT. 1. William E. Cox, Colonel. 5. D. W. Hurtt, Major. 2. Charles C. Tew, Colonel. 6. W. M. Norman, Captain, Co. A. 3. John P. Cobb, Colonel. 7. W. T. Faircloth, Captain and Assistant 4: George L. Kirby, Surgeon, Q. M. SECOND REGIMENT. By MATT. MANLY, Captain Company D. The Second Regiment was organized with the following offi- cers of the field and staff: Chaeles C. Tew, Colonel. William Pkeston Bynum, Lieutenant-Colonel. William R. Cox, Major. Nicholas Collin Hughes, Adjutant. William T. Fairgloth, Quartermaster. Louis Hilliaed, Commissary. W. H. CouETS, Surgeon. Geoege L. Kieby, Assistant Surgeon. ' Stewaet Devane, Assistant Surgeon. Rev. Dr. Alfred A. Watson, Chaplain. The commissions of the field officers of the Second Regiment were dated May 8, 1861, and those of the original company officers May 16, 1861. Dr. Courts was soon succeeded by Dr. James B. Hughes, and Dr. Devane by Dr. L. H. Stith. Dr. Hughes, after two years of arduous service in attending the men through the dreadful diseases of the camp, when fever and pneumonia swept away so many, and through the campaign of the first two years, was promoted to Surgeon of the brigade. The survivors of the Second have a most grateful feeling toward him and the highest respect for his skill and devotion. Dr. George L. Kirby succeeded Dr. Hughes, and remained with us until the regiment was greatly reduced in numbers, when he was given a more important post. He gave most faithful atten- tion to every duty, and whether under the fire of the enemy's guns, 158 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. ministering to the wounded, or soothing the last moments of the poor fellow dying with fever, he was the same loyal friend. N. Collin Hughes served as Adjutant until the death of Col- onel Tew, when he was promoted to the staff of General Petti- grew, and was killed at Gettysburg. He was a leader among the high-spirited gentlemen of the Second. His handsome presence and charming manners made him a delightful compan- ion, and his superb courage a noble comrade in arms. Dr. Stith made a most efficient Surgeon, notwithstanding that he had lost an arm. He now lives at Suffolk, and had two sons in the army in Cuba. Rev. Dr. Watson, our Chaplain, besides his attention to his clerical duties, gave valuable services as a scout. His informa- tion of the topography of the country was of great value to our commanding officer. He had the profound respect of every man. Company A — New Hanover Cown^y-r-Captain, Edward D. Hall. This company was transferred to the artillery, and did duty on the Cape Fear under Captain Calvin Barnes. Captain Hall became Colonel of the Forty-sixth North Carolina Troops. His place and designation was taken by a company of fine fellows from Surry — Captain, James B. Waugh; Lieutenants, W. .M. Norman, Benjamin F. Bray, W. O. T. Banner. Captain Waugh was mortally wounded at Chancellorsville, and died May 28, 1865. His company was one of the first in the charge, being well in front, and his red-lined cloak made him a conspicuous mark. Lieutenants Norman and Banner took their men so far to the front that Norman fell badly wounded and Banner into the hands of the enemy. Officers and men, 128. Company B — Wilson County — Captain, John Howard; Lieu- tenants, John C. Gorman, Calvin Barnes, Orrin Williams, William Howard, Robert E. Calder, Garry Fulghum, B. J. Barnes, L. B. Boyette, W. G. Ferrell. Captain Howard was mortally wounded at Sharpsburg, Sep- tember 17, and died October 4, 1862. Second Regiment. 159 Calvin Barnes was appointed to the command of Company A, and transferred with the company. John C. Gorman then became Captain, which rank he held to the end. He was wounded several times. His last wound was received near Petersburg, in April, 1865. Orrin Williams was promoted, and transferred. The company was greatly indebted to Lieutenant Robert E. Calder for its discipline and proficiency in drill. Lieutenant Calder was a cadet of the Hillsboro Military Academy. He was a very popular officer, and was painfully wounded at Malvern Hill, losing an eye. Lieutenants Bemzan Barnes and Ferrell were also wounded at Malvern Hill, while Garry Fulghum and L. B. Boyette were paroled at Appomattox. Company C — Carteret County — Captain S. D. Pool and his company were transferred to the artillery, and served on the coast. He became Colonel of the Tenth North Carolina Troops (First Artillery). Its place was supplied by a fine company from Wayne and Duplin counties — Captain, Gideon M. Roberts; Lieu- tenants, W. T. Faircloth, David Cogwell, W. W. Loftin, Nathan B. Whitfield, George W. Britt, Stephen Williams, Thomas W. Crow, Joel Jones, Thaddeus Jones. Captain Roberts resigned in 1862. Lieutenant W. T. Faircloth having been promoted to a cap- taincy, and made Quartermaster, N. B. Whitfield was given command of the company. He served until May 11, 1864, and was killed at Spottsylvania. Captain Faircloth (now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court) was a faithful officer in a most responsible position. W. W. Loftin died in 1864. Officers and men numbered 133. Company D — Wilson and Wayne Counties — Captain, Walter S. Stallings; Lieutenants, Isaac C. Applewhite, Matt. Manly, W. H. H. Cobb, J. C. Pierce, Wyatt E. Yelverton, W. H. Apple- white. I. C. Applewhite was wounded at Sharpsburg, and resigned. 160 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Matt. Manly was made Captain while in a prison hospital from wounds received at Chancellorsville. In a great number of battles this company was commanded by Lieutenant Yelverton, with W. H. Applewhite the only other officer. Both of these officers were desperately wounded on several occasions. Applewhite, although shot through the lungs at Chancellorsville, was again with his comrades before the next battle. Better soldiers never stood before the guns of an enemy; true exponents of the character of the men they led. Lieutenant W. H. H. Cobb was made Assistant Surgeon, in which position he rendered most admirable service. It was after' his baptism of fire on the bloody field of Cold Harbor that he was promoted to the medical staff. In the medical corps of the regiment must be mentioned Hos- pital Steward, Joseph M. Caho, after the war the venerable Sheriff of the new county of Pamlico. Many a man owed his life to his skillful treatment and cheerful attention. His memory is a sweet one to us all. Captain Stallings became Major at the death of Colonel Tew, and Lieutenant-Colonel upon the promotion of Colonel Cox, and was the ranking officer of the regiment when killed. He received the wound from which he died at Castleman's Ford, near Berry- ville, July 18, 1864. He was repeatedly warned that he was exposing himself needlessly, but he could not be restrained. A shell burst near him, severing an artery, from which he bled to death. If any one could be said to have fir,st place in the hearts of the men of the Second Regiment, it was Walter Stallings. His was a rare spirit, gifted with every grace, and sensitive to every pulse of nature; a scholar of delightful wit and charming vivacity, and a man of gentle manners and finest courage. Eager in a charge and striking hard and quickly in retreat, beloved wherever he was known, a noble and generous heart was stilled when his life's blood ebbed away. CoMPAN-^ E— 1^5 men from Guilford and Ifi from Samp- son County — Captain, J. M. Morehead; Lieutenants, Henr^ C. Second Regiment. 161 Gorrell, Joseph M. Morehead, James Turner Scales, James M. Hobson, J. E. Fraley, John M. Hobson. Captaio Morehead was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel of the Forty-fifth Regiment. Henry C. Gorrell was made Captain, and killed in Chicka- hominy Swamp, in one of the reconnaissances in force in Mc- Clellan's front in June, 1862. Lieutenant Scales commanded the company until he was pro- moted to Lieutenant-Colonel. He was wounded at Spott- sylvania, and again near Petersburg, and was the senior officer of the Second at Appomattox. James M, Hobson, J. T. Fraley and John M. Hobson were excellent soldiers. John Hobson received his bullet at Chancellors- ville with many another good man. James Hobson was captured at Spottsylvania after a race for a stand of colors. One of the color-bearers of the enemy, some- thing bolder than his comrades, planted his staff well in front and stood by it to meet our attack. Jim Hobson, with his eye on the Victoria Cross, or what was equivalent to it with us, "Well done, old fellow," from his companions, or hoping to get a men- tion in general orders, if the eye of the General should be happily on him, dashed forward to capture him. Hobson had no fire- arms, and could only secure the colors by outrunning the man. The race was a fast one — "nip and tuck" — with Hobson gaining, but the course was too short, and both disappeared in the line of the enemy. Hobson caught his man, but it was too late, and he kept on to Fort Delaware, where he saw enough of the Stars and Stripes. His son, Lieutenant Richmond P. Hobson, comes fairly by his gallant spirit. Company F — Graven County — Captain, Hugh L. Cole; Lieu- tenants, N. N. Chadwick, Roderick Wetherington, Henry J. B. Clark, Furnifold G. Heritage, W. C. Brewer, with Daniel Lane First Sergeant. Captain Cole took great interest in his company, and brought it up to a high state of efficiency by his attention to every exercise during the long months in camp of instruction. He was pre- 11 162 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. vented by ill health from leading his company in the hard march- ing of the campaigns, and was obliged to surrender his command. He was promoted to the rank of Major. Lieutenant Chadwick became Captain upon the promotion of Major Cole. Henry J. B. Clark was killed in a railway accident, a very young, but promising officer. Heritage and Brewer, both fine soldiers, were promoted from the ranks. Heritage was killed at Petersburg. Brewer bears the scars of many desperate wounds. He commanded the skir- mishers of Cox's Brigade in the Valley campaign. Corporal Silas Fulcher, of this company, was the third color- bearer shot May 12th. He lost a leg. Officers and men, 146. Company G — Jones County — Captain, Harvey A. Sawyer; Lieutenants, S. E. Koonce, W. J. Dickerson, Robert H. Jones, Hiram A. Sawyer. Captain Sawyer, a very popular and efficient officer, was wounded at Malvern Hill, and died July 15, 1862. Orrin Williams was promoted from Company B, and made Captain. He was succeeded by W. J. Dickerson. After the capture of Lieutenant Dickerson at Kelly's Ford the company was commanded by Robert H. Jones, whose never-failing punct- uality and courage in battle gained the admiration of all his comrades, as his unselfish disposition had made him beloved by them. Andrew Sawyer was killed at Fisher's Hill. Company H — Wayne County — Captain, James A. Washing- ton; Lieutenants, Donald D. Munroe, John P. Cobb, James W. Gulick, Bryan W. Cobb, N. B. Whitfield. Captain Washington was promoted to the command of the Fiftieth and John P. Cobb was made Captain. After the dis- abling of Lieutenant James W. Gulick by a severe wound in the knee at Malvern Hill, and the retirement of Lieutenant Monroe, Bryan W. Cobb was made Captain. He was from the Military Academy at Hillsboro. Second Eegiment. 163 Lieutenant Whitfield was killed. John P. Cobb, who commanded the company in many bat- tles, and was subsequently Colonel of the regiment, was wounded at Malvern Hill, Chancellorsville and Cold Harbor in 1864, and lost a leg while leading the regiment at Winchester. Alexander Murdock, of this company, was Ordnance Sergeant of the regiment, and Henry C. Prempert, Drum-major. Prem- pert directed the best drum corps in the division. The day of battle found him and his boys under the bursting shells in the rear of the line, too busy among the wounded to think of danger. Every officer in the regiment will remember the hospitable tent of Jim Washington and John Cobb, where th° '^°°* eating and drinking that Wayne county could furnish w srously offered to all who came, and the merriment was accompanied by the pleasant voice and exquisite violin of Sergeant Billie Bryan, of Company I. Bryan died in Richmond from wounds and the hardships of the campaign. Company I (Beauregard Rifles) — Graven and Pamlico Counties — Captain, D. W. Hurtt; Lieutenants, John P. Dilling- ham, Edward K. Bryan, Silvester Taylor, R. J. Gilbert, JST. C. Hughes, Israel B. Watson, John J. Hall. Captain D. W. Hurtt was most distinguished as commanding officer of the skirmishers of the brigade. He was wounded at Sharpsburg, and again, very severely, in the head at Gettysburg. John P. Dillingham was detailed as Quartermaster, and in 1862 was made Adjutant. He was a most popular and faithful officer. N. Collin Hughes was selected as Adjutant, and was a most valuable officer in the organization of the regiment. E. K. Bryan, after the Sharpsburg campaign, was made Ad- jutant of the Thirty-first Regiment. Lieutenant Watson was wounded and made a prisoner. John J. Hall was reported missing at Spottsylvania, and his fate still remains clouded with uncertainty. Sergeant Isaac Taylor Almore was killed in the great battle of May 12, 1864. 164 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Company K (Elm City Cadets) — Craven and Pamlico Counties — Captain, George C. Lewis; Lieutenants, Alexander Miller, Richard D. Hancock, Joseph F. Hellen, William Calder, W. J. Street. Captain Lewis was wounded near Richmond in 1862, and resigned. Alexander Miller was made Captain in 1862, which position he held until the close of the war, having been captured at Kel- ley's Ford. Richard D. Hancock was severely wounded at Chancellors- ville. He commanded the company at Spottsylvania and the regiment at Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, taking part in all the painful marches of the Valley campaign of IS ding a faithful service of four years April 9, 18,65. W. J. Street, at one time First Sergeant, was wounded at Chan- cellorsville, Sharpsburg and Spottsylvania. The command of his company fell upon him on many occasions. Lieutenant Hellen was promoted, and transferred to the de- fenses of the Cape Fear. William Calder, after serving with distinction with the corps of skirmishers of the brigade as originally formed, was promoted to the First Battalion. W. A. Johnson was killed at Malvern Hill, Benjamin Cook at Chancellorsville and James Hancock at Cold Harbor in 1864. This company and Company F each had thirteen men killed at Chancellorsville. The companies composing the regiment went into camp of in- struction at Garysburg, a little beyond Weldon, opposite the camp of the Fourth Regiment, with which for three years we were associated on nearly every battlefield. At the time of the battle of Manassas the Second Regiment, being ordered to Virginia, went to Richmond, thence northward near the Potomac, where for six months it was engaged in severe drilling and other camp exercises and in picket duty on the bleak south bank of the Potomac. Second Eegiment. 165 When Burnside took New Bern the Second from Virginia Tvent to Goldsboro, and from there, in the' spring of 1862, went to Camp Wyatt, near Fort Fisher, where during the day the men were drilled and threw up walls of sand and at night patrolled the beach and fought fleas. Such duty not being to their liking, the officers of the regiment asked to be sent to the front in Virginia. This was not a " home guard " regiment. It was "in for the war," and the reports of the bloody but glorious battles of Williamsburg, Seven Pines and others made it wish to share the honors with the other North Carolina regiments. In June the Second was sent to Virginia, and saw some ser- vice in the repeated feints made daily upon McClellan's front before the great campaign called the Seven Days' Battles. The conduct of the regiment in these battles was that when ordered forward it never halted until directed by the command- ing officer so to do. At Mechanicsville, June 26th, we were the first troops to cross the bridge (just repaired by the pioneers) leading up to the town. Mr. Jefferson Davis rode immediately in front. An officer advised that it would be safer for him to go by the ford, a sug- gestion that was courteously declined. His wish was to share every danger. Is it a wonder that we loved him? The march up the hill was made under a terrific shelling — the enemy had had our range, and the shells burst frequently among us. At Cold Harbor the regiment, after undergoing the difficult and trying ordeal of receiving several fatal volleys from our own troops, sprang to the charge, and slackened pace only when both flanks were uncovered and the enemy was flying. At Malvern Hill it received orders directly from General D. H. Hill, when the message came from General Jackson: "Press forward on the right, the enemy is retreating." Going out of the woods, wheeling to the left across the open field, thence through the pines and up into the deadly cornfield in the face of such volleys of grape and shrapnel as we had never met before, it fought until night came, and the firing dwindled from rapid volleying to infrequent single shots. The fight was over, the 166 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. wounded began crawling away to find friends and the litter- bearer came to give assistance. Preparation was soon made for the Maryland campaign, in which the desperate situation on South Mountain was changed to one of security by the determined courage of D. H. Hill's Division aud the great battle of Sharpsburg was to add renown to our arms throughout the world. The Second was hotly en- gaged on South Mountain and fought in so many directions that DO one knew which was front. General Hill informed some of the men who were getting excited, seeing the blue coats in the rear, that the front was where the enemy appeared, and the maskets would carry as well in one direction as another. Hill's presence was always sufficient to give full assurance that we were in the right place, and we had only to fight to win. There was never a better soldier, or a man better qualified to judge of the merits of one. The clash of battle was not a con- fusing din to him, but an exciting scene that awakened his spirit and his genius. The survivors of the Second lay upon his hon- ored grave a chaplet of immortelles in token of esteem and affection. The battle of Sharpsburg was fought September 17, 1862, on the hills in front of the town of that name, and so called. The generals of the United States forces called the battle Antietam, the name of a creek two miles away, where McClellan retired to claim a victory. The part the Second Regiment took in this battle is told best in few words on medallions of metal near the crest of the hill at the end of "Bloody Lane." On the anniversary of the battle,. September 17, 1897, when the magnificent monument was dedicated to the Philadelphia brigade, a party of veterans of the United States army were looking over the field, when one saidt "I was standing near this spot when Meagher's Brigade charged over that hill. There was never anything finer. The troops that could stand against that brigade were good ones. Let us go and see." They went over to the "Bloody Lane," and along it until they came to the inscription : " Here Meagher's New York Secoxd RegimeKt. 167 Brigade charged, and, afier a bloody and desperate encounter at thirty paces, were obliged to retire," etc. Within a few feet stood the opposing inscription: " Here Anderson's North Caro- lina "Brigade stood and checked the advance of the enemy, driv- ing him back with great slaughter." At thirty paces ! They were gallant gentlemen that could stand and fight in the open field at thirty paces, and hearts of oak that could drive back such a foe — "Anderson's Brigade of North Carolina" (the Second, the Fourth, the Fourteenth, the Thir- tieth). The survivors of the Second North Carolina Troops salute the' honorable commissioners who marked the field. The brigade of General Thomas Francis Meagher was the most distinguished organization in the Army of the Potomac. Its charge at Marye's Heights had never been surpassed for desperate courage. With all their splendid organization, equip- ment and 'prestige, "the faithful few," as General D. H. Hill addressed Anderson's Brigade, were able to meet fhem in the open field and force them to retire. During the battle in this bloody lane Colonel Charles Cour- tenay Tew was killed, his body falling into the hands of the enemy. Colonel Tew was not immediately with his regiment when he was shot, having been called to direct the movements of the brigade upon the wounding of General Anderson, and was on the left, not in view of his own men. He was shot through the head and placed in the sunken road near the gate- way of the lane that leads to the farm-house, with his back to the bank nearer the enemy. Here he was found, apparently un- conscious, the blood streaming from a wound in the head, with his sword held by both hands across his knees. A Federal sol- dier attempted to take the sword from him, but he drew it toward his body with the last of his remaining strength, and then his grasp relaxed and he fell forward, dead. This account of Colonel Tew was given the writer by a soldier of the Eighth Ohio upon the field of Sharpsburg in the summer of 1897. The sword was given by the soldier to the colonel of 168 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. his regiment, who unfortunately is no longer living, and the sword, having passed into other hands, cannot be recovered. Colonel Tew had a military school at Hillsboro when he offered his sword to the Governor of North Carolina. He had rnade a tour of Europe, partly on foot, and had visited many of the great army posts, studying military service and the art of war, and was pre-eminent in every accomplishment of a gentleman and a soldier. The nobility of his disposition and the purity of his life gained for him the truest respect of every man. When knighthood was in flower he might have worn the golden rose of virtue. No word unworthy a maiden knight of old was ever spoken by him in the hearing of his officers or men. His pres- ence was a sanctuary. He has followed those who, pure in heart, sought the Holy Grail, and who now reflect its ineffable light. After the battle of Sharpsburg, General Lee withdrew into Virginia, and the Second Regiment went into camp near Wiia- chester. Later, Hill's Division moved near Front Royal, on the Shenandoah;' where General Hill, much annoyed by the enemy being reported at every point of the compass, called for volun- teers for "extra and dangerous service," the object being to find the enemy. Many volunteered, among them Lieutenant Wilson T. Jenkins, of the Fourteenth. Those selected were, for the most part, from the Second. The regiment moved back into the Valley, but soon took up its long march to the south bank of the lower Rappahannock to meet Burnside, who expected to take the shortest road to Rich- mond by way of Fredericksburg. It was on this march, late one evening, that General Hill issued his memorable order that threw consternation among the company officers. It was to the effect that should any man be seen on the march next day without shoes the officer commanding the company should be "placed in arrest and recommended to be dropped." It was late at night before, we understood that the skins of the newly-killed beeves were to be made into moccasins. All night was consumed in the work, as there were nearly one hundred men of the regiment without shoes. Next day the SECOND REGIMENT. 1. W. H. H. Cobb, Assistant Surgeon. 2. Eichard D. Hancock, Ist Lieut., Co. K. 3. W. J. Street, 8ii Lieut., Co. K. 4. E. K. Bryan, ad Lieut., Co. I. 6. E. J. Brooks, Ordnance Sergeant, Co. L 6. A. J. Casey, Private, Co. H. 7. N. Colin Hughes, 1st Lieut, and Adjt. 8. S. R. Street, Corporal, Co. K. Second Regiment. 169 regiment appeared like a lot of cripples, the raw hide having curled and shrunk in the most uncomfortable way. At the battle of Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862, the Second Regiment was on the right, and not engaged, except in receiving the enemy's fire of shell. The casualties in the regiment were regarded as few, but were more than the losses of any regiment in the great battles of the present decade. Burnside, not liking the greeting he received on the south side of the river, re-crossed, and allowed us to prepare our winter quarters in security. The spring of 1863 found the regiment hard at work getting into shape again. All the duties of camp were thoroughly ob- served. The men of the Second were distinguished for their bearing, and when detailed for any detached service their famil- iarity with every duty was noticeable. A most valuable corps of sharp-shooters was created for the brigade by taking forty men from each regiment. This corps, under Major D. W. Hurtt, Friday before the battle of Chan- cellorsville, received the compliments of General (Stonewall) Jackson, who was looking on when it drove the enemy's line across a field and captured some prisoners. Ramseur mentions Major Hurtt and his skirmishers in his official report. The Second was doing picket duty on the Rappahannock when the enemy, under Hooker, began his movement by the right flank. Friday morning the regiment, under Colonel W. R. Cox, was moved up towards Chancellorsville, driving in the enemy's out- posts. That night it lay so near the opposing line all orders s^ere given in the lowest tones. The parole or sign and countersign were employed — the first time in our experience. " Liberty" was the parole "And Independence" the countersign. Its use was dangerous, except among the most intelligent and .steady men. To have lefii out the "and" that night would have cost a man his life. Saturday the memorable march of Jackson's Corps was made, encircling the enemy's right flank and bringing us upon the backs of Siegel's men about sunset. In the early morning the 170 North Cakolina Tkoops, 1861-'65. Second halted in the road immediately opposite, where a few feet from us sat General Lee and General Jackson, and we wit- nessed the ceremonious salutations among officers of high rank in the field. What became of Siegel's Corps is a matter of his- tory. The honors were with our generals that day. The next day the men with the guns were entitled to the glory. General Grimes, then commanding the Fourth Eegiment, has given an account of why we charged, and who should have charged, mentioning that "three companies of the Second Regi- ment charged" at the same time and with his regiment. Seven companies of the Second charged, but they went in echelon, the left leading and going far beyond the enemy's breastworks, while the right did not reach it. Our going forward in this order was by General Ramseur's command. Ramseur had just parted from Grimes, and given orders to go forward. As he approached our left he said: "Forward, Second!" The three captains stood half-faced to the right, with eyes upon Colonel Cox, who was plainly in view, waiting for his command, as in duty bound. The men in the line were stooping like athletes when General Ramseur said: "Forward at once!" The three companies got the word first and dashed forward at top speed, encouraged to believe that the fastest charge is the safest. Colonel Cox, as soon as he understood the movement, led all forward except three companies on the right, which were neces- sary to protect our flank. We drove the enemy from his works and down a hill, uncovering his batteries, which then had full play on us at two hundred yards. We silenced the guns immediately in front, but the enfilading fire was most disastrous. The regiment, although successful in driving the enemy, lost three-fourths of those present within about fifteen minutes — three hundred out of four hundred. A short time before the battle of Chancellorsville the color- guard of the regiment was reformed, consisting of a sergeant and a corporal from each company. Kindred Lewis was the ser- geant selected. Every member of the regiment looked with pride upon this splendid young soldier and his companions who Second Regiment. 171 stood beside him. Tall, erect, in action like the herald Mer- cury, he bore high the blue saltier on its field of crimson. When the command "Charge!" was given, he rushed forward to mount the wall of the enemy's defense. In that moment every member of the color-guard was shot, and Lewis, who had leaped upon the wall, fell forward on the outer side, killed instantly. The regiment returned sadly to camp. The next campaign was into the enemy's country. At Gettys- burg, on the first day of the battle (July 1, 1 863), the Second Regi- ment moved into the town, and was in Rodes' Division when he occupied Oak Hill, breaking the enemy's line and throwing him into confusion. The skirmishers of the brigade engaged a Penn- sylvania regiment on the streets of the town and took its flag from the color-bearer. Major Hurtt was severely wounded and Ed. McLacklan killed. The second day the brigade was in advance to the stonewall on Cemetery Hill. Ramseur asked to be allowed to push forward and secure the position, but there were reasons why it could not be done. On the retreat the corps halted at Hagerstown, where General Cullen A. Battle, of Alabama, who had just won the wreath of a general officer by the very highest service in the field, was requested to announce to the troops that Pembertou had sur- rendered Vicksburg to Grant. The effect of the news of the disaster was to make the troops wish to renew the battle at once. Upon the return to Virginia the Second was engaged at Mine Run and at Kelly's Ford, where we were unfortunate enough to lose many of our best men by wounds and by capture. Com- panies B, F and K were on picket duty, and not receiving timely support, were the heaviest losers. Winter quarters were chosen at Orange Court House. Early in the spring of 1864 Grant began his "On to Richmond" campaign by way of Spottsylvania, and met with such resistance as the world never saw in the open field. The weakening of a part of the line under General Edward Johnson being known, Han- cock seized the opportunity and, under cover of a fog, at dawn drove Johnson back, capturing most of his command. Then 172 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. came the crowaing glory of the career of Ramseur's Brigade — the same faithful few — the Second, the Fourth, the Fourteenth and the Thirtieth. Ordered into the breach, they drove the enemy out of the angle just taken and back through every line to his formidable breastworks, reclaiming all our lost ground. At Chancellorsville the brigade received through General Lee a message of praise from the dying lips of General Jackson. On the field at Spottsylvania, General Lee directed Ramseur to thank his men, and to say that they had saved that part of his line. Ramseur was made Major-General, and Cox, under whose command we had fought since South Mountain, was given a brigade. Happily for us, it was the old brigade, and we were destined always to fight under his direction. On May 22d we had a sharp fight at Hanover Junction, and at Cold Harbor, June 2d, we were hotly engaged and lost severely. Soon after our struggle with Grant we were ordered to Lynch- burg to meet Hunter, who had come up the Valley of Virginia. Other troops had preceded us, but we followed down the Valley and sent our skirmishers into Harper's Ferry on the 4th of July to feast on the dinner prepared by the United States officers for " the day we celebrate." General Early, in whose corps we then were, turned to the eastward, toward Washington. At the Monocacy River our march was impeded for a short time by General Lew Wallace, of "Ben Hur" fame. He gave us several hundred prisoners before flying behind the defenses of the city. Our regiment came in view of Washington, but it was not to be supposed we could take a city of such size and so defended. After our return to Virginia we had a sharp and bloody engagement at Castleman's Ford on the Shenandoah, near Perryville, under General Cox. Here the noble-hearted Stallings fell. The enemy had the ad- vantage of position after we had driven him back, and he could not be dislodged. Winchester, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek — these were bloody battles, and never did the steadfast courage of our men show Second Eegiment. 173 more conspicuously than on these fields. Moving about under the dreadful hail of shell and shot, charged by the thundering cavalry of Sheridan, their lines overlapped, no reserves to fall back upon, their beloved leaders, Rodes, E,araseur, Stallings, dead, and Cobb perhaps fatally wounded, they never lost their grim determination, but fought in every direction, and kept to- gether, whether driving the enemy or retreating before over- whelming numbers. At Winchester, under Rodes, we went to the support of Ramseur, and drove the enemy across the hills until so far ad- vanced we were recalled. In the retreat from Winchester the brigade, under Cox, held the enemy in check and saved the artillery corps. At Fisher's Hill the division was commanded by General C. A. Battle. The men of the Second remember him and his mag- nificent brigade with kindest feeling and admiration, whether fighting one another with snow balls or by their sides fighting the enemy of our country. Lieutenant Richard D. Hancock commanded the regiment. The brigade, under Cox (it was known as Cox's Brigade from the battle of Spottsylvania, 12th May, 1864), after fighting all day against fearful odds, withdrew intact at the close of the day. The Second Regiment suffered severely in this fight. Ramseur took command of the division after Fisher's Hill. No general officer was ever nearer to the hearts of his men than Ramseur. He came to the brigade with his arm hanging use- less at his side from a wound received in 1862, and soon won the aff^ectionate regard of every man in his command. "He was as full of valor as of kindness; "Princely in both." Within one month of the battle of Winchester, after an all- night march, we came, at dawn, upon Crook's Corps. With a few regiments fresh enough to meet with the cavalry and present an unbroken front to the enemy, we could have swept the Valley. Cox's Brigade captured more prisoners than his brigade num- 174 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. bered, and sent thousands flying down the Yalley. But Rani- seur's Division could do no more. In the three battles within a month we were much reduced in numbers, and in such a charge as Cedar Creek, where the enemy was flying, and in the subsequent encounters of the day, when the field was lost, our men were much scattered. New Market was the place appointed for rendezvous, where all the living came together again. The division from this time was commanded by General Bryan Grimes, a worthy successor to such commanders as Hill, Rodes and Ramseur, our former division generals. It was under Grimes and Cox and James T. Scales that the regiment gave the final proof of their quality. The battle in the snow in the Valley, November 22d, was full of hardships. Pursuing cavalry on foot, with shoes that hardly held to their feet, was painful in the extreme. In December the Second Regiment came near Richmond and took part in the hard campaign before Petersburg. Toward the end of March the division made a briHiant charge, driving the enemy from his works and capturing twelve pieces of artillery and a number of prisoners. The troops of the division on the 1st of April were at their former trade, retaking the works from which others had been driven, and restoring the line, and on the 6th covering the retreat of the army and keeping the enemy in check by desperate fighting throughout the day. Grimes seemed to possess a charmed life, always to be seen in the most exposed positions. The bullets were apparently unable to reach him. Cox, equally reckless of personal danger, was not so fortunate. He received five wounds at Chancellorsville alone, be- sides many others at different tiaies. We always looked upon General Cox as of our regiment (we were never separated), and his history is the story of the Second Regiment. He appeared to the clear eyes and honest heart of Ramseur as "the manly and chivalrous Cox, of the Second North Carolina, the accom- plished gentleman, splendid soldier and warm friend, who, though wounded five times, remained with his regiment until Second Regiment. 175 exhausted." Such was his character in the eyes of the men of the Second. On April 7th a charge was ffiade for the relief of Mahone, who was hard pressed. The enemy was driven back and a number of prisoners captured. General Lee again expressed his appreciation of the conduct of the North Carolinians. The Gen- eral seemed to have the gift of prophecy^ and gave the North Carolinians on the field the meed of praise which was to be long withheld in the history of their country. The 8th was spent in marching towards Appomattox, which was passed during the night. Sunday, the 9tfa of April, found the regiment in front of the town, where it engaged the enemy, and were driving him when withdrawn and ordered to join the other divisions of Gordon's Corps. Then the last scene of the greatest drama of modern times — the surrender, the cry of mortification, the curse of defiance, the tears of sorrow for our friends slain in battle, and above all, the noble words of our great-hearted leader: "Human fortitude should be above human calamity!" The highest claim to distinction that any man in this country can make is that he enlisted for the defense of his State at the first call to arms, and fought with the armies in the field to the last day at Appomattox. All whose names are not inscribed on that last immortal roll are envious of the honor. The officers and soldiers' of the Second paroled at Appomattox were: Officers — William. R. Cox, James Turner Scales, Robert H. Jones, Richard D. Hancock, Garry Fulghum, Larry B. Boyette, William J. Street, William T. Faircloth, William B. Bell, Samuel P. Collier. Company A — John E. Banner, James G. Burt. Company B— Elliot Todd, W. C. Batts, Thomas Flowers, Hodge Bass, Raiford Fulghum, Charles Maddry, Irvin Boykin, Bunyon Stett, John C. Wells, Wiley Statt, John Renike,- Simeon Moore. 176 North Carolina Troops, 1861-66. Company C — Furney Herald. Company D — Benjamin A. Howard, J. T. Edmundson, John W. Fort, Franklin Webb, Harris Lamb, Leary B. Lamb, Wil- liam Mumford, James T. Mitchell, William J. L. Mears. Company E — L. R. Colley, L. W. Hackett, John Sills, John T. Warren. Company F— Daniel Lane, David Johnson, James Brinkley, Lewis C. Taylor, John A. Poteat, Erasmus F. Page, Robert J. Flake. Company G — John Saunders, H. H. Young, Stephen Alli- good. Company I — George W. Fulghum, John Austin, David Powers, A. C. Powell. Company H — Jacob Williams, Robert Williams, Warren Corbett, William B. Pike. Every man who came safely through to that day should be entitled to wear a badge indicating the distinction; then on every ninth of April "should their names, familiar in our mouths as household words, be freshly remembered." Matt. Manly. New Bern, N. C, April 9, 1900. THIED REGIMENT. 1. Gaston Meares, Colonel. 5. John F. S. VanBokkclen, Capt.,Co. D. 2. Wm. Lord BeRosset, Colonel. C. John Cowan, Captain, Co. D. 3. E. H. Cowan, Lieut.-Colonel. 7. James I. Metts, Captain, Co. G. 4. William M. Parsley, Lieut.-Colonel. 8. Rev. Geo. Patterson, D.D., Chaplain. 9. Thomas F. Wood, Assistant Snrgeon. THIRD REGIMENT. JOHN COWAN, Captain Company D. JAMES I. METTS, Captain Company G. The Third North Carolina Infantry, like all of the other regi- ments sent by North Carolina to the field in the late civil war, wrote for itself and the people from whom it came, upon the field, retrieving lost but perilous positions in battle, in the bivouac, upon the march, as well as in its number of slain and wounded, a history, which hitherto locked up in the memory of its members, remains as yet, a score and a half of years since the eventful Appomattox, to be recited. A proud boast it is of the sons of the " Old North State" that they are not trumpeters of their own achievements, whether in the forum, in legislative hall, or upon the field of battle; and who can gainsay, since the colonization of the area which is now bounded by the State lines of North Carolina, that they have stood the peers of any with whom they came in contact? So especially did the spirit of Christian charity, "in honor pre- ferring one another," inspire her soldiers from 1861 to 1865. Fired by an emulative zeal to attain unto the highest perfection of duty, they recognized the common cause of all Confederate soldiers. They were so imbued with that spirit of magnanimity, that rather than pluck one laurel from the crown which adorned the brow of their fellow-soldiers, they vied with each other in adding to that emblem of triumph. So, the history of one regiment of North Carolina Troops is the history of another, save in the details which mark their respective achievements in the different spheres in which fortune called them to move. If encomiums of commanders, congrat- 12 178 NoETH Caeolina Teoops, 1861-'65. ■ ulatory orders for duty under the most disheartening and adverse circumstances, and the indisputable facts of deeds accomplished count for naught, then only are the North Carolina soldiers without a record. Histories may have been published, false in conception and untrue in statement, "the conceits of a warmed or overweening brain," but the steadfast faith, the admiring gaze has been riveted upon the soldiery of North Carolina from Maryland to Texas. Yea, more; some who have written from another than our stand-point, who saw the conflict, its course and operations through different lenses than those of the Southern side have, in their impartial judgment, accorded the highest word of praise to North Carolina Troops. The hillocks of Virginia, the swamps of Georgia, the sands of the beach are mute cenotaphs of her dead. Unparalleled in their devotion to the Union, they were devout; loyal to the cause of the Confederacy, they were sincere. Figures are the most potent arguments in establishing the truth or falsity of any proposition or cause. This regiment, one of ten authorized by the Constitutional Convention, enlisted for the war, and was composed of field offi- cers, Gaston Meares, Colonel; Robert H. Cowan, Lieutenant- Colonel; William L. DeRosset, Major, all of Wilmington, N. C, and comprised the following companies : Company A was raised in Greene county, and commanded by Captain Robert H., Drysdale. Company B was raised in Duplin, and commanded by Cap- tain Stephen D. Thruston, M. D. Company C was raised in Cumberland, and commanded by Captain Peter Mallett. , Company D was raised in Wilmington, and commanded by Captain Edward Savage. Company E was raised in Onslow, and commanded by Cap- tain M. L. F. Redd. Company F was raised in Wilmington, and commanded by Captain William M. Parsley. Third Regiment, 179. Company G was raised in Onslow, and commanded by Cap- tain E. H. Rhodes. Company H was raised in Bladen, and commanded by Captain Theo. M. Sikes. Company I was raised in Beaufort, and commanded by Captain John R. Carmer. Company K was raised in New Hanover (now Pender), and commanded by Captain David Williams. The several companies were ordered to assemble at Garys- burg; and in the latter part of May they began to report to the officer in charge of the camp. A portion of the Third was or- dered to Richmond early in July, where it was joined some weeks later by the remaining companies. A few days after the first battle of Manassas the regiment was ordered to report to Major-General T. H. Holmes at Acquia Creek, and went into camp near Brooks' Station, on the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad, later moving camp to a point near the Potomac River. As winter approached, having meantime built substantial quarters, they took up their abode therein immedi- ately in rear of the lower battery of those constructed for the de- fense of Acquia Creek. Upon the evacuation of the line of the Potomac, the Third North Carolina, with the First, was ordered to Goldsboro to meet an expected advance of Burnside from New Bern, remaining thereabouts until early in June, 1862. In May, Lieutenant-Colonel Cowan having been promoted to the colon- elcy of the Eighteenth North Carolina Infantry, Major DeRos- set was made Lieutenant-Colonel and Captain Savage, Major. It was with sincere regret that the regiment parted with Col- onel Cowan; the officers and men of the command loved him, and he Was recognized as the one as much as any other by whom the regiment had been brought to its efficiency in discipline and especially in drill. The esteem in which he was held was mani- fested by the regiment by the presentation upon his departure ot a magnificent horse. The First and Third North Carolina Troops were under the 180 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. same brigade commanders from first to last; but, unfortunately, were brigaded with troops from other States until the capture at Spottsylvania Court House, 1864, of so many of the regi- ment, and never received proper meed for their achievements. First, Colonel John G. Walker was assigned to command the brigade, then consisting of the First and Third North Carolina and the Thirtieth Virginia and First Arkansas. The regi- ment having been ordered to Richmond, arrived on the battle- field of Seven Pines just after the battle had been fought. Here it remained for several weeks, chiefly on picket duty, with an occasional skirmish with the enemy, losing several of its men. While here a new brigade was formed, composed of the First and Third North Carolina, the Fourth and Forty-fourth Geor- gia, and Brigadier-General R. S. Ripley was assigned to its command, Major-General D. H. Hill being in command of the division. The march from Richmond was most trying to the raw troops of the brigade, who had not then received their baptism of fire. Passing thousands of dead and wounded from the time they left the cars until they arrived on the battlefield, the groans and cries of the wounded were not calculated to inspire the boys with a martial spirit. During the period from that date to the opening of the battles around Richmond the command was in camp about six miles from Richmond, drilling and preparing for the summer cam- paign. Late in the evening of June 25, 1862, Colonel Meares re- ceived orders to march, and proceeding early next morning in a northerly direction, we halted on the high hills on the south of the Chickahominy where it is crossed by the Mechanicsville pike. On the 26th of June, after a circuitous and fatiguing night march, the regiment arrived in the vicinity of Mechanicsville. Here a detail of one company from each regiment was made, and Lieutenant-Colonel DeRosset, of the Third, was placed in com- mand. The object of this select battalion was to clear the way and examine the bridge across the Chickahominy. (A mine was Thibd . Regiment. 181 thought to have been placed under it by the enemy). In order to understand its duties more fully, its officers were sent to the top of the hill near by, from which could be seen the route in-^ tended, etc. On this hill, and in range of the enemy's guns, a group of distinguished Confederates were, assembled, composed of President Davis, Mr. Randolph (Secretary of War), Generals Lee, Longstreet and D. H. Hill, waiting to hear General Jack- son's guns on the north side of Mechanics ville before ordering an advance. General Jackson being delayed, General Lee ordered an ad- vance of this portion of the line after hearing the guns of Gen- eral'A. P. Hill at Meadow Bridge. After the battalion alluded to had examined and crossed the bridge, and cleared the field of skirmishers, Ripley's Brigade having been selected as the as- saulting column, was ordered across the bridge and to form a line of battle. It advanced to the attack in front of the splen- did artillery of the enemy strongly posted across the pond at Ellyson's Mills. The regiment pressed forward in the face of this heavy fire in open field for more than a mile, advancing steadily to what seemed inevitable destruction, until it reached the top of the hill, when a halt was ordered, bayonets fixed, and a charge, led by Colonel Meares, was made down the hill, which was checked by the canal; and after lying down a short while, the regiment was ordered to the right and rear, and up the hill, taking shelter in a skirt of woods, where we remained until just before daybreak. We were so near the enemy that the least noise, even the snapping of a twig, provoked their fire. From thence, before day, we marched to Mechanicsville and were placed in line of battle under a heavy artillery fire in the rear of the Eighteenth North Carolina Infantry, until the enemy were driven from their works on the opposite side of the creek. The Third North Carolina lost perhaps less than either of the other regiments. Major Savage being the only one of the field ofiScers wounded. Joining, after the battle, the forces of General Jackson, the command was marched by a circuitous route to Cold Harbor, or 182 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Gaines' Mill, where the battle took place on the afternoon of June 27th. Here the regiment, under the command of Colonel Meares, with the exception of a small portion which had some- how become detached, was exposed to a musketry and a very severe artillery fire, and endured the ordeal known among all soldiers to be the most trying to which they are subjected, that of being under fire without being engaged in the fight. March- ing thence, after two or three days' delay, the brigade found itself in front of one of the bridges over the Chickahominy, which had been destroyed by the enemy on the south side, who had crossed the day before on the famous " grape-vine " bridge, some distance above. Here, being exposed to the enemy's fire of artillery without the means of replying, Ripley was withdrawn into a heavy woods on the northwest side of the road, lying there all day under the artillery fire, at times very annoying, but with little loss. This was the day of the battle of Frazer's Farm, a few miles lower down the stream. Next day, the enemy having withdrawn and the bridge hav- ing been repaired, Ripley crossed and marched on Malvern Hill, arriving there at noon, and was posted immediately in the rear of what was known as the Parsonage, on the near side of the road leading by Malvern Hill, and on the left of the army. Be- ing ordered to advance, the whole line moved forward up the hill, across the parsonage yard, into the road beyond. Being under a most terrific fire of musketry and canister, and in close proximity to the enemy stationed in an open field in front, the left of the regiment penetrated the woods beyond, into the open field, where it engaged the enemy, making several charges upon him, led by Captain David Williams, of Company K, and causing the battery in front to move back. To Captain Williams and his men great praise should be accorded for their gallantry. The right of the regiment, then in the road, after firing several rounds, was ordered by Colonel Meares to lie down. At this point Captain Parsley, of Company F, was wounded iu the neck, fell, and Colonel Meares, being very near, went to him. The Third Regiment. 183 regiment was thrown into some confusion prior to reaching this position, owing to the fact that the Parsonage and yard referred to were an obstruction. About an hour before dusk word came from the left that Cap- tain Brown, commanding the First North Carolina, was hard pressed, and wanted assistance, when the gallant Colonel Meares gave the command to move by the left flank. He, being on foot in the road in front of the line, upon reaching a point near the left of the Third, stopped, and mounting the bank on the side of the road, was using his field-glass surveying the Federal lines, when he was instantly killed by a slug from a shrapnel fired from a battery directly in front, said to be the Third Rhode Island Battery, not over . seventy-five yards distant. Colonel Meares was a digflified and elegant gentleman and a true type of a soldier. Kind, humane, intrepid, he always commanded the admiration of his regiment, for in him they recognised a leader who would lead. Night came at last to end this bloody and disastrous struggle, though the firing was kept up until about 11 o'clock. Darkness revealed the explosive balls which the Yankees fired at us, as they struck the fences in front and rear and the undergrowth. The removal of the wounded back to Bethesda Church, our hospital, was pushed with vigor. So great was the loss of all commands in the field and road that one could walk hundreds of yards on the dead and wounded without touching the ground. The next day the dead of these two regiments, the First and Third, were found nearer to those of the enemy than were those of any other troops on this part of the line, proving that they approached nearer the enemy's line of battle than any of the regiments that fought on this part of the field. The regiment suffered heavily in this engagement. The Third held its posi- tion during the night and bivouacked near that point for several days, when the brigade was ordered back to the old camping- grounds nearer Richmond. Ripley lay in camp for several weeks, while details were made to work on the intrenchments in 184 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-'65. our front and for several miles down towards the Chickahominy, and other details gathered arms from several battlefields. In the latter part of July, Colonel DeRosset returned from Ealeigh, and brought with him four hundred conscripts, who were at once divided into squads, and, under command of non- commissioned officers, were drilled several hours daily. This not only helped to discipline the raw levies, but hardened them somewhat, thus enabling them the better to stand the strains in- cident to the march into Maryland, which soon followed. About the 9th of August the regiment moved in the direction the army had taken, passing the battlefield of Cedar Mountain, and was in reserve at second Manassas and Chantilly. After- wards it crossed the Potomac at Point of Rocks and camped near Frederick,'^Md., where it remained for several days, then crossed the South Mountain at Crampton's Gap and remained at Boons- boro until the 14th, when it participated in the battle of the gap, Ripley's Brigade marched by a road leading towards the Boonsboro and Sharpsburg pike. On reaching a point on the crest of the hill, just after crossing the Antietam on the stone bridge, the command was placed in line of battle under the hill, the right of the Third North Carolina, in the absence of the Fourth Georgia, on the right of the bridge, and resting on the Boonsboro pike. This was on the evening of the 15th, and the brigade remained in that position until the evening of the 16th, under a heavy artillery fire from the enemy's guns on the side of the creek, but without loss, being well protected by the crest of the hill under which they lay. We now give in full the graphic account of the battle of Sharpsburg, written by Colonel S. D. Thruston. COLONEL THRUSTON'S ACCOUNT. On the evening of the 16th September, 1862, being in line of battle in front of the town of Sharpsburg, a little be- fore sunset we were moved, left in front, from this position, along the Sharpsburg- Hagerstown pike, some distance to the left, until reaching the mouth of a lane (apparently a private Third Eegiment. 185 road leading to a farm) leading in a generally perpendicular direction from the pike to the Antietam; following this lane a short distance, we again filed to the left, across the field and halted under the brow of a hill, on which and in front was a white farm-house (Mumma's) about two hundred yards distant. A little to the right and rear of this honse was an apple orchard surrounded by a rail fence. In this position we slept, to be aroused at early dawn of the 17th by the guns of the enemy. Before advancing to the attack the house was set on fire by order of General Hill, three men from the Third North Carolina In- fantry— Lieutenant Jim Clark was one of the three, also Jim Knight — volunteering to perform the duty. The order to advance was then given, and we moved up the slope of the hill until reaching the fence around the orchard, where we halted to give time for the left centre of the brigade to pass the obstruction of the burning house. (It was at this fence Ripley was hit in the throat). The house being passed, the Third North Carolina Infantry mounted over the fence and through the orchard, when the order was- given to change direc- tion to the left, to meet the pressure upon General Jackson, near what is known as the Dunkard Church, on the Sharpsburg- Hagerstown pike. This change of front was admirable, though executed under a heavy fire of infantry and artillery. Owing to this change our line of battle was five hundred yards further to the left than that of the early morning, when first ordered to ad- vance, which brought us in close connection with the troops of the right, and in the deadly embrace of the enemy. I use the word embrace in its fullest meaning. Here Colonel DeRosset fell, severely wounded, and permanently disabled, Captain Thruston taking command at once. It was now about 7 : 30 A. m. Jackson's troops were in the woods around and west of the Dunkard Church and north of the Sharpsburg-Hagerstown pike. As we came up he advanced and drove the enemy back across a corn field and into a piece of woods east and north of the church; here the enemy, being re- inforced by Mansfield's Corps of three divisions, returned to the 186 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. assault, and the fight became desperate for an hour. The two weak divisions of Jackson aud one brigade of D. H. Hill fought and held in check the six divisions of Hooker and Mansfield. So tenaciously did these brave troops cling to the earth, that when re-inforced by Hood and two brigades of D. H. Hill, they were still north of the pike and contending for every inch of ground between it and the corn field in front. At the moment when their ammunition was absolutely exhausted, and all had been used from the boxes and pockets of their wounded and dead comrades, the re-inforcements of Hill and Hood, above referred to, came up and stayed the tide for a short time. Now Sumner, with his three divisions, put in an appearance, when our thin lines were slowly pressed back, by weight of numbers, into the woods and beyond the church to the edge of a field to the south, through which the? divisions of Walker and McLaws were hurrying to our assistance. When the Third North Carolina laid down on the edge of the field to allow their friends to pass over them to the front, there was not one single cartridge in the command, and every gun was empty. It was now about 10:30 o'clock A. M., so that the men of this gallant regiment had been fighting vast odds for three hours, never quitting the field until absolutely pushed off, and not then until every cartridge of the living and the dead had been exhausted. One curious incident of this morning's battle was when Mans- field's Corps came into action a Federal division marched up, and halting in column of battalions in the west woods, part of the time within one hundred yards of the right of the Third North Carolina, made no effort to advance, although for five hundred yards to our right there was nothing to prevent its doing so. Nor did this division make any show of resistance until attacked b^ Colquitt's and Garland's Brigades (the latter under Colonel D. K. MacRae), when we were re-inforced by General Hill. The only grounds upon which we can account for this are that this division was covering the movements of Richardson and French, who were preparing to assault our centre, now desperately weakened, at a point now known as the Thied Regiment. 187 "Bloody Lane." This conjecture is based on the fact that these two divisions did make an attaclc at that point a short time after Hill had sent his two brigades from that position to re-inforce the left, and just as Walker came to the relief of Hill. It is a fact, that for five hundred yards on our right, that is, from the right of the Third North Carolina to the left of Hill, there was a gap in our lines, directly in front of which, in the early part of the engagement, a Federal division halted and remained halted until it was filled by a part of Walker's Division. The gap existed, and the enemy was expected every minute to march through. In the June "Century" Longstreet (page 313) speaks of Col- onel Cooke's holding a fence without ammunition, while his staff (Longstreet's) fought two guns of the Washington Artillery. He does not say that while working the guns the Third North Carolina, having refilled its cartridge-boxes, and going to the front a second time, volunteered to relieve Colonel Cooke's Twenty-seventh North Carolina, and while doing so two more full batteries also came to his relief, from whose duels with the enemy the Third North Carolina suffered severely. He says nothing about my message to him by Lieutenant Craig, who rather exaggeratingly delivered it thus : " Captain sends his compliments, and requests re-inforcements, as he has only one man to every panel of fence, and the enemy is strong and very active in his front," and his reply : " Tell Captain Thruston he must hold his position if he has only one man to every sixteen panels of fence. I have no assistance to send him." Nor does he say how faithfully this order was obeyed, by which the regi- ment remained on that hill and under that fence, with the rails of which the enemy's artillery played battle-dore and shuttle- cock from midday of the 17th until 10 o'clock A. M. of the 18th, with not so much as one drop of water. Yet these are facts, and stand a monument to the soldierly endurance of the Third North Carolina on the memorable field of Sharpsburg. It was while riding with General D. H. Hill on the morn- ing of the 18th, to obtain a regiment to relieve the Third North 188 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Carolina from that position at the fence, that he said: "Your regiment fought nobly yesterday." The words are well remem- bered, as we all know that a compliment from General Hill was of the rarest sort. The tenacity with which the Third Regiment held its ground in front of the Dunkard Church, entirely unsupported on its right, and with a very thin line on its left, with three separate lines of the enemy pelting it mercilessly in front and a reserve column standing like a hound in the leash on its immediate right, wait- ing its chance to pounce upon it as soon as any wavering was seen; its steadiness when ammunition began to run short, and the cartridge-boxes and pockets of the wounded and dead were emptied to meet its necessities; the sullen backward step, as inch by inch it was pressed from its line, all pronounce it, with voices loud, a fearless, enduring, self-reliant body of as glorious men as were ever led to battle. Every man seemed to know and feel the responsibility of his position ; seemed to know that there was no help to send him, and that he must do or die until relief had time to reach him from the rear, or Lee's army was doomed. And how thoroughly was that duty performed. Twice, be- fore any relief or re-inforeements came, did the regiment, when reduced to a handful, but that handful dauntless, stand and receive the volleys of the Federals at twenty paces, and then, with a yell, dash and drive back the foe. As Colquitt's Brigade dashed in splendidly on our right, the joyful yell : " Come on, boys; we've no ammunition, but we will go with you!" was heard over the din of battle. But human endurance has a limit. At this moment the third re-inforcement, in the shape of Sum- ner's Corps, was marched to the Federal assistance, and our brave boys were forced stubbornly and sullenly from the field. Their duty was nobly done; their -sacrifice had enabled Walker and McLaws to come up, and the day was saved. Thus was fought, and successfully, the battle of thg Third North Carolina Infantry at Sharpsburg; and if it had been re- tired from service and had not fired another gun, the endurance fearlessness, tenacity and valor of that day would have been a Third Eegiment. 189 crown of glory suitable to adorn the brow of the bravest of the brave. In truth, this one North Carolina regiment was in the vortex of the fire, the pivot upon which success or annihilation turned, and thank God, it stood the test and saved the day. Of the twenty-seven officers who went into action on that memorable morning all save three were disabled and seven killed. Captain McNair, of Company H, was badly wounded in the leg early in the day, but refused to leave, although urged to do so by the Colonel, and soon after gave up his life-blood on his country's altar. The official report of the division commander gives the loss in the Third North Carolina, but it is less than was reported at the close of the day by Lieutenant J. S. F. Van Bokkelen, acting Adjutant, who stated that of the five hundred and twenty car- ried into action only one hundred and ninety could be accounted for. Ripley's Brigade, after bearing the brunt of the battle, was ordered to retreat, the enemy not pursuing. The manner of this retreat was slow and in order, and under General Hill's personal supervision. Observing an abandoned caisson, he (Hill) ordered the soldiers to remove it from the field, remarking : " We will not leave the enemy so much as a wheel." We continued the retreat to the Dunkard Church, on the Hagerstown road, where, after being supplied with ammunition, our lines were reformed, the enemy making no further demonstration on that day. The following day the troops rested on the field, in plain view of the enemy's lines, and during the night crossed the swollen Potomac at Shepherdstown, marched to Bunker Hill, where they biv- ouacked for several weeks, being employed in watching the enemy and tearing up the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at night, near Martinsburg, Charlestown and Harper's Ferry. After resting several weeks in the lower valley the army moved by way of New Market Gap, passing Orange Court House in the direction of Fredericksburg. While in bivouac for the night near Gordonsville, General Hill issued orders re- quiring company commanders to see that the bare-footed men 190 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. made moccasins for themselves of the hides just taken from the beeves, and the brigade continued its march to Port Royal, on the Rappahannock, whpre it remained for several days. On the morning of the 12th of December the troops moved back in the direction of Fredericksburg, marching the greater part of the night, and reached Hamilton's Crossing on the morning of the 13th. This regiment was in the second line until the evening of the first day, when it took position in the first line. The enemy being driven back, we lay on the field, anticipating an- other furious battle, and " bitterly thought of the morrow," but no blood was shed this day. The enemy sent a flag of truce on the 14th, asking permission of General Jackson to remove his dead and wounded. The enemy retreated, and thus ended the first battle of Fredericksburg. After this the regiment built and occupied winter quarters on the Rappahannock, near Skinker's Neck. Here we spent the winter of 1862-'63 on picket duty along the river. While sta- tioned at this point this regiment, which had been in Major- General D. H. Hill's Division, was now changed to Jackson's old division, commanded by Major-General Trimble, and our gal- lant Georgia comrades, the Fourth and Forty-fourth Regiments, were exchanged for the Tenth, Twenty-third and Thirty-seventh Virginia Regiments. These regiments, with the First and Third North Carolina, formed a new brigade, and Brigadier-General R. E. Colston was assigned to command it. Lest the continuity in the promotion of the field officers should not be apparent to all, and especially such as are unacquainted with the military gradation below the rank of a general officer, we formulate it with the following result : After the death of Colonel Meares at Malvern Hill, Lieutenant-Colonel DeRosset was promoted to Colonel, Major Savage became Lieutenant- Colonel, and Captain S. D. Thruston, Major. You will observe in Colonel Thruston's account of :the battle of Sharpsburg (not report, as it appears, for it was written some years after the war) that he refers to himself as Captain; his commission as Major had not then reached him, owing to the rapid and uncer- Third Eegiment. 191 tain direction of the movements of the army, and consequently the greater uncertainty of the mails. It not infrequently hap- pened that commissions were dated months prior to their being received by officers in the Army of Northern Virginia for whom they were intended. Subsequent to the battle of Sharpsburg Colonel Savage resigned on account of ill health, Major Thi'us- ton then became Lieutenant-Colonel, and Captain William M. Parsley was promoted to Major. Subsequently Colonel DeRosset resigned his commission, having been disabled by a wound re- ceived at Sharpsburg. By regular gradation then Lieutenant- Colonel Thruston became Colonel, Major Parsley became Lieu- tenant-Colonel, and Captain W. T,. Ennett was promoted to Major. Such was the personnel of the field officers prior to the battle of Chancellorsville, in May, 1863, and so it remained until the close of the war. The regiment was ever after this- time commanded either by Colonel Thruston or Lieutenant- Colonel Parsley, as further narration will show, save for three days after the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Parsley, which oc- curred April 6, 1865, and until the surrender, April 9, 1866, when Major Ennett was in command. On the 29th of April, 1863, this regiment, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel S. D. Thruston, left its camp at Skinker's Neck and marched to Hamilton's Crossing, thence in the direc- tion of Chancellorsville. On the 2d of May, Saturday morning, was commenced that grand strategic movement which has since been the wonder and admiration of the world. Rapidly march- ing around the enemy's lines to his right and rear, crossing the plank-road and arriving on the old turnpike about 4 o'clock p. M., two and a half miles west of Chancellorsville, having marched in all more than fifteen miles in a few hours, and about five miles in a direct line from the starting point in the morning, Jackson's Corps had been detached from the main body of the army to make this attack. Regimental commanders were ordered to march in rear of their regiments, with a guard of strong men with fixed bayonets, to prevent straggling. Immediately on arriving at the stone 192 North Carolina Troops, 1861-66. road the troops were formed in three lines of battle, Colston's Brigade being in the second line. The order to advance was obeyed with promptness. Rushing on toward the enemy's camp, the first scene that can be recalled is the abundant supply of beef and slaughtered rations cooking. The Federal General Schiramelfennig's Brigade suffered heavily as prisoners. The whole affair was a wild scene of triumph on our part. Thus we continued the pursuit until night, when the enemy made a stand within a mile of the Chancellor house. Here great confusion ensued. The two front lines having become mingled, were halted and reformed. Shortly after it was charged by a com- pany of Federal cavalry, which proved to be a part of the Eighth Pennsylvania. The greater portion of them were unhorsed and captured. This was a critical period in the battle, and General Jackson seemed unusually anxious. The iighting was kept up until night, when this regiment was relieved and put in the second line, and during the first part, and even up to midnight, they were exposed to a terrific cannonading. Our men were completely exhausted from the forced march and the three or four hours of brisk fighting. Our position had to be changed from the time that we were placed in the second line until about midnight, and most of the time without avail, until the enemy's fire ceased, before our men could get any rest. They would locate our troops in the second line and so time the fuses that their shells would explode just over our heads. On Sunday, the 3d instant, the regiment was formed on the right of the road, and, advancing, captured the first line of the enemy's works — a barricade of huge logs with abatis in front. The portion of these works that crossed a ravine and swamp, and which was favorable to the occupancy of the enemy, was assaulted three times by the Confederates before it was finally held. During one of these assaults Colonel Thruston was wounded, and the command devolved upon Lieutenant-Colonel Parsley, who remained in command during the campaign of 1863, known as the Pennsylvania campaign. This regiment participated in the last two of these charges. It was then that Third Eegiment. 193 General J. E. B. Stuart, who was in command (Generals Jack- son and Hill having been wounded on the evening before), or- dered the whole line forward. The enemy's earth-works in front were carried by storm, and many pieces of artillery, which had occupied them, were captured. We were now in full view of the Chancellor house, and the captured guns were turned on the fleeing enemy. Soon the Chancellor house was in flames, and a glorious victory perched upon our banners. The Confederate line was again moved forward, and executed a wheel to the left, bringing this brigade and regiment immedi- ately to the Chancellor house, hence this brigade, which had been commanded since early in the day by Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, of the First North Carolina Infantry, the other ofiicers of the brigade ranking him having been wounded,^was the first of the Confederate troops to reach the Chancellor house. Dur- ing one of these assaults alluded to above, this brigade'i^became detached from the division, and when it arrived at the Chancel- lor house was between two of Major-General Rodes' brigades. On the 6th the brigade marched to U. S. Ford. While here the enemy was permitted by General Lee to lay a pontoon bridge and send over .about one thousand ambulances to the battlefield of Chancellorsville for his wounded. The ofiicers of this regi- ment and brigade acted on the part of the Confederates to carry out these negotiations, General Sharp, Deputy Provost Marshal of the Army of the Potomac, acting on the part of the enemy. A whole week was consumed in effecting this object, after which the brigade was removed and operations resumed. The troops now returned to the vicinity of Fredericksburg. Early in June, 1863, soon after the Chancellorsville battle, Major-General Edward Johnson was assigned to command the Stonewall Division and General George H. Stewart, Colston's Brigade. The division was now composed of Paxton's, or the First Brigade, known as the Stonewall Brigade; Jones', or the Second Brigade; and Colston's, now George H. Stewart's, the Third Brigade, Lieutenant-Colonel Parsley being in command of the Third Eegiment. 13 194 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. The army now marched in the direction of Winchester, cross- ing the Blue Ridge at Chester Gap and participating in the bat- tle of Winchester on the 13th and 14th June, 1863. This bri- gade marched all night, and by indirect route arrived at day- light on the 15th five miles below Winchester. This movement was intended to intercept and capture the fleeing troops of Gen- eral Milroy, who had been driven from Winchester on the pre- vious evening. After a sharp contest at Jordan Springs more than twenty-five hundred of the enemy threw down their guns. This engagement, though of short duration, was decidedly of an active character on both sides, and this regiment, as was its wont, was in the thickest of the fray. In this battle George Rouse, of Company D, was killed, and Lieutenant Craig and others wounded. Our position being in a railroad cut, we were in a great measure protected from the enemy's bullets. While Stewart's Brigade /om^i'/i^ the battle, a guard from the Stonewall Brigade was sent to Richmond with the prisoners, and were highly commended for gallantry, which praise belonged to this brigade. On the 18th June, 1863, the regiment crossed the Potomac at Shepherdstown and encamped near the Dunkard Church, in a piece of woods embraced in the battlefield of Sharpsburg. While here and in the quietude of twilight, when all nature seemed to be in repose, and so emblematic of those weary souls which slept peacefully under the sod of this spot, made so mem- orable by the heroism displayed by them scarcely a twelvemonth ago, the First and Third Regiments assembled, and with arms reversed and to the roll of the muflied drum marched to the bat- tlefield, where the Rev. George Patterson, Chaplain of the Third, read the burial services. A detail of men under the command of Lieutenant James I. Metts (afterwards Captain) had previ- ously during the day fired a military salute over the spot where their bodies were buried. Upon this solemn occasion many tears stole down the bronzed cheeks of the old veterans, and all heads were bowed in grief. From this camp the regiment, with the brigade, marched via Third Eegiment. 195 HagerstowD to Chambersburg, Greencastle and McConnelsburg, to the vicinity of Carlisle, from which point we counter-marched, and after a very long and tiresome march, on the 1st of July, 1863, arrived at Gettysburg about 7:30 o'clock, and filed to the left, nearly encircling the town. Here we lay in line of bat- tle until the evening of the 2d, when about 6 o'clock we were ordered forward. We were on the right of the brigade and were ordered to connect our right with the left of Nichols' (La.) Bri- gade, and at the same time by yvheel to the right to properly prolong their lines. We did so, thereby in some degree discon- necting our regiment from the rest of the brigade. We contin- ued to the front, driving the enemy's skirmishers before us with- out trouble, and with very little loss, until we met his line of battle at his first line of breastworks. He was, however, driven from those, and soon thereafter we received a front and oblique fire from behind his second line of breastworks, to which he had fallen back. He was soon driven from the por- tion from which we received the oblique fire, and then the fire from the front seemed even more terrific. A steady firing was kept up until 10 o'clock p. M., when, as by common consent, it ceased, re-opening at 4:30 o'clock next morning. We here found our ammunition nearly exhausted, some men having not more than two rounds. We partially refilled our cartridge-boxes from those of the dead and wounded, of whom there was a great number, and held this position that night and the next morning, exposed to a terrific fire until about 10:30 o'clock p. m., when we were ordered to move by the left flank along the line of the captured breastworks, and to cross them and form line with the rest of the brigade to charge the enemy's works on what was sup- posed to be his right flank. The few men then remaining in the regiment were formed on the right of the brigade and very' soon thereafter were ordered forward, the line advancing beauti- fully under the heaviest fire, until we found our regiment alone moving to the front, unsupported, when the officers and men were ordered to withdraw, which was done slowly and without confusion, the regiment being greatly reduced (one company — 196 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-'65. Captain John Cowan's — and part of another being detached to fill up a space between the regiment and the Louisiana brigade). Too much praise cannot be given to the officers and men of our command for their coolness and bravery, for the promptness with which they obeyed all orders given them, and their untiring zeal generally. The enemy was driven back to the Baltimore turnpike in this charge by Stewart's Brigade, which came so near inflicting a critical blow on the enemy's extreme right flank. Had this gallant movement been supported the charge of Long- street would not have been necesssary. That last charge on the third day was a cruel thing for the Third. They had borne their full share of the engagement, not even enjoying the protection of the works they had captured from the enemy, by reason of their position, other regiments of the brigade happening by the fortunes of the battle to have them (breastworks) in their front. There they stood, heroes, holding their ground unprotected, receiving a most deadly fire, giving in turn, like true soldiers, what they could from their decimated ranks, most of their comrades being already down, dead or wounded, until ordered to the right to join the balance of the bri- gade to participate in the charge. The battle of Gettysburg is generally conceded to have been the hardest fought battle of the war on either side; at least of those in which General Lee's army was engaged. This regiment certainly suffered more in killed and wounded than in any of the many battles in which it was engaged. What fearful slaugh- ter it endured is shown beyond peradventure by the figures. Entering the battle with three hundred guns, it was greatly reduced by the killing and wounding of two hundred and twenty- three men. When the regiment was mustered after the battle, seventy-seven muskets were all that could be gotten in the ranks, and it lost no prisoners and had no stragglers. The loss was within a fraction of seventy-five per cent. Colonel Parsley, Captain E. H. Armstrong and Lieutenant Lyon were the only officers, perhaps, not killed or wounded. Next day we turned our faces toward Virginia, and after sev- Third Regiment. 197 eral skirmishes and hard marches, arrived at Williamsport, Md., and forded the swollen Potomac on the 15th, the men having to put their cartridge-boxes on their bayonets to keep them above the water. After various marches via Front Royal and Page Valley, and with some skirmishing, we reached Orange Court House early in August and participated in the Bristow cam- paign in October, 1863, with an occasional skirmish with the enemy. Prior to going into winter quarters, while in bivouac, the order was given about noon of November 27th for the march instanter, probably to go in force on a reconnoitering expedition, as the sequel would seem to show. However, on the first and only day of the march, about 3 o'clock p. m. on November 27, 1863, the battle of Payne's Farm was fought by Johnson's Di- vision, of which this regiment formed a part. This was de- cidedly one of the most unique battles, in all the details con- nected with it, in the annals of warfare, being conducted, seem- ingly, regardless of tactical evolutions. A body of troops march- ing slowly along a country road, with no idea that their progress would be impeded or their right to proceed peaceably questioned, indulging in the characteristic chat which was usual among troops of the "same persuasion," passing two or three cavalry- men dressed in gray, who had reined their horse to the side of the road and were quietly at a stand-still, ostensibly waiting for the column to pass, and when questioned by the men, as they would reach them, as to the whereabouts of the enemy, or in the usual vernacular, " have you seen any Yankees around this way ? " with the utmost assurance replying, " No, there are no Yankees within miles of this place." Imagine that under such condi- tions, and within a few minutes after the rear of the column had passed the point where the cavalrymen, who doubtless were' spies, were stationed, this small body of troops being suddenly fired upon; what consternation, demoralization, is likely to ensue among any troops, raw or veterans, and yet these heroes of many a hard-fought battle, who had been in so many perilous positions, stood the test of this hazardous situation. Skirmishers are at 198 NoKTH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. once thrown out, and meet with a hot fire. They are confronted either by a line of skirmishers vastly outnumbering them, or by a close line of troops ; they are checked and have to be re-inforced to enable them to hold their ground. The enemy, which proved to be French's Corps of infantry, has evidently flanked us, for our line of battle is immediately formed perpendicular to our line of march, and facing the direction from which we were marching, and then begins as warm a contest as this regiment was ever engaged in for the same length of time. It seemed as if the enemy was throwing minnie-balls upon us by the bucket- full, when the battle got fairly under way. The First and Third North Carolina Regiments charged across a field and routed the men who were there in a skirt of woods and in their front. Our casualties were many for a fight of such short duration. General Johnson's horse was killed under him; he immediately mounted the horse of a courier and continued the direction of the battle. We drove the enemy back, completing the job by nightfall, and then pursued our way to Mine Run. So adroitly did General Johnson handle his troops at Payne's Farm, and so successfully did he extricate them from the chaotic situation de- scribed, being further successful in repelling the enemy who were, numerically, by long odds superior to his command, that he was complimented in a special congratulatory order by General Lee. Reaching Mine Run, we remained in line of battle several days. Pickets in force were of course kept out day and night. The weather was as cold as we ever experienced; raining, too, which added to the disagreeableness of the situation. The men on the picket-line were almost benumbed with cold, for fires were prohibited by special order, as if to emphasize the precarious situation at this particular juncture. Officers in command of the picket-lines did endeavor, and successfully, to keep up the spirits of the men; not that the men were wanting in patriotic fervor, or that their characteristic fortitude had abated one jot or tittle, but human endurance hath limits, and poorly fed, and worse clad, their sufi^ering was intense. When the men were stationed on the picket-line after dark, they remained sta- Third Regiment. 199 tionary until relieved the next night, and were expected to be the eyes and ears of that particular post or point; for the inter- val between the pickets was short, and each man was required to exercise the extremest surveillance over that part assigned to him individually. There was a consolatory reflection even at that time, founded upon the hypothesis that "misery loves com- pany," to-wit, the enemy were in the same plight we were. There we lay, watching each other for several days, and beyond an occasional artillery duel, for a short time, and an occasional fire of musketry from one side or the other at some soldier who was sent out from one of the flanks to ascertain what he could, nothing occurred. The temperature was well down to zero and the biting cold was such as to chill the warmest resolu- tion, and when both sides marched (or stole) away, each was glad. This ended the campaign of 1863, Wnd the regiment built and occupied winter quarters near the Rapidan River and did picket duty along that river at Mitchell's Ford during the winter 1863-'64. The writers again find themselves under special obligations to Colonel S. D. Thruston, who has so vividly de- scribed events from the 4th to the 10th, when he was wounded; and as he says in an elaborate account covering those seven days : " The only object is simply to put upon record, for history, those men and comrades who at the time had no one to do that duty for them." On the morning of May 4, 1864, the brigade, commanded by General George H. Stewart, being on pfcket along the Rapi- dan, discovered the columns of the Federal army in the distance, moving to the right, and apparently to the river below. The order soon came to be ready to move, and at midday the brigade took up the line of march in the direction of Locust Grove, a point on the old stone pike running from Orange Court House to Fredericksburg. This point was reached and passed in the evening of the same day, and the brigade went into bivouac about two and one half miles beyond. The night was passed in quiet. The next morning (May 5th) about 10 :30 o'clock, a few 200 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. scattering shots being heard in the front, the troops were called to arms and put in motion towards the firing. We soon discov- ered that the Sixth Corps of the Federal army was posted in line of battle, while the remainder of the Array of the Potomac was passing on the right, along the road from Germania Ford, immediately in the rear of this line to cover the movement. Ewell's Corps, our brigade forming a part, and the Sixth Fed- eral Corps were then both in what was known and always called the Wilderness, the name being derived from the character of the land, which is described as "covered with a matted growth of scrub oak, stunted pine, sweet-gum brush and dogwood," and the two corps of which we write were only separated by a few hundred yards. Stewart's Brigade was in column on the. pike a very few minutes after the firing began at 10:30 oclock A. M. Line of battle was immediately formed in the following order: The Third North Carolina to the right, the First North Caro- lina across, and the Virginia regiments to the left of the pike. It was now 10:30 o'clock a. m. (The line advanced and struck a stout line of Federal infantry in a thicket of pines skirting a field. This line of Federals was assaulted, and after a hard fight the Third North Carolina Regiment and the First North Caro- lina Regiment captured two pieces of artillery and more than one hundred prisoners. Here Colonel Jenkins, of the One Hundred and Forty-sixth New York Regiment, was killed. Lieutenant Shelton, commanding the battery (Battery D, New York Light Artillery), the captain, Winslow, having been wounded, at last surrendered two guns, howitzers, the other two escaping. We attempted to bring oiF the two guus captured, and did get them some distance, but the enemy, being re-inforced, made an ad- vance, and we were in turn driven back to our first position, leaving the guns between the lines. Preceding and up to the capture of the howitzers referred to the fighting was des- perate, muskets and their butt-ends and bayonets being used. At one time there was such an intermingling of troops that con- fusion decidedly predominated; every man was going it on his own hook, for it was a hand-to-hand contest. We recall that Thied Eegiment. 201 in a gully which formed a part of the topography of this battle- field, and which ran for more than a brigade front, Confederates and Federals were so nearly on even terms, or at equal advan- tage, that they were simultaneously demanding each other to surrender. However we succeeded in establishing the superior- ity of our claim, and came off victors. It was now about 2 o'clock p. M. No more fighting was .done on this front, save a few picket shots and a feeble attempt of the enemy late in the afternoon to recapture the two guns, which still remained be- tween the lines and at a point to which we had pulled them in the morning. This was a signal failure, and the repulse was largely assisted by the men of the First and Third North Carolina. After dark the two howitzers were brought in by details from the two North Carolina regiments. We would like just here, and in connection with the joint cap- ture of a section of that battery, to emphasize the afiinity which obtained between the First and Third North Carolina Infantry. Beginning their military career together, fate had not separated them for now three years; military duty of whatever kind that was assigned to one befell the other also; the glory of the one was the boast of the other, the misfortune of one the sorrow of the other; they achieved renown in common, they suffered de- feat together. In the early morning of the 6th, Stewart's Brigade was closed in to the left, until its right rested on the pike, with Jones' (Virginia) Brigade on its right, which connected with the left of Battle's (Alabama) Brigade. Several vigorous attempts were made during the day by the enemy by attack upon that quarter, to force the line to the left, but they were as vigorously repulsed, and then we would return to our position of the morning. The morning of the 7th revealed the enemy gone, and the day was spent by the men in congratulations. Late in the even- ing of this day the brigade began closing or extending — cannot call it marching — to the right, which continued during the en- tire night, the men having no time for rest or sleep. The morn- ing of the 8th dawned bright and hot. The line of march was 202 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. taken up and pushed with vigor, notwithstanding the heat, dust, parching thirst and smoke and fire of burning woods. The nature of the march was sufficient to convince those heroes that their presence was required to meet the foe on some other field, and gallantly did they toil through the day. As the sun was hiding behind the western wood the brigade was thrown in line to the support of General Rodes' Division, in front of the Spottsylvania court-house, but was not engaged. After dark it marched and counter-marched in search of a position, and at 10 P. M. was formed in line and ordered to throw up works in that salient which proved so disastrous on the 12th following. By daylight of the 9th, in spite of the fatigue and loss of sleep on the night of the 7th and the terrible march of the 8th, the en- tire brigade, with no tool except the bayonet and tin plate, was intrenched behind a good and defensible rifle-pit. This day was spent in strengthening the lines, scouting to the front, and that sleep, so much needed. The works or fortifications referred to assumed the shape of, and were always designated as, the "horse- shoe." The morning of the 10th found the brigade closed to the right, connecting with the left of Hill's Corps, with Jones' Bri- gade on our left, occupying the works in the salient proper. Late in the afternoon Doles' Brigade, whose position was on the left of Jones' Brigade, was attacked about sunset, and was pressed back upon Stewart's rear, followed closely by the exul- tant enemy. Orders to "Fall in," "Take arms," "Face by the rear rank," and "Forward" were repeated in quick succession. The brigade responded with alacrity, and soon was moving steadily, though moving in line of battle by the rear rank, through a small strip of woods into a field (in which stood a dwelling), and there meeting the enemy, immediately attacked. The work here was sharp and quick, resulting in the repulse of the Federals across and out of Doles' works and their occupation by Stewart. It was, however, soon discovered that Stewart did not cover Doles' entire front to the left, and fifty or more of the enemy were having a happy time enfilading the lines. Lieu- tenant Robert Lyon, with Company H, Third North Carolina — Third Eegimejit. 203 the then left company — was formed across and perpendicularly to the line, and, moving promptly down the left, drove them off. Before this could be accomplished the Third North Carolina, on the left, had suffered severely. Many men were wounded, in- cluding Colonel S. D. Thruston, seriously, and Lieutenant Cicero H. Craige and Sergeant-major Robert C. McRee were killed. Lieutenant-Colonel Parsley, of course, after Colonel Thruston was wounded, was in command of the regiment. The brigade was then moved back to its original position and re- mained inactive throughout the 11th. Just after night-fall of the 11th the artillery, for some reason or other which was never apparent to those not high in authority, if to them, was removed from their position on this part of the line, and for aught we know, from all parts, the direct effect of such withdrawal, com- mencing to be felt on the 12th, was never fully recovered from. We had great generals, but they were human, and "to err is human." At the peep of dawn on May 12, 1864, dark and rainy, an attack was made by the Federals en masse on Jones' Brigade, occupying the salient angle of this doomed "horse- shoe," the shock of which was felt throughout the entire Con- federacy. No pen can adequately portray what occurred then and there. The weather, thus early, was a fitting prelude to a day that eventuated in so great sorrow and anguish. The ele- ments seemed to portend impending fate — ^hopes blasted, aspira- tions crushed. The First North Carolina was on the right of Jones' Brigade, and their commander, the brave Colonel Hamil- ton A. Brown, says: "For a short time the fighting was des- perate. The terrific onslaught of this vast multitude was irre- sistible, there being a rectangular mass of twenty thousand Fed- eral troops, not in line of battle, but in column of regiments doubled on the centre, supported by a division on each flank — in all more than thirty thousand concentrated against this one point. The portion of the works assaulted by this formidable column was little more than four hundred yards wide. The Confederate troops occupying this angle were Jones' Brigade 204 NoETH Carolina Teoops, 1861-'65. and the First North Carolina Eegiment, numbering about two thousand." The clash of arms and the murderous fire around this bloody angle are indescribable. The enemy sweeping to the right and rear of the fortifications and striking the Third North Carolina Regiment, which ad- joined the First North Carolina, and capturing that entire regi- ment, with very few escapes, pursued their way into the lines of A. P. Hill's Corps, making many captures there. Lieutenant- Colonel Parsley, commanding the Third North Carolina Infan- try on that morning, and who was captured in his works, says : "Stewart faced the rear rank and continued to fight inside the lines until a second column attacked him in front, when, find- ing himself betweeen two fires at short range, he was compelled to surrender." At what particular point the enemy was checked on our right we do not know, as we were captured with Lieu- tenant-Colonel Parsley. The prisoners of war hauled in by the Federals on that morning we have heard estimated at three thousand, including Major-General Edward Johnson, Brigadier- General Stewart and other brigadiers, and very many field and line officers. Captain E. H. Armstrong was killed. Some asper- sion has been cast, and that, too, by one high in command, upon Jones' Brigade, for not holding their ground when attacked that morning (12th). Such a judgment, in our opinion, is not only at fault, but has a tinge of garrulous fatuity, or is predicated upon malevolence. In the name of all that is reasonable, fair, or an equitable decision as to another, how could about two thousand men, probably less, withstand the combined attack of thirty thousand men, concentrated upon a point of four hundred yards, and resist them successsfully, and that, too, without an important arm of the service (the artillery) aiding them, for, as we have said, it had been removed from their front ? Remem- ber this was in an open space. The breastworks referred to were trenches, in depth not more than four and one- half or five feet. We have said this much in sheer justice to Jones' Brigade, for we do not believe that any similar number of troops could be Thied Regiment. 205 found anywhere who could have done more than was done by them. We count any brigade fortunate which was not exposed to such a test. At this time such portions of the First and Third Regiments as were not captured on May 12th were consolidated and placed in General W. R. Cox's Brigade. On the night of May 21st the army was withdrawn from its position to meet the enemy, who had retired toward the North Anna. On the morning of the 23d we confronted the enemy near Hanover Junction, where the line of battle was formed and earth-works thrown up. May 24th the enemy attacked the sharp- shooters and drove them from their position, but after a sharp and hand-to-hand fight for several minutes they were driven to the opposite side of the breastworks and the assault was con- tinued several hours. The enemy several times attempted to recapture the works, but were as often repulsed. A heavy rain having set in and darkness approaching, the enemy retired. Shortly after dark the army retired towards Richmond to meet the enemy, who were moving in the same direction. Nothing save frequent skirmishing occurred until the afternoon of May 30th, on which the battle of Bethesda Church occurred. Further skirmishing took place May 31st, June 1st, and the battle of Gaines' Mill, June 2d, and Cold Harbor, June 3d, in all of which the First and Third (consolidated) participated. After the battle of Cold Harbor, June 3d, the Second Corps, composed of Ramseur's, Rodes' and Gordon's Divisions, under the command of General Early, was directed to proceed to the Valley of Vir- ginia for the purpose of destroying or capturing Hunter, who was in camp near Lynchburg. General Breckinridge and Major- General Robert Ransom, commanding the cavalry, were awaiting our arrival. Hunter, upon learning of the arrival of the Confeder- ates on the 18th, under the cover of night, made a hasty retreat. Early on the morning of the 19th we commenced pursuit, and just before night overtook the enemy's rear at Liberty, where a skirmish ensued, and again at Buford's Gap, on the afternoon of the 20th. The pursuit was continued on the 21st through 206 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Salem, Va., where another skirmish took place. After resting a day, we resumed the march in the direction of the Potomac River, reaching Staunton on the morning of the 27th, then marched in the direction of Harper's Ferry, which was reached on the morning of July 4th. Here Bolivar Heights was captured about 10 o'clock a. m., and about 8 o'clock p. M. the enemy were driven from Harper's Ferry across the river to Maryland Heights. On the 6th the corps crossed the Potomac at Shep- herdstown, and engaged the enemy in the rear of Maryland Heights. The battle continued nearly all day. We moved through Crampton's Gap toward Frederick, and after many skirmishes reached Frederick Md., on the morning of the 9th, where General Wallace's Division of Federals was strongly posted on the eastern bank of the Monocacy River. After a stubborn fight the enemy was driven from the field, leaving in our hands six or seven hundred prisoners, besides killed and wounded. Our loss in killed and wounded was severe. The march was resumed on the 10th in the direction of Washington City. As the weather was hot and the roads dusty, it was very trying to our troops, who arrived in front of Fort Stevens on the evening of the 11th, within sight of the dome of the Federal Capitol. After reconnoitering and skirmishing a couple of days, and upon hearing of the arrival of two additional corps at Wash- ington from the Army of the Potomac, our troops were with- drawn on the night of the 12th, and we crossed the Potomac on the night of the 15th near Leesburg, followed by the enemy's cavalry. We then moved towards the Valley of Virginia, crossing the Blue Ridge at Snicker's Gap on the 17th of July, the Federals slowly following. On the afternoon of the 18th Rodes' Division attacked the enemy at Snicker's Ford, di-iving them in the Shenandoah River, where they lost heavily in killed and drowned. On the 19th the division moved towards Stras- burg, and on the afternoon of the 20th to the support of General Ramseur, but arrived after the engagement had ceased. The division then retired to Fisher's Hill, remaining until the enemy was attacked at Kernstown, on the 24th, and driven across the Third REaiMENT, 207 Potomac into Marylaud. Rodes' Division then marched and counter-marched between the Potomac and Fisher's Hill until September 22d, during which time it was engaged almost daily in skirmishing, and took part iu the battles of Winchester, August 17th; Charlestown, August 21st; Smithfield, August 29th; Bunker Hill, September 3d; second battle of Winchester, September 19th ; Fisher's Hill, September 22d. On the morning of September 19th this division, while moving in column up the Martinsburg road to the support of General Ramseur, who was engaged with Sheridan's army near Winchester, was unex- pectedly called to attention, faced to the left and moved forward to engage the enemy, who had advanced to within one hundred yards of the road. After a brief and vigorous assault the Fed- erals commenced falling back, and were driven through the woods and the open fields until Cooke's Brigade was brought to a temporary halt and Cox received orders to push forward his brigade. At this time General Rodes was shot in the head by a ball, and fell from his horse. The troops pushed on, unaware of this calamity, and struck a weak line of the enemy. At this point the Federals were severely punished, and fell back, leaving their killed and wounded. A large number of officers and men, who were secreted in a ditch, were captured. We pursued the enemy with a hot fire beyond the crest of a hill, on which Grimes had established his line. Here Evans' Brigade, upon meeting a heavy fire, fell back, which exposed this brigade to a concentrated, direct and left-oblique fire. At the request of General Cox, a battery was placed on a hill in our rear, and the brigade fell back and formed behind it, which opened with tell- ing effect upon the enemy's heavy lines. They laid down, and the victory appeared to be ours. While our loss in men and offi- cers had been severe, the troops had good spirits. Here Colonel S. D. Thruston -was severely wounded, the command devolving upon Lieutenant-Colonel Parsley. After remaining until about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we discovered that the Federals were in our rear, and fell back in good order to the Martinsburg pike and formed on the left of our troops. Here we were exposed, 208 NoETH Carolina Teoops, 1861-66. without any protection, to a heavy artillery fire, which was tell- ing upon our men. We were then faced about and commenced retiring deliberately to the hills, all the troops conforming to this movement. General Early, through a stafi' officer, directed General Cox to return, when we were faced about and moved to the front. Upon reaching the turnpike, we were ordered by General Early to fall back, which we slowly accomplished. Our troops now retreated toward Fisher's Hill. While retreating in column, this brigade was ordered to protect the artillery then passing. Facing about, we were deployed, and advanced be- tween the enemy's cavalry and our artillery, which was done with great spirit and promptness. In this manner we moved on, protecting the artillery until near dusk, when we found General Ramseur with his division thrown across the turnpike to prevent pursuit. About the time this brigade and the artillery crossed his line the enemy made a spirited charge to capture the guns, which was met with a well-directed fire from Ramseur's men, which stopped further pursuit. After our defeat at Winchester we fell back and formed line of battle behind Fisher's Hill. After the fall of General Rodes, General Ramseur was placed in charge of his division. On the 22d we had a skirmish with the enemy. About dusk the brigade was promptly formed across the road to cover the retreat. We advanced rapidly to a fence, where we met the enemy in a hand-to-hand encounter, repulsed him, and stopped pursuit for the night. Here Colonel Pendleton, of the artillery, fell, mortally wounded. After the defeat at Fisher's Hill we fell back up the Valley as far as Waynesboro, where re-inforcements were received. October 1st we returned down the Yalley, reaching Fisher's Hill on October 13th, and there formed behind breastworks. A flanking move- ment was directed by General Early, and we commenced mov- ing soon after dark. The night was consifmed by a very fatiguing and exhausting march, which was conducted with the greatest secrecy. We crossed Cedar Creek at early dawn, being joined- here by Payne's Cavalry, who at full speed advanced upon and captured Sheridan's headquarters. But for his ab- Third Eegiment. 209 sence they would have captured him. The first warning Crook's Corps had of our presence was the rebel yells and volleys of our musketry, which sent them hastily from their camp, leav- ing all behind. This victory was delightful to our troops, after so many repulses. So great was the demoralization of the enemy after this little brigade drove back a division ten times its num- ber, meeting with but slight resistance, that by 8 o'clock we had captured all of their artillery and from one thousand five hun- dred to two thousand prisoners. The Federals were in retreat. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon Sheridan, having joined and rallied his troops, the tide of battle was turned, and the Confed- erates were driven up the Valley to New Market. Here Major- Geueral Ramseur was killed endeavoring to rally his troops, where they remained until about the 22d of November, when Ramseur's Division routed General Sheridan, commanding a considerable body of cavalry, between New Market and Mount Jackson. This ended the Valley campaign of 1864, and Briga- dier-General Bryan Grimes was promoted to Major- General, and assigned to the command of this division. About a week before Christmas this regiment and other troops composing the Second Corps returned to Petersburg and went into winter quarters at Swift Creek, about three miles north of the city. About the middle of February, 1865, we moved to Southerland's Depot, on the right of the Army of Northern Virginia. Here the regiment remained until the middle of March, when it was ordered into the trenches in front of Petersburg, where it remained until the night of the 24th of March, when General Gordon's Corps, this brigade forming a part, was massed opposite Hare's Hill, where the distance between the lines was, one hundred yards. On the morning of the 25th the division corps of sharji-shooters, com- manded by Colonel H. A. Brown, surprised and captured the enemy's pickets and entered his main lines. This regiment, with the other troops of the division immediately following, oc- cupied the enemy's works for some distance on either side of Hare's Hill, and held them against great odds for about five hours, during which time the enemy poured a deadly fire into the 14 210 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Confederates from several batteries, and having massed large bodies of infantry, forced the withdrawal of the Confederates, with considerable loss in killed, wounded and prisoners. We then resumed our position in the trenches. About 11 o'clock on the night of April 1st the enemy opened a heavy cannonading all along the line, under cover of which they attacked in heavy forces at several points, making a break in the division on our right. On Sunday morning, the 2d, at daylight, they made a breach in the line held by the brigade of the left centre of the division, and occupied our works for some distance on either side of Fort Mahone. The division attacked the enemy at close quarters, driving him from traverse to traverse, sometimes in a hand-to-hand fight, until the works were retaken up to a point opposite Fort Mahone, which was finally captured. The Con- federates thus regained the entire works taken from the division in the early morning. The enemy, however, promptly moved forward and recaptured the Confederate line and Fort Mahone, leaving Grimes' Division still in possession of that portion of the line retaken from the enemy in the early part of the day, and which was held until the lines in front of Richmond and Peters- burg were opened, when we, with the army, commenced to retreat. Marching day and night, with only short intervals of rest, we reached Amelia Court House on April 4th, where the ex- hausted troops rested a few hours. Being closely pursued by the enemy, the march was resumed that night. General Bryan Grimes, then Major-General commanding the division, was assigned to the position of rearguard. General Cox still commanding our brigade and Lieutenant-Colonel Parsley the regiment. The enemy's cavalry, elated over their successes, frequently rode into the Confederate lines, making it necessary to form a line of battle across the road in column of brigade, while the others continued to march. This running fight continued until the afternoon of the 6th, when at Sailor's Creek, near Farmville, Va., a general engagement ensued, where the Confederates, over- whelmed by superior numbers, retreated along the bridge at Third Regiment. 211 Farmville. Here the gallant hero, Lieutenant-Colonel Parsley, gave up his life, being shot in the head with a minnie-ball. Who ever knew Willie Parsley, that did not love him? We write not the empty words of the mere panegyrist; we speak the words of a candid soberness and truth. He so impressed all with whom he came in contact that no one who ever met ever forgot him. He was the soul of honor. Without fear, he was without reproach. Knowing how to obey, he was the better fitted to command. There was not the semblance of dissimula- tion in any trait of his character. You always felt after an in- terview with him that he was guided and controlled by an hon- esty of purpose. He commanded in an especial degree the esteem and confidence of his superior officers. A report emanating from Colonel Parsley, they knew, told the exact status of the subject- matter upon which they were seeking information. They fre- quently came to his headquarters socially and enjoyed his hospi- tality. On duty he was the officer; duty done, he was the kind, genial gentleman and friend. Strictly conscientious in the dis- charge of his religious obligations, no asceticism marred the beauty and symmetry of a well-ordered life. The scales of jus- tice in his hands were well poised between his company officers and the rank and file in their commands. Every man in his regiment could appeal to him and be heard. Young in years, he was experienced in true wisdom, and would have been a most capable officer in any of the gradations of rank. Killed in the battle of Sailor's Creek, at the early age of twenty-four, no Con- federate soldier who yielded up his life was more sincerely mourned, and no one remembered with more grateful recol- lection. Beyond Farmville, on the morning of the 7th, the division charged the enemy and recaptured a battery of artillery which had been taken by him. We continued the march towards Lynchburg upon a parallel road to that the enemy had taken for the purpose of intercepting us. We reached Appomattox Court House on Saturday evening, the 8th, where the exhausted troops bivouacked until about the middle of night, when this division 212 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. was ordered from the position of rearguard to the front to open the road towards Lynchburg, now occupied by the enemy in large force. About sunrise on Sunday morning, April 9, 1865, this division (Grimes') engaged a large body of the enemy's cavalry, supported by infantry, and drove them more than a mile, capturing a battery and several prisoners. While engaged in this pursuit, they were ordered back to a valley. This brigade was commanded by the veteran soldier, General W. E.. Cox, who, as his men were retiring, ordered a halt, and the command was given: "Right about, face!" to meet a cavalry force which was coming down upon him. It was promptly obeyed, and once more and for the last time, these valiant, ragged, foot-sore and half-starved North Carolinians withstood in the strength of their invincible manhood the men whom they had met and driven back on many a bloody iield. In the clear and firm voice of the gallant Cox the command rang out : "Ready, Aim, Fire!" and the last volley fired by the Army of Northern Virginia was by these North Caroli/ia troops, this regimen! among the number. Defeated, but not dishonored ! On leaving the valley, we learned the sad intelligence that the Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered. Sad and gloomy indeed were the faces of those noble heroes, who could not realize that General Lee would ever surrender. The fragment of the First and Third Regiments, commanded by Major W. T. Ennett, since the loss of Colonel Parsley on the 6th, was bivouacked with the brigade (Cox's), Grimes' Division, Gordon's Corps, and prepared the muster-rolls for the final capit- ulation. Od the morning of April 12th they laid down their arms, dispersed on foot, many ragged and without shoes, and made their way to their desolated homes. And now let us recite the " roll of honor" : Colonel Gaston Meares, killed in the battle of Malvern Hill ; Captain Thomas E. Armstrong, killed in the battle of Chancellorsville; Captain John F. S. Van Bokkelen, wounded in the battle of Chancellors- ville, died within a month afterwards. It was with grief, and that, too, without alloy, that the death Third Regiment. 213 of Captain Van Bokkelen, which occurred in Richmond, Va., was announced to the regiment while on the march in the cam- paign of 1863. He was universally popular and almost idolized by his own men. But twenty-one years of age, and full of youth- ful ardor, intelligent, with an acute conception of his duties and an indomitable energy in pursuing the line of conduct which a discriminating judgment dictated, to him, possibly, more than to any other officer of the company which he commanded, was due the high morale to which that company attained. Captain David Williams, Captain E. H. Rodes, Captain E. G. Meares, Lieutenants Duncan McNair, Thomas Cowan and Wil- liam Quince, killed in the battle of Sharpsburg; Lieutenants Tobias Garrison, Henry A. Potter and Thomas Kelly, killed in the battle of Gettysburg; Captain E. H. Armstrong, Lieutenant Cicero H. Craige and Sergeant-major Robert C. MoRee, killed in the battle of Spottsylvania; Lieutenant-Colonel W. M. Pars- ley, killed in the battle of Sailor's Creek, near Farmville; and that host of non-commissioned officers and privates (would that their names were accessible to us, that we might locate each in- dividual as to company and record his merit) who yielded their lives under the banner of the Confederacy. Good soldiers and true men they were, discharging duty under any and all condi- tions. Their hearts' blood flecked the soil of Virginia, Mary- land and Pennsylvania, and the fields of battle in those three States attest their prowess. Nor yet would the history of the Third North Carolina In- fantry be complete without reciting the names of Dr. J. F. McRee, Surgeon, and Doctors Josh C. Walker, Kenneth Black and Thomas F. Wood, the well-beloved and faithful physicians, Captain Roger P. Atkinson, Captain R. S. Radcliffe, Captain Wil- liam A. Gumming, Major W. T. Ennett, Lieutenant Amos Sid- bury, Lieutenant Ward, Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Savage, Captain Richard F. Langdon, Lieutenants I. J. Pickett, S. P. Hand, George B. Baker, N. A. Graham, L. Moore, W. H. Barr and Robert H. Lyon, who have all died since the capitula- tion. Adjutant Theodore C. James has also crossed "the narrow 214 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. stream of death." Our pen falters when we attempt to pay tribute to his memory: companion of our youth, friend of our manhood. For him to espouse a cause was to make it a part of his very self. Intrepid, no more courageous soldier trod the soil of any battle- field upon which the Army of Northern Virginia encountered a foe. The impulses of his nature were magnanimous; no grovel- ing thoughts unbalanced the equity of his judgment. True to his friends and to principle, he remained as "constant as the northern star, of whose true, fixed and resting quality there is no fellow in the firmament." Leaving his right arm upon a battlefield of Virginia, and exempt for that cause from further military duty, he disdained any privilege which such disability brought to him, but continued in active service until the last shot had been fired and " arms stacked " forever. We have endeavored to compile a correct history of the regiment with which we served as Confederate soldiers. If errors of commission have crept in, or if there be any of omis- sions, it is with sincere regret on our part; nor should they have occurred, save that we were ignorant of them. The memories of the martyrs of the " lost cause" are too precious to be relegated to oblivion through any laches on the part of those who could prevent it, or whose duty it is to preserve them. A duty owed first to the dead — and to the living. John Cowan, James I. Metts. Wilmington, N. C., 9th April, 1900. ADDITIONAL SKETCH THIRD REGIMENT. By colonel W. L. DeROSSET. Gaston Meares, of Wilmington, N. C, was appointed by Gov- ernor Ellis to the command of the Third Regiment of State Troops, and Robert Harper Cowan and William Lord DeRosset were commissioned, respectively, Lieutenaot-Colouel and Major of the same regiment. Steps were at once taken to form the regiment, first from material already partially organized into companies and partly by regular enlistments under company officers likewise appointed by the Governor. This regiment, one of ten authorized by «the Constitutional Convention to be raised, enlisted for the war, and all officers were appointed by the Governor, with the understanding clearly had that all vacancies should be filled by promotion or appoint- ment by recommendation of the commanding officer. [The companies, with names of their respective captains, and counties from which raised, are given in the sketch of Captains Cowan and Metts, page 178, ante.] The several companies were ordered to assemble at the camp of instruction at Garysburg as faet as their ranks were filled, and in the latter part of May they began to report to the officer in charge of the camp. Colonel Meares and Lieutenant-Colonel Cowan reported at the camp about June 1st. Major DeRosset, having been ordered to Fort Macon to relieve Colonel C. C. Tew, of the Second North Carolina Regiment, of the command of that post, was delayed in joining his command until some two weeks later. Meanwhile, the men were being drilled in the school of the soldier, prepara- tory to company drill ; and so soon as Major DeRosset reported 216 North Carolina Troops, 1861-66. for duty he was ordered to take charge of the drilling and dis- ciplining of the force. Colonel Meares moved West from Wilmington, where he was born, when quite a young man and settled in Arkansas, whence he went into the war with Mexico as Adjutant of one of the first regiments raised in that State ; subsequently being elected to command on the death of its colonel (Yell). At the begin- ning of our late difficulty he reported for duty to the Governor and was at once commissioned as Colonel. Lieutenant-Colonel Robert H. Cowan was also a native of Wilmington, and was prominent in the politics of the State, both locally and as a Representative in its legislative halls. Upon the reorganization of the twelve months regiments, he was elected Colonel of the Eighteenth, thus severing his connec- tion with the Third in May, 1862. Major DeRosset, likewise a native of the same place, had been connected with the local military for seven years, most of the time as an officer of the Wilmington Light Infantry, having carried that company into service, which was later assigned to the Eighteenth. A portion of the Third was ordered to Richmond early in July, where it was joined some we'eks later by the remaining companies which had been left at Garysburg under Major De- Rosset. A few days after the first battle of Manassas the regiment was ordered to report to Major- General T. H. Holmes, at Acquia Creek, and went into camp n^ar Brooks' Station, on the Rich- mond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad, later moving camp to a point near the Potomac River, and, as winter approached, having meantime built substantial winter quarters, they took up their abode therein, immediately in rear of the lower battery of those constructed for the defense of Acquia Creek. Upon the evacuation of the line of the Potomac the Third North Carolina, with the First, was ordered to Goldsboro to meet a supposed advance of Burnside from New Bern, remain- ing thereabouts until early in June, 1862. In May, Lieutenant- Thied Eegiment. 217 Colonel Cowan having been promoted, Major DeRosset was made Lieutenant-Colonel, and Captain Savage, Major. The First and the Third North Carolina Troops were under the same brigade commanders from first to last, but, unfortunately, were always brigaded with troops from other States, and never received the deserved meed for their achievements. First, Colonel John G. Walker was assigned to command, the brigade then consisting of the First and Third North Carolina and the Thirtieth Virginia and First Arkansas; but Colonel Walker proved to be the junior colonel in the brigade, and General Holmes asked for and obtained a commission for him as brigadier-general, and he continued in command. Brigadier-General Roswell S. Ripley next had its command, and upon reaching Richmond on the evening of the last day's fight at Seven Pines a change was made in the composition of the brigade and the Fortieth and Forty-fourth Georgia Regi- ments took the places of the Virginia and Arkansas troops. The Third reached the battlefield only in time to be held in reserve late in the evening, but were not ordered to participate. The march from Richmond was most trying to the raw troops of the brigade, who had not then received their baptism of fire, passing thousands of dead and wounded from the time they left the cars until they arrived on the field; and the groans and cries of the wounded were not calculated to inspire the boys with a martial spirit. During the period from that date to the opening of the battles around Richmond the command was in camp about six miles from Richmond, drilling and preparing for the sum- mer campaign. Late in the evening of June 25, 1862, Colonel Meares received orders to march, and proceeding early next morning in a north- erly direction, was halted on the high hills on the south of the Chickahominy where it is crossed by the Mechanicsville pike. Lieutenant- Colonel DeRosset was here again detached and ordered to take charge of a battalion composed of one company from each regiment, and to advance, crossing' the stream, to Mechanicsville; but after reaching the middle of the creek he was 218 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. ordered to assemble his command and cross on the bridge. The battalion was thus thrown on the left of the brigade, advancing left in front, and, on being drawn up in line of battle on the north side, went into action, charging the enemy's position, which was well fortified on the further side of a small stream about one-half mile from the pike. The brigade suffered severely in this attack, mainly from the stupid manner in which it was put into action. The Forty-fourth Georgia was almost annihilated, having lost heavily in killed and wounded, the others mostly routed. The Fortieth Georgia lost its colonel early in the action, and were more or less demoralized. The First North Carolina perhaps suffered in killed and wounded more than either of the regiments, if not of all combined. They had the misfortune to be immediately in front of the heaviest of the Yankee batteries, which swept the approaches with grape and canister continuously. The Third North Carolina lost perhaps less than either of the others, Major Savage being the only one of the field officers wounded. Joining after that battle the forces of General Jackson, the command was marched by a circuitous route to Cold Harbor, or Gaines' Mill, where the battle took place on the afternoon of June 27th. Here but a small fraction of the Third was exposed to direct musketry fire, for reasons none but General Ripley could explain, and the officers of the command are not known to have said that any explanation was vouchsafed. Marching thence, after two or three days' delay, the brigade found itself in front of one of the bridges over the Chickahominy which had been destroyed by the enemy on the south side, he having crossed the day before on the famous "grape-vine" bridge, some distance above. Here, being exposed to the enemy's fire of artillery without the means of replying, Ripley was withdrawn into a heavy woods on the northwest side of the road, lying there all day under the artillery fire, at times very annoying, but with little loss. This was the day of the battle of Frazer's Farm, a few miles lower down the stream. Next day, the enemy having withdrawn and the bridge re- Third Regiment. 219 paired, Ripley crossed and marched on Malvern Hill, arriving there at noon, and was posted immediately in the rear of what was known as the Parsonage, on the near side of the road lead- ing by Malvern Hill, and on the left of the army. Being or- dered to advance, the whole line moved forward, and from the peculiar conformation of the land in front, the hill up which Ripley moved being almost an isolated knoll, upon reaching the top each regiment was found to be represented in the mass of disorganized troops occupying the yard of the Parsonage and the road in front. The officers of the several commands seemed not to have noted the conformation of the ground, and as each com- pany reached the foot of the hill it would change direction to go up the shortest road, thereby bringing about the trouble as seen at that point. Meantime a terrific fire of artillery and infantry swept the field, and the men involuntarily hugged the ground. Here they lay for some time, men falling every minute, and some leaving the field in search of surgical assistance- There was no possibility of doing anything, so far as could be seen by the field officers, and Ripley had not been seen about the lines after the first order was given to advance. About an hour before dusk word came from the left that Captain Brown, com- manding the First North Carolina, was hard pressed, and wanted assistance, when Colonel Meares determined to re-inforce him, and gave the command to move by the left flank. He, going on foot into the road in front of the line, upon reaching a point about opposite the left of the Third, stopped, and mounting the bank on the side of the road, was using his field-glass, surveying the Yankee lines, when he was instantly killed by a slug from a shrapnel fired from a battery directly in front, said to be the Third Rhode Island Battery, not over seventy-five yards distant. Colonel Meares was a man of marked individuality. Re- spected by his superior officers, beloved by his subordinate offi- cers, and even by the most humble private, his untimely death was deeply deplored by ail alike. It is certain that he would have been recommended for promotion. The Third held its position until withdrawn sometime during 220 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. the night, aud bivouacked near that point for several days, when the brigade was ordered back to the old camping-grounds nearer Richmond. Colonel DeRosset having been promoted to the command of the Third, decided to visit Raleigh for the purpose of recruiting the regiment. The losses in officers of the Third were numerous, but several were temporarily disabled by wounds. Some vacancies occurred about this time, and the conspicuous gallantry of Cicero H. Craig caused his recommendation for promotion, and he was at once put on duty, by brigade orders, as Lieutenant of Company I. Just here it is well to put on record an instance showing how the officers of the Third held to the original understanding with the Governor that all promotions and appointments should be made by or upon the recommendation of the commanding officer of the regiment. Upon the report made to Governor Clark in person by Colonel DeRosset, the Governor promised to have the commission for Lieutenant Craig mailed to him without delay, but upon being approached by two officers of Company I, who represented to the Governor that if Craig was made lieutenant of the company the men would resist and disband, he revoked his order for the commission, and ordered an election to be held in the company to fill the vacancy. Upon receipt of the com- munication from the Adjutant-General, Colonel DeRosset ad- dressed the Governor, declining to hold an election in his regi- ment, and should he insist upon it, that he could consider his resignation as being before him. Further explanation was made that the parties who informed the Governor of the condition of affairs in Company I had not participated in the late fights, and were hardly in position to form an intelligent opinion of the facts, and that the discipline of the men in his regiment was his responsibility as much as that of the company officers, and he would be responsible for results. As a finale, both officers referred to very soon ceased to hold their positions, and, for some forgotten reasons, were allowed to go home. The Governor ex- Thikd Regiment. 221 pressed himself as fully satisfied, and immediately sent on Craig's commission. Apropos, as to elections to fill vacancies, wliile near Goldsboro, in the spring of 1862, a vacancy occurred in the office of Second Lieutenant of Company G. Orders came from headquarters one afternoon to hold an election to fill the vacancy. Colonel Meares, after reading the order, passed it to Lieutenant-Colonel DeRosset, with the instruction that he should see that the order was carried out. Not seeing his way clear, but knowing the feelings of Colonel Meares as to permitting elections, DeRosset walked off in the direction of the camp of that company, hoping for some solution of the problem. Fortunately he found Lieutenant Quince of that company in charge, the captain being absent from camp. Quince had been educated as a soldier in the ranks of the Wilmington Light Infantry, and DeRosset knew he could be depended upon. At once handing the order to Quince, he. Quince, threw up his hands with horror at being called upon to be the instrument in carrying out such an order. DeRosset replied that the opinions of all the regimental, field and staff, as well as most of the line officers, were well known to be against such a system, but the order was imperative, and must be obeyed. Re- maining in hearing, and feeling that fun was ahead, DeRosset, standing behind the captain's tent, heard the following, almost literally related: Lieutenant Quince — "Sergeant, make the men fall in with arms." This was done quickly, and, addressing the men, he read the order, and remarked : " Men, there are two candi- dates for the office," naming them, "and there is but one of them worth a d — n, and I nominate him. All who are in favor of electing Sergeant , come to a shoulder. Company^ shoulder arms ! " Then, turning to the Orderly Sergeant, re- marked: "Sergeant, take charge of the company and dismiss them." Inside of fifteen minutes from the time the order was handed the Colonel, Lieutenant Quince handed in his report: "That an election had been held in accordance with Special Order No. — , and that 222 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Sergeant had been unanimously elected." This put a stop to all talk about elections for some time, and, after Craig's pro- motion, the subject was never again mentioned. Ripley lay in camp for several weeks, while details were made to work on the intrenchments in our front and for several miles down towards the Chickahominy, while other details gathered arms from the several battlefields. Up to this time the Third was armed principally with smooth- bore muskets, but with the ample supply of the Springfield rifled muskets gathered from the field and captured, there was enough to supply our whole army with the improved gun. Orders came from headquarters that all muskets should be turned in and the troops armed with the rifles. Colonel DeRosset believed firmly in the great efficiency of the smooth-bore with buck and ball cartridges, and, after a consultation with General Ripley, secured a modification of the order as applying to the Third North Carolina, and was allowed to retain muskets for eight companies, arming the two flank companies with the rifles. He always insisted that it was owing to the good use of the buck and ball at close range at Sharpsburg that the Third were enabled to do so much damage, and to hold their position after advancing for so long a time. In the latter part of July, Colonel DeRosset returned from Raleigh and brought with him four hundred conscripts, who were at once divided into small squads, and, under command of non-commissioned officers, were drilled several hours daily. This not only helped to discipline the raw levies, but hardened them somewhat, thus enabling them the better to stand the strains inci- dent to the march into Maryland, which soon followed. During this period, awaiting marching orders, the first execu- tion under sentence of a military court took place in the brigade on the person of an Irishman who had deserted and was captured in his effiDrts to reach the enemy's lines. He belonged to Cap- tain Dudley's company, of the First North Carolina, and the ■firing party was from his own company, who did their sad duty like true soldiers. Third Regiment. 223 About the time that Jackson was lookiug for Pope's " head- quarters," from Culpepper to Manassas, Ripley received march- ing orders, and the brigade went by rail to Orange Court House. Here the brigade bivouacked for several days, ofiBcers and men wondering why we were held back, when it was evident that hard work was going on at the front. However, marching orders came at last, and after much time given to preparation, we finally took the road for Culpepper Court House, thence in a northerly direction to the Alexandria and Luray pike, striking that road about sundown at a point called Amisville. To the amazement of the field and line officers, instead of marching toward Warrenton, where it was generally understood Lee had passed, the head of the column was changed to the left. One of the officers here rode up to the head of the column, and accosting General Ripley, asked if he had any objection to saying where we were marching to. His reply was: "I am going to see my sweetheart at Luray." He thereupon ordered a halt, and to go into bivouac at once and prepare rations as issued, having just received by courier orders from General Lee to march at once, and quickly, to Manassas Junction. Next morning, after a deliberate breakfast, the column counter-marched and reached Warrenton about 2 or 3 o'clock P. M. The General repaired to a private house for refreshments, directing the command to pro- ceed to a point a mile or two out on the Manassas road and bivouac, with special instructions to the officers left in command to have the column drawn up in line on the road ready to march at 4 o'clock A. M. next day, but not to move until he came up. The command was on time, and stood in a drenching rain until about 7 o'clock, when Ripley appeared, and the column moved on. Arriving at the Junction about 3 or 4 o'clock p. M., in full hearing of the desperate conflict going on a short distance ahead of us, we were deliberately filed off the road in an opposite direction and halted, bivouacked there that night and next morning crossed Bull Run at Sudley's Ford, having passed over perhaps the bloodiest portion of the field, where the dead and many wounded still lay in the sun. Marching through a country 224 jSTorth Carolina Troops, 1861-65. entirely destitute of water for several miles, we finally reached the Alexandria and Leesburg pike, where a halt was made to allow the men to drink and fill their canteens. Moving on in the direction of Alexandria, which point was understood to be Lee's objective point, we came up while the battle of Ox Hill was being fought, and were held in reserve until its close, falling back next morning to a beautiful country-seat known as Chan- tilly, where we bivouacked for several days. The march into Maryland then commenced, and we moved towards Leesburg, where we received rations again and prepared them for another march ; bivouacked there for twenty-four hours, and then taking a road direct to the Potomac, crossed at Point of Rocks ; thence moving down the bank of the river along the canal to Point of Rocks, where, taking our last view of old Virginia, we took the road for Frederick City direct, halting there for two or more days. The army moved westwardly along the Great Western turn- pike, crossing the mountains, and bivouacked that night a little beyond Boonsboro. On the evening of Saturday, September 13, 1862, the brigade was counter-marched toward the mountain and placed in line of battle on the north side of the pike, near the fobt of the mountain, again in reserve. Next morning, Sunday, Colonel Doles, with the Fourth Georgia, was detached and or- dered to take position in a gap on the north side of the pike, and the other three regiments were moved up the mountain, and just to the east of the tavern on the summit filed to the right, and moved along the summit road, having, before leaving the pike, passed the body of General Garland, who had just been slain at the head of his command. Leaving this road, they moved by one leading diagonally down the mountain, and, on reaching the foot, were halted some half mile to a mile from the pike, on the south. Here General Ripley concluded that his command and that of General George B. Anderson were cut off from the troops on his left, and assuming command of the division, notified Colo- nel DeRosset to take command of the brigade. General Ander- son seemed to have moved up the mountain very promptly, and Third Eegiment. 225 Ripley ordered Colonel DeRosset to do likewise. Lieutenant- Colonel Thruston was ordered to take a company of skirmishers, covering the front of the brigade, and soon reported that troops were in his front, and later that General G. B. Anderson was moving across his front. General Ripley, remaining at the foot of the mountain, was informed of the situation, and at once ordered his brigade to fall back. It was then moved by the left flank up a road leading diagonally up the mountain and halted, occupying that position until quietly withdrawn sometime between 9 o'clock p. m. and midnight. General Ripley again assumed command of his own brigade and marched by a road leading towards the Boonsboro and Sharps- burg pike. On reaching a point on the crest of the hill, just after crossing the Antietam on the stone bridge, the command was placed in line of battle under the hill, the right of the Third North Carolina, in absence of the Fourth Georgia, on the right of the brigade and resting on the Boonsboro pike. This was on the evening of the 15th, and the brigade remained in that posi- tion until the evening of the 16th, under a heavy artillery fire from the enemy's guns on the east side of the creek, but without loss, being well protected by the crest of the hill under which he lay. Meantime the battle had opened on our left, and as that seemed to be the point at which McClellan would make his greatest effort. General Ripley was ordered in that direction and biv- ouacked to the east of the Hagerstown pike, directly opposite the Dunkard Church and south of the Mumma farm house, which latter was destroyed by fire early next morning. About daylight on thfe 17th the Federal artillery opened, and one of the first guns, from a point near which McClellan made his headquarters, fired a shell which fell just in front of the brigade, wounding some sixteen officers and men of the Third. The advance was soon ordered, and the enemy was first encount- ered in an open field a little to the south of the famous corn field near the East Woods, and the smooth-bore muskets with the buck and ball cartridges did most excellent service, being at very close 15 226 NoETH Caeolina Teoops, 1861-'65. quarters, not over one hundred yards from the first line of the three lines of the enemy. There being quite a gap in our lines on Ripley's right, a change of front was made to meet a flank attack by the One Hundred and Twenty-eighth Pennsylvania, a new and large regiment, and the Third North Carolina, being still on the right, met with heavy losses from this attack before the movement could be made with assured safety. General Ripley had been slightly wounded in the throat early in the action and the brigade was now under the command of Colonel George Doles, of the Fourth Georgia, the ranking officer. About the time that the movement in changing from front to rear began, Colonel DeRosset was severely wounded, and per- manently disabled. Lieutenant-Colonel Thruston at once took command, and charged the enemy, maintaining his advanced position until forced back by mere weight of numbers. From this time the Third North Carolina was under the command of Colonel Thruston, who succeeded to the full command upon the resignation of Colonel DeRosset, some months later, when it was definitely determined that the wound of the latter had disabled him permanently for active service. There were few, if any, regimental commanders in the Army of Northern Virginia who were the superior of Colonel Thruston, if his equal, in all that goes to make up an intelligent, able and successful leader. He was painfully wounded during this action, but refused to leave the field. Of the twenty-seven officers who went into action on that memorable morning all save three were disabled and seven killed. Captain McNair, Company H, was badly wounded in the leg early in the day, but refused to leave, althougb urged to do so by the Colonel, and soon after gave up his life-blood on his coun- try's altar. The official report of the division commander gives the loss in the Third North Carolina, but it is less than was reported at the close of the day by Lieutenant J. F. S. Van Bokkelen, Acting Thied Regiment. 227 Adjutant, who stated that of the five hundred and twenty carried into action only one hundred and ninety could be accounted for. Of the conscripts who were enlisted in the Third North Caro- lina about one hundred succeeded in keeping up with their comrades and taking part in the Sharpsburg battle. During this engagement, while the whole line was busily engaged in their deadly work, one of the conscripts was observed calmly walking up and down behind his company, and upon being asked why he was not in ranks and firing, replied : " I have seen nothing to shoot at, and I have only sixty rounds of cartridges; I don't care to waste them." He was instructed to lie down, and being shown the blue breeches under the smoke, his face bright- ened up at once as he began firing. Seldom was truer cour- age displayed than by this man, who, under his first experience in battle, having evidently been left behind as his company double- quicked to the front, came up after the smoke from the first volleys had obscured everything, and could see nothing in front. It would indeed be interesting to know this man's name and fate^ but such cannot be, for he probably sleeps in a soldier's grave in the famous corn field, unhonored and unsung, where so many comrades lie buried. Of the original captains of the Third North Carolina: Captain Drysdale died in winter quarters at Acquia Creek during the winter of 1861-'62,'and was buried in Goldsboro. He died of pneumonia contracted in the performance of his duties. Captain Thruston held each office in succession until he reached the colonelcy. He lives in Dallas, Texas, and is an honored member of the medical profession. Captain Mallett, having been appointed conscript officer of the State, with the rank of Major and subsequently Colonel, resigned his captaincy. He now lives in New' York. Captain Savage, afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel, resigned after the battles around Richmond. He now resides in New York. Captain Redd resigned his commission in the early part of 1862. He is now a farmer in Onslow county. Captain Parsley, rising to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel of 228 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-65. his regiment, was killed only three days before the surrender at Appomattox, respected and beloved by all. Captain Rhodes was wounded at Sharpsburg, and as he has never since been heard of, it is supposed he died of his wounds. Captain Sikes, having absented himself from his command during the seven days' fight, and gone to his home without proper leave of absence, was allowed to resign. Captain Carmer resigned his commission soon after the battles around Richmond. Captain Williams, known by his men as "Pap," as brave a man as ever lived, was disemboweled by a rifle shot from the enemy's batteries at Sharpsburg, and sleeps in a soldier's grave, with his blanket for a shroud, in the front yard of the house in rear of the village, which was used as a field hospital near the Shepherdstown pike. W. L. DeRosset. Wilmington, jST. C, 9th April, 1900. FOUBTH REGIMENT. 1. Eryan Grimes, Colonel. a. E. A. Osborne, Colonel. 2. George B. Anderson, Colonel. C. J. E. Stansill, Major. 3. James H. Wood, Colonel. 7. J. P. Shaffner, Chief Surgeon. 4. John A. Young, Lieut. -Colonel. 8. Rev. W. A. Wood, Chaplain. 9. J. M. Iladley, Assistant Surgeon. FOURTH REGIMENT. By colonel E. A. OSBORNE. To write a full and accurate history of this noble body of n would require far more time, ability and space than the pres writer can command. But as the honor and distinction of wi ing a brief sketch has fallen to my lot, I cheerfully and gr£ fully address myself to the task, feeling at the same time dee] conscious of my unworthiness and inability to handle suet theme. I cannot conceive of a braver, truer, nobler, more voted and self-denying body of men than was this splendid re ment of North Carolinians. In every position, under the m trying circumstances in which men can be placed, from the ca of instruction to the close of a four years' war — a war that volved more hardships, more persevering courage and fortitu more self-denial, more devotion, more true manhood and end ance, more love of home, of country and of principle, and m true heroism on the part of the men of the South than has b manifested at least in modern times, these devoted men, e forgetful of self, and following firmly and steadily in the lead patriotic duty, without pay, and suffering for the bare neces ries of life most of the time, never flinched nor murmured; 1 endured with sublime patience and fortitude the hardships the camp, of the march, of the bivouac, and the many terri scenes of strife, and blood, and carnage, through which tl passed during these four long and terrible years of suffering a trial. In writing this sketch I must be content to give a mere outl of actual occurrences. The facts simply stated speak for the selves. They need no embellishment to commend their act to the admiration of all who value and love what is brave i 230 NoETH Carolina Tboops, 1861-'65. true aud manly. The UDvaruished story o^ these brave and de- voted mea who gave themselves for the cause they loved fur- nishes such examples of heroic valor, unselfish devotion and unwavering faithfulness as will be an inspiration and an honor to their countrymen in all future ages. The Fourth Regiment of North Carolina State Troops was organized at Camp Hill, near Garysburg, N. C, in May, 1861. The field officers at first were: George Buegwyn Anderson, Colonel. John Augustus Young, Lieutenant-Colonel. Bryan Grimes, Major. Dr. J. K. King, Surgeon. Dr. B. S. Thomas, Assistant Surgeon. Captain John D. Hyman, Commissary. Captain Thomas H. Blount, Quartermaster. Thomas L. Perry, Adjutant. Rev. William A. Wood, Chaplain. R. F. SiMONTON, Commissary Sergeant. F. A. Carlton, Sergeant- Major. Elam Morrison, Quartermaster's Sergeant. Fourth Kbgiment. 231 COMPANY OFFICERS OF THE FOURTH REGIMENT AS ORIGINALLY ORGANIZED. Company A — Iredell County — Captain, A. K. Simonton; First Lieutenant, W. L. Davidson; Second Lieutenant, W. G. Falls; Second Lieutenant, William F. McRorie. Company B — Rowan County — Captain, James H. Wood; First Lieutenant, A. C. Watson; Second Lieutenant, J. F. Stancill; Second Lieutenant, J. fl. Harris. Company C — Iredell County — Captain, John B. Andrews; First Lieutenant, James Rufus lieid; Second Lieutenant, W. A. Kerr; Second Lieutenant, Joseph C. White. Company D — Wayne County — Captain, J. B. Whittaker; First Lieutenant, Alexander D. Tumbro; Second Lieutenant, J. J. Bradley; Second Lieutenant, R. B. Potts. Company E — Beaufort County— Cn-piaan, David M. Carter; First Lieutenant, Thomas L. Perry; Second Lieutenant, E. J. Redding; Second Lieutenant, Daniel P. Latham. Company F — Wilson County — Captain, Jesse S. Barnes; First Lieutenant, J. W. Dunham; Second Lieutenant, P. N. Simms; Second Lieutenant, Thomas E. Thompson. Company G — Davie County — Captain, William G. Kelley; First Lieutenant, Samuel A. Kelley; Second Lieutenant, Thomas J. Brown; Second Lieutenant, Samuel A. Davis. Company H — Iredell County — Captain, Edwin Augustus Osborne; First Lieutenant, John Z. Daiton; Second Lieutenant, Hal. H. Weaver; Second Lieutenant, John B. Forcum. Company I — Beaufort County — Captain, W. T. Marsh; First Lieutenant, L. R. Creekman; Second Lieutenant, Noah B. Tuten; Second Lieutenant, Bryan S. Bonner. Company K — Rowan County — Captain, F. Y. McNeely; First Lieutenant, W. C. Coughenonr; Second Lieutenant, Mar- cus Hofflin; Second Lieutenant, W^illiam Brown. Promotions in Company A during the war — W. L. Davidson to Captain, W. G. Falls to Captain, W. F. McRorie to Captain, W. K. Eliason to First Lieutenant, F. A. Carlton to First Lieutenant, A. S. Fraley to Second Lieutenant, J. Pink 232 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Cowan to Second Lieutenant, T. M. C. Davidson to Second Lieutenant, W. R. INlcNeely to Second Lieutenant. Non-commissioned Officers in Company A — E. F. Mor- rison, W. T. J. Harbin, W. L. Shuford, D. A. Doherty, E. C. Rumple, P. A. Siiafer, C. D. Murdock, J. A. Stikeleather. Promotions in Company B during the avae — J. F. Stancill to Captain, J. H. Hilliard to Captain, T. C. Watson to Captain, J. W. Shinn to First Lieutenant, Joseph Barber to Second Lieutenant, Isaac A. Cowan to Captain, James P. Burke to Second Lieutenant. Non-commissioned Officers in Company B — J. W. Phifer, E. F. Barber, B. Knox Kerr, Rufus Mills, M. S. Mc- Kenzie, John Hellers, H. C. Miller, "William A. Burkhead, D. W. Steele, B. A. Knox. Promotions in Company C during the war — Claudius S. Alexander to Captain, W. A. Kerr to Captain, G. A. Andrews to Captain, T. W. Stephenson to First Lieutenant, J. C. White to First Lieutenant, J. A. S. Feimster to Second Lieutenant, S. A. Claywell to Second Lieutenant, John C. Turner. Non-commissioned Officers in Company C — James A. Sommers, J. J. Troutman, S. J. Thomas, A. J. Anderson, J. C. Norton, D. P. Dobbin, Edward May, John C. Turner, A. M. White, J. A. Feimster, F. A. Shuford, R. O. Sinster. Promotions in Company D during the war — Alexander Tumbro to Captain, M. C. Hazelle to Captain, T. G. Lee to Captain, Lovett Lewis to Captain, R. B. Potts to First Lieuten- ant, J. B. Griswold to Second Lieutenant, Cader Parker to Second Lieutenant. Non-commissioned Officers in Company D— Robert A. Best, James C. Cotton, M. C. Hazelle, John Holmes, James Brewer, George Casey, J. J. Ellis, R. W. Hodgins, Robert Peel, J. H. Pearsall, J. R. Williams, J. W. Harrison, D. L. Howell, J. R. Tumbro. Promotions in Company E during the war — D. G. Latham to Captain, T. M. Allen to Captain, J. H. Carter to Captain, C. K. Gallagher to Captain, E. L. Redding to Second Fourth Regiment. 233 Lieutenaat, S. J. Litchfield to First Lieutenant, M. T. William- son to Second Lieutenant. Non-commissioned Officers in Company E — J. F. Lucas, Joseph Cutler, Joseph Whegget, George Litchfield, S. B. Whitley, T. R. Petterton, C. E. Perry. Promotions in Company F during the war — John W. Dunham to Captain, H. M. Warren to Captain, T. G. Lee to First Lieutenant, T. F. Thompson to Second Lieutenant, S. Y. Parker to Second Lieutenant, W. V. Stevens to Second Lieuten- ant, T. B. Stith to Second Lieutenant, J. D. Wells to Second Lieutenant. Non-commissioned Officers in Company F — W. R. Hamraell, R. B. Lancaster, W. P. Fitzgerald, J. B. Farmer, J. H. Marshburn, R. H. Watson, W. E. Winstead, W. O. Wootten, J. L. Burton, J. B. Farmer. Promotions in Company G during the war — S. A Kelley to Captain, B. J. Smith to First Lieutenant, D. J. Cain to First Lieutenant, D. G. Snioot to Second Lieutenant, C. A. Guffy to Second Lieutenant, W. B. Jones to Second Lieutenant. Non-commissioned Officers in Company G — R. D. Brown, B. B. Williams, P. P. Haynes, L. S. Millican, C. A. •Guffy. Promotions, in Company H during the war — John B. Forcum to Captain, A. M. D. Kennedy to First Lieutenant, Julius A. Summers to First Lieutenant, J. B. Stockton to Second Lieu- tenant. Non-commissioned Officers in Company H — J. M. Albea, H. H. James, S. H. Bobbit, I. P. Maiden, H. P. Wil- liams, T. M. Ball, J. A. Holmes, John A. Feimster, Stark Gra- ham, A. L. Summers, John Barnett. Promotions in Company I during the war — Edward S. Marsh to Captain, B. T. Bonner to First Lieutenant, N. B. Tuten to Second Lieutenant, T>. C. Styron to Second Lieutenant, C A. Watson to Second Lieutenant, Edward Tripp to Second Lieutenant, James A. Herrington to Second Lieutenant. Non-commissioned Officersof Company I — C. C. Archi- 234 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. bald, Charles Tripp, Zack B. Caraway, B. B. Ross, R. R. Tuten,- Henry L. Clayton, Charles Tripp. Promotions In Company K during the war — W. C. Coughenour to Captain, Marcus Hofflin to Captain, Moses L. Bean to Captain, William Brown to Second Lieutenant, Hamil- ton Long to Second Lieutenant, A. N. Wiseman to Second Lieu- tenant. Non-commissioned Officers of Company K — W. C. Fra- ley, James Bowers, John E. Renter, John L. Lyerly, James Crawford. Number of Privates in the Fourth Regiment — Com- pany A, 153; Company B, 109; Company C, 170; Company D, 98; Company E, 172; Company F, 109; Company G, 108; Com- pany H, 246; Company I, 82; Company K, 129. Total, 1,376. The following persons composed the regimental band, which was a most efficient body of men, always at the post of duty, and during 1864-'65 acting as litter-bearers and hospital nurses in time of engagements: E. B. Neave, Chief Musician; W. R. Gorman, John Y. Barber, Thomas Gillespie, John T. Good- man, W. A. Moose, J. C. Steel, Nat. Raymer, Charles Heyer, M. J. Weant, Green Austin, Brawley, E. B. Stinson, Patterson. The regiment was ordered to leave camp Hill, near Garys- burg, N. C, and proceed to Richmond Va., on the 20th of July, 1861, where we remained until the 29th of July, when we were sent to Manassas Junction, Va., arriving there some days after the bloody engagement which was the first great battle of the war. Here we remained doing post and fatigue duty and drilling dur- ing the summer and winter. Colonel Anderson having been as- signed to the command of the post. While at Manassas the men suffered fearfully with sickness, and many valuable young men succumbed to the various forms of disease that assailed us there. There were many other troops there, and almost every hour in the day the funeral dirge could be heard and the firing of the doleful platoon sounded out upon the air almost continually, reminding us that death was busy in FouETH Eegiment. 235 *the camp; and almost every train that left the station carried the remains of some soldier boy back to his friends at home. But when the winter came the men regained their health, and having become inured to camp life, and accustomed to taking care of themselves, they were soon in fine spirits. In fact, when we left Manassas Junction on the 8th of March, 1862, they had the appearance and bearing of regular troops, and were in a measure prepared for the terrible ordeals through which they were des- tined to pass in the course of the next few months. The brigade was now composed of the Forty-ninth Virginia, the Twenty- seventh and Twenty-eighth Georgia, and the Fourth North Carolina Regiments, and was under the command of Colonel Anderson, and the regiment in command of Major Grimes, Lieu- tenant-Colonel Young having been sent to Richmond to attend to business connected with the command. After a march of several days, we went into camp at Clark's Mountain, near Orange Court House and about three miles from the Rapidan River. Here we remained until the 8th of April, when we were ordered to Yorktown. At this place we had our first experience in contact with the enemy — doing picket duty and having some skirmishes with his pickets. We also were subjected to the fire of their gun-boats on the river. THE BATTLE OF WILLIAMSBURG. On the night of the 4th of May, 1862, Yorktown was evacu- ated. Major Grimes was now in charge of the picket-line, Lieu- tenant-Colonel Young in command of the regiment, and Colonel Anderson still in command of the brigade. Major Grimes held the picket-line until the troops had gotten under way, and then, about daylight, he withdrew and joined the regiment about noon. The next day the enemy attacked the Confederate forces at Williamsburg. Our brigade had passed through the town, but upon hearing the firing in the rear, we quickly faced about and marched in the direction of the engagement. The rain was pour- ing and the streets of the town covered with mud. The doors, yards and balconies were crowded with women and children 236 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. t wild with excitement, waving handkerchiefs and banners, and* urging us on to the conflict. We passed a number of wounded men, some streaming with blood and pale with exhaustion, be- ing borne upon litters or supported by comrades. The excite- ment and enthusiasm of the mem became intense. The air rang with shouts as we pressed forward, eager for the fray. We marched directly to the field of battle and -were formed in line. The air was alive with the roar of artillery and musketry and the shouts and shrieks of men, some in tones of triumph and others in cries of pain. The balls flew thick around us, and a few of our men were wounded; but we were not actively en- gaged. The day was far spent, and the mists of night soon gathered over the field and put an end to the strife. We passed the night on the field, wet and faint with hunger and fatigue. The night was cold; no fires were allowed, and the men suffered greatly. Some would have died if they had not kept in motion by stamping, marking time, or crowding together in groups to keep each other warm. This was the 5th of May; a day long to be remembered as the first actual experience we had on the field of battle, and wit- nessed the dire results of war. All night long we could hear the cries and groans of some wounded men in our front, and an occasional shot from the picket-line told of the presence of the foe, which would not permit them to be taken care of. The next day we resumed the line of march towards Rich- mond. The roads were muddy from the rains and stirred up by the artillery and baggage trains. The men literally waded almost knee-deep in mud most of the day. Their rations were exhausted, and that night each man received an ear of hard corn for his supper; but not a murmur did I hear. The boys parched their corn and ate it with the best grace they could command, and were glad to rest quietly for the night. The next day we were supplied with rations. On the 13th of May we came to the Chickahominy E.iver, where we remained until the battle of Seven Pines, or Fair Oaks. Fourth Eegiment. 237 THE BATTLE OF SEVEN PINES, OR FAIR OAKS. The day before this bloody engagement was hot and sultry. The regiment was kept under arms all day, and frequently changed its position as if expecting an engagement. About sunset we went into bivouac and were ordered to prepare rations for the next day. The men were stirring until late at night, and then, tired and jaded, they sought repose. But soon a most terrible thunder-storm came down upon us. -It seemed as if heaven and earth were being torn to pieces, while the rain came down in torrents upon the men, who were poorly sheltered, some with little fly tents and many with only a single blanket on a pole instead of a tent. But towards morning the storm passed away, leaving the air cool and bracing; and the men slept. The 31st was a lovely May morning, and the sun rose bright and clear. The men were full of life and the woods resounded with their voices and movements. Breakfast was soon dispatched and the order 16 "fall in" was given. The regiment was in fine condition. Twenty-five commissioned officers and five hundred and twenty men and non-commissioned officers reported for duty on the morning of the 31st of May, 1862; and as they filed out and moved off toward the battlefield of Seven Pines they presented a splendid picture of manhood, energy and courage. The brigade was still under command of Colonel Anderson, the regiment under Major Grimes, Lieutenant- Colonel J. A. Young having been sent home on special duty. Early in the afternoon we were drawn up in front of the enemy's works near the Williamsburg road, under cover of a heavy forest, within one-fourth of a mile of the enemy's batteries and redoubts. A formidable abatis, formed by felling a dense grove of old field pines and cutting the limbs partly off so as to form obstructions to our approach, lay between us and the enemy's works. The ground was also covered with water in many places — from six inches to waist-deep. The Fourth Regiment was to the left of the stage road, the right being near the road, which ran diagonally across our front, crossing the enemy's line a little to the left of the front of the Fourth Regiment. A very heavy redoubt was 238 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. in front of us, bristling with artillery supported by a mass of infantry and flanked on either side by extensive earth-works filled with men supported by artillery. We had not been in this position but a few minutes when the enemy opened on us with his artillery. A fearful storm of shot, shell, grape and canister tore through the trees, plowing up the ground on every side and cutting down the branches and saplings around us. Soon the order was passed along the line to move forward. The men sprang to their feet without a word and advanced to the assault. For many rods we made our way through the obstruc- tions above mentioned, under a terrible fire of musketry and artillery, which we could not return with any effect on account of the confusion into which we were thrown by the obstructions and the great difiieulty of getting over them. Heavy musketry on the right indicated that the battle was raging there with ter- rible fury. Onward moved our devoted men, until at last the open field was reached within one hundred yards of the enemy's works. The men quickly resumed their places in line of battle and opened fire upon the enemy with such deadly eScct as to cause a momentary lull in the storm of deadly missiles that were assailing us. But again the enemy renewed his fire with redoubled fury. Our line moved on to within fifty or sixty yards of the enemy's works. The men were falling rapidly. We halted near a zigzag fence to await support on the right, which had failed to come up. The enemy's fire continued with unabated fury, and it was evident that the regiment could not remain there without being utterly destroyed. The writer of this narrative looked around for a field officer. Major Grimes was near, sitting calmly on his iron-gray horse, with one leg thrown over the saddle bow, as afterwards so often seen on the battlefield. I seized his leg to attract his attention. He leaned toward me with his ear near my face to hear what I had to say. " Major," I shouted, " we can't stand this. Let us charge the works." "All right," said the Major, "Charge them! 'Charge them!" I rushed back to the front of my company, leaped over the fence, and waved them forward with hat and sword. My company, H, rushed forward, Fourth Regiment. 239 and the whole regiment instinctively moved with them, yelling and firing as they advanced. In front of our left was a field battery which was instantly silenced, also the heavy battery in front of our centre and right. On we rushed with such impetuos- ity and determination that the enemy abandoned everything and retired. We captured the works and six pieces of artillery. But again we had to halt to await necessary support on the right and left. The writer of this sketch was wounded at this point within a few rods of the breastworks. After the works were captured in the first assault the line retired to the fence from which we had made the charge, to await re-inforcements, which arrived in a few minutes, when the whole line advanced and drove the enemy entirely away. When the second charge was ordered the regiment passed over the same ground over which they had charged but a little while before. It was appalling to see how much the line had been reduced in numbers. The heavy, compact, orderly line of half an hour previous was now scarcely more than a line of skirmish- ers, but they moved with the same boldness and determination as before. The ground was literally covered with the bodies of their dead and wounded comrades, yet they moved steadily for- ward, directing their fire with telling efiPect until within a few paces of the fortifications, when the enemy again retired from his works. Of the twenty-five commissioned officers and six hundred, and fifty-three men and non-commissioned officers every officer except Major Grimes was killed, wounded or disabled, while of the men seventy-four were killed and two hundred and sixty-five were wounded. Major Grimes had a horse killed under him in the charge. His foot was caught under the horse, and it was with much difficulty that he was extricated from his helpless condition. While on the ground and unable to rise, he waved his sword and shouted : "Go on, boys ! Go on !" Upon regaining his feet he saw that his color-bearer, James Bonner, of Company K, was killed, when he seized the flag himself and rushed forward, waving his men on to the charge. After the works were captured John A. Stike- 240 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65 leather, of CompaDy A, asked to be allowed to carry the flag; and from that day to the close of the war, except when necessarily absent for a short time, he bravely bore the regimental colors. A few minutes after the -enemy was driven from his works he began to rally in rear of his tents. Major Grimes order- ed his regiment into a piece of woodland near by, and opened fire upon him. In moving at double-quick across the open field, to seek the cover of the woods, he discovered that the enemy was throwing up breastworks on his right. He charged, driv- ing him away and taking a number of prisoners. The night was spent upon the field. The men being worn out, were glad to stretch themselves upon the ground and rest, surrounded, as they were, by dead and wounded men and animals, while the air was filled with cries and groans of the wounded and dying. The conduct of the officers and men in this notable conflict was splendid beyond description. Their coolness and delibera- tion in making their way through the abatis, under the most galling fire at short range; the firmness and calmness with which they reformed their weakened and disordered line and awaited orders in the open field within seventy-five yards of the enemy's works, under the same awful and destructive fire; the coolness and precision with which they delivered their fire under all these trying conditions; the irresistible firmness and determination with which they made that wonderful and heroic charge in the very jaws of death; the calmness and sullenness with which they retired when the danger of being flanked was apparent, and the grim and unwavering determination with which they returned to the second charge and continued to fight, all displayed a spirit of courage and manliness worthy of any men the world has ever produced. It would be a privilege to record the list of the gallant men who fell in this fight, but time and space for- bids. Their names may not be known to history or to fame, but their comrades knew them and loved them. We believe the world is better and humanity is honored and ennobled by the lives of such men, and that both are the poorer by their un- timely loss. Fourth Regiment. 241 The figures in regard to the number of the men engaged and of those killed and disabled are taken from Colonel G. B. Anderson's ofificial report of the battle. In all this carnage these heroic men never for an instant wavered or showed the slightest trepidation. It was as if some superhuman spirit had been infused into them, and nothing but death itself could stop them. The writer shall never forget his feelings as he lay upon that bloody field wounded and helpless, and saw those brave men pressing on in the face of that death- dealing fire. On they went, their ranks growing thinner and thinner, until within a few paces of the enemy's works, be- hind which masses of bayonets were gleaming. Surely they will all be made prisoners. But no. The forest of gleaming steel begins to waver, and then to move away in confusion; and the works are ours! Three color-bearers were among the killed, and Major Grimes then took the flag and carried it through the remainder of the fight. It may be proper to say a word in regard to the absence of Lieutenant-Colonel John A. Young from the regiment at this battle and thereafter. He had been for some time before the war, and at its beginning, a manufacturer of woolen cloth; and had been sent home to procure clothing for the men of the regi- ment, which he abundantly supplied. Colonel Young was also afflicted with a distressing and incurable disease, which rendered him unfit for active military service. This was a great sorrow to him, as he was a devoted patriot and naturally of a military spirit. But being assured that he could serve his country more effectually at home than in the army, he at the earnest request of Governor Vance, as well as of friends in the army and at home, resigned his commission and devoted himself to manufacturing clothing for the soldiers. This he did at much pecuniary sacri- fice to himself, insomuch that the close of the war found him almost a bankrupt in estate. He devoted himself specially to supplying the wants of the Fourth Regiment, at one time sup- plying every member in the regiment with a uniform and cap at his own individual cost, and his enterprise, industry and munifi- 16 242 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. ceuce contributed greatly to the comfort and welfare of North Carolina soldiers generally. After the battle of Seven Pines, until the 26th of June, we were mainly occupied in resting, drilling and recruiting the regiment. THE BATTLE OP MECHANICSVILLE. On the 26th of June we crossed the Chickahominy River and joined the troops about to engage in the battle of Mechanicsville. Soon the regiment was under heavy fire, which lasted for several hours, in that most trying of all positions, supporting other troops who were actively engaged in battle. There was a bat- tery in front of us doing great damage to our troops. General D. H. Hill ordered Major Grimes to charge this battery with his regiment, the Fourth. Major Grimes informed him that he had only a mere skeleton of a regiment, and that the attempt would be futile, as there were not more than one hundred and fifty men and officers for duty. The General then ordered him to hold himself in readiness to make the charge in case others who had been ordered forward should fail to take the battery. The charge was made by the other troops and the enemy driven away. We then resumed our position on the right of the brigade- cold harbor. For some time the enemy seemed to be retiring before us. After a great deal of marching and manoeuvering, we came within sight of the retreating foe. The men raised a shout and set out at double-quick in pursuit. Major Grimes took the flag and rode forward, leading the charge, the men following in good order. Suddenly a volley from the enemy's guns admonished us that there was serious work at hand. Hitherto we had been moving in column. Line of battle was quickly formed. The brigade recoiled for a moment, but soon recovered, and stood their ground like men. The firing of musketry in our front was very heavy and incessant. We were ordered to change our position to a piece of woodland on the left, where we remained Fourth Regiment. 243 for some time, while the battle raged with fury in our front and on our right. We were then ordered forward in line of battle across an open field, after crossing which we passed through a piece of woods, when suddenly we encountered a line of battle concealed in the underwood in front of us. They opened fire on us. Our line halted and poured a volley into their ranks. Volley after volley followed as our men steadily advanced. Soon the enemy gave way. We now had a little time to rest and reform our line. Soon we heard heavy firing in front and to the right, when it was discovered that some of our troops were pressing down upon the enemy's left. In front of us was an open field with a ridge extending across parallel with our line, towards which we advanced. On reaching the top of the ridge the enemy was seen lying in an old road, seeking shelter behind its banks and other objects that afforded him protection. The order was given to charge, and the men responded with a shout, rush- ing across the field in the face of a furious fire. The scene was terrific beyond description. The yells of our men, the roar of musketry, the thunder of artillery, the shrieks of the wounded and dying, the screaming of shells, with the loud commands of the officers, all combined to excite and stimulate the men, who rushed across the field, closing up their ranks as their comrades fell, cut down by the enemy's fire, who held their ground stub- bornly until we were almost near enough to cross bayonets with him, when he gave way and fled in confusion. It was now night, and the men, exhausted with the terrible efibrts of the day, were glad to unroll their blankets and rest upon the ground. Such was the part borne by the Fourth Regiment in the battle of Cold Harbor. We lost heavily in proportion to our numbers. Of one hundred and fifty men eight were killed and fifty wound- ed. Among the wounded was the brave and faithful soldier, Captain John B. Andrews, who died afterwards from his wounds. Colonel Grimes had a horse killed under him, and led his men on foot until another was captured, which he rode the balance of the day. John A. Stikeleather, our color-bearer, acted with such coolness and bravery as to elicit the public commendation of the 244 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-65. regimeDtal commander. Many instances of individual bravery might be mentioned if time and space would permit. Among the killed in this battle was the brave and gallant Captain Blount, who, though Quartermaster of the regiment, and not bound to go into danger, was acting as volunteer aid to General Anderson that day, and was shot while carrying the flag of one of the regiments. Major Grimes was made Colonel of the regiment. Captain Carter Lieutenant-Colonel, and Captain James H. Wood, Major. Colonel Carter's wound disabled him to such an extent that he was retired to light duty, and Major "Wood was made Lieutenant- Colonel in his place and Captain Osborne promoted to Major. Lieutenant-Colonel Wood's wound was also of a very stubborn character, and rendered it necessary for him to be put upon light duty for many months. The regiment participated in other movements of the army around Richmond, engaging in various skirmishes during the memorable campaign of the, seven days' fight. Together with the Fifth North Carolina Regiment it was detailed to bury the dead and both thus escaped the disastrous assault at Malvern Hill on the 2d of July. The brigade was reorganized so as to consist of the Second, Fourteenth, Thirtieth and Fourth North Carolina Regiments, and with the rest of Lee's army moved into Maryland, passing over the battlefield known as Second Manas- sas, crossing the Potomac near Leesburg. We encamped near Frederick City, and theuce, crossing the Blue Ridge, encamped near Boonsboro. BOONSBOEO. On the 14th of September we took part in what is known as the battle of Boonsboro, or South Mountain. We had marched a few miles beyond the mountain pass, where we spent the night of the 13th of September in camp. Early on the morning of the 14th we were ordered back to the pass at double-quick. Soon we heard cannonading and musketry, indi- cating that a battle was in progress. When we reached the Fourth Regiment. 245 summit of the mountain we found the enemy in heavy force pressing our men. The brigade under General Anderson was divided, he taking the Fourteenth and Thirtieth North Carolina Regiments to the left, or north of the pass, and directing Colonel Tew to take the Second and Fourth to the south of the road, or to the right, facing Frederick City. Filing some half mile to the right, we formed line of battle and moved in the direction of the firing; but when we approached the scene of action the firing ceased, and we found that the enemy had been repulsed by Gen- eral Garland's Brigade, but at the cost of the life of that gallant and faithful soldier, whose lifeless form was borne past us before we reached the scene of action. We then took position on the brow of the ridge. While iu this position the writer heard firing in front of our line, and started to make a reconnaissance to ascer- tain the cause. He cautiously crossed the stone fence behind which we lay and started to follow a wooden fence joining it at a right angle, when a shower of bullets clattered against the stone fence, admonishing him that his njovements were being closely observed by deadly foes. He quickly sought shelter behind the wall from which he had ventured, satisfied with his advanture, and thankful to escape unhurt. The regiment was then ordered to make a reconnaissance to the front and right, through the woods. Company H, under command of Captain Osborne, was deployed as skirmishers, with instructions to move slowly and silently through the thick forest and dense underwood in front of the regiment. Our progress was necessarily very slow, as the woods were very dense and the ground very rugged and moun- tainous. We moved toward the south and swung around gradually toward the east, marching about three-fourths of a mile, when we discovered a heavy force of the enemy in a field on the crest of the ridge, with a battery of field artillery. I at once reported this fact to General Anderson, who had now come up with the regiment, and quickly returned to the front, and was surprised to find the whole force of the enemy moving down upon us in line of battle. They opened upon us a heavy fire. Our men received them firmly, returning their fire with spirit. We 246 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. had the advantage of shelter in the dense woods, while the enemy- was in the open field, and must have suffered severely; but soon night drew on and put a stop to the engagement. We then returned to the road from whence we had started early in the afternoon. Thus ended one of the most trying and, in some respects, one of the most splendid days of the war. General D. H. Hill had with the small force of about five or six thousand men bafiled and held in check all day long a force of probably ten times as many men, and enabled General Lee to get his forces together at Sharpsburg. The men bore themselves with much coolness and courage throughout the entire day. Oar loss in killed and wounded was small, but among them some of our best men. At night the army was withdrawn and moved to the vicinity of Sharpsburg, where we arrived at 11 o'clock on the 15th and remained in line of battle most of the time until the morning of the 17th. The regiment was now under command of Captain W. T. Marsh, Colonel Grimes having been com- pelled to retire from the fieid on account of an injury received on the morning of the 14th at Boonsboro. SHARPSBURG, OR ANTIETAM. Wednesday, the 17th of September, 1862, was a day that will go down in history as having witnessed one of the great battles of the war. Anderson's Brigade had been on the right of the division from the 14th until the morning of the 17th, when it was moved to the old road, afterwards known as the "Bloody Lane." The Fourth Regiment was commanded by Captain Marsh, the Second by Colonel Tew, the Thirtieth by Colonel Parker, the Fourteenth by Colonel Bennett, the brigade by General George B. Anderson, General D. H. Hill having com- mand of the division. The Thirtieth was on the right of the brigade, the Fourth next, then the Fourteenth, and the Second was on the left. About an hour after sunrise the enemy came in sight and began the attack at once. Anderson's Brigade was partially protected by the bank of the old road above mentioned, which ran parallel with the line of battle in rear of the crest of Fourth Regiment. 247 a ridge which concealed our men from the enemy's sight until they were within seventy-five or eighty yards of us. About nine o'clock the enemy's line of battle appeared, mov- ing in magnificent style, with mounted officers in full uniform, swords gleaming, banners, plumes and sashes waving, and bayo- nets glistening in the sun. On they came with steady tramp and confident mien. They did not see our single line of hungry, jaded and dusty men, who were lying down, until within good musket shot, when we rose and delivered our fire with terrible effect. Instantly the air was filled with the cries of wounded and dying and the shouts of brave officers, trying to hold and encourage ' their men, who recoiled at the awful and stunning shock so unexpectedly received. Soon they rallied and advanced again ; this time more cautiously than before. Our men held their fire until they were within good range again, and again they rose to their feet and mowed them down, so that they were com- pelled to retire a second time; but they rallied and came again, and the battle now became general all along the line. The roar of musketry was incessant and the booming of cannon almost without intermission. Occasionally the shouts of men could be heard above the awful din, indicating a charge or some advantage gained by one side or the other. Horses without riders were rushing across the field, occasionally a section of artillery could be seen flying from one point to another, seeking shelter from some murderous assault, or securing a more commanding posi- tion. Soon Captain Marsh was mortally wounded and borne from the field. The command of the regiment then devolved upon Captain Osborne, who in turn was wounded and borne from the field. One by one the other company officers fell, either killed or wounded, until Second Lieutenant Weaver, of Company H, was in command of the handful of men who were left, and then he was killed bearing the colors of the regiment in his hand. The regiment was left without a commissioned officer; but the men needed none, except for general purposes. There were not more than one hundred and fifty men for duty, every one of whom seemed to realize his own value, and to act 248 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. with that cool and determined courage which showed that he understood the emergency, and was determined to do his best. All day long the battle raged with almost unabated fury and with varying results, sometimes one side gaining the advantage and then the other. As the day wore away the contest seemed to gather new force. The enemy renewed their efforts to gain what they had failed to achieve during the day, while the Confederates were equally determined to defeat their aims. The flower of the two great armies had met in open field, and neither was willing to leave the other in possession. The Northern troops displayed wonder- ful courage and obstinancy during the entire day, while our men held their ground with equal courage and determination. Gen- eral Anderson and Colonel Parker were wounded. Colonel Tew was killed, and Colonel Bennett had command of the brigade. The men of different regiments became mixed with each other so that all distinct organization of regiments was broken up, and all identity lost — still the men maintained their positions in line, and fought like heroes. General Hill was with his men all day long, encouraging and cheering them by his presence and by his cool and fearless bearing. On two occasions the enemy approach- ed to within about thirty yards of our line, but each time they were forced to retire. Late in the day the enemy forced his way beyond the right of the brigade, and Colonel Bennett found it necessary to retire from the "Bloody Lane." This he did in good order, and in doing so passed within sixty yards of the right flank of the enemy's line; but they were so hotly engaged with one of our lines in front that they did not observe the Colonel's movement until he had extricated his men from their dangerous position, and passed some distance to the enemy's front and left. Finding a piece of artillery which had been abandoned, the Colonel manned it and opened fire upon the enemy's line. Captains Harney and Beall with Sergeant P. D. Weaver, all of the Fourteenth, were the men who manned the gun. In this movement the Fourth Regiment lost a number of men from companies I and K, on Fourth Regiment. 249 the left, who were taken prisoners: being separated from the right by a little hillock, they did not know the retreat had taken place until they were in the hands of the enemy. This new position was held during the rest of the day. The command remained on the field until night, when the battle ended. They then bivouacked in a grove near by. The next day the brigade was commanded by Major Collins, Colonel Bennett having been disabled. The Fourth Regiment was commanded by Orderly Sergeant Thomas W. Stephenson, of Company C. General Hill had the brigade formed, and made a lit- tle speech to them, calling them "the faithful few," warmly com- mending their courage and fortitude during the fearful conflict of the day before. In this battle General George B. Anderson, who commanded the brigade, was wounded. His wound proved fatal, and the Confederacy lost one of its noblest defenders. He was the first Colonel of the Fourth Regiment. The writer of this sketch knew him well and loved him much. He was a perfect speci- men of a man in every way. A graduate of West Point, a devoted Churchman, a pure and chivalrous gentleman, as modest and chaste as a woman, as brave and daring as a man could be. His was a very great loss. The 18th day of September was spent near the hard fought field of the day before, in constant expectation of another engage- ment, while details were occupied in burying the dead and caring for the wounded; our own wounded being sent across the river to the Virginia side. At night all remaining baggage and troops crossed over; the writer of this narrative being left at the house of Mrs. Boteler, in Shepherdstown, Va., where he lay for six weeks in a most helpless and precarious condition from the wound received on the 17th, and where he received every atten- tion that human kindness could provide on the part of the mem- bers of the family, and also from Mr. Darnell, a faithful nurse detailed from the hospital, to whom he is indebted for his life. He would also mention with gratitude, his faithful negro servant, Gus, who remained with him during the time in spite of the 250 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-65. efforts that were made to induce him to go away with the North- ern troops, who held the town where we were. On the 20th of September the regiment took part in the attack that was made on the Northern troops who had crossed the river near the town. This engagement proved disastrous to the enemy, many of them being killed, and many drowned in the river as they retreated across. Afterward the command was removed to the neighborhood of Fredericksburg, where it spent the winter doing picket duty and recruiting its numbers. The writer hav- ing been captured while wounded, in Shepherdstown, was not exchanged until after the battle of Fredericksburg. FREDERICKSBURG. On the 13th of December our brigade was placed in position to support the artillery, preparatory to the battle of Fredericks- burg, which took place on the 15th. We were held in reserve until after the enemy had made the first charge, when the brigade was moved forward and took the front line, which it held the remainder of the day. Our loss in this engagement was but trifling, as we were protected by breastworks most of the time. Immediately after the battle of Fredericksburg we went into winter quarters on the south bank of the Rapidan River, where we remained for the balance of the winter. CHANCELLORSVILLE. On the 1st of May, 1863, the enemy bagan to make demonstra- tions indicating a purpose of beginning the campaign. We now began that grand movement which, but for the untimely wound- ing of General Jackson, would have resulted in the entire destruction of Hooker's army. The brigade was commanded by the brave and gallant Ramseur, who displayed remarkable cour- age and skill in managing it during this campaign, and as long as he continued in command. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Grimes. After much skirmishing, and then a long and circuitous route, we found ourselves on the extreme right of Fourth Eegiment. 251 Hooker's army. This was the 2d of May. Though late iu the afternoon, and the troops much fatigued, line of battle was formed, and the attack begun. We struck the enemy squarely OH the. flank, and everything gave way before us until night put a stop to our advance. Many prisoners and much baggage and stores were captured. We slept on the field that night, and on the 3d of May was fought th.e battle of Chancellorsville. The left of the Fourth Regiment was near the great road which ran in rear of the enemy's works and nearly parallel with them, our line of battle extending to the right of this road at right angles with it. At daylight the battle began, Jackson's Corps, now under Stuart, attacking the enemy's right, while other troops engaged their front. Ramseur's Brigade was formed in the rear of Paxton's brigade that held a line of breastworks which we had captured the day before. This brigade was ordered to advance and charge the enemy in front, but they failed to comply with the order, whereupon General Ramseur, who was present, and heard the command, offered to make the charge. The order was then given in the presence of Colonel Grimes, when they both hurried back to the brigade and ordered the men forward. When the breastworks were reached the men who occupied them were lying down, our men passing literally over them and across the works, formed line of battle in front of the enemy, in the face of a destructive fire. The command "Double-quick" was given, when the Fourth Regiment, under Colonel Grimes, and part of the Second, under Colonel Cox, moved forward and drove the enemy from their works. There were several batteries on the hill in front, but when the infantry left the works the artillery was quickly abandoned. These batteries had done ter- rible havoc among our troops as they approached the enemy's lines. Several efforts were made by the enemy to recover their works, but they were driven back each time with heavy loss. Afterwards they extended their lines and came down upon our right flank, threatening to cut off our retreat, when we were com- pelled to fall back and rejoin the other part of the brigade, which still occupied the line from which the charge had been made. 252 NoKTH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Colonel Grimes received a severe contusion in this part of the engagement, and when he reached the breastworks referred to he fell fainting to the ground. He soon revived and was ready for action again. Meanwhile General Rodes came up and ordered the troops, who had refused to charge, to move forward, when the whole line, thus re-inforced, returned and captured the entire line of works. Our loss was very severe. Forty-six oiScers and men were killed outright, fifty-seven wounded, and fifty-eight captured, out of three hundred and twenty-seven officers and men who went into the engagement. General Cox, in his address on the "Life and Character of General Ramseur," gives a copy of a letter from General Lee to Governor Vance, in which he speaks in terms of high praise of the conduct of Ramseur and his brigade in this engagement, and states that General Jackson had sent him a message to the same effect, after he was wounded, in reference to his conduct the day before. General Ramseur in his official report says : " The charge of the brigade, made at a critical moment, when the enemy had broken and was hotly pressing the centre of the line in front with apparently overwhelming numbers, not only checked his advance, but threw him back in disorder and pur- sued him with heavy loss from his last line of works. Too high praise cannot be accredited to officers and men for their gallantry, manly courage and fortitude during this brief but arduous campaign. " The advance of the line on Friday was made under the eyes of our departed hero (Jackson) and of General A. P. Hill, whose words of commendation and praise bestowed on the field we fondly cherish. And on Sunday the magnificent charge of the brigade upon the enemy's last and most terrible stronghold was made in view of General Stuart and General Rodes, whose testimony that it was the most glorious charge of that most glorious day, we are proud to remember and report to our kindred and friends. All met the enemy with unflinching courage; and for privation, hardships and splendid marches, all of which were Fourth Regiment. 253 cheerfully borne, they deserve the praise of our beautiful and glorious Confederacy." The victory was complete, and we were left in undisputed possession of the field. Nothing could surpass the dashing skill and courage of the brilliant and accomplished Ramseur on this occasion, and the day before, while the intrepid Grimes shone with magnificent splendor by his side. They were like two lion- hearted brothers, while the gallant Cox, heroic Parker and the brave and sturdy Bennett, always in the thickest of the fight, and where duty called, constituted a galaxy that any country might well be proud to own. It was a dearly bought victory — many of our best young men laid down their lives that day. After a few weeks' rest and recuperation the command was again on the move, BRANDY STATION. On the 9th of June we supported the Confederate cavalry at Brandy Station. Though under fire, we were not actively engaged. We then went to the Valley and assisted in driving the enemy from Berryville and Martinsburg, and on the 15th of June crossed into Maryland with Lee's airmy and participated in the Gettysburg campaign. The conduct of the men on this march through the enemy's country was orderly and gentlemanly in the highest degree. There was no straggling, no disorder and no plundering. The only disturbance of the property of the country the writer saw was the men helping themselves to the splendid supplies of cherries that grew along the lanes through which we passed. GETTYSBURG. On the 1st of July, 1863, we moved off about sunrise toward Gettysburg. About 3 o'clock p. m. we arrived at the scene of action. The battle bad begun, as was apparent from the roar of artillery and musketry in our front and to the right. The Fourth Regiment was on the left of the brigade, under Colonel Grimes. We were ordered forward in advance of the main line 254 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. of battle. We had only moved a few paces when our direction was changed by the right flank. Marching a few hundred yards, we were recalled by General Rodes and formed on a hill, in connection with the Second Regiment, to repel an attack that was threatened from that quarter. In a few minutes a brigade of Federals appeared in our front, moving obliquely to the left instead of advancing towards us. Genera! Rodes then ordered the Second and Fourth Regiments to advance upon them. Soon we were exposed to a severe fire, enfilading our lines from the woods on the right, which caused Colonel Grimes to change front to the right. We then advanced upon the enemy, and being joined by the other two regiments of the brigade, we drove them before us in much confusion, capturing a large number of prison- ers. We were the first to enter the town of Gettysburg, and halted to rest on the road leading out toward the west. Here we remained until night, when we were ordered to make a night attack; but after approaching within a short distance of the enemy's lines the order was countermanded, and we returned to the position first occupied. On the 3d of July we were under heavy firing from the enemy's guns, but only a few men were hurt, as we were protected by a ridge. We lost some valuable men in this battle, among whom was Lieutenant John Stockton, of Company H. He was a brave, modest, conscientious, Christian soldier, just in the beginning of his manhood. The regiment behaved splendidly in this battle. In fact, the men had become so much accustomed to marching and fighting that we never thought of their doing otherwise. On the 5th of July, Ewell's Corps began the retreat from Gettysburg, and the regiment formed part of the rearguard of the army, which position it occupied until ^ the army recrossed the Potomac at or near Hagerstown. The men bore the hard- ships and privations of this most trying campaign with remarka- ble cheerfulness and fortitude. After crossing the Potomac into Virginia, we went to Orange Court House, where we remained doing picket duty until about the middle of November, when we went into winter quarters some eight miles from that town, Fourth Eegiment. 255 and spent the winter doing picket duty on the Eappahannock, participating in the skirmish at Kelley's Ford, and also at Mine Run. SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE. On the 5th of May, 1864, General Grant began his movement toward Richmond, having crossed the Rapidan with more than a hundred thousand men. From that day until the close of the campaign the regiment was actively engaged almost every day. On the 8th of May two companies of the regiment were detailed to strengthen the line of sharp-shooters commanded by Major Osborne, now numbering, so re-inforced, some three hundred men. After manoeuvering for some time with the enemy, Gen- eral Ramseur rode to the front and ordered a charge. The men moved off in a double-quick, crossing a field some two hundred and fifty yards wide, and driving the enemy's skirmishers before us. We encountered a line of battle on the top of the ridge. With a shout, the men pushed forward, and the enemy's line gave way, leaving their baggage in heaps where they had piled it pre- paratory to an engagement. On the 9th of May we had a sharp encounter with the enemy in force. After some twenty minutes fighting, we advanced upon them, when they retired. On the lOth and 11th our sharp- shooters were actively engaged, day and night, and the regiment kept in line of battle most of the time. On the evening of the 11th an attack was made upon our right, breaking the line. General Battle's (Alabama) Brigade rushed in and supported the line that had been driven back, and with the aid of our brigade, which charged the enemy's right flank, they were driven back and the line was restored after a most stubborn and determined resistance on the part of the foe. On the morning of the 12th of May the euemy made a furious assault upon General Edward Johnston's line, half a mile to our right, breaking the line and capturing many men. Rodes' Division was ordered to retrieve the loss. The fate of the army was at stake. Ramseur, with his brigade, led the charge, and in the face of the most murderous fire drove back the foe and restored the broken line. Ramseur 266 jSToeth Caeolina Troops, 1861-'65. was wounded in this charge when near the retaken works. Colo- nel Grimes took command of the brigade for the remainder of that day and for some days after. Lieutenant-Colonel Wood was now in command of the regiment, and continued in com- mand until his death. He was a most faithful, brave and consci- entious Christian soldier; a lovely gentleman and skillful officer. The broken line was retaken after a most fearful encounter, and held until after 2 o'clock at night, during which time we repelled more than twenty distinct and desperate attempts of the enemy to retake the works we had recaptured in the morning. Speaking of the battle of the 12th of May, an army cor- respondent of the London Herald says : "Ramseur's Brigade of North Carolina Troops being, ordered to charge, were received by the enemy with stubborn resistance. The desperate character of the struggle along that brigade was told terribly by the rapidity of its musketry. So close was the fighting there for a time, that the fire of friends and foe rose up rattling in one common roar. Ramseur's North Carolinians dropped thick and fast, but he continued with glorious constancy to gain ground, foot by foot. Pressing under a fierce fire reso- lutely on, on, on, the struggle was about to become one of hand- to-hand, when the Federalists shrank from the bloody trial, driven back, but not defeated. They bounded on the opposite side of the earth-works, placing them in their front, and renew- ed the conflict. A rush of an instant brought Ramseur's men to the side of the defenses; and though they crouched close to the slopes under an enfilade from the guns of the salient their musketry rattled in deep and deadly fire on the enemy that stood in overwhelming numbers but a few yards from their front. Those brave North Carolinians had thus, ih one of the hottest conflicts of the day, driven the enemy from the works that had been occupied during the previous night by a brigade which until May the 12th, had never yielded to a foe — ' The Stonewall.' " ** *****^ Ramseur, though suffering much from the wound in his hand would not leave the field until the fight was over, and soon FOURTH REGIMENT. 1. W. C. Cougliinoiir, Captain, Co. K. a. William F. Kelly, Captain, Co. G. 3. S. A. Kelly, Captain, Co. G. 4. Jesse S. Barnes, Captain, Co. F. 5. John B. Andrews, Captain, Co. C. 0. H. M. Warren, Captain, Co. F. 7. M. L. Bean, Captain, Co. K. 8. Tliomas M. Allen, Captain, Co. E. Fourth Regiment. 257 afterwards resumed the command of his brigade with his arm in a sling. This was one of the most splendid achievements of the war, and was accomplished in magnificent style. Ramseur, on his fiery steed, looked like an angel of war. Grimes, too, was on his horse, the very picture of coolness, grira determination and undaunted courage, while Wood and the other officers and men moved into the horrible conflict like men of iron and steel. The enemy, flushed with their temporary success, stood their ground with persistent and stubborn firmness, and poured into our ranks a destructive fire. But onward moved our lion-hearted men, closing up their rapidly thinning ranks, and pouring a continuous storm of leaden hail into the enemy's ranks, as he slowly, but stubbornly retired, until he reached the line of works, as described above, from which he was driven almost at the very point of the bayonet. The pits at the breastworks were filled with water from recent rains; many dead and wounded from both sides were lying in the pits when we reached them. The water was red with human gore. The bodies of the dead were dragged out, and the men took shelter in their places, which they held for the balance of the day. The writer received a painful contusion from a ball that passed through a heavy canteen of water which he carried, and which no doubt saved his life. After recovering from the temporary shock, he resumed his place in line of battle, where he remained the rest of the day. After the battle General Rodes thanked the brigade in person, saying they deserved the thanks of the country, and that they had saved Ewell's Corps. General Early also made a similar statement in regard to this occasion. Our loss included some of the best of our brave and well tried men. Among the number was Cap- tain William McRorie, of Company A, as brave and gallant a youth as ever drew a sword. About 2 o'clock in the morning we changed our position to one more advantageous, which we held until the 19th of May. The position occupied by the brigade was just to the left of "the bloody angle," the right of the Fourth Regiment extending to within a few rods of the 17 258 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. angle, where the trees were literally cut down by minie- balls from the enemy's guns. This was one of the most prolonged and stubbornly contested engagements of the war. It began about halfpast ifive in the morning and lasted until near two o'clock the next morning, and the enemy made very many assaults upon the lines during the time, but without avail. On the 19th of May we made a flank movement upon the left of Grant's army, which resulted in a heavy engagement. Here we met the enemy in the open field, without breastworks on either side. Both sides were determined to do their best, and displayed the most undaunted courage. Night put an end to the engagement, and the next morning found both armies some dis- tance from the scene of the engagement. Our loss was sixty- five men killed and wounded. Among the former was the brave and gallant Christian soldier, Augustus Byers, and among the latter the writer of this narrative. In speaking of this engagement of the 19th of May, General Grimes in his notes says: "Two of the 'Old Guard' killed — Gus Byers . and Taylor. The old Fourth lost sixty-five killed and wounded." The regiment was under the command of Colonel Wood, and acted with its usual courage and firmness under a very trying ordeal, being at one time completely flanked by the enemy ; but by a skillful movement we changed front to the left and met the foe in good order. This was an open field engagement, and both sides deported themselves with much courage and determination. After this the command was kept continually on the move until the army reached the vicinity of Richmond ; in fact, for the rest of the summer and fall. On the 22d of May we reached Hanover Junction, after much manoeuvering and skirmishing, the enemy endeavoring to flank us. On the 25th a severe fight came ofi", and again on the 30tb, in both of which the enemy was repulsed. Our loss in these engagements was small. Again on the 3d of June a fierce and bloody engagement occurred, in which the enemy again retired. This was one of the bloodiest fights of the campaign, and the enemy's loss was very heavy. Fourth Regiment. 259 On the 13th of June the division moved in the direction of South Anna River to meet the reported advance of General Hun- ter. General Grimes was now in command of the division, in the absence of General Rodes. On the 4th of July Harper's Ferry was captured with con- siderable stores and a number of prisoners. This was a gala day for the Confederates. The enemy had prepared a sumptuous feast, and was celebrating the day, when our men made the attack, drove him out of the town, and captured everything just as he was about to begin the feast. Of course our hungry and thirsty men enjoyed the booty to the fullest extent. On the 6th of July the command crossed the Potomac at Shepherdstown, Va., and on the 7th passed through Fredrick City, going towards Washington City, meeting with slight resistance from the few troops who were left there. At the Monocacy River we encountered General Wallace, who had been sent to intercept and resist our advance. His troops occupied the east bank of the river, but his skirmishers were on the west side. These were driven back, and after a short engagement the whole Federal force gave way, leaving the field, with their dead and wounded, in our hands, with five or six hundred prisoners. The Federals fought well, and our loss was severe; but the troops were in good spirits. The command moved on to Rock- ville on the 10th, and on the 11th reached Eleventh Street Pike, which leads into the City of Washington, and advanced to the neighborhood of Fort Stephens. After two or three days we be- gan the retreat for Virginia, during which there were frequent skirmishes but no important engagements. The command recrossed the Potomac at Leesburg, crossed the Blue Ridge at Snicker's Gap and the Shenandoah at Snicker's Ford. snicker's gap. On the 18th of July the regiment participated in a fierce and bloody encounter with the enemy near Snicker's Gap. Several brigades of Federal troops had crossed to the south side of the Shenandoah, leaving a considerable force on the north bank as a 260 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. ■ support and a cover for their movements. This force could not be reached by our men, but isept up an annoying fire upon us while we engaged the force on the south side of the river. Here occurred one of the most exciting scenes of the war. The enemy pursuing Ewell, had crossed to the south side of the river. Our men hurried back to meet them, and when they came in sight the enemy had formed line of battle parallel with and on the south side of the river. Our men were in lineof battle on the ridge several hundred yards to the south. About half way between the two lines, in the valley, was a stone fence. As soon as this was seen our men made a dash for it. The Federals seeing this, and knowing the value of such a defence, made a dash for it at the same time. Away went both lines of battle at full speed as fast as their feet could carry them, scarcely taking time to fire a single shot, both lines running for dear life to gain this coveted prize. But our men had the advantage of down grade, and gained the wall, while the enemy was some fifty or more yards away, and in much disorder. He instantly faced about when he saw that our men would reach the wall first, and beat a hasty retreat, making for the ford at which he had crossed. Our men opened fire upon him and he suffered heavily, leaving many of his men and three regimental flags on the field. The brigade charged the enemy and drove him in and across the river, capturing many prisoners. Among the soldiers who fell that day was the brave and gallant Colonel James H. "Wood, who was in command of the regiment at the time he fell. No better man died during the warthan this splendid soldier. He was a Christian gentlemen, a young man of much promise, and a rnodel soldier; brave, gallant and faith- ful. He died at the post of duty, giving his life a willing sacri- fice for the cause of liberty, which he loved more than life itself. At this engagement also fell Colonel W. A. Owens, of the Fifty- third (N. C.) Regiment, and Lieutenant-Colonel W. S. Stallings, of the Second (N. C.) Eegiment. All of these brave and gallant men were much beloved in the army and at home, and in their deaths the cause lost three of its most splendid men. Fourth Regiment. 261 After this fight the enemy's sharp-shooters annoyed our men very much with their long-range rifles, firing from the tree-tops. A man of the Fourth Regiment, whose name I have not been able to learn, discovered one of these sharp-shooters in the top of a tree. He ran from tree to tree until within range of his own gun, and brought him down the first shot. The enemy's men ran oiut and fired upon this daring Confederate, while our men rushed to his rescue; but they could not save him — he fell pierced with bullets. There was no more firing from the trees at that place. The command of the regiment now devolved upon Captain S. A. Kelly, of Company G, who continued in command until wounded and captured at the battle of Winchester, when Major Stansill was put in command, which he retained until the month of March, when he gave it up on account of a wound, and Cap- tain Forcum commanded it until the surrender. The brigade, under command of General William R. Cox, was kept constantly on the move in the neighborhood of Berry ville, Newtown, Mid- dletown, Strasburg, Kearnstown and Bunker Hill, sometimes tearing up the railroad track ; again skirmishing with the enemy, and then resting for a few days, awaiting orders; at one time crossing the Potomac and going as far as Hagerstown, Md. ; then returning rapidly to Bunker Hill, and from there to Winchester ; and then again to Strasburg and Harper's Ferry. The health and spirits of the men were good, and they were always pleased to be in motion, even if it involved a skirmish with the enemy. At Stevenson's Depot and Berryville there was considerable fighting, with variable results; sometimes retreating, and some- times advancing ; but most generally the latter, as the enemy's forces were at that time usually small, and they not much dis- posed to make a stubborn fight. THE BATTLE OF WINCHESTER. On the 19th of September the brigade was under arms at an early hour. About 10 o'clock a. m. line of battle was formed by three brigades of the division. Grimes (Rodes') on the 262 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. « right, Cox in the center and Cooke on the left. Our command was on the left of the Winchesler and Martinsburg road. ^ We soon engaged the enemy, who had approached near our position, and who after a short encounter gave way. Cox pressed him vigo- rously through an open field, while Grimes drove him through the woods, Cooke supporting our left. At this point General Rodes was killed, but the men did not observe the fact at the time. So they pressed on, driving everything before them, and captured a number of prisoners who had secreted themselves in a ditch. The brigade moved on to the crest of the ridge where Grimes had formed his line. Here General Evans' Brigade was driven back, leaving our left exposed. A battery was sent to our relief and the advance of the enemy checked at this point. Between 4 and 5 o'clock we fell back in good order, as the enemy had passed our left and threatened our rear. Line of battle was formed upon the crest of some hills, from which we advanced, again driving the enemy, but being outflanked, we had to retire again, which was done in good order. The whole army was now in retreat. Our division held the enemy in cheek until the greater part of our men had withdrawn, and then retreated in column for some distance, when the brigade formed line of bat- tle and protected the artillery until night. We then continued the retreat until we came to Fisher's Hill. The Fourth Regi- ment was actively engaged with the brigade during this engage- ment and suffered considerably. Among the killed was the brave and devoted soldier. Lieutenant T. W. Stevenson, of Company C, and a number of our best men of the ranks. This was a most disastrous day for the Confederacy. The brave and gallant Rodes and many valuable officers and men were killed. The battle lasted nine hours, and the men were under arms for forty-eight hours, with but little chance for rest or rations. The command returned to Strasburg, from there to New Market, fighting much of the way, and keeping in good order. From Port Republic we marched to Weir's Cave, thence to Waynesboro, Mt. Sidney, Harrisonburg, and back again to New Market. Fourth Eegiment. 263 CEDAR CREEK, Our next encounter with the enemy was at Cedar Creek. By a well planned flank movement, after marching all night, we attack- ed the enemy at daylight on the 19th of October, 1864. The surprise was complete, and the enemy fled from his tents without arms, and many of the men in their night clothes. So completely were they demoralized that a whole division fled before our little brigade, having made but slight resistance. Some six thousand prisoners and much artillery and baggage were captured. Until 3 o'clock everything was ours. But between 3 and 4 o'clock p. M. the enemy rallied under the direction of General Sheridan, who met the retreating columns about that time, turned them back, and wrested most of the fruits of the victory, except the prisoners, from our grasp. Ramseur, the brave successor of the gallant Rodes, was mortally wounded, and our command barely escaped being captured. As an evidence of the severity of this i5ght, there stands a marble shaft on the field with an inscription which states that it marks the place where the Eighth Vermont Regiment fought that day, and that of one huodred and sixty- four men and sixteen officers they lost one hundred and ten men and thirteen officers killed and wounded. The loss of the Fourth Regiment in this fight was comparatively small, but among the number was the brave and gallant Lieutenant William Richard McNeely, of Company A, than whom a better soldier never drew a sword. Among the wounded was John A. Stikeleather, the faithful standard-bearer of the regiment, who soon recovered, however, and bore the colors of the Fourth Regiment until the surrender. When Ramseur fell. General Grimes, our former Colonel, took command of the division, which he retained until the close of the war. This was a sad day for our cause. We were simply overpowered by numbers, the enemy having about five men to our one. As it was, our division held its own, or rather was victorious, until the troops on the left gave way about 4 o'clock 264 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. in the afternoon, and then it was compelled to retire, but retained its organization and saved the army from a complete rout. A KIGHT ATTACK. On this campaign occurred one of those most trying experi- ences to a soldier's nerves, namely, a night attack. It was known that the enemy was in the neighborhood. After night the men were ordered to lay aside everything that could make a noise, such as canteens, tin cups, pans, etc. At a late hour, when all was quiet, an order was passed down the line in a whisper to move slowly and stealthily forward. After going considerable distance and approaching near the enemy's line, some one stepped on a rail, or a pole, which broke with a loud report. Instantly every man fell with his face to the ground. A stream of fire blazed out along the enemy's line, and a shower of bullets whistled over their heads. The next instant the men were on their feet firing and yelling as they advanced. The lines were so near and the movement of our men so rapid that the Federals could not reload their guns, so they fled through the woods in the dark, and our men were glad to rest until morning. On the 23d of November the command was marched from New Market to meet a heavy force of cavalry that approached Rood's Hill. After considerable fighting the enemy was routed and driven away. The ground was covered with snow, and the men suffered much from cold and exposure. On the 13th of December, 1864, the command went to Petersburg, where they spent the winter, sharing the dangers and hardships of the seige. On the 25th of March, 1865, General Grimes made an attack upon the enemy's works at Petersburg, capturing a number of prisoners and twelve pieces of artillery; but the Fourth Regiment did not participate in this affair, as the courier got lost in the dark and failed to deliver the orders to the officer in command. The 1st of April, 1865, the enemy attacked the line on our right and left, bat did not molest our brigade. The fight at Fort Gregg was very fierce, and the men of our command saw the fall of that stronghold, but could afford no assistance, as their own front Fourth Eegxment. 265 would have been exposed had they left their position. On the 6th, Grimes' Division was covering Lee's retreat, when a determined stand was made at Sailor's Creek and the enemy held in check until both flanks of the division were turned by supsrior numbers, and the command was saved from capture by a rapid retreat. Grimes staid with his men until all were over the creek and the bridge destroyed, then plunging his horse, Warren, into the water, crossed over under a perfect storm of bullets and made his escape. On the 7th of April Cox's Brigade, with two others, under General Grimes, formed line of battle and hurried to the relief of General Mahone, whose line was giving way before the enemy. A charge was made and the enemy driven back and a large num- ber of prisoners captured. General Lee complimented the men in person for their gallantry on this occasion. On the 8th the men marched all day, hungry, tired and sore, but cheerful and brave. About 9 o'clock that night heavy firing was heard in front, when the men were ordered forward, and marched most of the night, passing through the town of Apporaatox Court House before day, Sunday morning, the 9th, and engaged in the fight which occurred near that place. The enemy was repulsed and the men were withdrawn after driving the enemy from his posi- tion, and the division started to rejoin the main body of Gordon's Corps. General Grimes rode forward and asked General Gordon where he should form his men. The general answered, "Any- where you please." Struck by this answer. Grimes asked for an explanation, when he was told that the army had been sur- rendered by General Lee. I close this part of this sljetch with the following quota- tion from an address delivered by Henry A. London, Esq., of Pittsboro. After telling how General Grimes had planned and carried out successfully the last fight made by any part of General Lee's army on the 9th of May at Appomattox Court House, and had driven the enemy away from General Lee's front, driving them for nearly a mile, he continues: "General Grimes then sent a messenger to General Gordon, 266 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. annouDcing his success, and that the road to LyDchburg was now open for the escape of the wagons. Then, to his great surprise, he i-eceived orders to retire, which he declined to do, thinking that General Gordon did not understand the commanding posi- tion held by him. General Gordon still continued to send orders to withdraw, which General Grimes continued to disregard, still thinking that General Gordon was in ignorance of his position, until finally an order came from General Lee himself, and then slowly and sullenly our men began to retrace their 'Steps over the ground from which they had so successfully driven the enemy. This withdrawal was conducted in an orderly manner, although in the immediate front of a greatly superior force. At one time the enemy, with loud cheers, made a sudden rush as if to overwhelm our little band ; but the brigade of General W. R. Cox ( which was bringing up the rear) faced about, and with the steadiness of veterans on parade, poured such a sudden and deadly volley into the astonished Federals that they hastily retired in confusion. This was the last volley fired at Appomattox, and the last ever fired by the grand old Army of Northern Virginia." SOME OFFICERS AND MEN OP THE FOURTH REGIMENT. Colonel George B. Anderson has been spoken of. He was a remarkable man. He had a handsome figure, was a fine horse- man; a splendid tactician; had a clear, musical voice; a mild blue-gray eye; a fine golden beard, long and flowing, and a very commanding presence. His discipline was mild, but firm; and his courage and patriotism of the very highest order. He was a firm believer in God and a devout Churchman. Lieutenant-Colonel John Augustus Young has also been mentioned. He was a gentleman of the olden type; a Christian of a high order, and a devoted patriot; kind and genial in his nature; and a devoted Southern man. If he had been permitted to remain with the regiment he would no doubt have proved himself a worthy successor to the peerless Anderson. Colonel Bryan Grimes was a soldier of a very high order. His coolness and unwavering courage, as well as his judgment Fourth Regiment. 267 and skill, commanded the confidence and respect of all who knew him, and he was widely known. He was a most conscientious, man, and a firm believer in the Gospel of Christ. Colonel James H. Wood was cut down in the beginning of a most promising career. He was a true and faithful soldier. Cool, dashing and skillful. A man who feared God and eschewed evil. His loss was most deeply felt in the regiment. He was not quite twenty-four years old. Major A. K. Simonton fell just in the beginning of the war. He was a prominent figure in the regiment, and gave promise of a most brilliant career. He was a soldier by nature, and a gen- tleman in every sense of the word. Lieutenant-Colonel David M. Carter was a prominent lawyer before and after the war. He was a brave and sturdy soldier. Being permanently disabled by a wound received at Seven Pines, he was assigned to duty as Judge Advocate of the General Court- martial, where he continued until the close of the war. Captain F. Y. McNeely resigned early in the war on account of bad health. He was killed by the enemy in the raid that was made upon Salisbury at the close of the war. Captain Jesse S. Barnes was killed at Seven Pines. He was a splendid young officer of great promise; a most intelligent, genial and promising man; a man of education, young and talented ; a good soldier, and very highly esteemed in the regi- ment. Captain William T. Marsh was mortally wounded at Sharps- burg. He was standing within two feet of the writer of this sketch when stricken. He was a man of education, intelligence and great force of character and a good soldier. Major John W. Dunham was also a prominent character in the Fourth Regiment. He was a gallant soldier, and a man of unusual promise. His wound, received early in the war, dis- abled him for life, and finally, after untold suffering, caused his death. Captain W. C. Coughenour was also a striking figure in the Fourth Regiment. He entered the service as First Lieutenant of 268 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Company K, and was in all the engagements with the regiment but one; and was twice wounded. He was Brigade Inspector under Generals Eamseur and Cox, and in 1865 was made Inspector-General of Dearing's Cavalry Brigade, afterwards Gen- eral Roberts' Brigade. As good and true a man as ever lived. Major J. F. Stansill did good service in the Fourth Regiment. He was in most of the battles with the regiment, and was five times wounded. He was a man of courage and always at the post of duty. Captain John B. Andrews was a man much beloved in the Fourth Regiment. As gentle and modest as a woman, yet a brave and faithful soldier. He was wounded at Cold Harbor,, from which he died. Captain John B. Forcum, of Company H, was one of the faithful men of the regiment. Seldom sick or wounded, he was always at his post, and was in command of the regiment at the surrender. Conspicuous among the officers of the regiment were the mem- bers of the medical staff. Dr. J. K. King was a very striking man in person, character and ability. He soon resigned on account of bad health. Chief Surgeon J. F. Shaffner, M. D., was a young man of splendid ability ; a man of education and fine attainments, and always faithful to the important task committed to him. Assistant Surgeon J. M. Hadley, M. D., was also a man of €ducation, talent and ability, ever working in harmony with his chief. Hospital Steward, Dr. J. W. Guffy, was also a most excellent man, and as fuithful to his duty as a man could be. The patient and untiring devotion of these gentlemen to the interest and welfare of the men of the regiment won for them the undying gratitude of us all. Captain Thomas H. Blount and Captain John D. Hyman were Quartermaster and Commissary of the regiment. Both were men of education and ability. Though non-combatants, yet Fourth Regiment. 269 both volunteered as aids to General Anderson. The former was killed and the latter permanently disabled. Captain W. G. Kelly commanded the regiment in the battle of Fredericksburg, after which he resigned, and his brother. Cap- tain S. A. Kelly, was appointed in his place. The latter bravely led his company through many trying and bloody campaigns, and was for some time in command of the regiment. He was wounded and captured at Winchester in 1864. Captain W. S. Barnes was for two years Adjutant of the regi- ment. But when Colonel Grimes was promoted he was made Captain and given a place on his staff, where he continued till the close of the war. All know how true and faithful he was. No better man ever wore the gray than Captain Marcus Hofflin. He was transferred to light duty on account of lameness in his feet, after he had seen much hard service and suffered very much. Captains C. S. Alexander, W. G. Falls and William McRorie were a splendid trio — school-mates of the writer. Alexander and Falls fell at Chancellorsville and McRorieat Spottsylvania. He fell within two feet of the writer, and expired without a groan. Lieutenant W. R. McNeely, who fell at the battle of Cedar Creek, was one of Iredell county's heroes. He was senior officer on the left of the regiment when he fell, and his loss was a serious one to his command. He was a cool and skillful officer and a good man. Lieutenants James Rufus Reid and Joseph C. White were two shining lights in the regiment. The former, though scarcely seventeen years old, a man in character, and much beloved by liis seniors and subordinates, fell a victim to disease early in the war. The latter was killed at Seven Pines. Lieutenants Watson, Cowan, Barber and Burke, of Company B, were all good men, and did their duties well while in the war. Lieutenant Thomas J. Brown was a good soldier. He was transferred to the Forty-second Regiment and became its Ma- jor. Lieutenants F. A. Carlton and A. S. Fraley were good soldiers and an honor to the cause. W. K. Eliason was assigned 270 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. special duty and also J. A. Cowan. Captains W. A. Kerr and G. A. Andrews were most excellent men; both were delicate m constitution. The former resigned early in the war and the latter was permanently disabled by a wound and died soon after the war. Lieutenant J. Pink Cowan, of Company A, was a brave and gallant soldier. He was killed at Chancellorsville. Lieutenant Thomas L. Perry, of Company E, was a most gallant soldier ; a man of education and intelligence, and faith- ful to his duties. He was mortally wounded at Seven Pines. Private William M. Durell, of Company K, was a good soldier. He was a Northern man, but devoted to the cause of the South, and fought through the war as a matter of principle. Captain E. S. Marsh was a good soldier and a worthy suc- cessor of his brother, the gallant and devoted soldier. Captain William T. Marsh, who was mortally wounded at Sharpsburg. He was appointed Major of the regiment, permanently disabled by a wound, and put upon light duty. Lieutenant Hamilton C. Long was wounded at Seven Pines, and resigned. Lieutenant J. W. Shinn was a talented and noble soldier, deli- cate in health, but always at his post. He fell a prey to disease. Lieutenant John Z. Dalton resigned early in the war. There was no better soldier and no stronger character in the regiment than Captain H. M. Warren, of Company F. W. O. Wootten, of the same company, was a good soldier. Also, Cap- tain T. M. Allen, who was wounded and captured. He was a good soldier. The writer remembers Lieutenants Creekman, Tuten, Bonner and Styron, of Company A, as good representative men of their section. We were blessed in having two good and faithful men of God as chaplains. The first was the Rev. William A. Wood. He soon resigned on account of ill health, and was succeeded by the Rev. Robert B. Anderson. Both were men of ability and did good service in their holy calling. The survivors of the Fourth Regiment will no doubt remem- FOURTH REGIMENT. 1. W. S. Barnes, Ordnance Sergeant. 2. James Rufiis Reid, Ist Lieut., Co. C. 3. J. D. Wells, 1st Lieut., Co. F. 4. William Richmond McNeely, IstLieut., Co. A. John A. Stikeleather, Ensign, Co. A. John G. Young, Sergeant-Major. Ben Allen Knox, Sergeant, Co. B. A. Friedhiem, Corporal, Co. K. Henry C. Severs, Private, Co. K. Fourth Regiment. 271 ber James Stinson and Mr. Bagley, the two faithful couriers, who were always conspicuous figures in time of battle. John G. Young, the Sergeant-major of the regiment, was also a well known character in the regiment. He volunteered in 1863, when about sixteen years of age; was for a time drill-mas- ter, having been a cadet; was never sick^ wounded, nor absent until the surrender. He asked leave to bring home the flag of the Fourth Regiment, but was not allowed to do so. Henry Severs was another brave Mecklenburg boy of about the same age. He was with General George B. Anderson when he was wounded, and assisted in helping that noble hero from the field of Sharpsburg. Private Augustus Byers, of Company A, was a representa- tive Southern man. A man of education and considerable means, he chose to serve as a soldier, and was killed near Chan- cellorsville, the 19th of May, 1864. He was a splendid man and a good soldier. Many members of the regiment were transferred and given offices in other commands. Among the number were the gallant Lieutenant-Colonel, J. McLeod Turner, of the Seventh North Carolina, and Major T. J. Brown, of the Forty-second North Caro- lina, before mentioned. Colonel H. C. Jones, of the Fifty-seventh Regiment, was at one time a member of Company K, though I believe this was before the Fourth Regiment was organized. Lieutenants Lee, Parker, Stith, Stevens and Thompson, all of Company F, made good soldiers and received promotion. Lieutenant T. M. C. Davidson, of Company A, was pro- moted from the ranks. He was a good soldier. Lieutenant Thomas W. Stephenson, of Company C, was a fine specimen of a soldier. Always ready for duty, and never flinching from danger. The same may be said of J. A. S. Feims- ter and S. A. Claywell of the same company. Captains Latham and Gallagher, of Company E, were good soldiers. The former was retired on account of wounds received in battle. The latter took his place in 1863, and served till the end of the war. Lieutenants Litchfield and Williamson sustained 272 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. themselves well as soldiers, and were highly esteemed in the regiment. Lieutenant Litchfield was killed in 1864, at or near Cold Harbor. Captain I. H. Carter, of Company E, was a brave soldier. He was killed at Fredricksburg in 1863. Lieutenant Guffy, of Company G, was a first-rate man. Lieutenants Smith, Cain, Smoot and Jones, of the same company, all stood well. Lieutenant Edward Tripp, of Company E, was a brave and faithful soldier, who had command of the company for quite a while, and was wounded and captured in 1864. Lieutenants Kennedy, Summers and Stockton, of Company H, were good representative men of Iredell county. Lieuten- ant Summers was badly wounded at Chancellorsville while act- ing as Adjutant of the regiment, and forced to accept light duty during the balance of the war. Weaver, of the same company, died a glorious death at Sharpsburg, as has been told, and Stock- ton at Gettysburg. Lieutenant A. N. Wiseman, of Company K, was a model soldier. As Orderly Sergeant of his company he had no superior, and as a commissioned officer he was all that could be desired. He received a mortal wound at Winchester in 1864. Cap- tain C. A. Hunt, of Lexington, was with him in his last moments. Captain M. L. Bean, also of Company K, was a true and gal- lant officer. He and A. C. Carter, of Company K, volunteered to make a bold reconnaissance at Gettysburg to ascertain the enemy's position, and saved the regiment from what might have been a fatal surprise, such as befell one of our brigades the same day. Lieutenant E. J. Redding, of Company E, a bold and gallant youth, fell at the post of duty in the bloody conflict at Seven Pines. Ben Allen Knox, Sergeant in Company B, was a gallant soldier, serving throughout the war with courage and fidelity. In looking over the list of officers and men of the grand old regiment, the writer is reminded that it would take a volume to Fourth ' Eegimbnt. 273 mention what might be said of hundreds whose names I would be happy to mention, who are equally as deserving as those I have named. A few have been selected here and there as represen- tative men among the others. A list of the privates if it could be printed with this sketch would be a memorial of as brave and true men as the world has ever known. The survivors of the Fourth Regiment will no doubt remem- ber three figures that would not be out of place in a complete picture of the regiment, and will, therefore, permit me to men- tion Colonel Grimes' negro boy, Polk, Captain Carter's man, Jim, and the writer's boy, Gus : Polk, the typical mulatto, Gus, the ignorant, but loyal African, and Jim, the devoted and faithful slave. SOME INCIDENTS OF THE WAR. It is a grateful privilege to mention the great kindness bestowed upon the members of the Fourth Regiment, as well as upon the Confederate soldiers generally, by the people of Virginia during the war. Their hospitality and kindness were unceasing and almost unbounded. Conspicuous among those with whom we came in contact was Mr. George S. Palmer, of Richmond. His name is a synonym for all that is generous, kind and hospitable. The writer was a partaker of his kindness, and that of his noble wife and daughters on many occasions — once when sick, and three times when wounded. The writer also remem- bers one occasion when there were some eighteen wounded offi- cers of the Fourth Regiment in the house of Mr. Palmer. This was just after the battle of Seven Pines. He was a man ot ample means, his heart and soul were in the cause of the South, and it was his delight to spend and be spent for that cause. On the 20th of May, 1864, the writer having been wounded the day before, was placed in an ambulance with Colonel F. M. Parker, of the Thirtieth Regiment, a most gallant and faithful soldier, who also had been wounded and was very weak. Cap- tain Fred. Philips, since Judge Philips, of Tarboro, had 18 274 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. charge of the wagon train, and took the best of care of us as we were conveyed towards Richmond with the other wounded men. The day was hot and we were parched with fever and thirst; but he supplied us from time to time with refreshing draughts of buttermilk and ice which the good people of the country gave him. It was served in a horse-bucket; but never was sweeter or more refreshing draughts served, nor men more grateful than we were. In one of the iights in the Valley campaign of 1864, private McCanless, a gallant member of Company K, was captured by a Federal soldier, who was marching him through the woods, when they came upon another man of the same company, who was separated from his command, and making his way back as fast as he could run. "Halt!" shouted the Federalist; but instead of halting the man increased his speed. "Halt!! Halt!!!" shouted the Union soldier again, and bang went his gun. But his aim was bad, and the man escaped. "Now," said McCan- less, " you may help yourself; I, too, am going back," and with that he departed through the woods, leaving his captor standing with his empty gun in his hand, and made his escape. On the 19th of May, 1864, as we were preparing to attack the enemy's flank and rear. General Ramseur sent Captain Jenkins, of the Fourteenth Regiment, to capture what was supposed to be a squad of pickets. The Captain divided his squad of sharp- shooters in order to make a dash from opposite sides upon an old house where the supposed pickets were thought to be. At the signal agreed upon the men rushed upon the house, but instead of a few pickets a whole regiment of Federals rose up and fired upon the Captain's little band. The Captain, of course, beat a hasty retreat, and joined the command; and soon the whole line was engaged. General Ewell had his horse killed in this engagement. It fell on the General's wooden leg, pinning him to the ground. G. D. Snuggs, of Company K, and Sergeant Barnett, of Company H, assisted in extricating the General from his difficulty. As soon as he was relieved he called, out: "Men, are we driving them? Are we driving them?" FoxTETH Eegiment. 275 In passing through Lexington, Va., on the 21st of June, 1864, General Rodes directed Colonel Wood, of the Fourth Regiment, to lead the column with his regimental band playing a funeral march as they passed by the grave of Stonewall Jackson. It was a very impressive scene as the brave old veterans of so many battles filed slowly and sadly by the last resting-place of their departed hero. On the retreat from Fisher's Hill, the 22d of September, 1864, where Ewell's forces were badly demoralized, and the loss of the whole command seemed imminent. General Ramseur called on his old brigade to hold the enemy in check and protect the retreating Confederates. General Cox, who was in command, did this in splendid style, held the enemy in check until night, and then continued the retreat up the Valley. This retreat was made in two lines of battle, parallel with each other, some half mile apart, in which order General Ewell moved his entire corps all the next day, stopping occasionally to offer bat- tle when the enemy approached too near. On the 9th of April, General Grimes had been fighting the enemy with his division up to the very hour of the surrender, and some say until it had actually taken place j and the Fourth and Fourteienth Regiments were the last of his division that were engaged, so the men of these regiments say. At Gettysburg, when we started to make the night attack, Colonel Grimes, who could not see very well at night, sent for Corporal Friedheim, of Company K, to guide him and be with him in that trying ordeal. He knew full well that he could trust this man ; for there was no braver or truer soldier in the army than A. Friedheim. General Grimes told the writer of one of his men who, on the 9th, hearing something said about General Lee's surrender, came to him and asked if the report was true. "Yes," said the General, "it is, I am sorry to say, too true." Whereupon the poor fellow burst into tears, and cried out: "Blow, Gabriel, blow, I do not want to live another day." Another one, a member of Company K, Fourth Eegiment, 276 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. whose name I cannot remember, set hia gun down at the sur- render with a sigh, saying: "Sit there, Betsy, you've made many of them bite the dust." At Seven Pines the writer was shot through the thigh. While lying on the field a Federal soldier came along with his gun. As he approached near where the writer lay he covered him with his pistol and ordered him to halt, throw down his gun and come to him. The soldier obeyed, and was made to assist him from the field. In the same battle the writer saw a Confederate soldier get into a panic and run with all his might to the rear, but recovering his self-possession, he returned to the line as i%pidly as he had fled, and went on through the battle; he was never known to flinch after this, and was, after going through many bat- tles, killed in an act of conspicuous bravery. He did not know that' the writer saw him, nor was he ever told that any one saw' him. In the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, on the 12th of May, 1864, private Thomas Sprinkle, of Company H, was detailed to furnish the men with ammunition during the fight. This was a peculiarly dangerous duty at any time, but never more so than in this fight, as the approach to the line from the rear was through a perfect storm of bullets aimed at the men behind the fortifications. But for hours the brave boy with ruddy, beardless face, continued to bring the needed supplies, but late in the afternoon he failed to reach the line, and was never seen again. Walker Anderson, the Ordnance Officer of the brigade, was killed the same day. It was at this battle that several trees, from twelve to fourteen 'inches in diameter, were shot until they fell, cut down with minnie-balls. They stood at the angle of the breastworks, and were in full range of the enemy's fire from front and both flanks. At Gettysburg, as we entered the town after the enemy retired from our front, Lieutenant Harney, of the Fourteenth Regiment, was carried to the rear mortally wounded. Passing within a few feet of the writer, he displayed a Union flag which he had cap- tul-ed on the heights, where he had gone with the sharp-shooters. Fourth Regiment. 277 He entreated that the troops would advance and capture the heights, as the enemy was in utter confusion and helpless. His dying request was that the banner should be sent to President Davis. Lieutenant Harney was a splendid soldier, had seen ser- vice in the war with Mexico, and was devoted to the cause of the South. In the heavy skirmish which took place near Spottsylvania Court House on the 8th of May, 1864, the regiment advanced upon the enemy about sundown and threw them into complete disorder. We pushed on until dark, when we were compelled to halt, as we could not distinguish friends from foes. Private Heilig, of Company K, captured a Federal colonel and brought him out. The colonel showed fight, but was induced to submit. Colonel Grimes gave Heilig the colonel's pistol as a reward for his cour- age. Poor fellow, he was not permitted to enjoy his prize "but a little while, as he was killed on the 12th. When the enemy surprised and broke the line of General Doles on our right on the 10th of May, 1864, Major Hardaway, of Alabama, stood his ground, serving one of his guns himself until the enemy reached the breastworks. One of them mounted the gun the Major was serving, and waved his hat with a triumphant shout; but the Major knocked him off with his sword and sullenly retired with his face to the foe, until Battle's Alabamians and the Fourth North Carolina came to the rescue. He went back with the infantry and was the first to reach the line, and opened fire on the retreating foe. The writer saw him a few minutes later, and his hat and clothes were riddled with bullets. He was a grand man. A notable experience with the regiment was the march from Port E,oyal to Fredericksburg just before the battle in Decem- ber, 1862. The weather was very cold, snow was on the ground and the roads one continuous slush from six to twelve inches deep, and blocked with wagons and artillery. The night was pitch-dark, there being neither moon nor stars, and the march continued all night long. The men were compelled to remain on their feet most of the time, as there were few places to rest 278 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65 upon for the mud; sometimes marching a few rods, or a few hundred yards, and then waiting fifteen, twenty or thirty minutes on account of the blocking of the roads by the stalling of teams and wagons in front. During the skirmish on the 11th of May, 1864, near Spottsyl- vania Court House, Sergeant Houlshouser, of Company K, was sitting with his back against a good sized tree, our part of the line not being then engaged, whfen a cannon-ball struck the opposite side of the tree, killing him instantly by the shock. On the 5th of May, 1864, as General Rodes' Division was moving in line of battle so near the enemy as at one time to com- pel Ramseur's Brigade to take position in rear of the main line to avoid exposure to the enemy's fire. General Ramseur re- monstrated with General Rodes on account of being placed in the rear. General Rodes told him in a jocular way that if he " would move those Yankees away from there he could place his brigade in line." Whereupon General Ramseur deployed his men and made a rush through the woods, firing and yelling, and soon cleared the woods of the enemy's sharp-shooters; when he put his brigade in position on the left. It should be borne in mind, however, that the enemy had all they could attend to in another part of the field at that time. In the winter of 1863 many of the men had no shoes and were suffering much from cold as the troops were on the march. General Hill ordered that every man who had no shoes should be provided with raw hide moccasins. Some of the men com- plied with the order, but soon found they were of no use for when the sun came out they became too hard, and when the ground was wet they could not keep them on their feet. When James Bowers, of Company K, fell at Seven Pines with the flag of the regiment in his hand, he said to a comrade: "Tell Mr. Bruner (the man with whom he had lived) that I died with my face to the enemy." THE LAST SCENE OF THE WAR. The Fourth Regiment was on the right of the brigade at Appomattox on the 9th of April, 1865, and was the first in the Fourth Regiment. 279 brigade to stack arms. When this was done General Grimes called them to " attention " for the last time, and had them to file past him in order that he might shake hands with each man, and as he did so, with streaming eyes and faltering voice, he said: "Go home, boys, and act like men, as you have always done during the war." CONCLUSION. I have endeavored to give a faithful sketch of this grand body of men; but I am painfully aware of having failed to do the subject justice. Thirty-five years of labor and toil have effaced many important incidents from a mind constantly crowded with the cares and duties of official and ministerial life. Besides, I have been compelled to write in the midst of many pressing cares and labors, and to procure my facts from other sources of infor- mation than my own, not having kept a record of the events as they occurred. And here I wish to acknowledge my deep indebt- edness to Captain John A. Stikeleather, the Rev. W. A. Wood, D. D., and Mr. Pulaski Cowper in the letters of General Grimes, edited by him ; to Mr. Nathanal Raymer, a member of the band of the Fourth Regiment, who sent me his letters written during the war under the signature of "Nat," in The Statesville Ameri- can; for the notes kept by Dr. Shinn, of Company B, and the note-book of Mr. E. B. Stinson of the band of the Fourth Regiment. Also, for many items of interest by Mr. G. D. Snuggs, a gallant member of the Fourth Regiment, and a splendid member of the corps of sharp-shooters. And last, but by no means least, for very valuable information furnished by Captain W. C. Coughenour, Dr. J. F. Shaffner and Captain M. L. Bean. I have also received valuable items from Captain H. M. Warren and Sergeant-major John Graham Young, R. O. Leinster, Dr. J. C. Hadley, Mr. Henry C. Severs, Captain S. A. Kelley, Major Stansill and others, for all of which I am very grateful. In looking over the history of the Fourth Regiment the writer is reminded of many facts that throw light upon the history and character of the organization. A marked characteristic of our men 280 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. was their sobriety and piety. The writer does not recall a half dozen instances of drunkenness in the regiment during the war, and but few of gross profanity or immorality. They were a pious and orderly set of men. The camps often resounded with hymns and songs. Among the latter "Annie Laurie " was a great favorite; also " Dixie," and " My Old Cabin Home." Prayers were conducted in many of the tents, and religious services were well attended. Pro- fanity amongst the officers was seldom heard. Colonel Anderson's example and iniluence in this respect was very marked ; also that of Lieutenant-Colonel Young, and Major Grimes, though of a quick and fiery temper, was careful never to take the Holy Name in vain. They were all God-fearing men, and not given to loose talking nor drink. The writer never heard any conversation at headquarters that would have offended the most modest and religious feelings. The company officers were gener- ally of high moral character, and many of them were Chris- tian men whose influence was felt among their rank and file. In fact they only represented the men of the ranks, from whence they had been taken. E. A. Osborne. Charlotte, N. C, April 9, 1900. FIFTH REGIMENT. 1. Duncan K. McRae, Colonel. 3. T. M. Garrett, Colonel, 2. Jolin W. Lea, Colonel. 4. P. J, Sinclair, Lieut.-Colonel. 5. John C. Badham, Lieut.-Colonel. FIFTH REGIMENT. By MAJ. JAMES C. MacRAE AND SERGT.-MAJ. C. M. BUSBEE. This was oue of the tea regiments organized under the act of the General, Assembly of North Carolina, May 8th, 1861, en- titled: "An Act to Eaise Ten Thousand State Troops"; and it is to be distinguished from the Fifth Volunteers, afterwards called the Fifteenth North Carolina Regiment. It was formed in camp of instruction at Halifax in July, 1861, by the assignment to it of the following named field officers: Duncan K. MacRae, Colonel; Joseph P. Jones, Lieutenant- Colonel; John C. Badham, Major; Lieutenant Isaac A. Jones, of Company H, Acting Adjutant; Captain John Kirkland, Acting Quartermaster; Captain James M. Jones, Acting Com- missary-Sergeant; Dr. James A. MacRae, Surgeon; Dr. John K. Ruffin, Assistant Surgeon. It was composed of: Company A, from Cumberland, Captain P. J. Sinclair. Company B, from Gates, Captain W. J. Hill. Company C, from Johnston, Captain E. D. Sneed. Company D, from Craven, Captain Jacob Brookfield. Company E, from Rowan, Captain Samuel Reaves. Company F, from Bertie, Captain Thomas M. Garrett. Company G, from Wilson, Captain N. A. H. Goddin. Company H, from Gates, Captain S. B. Douge. Company I, from Caswell, Captain John W. Lea. Company K, from Rowan, Captain Ham. C Jones. While these companies are stated to be from certain counties, they were enlisted in large numbers from other counties; for instance, about one hundred and fifty men of this regiment were 282 " North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. from Chatham; and later, the depleted ranks were filled with conscripts from different parts of the State. The regiment reached Manassas on July 19th, 1861, and was attached to the brigade of General Longstreet, and participated in the battle of the 21st, its position being on the extreme right; it was not engaged in the most serious conflict of that day, although being exposed to the enemy's fire, it lost several men. It was in the advance upon the retreat of the Federal army, which it assisted in driving into Washington. During the winter of 1861-62, having been .assigned to Early's Brigade, it was stationed at Union Mills on the Orange & Alexandria Eailroad, engaged in outpost and picket duty in front of the Confederate lines. At one time it held position on Mason Hill in sight of the Capitol at Washington, and was daily engaged with the enemy's skirmishers. In the intervals of its outpost duty it was thoroughly drilled in preparation for the arduous work in store for it in the near future. During this winter, Lieutenant-Colonel Jones, having been assigned to other duty, resigned his position in the regiment; Major John C. Badham was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel and Captain Peter J. Sinclair, of Company A, was promoted to Major; Lieutenant James C. MacRae, of Company D, was made Adjutant; Captains Sneed and Goddin resigned and Lieutenants Mullins and Thompson were made Captains in their stead of Companies C and G. Dr. MacRae resigned and Dr. Ruffin was transferred to another command, and Dr. Wingfield became Surgeon of the regiment. On the change of front to meet the advance of McCIellan upon Richmond, Early's Brigade was among the first to reach General Magruder on the Peninsular. It w^s immediately put in position in the defensive works near Yorktown, and remained in the trenches, constantly on duty, until the evacuation of York- town on May 3, 1862, being the last of the Confederate troops to leave the works. Passing from the rearguard, it marched up the Williamsburg road, and on the night of May 4, 1862, bivouacked in the field beyond Williamsburg, under orders to Fifth Regiment. 283 take up its line of march at daybreak in the direction of the Chickahominy. Its part in the affair at Williamsburg deserves more than casual mention. Owing to the determined pressure of the Federals upon the rearguard of the Confederates, Early's Brigade was counter-marched into Williamsburg, where it rested in the campus of old William and Mary College during the morning, awaiting orders. The battle on the right of the Confederates, below Williamsburg, was very severe during the day, and the enemy was not only held in check but driven back with great slaughter. In the afternoon it was found that the Federal troops had taken possession of an old abandoned redoubt on the extreme left, and somewhat in advance of the other works, which had been erected for the defense of Williamsburg, and was seriously annoying our troops by an enfilading fire from its batteries. Early's and Rodes' Brigades, under command of Major-General D. H. Hill, were sent to the left of the Confederate line with orders to retake this redoubt and silence its batteries. Under the immediate direction of General Hill, four regiments of Early's Brigade were marched to the left and disencumbered of all impedimenta in the open ground, which was separated from this redoubt by thick woods. Of the four regiments to compose the attacking party the Twenty-fourth Virginia, Colonel Terry, led by General Early in person, was on the left and covered by woods, immediately opposite the redoubt. The Fifth North Carolina was on the right and opposite an open field about eight hundred yards from the redoubt to be attacked. At the word of command the brigade in line of battle passed into the intervening woods, from which this regiment soon emerged in a field of heavy plowed ground, in full view of the enemy, who immediately opened upon it with artillery. In the face of apparent destruc- tion, but in obedience to direct orders from the Major-General commanding, this regiment began the advance. It was at once necessary to change front forward on the left company, and the movement was made with precision under a heavy artillery fire. On account of the continued advance of the left company and 284 North Caeolina Tkoops, 1861-'65. the heavy condition of the soil the right of the line, though at a double-quick, was delayed in reaching its alignment; the left companies were halted to give time for the balance of the regi- ment to reach the line, when the whole command halted, dressed upon the left, and at the word of command pressed forward to the attack, marching as on dress-parade, without firing a gun. In front of the redoubt were five regiments of infantry, sup- porting a battery of ten pieces of artillery, with clouds of skirmishers in their advance. The charge of the Fifth North Carolina on this occasion has rarely been surpassed in the history of war for its heroism and gallantry. Pressing on from the first in the face of the battery, entering into the plunging fire of the infantry, wading into a storm of balls, which first struck the men in the feet and rose upon their nearer approach, it steadily pressed on. The Twenty-fourth Virginia had now emerged from the woods at a point on the left and nearer the enemy, driving the skirmishers before it. From the thickness of the woods in their front, the center regiments not having come up, the Fifth Regiment obliqued to the left to touch its comrade, the Twenty-fourth Virginia, when all pressed forward, driving the enemy before them. Not until within close range was the command "Commence firing" given, when it began to fire and load as it advanced. The enemy's skirmishers retired, the battery retreated into the redoubt, with the infantry behind it, and opened fire again from the intrenchments. Instances of individual heroism would fill a volume. The members of the color-guard were shot down one by one, and as each man fell the battle flag was passed to the successor. When the last sergeant fell. Captain Benjamin Robinson, of Company A, took it and bore it at the head of his company until the staff was shot to pieces. The officers and men were falling rapidly under the withering fire of grape and canister and musketry. Lieutenant-Colonel Badham was shot in the forehead and fell dead ; Major Sinclair's horse was killed and he was disabled ; Captain Mullins, of Company C, received his mortal wound and fell upon the field; Captains Garrett and Lea and Jones were Fifth Regiment. 285 all shot down, as were many of the subalterns, among them Lieutenant Thomas Snow, of Halifax (who was killed far in advance of his company, cheering on his men); Lieutenants Boswell, of Company A; Clark, of Company G; Hays of Com- pany F. In fifty yards of the redoubt this regiment, or what was left of it, reached a small fence and ditch with a slight embankment next to the enemy. Here it took cover, continuing to fire, the Twenty-fourth Virginia on its left. Victory was in its grasp, the enemy had been driven to his intrenchment; one fresh regi- ment was all that was needed to go over the works, but none ever came; instead thereof an order to retreat. Too few in number to continue the attack (at the beginning of the fight these two regiments did not number a thousand men), in obedi- ence to orders, the regiment retired to the cover of the woods on its left, leaving a large majority of the officers and men dead and wounded on the field. Lieutenant-Colonel Badham was one of the first men of the State, a lawyer by profession and a political leader. Had he lived he would have had all its honors. It would extend this sketch too much to mention the gallant boys who here, at the threshold of the conflict, laid down their lives. Four hundred and fifteen men were counted as they went into action ; seventy-five answered to the roll-call in the morning, and nearly all of the missing were either killed or wounded. General Hancock, who commanded the Federals in their front, said of the Fifth North Carolina and Twenty-fourth Virginia: "They should have immortality inscribed on their banners." Next morning the Confederate army resumed its march, with- out further opposition, to the Chickahominy, where was witnessed an event never before known in war — the election of officers for all the volunteer regiments from North Carolina and a conse- quent reorganization, in face of the enemy. General Early having been seriously wounded while leading this regiment, the command of the brigade devolved upon Colo- 286 North uaeolina Troops, 1861-65. nel MacRae, whose feeble physical frame soon succumbed to severe illness. General, Samuel Garland took command, Major Sinclair, now promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel, commanding the regiment. The depleted ranks soon began to fill up with con- valescents returned from the hospitals, for there had been much sickness engendered by the exposure in the trenches at York- town. By the battle at Seven Pines there were more than two hundred men for duty. Lieutenant MacRae had then been pro- moted to Captain and Acting Adjutant-General, and Lieutenant F. J. Haywood became Adjutant. In this battle Colonel Mac- Rae endeavored to take command, but from sheer weakness was unable to do so. Under Lieutenant-Colonel Sinclair the regi- ment, with others of Garland's Brigade and Hill's Division, drove the enemy from its position, but again at serious loss in officers and men. One of the killed was Lieutenant Isaac A. Jones, of Company H, who for a time acted as Ajutant. Young, enthusiastic, brave, he took his place among the immortals in the hour of victory. Through all the series of battles around Richmond this regi- ment followed the fortunes of Garland's Brigade, with but a handful left at Malvern Hill. During that very brilliant series of movements, ending in the utter defeat of Pope by Jackson at Second Manassas, the division of D. H. Hill remained near Richmond for its protection, in which time it again replenished its ranks with the return of those who had recovered from their wounds and sickness and the assignment of conscripts, many of whom, though late in joining the army, were first-rate material and made good soldiers. Lieutenant F. J. Haywood was made Ordnance Officer on General Garland's staff. In September, 1862, the regiment marched into Maryland, stood with Hill in that grand stand at South Mountain which saved the army, divided as it was in the face of vastly superior forces, the other half assigned to capture Harper's Ferry, and re- combined to beat double its number at Sharpsburg. In these magnificent battles it lost heavily again. Brave Garland fell. Col- onel MacRae taking command, was himself disabled and soon after Fifth Regiment. 287 compelled by feeble health to leave the army. General Iverson be- came brigade commander, and Captain Thomas M. Garrett suc- ceeded to the colonelcy. The resignation of Lieutenant-Colonel Sinclair soon followed; Captain John W. Lea was made Lieuten- ant-Colonel and Captain W. J. Hill Major; Lieutenant Fab. J. Haywood, who had served upon the staff of General Garland, became again Adjutant of the regiment. It was now attached to Bodes' Division, Ewell's Corps, Array of Northern Virginia. Returning to Virginia, there was to this regiment and brigade a season of comparative rest in the vicinity of Winchester, and later on the Opequon, but this period of inactivity was short, for in December, 1862, after rapid marching, it reached its place in front of Fredericksburg to meet the advance of Hooker. Though engaged in the battle of Fredericksburg, its losses were small, the regiment and brigade not being greatly exposed. But at Chancellorsville it bore a distinguished part, losing heavily again in officers and men. All of its field oflBcers were wounded, and the command of the regiment devolved upon that brave and capable officer. Captain Speight B. West, under whom it served through the campaign which led to Gettysburg, where it suf- fered severely on the first day's fight, its four captains present — West, Robinson, Taylor and Jordan — all being wounded, though two of them, Robinson and Jordan, reported for duty again the next day. It lay, unable to strike a blow, under a tremendous fire of artillery and sharp-shooters, during the fatal battle of the third day at Gettysburg. Its loss at Gettysburg is reported in the "Records of the Rebellion" at thirty-one killed and one hundred and twelve wounded. The list of casualties sent with General Iverson's report cannot be found. A large majority of the officers were killed or wounded. Adjutant Haywood was left upon the field severely wounded. From Gettysburg, Iver- son's Brigade proceeded by forced march to Hagerstown, where it had a brilliant encounter with the enemy's cavalry, driving them out of the town. On the return to Virginia it was engag- ed in all those maneuvers on the Rapidan and Rappahannock which occupied the fall of 1863. 288 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. In October, at Bristoe Station, under Lieutenant-Colonel Lea, Colonel Garrett commanding the brigade, it crossed Raccoon Ford and charged the enemy's battery near Stevensburg, driving him across the Rapidan. In the report of this engagement, Captain T. N. Jordan, of Company F; Lieutenant C. E. C. Rid- dick, commanding Company B, and Corporal A. Overton, of Company F, are mentioned as having exhibited great courage and daring. Colonel Garrett's good conduct was especially mentioned by General Fitzhugh Lee. At Mine Run, in November, Captain Benjamin Robinson, Company A, with two corps of sharp-shooters, about seventy- five strong, drove in the One Hundred and Fifteenth Massa- chusetts Regiment, killing and capturing a number of them, including the lieutenant-colonel. Captain Robinson was specially mentioned by General Johnson and General Rodes, and recom- mended for promotion. The regiment remained in winter quarters on the Rapidan during the winter, and in the early spring was sent to Taylors- ville, a station on the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad, about twenty miles from Richmond, to rest and recuperate ; but it went to the front at the opening of the cam- paign in the early days of May, 1864, with full ranks, its field officers all present, and the spirits of the veteran soldiers good. By forced marches (going in one day thirty-three miles) it went from Taylorsville to the Wilderness, reaching the latter on the afternoon of the last day of the battle, and immediately went into action as a part of the force with which General Gor- don turned the right flank of the Federal army. This engage- ment first brought Gordon before the public eye as a soldier of eminent capacity. The regiment greatly distinguished itself in this fight and in the quickly following battle of Spottsylvania. On the 10th of May the brigade was sent out on a reconnaissance on the right of the army, where it became engaged with Burn- side's Corps, and after a stubborn fight was compelled to retire. In this engagement Captain Robinson and also Captain Davis were both seriously wounded. On the 11th, with Daniel's FIFTH EBGIMENT. 1. Eayner Erookfleld, Captain, Co. C. 3. Jacob Brookfleld, Captain, Co. D. 2. L. M. Davis, Captain, Co. K. 4. F. J. Haywood, Jr., Adjutant. 5. Jos. G. Hayes, 1st Lieut., Co. F. Fifth Eegiment. 289 Brigade, it recaptured a battery which had been taken by a division of Federals and drove back the Federal troops with great slaughter. In this fight there was a good deal of bayonet fighting, and Colonel Garrett was conspicuous for his bravery. On the 12th came the great battle of Spottsylvania. In the early morning, before daylight, the brigade was awakened by sharp firiug and, hurrying to the front, found that the entire division of General Edward Johnson had been captured, and that the brigade was expected to fill the gap and arrest the onward assault of the enemy, which was in great force, being the corps of General Hancock. This was in the "angle" or " horse-shoe," as it has been called from its shape, a place made memorable by the fierceness of the conflict which raged there all the day. Into the breach the brigade went, the morning fog being so thick that at ten paces one could not distinguish friend from foe, and was subjected to an enfilading fire from right and left. In less than fifteen minutes after going into action five officers were killed, including Colonel Garrett, shot through the head, and Lieutenant Edward Smedes, a gallant young officer from Raleigh. Colonel Garrett was a gallant soldier and had won for himself an enviable reputation for conspicuous personal courage and capacity for commanding troops. Many others were killed and many captured, among the latter being Lieu- tenant Anderson, of Fayetteville, and Sergeant-major Busbee, of Raleigh. During the day's battle the regiment bore a con- spicuous part and maintained its reputation as the "Bloody Fifth." It carried into the fight about four hundred and fifty, and at the evening roll-call only forty-two answered. It is said that in this battle and in the "horse-shoe" the fiercest musketry fighting of the war occurred. In the War Department at Wash- ington, among the relics, is a section of the trunk of a whiteoak tree which was cut down in this fight at the "angle" by minie- balls alone. Lieutenant-Colonel John W. Lea now became Colonel of the Fifth. Major Hill was made Lieutenant-Colonel, and Captain J. M. Taylor acting as Major, and as part of Johnston's Brigade, 19 290 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Ramseur's and then Pegram's Division, Ewell's Corps, it went to the Valley to its old commander. Early, made the brilliant advance movement across the Potomac, was with Gordon when he drove Lew Wallace from Monocacy into Baltimore, and for a second time stood in sight of the Capitol at Washington; but closer approach was not written in the book of Fate, and Early turned back into Virginia. Then began the series of reverses, cul- minating at Fisher's Hill, which called forth all the manhood of Johnston and his North Carolinians, whose "thin gray line," as the rearguard of Early's army, held Sheridan in check. In November, 1864, Colonel Lea was in command of the brigade and Captain Edward M. Duguid of the regiment. The winter of 1864-'65 was spent on the banks of the Staunton River, the regiment being scattered along that stream to guard the ferries in order to prevent the passage of deserters from Lee's army. Toward the last of March it was called back to its place at the front, and took position in the trenches at Petersburg, its officers and men living in holes in the ground just in rear of the trenches which they were guarding. There, in repelling attacks and in sorties from the works, it filled the full measure of its duty. ■ In the battle of Fort Steadman it bore a gallant part. When Petersburg was evacuated the regiment constituted part of the rearguard, and on that sad retreating march from Peters- burg to Appomattox, when unceasing fighting by day and hurried marching by night fell to the lot of those brave men who consti- tuted the shattered remnant of the Army of Northern Virginia, it bore its full share of the conflicts and held its honorable record to the bitter end. Examples of sublime personal courage were of daily occurrence, notable among them being Lieutenant Wal- ter R. Moore, Jr., commanding the sharp-shooters, who was killed in a skirmish near the town of Farmville. At Appo- mattox it marched through the little town under the fire of a Federal battery and took its place in line of battle, formed beyond the town, to charge the Federal batteries which were opening the battle to the left and front. Awaiting the order to advance, the firing suddenly ceased and down the road came a Fifth Regiment. 291 white flag in charge of a Federal oflBcer, soon known to be Gen- eral Custer. The Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered ! The history of the Fifth North Carolina Regiment is the history of the Army of Northern Virginia. It joined this army at First Manassas and nev^er left it until "bugles sang truce" and the last charge was arrested at Appomattox, April 9th, 1865. Its history is written in the blood of its officers and men, the greater part of whom sleep beneath the soil of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Among all the heroic commands forming the army under Lee, no regiment has a more honorable record, and at the end, amid the Appomattox hills, a few worn men, doing their duty to the last, were all that was left of the old Fifth North Carolina, the regiment which had so early earned and so long maintained a title to immortality. Here are the names of those who laid down their arms with Lee: John W. Lea, Colonel, commanding the brigade; J. M. Taylor, Captain Company G, commanding the regiment; George T. Parker, Captain Company H; M. T. Hunt, First Lieuten- ant Company E; James W. Lea, Second Lieutenant Company I ; J. N. Pearson, Surgeon ; H. W. Williams, Assistant Surgeon ; Sergeant-major C. M. Busbee, Musician J. J. Johnston. Company A — Privates Daniel Albertini, David Ayres, Abram Holder, Jesse Johnston, Retus Jones, William Sanders, Andrew Watson. Company B — Sergeant Henry Clay Williams, Private Wil- liam Smith. Company C — Sergeant Jesse K. Whitley, Corporal K. J. Ballard, Privates J. W. Barber, Augustus Corbit, Nasoow Creech, Josiah Dean, Jonas Faulk, J. B. Honeycutt (Hunnicutt), J. W. Hines, J. A. Lee, Monroe Lee, Whitley Messer, Abram O'Neal, Ransom Penny, Thomas H. Sasser, W. H. Smith, W. R. Strickland, Samuel Strickland. Company D — First Sergeant R. L. Willis, Carporal J. R. Benson, Corporal Robert Johnston, Privates J. A. Douglas, William Young, M. A. Kifenic, J. W. Guilford. Company E — Sergeant W. J. Bond, Corporal G. W. Long, 292 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Corporal John Soott, Privates John Barringer, E. D. Council, Stephen Daves, Jacob Hartman, Benjamin Herndon, D. A. Holt, J. W McCenney, W. L. Parker, Frank Parnell, Jacob Pense, William Williams. Company F — Privates W. H. Eady, Preston Lane, Thomas Perry, J. C. Treece. Company G — Privates W. J. Barringer, A. T. Davis, J. T. Lamb, Luther Lentz, J. T. Manning, P. J. Pless, W. A. Wil- liams. Company H — Privates John D. Brice, Elbert Cross, James D. Johnson, Tobias Lentz, Nathan Morgan, S. R. Starns, Isaac Williams. Company I — Sergeant H. C. Hubbard, Privates Joseph Beaver, A. G. Cash, Absolom Cress, D. W. Leach, Frank Julian. James C. MacRab, Raleigh, N. C, C. M. BuSBEE. April 9, 1900. SIXTH REGIMENT. 1. Charles F. FlBlier, Colonel. 4. R. P. Webb, Colonel I' T..^o'^Zt^^"'Z\ , '■ Samuel McDowell Tate, Lieut-Colonel. 3. IsaaeErwm Avery, Colonel. 6. Alphonso C. Avery, Captain, Co. E. 7. C. M. Mobane, 1st Lieut, antl Adjt. SIXTH REGIMENT. By captain NEILL W. RAY. When the country was passing through the throes of the early part of 1861 the writer of this sketch was a cadet at the North Carolina Military Institute at Charlotte, N. C. It was a time of great excitement — stirring events of great import were fol- lowing each other in rapid succession, and every mail was anx- iously waited for. State after State was seceding from the Union. There was talk in the U. S. Congress of coercing, of subjugating, and, if necessary, exterminating the seceders. A war- cloud was looming up on the horizon ; military companies were organizing; an army had been gathered at Charleston; all eyes were turned toward Fort Sumter. The cadets partook of the general excitement, and as the operations in and around Charleston became more and more serious they became restive. Our Superintendent, Major (afterwards General) D. H. Hill, went down there, and when, after a few days' stay, he returned to the Institute, the whole corps assembled to hear him tell what he had seen and heard. He gave a full account of what was being done by General Beauregard and his Confederates, of their plans for preventing the re-inforcement of Sumter, and for capturing it, by bombardment, if necessary. Several of the cadets expressed a desire to go at once to the seat of war, for fear, as they said, Sumter would be taken and the war be over before they could have a chance to see anything of it. To them Major Hill said, in a very serious manner : " Young gentlemen, if there be one hostile gun fired at Sumter, we will all see enough of it before the war is over." Prophetic words ! Soon thereafter that gun was fired, and its booming and the crashing caused by its shot echoed and re-echoed far and wide. 294 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. The people of North Carolina had appeared to hesitate about withdrawing from the Union, but it was not because of their indifference to the doctrine of "State Rights" and "community independence." In the matter of secession they showed the same conservatism that characterized their deliberations whilst considering the Constitution before agreeing to become one of the United States. They cherished a hope for a pacific settle- ment of the questions then disturbing the country. When all overtures for peace had failed. Fort Sumter was bombarded and taken, and thereupon, the President of the United States called for troops to put down the rebellion — to coerce, to subju- gate an independent State — then all the people, with few excep- tions, manifested their willingness to resist any such attempt. North Carolina took her place promptly on the side of consti- tutional rights and civil liberty, and most nobly did she main- tain and hold her position to the bitter end. The ofBcers and teachers of the Institute, being military men, promptly offered their services to their State. It was soon apparent that the school could not be continued. Most of the cadets went to their homes in their own States to volunteer. Colonel Charles F. Fisher, then President of the North Caro- lina Railroad, in pursuance of his purpose to raise a regiment, brought a number of men from along the North Carolina Rail- road and Western North Carolina Railroad and quartered them in that part of the barracks that had been vacated, and he asked that those cadets who were still remaining should drill his men. They willingly did so, and some of them were offered positions in the regiment. In that way the writer became a member of Fisher's Regiment. It was soon decided that a better place for the camp of instruction would be Company Shops. So all were carried down there, and the work of organization and instruction was carried on as rapidly as practicable. The camp was in an old field along the railroad, just east of the shops. It is now a part of the town of Burlington. Nearly every day there were train loads of troops passing from the Southern States "on to Sixth Regiment. 295 Virginia." Their clieers were greeted with hearty responses by our men. The few pages to which this sketch must be compressed will not admit details as to the organization of the diiferent companies. For a roll of the officers and men at the organization, and for subsequent changes by resignations, promotions, deaths and trans- fers, reference must be had to the "Roster of North Carolina Troops," heretofore published by authority, from which, imper- fect though it be, it would be necessary to copy in order to give names. For casualties in battle, deaths from wounds and disease, killed and captured, reference must be had to the muster-rolls, morning reports and other records on file in the proper depart- ment, or at Washington, where the " Records of the Rebellion " are being compiled — access to which is to me at present impracticable. What is called for, as I understand it, is a short summary of the part performed in the Confederate war by each of the seventy- five regiments, eleven battalions and nine independent batteries of North Carolina Troops — so short a history of each that all can be published in two or three volumes of convenient size. Suffice it then to say, as to the organization, that the Sixth North Carolina State Troops was duly organized on the 16th May, 1861, at Company Shops, with C. F. Fisher as Colonel, W. T. Dortch as Lieutenant-Colonel, and C. E. Lightfoot as Major. When the regiment was about to leave for Virginia, Lieutenant-Colonel Dortch, on the death of Governor Ellis, resigned by reason of his office in the Legislature. Lightfoot was made Lieutenant-Colonel and Captain Webb, "of Company B, was made Major. CoMPAXY A was first commanded by Captain R. M. McKin- ney, who had been one of the Professors at the North Carolina Military Institute. Before the regiment was fully organized he was made Colonel of the Fifteenth Regiment and S. S. Kirkland was made Captain. Company B, Captain R. F. Webb; then Captain W. K. Parrish. The men were mostly from Orange county. Company C, Captain W. G. Freeland, from Orange county. 296 North Carolina Troops, ]861-'65. Company T>, Captain S. McD. Tate. The men were mostly from Bnrke county, some from Catawba and McDowell. Company E, Captain T. E. Avery, with men from Burke, McDowell, Mitc^hell and Yancey counties. (Company F, from Alamance, Captain J. W. Wilson. Company G, from liowan, C-aptain J. A. Craige. Company H, from Caswell, Captain A. A. Mitchell. Company I, from Wake and Chatham, Captain R. W. York. Company K, from Alamance, Captain J. W. Lea. iVfter the first organization many changes were made, and, from time to time during the war, a great many recruits were enlisted from many other counties and assigned to the diiferent companies; and it is su])posed that, from first to last, there were perhaps as many as two thousand men that belonged h) the regi- ment. The men were all mustered in for the war, and this regiment was organized as one of the ten regiments called for to serve during the war, and was always known as the Sixth North Carolina State Troops. When the regiment was reported as ready for service a day was fixed for our departure for the seat of war. On the appointed day a great many people from the surrounding counties came in to bid good-bye to their sons, their brothers, their fathers, their husbands. It was a sad day — I will not attempt to recall or to describe its scenes. The Southern soldier volunteer's fare- well ! — no artist can picture it. But, trying as it was to bid farewell undfir such circumstances, yet not one of the thousand flinched. When the roll-call was sounded and the command "Fall in" was given the tears were brushed from their eyes; they took their places in the line, and as their uames were called each one firmly answered "Here!" Here, ready to leave home and dear ones — ready to do, to dare, to suffer, and, if need be, to die, in defense of the rights which, by the Constitution^ belong to me and my fellow-citizens, and to my State, and the States that are confederated with her — ready to resist, and, if possible, drive back the armed invasion being made by troops Sixth Regdiest. 297 from Northern States, arrogating to themselves that they are "the United States"; forgetting that by the terms of the laws and ordinances by which they came into and adopted the Cons- titution of the United States their States had no right to attempt the coercion or subjugation of any other States. With such convictions and such patriotic motives, the men of the Sixth Regiment North Carolina Troops were banded together; and assured of the justness of thfir cause, confiding in their leaders, and with well-grounded hopes of success, started in for the war. Taking the cars at Company Shops, we were carried to Raleigh and stopped there for a few days, during which we were called on to act as escort at the funeral of Gov- ernor Ellis. Leaving Raleigh, we were carried by way of Wel- don to Petersburg and then to Richmond. Vie stopped there for a day, awaiting transportation, camping at the old Fair Ground. President Davis reviewed the regiment, making a short speech to us. From Richmond we were carried, by Gor- donsville, to Manassas, and thence by way of the Manassas Gap Railroad to Strasburg; from which point we marched hurriedly to Winchester. Halting for a short while in the streets of Win- chester, we heard all sorts of rumors as to the expected attack by the enemy. Here our men first experienced that kind, patriotic hospitality which made famous the noble women of the army-stricken sec- tions of our country. As the two armies, for four years, swayed back and forth, leaving them within the lines of first one and then the other of the contending armies, they were always prompt and willing to help fill the haversack or even the canteen of the Confederate soldier, after their homes were so devastated that they could furnish nothing but cold water. The regiment was assigned to General Bee's Brigade, and we were soon hurried out and given a place on the extreme left of the line of battle which General Johnston had formed to meet the expected attack from the enemy. This looked more like war than anything we had seen. Every trooper that came in from the front was anxiously watched, but no enemy came. 2: North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. On the 18th of July the line was broken and we were marched back through Winchester, and then eastward. General Beaure- gard's army at Manassas was threatened, and we were marching to his relief. Wading the Shenandoah, we hurried right along up the mountain at Ashby's Gap. On the 19th, General Bee complained of the straggling, but we were urged forward by what we then thought was a forced march — later in the war we would not have thought it unusual. During the night of the 19th our regiment was halted at a station on the Manassas Gap Railroad. On account of some delay in getting cars, it was late in the evening of the 20th that we were counted into box-cars — so many on top and so many inside. There were ugly rumors as to obstructions placed on the track, evidently intended to impede our progress. With such rumors, with a train of box- cars full of sleepy, tired men, inside and on top, in the night, and through a mountainous country, it was a dangerous ride. We safely reached Manassas Junction on the morning of the 21st. Disembarking there, we could hear the firing of guns — the battle had begun — and we were marched off hurriedly in the direction of the firing. As we neared the battlefield we could hear the rattling musketry and exploding shells. We began to meet wounded men — we saw blood — the war was a reality. Some of the wounded were badly hurt, whilst others had slight wounds, about the hands for instance, and some of our men were so unsoldierly as to envy those who had escaped with only such slight wounds as would give them a furlough. We were led on, avoiding exposed places so as to keep out of sight of the enemy, until we were brought up in front of what is known as the " Henry House," near which a battery of artillery was posted and throwing its deadly missiles into the Confederate lines. This was Rickett's Battery. It was but a short time — it seemed only a few minutes — before these guns were silencQ,d and captured. But in those few minutes Colonel Fisher and many others had been killed. The regiment had received its baptism of blood. The enemy, however, was still extending their right beyond our left. It was a critical time. On this Sixth Regiment. 299 ridge or plateau, on which the "Henry House" stood, was the hardest fighting of the day. Here it was that General Bee, a short while before he was killed, bravely calling on his men to stand firm against the heavy columns that were coming against them, pointed down the line to General Jackson, saying: "Look at Jackson, he stands like a stone wall ! " — words that will never die. On this ridge, the turning point of the first battle of Manassas Plains, Generals Jackson and Hampton were wounded, Generals Bee and Bartow and Colonel Fisher were killed, together with hundreds of others whose names were not so prominent, but whose conduct was as heroic and whose lives were as precious to their country and kindred. Before the enemy could bring up their fresh columns to regain the lost position, their lines on the extreme right began to waver. General Kirby Smith, who was bringing up the other part of the Army of the Shenandoah, appeared on our extreme left, and then began a retreat, which soon became a stampede, which would have enabled the Confederates to have gone into Wash- ington if they had pressed forward. Much has been written as to the effect of this first great battle of the war on the two sections of the country. The Confeder- ates have always lamented their lost opportunity of capturing Washington. The Federals have always tried to believe that their defeat was a blessing in disguise. Our regiment lamented the death of our Brigadier-General, Bee, who, in the six days that we were in his brigade, had won the respect and confidence of all ; and among our many dead we especially lamented the loss of Colonel Fisher — noble, true, brave, almost to a fault. He had the qualities that would have made him most useful in the army. No better provider for his men could be found; they were devoted to him. After the battle our brigade was commanded by General W. H. C- Whiting, and was known as the Third Brigade. We were camped for a week or two at Bull Run, but, to be in a healthier location, we were moved back and camped near Bristow Station, a place that afterwards became famous. Whilst here Colonel 300 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. W. D. Pender came to us and took command. The regiment suifered severely from sickness and many died of disease. lu the fall of 1861 we were moved down near Freestone Point, on the Potomac, above Dumfries'. There we staid until cold weather, and then built winter-quarters. During the fall and winter we took our turn in picketing along the Potomac and on the Occoquan, and in guarding the batteries that were intended to command the river at Quantico and Evansport. Sometimes there would be alarms, and sometimes, whilst we were guarding these batteries, there would be long-range duels, and a few shells would be thrown at us, but we had no serious fighting. The winter 1861-62 was uneventful. About the 8th of March, 1862, in accordance with orders, we burned our winter- quarters, with a great deal of our baggage, camp supplies, etc., and marched southward, crossing the Rappahannock at Falmouth, and pitched our camp near- Fredericksburg. We were not pressed or hurried in the retreat, the movement seemed to be a deliberate one, and the necessity for the immense destruction of baggage and supplies of all sorts, which took place by order when the army fell back from Manassas, has never been made apparent. At Fredericksburg a number of recruits joined the regiment. Toward the latter part of March it was found that large num- bers of troops from McClellan's army were being transported down the Potomac. We were ordered to move again, and, leav- ing Fredericksburg, we took the road towards Richmond. After marching as far as Wilford Station, we were placed on board the cars, but were stopped at Ashland. After a few days' stay there, we started again in light marching order and went by the coun- try roads to Yorktown, arriving there towards the last of April, and were camped west of the town near the Williamsburg road. During our stay at Yorktown there were several alarms, and we were called into line several times, but the enemy did not advance. It was soon evident that some important movement was in contemplation. The preparation that was being made seemed to be for fighting the enemy there. Sixth Regiment. 301 On the morning of the 4th of May we were called quietly into line, and our regiment was formed across the Williamsburg road, facing toward Yorktown. Regiment after regiment filed by — that movement had been going on all night — the whole array- was falling back, and we were assigned the post of honor, the rearguard on that road. There was nothing between us and McClellan's advancing array but a few cavalrymen. Again and again, many times during the forepart of that day, as our army passed on, we would drop back and reform our line across the road, prepared for the enemy's advance, but we had no fighting to do. When we got in sight of Williamsburg and the forts and earth-works that had been prepared for defense there, we expected to see them fully manned by our troops. But the troops were all resting around promiscuously, apparently with- out any expectation of an enemy. When we reached the earth- works we were not halted, but were marched right on, and after passing through the town we took the road that bore towards York River. That night when the camp-followers and strag- glers came into camp, they told us that our army had been sur- prised at Williamsburg, and that many men were killed. That surprise ought not to have taken place. Some one was negligent. On the next day we still continued in our march to lean over towards York River. General Franklin, with a large force, was going up the river on transports, escorted by gun-boats, and we were to prevent him from getting between General Johnston and Richmond, or interfering with the retreat. We had quite a bat- tle near Barhamsville, or Eltham's Landing. The enemy after- wards claimed it a success. We thought we succeeded. We did not drive his fleet down the river, he had too many gun- boats, but we prevented his coming off the river to impede the movements of our army. The army was now well on its way on the retreat from the Yorktown peninsula. The ordnance stores and other supplies that had been abandoned must have been immense. Some of it was brought down to the lines near Yorktown within a day or 302 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. two before the retreat began. Was that good manag-ement? Was it a necessary loss? The march back towards Richmond was very disagreeable. There had been a great deal of rain ; the roads were very bad, muddy and miry. We got separated from our commissary wagons. The men suffered with hunger. One evening when the regiment was filed out of the road to camp — they had been without rations and none were in sight — a wagon came along loaded with corn in the ear. It was intended for the horses, but the men were so hungry that, upon the sug- gestion by some one that parched corn would do for subsistence, they rushed for the wagon and would have emptied it but for the interference of the guard, who told them that the commissary wagon was coming. When the army got within the lines that were finally chosen for the defense of Richmond our camp was north of the city. On the 29th and 30th of May we had heavy rains. A fearful thunder-storm passed over our camp. One stroke of lightning in our brigade disabled for a time about thirty men, of whom it was said that four died. The description of that storm as given ' in the Richmond Examiner the next morning was most graphic. It was remarkable as a literary production. In consequence of these heavy rains the Chickahominy River was much swollen, and General Johnston, who had withdrawn most of his army to the south side of that stream, thought it a good time to attack McClellan, whose army was on both sides of the river. On the 31st of May we were hurried out in the direction of Seven Pines and joined in the attack. For a while we drove the enemy in fine style. They must have been completely surprised, for we passed through camps in which we found their dinner in the kettles being cooked, and in some cases it was smoking-hot on their camp-tables. After driving them back for a considera- ble distance they began to make a stand, and the fighting became furious. As we afterwards learned, we were not far from Fair Oaks Station, and nearly opposite the "Grape-vine Bridge," which was a new bridge constructed by them. Re-inforcemejits Sixth Eegiment. 303 from the north side were pouring across this bridge and our advance was stayed. General Johnston, together with President Davis and General G. W. Smith, with a numerous staff, came up in the rear of our brigade. Here it was that General John- ston was wounded. That was nearly night, and as it was a dark evening the heavy battle-smoke soon made it impossible to see, and the firing ceased and we made no further advance. The next morning, Sunday, June 1st, found the two armies still in front of each other. But no heavy fighting was done on our part of the line. They did considerable shelling from the north side of the Chickahominy. So ended the battle of Seven Pines and Fair Oaks. After this battle Colonel Pender was promoted and Captain I. E. Avery was made Lieutenant-Colonel of the Sixth Regiment. About the 12th to 13th of June our division was placed aboard the cars at Richmond and carried by way of Lynchburg and Charlottsville to Staunton, and disembarking there, started down the Valley. But we made only one march in that direction when we met General Jackson's men coming up the Valley pike ■ towards Staunton. We were turned about and marched by way of Waynesboro and across the Blue Ridge at Rockfish Gap towards Charlottsville. Our road was nearly along the railroad, and we could see train-load after train-load of troops moving east. Finally our turn came, and we were taken up and hauled to Trevillian's Depot, and thence were marched, bearing at first towards Fredericksburg, but at last turned to Ashland. Here we were told that Lee was going to capture McCIellau's army or drive him away from Richmond. We were on his right flank, and were to move early in the morning of the 26th. We did so, but before we had gotten in rear of McClellan's right, or had time to attack him, the Confederates in front of his lines at and near Mechanicsville charged him in front. They carried the works, but at fearful loss. Our brigade. Whiting's, had had only a slight skirmish in crossing Totapotamoi Creek, and if Jackson had been allowed a little longer time the enemy could not have awaited the attack in front, for Jackson was about to 304 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. strike him in the rear. Whose fault or by whose mistake was the great loss of Confederates at Mechanicsville? On the 27th we took part in the battle of Gaines' Mill, or Cold Harbor, one of the most noted and hotly-contested battles of the war. The enemy, under General Fitzjohn Porter, was strongly posted on the east bank of Powhite Creek. His artillery was on top of the ridge, in front of which were two lines of infantry, so placed on the hill-side that the artillery and the two lines of infantry could all fire over each other on the advancing Confederates; and to reach their line we had to cross the creek in a deep ravine. They had felled the timber so as to hinder an attacking force. Our brigade, Whiting's, was formed in line, with Hood's (Texas) Brigade, as I recollect, on our left, and had moved forward until we were about within range of the enemy's musketry. A short halt was made. The field of bat- tle was before us: cannons belching forth fire and smoke; burst- ing shells; riderless horses rushing wildly about; smoking lines of infantry ; charging columns gallantly led by mounted officers; wounded men being borne to the rear, whilst the dead lay motionless and still ! It was the reality of the pictures given us by artists. There had been an unsuccessful attempt to drive the enemy from his strong position. Our line Was in readiness. The gallant Whiting, riding along in front of the line, was cheered by our men, and, turning to the line, raised his hat in acknowledgment of the salute, and called out, saying: "Boys, you can take it ! " and motioned towards the enemy's position. "Forward!" was the command all along the line. The advance across the open field on the west side of the creek; crossing the creek and working our way up the hill through the fallen timber; driving the two lines of infantry from behind their breastworks and capturing the artillery posted on the ridge behind them, was a severe test of those qualities which have made the Confederate soldier famous. It was a military feat which the historians of the war do not seem to have appreciated. The Sixth Regiment did its part in driving the enemy from a position which, after we had taken it and had time to view the situation, looked as if Sixth Regiment. 305 it shpiild have been impregnable to troops attacking it in front. It has been said that President Davis watched this attack from where he was on the south side of the Chickahominy; saw its success, and, not knowing the troops or their commander, eulo- gized them, and said: "That charge has saved Richmond." When the battle ended it was getting dark. The loss of this position compelled the Federals to withdraw to the south side of the Chickahominy, which they did during that night, destroy- ing the bridges. McClellan was retreating to the James. Our pursuit was delayed until the bridges could be rebuilt. When we crossed to the south side the battle of Savage Station had been won. We passed through the battlefield on the 30th and assisted in forcing the passage of White Oak Swamp, which the enemy was stubbornly holding, in order to give time for his trains to get away. We were on the left of the line at Malvern Hill, and although under a terrible fire, supporting our artillery, we were not ordered to charge the enemy. On the morning of the 2d of July the enemy was gone, and we were marched in pursuit, and found him at Harrison's Lauding. Our lines were formed promptly, skirmishing began, and we thought we were to attack him at once, but General Lee concluded that his posi- tion, protected as it was by gun-boats, was too strong. McCIel- lan's army had not been captured, but the seige of Richmond had been raised. After watching the enemy for a few days, we were marched back to the neighborhood of Richmond, where we camped until August, when we started on the campaign known as the Pope campaign, so called because the Federal army was commanded by General John Pope, who rendered himself infamous by his uncivilized warfare and cruel treatment of citizens, and who withal made himself ridiculous by his braggadocio orders, which were followed by bad generalship and consequent defeat. Our brigade was commanded by Colonel (afterwards General) E. M. Law, and was in General Hood's Division. We took part in a number of skirmishes along the Rappa- hannock, and near Warrentou Springs, and when General Jack- 20 306 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. son, at Manassas and Bull Run, was about to be separated from the other portion of the army, whilst we were marching hur- riedly to his relief, we found the enemy disputing our passage through Thoroughfare Gap. No time was to be lost. Com- munication with Jackson was necessary. We were filed by a narrow path up the mountain side to the summit on the left of the pass. The enemy was driven back and left the pass or gap open. From our position on the top of the mountain, on the evening of the 28th, we could see the firing of the guns and the explosion of the shells in the fight against Jackson, far away on Bull Run, or near it, but we could not hear the sound of a gun. Early on the 29th we were on the march to the relief of Jack- son, who had hard fighting, as we judged by the heavy firing which was then plainly to be heard. As soon as we came up our division. Hood's, was formed in line across the Warrenton turnpike and moved forward to attack the enemy's line, which was then pressing hard upon Jackson. We drove him back. We were heavily engaged also on the 30th, when the enemy was forced to give up the field. When the battle was over we found that the two armies had occupied about the same positions that were held by them on the 21st of July, 1861, except that they were reversed. The last stand by the enemy was made on the ridge or plateau on which stood the " Henry House," made famous as the scene of the severest part of the battle known as First Manassas. After the battle of Ox Hill on the 30th we were marched towards the Potomac, and fording it, we marched to Monocacy Bridge, near Frederick, in Maryland. Thence we went along the Baltimore and Ohio turnpike, crossing the mountains at Boonsboro, marching by the side of our wagon-trains all the way to Hagerstown. We were there only a short time, when we heard cannonading in the direction of Boonsboro. We were hurried back, and when we reached Boonsboro we heard heavy fighting upon the mountain. We were carried up to the pass and were first formed in line on the south side of the pike, and then to the north side and afterwards to the south side again, Sixth Regiment. 307 but we were not heavily engaged in the battle. Early the next morning we found that our army had moved in the direction of the Potomac, and we were acting as the rearguard. Many times during the day our regiment was formed into line across the road, as the army fell back towards Sharpsburg. The enemy came in sight several times, but did not attack. When we reached the top of the hill above Sharpsburg, where the Federal ceme- tery now is, we found a considerable part of the army resting there. Lee and his staff were there, and soon a courier arrived bringing news of the capture of Harper's Ferry. About that time the enemy was seen placing a battery in the field north of the Antietam. He began throwing shells. The. camp-follow- ers were soon going further towards Virginia. But, under the direction of General Lee, the different commands were deploying into line. He was retreating no longer. Our brigade was carried west along the Hagerstown road to the Dunkard Church — St. Mumma's — where the Smoketown road branches off to the north. Forming our line along the Hagerstown road, we remained there during the rest of that day, the 15th of September, and on the 16th until late in the evening. Then the cavalry reported that the enemy was moving with strong lines and coming up in front of us. Our lines were then pushed forward in the direction of the Smoketown road ^ome distance, perhaps a quarter of a mile. Our regiment was on the east side of the Smoketown road, along a fence and skirt of woods, known as East Woods in the accounts of the battle. Sometime after dark a line of men was discovered moving along our front from our right towards our left, so unconcernedly that they were at first supposed to be Confederates, but when they were hailed and found to be enemies one volley from our line scattered them and we were not molested further that night. At sometime during the night, perhaps about one or two o'clock, we were carried back to (what was then) woods near the Dunk- ard Church. It is now a cleared field. Here we were told to rest. But early in the morning of the 17th, when it was hardly light, the battle opened. Our position, though we were then in North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. the second line, was a very trying one. The enemy's guns in our front poured shot and shell into us, whilst we were exposed to a cross-fire from his long-range guns, posted on the northeast side of Antietam Creek. The infantry in our front were soon engaged. There was an incessant roar of cannonading, and the roll of musketry was terrific. Wounded men were going back through our lines by scores. The battle was raging awfully. Our line was called into action, and moved to the front up the Smoketown road and between it and the Hagerstown pike. The front line had made a noble stand, but it was being pressed back. The enemy, with fresh lines, was pushing forward when we met him. Here it was that, for the first time in the war, I saw our men fix their bayonets in action, which they did at the command of General Hood, who was riding up and down the line. We broke the enemy's line and held our place for a while, but he was bringing up fresh columns and( overlapping our left, and we were forced back. The enemy seemed to be over- coming us until our left was re-inforced by troops that were ordered up from our right. They engaged the enemy and drove him back again to the north of the Dunkard Church, and our lines were re-established. There was no further heavy fighting on that part of the line. The heavy fighting in the afternoon was near the stone bridge east of the town. If the future historian will study the battle of Sharpsburg, the positions of the two armies and the number of troops belong- ing to each, he will be forced to conclude that it should be con- sidered one of the most noted battles of the war, and that Lee's army covered itself with glory there. Remaining on the field during the afternoon and night of the 17th and all day of the 18th without any renewal of attack, the army on the night of the 18th moved across the Potomac into Virginia. We camped there for sometime near a big spring northwest of Winchester. Toward the latter part of October, General McClellan showed signs of an intention to advance into Virginia, east of the Blue Ridge. So we were marched across the mountains, and were kept marching until we were brought Sixth Regiment. 309 up in front of Fredericksburg. Here we learned that McClellan had been removed and that Burnside had been placed in com- mand of the Army of the Potomac. As we neared Fredericks- burg we met old men and old women and children, some on foot, some in carriages, some being hauled in wagons; many of them apparently too sick to travel ; all vacating the town because the Federal commander had threatened to bombard it, which he did do a few days thereafter. It had been decided to organize the army anew and to brigade the troops by States, but the Sixth remained with Law's Brigade until after the battle of Fredericksburg, when it was placed, together with the Twenty-first, the Fifty-fourth and Fifty-sev- enth North Carolina Regiments, in a brigade commanded by General R. F. Hoke. Our brigade during the battle of Fredericksburg was on the line between Hamilton's Crossing and the to.wn, about in front of the Barnard House. General Franklin commanded that por- tion of the Federal army which confronted us. His attack was very powerful, and soon after the battle began the enemy took advantage of an interval that was inadvertently allowed in the line on our right towards Hamilton's Crossing and broke through. Here it was that General Gregg, of South Carolina, was mortally wounded. But the enemy's success was only temporary, for he was soon repulsed, and he did not, after that, show much disposition to press forward. Late in the afternoon our brigade was called upon to drive the enemy from an advanced position which he was holding along the railroad where it crossed Hazel Run or Deep Run. The Fifty-fourth and Fifty-seventh Regiments (N. C.) were placed in advance by General Law, at the request of their Colonels, McDowell and Godwin, and they drove the enemy in handsome style clear away from the railroad. General Law's Aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Smith, was killed in the effort to stop the two regiments in the pursuit of the enemy. This line we held. On the morning of the second day thereafter we found that there was no enemy in front of us. He was 310 North Carolina Tkoops, 1861-65. on the north side of the Rappahannock. The campaigns of 1862 were over. We went into winter-quarters on the hills southwest of Hamilton's Crossing in December, 1862, but were removed to Hoke's Brigade during the winter, which was in camp near Jackson's headquarters on the right of the line, and during the winter did our share of picketing along the river between Fredericksburg and Port Royal. General Burnside made an unsuccessful attempt to advance in January, 1863, but was forced to abandon it on account of the mud, and that movement was known as Burnside's "Mud March." He resigned, and General Hooker was placed in com- mand of the Army of the Potomac. When he made his advance in what is known as the Chancellorsville or the Wilderness cam- paign, our brigade was near the same part of the line which we occupied during the battle in December before. There was no very heavy fighting near Fredericksburg until the 4th. General Sedgwick, who was in command of the enemy's forces about Fredericksburg, moved out of the town, attacked and captured Marye's Hill, where there had been such awful destruction of life in December previous; and he appeared to be moving so as to strike the right of General Lee's line of battle up toward Chan- cellorsville. Our brigade was commanded by General Hoke, and we were at once moved from our position below Deep Run, so as to attack the enemy, who was then on the hills south of the town. The conflict was sharp, but short, and the enemy was soon on the retreat. In this fight General Hoke was wounded. By the next morning Hooker and his army were again on the north side of the Rappahannock. After a short rest our brigade was moved westward and crossed the Rapidan towards Culpep- per Court House; and after the battle of Brandy Station we were carried by long, hurried marches over the Blue Ridge, crossing the Shanandoah at Port Royal, and thence to Win- chester. There we took part in the battle which resulted in the capture of Milroy's command, although he himself escaped. There was a large number of prisoners, and one of our regi- Sixth Regiment. 311 ments, the Fifty- fourth, was detailed to guard them and carry them up the Valley to Staunton. The Sixth Regiment and the other two regiments of the brigade went on in that series of movements which culmiaated at Gettysburg. We crossed the Potomac near Shepherdstown and passed through Sharpsburg, where we had lost so many of our regiment in September before ; thence on past Hagerstown, and nearly' to Chambersburg. We then bore to the right or easterly across the mountains, passing Heidlersburg, Berlin and other towns, and on to York. There we stopped and rested for a few days, camping in the old Fair Grounds. General Gordon, with a brigade of our division, pushed on still further towards Philadelphia and burned the bridge over the Susquehanna at Columbia. Leaving York, we soon found that we were retracing our march. On the afternoon of the 1st of July, when we, as it afterwards appeared, were within a few miles of Gettysburg, and whilst halted for a rest, although we could not hear or see any signs of battle, an order was passed along down the line to inspect arms and examine the cartridge- boxes and see that all were well supplied with ammunition, and directing also that there should be no straggling. Moving for- ward, we soon heard cannonading in our front, andsoon there- after we were in hearing of musketry. The road was cleared for the artillery to come forward, and we were formed into line of battle to protect it. The battle was raging on the west and northwest of the town, and we were engaging the lines that were formed on the north of the town. In the artillery duel that took place here, one of the guns which our regiment supported was disabled by a shot from one of the enemy's guns, which struck our gun exactly in the muzzle and split it. That might be called a center-shot. The enemy seemed to fight with more desperation and gallantry than we had been accustomed to in our engagements with him in Virginia. He was upon his own soil, and it was no longer a sentiment about the old flag, it was a fight for home. But our mfen were never more unfalter- ing. The long line of battle moved with great steadiness across the wide-extended fields of wheat which were just ready for the 312 JS^OETH CaeolixVa Troops, 1861-'65. reaper. There was, on that field, another Eeaper gathering in a numerous harvest from the fields of Time. As we moved for- ward, one by one our men were left dead or wounded on the field behind us, but still our line advanced, and although the enemy made a determined stand we could see his line thinning down. Just north of the town, and a little to the east of the depot, he held his line until Our men crossed bayonets with him. Swords were used on him, and when the artillery which he was protecting fired its last round the stream of fire from the mouth of the gun crossed our line. It was necessary for him to be thus desperate in holding this position in order to protect the retreat from Seminary Ridge. The artillery was being car- ried back from Seminary Ridge, through the town, to Cemetery Hill. He was in full retreat through the town. We thought the battle of Gettysburg was over ; and so it was, for when we passed to the southeast side of the town and got in sight of Cemetery Hill we could see him placing his first gun on East Cemetery Hill, and we could see no troops out east of Cemetery Hill towards Culp's Hill. Our men were anxious to proceed and take possession of Cemetery Hill, and it was only by posi- tive orders that a halt was made. The line was soon reformed along a little rivulet that runs northeastwardly from Cemetery Hill, and between the town and Culp's Hill. But we had no orders for any further advance. As soon as it began to grow dark we could hear sounds of what might have been thousands of axes cutting down the timber on Culp's Hill. He made breastworks and lined the Cemetery Hill with artillery, and placed a battery on a small hill between Cemetery Hill and Culp's Hill, and his guns were also protected by earth-works which he threw up during the night. By the morning of the 2d all these places were full of infan- try, and his artillery was so posted as to be able to fire over the heads of his infantry, whilst a strong line of skirmishers was in front of all, which was frequently relieved. He kept up a galling fire on us all day. There was a terrific cannonade between the enemy's guns and ours, which were posted on the Sixth Regiment. 313 north and east of the town. This was not very destructive to our infantry line, because, being in the valley, the shots passed over us. But late in the afternoon, after the artillery had about ceased firing, couriers and aids were seen riding rapidly from one com- manding officer to another. We knew what that meant. The order was given: "Forward, Guide Eight!" Hays' Brigade of Louisiana was on our right; ours, the Sixth Regiment, was next to Hays'; Colonel Isaac E. Avery, of the Sixth, was in command of our brigade; Lieutenant-Colonel S. McD. Tate was in com- mand of the regiment. Never can that time be forgotten. Every man in the line knew what was before him. We had seen the enemy gathering on Cemetery Hill; we had laid under the fire of his numerous guns; we knew the preparations he had made for us. Yet, promptly at the command, the line moved forward, and in a few minutes we were in full view of the enemy's bat- teries and his lines of infantry. His sharp-shooters emptied their rifles at us and fell back to their main line at once, and every gun was brought to bear upon us. The fire was terrific, but our men moved forward very rapidly, bearing to the right, having the batteries on Cemetery Hill as their objective point. As we approached the hill the guns on Battery Hill, over to- wards Culp's Hill, had an enfilading fire on us. Still our men rushed forward, crawled over the stone wall near the base of the hill, drove from behind it a strong line of infantry, and went still forward to the top of the hill, and silenced the numerous pieces of artillery that had been so advantageously posted. We had full possession of East Cemetery Hill, the key to General Meade's position, and we held it for several minutes. It was then after daylight had gone down, the smoke was very dense, and, although the moon was rising, we could not see what the enemy was doing, but we could hear him attempting to rally his men, and more than once he rallied close up to us. But our men had formed behind a rock wall, and as he ap- proached we fired a volley into him, which drove him back. This occurred at least twice. No one who has never been in a similar 314 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. position can understand how anxiously we looiied for re-inforce- ments. None came, however, and before long orders came for us to fall back to our original position. By not supporting Hoke's Brigade of North Carolina and Hays' Brigade of Louisiana in the storming and capturing of Cemetery Hill the battle of Gettysburg was lost. I do not know whose fault it was, but I feel assured in saying that it was not the fault of the storming column. It did its whole duty and fell back only when orders came for it to do so. Much has been written about the battle of Gettysburg, and what was accomplished by the different conamands and the troops from the different States. But, at the risk of being charged with immodesty, I venture to claim that the storming and capturing of Cemetery Hill on the evening of the second day was not sur- passed by anything that was done during the three days' fight. The facts on which the claim is based will appear to any one who will go to the spot. He will there see the positions of the contending armies and the strength of the hill. The breastworks and embankments protecting the enemy's guns are still plainly visible. Its defenses and the lines of the positions of its de- fenders a-re all marked by durable monuments. And on the top- most summit he will find a cluster of monuments, the inscrip- tions on which recite the desperate assault made by Hoke's and Hays' Brigades on the 2d of July, 1863, and especially men- tion the hand-to-hand conflict, after the last round of ammuni- tion had been fired and the capture and spiking of the enemy's guns by the Confederates. I did not know at the time of the battle that the men had spiked the enemy's guns. But on a visit to the battlefield since the war I met one of the cannoneers who helped to man those guns on that evening, and he told me of what a terrible raking fire they had at us until we got close up to the hill; of how many shots they fired to the minute from each gun; and he said it was a fact that several of their guns were found to have been spiked by our men, as shown by the recitals inscribed on those monu- ments. Sixth Regiment. 315 These are records that cannot be gainsaid, and they will endure. I refer to them with pride: not for myself, but for my regiment, and especially for and on behalf of the troops from North Carolina, whose glorious deeds at Gettysburg have been so much ignored. The noble soldierly bearing of the many regiments of North Carolina troops that took part in that three days' fight — on Semi- nary Ridge and Rock Creek on the first day, and with General Johnson on Gulp's Hill on the evening of the second and morn- ing of the third day, and in the charge on Cemetery Ridge on the third day, have not been given due prominence in the accounts of the battle of Gettysburg. But here, on Cemetery Hill, those who felt the prowess of her troops have contributed to their fame by inscribing their deeds on imperishable tablets, which they have erected on the highest ground and in the most conspicuous position on this most noted battlefield of the war — a battlefield which, by reason of the vast sums of money expended on it, is destined to be made one of the most noted battlefields in the world. The tourist or traveler visiting this field in days to come, as he goes from point to point with a well-informed guide, will hear him, in describing the operations of the two armies on the first day, on the second day and on the third day, make frequent mention of the North Carolina troops. From the point known as "The Bloody Angle" he will de- scribe Pickett's charge, so called because General Pickett was in command of the assaulting columns, a charge very unjustly spoken of as " The charge of Pickett and his Virginians," to the prejudice of troops from other States that participated in it, among whom were several regiments of North Carolina troops, who acted well their part, and will be duly mentioned in all true accounts of the fight. When they come to stand on Cemetery Hill, to which every visitor will go, for from it nearly all the field can be pointed out except Lee's right on the Emmettsburg road, and Meade's left on Roundtop, the guide will point westward toward Cashtown 316 NoETH Carolina Teoops, 1861-'65. and the Chambersburg pike, where the fighting began. North Carolina was there. He will then point out Seminary Ridge, beyond which the Federal General Reynolds was killed; the railroad cut; and the rock wall from which the Federals were driven after a most determined stand. North Carolina was there. He will turn towards the field on the north of the town, where Ewell's Corps came in and where the Federal General Bartow was killed ; and still further to the east, where Early's Division fought along Rock Creek and near the brick-yard, and through the town. North Carolina was all along there. Turning then directly east, he will call attention to the monuments, two or three miles off, which mark the place of the cavalry fighting. North Carolina was there too. Then he will show Gulp's Hill, where General Johnson and his men did such noble work and came so near being successful in their efforts to turn Meade's right flank. North Carolina was there. And to conclude his description from this point of view, the guide will then tell how Hays' Louisiana Brigade and Hoke's North Carolina Brigade (then commanded by Colonel I. E. Avery), after laying under fire all day, some of which was a ter- rible cannonade, emerged in line of battle from the little valley that runs through Gulp's field, and charged up the hill through the shot and shell and grape and canister and ball that was poured upon them by the well-posted Federals. He will point to where Avery fell, and tell how they still came on and on, driving back the infantry and then encountering the gunners, who resisted even to a hand-to-hand struggle, until finally the guns were silenced and spiked; and he will then ask that the records of those facts may be read in the inscriptions on the costly, durable monuments erected there by the Federal regi- ments and batteries that were in the fight. North Carolina loas there. The Confederate soldier — the North Carolina Confederate soldier — may glory in the records of Gettysburg. In the charge on this hill, the Sixth Regiment being on the Sixth Regiment. 317 right of the brigade, next to Hays' Brigade, was the only regi- ment of the North Carolina brigade which went on Cemetery Hill, towards which its advance was directed by Colonel Tate. The other regiments of the brigade, the Twenty-first and Fifty- seventh, being on the left, were brought up more directly against Culp's Hill. On the 3d day we remained in line along near the southern edge of town. We could hear the fighting to the south of us along the Emmettsburg road, but we were not heavily engaged at any time during the day — only constant firing on the skirmish line. On the 4th we were in line along Seminary Ridge. On the night of the 4th we could see that our army was leaving Get- tysburg, and when day came on the 5th we found that our brigade was again given the post of honor as the rearguard on one of the roads by which the army was crossing the mountains towards Hagerstown. It is claimed that General Meade was victorious at Gettys- burg, and in one sense he was, but it was by no means a decisive victory. We were all day on the 5th making the short distance be- tween Gettysburg and the foot of the mountains, and we were not seriously molested by any pursuit until late in the evening, after sundown, when we were well in the mountains. The enemy ran up on a hill in our rear and threw a few shells at us, but when our sharp-shooters deployed and started towards him he suddenly fell back, and we were molested no more. We next formed our line of battle up and down the Potomac, near Hagerstown, the river, by reason' of the continued rains, being too deep to be forded. Here was another chance for Gen- eral Meade, if his army was elated by his achievements at Gettysburg. General Lee's army remained in line ready for an expected attack, but no attack was made. When the river became passable the pontoons were placed, and portions of the army 318 iSfoETH Carolina Teoops, 1861-65. crossed on the bridge, whilst others forded. "We were back into Virginia again. The Gettj'sburg campaign was over, but many, many noble soldiers who crossed over with us in June now failed to answer to their names at roll-call. After getting into Virginia we were carried back and camped a few miles northwest of Winchester. Whilst stationed there we were ordered to prepare for marching, and late one evening we started westward toward the Alleghany mountains. We marched all night, and in the morning we were at the western base of the mountains in West Virginia, and took the roads leading northward. The object of our expedition was to capture some of the enemy's forces that were guarding a gap to the north of us; but they had gotten information of our movements and escaped, and we came back to camp. We were soon in motion again, and were marched up the Valley and crossed over to the eastern side of the Blue Ridge and on to the neighborhood of Culpepper Court House and the line of the Rapi- dan. We took part in all those movements and engagements in the early part of October, along the Rappahannock and near Warren- ton Springs, which led up to the disastrous engagement at Bris- tow Station on the 14th of October. Meade's army was falling back towards Washington, and we were in pursuit. Our brigade had formed east and west across the road in his rear, and we were fast closing in on him. But General Hill struck him on the flank, near Bristow, just south of Cedar Run, with two brigades. General Warren turned his whole force on him and played on him with artillery that was posted on the north side of the run. Hill's brigades were re- pulsed with terrible loss. The eifort to cut the enemy in his retreat had failed. We then fell back to the north side of the Rappahannock, tearing up the railroad from Cub's Run all the way back to Rappahannock Station. As every thing grew quiet we were directed to prepare winter- quarters, and did so with a hearty good-will. By the 7th of November we were tolerably well prepared for winter; but in Sixth Regiment. 319 the middle of the afternoon on that day the "long-roll" was beat and we were marched about seven miles, double-quick for a great part of the way, to Rappahannock Station. West of the railroad bridge the river bends to the south, and a pontoon bridge was kept across the river. On the north side of the river there was a line of trenches, and we were hurried over into them. There were three or four pieces of artillery on a bluff near the river, just opposite the pontoon bridge, to our right. There Hays' Louisiana Brigade was posted. The ene- my's lines soon appeared in our front. Owing to some unusual state of the atmosphere, or currents of the air, we could see him firing at us, but could not hear the report of his guns until he was close up to us. He seemed to know the ground, and his heaviest attack was on our right nearest the pontoon bridge. The conformation of the ground was such that we could not direct our fire so as to bear upon the heavy lines that were thrown against Hays, and he, after a gallant resistance, was overcome, and the enemy had the battery and was in full view of the pontoon bridge, which was then within musket-range from him, and he had an enfilading fire on our part of the line, which was also receiving a fire from the enemy in our front. Our men were ordered out of the trenches to form a line to try and retake the battery, but with the enemy advancing in our front and the severe fire from the hill on which the battery was situated, it was impossible to do so. No supporting troops were coming from the south side of the river. Hays' men were re- treating, and the enemy was pouring a deadly fire into the stream of men who were rushing across the pontoon bridge to the south side of the river. Our regiment and those to our left were cut off and the river was too deep to be forded. The only chance of escape was to run the gauntlet or swim the river. It was getting dark. Some ran the gauntlet across the bridge; some swam the river. The writer was one of a considerable number who rushed across the bridge and reached the south bank safely, whilst many who attempted it fell pierced with balls and tumbled headlong into the river. A large portion of the brigade 320 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. was captured. The enemy was so intent on crowding our men back into the horse-shoe bend of the river that a considerable number, after formally throwing down their guns and being ordered to the rear, in going back found that the bridge was not guarded, and so slipped across to the south side. This fight, though of short duration, was a severe one and against great odds. We had no support or re-inforcements. The wisdom of the generalship by which our two brigades were placed on the north bank of a deep river to meet the advance of a great army is not apparent. Those of us who escaped capture re- formed our companies, and by the addition of some recruits the regiment was intact again. But we were not permitted to go into winter-quarters any more. We were kept moving, watching the enemy. He was somewhat emboldened, and attempted what was known to our men as the "Mine Run Campaign." It was about the last of November, and the weather was bitter cold. Al- though we were under a considerable artillery fire, and did some heavy skirmishing between the lines of battle formed by the two armies, yet there was no general engagement, and the enemy gave up the movement, and on December 2d withdrew his forces to the north side of the Rapidan again. The^campaigns of 1863 were ended. Early in January, 1864, we were started again and were car- ried through Richmond and Petersburg, and thence to Garys- burg, N. C. Our men began almost to believe the rumor that we were being carried to North Carolina to hunt up deserters. Unpleasant as such duty would have been, there was rejoicing at the thought of being nearer home, and with a pathos that can- ' not be described, the men sang Gaston's glorious hymn : "Carolina, Carolina, Heaven's blessings attend her," "While we live we will cherish, protect and defend her." Taking the cars again, we headed towards Weldon, but there, instead of going on the Gaston road, we went towards Golds- boro and thence to Kinston. We joined in the expedition to Sixth Eegiment. 321 New Bern, took part in the engagement at Bachelor's Creek Bridge and formed our line in sight of the enemy's breastworks in front of New Bern. But no attack was made. After a day or two there, we marched back to Kinston. When we left Kins- ton we were carried by way of Goldsboro and Rocky Mount to Tarboro, and thence were marched hurriedly to Plymouth. We took part in the storming of the outer works and final cap- ture of Plymouth, April 20th. It was in this battle and whilst storming Fort Wessels that we first had to contend with hand-gre- nades. Whilst our men were in the ditch around the fort the enemy threw hand-grenades quite freely, but they did not prove to be very destructive, and the fort soon surrendered. This was about dark on the first day, and the surrender of this fort brought us in front of the main line of works around the town. Early in the morning the battle was renewed all along the line, and the' Ram "Albemarle" was brought down the river to assist. The battle soon resulted in the capture of the town, with a large number of prisoners and considerable stores. We then marched on Little Washington on Tar River, but the enemy vacated it before we got there. Spring was now well advanced and serious work was threat- ened in Virginia. Grant was moving on the Rapidan, and the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad was threatened by troops on the south side of the James. We were hurried back towards Rich- mond, but were stopped near Belfield and Hicksford to protect the bridges in that neighborhood for a few days. Then we were carried to Petersburg to prevent Butler's forces from capturing the city. Then Butler, failing to get into Petersburg, made a heavy demonstration out from Bermuda Hundreds, threatening the Petersburg & Richmond Railroad. We were marched over there. Butler failed to take the railroad, and, as Grant said, was "bottled up." We were marched over to Richmond and northward towards Fredericksburg, and next formed in line of battle a little to the 21 322 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. north of Hanover Junction. We were back with the army of Northern Virginia again. An attacii from Grant's army was hourly expected. But there was no general engagement, only some skirmishing on our part of the line. As General Grant swung around down the river, we were marched so as to conform to his movements, and keep between him and Richmond. When he got to a point nearly north of Richmond he crossed over the Pamunkey River and advanced directly toward the city. Our line was along the Totapotamoi. On Sunday evening, May 29, 1864, the writer of this sketch had his own company and two other companies on the skirmish line quite hotly engaged until after dark. After night-fall everything was quiet, and early in the morning, before it was light, we had orders to fall back to the main line. But hardly had we gotten back to the regiment when orders were brought to him to take the same men back to the same skirmish line and hold it until heavily pressed by the enemy; and, as they pressed us, to fall back to the main line. We were soon in our place, and it was not long before the enemy came up in force in our front and as far as we could see to our right and to our left. We were on the north side of the creek, along the brow of the hill ; in front of us was a level field, in our rear wa^ a valley which had been cleared for cultivation, and the ground sloped from our line back to the run of the creek, and then up on the south side, which was wooded, back to the main line on the brow of the hill. The skirmishing soon became furious all along the line. In falling back our part of the line had to traverse the cleared ground until we began to ascend the slope on the south side of the creek, and the enemy, who rushed to the brow of the hill, poured a destructive fire into us. After we had gotten on the south side of the creek the writer, in passing from the left to the right along the line, received a shot in the ankle which disabled him entirely. Fearing capture, he, without waiting for the litter-bearers, called on his men to carry him back. Oh ! how true and good and faithful those Sixth Regiment. 323 men had, under all circumstances, been to him. Promptly when the call was made, three or four good soldiers of his company lifted him and carried him back till the litter-bearers were met. He was then carried by them to the ambulance station, and thence to the hospital, and there, when his turn came, he was placed on the operating-table, and when he awoke his left foot was gone — the surgeons said amputation was necessary. And so ended his career as an active soldier. Any further history of the regiment is based on information derived from other sources. The fighting above referred to was preliminary to the great battle of Cold Harbor on the 31st of May and on the 1st, 2d and 3d of June, in which the Federal losses were awfully heavy. The Confederate loss was comparatively small. The one was reported at about twelve hundred, the other at about thirteen thousand. Those who eulogize General Grant have a difficult task in vindicating the orders which caused such fearful losses in this battle. History tells it that he ordered charge after charge, and only desisted when his men declined to charge again. The writer, whilst lying on his cot in the hospital in Rich- mond, was told by the doctor in charge that s(jme of his old comrades had come in to see him, and when he looked up he saw that it was some of the Sixth Regiment, North Carolina Troops, who had been wounded at Cold Harbor. They told him of the awful slaughter of Federals in front of the Confederate lines. The second Cold Harbor was a decisive battle and virtually closed the overland campaign against Richmond. General Grant was foiled in his eifort to get between Lee and Richmond. Grant then decided to transfer his forces to the James River. About the 12th to 14th of June, when General Grant began to change his base to the James, the cavalry was threatening the line of the railroad towards Gordonsville, and Hunter was moving up the Valley. Early's Division, to which the Sixth Regi- ment belonged, was marched rapidly from the Chickahominy 324 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. towards Gordonsville, in which section of the country Sheridan's Cavalry was raiding. Hampton's Cavalry had checked Sheridan. Early's forces pushed on through the smoking ruins that marked the line of Sheridan's retreat, until near Gordonsville a train was met back- ing down to carry them to Lynchburg, which place was reached about sunrise on the morning of the 17th. Jumping off the cars, the men were hurriedly marched up the steep streets and out to the field west of the town, and were just in time to save it. The cavalry of General Jackson, sometimes known as " Mud-wall Jaokson," were being driven back by Hunter's men, who were advancing hilariously. But consternation struck them when they met Lee's infantry. Then followed the greatest foot-race ever witnessed in war. Back through Liberty, Buford's Gap, and across the Valley into and beyond the North Mountain the despoilers ran, strewing the line of their flight with arms, blankets, knapsacks, and even shoes and hats. General Hunter, having retreated through West Virginia to- ward the Ohio, General Early moved rapidly down the Valley, the enemy falling back before him until they reached Harper's Ferry and Maryland Heights. On the 3d, of July General Siegel's force was driven from Martinsburg across the Potomac at Shepherdstown. General Early followed, moving through Hagerstown, and thence east- ward, occupying Frederick City on the 7th. The militia that opposed the advance were dispersed by our skirmish line. As the army marched through Frederick the citizens tauntingly said : " Go ahead ! You will soon meet regular soldiers." Our men replied : " All right, they are the fellows we are hunting for!" Sure enough, at Monocacy Bridge, a few miles east of Frede- rick, General Lew Wallace, since of " Ben-Hur " fame, had a large force in position on the left bank of the river. General Early attacked him on the 8th, forced the passage of the river and drove General Wallace back towards Pennsylvania. That left the Sixth Regiment. 325 road towards Washington and Baltimore open. Early promptly set out towards Washington and arrived at Rockville on the 10th, and on the next day his forces formed line of battle in sight of the Capitol and within easy range of its powerful defenses. The Sixth Regiment laid in the front yard of F. P. Blair's place, "Silver Spring." Occasional shells Were thrown out from the big guns, but there was no general engagement. No attack was made; the works were too strong and to'o well garrisoned for Early's small force. After two or three days' skirmishing Washington was aban- doned, and the army recrossed the Potomac at White's Ford near Leesburg, and two days afterward encamped near Berry- ville. Late in the evening of the next day word came that a force of the enemy was moving from Martinsburg towards Winches- ter. By a forced night march the brigade, General Raraseur commanding, reached the front of that town about sunrise the next day. Some couriers came in with reports of a very large force of the enemy approaching. General Ramseur did not seem to think that it was a large force. He ordered the Sixth Regiment to move forward on the Pike road about two miles, to a piece of woods, to meet the enemy there. After the Sixth Regiment moved off, however, upon further information, he followed with the whole brigade. He soon galloped up to the front and gave orders for the formation of the line of battle. During the execution of this order the enemy appeared in large numbers. The Sixth, having been in advance, had just gotten into position, and had not loaded their rifles, when the enemy began firing. It was a critical mo- ment. The Sixth charged single-handed and fought until nearly surrounded ; but the enemy had overpowering numbers, and the whole brigade was outflanked, and all had to fall back to- gether. This fight was known in that part of the army as " Ramseur's defeat "; but it was not so spoken of him in dis- paragement of him or his generalship, for he was as gallant a soldier as ever lived, and he soon fell fighting nobly at Cedar Creek. 326 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. During the remainder of the summer and fall of 1864 the regiment was with Early, moving back and forth, up and down the Valley, as he would drive the enemy towards the Potomac and Harper's Ferry, and in turn be driven back up the Valley towards Staunton, the enemy having overwhelming odds always against us. ' About the 8th or 10th- of August, General Sheridan was transferred from Grant's army and took command in the Valley. Our forces under Early had fallen back to Fisher's Hill. Sheri- dan, hearing that re-inforcements were sent to Early, commenced retreating, and was pursued through Winchester and until he withdrew to Harper's Ferry and Maryland Heights. Before daylight on the morning of September 18th, while posted in front of Winchester, Sheridan, with a force of fifty-four thous- and attacked Early, who, according to reports, had only about seven thousand infantry and not more than ten thousand all told. Our line was drawn out very thin to cover the approach. The enemy charged time and again through the open field, for we had no cover. Yet our line was not broken until about sundown, and only then because the cavalry was thrown around our left flank. General Rodes, commanding the division, and General Godwin, com- manding the brigade, were killed here. From Winchester we fell back to Fisher's Hill, near Stras- burg. Sheridan followed, and on the 22d attacked us again, sending two divisions of his cavalry (he is reported to have had ten thousand cavalrymen, splendidly armed and equipped) np the Luray Valley to intercept, at New Market, any retreat by Early. - In this they did not succeed. Although the battle of Fisher's Hill went against Early, he made good his retreat to the upper Valley and escaped Sheridan's overwhelming odds. Having been re-inforced, Early again moved down the Valley, and reached Cedar Creek about the 18th of October. Sheridan's army was camped on the heights overlooking Strasburg and Cedar Creek. Our regiment, together with other infantry, was started about Sixth Eegiment. 327 midnight and marched by a cow-path or trail around the end of the Massanutton Mountain ; forded the river below the mouth of Cedar Creek ; formed line of battle before it was good day- light, and attacked the enemy, completely surprising him, and soon had him, panic-stricken, flying down the Valley turnpike towards Middletown. There he attempted to rally, but the Confederates followed closely and his retreat was continued on towards Newtown. The route seemed to be so complete that the half-famished and poorly clothed men of Early's army found the rich spoils in the captured camp and stores of the Federal suttlers too tempting, and so many of them straggled that when General Wright, who was in command of the Federals, reformed his line near Newtown, and General Sheridan came riding in from Winchester and took command, our lines were too weak to resist their attack, and before night the Federals had regained their camp. In this fight General Ramseur, commanding our division, was killed. General Early halted for the night at Fisher's Hill, and on the next day fell back further up the Valley, towards Staunton. The battle of Cedar Creek was about the last of the Valley campaign. Indeed, the Valley was so devastated by General Sheridan that our army could hardly find subsistence. During his advances and withdrawals, according to his own dispatch to his Government, " the whole country from the Blue Ridge to the North Mountain had been made entirely untenable for a rebel army. This destruction embraced the Luray galley and The Little Fort Valley as well as the main Valley." Such cruelties and barbarities shall ever remain as a stain upon General Sheri- dan's character, and upon the War Department for not rebuking him, and upon General Grant, who directed jt, and concluded his letter to Sheridan by adding: " If the war is to last another year, let the Shenandoah Valley remain a barren waste." If it be asked why, in writing this short history of the Sixth regiment, these charges of vandalism against such prominent Federal generals are inserted, the answer is : It is part of 328 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-65. the history of the war, and it ought to be told until all the people should know it. The Sixth North Carolina Regiment, with all Early's troops, had witnessed this devastation ; they had been marching through this barren waste; they were tired and hungry too when they were roused up on the night of the 18th, and after marching all night over a rugged road and fight- ing so well on the morning of the 18th, it is easy to understand how, when tbey saw the enemy flying down the Valley pike, many of the hungriest ones turned aside to help themselves out of the rich commissary stores that they had captured. They ought not to have done so, but some of them did; and Early's force was so small, reported at only nine thousand men all told, that, counting out the killed aud wounded and the stragglers, it is not surprising that Sheridan was able to drive back those remain- ing in line. No one but those who have tried it can tell how hard it is to restrain hungry men when in sight of the food they crave. But in all these engagements and reverses the Sixth regi- ment maintained its organization and was able to show its colors after every fight. Towards the close of the fall the Sixth Regiment, together with the remaining troops of Ramseur's and Rodes' Divisions, were placed under General Gordon and sent. back to Petersburg. The Sixth Regiment occupied the line of intrenchments opposite the "Tall Tower" until January, 1865, when it was carried to the right, near Burgess's Mill and Hatcher's' Run. The enemy made a determined effort to turn the Confederate right about the 5th to 6th of February. The Sixth Regiment was heavily engaged in the attempt to beat him back. In this fighting General Pegram, commanding our division, was killed. General Grant was trying to get to the South Side Railroad; he failed in this, but he secured an extension of his lines to Hatch- er's Run. Fighting was now going on constantly oii the out- posts and picket lines. Soon after the battle of Hatcher's Run the Sixth Regiment was carried back again through Petersburg to the trenches opposite Sixth Regiment. 329 Fort Steadman. There it remained in the mud, as mauy of them expressed it, holding this part of the line until the 25th of March. Before day, on the 25th of March, the Sixth Regiment and other troops were ordered to move out noiselessly in front of the trenches, and to dash across the narrow space that divided the two armies (not more than one hundred and fifty yards); men with axes were to cut and tear away the abatis ; and as soon as it could be done, the men were to rush in, capture the fort and the lines to the right and left. That the men might know their friends, each man of the attacking force was to have a piece of white cloth tied around his left arm. This looked like a des- perate attack. The Sixth Regiment and other troops immedi- ately in front of Fort Steadman, the lines being nearest together there, were to lead. They did what they were ordered to do, and, perhaps to the surprise of our own people, and certainly to the surprise of the enemy, it worked well for a while. Every one did his part. The abatis was cut and pulled away in short order. The men rushed through, captured Fort Steadman and bat- teries to the right and- left of it. A large number of prisoners were taken and several pieces of artillery. The troops that were to support this movement on the right, towards Fort Haskell, did not succeed so well, and failed to capture it. Daylight soon came; the Federals recovered from their surprise and turned upon us their artillery, whiqh, together with the massed lines of infantry, made it, to use the words of one of the Sixth Regiment, a very hell for us. It soon became evident that the position was untenable. The supporting troops were being withdrawn. The Sixth Regiment had, in desperation, been charged against a mass of infantry coming up in their front, and they were the last to withdraw. They returned to their ditches under a severe cross-fire — more to be dreaded than any forward movement; but, to use the language of one who was there, "they came back leaving none but their dead." 330 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Within a few days Lee's army was compelled to abandon Petersburg. The battle at Five Forks was lost on April 1st, and at day-break on Sunday, April 2d, the Confederate line in front of Petersburg was broken and the Federal artillery opened all along our front. When night came the Confederates, although ground had been lost, were still holding Petersburg, but the evacuation of the city, and, as a consequence, of Richmond also, had been deter- mined on. That night the army withdrew, and whilst fires were blazing up here and there, and heavy explosions which shook the very ground followed each other in rapid succession along the Con- federate lines from Petersburg to Richmond, the Federals failed to move forward to ascertain the cause; and by daylight of the 3d the Confederates were all on the Chesterfield side, and well away from the two cities, on the roads towards Amelia Court House. In the almost continued movements, fightings and skirmish- ings of the next few days the regiment bore its part with Gor- don's Corps. Hoping to find at Amelia Court House commis- sary stores, the troops, having then been without rations for nearly two days, were told that no rations were there. The for- agers who were sent out to seek supplies -returned with almost nothing. Many of them were captured in their search for food. The road to Burkeville was occupied by -the enemy, and the retreat bore further to the north through Deatousville, and thence toward Farmville. The enemy's cavalry was striking all along the retreating line, sometimes repulsed and sometimes capturing artillery and wagons which the horses were too weak to move with any degree of rapidity. On the 6th the Appomattox was crossed at the High Bridge. On the morning of the 7th a sharp attack was made and a rush made for the Confederate wagon train. General Gordon turned on them and compelled them to withdraw, capturing some pris- oners. The retreat was then continued. On the evening of the 8th Appomattox Court House was reached. It was then an insignificant court-house village. It is now an historic place, for there, on the 9th of April, 1866, the Amy of Northern Virginia ceased to contend with the armies Sixth Eegimbnt. 331 of the United States, and General Lee on that day accepted the ter^s of surrender offered by Generial Grant. Having men- tioned General Grant's inhumane directions to General Sheridan in the fall of 1864 to devastate the Valley, it is a pleasure now to note that the terms of surrender were generous; and he is to be commended, in that afterwards, when blood-thirsty civilians were disposed to disregard them, he insisted that his Government should comply with them, and used his power and influence to that end. A flag of truce appeared on Gordon's line. General Lee was seen riding back to the village, and it was soon known all along the line that the army was to be surrendered. When General Lee returned from his interview with General Grant, the lines of battle broke and the men crowded up around him, anxious to take him by the hand. Many attempts have been made to describe the great soldier's final farewell to his troops as, overpowered by his feelings, he sobbed: " Men, loe have fought through the war together — / have done the best I could for you," and sadly rode away. The emotions of that scene — a great general and his brave, faithful soldiers weeping farewell to each other — cannot be described. The soldier-victors were generous and gave rations to the half- starved Confederates without any insulting taunts. Would that the same could be said of the political victors who controlled affairs at Washington. The 10th and 11th were occupied in preparing the lists and schedules and other papers for the surrender, and on the morn- ing of the 12th the troops, the remains of the Army of North- ern Virginia, formed for the last time. The artillery was drawn up by poor, bony horses and parked, the arms were stacked, the accoutrements deposited and the battle flags laid down. The Sixth Regiment was there, and of the perhaps two thou- sand men whose names had been on the roll, about one hundred and forty-three answered to that final roll-call. We had a regimental flag, a beautiful silken banner, on which the sister of Colonel Fisher had beautifully embroidered the coat- 332 North Carolina Troops, 1861 -'65. of-arms of North Carolina and presented it to the regiment at its organization. It was highly prized ; it waved over the regi- ment at the capture of Eickett's Battery at First Manassas, and over Eickett's Battery and Weidrick's Battery on Cemetery Heights at Gettysburg, July 2d, 1863. It was not always used in battle, especially after battle flags had been distributed to the army. It was generally brought out on parades and general reviews; but it was not displayed at Appomattox. It was care- fully preserved and brought to North Carolina. It is the same that was shown at the laying of the corner-stone of the Confed- erate Monument at Raleigh, May 20, 1894. The war was over; the Sixth Eegiment had served out the time for which it had enlisted. I have thus briefly sketched the principal movements and engagements in the Confederate war in which the Sixth North Carolina State Troops took part. As an organization it was dis- tinguished for its discipline and soldierly bearing. It was led to the field by one of the most heroic souls that ever drew blade, Colonel C. F. Fisher, who was killed at First Manassas. The example he set in his short career was not lost on the officers and men of his command. They were taught that, when ordered to charge a line or battery they must succeed, and that having taken a position it was to be held until they were ordered to move from it. No politicians held commissions in this regiment. There was no bickering or scheming for office or promotion, no seeking for newspaper notoriety. Their thought and desire seemed to be to serve the State that sent them to the field for the purpose of sustaining State rights and constitutional liberty. Nothing has been written concerning "the privations of the camp or toils of the march," of feet bleeding and forms shiver- ing for lack of shoes and clothing, of how our men, beginning at First Manassas, supplied themselves with improved arms cap- tured from the enemy, seeking first to get a good rifle and accou- trements and then the best they could find in the way of cloth- ing, hats, shoes and blankets. But the soldier's life was not all hardship and suffering for Sixth Regiment. 333 duty's sake. It would be interesting to tell how they whiled away the hours when not on duty by games and plays, and even theatrical performances which they improvised. Banjos, fiddles and accordeons were often heard in camp and on the march, and sometimes on the line of battle. Many and many are the humor- ous jokes and anecdotes that originated with the soldier, and he always enjoyed the ludicrous and ridiculous things that ^ere happening, even when under the fire of the enemy. One of my men, telling what he saw in one of our battles, says: "I tell you, Captain, there's a heap of funny things happens in battle if it were not for being so scared of getting killed." Much, too, might be written of the religious life that many of them led. Several instances occurred within our command in which the Bible or Testament in the breast-pocket turned the ball which otherwise would probably have caused a mortal wound. So, too, we can hope that at religious meetings in field and camp — camp-meetings, indeed — many a soldier learned how to turn the deadly shafts of sin. One specially solemn scene recurs to me as I write. It was when the regiment assembled at the regi- mental headquarters. Colonel Pender's tent, to witness his public profession of Christianity. I have spoken of it only as a regiment; no mention is made of individual acts of heroism or bravery — there were many ; the limits of this article would not permit it; nor is there any refer- ence to the few who behaved unworthily — and I feel justified in saying there were only a few. It would be unreasonable to claim that, of the two thousand men whose names were on the rolls, all were good and true. No boast is made for the regiment that it did more than its proportionate part, or that it engaged in more battles, or that it went further into the enemy's country, or that it lost in battle a greater per cent, of its men — a doubtful boast. Its record was made and must speak for itself. The only purpose of this sketch is to bring that record, in part, before the public, that it may have in condensed form what this regi- ment, in common with many others, did in the great struggle 334 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. which made the Confederate soldier famous for all time — a struggle in which a most conspicuous part was borne by the North Caro- lina troops, not the least among which was the Sixth North Carolina Troops. At the first call her men volunteered for the war, and has- tened to the Northern border of Virginia to meet the enemy at the forefront. From July, 1861, to the closing scene at Appo- mattox, they shared the fortunes of the Army of Northern Vir- ginia, Their blood, in common with thousands of others, wet the soil of Manassas Plains on July 21st, 1861. During the fall and winter of that year they listened to the roar of guns and whistling of shells along the banks of the Potomac. They were at Yorktown and Eltham's Landing, Barhanis- ville, at Seven Pines and Fair Oaks, Gaines' Mill, Savage Sta- tion, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Harrison's Landing, Warrenton Springs, Thoroughfare Gap, Manassas Plains in Au- gust, 1862; at Ox Hill, Boonsboro, Sharpsburg, Fredericks- burg in December, 1862; at Fredericksburg and the Wilderness in May, 1863; at Winchester in June, 1863; at Gettysburg, Hagers- town, Bristow Station, Rappahannock Station, Mine Run, Bache- lor's Creek, near New Bern, N. C; Plymouth, Petersburg, Han- over Junction, Totapotamoi Creek, Cold Harbor, Lynchburg, Martihsburg, Monocacy, Washington, Winchester in July and September, 1864; at Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, at Burgess's Mill, and numerous other skirmishings and fightings from July, 1861, to November, 1864; and the assault, as a forlorn-hope, on Fort Steadman on the morning of the 25th of March, 1865, and in the trenches at Petersburg, and on the retreat to Appomattox. Three times they went into the enemy's territory in Maryland and Pennsylvania, fording the Potomac six times. Theirs was not garrison or post-duty; it was their lot to fight the enemy in the field, to meet him in his advances, to check him when possible, and to follow him back and fight him in his own country and in his own strongholds; to contest inch by inch, day after day, week after week and month after month, the enemy's investment and gradual closing in on the lines Sixth Eegiment. 335 around Petersburg and Richmond ; and when numbers prevailed over the thinned and thinning lines of the Army of Northern Virginia, to fall back and back with them, until finally hemmed in and compelled to surrender. Much of blood and treasure and many precious lives had been sacrificed, and, as it has been said, the cause was lost; that is to say, the Confederates, numbering all told, from first to last, about six hundred thousand men, with very limited resources, were, after four years of varying success and disaster, finally over- powered by armies numbering about two million and six hun- dred thousand men who had unlimited resources. But the prin- ciples of right, of truth and of duty, which urged those men to the fray, and sustained them in the long-drawn struggle, will never die. " If their memories part From our land and heart, 'Twould be a wrong to them, and a shame for us." It is vain for any one to attempt to brand the Confederate soldiers or their leaders as traitors or to write them down as rebels. So-called statesmen — men of place and power, in the smallness of their souls — may speak of them as such ; demagogic politicians may roll such words under their tongues, the Govern- ment may provide a place to keep the " Rebellion Records," and statisticians may compile therefrom, monuments may dot those battlefields of " the rebellion " on which the " rebels " were defeated, but such efforts cannot succeed. The words " traitor " and " rebel " lose all their repulsiveness when applied to Lee and Jackson, or when coupled with the Confederate soldiers. Theirs was an heroic struggle for rights which the fathers contemplated and guarded when they declined to ratify or adopt the Constitution until it had been amended so as to expressly reserve " to the States respectively or to the people " "powers not delegated," as also "powers not prohibited " by it. For such rights they had, on the hustings and in the halls of CougresSj urged their plea, supported by unanswerable arguments based on the 336 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Constitution and on the principles that underlie true republican government. But they were overruled by a majority of those who had sworn to support the Constitution, and further encroach- ments on their chartered rights were imminent, and, as a last resort, an appeal was made to arms. In that, as we have seen, Might, backed by overwhelming numbers, prevailed. The Con- federate soldier surrendered. His case is before the world. The rights which were guaranteed us, and the wrongs which drove us to war, have all been written down and published ; his heroism and his bravery, his courage and his devotion to his country, his State and his people, are all recorded in his deeds in four years of war; and, none the less,. in his submission after- terwards to laws that were forced upon us to humiliate us. His rights, his wrongs, his appeals to law and law-makers, and their denial of his rights, his final appeal to arms, his struggle, his defeat and his submission to power make up his case. He dreads not the scrutiny of candid historians or searchers after truth, nor does he fear the world's judgment on his record. Neill W. E,ay. Faybtteville, N. C. SIXTH REGIMENT. 1. B. F. White, Captain, Co. F. 4. W. G. Tiirnei-, 2d Lieat, Co. E. S. Benj Ruel. Smith, Captain, Co. G. 5. William Preston Mangum, 2d Lieut., 3. N. W. Ray, Captain, Co. D. co. B. 6. George W. Houck, Private, Co. D. ADDITIONAL SKETCH SIXTH REGIMENT. By major a. C. AVERY. ACCOUNT OP THE ORGANIZATION OP THE SIXTH NORTH CARO- LINA REGIMENT AND OP ITS CONDUCT AT THE BATTLES OP PIRST MANASSAS, SEVEN PINES AND GETTYSBURG. Wheu Lincoln issued his proclamation calling on the State of North Carolina to furnish troops to suppress the so-called insur- rection in her sister States of the South, our people with one mind united in the determination to stand by our South- ern brethren rather than aid an invading foe, though marching under the flag of the nation. So soon as the tocsin of war was sounded the companies of the State militia, already organized and drilled, were rushed into the forts on our coast, till then garri- soned by a single non-commissioned officer quartered in each of the three. The first regiment organized was the First Volunteer or " Bethel" Regiment. The men were allowed to enlist for six months. After that a number of other regiments were formed of men enlisted for twelve months. Meantime the Legislature had met in extra session and had called a convention of the people to meet in May. Colonel Charles F. Fisher and others — men of broad views and cool heads — thinking that they foresaw a protracted and bloody struggle, prevailed upon the Legislature to pass a bill author- izing the formation of ten regiments of men enlisted for three years or the war, and empowered the Governor to appoint the regimental staff and company officers. Colonel Fisher was se- lected by Governor Ellis as Colonel of the Sixth, and began with characteristic energy to select men to aid him in recruiting ten companies. After the Democrats had acquired control of the State, he had 22 338 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. been elected President of the North Carolina Railroad Company, Partisan spirit ran high, and for years, though one of the most competent, honoi;able and successful railroad presidents in the country. Colonel Fisher was bitterly abused and denounced. He met denunciation in one or two instances, as Southern men of that day often did, by challenging the author to mortal combat, and posting him as a coward when he declined to make amends. He was one of the most amiable of men, and, though quiet and undemonstrative, was affectionate to family and friends, and full of sympathy for suffering — the last man one would have thought liable to yield to this imperious custom of the times. With a grim determination to devote life and fortune to the cause he had espoused came the resolve to demand an investigation and settlement running through his entire administration of the af- fairs of the railroad company before leading his regiijnent to the scene of approaching conflicts. Consequently, after some of the companies were drilled for a time at Charlotte, all of them were brought together, organized and drilled as a regiment at Com- pany Shops, now Burlington. Honorable W. T. Dortch was first appointed Lieutenant-Colonel, and Charles E. Lightfoot, a Virginian, who had been a teacher at Tew's Military Academy at Hillsboro, was commissioned as Major. Major Lightfoot devoted himself to drilling the regiment while it was at Com- pany Shops. Colonel Fisher worked day and night, and divided his time between providing uniforms and equipments for his men, advancing out of his own means the money needed for the purpose, and reviewing, with a committee of directors, of which Mr. Edwin Holt was chairman, the railroad accounts during his administration of the affairs of the company. As the result of his restless energy, liberality and capacity for organization, the Sixth was the first of the ten war regiments ready for the field. Before it was fully equipped he was heard often to say, in response to some expression of fear by the young officers that they would be too late to participate in the struggle, that our people ought to be educated up to the idea of fighting long and desperately. He had graduated at Yale, knew the Sixth Regiment. 339 Yankee character, and realized, as few of our leading men did, the incalculable advantage of having a navy sufficient to block- ade our ports, and opportunity not 6nly to ^manufacture war supplies in the immense establishments in the Eastern States, but to bring them without hindrance from abroad. On the day that Colonel Fisher reported his regiment ready to go to the front, our first war Governor, John W. Ellis, died, and the regiment commanded by his friend and townsman was taken to Raleigh to act as funeral escort. Honorable Henry T. Clark, being Speaker of the Senate, was ioaugurated as Gov- ernor, and W. T. Dortch, being the Speaker of the House of Commons, and next in the line of succession to Governor Clark, was induced to resign. Major Lightfoot became Lieutenant- Colonel, and Captain R. F. Webb, senior Captain, was commis- sioned Major. From Raleigh the regiment was sent to Richmond, where it was reviewed by President Davis, accompanied by General R. E. Lee, and ordered on the same day to embark on the train for Winchester, where Joseph E. Johnston was in command — with Jackson, Kirby Smith and Bee as subordinates. The regiment left Richmond with rations for a day only, and failed to get supplies in passing Manassas. Consequently at Strasburg and on the first march thence to Winchester the men for the first time had a foretaste of the privations in store for them during the years that were to follow. Except the two mountain companies (D and E), the men were without food from the time they reached Strasburg till the second morning after, when they had taken their place in the line north of Winchester. The regiment was assigned to Bee's Brigade, composed then of the Second and Eleventh Mississippi, the Fourth Alabama and the First Tennessee Regiments. The names of the officers are given in Volume I, page 1 97, of the "Roster of North Carolina Troops," and need not be inserted here. Colonel Fisher had R. M. McKinney commissioned Captain of Company A, and the writer of this First Lieutenant, but Captain McKinney was elected Colonel of the Fifteenth North Carolina Regiment before a vacancy occurred 340 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. amongst the field officers, and the writer exchanged with Lieu- tenant Samuel S. Kirkland and took the same position in Com- pany E, in order to satisfy the men recruited by him. On the second morning after the regiment arrived at Win- chester drums began to beat, brigade after brigade fell into line and marched into the town of Winchester. All day we could bear the terrific old rebel yell as the men passed through the open field beyond the town ; but it was not till near night that we moved under orders to the same point, and were halted to hear for the first time a battle order, full of the Napoleonic ring. General Johnston announced, by having this order read to each regiment as it passed, that the President had called upon him to make a forced march to re-inforce General Beauregard at Ma- nassas, and save the country. The men forgot for the time the pangs of hunger and the sting of blistered feet, and moved off as if willing to run to the relief of their threatened comrades. The raw recruit never forgets, though he may not be able to de- scribe, the suffering endured in undergoing, the tortures of such a hardening process, so soon after enjoying the ease and luxury of home-life. It is the first test of his powers of physical en- durance, his strength of will and of constitution. After such an experience comes the camp fevers, invited by the depleted condition of the system, and then is witnessed in a physical sense the survival of the fittest. The regiment arrived at Pied- mont Station a short time before daylight, and the men fell rather than laid down amongst the thickly stacked shocks of a wheat field just harvested. We had not then begun to practice the apostolic plan of rubbing out the wheat for food, but some of us stretched on a hill-side upon shocks used as beds, covering head and all, and found in the morning that a heavy rain had washed out trenches under us and between the bundles. on to MANASSAS. The regiment had marched near the rear of the column and had separated from Bee's other regiments, and, as we rested in the field, it seemed for a time that we would be the last to embark on the Sixth Regiment. 341 train from Piedmont Station for the scene of conflict. In vol- unteering to render an important service, Colonel Fisher won for his regiment the right to a place in advance of Kirby Smith's Brigade, and the opportunity, which proved fatal to him, to take part in the iirst great battle of the civil war. It was reported to him that a train had been derailed, a portion of it wrecked, and that the movements of the remaining regiments wouJd be greatly delayed. He sought the senior officer and told him that he himself was a railroad president and a railroad contractor, and had in his command civil engineers and enlisted men who had been employed in track-laying and section work. As a reward for hurriedly putting the track in order, the Sixth em- barked on the next train that left for Manassas. The first Confederate troops that opposed McDowell's flank- ing column, after it crossed Bull Run on the left of our line, was the command of Colonel Evans, composed of eleven com- panies of infantry and two field pieces, stationed in the woods, near the intersection of the Warrenton turnpike and the Sedley road. (See report of General Johnston, "Official Records," Series I, Volume XT, page 474). " Here (says the report referred to) he (Evans) was attacked by the enemy in immensely superior numbers, against which he maintained himself with skill and unshrinking courage. General Bee, moving toward the enemy, guided by the firing, with a soldier's eye selected the position near the Henry house and formed his troops upon it. They were the Seventh and Eighth Georgia, Fourth Alabama, Second Mississippi, and two companies of the Eleventh Mississippi, with Iraboden's Battery. Being compelled, however, to sustain Colonel Evans, he crossed the valley and formed on the right and somewhat in advance of his position. Here the joint forces, little exceeding five regiments, with six field pieces, held the ground against about fifteen thousand United States troops for about an hour, until, finding themselves outflanked by the con- tinually arriving troops of the enemy, they fell back to General Bee's first position, upon the line of which Jackson, just ar- riving, formed his brigade at Stanard's Battery. Colonel Hamp- 342 NoETH Caeolina Teoops, 1861-'65. ton, who had by this time advanced with his legion as far as the turnpike, rendered efficient aid in maintaining the orderly char- acter of the retreat from that point, and here fell the gallant Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson, his second in command. * * "Orders were dispatched to hasten the march of General Holmes, Colonel Early and General Bonham's regiments. * * * Many of the broken troops, fragments of companies and indi- vidual stragglers were reformed and brought into action with the aid of my staff and a portion of General Beauregard's. Colonel (late Governor) Smith with his battalion and Colonel Hinton with his regiment were ordered up to re-inforce the right. * * * * Colonel Smith's cheerful courage had a fine influence, not only upon the spirit of our men, but upon the stragglers of the troops engaged. * * * '^y headquarters were now estab- lished at the Lewis house." Up to this time the Sixth North Carolina Regiment, having been detached and left behind the rest of Bee's command, which was now increased by the addition ofBartow's and another Georgia regiment, had not arrived on the field. Attention is here called to the fact that General Johnston reports Colonel (late Governor) Smith's Battalion in action while he was in the field, and before he established his headquarters at the Lewis house. General Johnston's report of the movements of Colonel Smith, and of the time when he engaged the enemy is quoted from to show, in connection with other undisputed facts, that the gallant old soldier was mistaken when he made certain charges against the Sixth, which are alluded to by Professor Hill in his history of North Carolina troops recently published. I shall rely on the foregoing report of General Johnston, General Beauregard's and Colonel Smith's own report, made when the smoke of the battle had just passed away, to disprove his statement made from memory years afterward?, and published in the Century Magazine. It was not until about two o'clock in the afternoon that Colonel Fisher reported with his regiment at the Lewis house, after Gen- eral Johnston had left Colonel Smith upon the field and estab- lished his headquarters there. Colonel Fisher halted his regi- Sixth Regiment. 343 ment in a road running along a line of fence under the hill from the Lewis house, and had his horse crippled so as to force him to dismount in going up the hill or returning from the Lewis house, where he reported for orders. In confirmation of the foregoing statement as to the time of the arrival on the field, the following extract from General Johnston's report (at page 476) is relied on : "About two o'clock an officer of General Beauregard's Adju- tant-General's office galloped from Manassas to report that a United States army had reached the line of the Manassas Gap Railroad, was marching towards us, and was then but three miles from our left flank. * * * Within a half-hour the two regiments of General Bonham's Brigade (Capp's and Kershaw's) came up and were directed against the enemy's right, which he seemed to be strengthening. Fisher's North Carolina regiment was soon after sent in the same direction. About three o'clock, while the enemy seemed to be striving to outflank and drive back our left, and thus separate us from Manassas, General E. K. Smith arrived with three regiments of Elzey's Brigade. He was instructed to attack the right flank of the enemy, now exposed to us. Before the movement was completed he fell severely wounded. Colonel Elzey, at once taking command, executed it with great promptitude and vigor. General Beauregard rapidly seized the opportunity affijrded him, and threw forward his whole line. The enemy was driven back from the long contested hill, and victory was no longer doubtful." The time of Fisher's arrival on the battlefield is therefore fixed at two o'clock in the afternoon. The regiment advanced from a point a few hundred yards to the left of the Lewis house. Col- onel Fisher had reconnoitered in our front and his evident pur- pose was to lead us by the flank up a deep ravine, which could not be seen on account of intervening woods, by Rickett, who was in command of a section of Sherman's Battery, or by the Brooklyn Zouaves, who were supporting it, and who were sta- tioned on the hill above the upper end of the ravine. The regi- ment moved up this ravine by the flank. When the column 344 NoBTH Carolina Tkoops, 1861-'65. reached a point near the upper end of the ravine, however, the enemy on the hill discovered its approach and opened with shrap- nel from the field pieces which had previously been shelling the hill near the Lewis house, but they were unable to depress their guns so as to reach us with the shrapnel, even after the regiment moved out of the gulley. Instead of moving forward into line all of the rear companies, a movement that might have been contemplated by Colonel Fisher but for the fire of the enemy, the men in front filed to the right and those nearer the center, including most of seven companies, moved forward into line without orders through a piece of woods till they came into an open field about eighty yards from the guns and the sup- porting line. Three companies (A, C and D), with a portion of a third company, with whom Lieutenant-Colonel Lightfoot re- mained, did not go into action, being cut oif in the rear (see Cap- tain White's diary). Lieutenant-Colonel Lightfoot took offense be- cause Colonel Fisher refused his request to allow him to give the commands to the regiment about the time it advanced towards the enemy. The soldiers delivered a well-aimed and fearfully de- structive fire into the line of the enemy's infantry, but especially into the artillerists. After firing a number of rounds, every soldier loading and firing at will, the enemy's guns were silenced, and but few muskets were being fired by the Zouaves. At this juncture Colonel Fisher was standing near Captain Isaac E. Avery, who was commanding the color company, when Captain Avery said to Colonel Fisher: "Colonel, don't you thiqk we ought to charge?" Colonel Fisher's reply was "Yes, Captain," and addressing the men, " Charge ! " Most of us charged straight up the face of the hill towards the field pieces, but Colonel Fisher, after giving this command, his last utterance, advanced obliquely towards the left, having discovered evidently at this early stage a reserve line of the enemy in the woods to the right and rear of the battery. In the rush his movements were unob- served and his body was found far in advance' of the point reached by any one on the left of our line, except Sergeant Hannah, of Sixth Regiment. 345 Company A, who evidently advanced with him and fell by his side. When we reached Rickett's guns we found every horse killed and the ground covered with the bodies of the dead and wounded artillerists, and of the Brooklyn Zouaves, who were distinguished by their loose red pants. The writer distinctly recalls the fact that he saw upon the hill after the charge Major "Webb, Lieuten- ant (afterwards Captain) White, Captain Avery and his Lieu- tenants, Burns and McPherson, Captain (afterwards Colonel) Craige, Lieutenants Smith and Roseboro, Captain Parrish, Lieu- tenant Lockhart, and more distinctly his old college friend, Lieu- tenant Willie P. Mangum, who about five minutes later received a wound in the side which proved fatal. The men fought as brave Southern men, who had been drilled but a few weeks, would be expected to fight. They failed to keep a perfect alignment in distinct companies. The fact is re- called that Lieutenant Mangum, whose company (Bj was next in line to his (E), remarked to the writer that he was tired, and sat down beside or under the shadow of one of the deserted guns. About the same time Corporal Henry McGee, of Company E, was seen running down through the open field directly in rear of the guns, evidently shooting at some retreating Zouaves, when, after being called back, he reached the guns, he asked an officer where his brother was, and, on being told that he was near by, said : " If he had run like some of the skulkers, I would have felt like killing him." After the regiment had driven back the supports and captured the guns, a fire was opened on the men from the woods on the right and rear of the battery by soldiers dressed in gray uniform, and our men began to return the fire with spirit. At this junc- ture a number of the officers ordered the men to cease firing, telling them that they were firing on their friends, and called to the soldiers in the woods to cease firing; but the firing became heavier, and when no longer allowed to return it, the soldiers of the Sixth fell back and reformed in the open field from which Colonel Fisher had led them into the ravine. Here they missed 346 NoKTH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. their brave Colonel, *and after they had reformed they were joined by Lieutenant-Colonel Lightfoot, who assumed command, and was ordered to move further to the left. We occupied our place in line in time to see the advance of Kirby Smith and Early on the left, and to observe from the hill the wavering of the Federal army as its line receded for a while in a series of curves, and finally broke and stampeded towards Center ville. We saw President Davis ride up to the lines and heard him speak, and then we moved forward till we were halted, at dark or afterward, in the midst of the knapsacks and guns strewn along the line of retreat. For many years the writer shared in the opinion generally entertained by the soldiers of the Sixth, who participated in the fight, that the men who fired upon us, and caused us to fall back, were Confederates ; but the story was not credited by the general officers, who could locate none of our troops in the skirt of woods referred to, and the rfegimental officers and men received no sympathy or assistance from Colonel Lightfoot, who had refused to follow Colonel Fisher in a fit of jealousy, and did not pretend to claim for the regiment the credit it deserved. It was because of the general criticism of his conduct that Governor Clark appointed Colonel W. D. Pender (afterwards Major- General) to succeed Colonel Fisher. When General Sherman wrote his memoirs it appeared from his report that a Massachusetts regi- ment in his brigade wore a gray uniform, and were mistaken by Confederates for their own men. He describes their position as that of the soldiers who occupied the woods to the left and front of the Sixth. The account given by General Sherman is the solution of what before had seemed an inexplicable mystery. We were fired upon by a regiment of the enemy, and not by Confederates. GOVERNOR smith's MISTAKE. Governor Smith went into the field as Colonel of the Forty- ninth Virginia, and no politician who entered the Confederate service won or deserved to win, from first to last, a better reputa- Sixth Regiment. 347 tion for gallantry than he. He drew General D. H. Hill to him at Seven Pines by giving a unique evidence of his coolness — going into action at the head of his brigade with a large umbrella hoisted to protect him from the sun. With this preface, the writer proposes to prove by reports of Generals Beauregard, Johnston, and of Colonel Smith himself, that he shamefully mis- represented the Sixth Regiment in charging it with bad conduct at Manassas. We have seen that General Johnston reported the Sixth as going into battle after two o'clock, and after he had left Colonel Smith engaging the enemy, and had gone to the Lewis house. General Beauregard in his report (Official Records, Series I, Vol. II, pages 492 and 493) speaks of the line of battle as formed on the right by Bee, Evans and Jackson's Brigades (with artillery etc.) and "on the left by Gartrell's reduced ranks and Colonel Smith's Battalion, subsequently re-inforoed by Falk- ner's Second Mississippi Regiment of the Army of the Shenandoah, just arrived upon the field, and the Sixth (Fisher's) North Caro- lina." It will not be questioned that General Beauregard knew what regiments "subsequently re-inforced " Colonel Smith's Battalion, as he said he did, and his account of the time of arrival of the Sixth and its going into action is corroborated by the extracts from General Johnston's report already given. What did Colonel Smith report to General Beauregard only ten days after the battle as to the conduct of the regiments sent to re-inforce him? On pages 155 and 552 of the volume con- taining Beauregard's report, already referred to, we find Colonel Smith's report, and on page 552, after mentioning the advance of a heavy column of the enemy that was about lo turn his left flank, he said : "At this critical moment two regiments came up, posted them- selves on my left, protected my flank, and opened upon the enemy at a distance of about eighty yards with admirable effect. I do not know the names of these regiments nor 'of their command- ing officers, and have to regret it, a^s it would afford me pleasure to 348 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. name them, on account of the critical and efficient service rendered. From some persons acquainted with those regiments, I ascer- tained that one was from Mississippi, and I have an impression that the other was frcm, North Carolina." Governor Smith's report, made ten days after the battle, con- curs with the report of Beauregard and Johnston, and with the account given above by the writer, as to the time and place, and as to distance of the enemy from the Sixth Eegiment. In further corroboration of the claim that General Beauregard was not mistaken as to the identity of the regiment which rendered Colonel Smith such signal service, it may be stated that the Sixth was the only North Carolina regiment engaged or sta- tioned on the part of the line referred to. The Fifth and Twenty-first were the only other North Carolina regiments in Northern Virginia, and they were stationed on Bull Run, on the right of the line — some distance from the hill in front of the Lewis house. It is to be regretted that the attention of the old hero was not called to the cruel wrong he had done at a later date to the comrades whom he wished in 1861 to thank and to honor for saving him from retreat or ruin. If further evidence is needed to prove, not only that Fisher's regiment was not stampeded, but that it rendered service quite as important as that of Colonel Smith's Battalion, it will be found in the report of Adjutant- General Rhett, on page 569 of the volume already referred to, that the Sixth was among the regiments engaged in the fight, and his report of casualties, on page 570, which shows that the loss of the Sixth was one officer and twenty-two men killed and four officers and forty-six en- listed men wounded, and the loss of the Second Mississippi was four officers and twenty-one men killed, and three officers and seventy-nine men wounded, while the loss of the Forty-ninth Virginia (Colonel Smith) was one officer and nine men killed and one officer and twenty-nine men wounded. So it appears that both of the re-inforcing regiments suffered greater loss than the regiment they relieved. Of the four officers reported wounded, the writer recalls only the names of Lieutenant W. Sixth Eegiment. 349 P. Mangum, who afterwards died, and Captain I. E. Avery, who received a flesh wound from a buckshot, which lodged in the calf of the leg, but remained with his company to the close of the day. The lamented Fisher was the first of our officers to lay down his life in the struggle. He fell like Bartow, gallantly leading his men, and North Carolina ought to have imitated the example of Georgia in doing honor to her brave son and perpetuating his fame by naming one of its counties for him. Mangum, who had presided over the United States Senate, and had been prominent as a presidential candidate, went down to his grave sorrowing for his only son. Like Webster he left no one to perpetuate his great and honored name. THE OPENING OP THE CAMPAIGN OF 1862. The Sixth Regiment spent rather an uneventful winter a few miles above Dumfries, at Camp Fisher, named in honor of our fallen Colonel. The condition of the Sixth when it left that camp for Fredericksburg in March, 1862, was a vindication of the wisdom of Governor Clark in appointing Pender to succeed Fisher. The rank and file shared in the pride of Pender, when on review at Fredericksburg, General Johnston declared it supe- rior in drill and discipline to any other regiment in the Army of Northern Virginia. Pender was still more elated at Yorktown when the regiment responded to the alarm signal at midnight by forming in battle array at the place assigned it on the line far ahead of any other regiment of Smith's Reserve Corps. These achievements were the first fruits of the patient training of the best "all-^ound" soldier, in the writer's opinion, in the Army of Northern Virginia — excepting only a few of our offi- cers of high rank. The march from Fredericksburg to Yorktown would have been devoid of special interest but for the terrible mortality amongst the new recruits, who were being stricken down with measles every day, as the troops moved to and then down the Peninsula. Of forty-six recruits taken to Company E by the writer, more then twenty fell by the way-side. 350 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. THE SIXTH AT SEVEN PINES. Whiting's Brigade was composed of the Sixth North Caro- lina, Second and Eleventh Mississippi and the Fourth Alabama Regiments — being the command of General Bee at Manassas, except the First Tennessee, which had been transferred to Hat- ton's (subsequently Archer's) Brigade, and formed a part of the Corps (as it was called) of Major-General Gustavus W. Smith. This command had been sent hurriedly to re-inforce Branch, near Hanover Junction ; but had returned and spent the night before the battle of Seven Pines, or (as the Federals called it) Fair Oaks, in a camp near Richmond. It moved to the junction of the New Bridge and Nine Mile roads. (See General Johnston's report, "War Records," Series I, Vol. XI, Part I, page 933 ) . Major-Generals Hill and Long- street attacked the left of General Keyes' command at two o'clock p. M. of May 31, 1862, after waiting from early morning, about six hours, for Huger to get into the position assigned him by Johnston's orders. (See "War Records," Series I, Vol. XI, Part I, page 940). Owing to the peculiar condition of the atmosphere neither the fire of musketry nor of cannon by Long- street's and Hill's commands could be heard by Smith's Corps, which was accompanied by President Davis and General Joseph E. Johnston. At length Major Jasper Whiting, of Johnston's staff, was sent to the right, and returning just before four o'clock p. M., reported that the battle was raging on the right. The first regiment put in motion on the Confederate left was the Sixth, under Pender. He was ordered tp press forward rapidly, with the assurance that he would be supported, but was led to believe that the enemy was not very near to his front. Hence he moved into the dense woods, a short distance from us, by the flank, until the head of the column reached a road, when the enemy's picket fired into him. The regiment was halted instantly and ordered forward into line at double-quick. Though the movement was executed in dense woods, the regiment had, in Sixth Regimejst. 351 a few seconds, formed a perfect line along the road, and in the shortest possible time thereafter Company K, Captain Lea, was thrown out as skirmishers, and was advancing at a quick-step, followed by the regiment in supporting distance. Though a number of men in the line of battle were killed and wounded, the company of skirmishers was not driven back upon the main line until the regiment reached the woods, where a part of Couch's command was said to have been in camp near Fair Oaks Station. The advance of the regiment was not, how- ever, checked for a moment there, though wistful eyes were cast at the full haversacks and boiling pots as it passed through the deserted camp of Couch. Pender, true to his training, obeyed orders by moving straight to the front, trusting to his superiors for support. The regiment passed rapidly over the road leading to Couch's center (see Couch's report, "War Records," Series I, Vol. XI, Part I, page 880), and advanced several hundred yards east of it, when a sergeant called the writer's attention to the fact that several Federal flags were visible to our left and rear, the Federal regiments being so posted that they could in five minutes have moved rapidly down the road which the Sixth had crossed and cut it off from retreat or support. The writer, whose position as First Lieutenant of the color company, threw him near to Pender, said: "Colonel, there are three Yankee flags." Without replying, Colonel Pender said, in a low tone, " Sergeant Bason, lower your flag." Then with the ringing voice, which could always be heard, and was always heeded, he gave the command, "By the left flank, file left, double-quick!" This was the only possible combination of commands that could have saved us from capture, and they were molded into a single order without hesitating for an instant. But the danger of capture or annihilation was not over still. No supporting troops were in sight. The enemy's regiments — the head of Sumner's Corps, which had crossed the Chickahominy, but had not yet effected a junction with Keyes — were resting in column by company to our left and rear in an open field, with a swamp on their right. Whether they had mistaken the Sixth for Federals, or had 352 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. determined to allow it to go unchallenged into danger, they were without doubt unprepared for Pender's next movement. When the center of the regiment reached the road leading towards Fair Oaks— without halting — Pender gave the command, "By the right flank, charge bayonets!" Meantime, as we were moving double-quick towards the road, Pender had said to his Adjutant: "Go rapidly to the rear and hasten the advance of the other regiments." When the regiment had charged within about one hundred yards of the enemy, still massed in column by company. Colonel Pender gave the order to halt and to deliver .a fire into him. This well directed fire threw the columns of Sumner into con- fusion and gave Pender time to fall back a short distance and form on the right of the Mississippi regiments, which had now come up. In a few moments the regiment went forward, with the Mississippians on its left, to a point within eighty yards of the enemy, and in the open field. This position it held, deliver- ing a steady fire until it was almost dark, and until the com- mands of Pettigrew, Hatton and Hampton had made unsuccess- ful attacks on the enemy posted in the swamps to the left of Pender. Jefferson Davis witnessed the movements of Pender's Regiment, and when the battle was over, said to him: "Your commission as Brigadier bears date of to-day. I wish that I could give it to you upon the field." Pender afterwards said to his friend, General Stephen D. Lee: "I could have coveted no greater honor than to be promoted by the President on the field of battle.'" The attack on the left was not a success. General Hatton was- killed. General Hampton wounded, General Pettigrew wounded and captured, while the aggregate loss of the Confederates was nearly twelve hundred killed and wounded. The Sixth North Carolina won the proud distinction of being the first to engage the enemy and the last to leave the field. Sixth Regiment. 353 the sixth on the second day at gettysburg. Visitors who pass over the historic field of Gettysburg are impressed with the accounts by guides of how Sickles turned the tide by advancing without orders at a certain stage of the battle. It seems to be a well-attested, though not a well-known fact, that General Lee had courteously requested Lieutenant-General A. P. Hill to consent to his giving an order directly to Pender. Major Engelhard, Pender's Adjutant, stated that just before he was wounded he said: "It is about time for me to move in obedience to General Lee's order." Major Engelhard under- stood that the movement was intended to anticipate and check- mate the subsequent advance of Sickles. But the exact purport of the order was known only to Pender and Lee, and was never disclosed to another. Well might Lee say, "I looked to him as the successor of Jackson," if he believed that his untimely fall prevented the execution of plans that, if carried out, would have changed the result of the battle and given to the Confederacy a proud position amongst the nations of the earth. Column after column of newspapers have been filled, and page upon page of histories and romances have been printed to prove, on the one hand, that Pickett's Division was entitled to all the glory of the desperate charge upon the heights at Gettysburg, on the third and last day of the fight, or on the other hand, that some of the soldiers of the other twelve States of the Con- federacy could be allowed to divide the honor with them, with- out dimming their deservedly bright record. Those who have studied the field and fitted the testimony to the ground know full well that the point where Satterfield, of the Fifty-fifth North Carolina, fell was further to the front than the utmost point reached by the most venturous of Pickett's men by a number of yards. True a few of Pickett's men crossed a por- tion of the rock wall which projected in front of other parts of it, but, after crossing, failed to keep in line with Davis' Brigade and protect its right flaiik as it marched up to the mouths of musket and cannon which were being fired from behind the 23 354 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-65. high and unbroken rock wall near the crest of the hill and on Pickett's left. However this dispute may be settled by future historians, another controversy, which has arisen as to the honor, not simply of crossing, but of entering and occupying Cemetery Heights on the second day, ought to be settled without further delay, by admitting that Hays' (Louisiana) and Avery's (North Carolina) Brigades are entitled to share the glory equally. Colonel Tate contended that the Sixth Eegiment was the only organized command that crossed the wall and occupied the trenches behind it, though accompanied by a small squad of Louisianians of Hays' Brigade. Colonel H. C. Jones, the dis- tinguished historian of the Fifty-seventh North Carolina, states positively that his command and the Twenty-first, or the whole brigade, commanded by Avery, advanced in an unbroken line and drove the enemy from their intrenchments. The historian who contributed the article on the Louisiana troops for the Con- federate history, recently published under the editorial super- vision of General Clement A. Evans, contends, upon represen- tations of Hays' men, that they were the only organized command that occupied the heights, though a small squad of the North Carolinians joined them. Captain J. A. McPherson (then First Lieutenant), of Company E, Sixth North Carolina, who was acting as Aid-de-camp to Colonel Avery, gives the following account ^of the movements and conduct of the brigade: "Colonel I. E. Avery commanded Hoke's Brigade, composed then of the Sixth, Twenty-first, Twenty-seventh (the Fifty- fourth having been detached and left in charge of the prisoners captured at Winchester). This brigade attacked a portion of Reynold's command intrenched, with a strong fence in front of the trenches, and after marching across an open wheat field without faltering, drove Reynolds from his position and through the town to the wall on Cemetery Hill. Here brave Captain J. H. Burns, of the Sixth, was killed (in fulfillment of a wish often expressed) instantly by a ball piercing the brain. Sixth Regiment. 355 "The brigade halted in a wheat field near and to the right of the Gulp house, where it remained all night and until just before sundown on the next day, when it was ordered to move forward with Hays' Brigade and attack Cemetery Heights. "In this attack Colonel Avery led the brigade on horseback, being the only mounted man of the command, until he fell from his horse mortally wounded by a ball which passed through his neck and shoulder. After falling from his horse he took from his pocket a pencil and piece of paper, on which he wrote in indistinct characters: 'Tell my father I fell with my face to the enemy.' * * His command moved forward and scaled the heights." * * * "In June, 1896, I visited Gettysburg in company with Judge A. C. Avery, and located the place where Colonel Avery fell, which was marked by order of the Commissioners." GENERAL EARLY'S STATEMENT. In 1890 the writer addressed a letter to General Early, asking ■ what troops scaled the walls on Cemetery Heights, to which he received the following reply : "Lynchburg, Va., July 11, 1890. "Dear Sir: — Your letter of the 4th has been received, and in reply I have to inform you that at the close of the 2d of July, 1863, at Gettysburg, both Hoke's Brigade, under the command of Colonel Isaac E. Avery, and Hays' Louisiana Brigade at- tacked the enemy's works on Cemetery Hill, and entered them. Of course the Sixth North Carolina Regiment entered the works, but it was along with the rest of the brigade. Hays' Brigade brought oflF four battle flags and one hundred prisoners captured from the enemy. The conduct of Hoke's Brigade, under Col- onel Avery, was all that could be expected of it, and the Sixth North Carolina Regiment behaved well, as did the rest of the brigade. It was frequently the case that the men and ofBcers of a regiment, not being able to see what other troops did, imagined that no other troops were where they fought. In the twenty- 356 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. seventh volume, second part, of the books entitled, ' War of the Eebellion: Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies,' published under the authority of Congress, is contained my official reports of the campaign in 1863, including the battle of Gettysburg. As it may not be accessible to you, I send you a copy of my statement in regard to the attack on Cemetery Hill on the second day. This is all the information that I can give yon in regard to that aifair. " Very truly yours, "J. A. Early." A. C. Avery, Esq. The extract sent by General Early is as follows, viz. : "Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies," Vol- ume XXVII, Part II, pages 470-'71. extracts from report of general J. A. EARLY. Extract First: "Having been subsequently informed that the attack would begin at 4 o'clock p. M., I directed General Gordon ' to move his brigade to the railroad, in rear of Hays and Avery, Smith being left, under J. E. B. Stuart, to guard the York road. The fire from the artillery having been opened on the right and left at 4 o'clock, and continued for some time, I was ordered by General Ewell to advance upon Cemetery Hill with my two brigades that were in position as soon as General Johnson's Division, which was on the left, should become engaged at the wooded hill on the left, which it was about to attack, informa- tion being given us that the advance would be general, and made also by Rodes' Division and Hill's Division on my right. "Accordingly, as soon as Johnson became warmly engaged, which was a little before dusk, I ordered Hays and Avery to advance and carry the works on the heights in front. These troops advanced in gallant style to the attack, passing over the bridge in front*of them under a heavy artillery fire, and then crossing a hollow between that and Cemetery Hill, and moving np this hill in the face of at least two lines of infantry posted Sixth Eegiment. 357 behind stone and plank fences ; but these they drove back, and passing over all obstacles, they reached the crest of the hill and entered the enemy's breastworks, crossing it, getting possession of one of the batteries. But no attack was made on the imme- diate right, as was expected, and not meeting with support from that quarter, these brigades could not hold the positions that they had attained, because a very heavy force of the enemy was turned against them from that part of the line which the divis- ions on the right were to have attacked, and these two brigades had, therefore, to fall back, which they did with comparatively slight loss, considering the nature of the ground over which they had passed and the immense odds opposed to (hem, and Hays' Brigade brought off four stands of captured colors. At the same time these brigades advanced, Gordon's Brigade was ordered forward to support them, and did advance to the position from which they had moved, but M'as halted here because it wag ascer- tained that no advance vvas made on the right, and it was evident that the crest of the hill could not be held by my two brigades, supported by. this one without any other assistance, and that the attempt would be attended with a useless sacrifice of life. Hays' and Hoke's Brigades were reformed on the line previously occu- pied by them, and on the right and left of Gordon respectively. "In this attack, Colonel Avery, of the Sixth North Carolina Regiment, commanding Hoke's Brigade, was mortally wounded. With this affair the fighting on July the 2d terminated." Extract Second (page 473): "The conduct of my troops during the entire campaign, on the march as well as in action, was deserv- ing of the highest commendation. To Brigadier Generals Hays and Gordon I was greatly indebted for their cheerful, active and intelligent co-operation on all occasions, and their gallantry in action was eminently conspicuous. I had to regret the absence of Brigadier General Hoke, who was severely wounded in the action of May 6th at Fredericksburg, and had not recovered, but his place was worthily filled by Colonel Avery, of the Sixth North Carolina Regiment, who fell mortally wounded while gallantly leading his brigade in the charge on Cemetery Hill at 358 North Cakolina Troops, 1861-'65. Gettysburg on the afternoon of July the 2d. In his death the Confederacy lost a good and brave soldier." All of the eye-witnesses concur in stating that the Sixth, com- manded by Major (afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel) S. McD. Tate, was gallantly led, and engaged in a hand-to-hand encounter with the enemy intrenched behind the wall on the heights, in which men were not only killed by bayonets and pistol shots, but were clubbed by muskets and ramrods of artillerists. A letter from W. A. Hal], of Company K, states that a body of Hays' Lou- isiana troops planted their flag upon one of the enemy's guns on the heights, and about the same time the color-bearer of the Sixth was knocked senseless while planting his colors on another gun in the Federal line. Summing up all of the evidence, there is no room for doubt that the North Carolinians commanded by Colonel Avery, one and all, covered themselves with glory. If the Sixth encoun- tered the line where it was strongest, it was their good fortune to find the opportunity for which all alike were asking, to show their devotion to the cause. It is equally true that the veteran command of Hays, which had so often marched, side by side to victory, with their Carolina friends, did not falter in the face of the terrible hail of shot and shell that rained upon them from Cemetery Hill, as they moved in an unwavering line across the memorable field to the harvest of death. The Sixth Regiment was on the left of the Confederate line, and hence was not in the thickest of the third day's fight. It enjoyed again, however, proud distinction in being a part of the only command that stormed and occupied any portion of the enemy's line along the heights, from the beginning to the end of the three days' struggle. The writer has been provoked to write an account of the con- duct of the Sixth at Gettysburg by reading the Louisiana his- tory. He feels that he has so completely answered the article of Governor Smith, that the old hero, if alive, would concede that he was mistaken. He believes now that if the writer who claimed a monopoly of the honor of storming Cemetery Heights Sixth Regiment. 359 for Louisiana will calmly examine the "War Records" and listen to proof and reason, he will show that he is animated by the liberal and chivalrous spirit of such representatives of his State as Beauregard, Hays, Gibson and Nichols, by according to the comrades of Hays equal honor for the success achieved under his leadership. A. C. Avery. MORG ANTON, N. 0., July 2, 1900. SEVENTH REGIMENT. 1. Junius L. Hill, Lieut. -Colonel. 2. A. yi. Sigmon, Private, Co. K. John Hughes, Captain and Assistant Q. M. SEVENTH REGIMENT. By captain J. S. HARRIS, Company B, The Seventh Kegiment North Carolina State Troops was en- listed for the period of the war, and organized at Camp Ma- son, Alamance county, during the month of August, 1861. Reuben P. Campbell, of Iredell county, was the Colonel; Ed. Graham Haywood, of "VVake county, Lieutenant-Colonel ; E. D. Hall, of New Hanover county. Major ; First Lieutenant John E.Brown, Company D, Adjutant ; Dr. Wesley M. Camp- bell, of Iredell, Regimental Surgeon, and Dr. W. E. White, of Mecklenburg county, was the Assistant Surgeon, all to take rank from the 16th of May, 1861. Neither Commissary nor Quartermaster was assigned the regiment at first, though officers were temporarily detailed for duty in these departments. The regiment' was coniposed of the following ten companies, to-wit : Company A — Iredell and Alexander Counties — Captain, Ju- nius L. Hill. Company B — Cabarrus County — Captain, Robert S. Young. Company C — New Hanover County — Captain, Robert B. McRae. Company D — MeoUenburg County — Captain, 'William Lee Davidson. Company E — Nash County — Captain, A. J. Taylor. Company F — Roivan County- — Captain, J. McLeod Turner. Company G — Wake County — Captain, Hiram Witherspoon. Company H — Cabarrus County — Captain, James G. Harris. Company I — Iredell County — Captain, James R. McAulay. Company K — Alexander County — Captain, Martin H. Peo- ples. 362 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-65. On the 21st of August, 1861, the Seventh Regiment North Carolina State Troops was mustered into the military service of the State of North Carolina, and each soldier was paid a bounty of fifteen dollars. Captain A. Myers was the disbursing officer, and it required nearly thirteen thousand dollars to pay off the regiment. Colonel Campbell was a professional soldier, a graduate of West Point, and had served with distinction in the Mexican war. Possessed of fine administrative abilities, he introduced and practically enforced the discipline of the regular army. Upon assuming command, he remarked to his officers that he was not confident of his ability to control a thousand men, but said he, "I think I can govern forty officers." Lieutenant-Colonel Haywood was a man of fine personal ap- pearance, just in the prime of life; was possessed of a magnifi- cent voice and brilliant intellect. As a tactician, he was skillful, and under his training the regiment rapidly acquired proficiency in the various evolutions of battalion drill. Two companies, A and F, were armed with rifles, the others with the smooth-bore Springfield muskets. ORDERED TO THE COAST. Early Wednesday morning, August 28th, the Seventh Regi- ment embarked by rail for the Eastern part of the State, and reached New Bern the following morning at 5 o'clock, and was assigned quarters in the Fair Grounds. On Friday, August 30th, the regiment was regularly mustered into the military service of the Conftderate States of America (more properly speaking, transferred). On Monday, September 2d, the regiment marched to Fort Lane, on Neuse River, below town, and was busily employed on the river defenses until Sunday, September 8th, when it was taken by rail to Carolina City. Two companies, D and E, were detached and sent to Hyde county under command of Major Hall. The remaining companies went by boat to Bogue Island and encamped some four miles below Fort Macon. The Twen- Seventh Regiment. 363 ty-sixth Regiment North Carolina Volunteers, Colonel Z. B. Vance commauding, and Captain Pender's Battery were on duty when we arrived on the island. Camp and picket duties em- ployed our time until the 2d of October, when the regiment recrossed the sound and encamped near Carolina City. Early in December Colonel Campbell moved his command up the road to Newport and constructed winter-quarters, and the companies on detached service rejoined the regiment. On the 5th of March, 1862, the Seventh Regiment was taken by rail to New Bern and encamped in the Fair Grounds until Wednesday evening, March 12th, when it was reported that the enemy were coming up the river, and dispositions were accord- ingly made to have the troops in position to meet them. THE BATTLE OF NEW BERN. The Seventh and Thirty-third Regiments, encamped in town, crossed the river at an early hour Thursday morning, March 13th, and were placed in reserve some two miles in the rear of the main line, at a point where the public road from Beaufort crosses the Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad. Colonel Campbell was intrusted by General Branch with the command of his right wing, and was assigned the duty of guarding the river from Otter Creek to Fort Thompson, a distance of several miles. In consequence of vastly superior numbers, and the advantages afforded the enemy in landing troops at almost any point on the river shore, so as to take his line in reverse, Colonel Campbell, in obedience to orders, retired to the Fort Thompson breastworks. The Seventh Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel E. G. Haywood commanding, was ordered from the reserve and was posted on the main line, one company (F) on the left, and the other nine companies immediately on the right of the Beaufort road, and about half-way from Fort Thompson to the railroad — the dis- tance from the Fort to the railroad being about one mile. At an early hour on Friday morning, March 14th, final dispo- fiitious were made to receive the advancing foe. Rain had fallen in showers the previous night, and the early morning was obscured 364 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. by a fog, so much so that a party of mounted men approached almost unobserved within musket-range, evidently with the pur- pose of locating the lines. This party was fired upon by one of Latham's guns on the Beaufort road. This shot served as a signal for the Federal advance, and shortly thereafter they appeared in force on the Beaufort road and opened fire immediately in front of the Seventh Pegiment. They were promptly responded to with musketry and artillery, and with such effect as to arrest their advance, and in a short while the firing was general along the line to the river. Finding this part of the line to be well defended, the enemy extended his line and advanced up the rail- road on the opposite side. The intrenchments on that side were located higher up the road, so that when the enemy's skirmishers arrived on a line with the breastworks from the river to the rail- road, they were enabled to deliver a flank fire into the troops (the militia battalion of Colonel H. J. B. Clark) on the opposite side, under which they gave away, and all efforts to rally them were unavailing. This advantage enabled the enemy to advance troops through an undefended open ditch with but little expo- sure, and the Thirty-fifth Regiment North Carolina Troops, like- wise assailed in front and flank, gave way and did not afterwards return to the fight. Flushed with success, the enemy pushed along the vacant works, and the Seventh was the next in turn to feel the brunt of his attack, and it, too, was forced to retire, but not in confusion, for it was quickly rallied, and advancing with fixed bayonets, it gallantly drove the Federals over the breastwork's, recovering two of Brem's guns that had fallen into their hands. The brave Major Hall led the charge, and did much to inspire the confidence and courage of the Seventh, for the first time so sorely tried. The regiment continued to hold its position without re-inforcements until near noon, when it was again assailed from the same direction by an overwhelming force, and the entire line, being exposed to an enfilade fire, gave way, and the field was. hopelessly lost. Referring to the regiment on this occasion, General Branch said : i " The brave Seventh met them with the bayonet and drove Seventh Regiment. 365 them headlong over the parapet, inflicting heavy loss on them as they fled; but soon returning with heavy re-inforcements, not less than five or six regiments, the Seventh was obliged to yield, falling back slowly and in order." In this ill-fated afiair, its first fight, the regiment sustained a loss of six killed, fifteen wounded and thirty missing. Along with General Branch's command it retreated to Kinston and remained about a week, when the command was taken by rail to Falling Creek, seven miles above Kinston. branch's brigade organized. On the 31st of March, 1862, the Second Brigade, consisting of the Seventh, Colonel Campbell; Thirty-seventh, Colonel Charles C. Lee ; Eighteenth, Colonel James D. Eadcliffe; Twenty- eighth, Colonel James H. Lane, and the Thirty-third, Colonel C. M. Avery, all North Carolina regiments, was organized, and Brig- adier-General L. O'B. Branch was assigned to the command, and on the following day he returned to his former encampment below Kinston. While here Major E. D. Hall was promoted to Colouel of the Forty-sixth Regiment, and Captain J. L. Hill, Company A, succeeded him as Major of the Seventh. Adjutant John E. Brown was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel of the Forty-second Regiment, and Lieutenant F. D. Stockton, of Company F, suc- ceeded him as Adjutant. On the 1st of May, Colonel Camp- bell, in obedience to orders from brigade headquarters, proceeded with his regiment. Captain Bunting's Battery and a train of wagons to Trenton for the purpose of collecting and bringing back provisions for the use of the troops, but upon reaching his destination the command was recalled. ORDERED TO VIRGINIA. On Sunday, May 4th, 1862, Branch's Brigade went by rail to Goldsboro, thence by way of Weldon, Petersburg and Richmond to Gordonsville, Va., reaching the latter place on the night of the 366 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. 5th, and remained until about the 16th, when the command was ordered towards the Valley of Virginia, but before reaching the foot-hills of the Blue Ridge it was ordered back to Gordons- ville, and from there by rail to Hanover Court Hoiise, and did picket duty for some days in that locality. BATTLE OF HANOVER COURT HOUSE. The battle of Hanover Court House was fought on the even- ing of Tuesday, May 27th, between the Federal advance, under Generals Fitz John Porter and Sedgewick, and Branch's Brigade, Latham's Battery, and two infantry regiments, temporarily at- tached. Twelfth North Carolina and a Georgia regiment. In this action the Seventh Regiment was held in reserve, and though at no time actively engaged, it was nevertheless exposed to the enemy's fire (a severe test of the metal of any troops) without the opportunity of returning it. In obedience to orders, General Branch fell back to Ashland during the night, and the Seventh Regiment constituted his rearguard. In this affair the regiment sustaiued a loss of two killed, four wounded and two missing. General Branch said in his report: "A cautious at- tempt was made by the enemy to follow, but a single volley from the rearguard of the Seventh arrested it." During the early days of June Branch's Brigade encamped on the Brook turn- pike, three and one-half miles northwest of Richmond, and remained until sunset Wednesday, June 25, 1862, when, in obedience to orders from army headquarters, it marched up Brook turnpike to the vicinity of "Half Sink" bridge, and bivouacked until morning. Thursday, June 26th, at 10 o'clock A. M., the brigade was ordered to cross, and the Seventh, march- ing at the head of the column, crossed the Chickahominy and directed its march down stream. Three companies. A, C and F, under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Haywood, were ad- vanced to discover and dislodge the enemy's picket. When nearing the Virginia Central Railroad, Colonel Haywood's com- mand encountered and dispersed the enemy's advanced troops. Seventh Regiment. 367 some two hundred strong, capturing from them a flag — the first trophy of the day — before any other brigade of General Lee's army had crossed the Chickahominy, and started MeClellan on "that retreat in which he found no shelter until under cover of the guns of his shipping." Continuing the advance, Colonel Haywood's command again encountered the enemy's sharp- shooters beyond Atlee's Station and drove them back. The movements of Branch's Brigade uncovered Meadow Bridge, and General A. P. Hill crossed and drove the enemy from his in- trenched camp at Mechanicsville. Late in the afternoon Branch's Brigade, marching by a different road, reached the scene of con- flict. After the repulse at Mechanicsville the enemy retired to a strong position at Ellyson's Mill, where the Confederates re- newed the attack, but failed to dislodge him. Branch's Brigade was ordered to the front, and went some distance, when it was halted, and Colonel Campbell was directed to hold his regiment in readiness for an immediate advance. Later the regiment was placed in position on the left of the road and remained over night. Next morning, Friday, June 27th, while awaiting orders to advance, it was learned that the enemy had abandoned his posi- tion and was in full flight. Pursuit was immediately given, and in the afternoon the battle was renewed beyond Gaines' Mill. The Seventh formed to the left of the road, and under the lead of the fearless Campbell pushed forward through a lake of water and up a long wooded slope. Companies A and F were advanced as skirmishers and met with such stout resistance as to check their progress. Seeing that Turner and Knox were hard pressed, Captain Young, of Company B, called on his men to go to their assist- ance, and this they did by moving cheerfully forward under a heavy fire and rendered timely aid in forcing the enemy out of the road and from the fence on top of the hill. As the main line advanced the skirmishers were directed to form on the right of the regiment, and for some time it maintained this advanced position against superior odds. Not being supported, as he ex- 368 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. pected, and suffering frightful loss, Colonel Campbell ordered the regiment to fall back to a less exposed position, and the three skirmishing companies on the right not falling back at the same instant, became separated from the regiment, and, under the command of Lieutenant- Colonel Haywood, they were as- signed by General A. P. Hill's order to another part of the line, and were under fire to the close of the action. The other seven companies, under Colonel Campbell, were sent to charge a bat- tery on the right of the road, and, after moving the required distance. Colonel Campbell advanced his regiment through a swamp and over fallen timber up the deadly slope, intent upon fulfilling his mission. The color-bearer, Henry T. Fight, of Company F, had advanced but a little way when he was se- riously wounded and let the colors fall. Then Corporal James A. Harris, of Company I, caught them up and bore them a short distance, when he, too, received a disabling wound. Colo- nel Campbell then seized the flag, and advancing some twenty paces in front of his men, ordered them not to fire but to follow him. When within less than a stone's throw of the deadly guns, the heroic Campbell was pierced by an enemy's bullet and instantly killed. Lieutenant Duncan C. Haywood, of Company E, promptly seized the flag, and in the effort to bear it forward, he in turn lost his life, and seeing the utter impossibility of cap- turing the battery, the regiment beat a hasty retreat. Unwilling that the flag should fall into the enemy's hands, private Nichol- son, of Company H, caught the end of the broken staff and trailed it after him down the hill, and, from Colonel Haywood's report, it was borne from the field by Corporal Geary, of Com- pany C. The flag had on it the marks of thirty-two bullets, indicating in some measure the fearful dangers to which the gallant Seventh was exposed in attempting to accomplish an impossible result. Following is a list of officers killed and wounded in this action : Killed — Colonel Reuben P. Campbell*; Lieutenant Duncan * Colonel Campbell was born in Iredell county, N. C, April 16, 1818, and graduated at West Pomt, June 23,1840; entered the service as Second Lieutenant of Cavalry : was promoted Captain of Company B, Second Dragoons. He was distinguished for gallant and meritorious conduct in the Mexican war, and resigned his commission to take part with his native State m behalf of the South. Seventh Regiment. 369 C. Haywood, Company E ; Lieutenant William A. Closs, Com- pany E ; Captain Martin H. Peoples, Company K ; Lieutenant Joseph C. Miller, Company K. "Wounded — Captain Eobert B. McRae, Company C ; Lieu- tenant William J. Kerr, Company D ; Captain James R. Mc- Aulay, Company I. The number of enlisted men killed and wounded in this or any subsequent action during the seven days' fight cannot be determined with any accuracy, as the official reports embraced the entire campaign in the aggregate. On Sunday morning, the 29th of June, Branch's Brigade re- crossed the Chickahominy in pursuit and again encountered the enemy in a hard-fought battle at Frazier's Farm, lasting from 5 o'clock p. M. until night-fall on the 30th of June. In this action the Seventh, under Colonel Haywood, made a gallant charge across an open field that was swept by musketry and artillery, and drove the enemy from its front for a considerable distance — every foot of the ground being hotly contested. Lieutenant John Milton Alexander, Company H, was killed. Wounded : Lieutenants E. G. Blackmer, Company F, and W. N. Dickey, Company I. Missing: Lieutenant John P. Young, Company B. MALVERN HILL. The battle of Malvern Hill was fought on the afternoon- of Tuesday, July 1st. The Seventh, as were the other regiments of the brigade, was ordered to the battlefield in support of troops already engaged, and remained in reserve to the close of the action, exposed to .the enemy^s fire, with no opportunity of re- turning it. During this " week of battles," the Seventh Regiment sus- tained a loss of thirty-seven killed and two hundred and two wounded and fourteen missing — total, two hundred and fifty- three. 24 370 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. CEDAR RUN. Branch's Brigade was sent by rail to Gordonsville, July 29th, and on Saturday, August 9th, the battle of Cedar Run was fought. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon there was a spirited artillery duel between Confederate and Federal batteries. About 5 o'clock the infantry became hotly engaged. At first the enemy was successful and drove the Confederates back. At the oppor- tune moment Branch's Brigade, marching at the head of the " Light Division," advanced and checked the enemy, and in turn drove him back with loss. Just as it was in the act of advancing, the Seventh was, by General Jackson's personal order, directed to'cross to the right of the main road and pursue a de- tached body of the enemy then in retreat. This movement resulted in the capture of some thirty odd prisoners, including two commissioned officers. The regiment was little exposed in this action. Its loss was one killecl and one wounded. The Confederates recrossed the Rapidan on the 12th, and encamped around Orange Court House. On the 20th of August there was a general advance of the army, and Branch's Brigade con- fronted the enemy opposite Warrenton Springs on the 22d, and was exposed^to the fire of several batteries during Saturday and Sunday. Early on Monday, August 25th, General Jackson disappeared from Pope's front, crossed the Rappahannock un- molested, aud arrived at Bristoe Station on the night of the 26th, and early the following morning Branch's Brigade reached Ma- nassas Junction, and a few hours later it chased Taylor's New Jersey Brigade some miles beyond Bull Run. second battle of MANASSAS. The next time the Seventh confronted the enemy was on the historic field of Manassas, where, on the afternoon of August 28th, it was exposed to the fire of a Federal battery, but suf- fered slight loss. On Friday morning, August 29th, the Sev- enth was on the right of the brigade, and in rear of a grove on Seventh Eegiment. 371 the Confederate left, and not far from Crenshaw's Battery. Shortly after assuming this position, Captain J. McLeod Turner was ordered to advance his company, and soon the sound of his rifles told that he was driving the enemy's skirmishers. During the morning hours there were heavy and irregular volleys of musketry on the right, sometimes nearer, then further away, as one or the other of the combatants were forced to yield ground. About 3 o'clock p. m. the Federal commander shifted his point of attack and fell with great fury on the Confederate left. Guided by the sound of battle. General Branch advanced his brigade and engaged the enemy's troops, then flushed by tempo- rary success, and drove them across the railroad and into the woods beyond. In obedience to orders, the brigade recrossed the railroad and reformed its line of battle. Details were sent to collect cart- ridges from the boxes of those who had fallen and issue them to the men in ranks awaiting the renewal of the conflict. Colonel Hay- wood was wounded and Captain R. B. McRae took command, and right gallantly did he discharge the duties thus imposed on him. Hardly were the necessary preparations complete before the enemy advanced fresh troops and renewed the battle with great energy and with like results. The brigade successfully held its position against repeated attacks until the going down of the sun. With evident feelings of pride, General Branch publicly com- plimented his brigade for gallant conduct. Said he : "Burnside whipped us at New Bern, but we have whipped him this even- ing." The Seventh fought bravely and eSiciently. Not a single Yankee was able to cross the railroad in its front, though efibrts were made to do so that were well-nigh irresistible. Its loss was seven killed and sixty wounded. The following day, though not actively engaged, it was nevertheless exposed to a heavy artillery fire and joined in the pursuit of the enemy late that afternoon. On the afternoon of Monday, September 1st, the battle of Ox Hill was fought in a blinding rain-storm. The Seventh ex- hibited its customary valor from the opening to the close of the 372 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-65. action. Its loss was eight killed and seventeen wounded. Cap- tain E. B. McRae, commanding the regiment, was severely- wounded, and Captain J. G. Knox, Company A, succeeded him in command. The Seventh was in the First Maryland campaign, and crossed the Potomac at Point of Rocks on the afternoon of September 4th, arrived at Frederick, Maryland, on the 6th, and remained for some days. While here the regiment was re-inforced by one hundred and thirty conscripts. It recrossed the Potomac at Williamsport on the 12th, and was part of the force that invested Harper's Ferry on the Virginia sid« the following day. On Sunday night, the 14th, the Seventh preceded the brigade in its advance, successfully dislodged the enemy from the moun- tain cliifs overhanging the Shenandoah, and secured possession of Bolivar Heights, overlooking Harper's Ferry. This was accomplished with a loss of one killed and three wounded. Early Monday morning, September 15th, the garrison of Harper's Ferry surrendered after a spirited shelling from Con- federate batteries bearing on it from all points. The Seventh Regiment, up to this time, armed with the smooth-bore Spring- field musket, now exchanged it for the Springfield rifle, a more effective weapon at longer range. This regiment left Harper's Ferry on the morning of September 17th and arrived at Sharps- burg in the afternoon just in time to help repulse Burnside's troops, then across Antietam Creek, and gradually pushing the Confederate right toward Sharpsburg. Its loss in this action was nine killed and forty-three wounded. The brave General Branch was killed near the close of the action, and Colonel James H. Lane assumed command of the brigade. The battle was not renewed the following day, and that night, the 18th, the army recrossed the Potomac at Shepherdstown. Branch's Brigade formed part of the rearguard and was the last command to cross the river on the 19th. The rear of its column was shelled as it disappeared over the hills on the Vir- ginia side. At Shepherdstown, on the 20th of September, the Seventh Seventh Eegiment. 373 was one of the regiments that so gallantly charged the enemy across the big corn field, notwithstanding it was honey- combed by the concentrated fire of Federal batteries from the opposite side of the Potomac. In this affair the regiment had fifteen men wounded. The next offensive movement in which it took part was the destruction of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad from North Mountain Depot to Hedgeville. The regiment then encamped near Bunker Hill, until the,lst of November, at which time it removed to the vicinity of Berryville. On the 1st of November, ,1862, Colonel James H. Lane was promoted to be Brigadier General, and permanently assigned by request to the command of Branch's Brigade. Early in November the Federal army crossed the Potomac at Harper's Ferry and slowly advanced along the railroad to War- renton. Longstreet's Corps disappeared from the Valley and confronted the enemy in the neighborhood of Culpeper. Court House. On the 22d of November Jackson's Corps broke camp above Winchester and moved rapidly to New Market, thence south to the vicinity of Guinea Station on the railroad leading from Fredericksburg to Richmond. Nothing occurred to foreshadow the expected battle until the night of the 11th, when firing was heard in the direction of Fredericksburg, which increased in volume the following morn- ing— a sure warning of the approaching contest, in which the Army of Northern Virginia would again measure arms with its old antagonist, the Army of the Potomac, under its new com- mander. Genera] Burnside. the battle op peedericksbueg. The battle of Fredericksburg was fought Saturday, December 13, 1862, Lane's Brigade was on Jackson's left, some two miles southeast of the town, and the Seventh Regiment was on Lane's left, about two hundred yards distant from the railroad and about the same distance in front of the right of Pender's North Carolina brigade. A short distance beyond the railroad 374 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'66. there was a ridge that extended some distance to the right, and was lost in the common level of the surrounding plain. This ridge was occupied by a battalion of artillery, thirteen guns, under Major Braxton, with instructions to play on the enemy's infantry without replying to his artillery. Before the fight began the Seventh Regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Hill commanding, was advanced to the railroad to insure the safety of the guns. A fog hung over the field and concealed the enemy's movements until well under way. About 9 o'clock A. M. a line of battle advanced from under cover of the river bank and was driven back by the fire of the artillery in front. By way of retaliation, several Federal bat- teries opened on Braxton's guns, and also did the Seventh serious injury, driving in its skirmishers, ten of them having been in- jured by one shell. The enemy's skirmishers then advanced and endangered the gunners, and on this fact being reported to Colonel Hill by one of their officers, he promptly advanced his regiment and drove them off. Meantime the artillery left the field, and to save his men, Colonel Hill ordered the regiment into the railroad cut near by, where it remained about two hours, during which time there was a lull in the storm. In forming his line of battle, General A. P. Hill had left an open space of several hundred yards, extending from Lane's right to Archer's left. By noon the fog of the early morning had cleared away, and the keen-sighted Yankees were not long in detecting this opening, against which they sent a cloud of skirmishers and directed a powerful artillery fire. The Seventh Regiment now left the railroad cut and resumed its former position on the left of the brigade. In a short while the enemy advanced in great force to the crest of the hill beyond the railroad, several stands of colors being visible in front of the Seventh, but their troops were not sufficiently exposed to invite its fire. Remaining stationary for a short time, they retired, then advanced a second time and remained stationary as before, apparently hesitating to risk the result; Seventh Eegiment. 375 ai\d presently the entire column moved by the left flank behind the ridge and massed on the fatal opening. Turning Lane's right and Archer's left, they entered the woods to the rear and momentarily endangered the Confederate center. The Seventh Regiment remained in line until the regiments on its right gave way, when it also fell back in good order to General Pender's line, under a heavy artillery fire. From there it was immediately ordered to the right of the brigade, where it rendered good service in helping to drive the enemy back and aiding to re-establish the line. The writer, from personal ob- servation, bears testimony to the gallant and heroic resistance made by the Thirty-seventh and Twenty-eighth Regiments North Carolina Troops to overwhelming numbers, as they entered the opening and turned the positions held by these regiments. The repulse of the enemy was complete, his loss frightful, and he made no further assault on this part of the line. In the Seventh Regiment eleven men were killed and eighty-one wounded. Among the latter Captain J. McLeod Turner was shot through the body and sustained a serious lung injury, and Captain John G. Knox, of Company A, was quite seriously wounded. Lieutenant Sol. Furr, of Company B, was also wounded. After the Federal army recrossed the river the Confederates went into winter-quarters along the Rappahannock. Lane's Brigade encamped near Moss Neck. Army supplies had to be hauled in wagons from Guinea Station, a distance of nine miles. Heavy details were sent daily to help corduroy the miry roads, and this, in connection with the ordinary camp duties and con- stantly maintaining a long picket line, kept the Seventh busy during the bleak winter months. CHANCELLORSVILLE. No event transpired to interrupt the usual round of daily duty until Thursday, April 30, 1868, when the booming of cannon called the army to Fredericksburg the second time, and the Con- federates re-occupied the lines so successfully defended the pre- 376 NoKTH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. vious December. A large body of Federal troops under General Sedgewick occupied the town, but made no effort to advance. Early the following morning, May 1, Lane's Brigade moved up the Orange plank-road and formed in line of battle near Chancellorsville late in the evening. The heavy skirmishing near night indicated an enemy in force, and we quietly awaited the developments of another day. Early next morning, Saturday, May 2d, Jackson's troops were in motion — the column turned off from the plank-road at the Catharine Iron Furnace, and marched rapidly past the front of the Federal army, and late in the afternoon it reached the old turnpike road, to the right and rear of Hooker's army. It was near sunset when the advance began. Rodes' Division sur- prised the Eleventh Corps on the Federal right, which, after a feeble resistance, fled in the wildest confusion. Other lines, doubtless affected by their panic-stricken comrades, became de- moralized, and no serious opposition was encountered until within three-fourths of a mile of Chancellorsville. At this point the " Light Division " was ordered to the front to take charge of and continue the pursuit. As the leading brigade (Lane's) was nearing the point at which it was to deploy in line of battle, it was exposed to a very heavy artillery fire in column on the plank-road, and to escape its destructive effect the men were ordered to lie down. As soon as the firing was over the Seventh Regiment, followed by the Thirty-seventh, filed to the right of the plank-road and formed parallel to but not in the breastworks, the left of the Thirty-seventh extending to the plank-road. The Twenty-eighth and Eighteenth filed to the left, the right of the latter regiment resting on the road. The Thirty-third, under Colonel C. M. Avery, was thrown forward as skirmishers and covered the front of the brigade. Before preparations were complete for resuming the advance the enemy succeeded in passing a column of infantry behind the skirmishers and in front of the Seventh Regiment. Presently an oSicer with a white flag came forward and inquired for the command- ing officer, and also demanded to know whether the troops in Seventh Regiment. 377 his front were Union or Confederates. General Lane very properly sent him to the rear under guard, as he did not wish to surrender. While awaiting the return of their flag, a shot was fired from the enenay's line, and in response the Seventh poured a volley into the dark line in its front, and as a result some two hundred and fifty Federal soldiers immediately sur- rendered. Lieutenant-Colonel Hill directed Captain John P. Young, with his company, to conduct them to General Jackson's headquarter guard. The enemy's batteries now opened afresh and his infantry advanced, but did not come within musket- range of the Seventh. Early next morning, Sunday, May 3d, the entire line wheeled somewhat to the left. Then, in obedience to orders, the forward movement began. The Seventh was preceded by one of its com- panies as skirmishers under Lieutenant John Y. Templeton, and notwithstanding the intervening woods was swept by a wither- ing fire of musketry and artillery, this regiment unhesitatingly pushed forward and drove the enemy out of the first line of works in its front. Unfortunately the expected support failed to "show up," and after a gallant fight against fresh troops it was in turn driven back by the concentrated fire of the enemy's for- tified batteries surrounding the Chancellor house and the flank fire of an approaching column on the right. After refilling cartridge-boxes the regiment immediately went into position on the left of the plank-road in support of General Colquitt's Georgia Brigade. It lost heavily in the fight — fifty-three killed, one hundred and twenty-seven wounded and five missing — total, one hundred and eighty-five. Colonel Haywood and Major Davidson were wounded early in the morning. Ad- jutant Ives Smedes was killed in the advance and Lieuten- ant-Colonel Junius L. Hill lost his life while at the enemy's works. The following company officers were killed, viz. : Company A, Lieutenant E. Mansfield Campbell and Robert A. Bolick; Company B, Captain John P. Young; Company D, Captain William J. Kerr; Company F, Lieutenant James W. Emack. 378 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. The following were wounded, viz. : Company A, Lieutenant P. C. Carlton; Company B, Lieutenant J. S. Harris; Company F, Lieutenant T. G. Williamson ; Company G, Lieutenant John Y. Templeton; Company H, Lieutenant J. M. W. Alexander and Lieutenant Dixon B. Penick ; Company I, Captain James R. McAulay, and Lieutenant Robert G. McAulay, mortally. The color-bearer, Sergeant E. M. Correll, also received a dis- abling wound. After the return to winter-quarters an election was held in the various companies of the regiment, in accordance with an act of Congress authorizing the President to bestow medals, " with proper devices, upon such officers as shall be conspicuous for courage and good conduct on the field of battle, and also to con- fer a badge on one private or non-commissioned officer of each company after every signal victory it shall have assisted to achieve," and the names of the following soldiers were selected by their comrades to be placed on the " Confederate roll of honor" for gallant and meritorious conduct in the battle of Chancellorsville, viz.: Second Lieutenant A. M. Walker, Com- pany K; Corporal William H. Millstead, Company A; Ser- geant William G. Sawyer, Company B; Corporal Philip Strickland, Company C; Sergeant Thomas Brinkle, Com- pany D; private Elisha H. Eure, Company E; private Ed- ward H. Williams, Company F ; Corporal Ira W. Smith, Company G; Sergeant Robert M. Caldwell, Company H; private Thomas L. Purdie, Company I ; Sergeant Isaac S. McCurdy, Company K. From some cause the above medal and badges were never delivered, and no further elections were held in the Seventh Regiment under the act authorizing them. After the death of General Jackson the Army of Northern Virginia was composed of three corps — Longstreet's, Ewell's and A.. P. Hill's. Lane's Brigade was in Pender's Division, A. P. Hill's Corps. For several weeks succeeding the battle of Chancellorsville no active movement was undertaken by either army. About the 1st of June, 1863, the Army of Northern Vir- Seventh Regiment. 379 ginia largely disappeared from the Rappahannock, Hill's Coi'ps alone renaaining at Fredericksburg to watch Hooker's move- ments and protect Richmond. Alarmed by the report of so many Confederates in the Shenandoah Valley, the Federal com- mander withdrew from Fredericksburg about the middle of June. General Hill also left Fredericksburg on the 15th, and by rapid marches crossed the Potomac at Shepherdstown on the 25th and arrived at Fayetteville, Pennsylvania, on the afternoon of the 27th. Longstreet was at Chambersburg and Ewell some miles in advance. GETTYSBURG. The march of the Confederate columns was directed to Gettys- burg on Wednesday morning, July 1st, and the leading division of Hill's Corps (Heth's) engaged the Federal advance before noon. Lane's Brigade marched from South Mountain without oppo- sition until across a small stream northwest of Gettysburg. Here it formed line of battle in supporting distance of Heth's Divis- ion on the left of the Chambersburg road. In this order the two lines advanced and drove the enemy back several hundred yards, then halted, and Lane's Brigade was withdrawn from the center and placed on the right of Pender's Division. Here the Seventh Regiment, Major Turner commanding, was sent to watch the movement of the enemy's cavalry, with instructions to move by the left flank, as skirmishers, so as to cover the right of the brigade in its advance. About 4 o'clock in the afternoon there was a general advance, and after desperate fight- ing the enemy was driven through and beyond the town. On account of the threatening attitude of the cavalry the Seventh was detained, but subsequently rejoined the brigade on Seminary Ridge, near McMillan's house. This regiment was inactive the following day, July 2d. It was subjected to a very heavy artil- lery fire in the afternoon, and that night two of its companies were sent to re-inforce the brigade skirmishers under Major Brown, then occupying the Emmittsburg road. 380 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Friday morning, July 3d, found the mighty combatants "in place " where the battle of the previous day ended. The skir- mishers began the bloody day's work at an early hour (those of the enemy being unusually spiteful), and the wounded, at times, came out in squads. Thomas' and McGowan's Brigades were advanced the night before to support Eodes' Division in the con- templated night attack. General Pender was badly wounded the evening before and General Lane was in command of his division. At noon Lane's and Scales' Brigades were ordered to the right and formed in the rear of Heth's Division (commanded by General Pettigrew), then in line of battle and awaiting orders to advance on Cemetery Ridge. About this time Major General Trimble was put in command of Pender's Division (Lane and Scales), General Lane resumed command of the brigade, and Col- onel Avery, commanding the brigade, returned to his regiment. Seminary Ridge was crowned with a formidable array of artil- lery, which at a given signal was to open a furious fire on Cem- etery Ridge for the purpose of silencing the enemy's artillery and demoralizing the infantry, and as soon as this result was appa- rent the assaulting columns were to advance and carry the Federal position by storm. The artillery duel I'aged with great fury for near two hours, then the enemy's fire decreased in vol- ume and number of guns, and the order to advance was imme- diately given. The Seventh Regiment was on the right of the brigade and connected with Scales' left, and the marked steadiness of its advance over that storm-swept field was but a repetition of its gallantry on other fields. It went as far as any other command, and was among the last to leave the field. Its loss was seven- teen killed, eighty-four wounded and forty-one missing. (Its flag was also left on the field after every member of the color- guard had either been killed or wounded). The following offi- cers were wounded : Major J. McLeod Turner, who so gallantly commanded the regiment, was badly wounded and left near the enemy's works; Captain T. J. Cahill, Company D; Captain J. W. Vick, CoDipany E; Lieutenant D. F. Kinney, Company F, and. Captain A. A. Hill, Company G. Seventh Regiment. 381 On the retreat at Hagerstown, Saturday, July 11th, the regi- ment formed a line of battle and skirmished with the enemy, and on Monday night, the 13th, fell back with the army, march- ing all night in pitchy-darkness and torrents of rain. Next morning, July 14th, immediately after the unfortunate wounding of General Pettigrew near Falling Waters, General Heth, then commanding his own and Pender's Division, ordered General Lane with his brigade to act as rear-guard and pro- tect the crossing of his troops. This arduous and dangerous duty it successfully accomplished, repulsing and holding in check an active and aggressive foe until every other command was safely across the Potomac, when it also retired to the Vir- ginia shore, and thus ended the trans-Potomac campaign. ON VIRGINIA SOIL AGAIN. For some days the army remained in the neighborhood of Berryville, then moved south by way of Front Royal, and made a short stay at Culpeper Court House, then continuing the march, it re-occupied the line of the Rapidan in the early days of August. Lane's Brigade was stationed near Orange Court House and the Seventh did picket duty at Morton's Ford. No active movements were undertaken by either army for some weeks, and strong efforts were made to fill up the depleted ranks by encouraging absentees to return. The duties were also lightened (as much as the good of the service would admit) on the brave men who had borne the heat and burden of an ex- haustive and unsuccessful campaign. Major-General Pender died of the wound he received at Gettysburg, and Brigadier- General C. M. Wilcox was promoted to the rank of Major- General and succeeded to the command of the "Light Division." The next active movement in which the Seventh toolt a part was on Tuesday, September 22d, when it was ordered to Jack's Shop to oppose a cavalry demonstration toward Gordonsville, but was not engaged, as General Stuart had in the meantime succeeded in defeating the enemy. The regiment recrossed the Rapidan the next day and encamped on Mr. Newman's farm, 382 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. from which point it did picket duty at Liberty Mills and main- tained a picket post on the Stanardsville road. The quiet of camp-life was next broken by the general ad- vance of the army on the 9th of October. The Federal com- mander, General Meade, unwilling to risk an engagement on the Eappahannock, retired along the Orange & Alexandria Rail- road in the direction of Washington. On the 14th of October, the leading division of Hill's Corps (Heth's) was repulsed with loss by the rear of the Federal army, under General Warren, at Bristoe Station. The Seventh and other regiments of the brigade formed line of battle under fire, but on account of approaching darkness did not advance. The Federal commander continued his retrograde movement during the night, and the following day the Confederates returned, completing the destruction of the railroad to the Eappahannock. The Seventh cheerfully performed the task assigned it, and on the 25th of October recrossed the river and camped near Brandy Station. On the 7th of November the greater part of two of General Early's brigades (Hoke's and Hays'), doing picket duty beyond the Rappahannock, near Kelly's Ford, were captured by the enemy. The next morning the array fell back, and when near Culpeper Court House the Seventh aided in repulsing the enemy's cavalry charge, sustaining a loss of one killed, private Mack Winecoff, Company H, and four others wounded. Lieu- tenant P. C. Carlton, Company A, was also wounded. That night the march was resumed and the following day the regi- ment re-occupied its quarters at Liberty Mills. On the 15th of November it received orders to strike tents and proceed to Orange Court House to repel a brigade of Fed- eral cavalry that had crossed the Rapidan at Morton's Ford, but the order was subsequently countermanded. On the 26th of November the Seventh marched to Mine Run to aid in opposing General Meade's advance on Gordonsville. Next day, in a rain-storm, it worked hard all day building breast- works. The rain was followed by high winds, clear and in- Seventh Eegiment. 383 tensely cold weather, and the sufferings of the thinly-clad troops were simply indescribable. The sentinels on the skirmish line were relieved every thirty minutes, but the time seemed much longer — many of them insisting that they had been on duty an hour. On the 1st of March of 1864, the Seventh, in obedience to orders, marched through mud and rain to Madison Court House to oppose a cavalry raid, only to iind. the enemy gone. That night it snowed, and the men, being without tents or shelter of any kind, suffered much discomfort. On the 20th of April all surplus baggage was sent to Richmond, and no pains were' spared in getting the troops in the best fighting trim possible. The sun and winds were fast hardening the roads and hourly hastening the impending struggle which was to decide the fate of the Confederacy. The Seventh Regiment, with twenty-seven commissioned officers and four hundred and twenty-five enlisted men, left Liberty Mills on the 4th of May, 1864, and reached the Wil- derness battlefield the following afternoon, and from five o'clock to nine at night it was closely engaged and successfully drove the enemy through swamps and tangled woods for several hun- dred yards. At one time the regiment narrowly escaped being captured, its left having advanced in the darkness within the enemy's line. Its loss was in killed : Lieutenants S. Layne Hay- men, Company E; W. H. Haywood, Company K, and three enlisted men. Wounded: Lieutenants J. W. Ballentine, Com- pany E; E. B. Roberts, Company I, and sixty enlisted men. Missing: Colonel Wm. Lee Davidson, Captains J. G. Knox, Company A, and Walter G. McRae, Company C, and thirty- four enlisted men. SPOTTSYLVANIA. At Spottsylvania Court House, on the 12th of May, when Ewell's line was broken at early dawn and the greater part of Johnson's Division captured, this regiment rendered invaluable service in checking the tide of Federal victory by constantly 384 North Carolina Troops, 18 61-65. pouring into the enemy's ranks a fire so deadly that no troops, however brave, could withstand. Later in the day it was one of the regiments selected to lead the advance of Lane's Brigade in that brilliant flank movement which surprised Burnside's ad- vancing column and captured more than four hundred prisoners and three stands of colors. Its loss was eleven enlisted men killed, twenty-five wounded and four missing. Adjutant John W. Pearson, Lieutenants Thomas P. Malloy, Company D, and J. L. Stafford, Company H, were wounded ; total forty-three. In the assault on the 21st of May to the right of the Fredericks- " burg road, which resulted in the capture of the enemy's breast- works, the regiment sustained a loss of one killed and seven wounded. At Jericho Mills, on the 23d of May, it was detached to guard a ford on the river and was not engaged. Two days later, on the 25th, the regiment was exposed to an annoying artillery fire at Anderson's Turnout on the Virginia Central Railroad. It was again exposed to the enemy's fire of both infantry and artillery near Pole Green Church on the 31st of May, but not actively engaged. At Cold Harbor, June 2d, it was part of the support to Whar- ton's Brigade of Breckinridge's Division in that successful charge which secured Turkey Ridge to the Confederates. At Riddle's Shop, on the 13th of June, the regiment was in line of battle for several hours, but not engaged. AT PETERSBURG. On the 18th of June the regiment reached the outer defenses of Petersburg and took part in the action at Wells' Farm, three miles southeast of Petersburg, on the afternoon of the 22d, when the enemy was completely foiled in his attempt to reach the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad. The next morning, while re- lieving Mahone's Brigade from the trenches in front of Peters- burg, it exhibited coolness and nerve under a withering fire of musketry and artillery at close range. Early in July the regiment returned to the north side of the James, and remained in the vicinity of Dutch Gap until the 28th Seventh Regiment. 385 of July, when it was actively engaged at Gravel Hill. Lieu- tenant R. M. Quince, of Company C, Acting Adjutant, was killed, and the regiment sustained a loss of twenty-five killed, wounded and missing. At Fuzzell's Mill, August 16th, the Seventh was on the left of the line in that gallant charge in which Lane's Brigade, led by Colonel Barber, recaptured the Confederate intrenchments (lost by other troops) on the Darbytown road in the presence of General R. E. Lee. The enemy's force consisted in part of negro troops. Returning to Petersburg, the Seventh was engaged at Reams' Station on the 25th of August, and sustained its reputation for good fighting qualities in that irresistible charge made by Cook's, McRae's and Lane's Brigades, which dislodged Hancock's Corps and regained to the Confederates the possession of the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad. Its loss was four killed and twenty- eight wounded. Captain J. R. McAulay, of Company I, fell in the advance. His death was a real loss to the service. The Seventh was engaged from "start to finish " in that spir- ited fight at Jones' Farm, on the right of the Petersburg lines, on the afternoon of September 30, 1864, and gallantly drove the enemy in its front from the field. While the loss of enlisted men was comparatively small, one killed and twelve wounded, it was a sore battle to its thirteen company officers, as the follow- ing will show : Killed : Lieutenant John R. Pearson, Company F. Wounded : Lieutenants P. C. Carlton, Company A ; A. F. Bizzelle, Company B; John W. Ballentine, Company E; John Y. Templeton, Company G ; Captain J. G. Harris and Lieu- tenant Dixon B. Penick, Company H. This regiment was in the advance the next morning and helped drive the enemy from his unfinished line near Pegram's house, and held it for the remainder of the day. After dark the regi- ment retired to the intrenchments near the Jones house, where, about the middle of November, it erected winter-quarters. On the 8th of December the Seventh, with the other com- mands of Hill's Corps, marched through rain and snow to , 25 386 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. oppose the enemy's forces then operating against the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad. On reaching Jarratt's Station, and find- ing the enemy gone, the command was ordered back to winter- quarters. During this march the weather was extremely cold and the sufferings of the poorly clad men were pitiable indeed. While in winter-quarters at Petersburg, Colonel Haywood resigned, and Lieutenant-Colonel William Lee Davidson became Colonel; Major J. McLeod Turner, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Cap- tain James G. Harris, of Company H, became Major of the Seventh Regiment. On the night of the 26th of February, 1865, the Seventh Major Harris commanding, left the defenses of Petersburg, and went by rail to High Point, N. C, for the purpose of arresting and returning absentees from the army, its field of operations being Randolph, Moore and Chatham counties. Ou the advance of Stoneman's raiders into Western North Carolina the regiment returned to High Point, and on the 1st of April it was sent by rail to the Yadkin bridge, six miles northeast of Salisbury, as an attempt to destry the bridge was apprehended. On the 5th it was taken to Danville, Virginia, and on the 11th it was ordered to return to Greensboro. On the 16th of April it was assigned to General D. H. Hill's Division, Lee's Corps, Army of Tennessee. It was detailed on the 19th to rebuild the railroad bridge across Deep River at Jamestown, recently burned by Stoneman, and by the evening of the 24th the bridge was complete for the passage of trains. General Joseph E. Johnston officially announced the surrender of the Army of Tennessee on the 27th of April, and ou Mon- day, May 1, 1865, the Seventh Regiment, numbering thirteen commissioned officers and one hundred and thirty-nine enlisted men, was paroled near Greensboro, North Carolina, and imme- diately disbanded, its war-worn veterans hastening to their homes to engage in the battle of life. J. S. Harris. MOEKISVILLB, N. C, 1 May, 1900. EIGHTH REGIMENT. 1. H. M. Shaw, Colonel. 4. Jonas Cook, Captain, Co. H. 2. John E. Mnrchison, Colonel. 5. Leonard A. Henderson, Captain, Co. P. 3. Enfus A. Barrier, Lient.-Colonel. 0. Harvey C. McAllister, 1st Lieut., Co, H. 7. W. 11. Bagley, Captain, Co. A. EIGHTH REGIMENT. By H. T. J. LUDWIG, Drummer, Company H. The Eighth Eegiment North Carolina State Troops was organ- ized at Camp Macon, near Warrenton, N. C, in the months of August and September, 1861, with the following field ofiQcers and companies. The counties named show from what section of the State the officers and men volunteered: FIELD OFPICEKS. Colonel, H. M. Shaw, Currituck county ; Lieutenant-Colonel, William J. Price, New Hanover county; Major, George Wil- liamson, Caswell county; Adjutant, J. B. Cherry, Bertie county ; Sergeant-major, L. G. Thornton, New Hanover county; Assis- tant Quartermaster, C. W. Grandy, Virginia; Assistant Comis- sary-sergeant, H. G. Trader, Hertford county; Surgeon, H. P. Ritter, Pasquotank county. COMPANIES. Company A — Pasquotank, Perquimans and Camden Coun- ties— Captain, James W. Hinton. Company B — Currituck County — Captain, James M. Whitson. Company C — Edgecombe, Franklin and New Hanover Coun- ties— Captain, Henry McRae. Company D — Granville, Franklin and Warren Counties — Captain, A. J. Rogers. Company E — Cumberland, Chatham and Harnett Counties — Captain, James W. Williams. Company F — New Hanover, Warren, Rowan and Franklin Counties — Captain, Charles J. Jones. 388 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-65. Company G — Pitt and Greene Counties — Captain, Edward C. Yellowly. Company H — Cabarrus County — Captain, Rufus A. Barrier. Company I — Alamanoe County — Captain, Gaston D. Cobb. Company K — Bowan County — Captain, P. A. Kennerly. Otiier counties were represented by one or a few men in the companies generally. The regiment was mustered into the Confederate service on the 13th of September by Colonel Robert Ransom, the term of service being for the war. During the stay at Camp Macon our work consisted of drilling, standing guard and such other duties as necessarily pertain to camp-life. We were not detained long in the camp of instruction near Warrenton. On the 18th of September tents were struck, the regiment having been ordered to Roanoke Island. The trip on the canal and sound on the way from Camp Macon to the island was delightful, it being about the time of full moon, and the weather being fine. We arrived at Roanoke Island on the 21st of September. The first duty after landing was to arrange camp, dig wells, etc. This work took several days. Then drilling and work on the fortifications became the regular duties of the men. On the 3d of October the regiment, consisting of about six hundred and fifty men, in company with the Third Georgia Regiment and a few other troops, embarked on barges in tow by steamers, on the sound, for the purpose of attacking a force of the enemy then encamped on the narrow strip of land stretching along- the sea-shore, known as Chicamacomico. The attack was made on the 4th of October, and resulted in the capture of the camp and fifty-five prisoners. The Third Georgia made the attack on the camp, whilst the Eighth North Carolina was to intercept the retreat of the enemy. Accordingly, when the enemy began their retreat the Eighth Regiment was ordered to proceed towards Hatteras, efi^ect a landing and await the approach of the retreating enemy. We proceeded to a point in Pamlico Sound Eighth Regiment. 389 opposite to where the landing was to be made. The position taken by the barges which conveyed the regiment was about three miles from land. Orders were given to leave the barges and wade to the shore. After wading about one mile, a deep channel, too deep to cross, was met. The order to return to the barges was given. In the meantime the tide began to rise, and by the time the last of the men arrived at the barges the water was up to their armpits and chins. There was some suffering for water on this expedition, the supply carried by the men having been exhausted and no other drinkable being at hand to refill the canteens. On Sunday, October 6th, we returned to camp on Roanoke Island, having spent Saturday on the sound, some of the men having been detailed to assist in moving the captured camp effects of the enemy. After returning to the island the usual drilling and other duties pertaining to camp occupied the time of the men. Also, regular details were made to work on the fortifications then in progress on the island. On the 29th of October one company (H) of the regiment was ordered on duty in Battery Huger, near the northern extremity of the western side of the island. The remaining nine companies continued in the camp established near Fort Bartow, and' did duty as stated above. The first Christmas during the war was passed on the island, nothing unusual occur- ring except occasional alarms, some true, others false, till the early part of February, 1862. It was known in the latter part of December that the enemy was contemplating an attack on some important point somewhere on the coast. A large fleet at that time was collecting at Fortress Monroe. Every effort was made to put the island in the proper state of defense. The Eighth, with the other regiments and troops on the island, was kept constantly at work to be prepared to meet, what then seemed and afterwards proved true, the coming attack. The enemy's fleet entered Pamlico Sound at Hatteras Inlet on January 13tb, and appeared before the island on February the 6th. The morning was foggy and it was near 10 o'clock before the fleet could be seen. No attack was made on that day. On 390 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. the 7th the fleet drew nearer and bombarded Fort Bartow, and during that afternoon and night succeeded in landing about fif- teen thousand men. On Saturday, the 8th, at about 7 A. m.j the battle began, and continued something over five hours. The enemy had about ten thousand men in the engagement, the Con- federates about fourteen hundred, of which latter the Eighth North Carolina Regiment furnished five hundred and sixty-eight. The enemy crossed what had been supposed to be an impassable marsh, and flanked our little army. Even after having been flanked the Eighth Regiment stood to its post without wavering till orders came to retire to the north end of the island. The enemy having flanked our army, and considering the great disparity in numbers, the fall of the island was a foregone con- clusion. The battle, however, was continued as long as there was any hope of success. In the language of the commander, the surrender did not take place until it appeared "that any further slaughter would have been useless and inhuman." In this engagement the Eighth Regiment lost five killed and seven wounded, Lieutenant Monroe, of Company E, being among the killed. , During the time that the regiment was on Roanoke Island fourteen men died of sickness. After the surrender of the island on the 8th of February, we were held in camp as prisoners of war about two weeks, when we were conveyed by steamers to Elizabeth City, paroled and sent home by way of the Dismal Swamp Canal and Portsmouth. Whilst prisoners in the hands of the enemy we were well treated. Of course we were closely guarded, but no insults were oifered. During the first and second weeks of September, 1862, the men having been exchanged, the regiment re-assembled. This time, however, the reorganization was effected at Camp Mangum, on the North Carolina Railroad, a few miles west of Raleigh. The Eighth Regiment now became a part of General T. L. Clingman's Brigade. While at Camp Mangum the regiment attended the funeral of General Branch, who had been killed at the battle of Sharpsburg, participating in burying him with military honors. Eighth Eegiment. 391 After occupying Camp Mangum a few weeks, the regiment was ordered to Camp Campbell, near Kioston, early in October. While at Camp Campbell, in addition to the usual camp duties, the regiment did picket duty on Core Creek between New Bern and Kinston. After a few weeks' camp at Camp Campbell, we were ordered to Kinston, where camp was established a short time, when orders came to move to Wilmington, N. C. While camping at Kinston one hasty march to Greenville, about forty miles, and a demonstration against New Bern were about the only active duties out of regular camp in which the regiment was ordered to take part. We arrived at Wilmington in the latter part of November, and pitched tents in Camp Whiting. Nothing of importance occurred while we were at Camp Whiting till about the middle of December, when orders came to proceed to Goldsboro to meet an expedition of the enemy which was advancing from New Bern, along the south side of Neuse River. On the 17th of December the regiment, with the other troops that had been ordered to that point, formed a line of battle on the south side of Neuse River, along the railroad leading to Wilmington, and awaited the approach of the enemy. It was in the afternoon when the enemy made his appearance. After several hours lighting, both artillery and infantry being engaged, the enemy retired, but suceeded in burning the bridge over the Neuse. In this engagement the Eighth Regiment lost three killed and six wounded. The regiment then returned, marching from Goldsboro to Camp Whiting, and went into winter-quarters. The beginning of the year 1863 found the regiment in winter- quarters at Camp Whiting, where we continued till the early part of February, when orders came to proceed to Charleston, S. C, where camp was pitched on James Island. After camp- ing a few weeks at this place, we were ordered to Savannah, Ga., where camp was established on the outskirts of the city. We remained here about ten days, then returned to Charleston. Our tents were pitched in our former camp on James Island, where we remained, with nothing especially important happening, till 392 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. about the 1st of May, when orders came to return to Wil- mington. On arriving at Wilmington we established camp, known ,as Camp Ashe, in a large oak grove near Old Topsaiil Sound, about twelve miles from the city. During the time the regiment camped on James Island quite a number of its strongest men, physically appearing, died from sickness. Swamps and malaria were the most destructive enemies the regiment met on these expeditions. Having established camp near Old Topsail Sound, the men indulged themselves in fishing when not on duty. We remem- ber this camp, which above all others had more the resemblance of being devoted to holiday pleasures than to the more onerous and dangerous duties of soldiers engaged in war. However, in war pleasures do not last long. War is not a fishing frolic. After remaining at Camp Ashe about two months, we were ordered on the 10th of July to strike tents and march to Wilmington, where we boarded the train for Charleston, arriving at that point on the 13th. The enemy had already gained a footing on Morris Island, and was preparing to attack Battery Wagner. We were now destined to see hard service. With the enemy's land forces advancing slowly on Morris Island, and the iron-clad fleet lying outside the bay, it was evident that the transition from the pleasures at Camp Ashe to the trials, hardships and dangers of soldier-life in a regular, long-continued, stubbornly-conducted siege was to be experienced. The Eighth Regiment was ordered at once to James Island, and began work on the fortifications west of Morris Island, in sight of Battery Wagner, the objective point of attack of the enemy at the time of our arrival at Charleston. On the 18th of July, when the enemy assaulted Battery Wagner, we were in full view of the deadly conflict. The attack being made after dark, the flashes of the guns could be distinctly seen. The next day, the 19th, we were ordered to Sullivan's Island, where we remained till the 22d, when the regiment received orders to go to Morris Island. Eighth Eegiment. 393 The nature of the service on Morris Island was such as to render it necessary for the regiments composing the army on that side of Charleston to perform duty alternately. While on the island the men were exposed at all times to the enemy's fire, both from land and sea. An attack had to be prepared for at any instant, either day or night. The men had to be ready for action at any moment. It was no place for rest. The battery, frequently shelled by the enemy's iron-clads, had to be repaired. The enemy's ever-active sharp-shooters had to be watched. To expose one's self to view meant being shot at with the attending consequences. The men had to keep under cover of the battery or in pits near by, dug in the sand-hills along the beach. Under such circumstances it was necessary to relieve the men once about every seven or eight days. It was on the 24th that the battery received one of the most terrific bombardments, continuing for several hours, it experi- enced during the siege. The Eighth Regiment was i^ the battery at the time, some of the men being placed in the bomb-proof, some in the sally-port, and some guarding the parapet. On one or two occasions during the heavy shelling the smoke of explod- ing shells came down through the cover of the sally-port, and at the cessation of the bombardment light could be seen through the cover of the bomb-proof. The shells were of the largest calibre, some of them measuring fifteen inches in diameter. So terrific was the concussion when one exploded near a soldier, the blood would be found in some cases to come out of the ears and nose. The siege of Battery Wagner lasted fifty-eight days, Morris Island having been evacuated on the 6th of September. During that time the Eighth Regiment did duty on the island about twenty-one days, viz. : from July 22d to August the 1st, from August the 8th to the 15th, and from August 22d to the 29th, the dates being given as approximately correct. The enemy approached Battery Wagner by constructing parallels, each parallel bringing him nearer to the battery. Five parallels were constructed, which brought the last to within about 394 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. one hundred yards of the battery. The nearer the approach of the enemy, the more severely trying the service became. The service was hard the first relief the regiment served on the island, but became harder the second and third reliefs. The men had to work night and day. A corps of sharp-shooters, consisting of about twenty picked men, who volunteered for the service, was organized in the Eighth Regiment. They were put in com- mand of Lieutenant Dugger, of Company F. How well these men did their duty is best expressed by Colonel Harrison in his report on August 12th, he being in command of the battery that week. He says : " My sharp-shooters, under Lieutenant Dugger, Eighth North Carolina Regiment, do good work, though the Yankees are very shy and seldom show their heads." The sharp-shooters were armed with Whitworth (globe-sighted) rifles, and in addition to their courage were most excellent marksmen. Sometimes^ when the men were not on special duty in the bat- tery they would seek relief among the sand-hills between Bat- teries Wagner and Gregg, the two being about three hundred yards apart. The enemy was not long in discovering this, and on more than one occasion gave the sand-hills a severe shelling. Occasionally a bomb would strike near a pit dug among the hills and bury the occupants. There were, however, no fatalities in the Eighth Regiment from that cause. The living on Morris Island compared favorably with the character of the service. There was no place for cooking. All the rations had to be prepared elsewhere and carried there. The water, too, was bad. It was such as may be found near the ocean beach anywhere along the coast. The number of killed and wounded in the regiment while serving on Morris Island was not great. The nature of the service required nerve and pluck, but not carelessness and reck- lessness. It was a veritable target practice between sharp-shooters every day, and any careless or reckless exposure to the enemy's fire meant work for the ambulance corps. The men were veterans, and therefore understood the value of strictly obeying orders. Eighth Eegiment. 395 When the regiment was assigned to a duty the men Ifnew how to perform it. Among the officers, Captain Rogers, Company D, was wounded. The gallantry of the men who composed the regiment was never displayed more conspicuously than when defending Battery Wagner. The enemy had determined to take Charleston, "the cradle of the rebellion." The men who defended the city in 1863, were just as determined that it should not be taken. Morris Island had to be abandoned, but every foot gained by the enemy had to be fought for. It was a slow movement, and possessed none of the quickness accompanying the carrying of forts by lassault. The duties performed on Morris Island constitute one chapter in the history of the regiment of which every member may be justly proud. Morris Island having been abandoned, the Eighth Regiment was assigned to duty on Sullivan's Island. There was no enemy on the island, and as a consequence the duties were comparatively light. Details of men for the purpose of strengthening the fortifications formed the chief occupation of the regiment. One evening when the regiment was on dress-parade in rear of Fort Moultrie the enemy's iron-clads came up and gave the fort a heavy bombardment. The parade was cut somewhat short, but no casualties occurred. On the following day the regiment moved to the sand-hills towards the eastern extremity of the island. Quarters were erected among the hills with such plank and material as the men could carry from the town, about one mile distant. The regiment remained at this place till the 30th of November, when camp was broken, and we marched to Mount Pleasant, proceeding thence by boat to Charleston, where the train bound for Wilmington, N. C, was boarded. On arriving at Wilmington our journey was continued to Kinston, where we remained about one week, when orders came to move to Peters- burg, Va., arriving at that place on the 14th of December. It being evening when we arrived, the regiment was ordered to bivouack in the streets. Accordingly small fires were built in the street near the edge of the sidewalk, whilst the rock pave- ment served as our sleeping-place. 396 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. On the following day the regiment marched out of town and established camp about two miles from the city, just beyond what afterwards became celebrated as Hare's Hill. The duties here, consisting of ordinary camp duties and drilling, were light in comparison with the service performed at Charleston. One cir- cumstance is worthy of note, inasmuch as it shows the considera- tion Colonel Shaw had for his men. It was the usual custom when the troops were not on the march to have guards around the camp. This camp was an exception. Colonel Shaw decided to trust to the honor of his men and not to have guards. The men seemed to appreciate the motive of the Colonel and very rarely abused the confidence placed in them, notwithstanding the nearness of the city offered many temptations for them to do so. One hurried march down the James River, and return, in the latter part of December, some twenty-five or thirty miles, was made, and then the regiment settled in quarters for the winter. The greater part of the year 1863 had been spent in the ever memorable defense of Charleston. The year 1864 was destined to bring to the regiment other, but equally severe, duties, hard- ships and dangers. From January the 1st to the 29th the regi- ment remained in camp at Petersburg. On the 28th orders were given to prepare three days' rations. On the 29th we marched to the city and took the train which had been prepared to carry us South. We proceeded to Goldsboro, thence to Kinston, where we arrived on the morning of the 30th. It was now evident that the regiment was to form a part of the force which General Pickett was to command for the purpose of making a demonstra- tion against New Bern. Arriving at Kinston on the 30th, the regiment marched some five miles in the direction of New Bern and bivouacked for the night. On the morning of the 31st the march was continued, approaching the enemy's pickets in the evening. Early on the morning of the 1st of February, sometime before daybreak, we were ordered to march. We were now near Bachelor's Creek, over which was a bridge where the enemy had a block-house strongly guarded by his pickets. Our advance guard soon had Eighth Regiment. 397 work on its hands. The enemy made a stubborn resistance at the creek. Whilst our advance guard was attempting to effect a crossing and get possession of the bridge, the main body of the regiment, under the command of Colonel Shaw, was resting by the road-side, about two hundred yards from the block-house which guarded the bridge. As the firing was brisk at the creek, quite naturally the bullets came frequently over the regiment in the rear. Colonel Shaw was sitting on his horse in the middle of the road. General Clingman being close to him. While thus awaiting the capture of the block-house and bridge, and apparently not realizing that danger was about him. Colonel Shaw was struck in the head by a bullet and instantly killed. The death of Colonel Shaw was a great loss to the regiment. His coolness under fire, and his calmness at all times in the presence of danger had an inspiring effect on the regiment, and doubtless much of the deliberation with which the men performed their duties on the field or in camp was due to the example set by their Colonel. Lieutenant-Colonel J. M. Whitson succeeded as Colonel of the regiment. By daylight our advanced guard had forced a passage across the creek and secured possession of the bridge, over which we marched in hurried pursuit of the retreating enemy. The pursuit was kept up till we came in range of the enemy's batteries around the town. The line of battle was formed, but it was soon discovered that the enemy's batteries could fire on us from front and flank. One shell struck in the line of the Eighth Regiment, mortally wounding David Bar- ringer, of Company K. It soon became evident that an attack on the enemy's works could not be undertaken with the least prospect of success. We were ordered to fall back out of range of the enemy's guns, and then began our Return to Kinston. The Eighth Regiment arrived at Kinston on the 3d, remained there a few days, and then returned to Petersburg. Speaking of the conduct of his men on the expedition to New Bern, General Clingman in his report says : " It gives me pleasure 398 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. to be able to slate that, though exposed on flank and front to artillery fire, threatened constantly with attack by the enemy's cavalry and infantry, the troops under my command performed the movements ordered with as much coolness and precision as I ever saw them on drill." He speaks also in high terms of Colonel Shaw, and gives much praise to the men, stating that there was not a single instance of desertion or straggling from his command during the expedition. The next duty the Eighth Regiment was called on to perform was to go on an expedition against Suffolk, Va. The expedition was commanded by General M. W. Ransom. The attack on the enemy was made on the morning of March the 29th. The force of the enemy, which consisted of cavalry and light artillery, soon broke, and a running fight ensued, the enemy retreating through the town to Bernard's Mill, on Black Water. The Eighth Regiment suffered no loss in this skirmish. The enemy having been driven across the Black Water, no further pursuit was attempted. The regiment then returned to Petersburg. While we were in this camp a heavy snow fell in March. The Fifty-first North Carolina Regiment, then in camp near us, a branch intervening between the two camps, concluded to surprise and attack the Eighth Regiment with snow-balls. As the men of the Fifty-first were forming their line, preparatory to advanc- ing on us, they were observed. The Eighth took in the situation, and as the Fifty-first came yelling towards our camp, met the advancing line of battle at the branch. The snow-balling was heavy, and for awhile the Eighth held its ground, but owing to the superior strength of the Fifty-first, finally had to fall back to its camp. A part of the Fifty-first crossed the branch and followed near our camp, where they met with a repulse. The Eighth held its camp and the Fifty-first returned to its quarters. It was an excitable and enjoyable affair. * After returning from Suffolk, and remaining in camp a few weeks, the regiment was temporarily attached to General M. W. Ransom's Brigade and ordered to go on the expedition com- manded by General Hoke against Plymouth, N. C. We left Eighth Regiment. 399 Petersburg, went to WeldoD, thence by Rocky Mount to Tar- boro by railroad. From Tarboro we marched to Plymouth, arriving before that town on the evening "of the 17th of April, driving in the enemy's pickets. On the 18th our forces drew nearer the town, and on the even- ing of that day the Eighth Regiment, with some other regiments of Ransom's Brigade, made a reconnaissance of the enemy's works. The Eighth Regiment formed in a strip of woods several hundred yards from the main line of fortifications. A battery of artillery was to take position on the left of the Eighth Regiment. At the order to advance the regiment moved out of the woods into the open field and began pressing and driving the enemy's strong skirmish line. The battery of artillery came in at a rapid run, and taking position at the left of the Eighth Regiment, about three hundred yards from the enemy's works, opened a rapid fire on the -main fort in our front. The gun- boats in the river also took part in shelling our battery and line. One shell from a gun-boat came over the town, struck the ground about one hundred and fifty yards in front of the Eighth Regi- ment, ncocAe^fed and the next time struck the ground in the line of the regiment, exploded, killing and wounding fifteen men of Company H. Three of the men were killed outright, two were mortally wounded, and of the others, some were severely and some slightly wounded. The firing was kept up about. two hours, when it ceased, the enemy's forts having been apparently silenced. The wounded were carried to the rear during the action and the dead buried that night. On the 19th nothing except some skirmishing took place in the forenoon. In the afternoon the regiment, with Ransom's Brigade, was ordered to move around towards the eastern side of the town and take position down the river from the enemy's works. In attempting to pass Conaby Creek, on that side of the town, a sharp fight occurred at the bridge over the stream. It was about two o'clock at night before the crossing could be effected. The passage of the creek having been forced, the brigade formed with its right resting on the river. The posi- 400 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. tion the Eighth Eegiment held in the brigade placed it directly in front of one of the enemy's forts. At early dawn on the morning of the 20th the signal rockets went up and the order came to advance. In the meantime a battery of artillery took position in front of the Eighth Regi- ment and opened a rapid fire on the fort in our front. The regiment, in fact the • whole brigade, as ordered, moved off in common time. Not a rifle was fired, not a word spoken. The artillery was doing its full duty in keeping the enemy's infantry quiet. When the regiment had advanced to within about one hundred and fifty yards of the fort the order to charge was given. The "yell" was raised and the regiment rushed forward to mount the fort. Just at the moment the "yell" was raised the enemy's infantry poured a destructive fire into the ranks of the regiment. Our artillery ceased firing as the regiment approached near the fort. The men rushed on, leaped into the ditch and attempted to scale the fort. While the men were attempting to climb over the outside of the fort the enemy threw hand-grenades into the ditch. Those who were in the ditch had to get out of it. The regiment then swung around to the right and attempted to break through the palisades on that side of the fort. The palisades had loop-holes, through which the enemy fired on our line. At this point many of the men were shot through the head. The regiment rushed up to the pali- sades, and as the enemy pulled their guns out of the loop-holes our men put theirs in and fired at those on the inside. Such deadly work could not last long. The Eighth Regiment swung a little further around to the gate leading to the rear of the fort. The gate was burst open. The regiment rushed in and the fort surrendered. "Three cheers for North Carolina" were given by the regiment, thus announcing that the assault had been suc- cessful. One fort having been captured, the line within was easily taken. But one strong fort (Fort Williams) remained in possession of the enemy. The Eighth Regiment formed and attempted to storm that. The men charged up to the edge of the surround- EIGHTH REGIMENT. 1. Jacob E. Earnhardt, Color-bearer, Co. H. 2. MidiiU'l Cook, Corporal, Co. H. 3. H. T. J. Ludwig, Drummer. 4. John D. Beaver, Private, Co. H. 5. Michael C. Ehineheart, Private, Co. H. 6. eager D. Barringer, Private, Co. H. 7. Cicero Barker, Drum-Major, Co. K. Eighth Eegiment. 401 ing ditch, only to find that it could not be crossed. There "was but oue of two courses to take, to-wit : either to fall back or surrender. The regiment chose the former. When the retreat began the enemy poured a fearful volley, into the ranks, killing and wounding many of the men. This charge was reckless and unnecessary. It was made under the flush of victory, not by the order of the commanding general. The fort, being sur- rounded, would have had to surrender anyhow, as it did a few hours afterwards. With the fail of Fort Williams the capture of Plymouth was made complete. It was a brilliant victory, but the Eighth Regiment paid dearly for its share in it. The regiment lost one hundred and fifty-four men killed and wounded, about one-third of its number. Lieutenant Langly, Company G, was killed, and Captain Cook, Company H, and Lieutenant Thompson, Company F, were among the wounded. Francis J. Perkins, Company A, color-bearer of the regiment, fell mortally wounded on the morning of the 20th. A few days afterwards Jacob R. Earnhardt, Company H, was appointed color-bearer. To illustrate another phase of war, it may not be without interest to narrate an incident or two that occurred on the battle- field of Plymouth. The following two are, therefore, given : As the ambulance corps was following the regiment, and hav- ing come to the point where the first charge began on the morn- ing of the 20th, one of the first men they found lying on the field was James Misenheimer, of Company H, who was mor- tally wounded. A member of the corps went to him and asked if he was wounded. He answered yes, that a whole shell had gone through him, and that it was from our own artillery. Poor fellow, he thought that after passing our battery the artillery had shot him. This was a mistake. The artillery fired over the heads of the men. He was shot by the enemy's infantry, the ball passing through the stomach. He said to the one speak- ing to him : "Tom, is that you?" On being told that it was, he added: "Write to mother and tell her I am killed." He died that day. 26 402 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Again, color-bearer Perkins was carried to the rear mortally wounded, and as he lay in a barn which had been taken for use for the wounded and dying, in conversation with a friend and member of the regiment, who was with him, he asked what the men thought of his conduct that day. On being told that all were praising him for his gallantry, he then said : "If that is so, if it were not for my sister, I would not mind dying." Thus, among many others, fell two brave men, their last thoughts wandering far away to their homes, the one thinking of a dear mother living among the hills of Cabarrus, the other of a dear sister whom he had left at his home in Virginia. How many thousands of similar incidents might be recorded ! How many thousands of dying soldiers, whose last thoughts were of loved ones at home, but for whom there were no friends present to receive the parting messages ! But, then, such is war. After a few days' rest at Plymouth the regiment, with the other troops of the expedition, began the march to Washington, N. C, which place the enemy abandoned on onr approach. Here occurred a sharp skirmish with the rearguard of the enemy. Lieutenant Caifey, Company I, being among the wounded. From Washington we moved in the direction of New Bern, the Eighth Regiment crossing the Neuse and Trent Rivers and moving around to the southern side of the town. While maneuvering around New Bern, preparatory to attacking the fortifications, orders came, on the 6th of May, to hasten back to Petersburg. The regiment marched to Kinston, took the train for Weldon, thence to Petersburg. The enemy had made a raid into the country between Weldon and Petersburg, and had destroyed the bridge over the Nottoway River, thus rendering it necessary for us to march part of the way. Hence our return to Petersburg was delayed, but not long enough to be of serious consequence. We arrived there in time to prevent the capture of the city. On our arrival at Petersburg the regiment, having resumed its place in Clingman's Brigade, was ordered to Drewry's Bluff. The enemy was attempting to cut the communications of Rich- Eighth Regiment. 403 mond with the South, the chief source for supplying Lee's army with provisions. An army can exist longer without something to shoot than it can without something to eat. A vital point to the life of the Confederacy had been threatened. The communi- cations of Richmond with the South had to be protected. It was evident that there was work ahead for the regiment. On the 18th skirmishing began, and the line of battle was established. Ransom's* Division forming the left, Hoke's Division the right, Clingman's and Corse's Brigades, under the command of Brigadier-General Colquitt, being held in reserve. Early on the morning of the 16th the battle began, Ransom's Division begin- ning the attack. Soon the roar of artillery and the rattle of musketry extended to the right. Hoke's Division became hotly engaged, and Johnson's Brigade, of that division, was hard pressed. The reserves were ordered in and the enemy driven back. When the reserves were ordered in tlie Eighth Regiment moved forward to the charge with the steadiness characteristic of Carolina's soldiers. The enemy's resistance was stubborn and the regiment suffered severely. Among the wounded was ex- Governor, at that time Captain T. J. Jarvis, of Company B. During the greater part of the day the roar of battle was incessant. Tl;ie enemy was driven back and at night- fall the two armies ceased firing. On the 17th, 18th and 19th skirmishing continued with more or less briskness, the enemy being driven back until he was compelled to establish his line across Bermuda Hundred Neck. On the 20th the commanding general, Beauregard, ordered an advance. The Eighth Regiment was engaged in the charge, and moved forward under a destructive fire against the enemy's line. The enemy was forced back, but the regiment suffered again severely in both killed and wounded. For five days the regi- ment had been engaged either in battle or heavy skirmishing against superior numbers. The men in both armies seemed to have been worn out. After the 20th affairs along the line were comparatively still. 'Commanded by Major-Gen eral Robert Ransom. His older brother, Brigadier-General BI. W. Ransom, commanded a brigade in the same division. 404 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Some light skirmishiog was all that occurred to disturb the gen- eral quietude that prevailed. General Beauregard in his report of these operations, says: "Too much praise cannot be given to the oiEcers and men who fought the battle of Drewry's Bluff." During the five days' fighting at Drewry's Bluff and Bermuda Hundred Neck the Eighth Eegiment lost between eighty and one hundred officers and men killed and wounded. Among the officers wounded were Captain Cook, Company H, and Captain Hines, Company G. Hoke's Division was now ordered to re-inforce Lee's Army, which had just fought the great battles of the Wilderness and Spottsylvania Court House. Oo the 30th of May we boarded the train, arriving at Richmond that day, and thence marching towards Cold Harbor. On the 31st Clingman's Brigade crossed the Chickahominy at Gaines' Mill and moved in the direction of the enemy. It was in the afternoon of the 31st that the opera- tions culminating in the battle of Cold Harbor began. The Eighth Regiment was attacked by' the enemy's cavalry in flank and rear, losing a considerable number of men killed, wounded and captured. The regiment had to fall back and take a new position, which was strengthened during the night, preparatory to meeting the expected attack on the following day. On June the 1st the enemy's infantry advanced in heavy force against our line. The Eighth Regiment formed the extreme left of Hoke's Division, Anderson's Division coming next. There was an interval between the left of the regiment and the right of Anderson's Division, caused by what was thought to be an impassable swamp. Through that swamp and interval the enemy forced his way. The Eighth Regiment was attacked in front, flank and rear. The enemy charged up to the line of works which had been prepared hurriedly during the previous night. A furious fight ensued. The regiment held its line for some time, but was forced back, though not in defeat. The men rallied and in turn charged the enemy. For a while the enemy stood, but finally the pressure became too great. He gave way, but rallied and charged our line a second time. Again the regiment was forced back. Again it rallied and drove the enemy before Eighth Regiment. 405 it. This alternate giving way and rallying continued till it was repeated the sixth or seventh time, when the regiment succeeded in establishing and holding its line, a short distance in rear of the original position held in the morning. On the 2d nothing occurred except some light skirmishing. On the morning of the 3d, at about 5 o'clock, the enemy assaulted our line, but was easily repulsed. The battle of Cold Harbor ended on the 3d. The Eighth Regiment lost in this battle, May 31st, June 1st, 2d and 3d, something near two hundred and seventy-five officers and men killed, wounded and captured. Our gallant Lieutenant-Colonel, John R. Murchison, commanding the regiment, was killed on Juoe 1st while leading the second charge. Major R. A. Barrier being at the hospital, Captain P. A. Ken- nerly, of Company K, the senior captain, then succeeded in command and gallantly led the regiment in another charge, when the regiment, rushing on, drove the enemy back and re-established the line. The regiment having to fight the enemy in two direc- tions, on flank and in front, was cut to pieces. Among the company officers. Lieutenant Ritchie, Company H, was wounded, and Captain Leonard A. Henderson, Company F, was killed in the third charge, while gallantly leading his company. (It should be stated in justice to Colonel Whitson that, hav- ing leave of absence to return to his home in Currituck county, and having been captured while there, he was not in the battles of Plymouth and those following, not getting back to the regi- ment during the war). After the death of Lieutenant-Colonel Murchison, Major R. A. Barrier was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel and commanded the regiment till the close of the war. On the 14th Hoke's Division was ordered to Petersburg. The regiment arrived at that point on the 16th, in -the afternoon. There was no time to be lost. The enemy was advancing. The line of battle was formed in the works around that city and the approach of the enemy awaited. We were not long in waiting. Our pickets were driven in and our lines assaulted. Two attacks were made, both of which were repulsed. This battle was fought 406 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. over the same ground where the snow-ball fight took place in March between the Eighth and Fifty-first North Carolina Eegi- ments, the enemy occupying the place where the Eighth Regi- ment camped, the Eighth where the Fifty-first camped. On the morning of the 17th the firing began early. All fore- noon there was heavy skirmishing. About 5 P. M. it was evident that a heavy assault on our line was contemplated. The enemy was massing his troops in our front. Just before dark the assault was made. The enemy succeeded in breaking the line occupied by the brigade on our immediate right and rushed his forces' into the breach thus made. The Eighth Regiment was ordered to assist ib driving the enemy out and regaining the line. The work was done quickly and the line re-established. After several hours' fighting the enemy retired, leaving our line unbroken. On the following morning, the 18th, sometime before day we were ordered to fall back to a new and shorter line. The part of the new line occupied by the Eighth Regiment was in an open field. The enemy appeared in heavy force, advancing with three lines of battle in our front. It was in the forenoon, in the light of a brilliant June sun, that the lines advanced in a clear open field. If there had not been other and more serious things to consider, the military display might have been looked upon as a grand one. But we were not there to look at military displays. The business our men had in view was to spoil such displays. This they proceeded to do. A heavy fire was opened on the advancing lines. They made a rush for a hollow or ravine in our front, some three or four hundred yards distant, and there established their line. No assault was made on our part of the line on the 18th, but during the greater part of the day the regi- ment was exposed to a heavy artillery fire, but few casualties, however, happening from that cause. On the 16th and 17th,, particularly the 17th, the regiment suffered quite severely in both killed and wounded. The regiment by this time did not num- ber many more than a good sized company. On the 19th the regiment was ordered to take position in the line of works next to the Appomattox River, thus forming the Eighth Regiment. 407 extreme left of the army oa the south side of that river. Here we lived practically in the ground. We walked in ditches, ate in ditches, and slept in pits. The enemy's main line in our front was about three hundred yards distant. The picket lines were much nearer, probably not more than sixty or seventy yards apart. No pickets could be kept out in day-time. Hardly a day passed that the enemy did not fire on us from the battery immediately in our front, or from mortar batteries to our right. On the 30th of July the mine was sprung. One regiment of Clingman's Brigade was ordered to the scene of the explosion. The others that remained had to fill the gap thus made in the line. The men of the Eighth Regiment stood one yard apart. This thin line was kept up until the regiment that had been drawn out returned. On the 19th of August the regiment was drawn out of the trenches to take part in attacking a strong force of the enemy that had moved towards the Petersburg &Weldon Railroad. The line of battle was formed and the charge made. The Eighth Regi- ment had to advance through a dense thicket, as did the whole brigade, or rather the whole of Mahone's Division, to which we were attached that day. The division became scattered in the charge and some of the men were captured ; some captured and recaptured twice. It was a thorough mixture in the woods. Front and rear seemed to be on all sides. The bullets came from every direction. The victory, however, was on our side. About three thousand of the enemy were captured. Mahone's Division was ordered to camp in order that the men might be got together. In a few days we were ordered to our old position on the south bank of the Appomattox. In this battle General Clingman was wounded. The Eighth Regiment lost several killed, wounded and captured. Among the wounded was Lieutenant McAllister, of Company H. We remained in the trenches on the south bank of the Appo- mattox till the 29th of September, when Hoke's Division was ordered to Richmond. Arriving at that point, the division marched in the direction of Fort Harrison, on the road leading 408 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. down the James River. On the 30th the brigade was drawn up in line of battle for the purpose of assaulting Fort Harrison, which had been captured by the enemy on the 28th. Ciingman's and Colquitt's Brigades were to make the assault directly on the fort, Ciingman's leading and Colquitt's following. The enemy was well prepared to receive the assaulting lines. The line hav- ing been formed, the charge was ordered. It was a charge in open day, over open ground, about two hundred yards to the fort. The Eighth Regiment formed behind a low hill. When the order to advance was given the men moved forward with a rapid, run. The order was not to fire until the fort was reached. As soon as the forward movement began, and the regiment had got to the top of the little hill, the enemy opened a terrific fire on the advancing line. Before it got to the fort the regiment was almost annihilated. The regiment went into the assault on Fort Harrison with about one hundred and seventy-five men and officers. That night there were only twenty-five, commanded by Lieutenant Dugger, of Company F. The others were killed, wounded and captured. The color-bearer, J. R. Baruhardt, finding that he could not escape capture, tore the old flag that had seen so much service to pieces to keep it from falling into the hands of the enemy. Of the color-guard, Robert W. Sawyer, Company K, was killed, and Joseph N. Spence, Company A, was wounded. John V. Fisher, Company H, was then appointed color- bearer, and carried the flag till the end of the war, Earnhardt having been captured and not getting back to the regiment. The regiment went into camp for a few days. On the 6th of October orders were giveu to prepare rations and to get ready to march. Detailed men and others came in after the assault on Fort Harrison, and increased the number of the regiment, but it was still small. At night, soon after dark, we moved out of camp. The next morning, the 7th, we were on the Darbytown road. Our forces made an attack on the enemy's line. The Eighth Regiment was held in reserve. For several hours we were exposed to a heavy artillery fire. No casualties occurred that day. We returned in the evening and went into camp. Eighth Regiment. 409 When the line was re-established after the fall of Fort Harri- son the Eighth Regiment was assigned to duty on that part near the Darbytown road. We were put to work throwing up breast- works. On the 13th the enemy made a strong demonstration against our line, but did not assault it. On the 27th the enemy made another strong demonstration in our front, but did not assault the line. The skirmishing was heavy, but the regiment did not suffer severely. After the 27th of October the regiment continued in the line near the Darbytown road until the latter part of December, nothing important occurring, only an occa- sional light skirmish. On the 22d of December we took the train at Richmond, Hoke's Division having been ordered to Wilmington, N. C. The ride from Richmond to Danville was bitter cold. We were put in box-cars, where it was not possible to have fires. Some of the men suffered very much from the cold. Owing to the lack of transportation, we had to march from Danville to Greensboro. Thence the regiment proceeded by rail to Wilmington, arriving at that place on the 28th. On our arrival at Wilmington we were ordered to old Camp Whiting till the 12th of January, 1865, at which time the enemy's fleet made its appearance, approaching Fort Fisher the second time. We were ordered to proceed, without delay, to Sugar Loaf, about four miles from Fort Fisher. We arrived at Sugar Loaf on the 13th, and at once commenced throwing up a line of works. About the time of our arrival at Sugar Loaf the enemy succeeded, under protection of his fleet, in landing his forces at Fort Fisher. A strong defensive line was established between our line and the fort, thus cutting off the fort from com- munication by land. Every foot of ground between our line and the fort was in easy range of the guns of the enemy's fleet. No line of battle could have existed under the enfilading fire of the fleet and exposed to a heavy infantry fire in front, if the attempt should have been made to assault the enemy's line. Hence an assault being impracticable, the force at Sugar Loaf could do nothing more than prepare to meet the enemy, should 410 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. he attempt to move towards Wilmington. Accordingly, we were worked night and day, until our line presented a strong appearance. In addition to the working on the breastworks, light skirmishing was frequent, and oftentimes we were exposed to heavy firing from the fleet. On Sunday, January 15th, the assault on Fort Fisher was made. The attack began about 3:30 p. m. and continued about seven hours. While the battle was going on we made a demon- stration in the direction of the fort, but nothing could be done. It would have been a sacrifice of men without accomplishing any definite result, except it would have been the destruction of our force. After the fall of Fort Fisher the regiment continued at Sugar Loaf, strengthening the line, skirmishing occasionally, and fre- quently receiving the attention of the enemy's fleet, which from its position, just off Carolina Beach, was in easy firing distance of our works. On the 11th of February the enemy attacked our picket line with a strong force, driving in the pickets, but did not assault our works. The skirmishing continued with more or less briskness each day till the" 18th, when the regiment received orders to fall back towards Wilmington. This we did to a point within about five miles of the city, where we made a stand and awaited the approach of the enemy. On the night of the 21st our main army withdrew, the Eighth Regiment follow- ing early on the morning of the 22d, and covering the retreat. The regiment marched through Wilmington about 10 A. M. As we marched out on one side of the city the enemy came in on the other. The line of march was towards the ferry across Northeast River. The enemy pushed close up to our rearguard. At the creek, about one mile from the city, he followed so closely that the bridge could not be destroyed. It was then practically a fight from the creek to the river. The enemy had to be held in check to enable our army and wagon-train to cross the river. The last mile to the river was hotly contested. The regiment held its ground and retarded the advance of the enemy's force. As the regiment approached the river the enemy pressed the Eighth Eegiment. 411 harder, always to be received with sharp firing. When the pon- toon across the river was reached the men filed across. As the last man entered the pontoon on the sonth side of the river it was cut loose from that bank, and that end swung around down the river. As the pontoon floated around our rear pickets came across. As our last man left the bridge at the north bank of the river the enemy appeared on the south bank. The pontoon was lost. It could not be got out of the river under fire of the enemy's sharp-shooters. As the regiment crossed the river the men deployed on the north bank. The river having put a stop to the advance of the enemy, a line of pickets was left along the bank, while the re- maining part of the regiment moved back about two hundred yards to a small elevation and began throwing up breastworks in line with the part of the army that had preceded us. The regiment never performed finer service than it did in covering the retreat from Wilmington to Northeast River. The fact that the enemy was pressing us and that our army was re- treating had no perceptible effect upon the coolness and delibera- tion of the men. When the enemy came too close the line was formed and his progress checked. Then the march was resumed till the enemy came too close again. The men seemed to appre- ciate the importance of the duty they were performing.' The safety of the army, and especially of the wagon-train, depended upon the steadiness with which they maintained their ground. How well the duty was performed is told above. After resting a few days at Northeast River, the regiment received orders to go to Kinston, against which place the enemy was marching with a strong force. We arrived at Kinston on the 8th of March, and were ordered to a point called Wise's Forks, a few miles from town, in the direction of New Bern. We were not long in meeting the enemy, and the battle began. The regiment was engaged more or less during the 8th, 9th and 10th, the three days the battle continued. At times the fighting was severe and the regiment lost quite a number of its men. On the night of the 10th orders came about midnight to march. We then set out for Goldsboro, thence to Smithfield. 412 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. where we rested a day or two, when orders came to move to Bentonville. On the 19th of March we effected a union with the Western Army. The battle of Bentonville began in the forenoon, the Eighth Regiment being held in reserve during that day. On the night of the 19th the regiment established the line on the ex- treme left of Johnston's army. Light skirmishing was all that occurred oq the 20th, but on the 21st the enemy made a heavy demonstration against our part of the line, driving in our pick- ets, though not assaulting the main line. On the night of the 21st our army withdrew towards Smithfield. The Eighth Regiment being on the extreme left, was the last to come out, leaving before daylight on the morning of the 22d. Here again, as at Wilmington, the regiment had to protect the rear. The enemy pressed our rear picket guard closely till we crossed the creek near by on our line of march. After crossing the creek the regiment deployed and began constructing a line of rifle-pits along the bank. In the meantime the skirmishing continued, the enemy coming nearer as our rearguard fell back. Sometime after sunrise, while the regiment was at work, a stray shot struck a man from Company I, inflicting a severe flesh wound in the thick part of the thigh. He was the last man the regiment had wounded. The rifle-pits along the creek were the last the regi- ment constructed. We remained there a few hours, then marched to Smithfield. The loss of the regiment at Bentonville was not heavy. We remained in camp at Smithfield about three weeks, when orders came to prepare for marching. When the order to march was given we proceeded towards Raleigh, passing through that place, thence through Chapel Hill, forming the rear of Hardee's Corps. From Chapel Hill we proceeded to Haw River, which we crossed at RufBn's mill. The river having swollen on ac- count of the recent rains, it had to be crossed on the rocks above the ford. The water was generally waist-deep, sometimes when on a rock not so deep, then deeper as the rock was stepped off. It was rough wading. Eighth Regiment. 413 When the regiment was crossing the railroad, before arriving at Chapel Hill, Governor Vance was at that point on a train, bound for some point west. The men seeing the Governor, one of them called out in a loud voice: "Hello, Governor, where are you going?" The Governor, who was taking the situation as cheerfully as he could, replied: " To the western part of the State to prepare a spout for you all to go up." The train moved off. We made no halt. From Ruffin's mill we proceeded to Alamance River, which had become impassable till the Eighth Regiment got there. The water was up to the armpits of the last men that preceded us, and the river still rising. While at this ford we heard the last hostile cannon that was fired in our part of the army. It was at Haw River, between our own and the enemy's cavalry forces. It being impossible to cross at this ford, we were ordered to Holt's factory, a short distance up the river, where the ford was not so deep. The I'egiment crossed here, the water coming up to the cartridge-boxes of the men. Having crossed Alamance River, we proceeded to Bush Hill, now Archdale, Randolph county, where news of Lee's surrender was received. In a few days news also came that Johnston was capitulating for a surrender to Sherman at Durham. On 26 April the army surrendered, on 2 May the regiment was paroled, and the men returned to their homes. The war was over. Thus closed the term of service of the Eighth Regiment North Carolina State Troops. During the three years and eight months of service about thirteen hundred men and officers had enlisted in the regiment. Of that number there were about one hundred and fifty present when the end came. Some were in prison, some were absent on account of sickness and wounds, many were dead, having been killed in battle or died of wounds or disease. During the war, counting skirmishes, battles and sieges, the regiment had been under fire on or about two hundred separate occasions. In honor to the officers and men who composed the regiment, it is but jusfto say that they never refused to move forward when ordered, or to rally when pressed back by the 414 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. enemy. They went where duty called them. The best of soldiers can do no more. The history they made belongs to North Carolina. Before closing I wish to say a word or two to the survivors with reference to what has been written above. The sketch has been prepared by request. I feel that it may not be as full as it should be. I have tried to take the survivors over the ground upon which they marched and fought during the days of 1861 to 1865. Having been an eye-witness to all, or nearly all that is related, I do not believe that anything of importance has been omitted. There were many deeds of heroism, both among offi- cers and men. Bravery was not to hunt. If some one per- formed a daring deed it did not signify that he was the only one to perform it. The deeds done by any particular one would have been performed with equal gallantry by others if duty had required it. I regret that I could not see more members of the regi- ment than I did. I feel that it is due the parties to say that I am indebted to C. R. Barker, Company K, Drum-major of the regiment, and to the officers and members of Company H, for valuable help when there were any doubts as to the facts I wished to relate. The "Roster of North Carolina Troops" and the "War Records," published by the Government at Washington, have been consulted and used when they would give the information wanted. It was not practical to mention the names of all the killed and wounded. That has been done, probably as well as it will ever be done, in the roster published by the State. It was suggested that it would be sufficient to mention the officers who were either killed or wounded. In attempting to carry out that suggestion, doubtless there are some omissions, but they could not be avoided, as the casualties given in the roster are by no means complete, and it is hardly possible that after the lapse of thirty-five years one would remember so many names, the most of which were strange. I have done the best I could. If tRe narrative here given shall contribute in any way to perpetuating the memory of those Eighth Regiment. 415 who stood devoted to their country, and of those who died for what they conceived to be the right, the labor required has not been performed in vain. H. T. J. LuDWiG. Mt. Pleasant, N. C., 26 April, 1900. NINTH REGIMENT (FIRST CAVALRY). 1. Robert Ransom, Colonel. 2. L. S. Baker, Colone:. 3. James B. Cordon, Colonel. 4. Rllfiis Biirrinjer, Captain, Co. F. 5. W. II. Cheek, Colonel. 0. W. II. II. Cowles, Lieiit.-Colonel. 7. A. B. Andrews, Captain, Co. B. 8. W. E. Wood, Captain, Co. B. 0. W. II. Anthony, Captain, Co. B. NINTH REGIMENT. (FIRST CAVALRY). By brigadier-general rufus barringer. The formation of the ten regiments of State Troops was a wise step in the organization of the North Carolina forces. These ten thousand men were made up of the very pick and flower of the State — all enlisted for the war, and so forming a model for others. No one of these ten regiments attracted so much attention as the Ninth, afterwards known as the First Cavalry. In the selection of company officers and the field and staff, Governor Ellis took special interest. The colonel and lieutenant-colonel, Robert Ransom and Lawrence S. Baker, were fresh from the cavalry of the United States Army, while the two majors, James B. Gordon and Victor C. Barringer, represented the best capacity and courage of civil life. The companies were selected with great care, from numerous tenders, all over the State. The enlist- ments were nearly all in May and June, 1861, and the first ren- dezvous was early in July at Asheville; but about August 1st the companies at Asheville were removed to Camp Beauregard, at Ridgeway, Warren county, which was made a regular school of drill, discipline and cavalry exercise and life. No troops ever went through a severer ordeal. At times and on occasions there were loud complaints against Colonel Ransom for the rigid rules and harsh measures adopted. Exception was specially taken to the line of promotion as used in the United States Army, instead of the volunteer system; but the great majority of both men and officers bore the severity of the service with patriotic forti- tude, and enjoyed the ups and downs of the drill and the jests and jeers of camp-life with infinite humor. So, by the middle 27 418 NoETH Carolina Tboops, 1861-'65. of October all was ready for the march to Manassas, to aid in guarding and holding the rapidly extending lines of General Joseph E. Johnston. The final roster largely reduced the ranks of oflScers, men and animals alike, as also all surplus baggage and other impediments. Among other changes, the second Major resigned, and the place was left unfilled so as to conform to the other nine regiments. The several companies were designated and commanded as follows : Company A — Ashe County — Captain, T. N. Crumpler. Company B — Northampton County — Captain, John H. Whit- aker. Company C — Mecklenburg County — Captain, J. M. Miller. Company D — Watauga County — Captain, George N. Folk. Company E — Warren County — Captain, W. H. Cheek. Company F — Cabarrus County — Captain, Rufus Barringer. Company G — Buncombe County — Captain, W. E.. Wood. Company H — Wayne County — Captain, Thomas Ruffin. Company I — Duplin County — Captain, W. J. Houston. Company JL— Macon County — Captain, Thaddeus. P. Siler. The officers represented the best character and military skill of the State — one being an ex-member of Congress. Four of them, Crumpler, Houston, Ruffin and Whitaker, fell in battle. Five of the others were wounded or otherwise disabled in the service. To recount the endless marches and actions in which they were engaged, would exceed the limits of this sketch. It is only proposed to notice briefly the leading battles and actions in which the regiment, as a whole, took part. Here also it is proper to call attention to the use of cavalry — especially in America, where forests and other impediments so often interfered with mounted operations. It was soon found that in this new oountry, even more than in the old world, that the best use of cavalry was to make it act as the eyes and ears of the array. But with even these limitations, it is estimated that the First Cavalry was engaged in nearly one hundred and fifty actions. Ninth Regiment. 419 These actions were often far to the front, or on the distant flank, or in covering a retreat, usually without support of which no official reports were made, and of which the main army rarely hedrd. Yet in this way multitudes of the best youth and man- hood in the land constantly perished, and now occupy unknown graves. On the march to Manassas nothing special occurred, except that at Richmond President Davis reviewed us in person and the people turned out en masse to see the parade. All agreed that, up to this time, no such trained Confederate cavalry had been seen in Virginia. At Manassas we did duty on the advanced lines in front of Centreville, with a constant round of alarms, surprises and dis- tant picket shots, often attended with amusing incident and per- sonal adventure. On the 26th of November occurred our first regular fight near the village of Vienna, fifteen miles out from Alexandria. Colonel Ransom, with about two hundred chosen men, managed to surprise a Yankee scout of about the same number, and effectually routed them, killing several and taking twenty-six prisoners. This was a great feather in our cap, and a source of much rejoicing, both in catnp and among friends at home. Up to December the cavalry at Manassas was without brigade organization; but in that month General J. E. B. Stuart formed the First Brigade, composed of the First, Second, Fourth and Sixth Virginia, the Ninth North Carolina (First Cav.)and the Jeff Davis Legion. Stuart went at once to work, and on the 20th of December sent a large number of wagons to secure a valuable supply of forage near the enemy's lines at Dranesville; all under an escort of both infantry and cavalry. The Yankee general, Ord, however, was too fast for Stuart ; a severe action ensued, with a narrow escape of the trains and a loss to Stuart of one hundred and ninety-four men. An incident on this occasion, gave quite a repute to the regimental wagon-master, Jacob Dove, of Company F. When Colonel Ransom heard of the disaster, and asked if his teams were safe, the reply was: "Yes; Jacob 420 North Carolina Troops, 186 1-'65. Dove not only brought out his teams, but brought them loaded, and even made them jump fences." Early in March, 1862, General Johnston evacuated Manassas, and about the same time it was found that Burnside was sailing for an attack on the coast of North Carolina. So the Ninth Regiment was at once ordered to that State, and took position near Kinston, where we remained until about the middle of June, when we were ordered back to Richmond to co-operate in the battles threatening that city. On the 29th of June a portion of the Ninth with the Third Virginia Cavalry, both under Lieu- tenant-Colonel Baker, was ordered to make a reconnaissance around McCIellan's army. The North Carolinians were in front, and struck the Yankee line at Willis' Church. A mounted charge was immediately ordered, which led through a long lane up to the Yankee camp. In an instant the artillery and infantry of the enemy opened upon our devoted heads, all huddled up in the lane, where orders and maneuvers were alike impossible. At the first round sixty-three of the Ninth North Carolina were put hors de combat, and the whole command was forced to retire in utter confusion. Among the mortally wounded was the gallant (now) Major T. N. Crumpler, universally lamented. This dis- aster served as a wholesome lesson in making mounted charges. During the next two days we were in the dreadful battles of Frazier's Farm and Malvern Hill, and then took an active part in the pursuit of McClellan to Harrison's Landing. For a month following we covered the main front of Lee's army below Richmond, fighting almost daily— especially at Phillips' Farm, Riddle's Shop and Turkey Creek. During this time Colonel Ransom had been promoted and transferred to the infantry — making Baker Colonel, Gordon Lieutenant-Colonel, and Whitaker Major. And on the 26th of July the cavalry was reorganized under Stuart as Major-General, with Wade Hampton and Fitzhugh Lee as Brigadiers. We were in the Hampton Brigade, composed as follows : First, Ninth North Carolina (First Cav.), Colonel Baker. Second, Cobb Legion, Lieutenant-Colonel Young. Ninth Regiment. 421 Third, Jeff Davis Legion, Lieutenant-Colonel Martin. Fourth, Hampton Legion, Major Butler. Fifth, Tenth Virginia, Lieutenant-Colonel McGruder. We were soon called to the stirring scenes attending Pope's retreat at the Second Manassas and Jackson's great flank move- ment— fighting severely at Fox's Farm and at Fairfax Court House — where we fell, during a night march, into another ambuscade. Immediately followed the first invasion of Maryland. And now came, almost daily and hourly, contests with the Federal cavalry — notably atUrbana, Frederick, Middletown,Catoctin Creek, Buck- ittsville and Pleasant Valley — culminating in the capture of Harper's Ferry by Jackson and the drawn battle of Sharpsburg, the Ninth Regiment being in all of these. At Sharpsburg we were on the extreme left, and when Gen- eral Lee recrossed the Potomac we were cut off from the regular ford, and had to seek a blind crossing, which we made at night in water over girth-deep and filled with rock, brush and every possible obstruction. This was even worse than fighting. At last there came to both armies some weeks of much-needed rest. Once only General Pleasanton crossed the river and made an attack on our lines at Martinsburg, which being promptly met he soon retired. During this time the Phillips Legion, from Georgia, was added to the Hampton Brigade. On the 9th of October Stuart started on his famous horse raid into Pennsylvania. The force consisted of one thousand eight hundred picked men and animals, with four guns and five days' rations. It was at that time a most daring and entirely novel achievement. In three days and two nights this small force crossed the Potomac, made a circuit of the Federal army, and, by means of special details, gathered up • and safely brought out one thousand two hundred led horses. At Chambersburg we destroyed immense army stores and at other points inflicted serious damage to trains and telegraph lines. But so admirably was the expedition planned and carried out, that our only loss was one man wounded and two captured. 422 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. though often assailed by the enemy. On the march the Ninth North Carolina was called on for much conspicuous duty. Lieu- tenant Barrier, of Company I, was in charge of the advance party in crossing the Potomac above Williamsport, while Captain Cowles, of Company A, covered the recrossing near Poolsville, in each instance under severe firing. When Stuart was approach- ing his old headquarters at Urbana on his midnight march a fancy struck him to make a call on some rebel lady friends at that place, two miles off the regular line of march, and he called for Captain Barringer, with his squadron detail of C and F, and safely made the venture, though almost surrounded by Yankee cavalry. Shortly after this, General McClellan crossed his army over the Potomac below Harper's Ferry and started for his new base at Fredericksburg. This was followed by almost daily and nightly conflicts with the Federal cavalry at Gaines' Cross Roads, at Little Washington, Bar bee's Cross Roads, Amisville, and a dozen other sharp actions. At Warren ton, on the 7th of Novem- ber, McClellan was superseded by Burnside, and the fighting again measurably ceased till the battle of Fredericksburg, Decem- ber 13, 1862. Meantime the Hampton Cavalry held the upper fords and we made several successful raids on the Yankee rear at Dumfries and Oicoquan, capturing wagon trains, sutlers' stores and all sorts of Christmas good things. After Burnside's terrible repulse at Fredericksburg there was no serious work between the two armies until May, at Chancel- lorsville, but, nevertheless, the cavalry was kept busy, and the Hampton Brigade from its camp, near Stevensburg, continued to raid the enemy at every available point — on one occasion pene- trating as far as Burke's Station and Fairfax Court House, and on another the North Carolinians fighting nearly single-handed, under Colonel Baker, the hot action at Kelly's Ford. So, also,, on the 17th of March, at Kellysville, occurred one of the heavy cavalry battles of the war. Here the gallant Pelham, of the Stuart Horse Artillery, was killed. As the summer opened it was observed that each army was Ninth Regiment. 423 concentrating large bodies on the upper Rappaiiannoek — indicat- ing oifensive movements. Stuart was in Culpeper county, around Brandy Station, one of the few large open plains admira- bly suited for cavalry movements. On the 8th of June General R. E. Lee had a grand review of all his cavalry at that point — numbering eight thousand to ten thousand men. That night Stuart also gave a splendid ball at Culpeper Court House. The next morning he was to cross the Rappahannock and take posi- tion so as to cover the initiatory movement of General Lee in his march to Pennsylvania, but Pleasanton was too quick for him. At early dawn the Federal cavalry, with infantry sup- ports, forced the passage of the Rappahannock at all available points and fell upon Stuart while the men were still at break- fast. The main action began at Beverly Ford, above the rail- road, and while Stuart was arranging to meet this attack it was suddenly discovered that the lower column, at Kelly's Ford, had succeeded in driving off all opposition, and was now actually in the Confederate rear. Stuart's headquarters were at the Fleetwood house, about midway between the two advancing Federal columns. Never was a crisis more critical for a great cavalry leader. But Stuart was always equal to the emergency. With a mere handful of cannoneers and a single small Virginia regiment at Fleetwood, he boldly met the rear attack under Gregg, while with equal boldness he withdrew Hampton and Jones from the front advance of Buford, leaving W. H. F. Lee to resist Buford as best he could. And now opened the grandest cavalry fight of the war — from eighteen to twenty thousand mounted men charg- ing and counter-charging all over the immense plains of Brandy, and through the long hours of a summer's sun and with ever- varying results. In the thickest of the fight apd the longest in the field were the Ninth North Carolina (First Cav.) and the Jeff Davis Legion, led respectively by Colonel Baker and Lieutenant- Colonel Waring. The Confederate dash and valor at last carried the day. Late in the evening Pleasanton was forced =to retire and recross the river, with a loss of nine hundred and thirty- 424 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. six men killed and wounded and .five hundred prisoners. The Confederate loss was five hundred and twenty-three. The loss was unusually heavy in Confederate ofScers. Colonel Sol. Williams, of the Nineteenth North Carolina (Second Cav.), and Lieutenant-Col- onel Frank Hampton, of the Second South Carolina, were killed; Brigadier-General W. H. F. Lee, Colonel M. C. Butler, Colonel A. W. Harmon and (acting) Major Rufus Barringer, with many others, were severely wounded. Major McClellan, of Stuart's staff, in his life of Stuart, makes special mention of the "splendid work done by the First North Carolina Cavalry." He also gives the Federal force as ten thousand nine hundred and eighty; Stuart's, nine thousand five hundred and thirty-six. Next followed the advance into Pennsylvania, Stuart covering Lee's right flank, and for ten days resisting incessant attacks of Pleasanton at Aldie, Middleburg, Upperville and Fairfax. Again the loss was heavy in North Carolina ofScers; Colonel Peter G. Evans, of the Sixty-third North Carolina (Fifth Cav.), Major John H. Whitaker and Captain W. J. Houston, of the Ninth North Carolina (First Cav.), were killed. Immediately followed in rapid succession, the great move- ment culminating at Gettysburg, July 1st —3d. While the main army was crossing the upper Potomac near Shepherdstown, Stuart was still east of the Blue Ridge, watching the movements of Hooker. On the night of the 27th Stuart also crossed the Potomac at Rowser's Ford, only eighteen miles above Washing- ton, his immediate force being the three brigades of Hampton, of Fitzhugh Lee and W. H. F. Lee. But Stuart now found himself between Hooker and Washington, and it was difficult to tell what might be the result of future movements, and he at last resolved to attempt the entire circuit of the Federal army. At Rockville he succeeded in capturing a Federal supply train of one hundred and twenty-five wagons and teams; also four hun- dred prisoners, some in full view of Washington. He paroled the prisoners, but decided to take the wagons and teams with him. Tliis incumbrance proved a serious drawback in his future movements and probably prevented his rejoining General Lee Ninth Regiment. 425 until the second day of the Gettysburg fight, July 2d. On this account General Stuart had been severely criticised, but it is cer- tain that his action was within the discretion given him. The wagons and teams proved of great help to General Lee in his forced retreat after the battle. Beginning at Brookville, on the 28th of June, this small cavalry force of less than three thousand men penetrated the enemy's country as far as Carlisle, Penn., where it burned the Federal barracks, and in five days and nights fought more than a dozen actions, and finally came out successful on the afternoon of the 2d of July at Gettysburg. The principal fights were at Sykesville, Littletown, Hanover, Hunterstown and Carlisle. In front of Gettysburg, too, the Hampton Brigade bore the brunt of a severe fight, in which General Hampton himself was twice painfully wounded, and the command devolved on Colonel Baker, of the Ninth North Carolina (First Cav.), leaving Lieutenant-Col- onel Gordon in charge of the latter. Here also a gallant North Carolinian, Sergeant Fulghum, succeeded in rescuing the wounded Hampton, in the very nick of time, from capture and possible death. With the exception of the action referred to there was no severe fighting of mounted troops at Gettysburg. The wbrk of death in those three dreadful days was chiefly from in- trenched infantry and artillery on fortified heights, assailable only by bayonet charges and hand-to hand conflicts. So, like- wise, there was no serious engagement during the retreat of General Lee until the 13th of July, at Falling Waters, below Williamsport, when a large body of Yankee cavalry made a sudden attack on the guard of our wagon trains. This gaard consisted mainly of dismounted men called " Company Q,." The latter, aided by teamsters and others, under General Pettigrew, did good fighting and saved the trains, though at the lamentable loss of General Pettigrew himself. As after Sharpsburg in 1862, so now, after Gettysburg, both armies sought much-needed repose, and there were no active opera- tions of importance in which the Ninth North Carolina (First Cav.) 426 North Carolina Tegops, 1861-'65. participated until tiie Federal advance at Culpeper. After that came the hard fights at Jack's Shop and the second and third Brandy Station, resulting in a highly complimentary order from General Stuart to Colonel Baker for the part taken in these actions and leading to Colonel Baker's promotion; but in con- sequence of a wound he was assigned to special duty. This also caused the promotion of Lieutenant-Colonel J. B. Gordon to Brigadier-General, who was put in charge of a North Caro- lina brigade composed of the Ninth (First Cav.), Nineteenth (Second Cav.) and Fifty-ninth (Fourth Cav.) Eegiments. Cap- tains Thomas Ruffiu and W. H. Cheek had succeeded to the re- spective positions of Colonel and Lieutenant- Colonel of the Ninth, and the former was now in command. On the 8th of October began the flank movement of General Lee on Meade, known as the Bristoe campaign, when occurred two of the most striking cavalry events of the war, and in both of which the First North Carolina Cavalry led the charge with drawn sabres in a most heroic manner: Fiist. On the 13th Stuart got caught in a very tight place, under the following circumstances: In the very rapid marches of Meade on several converging roads, with Stuart in hot pur- suit, the latter, at night-fall, found himself completely hemmed in between two parallel corps of the Federal army. Escape seemed absolutely impossible, and as his command had, as yet, been unobserved, he resolved on the policy of a painful silence to await what the morning would bring forth. At early dawn both of the Federal columns were put in motion and conceal- ment was no longer possible; so, as a last desperate resort, he ran his horse artillery up an elevated point and opened upon the camp at Auburn Mill, as furnishing the best point of escape, and hoping to throw, the Yankees into confusion and panic, but the latter were all ready for action, and in an instant three heavy lines of infantry skirmishers advanced upon his guns and threatened his whole command with capture. Stuart ordered Gordon' to charge, and Gordon called for the First North Carolina Cavalry. Colonel Ruffin led the charge, but at the Ninth Regiment. 427 first fire the gallant Colonel fell mortally wounded, and there was a recoil of the ranks, when Major Barringer dashed to the front and rallied the command; and again the charge was made, and now with complete success, scattering the Fed- erals in all directions. In the wild disorder and turmoil of these charges, Stuart limbered up his guns, struck a gallop and escaped round the Federal rear without loss, save those who fell in the charges — about fifty. Major Barringer and about thirty of his men charged clear through the Union lines and joined Stuart down the Run. One of the thirty, private Carver, Com- pany G, came out with seven wounds, but gallantly stuck to his saddle. Gordon and Barringer were both slightly wounded, but each continued on duty. Second. A few days afterwards, on the 19th of October, Stuart and Kilpatrick fought at Broad Run, on the Warrenton pike, near the village of Buckland, eight miles from Warrenton. After a few rounds Stuart feigned a retreat, but he arranged with Fitzhugh Lee, who was at Auburn, a few miles off, at a proper hour to attack the Yankees in flank and rear with both carbine and artillery. Stuart then retired, with slight skirmishing, to within three miles of Warrenton, when he paused for the expected signal. At the first gun Stuart's whole command faced about with drawn sabres with orders to charge. Gordon was in front, with Rosser and Young on either flank, a little to the rear, as supports. The First North Carolina Cavalry again held the lead and occupied the pike. General Gordon now rode to the front and simply said: "Major Barringer, charge that Yankee line and break it." The Federals were about three hundred yards down the pike, in spendid array. Barringer gave the commands: "Forward, trot, march!" After a few paces, seeing the ranks all well aligned, he added the command: "Gallop, march"; and after a few more paces, he turned to the regimental bugler ("Lit- tle Litaker") to sound the charge. This was answered with a similar call from every regiment and a terrific yell. In a few moments more the whole command was down upon the 'Federals with drawn sabres. The latter stood their ground until the 428 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-'65. column came within less than fifty yards of the extreme front, when the whole line emptied their pistols and carbines upon our devoted heads, and then deliberately wheeled about and galloped off. The volley, of course, checked our speed and produced some confusion all through our advanced lines; but in an instant more the charge was again sounded and the pursuit continued. The Yankees, however, preserved good order, wheeling and firing at occasional intervals for more than a mile. At last Major Barringer ordered the dashing Captain Cowles, of Com- pany A, to break their ranks. This was speedily done, and the whole retreat became a rout. In the meantime Fitzhugh Lee had also routed the rear, in reserve, at Broad Run. This com- pleted the panic, extending several miles and late into the night, with the capture of Custer's headquarters train, many prisoners and horses and a large amount of arms and equipments. This action is known as the "Buckland Races," and for it the First North Carolina Cavalry was highly complimented by General Stuart and others; and in a special letter to Major Barringer, shortly afterwards, General Stuart refers to his command "as a pattern for others." During the fall occurred the mishap at Rappahannock Station, with heavy loss to General Lee, and forcing him back to the Rapi- dan, the North Carolina brigade doing severe fighting at Stevens- burg and other points. Then came the Mine Run movement, in which Meade attempted to cross the Rapidan and force General Lee to fight; but within three days he himself recrossed the river, the First North Carolina Cavalry fighting at Parker's Store, Rac- coon Ford and elsewhere. Both armies now went into winter- quarters, our brigade at Milford Station, but still picketing the Rapidan, over twenty miles off. During the winter no special cavalry movements occurred until about the 1st of March, when the Kilpatrick- Dahlgren raid occurred, and three hundred men from the North Carolina brigade, under Colonel William H. Cheek, made a night attack on the raiders, near Atlee's Station, and completely routed them, capturing many prisoners, with valuable arms, etc. Ninth Regiment. 429 This was really one of the most brilliant feats of the war, and Colonel Cheek was highly complimented for it. On the 4th of May, 1864, began the Wilderness campaign under General Grant. Just at this time £he North Carolina brigade was transferred from the divison of Hampton to that of Major-General W. H. F. Lee, and the Forty-first North Carolina Regiment (Third Cav.), Colonel John A. Baker, took the place of the Fifty-ninth North Carolina (Fourth Cav.), then in Eastern North Carolina recruiting and picketing under Lieutenant-Colonel R. Barringer, by special detail. At the time of Grant's advance the First North Carolina Cavalry was on picket along the Rapi- dan, and both Colonel Cheek and Major Cowles rendered valuable service to General R. E. Lee in checking the advance and in watching and reporting hostile movements; and also in captur- ing some four hundred prisoners. On the 9th of May, 1864, Sheridan, with twelve thousand cavalry and a long train of horse artillery, started from near Fredericksburg on his famous raid upon Richmond. The North Carolina brigade, under Gordon, was hastily drawn in from scattered points and joined in the pursuit; the whole under Stuart in person. To meet this most formidable movement, Stuart could take from the army only three of his brigades — Wickham's, Lomax's and Gordon's — say four thousand men, or one to three, trusting to Richmond itself to make the main defense. Stuart, with the brigades of Wickham and Lomax, sought to get ahead of the raiders by forced marches, while Gordon, with his North Carolinians, almost alone, undertook the work of har- assing the enemy and impeding his progress. This involved incessant fighting, both night and day, with heavy losses of both men and animals. The First North Carolina Cavalry especially suffered severely, among the wounded being Colonel Cheek. Fortunately Stuart got ahead of the raiders, and at the Yel- low Tavern, near the city defenses, with Gordon in their rear, the final conflict closed with the retreat of Sheridan, but with the irreparable loss of our great leaders, Stuart and Gordon, both mortally wounded and both soon to die. 430 North Carolina Troops, 1§61-'65. During these and the next thirty days were fought the great battles of the First and Second Wilderness, Spottsylvania Court House and Second Cold Harbor, resulting in the virtual defeat of Grant in his direct attempt on the Confederate Capital and forcing him to cross the James and settle down on the long and tedious siege of Petersburg and Richmond. During this same period were also fought the great cavalry battle between Hamp- ton and Sheridan at Trevilian Station and the lesser actions at Todd's Tavern, White Hall, Haw's Shop, Hanover Court House and Ashland. All of these were in thickly wooded sections, where the men were often required to dismount and fight with carbines. In fact, as the war advanced, the sabre grew into less and less favor, and the policy of the great Tennessee cavalryman. General N. B. Forest, was adopted, of using the "revolver on horse and the rifle on foot." With these he accomplished won- ders, and left a name among the first in fame as a mounted leader. And now, also, came many, changes in the North Carolina Cavalry Brigade. Gordon being dead and Cheek absent, wounded, the command of the brigade devolved on Colonel John A. Baker, of the Third North Carolina Cavalry; that of the Ninth Regi- ment on Lieutenant-Colonel R. Barringer. On the 6th of June the latter received his commission as a Brigadier-General, and the regiment was turned over to Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. H. Cowles as ranking officer present. This closes the personal connection of the writer of this sketch with his famous regiment, and the remainder of the sketch will consist of his knowledge of it as a portion of the Barringer Brigade. When General Grant once started to cross the James River it was no time to fight battles other than those forced upon him. The object was rather to gain positions and see who could com- mand the river crossings and best secure any heights overlook- ing the two beleaguered cities. On the 7th of June the plan of his movements was fairly developed, and the Confederate cavalry was ordered to harass him Ninth Regiment. 431 accordingly. My brigade (embracing the First, Second, Third and Fifth North Carolina Cavalry) was detached and hastened to the lower fords of the Chickahominy. On the 13th we had fol- lowed the main Federal column to Wilcox's Landing and by the 18th we too had also hastened round by Richmond and taken position two miles south of Petersburg. During these rapid movements we had had several severe skirmishes with the enemy, especially at Malvern Hill, Nantz' Shop, Herring Creek, Crenshaw's and The Rocks, the First Cavalry often leading. On the 21st of June, while guarding the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad at the Davis farm, just below Petersburg, my pickets noti- fied me of the approach of a large Yankee force of infantry, mani- festly with the view of seizing and holding the railroad at that point. We were wholly without support, but the thick under- growth and other surroundings favored a vigorous resistance in a dismounted fight. I selected a high point for my horse artil- lery under McGregor, and as far as possible screened it from the enemy's view. I also kept the Fifth Cavalry (Sixty-third North Carolina Regiment) mounted, in reserve to support McGregor and otherwise act as emergency might require. I then dismounted the First, Second and Third Cavalry, and formed two heavy skirmish lines, well concealed in thick undergrowth in front of the railroad, with instructions for the first line not to iire until the Federals were in less than one hundred yards of them, and then after a single volley to slowly retire on the second line, where the real fight was to be made. At this juncture also the full battery of four guns was to open. The plan worked well and proved a complete success. The Federals were not only driven back, but in the panic that followed the Third Cavalry, led by Colonel John A. Baker and my Aid, Lieutenant F. C. Foard, rushed upon the Federal ranks and captured many prisoners; but in the confusion which ensued both Baker and Foard were also in turn captured. The Yankee force in front of us turned out to be Barlow's Division of infantry, four thousand strong, and were driven back with a loss of forty dead 432 iSToETH Caeolina Teoops, 1861-'65. on the field and twenty prisoners, including a Lieutenant-Colonel and two Captains taken. My own loss "was twenty-seven killed, wounded and missing. I am thus particular with the details of this little action be- cause a question was afterwards raised as to the good faith and fidelity of Colonel John A. Baker, of the Third, in so advancing his lines and thus exposing himself and command to the risk of capture. As a matter of fact. Colonel Baker was never regu- larly exchanged as a prisoner of war, nor did he ever return to his regiment, and he was afterwards openly accused of having taken the oath of allegiance, while in prison, to the United States Government; but I do not think any one, at the time of the fight, dreamed of treachery, and he was highly complimented by all for the spirit and skill with which he led his men in the short advance he made. As it was, too, our main loss fell on his regiment. At the same time that this action was going on General Grant was arranging for the famous Kautz and Wilson raid, and that night the raiders, several thousand strong, moved on our right flank, with' every kind of machinery, for the purpose of tearing up and destroying the Southside and Richmond & Danville Railroads as far south as Staunton River bridge. Early on the 22d General William H. F. Lee put his picket line in charge of Chambliss' Brigade and one of my regiments (the Third), and with my other three (First, Second and Fifth) and Dearing's small brigade he started in pursuit of the raiders. We first struck them at Reams' Station, ten miles south of Peters- burg, on the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad, where they had de- stroyed the depot, and then made straight across the country by Dinwiddle Court House for the Southside road, on towards Burke- ville. That night the work of destruction went ceaselessly forward; for twenty miles the entire track was taken up, the cross-ties made up into great piles and the iron laid across them so as to insure complete destruction by fire. In the same way the work was started the next day on the Richmond & Danville lines. In the meantime scouting parties were sent all over the country to Ninth Eegimbnt. 433 gather up horses, to carry off supplies, and to arrest leading citizens. In this way the whole country was overrun, many buildings set on fire and the track of the invaders made one complete scene of desolation. We had several fights in the pur- suit without any decided results, until about noon of the 23d, when General Lee managed, by a forced march, to get in be- tween their two columns. This occurred at a place known as Black's and White's. It was Dearing's day to be in front, but his force was not equal to the work in hand. He was just in the act of being driven off and all of our artilleVy (two batteries) exposed to capture, when the First North Carolina Cavalry, under Major Cowles, was dismounted and hurled against the advancing foe. This saved our guns but did not check the enemy's progress. Just at this juncture, however, a detachment of the Second Cavalry, under Major W. P. Roberts, managed to get in th& Federal rear and right across the railroad track. And now for several hours the battle raged. Whole trees and saplings were cut down with shells and minie-balls, until night ended the con- flict. That night the enemy abandoned the field and struck straight across the country for the Staunton River bridge on the Richmond & Danville line. In this action Colonel C. M. An- drews was mortally wounded and about half a dozen other officers were killed or wounded ; and so completely were the men and animals exhausted, that on the next day a short rest was taken. It was also decided that the two brigades should now separate. Dearing was to move on the enemy's left flank, while my three regiments were to follow the enemy's line of march directly to the Staunton River bridge. This was the most important structure on General Robert E. Lee's whole line of communication for supplying his army. It had only tempo- rary defenses, and was guarded by a small force of Junior and Senior Reserves, with a few disabled soldiers, led by some gal- lant Confederate officers who chanced to be present. But so admirable was the spirit of the men in this great emergency that they successfully resisted several preliminary attacks until the Barringer Brigade came up, when a vigorous assault upou 28 434 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'66. the Federal rear as well as their front forced them to retire and seek safety by a night march down the Staunton River ma Boydton and Lawrenceville. My command had started out on this expedition with some twelve hundred effective mounted men, but so terrible had been the marching and so intense the heat, and so incessant the fight- ing, that we now found ourselves reduced to less than three hun- dred men and animals equal to the task of further pursuit. In this emergency a small detail was made from the Ninth Regiment (First Cav.), under Captain N. P. Foard, Company F, of that regiment, to follow the track of the enemy, while the rest of the brigade made a forced march on their left flank, with a view of driving them into the trap so well planned by Hampton and Fitz Lee at Sappony Church and Monk's Neck. Here the rout was complete, including the loss of all their artillery, several hun- dred horses and fifteen hundred prisoners. The utter destruction of this great raiding party now gave my brigade a much-needed rest. This enabled me, for the first time, to turn my attention to the vital work of organization, drill and discipline — a work always essential to cavalry success. In the First Cavalry especially did the old spirit show itself of making every man feel a self-reliance equal to every emergency. More than half of this regiment were armed and equipped from the enemy. One company (F) boasted that its entire outfit had been taken from the foe. . At last, on the 28th of July, we were hastened to the north bank of the James to meet a threatened move of the enemy on Richmond. We had a sharp engagement at Fuzzle's Mill, when the Yankee cavalry suddenly withdrew and re-appeared in force below Petersburg. We, too, soon followed, when on the 14th of August the whole division was again ordered north of Rich- mond, where we found the enemy within six miles of the city. A series of engagements now followed, especially at Fisher's Farm, White Oak Swamp and White's Tavern. In the fight at White Oak Swamp General Chambliss lost his life in a vain attempt to rally his men from a panic into which they had fallen. Ninth Regiment. 435 General W. H. F. Lee in person rallied the Virginians and formed a new line, with the First and Second Cavalry in front, which swept all before them. During these actions the brigade suffered severely, especially in officers. Captains Bryan and Cooper, of the Second Cavalry, and Lieutenant Morrow, of the First, were killed on the field — all officers of rare merit. On our return to the south side of the James we found that the enemy had gained possession of the Petersburg & Weldon Eailroad, and on the 21st of August, General Mahone, with a large force of in- fantry and cavalry, had been ordered to dislodge him. My position was on the extreme right, along the Poplar Spring road. All four regiments were actually engaged and swept everything before them. But, much to our 'surprise, the attack by the in- fantry somehow failed of success, and we, too, were forced to retire with a loss of sixty-eight killed, wounded and missing. On the 25th of August occurred the great combined action of cavalry, infantry and artillery at Reams' Station. On this oc- casion. General William H. F. Lee being ill and absent, the command of the division devolved on myself, while that of the brigade fell to Colonel W. H. Cheek, of the Ninth North Caro- lina. General Hampton commanded the mounted forces, and it was arranged that while the cavalry attacked the enemy in his front along the railroad, A. P. Hill, with his infantry, was to assail his intrenched works in the flank and rear. Never was success more complete. We regained the railroad, captured twenty-three hundred prisoners and took immense quantities of small arms and intrenching tools, with untold numbers of can- non and other munitions of war. Nearly»all the forces engaged on the part of the infantry in this great battle were from North Carolina, and General R. E. Lee wrote Governor Z. B. Vance a special letter complimentary to the troops of the State, in which he also made special reference to the conspicuous part taken in the action by the cavalry brigade of General Barringer. Thus in ten days our division had crossed and recrossed the James River; had marched to Stony Creek and then back to Reams' Station, making nearly one hundred miles night and day marching, and in the meantime fighting eight severe actions. 436 NoETH Carolina Teoops, 1861-'65. Next followed an action at McDowell's farm on the 27th of September, capturing a major and twenty other prisoners, but with severe loss to us in the death of the brave Captain Turner and other meritorious officers. At Jones' farm there was a joint fight on the part of our in- fantry and cavalry, in which several hundred prisoners were taken, most of them by Beale's Brigade. During October cav- alry operations were exceedingly active. We fought with varied success at Boisseau's farm. Gravelly Run and Hargrove's house; but the most important of all was the battle at Wilson's farm on the 27th of October, when Grant seized the Boydton plank- road, and we repeated the operations at Reams' Station and with like success. In all these actions the Ninth Regiment took a leading part, and in the last fight it and the Sixty-third (Fifth Cav.) Regiment were conspicuously prominent, in fact, so com- plete was our victory that during the night Grant abandoned his position and fell back to his former lines. In this action my brigade lost seventy killed and wounded, chiefly from the Ninth Regiment. In November came off Hampton's famous cattle raid. This was one of the most striking cavalry achievements of the war, and deserves a passing notice. The cavalry held General Lee's right flank, extending in long, attenuated lines from Petersburg along the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad beyond Stony Creek. For this raid the whole line was virtually stripped of its protection, and the troops under General Hampton moved by circuitous routes to the enemy's position at City Point. There the hostile guards and picket lines wer^ forced at the point of the sabre and a herd . of cattle, numbering two thousand four hundred and eighty-six head, safely driven out and conducted back to our camp. Of course the exposure to our lines was very great, but the plans for deceiving the enemy and keeping up appearances were well carried out by the dashing P. M. B. Young, of Georgia, who, by means of camp-fires, bands playing and artillery discharges kept up a constant show of force. Meantime Rosser, with his Virginians, struck directly for the Federal camps, while Wil- Ninth Regiment. 437 liam H. F. Lee was ordered to make sure our lines of retreat, and in this work it fell to my brigade to do some pretty hard fighting at Belcher's Mill and other well-guarded points; but so admirably was the whole scheme carried out that scarcely a man or animal was lost. The distance marched embraced a circuit of not less than thirty miles, and yet in neither night nor day marching did a single mishap befall us. On the 8th of December was repeated another of the ceaseless attempts of the Federals to seize the Petersburg & Weldon Rail- road, this time by General Warren at the village of Belfield. Here the Junior and Senior Reserves of North Carolina and Virginia made an admirable defense of the bridge until the infantry and cav- alry came up, when the enemy was forced to retire. The main pur- suit was made by my brigade, and especially the Ninth Regiment, two squadrons of which, under Captain Dewey, making a splen- did mounted charge. The losses of the brigade were summed up for the campaign just closed as follows: Killed, ninety-nine; wounded, three hundred and seventy-eight; missing and captured, one hundred and twenty- seven; total, six hundred and four. Distributed thus: First Cav- alry, one hundred and thirty-eight; Second, one hundred and five; Third, one hundred and fifty-three; Fifth, two hundred and eight. The enemy's loss in killed and wounded was estimated at eight hundred, with prisoners taken by us at fifteen hundred. The brigade now went into winter-quarters near Belfield, where we erected cantonments, and where we enjoyed a fair degree of rest and recreation, disturbed, however, by long marches for picket duty and occasionally some severe fighting. The winter was a hard one ; forage and other supplies were in very limited quantities and sometimes wholly insufficient, often exposing the men to sore trials and temptations in securing necessaries for man and beast. Despite all these draw- backs, the brigade gradually grew in strength and numbers, while as a matter of fact most of the cavalry commands in Vir- ginia were greatly reduced in both efficiency and numbers. The Virginians were beset by constant temptations to seek their 438 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. homes and the social attractions surrounding them. On the other hand, the mounted men from South Carolina, Georgia and other more distant States found it exceedingly difficult to keep up their " mounts," and were also hard to get back them- selves when once allowed to go to their far off homes. In this connection it will be recalled that in the winter of 1864-65, when Sherman threatened South Carolina, Hampton, with his entire command, was ordered south to meet the Federal cavalry under Kilpatrick. And yet, so reduced was the main body of his force that the Legislature of South Carolina had to appro- priate a million of dollars in gold to remount them. North Carolina, on the other hand, occupied a happy medium between these extremes, and under an admirable system of " horse de- tails " and the thorough discipline of her brigades most of her regiments were well kept up. This counted in several different ways; we came to be relied upon, not only for the ordinary picket duty, but in close quarters and hot contests the superior officers almost invariably looked to the North Carolina commands for the hard fighting. Under all these disadvantages opened the campaign of 1865, and when, on the 29th of March, Sheridan started on his grand flank movement it was seen and felt by all that his heaviest blows would have to be met by the North Carolinians, then guarding General R. E. Lee's extreme right. My own four regiments then averaged about four hundred effective men each, with the prospect of large additions on the way with new mounts, but events soon crowded upon us so rapidly that these were of little avail. Sheridan's force was not less than ten thousand mounted men, largely centered around Dinwiddle Court House, well supported by infantry near at hand. W. H. F. Lee had under him my brigade and the two small brigades of Roberts and Beale, numbering all told not exceeding three thousand men, with which to meet Sheridan and his host. Major-General Fitz- hugh Lee was then in command of all the cavalry of .the Army of Northern Virginia, and was at Five Forks, several miles north- west of Dinwiddle Court House, virtually placing Sheridan Ninth Regiment. 439 exactly between himself and Major-General W. H. F. Lee at Stony Creek, nineteen miles off. Worse still, rain had fallen in torrents and the streams were all overflowing. This forced us to make a long detour in order to unite the two cavalry com- mands of W. H. F. Lee and Fitz Lee. But on the 31st of March we had overcome all difficulties and had successfully reached the White Oak road near Five Forks. Here a small stream known as Chamberlain Run separated us from Sheridan at Dinwiddle Court House. At this time I had with me only three regiments, the Ninth, Nineteenth and Sixty-third (First, Second and Fifth Cav.), the Forty-first (Third Cav.) being in charge of my wagon trains. On approaching Chamberlain Run it was found that the Federal cavalry had crossed it and was advancing to attack us. I was ordered by W. H. F. Lee to dismount my command and meet this advance. The Fifth Cavalry was in front, supported by the First and Second, with Beale's Brigade in reserve and McGregor's Battery in position. In this order we not only speedily checked the enemy, but soon drove him in panic and rout, forcing him across the stream, over waist-deep, all in the wildest haste and confusion. Just at this moment General W. H. F. Lee ordered one of his regiments from Beale's Brigade to make a mounted charge; through some mistake of the order only one squadron of the regiment made the charge, and this was repulsed with frightful loss. This enabled the enemy to rally, and he in turn finally forced my regiments back. In this short conflict my loss was twenty officers killed and over one hundred men killed and wounded. Among the killed were Colonel McNeill and Lieutenant-Colonel Shaw, of the Sixty-third (Fifth Cav.) Regiment, and among the wounded. Colonel Gaines, commanding the Nineteenth (Second Cav.), and Major McLeod, of the Ninth (First Cav.). Both sides now began to fortify the lines up and down Cham- berlain Run, awaiting the inevitable conflict rapidly gathering around us. At last, about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. General W. H. F. Ijee received a written order from General Fitz Lee to 440 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-'65. drive the Federals from our front, in aid of some general move- ment then about to take place. This was my day to be in front, and of course it naturally fell to my command to attempt the work indicated; but in view of the fact that one of my regi- ments (Third Cavalry) was still absent, and because of the further fact that my other three regiments had all suifered so severely in the morning, I asked General William H. F. Lee to request (1st) the withdrawal of the order, and (2d) if this were not possible, to require one of his other brigades to lead in the movement. General W. H. F. Lee wrote to Fitz Lee, urging the withdrawal as indicated, but was told that military necessity required its performance. General W. H. F. Lee also kindly considered my request to substitute one of his other brigades instead of my own for the attack, but pleaded their reduced strength as a reason why he should not risk a change. I then asked him for any suggestions as to the best mode of attack, as in any event there would be great doubt of success and the loss might be very heavy. He declined making any suggestions on this point and left all to myself. I then gave him my opinion of what I thought the only hope of success. The Run was still very full, covering the bottoms for seventy-five yards on either side of the channel, with only one crossing for mounted troops, and the banks everywhere obstructed by logs, brush and other impediments. My plan was to put the First Cavalry in on the left, dismounted in line, and thus attack and draw the fire of the enemy, and then, at the proper moment, to make a charge in column across the ford against the enemy's main works, the troops making this charge to be closely supported by my re- maining' regiment, mounted or dismounted, as circumstances might require. General Lee cordially assented to this plan of attack, with promise of active support from his other brigades, if necessary. The Second Cavalry was selected to make the charge in column and the Fifth was to remain dismounted, with bridle in hand, until the critical moment should arrive, to deter- mine the part it should take. Every effort was made to shield all these preliminary arrangements, and then suddenly, every- Ninth Regiment. 441 thing being ready, Colonel William H. Cheek, of the First, formed his line and boldly entered the stream. This (as ex- pected) seemed to really disconcert the enemy, and they at once concentrated a very rapid fire upon Cheek and his men. When about half way over, and the enemy's fire was fully directed to that point, I ordered the Second Cavalry, under Major Lock- hart, to make his charge in a close column by sections of eight, with instructions, on crossing the stream, to deploy both to the right and left, as circumstances might require. The Fifth was also instructed to follow, partly mounted and partly dismounted, and adopt the same line of movement. Beale in the meantimebeing stationed by General Lee so as to help either wing, as the emergency might require. The whole plan succeeded to perfection. Lockhart drove the enemy from his works opposite the ford, while Cheek swept the lines to his left, and Erwin, of the Sixty-third Regiment, carried the right. In ten minutes the whole Yankee line was in flight and the Confederates in full pursuit. This was kept up for some distance and with great slaughter, until night closed upon us and a halt was ordered within some two miles of Dinwiddie Court House. About 3 o'clock next morning we received orders to retire to our former position north of -Chamberlain Run, where we re- mained to await the result of the great battle of Five Forks, then about opening. My losses in this last attack and assault amounted to ten offi- cers and nearly one hundred men killed and wounded. Among the killed were Captains Coleman and Dewey and Lieutenants Arrafield, Blair and Powell, of the Ninth; Lieutenant Hathaway, of the Nineteenth, and Captain Harris and Lieutenant Lindsay of the Sixty-third, and two others. Among the wounded were Lieu- tenant-Colonel Cowles and Captains Anthony, Iredell, Johnston and Smith, with Lieutenants Mast and Steele, of the Ninth; Lieu- tenants Jordan and Turner, of the Nineteenth; Lieutenants Nott, Sockwell and Wharton, of the Sixty-third — all severely. I had only two field officers left in the three regiments — Colonel Cheek 442 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. and Major Lockhart. The former had his hat struck and horse killed; Loqkhart escaped unhurt, to get a ball the next day, which he still bears. Despite these terrible losses and the havoc of death among them, when the men rushed upon the enemy's works cheer after cheer rent the air, and the victorious troopers of the First North Carolina Cavalry Brigade still cherished hope that General R. E. Lee would win in the final mighty struggle then at hand; but next day saw another sight. In the disastrous defeat at Five Forks on the 1st of April the last hopes of the Confederacy went down in darkness and despair. It is believed that this cavalry triumph at Chamberlain Run on the 31st of March, 1865, was the last marked victory won by our arms. Next day Sheri- dan assaulted our works at Five Forks and drove all before him. My brigade was still on the White Oak road, on our extreme right, and as his victorious legions swept our immediate right the Ninth and Sixty-third Regiments did some of their old-time fighting. The Ninth was on picket some two miles distant, but under proper orders the whole command took up its line of march for the rendezvous at Pott's, a few miles off on the South- side Railroad, where also the next day Lieutenant-Colonel Roger Moore, of the Forty-first, appeared with his command and the remnant of our trains. Next day, April 1st, at 12 m., we heard of the fall of Petersburg, and got orders to join in the retreat. That night we camped near Namozine Church, twenty-five miles above Petersburg, covering the extreme rear on that line. Early on the morning of April 3d we took position at Namozine Church to await the advance of the Federal cavalry in its victorious rush with overwhelming numbers. With less than eight hundred men in the line, I had to receive the shock of over eight thousand; but even this difference could have been met with some hope of successful resistance had not a further ord er come to " fight to the last." Among other dispositions, I was directed to dismount one regiment, the Sixty-third, under Captain John R. Erwin (acting Major), and conceal it in some out- Ninth Regiment. 443 buildings and along an old fence row, with a view to a possible surprise. But all in vain : in less than thirty minutes my mounted lines were overwhelmed with numbers and the Sixty- third exposed to certain capture. Orders for this regiment to retire had all miscarried or been unheeded, when I myself, as a last resort, dashed across the field with two of my staff to guide them in pei-son through a heavy wood I still saw unoccu- pied by the enemy. This saved the dismounted men, though their horses were lost; but subsequently, in my efforts to rejoin the division, I was deceived by a squad of Sheridan's scouts in Confederate uniforms and was myself captured. The command now devolved upon Colonel W. H. Cheek, of the Ninth; but two days afterwards he also fell into the enemy's hands. So far as I could learn, from this on to the surrender at Ap- pomattox on the 9th of April, the fighting was merely a round of hand-to-hand combats, or in small special details in conjunc- tion sometimes with other commands. All this tended to disin- tegration and independent action. Probably not over one hun- dred took the paroles tendered at Appomattox, though I have never yet met one of the "old First" who did not get the bene- fit of General Grant's generous terms and carry home with him a good cavalry horse with which to start his "battle for a crop" in the memorable year of 1865. In this limited sketch no attempt has been made to note the frequent changes in regimental commanders cpnstantly occur- ring from promotion, death and other causes, but it is proper to add here that the four doing the largest service in the cam- paign of 1864 and 1865 were Colonel W. H. Cheek, of the First Cavalry; Colonel W. P. Roberts, of the Second; Lieutenant- Colonel Roger Moore, of the Third, and Colonel James H. Mc- Neill, of the Fifth. They were all wonderfully efficient officers — ever skillful and brave, and in every emergency equal to the occasion. RuFus Baeeingee. NINTH REGIMENT (FIRST CAVALRY.) 1. George S. Dewey, Captain, Co. H. 3. C. J. Iredell, Captain, Co. E. 8. Kerr Craige, Captain, Co. I. 4. Jesse H. Person, 1st Lieut., Co. E. 6. Samuel B, Gibson, Ist Lieut., Co. K. ADDITIONAL SKETCH NINTH REGIMENT. (FIRST CAVALRY). By colonel W. H. CHEEK. General Barringer, in his preceding sketch of the First North Carolina Cavalry, so fully described the organization, instruction and movements of our regiment up to the time of his promotion to Brigadier-General in June, 1864, that it is impossible for me at this late day, with the limited data at my command, to enlarge or to improve upon his narrative. There are, however, several engagements, during the time covered by General Barringer's article which I consider so well calculated to illustrate the talent of our officers and the courage and discipline of the enlisted men, and which added so largely to building up the reputation of the regiment, that I desire to go back and bring them for- ward and place them in a more conspicuous position than he has given them. And first in order of time comes the attack of Company B upon the gun-boats in Roanoke Eiver in the spring of 1862. At that time the preservation of the railroad bridge at Weldon was of the utmost importance to the Confederacy. So, when the regiment was returning from Eastern North Carolina to rejoin the Army of Northern Virginia, Company B, Captain Whitaker, was detached to do picket duty down the Roanoke, and especially to watch the approach of the enemy's gun-boats. Captain Whit- aker was a large planter on the river, and once when he was at home, and the Company was under command of First Lieuten- ant A. B. Andrews, the enemy made an effort with three gun- boats to ascend the river, his object being the destruction of the railroad bridge at Weldon. Lieutenant Andrews (now Colonel A. B. Andrews, First Vice-President of the Southern Railway 446 North Cakolina Troops, 1861-65. . System), very skillfully attacked him from the bluffs and other favorable points, and so harassed and punished him that at Hamilton he abandoned the expedition and returned to Ply- mouth. This engagement of cavalry with gun-boats was a novel proceeding, a new feature in warfare, and the first of the kind that happened in our army. This success of Lieutenant Andrews shows the wonderful capacity of the officers and men of this celebrated command to contend with an enemy on water as well as when mounted on horses or dismounted as infantry. Lieu- tenant Andrews has kindly furnished me with the following account of his operations: ATTACK OP LIEUTENANT ANDREWS ON THE GUN-BOATS. "On the morning of July 9, 1862 (I think this date is correct) a courier from Mr. Burroughs came to my camp soon after sun- rise with a note stating that three gun-boats had passed James- ville, supposed to be on their way to Weldon to destroy the Seaboard & Eoanoke E-ailroad bridge at that point, that bridge being on the main thoroughfare between General Lee's army and the South (as you will recall, that was before the Piedmont Road between Danville and Greensboro was built). On reading the note I at once had sounded " boots and saddles," and had my company of forty-three men mounted, rode down the river, saw the boats coming up and waited until they had passed the wharf at Williamston, going up towards Weldon. There was great excitement in the town. I asked some of the citizens to pilot me up the river with a view of attacking the gun-boats from different points along the river, leaving two couriers at William- ston to report to me in case the boats should turn back and land at Williamston. Mr. S. W. Watts (afterwards Judge Samuel Watts) and a Mr. Williams went up the river with me. At a place called Poplar Point, about ten miles from Williamston, I stationed Second Lieutenant J. W. Peel with ten men dis- mounted, with instructions to fire upon the first boat, which was commanded by Lieutenant Flusser, of the United States Navy, and as soon as he delivered his volley to at once remount his Ninth Regiment. 447 horses and report to me at Rainbow Banks, which was two miles below or east of Hamilton. Rainbow Banks was a bluff on the river, afterward fortified and called Fort Branch. I dis- mounted the men I had and arranged them along this bluff, taking position on the right of the company myself, and ordered the men not to fire until I had commenced firing my pistol, and then to fire and reload as rapidly as possible. I waited until the front boat, on which Lieutenant Flusser was, had gotten opposite me and then commenced firing my pistol, and the forty- one men began firing and reloading and firing again as rapidly as possible. Lieutenant Flusser was on deck, and I have never seen a man display more bravery than he did in command of this fleet. Finally the front boat passed us and opened its stern gun upon us, shelling the banks so that I was compelled to retreat, mount my horses and go to another point higher up the river. The men had had no breakfast and it was nearly 1 o'clock in the day. I went to a farm-house near by and secured what provisions they had, giving the men something to eat, and then proceeded to Hamilton. On the outskirts of the town I was met by a good many citizens who were very much excited, and begged me not to go in the town, and asking me to go around it, as Lieutenant Flusser had landed one hundred and twenty- five marines and two pieces of artillery, and they were satisfied that if I made an attack on them in the town of Hamilton that they would destroy the town. "I waited until they started down the river again and then pro- ceeded down the river to undertake to harass them again at Rainbow Banks, but they placed a boat in position and shelled the banks until the other two had passed, and then commenced shelling the banks upon the river so as to enable the first boat to pass. I attempted at other places to fire upon them, but they were shelling the banks on the river all the way down, and it was impossible for us to get another opportunity to attack them. I followed them until about nine o'clock, several miles below Williamston, then returned to Williamston. 448 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65 "I did not get a man hurt and lost no property, except one relay horse which I had left in a stable at Hamilton, and which they took. Lieutenant Peel and all the men displayed great coolness and bravery. Yours truly, "A. B. Andrews." Another action deserving of an extended notice is that of Jack's Shop, fought on the 22d of September, 1863. As I for- tunately have a communication written to the Fayetteville Ob- server about the time by an officer of the regiment, which enters pretty fully into details, and which is correct save in some par- ticulars which that officer may not have had as good an oppor- tunity for observation as the writer, I hereby insert it as a part of this sketch : "Messrs. Editors: — I think it due to our State to let her know of the part her troops take in the various engagements. That North Carolina has done her part in this war, the bones of her sons moldering on every battlefield, from Bethel to Gettysburg, will testify. No one except those who frequent the hospitals, or visit the battlefields, or have access to the official accounts, knows of the glorious achievements of our North Carolina soldiers. Their deeds of valor will not be found re- corded in the columns of the Richmond papers. I shall attempt to give merely a sketch of the part enacted by the First North Carolina Cavalry in the cavalry fight at Jack's Shop, Madison county, near Liberty Mills, Orange county, Virginia, on the 22d of September. My observation was confined to my own regiment; for that reason I shall speak of no other, for fear of doing injustice to some. " We received orders about 1 o'clock on the morning of the 22d to be in the saddle by day-break. As ' rosy-fingered Aurora' tinged the eastern skies with the first streak of dawn the familiar sound of 'boots and saddle' broke upon our ears. With the alacrity of troopers of twenty-eight months' practice, we leap into our saddles, and soon the regiment is on the march. The Ninth Regiment. 449 old regiment is reduced to one hundred and thirty men. The rest of the brigade fall in and we proceed to join the other two brigades, which constitute Hampton's Division. The Second, Fourth and Fifth North Carolina Cavalry, together with ours, form Baker's North Carolina Brigade, now commanded by Colonel Ferebee, of the Fifth. Our regiment is under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Ruffin, Colonel Gordon being in command of Butler's Brigade (Hampton's old brigade, except our regi- ment). We marched within a few miles of Madison Court House, where we came up with Jones' Brigade, and learned from them that the enemy was in strong force at Madison Court House. From here we start, under General Stuart (First North Carolina Cavalry in front), to intersect the pike from Madison Court House to Gordousville, which we did about six miles south of the Court House. We did not find the enemy here, so we pushed up the pike, Company F, First North Carolina Cavalry, acting as advance guard, with sabresdrawn. We had proceeded only a short distance when our advance guard came up with the advance guard of the enemy. Our boys charged them and ran them back : the regi- ment draws sabres and takes up the gallop, keeping close behind. Just behind Jack's Shop (where we first fell in with the enemy) there was a skirt of pines extending on either side of the road. In these the enemy was posted, his dismounted skirmishers lining the fence. Into this Company F, under eommand of Lieutenant Foard, charged most gallantly. Here they were con- fronted by an overwhelming force of cavalry, and from every tree whistled a rifle bullet. After emptying their pistols in the face of the foe the remnant of them came out and reported the strength and position of the enemy. The column was halted in fifty yards of the woods. It was deemed impracticable to charge the enemy, posted as he was, in the woods. Sharp-shooters were immediately dismounted from every company and thrown forward, except Companies A and H, under Captain Cowles, who were sent to the left to hold the flanks. These were soon thrown out as sharp-shooters, and the whole regiment was then dismounted. Major Cheek, whose horse had been shot from under him, took command of the line. Our men gallantly charged the woods, drove the enemy back, and for some time 29 450 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. held their position in the pines. The iight had now become general. Squadrons of sharp-shooters were seen hurrying up from our own brigade and Colonel Gordon's command to sup- port us. It was here, while cheering on his men, the gallant Captain Andrews fell, shot through the lungs. No braver or better man has fallen during this war. He was universally be- loved by all. His wound, which' at first was thought mortal, now gives hopes of his recovery. The artillery now opened on us, and General Stuart, who, with Colonels Gordon, Ferebee and Ruffin, was in front, called to our boys to pick off their artillerymen. After a stubborn resistance we were overpowered, and fell back about two hundred yards, which position we held until the enemy had gained our rear and we were ordered to retreat. We had fallen back about a mile, when we heard firing in our rear, and coming out on an open hill we found our artil- lery posted to sweep every direction. The cause of this at first we could not divine, but we were not long in finding out, for the bullets began to whistle around us from every quarter. Colonel Ruffin formed our command on the crest of a hill; we num- bered only about fifty men. Of the one hundred and thirty who went into the fight thirty-three had been killed, wounded or captured; the others were scattered and lost for the time. "The enemy-are now between us and Dixie, and we must cut our way out. We move on. Just ahead of us we hear a shout, and after a little we see a crowd of blue jackets coming in divested of arms, canteens and spurs. Colonel Ferebee, with a part of his command and a miscellaneous crowd from every command, had charged and cut the Yankee line. The Yankees having failed in their attempt to hem in Hampton's Division, as they have always failed before, drew off, and we made our way quietly to the river. When we arrived there we beheld another large column of the enemy across the river and about two miles above. We crossed at Liberty Mills and took a road leading to them. The evening was far advanced, only a short time remained of the daylight, yet they must be driven back before night. We found a body of our infantry deployiug along a fence and through a field, holding them in check. We went to their left, under a ridge of hills, into a wood; Company K, Ninth Regiment. 451 Captain Addington, was thrown forward as advance guard. We came out of the woods to the left and in front of the infantry. The Yankees were prepared for us, and opened a heavy fire of artillery, with their usual accuracy. General Stuart now orders the charge. The last rays of the setting sun are glistening on our sabres as we raise the war-cry and ply the rowels to our weary steeds. They participate in the excitement, and forgetting their weariness, dash forward. It is a long charge, over hills and gullies. The enemy has limbered up and taken his artillery back to a safer position; further on we see a large body of his cavalry, who open on us with their rifles; we make for them through a shower of grape and rifle balls. Just before we reach them they break and run, leaving an impassable branch between us. At the same time a body of their sharp- shooters open on us from the right. We turn upon them, and close the day by capturing all who made a stand, twenty-four in number. " As I proposed in the outset, I have given an account of only my own regiment. The other regiments of our brigade behaved with great gallantry, made some splendid charges, and suffered much. Our brigade suffered the heaviest loss. There were ninety-two casualties out of about five hundred men who went into the fight. Of Butler's Brigade the Cobb and Phillips Legions and Second South Carolina only were present. They were ably commanded by Colonel Gordon of this regiment, and fought as they have always done, with the greatest courage. Lieutenant-Colonel Delohy, of the Cobb Legion, than whom a braver man does not live, was wounded in the leg and fell into the hands of the Yankees while on his way to the river. Hamp- ton's Division alone was present. They mounted about two thousand men in all, and were confronted by over six thousand Yankees, under Generals Kilpatrick and Buford. They had started on a raid to Gordonsville and Charlottesville, but their plan was fortunately nipped in the bud. During the night of the 22d they commenced moving and fell back rapidly to their old position. Everything is now quiet. "First N. C. Cavalry." 452 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. In this fight at Jack's Shop the First Cavalry gave an example of the value of the drill and the effect of thorough discipline, coupled with the quality of cool courage, perhaps more forcibly than in any other engagement of the war. The circumstances of the beginning of the battle were a little different from those described by the correspondent of the Fayetteville Observer, who was conceded to be Adjutant George Dewey, than whom there was not to be found a more accomplished gentleman or a more brave and dashing officer. I had him promoted "for merit" to the captaincy of Company H, his old company. He did not see the first of this fight, for he was with Colonel Ruffin, back at Jack's Shop, where he had stopped a few moments before to have a shoe nailed on his horse. The regiment was temporarily under the command of acting Major Cheek, who, with General J. E. B. Stuart, was riding at its head about one hundred yards in rear of the advance guard under Lieutenant N. P. Foard, of Company F. We were momentarily expecting to meet the enemy, and Lieutenant Foard had orders to charge on sight and I was instructed to support him with the whole strength of the regi- ment. When we saw the advance guard take up the gallop the regiment with drawn sabres did the same. Soon Lieutenant Foard was at a full charge, and as the regiment was rapidly get- ing into like movement. General Stuai't said to me: "Be careful, and do not run into an ambush." He then turned aside and halted. As soon as Lieutenant Foard developed the position of the enemy and we saw his strong line of dismounted men posted behind fences, and with trees cut across the turnpike, I thought we were in the jaws of an ambuscade. General Stuart had not ordered me what to do under such conditions; " not to run into an ambush " were my only instructions. I halted the regiment and gave orders to "Return sabres!" "Unsling car- bines ! " " Fire on the enemy !" Lieutenant Morrow, of Company C, in command of the front company, was ordered to hold his place and continue firing until I could get orders from General Stuart. I galloped back to him and explained the situation. He ordered me to dismount the regiment and deploy it in the field on the Ninth Eegiment. 453 right. I dashed back and gave the orders. A line was formed as promptly and as perfectly as if there had been no enemy near. This was done in an open field, withia less than one hundred yards of their sharp-shooters, in full view of them and under a heavy fire. As soon as our line was formed we charged, firing as we charged, and drove their sharp-shooters out of the pines and the woods, back into an open field, under the protection of their mounted supports. These were in full view, and appeared to be about two brigades in regimental formations. We were quickly recalled from this position and fell back about two hun- dred yards, where General Stuart had established his main line. Here, as dismounted skirmishers, and after we were re-inforced by other men from our brigade and from Butler's Brigade, under command of Colonel Gordon, we contended with the enemy for several hours. Here it was that the artillery, as referred to by Adjutant Dewey, was brought into action, and it was on this line that Captain A. B. Andrews was shot. I cannot be mistaken as to this latter fact, for he and I were near together at the time, and I caught him as he fell. The enemy did not press us with much energy, but kept up just enough fire to attract our attention and keep us actively engaged. All this time he was moving the greater portion of his command around our left, and was suc- cessful in placing a large force on the turnpike directly in our rear. It was only after some desperate fighting, with mounted charges and counter charges, that he was driven off. This, how- ever, was done by other troops of Hampton's Division. In the many tough battles fought by this gallant regiment, not even at Goodall's Tavern, nor at Auburn Mills, nor at Atlee's Station, nor at Chamberlain's Run, nor on the plains of Brandy, nor even on the drill or parade grounds did it ever obey an order more promptly or execute a movement more beautifully, more he- roically. The Old Guard of Napoleon never on any field of battle more forcibly illustrated the effect of discipline and the power of cool courage than did the First North Carolina Cavalry in this engagement near Jack's Shop. 454 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Soon after the fight at Reams' Station I was detailed by Gen- eral Stuart and placed in command of all the dismounted men of his corps, amounting to upwards of three thousand men, and was encamped at Orange Court House, reporting direct to Gen- eral R. E. Lee. With this command we moved with the infantry when General Lee advanced to Bristoe Station, and reached a place called Greenwich, the private residenceofan English Consul, on the evening of the battle, and about three miles distant. We started out from Orange Court House with two days' rations, and did not draw again until our return. For four days our only food was what white oak acorns we could gather in the woods. This march was called by the men who were so unfor- tunate as to be in it " Cheek's famine." It was when in charge of this command that the battle of Auburn Mills and the Buckland Races were fought. The gal- lant Colonel Ruffin fell at the head of the column, charging a line of infantry at Auburn, and T, receiving a commission as Colonel a few da^s afterward, was ordered to take charge of the regiment. Lieutenant-Colonel Cowles (at the time Captain of Company A, and second in command to Major Barringer), took a very prominent part in both of these engagements, and has kindly furnished me the following interesting description of them. AUBURN MILLS, BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL W. H. H. COWLES. On the 13th of October, 1863, whilst our army was concen- trating at Warrenton, General Stuart was ordered to take a reoon- naissance in the direction of Catlett's Station. Taking with him the North Carolina Cavalry Brigade, under General James B. Gordon, with Lomax's and Funston's Cavalry Brigades and Beckham's Artillery, he arrived at Auburn about 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Leaving a portion of the command at Auburn with Gordon's and Funston's Brigades and the artillery, he pro- ceeded towards Catlett's, some three miles, when from the woods across the open fields could be seen an immense park of wagons, and heavy columns of the enemy's infantry, artillery and Ninth Regiment. 455 wagon-trains were on the move. While watching this scene and movement, and endeavoring to maise out the intention of the enemy, Stuart received a message from Gordon that the enemy were in our rear. Hastily riding in the direction indicated, Stuart, still incredulous, met General Gordon, who merely said: "Come, and I will show you." Riding to a point in view of the crossing at Auburn, he could plainly see another and a similar column of the enemy's infantry, artillery, wagons, etc., passing, and taking the road over which he had just come. To endeavor to cut through at this juncture was to hazard a large portion of our cavalry and all of our artillery. The only alternative was to "lie low," and make as little noise as possible, until dark or dis- covery by the enemy (who as yet was entirely and strangely ignorant of our whereabouts), when we would, if necessary, make the best disposition we could of the artillery for its safety or destruction and cut through. Such a thing as surrender never entered into the plans of our leaders or the thoughts of their followers. Limited space forbids a descriptition of the incidents of that night, though it would make an interesting narrative. Let it suffice to say, that we held our place in the hollow of the- hills until the early dawn, when it was ascertained that the rear of the enemy's two columns had separated, leaving an open space through which we could pass. My own impression is that General Stuart could not resist the temptation to give the enemy a taste of our mettle in payment for the long hours of suspense in which he had held us completely surrounded. During the night Stuart had communicated by means of disguised couriers, sent through the enemy's column in our front, with our infantry commanders, planning an attack in concert with them, which would have been a most excellent thing to have done, but his plans were not understood or the situation was not compre- hended, and so at the earliest dawn Stuart, having his guns in position, opened upon them with all of his artillery and then and there "was hurrying to and fro." Immediately General Gordon ordered Colonel Ruffin to charge with the First North Carolina Cavalry. The ostensible reason for this was to create 456 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-'65. a diversion so that our remaining troops could debouch into the open road and pass in rear of the enemy's column. RufiQn, at the head of the regiment, rode foremost into the charge — right down upon the quickly forming ranks of the enemy's infantry, amid the bursting, crashing shells of his artillery, which had been quickly turned upon us in response to ours. Through the open field, facing the enemy's infantry fire, the gallant regiment, with sabres drawn, followed its gallant leader, when suddenly there was a stop, a recoil — the brave and gallant RuiEn, with several others, had been shot down at the head of the col- umn, which caused some disorder. Major Barringer was not immediately at band; the condition of affairs was critical; something must be done, and to make sure, I called for my own company (A) and the first squadron to follow me, and together, with others, we renewed the charge even to the enemy's line of skirmishers, who promptly surrendered. Seeing that we were not supported, and the regiment at this time I do not think amounted to more than two hundred men, while line upon line of the enemy's iufantry, in double ranks, was steadily approaching, I ordered the regiment back, which order was executed in fine style by the commanders of the companies. I rode to a slight eminence on our right, where General Gordon had just taken his position, to inquire as to what we should do. As I did so I saw him reel in his saddle, throwing his hand to his face. Inquiring if he was hurt, he replied: "It is a mere scratch." A bullet had grazed his nose, cutting the skin and severing a small blood- vessel, which bled profusely. He told me that I had done right in ordering the regiment back ; that the end for which the charge had been ordered was accomplished, and exclaimed : " See there," pointing with his hand down the little valley which had given us its friendly shelter during the night, where could be seen our column wending its way. "We soon joined it undisturbed by any further demonstration on the part of the enemy. In this affair our loss was considerable, though I have no statistics to guide me in giving it. It would have been- great with the loss only of our gallant Colonel, Thomas RufSn. Devoted to the cause, his regi- Ninth Regiment. 457 ment and the men who followed him, he was mourned for many days. On the 19th of October, 1863, the First North Carolina Cavalry, under the command of Major R. Barringer, in company with Captain William H. H. Cowles, of Company A, as second in command, was slowly retiring before the enemy's cavalry in the direction of Warrenton along the road which leads from that place to Manassas via New Baltimore, Buckland and New Mar- ket. Our forces in this movement consisted of the North Caro- lina Cavalry Brigade, under the command of Brigadier-General James B. Gordon, Young's Georgia Brigade and Rosser's Vir- ginia Brigade, all under the immediate command of Major-Gen- eral J. E. B. Stuart. But few, if any, besides Stuart and his generals, knew of the plan of action, and that our declining every overture for engagement and withdrawing before the enemy was but a decoy to lead him on whilst Fitz Lee was preparing to attack him in the rear and flank. The enemy, it is true, seemed a little doubtful of our sincerity, and were not pressing very hard, and when we had reached a point within some two or three miles of Warrenton the column was moved into the field near the road-side, the order given to dismount, but to keep in the order of column and ready to mount and move at once. We remained here until about the middle of the afternoon, when the order was given to mount, the head of the column turned back into the road towards Manassas, and before we had reached the summit of the ridge separating us from the enemy firing was heard in that direction. Sabres were drawn, preparatory to action, and although I had been especially assigned in the morning to take charge of the rear, and upon occasion to act upon my own respon- sibility, 1 now took the responsibility, in the gratification of what I thought would be construed as a pardonable curiosity, to move to the front. The fire of the enemy was taking effect on our column, which had halted, the head of the column resting upon the crest of the hill. When I reached that point a soul-stirring scene was presented : Our own column resting in the road with cabres drawn and ready for action, with mounted skirmishers on 458 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-'65. either flank responding to the enemy's fire ; Generals Stuart and Gordon on the right of the road viewing intently the situation ; the enemy's column (the pick and flower of the Federal cavalry) confronting us and stretching in column of fours, completely cov- ering the highway in our front as far as we could see, with mounted skirmishers on either flank and evidently in readiness to charge. Not a moment was to be lost; much, as every old cavalryman knows, depended on getting the "bulge on 'em," as Fitz Lee would say. Stuart called quickly : " Now, Gordon, is your time!" and Gordon as promptly: "Charge with the First North Carolina!" There was no time for the formula of the parade ground. I neither waited for nor heard the command of General Gordon repeated, but rode rapidly to the front, calling out as I did so: "Forward First North Carolina Cavalry; I will lead you ! " The response from the regiment, as it rushed forward, was that wild,' unearthly, untrained, undisciplined, yet to the enemy terrific and terrible, Confederate yell, which swelled and grew as it passed from front to rear of our entire column. Down from the crest of that ridge the regiment poured like an avalanche. With flashing sabres and the impetuous speed of a war-horse, nothing could withstand it. For an instant the enemy hesitated, while some endeavored to rally and meet us, and, notably in this effort, I remember well one officer. But it was all in vain; panic seized them; the cohesion of their drill, dis- cipline and organization was for the time destroyed, and indi- vidual effort amounted to nothing; break they must, and break they did. And yet, every time we ran into them they fought like brave men, and I verily believe that if we had given them two minutes more before taking the start we would have had the fight of our lives for the possession of that road. As it was, the front wavered, their column melted and broke, and though they made frequent rallies and attempts to reform, we gave them no time. Sabres and pistols were freely used by both sides in the melees which followed every time they were attacked from the rear. As we approached New Baltimore, a small village, our column became somewhat scattered, the fleetest horses outstripping Ninth Eegiment. 459 others, and the capture by us of such as would break away from the enemy's crowded column contributed to this. At this point Major Barringer's horse became unmanageable. Breaking, or disregarding his curb, he rushed past everything, and as he entered the town, in the effort to stop him, he was thrown against a house with great violence, knocking the horse completely over and down and striking the Major against the house with such force as to cause serious injury to his arm and head, dis- abling him from further participation in the action. This placed me in command of the regiment. The pursuit went right on through New Baltimore, passed Buckland, over Broad Run, the enemy finally taking refuge behind their infantry, the distance covering about five miles. I remember our own casualties were small. Several of the enemy were killed and wounded and we captured a good many prisoners. This article does not purport to relate all of the incidents which occurred in this action worthy of mention; some thrilling and, strange to say, some amusing. Stuart, in his gay humor, named it "The Buckland Races." It certainly stands alone as the steeple-chase of the war. The regiment did well on that day, and richly deserved the high encomiums it received from both Stuart and Gordon. atlee's station. Another action during this time was that of Atlee's Station, which is deserving of more extended notice than given it by General Barringer. We claim it as the most important cavalry action of the war. On the night of March 1, 1864, General Kilpatrick, in com- mand of five thousand picked men of the Federal cavalry, was encamped about five miles northeast of Richmond, with the intent to assault the city from that side at light on the morning of the 2d. He had sent Colonel Dahlgren, with two hundred men, around to the west of the city to make this demonstration on the 1st for a double purpose : first, to draw the Confederates to that side of the city and thereby weaken their lines on the east, where he was to attack at daylight next morning; and secondly. 460 NoETH CAEOLiifA Teoops, 1861-'65. that they would there be in position the more quickly to release the prisoners on Belle Island and turn them loose to pillage and burn Richmond. General Hampton, with his command, was encamped around Bowling Green, in Caroline county. As soon as.it was ascer- tained that the Federal cavalry had broken through our lines near Spotlsylvania Court House, General Hampton began the pursuit of it with about two hundred and fifty men from the First North Carolina Cavalry, forty men from the Second North Carolina Cavalry and a section of McGregor's Battery, under the command of Lieutenant Ed. Sully. We left camp about mid- night on the last day of February and marched continuously through a terrible storm of rain, hail, sleet and snow, until about midnight of the first of March we came in sight of camp-fires be- tween Atlee's Station and Richmond. At the station General Hampton and his staff went into the ticket-ofBce and he sent me down the road to ascertain whether the fires were those of our troops or of the Federals. His only instructions to me were, if I found them to be the enemy's " to harass him all I could." We moved down the road and soon encountered a picket. After an exchange of shots he retired and, strange to say, if he went into camp, he failed to alarm it. I immediately sent forward some scouts, who soon reported the troops to be Yankees, and that they were all asleep around their camp-fires in a body of woods. I went for- ward, carefully examined the situation and prepared at once for a night attack. I dismounted about one hundred and twenty men from the First North Carolina Cavalry and deployed them as sharp-shooters, under the command of Captain Blair, who cautiously moved them up to the edge of the woods and within fifty yards of the fires. He was instructed to lie down and to keep quiet until the artillery opened. Owing to the condition of the ground, I could put only one gun in action. Every preparation was made to fire this as rapidly as possible. When the first shell flew over him. Captain Blair was ordered to rise, raise the yell and charge the camp. The scheme proved a perfect success. The enemy was surprised, demoralized and Ninth Regiment. 461 stampeded. We captured one hundred and fifty prisoners, one hundred and eighty horses, carbines, sabres, saddles, bridles, blankets and other outfits too numerous to mention. I did not lose a man. Among the prisoners was a brigadier-general and men from five regiments. This brigade was the rear of Kil- patrick's column, and it was so badly stampeded that we pursued them that night and (Jrove them in upon the camp of their main body, which also became demoralized, and the whole command broke camp about three o'clock in the morning and made for the lower Pamunkey in a panic. It was this attack of ours, which was in the hearing of Dahl- gren, that caused him to withdraw from his position, or he may have been signaled by General Kilpatrick. At any rate, in his flight he passed very near a portion of my command about day on the morning of the 2d. At this time it was generally conceded in military circles on both sides that had Kilpatrick been permitted to make his assault on Richmond from the east next morning, and been supported by Dahlgren from the west, that the city certainly would have been captured. I do not wish to detract one iota from the fame or gallan- try of the brave men who successfully resisted the attack of Dahl- gren on the evening of the 1 st of March, but it is an error to ascribe to them all the credit for " preventing Richmond from being sacked," an honor which belongs largely to the First North Carolina Cavalry Regiment. After the attack on this rear brigade of Kilpatrick's was over, and order restored in the captured camp, I caused a strong picket guard to be placed in the road taken by the fleeing enemy, and rode back to the station to report to General Hampton our suc- cess. He went back with me to the camp, had the command made ready to march, and began the pursuit. The night was very dark, so we moved slowly and cautiously, shelling the road in the direction of Kilpatrick's main camp, which was several miles nearer to Richmond. Before daylight this body also had left in a panic, abandoning several caissons and leaving a large quantity of other camp equipage. 462 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. A short time ago I was asked by an officer of high rank in the civil war which engagement of the cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia did I consider the most important as to the results accomplished by it. My mind at once reverted to the battle of the first Brandy Station. This is conceded to have been the largest cavalry fight of the war. General Stuart had eight thousand men in the saddle and the Yankees about twelve thousand, and the action lasted nearly all day, yet what were its results? How did it afi^ct the plans of that campaign? Absolutely not at all. At that time both armies were on the march. General Lee making for Pennsylvania and General Meade moving on a parallel line to protect Washington City. Both armies had Its cavalry on their flanks to conceal its move- ments and to discover those of their opponent. Under these circumstances the entire cavalry of these two great armies came together on the wide plains of Brandy on the 9th day of June, 1863. The battle lasted from early dawn until near sunset, and the losses were heavy on both sides; but the result did not affect the campaign. It did not defeat, delay or hinder the plans of either the great commanders in the least. They moved on just as if this action had not taken place. Later on, General Hampton, at Trevilian Station, fought the second largest cavalry battle that occurred on the soil of Virginia, and with very important results. General Grant was attempting to transfer a large body of his cavalry from the James River to the Valley to co-operate with Hunter in his work of devastation, and in his effort to cut the East Tennessee & Vir- ginia Railroad. General Hampton, with about four thousand men, met this force of ten thousand men, under Sheridan, near Trevilian Station, and after maneuvering and fighting for several days compelled them to turn back. The results accom- plished by this action were very important, for if Sheridan, with his power on the field of battle and with his fondness for the use of the torch, had formed with Hunter (a general of like power and similar fancy for flames)' a junction in the Ninth Regiment. 463 Valley our resources would have been seriously crippled and our people would have suffered untold miseries from the torch and from the " bummers." But had this plan of General Grant's been successful, and had his plans been carried out; had our railroad communications been destroyed and the Valley devastated, would such results have been as disastrous and the consequences as depressing to the cause of the Confederacy as the fall of its Capital? We think not, and believing as we do, that but for this night attack at Atlee's Station that the city of Richmond would have fallen an easy prey to the assault of Kil- patrick the Jiext morning, we claim for the gallant men of the First North Carolina Cavalry the salvation of the Capital of the Confederacy. What other regiment can, with equal propriety, in one single engagement claim results so great? Nor is this claim too great. We have its confirmation from many officers, high in command, of both the Union and Confederate armies. Indeed, a few days afterwards President Davis personally thanked me, and said that but for this attack he feared that the city would have been taken. In a recent letter from Captain J. C. Blair, of Company D, he says : " I hope you will not be too modest to do yourself justice as regards your fight near Richmond with General Kil- patriek, for it was the most successful of any one during the war. You know that you saved Richmond. Kilpatrick would have taken the city' next morning. It was the best managed of any fight I was ever in, and yet they think no one can manage troops but a West Pointer." I here insert a letter from General Hampton, written to Colonel Wharton J. Green when he was preparing his eulogy on Gen- eral Robert Ransom for Memorial Day : . " Columbia, S. C, March 4, 1892. " My Dear Colonel : — I am glad to learn that you are to deliver an eulogy'on General Robert Ransom, for his character and career reflected honor on North Carolina. It was my good 464 North Carolina Teoops, 1861-'65. fortune to have the First North Carolina Cavalry in my com- mand during the larger part of the war, and I always attributed much of the efficiency of this noble regiment to its first colonel, afterwards the distinguished General Robert Ransom. To him was due, in large measure, those soldierly qualities which won for his old regiment its high reputation (a reputation it deserved), for, in my opinion, there was no finer body of men in the Army of Northern Virginia than those composing the First North Carolina Cavalry. Of the many instances when this regiment distinguished itself I recall one, when, in conjunction with a small detachment from the Second North Carolina Cavalry j'it performed a memorable achievement in the defeat df Kilpatrick on his raid attempting to capture the city of Richmond. With only two hundred and fifty men in its ranks, under command of Colonel Cheek, and with fifty men of the Second, we struck Kilpatrick's camp at one o'clock in the morning, in a snow-storm, after marching forty miles, captured more prisoners (representing five regiments) than our number, including the officer commanding the brigade, and put to flight Kilpatrick's whole force of three brigades, in which were five thousand men. But on every field this regiment displayed conspicuous gallantry. Your State, which furnished so many gallant soldiers to the Confederacy, gave none who upheld her honor and reflected glory on our flag more bravely than did the First Regiment of Cavalry. I can never forget my old comrades who composed it. Peace to their dead, and all honor to their living. "Sincerely yours, "Wade Hampton." goodall's tavern. There is another important action which General Barringer has failed to uo'tice in his sketch that deserves to be mentioned. •• General Barringer's absence at the time in Eastern North Caro- lina, on detached duty, accounts for the omission. I allude to the fight at Goodall's Tavern on the 11th of May, 1864. This Ninth Regiment. 465 place was a country hotel, ou the old stage road from Richmond to Gordonsville, eighteen miles above Richmond. Here Sheri- dan, with his twelve thousand troopers^ after breaking through our lines near Spottsylvania Court House, had encamped on the night of the 10th. The North Carolina brigade of cavalry, under General Gordon, marched in pursuit all day and night, and by crossing a large creek at a blind and unguarded ford, came unexpectedly upon the enemy's rear brigade about dawn on the morning of the 1 1th. The First Cavalry was in front and began the attack without delay. The enemy filled the old hotel and all its outhouses, stables, barns, etc., with sharp-shooters. These buildings were in a large opening, and we being without artillery, could not dislodge them. The fight between the dismounted sharp-shooters lasted for several hours. Finally General Gor- don took personal command of my regiment and sent me around to the extreme right to take charge of a squadron of the Fifth Cavalry and threaten their flank, so as to compel them to with- draw from the houses. With this squadron I charged and drove back their advance squadron in great disorder on to their main support. At this juncture General Gordon, at the head of the First, came to my support, and uniting this squadron of the Fifth with them, we had the most desperate hand-to-hand conflict I ever witnessed. The regiment we met was the First Maine, and it had the reputation of being the best cavalry in the Army of the Potomac. Sabre cuts were given thick and fast on both sides. The staff of my colors received two deep cuts while the sergeant was using it to protect himself from the furious blows of a Yankee trooper. We drove them from the field, but our pursuit was stopped by a battery of artillery and a second mounted line which they had established a short distance in the woods at Ground Squirrel Church. This line extended one hundred yards on both sides of the road. To dislodge them from this position, and to capture their cannon, if possible, I took a squadron of my regiment and made a detour through the woods in column of fours and struck them on their extreme right. Here we had another hand-to-hand fight, which resulted 30 466 North Carolina Teoops, 1861-65. in our breaking and hurling them back in confusion into the road. Here again the sabre was freely used, and here it was that while pursuing a fleeing foe, with the point of my sabre in his back, his companion, with his pistol almost in my face, sent a bullet crashing through my shoulder. This fight recalls an incident that occurred in the rcttunda of the Ebbitt House in Washington City on my return home from Johnson's Island prison in August, 1865, which illustrates so forcibly the reputation of the grand old regiment that it ought to be told and handed down to posterity. The room was crowded with Federal officers, all, of course, strangers to me. Feeling very lonely, and wishing to have some one to talk with, I determined to make an acquaintance. Seeing an officer of com- manding appearance, with an open, approachable face, clad in cavalry uniform, with the insignia of a colonel, I went up to him and introduced myself as the late Colonel of the First North Carolina Cavalry. He grasped my hand most cordially and soon called up and introduced quite a number of other officers. He said to them : " I have the honor of having met Colonel Cheek once before. It was on the 11th of May last, at a little place called Goodall's Tavern, about eighteen miles from Rich- mond. On that occasion Colonel Cheek, with his regiment, the First North Carolina Cavalry, which was considered the best regiment of cavalry on his side, met the First Maine, which held a similar reputation on our side. I saw these two fine regi- ments come hand-to-hand, in open field, with drawn sabres. The clash was terrific, the fighting was furious and obstinate, but the First Maine was driven from the field. An officer of the First Maine, after the surrender, speaking of his regiment, made the proud boast that it was never driven from the field but once during the war, but, said he, we consider that no disgrace or reflection, for it was done by the First North Carolina." I mention this to show the reputation of the regiment in the camp of the enemy. Being wounded at Goodall's Tavern on the 11th of May, Ninth Regiment. 467 1864, the command of the regiment devolved upon Lieutenant- Colonel Cowles until my return to duty about the 1st of August. During this time scarcely a day passed that the regiment was not on the march, and frequently in several actions during the same day. It was during this time that the famous Kautz and Wil- son raid occurred. It fell to the lot of the First to be put in active pursuit and led by the dashing Lieutenant-Colonel Cowles. The assaults on the enemy were fast and furious. Besides these numerous attacks on the raiding party the regiment was in some fifteen named engagements while under the command of Colonel Cowles. He has kindly furnished me with an account of this raid, which I insert: THE WILSON RAID, BY LIEUTENANT-COLONEL W. H. H. COWLES. On the 21st of June, 1864, the Federal cavalry, under the command of Major-General Wilson and Major-Geueral Kautz, two full divisions, numbering about six thousand men, well mounted, equipped and provisioned, were dispatched with orders to destroy the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad and also the Southside and Danville Railroads. Moving rapidly, they struck the Weldon road at Reams' Station and destroyed the track for several miles. Thence they pushed rapidly for the Southside road. Our cavalry at this time was greatly depleted. After the hard and destructive campaign in the spring, in which we lost both Stuart and Gordon, with many of our veteran troopers, and after Grant had settled down with his great and superior resources to kill and wear and starve us out, we were kept constantly on the move from one side of the river to the other, fighting by day and marching by night, extending here and there our long-stretched infantry lines until our services were needed to meet and repel some demonstration of the enemy's well-fed and well-equipped cavalry, now grown bold from our diminished numbers and well knowing that we had no more men or horses to bring and scarcely food for those we had, they could well afford to exult and venture upon a raid. 468 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. General W. H. F. Lee, with his remnant of a division, pushed on as fast as he could in pursuit of this large force. The weather" was exceedingly hot and it was terribly dusty. In close column it was almost impossible to breathe or see for the dust, so we were forced to march in column of twos and with long intervals between the regiments; but when we met the enemy at Black's and White's, a small station on the Southside road, he was engaged in tearing up track and doing the railroad property all the dam- age he could. Disposition was at once made to attack. I do not remember the order of march that day, nor who was in front; I only heard the firing and closed up, quickening our pace. Soon a courier came with the message to come up as quickly as possible; then we pushed into a gallop, and as we did so formed fours. I was in command of the regiment, and when we reached the point where our artillery was posted the firing was dense and heavy in the woods in front and to the right of the road, and our forces, a thin line of dismounted men, were giving away. I do not remember whose men these were, but they were not of our brigade. The enemy could plainly be seen at a charge on foot, chasing this line of dismounted men, and evidently aiming for the capture of our battery, which, under the gallant Captain McGregor, was stationed just in the open field to the left of the road. General W. H. F. Lee was on his horse at the side of the road with the expression upon his face of a brave man hard pressed. As we came up at a gallop he exclaimed to me: "Save the guns! Save the guns!" "We'll do it, Gen- eral." "Prepare to fight on foot; dismount; front into line; double-quick, march ! " was all the command I gave or had to give that well-seasoned and gallant old regiment. The men knew what was expected of them, and they never failed. Quickly forming as they came up, they went in at a charge, through a narrow stretch of open ground into the woods, each seeking his own opportunity to fire and to fire accurately, for we had no ammunition to waste. The blue-coated fellows had begun to think they were to have it all their own way; one of them Ninth Regiment. 469 fell right at the mouth of the cannon. I think he was knocked on the head by one of McGregor's gunners with a rammer. It was but a short tussle, and we had them going the other way, back to the railroad cut, where, intrenched, they opened upon us an incessant fire. Protecting ourselves as well as we could by the ridge and the timber, we here engaged them, under- standing that if we could hold them there and give them some- thing else to do other than the destruction of the railroad we would accomplish all that was expected or possible for us to do. Throughout the remainder of the afternoon and until dark I have rarely heard and never been subjected to a more unceasing and rapid fire of small arms. We were very close together; too close for the successful use of artillery upon either line in the thick growth of timber, as we were; and yet McGregor got their location by the railroad and did some effective service. Our elevation was a little above the railroad, and they could shoot over the heads of their own men, but the timber was so thick they could not get our exact range, and most of their shells passed over and exploded beyond us; but it was wonderful with what accuracy those in the railroad cut fired. Had we been without any protection and remained there as lorig as we held the position, some three hours or more, it is scarcely possible that any would have survived, for we had no breastworks and only the shelter of the timber and the slight elevation. Their bullets swept the small growth from the crest of the ridge, and good sized saplings and small trees were almost cut down by them. That night when we were relieved and went bapk to the point from which our charge had begun. General W. H. F. Lee met us and was profuse in his thanks to oflBcers and men for their conduct, and McGregor, with his brave heart overflowing with gratitude, rushed forward, and seizing my hand, exclaimed: "Henceforth those guns," pointing to his battery, "belong to the First North Carolina Cavalry ; you saved them to-day, and they are yours." This was the most important action in which our command, 470 NoETH Caeolina Teoops, 1861-'65. under General W. H. F. Lee, engaged the enemy alone during this raid, which lasted, from start to finish, for about a week. We continued to follow the enemy and harass, hinder and worry him, and by our frequent attacks prevented the destruction of much property. The result of this raid was very disastrous to the Federals. After General Hampton, who had crossed the James River to come to our aid with his forces, joined in the attack at Sappony Church, they were defeated and driven through- out the afternoon and night of the 28th. Next morning the rout became complete. Without going more into detail, the result of the whole matter was that Kautz and Wilson were forced to abandon their wagons and artillery, and leaving a large number of prisoners, were glad to make their own escape with but a comparatively small portion of their force. In the month of August we crossed and recrossed the James River several times and fought several important actions on the north side. At White Oak Swamp we had a severe engage- ment. Our losses were considerable. Lieutenant Morrow, of Company C, was killed. EEAMS' STATION. On the 25th of August, 1864, the great battle of Reams' Station was fought. In this action the cavalry, infantry and artillery all took part. General W. H. F. Lee was absent on sickness; this put General Barringer in command of the divis- ion. Colonel Cheek in command of the brigade and Lieutenant- Colonel Cowles in command of the regiment. There was an opinion somewhat prevalent among the poorly informed infantry of our army that the cavalry did little or no fighting. I do not know how better to correct this error than to quote the words of General R. E. Lee. It will be remembered that this battle of Reams' Station was fought principally by troops from North Carolina, and so well did they behave, that General Lee wrote the following complimentary letter to Governor Vance: Ninth Regiment. 471- Headquarters Army of Northern Virginia, August 29th, 1864. His Mccellenoy Z. B. Vance, Governor of North Carolina, Raleigh. ****** I have frequently been called upon to mention the services of North Carolina soldiers in this army, but their gallantry and conduct were never more deserving of admiration than in the engagement at Reams' Station on the 23d ultimo. The brigades of Generals Cooke, McRae and Lane, the last under the temporary command of General Conner, advanced through a thick abatis of felled trees under a heavy fire of musketry and artillery and carried the enemy's works with a steady courage that elicited the commendation of their corps and division commanders and the admiration of the army. On the same occasion the brigade of General Barringer bore a conspicuous part in the operations of the cavalry, which were no less distinguished for boldness and efficiency than those of the infantry. If the men who remain in North Carolina share the spirit of those they have sent to the field, as I doubt not they do, her defense may securely be trusted to their hands. I am, with great respect. Your obedient servant, R. E. Lee, General. chamberlain's run. The winter of 1864-'65 was spent mostly in doing picket duty and protecting the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad as far south as Stony Creek. On the 8th of December we held the railroad bridge at Belfield and the next day followed in pursuit of Warren's forces, making a splendid mounted charge and cap- turing a large number of prisoners. This was the only engagement of any importance in which we took part until the spring campaign of 1865 opened about the last of March. We spent the winter in quarters near Bel- 472 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. field, and when it was known that Sheridan, with a large force of cavalry, was at or near Dinwiddie Court House, we were hurriedly rushed to that place to intercept him. The rains for several days had been very heavy and the ground was miry and the streams much swollen. On the 31st of March we met Sheridan's forces about three miles from the Court House, near a small stream at ordinary water, but then a wide and raging current, known as Chamberlain's Run. A part of the enemy had crossed the stream and was met by the Barringer Brigade, the Fifth Cavalry being in front. After some severe fighting the enemy was driven back across the stream and then we were dismounted and a line of battle was formed by the Sixty-third (Fifth Cav.) and Ninth (First Cav.) Regiments and we were ordered to cross the creek and pursue the enemy. I agree with General Rufus Barringer as to the correctness of his article in general, but I differ with him as to some par- ticulars in his description of this fight at Chamberlain's Run, and I feel it a duty to more fully describe the part taken by the First Regiment North Carolina Cavalry in this celebrated battle. I know that General Barringer was honest in his convictions, and where there is a difference in our description of this battle, it must be attributed to our different opportunities for ob- servation. In the morning attack, upon reaching the creek we were dis- mounted and formed a line some hundred and fifty yards above the ford. Colonel McNeill's Sixty-third (Fifth Cav.) Regiment was also dismounted and was to cross at the ford. My right failed to connect with his left by a space of over one hundred yards. The stream was very much swollen by recent heavy rains, and at places was impassable by reason of briars and swamp undergrowth. In my immediate front it was over one hundred yards wide and as deep as the men's waists. On the opposite side, and extending down the creek to about the right of my regiment, was an open field about fifty yards wide, and beyond this field a thicket of half-grown pines that extended back for a Ninth Regiment. 473 mile to a large open field. An old fence ran between the creek and the first field, the water in some places extending through it and out into the open land. The road crosses this stream at right angles one hundred and fifty yards below. The fight in the afternoon across this stream was to be made by the First and Fifth Cavalry. The Fifth was to cross at the ford and the First at the point above described. When ordered to advance the First moved forward in an unbroken line across the creek and drove the enemy from our front. We were pursuing him rapidly up into the pines when I discovered bullets coming from our right and rear. I galloped to the right of my line and found the enemy moving up the creek and in our rear. The regiment was withdrawn as rapidly as possible, yet in good order, and reformed at its original line on the west side of the creek. Colonel McNeill had been repulsed at the ford and it was some of the enemy from this point that were moving up the creek to cut us off. It was almost a miracle that the regi- ment was saved from capture. We would certainly have been cut off had I not been on my horse, by which means I was enabled quickly to find out our danger and with equal prompt- ness to provide against it. In the afternoon the plan was for the Nineteenth (Second Cav.) Regiment, Colonel Gaines, supported by the Sixty-third (Fifth Cav.), to attack at the ford and for us to cross at the same place as in the morning. Upon reconnoitering my front, I found that the enemy had strengthened his position by throwing up rifle- pits in the edge of the pines. This was reported to Generals Barringer and W. H. F. Lee, and appreciating fully the magnitude and danger of the work assigned me, and also to provide against being caught in a trap as in the morning, I asked leave to halt the regiment at the fence on the opposite side and not to advance until I knew that other troops would advance in line with us. For the second time and at the same place we formed line of battle, and from the experience of the morning every man knew the danger that lay ahead. Notwithstanding this, when ordered 474 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'66. forward the gallant old regiment advanced under a deadly fire across the creek as it would move in line on dress-parade. At the fence we halted, and each man protected himself as best he could, but all the while replying to the enemy with a vigorous fire. The Nineteenth (Second Cav.) Regiment met the same fate at the ford as did the Sixty-third (Fifth Cav.) in the morning, and for some half an hour the Ninth (First Cav.) Regiment, being the only Confederates on that side, were subjected to the concentrated fire of the entire line of the enemy. Never were brave men subjected to a more severe ordeal; men and officers were being rapidly shot; to advance would be rash mad- ness, to attempt to withdraw perhaps more fatal. In this di- lemma Lieutenant-Colonel Cowles and myself, standing in water up to our waists, were consulting what to do, when he was shot in the head, and but for me would have been drowned. I sent a courier to General W. H. F. Lee, informing him of the situation and asking for orders. Just then I saw Beale's Brigade, commanded, Ithink, by Colonel Waller, of theNinth Virginia Regiment, which, having been dismounted, were preparing to cross above and join on our left. When this command was about midway the stream I ordered " Forward ! " and nobly our gallant regiment responded. Leaping from their hiding-places, the men rushed over the enemy's rifle-pits, broke his line and, in concert with Beale's Brigade, drove him pell-mell through the pines, out into an open field. In this field I saw some mounted Federal cavalry, and expecting they would charge our scattered ranks, I ordered "Halt, and form line as quickly as possible." We delivered a few volleys at them and they quickly retired. A few moments after this General W. H. F. Lee, at the head of a mounted squadron from the Sixty-third Regiment, came up the road from the ford at a gallop. He charged across the open field and into the woods beyond, but the enemy had withdrawn. This road, leading direct from the ford, was still about one hundred yards to the right of my new line, and these mounted men from the Sixty-third were the first and only troops Ninth Regiment. 475 from either of the other regiraents of our brigade that I saw on that side of the creek during either the morning or afternoon engage- ments. The ford was not uncovered until after the combined attack of the Ninth (First Cav.) Regiment and Beale's men up the creek, which crushed the enemy's right and forced him to with- draw. These are my recollections of the part taken by the Ninth (First Cav.) Regiment in this great cavalry battle, and my memory has been lately refreshed by conversations with men who were there present. I also have some letters written at the time, one of which, to my wife, I here insert : " Headquakters First N. C. Cavalry, "April 1st, 1865. "My Dear Alice : — We had a terrible fight yesterday. I lost eighty in my regiment. Colonel Cowles severely wounded; Major McLeod slightly; Captain Dewey killed; Captain Cole- man killed. Thirteen other officers wounded, several of whom will die. John and Als were not hurt. Nearly all the brim of my hat shot off. My horse (the one I lately bought) shot twice, and killed. "My regiment fought more gallantly than I ever saw it before. We waded a creek waist-deep and seventy-five yards wide under heavy fire and drove the enemy from an intrenched position. Will give you full particulars when I have more time. General Lee complimented us in the highest terms. The Thirteenth Virginia was on my left, and after the fight gave me three most enthusiastic cheers. 'Boots and saddles' has sounded. Good- bye." The losses were chiefly in the afternoon fight. Many were shot while crossing the creek and many again while lying under the old fence, aud the dead and wounded were scattered all through the pines. We saved all and none were taken prisoners. In proportion to the number engaged this loss will equal, if not exceed, that of any cavalry regiment in the history of the world in a single day's fight. 476 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. The exact number taken into action I do not recollect, but when we remember this was in the very last days of the Con- federacy, when all of the regiments, and especially the cavalry, were reduced to mere skeletons, I feel safe to say that the effi- cient mounted command on that day did not exceed two hundred and fifty men. Take from this the one-fourth to hold the horses of the dismounted men, and the various details that niust be made, and it will be seen that we took in action not to exceed one hundred and fifty men. What cavalry regiment (save Gen- eral Custer's command) ever lost seventeen out of twenty-one officers in an open field fight, or eighty men out of about one hundred and fifty. The loss of the Light Brigade at Balaklava, whose charge has been immortalized by England's Poet Laureate, was only thir- ty-seven and one-half percent., while the loss of the First North Carolina Cavalry at Chamberlain's Run was fifty-three and one- third per cent, among the enlisted men and eighty-one per cent, among the officers. Nor will we confine our comparison of losses to the Light Brigade and other commands of cavalry from earliest history to the present date, but we charge up to the face of the infantry and challenge them likewise. We go to Gettysburg, the bloodiest field of the civil war, and throw down our glove in the face of all comers on either side and call for an exhibit of losses in commissioned officers. General Barringer says of the fight in the afternoon: "My plan was to put the First Kegiment in on my left, dismounted in line, and thus attract and draw the fire of the enemy." As to draw- ing the fire of the enemy, this part of the plan was a grand success. A shower of lead met us as soon as we entered , the water and was poured on us continuously until we reached the fence on the other side. General W. H. F. Lee, as he witnessed our advance under this concentrated and deadly fire, said to General Barringer : " Sir, the world never saw such fighting," and the next day he said to a friend : " There was nothing done at Get- tysburg more gallant than this charge of the First North Caro- 1 na Cavalry at Chamberlain's Run." Ninth Regiment. 477 The Ninth Regiment (First Cav.) was led in the afternoon attack by Sergeant John L. Turner, of Company F, across the creek and up to the fence on the opposite side, where we halted. When Beale's men came up and I commanded " First North Carolina, forward ! " the first man that I saw spring out into the open field was Captain Craige, of Company I. As soon as I appeared in this opening my horse was shot and so dis- abled that I had to abandon it. Fortunately a few moments later an ordnance sergeant, distributing ammunition along the line, came on and I took possession of his horse for the balance of the fight. While the regiment was being dismounted and preparing for action, I rode down to the water's edge and saw that the enemy had greatly strengthened and forti- fied his position since morning. Appreciating the terrible assault we were to make, and knowing the destructive fire that would be poured into a solid line, I thought it best to send forward a thin line of skirmishers. For this purpose I ordered a detail of two of the bravest men of each company. This line I placed in charge of Sergeant Turner, and for his good conduct and gallantry I that night promised him that henceforth he was Lieutenant Turner. General Barringer was in command and made the dispo- sitions for the fight. After the creek was crossed I was the ranking officer on that side, and had command of the field up to the time that General W. H. F. Lee, at the head of the mounted squadron, made his appearance. A PERSONAL ADVENTURE AT THE BATTLE OF FIVE FORKS. The 1st of April, 1865, was an off day for the First North Carolina Cavalry. In consideration of the heavy fight and severe loss we had at Chamberlain's Run the day before it was our time, according to a custom in the brigade, to have the easy place in this day's fight, so we were put off on the extreme right of our line of battle, quite a mile east of the White Oak road. We were placed there more for the purpose of observing 478 North Carolina Teoops, 1861-'65. the movemeDts of the enemy than with the expectation of tak- ing any part in the engagement. Just before sunset and after our line, extending across the White Oak road, had been broken, we were ordered to come in and to take a road on the west of the White Oak road leading to Potts' Station on the Southside Railroad. In a few minutes another courier, very much excited, dashed up with instructions to bring the regiment in at a gallop or we would be cut off. We took up the "Fast trot," and as we were nearing the fork to Potts' we saw a column of Yankee cavalry coming up the road from Five Forks, and I saw that they would reach the road to Potts' before we could. The only chance to transfer my regiment into this road was to stop this advancing column of Federal cavalry. I took the first squadron and met them at a full charge. For a few minutes we had a tilt with cross sabres, but we routed and drove them back. After having accomplished our purpose with this squadron it was slowly withdrawn, holding the enemy in check by volleys from our carbines. In the meantime Adjutant Twitty had transferred the balance of the regiment to the Potts road. A short distance up the road we found a guide posted by General Barringer to turn all of my men into a second fork or path. The Adjutant sent the regiment on, while he and a few offi- cers and an orderly waited a short distance up this path for me. I remained in the middle of the main road to watch the movements of the enemy and to gather in any of my men that might have gotten scattered in the fight. While sitting here on my horse two horsemen, from the direction of the enemy, came up the road at a full gallop. They rode right up to me and halted, one on either side. It was now quite dark, yet I saw that they were Yankees, and I further saw that they had their carbines unslung and in a position of " Advance carbine." They covered me with their guns, the muzzles not more than a foot from my breast. I thought my time had come, yet I put on a bold front, expect- ing every moment that the Adjutant and those who were with him, and who were not more than twenty paces off, would come to my Ninth Regiment. 479 relief. In the meantime I thought my only chance was to deceive and fool them. So, says I, to the one on my right: "What com- mand do you belong to?" He replied: " The First Vermont." I turned to the other with the same question and received a like answer. I said : " I too belong to that regiment. Hold on here awhile, there are some rebels just down the road there a little, and soon we will have some fun." To allay their suspicions I continued to talk, and during all the time was attempting to draw my pistol. As it often happens on critical occasions something gets wrong, so at this time my pistol got hung in the holster. Expecting every moment for a bullet to go crashing through my body, I had to continue talking to allay their suspicions. This talking not only deceived them, but so misled the Adjutant and my friends nearby, that they did not come to my relief. At last I got my pistol drawn, and at the click of the lock, instead of firing, they both turned to run. I fired on them and emptied one saddle; the shot at the other on^ missed. This was the first signal that I was able to give my friends of my danger, and they responded promptly with a volley at the fleeing Yankee, but he kept on. After it was all over and I was scolding my Adjutant for allowing two Yankees to hold me in their power for so long a time, when they were so nearby and could so easily have relieved me, they excused themselves by saying that it was so dark that they could not see their uniforms, and hearing me talking all the time, they concluded, of course, that I was talking to some of our own soldiers. We followed after the regiment and soon found it encamped for the night. On the 3d we had a severe fight at Namozine Church, and on the 5th I was captured by Sheridan's scouts, who were clad in our uniform. From this incident it will be seen that the First Regiment of Cavalry was the last to cross sabres or to fire a gun on the field of Five Forks. And so, again, it happened two days afterwards to be the last that left the field at Namozine Church. When the last of our mounted skirmishers were withdrawn from this 480 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. open field one column of the enemy had passed beyond us on our left and another column, charging up the road on our right, was so near upon us that our only chance to escape was to dash across the road and get into a pine thicket. When I, with a few others, crossed this road, we did so not twenty-five yards in front of their column. This engagement at Namozine Church was the crushing blow to General W. H. F. Lee's Cavalry Divison. No regiment of his command that was present at this battle ever made an organized fight afterwards. The charge of this squadron of ours at sunset of the first day of April, 1866, on the eventful field of Five Forks, was the last mounted charge on the soil of Virginia made by North Carolina cavalry, and it was a detachment from this same regiment at Vienna, near the waters of the Potomac, on the 26th day of November, 1861, that made the first. These two occa- sions were the Alpha and Omega of the many charges made by North Carolina's cavalry in the Army of Northern Virginia — the first and the last. Brave old regiment; ever ready at the sound of the bugle! During these fights at Chamberlain's Run, Five Forks and Namozine Church the Forty-first (Third Cav.) Regiment of our brigade was off guarding a wagon-train . The day after the destruc- tion of the division of General W. H. F. Lee at Namozine Church, General R. E. Lee, then at Amelia Court House, sent for me and ordered me to go and look for Colonel Moore, and to bring him and his command to his (General Lee's) headquarters. At the time this was the only organized regiment in General W. H. F. Lee's Division. I took with me an orderly and bugler and started in the direction of Jetersville. That afternoon we met some twenty or more men, clad in Confederate uniforms, who represented themselves as belonging to Captain Randolph's com- pany, of the Ninth Virginia, who had gotten scattered in the fight at Namozine Church, and who were now trying to get back to their command. After some friendly conversation of several minutes' duration, suddenly there was an outcry of " Surrender ! " Ninth Kegiment. 481 " Surrender ! " and our Virginia friends proved to be none other than Sheridan's scouts clad in Confederate uniforms. j,One of the most thrilling incidents of the war occurred here, which the narrow limits of this sketch prevent my relating. Major Young, the commander of these scouts, was exceedingly [clever to me, took me to supper with him at General Sheridan's headquarters and at bed-time had an officer's tent stretched for me, gave me a bed of nice hay, with dean sheets and a clean pillow-case, and next morning sent a barber to shave me. In other respects he was exceedingly kind and did me a very great favor. There was a council of war held there that night and I had the opportunity to see Generals Grant, Meade, Hancock, War- ren, Custer, Merritt, Buford and many others of high rank. From here I was sent to Johnson Island prison. So with me the war ended. Now, thirty-five years have passed, and our country has had another war, and there is also another war now going on, in which one of the mightiest nations of the world is a party, and in which many battles have been fought. When we read accounts of them, and see them classed as "heavy engagements," " important battles," etc., and then compare them with the fights that the First North Carolina Cavalry used to have, I am a hundred times more impressed with the greatness of our mag- nificent regiment. CONCLUSION. There was no regiment in the cavalry that had the post of honor assigned it so often as did the Ninth North Carolina. Whenever the commanding general, be he Stuart, Hampton, Lee, Baker, Gordon or Beauregard, had a desperate movement to make the call was always made for the Ninth North Carolina. When General Stuart went on his horse raid into Pennsylvania in 1862, Lieutenant Barrier, of Company I, led the advance across the Potomac, and Captain Cowles, with Company A, pro- tected his rear, and was the last to cross the same river on the return into Virginia. Again, when at Auburn Mills General Stuart's entire 31 482 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. command was surrounded by lines of Federal infantry, he called for the Ninth North Carolina to open the way for him to withdraw. At the battle of Sharpsburg the picket line of the First North Carolina Cavalry was the last troops withdrawn from the battlefield, and did not reeross the Potomac until near day on the morning of the 19th. General Hampton, on his famous cattle raid in 1864, upon arriving in the vicinity of the cattle corral on James River, dis- mounted our regiment and placed it between the cattle and the army of General Grant, encamped not very far away, to hold them in check while he, with the other troops, were putting this vast herd of beeves in moving order. Here again the important duty of protecting the rear was assigned to the Ninth North Caro- lina, and at Belcher's Mill, on our return, we were engaged until late into the night with Federal troops which had been sent down the Jerusalem plank-road to intercept General Hampton and recapture the cattle. Not only did the superior officers call for this regiment in critical emergencies, but I have known them to refer other com- mands to it as a means of inciting them to deeds of daring. Mr. James Higgs, formerly a member of the Third North Carolina Cavalry, tells me that on one occasion, in the heat of battle. General Hampton dashed up to his command and thus addressed them : " Men of the Third North Carolina Cavalry, I want you to charge the enemy, and I want you to go at them like the First goes at them ! " I heard an officer of artillery, whose battery operated with the infantry, pay us a high compliment on one occasion when the line of battle was being formed for a general engagement. It must be remembered that an artilleryman is always very cau- tious, or perhaps a little nervous, as to who is to be his sup- port in an action, and especially is this so if the artilleryman, accustomed to be supported by infantry, finds that he must now look to the cavalry for protection of his guns. On this occasion my regiment was sent to support two batteries posted on a hill about one hundred yards apart. As I was forming my line in Ninth Eegiment. 483 the ravine behind them, I heard one of the men call out to those at the other battery and say: " Boys, it's all right, it is the First North Carolina Cavalry that is supporting us ! " I cannot close this sketch without paying a deserved tribute to my brother officers. Governor Ellis had the appointment of the ofScers of the ten regiments of State Troops. The regiment of cavalry seemed to have been a pet of his from the beginning. He selected the colonel and lieutenant-colonel from the old army, both West Point graduates and of fine reputation in their respect- ive commands. James B. Gordon, of Wilkes county, as Major, proved himself a soldier of extraordinary capacity. The cap- tains of companies were selected from widely different parts of the State, all men of ability, high standing and reputation in their respective sections. Captain Ruffin had been a member of the United States Congress, Captains Folk, Grumpier and Cheek were lawyers and members of the Legislature, Captain Hous- ton was Solicitor of his judicial district, Captain Miller was a distinguished physician of Charlotte, Captains Woodfin and Barringer were able and prominent lawyers, and Captains Siler and Whitaker were wealthy, educated and accomplished gentle- men. The Governor was equally circumspect in the selection of subaltern officers, many of whom rose to prominent positions during the war. Of the field and company commanders that he appointed one rose to be a major-general, four became brigadiers and the fifth was recommended for a like promotion, and favora- bly indorsed by General R. E. Lee, who, however, stated in his indorsement that there was no vacancy to which he could be assigned. So the appointment rested until after the 31st of March, 1865, when General Lee recommended that the commission be issued for special gallantry on the bloody field of Chamberlain's Run. If it was ever issued by the Secretary of War it never reached its owner, but was lost amid the wreck and ruins of the Con- federacy. Some of his friends think he is entitled to the rank, and kindly call him General, but he aspires not to the title, prefer- ring rather to be known as the colonel of a regiment which under 484 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-'65. his command, from the summer of 1863 to the surrender, made a reputation second to none on the American continent. During this period there was not a commissioned of&cer in the line who was not either killed or wounded, with five exceptions. It was a saying in camp about this time that a commission in the First Cavalry means " a hole in your hide." Every field officer it ever had, except Colonel Ransom, was either killed or wounded. Of the original captains, counting Wood, Blair and McLeod (they having succeeded Captains Woodfin, Folk and Miller, all of whom resigned before the regiment received its baptism of fire), six were wounded and four killed. Of the twenty- three captains it had during the war, six were killed and fourteen wounded. Of the thirty-one subaltern officers who remained in the line from the summer of 1863 to the surrender, ten were killed, fourteen were wounded and two died of disease, and I think that three of the other five were wounded, but of this I am not positive. I regret exceedingly that I have not the data to show the losses of the enlisted men. They were instrumental equally with the officers in building up the fame of the regiment, and their losses were proportionally as great. Truly may it be said of them, as was said of the Father of His Country, "Their deeds, their worthy deeds alone, have rendered them immortal." ROSTER OF OFFICERS. FIELD AND STAFF OFFICERS. Colonels — Robert Ransom, promoted Major-General, 1862; Lawrence S. Baker, promoted Brigadier- General, wounded at Brandy Station; J. B. Gordon, promoted Brigadier-General, wounded at Brook Church and died; Thomas Ruffin, killed at Auburn Mills, September 28, 1863; W. H. Cheek, wounded at Goodall's Tavern, May 11, 1864. Ninth Eegiment. 485 Lieutenant-Colonels — L. S. Baker, J. B. Gordon, Thomas Ruffin, W. H. Cheek, Rufus Barringer; W. H. H. Cowles, wounded at Mine Run and Chamberlain's Run. Majors — Victor M. Barringer, resigned; J. B. Gordon; Thomas N. Grumpier, wounded and died July 11, 1862; John H. Whitaker, wounded and died July 1, 1863; Rufus Barrin- ger, W. H. H. Cowles; M. D. L. McLeod, wounded. Surgeons — William L. Hilliard, H. H. Hunter, William A. Blount. Assistant Surgeons — Charles J. O'Hagan, W. A. Blount, W. Jones, Rolfe. Quartermasters — W. M. Addington, J. B. Neal, W. J. White. Commissaries — M. D. L. McLeod, M. V. Boykin, John W. Primrose. Company A — Captains: T. N. Grumpier, killed; W. H. H. Cowles, wounded; John L. Smith, wounded. Lieutenants: D. T. Armfield, killed; John H. Ray, resigned; John H. Forrester, resigned; D. C. Parks, resigned; D. W. Eller, resigned; N. G. Turner; E. R. Barker, wounded. Company B — Captains: John H. Whitaker, killed; A. B. Andrews, wounded; W. H. Anthony, wounded. Lieutenants: J. W. Peele, killed; W. R. Williams, resigned; J. E. Elliot, wounded; C. M. Roberts, wounded; R. H. Powell, killed; J. C. Pledger, killed; W. R. Wood, promoted Captain and assigned to Company G. Company C — Captains: J. M. Miller, resigned; M. D. L. McLeod, wounded; James F. Johnston, wounded. Lieutenants: R. H. Maxwell, wounded; J. L. Marrow, killed; W. B. Field,' wounded; Manly S. Steele, wounded; David Hutcherson, killed; J. P. Alexander, wounded. Company D — Captains: G. N. Folk, resigned; J. C. Blair. Lieutenants: J. B. Todd, resigned; Joseph W. Todd, wounded; J. W. Council, resigned; C. W. Lippard, resigned; W. M. Blair, killed; D. P. Mast, wounded; Noah Shell, resigned; Cald- well, resigned; R. B. Brown, wounded, and resigned; John T>. Ferguson, died. 486 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Company E — Captains: W. H. Cheek; C. J. Iredell, wounded. Lieutenants: A. B. Andrews, promoted and assigned to Com- pany B; Jesse H. Person, killed; R. J. Shaw, resigned; J. H. Fuller, wounded; W. J. White, promoted Quartermaster; George H. Yancey, wounded; R. C. Twitty, promoted Adjutant. Company F — Captains: Rufus Barringer, wounded; J. A. Fisher, wounded; N. P. Foard, wounded. Lieutenants: Miles Johnson, resigned; Jacob Barrier, wounded; J. L. Grier, died; W. R. Scott, resigned; H. H. Fitzgerald, resigned; Kerr Craige, promoted and transferred to Company I; Wiley A. Barrier; transferred to Company I; John L. Turner, promoted by Colo- nel Cheek for gallantry at Chamberlain's Run. Company G — Captains: John W. Woodiin, resigned; W. R. Wood, wounded; Henry Coleman, killed. Lieutenants: J. L. Gaines, promoted Colonel Second Regiment North Carolina Cav- alry; J. L. Henry, resigned; J. L. Blasingame, resigned; W. E. Broadnax, promoted to stafF of General R. Ransom; T. L. Mat- thias, E. J. Kuykendall. Company H— Thomas Ruffin; James C. Borden, resigned; George S. Dewey, killed. Lieutenants: Thomas L. Vail, resigned; B. F. Person, resigned; Johnson H. Bryan, resigned; W. F. Kornegay, resigned; W. S. Henrahau, resigned; Bryan F. Whit- field, wounded; H. J. Sauls, wounded; John Sherrod, resigned; John W. Hayes, killed; J. W. Biddle. Company I — Captains: W. J. Houston, killed; W. A. Bar- rier, wounded and resigned; Kerr Craige. Lieutenants: Benehan Carroll, resigned; N. C. Armstrong, resigned; D. O. Wells, resigned; J. B. Neal, promoted Quartermaster; S. C. Jones; W. . G. Grady, killed. Company K — Captains: T. P. Siler, wounded and resigned; W. M. Addington. Lieutenants: W. H. Roan, resigned; Frank Leach, resigned; B. P. Ellis, died; Jesse W. Siler, killed; Sam B. Gibson, wounded; J. M. Gillespie, wounded. The regiment was under tire one hundred and fifty or two hun- dred times, not in its full regimental formation, but as scouts, Ninth Regiment. 487 pickets, companies or squadrons. Below is a list of the battles in which it participated: Vienna, Rainbow Banks, Willis' Church, Frazier's Farm, Malvern Hill, Phillips' Farm, Riddle's Shop, Turkey Creek, second advance on Malvern Hill, Fox's Farm, Fairfax Court House, Urbana, Frederick, Middletown, Catoctin Creek, Burk- ittsville, Pleasant Valley, Sharpsburg, Williamsport, Stuart's Raid into Pennsylvania, Martinsburg, Hall Town, Barbee's Cross Roads, Little Washington, Gaines' Cross Roads, Amisville, Hampton's raid to Dumfries, Occoquan, Kelly's Ford, Brandy Station, Aldie, Middleburg, Upperville, Fairfax Court House, Stuart's raid around General Meade, Brookville, Sykesville, Lit- tletown, Hanover, Huntersville,Carlisle, Gettysburg, Hagerstown, Williamsport, Funkstown, Second Brandy Station, Jack's Shop, Auburn Mills, Buckland Races, Ste vensburg, Parker's Store, Mine Run, Raccoon Ford, Atlee's Station, Rapidan River, Wilderness, Sheridan's Raid, Goodall's Tavern, Todd's Tavern, Brook Church, White Hall, Haw's Shop, Kenner's Landing, Hanover Court House, Ashland, Malvern Hill, Nantz's Shop, Herring Creek, Crenshaw's, The Rocks, Wilcox Landing, Davis' Farm, Kautz's and Wilson's Raid, Black's and White's, Staunton River, Fuzzle's Mill, White Oak Swamp, Poplar Spring Road, Reams' Station, Tucker's Farm, McDowell's Farm, Jones' Farm, Boisseau's Farm, Mrs. Cumming's, Gravelly Run, Hargrave's House, Bur- gess' Mill, Malone's Crossing, Munck's Neck, Wilson's Farm, Hampton's Cattle Raid, Belcher's Mill, Belfield, Chamberlain's Run, Five Fork^g, Namozine Church. Besides the above enumerated battles there were skirmishes innumerable, which in those days were considered so trivial that, they were not honored with a name, but which, if their like were to occur now in the Philippines or in South Africa they would be heralded by a cable dispatch as "heavy engagements." W. H. Cheek. Hendbeson, N. C, 9 April, 1900. TENTH RBGIMENT (FIRST ARTILLERY). 1. John L. Bridgers, Lieut. -Colonel. 4. Basil C. Manly, Major. 2. John A. Ramaay, Captain, Co, D. 5. J. M'. Sanders, 1st Lieut, Co. TT. 3. Joseph Graham, Captain, Co. C. C. Thomas Arendell, 1st Lieut., Co. P. 7. Arthur B. Williams, Captain, Co. C. TENTH REGIMENT. (FIRST ARTILLERY). COMPANIES B, F, G, H AND K-HEAVY BATTERIES. By COLONEIv STEPHEN D. POOL. The Tenth Regiment was the First Regiment Artillery, and was composed of five companies of heavy artillery — B, F, G, H and K, which were stationed in our forts, and five companies of light artillery — A, C, D, E and I. The service of the heavy batteries was largely of a joint character and was given to the defense of Eastern North Carolina. Very soon after the organization of the Tenth Regiment Fort Macon was garri- soned by Companies B, G and H, and the earth-works some miles east of the fort were occupied by Company F, of the Tenth,, Lieutenant Cogdell commanding, and a company of the Fortieth (Third Art.) Regiment, under Captain Richard Blount. All of these forces were supplied by the fort and camfe under the com- mand of Colonel Moses J. White, who was in charge of the fort, having succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel J. L. Bridgers, who had been relieved at his own request. Just previous to the fall of Hatteras, which occurred during the latter part of August, Company G was ordered to Hoop Pole, a position opposite to Carolina City. With the fall of Hatteras, some of the men of the Tenth Regiment were cap- turned and sent North, among the number being Captains An- drews and Sparrow and Lieutenant Thomas Allen. The fall and winter of 1861 were stormy and rough, affecting the mortality of the men greatly, especially those of Company H, which company did outside picket duty. A picket station 490 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. of twelve men was kept on Shackelford Banks, with headquar- ters at Lookout Lighthouse, during the winter and until some- time after the fall of New Bern. The pickets watched the movements of the blockading squadron. It was quite a suc- cessful station and picked up much valuable information, which was transmitted to the fort. January and February of 1862 passed quietly at the fort and its vicinity, the fort and blockaders occasionally exchanging a harmless shot. On the landside communication was unbroken with the fort, visitors and mail being of daily occurrence. But with the fall of Roanoke Island matters assumed a different phase. The air was full of rumors of the intentions of Burn- side. It soon became evident that New Bern would be attacked before Fort Macon, and so quiet reigned at the fort. On the 14th of March New Bern fell into the hands of the Federals. Wiih the fall of New Bern matters at Fort Macon assumed more interest. The two outlaying companies and the picket station were called in and the position of the fort made as secure as possible. About the 23d of March the Federal forces began to approach the fort. Carolina City (now More- head Cityj was occupied and garrisoned by them before the last of March. On the 23d of March a formal demand was made by General Parke for the surrender of the fort, which Colonel White re- fused, although liberal terms were offered. Additional efforts were made to strengthen the fort, and the men were constantly at practice with the guns. All was activity. The fort was very well provisioned. In the line of ammunition it was not so well off. There was only about three days' supply of powder and much of that was very inferior. Of shells and shot there was enough for several days' fighting. On the night of March 29th the lights of the Federal forces showed that the fort was sur- rounded. On the 11th and 12th of April, when the pickets were finally driven in, a sharp skirmish occurred, in which Ben. H. Bell, one of the pickets, was slightly wounded and some damage inflicted on the Federals. On the 23d of April another demand Tenth Regiment. 491 for surrender was made by General Burnside, which was refused. At daylight of the 25th the attack proper on the fort was begun, the fort replying promptly to the storming party. The roar of Guion's, Pool's, Manney's and Blount's guns was incessant and deafening. Gogdell's batteries did not bear upon the land side and his men chafed at their enforced inaction. In less than an hour guns from seaward announced the approach of another foe. Promptly the heavy guns of Pool and Guion changed the direc- tion of their fire to that of the fleet, and so accurate was their fire that in an hour the vessels drew off out of range, one dis- abled and two others in a damaged condition. The attack from the land side was very vigorous, the storming forces having im- mense advantage, their superior force allowing, them to relieve their men at the guns. They kept up a continuous fire from both rifles and mortars, dismounting guns, disabling men, and tearing parade, parapet and walls of the fort. The guns of the fort were well manned, but were unable to do much damage, firing as they did through very narrow embrasures. At 6:30 the loss in the fort was very great, the men greatly fatigued, and only two guns were able to keep up a fire. A proposition for the surrender of the fort was made to General Parke. An un- conditional surrender was demanded, which was refused, and the General informed that firing would be resumed immediately. However an agreement was reached whereby .hostilities should cease till next morning, until a consultation with General Burn- side could be had. Next morning, the 27th, Colonel White met General Burnside and the fort was surrendered. By the terms of surrender the officers and men were released on parole, not to take up arms against the United States of America until properly exchanged. Colonel White reports the loss of the fort at seven killed and eighteen wounded. The guns of the fort at cessation of firing were in a very bad condition, about one-half being entirely disabled. During the month of August, 1862, an exchange of prtsoners was made, which included the oflBcers and men who had garri- soned Fort Macon. A camp, with Major Pool in charge, was 492 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. established at Goldsboro for the men of the Tenth, who rapidly began to report, and by the latter part of August the men, armed as infantrymen, were drilling daily. Early in September, Major Pool was ordered with his command, numbering about seventy men, to Tarboro, N. C. There his forces were swelled by the addition of fifty men under Captains McRae and Cobb. On the morning of September the 4th the forces embarked on two flat-boats for Washington. At Red Bank the com- mand disembarked and it was joined by four companies of infantry — two from the Seventh Regiment and two from the Fifty-fifth — a squadron of cavalry and a battery of artillery. Next morning at 9 o'clock the march against the town of Wash- ington, about thirteen miles distant, began. The men of the Tenth were among the first to enter the town, fortunately enter- ing it by the street on which the Academy was situated. They seized four pieces of artillery prepared for immediate use. These they placed in position so as to sweep the street, and, under com- mand of Captain Manney, held their position for more than three hours, doing great execution and damage to the Federals, who manned the guns placed at the town bridge and the crossing of the street at the court-house. This unequal fight, sup- ported by infantry, they continued until 9 A. M., when a retreat was ordered. The captured guns were not left, but manning the ropes, the men dragged them through the deep sand of the streets. The Federals did not pursue. At some distance from town a detachment of cavalry, commanded by Captain Rufus S. Tucker, met us and assisted in dragging the captured guns. The troops camped several miles from Washington for two days, the various detachments then separating and returning to their various posts of duty, the men of the Tenth proceeding to Goldsboro. A comparison of the forces engaged and the result of the Washington fight is as follows: In infantry the forces were about equal; of cav- caValry, the Federals had nearly three to one; batteries, two to one. The Federal loss was twenty-eight killed, fifty-three wounded, twelve captured. Four guns captured and carried off. They also NEW BERN TO GOLDSBORO g Union. 11*1 rCon/edercLte ^ Engagement fbn^ht. Tenth Regiment. 493 lost one gun-boat, blown up. The Confederate loss was thirteen killed and fifty-seven wounded. Of these about twenty were made prisoners. Soon after the return of the men of the Tenth to Goldsboro, Companies B, G and H were ordered to Kinston, where they were joined by many old comrades. During November two demonstrations were made against New Bern — one to hold the garrison in place, the other, under Colonel H. M. Shaw, to compel the return of General Foster from a movement in force supposed to be against the railroad bridge at Weldon. In both expeditions Lieutenant-Colonel Pool's Battalion, composed of Companies B, G and H, of the Tenth Regiment, and Bunting's Battery, participated. The objects contemplated succeeded. Early in December, General N. G. Evans, then in command at Kinston, ordered the battalion to the works on the left bank of the Neuse River, two miles below Kinston, to prevent the Fed- eral boats from removing and passing the obstructions in the river. Starr's Battery, a portion of which was under command of Lieutenant T. C. Fuller, was in the command. On the 13th the Federal boats made their appearance and were given such a warm reception that they speedily retired and were soon in full retreat to New Bern. Next day General Evans crossed the river and engaged the Federal forces under General Foster. After a hotly contested fight the Confederate forces were compelled to retreat under the pressure of overwhelming numbers. The bridge was fired, but the rapidly pursuing Federals threw the burning fagots into the river and crossed the bridge safely, capturing Colonel Mallet (wounded) and his battalion, with some other detachments left on the right bank. Others swam the river and subsequently joined Colonel Pool, and with him reached Golds- boro safely next morning. In this fight the men of the Tenth played a conspicuous part and were the last to retire. Companies B, G and H and Starr's Battery of Artillery were stationed on the north side of Neuse River, commanding the immediate approaches to the railroad 494 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-65. and county bridges. About 2 p. Ji. the men of the Fifty- second retiring, left the south end of the bridge undefended except by the forces on the north bank of the river. Starr's Battery then opened fire to prevent the enemy from entering, and destroyed it. An attempt to fire the bridge was made by a party of Federals, but the batteries of the Tenth made it too hot for them. Later, however, the bridge was successfully fired. At 5 p. M., seeing that it was useless to remain longer, the Confederate forces having all retired, the guns were dismounted and disabled, all the ammunition that could be carried was loaded in a wagon, while the remainder was dumped with shot and shell and the small guns into the Neuse, and the men were soon on their way to Goldsboro, which they reached next morning at 8 o'clock. In a short time the battalion was ordered back to Kinston to repair damages, reconstruct bridges and assist in other work, which was concluded about January 1, 1863. On the recommendation of Lieutenant-Colonel Stevens, Chief Engineer, the battalion was selected for duty in that branch of the service. Lieutenant-Colonel Pool was ordered to construct and equip sixteen pontoon-boats and drill his men in their use. Goldsboro was chosen tor the work. January, February and March, 1863, were fully employed in this manner. The men made very satisfactory progress, and in their drill on March 28th, before General Smith and staff, were highly complimented by that officer. During the first of April the battalion, with boats, reported to General D. H. Hill at Kinston. On the 4th they were ordered by General Longstreet to Franklin. They arrived at their des- tination three days later and went into camp, Brigadier-General Jenkins commanding. The burned bridge across the Blackwater was rebuilt by them at once, and a few days afterwards a pontoon- bridge was thrown across the river at South Quay in the presence of General Longstreet and staff. Roadways to and from the bridge were constructed and the bridge laid in thirty-two minutes. The width of the river at this point was one hundred and sixty feet. Tenth Regiment. 495 The battalion remained at Franklin, repairing and rebuilding bridges and making cables of twisted telegraph wire, until the siege of Suffolk was raised, returning to Goldsboro in June with pontoon-train, after first having destroyed all the work they had so laboriously done during May and June. In July, 1863, the battalion reported to Colonel William F. Martin, Seventeenth Regiment, between Tarboro and Williams- ton, to assist in repelling a reported Federal invasion. On arriving at Tarboro dispatches were received from Colonel Mar- tin, saying that the reported advance had no foundation, and their assistance was not needed. It was a disastrous trip to the battalion, however, as on their return they suffered a fearful rail- way accident. More than twenty men were wounded and fiat- cars, ambulances, guns, ammunition and men were piled in con- fused heaps on both sides of the road. Soon after the battalion was called to Rocky Mount to meet a raiding party of Federals, but owing to the absence of a tele- graph operator from his office at Goldsboro a delay of six hours was caused, in consequence of which and another delay of the train at Wilson the raiders burned the cotton mills and the railroad bridge at Rocky Mount and were in full retreat two hours before the battalion reached its destination. In the month of August the battalion was ordered to Fort Branch, on the Roanoke River, to garrison and strengthen it and to prevent the enemy's gun-boats from ascending the river and destroying the iron-clad which the Confederates were build- ing at Edward's Ferry. Lieutenant-Colonel Pool being tem- porarily in command at the Goldsboro post. Captain J. L. Manney was placed in charge of the battalion. The battalion remained at Fort Branch the remainder of the year (1863) doing picket and garrison duty. In the latter part of January, 1864, the battalion, with pon- toons, was ordered to Kinston, as a move was to be made on New Bern. The expedition amounted to nothing, however. Colonel Wood's boat expedition down the Neuse, his capture and destruc- tion of the " Underwriter," under the guns of the military post and 496 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. garrison at Newport were the redeeming features of the expedi- tion. The battalion had its part in this wearisome marching and counter-marching. Comparative quiet reigned in North Carolina until the month of April, 1864. At that time detachments from the battalion, led by Captain Manney, under direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Guion, with pontoons, accompanied General Hoke's expedition to Plymouth and assisted at its capture. The detachment went with General Hoke to New Bern and followed that General to Virginia when recalled from New Bern in haste to defend Peters- burg, Va. Under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Guion the battalion defended Fort Clifton, on the Appomattox, for months, successfully resisting every attempt of the enemy's gun-boats to ascend. Until the iron-clad "Albemarle" was blown up by a torpedo-boat at Plymouth and that town and Washington fell into the hands of the Federals again, the battalion was separated. It was reunited at Fort Branch, where it remained until December, 1864. On the 7th of December, 1864, Captain Cogdell— Major Sparrow being on the sick list— was ordered to assist in the defense of the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad, leaving Lieuten- ant Thomas B. Haskett, with Sergeant-major H. C. Pool and twelve men, in the garrison. On the 11th an unsuccessful attempt was made on the fort owing to the return of Captain Cogdell and his men. Attention will now be directed to Companies F and G, and light battery. Company I, Captain Southerland, who were sta- tioned at Fort Fisher. On December the 21st a formidable fleet under Butler, with his powder-ship, appeared before Fort Fisher. The two follow- ing days were too stormy for operations. At 2 p. m. on the 24th the powder-ship, with its four hundred and thirty thousand pounds of powder, was exploded within three hundred yards of the fort, doing no perceptible damage to walls or armament or men. The bombardment of Admiral Porter's fleet on the 24th and 25th was extremely severe, on the first day ten thousand pro- Tenth Regiment. 497 jectiles alone being hurled at the fort and adjacent works. The action of Companies F and K, of the Tenth, was of the most worthy character. General "Whiting writes: "Of Major Reilly, with his battalion of the Tenth North Carolina, who served the guns of the land fort during the entire action, I have to say he has added another name to the long list of fields on which he has been conspicuous for indomitable pluck and consummate skill." Lieutenant Thomas Arendeil commanded Company F and Lieutenant Irwin Fulford commanded Company K during the action. With the attack on Fort Fisher and its repulse the operations of the year 1864 closed as far as the Tenth North Carolina was concerned. January 13, 1865, Companies F and K were again called upon to meet the enemy. Admiral Porter again appeared before Fort Fisher with a powerful fleet, both as to number of ships and calibre of guns. The occupants of the fort felt no uneasi- ness at the presence of the enemy, owing to their former repulse. The assault was made and the men of the fort fought bravely, but in vain. Overpowered by vastly superior numbers, they were at last compelled to yield. Never was a more heroic defense made than that of Fort Fisher. Even after the fort was entered and the citadel captured the men refused to yield, and for hours resisted the fierce assault of three splendid brigades of Federal soldiers, contesting every, inch of ground until pushed by the force of irresistible numbers to the very brink of the sea, and then surrendered — their ammunition expended and all hope lost. And in all this fight none fought more bravely than the men of the Tenth, under the gallant Reilly. The prisoners taken were sent North, and when exchanged the war was virtually over. In March, 1865, the detachments of Companies B, G and H, on duty at Fort Clifton, rejoined their command at Fort Branch and continued in garrison until the 10th of April. The headquarters of the Tenth remained at Goldsboro until March 22d, when the troops were all withdrawn and headquar- ters established at Tarboro, where Colonel Pool remained until 32 498 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. April 10th. About the first of April the records of the Tenth Regiment and the post at Goldsboro were taken to Concord, Cabarrus county, by private Charles Phifer, for safe-keeping, and as they have never been seen since, it is supposed that they were taken and destroyed by some Federal raiding party. On April 10th Fort Branch was blown up, military stores were destroyed, bridges were burned on the Tar and the troops at Fort Branch, Tarboro and other points combined at Halifax. From there they moved westward to meet General Baker at Ridgeway, which they did on the 14th. The news of General Lee's surrender had been received the day before and had cast a deep gloom over the men. The war was now over. Orders disbanding his command were issued by General Baker, but Colonel Pool secured a modi- fication of the order, so far as the men of the Tenth were con- cerned, as most of the homes of his men were in the counties which were overrun by the Federals. He therefore preserved his organization and moved back to Tarboro, which point he reached on April 18th. In a few days Lieutenant-Colonel Guion and Captain Cogdell were dispatched to Goldsboro to capitulate for terms of surrender. These ofScers returned on the 23d, having made satisfactory terms. Two days later, Tues- day, the 25th, at noon at Stantonsburg, Wilson county, what was left of Companies B, G and H, Tenth Regiment North Caro- lina State Troops, surrendered, and. those heroic hearts which had stood shoulder to shoulder and slept at the same camp-fires shook hands and parted, to return once more to the pursuits of peace, leaving behind them a record of gallantry and bravery. Stephen D. Pool. New Orleans, La. ADDITIONAL SKETCH TENTH REGIMENT. (FIRST ARTILLERY), COMPANIES B, F, 0, H AND K-HEAVY BATTERIES. By first lieutenant JOHN W. SANDERS, Company H. This regiment was one of the ten authorized to be raised by the Legislature of North Carolina in May, 1861. These ten were known as war regiments, to distinguish them from volun- teers, for six and twelve months. Their term of service was for the entire war. The Tenth Regiment was peculiarly constitu- ted. Five of its companies were heavy artillery and five were light batteries. This sketch will refer almost exclusively to the five heavy artil- lery companies. The history of the five light batteries will be written by another, who will do justice to these gallant companies. The splendid record of these batteries was made on the battle- fields of Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Wherever the Army of Northern Virginia marched and fought, there one or more of these batteries were found sharing its pri- vations, partaking of and aiding in its ever-glorious achieve- ments arid adding to the never-fading lustre of the soldiers of North Carolina won on all these memorable fields of glory. From the first gun at Manassas to the final surrender of Lee at Appomattox, from New Bern to Bentonsville, the guns of these batteries were heard, and when the last of them was surrendered by Johnston at Greensboro, officers and men could point with pride to a record second to none made by the artillerists of the Confederacy. 600 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. And now a word to connect Company H with the Tenth Regiment of North Carolina Artillery and our sketch will con- tinue without a halt to the close. The old Topsail Eifles, Captain Stephen D. Pool, was organ- ized in Beaufort, N. C, immediately after the election of Abra- ham Lincoln to the Presidency of the United States. On the 21st of May it was tendered to the State of North Carolina for service for the war, and was assigned as Company C to the Second North Carolina State Troops and ordered to report to Colonel Tew, then in command at Fort Macon. On the 4th of June it was ordered to a camp of instruction at Weldon, N. C. Subsequently the other companies of the Second having joined, the regiment was removed to Camp Advance. Here at Richmond, near Acquia Creek and at Potomac Run the time was fully occupied in company and battalion drills and other camp duties till the latter part of August, 1861. On the 23d of August Captain Pool and company were ordered by the Secretary of War to report to the commanding officer at Fort Macon, N. C. It reached the fort the 25th, but was not assigned to duty with the garrison until the 1st of September. From this time until the close of the war Companies B, G and H served together. Company C, of the Second, becoming in the organization Company H, of the Tenth. The Tenth Regiment was first officered as follows : James A. J. Bradford, Colonel. John L. Bridgees, Lieutenant-Colonel. Stephen D. Ramseur, Major. WiLLi-^M B. Thompson, Major. Thomas H. Allen, Adjutant. Colonel Bradford was an officer of the United States Army, in charge of the Arsenal at Fayetteville, N. C, who, at the breaking out of the war, having tendered his services to the Governor of North Carolina, was assigned to duty as Colonel of the Tenth. Incapacitated for active field service. Colonel Bradford was placed in command of the post at Goldsboro, an Tenth Eegiment. 501 important military position from its connection witii tiie railroad system of the Southern States. The selection of Colonel Brad- ford for this post was a judicious one. He was a good organizer and disciplinarian and a model post commandant. In Lieuten- ant Thomas H. Allen, Adjutant of the regiment, Colonel Brad- ford had an eflScient assistant in all office duties connected with the post and regiment. The five heavy artillery companies of the regiment were or- ganized with the following officers: Company B — Henry T. Guion, Captain; Thaddeus Coleman, First Lieutenant; A. C. Latham, Junior First Lieutenant; Joseph Stephenson, Second Lieutenant; Ed. Walsh, Junior Second Lieu- tenant. Company F — W. S. G. Andrews, Captain; Dan Cogdell, First Lieutenant; Riggs, Junior First Lieutenant; Cicero Primrose, Second Lieutenant; Richard W. Evans, Junior Second Lieutenant. Company G — Josiah Pender, Captain; James L. Manney, . First Lieutenant; Robert Walker, Junior First Lieutenant; Wal- ter Pender, Second Lieutenant; John Roberson, Junior Second Lieutenant. Company H — Stephen D. Pool, Captain; John C. Manson, First Lieutenant; Joseph Roberson, Junior First Lieutenant; B. F. Miller, Second Lieutenant. Company K — Thomas Sparrow, Captain; William Shaw, First Lieutenant; Andrew J. Thomas, Junior First Lieutenant; John M. Blount, Second Lieutenant; Irvin Fulford, Junior Sec- ond Lieutenant. As will be seen from the above some of the companies elected, or had assigned to them, an extra lieutenant. This error was afterwards corrected by assignment of the supernumerary officer to other companies, or by filling vacancies caused by deaths, resignations or promotions. About the end of August, 1861, Fort Hatteras fell, and some of the officers and men of the Tenth were captured and sent North as prisoners of war. Captains 502 North Caeolina Tkoops, 1861-'65. Andrews and Sparrow and Lieutenant Thomas H. Allen were of the number. The fall of 1861 and the winter of 1861-'62 were stormy and inclement. Much sickness prevailed among the men of the gar- rison and many deaths occurred. Company H doing all outside picket duty, and consequently more exposed to the weather, suf- fered more than any other company. The mortality in that company was increased doubtless from the effects of measles, a disease epidemic in the Second Regiment at Camp Advance in June and July, 1861. Out of ninety-three men, then belonging to the company, sixty-eight had the disease. No deaths occurred from the measles, but the after-effects increased the mortality in the winter of 1861-'62. A picket of twelve men was kept on Shackelford Banks with headquarters at the Lookout Light-house. The men of the picket frequently, and without being suspected, mingled with boats' crews from the blockading squadron, who came on shore to buy fish from the natives. Some true men from the fort were always on hand when the boats landed. The fishermen never gave our men away and, indeed, they had no knowledge of what was going on at the fort to disclose. This picket station was kept up during the winter and until sometime after New Bern fell into the hands of the Federals. 1862. Lieutenant-Colonel J. L. Bridgers having been relieved at his own request. Colonel Moses J. White was placed in command of Fort Macon. At this time the garrison consisted of Companies B, G and H, Tenth Regiment. Company F, Tenth Regiment, Lieutenant Cogdell commanding, and a company of the Fortieth Regiment, Captain Richard Blount, were stationed some miles east of the fort, in earth-works constructed for the defense of the commerce of Core Sound. These companies were supplied from the fort, and were subject to the command of Colonel White. January and February passed quietly at the fort and its vicinity. The monotony of the situation was sometimes relieved Tenth Eegiment. 503 by a gun from some one of the bloekaders, and replied to occa- sionally by one from the fort, neither doing the slightest damage. On the land side onr communications were open and frequent. Visitors and mails daily kept us posted. A change soon came. Roanoke Island fell and the air was fall of rumors of the in- tentions of Burnside. One day New Bern was said to be his objective point, and the next day all eyes turned eastward to catch the first glimpse of the lighter draught vessels of his fleet conveying troops to attack Fort Macon. It soon became evident that New Bern would be attacked before Fort Macon. Com- parative quiet settled down upon the garrison, as nearly all be- lieved that any attempt would be frustrated and the slight prestige of General Burnside would be forever broken. Time passed. The 14th of March came and New Bern was in the hands of the Federals. A week of unrest fell upon the garri- son of the fort. No effort had been made to strengthen the land side of the approaches. All the country had been scoured to secure intrenching tools for New Bern. Those at the fort had been sent on the order of General Branch and none were left to strengthen our position. The picket station at Lookout Light- house was called in, the outlying garrison of the earth-works at the mouth of the Straits was ordered to the fort, and every- thing was done that could be to make the position as secure as possible. Our garrison now consisted of five companies, num- bering about four hundred men. Four of these companies be- longed to the Tenth, and one. Captain Blount's, to the Fortieth. Many of the men were on the sick-list, and at no time from the 25th of March to the 26th of April were there more than three hundred men effective for duty. About the 23d of March the enemy began to approach the fort. Carolina City (then More- head) was garrisoned, and before the end of March the invest- ment was completed. On the night of the 29th, just after dark. Captain Pool was standing on the upper parapet with Colonel White, discussing the situation, when lights sprung up all around us, on the fleet, at the Federal camp on Bogue Banks, at Carolina City, at Morehead, at Beaufort, on steamer in sound near Straits, 504 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Shackelford Banks completing the circle. " Do you see that, Captain?" said the Colonel, sweeping his arm in a circle around the horizon, and pointing to the lights "What is it, and what does it mean ?" "I see it, Colonel," was the reply. "It is the Federal anaconda of which we have read. Its folds encircle Fort Macon, and they must be broken or they will crush it. It means'good-bye to outside friends and all news from this time to the end of the siege." It should have been stated that some days before (March 23d) a'formal demand had been made by General Parke for the sur- render of the fort, which had been refused by Colonel White, notwithstanding the liberal terms offered. This action of Colonel White was cordially approved by all the officers and men of the garrison. To surrender without a fight would be disgraceful, and not for a moment to be considered, was the universal opinion. The spirit of officers and men was unmistakably in favor of resistance to the last. Everything was done now that could be for the fast-coming struggle. All outside buildings were destroyed; sand-bags filled and placed so as to protect guns on upper parapets and sea-side angles of lower parapets; ammunition for each kind of gun was prepared and in readiness; the men had been constantly drilled on the guns that they were to serve when io action. Cheerfulness and activity prevailed everywhere in the fort. A brief survey of the conditiou of the supplies in the fort at this time will enable the reader the better to understand subse- quent events. Captain King's commissary department reported sufficient rations on hand — the supply of breadstufFs exceeded proportionately other provisions. Lieutenant Coleman, in charge of the magazine, reported sufficient shot and shell for several days' fighting, but a lamentable deficiency of powder, and that on hand was of inferior quality — in truth, of this most important fighting material, there was not enough to reply vigorously to an active^bombardment of three days. Thus equipped, the fort was soon stripped and ready for the fight. The picket stations outside were still kept up by Company H. Tenth Eegiment. 505 The most distant of these was three miles west of the fort. The landing of the enemy on the banjjs and their movements were closely watched and reported until a movement in force of the Federals on the 12th of April finally drove them within the sheltering walls of the fort. The skirmishes between our pickets and the Federals on the 8th, 10th and 11th of April will receive attention later. Duty to the living and to the dead officers and men who gar- risoned the fort at that time compels the writer to state the facts concerning the unfortunate disagreement between Colonel White and all the officers arid men relative to the flour ration. As has been stated, our supply of flour was disproportionately large, but the Colonel, finding there was a soldier of the garrison who had been a baker, resolved to issue baked bread in lieu of the army ration of flour. This was done, it was said, to economize, change the diet and relieve the company cooks. No one at first objected to the change. All were willing to try the baker's bread, though some were distrustful of the final issue of the experiment. The fort oven was cleaned out, the baker and his assistant were detailed, and all awaited with cuiiosity the result. The loaves turned out were a sight to behold. Not one-tenth of them was fit to be eaten. The " bake" was a subject for laughter all over the fort, and the cry was "try again." The men were not as yet hungry; the extra flour -saved from previous rations prevented tliis. The second " bake " was no better, if as good as the first. Some wag suggested that the loaves' be turned over to the ordnance department to augment the supply of "solid" shot. Soon this thing became serious, the men grew hungry and laughter and jokes ceased. The bread did not im- prove, and murmurs loud and deep arose. The officers, one by one, represented calmly to the Colonel the growing discontent; the Surgeon of the garrison from one of the " batches" selected three of the best loaves, showed them to the Colonel, and told him such bread was not fit for man or beast. The Colonel re- mained firm, and said the garrison must eat baker's loaves or no bread. The next morning when the daily requisitions for rations 506 North Cakolina Troops, 1861-65. were made out they were sent to the Colonel, accompanied by a respectful letter signed by all the officers commanding companies, explaining the gravity of the situation, the just complaints of the men, and the danger of carrying out his resolve with an enemy so near, whose attack might commence at any moment, which attack would have to be met by men embittered by hunger — hunger caused by no scarcity of provisions, but by the persistent determination of their commanding officer to force upon them what they could not eat. The requisitions were re- turned with flour stricken out and "baked bread" substituted. Patience was now exhausted. Fresh requisitions for flour were made out and the Colonel was notified that if the requisitions were not honored before 9 A. M. details from each company, led by its proper officers, would proceed to the commissary depart- ment and take the flour to which each command was entitled. On receipt of this note the Colonel sent for the officers, threat- ened to arrest them and place a guard over the commissary. The senior Captain said all present were prepared and ready to sub- mit to his decree of arrest, should he issue one, but would like to know did the Colonel expect to get his guard for the precious flour from the hungry, half-starved men of the garrison. This seemed a poser, but an angry discussion ensued and the parties separated without the slightest appearance of a settlement, in fact, the breach seemed wider than ever. The officers returned to their quarters, ordered the details made out and the sergeants instructed to report with the men on the parade ground at the first tap of the drum. Five minutes before 9 A. M. Captain King hurried into the parade ground and announced that the Colonel had signed the requisition for flour, and had instructed him to issue it in future until the supply was exhausted. Thus ended this most disagreeable episode, but the bitterness of it lasted some days, and there were some who never forgave the Colonel until the day of the bombardment, when all rancor and bitterness were lost in admiration of his soldierly bearing, his utter disregard of all personal danger, his careful supervision of all the details of the fight, and his cheerfulness in every part where that presence seemed most to be needed. Tenth Kegimbnt. 507 The above plain statement is made to correct an"injustice done to the garrison by Colonel White's report, as will be shown by the extract which follows: "During the siege some discontent arose among the garrison, which ended in several desertions. The men complained of their fare, although furnished with full rations, and seemed to be dissatisfied with being shut up in so small a place so near their relatives and friends, but unable to communicate with them. I am sorry to say the officers did not act in a proper manner to suppress the difficulty." A statement similar to the above seems to have been made to General R. E. Lee, as the following extract from a letter to General T. H. Holmes, dated April 15, 1862, will show: " I am deeply grieved to hear of the discontent and insubordi- nation which is reported to exist among the troops in Fort Macon. In addition to the other matters, Lieutenant Fenrose (Primrose) tells me they complain of their fare. This is much to be re- gretted, but I suppose it is now beyond remedy. . Indeed, from the account given me, I very much doubt whether even tolerable resistance would be made if the fort were attacked, and you are authorized, if it be possible, to withdraw the garrison and secure such of the public property as can be brought oflP, if you think it advisable." This letter of General Lee was in reply to one from General Holmes, dated 13th April, which unfortunately has not been found. How information reached General Holmes and General Lee will now be shown. Some days after the complete investment of the fort it was determined to make an effort to communicate with the Confed- erate authorities, and ask if any relief could be given. The most feasible plan was to send a boat and crew — fewer obstacles in the way of success were to be met on the ocean than on the land. A boat's crew were detailed and Lieutenants Coleman and Prim- rose were placed in charge. Full instructions, verbal and writ- ten, were given, and the boat, one dark night early in April, was sent out. The party reached the Confederate lines safely, al- 508 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. though those at the fort never knew it till after the surrender. The difficulty between Colonel White and the officers and men of the garrison was most unpleasant while it lasted, but it did not affect the morale of the troops, as was clearly shown by sub- sequent events. On the 11th or 12th of April, when the pickets were finally driven in, a shaVp skirmish occurred, in which one man from the garrison (Benjamin H. Bell) was slightly wounded. Some injury was inflicted upon the enemy, but how great is not known. The time was now fully employed. The men in the fort, all internal trouble ended, were cheerful, expectant. Outside, night and day, the workingparty of the enemy was busy, and although almost the exact localities where they were employed were known, very little was done by the garrison to annoy them — to reach them by a direct fire was almost im- possible, intervening sand-hills preventing — there were no mor- tars in the fort, and there was no powder to waste in experiments. On the 23d General Burnside made another formal demand for the surrender of the fort, which Colonel White respectfully declined. At daylight of the 25th fire was opened by the enemy, the guns of the fort replying promptly and rapidly. Every gun bearing on the enemy's land batteries was served skillfully. The roar of Guion's, Pool's, Manney's and Blount's guns was incessant. Cogdell's batteries did not bear upon the land. In less than an hour guns from seaward announced the approach of another foe. The blockading squadron had run in and opened fire. Promptly the heavy guns of Guion and Pool changed the direction of their fire and paid their respects to the fleet. Here was game for which we were prepared and anxious to meet. So accurate was the fire of our gunners that in less than an hour the vessels drew off" beyond range, one disabled and two others in a damaged condition. From this point Colo- nel White's report tells the story clearly and concisely: " The attack from land was kept up with great vigor, the enemy having immense advantage from his superior force, being able to relieve his men at the guns, while our rnorning reports showed only two hundred and sixty-three men for duty. Tenth Regiment. 509 Our guns were well managed, but were able to do little damage to mortar batteries and siege guns, firing through very narrow embrasures. The enemy kept up a very vigorous and accurate fire from both rifles and mortars, dismounting guns, disabling men, and tearing the parade, parapet and walls of the fort. At 6:30 p. M., finding that our loss had been very great, and from the fatigue of our men, being unable to keep up the fire with but two guns, a proposition was made to General Parke for the surrender of Fort Macon. General Parke demanded an unconditional surrender, which was refused and the General in- formed that the firing would be renewed immediately. He then requested that the firing should cease until the next morning, in order that he might consult with General Burnside, and that the General should meet me the next morning at Shackelford Banks. This proposition was accepted. On the 26th, at 7 A. M., I met General Burnside as proposed, and a surrender was agreed to on terms shown in the inclosed paper. The Southern flag was hauled down at 12 M. and the men left the fort as soon as means could be furnished. A portion crossed to Beaufort. " Captain Guion's company started for New Bern on the 29th, and ou the same day one hundred and fifty men, consisting of parts of several companies, started for Wilmington on the United States gun-boat " Chippewa," arriving at Fort Caswell at 7 p. m. on the 28th. " Our loss during the fight was seven killed and eighteen wounded, two dangerously. Private Langston and Jewel I was forced to leave in the fort. All others of the wounded were brought off. A nurse was left with the two men. The fort was very much damaged and nineteen guns disabled. Two days more of such firing would have reduced the whole to a mere mass of ruins." The terms of surrender finally agreed upon were, that the garrison wag to be paroled and to return to their homes, taking with them all their private effects, such as clothing, bedding, books, etc. These were the terms proposed by Captains Guion and Pool, 510 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. who at 5:30 P. M. of the 25th had been sent from the fort with a detachment of twelve men, under Sergeant H. S. Lee, of Company B, bearing a flag of truce. General Parke, while refusing to grant them, agreed to refer them to General Burn- side. It was stipulated in their interview that everything should remain during the night as it then was; that neither side should repair any damages, if any had been sustained, and that no bat- teries should be constructed during the night to be used the next day, should the fight be renewed. The garrison strictly observed this agreement, but the Federals did not, as the following ex- tracts from their official reports will show: Lieutenant Flagler says : " During the night the batteries were completely repaired and the magazines were replenished." Lieutenant Prouty says :' " During the night of the 25th shell and ammunition were brought," etc. Colonel White's estimate of our loss was rather less than it really was. Of the forty-four guns comprising the entire arma- ment, nearly one-half was entirely disabled. None on the parapets facing the entrance to the harbor could be brought to bear on the land batteries, nor could those facing Beaufort. When firing ceased at 5:30 P. M. not ten guns in serviceable condition could have been used to prolong the fight, and these were all old twenty-four or thirty-two-pounders, except two Co- lumbiads and one rifled twenty-four-pounder on the sea-face of the upper parapet. One single shot from a thirty-pounder Parrot to- tally disabled an eight-inch and a ten-inch Columbiad in Captain Pool's Battery, mortally wounding three men and severely wounding five others. No single shot fired during the war probably did greater damage. It was the first battle of the men in the fort, and in view of all the circumstances they fought well; veterans of many battles could not have done better, and not a man sought his bunk the night of the 25th who did not expect to have to renew the fight the next day, and who was not ready to do so. A stirring incident was the escape of the blockade-running steamer " Nashville," which some time before had run into the har- Tenth Regiment. 511 bor with a prize. All the garrison knew that the attempt was to be made, and the parapets of the fort were crowded to witness the ex- periment. The night was dark and the stillness of death prevailed. The "Nashville" showed rio lights as she steamed slowly and noise- lessly out of the harbor. When it became morally certain that she had escaped, a yell from three hundred Confederate throats shook the air again and again, and though the distance was too great for those on the Federal ships to hear, the exultant shout was renewed and prolonged. After the surrender of Fort Macon the officers and men who had garrisoned it remained at their homes until August or visited their comrades stationed elsewhere. About the middle of August an exchange of prisoners was made, in which the officers and men of Fort Macon were included. A camp was established at Goldsboro for the men of tl\e Tenth Regiment and Major S. D. Pool was placed in charge. Officers and men outside the Federal lines rapidly reported. Before the end of August the soldiers, armed as infantry, were drilling daily. Major Pool was summoned to Raleigh, and was directed by Adjujant-General Martin to hold himself and men in readiness for an expedition, planned by Governor Clark, which Major Pool would probably be called upon to lead. Orders came early in September to proceed to Tarboro, N. C, where final directions would be given. Arriving at Tarboro with about seventy officers and men of the Tenth Regiment, Captains McRae and Cobb, with about fifty men of the Eighth Regiment, reported to Major Pool. Instuctions having been received, the command embarked the morning of 4th September on two flat-boats and proceeded with favoring wind and current down the river. Captain Man- ney, with the Tenth Regiment, occupied the boat leading, Captain McRae, with the Eighth Regiment, immediately following. Next morning they reached Greenville, where the guide for the expedi- tion was expected to join. None reported, and the boats continued their course. At Red Bank the command disembarked and were joined by four companies of infantry, two from the Seventeenth Regiment and two from the Fifty-fifth Regiment. A squadron of 512 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. cavalry and a battery of artillery completed the forces. The com- mand halted at the plantation of Mr. Joh n Grimes and captains com- manding companies were met by Major Pool, who explained that their destination was Washington, N.C., then garrisoned by Federal troops whose numbers were unknown. All were directed to hold their commands in readiness to move at 9 p. M., so that the town, twelve or thirteen miles distant, could be reached at or before day- break and the garrison surprised. Great care was taken to impress upon all the absolute necessity of strict silence during the march and the prevention of all communication with the town during the night, so that the surprise should be complete. Writ- ten orders were then issued to each officer commanding, explain- ing what was expected of his command, and at the appointed hour, 9 P. M., the march began. About four miles from Washington a road on the right of the main road was reached which led to the town, passing through the plantation of Mr. John Grist, striking the river-front of Washington by a broad gate-way opening upon the main business or water street. Determining to lead the infantry by this route, a slight halt was made, the cavalry and artillery were again instructed to move cautiously to a point near enough to strike the town quickly, and at the first sound of infantry firing to dash in, and clearing all obstacles before them, join the infantry at the Academy, where Captain Pool would probably be found. It is not within the scope of this sketch to tell what the men of the Eighth, Seventeenth and Fifty-fifth Regiments, the cavalry and light battery did. Upon the historians of those commands this duty devolves. The writer's attention must be confined to the detachments of the Tenth engaged in the assault. From the first gun fired to the close of the action they bore a conspicuous part. Among the first to dash into the town, fortunately enter- ing it by the street on which the Academy was situated, they found and seized four pieces of artillery prepared for immediate use. To place them in position to sweep the streets was but the work of a moment. Manned by detachments from the Tenth, served by its gunners under command of Captain Manney, for Tenth Eegiment. 513 more than three hours they held their position, dealing death and destruction on those of the enemy who manned the guns placed at the town bridge and at the crossing of the streets at the court-house. Supported by a portion of the infantry, they continued the unequal fight until 9 A. M., when a retreat was ordered. Determined to save the guns they had captured, they manned the ropes and dragged them by hand through the deep sands of the street and the road leading into the town. This movement was most skillfully executed by Captain Manney. Two of the guns captured were dragged to the first street-cross- ing, where, fully charged, they were placed in position to protect the men and guns following. These pushing on in like manner, guarded the next crossing. Thus, moving alternately at every crossing, two guns protected our retiring troops, moving neces- sarily very slowly. No enemy pursued. No guns except those from the steamer attempted to molest us, and no charging cav- alry was seen. At some distance from the town a detachment of cavalry, commanded by Captain Rufus S. Tucker, met us and assisted in dragging the guns through the heavy sand. The men, greatly fatigued, marched very slowly. More than two hours passed before the body of the troops comprising the expedition was reached. These had been skillfully posted by General Mar- tin on the banks of a run about three and a half miles from Washington. General Martin, accompanied by some civilians who had fled to the interior with their families when Washing- ton was first occupied by the Federals, had followed the troops, intending to enter the town should the assault prove entirely successful. At the crossing of the run mentioned the first fugi- tives from our forces were met. Utterly deceived by the reports of these and subsequent and constantly increasing arrivals of the same kind. General Martin, thinking the entire exjjedition was a failure, reformed the men and posted them so as to give the enemy a warm reception should they make an attempt to pursue. His surpri.se was great and his pleasure probably greater when Major Pool and the remainder of his command arrived with captured guns and prisoners and reported the damages inflicted 33 514 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-'65. upon the enemy, so far as it was then known. The troops re- mained here until sufBciently rested, then without haste retired to the right bank of Tranter's Creek, remaining in camp nearly two days. A brief comparison of forces engaged, of losses sustained, and of results and we will close this portion of our narrative. In infantry the forces were about equal ; of cavalry the Fed- erals had nearly three to one; and of artillery, two batteries to our one. Federal loss, from their official reports, twenty-eight killed, fifty-three wounded, twelve missing, captured by detach- ment of the Tenth Regiment in the Academy. Confederate loss, thirteen killed, fifty-seven wounded; of these fifteen or twenty were made prisoners. The Federals also lost one gun-boat, blown up, and four guns, captured and carried off by hand. In view of this fact the rapid pursuit of our troops by the Federal cavalry for eight miles (see report of General Foster), without overtaking a single man is, to say the least of it, astonishing in the extreme. A due proportion of the Confederate losses fell upon the Tenth. A full report of this fight was made by Major Pool to Gen- eral Martin, Adjutant-General of North Carolina, which report was filed in the office at Raleigh. In it justice was done to each command, with detailed statement of all our losses. If this report still exists (the writer has never seen it since it was made and filed) it will verify every statement above made. The detachment composing the command separated Sunday and Monday, returning to their several posts of duty. The Tenth reached camp at Goldsboro; Companies B, G and H were soon ordered to Kinston, where they were joined by their comrades from within the enemy's lines; the detachment of Com- pany F joined other parts of that company at Wilmington, where, with Company K, it did garrison duty a long time. From this time until the fall of Fort Fisher and the evacuation of Wilming- ton in the winter of 1865 the history of these two companies is identified with the military operations of that district. They will receive due notice as our narrative progresses. Tenth Regiment. 515 In October, Major Stephen D. Pool was promoted Lieutenant- Colonel of the regiment to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Lieutenant-Colonel John L. Bridgers several months before; John C. Manson was commissioned Captain of Company H, B. F. Miller First Lieutenant, and private John W. Sanders was elected and Commissioned Second Lieutenant. On promotion of Ma- jor S. D. Ramseur to Colonel of the Forty-ninth Regiment on the 12th of April, 1862, Captain H. T. Guion, of Company B, had been commissioned Major. During November two dem- onstrations were made against New Bern — one to hold the garri- son in place and the other, under Colonel H. M. Shaw, to compel the return of General Foster from a movement in force supposed to be against the railroad bridge at Weldon. In both of these expeditions Lieutenant-Colonel Pool's Battalion, Companies B, G and H, of the Tenth, and Bunting's Battery participated. The objects contemplated succeeded. Early in December, Gen- eral N. G. Evans, then in command at Kinston, ordered the battalion to the works on the left bank of the Neuse, two miles below Kinston, with instructions to prevent the enemy's gun- boats from removing and passing the obstructions in the river. The battalion remained here until the 14th of December. Starr's Battery having been placed under the command of Lieutenant- Colonel Pool, a section of it in charge of Lieutenant T. C. Ful- ler assisted in defending the works. On the afternoon of the 13th, information having been received that several gun-boats were ascending the river, the works were manned and every preparation made to give them a welcome greeting. Near sunset the boat in advance came within sight and range of Captain J. L. Manney's thirty-two-pounders. One after the other these guns, three in number, were quickly discharged, and before they could be reloaded the advancing boat, after firing two shots, precipitately retreated, a bend in the river concealing and pro- tecting her. Neither she nor any other of the advancing boats ventured another approach to our works, and during the night our scouts reported the entire fleet in full retreat for New Bern. At 9 P. M., the river falling very rapidly and no farther ad- 516 NoBTH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. vance of the guu-boats being probable or anticipated, Lieutenant- Colonel Pool rode to headquarters to report the result and condition of affairs at iutrenchments. In his interview with General Evans he realized that an adviser is rarely thanked unless the advice given suits the views of the person advised. After reporting and listening with interest to the General's account of the fight below Kinston on the right bank of the river, Lieutenant-Colonel Pool, knowing the force of the enemy and the very great inferi- ority of ours in men and artillery, ventured to suggest that in his command there were very many skilled workmen; that he could take up the only bridge that crossed the Neuse during the night and plant the nineteen pieces of artillery belonging to the command on the left bank of the river; that the rifle-pits on our side would protect all infantry necessary to prevent any crossing of the enemy until the expected Confederate re-inforce- ments should arrive; that should Foster move westward on the right bank of the Neuse the bridge could be replaced in an hour, and the troops, after re-inforcemeuts should arrive, could be thrown in his rear so as to effectually cut off his return to New Bern. General Evans, rising from the sofa on which he had been reclining, with flushed face replied : " Colonel, you and your men are exactly where I need them most. I shall cross the river early in the morning, protect my rear from the gun- boats, and before noon I will give Foster the worst thrashing he ever had." To fight an enemy five times your superior in numbers in an open field is always risky, but to do so with a broad river at your back, with only one narrow bridge and no ford, is doubly so. Next day the river was crossed, the battle fought, and the Confederates were compelled to retreat before overwhelming numbers, after fiercely contesting every inch of ground. The bridge was fired, but the burning fagots were thrown overboard by the rapidly pursuing enemy, who crossed the river imme- diately after our forces reached the left bank. Colonel Mallett was wounded, and his battalion, with some other detachment left on the right bank, was captured. Others swam the river and Tenth Regiment. 517 subsequently joined Lieutenant-Colonel Pool, and with that officer reached Goldsboro safely the next evening. The officers and men in the intrenchments below Kinston could tell the progress of the battle as well as though they had been spectators. At first the firing was distant and slow, soon it became nearer, the boom of the cannon, the volleys of the musketry and the sharp reports of the rifles became louder and more rapid. Our troops were falling back in retreat, and soon (2 p. M.) the rising smoke from the fagots on the bridge told of disaster plainer than words could tell. The situation of Lieu- tenant-Colonel Pool's command had become critical. He had been ordered to remain and hold his position to the last. To leave without sufficient cause would subject him and his force to severe and merited criticism. He ordered a sergeant of Starr's Battery, well mounted, to take a penciled note to General Evans, if he could reach him, asking for instructions. In less than an hour the sergeant returned, hot with haste, and reported that General Evans and Forces were in full retreat; that he had handed the note to General Evans, who read it and said he had no time to answer notes and no orders to give. Not satisfied to withdraw without more definite information, Lien- tenant-Colonel Pool directed Lieutenant T. C. Fuller, whom he knew to be cool and intrepid, to ride to a point as near Kin- ston as he found prudent, note carefully the situation, and when clearly satisfied in his own mind to return and report. ' It was nearly 5 p. M. when the Lieutenant returned and reported that all signs of the Confederate forces were gone; that between the intrenchments and Kinston there was a very large force of Federals; that he had counted eight regimental flags, and that a regiment of cavalry and a battery of artillery, supported by infantry, was moving in the direction of the intrenchments when he left on his return. On this report the guns in our works were dismounted and disabled, all the ammunition for which there was transportation was loaded in the only wagon at the works. What remained was dumped, with the shot and shell, into the Neuse, the small iron guns followed, and the garrison, 518 North Caeolina Tkoops, 1861-'65. already in marching order, moved from the works, taking the road lo Snow Hill, not knowing the exact direction our troops were marching. Squads of fugitives from almost every com- mand engaged (men who had swam the river) joined the com- mand. For want of definite information, the march to Snow Hill was continued. At 1 A. M. the town was reached by a weary, hungry and indignant body of officers and men. Early in the morning the march was resumed, and the command en- tered Goldsboro at 8 P. M. Leaving the men in line, the officer in command sought the room of Colonel Bradford to report the safety of the command, rumors of its capture by the enemy having preceded its arrival some hours. The door of the Colo- nel's room standing open, the military form of its occupant and the face of General Evans were seen. Colonel Bradford was asking General Evans as the intruder entered: "Where is Colonel Pool and his command ?" The reply came (but it was not from the lips of General Evans): " Present for duty. Colo- nel ! " by the party asked for, and stepping forward his hands were cordially grasped and a hearty welcome extended. Ques- tions were asked faster than thoy could be intelligently answered. They were both delighted to know that the whole command was safe, and that in addition the Lieutenant-Colonel had brought in about one hundred and sixty men from other commands. Before day next morning the battalion was in motion. The following report of the occurrences at the railroad bridge on the 17th, made by Lieutenant-Colonel Pool, will show the part enacted by the battalion that day. The report was made to Lieutenant-Colonel Stevens of General Smith's staff": "Goldsboro, N. C, December 19, 1862. " Colonel: — Soon after day-break on the morning of the 16th inst. my command, consisting of Companies B, G and H, Tenth North Carolina Troops; Company F, Fortieth North Carolina, and Starr's Battery of artillery, took the position assigned it on the north side of Neuse River, commanding the immediate Tenth Regiment. 519 approaches to the railroad and county bridges. Everything re- mained quiet until about noon of the 17th, when the enemy, occupying the south side of the river and east of the railroad, opened fire with evident design of destroying the bridge. To effect this his batteries employed for about two hours shell and solid shot, occasionally discharging shrapnel along the north bank of the river to dislodge any force there. The south bank of the river, west of the railroad, was occupied by a portion of Brigadier-General Clingman's Brigade, the left of the Fifty- second North Carolina Troops, under Colonel Marshall, resting against the bridge. Orders were sent me by Colonel Marshall not to open fire with the section of Starr's Battery commanding the bridge until his troops retired. About 2 p. m. the Fifty- second broke and in confusion retired from the bridge, leaving the south of that important structure entirely undefended except by the forces on the north bank of the Neuse. Orders were immediately sent by me to Captain Starr to open fire with shrap- nel on the mouth of the bridge to prevent the enemy, if possible, from entering and destroying it. The order was immediately obeyed. While the left of the Fifty-second was resting, I saw a small force of the enemy running down the railroad bank, shouting and yelling as if in pursuit. Suspecting their design to be to enter and destroy the bridge, I cautioned my men to be on the alert, and as soon as they came within range to pour their fire into them. This was done so effectually that two were in- stantly killed and the others fled preci|)itate]y. Our fire having disclosed our exact positipn, the enemy o])ened upon us with a most severe fire of canister, shell and shrapnel for about half an hour, our guns replying with rapidity and effect. During this fire my men on the banks of the river remained perfectly quiet, receiving the enemy's fire unflinchingly. Thinking they had dislodged us, the enemy sent forward two men to effect the destruction of the bridge by fire. I cautioned my men of the approach of the men, and as soon as they broke cover for the bridge fire was opened upon them. One fell back wounded, but the other succeeded in reaching the projecting brick-work, where 520 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. he was enabled to complete his work in perfect security from any fire from the north bank of the river. No effort was spared by my men to reach him with their fire. Different points of the bridge were selected and shot after shot poured in in the vain hope of killing him. His work proved successful, and in less than ten minutes the entire southern and eastern faces of the bridge were in flames. Seeing the destruction completed, I gave orders to retire to the rear of the section of Starr's Battery, posted on the railroad. Subsequently my entire command was ordered to the county bridge, where two pieces of the battery were placed in position. Companies B and F were posted on the west side of the bridge, while Companies G and H took position on the east — all on the north bank of the river. Here we re- mained during the night and until ordered to this point next day. Late in the •afternoon of the 17th one section of Starr's Battery, in charge of First Lieutenant T. C. Fuller, engaged the enemy south of the river, near the point where the county road crosses the railroad. All speak in high terms of praise of the gallantry displayed here and the efficiency of Lieutenant Fuller's fire. The details of this engagement do not come within the scope of this report. Justice will be doue by the Brigadier- General commanding at that point. "I cannot close this report without expressing my admiration of the coolness with which my officers and men stood fire for more than two hours without an opportunity of returning it, and of the gallantry displayed by all of Captain Starr's officers and men engaged. Killed, three; wounded, six. Captain Starr received a slight wound on arm from fragment of a spent shell." Soon after the battle near Goldsboro the battalion was ordered to Kinston to repair damages, reconstruct bridges and assist in other work. Being the last organized body of Confederate troops to leave the vicinity of Kinston, the battalion was among the first to re-occupy the ground from which our forces had been driven a week before. At this time a flag of truce was received from the enemy asking permission to remove the bodies of certain Federal Tenth Regiment. 521 officers killed the 13th and 14th. Permission was granted by the General commanding, and the bodies were removed. From the officer in charge of the flag it was learned that Lieutenant Graham was the Federal officer who succeeded in firing the bridge at Goldsboro. The act was a daring one, and the officer deserved the promotion which he received. Before 1st January, 1863, all damages were repaired, fugitive families had returned, and the fright caused by the invading army had subsided. In November, 1862, Lieutenant Walter Pender, Company G, was accidentally killed by one of the privates of his company, and to fill the vacancy caused by his death, Thomas B. Haskett was duly elected and commissioned Second Lieutenant. A month later Lieutenant Haskett was slightly wounded at Golds- boro bridge. During the autumn of 1862 and the winter of 1863, some of the soldiers captured at Fort Macon, and duly exchanged, having failed to come out of the lines, a demand was made for them by the Confederate authorities, but the Federals refused to compel them to come out. This virtual desertion, caused by family en- treaties, was more than compensated to the command by the ■constant arrival in camp of young and enthusiastic recruits who had "run the blockade," and finding the battalion, had enlisted and been assigned to the companies of their choice. The offi- cers of the conscript camp protested against these enlistments as contrary to the conscript law. Appeals were made to the highest authorities at Richmond, and in every case those au- thorities sustained the action of Lieutenant-Colonel Pool in enlisting the recruits from within the lines, alleging that these men having come willingly from points beyond the reach of conscript officers, were entitled to enlist and choose their com- panies. 1863. On the recommendation of Lieutenant-Colonel Stevens, Chief Engineer, the battalion was selected by the General commanding the department for duty in that arm of the service. Lieutenant- Colonel Pool was ordered to construct and equip sixteen pontoon 522 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. boats and drill his men in tlieir use and management. Golds- boro was chosen for this work and the months of January, Feb- ruary and March were fully employed. The men were instructed in a drill devised by Lieutenant-Colonel Pool, no treatise upon the subject being within reach. On the 28th of March all of the boats were finished, their equipments were complete and the men instructed in the drill prepared. General Smith and staff, who witnessed the drill on the 28th, complimented the battalion on its efficiency in their new branch of service and expressed his entire satisfaction with the boats, equipments and men. About the Ist of April the battalion, with boats, reported to General D. H. Hill at Kinston for duty. On the 4th it was ordered by General Longstreet to Franklin for immediate ser- vice, and on the morning of the 6th or 7th we arrived at our destination and went into camp. Brigadier-General Jenkins, commanding, ordered the burnt bridge which had crossed the Blackwater by the county road to be rebuilt. This was done promptly by the battalion. A few days afterwards a pontoon- bridge was thrown across the same river at South Quay in the presence of General Longstreet and his staff. Roadways to and from the river were constructed and the bridge laid in thirty- two minutes. The width of the river at the point spanned by the bridges was one hundred and sixty feet. One division of Lieutenant-General Longstreet's Corps crossed at Franklin and the other over the pontoons at South Quay. Lieutenant-Colonel Pool was left in charge at Franklin during the siege at Suffolk. The battalion was fully employed in re- building and repairing bridges and making cables of twisted telegraph wire. These cables when completed presented a remark- able appearance. They would have taken the first prize for ugliness at any of the expositions held since the war. They were strong, however, but to what use they were put by General Longstreet, and whether they answered his purpose, the writer has never learned. The battalion remained at Franklin — one company, under Captain Manney, was with a pontoon-bridge at Ivor Station, I think. Captain Cogdell had charge of construe- Tenth Regiment. 523 tion parties and Captain Miller was in cliarge of the camp until some time after the siege of Suffolk was raised and General Long- street's Corps had rejoined General Lee. In June the battalion returned to Goldsboro with pontoon-trains, having first destroyed by order all of the work it had so laboriously completed in May and June. At Spring Bank, on the Neuse, six miles below Goldsboro, it remained for some weeks. In July 1863 the battalion was ordered to report to Colonel W. F. Martin, Seventeenth Regi- ment, between Tarboro and Williamston, to assist in repelling a reported Federal advance in some force. On arriving at Tar- boro dispatches were received from Colonel Martin, saying that the reported advance had no foundation, and that no increase to his force was required. General Martin ordered the battalion back to Spring Bank. Though no enemy was met, the expedi- tion was a disastrous one to the command. When about half the distance from Tarboro to Rocky Mount, the breaking of an axle of the tender caused a terrible accident, which would have proved fatal indeed but for the promptness and cool courage of Mr. James Knight, one of the oldest and most experienced engineers of the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, who was in charge of the train. Promptly reversing his engine, he stood by his train until the last. More than half the flat-cars were dashed into pieces; men, guns, ambulances and ammunition were piled in heaps on both sides of the track. When the train stopped the sight and sounds were piteous — wounded men lay everywhere, bleeding and moaning. The officer commanding soon had details of the uninjured caring for and making the wounded as comfortable as circumstances and the conveniences at hand permitted. Fortunately the mail train from Tarboro came up, and though the conductor at first positively refused to take the wounded on his cars and back his train to Tarboro, so that they might be placed in the Confederate hospital located there, a decided threat to seize the train, and the statement of the engineer of the wrecked train that hours must pass before the wreck could be removed from the track and the injury to 624 NoETH Cabolina Tboops, 1861-65. the road-bed repaired, caused the conductor to yield. The severely wounded were put on board and, under the care of Lieutenant James H. Pool, taken back to Tarboro and placed in the hospital. The number wounded exceeded twenty, and two were disabled for life. A hand-car having been secured, Lieutenant-Colonel Pool pushed on to Rocky Mount to get assistance and to telegraph the accident. The efScient character of the telegraph service in North Carolina at that time may be imagined when it is known that the wreck was removed from the road, the track repaired and the train with the command had been in Goldsboro one hour when the dispatch sent from Rocky Mount, fourteen hours before, was received. To meet a raiding party of Federals and assist in their capture the battalion was called from camp at Spring Bank soon afterwards, but a delay of six hours, caused by the absence of the Goldsboro operator from his office, abd the further enforced detention of the train at Wilson for the passage of the mail train, gave the enemy so much the start that the cotton- mill at Rocky Mount and the railroad bridge at that place were burned and the raiders in full retreat two hours before the battalion reached the junction of the Weldon and Tarboro roads. Two days of marching and counter-marching were the only fruits of this expedition. It was so clear to any one con- versant with the facts that the raiders ought to have been met, whipped, their return cut off and the whole party captured, that a court of inquiry was asked for to determine the cause of failure and place the blame where it justly belonged. The court con- vened, and after a thorough investigation the officers and men of the battalion were completely exonerated and the failure charged to the operator's absence from his office and to the offi- cer whose regiment had the raiders hemmed in between Neuse River and Contentnea Creek and delayed to attack them until next morning. During the night a gun-boat from New Bern ascended the Neuse and conveyed the party and its plunder, with the contrabands, willing and unwilling, who were with it, to the opposite bank of the river, saving it from the Confederate attack next morning. Tenth Regiment. 525 In August the battalion was ordered to Fort Branch, on the Roan- oke, to garrison and strengthen it and prevent the enemy's gun- boats from ascending the river and destroying the iron-clad gun- boat which the Confederates were building at Edwards' Ferry. Lieutenant- Colonel Pool having been ordered to relieve Colonel J. A.J. Bradford of the command atGoldsboro during the temporary absence of that officer on sick leave, Captain J. L. Manney was placed in command of the battalion and fort. Detachments from the battalion were constantly on duty at Edwards' Ferry to guard the unfinished iron-clad. In September the Tenth Regiment suffered the loss of its Colonel, who died at Fayetteville among old friends and associ- ates, and was buried with military honors. Upon the death of Colonel Bradford, Lieutenant-Colonel Pool was promoted to Colonel; Major Henry T. Guion was made Lieutenant-Colonel; Captain Thomas Sparrow, Company K, Major. To fill the vacancy in Company K caused by the promotion of Captain Sparrow, Lieutenant William Shaw was commissioned Captain and the grades of other officers advanced. Shortly after this time Lieu- tenants Robert E. Walker and John M. Robinson, Company G, resigned, and Lafayette Leecraft and William P. Canady were elected and commissioned to fill the vacancies. To fill the vacancy in Company F caused by the resignation of Captain W. 8. G. Anderson, Lieutenant Walsh was commissioned Captain and the grades of other officers advanced. Ezekiel Hood was elected and commissioned Second Lieutenant. On the resigna- tion of Major W. B. Thompson at a later period. Captain James Reilly, Company D, was promoted and commissioned Major. During the winter of 1863, Lieutenant James P. Roberson, Company H, resigned on account of failing health, and James H. Pool was elected and commissioned Second Lieutenant, Lieu- tenant John W. Sanders becoming First Lieutenant. Sometime in March, 1863, Captain John C. Manson, Company H, resigned, and First Lieutenant B. F. Miller was commissioned Captain and Lieutenant James H. Pool First Lieutenant. Wil- liam J. Bushall was elected and commissioned Second Lieutenant to fill the vacancy caused by promotion. 526 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. 1864. Tbe latter part of January the battalion, with pontoons, was ordered to Kinston, a formidable move on New Bern to be made by General Pickett with fifteen thousand of the thrice glorious Army of Northern Virginia. Little can be said in praise of the expedition. Its results were almost nothing. A slight skirmish at Bachelor's Creek, the driving in of the enemy's outposts and capture of a few military and sutlers' stores sum up the victories of our division, which failed of success, owing, it was said, to General Barton's fail- ure to co-operate. On the south side of the Trent six thousand men marched through water, mud and slush to the banks of Brice's Creek and then marched back again. Colonel Wood's boat ex- pedition down the Neuse, his capture and destruction of the "Underwriter" under the guns of the fortifications and Brigadier- General Martin's capture of the military post and garrison at Newport were the redeeming features of the expedition. Three sei;geaats of our battalion were with Colonel Wood. The battalion had more than its share of the mud and toil. A week of harder work, with less sleep and satisfaction, it never experienced. Lieutenant-Colonel Guion commanded the de- tachment with General Pickett, Colonel Pool that with General Barton. Comparative quiet prevailed in North Carolina until April, Detachments from the battalion led by Captain Manney, under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Guion, with pontoons, ac- companied General Hoke's expedition to Plymouth and assisted in its capture. The detachments went with General Hoke to New Bern and followed him to Virginia, when recalled from the expedition in haste to defend Petersburg. Under command of Lieutenant-Colonel Guion it for months defended Fort Clifton on the Appomattox, successfully resisting every attempt of the enemy's gun-boats to ascend. After the capture of Plymouth and the evacuation of Washington, Company G, Lieutenant Haskett commanding (Captain Manney was in com- mand of detachments at Fort Clifton, Virginia), and Company H, Captain Miller, were placed in charge of the forts at Ply- Tenth Regiment. 527 mouth, and Company B, Captain Cogdell, was placed in charge of the defenses at Washington. Colonel Pool, in addition to his duties as commandant of the post at Goldsboro, having been made inspector" of all the artillery in the military district of Brigadier-General Baker, from time to time visited Plymouth, Washington and Kinston in the performance of the duties of his position. Until the iron-clad "Albemarle" was blown up by a torpedo- boat at Plymouth, and that town and Washington fell into the hands of the Federals again, the battalion was separated. It was then reunited (with the exception of detachments al Fort Clifton, Virginia) at Fort Branch, where it remained until Decem- ber, 1864, in command of Major Sparrow. On the 17th of December, Captain Cogdell (Major Sparrow then on sick leave) was ordered to assist in the defense of the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad, leaving Lieutenant Thomas B. Haskett, with Sergeant- major H. C. Pool and twelve men in the garrison. A force of the enemy consisting of infantry, some cavalry and a battery of artil- lery, advancing from Plymouth, reached the vicinity of Fort Branch on the night of the 11th. Colonel James W. Hinton with his regiment, the Sixty-eighth North Carolina, was moving from Tarboro to meet the enemy. Fortunately for the fort. Cap- tain Cogdell with his command returned from Virginia duriug the night. Before day Sergeant Pool was sent to communicate with Colonel Hinton and inform him of the situation. Riding into the midst of the enemy, mistaking them in the darkness for Colonel Hinton's command, he was captured, and found Colonel Hinton also a prisoner. Colonel Hinton, with his Adjutant, Captain Joseph Hinton, riding in advance of his regiment, met the Federal advance. Expecting to find Confederates there, he confidently rode too far before discovering his mistake. Captain Hinton in the darkness succeeded in escaping and reached the regiment safely. In the morning, finding that succor had reached the fort and that Confederate, troops were near, the Federals pru- dently retired. Nothing farther of interest to the garrison at Fort Branch occurred for some months. All eyes were turned to 528 JSToBTH Carolina Troops, 1861-'66. Wilmington and the forts defending the Cape Fear River. The Tenth Regiment was there represented by Companies F and K and Light Battery I, under Captain Southerland, which were soon to feel the brunt of the battle. Butler in charge, assisted by a formidable fleet and his powder-ship, whose explosion he confidently expected would blow Fort Fisher to atoms and shake the doomed Confederacy to its very center, reached the destined point of attack, Fort Fisher, on the 21st of December. The 22d and 23d were too stormy fbr operations. At 2 a. m. on the 24th the powder-ship, with its four hundred and thirty thousand pounds of powder, was exploded within three hundred yards of the fort, doing no perceptible damage to the walls, armament or men of Fort Fisher. The bombardment from Admiral Porter's fleet on the 24th and 25th was exceedingly severe. On the 24th alone ten thou- sand projectiles were hurled at the fort and adjacent works; but with the attack upon and the general defense of the fort this sketch has little to do: of the Tenth it treats. One hundred and ten officers and men, Companies F and K, were in Fort Fisher at this time. What was their conduct in the battle? Let those who witnessed it answer. General Whiting writes: "Of Major Reilly, with his battalion of the Tenth North Carolina, who served the guns of the land front during the entire action, I have to say he has added another name to the long list of fields on which he has been conspicuous for indomitable pluck and consummate skill." And again: "The gallant Major Reilly, with his battalion, who had served the guns on the curtain during the entire action, poured forth with the reserves, charging over the parapet and through the sally-port and manned the line of palisades." This is high praise: was it merited? Let others testify: Colonel Lamb in his official report says: " Major James Reilly, of the Tenth North Carolina Regiment, and Captain Daniel Munn, of the Thirty-sixth Regiment, my field officer, discharged their whole duty. To the coolness of Major Reilly we are in- debted for the defense of the land face." Tenth Regiment. 529 Major William J. Saunders, Chief of Artillery, says: "I would beg particularly to call attention to the skill displayed by that splendid artillerist, Major James Reilly, of the Tenth North Carolina Regiment." And again: " To Captain Walsh, of the Tenth Regiment North Carolina Troops, great praise is due in the service of the guns of his battery, exhibiting the skill of an artillerist and the coolness and deliberation so essential in artillery practice." Lieutenant Thomas Arendell commanded Company F and Lieutenant Irvin Fulford commanded Company K during the action. With the attack on Fort Fisher and its repulse the opera- tions of the year 1864 closed, so far as the Tenth in North Caro- lina was concerned. During the summer of 1864, and until the close of the year, the detachments of the Tenth at Fort Clifton (Virginia), com- manded by Lieutenant-Colonel Guion, were almost daily engaged in an artillery duel with the enemy. 1865. The months of January and February, 1865, passed in compara- tive quiet with detachments of Companies B, G and H at Fort Branch. The routine garrison duties were regularly performed and the command at all times was prepared to meet any emer- gency. That portion of the command at Fort Clifton, although almost daily under fire, suffered but little. Companies F and K were again called upon to meet the enemy. Admiral Porter's fleet, powerful in number of its ships and in the calibre of its guns, appeared before Fort Fisher 13 Jan- uary 1865, determined to succeed if success was possible. The garrison, elated with their repulse of the enemy in December, and confident of their ability again " to hold the fort," however formidable should be the assault, calmly and bravely awaited the terrible onslaught. It came, and although all was done that men could do to repel the enemy the fort fell, and its brave gar- rison, surrounded on all sides by vastly superior numbers, were made prisoners of war. The future historian, in the light of all 34 530 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. the facts and circumstaDces connected with the fall of Fort Fisher, will place the blame upon those who merited it. Cer- tainly none rests upon the shoulders of the gallant Whiting, Lamb, or the ofiScers and men comprising the garrison. Unfor- tunately but few ofBcial reports of that action exist. If Colonel Lamb ever made one the writer is not aware of it. He has seen General Whiting's, made while in prison and dying from his wounds. He does full justice to the defenders inside the fort. Major E.eilly, who commanded the fort after the fall of his superiors, reported the enemy in possession of the sally-port at 9 o'clock p. M. on the 15th. With this meager official mention, we are left to our own knowledge of the men of the Tenth, who formed a part of the garrison, to judge their conduct. They were the same who had so well sustained the character of the North Carolina troops in the previous attack (24th and 25th Decem- ber), and we are justified in believing they did equally as well on the 14th and 15th of January. If Colonel Lamb made no official report of the second altack upon and fall of Fort Fisher, his testimony is still upon record. Ten years after the capture of the fort there was a reunion of the garrison held at Wilmington, N. C. Among the ad- resses that were made the one of welcome made by Major Dun- can J. Devane and the response of Colonel Lamb are before the writer. The former said : " Nowhere had the courage, the fortitude, the patriotism of the men of Fort Fisher been sur- passed. He himself had witnessed the magnificent bearing of the Army of Northern Virginia — that of the men who fought at Fisher was as great and heroic." Colonel Lamb, in response, eloquently addressed the survivors and citizens preseat at some length, and in conclusion said : " I stand here a witness to the heroic bravery of that small body of North Carolina troops, assisted by a mere handful of Confederate sailors and marines, who after the fort was entered and its citadel captured, and they might have surrendered with honors, refused to submit, but withstood for hours the Tenth Regiment. 531 fierce assaults of three splendid brigades of Federal soldiers led by gallant officers. They disputed hand-to-hand every inch of ground until pushed by the force of irresistible numbers to the very brink of the sea, and then surrendered only when their ammunition was expended and all hope lost. "North Carolina need cross no ocean to search amid Roman and Grecian story for examples of self-sacrifice in defense of home and country, for here among her own sons, upon her own soil, the valor of Pharsalia and of Thermopylae were reproduced, and no correct history of this grand old State can be written unless the defense of Fort Fisher by North Carolinians in Janu- ary, 1865, be placed among the most heroic deeds in the drama of our civil war." G. F. Towle, Inspector-General of Terry's Expedition, says of the garrison: "Through the whole evening, until long after darkness closed in, they had offered the most stubborn defense. Never did soldiers display more desperate bravery and brilliant valor." The loss in the garrison in killed and wounded was severe. • The detachments of the Tenth suffered quite as heavily in pro- portion to numbers as any other command in the fort. Lieu- tenant Thomas Arendell, who commanded the men of Company F, says that six or eight of his men were killed and as many wounded. From Company K we have no report — all the writer's efforts to get one having proved of no avail. The oflBcers and men of the garrison were carried north as prisoners of war — the officers to Governor's Island, N. Y., and the men to Elmyra, N. Y. When exchanged the war was virtually over, and but few of them ever reported for duty. The other detachments of Companies F and K, which were on duty outside of Fort Fisher, were absorbed by other commands, and as infantry, after the evacuation of Wilmington, they participated in the subsequent operations below Kinston, at Bentonsville, and were finally surrendered by General Johnston at Greensboro. In March the detachments of Companies B, G and H on duty at Fort Clifton (Virginia) were ordered to rejoin their comrades at 632 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Fort Branch. This was done, and the reunited battalion, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Guion, continued in garrison until the 11th of April. The headquarters of the Tenth were at Goldsboro until the 22d of March and the Colonel of the regiment was comman- dant of the post. The second week in March all the troops east of Goldsboro were withdrawn, moving westward under General Bragg to re-inforce General Johnston and oppose the advancing forces of General Sherman. Colonel Pool was instructed by General Bragg to remain at his post until an advance of the enemy in force from Kinston should render his position untena- ble, then to establish his headquarters at Tarboro, rendering every aid in his power to collect and forward supplies to General Johnston's army, to remove to a place of safety all Confederate stores, and to permit no public property to fall into the enemy's hands. These orders were strictly obeyed. On the 2Ist (or 22d), late in the afternoon, the forces of Schofield — an entire array corps— advanced to form a junction with Sherman. In the meantime all commissary and quartermaster stores had been sent forward, everything belonging to the hospitals, with the sick and wounded, had been removed by the surgeons in charge', and about eight hundred bales of cotton had been sent to Hali- fax and to points west of Goldsboro in whichever direction transportation could be had. The three hundred bales, which for want of transportation had not been removed, were, in obe- dience to General Bragg's orders, totally consumed, not a bale falling into the enemy's hands. The few Confederate soldiers, provost guards, convalescents and men on leave retired by a road on the northwest of the town at the same time that the enemy entered it on the southwest. Colonel Pool was probably the last to leave (except one), having promised the town authorities to remain until the entire Confederate force had left. To Sergeant John Miller, a Confederate scout belonging to the battalion, is due the honor of being the very last. Returning frpm one of his scouting expeditions late at night, he entered the town with- Tenth Regiment. 533 out being aware of the enemy's presence. He soon found out the situation and quietly withdrew before he was discovered. He rejoined the command at Wilson or Tarboro. Colonel Pool remained at Tarboro until the 10th of April, visiting Fort Branch and other small posts, doing all in his power to gather supplies; but little could be accomplished. All that Edgecombe, Wilson, Greene, Pitt and Martin could furnish had been sent to the army. The citizens were true and loyal to the Confederacy, but they had little to spare. About the 1st. of April, fearing to have the records of the Tenth regiment and of the post at Goldsboro destroyed by some raiding party of the enemy, having no force to protect them. Colonel Pool detailed private Charles Phifer to take them to Concord, Cabarrus county, and place them in the hands of his father or uncle, prominent citizens of that town, for safe-keeping. During the spring or summer of 1865 these records were turned over by the party having them in charge to some Federal raiders, by whom they were probably destroyed, as nothing has been seen of them since. The loss of these records, with scarcely a monthly re- port missing, renders the task of the historian of the five light batteries particularly difficult. Were they in existence and ac- cessible the writer is almost certain that he could show that the Tenth Regiment North Carolina State Troops was represented in as many battles, bombardments, artillery duels and skirmishes as any regiment in the Confederate service. On the 1 1 th of April orders were received from General Baker, commanding the military district, to draw in all pickets, evacuate and blow up Fort Branch, destroy all military stores, burn all bridges on the Tar and others within reach on the Wilmington & Weldon Railroad, and with the troops join him at a point on the Raleigh & Gaston Railroad to be subsequently designated. This order was modified at the request of Colonel Pool, it being left to his discretion whether to burn the main bridge over the Tar leading to the eastern counties or not. Thus modified, the order was promptly executed. Halifax was selected as the point at which the troops from Fort Branch, Tarboro and other points 634 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. should meet. The junction was promptly effected and the united force moved rapidly to meet General Baker and his com- mand. About noon on the 12th, from soldiers returning to their homes from Appomattox Court House, it was learned that Gen- eral Lee had surrendered. This news cast a heavy gloom over officers and men. Pushing forward, however, they camped that night at Macon, a depot on the Raleigh & Gaston Railroad. Learning that General Baker's headquarters were at or near Ridge- way, a station south of Macon, Colonel Pool rode forward, leav- ing his men in camp, to make his report and receive final in- structions. General Baker was found at the residence of Dr. W. J. Hawkins, President of the Raleigh & Gaston Railroad. General Baker ordered that the command should be moved to Ridgeway and remain encamped with other troops until he could learn whether it was possible or not to reach General Johnston. At 3 o'clock A. M. Colonel Pool reached his command, and at day- break the march was resumed. On reaching the designated camp near Ridgeway, great excitement and confusion were seen to exist. Squads of men were moving in all directions. On inquiry it was learned that orders had been read fiom General Baker disbanding his command, and the men were taking the nearest roads that led to their homes. The battalion was halted and Colonel Pool briefly explained' to his men that it was im- possible for three-fourths of those men from Wayne, Lenoir, Craven, Carteret, etc., to reach their homes without passing through a military district overrun by Federal forces; that as they might be required to take the oath of allegiance, or be marched off to some Northern prison, their best plan would be to preserve their organization, move to some point near the enemy's lines, and at the proper time capitulate on terms and as an organized body, rather than take what was then, to officers and men, the most hateful of oaths, or become prisoners of war without parol. Officers and men agreeing that this plan would be the best for them. Colonel Pool secured a modification of the order of disbandment, so far as the men of the Tenth were con- cerned and such others as might prefer to unite with them. Tenth Regiment. 535 Having bid adieu to such men of the command as lived west of the Raleigh & Gaston Railroad, who could reach their homes without enteriug the Federal lines, the order " back to Tarboro" was given and the return march begun. In addition to his own battalion, Colonel Pool found himself in command of a consid- erable additional force, an Alabama battery of artillery and others, who had signified their willingness to obey orders and share the fate of the battalion. At Halifax or Enfield somfe rations were obtained, and ou the afternoon of the 17th or 18th of April the command went into camp near Tarboro, on the north or left bank of Tar River. Here a few days were spent resting and consulting as to the proper plan to pursue. Rations were becoming scarce, with no commissary stores at hand from which fresh supplies could be drawn. At length a council of officers was called, at which it was determined to send Lieuten- ant-Colonel Guion and Captain Cogdell to Goldsboro to arrange terms of surrender. The officers returned the morning of the 23d. The terms agreed upon were satisfactory. Stantonsburg, Wilson county, had been chosen as the place of meeting, and the 25th of April (Tuesday) the day. Bidding adieu to friends in TarborOjthelineof march was resumed, and at noon on the 25th all was completed, and officers and men who had stood shoulder to shoulder, slept at the same camp-fires, or paced as seutinels the same parapet, shook hands in sorrow and parted, many of. them to meet no more on this side of the great river. Thus ended the military service of Companies B, G and H, Tenth Regiment North Carolina State Troops. Before closing this sketch mention should be made of the im- portant service of several scouts belonging to the command. The two Bells (Joseph A. and B. H.), of Company H, and John Miller, of Company B, with others, frequently penetrated the enemy's lines and brought therefrom valuable information. It is to be regretted that no complete list of the casualties of the battalion during its service is obtainable, which, though slight in comparison with some other commands, carried sorrow, trou- ble and mourning into many households. 536 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Thirty-five years have passed since the final scene at Stan- tonsburg, and of the regimental officers of the Tenth, Bradford, Pool, Bridgers, Guion, Eamseur, Thompson, Sparrow, Reilly and Manly have all crossed the river. Colonel Pool being the last. Of the Adjutant, Lieutenant Allen, the writer has not heard in twenty years; of the captains commanding Companies B, F, G, H and K (Cogdell, Andrews, Manney, Manson and Miller), all sleep the sleep that knows no waking; of the subalterns, Steven- son, Primrose, Pender, Leecraft, Cannady, Pool and Bushall, and of the non-commissioned officers and privates, many a score have surrendered to that all-conqueror, Death. Some of these offered themselves willing sacrifices to the god of battle, others in hospitals, and still others in the gloomy prisons of the North, far from home, friends and relatives; but most of them lived to see the sun of the Confederacy set in the dark clouds of defeat and the flag they loved so well furled forever; others passed away during the dark days of reconstruction, while still others lived to see a rehabilitated South, conquering all obstacles with firm and confident tread, marching with the music of progress to the high plane of prosperity, and then in the bosom of family, surrounded by friends, they laid down their lives cheered by the reflection that they had been true to the good "Old North State" and the ill-fated but ever-glorious Confederacy. In preparing this sketch the writer acknowledges his indebted- ness to Captain H. S. Lee, for two years Orderly Sergeant of Company B; to Lieutenant Thomas Arendell, Company F; to Lieutenant Thomas B. Haskett, Company G, and especially to the late Colonel Stephen D. Pool. He is also indebted to Orderly Sergeant Buckman for a complete muster-roll of Company H, John W. Sanders. Caktebet CoDNTy, N. 0., 25 April, 1900. ADDITIONAL SKETCH TENTH REGIMENT. COMPANY C— LIGHT BATTERY. By captain a. B. WILLIAMS. Company C, Tenth North Carolina State Troops, was organ- ized at Charlotte, North Carolina, May 16, 1861, with the fol- lowing commissioned officers: Thomas H. Brem, Captain; S. J. Lowery and W. P. Lewis, First Lieutenants; Joseph Graham and A. B. Williams, Second Lieutenants. Captain Brem was one of the most patriotic men of the State. At the time of the organization of the battery the Confederate Government was short of funds for equipping troops, but this did not deter ■Captain Brem in the least. He advanced the money to fully equip the battery, besides uniforming and feeding the men and purchasing eighty head of horses. This outlay was afterwards refunded to him, but in a depreciated currency. The battery at its organization numbered about one hundred and ten men rank and file. The men were enlisted in the neighborhood of Char- lotte and the upper portion of South Carolina. The material was excellent and the devotion of the men to the cause was fully sustained by their four years of hard service. The battery was ordered to Raleigh in July, 1861, remaining there a short time, and thence to New Bern, N. C. We only remained in New Bern a short time, being sent to Fort Lane, a few miles below the city. At this point we went into camp for two months, and were then ordered to Croatan Station, ten miles below New Bern, on the Atlantic and North Carolina Railroad. At this station we remained until March 12, 1862, at which time the enemy made his appearance in the river. Our battery was soon in readiness to meet him, but the light field guns were too small to cope with heavy gun-boats, and 538 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. finding discretion the better part of valor, we fell back to our line of defense about four miles south of New Bern and went into position. Four guns were under command of Captain Brem, and assigned to the center of the line, the writer with a section of the battery on the extreme right. On March 14th the enemy advanced on the whole line and succeeded in cap- turing a large number of prisoners and all of the artillery with the exception of the section commanded by the writer, who managed to reach the county bridge before it was destroyed, and there joined Colonel Campbell, of the Seventh North Carolina Eegiment. We took up our line of march in the direction of Kinston, N. C, reaching that point in two days, and went into camp to reorganize our scattered forces. Charlotte, N. C, hear- ing of the loss of four of our guns at New Bern, very gener- ously contributed its church-bells to replace the lost guns, the writer being ordered to proceed to Richmond, Va., to carry out the wishes of the city, and as soon as the guns were cast the battery was fully organized again at Petersburg, Va., and was assigned to Branch's Brigade, which stopped over at Peters- burg when General Branch was proceeding to Richmond to join the Army of Northern Virginia. The history of this brigade from this time on is too well known to be recounted here. The bat- tery was fully equipped for the campaign around Richmond, and took part in the battle of Malvern Hill, June 30, 1862. A few days after the battle Captain Brem informed the writer that his resignation had been accepted, but that he would not take advan- tage of it until the campaign was over. The previous resigna- tions of Lieutenants Lowry and Lewis left Joseph Graham the senior officer of the battery, who was appointed Captain. The battery, with other troops, was ordered to take position in rear of McClellan's army, which was encamped about twenty miles below Richmond on the south side of the James River. We went into position at Old Fort Powhatan, about six miles south of McClellan's headquarters, on the opposite side of the river. The river at the time was full of gujj-boats, but our position was too elevated for them to do us any damage. The battery fired Tenth Regiment. 539 into a large side-wheel steamer, the "Daniel Webster," which was making its way down the James River, not knowing whether it was armed or unarmed, and hoping to make a capture. It turned out that Miss Dix, the noted philanthropist, and who was the moving spirit in getting the North Carolina Legislature to estab- lish the asylum for the insane at Raleigh, was a passenger en route to her home in New York. I think she had been as far south this time as Raleigh, N. C, on a mission of peace and good-will, and was returning via City Point, below Richmond, Va., where she took passage on this boat. Be this as it may, she took great umbrage at our unintended insult and roasted us severely in a Northern paper for our "cowardly and uncivilized conduct," in attacking women and children. Two gun-boats, attracted by the reports of our guns, were soon on hand in defense of the "Daniel Webster," and between them soon made it too warm for a bat- tery of six-pound pieces. We were often engaged in gun-boat attacks on the James River, the most important of which was a night attack made on McClellan's headquarters on July 31 , 1862, his army at this time being encamped on the north side of the James at Harrison's Land- ing, about twenty miles below Richmoud. The river at this time was perfectly alive with gun-boats and transports to protect his retreat. We were ordered to place eighty pieces of artillery at Coggin's Point, on the south side of the river. Our movements were undiscovered by the enemy, and the surprise was com- plete when we opened fire at 1 A. M. on August 1, 1862. The eifect of our attack caused McClellan to continue his retreat farther down the river. This engagement ended the great " on to Richmond" spring campaign of 1862. Our battery returned to Petersburg and went into camp there for two or three months. In the fall of 1862 we went into winter-quarters at Drewry's Bluff, Va., where we we* e assigned to General Dan iel's North Caro- lina Brigade. Nothing unusual occurred until February, 1863, when we were ordered to proceed to Goldsboro, N. C, to join Gen- eral D. H. Hill in his campaign against Washington, N. C. Gen- eral Hill's troops were posted on the south side of the Tar River, 540 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. our battery, together with three others, all under Captain Joseph Graham, who was placed in command by General D. H. Hill, were sent to occupy a position at Rodman's Point, about a mile and a half southeast of the city. We did considerable dam- age to the enemy's shipping, but did not succeed in capturing the town. General Palmer was in command in Washington. By an order from General D. H. Hill all the artillery was trained by daylight on the block-houses and Federal headquarters in the town and at midnight every gun was fired, creating some dam- age and great consternation.. For some reason General Palmer went aboard a transport and slept, and just at dawn he ran the gauntlet down the river under our fire. The artillerymen being up-country men, knew little about where to shoot a boat to pro- duce the greatest damage. Fortunately for General Palmer, he arose early from his berth, as one of the rifled cannon shots is said to have passed through his pillow soon after he had left it. This news we got from New Bern a few days later, where he had gone. Our troops retired to Greenville, N. C, remaining there a few days, and thence we went to Kinston, N. C, and further on in the direction of New Bern. At a point about eight miles above New Bern we had quite a little fight with the enemy, pro- tected by block-houses, but soon routed him, and he retired to Newbern, N. C. A day or two after this engagement the writer, with Major Richard C. Badger and Lieutenant Henry W. Miller, met a party of New Bern refugeesmaking their way under a flag of truce to Kinston. W^e took charge of the party, placing the ladies and children in army ambulances and escorted them to Kinston. The object of General Hill's campaign was to keep General Foster from advancing into the interior of North Carolina. Our battery did not remain long in North Carolina, soon return- ing to winter-quarters again at Drewry's Bluff, Va. Early in May, 1863, we left our quarters, going to Manchester, where we remained about thirty days, and thence to the old Fair Grounds at Richmond, Va. From this point Captain Graham had orders to make hurried marches and overtake and report to General R. E. Lee, who had started his army for Maryland and Tenth Regiment. 541 Pennsylvania. We overtook them, and Captain Graiiam a few days after the battle reported to General Lee in person at his headquarters, two miles from Winchester, Va., and was ordered to report to Major W. T. Pogue, commanding a battalion of artillery, by Colonel Taylor, Adjutant-General, to whom he was referred by General R. E. Lee. At this time General Lee was thoroughly organizing his campaign for Maryland and Pennsyl- vania. The artillery was formed into battalions of four and five batteries each, our battery being assigned, as mentioned above, to W. T. Pogue's Battalion,Third Corps, Army of Northern Virginia. Previous to this a battery had been attached to each brigade. When the organization of the army was complete in all of its departments we took up our line of march in the direction of the Potomac. When Front Royal, Va., was reached we there experienced what actual war meant, orders being issued to prohibit any further riding on the limber-chests of the carriages and all baggage not carried by the men to be destroyed. The wisdom of this order was very apparent; to make forced marches it was necessary to be in light- marching trim. Nothing unusual occurred on our march, the army passing through Winchester, Berryville, Mar- tinsburg and Shepherdstown, Virginia; Sharpsburg and Hagers- town, Maryland; Waynesburg, Chambersburg, Green Castle and Cashtown, Pennsylvania, arriving within six miles of Gettys- burg on the night of June 30, 1863, and camping for the night. The next morning we began hearing the guns towards Gettys- burg, but got no chance to get in until about 2 o'clock on the afternoon of July 6th, when Major Pogue, under instructions, or- dered Captain Graham to take our battery to the extreme right of the line and lookout at a creek ford to prevent the return of some Federal cavalry which had passed over that way during the forenoon. When we started the battle was on in earnest on our left and in front, and we experienced a warm time as we galloped through a long lane with rail fences on either side, en route to our destination. Shells were bursting in every direction, with an occasional fence rail flying through the air. We were soon out of the line of fire and had a quiet evening at the creek 542 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. ford, as the cavalry did not attempt to return. ' Just after sunset General E. E. Lee, accompanied by General Longstreet, with their attendants, rode up and halted. General Lee asked Cap- tain Joseph Graham whose battery that was, and what he was doing there, and if he had any support, which, strange to say, had not been sent with the battery. As General Lee was speak- ing to Captain Graham, General Longstreet was busy with his field-glass scanning the surrounding landscape. When General Lee finished questioning Captain Graham he also turned his field- glass in the direction of the heights, upon which could plainly be seen troops in motion. He remarked to General Longstreet: " What people are those over there?" General Longstreet turned his glass in the direction indicated and replied: "It is the enemy." General Lee said; " I guess not; let me have your glass." Look- ing through Longstreet's glass, he said: "Yes, that is true, and. they must be gotten off there to-night or we shall have a hard time to do it to-morrow." He then said to Longstreet, I think it was: "Whose command is out there?" He did not know, and General Lee again addressed Captain Graham: "Captain, whose command is in front of you?" He told him he did not know, as they had come in sight since his arrival at his post. Then turning quickly to one of his mounted attendants, he said: "Gallop forward and ascertain who is in front, and tell him to push the enemy over the heights and hold him without fail." General Lee then turned to General Longstreet and asked him where his command was, and how soon he could bring it up. General Longstreet replied that his command was, I think, six miles away and the roads blocked, and that they could not be on the ground before 2 o'clock the next afternoon. This was the last Captain Graham saw of them, as he received orders to rejoin his battalion, which he did. Up to this time the battery had only brass six-pounders. That night Major Pogue informed Captain Graham that a fine three-inch rifled cannon had been captured dur- ing the afternoon on the left, and that he might have it if he would take one of our inferior guns up and leave it in its place. After a difficult hunt in the extreme darkness, among the dead and the Tenth Regiment. 543 dying, the orderly succeeded in guiding us to it. We quickly unhitched from ours and were soon on the way back to bivouac with the new treasure, which did some good work during the next two days of the battle. On the second day we were in line all day, but not actively engaged at any one time, most of the fighting in our immediate vicinity appearing to be to our right. On July 3d our position was in the center, Pickett's Division on our immediate right, with Davis' Mississippi, Lane's and Pettigrew's North Carolina Brigades on our left and rear. Most of the forenoon was spent awaiting orders, with rumors rife as to one plan of attack and then another. At one time it was said that the whole artillery force was to gallop forward to a certain line and engage the enemy while the infantry double-quicked after us, and when they had reached our firing line we were to cease firing until they had passed far enough for us to safely fire over them, when we should engage the enemy's artillery line again. Listening to one rumor and then another, we spent the morning hours until about 11 A. M., when General A. P. Hill passed along and asked Captain Graham "if he could reach the enemy from there," and being answered in the affirmative, he ordered him to open fire, which was done with his six guns. In less time than it takes to tell it the fire of several of the enemy's batteries was concentrated upon us. Major Pogue came gallop- ing up and ordered us to cease firing. A little after midday on the 3d we opened with one hundred and fifty pieces of artillery or more on the enemy's line, posted on a range of hills south of the city of Gettysburg, the enemy replying vigorously to our fire. This artillery duel was terrific, the report of the guns being heard from fifty to seventy-five miles from the battlefield. Just as soon as the artillery ceased firing our in- fantry advanced on the enemy's position, charging up to his line of battle, some of the men actually going beyond his line. The much-talked-of Pickett's Division did nobly, and I have for them the very highest admiration, but Davis' Mississippi, Lane's and Pettigrew's North Carolina Brigades went just as far to the front, and indeed a little farther. Our loss in the 544 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-'65. three days' battle was exceedingly heavy, not short of twenty- five thousand killed, wounded and prisoners, Pettigrew's Brigade alonesustaininga greater loss than Pickett did in his four brigades. One of Pettigrew's companies, I recall, went into battle full of officers and men and came out with one sergeant and two privates. It was not ii^the power of our men to hold the line after reach- ing it, the enemy being so well fortified. This charge demon- strated the valor of the Confederate soldier: no country ever producing a better one. Our troops retired to our original line of battle. The artillery sustained quite a loss, but nothing com- pared to that of the infantry. The writer recollects that after this engagement the batteries had less than twelve rounds of ammunition to the gun, and twenty minutes more of firing would have completely exhausted our supply of ammunition, which being reported to Captain Graham, he ordered us to cease firing, as there was no more ammunition to be had nearer than Richmond. But luckily for us the engagement was not renewed, both armies remaining inactive during the night of the 3d and all day of the 4th. On the night of the 4th our army retired in the direc- tion of Hagerstown, Md., going into position a few miles south of the city at Funkstown. Our stay here was delayed on account of the damaged condition of the pontoon-train, several boats having been destroyed, and the Potomac being too high at this time for fording, consequently we could do nothing but await the repair of our train, and when this was accomplished we crossed over to the Virginia side. Our stay in this, section of Virginia was short, the army retiring to its old stamping ground around Cul- peper and Orange Court House, Va., where we went into camp, doing picket duty occasionally, but resting most of the time. Nothing unusual occurred until the Bristoe campaign, October, 1863. On this march General Lee was trying to circumvent the Federal army and get between them and Washington City. Cus- tom in the battalion made each battery lead the march on suc- cessive days, and this was our day at the head of the column. Captain Graham and Major Pogue were riding in front, when they were overtaken by General A. P. Hill, who told them that Tenth Regiment. 545 just beyond the woods the enemy was lying down in the creek bottoms taiiing his dinner, and to gallop out upon a certain hill and open fire upon him as quickly as possible. We hastened to obey the order and when we came in sight of the enemy, and before he had discovered our presence, the whole face of the earth in that vast plain seemed covered with Yankees. I never saw as many at one time during the war. This was on the 14th of October, 1863, and while the other batteries of the battalion were present, Graham's Battery was the only one actively engaged, and it was a hot place, as shown by the casualties, arayuntiug in killed and wounded to about one-half of the men engaged. The writer had the honor to open the engagement with his section of rifle-guns, but General Hill had, in his anxiety to attack before General Ewell (who came up another road) should get the credit, rushed us into a very unequal conflict, and in a short time we were in a duel with sixteen pieces of artillery, about one-half belonging to the regular artillery. We drove one of those bat- teries out of position once, but they outnumbered us so far that we were glad when night threw its protecting pall over our dead and wounded and put an end to this unequal contest. About two hundred yards to our right, beyond a clump of pines, Mc- intosh's Battalion was captured by infantry. Our infantry was advanced to the front, in the direction of the railroad cut, with no thought of an enemy being in position until within two hundred yards of the cut, when he rose up from behind the embankment and opened a murderous fire on our advancing column. The de- struction of life was something awful to contemplate. I never saw men fall faster in any battle during the war. Our battery was in line just on the left of Cooke's Brigade. General A. P. Hill was responsible for our defeat here. It is said that General Hill went up that night to General Lee's headquarters and asked him for orders, and the magnanimous General Lee replied: "General, I cannot see anything for you to do except to bury your unfortunate dead." Only a few regiments had been put into action by General Hill, though three full divisions of in- fantry and twelve batteries of artillery were near at hand and 35 546 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. could have been used. We were outnumbered and badly outgen- eraled in this engagement. The enemy retired in the direction of Manassas and our army returned to Orange Court House, where we again went into camp. One night on the last of November, 1863, about 2 A. M., Cap- tain Graham received orders to be ready to march immediately. Before daylight the battery was on the road from Orange Court House to Mine Run, where we went into position on the south side of the stream on the first of December, 1863. The weather about the. first of December was very severe, the ground being covered with sleet and snow, and our men without tents or shelter of any kind. We managed to be tolerably comfortable by build- ing two rows of log fires about twenty feet apart and occupying the space between the fires as sleeping quarters. The enemy's artillery were in line of battle about fifteen hundred yards from our front. The weather was so rough that neither side showed any disposition to open fire. We remained in line about two days, when both armies seemed willing to retire. Shortly after this the battery went into winter-quarters at Lindsay's Turnout, not far from Charlottesville, Va., hoping we had found a place convenient to forage and provisions for horses and men. The winter of 1863-'64 was very severe indeed, the snow being on the ground for months at a time. Up to this time our horses had seldom suffered for food, but they could scarcely be kept in serviceable condition during this winter on the scant supplies they got. Captain Joseph Graham recalls that the horses ate all the bark from the large oak trees in camp as high as they could reach, and also says he remembers he sent an ever-watchful and indefatigable quartermaster sergeant, Perry Smith, with three wagons, on a foraging expedition, and he reported having been into another county, thirty-six miles distant, and could actually find nothing to buy, and that he hauled cornstalks thirty- six miles which had been in the fields until January. His wagon- mules had consumed most of one load before his return to camp. We could do very little in the way of soldiering, keeping within our shanties most of the time, nor did we leave camp again until the Wilderness campaign opened in May, 1864. Tenth Regiment. 547 In the latter part of February, 1864, Captain Joseph Gra- ham, being a physician by profession, and seeing no hope of an early termination of the war, and having given to the Confed- eracy nearly three years of active service in the line, thought he would' like to get the advantage of some of the great opportu- nities in surgery which the war afforded, and sent in his resig- nation as Captain of Company C. His superior officers, without exception, all the way up to General Lee, did him the honor to disapprove his resignation, but he had already been commissioned surgeon, and being a friend of the Secretary of War; Seddon, who had previously promised to approve his resignation as cap- tain, in case he succeeded in- getting a surgeon's commission, the resignation was accepted in the face of all the disapprovals. Thus Captain Graham's connection with the battery was severed at Lindsay's Station, Va., about March 1, 1864. The officers of the battery were now Captain A. B. Williams and Lieutenants Abdon Alexander, Thomas L. Seigle and H. A. Albright. On May 4th we proceeded in the direction of the Wilderness, going into" line of battle on the morning of May 5th to the left of the old plank-rcad, just a little in rear of the edge of the Wilder- ness. The undergrowth was so dense that you could not distin- guish a man fifty yards from the front. The divisions of Generals Heth and Wilcox wei'e advanced about half a mile in our front and there went into line of battle. These troops were to have been relieved by General Longstreet's Corps on the night of the 5th, but the relief failed to show up, compelling them to remain all night in this dense wilderness. It seems that Heth and Wilcox were unprepared to meet the enemy's advance, and withdrew to a point in rear of the Fifteenth North Carolina Regiment and the writer's battery, thereby leaving our front unprotected. The enemy continued to advance until they reached our line at the plank-road, which position was defended by Colonel William McRae, com- manding the Fifteenth North Carolina Regiment, and the writer's battery. We succeeded in holding the enemy in check, the bat- tery using double charges of canister, equal to twenty-four pounds to the charge to a gun. Our position was a most criti- 548 NoETH Caeolina Teoops, 1861-65. cal one; so much so that General A. P. Hill took charge of one of my guns during the engagement. The battery did terrible execution, the enemy's dead and wounded being found within fifty yards of our guns, their line of battle reaching the caissons of the battery. The long-deferred arrival of Longstreet's Corps saved our army from defeat and possibly from annihilation, for if our center had been broken both flanks would have been exposed to the mercy of the enemy; but Longstreet coming just as he did, saved us this mortification. Jenkins' Division was formed in line of battle and immediately proceeded to the front. When within about fifty yards in front of the writer's battery. General Lee was seen to be at the head of the old Texas Brigade. When this was noticed the men began to call on him to go to the rear. This not being heeded by General Lee, the old Texas fellows re- fused to advance until he retired, several soldiers actually taking bold of the bridle rein of his horse. Among those I noticed was a young soldier from Fayetteville, N. C, J. W. Atkinson, of the Thirty-third North Carolina Eegiment. Mr. Atkinson was a good soldier, and continued with his regiment until the close of the war as its flag-bearer. General Jenkins succeeded in driving the enemy in his front, but he lost his life in this en- gagement. No attempt was made to advance by either side after this charge, both armies remaining inactive until May 7th, when both retreated in a southeasterly direction, parallel to each other, until Spottsylvania Court House was reached, May llth, where we found the enemy's advanced column in our front. On May 12th both armies were facing each other on the entire line, and soon became engaged in one of the most deadly battles of the war, the loss on the Confederate side reaching into the thouands, the enemy's loss being greater than ours. My bat- tery occupied a position near the "Horse-shoe" iu the early part of the engagement, but changed front to the left when General Edward Johnson's Division was repulsed, this change of posi- tion being to protect our rear. The battery lost several men in this engagement, and the writer was wounded, which incapacitated him for active service until October, 1864. The battery continued to take part in all the engagements of the Army of Northern Tenth Regiment. 549 Virginia until the campaign ended at Petersburg, Va., the army occupying a line of defense from Dutch Gap on the James to a point twenty miles south of Petersburg. The battery was in command of Lieutenant Abdon Alexander until the battle of Cold Harbor, where he was wounded in the head, splitting the minie-ball in two, but not killing him. He moved to Texakana, Arkansas, after the war, and died there. Lieutenant T. L. Seigle then took command of the battery until relieved by the writer, who took charge in October, 1864, in front of Dutch Gap, and remained with it until the surrender of Lee's army at Appomat- tox Court House, 9 April, 1865. Of all the soldiering experienced by the wriler, that of firing on Dutch Gap was the most disagreeable, we being continually under fire both day and night for months from land batteries and gun- boats in the river. The low bottom-lands of the James produced chills and fevers and besides mosquitoes by the million to annoy us both night and day. Our sick-list averaged fully sixty per cent. This style of soldiering continued until April 1, 1865, when we were ordered to proceed to Petersburg at once, as the enemy was advancing on our entire line. The battery went into posi- tion on the left of the Washington street road, about a mile and a half to the west of the city. We went into action, but could not hold our position long, falling back a few hundred yards and opening again, the enemy still continuing to advance. We suc- ceeded in holding the enemy in check a short time, but were com- pelled to fall back to our inner line around Petersburg. General A. P. Hill was killed in front of my battery a few minutes be- fore we retired to our last position. Our array remained in line of battle until about 9 o'clock at night on the 2d of April, and then retired in the direction of Lynchburg, Va. On the opposite side of the river the writer got several sacks of corn meal, strapping the same on the limber-chests of the car- riages. This proved to be a great blessing, as we failed to get rations at Amelia Court House, the point to which the supplies were to have been forwarded. We went into line of battle, but were not actively engaged. At this point we destroyed large quantities of army stores to prevent them from falling into the 550 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. hands of the enemy. Our arvay continued to retire. At Farm- ville, Va., we bad two engagements with the enemy^ but did not sustain any great loss. Sheridan captured one of my guns, but did not hold it long. Lewis' (North Carolina) Brigade came to our rescue and we soon had possession of the gun again. We continued to move in the direction of Lynchburg, reaching Ap- pomattox Court House some time before daylight on the 9th of April, 1865. It did not take a Solomon to tell that our army was in bad shape, both as to its organization and the position it occupied. The enemy had us almost completely hemmed in on all sides, our only chance being to cut our way through the left and make for Lynchburg. This, I believe, could have been done if an advance had been ordered at once. My battery happened to be with the advance line under command of Major-General Grimes, of North Carolina. We occupied a position about a mile southwest of the Court House. This portion of the army was hotly engaged, not knowing the army had capitulated. We did not cease firing until our officers had ordered us to do so. I do not know that we could have held out much longer, as the enemy was placing several batteries of artillery in our immediate front, the efTects of which would have been disastrous to us. The writer's battery fired one of the last shots, if not the last, fired by the artillery of the Army of Northern Virginia. After ihe surrender our commanders were ordered to furnish a full list of their commands as to the number of men and amount of army stores to be delivered to the officers designated to receive the same. All officers' personal property and side-arms were to be retained by them. After this was done the men composing the Army of Northern Virginia took foot passage to their respect- ive homes, if not so fortunate as to possess a captured horse. After this time the Confederate soldier was a thing of the past. How well he has acted the part of a citizen, our Southern history since 1865 will show. Our loss in killed and wounded during the war was about seventy-five. A. B. Williams. Fayettevillb, N. C, 9 April, 1900. ADDITIONAL SKETCH TENTH REGIMENT. LIGHT BATTERIES A, D, F AND By captain JOHN A. RAMSAY. COMPANY A. Company A, Tenth North Carolina State Troops, was organ- ized at Raleigh, N. C, in April, 1861, as the "Ellis Light Artil- lery," in honor of John W. Ellis, then Governor of North Carolina. B. C. Manly, with one or two others, went to Montgomery, Alabama, to see the Confederate authorities in regard to the officers of the battery, and when they returned Stephen Dodson Ramseur was commissioned Captain and B. C. Manly, W. J. Saunders, B. B. Guion and Thomas B. Bridgers were commissioned Lieutenants, all to take rank from April 16, 1861. The non-commissioned officers were: First Sergeant, P. H. Sasser; Second Sergeant, James D. Newsom; Third Sergeant, Jas. J. Powell; Fourth Sergeant, James McKimmon; Fifth Sergeant, .William B. Allen; Sixth Sergeant, Charles C. Wreushall; First Corporal, William E. Pell; Second Corporal, Sidney M. Dunn; Third Corporal, Samuel Nichols; Fourth Corporal, Ransom Butler; Fifth Corporal, James N. Thompson; Sixth Corporal, H.' Jasper Robertson; Bugler, George L. Phifer; Artificer, N. W. West; Saddler, W. Parrott. With the above named officers and about one hundred and forty men, the company was ready for duty. The Captain ten- dered the services of the company to the State for three years, or the war. Governor Ellis supplied the company with guns from the Arsenal at Fayetteville, N. C. • The battery consisted 552 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. of four six-pounders, two twelve-pound Howitzers, two large battery wagons and two forges. The battery left the State on August 2, 1861, being ordered to Smithfield, Va., and was attached to General John C. Pemberton's Brigade. It remained around Smithfield, Todd's Point and Ben's Church, drilling and protecting the south side of James River against the enemy. On March 8, 1862, the company received orders to cross the James River and report to General Magruder at Yorktown. Then began real active service. The company was a great deal nearer the enemy than it ever had been before and, of course, was on the lookout all the time for a disturbance. Our first engagement was at Dam No. 1, in April, and soon afterwards at Warwick Island, some six or eight miles below the Dam, but we heard of no casualties on either side. On the retreat from Yorktown the company was attached to Semmes' Brigade, and on April 4, 1862, opened the battle at Williamsburg by occupying Fort Magruder, a mile east of Wil- liamsburg. We had quite a race with the enemy as to who should occupy the fort. The enemy had a six-gun battery about eight hundred yards east of the fort, which gave us a hearty reception, but in the course of an hour it was in the possession of the Con- federates. Manly's Battery knocked it up and McCarthy's com- pany hauled it in. The whole battery of six guns was captured, with only two or three men and about that number of horses. We had only two men wounded. Lieutenant Wrenshall, who was shot in the leg, and W. E. Pulley. A few days before this fight Captain Ramseur was appointed Colonel of the Forty-ninth North Carolina Regiment and left the company. Captain Manly then took charge. The battery, up to this time, was called Ramseur's, but soon after Manly took charge the men held a meeting at Camp Fisher and asked that the battery be named after our Captain, and be called so until the close of the war. The company remained near Williamsburg a few days and then joined the retreat to Richmond. On arriving at the Chicka- Tenth Regiment. 553 hominy we had a small engagement with the enemy and suc- ceeded in stopping his advance. After the fight at Williamsburg, General Magruder never lost a chance of speaking with the members of the company. At Price's Farm, while he was talking with our ofiScers, orders came to open fire on the enemy north of the Chickahominy, and he remarked that he would stay and see the fun. The General dearly loved artillery service. He was commander of a United States battery in his younger days. The enemy retired here with a small loss, and our next engagement was at Seven Pines with one section (Lieutenant Guion's); the other four guns held the ford at Price's Farm. It was one of Manly's limbers that car- ried General Joseph E, Johnston to the rear when he was wounded about sunset on May ], 1862. From this battle until June 25th we were in line with our brigade (Semmes'). In the battles before Richmond the battery was not engaged until the fight at Savage Station, and afterwards held in reserve. At Malvern Hill it was not engaged, but under fire all day. Corporal J. N. Thompson and Dr. F. H. Seawell were wounded here. Corpo- ral Thompson was from Mississippi, was at college at Chapel Hill, and volunteered in this company. After the battles around Richmond the company remained between Malvern Hill and Richmond until August, 1862, when, with the army, it took up the line of march for the Maryland campaign. Those hot days will ever be remembered by our army. Ou the peninsula we had rain and mud most of the time. Cabell's Battalion was now formed and Manly's Battery was one of the five companies that composed it. The battery was attached to Semmes' Brigade, McLaw's Division, Longstreet's Corps, and fought with Semmes the balance of the war. The route of our troops was by Culpeper, through Warrenton and Harper's Ferry, then on to Crampton's Gap, where we were drawn up in line of battle, but not actively engaged; then on to Sharpsburg, and were in line of battle there on the 16th and 17th of September, but not engaged. We had one man killed, private R. A. Dial, and James Mabry wounded. R. H. Brooks 554 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. was captured at Warrenton, having been left there sick. After this battle the company returned with the army to Virginia via Winchester, where we lost two men as prisoners, Richard Amos and J. W. Flowers. At this point Captain Lloyd's Battery, of Tarboro, N. C, was disbanded. Lieutenant Payne and Sergeant Lyon, with fifty-four men, were assigned to Manly's Battery,' and forty-five to Reilly's. Lieutenant Payne took the place of Lieutenant Saunders, who had been promoted to Major on staff duty, and R. H. Brooks was appointed Corporal. Leaving Winchester, the company went on to Fredericksburg, arriving there about December 1, 1862, and took position near the old mill west of the town at first, but during the battle we were placed on the right of Marye's Heights, near the base of the hill. While the company did not fire a gun it was subjected to a galling fire. It was, during the early part of the engagement on December 13th, in front of Meagher's "Irish Brigade," which did some fine fighting. Here we had two men badly wounded, privates W. A. Baugh and Gilbert Joyner. Several horses were also disabled. After this battle the army wintered near Fredericksburg. Oar company spent the winter at Ruther Glen, Caroline county. On April' 27, 1863, we broke camp to take part in the Chancel- lorsville fight. The battery joined its brigade on the old plank- road and took part in a running fight to Chancellorsville. The next morning, after General Jackson was wounded, we went into line of battle, our right gun resting on the plank-road one mile east of the old Chancellor house. Our Captain had the gunners to load ready for action and then accompany him to an old barn with steps and platform on the outside, facing towards the enemy. The order was then given to fire one gun at a time, so we could get the range. It served us well, as the gunners were enabled to be more effective in their aim. We used three of the guns we captured at Williamsburg (Colonel Cabell was kind enough to get them for Captain Manly). They were three- inch Blakely guns that would shoot a mile as well as a half, and they were very accurate, too. We remained in this position Tenth Regiment. 555 nearly the whole time, advancing once to Qur right to assist Gen- eral Wofford, who was on the right of the division. General D. H. Hill came over to the company here and cheered the boys up very much. We had some boys who had been his scholars before the war began. About noon on May 4th information was received that the enemy had carried the heights above Fredericksburg and were advanc- ing up the plank-road in rear of General Lee's army. General Lee rode up to General McLaws and ordered him to send Ma- hone's and Kershaw's Brigades and Manly's Battery to meet the enemy. We first engaged the enemy at Salem Church, about 4 o'clock p. M. Manly's right gun was as close to the church as it could be .served. In the church was an Alabama regiment. We fought the enemy manfully until our ammunition gave out. The battery withdrew a few hundred yards and replenished the chests and returned to within a few yards of the church again. Our troops fought until dark and repulsed the enemy, who withdrew after night-fall and began to cross the river on their pontoons. Manly's Battery was sent to a position to fire on the bridge and was successful in breaking it in two places. The next day found all of the enemy on the other side of the river. Our loss at Chancellorsville was considerable. Lieutenant J. J. Powell fell mortally wounded, private W. B. W. Williams, a splendid soldier, was killed, and privates Blount Haskins, T. D. Cook, Ben Drew, B. R. Strickland, D. C. Phillips and Addison Spikes were badly wounded. Sergeant Robertson had his horse killed under him. On June 7, 1863, the commands of Longstreet and Ewell were put in motion and marched north on their way to Gettys- burg, Pa., our battery being with Longstreet's Corps. On. the 15th, Longstreet and Pickett left Culpeper Court House and took position near the gaps in the mountains. On the 24th we left the gaps, and on the 27th camped near Chambersburg, Pa. On the 2d of July, about 2 o'clock, we reached the battlefield of Gettysburg. Our (Cabell's) battalion was ordered by General Longstreet to take a position behind, a stone wall, and a short 556 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. while afterwards to occupy a position between the troops of Hood and McLaws, and to engage the enemy until all of the infantry could be brought up and ready to pass the artillery line, then to cease firing long enough for the troops to get out of the way of our shots. When the artillery opened fire on the enemy it drew a sharp fire on us. H. Clay Settle and Will H. Sherron were wounded. As the charge was going on across the Emmitsburg road, Cabell's Batteries were engaged with the enemy's artillery in the peach orchard on our right. That battery played havoc with two of our batteries. Captain Carlton's and Captain Eraser's. They were on Manly's right, Eraser was on the right of Carlton, and Captain McCarthy a few hundred yards to Manly's left. While this terrible firing was going on General Barksdale, with one of his Mississippi regiments, charged and captured the bat- tery (Wade's New York Battery). There Barksdale lost his life. General Semmes was also killed iu this charge on the Em- mitsburg road. We fought until dark and then advanced to the line the enemy occupied in the beginning of the engagement, but later in the night we withdrew and occupied the same line we had first taken. On the 3d Manly sent Lieutenant Dunn with his section of Napoleons to aid in the greatest artillery duel that ever took place on this continent. Only one gun of the other part of the battery was engaged. Colonel Cabell secured a Whitworth gun and sent it to Captain Manly, and he had Corporal Cummings with his detachment to serve it. With it he was able to reach Big Round Top and annoy the enemy a great deal all through the day. During the night our command withdrew and went to Hagerstown, the battle of Gettysburg being a thing of the past. We lost at Gettysburg private W. E. Ramsay, killed; private B. Riley, wounded and captured; W. B. Parker, Mack Marks, M. Mays, Pat Nolan, W. R. Carroll, Thomas Hill, J. R. Home and J. G. Charles, all wounded. Dr. Eab. Seawell was left in the enemy's lines with the wounded of the battalion. We had several horses killed and wounded. One pair of wheelers was killed with one shell, it going through both at once. Tenth Eegiment. 557 After resting at Hagerstown a few days our battery was ordered to Funkstown, where on July 10th we engaged a cavalry regi- ment. They had arranged a rail fence so they could be protected to some extent. Now and then we would hit a pile of rails and destroy a few of them, but the most of our trouble came from a two-story house a little to our left. The house was full of 'the enemy, but two shots out of three from our first Napoleon struck the house about the upper floor and we had no more trouble from that quarter. Here we lost George V. Bridgers and Charlie Harward, killed; Artificer Nick W. West, Orlander Burnett and John H. Moring, wounded, and Sergeant Junius H. Dunn, captured. At this fight we saw no infantry all day, and it was the first time the battery had ever fought cavalry sharp-shooters behind rail pens. That night the battery was moved to Wil- liamsport, and in two days recrossed the Potomac into old Vir- ginia. Oar corps (Longstreet's) went directly to Hanover Junc- tion, twenty-eight miles north of Richmond. There it embarked on the railroad for Tennessee, leaving our battalion in Virginia. We remained near Hanover Junction long enough to take a much- needed rest. From there we had orders to move to Gordonsville, our battalion not being attached to any brigade at this time. We remained at Gordonsville a few days and from there we went to Orange Court House, then to Raccoon Ford, arriving there a few days before Christmas, 1863, and spent the winter there. During the four months at this place a good many of the men visited their homes in North Carolina, soldiers living in North Carolina getting a fifteen days' furlough. We kept our guns on the hill overlooking the river, and on Christmas we gave the enemy a salute, as there were a good many in sight that day. On May 4, 1864, we broke camp and proceeded with the army to the Wilderness, our corps having returned from Tennessee. On the night of the 5th we bivouacked at Richard's Shops, and at 3 A. M. on the 6th marched to Parker's Store, where we were obliged to halt, there being no suitable ground for more artillery on the front. Cabell's and Huger's Battalions proceeded that evening under orders to New Hope Church, where they remained 558 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. until the morning of the 7th. The dense growth of the Wil- derness left few openings for the use of artillery, so the battery had not been able to find an opportunity in the battle of the Wil- derness. On the 7th we were en route for Spottsylvania Court House, and about 9 o'clock A. M. on the 8th we arrived in sight of the Court House. Our battery was placed in position on the Todd's Tavern road, and assisted materially in repelling the enemy's assaults. On the 9th the battery took position on the left of the line, but here, as in the Wilderness, the dense woods prevented the effective use of artillery. We fired very little and only at the enemy's infantry. On the 10th the day was more active. General Anderson, who was in command of the First Corps, General Longstreet having been wounded at the Wilderness, was greatly pressed, and a part of Manly's Battery was moved to assist in another place on the line about noon (using the words of our beloved chief of artillery. General Pen- dleton), again and again during the day mowing down the ene- my's columns with canister at short range. There was very little fighting in our front on the 11th. On the 12th the bat- tery was engaged nearly all day, and had one man killed and H. A. Crenshaw and one other wounded. Crenshaw was shot through the breast and never returned to the company. Private Luke Lassiter, a mere boy, had been with the company only a few weeks, but died right at his post. Lieutenant Dunn was wounded pretty badly and Sergeant Brooks slightly. On the 14th and 15th the company moved with the other troops by the right flank to keep in front of General Grant. From day to day we fought a little and marched a great deal. On the 31st the battery was engaged on the left of Hanovertown with other batteries, and did considerable execution. At night the First Corps, with the artillery, marched to the vicinity of Cold Harbor to co-operate with General Hoke in an attack upon the enemy's left. Manly's Battery, with the battalion, was or- dered to report to General Kershaw. At this point we did some very hard fighting, losing Lieutenant Payne, killed, and Lieu- tenant Dunn, who lost a leg. Early in the morning the enemy, Tenth Regiment. 559 while making an attack on the redoubt that Lieutenant Dunn's guns were in, sent a solid shot into the muzzle of one of his Napoleons, breaking out a piece eight or ten inches long, ren- dering the guD useless. During the intervals of firing our men would seek the little shade that gun-carriages would afford. On one occasion of this kind private Atkinson, No. 1 at the third gun, lay down under his gun to rest. His face was just on a line with the muzzle of his gun, when a minie-ball struck the face of his gun and spattered right down, making a lead-mine of his face. Private Tom Hill, No. 2 at the same gun, think- ing that no other ball would hit there, lay down in the same place, and in less than two minutes he was wounded in the same way. Both were pretty badly hurt, but remained with the com- pany. Lieutenant Dunn's redoubt was knocked completely down, burying several of his men under the debris of rails, logs and red dirt. The lines at this point were only about three hundred yards apart, and at times the distance looked shorter than that. Calvin Holding and A. Spikes were wounded here by pieces of wood striking them, and Gilbert Joyner was also hurt here. Charlie McKimmon was shot, while not in action, by a man in a tall pine tree on our left. General Pendleton says: "Guns on our lines had to be covered from sight, and many valuable men were lost at them, particularly in Cabell's Battalion." Captain McCarthy, of the Richmond Howitzers, was killed here by a minnie-ball going through his head. Captain McCarthy was a noble man as well as a gallant soldier. On June 17th our forces crossed the James River. The bat- tery fired a few shots at Butler's Tower as we passed, but to no effect. Soon afterwards we took position in front of the town near Swift Creek, which position we held with almost unbroken quiet, notwithstanding the close proximity of the enemy in large force. On July 30th the mine was sprung, and we ex- pected orders to move to our right but none came. Our guns were moved near Petersburg and spent the winter on the lines. In a skirmish near Petersburg Corporal Cummings was killed. He lived in Petersburg, fought nearly through the war and got back home to be killed. 560 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. In November, 1864, Captain Manly was promoted to the rank of Major, and was appointed chief of artillery in General Hoke's Division, and went to GeneralJohnston's army. Lieutenant B. B. Guion was then appointed Captain and took charge of the battery. There were many regrets when Captain Manly left the company. He nevermissedafightthatthe battery wasengagedin, and neither did Lieutenant Guion. In 1863, James MeKimmon, of Raleigh, and H. J. Robertson, of Tennessee, were elected Second Lieuten- ants, Lieutenant Robertson was at Chapel Hill at college when the war began and volunteered in the company. Captain Guion and Lieutenants McKimmon and Robertson were the only com- missioned officers with the company when the surrender took place. The company left Petersburg with the army on its tinal move, and on Saturday morning, the 8th, the battery fired its last shots near Appomattox Court House, repelling a cavalry charge. On the 9th of April an order was received directing that the guns be buried, gun-carriages and harness cut to pieces, and the iten mounted on the horses, and that all make their way by the most practicable route to Lincolnton, N. C. The men cut the carriages down and burned the wood, buried the guns and left for home about 12 M., as it was then known that General Lee had surrendered, but they never surrendered. The battery had only four guns here, because it had given two to a battery that was not so fortunate as Manly's, which never lost a gun by capture. Some of the men rode the same horses home that they carried away in 1861. There was many a tear shed that Sunday morning when the orders came to cut down the battery. One poor fellow while he was at work cried like a baby, for he said he felt like he was burying some of his people. Manly's Battery composed a very small part of Lee's army, but its record in that army is a creditable one. Tenth Regiment. 561 COMPANY D. Light Battery D of the Tenth Regiment of Artillery and Engineers of the North Carolina State Troops was organized on May 18, 1858, under Section 91, Chapter 70 of the Revised Code of this State, and was incorporated under the name of the " Rowan Artillery." The State furnished to the company two guns and fifty swords. On May 3, 1861, the battery received orders from Adjutant- General John F. Hoke to prepare for twelve months' active service, and going into camp at the old cotton factory in Salis- bury, commenced a regular course of military instruction. On May 8th, John A. Ramsay was elected Captain ; Calvin M. Black, First Lieutenant, and William W. Myers and Jesse F. Woodard, Second Lieutenants. By May 14th most of the men were in camp, recruits were enlisting daily, and all officers and men attended all the drills and other military instructions. On Thursday, May 23, 1861, Captain Ramsay received an order from the Adjutant-General of the State to proceed with the company to Weldon and report to the commanding officer at that post, but could not get transportation before the 26th. On the afternoon of the 24th the ladies of Salisbury presented a rich and beautiful flag to the "Rowan Artillery." Miss Martha McRorie made a most beautiful address. "Captain Ramsay made a capital speech in reply, not exceeding one minute in length. He is a man for action, not words."* On Saturday, May 25, 1861, the officers and men of the Rowan Artillery bade adieu to kindred and friends, and arrived at Weldon on the 28th. On June 12th, Governor Ellis telegraphed Captain Ramsay to come to Raleigh. The Governor stated to him that the expense of fitting up a light battery was so great that he was unwilling to equip the company as artillery unless they would enlist for the war. Upon his return to Weldon he informed the officers and men of his company of the statements made by ♦From the Carolina Watchman of May 27, 1861. 36 562 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. the Governor, and in three days all of the members of the com- pany had enlisted for three years, or the war. On June 25th, Captain Ramsay went to Raleigh to see the Governor concerning the arms and equipment for his.company. He found the Governor in very feeble health, and in the inter- view the Governor said he had used his best efforts, but he could not get guns; that he regretted very much that the State could not furnish a fine battery to the company; that the company was from his town, and that he had a very great interest in it; that the best that he could do was to furnish the members that were without small-arms with rifles, and attach us to some infantry regiment until we could get guns; that he would make the sug- gestion to us that he had made to the officers of Company A of our regiment, that we get a trained and experienced officer to take command of the company and properly instruct us ; that the demand for trained and experienced officers was so great that those assigned to companies in a few months would be pro- moted, and then we would all get the same places back, with the advantages of thorough military instruction. He also stated that he then had an officer without a command who had been in the United States Army seventeen years, was well educated in military science and tactics, and had served in the Mexican war, and that he would send him to us if agreeable. Captain Ram- say returned to Weldon and consulted with his officers and com- pany, and on the 26th wrote to the Governor that the officers and men cheerfully accepted his proposition, and requested the appointment of the officer as stated, and that the company be attached temporarily to the Fourth Regiment Infantry, North Carolina State Troops, then in camp near Garysburg, N. C. On July 20, 1861, the Governor and the Military Board temporarily assigned the company to the Fourth Regiment In- fantry, North Carolina State Troops, and made the following appointments : James Reilly, Captain ; John A. Ramsay, First Lieutenant; W. W. Myers, First Lieutenant; Jesse T. Wood- ard, Second Lieutenant; William L. Saunders, Second Lieu- tenant. Tenth Eegiment. 563 On June 30, 1861, Captain James Reilly arrived at "Weldon and took command of the company, and on July 1st the com- pany moved by railroad to Camp Hill. Five companies of the Fourth Eegiment Infantry, North Carolina State Troops, were encamped at this place. Captain Eeilly reported to Colonel George B. Anderson, commanding the regiment, and was assigned a place for his company on the right of the line. On July 9th, Captain Reilly received fifty rifles, a supply of small-arms for the company. On July 20, 1861, this company and five of the companies of the Fourth Regiment left Camp Hill, under the command of Colonel Anderson, en route by railroad to Richmond, Va., ar- riving at that city on the 21st and encamped in the lower part of the city, near the Rocketts. On the 25th we left Rich- mond for Manassas, arriving there on 27th. This was certainly a camp of instruction — drills every morning and afternoon and special instruction by Colonel George B. Anderson for the offi- cers every day. On August 15th the company received four beautiful guns, two ten-pound Parrotts and two Dahlgren Howitzers, trophies of the battlefield of Manassas. At this camp Captain Reilly delivered to the Ordnance Officer of the Fourth Regiment fifty rifles and twenty-five of the Colts carbines. He kept twenty- five of the Colts carbines for the use of the camp guards of the battery. Jacob Lemly died September 1 2th and W. H. Black October 9th — two of our best men. On September 16th the battery left Camp Pickens, near Ma- nassas, leaving the Fourth Regiment about two o'clock p. m., and encamped on the Braddoek road about five miles north and east of Centreville on the same day. Captain Reilly, Lieutenant Myers, Lieutenant Woodard and the right section of the battery (the two ten-pouud Parrotts) left camp with five days' rations, under the command of General Walker, and marched to Flint Hill. September 30th, at two o'clock A. M., we left camp under orders that all should be silent, and marched to and came into battery on the bank of the Potomac 564 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. River, anfl fired twenty-eight shots from each gun at a large building and an encampment of the enemy on the opposite side of the river, a distance of about one thousand four hundred yards. The firing of the Parrott guns was excellent. The ve- locity of the projectiles thrown by them was double that of Captain Latham's four six-pounders, the latter using five-second fuses and the Parrotts two-and-a-half-second fuses. The shells exploded at and in the building and the encampment. At the first fire the troops that occupied the building and camp rushed out in the wildest confusion and sought safety in flight. The building was greatly damaged. October 16th signal rockets were fired by the enemy, and the battery left the camp near Fairfax Cqurt House at two o'clock a.m. and marched and encamped a mile in the rear of Centreville. While at this camp there was a parade and review of artillery. General W. N. Pendleton was the reviewing ofScer. Six batteries were present. General Pendleton said that the officers and men in the various maneuvers acted like old soldiers. November 17th the battery left camp near Centreville via Manassas Junction and on 19th encamped three miles from Dumfries, Va. Drills were resumed, and after about two weeks officers and men began to pre- pare quarters for the winter. At this camp' many bundles and boxes of clothing, provisions and delicacies of all kinds were re- ceived and distributed to the members of the battery, giving tangible and substantial evidence that they were not forgotten at home. The ladies were organized and at work, and their eiforts were duly acknowledged by the soldier boys. January 11, 1862, Second Lieutenant William L. Saunders resigned his office in the battery and accepted the appointment of Captain of Company B, Forty-sixth North Carolina (in- fantry). In the latter part of December, 1861, and during the months of January and February, 1862, the weather was very severe and the roads were almost impassable; it was very difficult and required extraordinary efforts to procure forage for the horses of the battery. Tenth Regiment. 565 March 8, 1861, the battery left the winter camp near Dumfries and encamped near Fredericksburg, on the south side of and near the dam on the Rappahannock. March 31st sixty recruits and April 6th ten more arrived from Rowan county, N. C. April 8th marched and on 12th encamped about ten miles from Richmond. On April 15th marched and 18th, after marching fifty-seven miles, encamped two miles from Yorktown. May 4th the battery left camp near Yorktown, under orders to guard the rear of the army and to march prepared for instant action. About four miles from Yorktown the enemy came in sight and the battery made ready for action. The enemy halted but did not attack. When our troops, excepting the rear-guard, were well out of sight the battery resumed its march. About seven miks from Yorktown a battery had left two of their guns sticking in the mud. Captain Reilly had the two guns unlimbered and quickly attached to two of the caissons of the battery and the two limbers fastened to two of the battery guns, and we resumed the march. About eight miles from Yorktown the enemy again came in sight and the battery prepared for action. The enemy deployed his columns and formed line of battle; Reilly's Battery stood ready to fire the instant th,e enemy fired. General Johnston's main army marched on, and had been out of sight for over fifteen minutes, when Captain Reilly's guns were attached to their limbers and the battery resumed the march. On 7th the enemy advanced and made an attack upon our lines, but on account of the dense forest artillery could not be used. About ten o'clock a. m. Colonel Stephen D. Lee ordered Captain Reilly to send his right section (two ten-pound Parrotts), Cap- tain Bachman his two twelve-pound Blakelys and Captain Moody his two Blakelys to a fine position he had selected on the bank of the river, in full view of and covering the enemy's transports. The six guns took the position assigned them. Lieu- tenant Ramsay's section on the right. Lieutenant Schemmermeyer in the center and the other two guns on the left, and commenced firing on the enemy. In a few minutes a long, low boat moved 666 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. out from the boats and opened fire on the Confederate guns. Their first shots went over two hundred feet above us, but they began reducing the elevation of their guns until their last shot passed just above the heads of the gunners of Lieutenant Ramsay's left gun. Colonel Lee's command to cease firing and move out by the right flank was promptly obeyed, and the sec- tions returned to their respective batteries. The section from Captain Reilly's batnery had fired thirty shots at the enemy, the infantry had driven the enemy back to his transports, and the battle of West Point was over. May 8th we left camp near West Point. Encamped on 9th at Baltimore Cross-roads. On the 10th the battery was ordered on picket duty, which it performed for four days. About ten o'clock A. M. on the 13th an officer with two drivers and two pairs of horses came to the camp; the officer demanded the two guns in the camp. Being refused, he rode away, leaving the two drivers and their horses. About an hour after a courier arrived with a note from General Johnston's Adju- tant-General, requesting the officer commanding Reilly's Battery to please give his reasons for refusing to let Captain have his guns. Lieutenant Ramsay wrote a brief note, reciting the facts. In about an hour the courier returned with a note for the "Officer Commanding Reilly's Battery," as follows: "Please find inclosed an order on the Ordnance Officer in Richmond for two field guns (your choice) and a full supply of ammunition, harness, implements, etc., for the same, and an order on the Quartermaster's Office for all the horses, etc., needed to equip two field guns. You are hereby instructed to deliver to Captain — the two guns in your possession that he claims. "General Johnston thanks Captain Reilly, his officers and men for their patriotism, zeal and industry manifested in trans- porting and taking care of the guns." On May 20th, Captain Reilly and Lieutenant Ramsay went to Richmond, and presenting General Johnston's order at the Ordnance Office, procured two three-inch Burton and Ascher rifle Tenth Regiment. 567 guns and a full supply of .ammunition, harness and implements, and also all the horses, etc., needed to fully equip the section. On May 31st we left camp and marched six miles on the Nine Mile road, and were present at the battle of Seven Pines and under fire but not engaged. June 1st, Lieutenant Ramsay's sec- tion of the battery (two ten-pound Parrotts) was placed in posi- tion and masked, but was discovered and fired on. The section was not allowed to return the fire. Corporal Allen Trexler was severely wounded. Lieutenant Ramsay's horse being struck by a cannon shot at the rear edge of the saddle skirt, sank down under him, but without injury to his rider. June 5th the four rifle guns of the battery engaged the ene- my's artillery in a duel across the Chickahominy River and expended eighty rounds of ammunition. Lost four horses. June 13th, battery left camp on the lines near Richmond, en route for Staunton, Va., marched to Hanover Junction, and thence by the Virginia Central Railroad to Charlottesville, thence marched via Mechum's Station to Staunton,- then back to Gordonsville. On 25th, encamped near Ashland, Va. On 26th, left camp about 6 o'clock a. m. and marched in a solid column in the following order: first a line of skirmishers, about two hundred and fifty yards in advance of the column; second. Captain Reilly's battery marched ready for instant action ; third, General Hood's Brigade; fourth, General Jackson's troops. General Jackson was in command of the column, and ordered it to halt frequently so as to keep the column well closed up and solid. Late in the afternoon General Jackson ordered the bat- tery to fire on the enemy engaged in obstructing the road in front of us, near the burnt bridge on Jones' farm. After firing about twenty rounds, and no enemy in sight, the battery ceased firing. General Jackson ordered the guns to be elevated and the firing to continue until he ordered it to cease. Expended in all eighty rounds of ammunition. June 27th the battery moved forward at sunrise and remained in the field until about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when it was moved in under the enemy's fire, but did not get into action 568 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. until near sundown. The enemy had three machine guns and a three-inch rifle battery that were pouring a very destructive fire upon the Confederate troops. Captain Reilly's Battery was ordered forward in a rapid gallop, and took a position about three hundred yards from the enemy's lines. In about twelve minutes the enemy's machine guns were silenced and his rifle battery crippled. The command to cease firing was given, the infantry rushed forward with a thrilling cheer and charged over the enemy's breastworks, and the battle of Gaines' Mill was over. Expended one hundred rounds of ammunition. The three ma- chine guns remained standing where their gunners were either killed or driven from them. One of the enemy's three-inch rifle guns got fast on a stump that they undertook to drive over and the drivers, jumping from their horses, abandoned the gun. About 10 o'clock at night, the gun being about half way between the lines of battle of the two armies, the enemy's picket under- took to ca|)ture it, but Colonel Law, commanding the Fourth Alabama, re-inforced our picket with his regiment and drove the enemy from the gun. On the 28th, Colonel Law and his regiment presented the captured gun, a beautiful wrought iron three-inch ordnance rifle, four fine horses and harness to Captain Reilly's Battery as a compliment for the splendid work done ihe evening before. Captain Reilly turned in one of the Burton and Ascher rifles and put this fine gun in its place. The battery encamped on the lines. On Sunday, the 29th, the battery remained in camp on the line of battle. About noon the enemy exploded a vast amount of ammunition. The report was deep and heavy, shaking the earth. The smoke rose like a vast column about fifty feet in diameter and seven hundred feet high, and spread at the top like the capital of a great column. In a few minutes it disappeared. On the 30th the battery marched seven miles to the White Oak Swamp, engaged the enemy's artillery and drove them from their position. Expended four hundred and fifty rounds of am- munition. The battery crossed the swamp and encamped near it. Tenth Regiment. 569 July 1st the battery marched four miles. In front of Malvern Hill General Whiting ordered Captain Reilly and Lieutenant Ramsay to make a thorough reconnaissance of Malvern Hill and report to him. They had an excellent field glass, and rode over the field at a distance of about one thousand yards from the ene- my's batteries. They reported that the enemy had thirty guns, in good position, on ground higher than the opposite side of the valley, and that six of the guns were, in their opinion, twenty- pound Parroft, and all of the others were either rifles or Napo- leons. General Whiting said: "From the examination made, what plan of attacjj would you suggest?" Captain Reilly re- plied: "Our guns, excepting those we have captured from the enemy, are inferior to theirs; many of our batteries have only four guns, while all of>theirs have six, and I suggest that we place eight batteries in position at the same time. The distance is about one thousand yards, and smooth-bore guns are effective at that distance; the only trouble is that the range is not accu- rate." General Whiting designated the eight batteries that were to be sent forward, and sent his couriers to bring them up at once. The batteries were nearly ready to advance, when General Jack- son rode up and asked why this delay. General Whiting ex- plained the plan of attack. General Jackson replied that one battery was sufficient,- and ordered Captain Reilly to advance at once, take a good position and commence the action. The battery took the best position it could get, and opened fire on the enemy. The fire of the enemy's five batteries was concentrated on our one, and was terrific. The battery had been in action fifteen or twenty minutes, when General Whiting rode into the battery, and seeing the situation, said : "Reilly, take your men out of this." Captain Reilly ordered the men to march by the right flank, and left the position. Expended one hundred and twenty-one rounds of ammunition. Twelve men were wounded: Milas Rufty, Robert Lentz, Abram Earnbart, John Carter, Jonathan Hardister, Andrew Ruth, Robert May, Adam Cruse, L. D. Ruth, W. H. Huff, Ignaz Schcesser and Milas Parks. The battery lost eight horses, including Lieutenant Ramsay's. 570 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-'65. After night the battery moved back one mile from the lines and encamped on Nelson's farm. On 9th the battery marched to- wards Richmond, encamped on the Meadow Bridge road, one and a half miles from Richmond. On 21st drills were resumed. Nineteen condemned horses were sent to Richmond and the men returned with forty-five beautiful, strong, active horses — a full outfit for the battery. August 7th the battery began the march northward. On August 10th Captain Reilly rejoined us wifh twenty re- cruits. We continued our march via Ashland and Hanover Junction, reaching Orange Court House August 17th, the Rapi- dan River at Raccoon Ford on 20th, Hazel River on 22d, and on 23d engaged the enemy at Freeman's Ford. Expended forty rounds of ammunition. On 24th, about 10 o'clock A. M., a mounted man galloped across our line of fire displaying a signal flag. General Hood, who was near, ordered fire on the flag. Corporal Schcesser fired his gun at a distance of about one thousand four hundred yards. The shell exploded near the horse, who jumped about fifteen feet. A second and third shot were fired with same results. The rider approaching the Confederate lines, proved to be a staff officer, and he thought he was under a flag of truce until his attention was directed to the signal flag. Rider and horse were unhurt. His' mission was to secure a cessation of hostilities to bury the dead. The battery marched ten miles and at dark was ordered on picket duty near Warrenton Springs. On 26th encamped near Sperryville. Continuing the march, on 28th the head of the column had arrived at Manassas Gap. While standing in the road waiting to move forward the enemy at the opposite end of the gap, with several batteries, sent a storm of shot and shell through the gap. A small creek ran through the gap, a railroad had been built on the north side, and a narrow turnpike on the south side of the gap. About 5 o'clock p. M. an order came to bring our four rifle guns up, which were to the rear of our column, in a gallop, that the infantry had been moved to one side of the road, and there would be no oh- Tenth Regiment. 571 struction in the way. Lieutenant Ramsay moved forward at a rapid gallop, and soon was near the gap. Colonel Walton gal- loped up beside him and said : " Here is a guide, he will show you a fine position, and give them h — ." The battery went on and soon entered the gap, facing a storm of shot and shell, and after advancing in the gap about one hundred and fifty yards the guide said: " There is some mistake here, and I must go and see Colonel Walton." He turned his horse in the narrow space and started back. Lieutenant Ramsay ordered the battery to halt. After waiting some twenty minutes he sent Bugler Peeler to Colonel Walton to inform him that the guide had left us, that there was no position in sight, and that instructions were desired. After he had been gone some twenty minutes or more, Lieuten- ant Ramsay knowing -that both the guide and Bugler Peeler .might have been killed in that terrific storm of shot and shell, sent Guidon Hall to Colonel Walton with the same message. A few minutes later Major Sellers, General Hood's Adjutant- General, came up the railroad on foot and said : "Ramsay, what are you doing here?" He replied: "Colonel Walton ordered us in here to find a fine position." Major Sellers replied : " I have been up close to the enemy's lines and there is no better position anywhere in the gap than this." He then turned to his men and said : " We have got to get our battery out of this, climb this mountain." The last three words were spoken with very great emphasis. The men started up the mountain with a hearty good-will, and in about ten minutes they charged down the mountain with tremendous cheering. The enemy's firing ceased. A few minutes later Colonel Walton rode up and said : "Lieu- tenant, you had it pretty hot in here." Lieutenant Ramsay re- plied, rather hot to be comfortable. He replied: " I have just received reports from all the officers, and ' not a man, horse or piece of property has been injured." Colonel Walton replied : "You are the luckiest man ever God let live. If it had been one of my batteries under such a fire it would have been cut all to pieces." The battery marched through the gap and encamped. On 572 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. 29th marched nine miles and took a position on the right-hand side of the Warrenton turnpike and engaged the enemy with the four rifle guns. This was quite a surprise to the enemy. He was engaged with General Jackson's troops, and we opened ou his right flank, completely enfilading his lines. Expended fifty- five rounds of ammunition. The enemy changed his front and established a new line of battle. The four rifle guns of the battery then took a fine po- sition on a ridge at right angles to and about three hundred yards to the left of the Warrenton turnpike. The battalion of the "Washington Artillery was on our right, between us and the turnpike. All the batteries engaged the enemy and kept up a regular effective fire, and a storm of shot and shell was hurled back. The guns grew so hot that the gunners could not touch them, and the left gun of the right section fired a charge without a primer. Although we were under a hot fire, the battery ceased firing and the men raised the muzzles of the guns and emptied all the canteens in them to cool them off. In a few minutes the guns were again in action, and were well served until the last shot in the chest was fired. The battery hastened to get a fresh supply of ammunition. When the battery returned the enemy had fallen back and the battery could not get a position. In this engagement expended six hundred and fifty-five rounds of ammunition. Eli Wyatt was wounded and five horses killed. Four of them were killed by one shot. Bivouacked on the field. On Saturday, August 30th, in the afternoon, the entire battery was ordered to a position on the right-hand side of the Turn- pike and engaged the enemy. The battery kept up a steady and destructive fire. Expended five hundred and twenty pounds of ammunition. Lieutenant Ramsay was struck on the right knee with the base of a twenty-pounder Parrott shell, but it was so far spent that it only bruised him a little. Richard Crowell and Robert May were wounded. Bivouacked on the field. On 31st the enemy retreated and the second battle of Manas- sas was over. The battery moved and encamped near the Stone house on the Manassas battlefield. Monday, September 1, 1862, Tenth Eegiaient. 573 the battery marched a short distance and encamped near Sublett's Ford. On 2d encamped near Fairfax Court House; on 3d near Dranesville ; on 5th near Leesburg ; on 6th encamped four miles from the Potomac E.iver. On 7th marched to and across the Potomac River eleven miles and encamped near Bucktowu, Maryland. On 8th encamped at Frederick Junction, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. On 10th near Middleton, Mary- land, and on 12th two miles from Hagerstown. On 14th left camp about 10 o'clock a. m., marched one mile towards Hagers- town and halted to procure and cook rations. The men and horses had been without rations for over twenty-four hours. The Marylanders were so patriotic they would not sell us wood, but we finally bought wood and the rations were on the fire. About 1 o'clock p. M. a courier came galloping up with orders to pro- ceed in a gallop to South Mountain and report to General D. H. Hill. The assembly was blown, the horses had been fed and were quickly harnessed, the drivers and men took some of the half-cooked rations off of the fire, and in about seven minutes the battery was rumbling over the National road to South Moun- tain. The battery arrived at South Mountain about 3 o'clock P. M. General Plill was in the gap, and assigned the battery to a position. The right gun was near the hotel. General Hill gave special orders not to fire unless he ordered it, or our troops were driven up the mountain and passed us. We remained under the enemy's fire all the afternoon, but under the orders could not return it. About an hour after dark the battery left the position and encamped near the foot of the mountain. On 15th the battery was ordered to march in the rear of the army as a part of the rear-guard. Marched eight miles and was or- dered to take position on the right-hand side of the road leading from Sharpsburg to the stone bridge across Antietam Creek. About 10 o'clock A. m. General Hood ordered Lieutenant Ramsay to take one of his rifle guns and go to a little ridge about three hundred yards to the left of the road and about three hundred and fifty yards in front of the line of battle, and fire into a wood in front of the position, and if the enemy made 574 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. it hot he should retire. When he had fired about eleven or twelve shots the enemy fired and made it so hot that the rifle batteries in the line of battle along the heights opened fire on the enemy to relieve Lieutenant Ramsay. After firing twenty-one rounds of ammunition the piece returned to its position in the line with- out any loss. General Hood rode up and thanked Lieutenant Ramsay and the men for the gallant execution of his order. The day wore away in picket firing. Bivouacked near the line of battle. On Tuesday, 16th, the battle began, and about 10 o'clock A. M. the four rifle guns engaged the enemy and kept up a steady, well-directed fire until the last shot was fired. The battery re- tired and went rapidly to the rear to refill their empty chests. Expended in this action four hundred and eighty-four rounds of ammunition. Robert Allman, John Bringle, William Parks and Abram Hodge were wounded. Two horses were killed and one wounded and abandoned. Encamped in rear of Sharpsburg. Wednesday, the 17th, battery still without ammunition. Cap- tain Reilly with his greatest exertions could not get it. About 2 o'clock the left section of the battery (Howitzers), commanded by Lieutenant William W. Myers, had procured ammunition, and was ordered by Major Frobel to take position on the right of our line, on the side of the hill, on account of the short range of the guns. As soon as it took position it opened a very de- structive fire on a heavy column of infantry that was then ad- vancing, and held its position under a heavy fire of the enemy's batteries and the column of infantry that ;was advancing. After the section had been in action for some time Major Frobel or- dered it to retire. Expended seventy-four rounds of ammuni- tion. The loss sustained by this section shows that it was in a very destructive fire. One piece of this section was disabled. All the horses to its limber were shot, and the piece was drawn by hand to the rear, under fire of the enemy's infantry and brought to camp attached to the caisson. Killed: Daniel Misen- heimer, Henry Miller and George Kepley. Wounded: Henry C. Pool and Rufus Holshouser. Missing : Joseph Lyerly and Wiley Earnhart. Tenth Regiment. 575 About 3 o'clock p. m. the right sectiou's ten-pounder Parrotts, commanded by Lieutenant Ramsay, had obtained a supply of ammunition and started to the front. Near Sharpsburg we met a large number of straggling soldiers going to the rear, and farther on officers were trying to rally the men and form them into line, and nearly abreast of Sharpsburg we met General Lee. General Lee seeing Lieutenant Ramsay's telescope, said to him : " What troops are those?" pointing to the position occupied by Captain Reilly's Battery on the day before. Lieutenant Ram- say drew his telescope from the case and handed it to General Lee. He held up his wounded hand (fingers in bandages) and said : " Can't use it. What troops are those ?" Lieutenant Ramsay dismounted and adjusting the glass, replied : "They are flying the United States flag." General Lee pointed at another body of troops, nearly at right angles from the others, and said: " What troops are those?" Lieutenant Ramsay replied: "They are flying the Virginia and Confederate flags." General Lee said: "It is A. P. Hill, from Harper's Ferry," and ordered Lieutenant Ramsay to place his guns on a little knoll on the right of the road and fire on those people (pointing in the first- named direction). Lieutenant Ramsay then said : " General Lee, as soon as we fire we will draw the enemy's fire." General Lee replied : " Never mind me." Both of the gunners of the right section, James M. Pitman and Ignaz Schoesser were ex- perts, and the first shell exploded in the middle of the line, the next a little to the right of the first, and by the time each gun had thrown five shells the enemy had disappeared. General Lee, with a pleasant smile, said : " Well done ! Elevate your guns and continue the fire until these troops (pointing towards them) come near your line of fire, then change your position to the ridge on the right of the line and fire on the troops beyond the creek." General Lee then rode ofl^, and the section kept up a steady, eflective fire until General A. P. Hill's troops came near the line of fire, then the section changed position to the ridge on the right of our line and opened fire on one of the enemy's batteries in position on the opposite side of the Antie- 576 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. tam Creek, and kept up a regular fire until the enemy's battery- left the field, and afterwards on the enemy's infantry, and kept a very destructive fire on them until they were driven from the field and night closed the action. Expended fifty-six rounds of ammunition at the first position and two hundred rounds at the second and did not sustain any loss. The center section (three- inch rifles), under the command of Lieutenant J. F. Woodard, was not engaged. It could not get ammunition. On Thursday, the 18th, before sunrise the battery was ordered on picket and occupied the same position it first held in front of Sharpsburg. After night the battery was ordered to its former camp. On Friday, 19th, Lieutenant Ram-say, with one ten- pound Parrott gun, was ordered to report to General Fitzhugh Lee at 1 o'clock A. M. to cover the retreat. The remainder of the battery was ordered to march across the Potomac River and four miles beyond encamp. Lieutenant Ramsay reported to General Fitzhugh Lee, who had one squadron of cavalry with him on a. little elevation nearly a mile from Sharpsburg. General Fitzhugh Lee placed a vidette about three hundred yards in rear of the guard and dismounted the men, giving the men and horses a much-needed rest. . About half an hour after sunrise General Fitzhugh Lee ordered the vidette to return to the squadron and directed Lieutenant Ram- say to give the enemy a parting shot; to elevate the gun as high as possible and use the longest fuse he had. The gun was fired and directly the shell exploded. General Fitzhugh Lee ordered a second and third shot, and these were the last shots of the battle of Sharpsburg. Before the last shell exploded the head of the enemy's column appeared on a hill about nine hundred yards away. General Fitzhugh Lee ordered his men to mount. Lieuten- ant Ramsay ordered the limber to the rear. The command "Trot, march!" was given but not obeyed. Men and horses were worn out. For four days they had been on the battlefield' and the last two and a half days of the four without rations. The rear-guard marched on and the rear end of the column was about the mid- dle of the Potomac River when the enemy's column appeared on Tenth Regiment. 577 top of the hill about niae hundred yards from the river. Just as the guard started up the bank of the river the enemy fired on them, but they marched on and did not sustain any injury. On 20th encamped near the Occoquan, about two miles from Martinsburg. On 29th encamped six miles from Winchester, on the ^[artinsburg road. On this march a limber chest acci- dentally exploded and mortally wounded Lorenzo Bullaboa and Draughorn. October 10th, under special orders from army headquarters, one sergeant, one corporal and forty-three men were transferred from Captain W. P. Lloyd's Battery to Captain James Reilly's. October 29th, marched through Winchester, total distance nine- teen miles, and encamped five miles from Front Royal. On 30th marched through Front Royal to Flint Hill. On 31st marched twenty-three miles to Woodville and November 1st to Culpeper Court House. On 3d left camp, and on 22d reached Fredericks- burg. December 11th battery was ordered to take a position on high ground, near Dr. Reynold's house, in front of the enemy. Occu- pied the same position on 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th. The enemy did not attack this part of the Confederate lines. On January 1, 1863, Lueco Mitchell was appointed Second Lieu- tenant and reported for duty. February 7, 1863, battery left camp near Fredericksburg, en route for Richmond. On 18th, at Guinea Station, battery and baggage were put on cars and the wagons and horses marched to Richmond. On 20th en- camped on the Petersburg Railroad, one mile south of Man- chester. March 12th, Captain Reilly exchanged the two Dahl- gren Howitzers for two Napoleons. April 3, 1863, left camp near Manchester and on the 4th marched through Petersburg and encamped three miles from the city. April 5th, battery was put on the cars and shipped via Weldon to Tarboro. On 6th arrived at Tarboro. On 7th marched twenty-five miles and encamped near Greenville. On 8th marched twenty miles and took position in the fortifications around Washington and on 10th engaged the enemy in his forts 37 578 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. at Washiugton. Expended one hundred and seventy-two rounds of ammunition. On 11th expended one hundred and eighty rounds. On 12th expended one hundred and seventy rounds. On 14th expended one hundred and eighty-five rounds. On 14th expended one hundred and eighty-five rounds. On 16th one hundred and seventy rounds. The enemy had succeeded in get- ting his boats up the river with ample supplies and re-infisrce- ments, and the general commanding considered further efforts to reduce the forts impracticable with the troops and means at his command. General D. H. Hill in a note thanjjed the officers and men of Captain Reilly's Battery for their efficient service.* On 16th battery left the position in front of Washington and marched twenty-six miles, en route for Tarboro, and on 18th reached Tarboro. On 21st battery was shipped via Weldon to Franklin, Va., arid on 22d arrived at Franklin. On 26th left camp at Franklin, mai'ched thirty miles and encauiped near Suf- folk, Va. May 3d, took position in line of battle. One twenty-pound Napoleon was in action and expended ten rounds of ammuni- tion. May 4th, the battle at Suffolk being over, the battery marched twenty-five miles and encamped near Franklin. On 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th marched eighty-six miles, passing through Petersburg, and on 8th encamped near Manchester; 11th, marched twenty miles, en route to Louisa Court House. June 4th, encamped near Culpeper Court House. On 15th marched twenty-eight miles and encamped near Washington, Va. On 16th marched twenty miles to Markham Station. On 17th, fifteen miles to Upperville. On 18th, eighteen^ miles, cross- ing the Blue Ridge at Ashby's Gap, and to Snicker's Ford, on the Shenandoah River. On 19th the battery was placed in po- sition on the left of the gap in the mountain. On the 20th the battery left its position and recrossed the river at Snicker's ■"Carolina Watchman, May 18, 1863: Apkii. 15, 1863. Captain Reilly : — Many thanks to you, your officers and your noble men for their efficient service. Would that you were attached to my command. I linow of no men I would be so glad to have with me. May you-have as liappy and successful career as you deserve to have. Respectfully, D. H. HILL, Major-General. Tenth Regiment. 679 Ford. On 22d marched to Millwood. On 24th encamped near Bunker Hill. On 25th marched twenty miles to Falling Waters. On 26th the battery, crossing the Potomac, marched twenty miles to Greeucastle, Penn. On 27th passed through Chambersburg and encamped two miles from the city. Note by Editor. Here Captain Ramsay's manuscript broke off. The following data as to remainder of the record of Company D, and as to Companies E and I, are taken from other sources. James Reilly was a sergeant in the old United States Army and was in charge of Fort Johnson, when on 9 January, 1861, at 4 A. M., it was taken charge of by some ardent Southerners from Wilmington. On 7 September, 1863, he was promoted to Major and John A. Ramsay became Captain. On 15 June, 1863, Reilly's Battery, usually styled in the Army Returns the "Rowan Artillery," was returned as belonging to Henry's Battalion, for at that time and down to the close of the war the former system of attaching a battery to each brigade was abandoned and the artillery was- organized into battalions of four companies each. On July 2 Reilly's and Latham's Batteries (both from North Carolina), of Henry's Battalion, were on the extreme right of our line at Gettysburg and engaged the enemy and captured three ten-pound Parrotts. One three-inch rifle gun in Reilly's Bat- tery burst during the engagement. On the 3d the whole four batteries were engaged in sdme position and lost four killed and twenty-three wounded. On July 4 Henry's Battalion changed their position but remained on the battlefield till 6 P. M., when they joined in the retreat and marched all night. At 2 p. M. July 5 they had reached South Mountain, and on July 6 en- camped at Hagerstown, Md. On July 14 they recrossed the I'otomac on the pontoon bridge at Falling Waters, on 22d of same month crossed the Shenandoa:h, and on August 6 were 580 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. encamped near Fredericksburg. On 31 July, 1863, Henry's Battalion had passed under the command of Major, later Lieu- tenant-Colonel, John C. Haskell, and was known as Haskell's Battalion till the close of the war, though in March, 1864, the battalion was temporarily commanded by Major James Reilly. The battalion, on 12 September, 1863, was sent, for better subsistence, into camp near Beaver Dam Station, and spent their time till 4 May, 1864, mostly near Cobham's Depot. The bat- talion was then ordered to the front and the " Rowan " Battery reported six guns as their equipment. The battalion was held in reserve till 8 May, when it was sent forward to aid the cav- alry. It was thenceforward more or less engaged all along in the famous struggle from the Wilderness to the James, especially it was actively engaged 9 May, 1 June and 3 June. On 7 June Haskell's Battalion passed to the south side of the Chicka- hominy and 16 June crossed the. James River on the pontoon- bridge. In this series of battles the battalion of four batteries lost fifteen killed and fifty-one wounded. On 31 August, 1864, the returns show that the "Rowan" Battery was then commanded by Lieutenant Ezekiel Myers, and the returns of the battery 9 April, 1864, showed one hundred and thirty-six total present, with seventy-eight serviceable horses and one three-inch rifle cannon and three ten-pound Parrotts as equipment. The battery, as a part of Haskell's Battalion, and attached to the First Corps (Longstreet), took part in the fighting around Petersburg and in the retreat to Appomattox, where it was sur- rendered with the army and the few survivors of its glorious career were paroled. Lieutenant Jesse F. Woodard was in com- mand of the battery at its surrender. Tenth Regiment. 581 COMPANY E. This light battery was first commanded by Captain Alexan- der D. Moore, who was commissioned 16 May, 1861. He was promoted Colonel Sixty-sixth Regiment 3 August, 1863, and killed 3 June, 1864. He was succeeded as Captain by J. O. Miller. The other officers were : First Lieutenant John C. Mc- Ilhenny, who resigned in 1861 ; J. O. Miller, who became Cap- tain; W. P. Rendall and Second Lieutenants R. Cutlarand H. David. The officers were all from New Hanover county, though the rank and file were from several counties, largely from Wake. On 7 September, 1861, the battery was still at Raleigh, and for want of guns was soon after sent to the North Carolina coast instead of to Virginia. In October, 1861, it had been equipped with six brass field-pieces and was sent with the Eighteenth and Twenty-fifth North Carolina Regiments to South Carolina. On November 18, 1861, it was at Coosahatchie, one hundred and ten present for duty, and at Grahamville next day. General R. E. Lee, at that time in command in South Carolina, stated that it was the only light artillery in his department. In February, 1862, General J. R. Anderson, commanding at Wilmington, requested the return of the two regiments and Moore's Battery. So urgent was the supposed need of their return, that Governor Henry T. Clark, supported by a resolu- tion of the State Convention, applied to the Confederate Gov- ernment to that end. On 25 March, 1862, the battery was at Wilmington and at Kinston on 21 April. On 31 August, 1863, Moore's Battery, then unattached, was around Richmond. On 9 April, 1864, it reported ninety-two present ready for duty, with twenty-four serviceable horses and four ten-pound Parrott guns. It was, as Miller's Battery, one of the four batteries constitut- ing Mosely's Battalion May 5 to 15, 1864, and was under Major- General Whiting in his defense of Petersburg. It took part in repelling Butler at Drewry's Bluff and Bermuda Hundreds. On 10 June the battalion was a part of Bushrod Johnson's Di- 582 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. vision, and was sharply engaged 16, 17 and 18 June, and served its full share in the long and arduous defense of Petersburg. On 30 June, 1 864, the battery reported one hundred and forty present for duty and four guns. Major Mosely was killed 16 December, 1864, and Major Blount suceeded to command of the battalion. The battery followed the fortunes of the army to Appomattox, where the- whole bat- talion of four companies numbered only twenty-four when paroled as a part of the Third Corps, to which it had so long been attached. COMPANY i. This was a New Hanover company, all the officers and nearly all the men being from that county. Thomas J. Southerland was Captain ; Thomas C. Moore and Thomas J. Ivey, First Lieutenants; William W. Freeman and C. C. Redd, Second Lieutenants. It was a battery of horse artillery. It was stationed near Wilmington the entire period of service until after the fall of that city. On September 1, 1864, a section of the battery was atMason- boro Sound, but was ordered back to Sugar Loaf 16 December, 1864. Under General W. W. Kirkland, it took part in repul- sing the attempted landing of the troops from the enemy's fleet near Sugar Loaf 25 December, 1864, and had one man wounded. Lieutenant-Colonel Eead, Chief of Artillery was wounded, and Captain Southerland succeeded him in that capacity. The battery followed the army on the retreat from Wilming- ton, and was probably at the battle of Bentonville. It reported seventy present for duty 27 April, 1865. ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 1. CollettLeventhorpc, Colonel. 3. F. W. Bird, Lieut.-Colouel. 2. W. J. Martin, Colonel. 4. Egbert A, Koss, Major. 5. E. R. Outlaw, Captain, Co. C. ELEVENTH REGIMENT. COLONEL W. J. MARTIN and CAPTAIN E. R. OUTLAW, Co, C. The Eleventh North Carolina Regiment was the successor of the First North Carolina Volunteers, the Bethel Regiment. This latter was mustered intoservice for six months and upon its dis- bandment was reorganized for the war as the Eleventh Regi- ment North Carolina Troops, which was composed in considerable degree of the material of the Bethel Regiment. The reorganization took place at Camp Mangum, near Raleigh, March 31, 1862, by the election of C. Leventhorpe, Colonel; W. A. Owens, Lieutenant-Colonel, and W. A. Eliason, Major. Major Eliason was at the same time elected to the Lieutenant- Colonelcy of the Forty-ninth, and accepted it, and Captain W". J. Martin, of the Twenty-eighth, was elected Major in his stead, and was promoted Lieutenant-Colonel May 6th, when Lieu- tenant-Colonel "Owens was elected Colonel of the Fifty-third. At the same time. May 6th, Captain E. A. Ross, of Company A, was promoted to the Majority. The regiment, therefore, went into service early in May, among the troops for the defense of Wilmington, with the following organization : Colonel, Collett Leventhorpe; Lieutenant-Colonel, W. J. Mar- tin; Major, Egbert A. Ross; Surgeon, John Wilson; Assistant Surgeon, J. Parks McCombs; Assistant Quartermaster, John N. Tate; Assistant Commissary of. Subsistence, Pat. J. Lowrie; Adjutant, H. C. Lucas; .Chaplain, A. S. Smith. Company A — Captain, William L. Hand, of Mecklenburg county; First Lieutenant, Charles W. Alexander; Second Lieu- 584 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. tenants, Robert H. Hand, William B. Taylor; Sergeant E. B. Alexander was promoted to Second Lieutenant to fill a vacancy. Company B — Captain, M. B. Armfield, of Burke county; First '.^Lieutenant, Thomas Parks; Second Lieutenants, E. W. Dorsey, P. A. Warlick. Captain Armfield was wounded and taken prisoner at Gettysburg and died at Johnson's Island; First Lieutenant Thomas Parks was promoted to Captain, Sec- ond Lieutenant E. W. Dorsey was promoted to First Lieutenant and Lieutenant P. A. Warlick and private J. L. Warlick were promoted to Second Lieutenants. Company C — Captain, Francis W. Bird, of Bertie county; First Lieutenant, Thomas W. Cooper; Second Lieutenants, Ed- ward R. Outlaw, Edward A. Rhodes. Captain Francis W. Bird was promoted to Major July 1, 1863; First Lieutenant Thomas W. Cooper was killed at Gettysburg, July 1, 1863, aud Second Lieutenant Edward R. Outlaw was promoted to Captain. Ed- ward A. Rhodes was also killed at Gettysburg, and Corporal William H. Todd was promoted to First Lieutenant and Dun- can C. Winston was promoted to Second Lieutenant. Lieutenant William H. Todd was killed near Petersburg, April 2, 1865. Company D — Captain, Calvin S. Brown, of Burke county; First Lieutenant, William J. Kincaid; Second Lieutenants, Louis Elias, J. M. Tate. Captain Calvin S. Brown resigned in 1864 and First Lieutenant William J. Kincaid was promoted to Cap- tain, Second Lieutenant Louis Elias was promoted to First Lieu- tenant; Second Lieutenant J. M. Tate being promoted to other service. Sergeants O. J. Britton and George W. Kincaid were promoted to Second Lieutenants; the latter was killed at Gettys- burg and private James G. McCorkle was promoted to Second Lieutenant. Company E — Captain, John S. A. Nichols, of Mecklenburg county; First Lieutenant, W. J. Kerr; Second Lieutenants, John B. Clanton, W. N. S. Means. Captain John S. A. Nichols died in July, 1862; First Lieutenant W. J. Kerr was promoted to Captain and Second Lieutenant John B. Clanton was promoted to First Lieutenant. Second Lieutenant W. N. S. Means was Eleventh Regiment. 585 killed at White Hall, N. C, December 16, 1862, and W. F. Rozell, W. S. Turner and James F. Alexander were promoted to Second Lieutenants. Company F — Captain, Edward A. Small, of Chowan county; First Lieutenant, T. Judson Knapp; Second Lieutenants, Stephen W. Roberts, B. B. Haskins. First Lieutenant T. Judson Knapp was promoted to Chaplain and Second Lieutenant Stephen W. Roberts was promoted to First Lieutenant and Sergeant W. D. Rae was promoted to Second Lieutenant. Company G — Captain, James A. Jennings, of Orange coanty; First Lieutenant, John F. Freeland; Second Lieutenants, Dun- can C. Waddell, John H. McDade. Captain James A. Jennings died of yellow fever in 1862 and First Lieutenant John F. Free- land was promoted to Captain; Second Lieutenant Duncan C, Waddell was promoted to First Lieutenant, and Second Lieuten- ant John H. McDade being killed at Gettysburg, Thomas J. Norwood was promoted to Second Lieutenant but resigned; Nathaniel B. Jennings was promoted to Second Lieutenant and was killed at Gettysburg and James R. Whitaker and James W. Williams were promoted to Second Lieutenants. Company H — Captain, W. L. Grier, of Mecklenburg county; First Lieutenant, P. J. Lowrie; Second Lieutenants, C. B. Boyce, J. B. Lowrie. First Lieutenant P. J. Lowrie died in 1862; Second Lieutenant J. B. Lowrie was killed at Gettysburg and James M. Savile, John M. Knox and R. B. Lowrie were pro- moted to Second Lieutenants. Company I — Captain, A. Sydney Haynes, of Lincoln county; First Lieiiteuant, David A. Coon; Second Lieutenants, Oliver A. Ramseur, Lemuel J. Hoyle. Sergeant Sydney M. Finger, of Company I, was promoted to Acting Assistant Quartermaster and was promoted to Major in the Quartermaster's Department in 1864. Company K — Captain, James M. Young, of Buncombe county; First Lieutenant, Robert L. Coleman; Second Lieuten- ants, John A. Burgin, John W. Burgin. First Lieutenant Robert L. Coleman being promoted to Captain and Assistant Commis- 586 North Carolina Troops, 1861-00. sary in the Sixtieth Eegiment and Second Lieutenants John A. Burgin and John W. Burgin having been killed at Gettys- burg, Sergeant William T. Dickerson was promoted to First Lieutenant and privates Samuel M. Young and B. F. Boyd were promoted to Second Lieutenants. Colonel Collett Leventhorpe was born in England, of good English stock, and served for several years in the British army, attaining the rank of captain. He resigned his commission in that army, studied medicine and came to America and settled in Western North Carolina. When the civil war between the States began he promptly took up arms in behalf of the people with whom he had cast his lot, and was probably the best finished and equipped regimental field officer in the Confederate service. Taking command of the Eleventh Regiment, he at once brought to its discipline and training the experience of his English army life. So thoroughly did he discipline and train his regiment, that when it was inspected and incorporated into the Army of Northern Virginia the Inspector-General of that army reported to General Lee that the Eleventh Regiment of North Carolina Troops was the best drilled, the best equipped and the best armed regiment in the Array of Northern Virginia. The regiment had been stationed at Camp Davis, near Wilmington, N. C, where for three months it had undergone the severest drilling that any troops ever underwent in all America. With reveille at day- break, company drill at 6 A. m., guard-mounting at 8 A. M., squad drill at 9 A. M., battalion drill at 11 a. m., company drill again at 1 p. m., battalion drill again at 3 P. M. and dress-parade at 5 P. M., the regiment soon became so complete a machine that its evolutions were as accurate as clock-work and obtained from its Colonel the compliment (as he one day dismissed the battalion): "Not quite as proficient as British regulars." The first day at Camp Mangum that Colonel Leventhorpe went with the regiment on dress-parade, and after the Adjutant had saluted the Colonel and informed him that the regiment was ready for his commands, the Colonel drew his sword, and "The Eleventh ! " came in the most powerful voice we had ever heard Eleventh Regiment. 587 from human lips. A loud laugh from the men greeted that po- tent voice, but that laugh was never heard again. Soon every officer and man knew that he had met his friend when in distress and commander on duty. . Love and respect took the place of indiflPerence, and from then until now none of his soldiers have named him but with love and honor. Lieutenant-Colonel William J. Martin was born in Virginia, and at the commencement of the war was Professor of Miner- alogy at the University of North Carolina, and ably assisted the Colonel to perfect and fit the Eleventh Regiment for camp-life and battle. Major Egbert A. Ross was but an untried boy, who was soon to give up his life in battle a sacrifice to his country. To Surgeon John Wilson too much praise cannot be given for his untiring energy and work and kindness for the comfort and welfare of his patients. FRANKLIN, VA. We served around Wilmington and at various points on the coast until the 1st of October, when we were ordered to Frank- lin, Va., and took a prominent part in the defense of the Black- water, engaging in numerous skirmishes with the enemy oper- ating from Suffolk. The line to be guarded was so long, and the troops to guard it so few, that forced marches were of con- stant occurrence, and the term foot- cavalry, facetiously applied to us, aptly described our role. WHITE HALL. On December 12, 1862, we were ordered to Kinston, N. C, . but before we reached it the enemy had taken the town and sent a force up the south side of the Neuse to cross at White Hall and take the Confederate troops in the rear. We, with portions of three other regiments and a section of artillery, all under Brigadier-General Robertson, were hurried up to White Hall bridge, and arrived in time to burn it before the enemy could cross. Here the regiment had its first real baptism of fire. 588 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Posted along the river bank, from which another regiment had just been driven, it was pounded for several hours at short range by a terrific storm of grape and canister as well as by musketry, but it never flinched, and gained a reputation for endurance and courage which it proudly maintained to the fateful end at Appomattox. The enemy finally desisted from the effort to force a passage and drew off toward Goldsboro. After the battle of White Hall the Eleventh became a part of the brigade of General Pettigrew, and continued under his com- mand until his death. The next three months were spent at Goldsboro, Weldon, Magnolia and Greenville. blount's creek bridge. From Greenville the regiment took part in the expedition of General D. H. Hill against Washington, N. C, and on the 9th of April, 1863, at Blount's Creek Bridge, with the aid of a battery, it successfully resisted the attempt of General Foster to re-inforce the garrison of Washington by that route, driving back, after a spirited fight of several hours. General Spinola's command, con- sisting of three brigades, besides artillery and cavalry. Our position was a very strong one naturally; we were well in- trenched, and there were other troops in reserve; still it remains that Spinola's giving up the crossing of the creek as hopeless and his return to New Bern after so brief a contest was pusillanimous, and he deserved the censure he got from his superiors in com- mand. Towards the end of the month we marched by way of Hookerton to Kinston to meet a demonstration made by General Foster, apparently to distract attention from the projected move- ments in Virginia and to keep as many Confederates as possible away from the real seat of war. In the beginning of May we were hurried to Richmond to meet Stoneman's raid and to protect the railroad and the bridges over the North and South Anna Rivers. From there we went to Hanover Junction, and thence to Fredericksburg (Hamilton's Crossing) early in June. There the brigade was assigned to Heth's Division, A. P. Hill's (Third) Corps, Array of Eleventh Eegiment. 589 Northern Virginia, in which relation we continued to the end of the war. When the army tooii up the line of march which ended at Gettysburg, Pettigrew's Brigade formed part of it (ex- cept the Forty-fourth, Colonel Singeltary, which had been left to guard Hanover Junction) and took a very prominent part in the bloody three days' fight. GETTYSBURG. Heth's Division arrived at Cashtown, nine miles from Gettys- burg, June 29, 1863, being in advance of the corps. On the 30th Pettigrew, with his brigade, was sent to Gettysburg for supplies, but finding a large force of cavalry and infantry there, he was unwilling to hazard an attack with a single brigade, and returned without attempting to enter the town. The next day, July 1, Ewell's and Hill's Corps advanced upon Gettysburg by different roads, and Heth's Division being in the advance of Hill's Corps, was the first to strike the enemy, whose strength was then unknown. Upon engaging him he was found to occupy in large force and strongly posted a position west of the town. A line of battle, consisting of the divisions of Heth and Pender, with two of Ewell's divisionSj was formed for attack, one di- vision of each corps being held in reserve, and drove the Fed- erals through Gettysburg, with very heavy loss, to the range of hills south and east of the town. In this engagement Pet- tigrew's Brigade occupied the center of Heth's line, and en- countered the enemy in heavy force, breaking through his first, second and third lines. "The Eleventh North Carolina, Colonel Leventhorpe commanding, and the Twenty-sixth North Caro- lina, Colonel Burgwyn commanding," says General Heth in his official report, "displayed conspicuous gallantry, of which I was an eye-witness, and the whole brigade fought as well and dis- played as heroic courage as it was ever my fortune to witness on a battlefield." In this attack Colonel Leventhorpe was wounded and subsequently made a prisoner, and Major Ross was killed. The total loss in this day's fight we do not find recorded, but in the battles of the first and third days (it was held in re- 590 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. serve the second day) the regiment lost fifty killed and one hun- dred and fifty-nine wounded, and in the fatal charge of the third day on Cemetery Hill many were taken prisoners. In the third day's fight Heth's Division, commanded by Pet- tigrew, whose brigade was commanded by Colonel Marshall, of the Fifty-second, and Pickett's Division, of Longstreet's Corps, a fresh division not previously engaged, bore the brunt of the attack on Cemetery Hill, and in a perfect hail-storm of mus- ketry, grape and canister, which made it a slaughter-pen, suc- ceeded in penetrating the Federal line, only to be promptly repulsed, leaving a large number of wounded and unwounded prisoners in the enemy's hands. At the close of this battle the regiment found itself reduced to a mere handful. Major Jones, of the Twenty-sixth, was the only field officer left in the brigade, and most of the company officers were either killed, wounded or captured. The companies of the regiment generally came out with a single officer, and several of them with none at all. Company A had crossed the Potomac with a hundred men, and came out of the charge on Cemetery Hill with a lieutenant and eight men. Company C went into that day's battl* with three officers and thir- ty-four men and lost two officer^ killed and thirty men killed or wounded, probably a greater loss than any company has had in any battle since the recorded losses of companies and regiments have been kept since Thermopylae. In the third day's battle the entire new color-guard of eight men being killed or wounded. Captain Bird, commanding Company C and the color-guard, took the flag when the last guard fell with it, and carried it on until the charge was a failure and the line retired, bringing off the flag and stub of the' staff which had been twice shot off in his hands. It was the only flag brought back from that sanguinary hill. Lieuten- ants T. W. Cooper and E. A. Rhodes, of Company C, were both killed. It was the color company, and the flag that it bore was a target for the guns and rifles of the enemy. The losses in the other companies were equally severe. Owing to the number of officers captured in the Gettysburg battles and not exchanged, many of the vacancies could not be filled, and Eleventh Regiment. 591 this defective organization continued to mar the efficiency of |he regiment to the end of the war. Colonel Leventhorpe did not return to the command, and for some time Lieutenant-Colonel Martin w,as the only field officer. He became, upon the exchange of Colonel Leventhorpe and his promotion to be Brigadier-Gen- eral of the North Carolina Reserves, Colonel of the regiment, and Captain Bird, of Company C, its Major. On the death of Captain Arrafield at Johnson's Island, who was entitled by seni- ority to the Lieutenant-Colonelcy, Major Bird became Lieutenant- Colonel. The ranking captains were prisoners, and so we could not have a Major, and when Colonel Bird was killed at Reams' Station, Colonel Martin, for the second time, became the only field officer in the regiment, and so continued to the end of the war. In a similar way most of the companies were crippled in the matter of officers. In spite of this great hindrance, the career of the regiment continued to be in every way worthy of its glorious past, a fact which is infinitely to the credit of the private soldiers and their non-commissioned officers. FALLING WATEES. Pettigrew's Brigade was the rear-guard when the Potomac was recrossed at Falling Waters on the 14th, and about 11 o'clock — the men being mostly asleep from exhaustion — a small body of cavalry, a squadron of the Sixth Michigan, made its appear- ance, and being mistaken for our own cavalry, was allowed to ap- proach within one hundred and seventy-five yards unmolested. They madly charged our lines, and were annihilated; but in the melee General Pettigrew was mortally wounded by a ball from the pistol of the Major in command. Subsequently a heavy force of the enemy came up, and as the crossing of the bridge had to be done fighting, some loss was sustained, including a few captured, doubtless because they w§re too much exhausted to keep up. As the brigade crossed, about 12 o'clock, the pontoon- bridge was cut loose, and for the first time for many days the command drew a free breath. Next day the brigade marched to Bunker Hill in command of Major Jones, where the army en- 592 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. camped for several days to recuperate. There Lieutenant- Colonel Martin, who had been sent back to the hospital after the brigade left Fredericksburg, rejoined his regiment and took com- mand of the brigade, being in turn relieved by Colonel Singel- tary, of the Forty-fourth, when that regiment rejoined us. The army gradually moved southward, and by the 4th of Au- gust we occupied the line of the Rapidan, our brigade being sta- tioned successively at Orange Court House, Culpeper Court House and Rapidan Station. At this time, September 7, (jen- eral W. W. Kirkland was assigned to the command of the bri- gade, a command which he actually exercised for a very few months. During the period of his connection with us, about nine months, he was wounded twice, and off duty in consequence; so that, for a large part of the time, between the death of Gen- eral Pettigrew and the assignment of General MacRae, the bri- gade was commanded by Colonel Singeltary, the ranking officer. BRISTOE STATION. On the 10th of October General Lee again took the offensive and started a movement towards the right flank of Meade's army; but Meade declined battle and withdrew across the Rap- pahannock, whereupon a race towards Washington ensued, Lee endeavoring to get around Meade's flank and intercept his re- treat. Our corps, with Heth's Division in front, crossed the Rappahannock near Warrenton Springs on the 1 3th and camped within a mile of Warrenton. Early the next morning we re- sumed the pursuit, Anderson's Division in front, passing the enemy's camp-fires and debris of breakfast, evidently left in haste. At Greenwich Heth took the lead and followed close upon the rear of the Third Federal Corps, picking up a number of stragglers. We overtook the enemy early in the afternoon at Bristoe Station, a part moving off towards Manassas and a part resting in the plain. In his eagerness to prevent the Third Corps from escaping him. General Hill failed to discover that the Second was there also, strongly posted behind the railroad embankment, and in ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 1. Thomas W. Cooper, 1st Lieut., Co. C. 4. W. H. Todd, 1st Lient., Co. C. 2. W. L. Hand, Captain, Co. A. S. L. J. Hoyle, 2d Lieut., Co. L 3. W. J. Kincaid, Captain, Co. D. 6. Edward A. Kliodes, 8d Lieut., Co. C. 7. Vr. B. Taylor, 2d Lieut., Co. A. Eleventh Kegiment. 593 rifle-pits behind on the hill. He directed Heth to attacij, and Kirkland's and Cooke's Brigades were formed on the crest of the hills, parallel to Broad Run and the railroad. Cooke was on the right of the road and Kirkland on the left, the Eleventh being the extreme left of the line. As soon as we advanced the pres- ence of the Second Corps became evident, and from their shelter behind the railroad embankment they poured in a deadly fusil- lade, while the Federal batteries, well posted, swept the field. Cooke was more opposed than Kirkland and suffered more, and his regiments were driven back. Kirkland pushed on, and the left of his line, the Eleventh, and part of the regiment on its right, the Fifty-second, we think, succeeded in reaching the rail- road and dislodging the enemy, themselves sheltered behind it. General Kirkland had been wounded in this charge, and Lieu- tenant-Colonel Martin, the ranking officer of the force at the embankment, finding, after a painful suspense, both flanks ex- posed, and that the enemy had posted a battery on the railroad to his left to enfilade his line, and no re-inforoements appearing, reluctantly ordered a retreat, which was made under a galling fire from behind. A number of the men shrank from crossing the open field and were captured at the railroad. Lieutenant-Colonel Mar- tin was twice shot down and severely wounded in this retreat, and the command of the regiment passed to Captain Grier, the rank- ing officer present. The loss of the regiment in this ill-judged attack was four killed and eleven wounded, with an unknown number captured. Had the strength of the enemy been recog- nized and an adequate force put in, what proved a disaster might have been a victory, and General Meade might even have been brought to bay in the open field. As it was, he quietly with- drew in the night and safely established himself in his intrencb- ments at Manassas. The loss of the brigade. ifl this battle was two hundred and seventy killed and wounded, and that of Cooke's Brigade four hundred and eighty-nine. Lee's army now retraced its steps, tearing up the O. & A. Railroad to the Rappahannock, which, however, the enemy promptly repaired. Here the line was established for awhile, but later we returned to the line of the Rapidan. 38 594 North Carolina Teoops, 1861-'65. MINE RUN. Nothing of consequence occurred until during the last days of November. General Meade moved down towards the lower fords of the E-apidan, and General Lee, on the 27th, moved down correspondingly, Hill's Corps by the plank-road, Colonel Singeltary commanding our brigade. The Federals crossed at Germania and Ely's Fords and turned up the river. They were in full force, and a general battle was expected. Our line of battle was formed first east of Mine Run, and then, as a bet- ter position in which to receive an attack, on the west of it, and slight earth-works were thrown up. There was constant skir- mishing, but no general attack was made, and General Lee de- termined to assume the offensive. Before day on the morning of December 2d the troops were formed for the attack, but at daylight it was found that the enemy had retired at night. Pur- suit was made, but they re-crossed the Rapidan before we could overtake them. We returned to our camp near Orange Court House and spent the remainder of the winter there. THE WILDERNESS. On May 4, 1864, the Federal army, this time with General Grant in command, again crossed the Rapidan at the same fords, with Richmond as Grant's avowed objective point and with the intention "to fight General Lee between Culpeper and Richmond, if he would stand." General Lee did stand, moving out Ewell's Corps on the turnpike and Hill's (only Heth's and Wilcox's Divisions) on the plank-road and ordering up from Gordonsville Longstreet's Corps and Anderson's Division. A pitched battle was fought in the Wilderness on the 5th, 6th and 7th, resulting in Grant's complete failure to carry our position and in his withdrawal towards Spottsylvania Court House, the beginning of his famous " flank movements." The Federal attack of May 5th was concentrated on Heth's and Wilcox's line. Kirkland's Brigade, with the rest of the corps, was ac- tively engaged all through the day in repelling assault after Eleventh Eegiment. 595 assault of Sedgwick's Corps and in counter-charges, until night closed the contest, with the enemy baffled at every point. In one of these charges our brigade formed part of a second line of battle, Cooke's Brigade, commanded by Colonel MacRae, after- wards our Brigadier-General, being on the first line. In ad- vancing we came upon MacRae's line lying down, and as we charged over him with a yell, he sneered sardonically: "Go ahead; you'll soon come back." And sure enough we did. We struck, as he had done, the Federal line behind intrenchments, from which in vain we tried to dislodge it, and recoiled, lying down in turn behind MacRae's line. I fancy he smiled sardoni- cally then. The worn-out troops of Hill's Corps were ordered to rest on their arms as night found them, without reformation of lines, as they were to be relieved at midnight by Longstreet's Corps. This was a miscalculation and a well-nigh fatal mistake, for about day-break of the 6th, when it was found that Longstreet had not come up, our men commenced to form line of battle, but before it was completed a furious attack was made on our left flank and the unformed line was rolled up as a sheet of pa- per would be rolled without the power of effective resistance. If even a single brigade had changed front to the left before the enemy struck their flank they might have stemmed the tide and have stopped the rout ; but no brigadier seems to have thought of it, and the situation was desperate. All the advantage of yesterday's hard fighting was about lo be lost, when the head of Longstreet's column came up, and the leading brigade was formed under fire and thrown upon the victorious Federals. Here is said to have occurred the thrilling incident of General Lee's ofi^ering to head this brigade in person and their refusing to ad- vance unless he would remain behind. Other of Longstreet's brigades were put in as fast as they came up, and in a short time all of the lost ground was regained from the enemy, and in turn his left flank attacked, a heavy loss being inflicted upon him. Our brigade was not hotly engaged the balance of this day, and no very serious fighting was done by any part of the opposing 596 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-65. armies the next day. On the 8th we started for Spottsylvania, to put ourselves in Grant's front and intercept his march to- wards Richmond. At one time, during the fighting on the 5th, our regiment lay down behind a line of dead Federals so thick as to form a partial breastwork, showing how stubbornly they had fought and how severely they had suffered. It was a novel experience and seems ghastly enough in the retrospect. SPOTTSYLVANIA. There was more or less fighting along the lines during the 8th and 9th of May, in which our brigade took no part. On the 10th Heth's Division was sent to General Early, on the extreme Confederate left, and attacked Barlow's Division of Hancock's Corps, which had crossed to the south side of the Potomac, menacing Lee's left flank, and drove it back to the north side. Hancock had his artillery strung along on the hills north of the Potomac so as to protect the crossing of his men and to prevent our crossing after them. We could not, therefore, follow up the advantage gained. During this fight the woods in rear of the Federals took fire and they had to retreat and we to advance through the burning forest. It was a hot time, literally, and many of the Federal dead and wounded were consumed. Heth's Division took no active part in the severe fightjng of the next two days, but was moved about from point to point, as our lines were threatened by the enemy's repeated assaults. It was thus hurried in hot haste to the salient lost after desperate fighting on the 12th by Johnson's Division; but Hancock's men, pouring through the gap, had already been driven back by ol;her troops and the line re-established when we got there. After several days' maneuvering and skirmishibg without serious fighting, Grant gave it up, and began his next flank movement on the 20th. SPOTTSYLVANIA TO PETERSBURG. Continuing his policy of turning our flank and interposing himself between us and Richmond, in which policy he was con- Eleventh Regiment. 597 tinually foiled by finding General Lee in front of him at every move, General Grant transferred his army to the North Anna, and then to the Chickahominy, whence, despairing of reaching Richmond by the north side, he crossed the James, intending to take Petersburg. In the course of these movements, lasting from 20th May to 14th June, many engagements of minor, and some of great importance, took place on the line of the North Anna, Pamunkey and Totapotamoie Rivers and around Cold Harbor and the Chickahominy. Our brigade took part in a number of them, marching and counter- marching and doing some very hard fighting, but the details we find ourselves unable to record in their order satisfactorily. In one of these fights Gen- eral Kirkland was wounded and did not again rejoin the brigade. Colonel William MacRae, of the Fifteenth North Carolina, was promoted June 27th and assigned to the command of our brigade, in which command he continued until the surrender at Appomattox. He was a strict disciplinarian, as was Pettigrew, and which General Kirkland was not, and he rapidly brought the brigade to a high degree of efficiency. General Kirkland was subsequently as- signed to a brigade in Hoke's Division. AROUND PETEESBUKG. General Grant commenced transferring his army across the James 14th June and, in conjunction with the troops already on the south side, attempted to surprise and capture Petersburg be- fore Lee's forces could get there, and he very nearly succeeded. But after some pretty stubborn fighting he was again foiled, and both armies proceeded to intrench themselves in a line reaching from the James to the Appomattox and around Petersburg nearly to the Weldon Railroad, and what was practically a siege of the city began, to last until its fall in April, 1865. In some places these lines ultimately came so close together that no pick- ets could be thrown out, and picket duty was performed by sharp-shooters in the trenches, who made it hazardous for any one on either side to expose any part of his person. Mortar shelling was also added to the ordinary artillery fire, rendering 598 NoETH Carolina Teoops, 1861-'65. bomb-proofs a necessity, and they were accordingly built all along our lines. In spite of this dangerous proximity and the well-nigh ceaseless firing kept up during the night, our men learned to sleep as soundly and as peacefully in these trenches as they were accustomed to do in camp. One can get used to anything. After we got into the defenses of Petersburg we continued there to the end, except one hurried march to the north of the James (July 27th), when Grant sent Hancock's Corps and a large body of cavalry to destroy the railroads north of Richmond. General Lee supposing this to be an attempt upon Richmond itself, started a good many troops northward from Petersburg, our brigade among the number. General Grant quickly took ad- vantage of this depletion to spring a mine (July 30th), which he had prepared under a salient in our lines in front of Petersburg, and to follow this with an assaulting column, which was to break through in the confusion and capture the city. In this he would probably have succeeded but fop the bungling way in which the assault was managed. As it was, the mine proved a slaughter- pen for the assailants. Some indecisive fighting was done on the north side, and then, when Grant's real object was uncovered and frustrated, the troops of both armies returned to Petersburg. Except this assault, no other was seriously attempted against the intrenched lines immediately around Petersburg until the end, and the active operations of the ensuing nine months con- sisted of repeated efforts on Grant's part to extend his line to the left and get possession of the railroads, and on Lee's part to prevent it and to punish him for attempting it. Inch by inch Grant did gain ground until he planted himself across the Wel- don Railroad, which he also several times cut south of us, chiefly by cavalry raids. In these operations, Hill's Corps being on. the right of our line, MacRae's Brigade was frequently called to take a part, alternating these field operations with service in the trenches, so that we were almost continuously under fire. We will mention only the principal actions, as far as we can remember them, in which the Eleventh was engaged. Eleventh Regiment. 599 "Warren's (Fifth Corps) took possession of tlie Weldon Rail- Dad on the 18th of August, and attempts to dislodge him brought n anumber of sanguinary engagements with A. P. Hill's Corps, a one of which (19th) Hill captured two thousand and seven lundred prisoners. Our brigade was not in this battle. A com- lined attaci< on Warren's fortifications on the railroad was made m the morning of the 21st by our brigade aid General Ran- om's, with a force of artillery, making a demonstration down he railroad in his front, while the real attack was to be made )y a larger force under General Mahone on his left flank. It lid not succeed. We lay between our batteries (thirty pieces) ind theirs during the artillery duel which opened the ball, and lame in for some pretty severe shelling. We then charged, Iriving in their pickets and advanced line, and lay down under !Over of a ravine quite close up to their works, awaiting the lignal of Mahone's success to rush in. Mahone's attack failed, md we lay low till night enabled us to withdraw under cover of larkness. We lost some men killed and a number wounded, md if Warren had known how few we were in his front, and had lent out an adequate force, he might have captured the most of ;hese two brigades, isolated as we were. On the afternoon of the 25th our brigade and Cooke's, with Lane's, attacked Hancock's Corps well intrenched at Reams' Station, a previous charge by other troops having been repulsed. We carried their works handsomely, capturing two thousand jrisoners and nine pieces of artillery. Hancock retired during ;he night and we returned to Petersburg. Our loss was consid- irable, including Lieutenant-Colonel Bird, killed, after which, ;o the close of the war, the regiment had but one field officer. The ranking captains entitled to the positions of Lieutenaut- Holonel and Major were prisoners at Johnson's Island. This aw of succession by seniority, customary and perhaps the best inder ordinary circumstances, worked very great injury to many ■egiments situated as ours was. As has been mentioned, the Eleventh most of the time after Gettysburg had but one field offi- ser, and from September 30, 1864, to the fall of Petersburg, during 600 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-'65. which time Colonel Martin was off duty from a desperate wound, it had none at all. That it maintained its efficiency under such adverse circumstances, speaks volumes for the morale of its men and for the training which it had iu the earlier part of the war. On 30th September a movement was made by the Fifth and Ninth Corps (Warren's and Parke's), of two divisions each, to turn our right and incidentally to prevent troops being sent from our army to the north side of the James, where Grant was pro- jecting important operations. This was met by a counter move- ment of Heth's Division to the right, and in the afternoon he attacked Parke near the Pegram house and forced him back a considerable distance, until night put a stop to the fighting. During the course of this advance a considerable body of troops appeared on our right and bore down on our flank, occupied by MacRae's Brigade. The situation was critical. There was no time to ask for orders, and without orders Colonel Martin at once caused his own regiment and the one next to it, the Fifty-second, proba- bly, occupying the extreme right of our line, which was already being thrown into disorder, to change front to the right and charge the Federal flanking party. They were completely routed and four hundred prisoners captured, more prisoners than we had men in the two regiments. We then returned to the brigade, and Colonel Martin was in the act, about dark, of reforming the line, when he was struck with a shell which carried away a. large slice of his left thigh. He was with difficulty carried off the field in a blan- ket, and neither he nor the surgeons of the field hospital expected that he would recover; but he did after so long a time, and re- joiued the regiment the night before the lines were broken at Petersburg, the wound still not completely healed. In conse- quence of this protracted absence he hasino personal knowledge of the operations in which the regiment was engaged from Octo- ber 1, 1864,> April 2, 1865. On the "1st and 2d of October the movement above referred to, of the enemy against our right, was kept up, and the brigade was more or less seriously engaged over several miles of territory outside our lines. As the result of the movement the Federal intrenchments were considerably extended on their left. ELEVENTH REGIMENT. 1. Clingman Craig, 1st Sergeant, Co. C. 3. B. P. Carter, Sergeant, Co. C. 3. John G. Floyd, Sergeant, Co. C. 4. J. M. Earnheardt, Sergeant, Co. A. 5. Francia Gillam, Sergeant, Go. C. 6. J. M. Sims, Sergeant, Co. A. 7. James E. Mitchell, Private, Co. C. 8. Joseph I-I. King, Private, Co. C. Eleventh Regiment. 601 On 27th October another movement to the left, with the Southside Railroad as the objective point, was made by the Army of the Potomac, with the whole or the most of the Second, Fifth and Ninth Corps. The Fifth and Ninth found our works in their front so strong that they did not seriously attempt to carry them; but Hancock, to the left of the Fifth and Ninth, attacked our right impetuously, yet without success. He was then in turn attacked by Hill, and a hotly contested but inde- cisive battle was fought in the open field at Burgess' Mill. In the night the Federals returned to their original lines and we after- wards returned to ours. From then until the close of the year the Eleventh was continuously on duty and daily (and nightly, too) under fire, but in no important engagement. Both armies remained quiet during January, 1865, but with February Grant resumed the anaconda process of enveloping Pe- tersburg, preparatory to swallowing it and Lee's army. On 5th February the Second and Fifth Corps, with a division of cavalry, moved out to Hatcher's Run, and in the afternoon parts of the Sixth and Ninth Corps were ordered up to re-inforce them. This movement was resisted by Hill's Corps and parts of Longstreet's, Heth's Division attacking Humphrey's (Second Corps), and subsequently the whole corps participating. Noth- ing was accomplished. Fighting was resumed on the 6th and 7th, and Hill gained some advantage in the afternoon of the 6th by ■defeating, with heavy loss, Warren's Fifth Corps. But they brought up fresh troops, and our victory was a barren one, the Federals finally holding Hatcher's Run. Another lull now followed until 25th March, when General Lee, with Gordon's Division, made an assault on Fort Steadman (Hare's Hill), on the Federal right, and carried it handsomely, with capture of prisoners and guns. But our army was now so attenuated that we could not hold any ground we gained or follow up any victory, while the Federals could pour in fresh troops to retrieve their disasters ; so the fort was soon retaken, and Grant made a counter demonstration along his lines. There was some severe fighting on our right, in which MacRae's Brigade was en- gaged. Nothing was accomplished on either side. 602 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Meanwhile Grant had been preparing his army for a final ooup de main, withdrawing troops from the north side of the James and from the intreuchraents on the right of his line at Peters- burg, concentrating them in the rear of his left near Hatcher's Run. His programme was to bear down on our right with crushing force and, in case Lee re-inforced his right with troops from the trenches at Petersburg, to assault the weakened lines at any practicable point and carry them. The plan was a complete success. Lee did carry every available soldier to the right, and some heavy fighting, with varying fortune, was done there, be- ginning March 29th and culminating in the battle of Five Forks,. April 1st, in which last battle our troops (Pickett's Division and our cavalry corps under Fitz. Lee) were disastrously defeated at the hands of Sheridan's Cavalry and Warren's Fifth Corps of Infantry. On the morning of April 2d, at 4 o'clock, our atten- uated lines near Petersburg were assaulted by Generals AVright and Parke (Sixth and Ninth Corps), previously massed in front of their works, and so near to ours that they could reach them^ in a few steps, and almost before their approach was known. Wright's Corps carried the works in his front, which would have been impregnable if defended by any adequate force, but which in fact were occupied by a mere skirmish line. The Eleventh and the Twenty-sixth North Carolina were among the troops in trenches (the rest of the brigade having gone to the right), and the men were placed Jive or six feet apai-t. Breaking through the line at the point of assault, the Federals swung around to the left and swept down the trenches, turning our own artillery against us as it was captured. At the same time General Parke, with the Ninth Corps, carried the first line of our works in his front nearer to Petersburg, but here encountered an inner line of fortifications which he failed to carry, though he afterwards did so when re- inforced by other troops. Our lines being thus cut in two, and the troops on Hatcher's E,un cut off from those at Petersburg, General Lee evacuated Petersburg and undertook to re-assemble his army on the Danville Railroad. It was not to be. Grant flanked him and dogged his rear Eleventh Regiment. 603 during all the dreary retreat, ending with the surrender, April 9th, of the remnant of Lee's army at Appomattox Court House. During this retreat MacRae's Brigade was often called upon for service, which it rendered with alacrity if not with hopefulness. Ou 8th April the brigade formed the rear-guard of the army. Formed in a triangle across the road, the men six feet apart, the rear angle resting on the road. From this position it was relieved by Mahone's men and taken at double-quick, with the remainder of Heth's Division, to protect the artillery stalled in the mud and menaced by a large force of cavalry. The division witnessed a cavalry charge that seemed to be bloody and terrific, but the retreat of the Federals disclosed the fact that although the two bodies of cavalry had violently assaulted each other with sword and pistol, the only man killed on the field was a Confederate lieutenant, whose head was shot off by our owu guns. On the night of 7th April, in a consultation of the officers of the Eleventh Regiment, Captain Outlaw, of Company C, was advised to take charge of the flag and see that it was not lost. It was removed from the staff, the silk cover replaced, and dur- ing the 8th of April it was not unfurled and no one knew but that the flag was on the staff. When General Lee rode to the front and through the lines to meet General Grant, every one knew that the hour of surrender had come. The officers present with the regiment at once retired to a secluded thicket, and rak- ing up a pile of twigs and leaves, committed the flag to the flames. Before burning it. Captains Outlaw and J. M. Young tore out pieces of each color. Sincere tears have often been shed around funeral pyres, but never more bitter and sorrowful tears bedewed any ashes than were shed over their dead flag. It had been given by the Legislature of North Carolina to the Bethel Regiment, and then committed to the keeping of the Eleventh. It had waved over it in triumph on many a bloody field. It had never been dishonored and they could not bear to see it the trophy of an enemy. Heth's Division surrendered a total of one thousand five hundred and seventy-two officers and men and our brigade a total of four 604 North Caeolina Tboops, 1861-'65. hundred and forty-two. The exact number of the Eleventh at the surrender is not recorded. It was doubtless less than one hun- dred. Whatever it was, Colonel Martin had the melancholy satis- faction of signing their paroles, and the gallant regiment ceased to exist. Different parties took different routes to their desolate homes, and we bade each other a sad, in many cases a tearful, farewell. Davidson College, N. C. W. J. MaetiHT, QuiTSNA, N. C. E. R. Outlaw. TWELFTH REGIMENT. 1. Sol. Williams, Colonel. 3, W. H. Kitcliin, Captain, Co. I. 2. Plato Durham, Captain, Co. E. 4. John T. Gregory, Adjntanf. ."). Junius C. Battle, Private, Co. D. TWELFTH REGIMENT. By WAIwTER a. MONTGOMERY, Second IvIEUT. Company F. The Twelfth Regiment of North Carolina Troops was origi- nally the Second Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers. The change of the number of the regiment from the Second to the Twelfth was the result of the two different but simultaneous plans of enlistment adopted by the legislative authorities. The regiments of volunteers were formed under an act of the General Assembly, ratified on the 10th of May, 1861, and entitled "An Act to provide for the public defense." The volunteers were to be enlisted for twelve months and tendered to the Confederate States of America, or any one of the slave-holding States. The company commissioned officers were to elect the field officers, the men the company commissioned officers and the captains to appoint the non-commissioned officers. The State Troops were raised, by voluntary enlistment, under another act of the General Assembly, ratified the 8th of May, 1861, and entitled "An Act to raise ten thousand State Troops," and they were to consist of ten thousand men, divided into ten regiments, eight of infantry, one of cavalry, one of artillery, to serve "during the present war, unless sooner discharged." The Governor had the power conferred on him to appoint all the commissioned officers created by the last mentioned act. These ten regiments of State Troops were evidently intended for service in North Carolina, for the act creating them contained no power to have them transferred to the Confederate States. They were, however, subsequently transferred to the Confederate States of America by an ordinance of the Convention passed June 27, 1861. Under these dual systems of enlistments going on, simultaneously, different regiments had the same number, as 606 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. the First and Second Regimeats of Volunteers and First and Second Regiments of State Troops. To prevent confusion, the numbers from one to ten, inclusive, were assigned to the State Troops, raised under the act of 8th May, and the fourteen regi- ments of volunteers, then in the service, were required to add ten to the original numbers of their regiments. The First Vol- unteers, therefore, became the Eleventh, the Second became the Twelfth, and so up to the Fourteenth, which became the Twenty- fourth. Afterwards the regiments, as they were formed, were numbered in order. This regiment was organized at the camp of instruction near Garysburg, on the ISth of May, 1861. The ten companies com- prising it, however, had been in camps of instruction since the latter days of April — first at the old fair grounds at Raleigh, and then near Garysburg, and some of them in actual service, certainly the two Warren companies — the Guards and the Rifles — at Fort Macon, before their arriving at Raleigh. Solomon Williams, of Nash, a graduate of the West Point Academy, of the class of , was elected Colonel; Edward Cantwell, of New Han- over, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Augustus W. Burton, of Cleveland, Major. John C. Pegram, of Virginia, was appointed Adjutant, and Thomas J. Foote, of Warren, Sergeant-major; W. T. Alston, of Warren, Assistant Quartermaster; James Johnson, of North- ampton, Surgeon, and R. W. Young, of Granville, Assistant Surgeon. W. T. Alston resigned within a few months, and was succeeded by B. F. Powell, of Warren, and he by John S. North- ington, of Halifax. The resignation of Dr. Johnson, as Surgeon, was followed by the appointment of R. S. F. Peete, of Warren, in May, 1862. Solomon Williams Alston was also appointed Assistant Surgeon, and died in July, 1862, from fever, contracted around Richmond. He was succeeded by W. V. Marston, and he by George A. Penny. In 1862, S. P. Arriugton was appointed Quartermaster Sergeant. J. A. Deal served as Ordnance Ser- geant through the war, and R. H. Bullock Commissary Sergeant for the same length of time. There were two companies from Warren, A (Warren Guards, Twelfth Regiment. 607 Captain B. O. Wade), and G (Warren Rifles, Captain T. L. Jones); two from Granville, B (Granville Grays, Captain George Wortham), and F (Townsville Guards, Captain Henry E. Cole- man); one from Catawba, K (Catawba Rifles, Captain John Ray); one from Cleveland, H (Cleveland Guards, Captain Augustus W. Burton); one from Halifax, E (Halifax Light Infantry, Captain James H. Whitaker); one from Nash, I (Nash Boys, Captain W. T. Williams); one from Duplin, C (Duplin Rifles, Captain Thomas S. Kenan); one from Robeson, D (Lumberton Guards, Captain R. M. Norment). The regiment left Garysburg by rail for Richmond on the 22d of May, 1861. Upon its.arrival at Richmond it was ordered to Norfolk, an attack upon that place being daily expected, and arrived at the latter place, and was soon assigned to the brigade of General Withers, afterwards Mahone's. During the succeeding summer months it was encamped at Camp Carolina, upon Ward's farm, near the old fair grounds. A contiguous field to the encampment, level and of. sufficient area, furnished most suitable grounds for drill and parade, and the constant training of the men for months, in company and regimental exercises, produced a high degree of proficiency in disciplinary maneuvers. The regiment, however, embraced in considerable proportion a class of men of education, of social refinement and wealth, who mingled freely on terms of social equality with field and staff and company officers, and military discipline was thereby rendered impossible. To add to the difficulties in the way of discipline, the camp was the constant scene of gayety, and the city of Norfolk was daily thronged with members of the regiment on social visits to the citizens; and fur- loughs were generously granted. The regiment took up winter-quarters at Camp Arrington, near Sewell's Point Battery, where it remained until it left Nor- folk on the 6th of May, 1862. Nothing disturbed the monotony of the camp with the exceptions of the destruction of the "Con- gress" and "Cumberland" by the Confederate Ram, "Virginia" (Merrimac), in Hampton Roads on the 8th March, 1862, and the 608 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. naval engagement between the " Virginia " and the " Monitor," which took place the next day in the same waters, all of which was witnessed by the men from the shore, south of Sewell's Point Bat- tery. While at Camp Arrington the terra of service of Companies- C (Duplin Rifles), and. D (Lumberton Guards), expired (they having been enlisted for six months), and they were mustered out, reorganized and assigned to other regiments. Their places were supplied by a company from Halifax, Cap- tain Shugan Snow, and a company made up from Warren and Franklin, Robert W. Alston, Captain. The conscription act of the Confederate Congress, ratified April 16, 1862, provided, among other things, that j;roops whose term of original enlistment had not expired, should have the right within forty days to reorganize the companies, battalions and regiments by electing all their officers which they had aright to elect before the passage of the act. Under that provision of the act a reorganization of the- regiment took place on the first day of May, 1862. Solomon Williams was elected Colonel; B. 0. Wade, Lieutenant-Colonel, and T. L. Jones, Major. The commissioned officers of the companies elected the field officers and the men elected all their company commissioned officers. At this time the lettering of the companies was changed. Snow's company became Company T, and Alston's company became Company K. The letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G and H, in order, were assigned to the original companies K, F, G, B, H, A, E and 1, respectively. Upon the evacuation of Norfolk on the 9th of May, 1862, the regiment was detached from Mahone's Brigade and ordered to the Valley of Virginia to report to General Ewell, but was halted at Gordonsville, and in about two weeks retraced its steps as far as Hanover Court House. BATTLE NEAR HANOVER COURT HOUSE. This battle occurred on the 27th of May, 1862. General L. O'B. Branch commanded the Confederates and General Fitz John Por- ter the Union forces. General Branch's strength consisted of the Twelfth Regiment. 609 Seventh, Eighteenth, Twenty-eighth, Thirliy-third and Thirty- seventh North Carolina Regiments (his own brigade), the Twelfth North Carolina, the Forty-fifth Georgia, and Latham's Battery of four pieces General Porter had immediately with him four- teen regiments of Morell's Division, Berdan's Sharp-shooters, and three batteries of artillery, a horse battery and two regiments of cavalry. Porter had been sent in that direction from Me- chanicsville by McClelian to open up the way for McDowell and his corps from the neighborhood of Fredericksburg, and to de- stroy the Central Railroad. The battle was unequal. The Con- federates were caught divided, and they were outnumbered. The Union commander was a skillful soldier, trained from his youth in the profession of arms. That he was a consummate tactician and sturdy fighter was shortly to appear at Beaver Dam Creek, Cold Harbor and Malvern Hill. The result was a disaster for the Confederates. The isolated fight made by the Twenty-eighth Regiment was obstinate. The charge of the Eighteenth and Thirty-seventh was most creditable. The Thirty-third, Twelfth and Seventh North Carolina participated but slightly, and the Forty-fifth Georgia was not engaged. The loss of the Twelfth was seven killed and twenty wounded. Adjutant Elias Bunn was wounded here, and afterwards died. He had succeeded Pegfam, who had resigned. The regiment, after the battle of Hanover Court House, re- joined Mahone's Brigade, but too late to take part in the battle of Seven Pines. On the 6th of June following. Colonel Wil- liams was transferred to the Nineteenth North Carolina (Second Cavalry), and was killed while gallantly ■ leading his regiment near Fleetwood (Brandy) on the 9th of June, 1863. Upon Colonel Williams leaving the regiment, Lieutenant- Colonel Wade became Colonel; Major Jones, Lieutenant-Colonel, and David P. Rowe, Captain Company A, Major. Sergeant- major Foote was on the 6th of June appointed Adjutant by Colonel Wade and J. T. Cook succeeded to the office of Sergeant- major and W. M. Wilfong became Captain of Company A. On the 17th of June the Twelfth Regiment, with the Fifth, Thir- 39 610 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. teenth, Twentieth atid Twenty-third (all North Carolina regi- ments) were constituted a brigade, and placed under the command of General Samuel Garland, of Virginia. (The Thirteenth Regiment in the winter following was transferred to Scales' Brigade). General Garland was of fine personal character, a soldier brave and skillful, and most competent to command a brigade, and he afterwards sealed with his blood and death, at Boonsboro, his devotion to his country, but he should not have been appointed to the command of these North Carolina regi- ments. He was preferred over Colonel MacRae (and other com- petent Carolinians), who had just come out of that immersion of fire of the Fifth Regiment at Williamsburg, its charge, with the Twenty-fourth Virginia, on that occasion, calling forth from General Hancock the exclamation : "Those regiments deserve to have 'immortal' inscribed on their banners." The Fifth North Carolina at Williamsburg carried into the battle four hundred and fifteen men. Seventy were killed dead on the field, twenty- five (by the average) died from wounds received there, and the usual proportion of those not mortally wounded were in the casualties. The charge was but for a moment. The loss, all things con- sidered, was the heaviest that occurred in any regiment during the war. Ten guns, supported by five regiments of infantry, with six companies of sharp-shooters in formidable redoubts, occupying a chain of hills, and under the eye of General Han- cock, received the charge of the two Confederate regiments. The distance was over half a mile, the ground wet and miry, and the men in disorder from crossing the creek and the tangle growth around it. It makes the heart sick to read of the wound- ing, the maiming, the killing of these devoted men. It is all very well to write of the glory and the fame and the honor of that charge. The men who made it deserve to have their mem- ories enshrined in the hearts of all humanity, now and forever, for courage and devotion to duty, but impartial history has only censure for those who were responsible for that useless waste of blood. Each one of the general officers who were connected with it, Twelfth Regiment. 611 of course, sought to avoid the responsibility of it. The only things that appear to be certain about it are that the charge was not necessary; that General Early comoaenced the fighting with the Twenty-fourth Virginia Regiment, and that General Joseph E. Johnston authorized it, but advised caution. All the balance is confused. General D. H. Hill reported that General Long- street approved the movement and directed him to make it; that he (Hill) was with the right wing, and that Early impetuously made the attack with the other wing, and not according to the plans of Hill. General Longstreet, in his book "From Ma- nassas to Appomattox," writes : " General Johnston had arrived at my headquarters near Fort Magruder, when General Hill sent to report the reconnaissance, and to ask that he be allowed to make a move against Hancock by Early's Brigade. General Johnston received the message and referred the officer to me. I ordered that the move should not be made, explaining that we were only fighting for time to draw oft' our trains; that aggressive battle was necessary on our right in order to keep the enemy back in the woodland from the open, where, by his superior artillery and numbers, he might deploy beyond our limits and turn us out of position; that on our left there was no cause for apprehension of such action, and we could not risk being drawn into serious delay by starting new work so late in the day. Very soon General Hill rode over to report of the opportunity; that he thought he could get through before night, and would not be likely to in- volve delay of our night march. General Johnston referred him tome. I said: 'The brigade you propose to use is not in safe hands. If you will go with it and see that the troops are prop- erly handled, you can make the attack, but don't involve us so as to delay the march after night.' " General Longstreet further says that General Hill, after the war, wrote of this fight: "I cannot think of it till this day without horror. The slaughter of the Fifth North Carolina Regiment was one of the most awful things I ever saw, and it was caused by a blunder. At your re- quest, I think, I followed Early's Brigade, following the right wing." 612 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. No apology is necessary for the above digression. All North Carolinians should be proud of the Fifth North Carolina Regi- ment. Our sympathies, .too, should be doubly interested, for in addition to its misfortunes at Williamsburg, it is also to be re- membered that that regiment met with a worse fate at Gettysburg in its assault on the rock wall, on Forney's farm, where it was put in on a false alignment and was left to its doom by its bri- gade commander (Iverson), who did not come upon the actual field. It perished there in its visible form, to beconie again in- carnate at the Wilderness and Spottsylvania by the return of its sick and wounded. THE SEVEN DAYS' BATTLES. On the 26th of June, 1862, four corps of the Army of the Potomac, constituting its center and left wing, were intrenched on the south side of the Chickahominy and to the east of Rich- mond, in a nearly north and south line from White Oak Swamp to New Bridge. The right wing of that army, the Fifth Corps, under Fitz John Porter, occupied the high and rough bluffs along the north side of the Chickahominy from New Bridge north- westwardly to Mechanicsville, the real line at that point, how- ever, being about a mile to the rear, along the north side of Beaver Dam Creek, a position of great natural strength, and well fortified. The Federal army was put down at one hundred and five thousand effectives, while the Confederate was placed at eighty thousand. General Lee had thirty-nine brigades of one hundred and seventy-five regiments of infantry, and General McClellan had thirty-two brigades of one hundred and forty- eight regiments of that service. Each army had more than an abundance of artillery. Lee's first plan of attack (set out in his letter to General Jackson, dated 11th of June) was for Jackson " to move rapidly to Ashland by rail or otherwise, as you find most advantageous, and sweep down between the Chickahominy and Pamunkey, cutting off the enemy's communications, while this army attacks General McClellan in front." This plan was, after deliberation, abandoned, and one adopted in which Jackson was Twelfth Eegiment. 613 to co-operate with the divisions of Longstreet, D. H. Hill and A. P. Hill in an attack upon Porter's Corps at Mechanicsville and Beaver Dam Creek. Under the order of battle, issued upon the 24th, the three divisions named were to be in concentration at the bridges over the Chickahominy, near Mechanicsville, to await the movements of Jackson. Huger and Magruder were to hold the lines to the east of Richmond, observe the movements of the enemy and follow him closely should he retreat. It was expected that Jackson would be, on the night of the 25th, within a few miles of the other Confederate columns. Jackson was di- rected to advance at 3 o'clock Thursday morning, the 26th, on a road running in the rear of the Federal position on Beaver Dam Creek. As soon as Jackson's movements should be discovered, A. P. Hill was to force Meadow bridge and move upon Me- chanicsville, while D. H. Hill and Longstreet should cross over Mechanicsville bridge as soon as it should be uncovered by A. P, Hill's movement, D. H. Hill was then to move to the support of Jackson and Longstreet to the support of A. P. Hill. The four commands were then to sweep in touch and in echelon down the Chickahominy, driving the enemy, pressing forward to the York River Railroad, closing up the enemy's rear and forcing him down the Chickahominy. But Jackson was delayed some hours by the extreme heat and the failure of the Richmond Commissariat to supply his troops with food at Ashland. A. P. Hill, not having heard from Jackson, and becoming impatient at his delay, begun the attack, contrary to orders, at about 3 P. M., without the aid of Jackson in the rear. He drove the Union outposts from around Mechanicsville across Beaver Dam Creek into their in- trenchments. The divisions of Longstreet and D. H. Hill crossed the Chickahominy at Mechanicsville bridge as soon as it was uncovered. Field and Pender, of A. P. Hill's Division, and Ripley's Brigade, of D. H. Hill's Division, were engaged in the attack on the line behind Beaver Dam Creek — Pender and Ripley at and near Ellison's mill, and Field higher up the creek. It ended in a repulse and dreadful slaughter of the Confederates — a most useless waste of human life. The loss of the Federals 614 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-65. was three hundred and sixty-one; that of the Confederates between two and three thousand. General D. H. Hill, who witnessed the attack, wrote an account of it in "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War," as follows : " The result was as might have been foreseen, a bloody and disastrous repulse. None of us knew of the formidable charac- ter of the works on Beaver Dam. Our engineers seemed to know little of the country, and nothing of the fortifications on the creek. The maps furnished the division commanders were worth- less. The lack of knowledge of the topography was inexcusable. They had plenty of time. The Federals had been preparing for the movement all the winter, and McClellan's movements up the Peninsula indicated what position he would take up. The blood shed by the Southern troops was wasted in vain. They could have been halted at Mechanicsville until Jackson had turned the works on the creek and all that waste of blood could have been avoided. Ripley's Brigade was sent by me to the assistance of Pender by the direct order of both Mr. Davis and General Lee. The attack on the Beaver Dam intrenchments, upon the heights of Malvern Hill and Gettysburg were all grand, but of exactly the kind of grandeur the South could not afford." On the next morning a line of skirmishers only occupied the intrenchments on Beaver Dam, the main body of the Federals having withdrawn during the night, upon learning of Jackson's presence, to another strong position at Cold Harbor. The Con- federates followed, D. H. Hill moving on the road to Bethesda Church to reach Porter's right rear. After many delays and perplexities, he found the enemy's lines about 2:.30 P. M., at the very time that A. P. Hill was moving his division to attack the Federal center. Longstreet was on the right and in support. The divisions of Jackson, "Whiting and Ewell were on the left and center in readiness for battle. The position of the Federals was behind a swampy stream running from the north, with its mouth in the Chickahominy and crossed by the road from Me- chanicsville to Cold Harbor, with Gaines' mill and pond beside it. The topographic conditions were as favorable to the Union Twelfth Regiment. 615 forces as they were at Beaver Dam Creek. General Longstreet, in "From Manassas to Appomattox," describes it as follows: "The enemy was found strongly posted upon high ground over the Grape-vine Bridge, forming a semi-circle, with its flanks near the river. A deep and steep chasm in front of his left divided the height upon which he stood from an open plateau, over which he must be attacked, if at all, on his left. The side slope leading up to that position was covered by open forests, obstructed and defended by felling trees. Behind these lines were the divisions of Sykes and Morell, with bristling artillery for the first defense, with McCall's Division of infantry and a tremendous array of artillery in reserve. Further strength was given to the position by a stream which cut in between the two heights, with deep, scarped banks. His right was covered to some extent by swamp lands and forests, tangles almost as formidable as the ap- proach toward his left." In the beginning of the action Porter had thirty-six infantry regiments of his own corps, and later in the day was re-inforced by twelve regiments of Slocum's Division, from the south of the river. He had ninety pieces of artillery, two regiments of cavalry, and three bodies of sharp-shooters. His force was probably thirty-five thousand men. The Confederates had one hundred and twelve regiments of infantry and ten batteries, and num- bered about fifty-five thousand men. A. P. Hill commenced the battle by a fierce attack on the center with his brigades, in suc- cession, which lasted nearly two hours. His columns were thor- oughly exhausted, and the battle was turned into one of defense on his part. He got no aid, though there were nearly fifty thou- sand Confederates during the whole time within a mile of him. Jackson had thrown back his whole force from the immediate front of the enemy, in ambush as it were, to bag him as A. P. Hill drove him back. After A. P. Hill's Division was prostrated, D. H. Hill commenced his battle, late in the afternoon, on the extreme left, Garland being the extreme left of the Confederate army. The advance was through the swamp, the obstructions and tangled undergrowth. In addition, the point in the enemy's 616 North Carolina Teoops, 1861-'65. line where a lodgement was intended to be made required the movement to be a wheeling circle, with a shortened radius, which threw the troops into great disorder, regiments and brigades lap- ping each other. But notwithstanding the confusion and the other difficulties, the division, inch by inch, and minute by min- ute, with feet and hands tearing away tangle-growth, in the face of storms of shot and shell, and the ground strown with the dead and dying, made headway, and upon the forward movement of the whole array at, or a little after, sunset, the Federals were pushed from their position. At that very moment the two bri- gades (Federal) of French and Meagher came upon the scene, and, with shouts, got ready to stem the tide of retreat, but did not participate in the battle. The whole of the enemy's artillery, from a commanding position, opened a terrific fire on the ad- vancing Confederates, and that, with the lateness of the hour, prevented any further pursuit. During that night, the 27th, Porter crossed over to the southern side of the Chickahominy, and the next morning found hinj, with a great array of artillery, defiantly opposing Lee's advance. The reconstruction of the bridge was impossible in the face of such a foe, and the Confed- erates were compelled to await developments. As McClellan might undertake to preserve his communication with his base at the White House on the Pamunkey, Stewart and Ewell were sent to York River Railroad, upon reaching which, at Dis- patch Station, the Federals were found to have retreated across the river and burnt the railroad bridge. Clouds of dust could be seen on the south side of the Chickahominy, but McClellan had two lines of retreat open to him — through White Oak Swamp to James River, or to cross by the lower fords of the Chicka- hominy and go down the Peninsula. If he should go down the peninsula, then the Confederate army was to operate from the north side of the river; if his retreat was through the great swamp to the James, then the Confederates must cross the river and make pursuit. Bottom's bridge was guarded by Ewell and the lower fords by the cavalry. During the afternoon and night of the 28th, the Federals not having appeared at the lower fords. Twelfth Regiment. 617 -and it appearing that a general movement was on foot, it became manifest that the Union army was in retreat to the James. Early on the morning of the 29th, Longstreet and A. P. Hill were directed to cross the river at New Bridge, march toward Richmond to and down the Darby town road, and interpose be- tween the enemy and James River. Magruder was to take the Williamsburg road and attack the Federal rear, and Huger to go by the Charles City road and strike his flank. Jackson was directed to cross at Grape-vine Bridge and move down the south side of the Chickahominy. Magruder came up with the enemy's rear under Sumner, at Savage Station, and attacked with one of his divisions only. The enemy continued the retreat, crossed the swamp and burnt the bridge there. It was thought that Jackson would have been on hand at Savage Station. If he had been present the chances were that the enemy would have been dis- lodged, and the Confederates would have passed over the bridge at White Oak Swamp with the retreating Federals, and that would have placed Jackson at Glendale, Frazier's farm, on the next day in time for Longstreet's battle at that place. It was confidently expected by General Lee that at Glendale Longstreet and A. P. Hill would be found in front of the retreating enemy, Jackson in his rear and Huger on his right flank. Longstreet and A. P. Hill were in position; Jackson was not there; Huger was not there. During this day the Federals had been pushing their trains to a secure place on the James, and before 12 m. of the first of July all had passed safely, except ammunition wagons, for immediate use at their already selected battlefield — Malvern Hill. Early on the morning of the first of July, Jackson, Ma- gruder and Huger met near Glendale, but the enemy was then at Malvern Hill. Of McClellan's position there. General Lee, in his official report, says : " On this position of great natural strength he had concentrated his powerful artillery, supported by masses of infantry, partially protected by earth-works. Imme- diately in his front the ground was open, varying in width from a quarter to half a mile, and sloping gradually from the crest, was completely swept by the fire of his infantry and artillery. 618 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. To reach this open ground our troops had to advance through a broken and thickly wooded country, traversed nearly throughout its whole extent by a swamp passable at few places, and difficult at those. The whole was within range of the batteries on the heights and the gun-boats in the river, under whose incessant fire our movements had to be executed." It was the most formidable position the enemy had yet held. It was only about a mile long, and behind this short front, in many lines and columns, nearly the whole of McClellan's army was posted. Couch's Corps on the right, and Porter's on the left, made the first infantry line of the Union forces. Whiting's small division was the left of the first Confederate line, D. H. Hill's was next, then a part of Huger's Division, and then Magruder's. The other Confederate forces were in reserve and did not become engaged. D. H. Hill's attack was upon Couch in the center. It is dif- ficult to give any intelligible account of this battle, for it was an accident and had no plan. There was entire ignorance of the topography on the part of the Confederate generals, there was absolutely no concert of action, and consequently no two divisions fought at the same time, and the successive disjointed assaults of the Confederates resulted in their great and useless slaughter. General Lee, in his report, said: "Owing to ignorance of the country, the dense forests impeding necessary communication, and the extreme difficulty of the ground, the whole line was not formed until a late hour in the afternoon. * * * -p^j. ^yant of concert among the attacking columns, their assaults were too weak to break the Federal line, and after struggling gallantly, sustaining and inflicting great loss, they were compelled succes- sively to retire." General D. H. Hill said in his official report: "Again the want of concert with the infantry divisions was most painful. My division fought an hour or more the whole Yankee force without assistance from a single Confederate soldier. * * Notwithstanding the tremendous odds against us and the blun- dering management of the battle, we inflicted heavy loss upon the Yankees." General Garland, in his report, said : " It is not my desire to indulge in criticism or crimination. It is enough Twelfth Regiment. 619 to say that there was somehow a want of concert and co-operation in the whole affair that made a successful attack impracticable, and the consequent disorder and straggling of troops most lamen- table. My own brigade went up as far as any troops I saw upon the field, and behaved as well. If they retired, so did all the rest who were ordered to charge the battery. The whole divi- sion became scattered." Malvern Hill battle was to have been commenced by the Confederates upon a pre-arranged and agreed upon signal, to-wit : the advance and yell of Armistead's Bri- gade, and Armistead was to advance when it should be discovered that the Federal artillery had been crippled or silenced by the Confederate batteries. The time for the advance of Armistead never came, for the Confederate artillery never got into position, even, and the few pieces that did appear were knocked to pieces almost instantly by the Federal artillery. And Armistead never advanced with a yell, the signal for the Confederate attack. General Lee, thinking that all the general officers understood from the failure of the Confederate batteries to silence or cripple the Federal artillery, so apparent to all, did not formally revoke the order, and, according to General Longstreet, was engaged in making another plan when the battle commenced. General Jackson, in his report, said: "The commanding general had issued an order that at a given signal there should be a general advance along the whole line. General D. H. Hill, hearing what he believed to be the signal, with great gallantry engaged the enemy." General Garland, in his report, gave this account of General Hill's attack: "Late in the afternoon orders were com- municated that the Commander-in-Chief had selected a position from which our artillery could enfilade the enemy's batteries; that the effect of our fire could be seen, and when the enemy's guns were crippled or silenced, a general advance of the infantry would be ordered. The enfilading fire soon commenced, and the commander of the division (D. H. Hill), accompanied by several of the brigade commanders, including the writer, went-to a point from which the effect could be observed. So far from producing marked effect, the firing was so wild that we were returning to 620 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. our posts, under the impressioD that do movement of infantry would be ordered, when suddenly one or two brigades belonging to a division on our right (either Magruder's or Huger's) charged out of the woods toward the right with a shout. Major-General Hill at once exclaimed: 'That must be the general advance; bring up your brigades as soon as possible and join in.' " The Twelfth Regiment, Colonel Wadecommanding,tookpartin the battles of Cold Harbor and Malvern Hill, with the other regi- ments of Garland's Brigade. One of the companies — Company H, Nash Boys — was not present at the Richmond battles. It was at GordoDsville on provost duty, and did not return to the regiment until just before the battle at Chaucellorsville. In its place, however, there was another Nash company which did par- ticipate with the Twelfth, and, after the battle around Richmond, was transferred and became Company H, of the Thirty-second North Carolina Regiment. John A. Drake was Captain of Company H, of the Twelfth, and John J. Drake was Captain of the other. The last named was wounded, as was also Lieutenant Joseph P. Jenkins, of the same company, at Malvern Hill. The Twelfth Regiment entered the battle of Cold Harbor with four hundred and forty-five men, and its losses there and at Malvern Hill were fifty-one killed and one hundred and seventy-six wounded. The losses were not reported separately, but, after a careful investigation, it is believed that they were about equal on either field. It is singular that, though the companies were equally exposed, nearly half of the killed of the regiment were from the two Warren companies, C and F. Adjutant Thomas J. Foote was mortally wounded at Cold Harbor, and died three days afterwards. He was succeeded iu the office of Adjutant by Lieutenant John T. Gregory, of Company G. Sergeant-major Cooke was also wounded there, On the same field. Captain John T. Taylor, of Company B, was killed. Lieutenant M. F. Taylor succeeded Captain John T. Taylor as Captain of Com- pany B. Captain Augustus Landis, of Company D, was wounded and disabled. Captain David P. Rowe was dangerously wounded, and Lieutenant Edward Alston, of Company T, was wounded Twelfth Regiment. 621 and disabled, and at Malvern Hill Lieutenant D. M. Miller, of Company E, laid down his life, and Lieutenant J. M. Brown, of the same company, was wounded and disabled. On these fields the regiment bore itself with conspicuous gallantry. At Cold Harbor, while General Longstreet claimed that Hood's, Ander- son's and Pickett's men first broke the left of Porter's line, it is certain that at or before that successful assault was made, Gar- land and Anderson, of D. H. Hill's Division, had broken the right of Porter's line. General Garland, in his official report as to this movement, said: "The effect of our appearance at this opportune moment decided the fate of the day. The enemy broke and retreated, made a second stand, which induced my immediate command to halt under the cover of the road-side and return their fire. When charging forward again we broke and scattered them in every direction." And General Hill says in his official report that "the statements of the Yankees them- selves, and of the French Princes on McClellan's staff, fully concur with General Garland that it was this final charge upon their right flank which decided the fortunes of the day." At Malvern Hill the regiment, with the balance of Garland's Bri- gade, had to make its charge over a space of eight or nine hun- dred yards without cover, and with plowed ground nearest the enemy. The other brigades of the division were partially cov- ered in the beginning of their advance. General John B. Gor- don, who commanded the Alabama brigade, reported that his dead marked a line nearer the batteries than those of any other troops, but added that the dead of the Twelfth North Carolina were along with that line. Colonel Wade mentions for the roll of honor in those battles Lieutenant Kemp Plummer, of Com- pany C, and private T. L. Emry, of Company G. The regiment lost more men from fever around Richmond than in the battles there. Nearly thirty-eight years have passed since the battles around Richmond were fought. We can make reflections and draw con- clusions now that were not permissible to Southerners then. The general plans of the Confederate commander are admitted by all 622 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. to have been excellent, but he was handicapped by a lack of correct maps, and by a total ignorance of the topography around Rich- mond, those facts having been stated in his and also in General Jackson's reports of those battles. Of course his subordinates were similarly situated. Major Jed. Hotchkiss, one of General Jackson's engineers ("Confederate Military History"), writes: "Jackson rightly expecting to be supplied with maps of a lo- cality so near to Richmond, where the engineers had had ample time to survey and map the country, had sent his own topographi- cal engineer and his assistants back to the Valley to continue the work of preparing an accurate map of that important mili- tary field; but no maps were furnished him, except some that were imperfect and unreliable, and the guides sent to lead him were not well informed as to the field of action. The same was true in reference to other portions of Lee's command, and of General Lee himself." There was also a fatal want of concert of action, on the march and in battle, between the major-generals. Some of them did not, or could not, understand the plans of their chief, or the immense interests that they held in their hands. General Longstreet, in " Battles and Leaders in the Civil War," writes : "General Lee's plans in the seven days' fights were ex- cellent, but very poorly executed." General E. P. Alexander, Chief of Artillery of Longstreet's Corps, in an article in "The Southern Historical Society Papers," has the following to say of the battle of Glendale : " As no one can go through the details of this action without surprise at the fatal want of concert of action which characterized the many gallant and bloody assaults of the Confederates, it is best to say beforehand that it was but the persistent mishap of every offen- sive battlefield which the Army of Northern Virginia ever fought, and that its causes were not peculiar to any one." From Beaver Dam Creek to Malvern Hill, inclusive, these battles were but a series of disjointed Confederate assaults upon almost impregnable Union positions, selected beforehand by the enemy for battle, and resulting in unparalleled slaughter of the attacking columns. A crimson tide of Southern blood was left Twelfth Regiment. 623 in the path of the Army of Northern Virginia — blood of men who loved their country, their families and their friends, and who had a stake in the land. If the skill of the Confederate major- generals, in those battles, had equaled the courage and patience of the rank and file, McClellan and his army would have been captured or destroyed. The loss of the Confederates in killed and wounded was nearly twenty thousand, the Union loss not much more than half that. Through all that blood and confusion and gloom, even Jack- son's sun did not shine. The great Stonewall, the very inspira- tion of the war, the hero of Winchester, of Cross Keys and Port Republic, was helpless; he was as a giant blind. At Cold Har- bor, without maps and without intelligent guides, and with con- fusion all around, he was unable to tell frignd from foe, and in possession for the first time in his life of more troops than he needed. It took Second Manassas and Sharpsburg and Chan- cellorsville to put him in high ascendency again. SECOND MANASSAS AND MARYLAND CAMPAIGNS. While the seven days' battles were in progress the forces of Banks, Fremont and McDowell, near Sperryville, in the moun- tains of Virginia, to be supported by Burnside on the left, were being- organized into the Army of Virginia under General Pope for a movement against Richmond by way of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. The advance begun on the 13th of July, and General Lee, though McClellan was confronting him with an army larger than he had at the seven days' battles, sent Jackson to meet Pope. On the 19th he reached Gordonsville, and A. P. Hill soon followed. The battle of Cedar Run was won by Jack- son and Hill on the 9th of August. Longstreet's Corps arrived on the 16th, and on the 19th General Lee in person commenced the Second Manassas campaign. The divisions of D. H. Hill and McLaws were the last to leave Richmond, the former, with his division, arriving at Chantilly three days after the Second Manassas was fought. Though the Union forces had been beaten, they still greatly outnumbered the Confederates, and were 624 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. protected by the fortifications around Washington, to which they had been driven, and Lee could not maintain his position. He had either to retreat to a better position, or to march into Mary- land. He believed he could whip his adversary on fair ground,, and that his array would be substantially increased by Maryland sympathizers. The invasion of Maryland was begun, and on the 7th of September the Confederute army was concentrated near Frederick. From that place, on the 8th, General Lee wrote to President Davis, suggesting that the Confederate Government propose to the United States Government terms of peace upon the recognition of the independence of the South, and General Longstreet, in his book referred to, says that it was his (General Lee's) deliberate and urgent advice to President Davis to join him and be prepared to make a proposal for peace and independ- ence from the head of a conquering army. On the same day he issued a strong address to the people of Maryland, appealing to their manhood and patriotism, and assuring them that his army had only come to aid them in throwing off a foreign yoke, * * and restore independence and sovereignty to the State. To draw McClellan from his base and to fight him at or near Hagerstown was the plan of General Lee; so the army was started on the march to that place, D. H. Hill in the rear, guarding the trains, Jackson, with his own forces and McLaw's Division, to turn off, however, for the capture of Harper's Ferry, and then to rejoin the army. On the night of the 13th Longstreet was at Hagers- town and D. H. Hill at Boonsboro, but with his rear holding the crest of the South Mountain. So far the movement was pro- ceeding satisfactorily. But on the 13th an official copy of Gen- eral Lee's order of March (191), revealing in detail the whole plan of the campaign, fell into the hands of McClellan. The Confederate army was divided, and McClellan learned of it through that order. The copy was intended for General D. H. Hill. It was found by a Federal soldier at Hill's late camp, wrapped around some Confederate cigars. Two copies of the order had been made for Hill — one at Lee's headquarters and the other at Jackson's. The following is General Hill's account of the TWELFTH EEGIMENT. 1. Jobn Arrington, Color Sergeant, Co. I. 2. James Albert Sherrill, Private, Co. A. (Killed at South Mountain, Md., Sept. 14, 1838.) 3. Horace Palmer, Private, Co. C. Harry G. Williams, Private, Co. C. (Killed at Malvern Hill, July I, 1862.) Jas. Ferdinand Robinson, Private, Co. A. (Killed at Spottsylvania C. H., May 12, 1864.) G. Miles Osljornc Sherrill, Orderly Sergeant, Co. A. (Lost leg at Spott=ylvania C. 11., May, 1864.) Twelfth Regiment. 625 matter, published in "Battles and Leaders of the Civil War" "Vol. II,, page 570: "I went into Maryland under Jackson's command. I was under his command when Lee's order was issued. It was proper that I should receive that order through Jackson and not through Lee. I have now before me the order received from Jackson. My Adjutant-General made affidavit twenty years ago that no order was received at our office from Gen- eral Lee." McClellan therefore moved his army in pursuit of Lee, one column toward Hagerstown, by way of Turner's Gap, another column towards Harper's Ferry, by way of Crampton Gap. BOONSBOEO. Early on the morning of the 14th the Federal army entered Turner's and Fox's Gaps, and the brigades of Hill were hurried back from Boonsboro to meet the movement. On the evening of the 13th General Hill, having received in- formation that the Federals were approaching the Gap, sent the brigades of Garland and Colquitt to dispute its passage. On the morning of the 14th Hill himself went to the Gap, and posted Garland and Colquitt, the former at and near Fox's, and the latter at Turner's, a mile apart. The battle was long and fierce. Hill was re-inforced late in the afternoon by a part of Longstreet's forces, and held the Gap. The position was abandoned, however, and on the morning of the 15th the Confederates were forming on the lines at Sharpsburg. Harper's Ferry was surrendered on that day, and General Jackson was enabled to take part, by the skin of his teeth, in the battle of the 17th. Sharpsburg was the most bloody single-day battlefield of the war. The Confederates could not have numbered more than between thirty-five and forty thousand men, while the Union forces could not have been less than eighty thousand. The losses were, killed and wounded, about equal, between ten and twelve thousand each. The battle was splendidly fought by Lee and his lieutenants. The Confed- erates used all their forces, except about two brigades. Nearly two corps of the Federals took no part in the action. Each attack of the Union forces was foiled and the Army of the Po- 40 626 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. tomac brought to a stand when night set in. Its conclusion found General Lee the most pugnacious spirit (as he always was) in the' Confederate army. Cool, calm, deliberate always, and most re- spectful in his language toward his foe, he yet could not endure the sight of a blue coat on the soil of Virginia, and whenever they made their appearance in his front there was a battle. Gen- eral Stephen D. Lee gave in writing to a friend, Major Hotchkiss, an account of the council of war which General R. E. Lee held with his lieutenants after dark on the field of Sharpsburg. He in- quired of each division command, "How is it on your part of the line?" Longstreet replied, "As bad as can be"; Hill, " My divis- ion is cut to pieces." Hood declared with great emotion that he had no division left. General S. D. Lee asserted that all of these officers advised that the army should cross the Potomac, and that Lee, after a profound pause, said: "Gentlemen, we will not cross the Potomac to-night. You will go to your respective commands, strengthen your lines, send two officers from each brigade toward the ford, collect your stragglers and bring them up. Many others have come up. I have had the proper steps taken to collect all the men who are in the rear. If McClellan wants to fight in the morning I will give him battle again." Throughout the day of the 18th Lee occupied his lines unmo- lested and withdrew that night across the Potomac without loss. The Twelfth Regiment was engaged with Garland's Brigade at Boonsboro and Sharpsburg. Its conduct at Boonsboro has been censured severely by both General D. H. Hill and Colonel Duncan K. MacRae, who commanded the brigade after the fall of Gar- land. General Hill was not in person at that part of the field on which the Twelfth was engaged, and in his official report of the battle made no criticism on the behavior of the regiment. His hostile criticism was made tiearly a quarter of a century after the battle was fought, and in a magazine (" The Century," May, 1886) article. In his official report, made shortly after the battle, he said: "Garland's Brigade was badly demoralized by his fall and by the rough handling it had received." And again : " Gar- land's Brigade had behaved nobly until demoralized by the fall of its gallant leader and being outflanked by the Yankees." Twelfth Regiment. 627 Colonel MacRae was a man of commanding gifts, but of very strong prejudices, and the whole brigade knew of his prejudice against the Twelfth Regiment. The severity of discipline over bis own regiment was universally known, and because the Twelfth was not willing to submit to such discipline in camp as he en- forced on his own men, he always spoke of the Twelfth as a lot of "undisciplined gentlemen who thought themselves better than others." Language so plain would not have been used by this writer but for its necessity. The honor of the Twelfth Regiment was questioned. A short and plain and accurate ac- count of the part taken by the regiment at Boonsboro is neces- sary. After the seven days' battles the regiment scarcely num- bered two hundred men. The long and exhaustive march through Virginia, and until Boonsboro was reached, laid on the road-side many of the survivors of these battles. They fell out, not from cowardice, but because from hunger and thirst and heat and marching nature had been exhausted, and this was the case with every regiment in the Army of Northern Virginia. When the Potomac was crossed, on the march into Maryland, a considerable detachment from this regiment was placed on rear-guard, and at the battle of Boonsboro it had not arrived. At the opening of that battle Lieutenant B. M. Collins, of Company C, who was present until the close, and who was wounded after sundown in line with the regiment, counted the muskets, and they numbered ninety-two. Its losses were severe in killed and wounded, num- bering fifty-eight, according to the report of Lieutenant Collins. Captains John R. Turnbull and Robert W. Alston were among the wounded. The attack of the enemy turned the right flank of the brigade, broke it and separated it from the left. The broken part retreated down the mountains, and with it was a small part of the Twelfth Regiment. The greater part of the regiment, with the flag, was in its place the whole day. That part of it which left the line carried with it the young captain (Snow), who was in command in the beginning of the action. After the battle the regiment was rejoined by some who had fallen out on the long march, and at Sharpaburg it followed the fortunes of D. H. Hill's Division during the entire day, and 628 maintained the reputation it had won at Cold Harbor and Mal- vern Hill. The Confederate army, upon its return to Virginia, lay be- tween Winchester and the Potomac till late in October. During that time the army was recruited and reorganized. Seven lieu- tenant-generalships had been provided for by the Act of Con- gress, and Generals Longstreet and Jackson received their com- missions. The army was divided into two corps, and Longstreet put in command of the first and Jackson of the second. In the meantime great numbers of the men had returned to their com- mands, and before the army marched to Fredericksburg it was in good condition, and stronger in numbers than it had been since the battle of Cold Harbor. On the 26th of October McClellan crossed the Potomac east of the Blue Ridge, and by the end of November the Rappahannock, at Fredericksburg, separated the two armies. Colonel Alfred Iverson, of Georgia, of the Twentieth North Carolina, succeeded General Garland, who was- killed at Boons- boro, in the command of the brigade. The regiment did not actively participate in the battle of Fredericksburg, 13th of De- cember, 1862, the division of General D. H. Hill having been in reserve, near Hamilton's Crossing, near the point of Meade's assault. The winter succeeding was passed in quarters a few miles east of Fredericksburg. During the winter General Hill had been assigned to another field, and his division was put under the command of Brigadier-General Rodes, who was made Major-General of the division after the battle of Chancellorsville. BATTLE OF CHANCELLORSVILLE. Longstreet, with two divisions of his corps, leaving McLaws with Lee, spent the winter of 1862-'63 at and near Suffolk, pro- curing supplies in Eastern North Carolina. Before he returned to General Lee, Hooker, who had succeeded Burnside, with an army of more than one hundred thousand men, crossed the Rapidan and took position on Lee's left flank, near Chancellors- ville. The Confederate army numbered about fifty-five thousand Twelfth Regiment. 629 of all arms. Instead of promptly pressing his advantage, Hooker hesitated, and Lee acted. Early, with his division, and Barks- dale, of McLaws' Division, were left at Fredericksburg. An- derson and the remainder of McLaws' were in front of Hooker, and Jackson went on his world-famous march to the rear of Hooker, in the Wilderness. The battle was perfect both in strategy and tactics, and advanced Generals Lee and Jackson to the forefront of military commanders. The Confederate soldiers could not add to their laurels already won. D. H. Hill's Di- vision, commanded by General Rodes, routed Howard's Corps, the Eleventh, on the evening of the 2d of May. On the next morning, early, the handful of Confederates under Stuart, Jack- son having been wounded on the night of the second, saw three times their number in a wilderness country, thoroughly intrenched and waiting for the Confederate attack. The assault had to be made. Sedgwick, with his corps, was in rear and flank at Fred- ericksburg, opposed by Early, who was too weak to cope with him, and Hooker's main force was' between Jackson's Corps and Richmond. The Twelfth was engaged in both these battles, and its losses were severe. Major David P. Rowe, who was in com- mand of the regiment, Lieutenant-Colonel Jones having resigned in October, 1 862, and Colonel Wade having resigned on December 30, 1862, was mortally wounded on the evening of the 2d, while still suffering from the wound he had received at Cold Harbor. Sergeant-major Cook also received a wound here, of which he died, after undergoing great suffering for two months. His suc- cessor was W. J. Robards, of Company D. Upon the wounding of Major Rowe, Lieutenant-Colonel R. D. Johnston, of the Twenty-third North Carolina, was put in command of this regiment for the next day's battle. In his re- port of the conduct of the regiment in the battle of the 3d he said that when he took charge on the night of the 2d there were two hundred muskets and twenty-five officers present; that the ad- vance was through dense tangle-growth, and that when it came upon the enemy's barricades a terrible cross and flank fire from the enemy's artillery swept the regiment, and adds : " It is with pride 630 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. and gratitude • that I can say, though the whole command was under a withering cross-fire for a few moments, yet not a man gave way until I had given the order." He also adds : " I can't speak in terms too high of the officers and men of this regiment." He further said: "I cannot close without calling the attention of the general commanding to the efficiency and gallantry of the corps of sharp-shooters from this regiment, under the leadership of the brave Nathan S. Moseley. They never faltered." The regiment captured three Union flags, J. S. Webber, of Company E, being the immediate taker. Concerning one of these flags, Lieutenant- Colonel Johnston wrote to General Rodes as follows: "I have the honor to state that the flag of the Forty-sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers was turned over to General Stuart on Monday, in the presence of the whole command, and he was in such a hurry that he did not have time to give me a receipt, but if I can find out his whereabouts, I can get it now, or any time." The roll of honor was as follows : D. B. Hoover (killed), Company A; Samuel Alston Ward (killed), Company C; T. A. Stone (after- wards killed at Gettysburg), Company D; Sergeant L. M. Welles (killed), Company E; Jerry Draper, Company F; J. C. Hicks, Company G; A. L. Barnes, Company H; John W. Arrington, Company I, and John R. Johnson (killed), Company K. Pri- vate W. Savage, of Company C, captured a colonel and ten men. Lieutenant W. E. Johnston, of Company F, was mortally wounded on the second, and Lieutenant W. W. Daniel was killed on the third. Five other commissioned officers, whose names are not remembered, were wounded. There were twenty-two men killed and one hundred and ten wounded. These battles were splendid victories for Lee, but his small army was greatly reduced, the losses having been between ten and twelve thousand (of which number one-third of the killed were from North Carolina), and he was unable to follow up his victory. The regiment was without field officers after Major Rowe's death, at Chancellorsville, Colonel Wade and Lieutenant-Colonel Jones having before that time resigned, and their successors not Twelfth Eegiment. 631 having been appointed. On the 24th of May, 1863, William S. Davis, Captain of Company C, was appointed Lieutenant- Colonel, and on the 26th inst. Robert W. Alston, of Company K, was appointed Major. Kemp Plummer was then appointed Captain of Company C, and R. L. Williams Captain of Com- pany K. The greatness of General Lee as a commander of armies was nowhere more certainly seen than in the reorganization and re- cruiting of his army after the battle of Chancellorsville. Within a month he had organized the most effective and best disciplined army he ever had. It is doubtful whether in all history there was ever formed a superior army to the one which Lee threw against the heights at Gettysburg. Before the movement north, on June 3, 1863, Longstreet had returned, and great numbers of the sick and wounded and fur- loughed had gotten back to their commands; and so great was the enthusiasm thrown into these movements by General Lee and his subordinates, that the death of the great war genius of the nineteenth century, at Chancellorsville, was not realized until the fateful days around Gettysburg. After the death of General Jackson the Army of Northern Virginia was divided into three corps. Longstreet was assigned to the first, Ewell to the second, and A. P. Hill to the third. Ewell's Corps was the largest, although Longstreet had had ex- perience as a corps commander, and up to that time, and always afterwards, fought his battles according to the rules of military science. He always prepared his men for action before putting them in. He knew that the Army of the Potomac was as a ma- chine in good order, with all its blades sharpened to a fine edge, and that it was commanded, in the main, by division commanders of skill and courage. And he knew that the fiery dash and cour- age of the Southern soldiers would only lead to their defeat and extermination, unless they were directed by cool heads, and skill- ful, as well as courageous, officers. 632 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. THE BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG. "On the uight of the 27th of June EwelFs Corps was at Car- lisle and York and Longstreet's and Hill's were at Chambers- bui-g. It was expected that as soon as the Federal army should cross the*Potomac General Stuart would give notice of its move- ments, and nothing having been heard from him since our en- trance into Maryland, it was inferred that the enemy had not yet left Virginia. Orders were, therefore, issued (June 27) to move on Harrisburg. On the night of the 28th news came through a scout that the Federal army had crossed the Potomac, and that the head of the columns was at South Mountain, and this arrested the movement to Hai'risburg." (General Lee's report). This advance of the enemy threatened General Lee's communications with Vir- ginia, and he determined to concentrate his army on the east of the mountain. On the 29th Hill was ordered to move toward Cashtown, Longtreet was to follow the next day to the same place, and Ewell was ordered to Cashtown, or to Gettysburg, -as circum- stances might require. These dispositions would have been made more quickly if the movements of the enemy had been known. If a careful examination is made of the march of the corps of General A. P. Hill it will be made plain that he brought on the battle of Gettysburg contrary to the order of General Lee, as he did the seven days' battles around Richmond. He was ordered to march toward Cashtown. General Lee's order was for a concen- tration of his army at, or near Cashtown, immediately east of the South Mountain, a position most favorable for defensive battle, and convenient to a most fertile field of support — the Cumberland A-'^alley in his rear. General Lee knew that in taking that position the enemy would be compelled to interpose between the Confederates and Washington and Baltimore. But Hill marched to Gettysburg and brought on the battle there. The account of this matter, given by Major Hotchkiss in his book before referred to, is so interesting that a few passages may not be out of place. He writes: "A. P. Hill, always ready and Twelfth Regiment. 633 anxious for a fight, but so far as known without orders from General Lee, sent the divisions of Heth and Pender toward Gettysburg, as Hill says in his report, 'to discover what was in my front.' * * * On this same 1st day of July, Lee, with Longstreet, crossed the South Mountain, and heard with amaze- ment the noise of the battle that Hill had begun at Gettysburg at sunrise, for his express orders had been both to Hill and to Ewell that they should not bring on a general engagement until after the concentration of his army at Cashtown; and now Hill was engaged, at the very beginning of the day, in hot conten- tion, in the open country about Gettysburg, where mere num- bers would have greatly the advantage in an engagement, eight miles away from Lee's selected defensive position, where 'the strength of the hills' would have been his. General Ander- son, of Longstreet's command, reports that Lee was listening intently, as he rode along, to the sound of Hill's guns miles away to the eastward, and then saying: 'I cannot think what has be- come of Stuart. I ought to have heard from him long before now. He may have met with disaster, but I hope not. In the absence of reports from him, I am in ignorance as to what we have iu front of us here. It may be the whole Federal army, or it may be only a detachment. If it is the whole Federal force, we must fight a battle here. If we do not gain a victory, those defiles and gorges through which we were passing this morning will shelter us from disaster.' " It is apparent that the field of Gettysburg was a surprise to both armies. At the opening of Hill's battle with Buford's Cavalry and the First Corps the commanders of each army, with all their troops, except those engaged, were miles from the scene of conflict, and absolutely ignorant of each others whereabouts. About 2 o'clock p. m. on the first, Rodes' Division, rectrac- ing its steps from Carlisle by way of the Heidlersburg road, reaching the battlefield, marched to Hill's assistance. The di- vision, when about two miles from Gettysburg, had left the Heidlersburg road and marched under cover of woods to the Mummasburg road, and formed, facing to the east, on both sides of that road, near Forney's house. 634 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. From an elevated point, Oak Hill, a few yards north of the Forney house, sixteen guns were opened by Colonel Carter upon the Federal line in process of formation. General Rodes was present and said : "Boys, they are advancing upon us; go ahead and meet them ! " He mistook the process of formation for de- fense for «n advance upon him. They were securing the very strongest position possible with the purpose to wait for him. This will appear with absolute certainty from the reports of both General Robinson and General Baxter. They knew it had to come, for A. P. Hill had been worsted. That part of the Fed- eral line which Iverson's Brigade, including the Twelfth Regi- ment, assaulted, is easily described. It ran upon the top of the ridge, almost due north and south, about five hundred and fifty yards, with its extreme right on the Mummasburg road (which runs out of Gettysburg northwest from that town), and with its left regiment resting upon a piece of timber land. Two-thirds of the line was protected by a substantial rock fence, commencing on the Mummasburg road. The other part of the line had no rock wall in its front, but the ground fell abruptly to the east, thereby affording good cover and protection to the troops there. The rock wall, which now stands at that part of the line, along the left of the Federal line, was put there after the battle. Mr. Sheads, who owns the ground there, and who owned it at the time of the battle of Gettysburg, makes that statement. Mr. Sheads has built a residence on the spot occupied by the Ninety- seventh New York, and furnishes to visitors to that part of the battlefield wine made from grapes grown where the Twelfth North Carolina left some of its dead. The troops which occu- pied the Federal line faced to the west, and were Baxter's Bri- gade, of Robinson's 'Division, First Corps; the Ninetieth Pennsylvania Volunteers, with its right on the Mummasburg road; next, toward the south, the Twelfth Massachusetts Vol- unteers; next. Eighty-eighth Pennsylvania Volunteers; next. Eighty-third New York Volunteers; next. Eleventh Pennsyl- vania Volunteers, and then Ninety-seventh New York Volun- teers. Iverson's line was composed of the Fifth North Carolina Twelfth Regiment. 635 on the left; next, Twentieth North Carolina; next, the Twenty- third North Carolina, and the Twelfth North Carolina on the right. General Rodes' order was that Battle's Brigade should go in and support Iverson's left. Battle's Brigade (a part only, as General Rodes reported) went in in confusion, and was re- pulsed quickly. Baxter, witnessing this advance o£ Battle's Brigade, rrioved the Ninetieth Pennsylvania to the Mummas- burg road, and faced it to the northwest (Battle's Brigade ad- vancing from the northwest), and it, with the Twelfth Massa- chusetts, repulsed Battle's men. The Ninetieth Pennsylvania was then carried back to its original position in anticipation of Iverson's assault, which was then coming on. There was not a bush nor a tree between the place where Iverson formed and the Federal line, a distance of nearly half a, mile. The brigade was put in on a false alignment, in a northeast and southwest line, while the enemy's line was almost due north and south. The troops bounded forward, not knowing certainly where the enemy was, for his whole line, with every flag, was concealed behind the rock wall on their right and center and the drop in the ground on their left. Not one of them was to be seen. The other regi- ments of Iverson's Brigade got within very close range of the enemy- before the Twelfth was well up, owing to the align- ment of the brigade, as already stated, when the Federals raised up from their position and poured a deadly volley into the Fifth, Twentieth and Twenty-third and the two left companies of the Twelfth. The Ninetieth Pennsylvania and the Twelfth Massa- chusetts, which had been relieved from pressure in their front by the repulse of Battle's Brigade, got a raking cross and flank fire on the left of Iverson, and, the distance being very short, it was most fatal all along the line. Mr. Sheads makes the statement that members of the Sixteenth Maine and Ninety-fourth New York, of Paul's Brigade, in visiting the battlefield, have told him that they had a position almost on the right flank of the brigade, at the edge of the woods, and sent several well-directed volleys into Iverson's line, except as to the Twelfth, which had the protection of a rise in the ground, behind which the men were lying. 636 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. When the Fifth and Twentieth Kegiments had gotten at the dis- tance of eighty yards in front of the Federal line the Eighty- eighth Pennsylvania, the Eighty-third New York and the Ninety-seventh New York advanced from the wall and captured about three hundred prisoners. Eighty yards, exactly, due west from the position of the Eighty-eighth Pennsylvania, a stone has been placed, on which it is inscribed that that regiment advanced to that point and captured two flags and a number of prisoners. On the monument to the Eighty-third New York is engraved as follows: "Engaged on this ground July 5, 1863, 1 P. M. to 3 p. M., assisting in capturing Iverson's North Carolina Brigade, C. S. A."; and on the Ninety-seventh New York monument is this inscription: "Charged across between 1 and 3 P. M. to the west, assisting in capturing Iverson's Brigade and securing flag of Twentieth Regiment." The loss of Iverson's Brigade was reported at five hundred and twelve killed and wounded and three hundred and eight missing. The losses were greater than as reported. There was so much consternation, so much confusion, that the survivors, at the time, could not know who were killed, or who were wounded, or who were taken prisoners. Instantly the remnant of the brigade left the field and went on into the town. At Carlisle, the day before the battle, the reports showed that there were present for duty one thousand three hundred and fifty-six men and one hundred and fourteen officers. If three hundred and eight be the true number captured, and that is about the number claimed by the Federals, when they come down to figures, the loss in killed and wounded must have greatly exceeded five hundred and twelve, for there were not more than three hundred and fifty or four hundred men with the brigade after the battle. In the lowest part of the dei)ression, in the rear of the battle- ground of Iverson's Brigade, four shallow pits were dug by the pioneers, in which were buried the dead of that brigade. The, surface of these pits is to be easily distinguished this day from surrounding ground on account of the more luxuriant growth of the grass and crops' over them. Mr. Forney, who owned the Twelfth Regiment. 637 ground on which the battle was fought, and who still owns it, and the writer of this sketch, two years ago, with pointers in their hands, traced with ease and certainty the edges of these pits as they walked around them. Mr. Forney said that the place was then known^ throughout the neighborhood, as the "Iverson Pits," and that for years after the battle there was a superstitious terror in regard to the field, and that it was with difficulty that laborers could be kept at work there on the approach of night on- that account. Of that battle General Rodes officially reported : "Iverson's left being thus exposed (by the repulse of Battle's Brigade), heavy loss was inflicted upon his brigade. His men fought and died like heroes. His dead lay iu a distinctly marked line of battle. His left was overpowered, and many of his men, being surrounded, were captured." General Ewell, in his report, said : "The left of Iverson's Brigade was thus exposed, but these gallant troops obstinately stood their ground till the greater part of three regiments had fallen where they stood in line of battle. A few of them, being entirely surrounded, were taken prisoners. A few escaped." Iverson's men were uselessly sacrificed. The enemy's position was not known to the troops. The alignment of the brigade was a false one, and the men were left to die with- out help or guidance. All of the field officers were killed or disabled. The brigade commander, General Alfred Iverson, did not go at any time on the fighting field, and after the battle was transferred to some other command. The Twelfth Regiment fared better than the others because of its being protected by a slight rise of the ground in its front, though the loss of its left companies was severe. Lieutenant- Colonel Davis, then in command of the regiment, gave the fol- lowing account of what occurred after the repulse of the brigade : "Seeing the position, I at once moved by the right flank to a little bottom in a wheat field. On my left there was a gap made as far as I could see. On the right there was a considerable gap between us and Daniel's Brigade. I was left alone without any orders (our general in the rear, and never coming up), with no communication with right or left, and with only one hundred 638 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. and seventy-five men confronting several thousand. Fortunately for us, there was in our front a rock bluff, covered with woods, through which the line of battle of the enemy extended, and they had no line of pickets in front. Occasionally I saw a vi- dette run out to the margin and run back. Here we remained in suspense, but no order came from any source. In the mean- time I could hear the firing on my left, and also on my right, by A. P. Hill's men beyond the railroad. Then the thought oc- curred to me, 'the men in our front are listening to the firing on both their flanks, and if we could get up into the woods and sur- prise them with a charge and a yell they would run.' As soon as I conceived the idea I made it known to the company com- manders, and I sent Lieutenant William M. Sneed, of Townsville Guards, with fifteen picked skirmishers, to advance into the woods without noise, and halt in forty yards of the enemy's line. The regiment was then to advance, and when reaching the picket line all were to charge rapidly and yell loudly. Our success was marvelous. So completely surprised were the enemy that they fled in confusion without firing a gun. The center being thus broken, the panic extended right and left to both flanks till all were falling back in converging lines to Gettysburg. (The flanks may possibly have been driven back some before the center was broken)." And that last is exactly what had hap- pened. The line of the Eleventh Federal Corps was almost at a right angle with that of the First Corps and faced to the north. The left of the Eleventh Corps lacked four hundred yards of connecting with the First Corps. Early and Doles had driven back the Eleventh Corps and Doles was finding his way through that gap in the Federal line and to the right flank and rear of Baxter and Paul's Brigade of the First Corps. This having been seen by the Federal commander of the field, the whole Federal army was ordered to retreat through Gettysburg and to the hills beyond. This was fortunately so, for if it had been otherwise there would have been little left of the Twelfth Regiment. General Rodes, in his official report of the battle, spoke iu high terms of the regiment by name, and upon the re- Twelfth Regiment. 639 turn of the army to Virginia publicly complimented it for its behavior at Gettysburg. In that battle Color-bearer Casper Gregory was wounded and disabled, Sergeant-major Robards was most dangerously wounded, and so was Lieutenant N. S. Moseleyj also Lieutenants J. M. B. Hunt and B. M. Collins were wounded there, the latter in three places. On the roll of Company F (Warren Guards) there appeared in order the names of Turner Allen, Daniel Allen, P. H. Allen, Hugh J. Allen and Austin Allen. They were the children of two brothers. Turner, Daniel and Hugh were brothers. In the battle of Gettysburg, Daniel was killed; at Malvern Hill, Turner was killed, and at Chancellorsville, Hugh was killed. Austin was wounded at Gettysburg and Peter at Spottsylvania, 12th of May, 1864, and was for years disabled from the wound. On the retreat at Hagerstown the Twelfth, guarding the wagon train, had a stiiF fight, in which Captain M. F. Taylor was mor- tally wounded. He was succeeded by Lieutenant J. M. B. Hunt as Captain. In a few days after the return of the army to Virginia, Gen- eral Lee marched for the position on the south side of the Eapidan, near Orange Court House. There was quiet and re- cuperation until the movement of General Lee, on the 9th of October, to flank Meade out of his position around Culpeper. On that march five companies of the Twelfth, under Lieutenant- Colonel Davis,|and the Fifth and Twenty-third Regiments crossed the Rapidan at Raccoon Ford, and the other five companies, under Colonel Coleman, and the Twentieth Regiment crossed at Morton's Ford. During the day the detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Davis made a beautiful charge upon a battery and its support at Stevensburg. Colonel Garrett, in command, highly praised the detachment and the Fifth and Twenty-third for their con- duct. Lieutenant J. T. Gregory and private Robert J. Day were oflScially mentioned for gallant conduct in the skirmish at the crossing at Morton's Ford. With the exception of the Mine Run incident the army had rest during that winter. Sometime in February or March, 1864, the Twelfth, with the balance of 640 NoETH Carolina Troops; 1861-'65. the brigade, was sent to guard the bridges over the Annas. No incident was connected with that service except the attempt to overtake the raiding party around Richmond under Dahlgren. THE WILDERNESS CAMPAIGN. On the night of the 4th of May, 1864, the Union army, under Meade, General Grant present, of one hundred thousand men, to be presently re-inforced by Burnside's Corps of twenty thousand, quietly crossed the Rapidan at Germania and Ely's Fords. Grant had no plans except to flank Lee out of his in- trenched position on Mine Run and to fight him somewhere be- tween the river and Richmond, "if he would stand." He said in his ofiicial report that one of his purposes was "to hammer continuously against the armed forces of the enemy and his re- sources, until by mere attrition, if in no other way, there should be nothing left to him but an equal submission * * * to the Con- stitution and laws of the land." The Wilderness campaign, as to its first battle, commenced on the evening of the 5th and ended on the night of the 19th. After that last date Grant moved again toward the east, and on by the Annas, reached Cold Har- bor, where, on the early morning of the 3d of June the closing battle was made by Grant on the Confederate intrenched line at Cold Harbor. The whole assaulting columns were in less than a quarter of an hour broken to piecesand flying for cover. An order for a renewal was disobeyed both by the commanders of divisions and by the men. The Union losses during the month had been more than Lee's army cumbered at the opening of this campaign. That was one of the most celebrated campaigns in all history, and at its close General Lee easily took his place as one of the great soldiers of the nineteenth century. The Twelfth Regiment, with Johnston's Brigade, left Taylors- ville at 11 o'clock on the morning of the 4th of May, and in twenty-three hours, without bivouac, marched sixty-six miles. It was engaged in the movement under General J. B. Gordon, with his brigade, in a successful attack on the extreme right of Grant — Sedgwick's Corps. During the 7th both armies enjoyed a rest^ Twelfth Regiment. 641 and during the night Grant tried to steal a march by his left to Richmond by way of Spottsylvania Court House and Fredericks- burg. Lee, aware of the march, marched also, and early on the morning of the 9th, Anderson, with his division, was at the Court House and soon covered the strategic points. Johnston's Brigade made a reconnaissance and became engaged with Burn- side on the 9th, meeting with severe loss. The Confederate army was soon iu position, with the Union forces confronting. On the 8th, while on the march, Johnston's Brigade, in which was the Twelfth Regiment, was transferred to Early's Division. The men were much troubled over losing their identity with Hill's — Rodes' Division. Early was assigned temporarily to the command of Hill's Corps and Gordon to the command of Early's Division. In the battle of the 10th Johnston's Brigade was a part of Early's Division, under the command of Gordon. Doles had been driven out by this assault and the Federal line was still advancing when Johnston's Brigade was formed and thrown across its path and ordered to charge. From some un- accountable reason the Federals, though flushed with victory, made a feeble resistance. Lieutenant-Colonel Davis, then in command of the Twenty-third Regiment, gives this account of that battle : "The enemy had placed themselves in our breastworks and at this point, in front of the Twelfth Regiment, had come over and were about to turn some of our abandoned guns upon us. It was the feeblest charge I ever saw to succeed. The yell must have given the panic to the enemy. Certainly we were few and by no' means to be dreaded. They could have easily shot down the last one of us if they had remained." In the great battle of the 12th of May the Twelfth took a most active part. Its battle was in the woods at the base of the horse-shoe salient. When Johnson's Division was captured in the salient Johnston's Brigade was in reserve, near the Harris house, and was instantly ordered toward the firing by General Gordon. He had not heard of the enemy's success and could 41 642 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-'65. not see or learn anything on account of the dense fog and the very early hour, just beginning of dawn. In this condition of things the Twelfth, with Johnston's Brigade, met suddenly in the woodland between the McCool house and the base of the salient the advancing enenay. The overpowering force of the enemy drove Johnston back, after one of the bloodiest scenes of the war. The ground was strewn with the dead and dying of the regiment and the brigade. Upon arrival of re-inforcements the brigade reformed and renewed the battle. The regiment was also engaged in the battle of the 19th. No official report of the losses of the Twelfth in this campaign has been pub- lished, but the losses were furnished to the Richmond papers by Lieutenant B. M. Collins, who had been assigned to the duties of Adjutant upon the wounding and capture of Adjutant Greg- ory on the 12th, and published soon after the battle. More than two-thirds of the regiment were killed and wounded. It is re- membered that Adjutant Gregory was wounded and captured; that Ensign John W. Arrington was killed; that Captains Y. M. Wilfong, of Company A, and Robert L. Williams, of Company K, were killed; that Lieutenant Samuel T. Alston, of Company K, was killed; that Captains John R. Turnbull, of Company F, and Plato Durham, of Company E, and Sterling Briekell, of Company G, were wounded, the last named dangerously; that Captain Kitchin, of Company I, was captured, and that Lieu- tenants P. G. Alston, of Company K, T. J. Pitehford, of Company I, and N. S. Mosely, of Company F, were wounded, the last named dangerously. Colonel H. E. Coleman was here also wounded and disabled. Colonel Coleman was a good officer, and he bore a high reputation for honor and courage. His ap- pointment to the colonelcy of the Twelfth Regiment by the Presi- dent was a great injustice to deserving officers who had long served with the regiment. He had been captain in one of the companies, originally Company F, but being considered a too strict disciplinarian, he was defeated for re-election in May, 1862, and retired to private life. A year afterwards he was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel of the Twelfth over competent officers who Twelfth Regiment. 643 had been in battle at Hanover, Cold Harbor, Malvern Hill, Boonsboro, Fredericksburg and Chanfeellorsville. It happened in this way : after the resignation of Colonel "Wade and Lieuten- ant-Colonel Jones a majority, probably, of the company officers recommended the appointment of Colonel Ruffiu, of the Thirteenth North Carolina, to be Colonel, and exvCaptain Cole- man to be Lieutenant-Colonel. Colonel Ruffin promptly declined the suggestion, and General D. H. Hill, upon learning that Captain Coleman was in civil life, refused to recommend his appointment. Nothing was further heard of this matter in camp, and every one thought it was dropped, and Captain W. S. Davis, of Com- pany C, as has been said, was elected Lieutenant-Colonel just after the battle at Chancellorsville and had received his commis- sion. Lieutenant- Colonel Davis gives the following account of the matter: "I was in command of the Twelfth, and on the way into Pennsylvania in 1863. Before we reached the Potomac, Gen- eral Iversou sent for me at his tent and told me that he had pa- pers from the War Department informing him that Coleman had been commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel and, as his commission dated back to 1862, it was older than my commission as Lieu- tenant-Colonel, and therefore Coleman would be entitled to the colonelcy. Pfelt outraged and indignant. I said to him that I would never surrender the command of the regiment to Coleman unless I saw the commission in his hands. He did not then have the commission." After the return of the regiment to Virginia, Coleman's commission arrived. Colonel Davis con- tinues: "General Ramseur, who was a very warm friend of mine, came to me of his own accord and begged me not to resign, although I had said nothing about resigning, and said to me: 'I will see to it that you shall never be under Coleman,' and I never was. When Coleman assumed command of the Twelfth I was orderM to take command of the Twenty-third Regiment. When Coleman, for any reason, was not present with the Twelfth, I was put back in command." In explanation of the assignment of Lieutenant-Colonel Davis to the command of the Twenty-third 644 NoETH Carolina Teoops, 1861-'65. Regiment, the following facts should be stated : At the battle of Gettysburg, July 1st, the Colonel of the regiment, Daniel H. Christie, was mortally wounded and died shortly afterwards. Lieutenant-Colonel Robert D. Johnston was badly wounded there, as was also Major C. C. Blacknall, and also Abner D. Peace, the senior captain. Shortly after the battle Lieutenant-Colonel Johnston was made a brigadier-general, and on the 8th of Sep- tember following was assigned to the command of Iverson's Brigade, and Major Blacknall, after having been promoted to the colonelcy of that regiment, was killed at the battle of Win- chester, September 19, 1864. There was not a better soldier in the Army of Northern Vir- ginia of his rank than Lieutenant- Colonel Davis, nor a braver man, or a cooler one in time of battle. He distinguished himself in every battle in which he participated, and he justly felt aggrieved at his treatment. Though he was but Lieutenant- Colonel at the battle of Belle Grove in the year following, he was in that battle put in command of Hoke's Brigade and dis- tinguished himself. He lost his right arm in that battle. Major Robert W. Alston, too, over whom Colonel Coleman was pro- moted, was as brave a soldier and as noble a man as was in the army, and bears on his person a number of wounds. He was dangerously wounded several times. There must have been some- body engaged in that transaction who had political influence with the Government at Richmond. General Robert D. Johnston was a splendid figure in the lead- ership of his brigade in the battle of the 12th. His conduct was heroic, and he thoroughly understood the situation. He was wounded there, and for a while the brigade was under the com- mand of Colonel T. F. Toon, of the Twentieth Regiment, that oflicer having been made temporary Brigadier-General. On ac- count of sickness. General Lee relieved General Ewell on May 30, 1864, and. placed General Early in command of the Sfecond Corps. On the 27th, Ramseur was assigned to the command of Early's Division. Twelfth Regiment. 645 VALLEY CAMPAIGN OF 1864. On the 13th of June at 3 A. m., Early, with the divisions of Rodes, Ramseur and Gordon, started for Lynchburg to meet Hunter, who was advancing upon Richmond from that direc- tion. He arrived just in time to save the city and then drove Hunter across to Salem and into the mountains, while he turned toward Washington. Captain J. A. Drake was badly wounded at Lynchburg. Breckinridge had joined Early at Lynchburg, and on the 27th the combined forces had reached Staunton. On the 28th they moved down the Valley turn- pike, and on the 9th of July a bloody victory was won by the Confederates at Monocacy Bridge. On the 11th the Confeder- ates were in sight of the dome at Washington. The delay caused by the stubborn defense of General Lew Wallace at Monocacy had given the United States authorities time to bring up re-inforce- ments from Grant's army. An attack upon Wasliington was deemed too hazardous under the circumstances, and on the night of the 12th Early recrossed the Potomac at White's Ford. By the 17th his whole force was on the west of the Shenandoah, near Castleraan's Ferry. During the next two months there was a great deal of marching and counter-marching, with a good many incidents well calculated to shake the confidence of the men in their commander. On the 20th of July, three miles beyond Winchester, Ram- seur's Division, while on the march, was suddenly attacked on the flank by Averill's Cavalry Division and almost stampeded. At this mishap Orderly Sergeant A. R. Pitcher, of Company F, was killed. He was born in the isle of Guernsey. BATTLE OF WINCHESTER. On^the morning of the 19th of September the force of Early was divided. Ramseur was on the Berryville tui-apike, a short distance out from Winchester, two divisions were at Bunker Hill, and the other at Stevens' Depot, four miles away. Sheri- 646 NoETH Carolina Teoops, 1861-'65. dan availed himself of this separation of Early's forces and attacked fiercely early on that morning. Johnston's Brigade •was in an advanced position and received the brunt of the attack. The men of the Twelfth did good work from behind a slight protection of rails, and the first assault was repulsed. The brigade had an isolated position, and the overwhelming numbers of the enemy drove us back. As it moved back the conduct of the brigade was very handsome. General Bradley Johnson was in command of the cavalry force supporting Ram- seur and started at once to his assistance. He gives a thrilling account of what he witnessed : "There was not a fence, nor a house, nor a bush, nor a tree to obscure the view. Away off, more than two rfliles, we could see the crest of the hill, covered with a cloud of Yankee cavalry, and five hundred yards in front of them was a thin gray line moving off in retreat, solidly and with perfect coolness and self- possession. As soon as I got to realize what was going on, I quickened our gait, and when within a mile broke into a gallop. The'scene was as plain as day. A regiment of cavalry would deploy into line, their bugles would sound the charge, and they would swoop down on the thin gray line of North Carolinians. The instant the Yankee bugle sounded North Carolina would halt, face to the rear rank, wait until the horses got within one hundred yards, and then fire as deliberately and coolly as if firing volleys . on parade drill. The cavalry would break and scamper back, and North Carolina would 'about-face' and continue her march in retreat as solemnly, stubbornly and with as much discipline and dignity as if marching in review. But we got there just in time. Cavalry aids the Tar-heels. Certainly half a dozen charges had been made at the retreating thin gray line, and each and every time the charging squadrons had been driven back, when the enemy sent his line with a rush at the brigade of Tar- heels, and one squadron overlapped the infantry line and was just passing it when we got up. In another minute they would have been behind the line, sabering the men from (he rear, while they were held by the fight in front ; but we struck a headlong Twelfth Eegiment. 647 strain and went through the Yankees by the flank of North Carolina, and carried their adversaries back to the crest of the hill, back through the guns of their battery, clear back to their infantry lines. In a moment they rallied and were charging us in front and on both flanks, and back we went in a hurry, but the thin gray line of old North Carolina was safe. They had gotten back to the rest of the infantry and formed a line at right angles to the pike, west of Winchester." When the whole Confederate line was in a retreat after the battles of the day the Twelfth was with the other regiments of the brigade, under good control and full of fight. Lieutenant M. M. Ward, of Company C, was killed here. His brother, Samuel Alston Ward, had been killed at Chancel- lorsville, and his name was placed upon the roll of honor for gallantry in that battle. BATTLE OF CEDAR CREEK OR BELLE GROVE. This battle was excellently planned and most successfully exe- cuted in every detail. At about 5 o'clock on the morning of the 19th of October, with great precision and without any orders further than had been made when the plan was formed, the three simultaneous attacks began on Sheridan's army, which lay in fortified camps on the north bank of Cedar Creek, a very exposed position. At or about sunrise the divisions of Kershaw and Gordon were in possession of the camps of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Corps, with large numbers of prisoners, many pieces of artillery and all their trains. The other divisions had attacked the Sixth Corps, and in a few hours the whole Federal army had been driven two miles beyond Middletown ; but from fear of the enemy's cavalry, and refusing to believe that the Sixth Corps was badly beaten, General Early halted his lines. Within a short time the, men could not be controlled. In great numbers they took to the camps of the enemy in search of sutlers' stores and other booty. By 4 o'clock in the afternoon the Federal lines had been reformed, and a general advance was 648 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. made upon the Confederate lines. It was a feeble movement and could have been resisted with ease. The Confederate lines had been very much thinned from straggling and the plundering of the captured camps of the enemy, and in addition, by some unaccountable fatality, a panic ensued and a general rout and stampede took place. The Confederates were posted as follows : Gordon on the left, next Kershaw, next Eamseur (who had been put in command of Rodes' Division after the death of that officer at Winchester a month before), next Pegram, in command of Ramseur's former division, up to and beyond the turnpike, and Wharton on the right of the turnpike. General Early, in his official report, said : * ^ ^ :>r: ^ * ^ "So many of our men had stopped in the camp to plunder (in which I am sorry to say that officers participated), the country was so very open and the enemy's cavalry so strong, that I did not deem it prudent to press further, especially as Lomax had not come up. * * * "VVe continued to hold our position until late in the afternoon, when the enemy commenced advancing and was driven back on the right center by Ramseur; but Gordon's Division on the left subsequently gave way, and Kershaw's and Ramseur's did also when they found Gordon's giving way, not because there was any pressure on them, but from an insane idea of being flanked. * * * I found it impossible to rally the troops. They would not listen to intreaties or appeals of any kind. A fear of the enemy's cavalry had seized them and there was no holding them. They left the field in the greatest confusion." Robert D.Johnston's Brigade, however, did not take the panic. From its position near the turnpike the men witnessed the ap- palling scene on the left, but they remained unmoved until General Early ordered them to retreat. They kept their order until they were swallowed up by the panic-stricken army at the bridge over the creek. Major Alston was shot through the mouth and jaw from his horse while trying to do something to cover the retreating army. Captain Kemp Plummer had been Twelfth Regiment. 649 brevetted major and put in command of the Twenty-third Regi- ment, and was also wounded. Captain A. F. Spencer, of Com- pany D, was seriously wounded also. At New Market, a few days afterwards, General Pegram had Johnston's Brigade drawn out in the open field and compli- mented the men in the presence of other troops for their splendid conduct during the panic at Belle Grove. There was a cause or causes for the dreadful work of that day deeper than appears upon the surface. The troops suspected General Early's capacity as a commauder and he doubted their courage and had no confidence in the field and company officers. In his report of the battle he said : "The truth is, we have very few field or company officers worth anything, almost all our good officers of that kind having been killed, wounded or captured, and it is impossible to preserve discipline without good field and company officers." The men believed he was addicted to drink, they knew they had never had a fair chance for victory, and they knew they had always been beaten in detail. General Lee also shared the opinion of the men that they had been fought in detachments. On the 27th of September, after learning of his defeat at Winchester, he wrote to that officer : " You must do all in your power to invigorate your army. Get back all absentees; maneuver so, if you can, as to keep the enemy in check until you can strike him with all your strength. As for as I can judge at this distance, you have operated more with di- visions than with your concentrated strength." In the same let- ter General Lee said: "The men are all good, and only require instruction and discipline. The enemy's forces cannot be so greatly superior to yours. His effective infantry, I do not think, exceeds twelve thousand men." But General Lee was greatly in error in his estimate of Sheridan's strength. On the 10th of September the Federal army had present for duty, by the official report signed by Sheridan, forty-one thousand eight hundred and seventy-six men, of which number six thou- sand four hundred and seventy-five were cavalry. The cavalry was very efficient and very aggressive. Early's effective strength 650 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. at that time was not more than about ten thousand and never exceeded twelve thousand five hundred during the campaign, as will be seen from the published official reports of General Early. With the defeat of Early at Belle Grove there was no further serious fighting in the Valley, and in December the divisions left for Richmond and Petersburg. Pegram's Division, with which was the Twelfth Regiment, took up quarters near Hatcher'a Run and participated in the battle at that place on February 6, 1865, acquitting itself handsomely. General Pegram was killed there, and his division was afterwards placed under the command of General James Walker, its last division commander. After, the battle of Hatcher's Run the Twelfth Regiment spent more than a month on duty upon Roanoke River in the eifort to prevent desertions from Lee's army, and was called from that point immediately to take part in the storming of Fort Steadman on Hare's Hill at Petersburg on March 25,1865. It arrived at Petersburg on the night of the 24th. It suffered severely in that battle, and among the losses it is recalled that Captain John Turnbull was wounded and captured and Major R. W. Alston most dangerously wounded. Major Plummer was also wounded, but did not leave the field. In that battle Captain Edward T. Nicholson, the Brigade Adjutant-General, having been killed and Aids Johnston and Davis wounded and disabled, Lieutenant B. M. Collins, who had been acting as Adjutant of the regiment since May 12, 1864, was appointed Adjutant-General of the brigade, and was serving in this capacity at the surrender. During the year 1864 that officer did not miss a day's service. The Twelfth took part in the battle in the trenches around Petersburg on the 2d of April. The point was south of the city, where a portion of Grimes' thin line had been driven out. A charge of Johnston's Brigade cleared the works of the enemy,, and the whole line there was soon in the possession again of the Confederates. Major Pluramer was badly wounded here while in charge of the regiment, and Lieutenant John A. Snow lost an arm in this battle. On the night of the 2d the regiment left the works with the army. Captain Plato Durham was in command. Twelfth Eegiment. 651 and at Appomattox signed the paroles of the members of the regiment who were present. The regiment fought excellently well at Amelia Court House, and maintained its order until that untoward day at Sailor's Creek, where it fought gallantly, but, with the whole of the Second Corps, was badly broken. On the next day, however, it was in fairly good shape. Lieutenant Martin Shearin, of Company I, was wounded at Sailor's Creek, and died from amputation of his leg. At Appomattox the Twelfth, with the other regiments of the brigade, after having passed through the town shortly after sun- rise, formed line of battle on the left of the Lynchburg road and made its last charge to and into a piece of woods upon a line of dismounted cavalry. The enemy had the advantage of partial protection from rail piles, but he was driven off. The men still showed pluck and the charge was made with spirit. There were present at the surrender of the Twelfth one hun- dred and twenty-one non-commissioned officers and men, as fol- lows: Twenty-six of Company A, seventeen of Company B, eighteen of Company C, five of Company D, twenty-nine of Company E, fourteen of Company F, three of Company G, ten of Company H, two of Company I, and seven of Company K. Seventy-six of these had guns in their hands, according to the certificate of Plato Durham, the captain commanding the regi- ment. Of the regimental staff there were present John W. Law- son, Surgeon, and George A. Penny, Assistant Surgeon; J. A. Deal, Ordnance Sergeant; R. A. Bullock, Commissary Sergeant, and L. P. Arrington, Quartermaster Sergeant. Of the regi- mental line officers there were present Lieutenants J. C. Harper, of Company H; B. F. Logan, of Company E; W. B. Flem- ming, of Company C, and Walter A. Montgomery, of Company F. The brigade was in command of Colonel John W. Lea, of the Fifth Eegiment, General Johnston having suffered an injury at Fort Steadman which incapacitated him for service Of the brigade staff there were present Captain B. M. Collins, Acting Ad- jutant-General, and J. S. Northington, Brigade Quartermaster. There were enrolled in the regiment during the war about one 652 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. thousand four hundred men. One-tenth, at least, of these were de- tailedfor special service, discharged for sickness, or were suffering from chronic sickness, and were therefore non-combatants. After the most painstaking care and inquiry, the losses of the regiment may be stated, reasonably, to have been about four hundred and seventy-five, nearly equally divided between those who were killed and mortally wounded and those who died from sickness. Among the company officers who died of disease the following are remembered : Captain W. H. Blount, Captain S. 8. Vick, Lieutenants W. F. Sherrell, J. J. Harden and J. W. Mayfield. Walter A. Montgomery. Raleigh, N. 0., 9 April, 1900. THIRTEENTn HEGIMENT. 1. A. M. Scales, Colonel. 2. E. B. Withers, Lieat.-Colonel. 3. G. P. Dailey, Captain, Co. K. 4. E, S. Williams, Captain, Co. I. 5. J. W. Williamson, Captain, Co. D. 6. T. L. Eavvley, 1st Lieut., Co. K. THIRTEENTH REGIMENT. By captain R. S. WILLIAMS, Company I. When the State of North Carolioa seceded everything was in a commotion and excitement ran high. Such men as A. M. Scales, Thomas Settle, Dr. Baily, and in fact every man that could make a speech was in the field and on the stump. The fife and drum could be heard in every town and at every cross- roads in Rockingham county. Company after company was organized. In the month of April, 1861, Captain A. M. Scales, Captain Thomas Settle, Captain Pink Baily from Lawsonville, all succeeded in organizing crack companies and were received by the Governor and commissioned. Company H, Captain A. M. Scales ; First Lieutenant, Henry McGehee ; Second Lieu- tenant, John Scales ; Third Lieutenant, David Settle. Company L, Captain Thomas Settle ; First Lieutenant, Chalmers Glenn ; Second Lieutenant, E. W. Handcock ; Third Lieutenant, R. H. Ward. The writer of this sketch enlisted and served during the first fifteen months as a private. These three companies were sent to Garysburg to a camp of instruction and were under the command of W. D. Pender, that noble and brave soldier who greatly distinguished himself later on. While at Garysburg, N. C, ten companies organized themselves into what was then the Third Regiment North Carolina Volunteers of twelve months, and May 16, 1861, elected W. D. Pender, Colonel; W. S. Guy, Lieutenant Colonel, and D. H. Hamilton, Major. The Third Volunteer Regiment was composed of ten companies, viz.: Company A — Captain John A. Graves, Caswell. Company B — Captain A. A. Erwin, Mecklenburg. Company C — Captain James T. Mitchell, Caswell. Company D — Captain John T. Hambrick, Caswell. 654 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Company E — Captain Thomas Ruffin, Alamance. Company F — Captain Jesse A. Clement, Davie. Company G — Captain J. H. Hyman, Edgecombe. Company H — Captain A. M. Scales, Rockingham. Company I — Captain Thomas Settle, Rockingham. Company K — Captain G. Pink Baily, Rockingham. The above ten companies with Colonel W. D. Pender consti- tuted, at that time, one thousand and fifty men, and they were known as the Third Volunteers. They were sworn in for twelve months. Very soon ten regiments took the oath for the whole war, after which this regiment was known as the Thir- teenth North Carolina Troops, and was stationed at Suifolk,Va., until the last of June, 1861. It then marched to Ragged Island and camped at an old church called Ben's, six miles south of Smithfield, Va., and did picket duty along the James River, opposite Newport News, until the month of April, 1862, when General Colston, with the Third Virginia and Thirteenth North Carolina,, was sent across from Smithfi^eld to the north side of the James River and joined General Magruder's forces at York- town, Va., about the 13th of April. During the month of Sep- tember, 1861, Colonel Pender had resigned his commission as Col- onel of the Thirteenth Regiment, and was assigned to Fisher's old regiment (Sixth North Carolina) at Manassas. Captain A. M. Scales, after several days' balloting, was elected (October 11, 1861) Colonel of the Thirteenth Regiment, and was in com- mand at Yorktown and on the retreat up the Peninsula. We never can forget our stay at Yorktown. It rained incessantly and we were wet all the time we were there. During our stay there the Confederate Congress passed the Conscript Act, which took every man from eighteen to thirty-five years; those under and over that age were exempt. Then came (April, 1862) the reorganization of all volunteer companies and regiments in the Confederacy. Colonel A. M. Scales was re-elected; Thomas Ruffin was elected Lieutenant-Colonel ; Captain Hambrick, of Company D, Caswell county, was elected Major; Captain Thomas Settle was unanimously re-elected Captain of Company I, Thirteenth Regiment. 655 but refused to accept and went home. Chalmers Glenn was elected Captain of Company I; R. H. Ward, First Lieutenant ; W. H. Winchester, Second Lieutenant ; William C. Borough, Third Lieutenant. Immediately after the reorganization the army which had been under the command of General Magruder, but then under the command of General J. E. Johnston, began to march up the Peninsula. We left the works on Saturday night and marched all night through the mud, in many places knee-deep, and at dawn we were several miles on the road leading to Williamsburg, Ya. At a large church, where another road crossed ours, we could see to the right, toward the York River, that'the road was packed with troops. Just coming in sight on the left, towards the James, we saw troops in large masses, which a little later on we found to be the enemy, but at the time, in the early twilight, we supposed to be our troops. We were being pushed on at a rapid rate. Finally we reached Williamsburg, and notwithstanding a torrent of rain was then falling, the lusty cheers that went up from the wet and ragged troops would have terrified the enemy had they been a little nearer. Our brigade was in the re?ir, and we could not imagine what was the trouble in the front, but as we entered that ancient burg we joined in the yells too, for it seemed to me that there were more young ladies and prettier ones than we had ever seen. Colston's Brigade and the old Thirteenth North Carolina were marched into a small lot near the old female college and were trying to make fires- as the rain was falling in sheets. A courier came dashing up and called for General Colston. His brigade was ordered right back through the town the way it had just marched in. We were run about one mile to a piece of wooded land on the left. In a little spot of cleared land we passed our Brigadier sitting on his horse saying : " Hurry up ! Hurry up ! " The Thirteenth was double-quicked across a little flat, up a knoll, into an old fortification said to have been made by Lord Cornwallis. Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas Ruflfin was in com- mand of the left wing of the Thirteenth Regiment. As stated, it was a dark and rainy day. The writer of this sketch noticed 656 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. troops advancing through the woods in our front, and called to Colonel Ruffin to know if they were not " Yanks." Some wanted to fire on them. Colonel liuffin said: "No; hold on until you get orders." He looked and satisfied himself and called to his regiment to commence firing. The enemy all had oil-cloth over their uniforms, which made it difficult to determine to which side they belonged. So, when they heard the order to commence firing and the men leveled their guns on them, the officer in command stepped forward with uplifted hands and cried out : " Hold your fire, for God's sake ! We are your friends." We did so. The officer who stepped out gave the command "Right half wheel !" which threw his left wing to the center of the Thirteenth Regiment, and at the same time they charged us after discharging their guns. It was a hand-to-hand fight, which lasted but a few minutes. Only those from the center to the left were engaged. Captain Baily, of Company K, was shot and stabbed. Thomas Loftis, who is still living, was shot and bayoneted too, but his Captain said that Loftis gave three of the blues " their furloughs " before he fell. I do not know the cas- ualties of the engagement. It was short but hot while it lasted. This was the first engagement the Thirteenth had been in, and I suppose no regiment ever met an enemy cooler. Not a man moved except to the front. We were withdrawn from that position late in the night and followed the retreating army of Johnston and Beauregard all night through mud from ankle- deep to waist-deep. The wagons mired down and a great amount of our baggage had to be thrown off into the mud before they could be got out. Some very amusing things happened. My company had a man named Josiah K. McCoy who was a sergeant. He got stuck in the mud so deep that he could not move. He looked up and saw Colonel Ruffin dragging through the mud on his horse. He called out: "Oh! Colonel, don't leave me here, the Yanks will get me." " Who are you ?" said the Colonel. " Sergeant Josiah K. McCoy," said the poor fellow. Colonel Ruffin called out : " Company I, send a detail back and pull Sergeant Josiah K. McCoy out of the mud ! " When the Thirteenth Regiment. 657 detail reached him he was in up to his belt. On we came; on and on ; finally we reached Richmond, Va., on Saturday night, the exact date I do not remember, but we were one week on the road, or in the mud. ♦ After a few days McClellan threw a corps of his troops across the Chickahominy River on the Charles City road and advanced to Seven Pines. About this time the army was reorganized. The troops of each State were brigaded together. The Thir- teenth was taken from Colston's Virginia Brigade and placed under Brigadier-General Garland, who was in command at the battle of Seven Pines. Garland was leading his brigade for- ward across the field, when General D. H. Hill, our Major-Gen- eral, dashed up and ordered him to deploy his brigade and rush forward, stating that the enemy was strongly intrenched just below "that natural fence in front of you," and added "there is a Virginia brigade just from Norfolk that has refused to advance beyond the fence; run over the cowards." The Thir- teenth rushed forward under Colonel Scales. About two hun- dred yards in front we found a ditch thrown up, with a hedge of mock-orange on the embankment, which made a splendid natural defense. There were the Norfolk troops. We did as ordered. I remember stepping on a broad-backed fellow where he lay, and he gave a good nudge and over the hedge I bounded. About this time I looked around and saw that the whole regiment was clear. We dashed down the slope. The enemy turned loose their cannon, grape, canister, bombs, rifle shot, and, in fact, it seemed like the air was full of lead and cast-iron. When the enemy saw our determination they beat a hasty retreat. We slept on the battlefield that night. I was not in a position to learn the number of casualties. Next morning the enemy were all on the east side of the Chickahominy River, and we, the Thirteenth, in Garland's Brigade, were with- drawn to within sight of Richmond. In a few days the enemy recrossed the river and advanced up the Charles City road. Garland's Brigade was sent out to meet them. The enemy com- menced shelling us up the road. While the Thirteenth was lying 42 658 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-65. in a ditch, General Garland came up leading his horse along be- hind the woeks and stopped just behind the Thirteenth and imme- diately where I was. Soon the enemy got the range and sent a bomb which passed between the General and his horse, then another passed and exploded in his rear. We begged him to come in, but he smiled and said: "You boys take care of your- selves ; never mind me." He immediately ordered the Thir- teenth forward, and we went about two hundred yards, when we were halted and ordered to send videttes forward into the thicket to recounoiter. Captain Ward, of Company I, asked if any one would volunteer. I offered my services, provided some one would give me a canteen of water. I think there were at least a dozen canteens offered me at the same time. The only Yank I saw down there all day was in the top of a tall pine tree and I would not have seen him if he had not called to me with a bullet from his rifle. The bullet struck the ground just behind me, which made me know that he was above me. I looked, and finally he shot the second time, and I found him by the smoke from his gun ; he was astride a limb near the top of a long-leaf pine. I waited for him to present arms the third time; then I was ready also, and I took the first shot at a range of one hundred and fifty yards. He dropped his gun, threw up his hands, reeled back and fell some seventy-five feet, and I heard him strike the ground. After dark I was sent for and rejoined my regiment near Richmond again. The next morning it was evident that the enemy was advanc- ing all along the line. The whole of the army was marching and counter-marching and taking positions. I am entirely at sea with regard to dates, but will say that General D. H. Hill's Division was sent around on the Mechanicsville road to join General T. J. Jackson's Corps on the enemy's right flank. At that time Garland's Brigade of North Carolina Troops, with the Thirteenth was under D. H. Hill. We pushed along the line to the extreme left. When we reached the Eichmond and Mechanicsville road we heard heavy firing from musketry and cannon. We advanced slowly down a long hill to the bot- Thirteenth Regiment. 659 torn. The Thirteenth halted just where the road started up grade. The firing was terrific down the creek just below us. We heard the rebel yell. Within a few minutes a courier came dashing up and reported that Colonel Pender, who was in com- mand of a North Carolina brigade, had made a gallant charge and driven the enemy across the creek at Gaines' Mill. Just at this time Major Hambrick, of the Thirteenth, was sitting on his horse across the road. The enemy had taken position on top of the hill in front of us and turned loose some solid shot right down the road which we occupied. The Major was reminded of his danger, but said: "Attend to your business." About that time a twenty-four-pound shot struck in the road some distance from where we were, and the second bounce, struck the horse just behind the Major's thigh and knocked the horse from under him into the ditch, among us boys, as " dead as a door-nail." The Major was badly bruised from the jar. He was sent back to Richmond, where he resigned, and Captain Rogers, of Com- pany D, was elected in his place. The Thirteenth advanced slowly all night and skirmished with the enemy, who were fall- ing back very stubbornly Next morning, June 28th, if memory serves me, we found Stonewall Jackson's old command, which had fought and won three grand victories over Banks, Shields and Millroy in the Valley, and had left them to wonder while he slipped up in McClellan's rear. The Thirteenth, then under Garland and D. H. Hill, was with General Jackson. He led us directly south to what is known as the Cold Harbor battle- field. We encountered the enemy about 1 o'clock. They began shelling the road. This was the first thing we knew; but, of course. Generals Jackson and Hill knew where they were. Garland's Brigade was double-quicked to the right of the road, behind a clump of woods, to the head of a small boggy branch and crossed over into a small cleared patch of land. Here Colonel A. M. Scales formed the Thirteenth Regiment, ready to advance. The enemy found us out and commenced shelling us terribly. B. B. Styers, of Company I, was killed by a shell at my left-hand. Just then General Hill came riding up and told 660 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. ColoDel Scales that the enemy were advancing on us through the field, just over the fence, and to advance at once. At the top of a steep hill, which was about ninety yards, there was a high new fence. General Hill ordered us not to climb it, but to tear it down, run over it and to charge the enemy. We marched steadily up the bluff to the fence, every man seized the fence and rushed against it and it fell as if a tornadp had struck it. Down the hill we went, yelling and shooting like mad men. The enemy ran like sheep before a pack of dogs. We were pursuing them in a southerly course. General Hill had come up where we had torn the fence down ; there he saw the enemy on our left flank advancing and about to enfilade Garland's Brigade. General Garland ordered a change of front. Colonel Scales rushed in front of the Thirteenth Regiment, as cool as if we had been on drill; his voice rang clear. He gave the com- mand " Battalion, left half wheel ! " The old Thirteenth swung aroung like a door on its hinges. By the time we fronted oar new position the enemy were within one hundred and fifty yards of us at a large dwelling-house and in position behind a fence along the road, with their guns poked thnough the fence. There we met the most galling storm of lead. We charged the fence up a long slant and poured lead back at them as fast as we could load, shoot and charge. Here again 1 am not able to give the number of casualties of my regiment, but it was something ter- rible. I know that in my company, which was Company I, at the foot of the little hill one of my file at the right of the com- pany, Yancey Coleman, fell, and next his brother Milton. Next I saw Noel Rhodes fall. They were all killed. Ingraham Rhodes fell wounded in the thigh, Mat. Apple was killed, Micajah Warren fell. It seemed that all would be killed be- fore we could dislodge the enemy. But on we went. When we were within fifty feet of the fence a bomb exploded over our heads so close to us that the concussion stunned me; I fell, and was unconscious for three hours. When I regained my senses the sun was setting and the enemy gone from the fence. The dead and dying were all around me. Will Pinnix, of Company Thirteenth Eegiment. 661 A, was lying across my legs, shot through the lungs, and was crying for water. I gave him some and got up to leave, but fell again ; I found that my limbs were for the time paralyzed. I crawled down the hill, where I found the Thirteenth, or what was left of it. Willie Stone, of Company H, was lying on the field next morning seemingly dead. The ball went in at one temple just behind his eyes and out at the other. His eyes were both pushed out of their sockets. We marched that day down to the Chickahominy Elver. We left Stone lying on the ground. It was Saturday morning when we left; the battle was Friday evening. Wednesday following the man who owned the place went back to his home to see what had been done by the army. He heard a strange noise in the swamp. When he went down there he found young Stone crawling through the thicket hunt- ing for water. Stone had revived and found that his eyes were out and took his fingers and put them back, but he was blind. F. J. Stone, at Stoneville, N. C, is his brother. Sunday, all day, we were on the north side of the Chicka- hominy River ; the enemy had destroyed the bridge and we had to build one of logs, which took all day Sunday and all Sunday night. During the day General Longstreet was swooping down on McClellan's troops to the south of the river. We could hear the cannon, musketry and the yells, but could do nothing until the bridge was done. Monday morning, July 2d, we crossed over and hurried on. When we struck the road where Long- street fought Sunday it was indeed a woeful sight to behold; for acres and acres untold the enemy were lying in heaps. We passed by a nice-looking country house and before it was a stile or uplifting block and on it sat a Union soldier with his feet crossed and his gun between his legs, but he was dead and as stiff as the stone upon which he was sitting. He was wounded the evening before and came running with his gun in his hand and dropped down on the step, crossed his legs and died. We pushed on and overtook the enemy at Malvern Hill. The posi- tion that Garland's Brigade, and especially that of the Thirteenth Eegiment, occupied was one of the most diflScult and dangerous 662 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. that I was ever in up to that time, or even after it. We were marched across a large field of bottom-land, across a creek, through briers, vines and every kind of obstacle, along up an old plantation cart-way to the top of a high hill. As soon as we passed through the woods we were confronted by the strongest line of works I ever faced — with cannon so thick that it did not seem that a wagon could more than pass between them. We were only about one hundred and twenty-five yards from them. Colonel Scales saw the situation, and ordered the Thirteenth to charge the works. At first sight it seemed that the enemy was massed between their cannon in double column closed in mass. The enemy opened the most terrific and destructive fire in the face of the old Thirteenth that ever any troop met since the world began. Within five minutes it was impossible to distin- guish one man from another on account of the smoke and the dust caused from the cannon in our immediate front. The men would rush forward as they were urged, and then it seemed as though the whole line would sway back as a field of corn would before a wind. Though the sun was shining bright, when we went in everything was soon so dark one could scarcely see. Men were falling like leaves in an autumn wind. I had my gun shot in two in my hands, one finger taken off and five bullet- holes through my clothes; some three of them drew blood. It was a useless undertakiug at that point. When I got wounded I retired two miles in the rear. Bombs were falling and burst- ing in many places from McClellan's gun-boats on the James. I fell back to the road leading from Richmond to Yorktown and found hundreds of troops from different States yelling " Fifth Alabama!" others, such and such a regiment. I called out " Thirteenth North Carolina, Garland's Brigade ! " A voice from a little flickering light, for it was now dark, said: " Here!" I went up, and to my surprise and delight, I found General Garland and one of his staff sitting there broiling a piece of fat Nassau meat and catching the grease on one of those old "hard- tacks." He looked up at me and said : " I see you are wounded ? " I told him I was. By this time he had the meat Thirteenth Eeqiment. 663 broiled. He laid it on the cracker and handed it to me. I begged to be excused, but he insisted, stating that he would cook more for himself. When I had eaten the ration he said: "Lie down here; I am going to stay right here and see if I can reorganize my poor skeleton of a brigade." Next morning I was awakened by the rain falling in my face and got up. He told me to go and report to Dr. McAden and get my wound dressed. I speak of this to show the reader what a kind and good-hearted man General Garland was. And I regret to say this was the last time I ever saw this brave and good man. I was furloughed sixty days, the army made its tour into Mary- land and General Garland fell in battle at South Mountain, Md. The Thirteenth Regiment during the remainder of the war fought with Jackson's Corps, A. P. Hill's Division. The whole world knows that the troops under Jackson did hard fighting and made many long marches when other troops were in quarters. The Thirteenth participated in the battles of Second Manassas, Harper's Ferry, Antietam and South Mountain. I met the shattered remnant of the old Thirteenth North Carolina at Bunker Hill, Va., just after the army recrossed the Potomac, and a most pitiful sight it was to behold. I found Company I in command of the Fourth Sergeant, and he was barefooted. Lieutenant-Colonel Ruffin was in command of the regiment. He appointed me Second Sergeant and told me to take command. Colonel Duncan K. MacRae was in command of Garland's Brigade. He and Colonel Ruffin were not on good terms, and General Lee transferred the Thirteenth to W. D. Pender's Brigade; then the boys were happy, as we were again with our first colonel. Pender's Brigade then was composed of the Thirteenth, Sixteenth, Twenty-second, Thirty-fourth and Thir- ty-eighth North Carolina, one of the best brigades in the army, with one of the bravest and coolest generals in the world. After the army recrossed the Potomac there was but little fighting the remainder of the summer and fall of 1862, except now and then a little cavalry skirmish. In the month of November, 1862, the Thirteenth was at Darksville, Va., watch- 664 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. ing the Yanks. We got orders to cook three days' rations and be ready at a moment's notice to march. The order came; we marched down the Valley pike, crossed the mountains at Snicker's Gap and on to Fredericksburg. We marched the distance in thirteen days and many of our boys were barefooted. I saw blood in many places. We waded all the streams except the Rappahannock River; we crossed that on a pontoon-bridge. The weather was cold indeed. We had been in the vicinity of Fredericksburg but a few days when Burnside commenced cross- ing the river at Fredericksburg. Pender's Brigade, with his five North Carolina regiments, including the Thirteenth, was drawn up on the west side of the railroad behind Cutts' Battalion of artillery, which was posted on a knoll southeast of the city. Lane's Brigade of North Carolina troops was on Pender's right, along the railroad, up in the direction of Guinea Station. We got there in position before daylight on December 13th. The snow lay on the ground some six or seven inches deep. Men had not drawn their winter shoes, clothes or blankets. Our suffering was beyond description. There was a dense fog which enveloped the whole plain. One could not see eighty paces away. About 9:30 o'clock A. M. our picket line was heard firing in front. Soon they came in and reported the enemy advancing. Our batteries opened fire and the enemy responded vigorously. The Thirteenth Regiment was immediately behind the battery and the enemy who had taken a position on a knoll beyond the railroad, above the city, got the range at once, and shells began to plow the ground. The shells came in showers after the first duel. I raised my head out of the snow and looked to see what had happened. Just at that time they renewed the shelling. I saw one strike a sergeant in Company G, from Edgecombe, in the breast and explode. It blew him all to atoms. Another struck one of Company B, from Meck- lenburg, just above his eyes; it uncapped his head. He staid up on his knees and hands for at least a minute. His brains staid intact and quivered; finally he sank down on his face in the snow. There were some twenty others of the Thirteenth Thirteenth Eegiment. 665 Regiment killed within ten minutes. Just then the sun, which we had not seen that day, burst through the fog. We looked across the plain and saw five columns of Federal troops advanc- ing. The first column was within one hundred yards of the railroad, where Lane's Brigade was posted. He let them advance within sixty or eighty paces and gave orders to com- mence firing, which they did, and it seemed that the front column melted away. The second column charged, but met the same fate at that point. But in front of Cutts' Battery, where we were, they succeeded in driving out the strong picket line in the railroad cut and commenced killing the gunners and horses. Just then General W. D. Pender came riding down his line among the hail of shot and shells, his left-hand hanging down and blood streaming down his fingers. A ball had gone through his arm between the bones. Colonel Scales bounded up out of the snow and said : " General, I see you are wounded." He said : " Oh, that is a trifle; no bone is broken. I want you to send at least two companies down to the railroad and drive those scoundrels out. They are killing Colonel Catts' men and horses." Colonel Scales called out to Captain Ward, of Company I, and Captain Hunt, of Company C, to go. It was about two hundred yards, in a plain, open field. When we got up from our snow- beds we were so stiff we could scarcely walk, but the Yankee bullets soon made us forget that. We double-quicked right down the hill, through the shower of lead, until we were within twenty-five yards of the cut, before we fired a gun. We gave them what we had frozen in our guns and charged bayonets, and out they went. We reloaded and kept pushing them on over the first banks of the plain. We held our position until dark, when we were recalled to the brigade, which was in the woods in rear of where we had been during the day. We found the boys with good fires, warming themselves. One of my company, ■George Lowder, had gotten so badly frozen that he died that night. I lost four toe-nails from the cold. We had a "snack" to eat and were told that Jackson was going to take his corps, put white strips on their arms, charge through to the river and cut 666 NoETH Carolina Teoops, 1861-'65. loose the pontoon-bridges and bag the whole of Burnside's army, but that idea was abandoned, and we bivouacked around the fires until morning. Then we found the enemy had, sure enough, crossed the river during the night, and we boys were glad; but it was said that old Stonewall was mad because he was not allowed to carry out his plan the overnight. After two days we marched down some twelve miles below Guinea Station to a large timbered tract, some four miles from the river, and established our winter-quarters and named our camp after General Gregg, of South Carolina, who had fallen in battle at Fredericksburg. The only battle we had that winter was with General McGowan's Brigade of South Carolina. In the month of January there came a heavy snow. The South Carolina brigade attacked Pender's Brigade, with colors flying, for a snow-ball battle. The Tar-heel boys, in that, as in the other, did not see fit to retreat, so they met them at the branch and it was a hard fight, and finally the Tar-heels charged them, ran them into their quarters and on through camp, demolished a goodly number of shanties, and returned to their own quarters with but one casu- alty— that was the red-headed Adjutant of the Thirteenth North Carolina, who was struck in the eye with a snow-ball nested with a flint rock. The writer of this sketch was elected Third Lieutenant' by a unanimous vote of his company, December 28th, just after going into winter-quarters. During the month of April, 1863, the Thirteenth was sent up near Gordonsville on a kind of pro- vost duty. We were having a nice time, but on Friday night, May 1st, a courier came dashing into camp with orders for the Thirteenth to join its command, which was then marching. We fell in about 8:30 o'clock p. M. ' The courier acted as a guide. We marched all night and all day next day through plantations, along rough country roads, until about three o'clock we fell into what was called the Old Mine road, and exactly struck the bead of Stonewall's Corps, with Jackson at its head. We commenced cheering him. He ordered it stopped. We began to smell a, mouse. Then, very soon, we struck the Orange Court House Thirteenth Regiment. 667 and Chancellorsville road, turned at a right angle, advanced down same a mile or more. Pender's Brigade and the Thirteenth filed to the left of the road about four hundred yards through the wilderness, were halted and came to a front. "Forward!" was next. We went about two hundred yards and came to a field which was white as snow with Yankee tents; we leaped the fence and charged them before they knew that we were there. Some were writing letters, some were playing cards, some were shaving, some were cooking beef and, in fact, everything usually done in an army camp was going on. Their guns were stacked and their accoutrements hanging on the stacks, and we gave them no time to get them, but chased them through the field. They circled around and hit the Chancellorsville road and made the dust fly. We followed as rapidly as we possibly could, fell into the same road in column and were double-quicking at a rapid rate. General Jackson and stafl^ came thundering down the road by us, and as he passed the head of Pender's Brigade, which was the Thirteenth North Carolina, he called out to halt and throw out a strong skirmish line to protect the column and to "press the enemy until night- fall." The detail was made from the Thirteenth Regiment. I was detailed to command it. I deployed my men and pushed forward; we had gone about one-half mile; it was getting in the twilight fast, when all of a sudden the enemy in front, and not over a quarter of a mile away, turned loose a battery immediately up the road; grape and canister were scraping the ground, and at the same time mus- ketry mixed in; bullets were coming up the road thick. My skirmishers were deployed on both sides and I was in the road; but when the Yankee bullets and grape were turned loose I jumped to the right of the road and fell behind a log that lay there on a little knoll. A loose horse came from the direction of the shooting. As he passed me he neighed. I thought very strange of this. In about a minute another horse came from the same direction. The firing ceased; I heard behind me Gen- eral Pender call out : " Forward, battalion !" I cried: " Forward, skirmishers!" When I slid down into the road I observed an 668 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. object which seemed to be wabbling along towards me; I stooped low and peeped; I called: "Who comes there?" and expected to be answered with lead, but was told "Friends." By this time we had met. I could see that it was some one on a litter, and he was groaning heavily. I asked: "Who is this wounded?" They answered: "A Confederate officer." I did not dream that it was our so much beloved chief. General T. J. Jackson, nor did I learn it until after the battle of Chancellorsville was over with next day. This may seem to the reader to conflict with the statement sent out by the Richmond papers at that time; also of the state- ment of the author of the " Wearing of the Gray " and " Surry of the Eagle's Nest"; but I have only intended from start to finish not to write a single line or word that I did not know to be the truth; and I do positively know that not a single gun had been fired by my detail on that memorable night of May 2d, on which our noble and matchless leader was sacrificed. We had not advanced over one hundred and fifty yards after meeting the latter before the enemy began to pelt us. Pender's Brigade filed to the left of the Chancellorsville road, until it cleared the road. I found later that Lane's filed to the right. General Pender rested at the right wing, which was on the bank of the road. The Thirteenth was at the extreme left of the brigade and deep in the wilderness of brush-wood. We advanced within one hun- dred yards of the enemy's line and there we lay down with our heads to the enemy and rested on our arms. We could hear them digging and chopping down the small undergrowth all night. Captain Ward and I lay on my oil-cloth, side by side, but sleep was far from us. The moon shone beautifully all night and the whip-poor-wills kept time to the Yankee axe and pick. Captain Ward, every now and then, would chunk me and say: " What time is it now ? " I would look at my watch by moon- light and tell him. At half past four he asked me again. I told him. He said: "Let's get up and get ready, for hell will be to pay as soon as it gets light." We rolled up ray cloth; I swung it about my neck and sat down. In a few minutes the Thirteenth Eegiment. 669 men were roused, roll called and three hundred and forty-two men of the old Thirteenth said " Here." Just as we could see day was opening, while it was red in the east, I heard that keen, shrill voice of General W. D. Pender, down on the right of the brigade, scream out : " Attention, forward, guide center ! " The Thirteenth stepped forward as though it was battalion drill. We were so close to the enemy that they opened fire on us imme- diately. It was a beautiful morning, the first Sunday in May, when nature everywhere is always so beautiful. It was calm as could be and it did look like a pity to disturb its hallowed name; but such is war. It was so still; not a bit of wind, but soft and warm. When the enemy commenced firing on us — one solid sheet of blaze — I well remember patting men on the shoulder and telling them to shoot at the blaze. They did so; so we sup- posed that they were shooting over the top of their works; but we charged them, and in five minutes we had carried their works which they were all night in building, and when we leaped over them we found a bank of them in the ditch; we thought they were pris- oners, but found they were killed. They had placed two logs in parallel lines, put on cross-ties, floored them and built on top of that, and were lying behind shooting under the works. If we had not charged them before the sun rose they would have killed every one of us; but our boys were told to shoot at the blaze, and they had done the work admirably well. Our men were shot in the legs, while theirs were shot in the head and shoulders. On we charged about one hundred and twenty-five yards, where we found another line lying down awaiting us. We charged them, on and on, until we had routed the fifth line. By this time our line was getting very thin. Our officers called on the men so often to aim low that I am sure that very few shot over the enemy, judging from the number of dead and wounded left on the field. My company was the right center company and rested on the colors. My position was on the left wing; as file-closer, I saw the colors fall five times after we had crossed the first line at the works. Three times out of the five I picked 670 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. them up and rushed forward with them. The last time I picked them up Colonel Scales passed up his line and saw me, and said: "Detail a man to carry them." Just as I had complied with his order, he, Colonel Scales, reeled and fell, shot through the thigh. He called me and asked me to run back and order the litter- bearers after him. I ran back through the woods about one hundred and fifty yards and met two of them and hurried them to my colonel. I had been hearing a terrible howling, and thought at first that it was our re-inforcements coming, but found it was the howling of bullets going through the air a few feet above my head. I wheeled and ran my best toward the front. I found that there was more danger at a distance than there was close up. When I overtook my regiment, which was still press- ing hard down upon the enemy, in sight of the cleared land at Chancellorsville, the enemy were, it seemed, being recruited and were making a desperate stand. Brigadier-General Henderson, of the Union side, with some of his staff, attempted to lead a charge on us. We stood for him, and two privates of Company E, Sandy Andrews and Dan Weden, rushed forward and seized his horse by the bridle and asked him to surrender. He indignantly replied: "If you don't turn my horse loose, I'll kill you both." Weden, I be- lieve it was, leveled his gun on him and said: "D — n you, dis- mount, or I'll kill you." He obeyed promptly. Just at that time I did hear the rebel yell. It was Thomas' Georgia Brigade, which had been in reserve, coming to relieve Pender's Brigade. The Thirteenth was out of ammunition; they had shot sixty rounds each and had been in from 5 o'clock to 8:30 A. M. As before stated, the Thirteenth went in at 5 o'clock with three hundred and forty-two good men. When we fell back to the enemy's works, filled up cartridge-boxes, and at one o'clock each company called the roll, one hundred and thirty-nine men answered to their names. There were killed, wounded and miss- ing two hundred and three. In the language of Colonel A. M. Scales, "That 3d day of May, 1863, at Chancellorsville, was one that tried men's souls." Captain R. H. Ward, of my com- Thirteenth Regiment. 671 pany, was wounded badly in the leg; First Lieutenant W. H. Winchester took command; A. F. Neal, Second Lieutenant, and myself Third Lieutenant. When Thomas' Georgia Bri- gade struck them with their fresh, full line the enemy vanished like snow in the sunshine on a warm spring day. They pressed the enemy so hard that by some means the wilderness was set on fire, and we all had to fall back across the road. We had gotten our wounded all off, but the poor Federal wounded were left to the ravages of the forked tongue of the blaze, and there never was a more ghastly sight than after the fire had done its work. In the afternoon this writer was put in command of a detail of thirty men to hunt through the burnt woods which we had fought over that morning and bury the dead of the Thirteenth. We found forty-two charred corpses, brought them to the old plank-road and buried them all in one long grave and labeled them on boards at their heads. While I was looking through the woods I found a young man with both arms and both legs broken. His clothing was burned to a coal, his hair was noth- ing but a char, his eye-lashes were burned off. He heard me walking, and called to know who I was. I told him that I was one of the Thirteenth North Carolina. He then said : " Will you please kill me out of my misery?" I told him I would not, but said to him : " What are you fighting against us for, you negro?" He put up a pitiful cry, and said: "Before you all shot me I was as, white as any man." He then asked me if I had any water. I told him yes; I knelt down, put my arm around his neck, raised him up and gave him all the water I had. He again asked me to please kill him. I refused. He then asked me to see if I could get a ring off his finger, and if I ever had a chance to send it to his sister, stating that she put it on there the second Sunday in the last July, when he started from his home in some town in, I think he said, New Hamp- shire. He said : "My father is dead; I have a mother and one sister living, but I will never see them again." I left the poor fellow and hurried around as soon as I could to get more water, but, alas, he was dead. As to the ring, his hand was So badly 672 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. burned and swollen it was impossible to take it oif. I have always regretted that I did not write down his mother's address, so that I could have written her concerning him since. Well, we held the field, or woods, that night. Next morning it was reported that the enemy was showing signs of renewing the engagement. We fell to work and threw up breastworks, and such a rain as fell seldom has been seen. The army then mean- dered here and there for several days. This writer was taken severely sick and sent to Richmond Hospital and lay there very ill for four weeks. During that time General Lee made, I think, the mistake of his life, and invaded Pennsylvania. The Thirteenth was in every battle where Stonewall Jackson's old corps (then under A. P. Hill) was. It was at Second Manas- sas, Winchester, Harper's Ferry, Gettysburg, and in many skir- mishes. I met it near Bunker Hill again, camped in a piece of woods, a mere handful of barefoot, ragged, worn-out soldiers. My cousin, W. H. Winchester, First Lieutenant of Company I, fell in the charge up Cemetery Hill. His right foot was shot off at the ankle, except the heel-string. He was seen crawling back down the hill at Gettysburg, One of the company found him, as they retired, at the foot of the hill. He had his knife out and asked the man to cut the heel-string so he could crawl farther. The man told him that he could not. He told the man to hold.it for him; he held it, and he cut off his own foot and continued to crawl, but was finally overtaken by the Union troops and died in the hospital among the enemy. Lieutenant A. F. Neal then came in command of the company and was with it when I met them this side of the Potomac. He was very sick and was sent off the same day to the hospital and returned late in the fall to Orange Court House. This writer then fell in command of Company I in the month of July, 1863, and con- tinued in command until Lieutenant Neal returned. Soon after his return he resigned, and on account of Lieutenant Winchester's death and Neal's resignation this writer was promoted to First Lieutenant during the spring. When General Jackson died A. P. Hill was promoted to fill Thirteenth Regiment. 673 his place ; W. D. Pender was promoted to Major-Geueral; Colonel A. M. Scales was promoted to Brigadier-General; J. H. Hyman, of Company G, from Edgecombe, was promoted to Colonel, and Benton Withers was promoted from Major to Lieutenant-Colonel. I have brought the reader, with the Thirteenth, to Orange Court House, Va., into winter-quarters. We built a plank-road from the Court House to the camp, graded or macadamized the streets, and two days before Christmas our time came to beat rock into the street. It was cold enough almost to shave a man — the wind was blowing from the snow-capped mountains from the north side. The boys were almost nude, squatting down pound- ing rock. The officers got sorry for the poor fellows. We found a groceryman who had a barrel of good old apple-jack; we thought we would warm them up. Company after company was called up and " set up " to what we thought was about right. The boys went back to crushing rock with hand-hammers; they soon began to sing and rejoice and cut all sorts of capers. The Irish Battalion, which was known to all the soldiers as the rear- guard on all marches, was called up to see if they couldn't quiet the old Thirteenth. The boys became indignant at the thought of having the Patrick O'Flanigans over them, so they armed themselves with broken stone, charged the Irish Battalion and drove them clean out of town. As they returned from the chase they tore down a settler's hut or two. Lieutenant-Colonel Ben- ton W ithers, who was in charge that day, managed to march them back to camp. The next morning he placed about six officers and twenty-five or thirty men under arrest. The next day was Christmas-eve. Colonel Joe Hyman re- ceived a very nice box from a friend at Tarboro, N. C, and in the box were five gallons of North Carolina brandy, turkey, hams, sausage, cake, etc. Well, he was something of a "turnip" himself- he invited every commissioned officer to come up to his tent and partake of his hospitalities. After a few smiles at the demijohn, he then sent for the brass band, treated them and made them play until midnight. About this time his heart had gotten soft. He called Colonel Withers and ordered him to go 43 674 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. and tell all the oflScers that got tipsy at the Court House to come to him at once, and to also tell every man that was in the guard- house that he pardoned him. He wound up by saying: "D — n a man that will punish others for the thing he will do him- self." Christmas passed by; the new year ushered in; 1864 had come; Captain Ward had returned to Company I. The writer had applied for a furlough to visit his dear old mother and sisters and the " other dear," whom he had not seen for nine- teen months. A big snow was on the ground; the furlough was handed in, approved and respectfully returned by E. E. Lee, General. The reader can imagine that this boy was feeling good, for soldiers do feel good sometimes, and this was one of those times. All of a sudden the regiment drum began: "Shat- ter, vatter, vatter, vatter !" What's that ? " Fall in , Thirteenth ! " The Yankee cavalry had charged the pickets at the mill ford and were crossing by thousands. Captain Ward said: "If I were you, I would go to Orange Court House; I would not go into battle with a furlough in my pocket." I said : " Well, I will do what Colonel Hyman says." I went in a run to his quarters, and said: "Colonel, I have just received my furlough; do you wish me to fall in ? " He turned around and bawled out : " Yes, G d n it, fall in ; fall in, and that d n quick." That ended it for the time. By this time the Thirteenth was formed. We double-quicked every step for two and one-half miles. As we went over a hill we came in sight of a brigade of infantry from toward the Court House that had beat us a little and had the cavalry on the run. We got to the ford in time to see a few of them floating down the river. We took position in the little picket intrenchment. The Federal cavalry was reforming at the edge of the woods on the Culpeper road. The miller said the distance had been measured from the farther bank to the woods and was one thousand seven hundred and eighty yards. Colonel Hyman called Monroe Roberson, of Company A, who had a globe-sighted rifle, captured from the enemy in Maryland the summer before. The Colonel was looking through his field- Thirteenth Regiment. 675 glass and saw an officer at the woods who seemed to be forming his men to make a dash. He told Roberson to lay his gun across the works and see if he thought he could get him. He looked, and said: "Yes, sir; he doesn't look to be more than two hundred yards off." "Try him, then," said the Colonel, "and I will watch." Monroe pulled down. . The Colonel snapped his finger, and said : " I swear, if you didn't knock him off." In less than a minute they turned loose with carbines and a per- fect shower of lead was stuck in the hill above our heads on the bluff. They only hit one of the Thirteenth, Calvin Grear, from Mecklenburg, who was Sergeant-major at that time. He was shot through the body just above the waist; the ball came out at the side of his back-bone. The Colonel excused me after dark, and I left the Court House next morning for home. The Thirteenth returned to its winter- quarters and remained there near the Court House until May 5th, when we struck tents and" marched through the village about 1 o'clock p. m., in the direction of the Wilderness, down the old plank-road. We met the enemy some twelve miles down the road. A. P. Hill's Corps was in front. Longstreet was up at Madison Court House when we met the enemy. Wilcox's Division, which was Pender's be- fore his death, was put right in. It was composed of Scales', Lane's, Thomas' Georgia and McGowan's South Carolina Bri- gades. Scales' and Thomas' Brigades were put in and Lane's and McGowan's Brigades were kept back of them as a support. We moved down on them on the right of the road. Charge after charge we made. We drove the enemy back some two miles. It was like fighting fire in the woods again. We were kept in until our boys had exhausted their sixty rounds, or some had, and during that time a goodly number of the Thirteenth had gone down to rise no more. Captain Ward, of Company I, had only been back from home, because of his Chancellorsville wound, about three months. Just before our skirmish line opened fire, marching down the road, he commenced to sing: " Years creep slowly by, Lorena; the snow is on the grass again." I slapped him on the shoulder and told him I knew what he was thinking 676 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. about; and that was, that he would get another flesh wound and go back to Mrs. Ward. He remarked: "Would to God that it may be only a flesh wound." Just as Lane's Brigade rushed in to relieve Scales, near a branch, as we faced about to retire, a ball struck him in the back part of his leg and lodged under the knee-cap, and, if he is living, it is there yet. We bore him off with us. He went home sure enough and never was able to return to duty, but was retired, and the writer was promoted to Captain later on. This was the first day's battle with Grant and Lee. We were drawn off some three-fourths of a mile in the rear of the front line, issued cartridges and lay there all night, supposing that Lane's and Thomas' men were still in our front. The next morn- ing, not long after light, we were lying behind some old logs and such things as we could pick up. General Scales and our Colonel Hyman were standing behind my company talking, when one of my sergeants called to me, and said: " Look in front." I looked, and the woods were blue with the enemy. I turned to the Colonel and General Scales to tell them. The enemy were coming closer behind us. I told them to look ; we were about surrounded. General Scales waved his sword above his head and called on the men to follow him. He dashed off at right angles and took his brigade out by the right flank. They opened fire upon us and a goodly number was wounded. I was struck on my shoulder-blade and had the breath knocked out of me, but I kept following our retreating or stampeded troops, who circled back to the road, where we met Longstreet's Corps coming in from Madison Court House. General Lee was standing there. By his direction General Longstreet placed troops on each side of the road and advanced quickly. General Lee started to lead the charge, but he was prevented by the officers of Long- street's staff. The Thirteenth, under Colonel Hyman, was reorganized and fell in for the day on Longstreet's left wing and was back into the fight in less than an hour and remained in all day, I do not think there was a single day from that time that a Thirteenth Regiment. 677 man was safe from the range of a bullet until we reached Peters- burg. It was a running fight on by Spottsylvania. There we were in a bloody fight — fight and march day and night, j-ain or fair — it was all the time fight, fight. The regiment was being reduced daily and hourly. When we went to Spottsylvania there was a time when only five commissioned officers were present for duty, and it made it so arduous on us that I would sometimes get so desperate that I wished to be shot. We were sent forward south of the Court House to feel for the enemy. Two days after the big battle no troops had been seen over the works. That day, for fear they had stolen the march on us, the Thirteenth was sent to feel for them. As we went down through an old field, and had gotten within eighty yards of the works. Lieutenant Eainey said to me: "I'll bet five dollars there isn't a Yankee in those works." Immediately they raised up in double file, laid their guns over the works and fired, but they were above us so high that they shot over every one of us except Captain T. C. Evans. He had his mouth open, yelling to his company, Ifke all the rest of us, to "Charge! Charge!" A bullet went into his mouth, knocked out one tooth and came out on the right side of his neck-bone. It was a close call, but I could not help but laugh. He squealed like a pig, rolled down the hill to the bottom, jumped up and ran out like a wild turkey. I do not mean that he was a coward, for he was a very brave and gallant officer; but he was so deranged at the time that he hardly knew what he was doing. We charged up the hill to the works and found no one at them at all. They fired their guns and fell back down the bluff through the cedars and got out of sight. That night we marched all night and were at Hanover Junction by day. We began digging, and by a little after sunrise the enemy charged us with a heavy column. We drove them back and skirmished with them during the day and a portion of the night. Next morning we found that Grant had pushed on. We side-tracked him on, and on to Cold Har- bor. I think the Thirteenth got into position in that engage- ment not more than one-half mile from the place we had fought 678 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. McClellan's troops in 1862. We succeeded in holding our posi- tion well, notwithstanding we were exposed to a hurricane of cannoo, shots and shells. The race for the goal continued hot between Grant and General Lee. Grant's aim, as every one knows, was to make the touch-down at Richmond, but we tackled him and he went to Petersburg, I think, about the 19th of July. During this time I did not get time to change raiment but one time. The Thirteenth was placed in the fortifications south of Petersburg, to the right of the road, for a few days after the troops had recuperated. General Lee laid off a new line of defense farther from the city than General Beauregard's line was. Then for a siege of hard work again. We soon had a strong line of defense and the troops were distributed from near Burgess' Mill, on the extreme right, thence south of Petersburg, across the Appomattox River and on near Dunlap's Station, through to Drewry's Bluff. We were kept on the south side of Petersburg and occupied the works south of Sycamore street, in sight of the city, exactly where the mine was sprung. We staid there and did picket duty in our front and were under a continual fire all the time for some four weeks. General Scales complained to General Lee that his troops ought to be relieved. Howard's South Carolina was sent to relieve Scales. The Thirteenth was then sent north of Petersburg to do picket work along the west bank of the river. In about twelve days from this time we left the works which were later on blown up. On the Sunday following we were sent back south down the railroad some three miles and attacked the enemy and skirmished al) day. Yancy Cummings, of my com- pany, was killed and several others wounded. August 19th we marched by a circuitous route all night and the next day about twelve o'clock we struck the enemy at Reams' Station, on the Petersburg & Weldon Railroad. He was strongly fortified along the railroad bed, with a redoubt at the depot, about one hundred and fifty yards on the Weldon end of the road. When we came in sight on the west side of the railroad, it was about nine hundred yards through an open sedge field. Thirteenth Regiment. 679 Scales' Brigade was formed and ordered forward. The right of the brigade was protected by some woods. The Thirteenth Eegi- ment's position being in the open, it was ordered that ^ good, strong skirmish line be sent forward to hold the enemy while the main column could advance. The writer was called out to make the advance. I asked to be allowed to take my company, as there was no other officer with it, and besides that, I knew my men and they knew me. The detail for the brigade was ordered out. I was in command of the Thirteenth's detail, my company. Lieutenant-Colonel Benton Withers was in command of the brigade detail. The skirmishers advanced under a heavy fire. We dashed through the old field, the last one hundred yards being through a flat land which had been cleared the winter before. The brush lay loose all over the ground, which made it very difficult to get through. I do not think we were more than five minutes getting within eighty-five yards of the works. We poured in lead and kept their heads down — kept the gunners from using their cannon. The right wing of the brigade met with such obstacles that they failed to come up in time to keep the enemy from enfilading the Thirteenth in the old field, so this charge failed to be a success. I was recalled with my com- pany. General Wilcox came along and ordered us in again. This time we rushed through the old field again for our first posi- tion and soon we were within forty yards of the works and about one hundred yards to the right of the burned depot. We made it so hot for them in the redoubt that the gunners left their guns. If the old Thirteenth had been up then we could have captured the four pieces very easily. I looked, and, as before, they were kept back by the enemy's heavy guns above the depot. As the enemy ran out of the redoubt, W. D. Powers, a nice young man from Raleigh, one of my recruits, called to me, and said : "Look, is not that General Hancock ?" I looked, and said: " Yes; drop him off." He stepped out from behind a large oak which we were sheltering behind and raised his rifle. Just at that instant his -gun dropped from his hand, and he said : " I am wounded." The ball had nearly cut off his left thumb and went 680 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-65. through his right shoulder. About this time we were signaled to fall back to the regiment again. It was August the 21st, and I felt that I would melt. After a short rest we were sent forward through the woods immediately in front of the burned depot, where another strong redoubt was built. As we advanced our skirmish line we met a strong skir- mish line in the woods which the enemy had advanced to meet us. We charged them. Captain Young's battalion of sharp-shooters being on our right. We all charged at the same time and got near enough to reconnoiter their position. Lieutenant-Colonel Withers, who was still in command of the brigade detail, hur- ried back to report. Young's sharp-shooters were compelled to withdraw southward, which left a gap in the skirmish line. The enemy took advantage of this, rushed a heavy skirmish line through the gap and swung around behind the Thirteenth's detail. It was with considerable difficulty that I got out with my company. We made a left flank move and returned safe without the loss of a single man. When I reached my com- mand Colonel Hyman said that he made sure that my whole company were prisoners. General Wilcox came riding up to us in the pine thicket and told General Scales that he must take his brigade in column instead of in line and go down this old road, which ran in rather a left-oblique than a direct course. It was after sundown and a very angry thunder-cloud behind us. We went down the old road to within about eighty paces, where the old Thirteenth, which was in front (or at the head of the column) when Colonel Hyman gave the command "Battalion, right half-wheel into line; double-quick!" swung around and hit the enemy's works. The enemy was so surprised that he scarcely made any resistance. It was the work of but a few moments. The Sixteeuth struck the redoubt on our left and captured the cannon; the Thirteenth captured three brass pieces in its front, and we took the line from the depot as far as we had troops. It was said at that time we took thirteen cannon and sixteen hundred prisoners. We fell back to the works that « Thirteenth Eegiment. 681 night near Petersburg through the rain and brought all safely in. We staid there in the works, I think, until September. General Wilcox got permission to take his division down the railroad some two and a half miles, with a view of turning the enemy's flank. The writer was again sent out with a heavy skirmish line, with orders from General Scales to deploy my men and advance as rapidly as possible, that he was going to march his brigade in column down the road until I ran into the enemy. We were then on the left of the railroad and advancing east. I obeyed orders and pushed my skirmishers through the thicket and brush about a mile and a half. Below there I saw the head of the column in sight behind us. I pushed on down and it seemed all the time to get lower and lower. Finally I found some meadow land with a straight ditch. I jumped into it and kept down it, as it was leading in the direction I wanted to go. I hoped to find water, for it was very warm and I was very thirsty. I ran on a Yankee down there on his knees and elbows in the ditch. I made him get up and tried to make him tell me where his troops were, but not a word could I get from him. It was not long that I needed him to tell me, for my skirmish line ran into them beyond the meadow land on the brow of a ridge. They opened fire on my little band from their works before we knew they were there. We poured it into them and crept up to within ninety yards, where we waited and continued to annoy them all we could, looking every minute for the brigade. Fin- ally night came, and no column yet. I slipped along my line to the extreme left, which rested on the country road that led from Petersburg, and looked for our troops to come down. I heard a horse coming down from towards Petersburg in a lope. I did not know whether it was friend or foe, but I waited for him to advance within ten paces, when I halted him. He seemed very much excited, as he could no't see who I was; neither could I tell who he was, but I had the drop on him. I called for him to advance and surrender, for I was sure that he was a Yankee. He came up to me, and I asked him in a low tone of voice what command he was of. He said Scales' Brigade, North Carolina 682 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Troops. He still thought that I was a Yankee. He came nearer to me, and I asked him what he was doing down there. He said General Scales sent him to withdraw a skirmish line that he sent down that day. I then told him I was the man he was looking for. He told me that he must hurry back, and told me to keep on up the road until I struck the railroad and then I would be all right, but added that the enemy were very near the road in two places where the road curved in towards their works. I pushed on; not a word was spoken. I placed my men in single file and told them to trail arms and to keep in touch of each other and we would come out or be found trying. We arrived at Petersburg trenches about one o'clock at night, hungry, tired and mad. We found that the enemy on the south side saw Wil- cox's Division moving around and had sent troops from the works on the south side to cut him oif. Scales' Brigade, the Thir- teenth, and all, in fact, had to turn and fight their way back to Petersburg or be captured. Had it not been for Rodes' Divis- ion in the works at Petersburg, which advanced in the rear of the Union troops that attacked Wilcox, I doubt very much whether the whole of them had not been captured. Then it was plain how it was that no relief came to me seven miles down in the pine woods. This is the last engagement the Thirteenth was in during the year 1864, except now and then a picket skirmish. The Thirteenth was quartered behind the works on a steep hill- side in the coldest place I ever saw. Wood was some thousand yards in front of our line, south of the works, and the men had to carry all the wood they burned, except what they could bor- row from the artillerymen — at night — just above us. They hauled theirs, and the boys thought it no harm to borrow from their neighbors. During the month of March, 1865, the enemy extended his line to our right in the direcfion of Burgess' Mill. I was on picket that day. All day, from about 12 m., I heard heavy fir- ing on my right. When I returned I found that the Thirteenth had been fighting, with the rest of the brigade, all the day pre- vious and had driven the enemy off. Within a few days, I think Thirteenth Regiment. 683 it was about the first of April, I was again in front on picijet. I was relieved at dark and returned to the line, where I found the regiment ready to march. Wilcox's Division marched out to Burgess' Mill, crossed the creek and took position, at least the Thirteenth did, on the ridge beyond the mill, which ran parallel with the creek. There was a splendid line of fortifications, with good, strong redoubts for the cannon. Down south of them ran a small brauch, between the main line and which was a line of rifle-pits on a parallel line with the work. These pits had been occupied by cavalry previous to this. Colonel Hyman called the writer, who before this had been promoted to Captain of Company I, to take his company and advance across the branch, go on up the hill two hundred yards to the 'edge of the pine woods and there halt and send out videttes. I went forward as ordered and sent the videttes. They went but a short distance before they turned and came running to me and reported the woods alive with the Blues. I had heard them telling their men to keep dressed. We about-faced and double-quicked back down to the branch. As we were nearing the rifle-pits the enemy had emerged from the woods and opened fire on us. By the time we got to the pits the lead was coming in showers. The pits were on a hill-side and were filled with water — it was amus- ing to hear the men jumping into those pits of water like frogs. The Thirteenth was advanced to the pits to re-inforce us. Men were baling out water with their hands and tin plates and any- thing they could. I was standing by the side of a pit when one of the men said: "I wish you would come iu." I told him I would step and get an old shovel I saw up the hill. Before I could get it and return one bullet was sent through my hat, another through the blankets around my neck and one hit my shoe. We flirted out the water with the shovel and got down to business. One skirmisher had a position at the edge of the woods behind a large stump, where he could put a bullet into my pit whenever he saw a hat above it. I took the sergeant's rifle, rested it over the bank of the pit, then took off my hat and slipped it up to my right. He raised up to his knees to shoot at the hat, think- 684 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. ing it was a man's head. I turned loose on him and he fell over, and I am sure he could have been heard yelling half a mile. It proved to be rather a costly shot, for several of the regiment jumped up and cheered and the whole Union line sent in a vol- ley. James Bartlett, of Company B, and Bob Graham, of Com- pany D, were killed; Robert Sergent, of Company D, and others were wounded. We were withdrawn soon after to the main line. About 2 o'clock p. m. the skirmish line was withdrawn from the rifle-pits to the works. Down the hill the enemy came, with colors flying, but not a gun was fired at him until he crossed the branch, the second line emerging from the woods. As the first line cleared the branch and started to the works. Colonel Hyman gave orders to commence firing. The boys poured in lead and the front line threw down their guns and came running in with their hands up. We ceased firing on them, but the second line behind them fired and kept firing until the prisoners were over the works. I did not know whether they were trying to kill their men for surrendering or whether they thought they could pick off some of us who were in view of them. The remainder of the day and the next everything was quiet, but the second morning after, or during the night before, the shelling began all along the line. From the mill as far back as could be seen or heard the bombs were being passed from each line, all kinds from a six-pounder to the largest. Mortar-shells were bursting in every direction and the flashes were so fast that it kept the skies lighted up as bright as an aurora borealis. Indeed, it made one feel that judgment-day was at hand, and so it was with many a poor soul. Early next morning we could hear the keen crack- ing of muskets away over in the direction of Petersburg. Nearer and nearer it came — a storm of thunder and lightning by shells and a hail-storm of rifle bullets. Finally the blue clouds of Union soldiers burst through the woods, shooting and charging. Lee's lines were turned ! I am not able to say in what direction we traveled for quite a while, but we struck the Lynchburg and Petersburg canal, fol- lowed up it quite a while and continued on in the direction of Thirteenth Regiment. 685 Amelia Court House. We were resting near the railroad and ■waiting, for some cause, when a courier brought word that the Yankee cavalry had captured our entire train of wagons. Wil- cox's Division was run three miles across a creek. A short dis- tance beyond we found in a long lane team after team, one after another, with the wagons on fire and the contents burning up; horses pawing, stamping and neighing in the most pitiful man- ner— some jammed so close to other wagons that their manes and tails were singed off and looked like rats; ordnance burning and cracking and provisions in the wagons burning up. As we ran by one wagon loaded with bacon hams one of my company stuck his bayonet into a ham that was flaming and ran on till it went out. After trimming the charr off, he gave me a slice, which I thought the best meat I ever ate — and it was the last meat I had until three days after the surrender. From the time our trains were destroyed there was no hope for the army of Lee — no rest for the men night or day. The Thirteenth was bringing up the rear. As we came through Farmville, Va., the mountain-like hills north and west of the town seemed to be lined with artillery. The enemy had pressed forward on all roads and was ready to impede Lee's retreat. It rained bomb-shells through the street. The men of the town could be seen, as we rushed through, in ditches, under bridges and anywhere to hide from the shot and shells from the enemy's cannon from the heights above. We rushed through the town, crossed a bridge that spanned a small stream on the south side and pushed up a long and tiresome hill which curved slightly to the right. As we reached the top of the hill, in a level old sedge field, we found General R. E. Lee dismounted and forming a line of battle to charge a body of Federal cavalry which was formed on our right. Scales' Brigade, with the Thirteenth in front that day, was quickly formed and, dashing forward, drove the cavalry off. This was the 7th day of April and the last time I saw General Lee until we were pass- ing at a double-quick down a hill toward a creek a mile or more from Appomattox Court House. General Lee was standing 686 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. under au apple-tree, looking beyond the creek, where a battle was raging. As I remember, it was General Gordon, of Georgia, who was attacking the enemy, who during the previous night had formed' a cordon all around us. As above stated, Wilcox's Division was rushed down the hill, and Scales' Brigade and the Thirteenth were about the center of the column. As we went down the hill we met some four or five brass cannon and a number of prisoners that had been taken by our troops in the first charge that morning. We cheered them as they- passed us under guard. At the creek we saw a fine-looking U. S. officer with an escort of Confederate officers and a small white flag. As they passed Colonel Hyman one of them asked: "Can yon tell me where we can find General Lee?" The answer was that he was stand- ing under an apple-tree as we came down. They dashed on in the direction stated. We ran through a creek and were begin- ning to meet some whistling bullets, when all of a sudden the firing ceased. Then a few shots were heard again. Some one in the battle line in front yelled out and said : " I say cease firing; the next man that fires a shot I will have him killed." One of the Thirteenth said : " There now, I bet that Lee has surren- dered." Colonel Joe Hyman turned around and said: "If you say that again I will shoot you." We stood there a few minutes and were about-faced, marched back across the creek and stacked arms in a field on the road near the apple-tree. As we marched back up the hill we met General Lee and some of his staff and the U. S. officer, who, we learned, was General Custer. This was Sunday morning, April 9, 1865. It was about 1 or 2 o'clock when it was read out all through the army that Lee had sur- rendered. The next thing was, what were men to do for rations? But Fitz Hugh Lee, not knowing what was going on at the Court House, had fallen on the Federal wagons and had given them the same treatment that ours had met three days previous; so we got no rations and had to starve on till Wednesday. The Thirteenth marched over to the Court House, stacked arms in the presence of our victors, returned to the same camp, there received our Thirteenth Regiment. 687 paroles, bade farewell to many of our comrades that marched in different directions from ours and broke camp for our respective homes. I took Company I, the company that four years before, lacking thirteen days, I had joined as a private under Captain Thomas Settle at New Bethel Cross Roads in Rockingham county, N. C. I arrived at Danville Saturday evening about 2 o'clock,, and found that late that evening a freight train would go up towards Reidsville, so I rested and waited. When the train got ready to pull out I ordered my men (seventeen only) to crawl on top. We spread out blankets and slept till we reached Reidsville at 12 o'clock p. m. There we were waked up and got off. I dismissed old Company I at the depot and they all pulled out in their own way for their homes. The writer arrived at home about 2 p. m., April 16th, Easter Sunday. The foregoing sketch has been written entirely from memory, but the most of it was so indelibly imprinted on my mind that I feel that were I permitted to live a thousand years that the horrible scenes of the many battles in which the Thirteenth par- ticipated could never be eliminated from my mind. In conclu- sion, permit me to say that if I have written a single error it is of my mind and not of my heart. I now bid you all adieu. R. S. Williams. ADDITIONAL SKETCH THIRTEENTH REGIMENT. By adjutant N. S. SMITH. The Thirteenth Eegiment, which had been in winter-quarters at Ben's Church, Isle of Wight county, Va., during the winter of 1861-'62, was ordered, about April, 1862, to Mulberry Island. At our camp on this island we got our first view of the Yankee soldier, who was to be so much in evidence for the next three years. On this island we soon had breastworks thrown up and redoubts made, to be evacuated in a few days. It was on this island that an incident occurred that can never be forgotten by those who saw it. The members of the Topographical Corps of Engineers of the Thirteenth Regiment were ordered to make a map of Mulberry Island. With this object in view, two of the corps, one of whom was the late W. N. Mebane, of Madison, were taking the angles of Warwick River. They had a large brass telescope with them, and, commencing at the mouth of the river, surveyed until they reached a clear, open field at the foot of the hill, upon which some of out redoubts were built. His companion was taking bearings, when Mebane uttered an excla- mation and pointed to the opposite side of the river. About half a dozen Yankees were seen loading their guns while they ran towards the river, which at this point was not more than fifty yards wide. The intention of these Yankees was evidently to reach a point opposite where Mebane and his companion could be easily shot. It was a perilous position. To run down the river from whence they came would have brought them nearer to the Yankees ; to run up the stream was also impossible ; to go up the hill towards the redoubts would have made themselves better targets. The Yankees were now about one hundred and twenty-five yards away, and could easily have picked them off, but they wished to get still nearer. At this juncture, in mere 44 690 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. desperation, Mebane's companion raised his telescope, flashing in the sunlight, and pointed it towards the foe, when to their utter surprise the Yankees turned and fled to the cover of the woods. Mebane and his companion ascended the hill to the redoubts, receiving the congratulations of the artillerymen, who were watch- ing the proceedings and were preparing to come to their aid. The Thirteenth Regiment, after a few days' stay at Mulberry Island, was ordered to a point two miles west of Yorktown. Here the regiment at once fortified itself to stop the advance of the enemy up the Peninsula. Nothing broke the monotony of camp-life save occasionally a false alarm from the picket line, and by an agreement between the pickets this was soon stopped. It was done in this way : As soon as new pickets were put on guard a cry would come from a Yankee or Confederate: "Do you want to trade ?" " Yes." " Then meet half way." It was well known what each had to trade. The Confederate had to- bacco and the Yankee coffee. An exchange was soon made — one pound of coffee for a plug of tobacco — but the Yankee often cheated us, palming off chicory for coffee. It may be that he knew no better. While here we were ordered to march double-quick to Dam No. 10, where we could hear firing along the line. To us, who had never been under fire, it sounded like a big battle, and we had no doubt but that we should soon have our mettle tested. On arrival at Dam No. 10 we were told that the Fifteenth New Jersey had attempted a reconnaissance in force at that point, but soon found that it was quite hazardous and retired, after losing several in killed and wounded, with no loss on our side. These dams were constructed by General John- ston to enable him to hold his line with few troops where these dams were located, so that he might spare a greater number for the weaker points. "While here our first year's enlistment ex- pired, but, with few exceptions, all re-enlisted. It was towards the last of April when, having built our fires to cook supper, we received orders to march towards Williams- burg. The retreat from Yorktown to Williamsburg can never be forgotten. The rains had saturated the ground and no such Thirteenth Regiment. 691 thing as dry land could be found. The roads were cut up by the artillery and commissary wagons until the mud was knee- deep. In some places they seemed to have no bottom, and at these places the sides of the road were piled up with camp equi- page, as it was impossible for the teams to pull a loaded wagon. In the darkness it was impossible to preserve any order, and many, overcome by the arduous march, laid down by the way-side and slept. Many of our men would have been taken by the. enemy on their advance had it not been that a faithful rear-guard roused them next morning and brought them to camp. As it happened, not one of the Thirteenth was captured, except a few sick. Among these was Captain T. T. Lawson, of Company H, in this county. He was carried across York River by one of his men to a family by the name of Dean, where he was cap- tured by Ben Butler. On the morning of the 4th of May, 1862, we entered Wil- liamsburg and camped near William and Mary College. Here rations were distributed and preparations made for breakfast. Before this could be done the booming of cannon and the fire, of musketry could be heard in our rear. A courier rode up and we were ordered to retrace our steps and go into battle. As we passed through the town ladies were in their front porches with waving handkerchiefs and tear-stained eyes, begging us not to let the enemy enter their town. This, of course, we promised to do. On our arrival at the outskirts of the town we met a ser- vant on horseback, bearing in his arms the lifeless body of his master, the Colonel of the First Mississippi. A broad, open plateau lay spread out before us, bordered in the distance by a wood. In the edge of this wood we could see the smoke of the battle then raging and hear the rattle of the musketry, enliv- ened occasionally by the booming of cannon. Owing to the condition of the roads, few batteries could be placed in position. As we marched in columns of four, we were halted to let a battalion of mounted lancers pass, who were advancing obliquely across the plateau to capture a battery of the enemy to our left. It was a grand sight. They did their work well, but owing to 692 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. the nature of the ground they could not carry the guns away, but we learned that the guns were spiked. Arriving at the woods, we were ordered to unsling our knapsacks and pile them up. A guide directed us to an earth-work said to have been thrown up by the Continental army in 1781. Large trees had grown up in the works. The trench was a foot deep in water, but into this we had to go, while the rain, still falling, continually added to its depth. It was the first fight, and never were men more eager for the fray. On our right and left we could still hear volleys of musketry. In our anxiety many soldiers stood upon the brow of the embankment, peering through the murky atmosphere to see if they could not get a glimpse of the foe. During the day, however, the Thirteenth Regiment was to prove of what stuff it was made. The old works we occupied were semi-circular in shape, and we were on the inside of the semi- circle. It was so foggy and damp in the woods that it was impossible to distinguish friend from foe thirty yards away. A body of men approached the left of our works, where the Edge- combe Guards, Captain Bailey's Company, of Rockingham, a company from Davie county and an Alamance or Caswell company were in a line. Our men prepared for their reception, but were thrown off their guard by the advancing column exclaim- ing : "Don't shoot; we are friends!" But soon they poured a volley into the ranks of these companies. Our men were thrown at first into some confusion, but soon returned the volley with interest and then charged with the bayonet, and bayonets were actually locked that day, the first time during the war. The enemy was driven back and made no further demonstration on our front. In this engagement Captain Bailey was badly wounded. A private by the name of Knott was captured, who was seen using the butt of his gun as he was hurried back. There were only eight or ten casualties in the regiment. Owing to the position we occupied a large part of the regiment could not engage in the conflict, as to reach the enemy we would be compelled to fire through our own ranks, but the bullets from the enemy whizzed all around us. It required more courage Thirteenth Kegiment. 693 under such circumstances than when we could return the quid pro quo. We were kept on the qui vive during the remainder of the day, and darkness came on as black as an Egyptian midnight. You could not distinguish the soldier at your right or left. In this position we lay until 10 p. M. The only sounds to be heard were the cries of wounded men for water. At this hour Cap- tain E. B. Withers made his way back to the rear and met up with General Pryor. General Pryor told him that all the troops had been ordered back to Williamsburg and that we had evi- dently been overlooked, as we occupied an advanced position on the line. Captain Withers, on his return, reported his infor- mation to Colonel Scales, and the word was whispered from man to man to follow the man in his front, not to say a word and not to break a stick in stepping. Silently, still as death, we filed out in Indian style until we reached the point where our knapsacks had been piled up. Each one took a knapsack and by compari- son next day each soldier got his own. Arriving at Williams- burg, we built up large fires, drying ourselves off as best we could, but before the fires were burnt down we were on our way, retreating towards Richmond. The enemy were so much worsted by the battle at Williamsburg that no effort was made to follow us closely. " Beware of Johntson's retreat " was a proverb from that day. We went into camp near Richmond, Va., and led an un- eventful life until the battle of Seven Pines. The night before the battle a very hard rain fell, raising the Chickahominy so high that General Johnston conceived the plan of capturing the forces of the enemy that had crossed the stream. Fighting had commenced when we arrived on the battlefield and took our position. We were soon ordered from our first position to a point near the Seven Pines house. As we approached at as rapid a pace as the mud would permit we saw General D. H. Hill rise in his stirrups and call to Colonel (afterwards General) A. M. Scales in a loud voice that could be heard nearly half a mile : " Colonel Scales, come and occupy the position that these cowardly Virginians have fled from!" pointing to the Ninth 694 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Virginia, which lay in a ditch near by. The Ninth Virginia, we learned, was a regiment just from barracks in Norfolk, and afterwards did as good fighting as any regiment in the Army of Northern Virginia. The Thirteenth, with the Fourteenth North Carolina on our right, formed an excellent line and marched over these troops, who retaliated by saying: "Yes, go and fight like you did at Roanoke and Hatteras !" We were not long in occupying the abanboned position, a battery of the enemy play- ing on us as we advanced. The shells from this battery passed over our heads and only one man was wounded. We did not fire a shot. The report soon reached us that the enemy had recrossed the river, and, retracing our steps, we went back to our camp. There was nothing to break the monotony of camp-life until General Lee concluded to turn McClellan's right flank and drive him from Richmond. Among the battles that were fought the Thirteenth suffered most at Cold Harbor and Malvern Hill. At Cold Harbor we charged and captured a battery of the enemy, losing, however, many of our bravest men. At Malvern Hill the Thirteenth fought gallantly, losing many men, but held their position until ordered to retire. The Thirteenth was also engaged in the fights at Mechanicsville and White Oak Swamp, which battles were inscribed on their battle-flag. While McClellan's army was wasting away at Harrison's Landing by disease the invasion of Maryland was agreed upon. The long march was uneventful, but from the kindness of the people of Virginia on the route it was the unanimous verdict of the troops that the people of the Valley of Virginia were the best in the world. Garland's Brigade, to which the Tliirteenth was attached, crossed the Potomac at Point of Rocks on the 14th of September, 1862. We marched to Frederick City, Md., where we camped for a day or two. After battering down a stone bridge . across the Monocacy River we marched through Frederick City. The town was ornamented with Confederate flags, with one notable exception. Barbara Freitchie has been immortalized in poetry for waving a United States flag from a building on this occasion, though the incident has been asserted to have existed only in the imagination of the poet. Thirteenth Eegiment. 695 The Thirteenth marched across South Mountaia and camped near the hamlet of Boonsboro. Soon, however, we had to retrace our steps to meet the enemy on the summit of South Mountain. On this battlefield the Thirteenth, under command of Lieuten- ant-Colonel Thomas Ruffin, covered itself with glory. Gar- land's Brigade was all the force we had to defend the pass against a division under General Butterfield. Early in the action Gen- eral Garland fell, mortally wounded, and the command of the brigade fell to Colonel Duncan K. MacUae. Brigade after brigade of the enemy assaulted our line, but each time were driven back with heavy loss. There is hardly any doubt that we killed and wounded more of the enemy than we had in our ranks. Never was there a more stubborn contest, for we were told that the line must be held, that we had no reserves, and that every man must do his whole duty. Provisions were cooked in camp and carried up the mountain and our men, were fed in line of battle. I doubt if there is an instance in the whole war where a single line of battle held at bay a larger force for a whole day. Owing to the fact that Colonel Ruffin was very careful of the lives of his men, cautioning them against unnecessary exposure, and tell- ing them to avail themselves of the shelter of stones and trees, our casualties were fewer than could have been expected. There is no instance in the war where more heroic courage was exhibited than was shown by the Thirteenth North Carolina in this battle. Captain Chalmers Glenn, of Rockingham, fell in this battle and was buried by his faithful servant, Mat, the grave being dug with a bayonet. It is said that Mat died of a broken heart at the loss of his best friend, and hence the grave was never found. Frank Scales, a brother of Dr. JefiF. Scales, of Staten Island, N. Y., was wounded and taken prisoner in this fight and was never heard of afterwards. About sunset of the 14th of September orders were given for the wagon train to move and cross the river at WilHamsport, Md. This move was the result of a flank movement of the enemy. General Butterfield not being able to take the pass by direct assault, concluded to flank the brigade of Garland. This 696 NoETH Caeolina Teoops, 1861-65. necessitated our evacuation of the battlefield at sundown, and the Thirteenth Regiment, about dark, left for Antietam, or Sharps- burg. It was afterwards currently reported in the army that by the carelessness of Adjutant Ratchford, of D. H. Hill's staff. General Lee's plan of the campaign fell into the enemy's hands, as McClellan evidently knew of the small force at South Mountain and that Jackson was at Harper's Ferry, One of the bloodiest battles of the war was fought at Sharps- burg. In this battle the Thirteenth fought with great heroism, losing a great many of its men. In Company H, from Rock- ingham county, there were only nine men for duty when we got into Virginia. The other companies lost in the same propor- tion. The regiment recrossed the Potomac, and the first invasion of Maryland was over. The Thirteenth went into camp near the town of Berryville, Va. Here the only encounter with the enemy was at Snicker's Gap, where a reconnoitering force of the enemy was driven back. During the first week in December the Thirteenth made a rapid march down the Shenandoah Valley to meet Burnside at Fredericksburg. On the 13th of December this battle took place and the Thirteenth Regiment was placed in support of a battery on the heights near the town. It was exposed to the shells of the enemy all day, with few casualties. The ground was covered with a skim of snow and it suffered more from the cold than from the enemy. The Thirteenth went into camp after this battle at Camp Gregg, near Guinea Station, where they remained until a few days before the fight at Chancellorsville. A few days before this fight the Thirteenth was sent to Louisa county to arrest deserters. We had been there but a day or two when we received orders to march to meet Hooker. We cooked up three days' rations and started just before sundown, marched all night long, and reached Chancellorsville about 10 o'clock on the day of the fight. It is said that the distance marched was fifty-seven miles. It was at the head of our regiment at Chancellorsville that Generals Lee and Jackson and others stood when the plan was Thirteenth Regiment. 697 conceived of striking Hooker's flank. Soon we were on the march, and in the evening, just before dark, we struck Hooker's men, totally unprepared. We did not fire a shot on the first day, and were witnesses of the inglorious flight of Siegel's Corps. Night saved Hooker's army, and but for the wounding of General Jack- son a night attack would have probably given us the whole army as prisoners. ,. We slept on our arms in line of battle, ready for the conflict on the morrow. A short distance from us we could hear the enemy cutting down trees in our front, using the logs for a breastwork and sharpening up the laps of the trees so that if we charged them in the dark we might impale ourselves upon the sharp points. About sunrise we charged the enemy and drove them until all of our ammunition was exhausted, when we were relieved by Iverson's Georgia Brigade. In the rush of our regiment General Hays and staff were captured by us. Our loss in killed and wounded, however, was heavy. Three hun- dred and seventy-five men were killed and wounded out of a total of about six hundred. After the fight was over General Pender sent for the officers of the brigade to come to his quar- ters. He had given very strict orders before the fight. As the officers of the different regiments came before him he praised or blamed them as they deserved, but when the officers of the Thir- teenth came up General Pender said : " Glorious old Thirteenth, you have covered yourselves with glory." Not a rebuke to a single officer, for he had twice passed along the battle line, ex- posing himself, as we thought, unnecessarily, and each time had seen all doing their full duty. To modify this excessive praise? it may be well to remember that the Thirteenth Regiment's first colonel was General Pender. General Pender was a West Pointer and was a strict disciplinarian, and, as we thought, a rigid drill-master; but after a few battles, when in most trying circumstances the regiment was able to keep an unbroken front, the wisdom of General Pender was fully justified. Shortly after the battle of Chancellorsville General Lee started on his Gettysburg campaign; but the immortal Jackson had succumbed to his wounds, and General Lee was deprived of his 698 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-65. right bower. The Thirteenth Regiment having again recruited so as to make a presentable appearance, although not having a fourth of its original numbers, was ready for the conflict. The regiment was not in the battles of Cedar Mountain or Second Manassas. No incidents occurred worthy of notice on our march through Maryland into Pennsylvania save one. Just befpre reaching the town of "Waynesville, Pa., we passed by a house with a large porch in front, in which an old dutch woman, fat and lusty, sat rocking herself vigorously in an arm-chair. The band of the Thirteenth Regiment was playing "Maryland, my Maryland." On the completion of the tune the old lady arose and in her broken English screamed at the top of her voice : " Oh, yes ! Oh,yes! It's 'Maryland, my Maryland!' but when you comeback it will be 'Fire in the mountains; run, boys, run!'" and with a hoarse, loud laugh she resumed her seat and rocked more vigor- ously than ever. In the first day's fight at Gettysburg the Thirteenth had only one hundred and eighty men in line. We formed a line, with our left on the road leading from Cashtown to Gettysburg, on a hill opposite Cemetery Ridge. On getting in about seventy-five yards of the enemy our men were ordered to lie down. As so many had been shot down in the advance we did not have men enough for the final charge. A flank movement was made on our right by a strong brigade and the enemy driven from their position. Of the one hundred and eighty men in the regiment one hundred and fifty were killed and wounded, leaving only thirty men in the regiment. Only two officers were left, Robert L. Moir and N, S. Smith. The next day fifteen men who had been left at Greencastle joined us and the regiment was recruited to forty-five men. On the 3d of July the Thirteenth was in the supporting line under command of R. L. Moir, Second Lieutenant. On emerging from the woods on the last charge Moir was wounded, and acting Adjutant N. S. Smith was the only officer left in charge of the regiment. It now only numbered, as we said above. Thirteenth Eegiment. 0^70 forty-five men. In the charge twenty- three of them were killed and woundedj leaving only twenty-two men in the Thirteenth Regiment. Retreating from Gettysburg, we crossed the Potomac at Falling Waters, where about one-half of the remainder was captured, being thrown out as a skirmish line to hold back the enemy, while Colonel Lawrence, in charge of the brigade, was enabled to cross the pontoon-bridge to the Virginia side. The Yankees got possession of the bridge before the skirmish line could reach it, and the whole line, composed of sixteen to twenty-five men, was captured. The writer of this sketch was in command of this line and was captured. He is not able to give any further sketch of the Thirteenth Regiment. N. S." Smith. ADDITIONAL SKETCH THIRTEENTH REGIMENT. By T. L. RAWLEY. Late in the fall of 1863 the Union army crossed the Rappa- hannock River above Fredericksburg and was confronted by General Lee, and after some maneuvering recrossed the river under cover of night, without any general engagement, after which the Thirteenth Regiment, then a part of Scales' Brigade, took up winter-quarters a few miles west of Orange Court House, where it remained until the spring of 1864, except when called upon to meet raids of the enemy's cavalry along the Rapidan River to the west. This was a severe winter, and death, the great reaper, taking advantage of insufficient rations and raiment, claimed as his victims many brave officers and men. Among the number was Captain Thomas T. Lawson, of Company H, who having recently married and carried his bride with him to camp, died on February 24, 1864. Early in May, 1864, the Union army, under command of ■ General U. S. Grant, crossed the Rappahannock River and was met by the Confederate forces, commanded by General R. E. Lee, at " The Wilderness, " on the road leading from Orange Court House to Fredericksburg, on May 5th, where one of the most desperate battles of the war was fought. Trees eight inches in diameter were cut down by musket-balls, as very little artillery was used. This was the beginning of General Grant's " fight it out on this line if it takes all the summer" campaign, continu- ing on to the battle of Spottsylvania Court House, Hanover Junction, etc., to the siege of Petersburg. This regiment was in the first day's fight, losing a number in killed and wounded. Among the latter Captain H. L. Guerrant, of Company K, shot in the hand. 702 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-65. At Spottsylvania Court House the regiment was in that ter- rible re-establishing of the lines where the " horse-shoe " had been broken and nearly a division of Confederates captured, suffering mostly from shot and shell, as it was supporting our batteries. The regiment was engaged in all the skirmishes and battles from Spottsylvania Court House to Petersburg, crossing the James River at Drewry's Bluff on a pontoon-bridge, going into Petersburg on the train under fire of the enemy's batteries on the day General Grant got inside the corporate limits. The regi- ment occupied its position in line defending the city until August 31st, when it went down to Eeams' Station on the Petersburg & Weldon Eailroad, wherg the enemy had cut the road and intrenched themselves. It was engaged in that sharp and decisive battle in which we captured more than two thousand prisoners and a battery of artillery, completely routing the enemy. This regiment continued on duty around Petersburg during the winter until Grant's lines were extended far to the south. On March 31st the regiment was carried to Hatcher's Run, about eight miles from the city on the Boydton plank-road, where it aided in holding the enemy in check. On that memorable Sunday morning, April 2d, the enemy succeeded in breaking General Lee's lines between this point and Petersburg, necessitating the falling back of the regiment to avoid capture. It was here that that gallant and brave ofScer, Lieutenant-Colonel E. B. Withers, in running the gauntlet, came so near being captured. Being halted by a blue-jacket with a musket at a distance of about fifty paces, with the command, " Stop, you d rebel ! " he replied, " Kiss my foot, you old rascal!" and but for a failure of the musket to fire one of the best men in the land might have "fallen asleep." The regi- ment had a sharp engagement with the enemy about noon of this day, losing several' good meh, but checking this advance. It was for several days under almost continuous fire in covering General Lee's retreat. Thirteenth Eegimbnt. 703 On Sunday morning, April 9th, about 9 o'clock,- as the regi- ment was forming line of battle in plain view of the enemy, the command passed down the line, " Cease firing ! " and for the first time in four years was such a command ever heard or heeded with an enemy in sight. On Wednesday, April 12th, at 2 o'clock p. m., in the historic village of Appomattox Court House, Va., in front of a Federal brigade standing at present arms, the Thirteenth Regiment North Carolina Troops stacked its full quota of muskets, thus helping to make up a greater total from North Carolina than from the remainder of General Lee's army. T. L. Eawley. FOURTEENTH REGIMENT. ]. Junius Daniel, Colonel. 3. William A. Johnston, Lient.-Colonel. 3. James Wright Tracy, Chief Surgeon. 4. Necdham Bryan Cobb, Chaplain. FOURTEENTH REGIMENT. By colonel R. T. BENNETT, It is fittiag and proper to put upon record at the outset of this sketch our sincere and ardent thanks to the surviving officers and men of the Fourteenth Regiment of North Carolina^Troops for the unbroken constancy, patient submission to discipline/uniform valor and good nature maintained by them throughout the war between the Government and the Confederate States. The dead of the regiment are beyond the tribute of tears. The field, staff and company officers of the Fourteenth Regi- ment of North Carolina Troops may be found in-orders from the Adjutant-General's office at Raleigh, N. C, dated]November 1, 1861, and January 1, 1864. These orders were published in pamphlet form by authority of the State. In the "Roster of North Carolina Troops," compiled by Major John W. Moore, and completed in three volumes, the field, staff and company officers, the non-commissioned officers and private soldiers of the Fourteenth Regiment of North^Carolina Troops may be found in enduring shape and with^ reasonable approach to accuracy. These volumes should be found in the Superior CourtJClerk's office of every county in this State. It is impossible to give, within the space allowed to this sketch, the names of the officers and men of the Fourteenth Regiment of North Carolina Troops. Justice may be rendered to officers and private soldiers alike by pointing the attention of the reading public to the orders from the Adjutant-General's office, of the dates and tenor aforesaid, and to the roster of troops adverted to further back-in this sketch. The names of the officers should not be repeated here'uncoupled from their immortal comrades, who, to borrow the words of David 45 706 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Hume in describing the virtuous life and consistent end of Sir Tliomas Moore, "followed their principles and their sense of duty and conquered the admiration of mankind." The Fourteenth Regiment of North Carolina Troops, organ- ized originally as the Fourth Regiment of North Carolina Troops, was formed at Garysburg, N. C, early in June, 1861, and was composed of patriotic and eager men and youths, who tendered their services to the State to maintain the dignity and rights of the State in the conflict then imminent. Of the one thousand four hundred officers and men of the regi- ment borne upon the muster-rolls from the outbreak of the war until Palm Sunday in 1865, when the pale flag of defeat drooped over the guns which had upheld the life of the " New Nation," scarcely fifty escaped wounds during their service. Captain Cherry, of Company A (Roanoke Minute Men), a capable and promising ofiicer, died of wounds received in the early operations of the second battle of Fredericksburg. Eli Freeman, Captain of Company C (Anson Guard), was killed at Bethesda Church, May 30, 1864. He was a native of the State of Ohio, who came South to work at his trade as car- riage-builder. He was a skilled workman in iron, a very hand- some man, of pleasing address, with hair and beard of raven blackness. As soon as the interest of the living permitted I went to do the last sad duty to the dead captain. He lay upon the battlefield, and some kindly hand had drawn his hat over his face, leaving the same jaunty look which distinguished him in life, now mirrored in death. It was a beautiful day, laden with the breath of spring. As the wind came up from the deserted chambers of the South it ran its fingers through his beautiful locks and they vibrated as if still instinct with life. There are days in the battle experience of courageous men when they are lifted up above their comrades and perform prodigies of valor— all authentic history contains such instances. Likewise battalions, regiments and brigades now and then accomplish feats of arms which surprise the very participants therein. When once a fighting force realizes that it is doing heroic work the ordinary participant in it becomes heroic. Fourteenth Regiment. 707 While the corps of Lieutenant-General Jackson was on the march from Fredericksburg to confront Hooker at Chancellors- ville, General Jackson rode at full speed the entire length of his command, then at a rest with guns stacked in irregular order, without displacing a single piece. On that day and occasion his countenance beamed with transcendent force of expression. He looked the very incarnation of war. It may have been that God mercifully showed him to his command in the hour of his super- lative greatness to comfort and inspire them. I remember, as if it was yesterday, the fierce gallop which brought him on, how his hat was carried in his right hand, his arm well extended, and how I said in thought it becomes me to maintain a reasonable gravity as this chieftain passes by; but as he burst with increas- ing swiftness through the head of the line my soul followed him in a very transport of applause. If I could then have felt as I feel now, looking back to the humiliations of defeat and the horrors of the peace that was to follow — if I could then have realized that old heroes have more cool determination than young ones; that old heroes are far removed from the early warmth of youth — they have more audacity because nearer death — what have they to lose? If I could then have realized all this and laid it to my heart, I might have lighted a spirit in my regiment which the blood of a dozen hostile battalions could not have put out. Alas ! we cannot annihilate the past. William M. Weir, Captain of Company D (Cleveland Blues), a loyal and faithful officer, with a great body and a spirit as fear- less as ever animated mortal man, perished in 1864. Captain William T. Pool, of Company E (Oak City Guards), the only son of a widowed mother, just and brave, full of intel- ligence, very shapely in his person, apparently anticipating the very order, was shot to death in front of Charlestown, Va., August, 1864. Captain James R. DeBerry, of Company H (Stanly Marks- men), who was killed in the very forefront of battle, sprung from stock always dutiful, always honest, and he never ques- tioned an order nor deemed 'any odds of battle as desperate in advance. 708 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-65. I put this solemn memorial on record, that no regimental com- mander during that war, which in " the process of the sun " has become so tender a memory, was more fortunate in the field, staff and company officers as a whole than the commander of the Fourteenth Regiment of North Carolina Troops. Captain Wilson T. Jenkins, of Company A, was full of cour- age and cheerfulness. He is yet spared to the State and his friends. Captain James M. Gudger, of Company F (Rough-and-Ready Guard), which Zebulon Baird Vance, whose memory is ever green in the homes of our State, originally carried out and for some months commanded, was fearfully wounded and entitled to a discharge on account of the disability, but held on to his boys until the war was fought out. There was no man in the army of the South of his rank who was more reliable as an officer and soldier. Captain Thomas B. Bealle, of Company I (Davidson "Wild Cats), was as dear a soul as ever went to battle ; as tender-hearted as the most refined woman, brave and pure. I fetch out of the very secret chamber of my feelings this testimony and put it on this white paper in these characters of mourning to stand after some time be passed, that Thomas B. Bealle's was as beau- tiful a service as our humanity is capable of. The great Napoleon said in his will of his Surgeon-in-Chief : " He was the most virtuous man I have known." I cannot say as much of any man, living or dead, whom I have known. I have never known the best man. The military history of civil wars is never an exhilarating study. Such wars necessarily begin in local struggles, deter- mined by political or accidental circumstances, and regular cam- paigns, conforming to the higher principles of military arts, are possible only when the combatants have become organized and coherent bodies. The supreme issues raised in the trenjendous conflict begun in 1861 are yet hotly debated. A great body of our citizens continues to resist the extrava- gant claim of power by the general government under color of Fourteenth Regiment. 709 the Constitution, born of the iron spirit of the war and nurtured by success in fighting it. My instinct prompts me to make this sisetch set forth in con- siderable degree the personal as distinguished from the profes- sional features of the men, the struggle, the regiment^and the fighting. May be it would have fetched me more sympathy to have gone on to the accomplishment of my purpose as if un- conscious of the motive, but I felt the need of confronting pub- lic expectation with this avowal. The Fourteenth Regiment of North Carolina Troops was sent quickly after organization to the department at Norfolk. The command was stationed at Camp Bragg, near Suffolk, then at Camp Ellis, in the edge of the town of Suffolk, and was marched thence in the autumn to Camp Bee, near Burwell's Bay, where it remained until the spring of 1862. General Pember- ton was our first brigadier, then General Raleigh E. Colston. When the developments of the Peninsula campaign required it, we went under orders to the Warwick River, but returned to Camp Bee after serving on General Magruder's lines a few days. The stay at camp was soon broken. Camp Bee was abandoned and we joined the forces at Yorktown. From this time until the unspeakable sorrow at Appomattox the regiment was part and parcel of the Army of Northern Virginia — shared the sorrows and joys of that army and made a manly contribution to the victories and the record of the same. The first considerable march of the regiment was from Suffolk towards Burwell's Bay. My observation of this performance and my experience of the war satisfied me that the first requisite and essential in the sol- dier's training was marching; a high power of locomotion in going towards the enemy is as necessary as a snail's gait in going from him. It is imputed to General Thomas Jonathan Jackson that at Manassas, before the shadow of our victory was long, he said : "With ten thousand men we would take Washington City on the morrow." I believe he said it and am confident he meant it. He was then conscious of his native genius for war, more sanguine 710 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. of success, though not braver than the illustrious Lee. He must have felt a sort of intoxication for battle. What a privilege to an ardent mind with unusual receptivity of faculties to know the inner thought of so consummate a soul! I say it with my hand over my face, but it seems to me if General Robert E. Lee, Gen- eral Jackson, General Joseph E. Johnston and General Albert S. Johnston had descended now and then to the level of the ordi- nary soldier in our armies and had personal contact with them, it would have imparted to them more of their heroic spirit and a higher emulation of their conduct and example. There would have been no deterioration of the soldier by such familiarity. Our men had reverence for those above them, reverence for them- selves and for those beneath them. Thackeray says : " There is always a certain cachet about great men: they may be as mean on many points as you or I, but they carry their great air; they speak of common life more largely and generously than common men do; they regard the world with a manlier countenance and see its real features more fairly than the timid shuifiers, who only dare to look up at them through blinkers, or to have an opin- ion when there is a crowd to back it." Much of the steadiness and efSciency of the regiment was due to the energy and intelligence of Colonel Junius Daniel, the first com- mander. He impressed officers and privates alike by his sound, practical judgment in theory and application. When the regiment took camp in the edge of Suffolk the supply of drinking water came from one spring. He directed the water from this spring to be discharged through a wooden pipe into a large box — drinking water was caught from the discharge pipe and the animals drank from the box. The most thorough and searching police of the camps gave the command a sound estimate of cleanliness. Some one has said cleanliness in its last analysis is virtue. In the fighting at Williamsburg the Fourteenth Regiment lost eight killed and nine wounded. Sergeant Hamilton, of Wake, lost both eyes, Henry Sanders, of Anson, was very forward in the fighting. Henry W. Robinson, of the latter county, was upstand- ing through the fight in spite of entreaty and orders. Every Fourteenth Eegiment. 711 man of the regiment behaved admirably. Though engaged in the bloody battle of Seven Pines, the losses were less than at Williamsburg. I have always insisted that the troops from every State of the Confederacy were quite alike in courage and hardihood. All were at times less steady than their wont. I have no patience with the temper which points to the unbecom- ing pauses in the services of regiments. The Fourteenth Regiment attained very great perfection in drill and marching. Brigadier Ramseur and General Rodes witnessed the drill of the regiments in the winter of 1863-'64. The command was inspired by the test and were as steady and uniform as a battalion could be. General Ramseur declared in the presence of the Major-General that the regiment performed with as much precision as the corps of Cadets at West Point. Every officer evinced personal pride in the command and exerted a moral influence in its government, so that in the hour of battle they went forward conscious of dependence upon each other and with faith that the line would stand together as long as endur- ance was a duty. It would fatigue the patience of readers if we gave in this sketch the minute details of soldier duty and soldier life. The drum corps of the regiment was kept up all through the war. William Vaughn, the fifer, could get more thrilling strains out of his instrument than any one I have heard, assisted by Albert Carter, James Puttick, James Lewis and Albert Robarts : first and last, tattoo, taps and reveille were pieces of high art. In the seven days' fighting around Richmond the regiment was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel William Johnston, a brave officer, very capable and attentive to his duties. The Colonel of the regiment lay sick of a fever. The command acquitted itself with stout courage all these days. It was in one of these fights that Lieutenant Marcellus Thompson, of Company E, son of Mr. George W. Thompson, of Wake county, who died a year or so ago at a very advanced age, pos- sessing the confidence and esteem of the people of his county, ■was killed. He made an enduring impression on my memory by 712 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. tis agreeable manners, considerable sense of humor, keen appre- ciation of a joke and fondness for the lottery of life. Having acted as commissary of subsistence for the regiment six months, I knew the command in its weakest parts, and insist that, with trifling exceptions, the command showed its good breeding and manners by suppressing disappointment over poor rations. The first great baptism of blood in our regimental experience was at Sharpsburg. Our position in the "bloody lane" has become historical and deserves immortality. In the most exposed part of the lane the regiment held its ground, repelling every stroke of the enemy from sunrise until late in the afternoon. It was a terrific battle. Nature was in her most peaceful mood ; the autumn sun was without caprice. I watched the tide of this battle with intense interest while the combatants thundered away. The open fields to the left oblique of our regimental position were fought over and over with varying fortune. Now the flag of the Government was on the summit of a hill for which all were striving, then the tide went back and the ensign of the Confederate States was to the fore. There must be something decisive in fetching the last squadron on the field. It is as decisive or more so than getting there first with the most men. With two hundred and fifty mounted men, resolute in their courage, ready for " push of pike," thrown in the very crisis of these occasions, upon the indecision of either side, victory must have come. The commanding general may well consider the advantage of having attached to considerable bodies of infantry some force of cavalry for these lost opportunities. We came out of this battle baffled of victory, but we fetched with us a sense of superiority which nothing but exhaustion could shake. All the day long the soldiers of my command maintained their high sense of duty and exhibited the same exalted courage which is the pride of the South. None faltered; all did well; some out- did themselves. It would be difficult for any true soldier to name a day in his battle experience which he enjoyed more than the day at Sharpsburg. It was splendid. The interval betwixt Sharpsburg and the first battle at Fred- Fourteenth Regiment. 713 firicksburg filled the ranks with brave men. There are moments in battle of extraordinary felicity, not so much from success as from the very grandeur of the situation. First Fredericksburg afforded such an occasion. The ridge extending from Hamil- ton's Crossing in a circle towards the town was then studded with great oaks. The enemy's guns were hurling shot and shell into this growth and advancing battalions from our side were hurrying to the chasm in our lines. The very sulphur from exploding- shells was in the air. When Captain Joseph Jones, of Company K, a genial soul with pleasing face and the heart of a lion, said to me: "Could you beat this?" I had time to say: "It's splendid." Here we had an opportunity to observe Major Pelham in charge of our artillery. It was the opportunity of a life-time to see General Jackson and hear him talk to this pic- turesque youth, who was manly and confident. He was a hand- some boy, faultlessly dressed, and told without affectation the story of yesterday's dreadful ordeal. I ventured to ask General Jack- son what to do with some of my regiment for whom there was no room in the ditch. " Put them out of harm's way," was the laconic answer. "The enemy are gone, after a fearful punish- , ment; they stole away in the night." The winter of 1862-'63 was a trying one, spent in camp and picket duties, guarding the Rappahannock. In North Carolina some evil-disposed persons raised hue and cry against the war and thundered through their newspapers at the rear of Richmond. The articles of war and army regula- tions forbade regiments holding political meetings, but by a sort of pious evasion such a meeting was held in the Fourteenth Regiment of North Carolina Troops and resolutions passed which were printed in the Richmond papers. I recall one of these resolutions: " From our distant bivouac on the frozen banks of the Rap- pahannock, we conjure our fellow-citizens to beware, lest this struggle, already consecrated by much of the best blood of the State, be turned to our shame and humiliation." 714 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. North Carolina soldiers were as brave and worthy as any who gave their services to the Confederacy, but candor constrains me to record the fact that some politicians of the State did much to embarrass the operations of our armies and defeat the establish- ment of our Government. " May their attainder never be reversed nor their crimes forgotten." The spring of 1863 opened with the prospect of the Confed- eracy unclouded in the East. The men of the Fourteenth Regi- ment of North Carolina Troops hailed the dawn of the campaign with beautiful confidence in the future. (The regiment had cul- tivated every moral virtue, led by their capable and goodly Chap- lain, Rev. W. C. Power, who is still in the service of our •Gracious Master — most of them had joined the church). If I had then known that which experience has taught me, the regi- ment would have stamped sublimity upon the uniform of its conscripts. My ignorance, or misfortune, if you please to call it so, arrested the development of an irresistible engine of war, yet I did my duty as I saw it and understood it. I was not slothful; I was obedient and loyal to the cause and earned frequent men- tion in reports. We were detained a day or so at Fredericksburg, while General Lee penetrated the plans of General Hooker, then we had swift orders to march to Chancellorsvill^. Ordinary minds recall only focal points of the far away past. In that march my regiment was the head of General Jackson's Corps. When we came into con- tact with the enemy. General Ramseur, under the eye of General Lee, formed his brigade in hollow square and at once pushed him. He retired within his breastworks, abandoning in the hurry piles of knapsacks and other impedimenta, thrown down by design when they first deployed to the front. We lost several men severely wounded. We were relieved by a Tennessee com- mand and rested on our arms near the Catharine Furnace road. Soldiers never moved in more precise order than our advance in brigade square. The morrow was destined to be a great day in strategy and battle. "Punctuality," said the ancients, "is the cream of time." Fourteenth Regiment. 715 The march around General Hooker's front began at an early hour of the day and was sustained several hours. The enemy had but one glimpse of Jackson's Corps while this movement was in execution. This their commander accepted as proof of our retreat and he instantly advised his Government of our dis- comfiture and flight. The heavy woodland through which the route lay concealed our development and the roads from the enemy's front towards us were gorged with our cavalry. The men marched much of the way in silence. As a man who has a grave message to deliver, from his own consciousness sometimes lays his finger across his lips in token of his gravid state, so these men, about to give their stroke, communed in silence upon their purpose. We were at length in battle order, and from rank to rank the command was borne in underbreath along the fronts of regiments and we went forward. The first contact with the enemy found his flank and rear assailed. *He yields! He flies!! I recall one thing in that advance through tangled vines and under- growth, shadowed by great trees : a turkey-gobbler, " free-born wanderer" of his native wood, arose in distracted flight and escaped without hue or cry in his pursuit. The sublime had a close neighbor. The disordered retreat of the Eleventh Corps became a rout. We pressed the enemy with eagerness and the Army of the Potomac was saVed from panic by the cohesion and spirit imparted to it by the capable, accomplished and eminent but unappreciated soldier. General McClellan, whom I regard as the most talented commander that served the Government in that Herculean struggle. Night proved the best ally of the enemy. Under cover of darkness he pushed fresh soldiers into positions and made new alignments of his forces. Their positions were strengthened by such breastworks as could be improvised on the spot. In this awful pause a calamity befell the Confederate States which the ordinary man could not then measure, but which is now painfully apparent to every man who in his conscience and spirit deemed the success of the Confederate States of stu- penduous moment to its citizens. The accident which struck down the corps commander in the 716 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. exultant hour of victory did not stay the fierceness of the onset of our troops next morning. Eanaseur's Brigade was ordered to replace some troops thrown into confusion by the loss of their commander. Into the heavy timber, over breastworks occupied by disordered and broken troops of different commands, we went forward. As I looked back to the scene it reminded me of an advance through a wide gate-way along an avenue peopled with every agency of death and destruction. Shot and shell, buck and ball rained upon us. Nature herself took part in the tumult; exploding missiles broke off the overhead limbs of trees and dis- charged them in great loads upon those who in search of cover crouched at their roots ; the earth echoed their commotion. The Fourteenth Regiment of North Carolina Troops never did more trying service than it did this day, nor did the courage of the regiment in any battle, except the awful day-long fight of the 12th of May, 1864, appear tfercer or more unrelenting. Lieuten- ant-Colonel William A. Johnston was very active and impressed the command by his disregard of danger. The enemy, foiled at all points, drew back his lines from Chaneellorsville and planted them nearer the fords of the river. Under orders the regiment returned to the breastworks, having been saluted by General Robert E. Rodes and publicly thanked on the field by him for its gallant conduct. It is impossible to single out the name of any soldier of the regiment and say he was foremost that day. While Hooker hesitated to recross the river, in the hope that his stay would break the fall and disappointment at the North, the sharp-shooters were exposed to trying service. I remember Edmund Fenton coming in from these lines with his arm shattered by a ball and blood spurting from his wound every step. I tied a gallows-string around his arm and he walked to the surgeon's knife with unruffled patience. In general it is rash to say any single man has been indispen- sable in the accomplishment of any great end. Soldiers who served under General Lee and General Jackson account the death of the latter a loss to our arms prodigious in measure. His enterprise, his official initiative and the mystery which enveloped Fourteenth Regiment. 717 his person and plans, crowned with the intense and powerful seriousness of his manner, mind and method, clothed him in public apprehension unrelentingly in earnest from first to last. History has assigned him a place among the tall forms of the century. He was a practical mystic. In June, 1863, tried by the test of achievements, the Army of Northern Virginia was as tough and efficient as any army of the same number ever marshaled on this planet. I doubt if any army, great or small, has mustered among the rank and file so considerable a proportion of the best men of the land. While the six or seven centers of spontaneous civilization, from China to the two American empires, were in full flower, the militant ranks may have consisted of the very best citizens. Armies now are, for the most part, less respectable than during the war of 1861-'65. The movement of the Confederate'forces from Fredericksburg to Gettysburg was not an accident. The plan was well conceived, but in its execution, after the invasion of the enemy's country, miscarried in some particulars essential to success. Soldiers imbued with the true spirit of subordination never complain at the top of their voices because of such mistakes. A brave soldier has no ambition to stand in the front rank of critics after the events. I mean to say, if General Lee erred in making the invasion upon the enemy's country, and error was apparent at the time or has become so since, it is a sorrow to the true Confederate instead of the subject of ill-tempered remarks. Likewise the observation made by some that the Confederate cause was foredoomed to fail- ure is, in view of the temper of those times, the hesitation of a large part of the Northern people to enter upon the struggle, the attitude of the President and his advisers, the weight of intelli- gent opinion and the history of the first fifty years of the Gov- ernment, a gratuitous after-thought. The enemy attempted, by a strong cavalry advance, to pene- trate the Confederate movement. This brought on the very sharp engagement at Brandy Station. The Fourteenth Regi- ment, under cover of timber, was kept as support for the cavalry. 718 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. At night we began a very rapid and long sustained march towards Front Royal and in short order reached Winchester, where Mill- roy had his headquarters. We did not cut oflf every avenue of escape. He retreated in darkness, leaving a considerable garri- son, which capitulated. The Fourteenth Regiment marched by Berryville and the division enveloped the outlets from Win- chester towards Harper's Ferry and Shepherdstown. We were the leading regiment on foot to enter Martinsburg, Jenkins' Cavalry having gone ahead of us a little way. I recall some stirring scenes. As we threaded the streets, by-ways and private lots a young lady of many personal charms, rushing to our head, seized my reins and told me in moving tones of the oppression endured by the citizens. In another direction a Dutch woman of strong Union brawn drew a paddling-stick on Captain Gor- man and began railing at the hungry Confederates generally: " You eats up everything; the Union soldiers fetch in something and you scoundrels wastes it." Gorman's situation was relieved by the arrival of Lieutenant Harney, of the Rough and Ready Guards, who told the woman, with affected severity, if she did not behave herself he would pull every hair out of her head. This glorious fellow will be heard from again. His career focalized at Gettysburg and his life was spent there in as brave and tri- umphant a burst of service as our annals contain. Wading the Potomac River, we laid at Williamsport, giving time to the troops in the rear to close up. Thence we marched to Hagerstown, where two days were spent, then on to Car- lisle, Pa., where during Sunday Dr. Lacy delivered before Rodes' Division his address on General Jackson. The orders of the commanding general for the government of the troops in the enemy's country, read at the dress-parade of the regiments, are worthy of the best records and traditions of our race — in strong contrast with the orders of the Shermans, the Millroys, the Sheridans and other legalized brigands. Our division had no contact with the enemy from the Potomac to Gettysburg. We were on the alert every moment. The instructions to outposts at night were full and complete. The Fourteenth Regiment was Fourteenth Regiment. 719 sent upon picket at night near Gettysburg, with orders to stop every living thing. Away down in the night Lieutenant-Col- onel White, with a battalion on horseback, came to our pickets. We let him in after wary examination of his account of his com- mand. In the next twenty-four hours the guns had fired the first shot at Gettysburg. We came uppn the battlefield about 2 o'clock in the afternoon of the first day. The enemy were then so far as our brigade front, extended behind a strong stone wall, such as are used as fences there. We assailed in front, the Fourteenth Regiment lapping their right. We beat them quickly, capturing prisoners, with small loss to ourselves. To our left the ground broke down from a high ridge to a level of twenty-five acres. Over this ground the enemy was retreating in some order before Doles' Brigade and other troops. As we routed these people from the stone wall a column of them, looking the size of a brigade, emerged from a depression in the ground to our right and marched in very quick time along a railroad embankment and track into Gettysburg. I am not certain where these troops came from, but I suppose they marched out of the railroad cut. May be they had withdrawn from the very high ridge to the right of the railroad into the road-way as offering a more protected line of retreat. The commander rode at their head and our artillery harassed their rear. I could almost hear their bones crunch under the shot and shell. It was a hot day and our men were much distressed by the heat and work. We straggled into town and then formed as quick as possible. Many of our command were overcome by the heat, and I go upon record now and here as say- ing that immediate and effective pursuit of the enemy was out of our power. The sharp-shooters of my regiment, under com- mand of Lieutenant Harney, pursued the enemy, and Harney captured with his own hand the colors of the Sixty-eighth Michi- gan and sent the captured flag to President Davis with his last breath. He was mortally shot in the bowels while in pursuit of these men. I think he was as reliable as any officer of his rank in the Confederate armies. The Fourteenth Regiment of North Carolina Troops was 720 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. moved forward the second day of the battle and occupied a road runniug through farms. It did not seeoa to be a public high- way, but the road led straight away from the town and appeared open in peace times to all comers. Here we were exposed some- time to the enemy's sharp-shooters, who had friendly lodgment in houses around the town and thence harassed the command. A number of the men were fatally hurt at the hands of these sharp- shooters. Among the wounded was the Colonel of the regiment, who was shot in several places seriously. This day, the third of the engagement, the troops engaged in the main assault upon the enemy suffered the loss of many brave officers and privates. We retired to prepare our revenge, and at Falling Waters, with our line extended at considerable length, awaited the onset of the enemy. Here General Lee issued his battle order and hortatory address, beginning: "Soldiers of the Army of Northern Vir- ginia, your old enemy confronts you!" The Army of Northern Virginia took position at and around Orange Court House during the summer of 1863. The Rapi- dan River was the immediate line of cleavage between the hostile forces. A considerable force was detached from General Long- street's Corps and sent to the aid of General Bragg. This force took part in the sanguinary victory at Chickamauga. There were few serious contacts with the enemy until the advance -upon Cen- treville, when the unfortunate affair at Bristoe Station occurred. The line of the Rappahannock River was held some time by our forces. This we yielded to the enemy under severe pressure at several points. The Fourteenth Regiment was at Raccoon Ford and seriously pressed by the forces under General Meade. We resumed the position south of the Rapidan and were undisturbed by any advance of the Army of the Potomac until the affair at Mine Run. The Fourteenth Regiment was in winter-quarters as part of the occupying forces during the winter of 1863-'64, except some weeks devoted to cutting lumber to make plank-roads for army conveniences. At this lumber camp W. C. Power, Chaplain of the regiment, completed, by voluntary labor on the part of the men Fourteenth Regimemt. 721 a chapel built of slabs set upright and covered with plank. This building was consecrated on a Sunday. The regiment resumed its place at the front two weeks after the church was consecrated, built fresh winter-quarters, and, by the perseverance and energy of the Chaplain and men, moved the "house in the woods" to the new regimental position, completed it, worshipped in it and left it in the wilderness when the fierce blast of the spring fight- ing broke upon the peaceful face of nature. Here we performed the routine duties. We picketed, prayed, snow-balled, polished our weapons and prepared our revenge. Desertions became seri- ous this winter as a symptom and a loss. The Fourteenth Regi- ment escaped this contagion to such a degree that it was detached and sent to the rear of the army at Bowling Green to check the defection. Governor Vance, with two or more of his personal staff, visited the army this spring and delivered several enthusi- astic and hopeful speeches to the men and officers. He was then an advanced Confederate, having learned rapidly as events were accomplished in his view and under his intelligent observation. It became a family question among the regiments as to who should take the Governor to dine. This good fortune fell to the Four- teenth, his original regiment. The Chaplain, who was a good provider, fetched his cook and provisions and joined his kettle and pans to the limited supply at headquarters, and by this for- tunate union we laid covers for the company. The lack of seats and apprehension as to the supply on the table made it necessary for some of the headquarters to stand off and await develop- ments. The Colonel served by standing and waiting. The fried tarts did the work and saved a remnant for the rear rank. When the Army of the Potomac began the campaign of 1864 the brigade to which this regiment belonged was picketing on the south bank of the Rapidan River. The first contact of the hostile forces in that campaign was about the 5th of May. We laid that night upon the edge of the battlefield and next morn- ing early the feai-ful fray burst upon us. We met part of Gen- eral Burnside's Corps. Among the captures were copies of the Bible in the Ojibwa language. He had one or more companies 46 722 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-'65. of these people as sharp-shooters. Every day we were fighting, killing and being killed. Every virtue of the faithful soldier was exemplified in the conduct of our troops. As the flank move- ment of General Grant became uncovered to laymen our soldiers vied in their efforts to be there when the enemy struck his blow. It was enough to stimulate men and officers on the march to meet a fresh phase of the enemy's movements to remind him that General Lee was anxious to reach his destination in time to give him a warm reception. Thus it went day after day, night after night. No human intellect, no sterling, ardent soldier in our ranks or elsewhere will ever put upon record an account of our men, their spirit, their temper, their deeds and their valor which will equal in all respects the reality as it was. I recall the long and rapid march of May 8, 1864, completed just in time to face the enemy as he rushed to envelope Hum- phrey's Brigade of Mississippians. We struck them full in the face. That night we lay with our arms on us, one or two men of each company standing up and peering into the darkness, if perchance the enemy might be discerned. The night wore away with no noise in our lines louder than the wary walk of a trained soldier. . The next day, or the next day but one, Russell's Division of the enemy, penetrating the thick cover of old field pines and other growth between us, suddenly emerged from cover in broken order and came upon us at the double. They struck a Georgia brigade and, mounting the works, flowed over into the trenches. Here they killed fifty-six men with bayonet wounds, so I heard Colonel Willis, of Georgia, say. Our brigade was immediately to the Georgians' left and took care of the enemy's extreme right, which never reached the works. As quickly as could be, several brigades, under command of General Gordon, threw themselves upon Eussell, delivering a counter stroke, which sent the rem- nant of his command staggering back dreadfully punished. I saw six colonels of Russell's Division lying dead a little to the rear of our works an hour or so after his retreat. Just before the enemy delivered this assault General Lee, whose headquar- FOUKTBENTH REGIMENT. 723 ters were in a house a hundred or so yards to the rear of our brigade, mounted his horse and in company with one or two officers went away at a walk. In ten minutes he was coming back at a very rapid canter, quickly dismounting and running into the house. He came out just as the head of Gordon's force got opposite the point where the enemy struck our works. I have often marveled whether General Lee divined the immi- nence of this attack from his interior consciousness as a military genius or acted upon reports of trusted subordinates. The one is as probable as the other. The situation was daily and nightly strung up to the highest point of endurance. It was a relief to have an engagement open all along the line as it did the 12th of May at Spottsylvania. This is to me the most memorable day of our war. It opened with a serious reverse to our arms. Gen- eral Ramseur's Brigade was at once formed on rising ground and the peril of the situation was open to all as by sudden impulse. A section of the Richmond Howitzers, commanded by brothers named Jones, men of high courage, as shown there, was so exposed to the fire of the enemy that the gunners were driven off or dis- abled. Captain Freeman, Lieutenant Murray, private William McPherson and others, including the Colonel, assisted to fire these pieces. Presently we went forward in battle order, wheel- ing to the left, the Fourteenth Regiment to the left and the Thir- tieth Regiment the extreme right of the brigade. We drove the enemy in confusion from the first line of works and, taking a moment's rest, rushed for the next and stronger line, then held by the foe in great numbers. I record it with sore grief, little softened by the lapse of years, that Tisdale Stepp, of the Rough and Ready Guard, in the front rank, singing "The Bonnie Blue Flag," was shot dead by an awkward soldier in our rear rank. We reached the near side of these works while the enemy received us on the other side, his teeth firmly clinched for the struggle. I was told that the enemy pulled the Adjutant of the Thirtieth Regiment over the works by the hair of his head and captured him. The colors of one of the regiments was pulled out of the color-bearer's hands and carried off. The situation was extremely 724 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. grave, especially in front of the Thirtieth Regiment. They were doing all that mortal men could do to stem the fierce course of battle. Their brave, modest, high-minded Colonel had been disabled in the advance. I asked General Eamseur's leave to go with mycommand to the right half of the brigade and succor them if possible. He was a very brave officer, but hesitated, hoping some turn of fortune might relieve us without the awful risk of this moviement. Presently he told me to do as I liked. Communicating to the regiment the odds about to be faced, we went down the line and drove into the traverses by a front of fours. Out of there we expelled fhe enemy, giving him cold steel and other reforms. I can see in my imagination at the head of the column, as it drove into one of these bloody pens, a con- script from Edgecombe county in the very forefront, without a gun, using an iron ramrod as his support and weapon, shouting to his comrades to strike home. The boys had petted the old man, who complained all the time of his rheumatic pains and told the boys never to run away in a fight and leave him. I think he was tired of life; he perished gloriously. We beat the enemy, a re-inforcement coming to his aid being almost annihilated. We pushed him away from our immediate front. It was midday by this time, and the spectacle around and about us was very unus- ual in battles which are not sieges. The air away up hundreds of feet was groaning with all the hideous deviltry of war. Mortar shells, poising high above us with their discordant notes, came down with the unmistakable thudi About the middle of the afternoon a red oak many inches in diameter yielded to the storm of missiles and fell to the ground. A section of this tree, the lap of which brushed when falling a few yards from my regi- ment, is preserved at the war office of the enemy in Washington City. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon word came down from the horse-shoe in the lines yet held by the enemy: "Send us ammunition, or we must surrender." A call for volunteers was answered as quick as thought, and John W. McGregor and Charley Cox, of Anson, Sergeants Ingram, of Wake county, and Dixon, of Cleveland, swung two boxes of cartridges on rails and Fourteenth Regiment. 725 delivered them to General tlarris, of Mississippi, at the very summit of the horse-shoe. The rattle of musketry was incessant and the day was long. Every part of our line taken by the enemy in the early hours of the day was recovered before sun- down except the arch of the horse-shoe. There was not a man in my regiment this day who was not of heroic mould. The laggards were in the rear and did not take part in the exercises. I wish it was possible in our poor human speech to express the supreme conduct of the men and officers of the Fourteenth Regi- ment on this day, which to them seemed to be the day of supreme unselfishness and inspired action. Lord Houghton went to hear Reverend C. H. Spurgeon preach in the Tabernacle, and he says of the preacher: "When he mounted the pulpit I saw a hair-dresser's assistant, an hour hence I saw an inspired apostle." If there is such a thing in the world as the sudden transformation of masses of men from common- place beings, ordinary mortals, to the supreme beatitudes in life, it was accomplished that day in the Fourteenth Regiment. I watched the men as they stood looking intently at the other side. I remember Edward Billingsley, who had a good name in the regiment as a soldier — he probably carried more baggage upon his person than any man of his weight — was looking with steady eye through a small crack below the top log of the works. He had killed a half dozen of these people. In an evil moment a ball penetrated the space, pierced his jugular vein and the good man and brave soldier was dead. About sundown a ball struck me full in the mouth and produced a painful hurt. I went to the field hospital and remained there until next morning. Our people retired from the line just before light next morning. It was an unscientific and dangerous line from the start. It had been seized upon the spur of the moment and our people had held it with native courage and pertinacity. We left a number of our wounded men under the range of the enemy's fire, among them James Smart, who was shot through and through the chest and was again in the hands of his friends after three days of exposure. Our lines were taken up on a better position a few 726 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. hundred yards to the rear of our original position along the horse-shoe curve. Here we awaited developments. Re-inforce- ments were steadily pouring in to the enemy. About the 15th or 16th of May an advance of the enemy was made upon our fresh position. It seemed to be composed of new men, as they were attired in uniforms of spotless neatness and showed the good keeping of troops fresh from garrison work. They came on in good alignment until the first zone of effective fire was reached. Some of them, more forward than their general front, came into point-blank range of our field-guns and were fearfully torn. They recoiled, and during the next day or so General Grant began to reach out with his left flank for more room. On the 19th May, General Ewell's command moved under cover of the heavy forest growth to the enemy's right and attempted to lap him and strike his rear. It happened that this attack was delivered just as a fresh brigade or division of re-in- forcements were coming to fill the enemy's ranks. The Four- teenth Regiment was under the immediate command of Major J. H. Lambeth. I was with the troops, but not sufficiently recovered from wounds to take the regiment in hand. We had a stiff fight. I remember finding one of the Harris boys, of Company G, Fourteenth Regiment, now a Baptist preacher, at the very front, so badly shot he could not get^off. He was a good soldier and by timely help was fetched away to a place of safety. Henry Kendall, of Stanly county, was fearfujfly shot in the throat, and betwixt his struggle to keep from choking to death and to escape capture he suffered intensely. John W. McGregor was shot through the calf of the leg and I gave my horse to him and Henry Kendall and they got safely to our camp. Some of our men were so badly hurt that we had to leave them. Jack Smith, of Company B, a good soldier, and others quite as efficient, were in the number left. From the 20th May until the staggering columns of the enemy were driven back at Second Cold Harbor we were in constant action. Every day we had a severe skirmish or skirmishes. On the 30th May, at Bethesda Church, we pressed the enemy Fourteenth Eegiment. 727 to uncover his purpose. We found him occupying the private houses upon and near the contested ground. We lost a consid- erable number of good men here. Captain Eli Freeman was the only casualty in the Fourteenth Regiment. On the afternoon of June 1st we made an advance in force to draw the attention of the foe, then concentrating on his great blow to be delivered the next day away to our right. We drove him and but for the fall of darkness we might have scored a great success. The next day we were engaged in a heavy skirmish. I was shot while in command of Eamseur's Brigade and was so seriously hurt that I did not resume command of the regiment for sixty days. William Calvin Little, a very smart and brave soldier, was killed here. When General Hunter threatened Lynchburg by his advance up the Valley, the Fourteenth Regiment was part of the troops detached to meet his incursion.- The command made the cam- paign to Washington City under the astute, brave, capable, loyal and great Early. I was with him when fortune gave him vic- tory and with him when fortune betrayed his courage. I wish to do some measure of justice to this famous captain as I saw him and, as I remarked, his cunning as a strategist, his daring as a man and his fortitude in defeat. No more faithful, great- hearted and unselfish citizen served our blessed cause in the four years spent in blood and agony in the honorable endeavors to preserve for and transmit to those who come after us the spirit of the Constitution of the United States in its integrity, unsoiled by greed or dishonoring circumstances, and to vouchsafe to man- kind here the inestimable liberty of local self-government. Poorly equipped and with paucity of numbers, he kept Sheridan back; with eight thousand muskets he parried forty thousand. May be time and the spirit of philosophy, the sense of justice and the progress of the human mind will bring thoughtful men to realize how true to constitutional principle the leaders in the Confederate movement were. The campaign in the Valley was a failure, yet we struck hard and effectively here and there. At Charlestown, in August, 1864, 728 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. we fought a good fight. David N. Bennett, a very admirable soldier, was fearfully wounded in this affair. I am not sure Charley Cox, of Anson, got his death wound here. He was brave and eager and true. The battle of Winchester, though a success for us in the forenoon, was, by force of overwhelming numbers in cavalry and other arms of the service, a serious defeat. The Fourteenth Regiment fought with much spirit and admi- rable cohesion in this affair. While pursuing a broken brigade of the enemy we ventured into a wood in the immediate front of a bat- tery and a division of the enemy. We were abandoned by our sup- port and, after killing many of the enemy, General Russell of the number, the order was given to our men to save themselves. I was captured before sundown, and with my comrades, Joseph Gaddy, of Anson, a good man, and Lieutenant Williams, of Buncombe, a valuable citizen, suffered captivity until near the end at Appo- mattox. In this battle Major Joseph H. Lambeth of the regi- ment, a faithful man, orderly and reliable, received a severe wound and was taken prisoner. Drummer Roberts, who had thrown up his drum and taken back his gun, was mortally wounded. I witnessed great changes in Roberts. He was at one time a rude soldier, with a growing contempt for authority, but under the power of heavenly grace he was as gentle as a little child, and I am sure he died in complete assurance of a blessed immortality. The soldier who feels in his soul the presence of the Holy Spirit is not afraid of battle in its most hideout form. The humiliations of defeat fell thick and fast upon the dwind- ling numbers of our people. Once they thrust themselves with their accustomed impetuosity into the ranks of the enemy at Cedar Creek, they had their revenge for a time. The incessant watch, in the trenches about Petersburg, through the winter of 1864-65, was shared by the Fourteenth Regiment of North Carolina Troops. When the enemy made the irrup- tion of our lines the regiment was part of the "noble remnants" in retreat, fighting daily rear-guard actions with the forces of the Government. In one of these actions Lieutenant-Colonel William A. Johnston, who commanded the regiment in .the FOUKTEENTH ReGIMENT. 729 trenches at Petersburg and on the retirement, was disabled by wounds. A successful affair with Gregg's Cavalry, in which General Gregg was captured, occurred 9n the day Farmville was reached. Constant skirmishing tried the courage and fortitude of our dwindling numbers. On the night before the surrender the command lay near Appomattox. On the morning of Appomattox the regiment formed in battle line under command of Lieutenant John W. McGregor, the brigade being in charge of Major Scales, the only field officer then present for duty. The command charged at a double and captured the enemy's battery, scattering the supports of cavalry. We lost Ivey Ritchie, a brave and dutiful man, killed, and Atlas Dargan Lowery and Lieutenant John W. McGregor, wounded. The supreme hour which comes to men and nations was at hand. Eight thousand and odd muskets were surrendered. Of this number the paroles of the Fourteenth Regiment of North Caro- lina Troops, as printed in Volume XV of the "Southern His- torical Society Papers," numbered one hundred and seven. The elder D'Israeli, in his book on "Curiosities of Litera- ture," devotes a chaptier to the " Enthusiasm of Genius." He relates that Admiral Nelson, on the day of Trafalgar, perceiv- ing the engagement at hand, went to his cabin and invested him- self with all the medals, orders and opulent decorations that he had conquered during his transcendent naval career. Thus inspired, he went to victory and death. The illustrious man, officer and soldier who on this day surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia had a kindred inspiration. My memory connects the years before 1861 with those which have since elapsed, fraught with a succession of "sorrow and joy." The noblest inheritance the South can cherish is the unmeasured nobility and unselfishness of those who led and those who fought the good fighb for local self-government. "Though gods they were, as men they died." I shall not dwell upon the details of the ghastly struggle, for my task has already been accomplished. " Nightly since I 730 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. have dreamed of encounters" with these people. I have heard ringing in my ears, as if it were a death-bell, Sheridan's boast- ful words: "That he had left the Shenandoah Valley so bare that a crow flying over it must carry his rations with him." I have heard Slierman, from the ashes of Atlanta, which he had burned in the excess of his power, writing Sawyer, of his staff", "that war was hell," and his saying to Mrs. Childs at Fayette- ville : " Madam, I am a man of war, and can storm any place but Heaven." I have seen the blood of old men upon their own door-ways, murdered by the wretches whom he turned loose with the bridle off. Of these I carry in the folds of my memory the name and sad fate of an uncle above seventy years old, a Union man whom Sherman's followers shot to death on his own front steps without provocation. I am told that the Union is restored because Little Joe Wheeler, with the commission of a general officer in the Army of the United States and a com- mission as Congressman, and a dozen or so who were prominent Confederates, " either for bread or fame," helped to make war upon a Christian country and despoil it in its good name and estate upon its own soil and without defined cause. I believe in my soul and upon my conscience that the crime of subjugating the people of the South and the enormous wrongs committed upon them in its consummation is the greatest crime of the last three centuries. I have to apologize to the privates and non-commissioned officers of the Fourteenth Regiment for the failure to name them and their valiant actions in this sketch. I have tried to get the roll of honor of the several companies, in which the conduct and characteristics of the men are set down upon the estimate of their own comrades. Company C alone preserves this list. A copy of the roll of that company is appended. In the absence of these authentic pages from the other companies, I name as worthy of all praise William Gudger, of Buncombe, Dick Lynch, a fine fellow from near the Warren line. The roll of honor of the several companies of North Carolina Troops may have been carried away by the soldiers of the United Fourteenth Regiment. . 731 States during their stay in Raleigii. I wish to set down the names of the following members of Company B, whose conduct is deemed worthy of special mention ; they are furnished me by one of the company : Lieutenant Cyrus P. Jones, killed at Spottsylvania ; Sergeant Frank J. Britt, killed at Malvern ; William Baker and William J. Collett, mortally wounded at Winchester, September 19, 1864; Lieutenant Welborn, Rufus Baker, Henry J. Berrier, Dudley Lambeth, John M. Jordan, W. D. Veach, Andrew Sink, William H. Odell and J. L. Schoup. I make apologies to the good soldiers of the command whose names I am unable to give in this sketch. With my thanks to all the officers of the regiment, with a few beggarly exceptions, for their good service records, especially to Captain GrifBth, of Company G; Captain Liles, of Company C; Lieutenant Mur- ray, of Company F, and to the Adjutant, Quartermaster, Ser- geant-major and Commissary of Subsistence, the lieutenants of the color-guard and the ordnance officers, I commit this imper- fect tribute to a brave regiment to the future in the confident hope of justice to its cause after some time be passed. RiSDEN Tyler Bennett. Wadbsboro, N. C., 9 April, 1900. The following are names taken from the roll of honor of Company C, together with the distinctions won by each man, as certified to by William A. Liles, the captain of the company: Captain Eli Freeman, Third Sergeant, a brave and good officer; J. W. Turner, Second Corporal, a good soldier ; James A. Smart, an excellent soldier; J. H. Alford, a good man; H. Baldwin, in every fight during campaign, a No. 1 soldier; D. N. Bennett, a brave man, and worthy of promotion; E. A. Covington, a good hospital steward; B. C. Hutchinson, acted well; J. W. Mc- Gregor, acted very gallantly on all occasions, a good soldier; J. J. McLerdon, acted well on the field ; A. S. Morrison, a most meritorious man, and deserved promotion; A. B. Morton, a most excellent soldier; G. A. Morton, a most excellent soldier; P. F. 732 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Morton, a noble soldier; W. H. Sanders, a most excellent man; J. BE. D. Sanders, a splendid soldier. The following are recorded each as a good soldier : J. I. Bill- ingsley, John Bowman, J. C. Coir, C. H. Cox, E. D. Gipson, Gary Johnston, W. C. Little, A. S. McGallum, H. J. Napier, H. B. Sanders, G. L. Stanback, W. C. Threadgill, J. B. Wad- dill, J. M. Watkins, T. J. Watkins. E. T. B. FIFTEENTH EEGIMENT. 1. Henry A. Dowel, Colonel. 2. William McKae, Colonel. 3. E. R. Ihrie, Lient.-Colonel. 4. n. C. Kearney, Ist Lieut., Co. E. FIFTEENTH REGIMENT. By H. C. KEARNEY, First IjIBdtenant Company E. This regiment was originally the Fifth Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers, and was then composed of twelve com- panies. It was organized at Garysburg, N. C, two miles north of "Weldon, about the 10th day of June, 1861, and Stephen Lee, a professor in the D. H. Hill Military School of Charlotte, was elected Colonel; R. R. Ihrie, Captain of Company M, Lieutenant- Colonel, and William F. Green, Captain of Company L, Major. Before Lee received notice of his election he had been elected Colonel of the Sixth Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers, which was afterwards the Sixteenth Regiment of North Caro- lina Troops, and had accepted the latter command. About the 22d of June, Robert M. McKinney was elected Colonel, his commission bearing date of June 24, 1861, and joined the regi- ment the last of June. "McKinney was at the time of his elec- tion Captain of Company A, Sixth Regiment North Carolina State Troops, and had been a professor in D. H. Hill's school. He was killed at Lee's Farm, near Yorktown, April 16, 1862. H. A. Dowd, First Lieutenant of Company I, and acting Adju- tant, was elected and commissioned Colonel April 20, 1862, and at the reorganization of the regiment. May 3, 1862, was elected Colonel; William MacRae, Captain of Company B, was elected Lieutenant-Colonel, and W. H. Yarborough, Captain of Com- pany L, was elected Major. Dowd was wounded at Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862, and resigned February 27, 1863, when MacRae was commissioned Colonel, Yarborough Lieutenant-Colonel and G. W. Hammond, Captain of Company K, Major. MacRae was appointed Brigadier-General about August, 1864, YaAorough Succeeded to Colonel, Hammond to Lieutenant-Colonel and R. P. Jerome, Captain of Company B, to Major. 734 NoETH Carolina Tkoops, 1861-'65. The staff and company officers and their successors in the order named, as appears from the "Roster of North Carolina Troops," Volume I, pages 545 and 581, and Volume II, pages 693 to 600 (which report is very imperfect), and as gathered from participants in the operation of the regiment, but largely from the memory of the writer, were: John Manning, George I. Gor- don and A. H. Houston, Adjutants; H. D. Cabiness and C. H. Thomas, Quartermasters ; T. C. Walsh and A. C. Massenburg, Commissaries; B. T. Green and S. W. Langdon, Surgeons; W. B. Mott, W. V. Bonner and Donald Williams, Assistant Sur- geons ; J. T. Sugg, Hospital Steward ; J. C. MacEae and S. W. Howerton, Chaplains ; Grayson, Exum Lewis and J. E. Porter, Sergeant-majors; J. B. Coffield, Quartermaster Sergeant; P.M. Moss, Ordnance Sergeant. LIST OF COMPANIES AND THEIK OFPICEES. Company A — Northampton County — Captains, S. T. Stancell, J. B. Randolph, J. H. Peel and Spier Wood ; First Lieutenants, E. A. DeBerry, J. W. Jacobs, J. H. Peel and W. H. Parker; Second Lieutenants, L. W. Boykin, W. P. Vick, J. B. Randolph, W. H. Parker, Spier W. Wood and W. E. Woodruff. Enlisted men, one hundred and thirty-nine. Company B — Union Coimiy— Captains, William MacRae and R. P. Jerome; First Lieutenants, T. H. Means and F. L. Rog- ers; Second Lieutenants, L. A. Holmes, R. J. Jerome, J. M. McLarty, G. B. Cuthberson and D. G. Cuthberson. Enlisted men, one hundred and thirty-eight. Company C — Cleveland County — Captains, C. G. Love and D. J. Hardin; First Lieutenants, J. N. Nicholson and J. M. Jarrett; Second Lieutenants, J. S. Byars, D. J. Hardin, J. W. Jarrett, E. W. McBrayer and W. K. Hardin. Enlisted men, one hundred and sixty-three. Company D — Cleveland County — Captain, W. S. Corbett; First Lieutenants, Harvey Cabiness, J. J. McGunniss and J. M. Higgins; Second Lieutenants, D. Lattimore, G. J). Horran, R. W. Hunt, F. G. Hicks, Thomas Y. Lytle and H. Clay Conly : Fifteenth Regiment. 735 Eulisted men, one hundred and thirty-seven. This company was transferred to the Forty-ninth Regiment in exchange for Com- pany B of that regiment, on January 15, 1863, which became Company D in the Fifteenth Regiment, and was from Chatham county. Captains, E. H. Ward, J. S. Bennett and T. S. Old- ham ; First Lieutenants, J. S. Bennett T. E. Oldham and W. E. Oldham ; Second Lieutenants, J. W. Horton, W. E. Oldham, A. C. Massenburg and T. A. Oldham. Enlisted men, eighty-six. The roster of some thirty-five names of this company was lost. Company E — Franklin County — Captains, Willie Perry and W. H. Ballard; First Lieutenants, B. T. Green, W. H. Ballard and H. C. Kearney; Second Lieutenants, R. S. Harris, H. C. Kearney, J. A. Morris and H. H. Sherrod. Enlisted men, one hundred and fifty-three. Company F — Harnett County — Captains, Kenneth Murchison, Daniel McDougall and A. D. Cutts; First Lieutenants, K. M. McNeil, Daniel McDougall, J. T. McLean, A. D. Cutts, D. M. Sexton and D. E. Green; Second Lieutenants, R. B. Smith, S. D. Pipkin, J. T. McLean, A.D. Cutts, D. M. Sexton, D. E. Green and Rory Barnes. Enlisted men, one hundred and forty-one. Company G — Franklin County — Captains, J. J. Jackson, T. T. Terrell, G. B. Murphy; First Lieutenants, M. D. Stamper, T. T. Terrell, G. B. Murphy; Second Lieutenants, H. G. Gup- ton, A. C. Hight, G. B. Murphy, W. S. Jackson, J. M. Bonner and W. Brewer. Enlisted men, one hundred and thirty. Company H — Alamance County — Captains, J. R. Stockard, D. S. Thompson, W. J. Stone and E. S. Euliss; First Lieuten- ants, D. S. Thompson, W. J. Stone, E. S. Euliss, W. R. Webb; Second Lieutenants, J. N. H. Clendenin, G. A. Clendenin, P. P. Booker, John Roney and M. M. Roberson. Enlisted men, one hundred and eighteen. Company I — Edgecombe County — Captains, T. W. Battle and E. D. Foxhall ; First Lieutenants, H. A. Dowd and B. T. Hart; Second Lieutenants, Fred. Philips, R. S. Suggs, S. M. Pender, E. E. Knight and D. H. Barlow. Enlisted men, one hundred and forty-eight. 736 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Company K — Edgeoom.be County — Captains, G. W. Ham- mond, G. W. White and J. P. Cross; First Lieutenants, W. T. Gay, G. W. White and J. P. Cross ; Second Lieutenants, J. JT, Reed, T. H. Griffin, G. W. White, J. P. Cross, W. D. Braswell, W. H. Griffin. Enlisted men, one hundred and forty. Company L — FranJdin County — Captains, W- F. Green, A. S. Perry, W. H. Yarborough and James I. Foster; First Lieu- tenants, A. S. Perry, W. S. Harris and W. R. Young; Second Lieutenants, W. H. Yarborough, W. S. Harris, W. L. Young, R. E. Ballard and Bartlett Davis. Enlisted men, one hundred and twenty-six. Company M — Chatham County — Captains, R. R. Ihrie, J. W. Taylor, W. L. London and W. H. Tyson ; First Lieuten- ants, John Manning, W. L. London and E. J. Merritt; Second Lieutenants, O. M. Neal, W. L. London, 0. C. Poe, J. T. Rogers, W. H. Tyson, J. T. Eubank. Enlisted men, one hun- dred and eighty-three. These last two companies, L and M, were transferred to the Thirty-second Regiment in July, 1862, soon after the seven days' battles around Richmond. Company L became Company I and Company M became Company K in the Thirty-second Regiment. The number of enlisted men includes the recruits furnished during the entire war, and was as above, so far as is known. About the last of June, 1861, the regiment, numbering about eleven hundred officers and men, was ordered to Virginia, and arriving at Yorktown about the first of July, pitched our camp southwest of the old British works on the edge of the town, near the First North Carolina, or Bethel Regiment. We became at once actively engaged in doing camp and fatigue duty, throw- ing up breastworks day and night, with occasional marches down the Peninsula toward Bethel and Hampton, until early in August. Then the health of the regiment had become so ba'd, at least eighty per cent, being stricken by those terrible diseases which occur from malaria and which are so easily contracted by persons coming from a hilly or mountainous country, surrounded by low swamps in midsummer, that the commanding general ordered Fifteenth Regiment. 737 the regiment to Hobdy's Point, on the north side of York River, first sending a large number up the river to King and Queen county and to Gloucester Court House. Many of these never lived to return. During the early part of September there was less than ten per cent, of the regiment able to perform camp duty. The loss by death and disability during the months preceding winter was greater than from battle during any one year afterwards, being over fifteen per cent. About the 1st of October the regiment returned to York- town, did picket and foraging duty and built breastworks, bat- teries and partial winter-quarters at several places until Febru- ary, 1862. After the fall of Roanoke Island it was sent to the Blackwater, near Suffolk, and thence to Goldsboro, N. C, to re-iuforce General Branch's command after the evacuation of New Bern. It remained there until about the 15th of April, when it returned to the Peninsula by way of City Point, and took position on the lines near Lee's Mill, between Yorktown and James River, in front of McCiellan's army, which was advancing from Fortress Monroe toward Richmond. Here it had its first engagement with the enemy at Lee's Farm on the 1 6th of April, when the gallant Colonel McKinney was killed, to whom and his successors, by their prudence, discretion, calm judgment and cool management, many of those who survived these years of strife owe their lives. The regiment lost twelve killed and forty-four wounded and the enemy lost one hundred and eighty- three killed and wounded. The reorganization took place on the 3d of May, with almost an entire change of regimental and company oflScers. The regiment was one of the last to leave the lines and formed a part of the rear-guard on the retreat to Richmond until it reached Williams- burg, from which place it moved to New Kent Court House. After several days of slow and tedious marching through rain and mud, occasional marches and skirmis'hes, with little to eat but parched corn, it crossed to the south side of the Chicka- hominy and encamped on the turnpike to Mechanicsville. 47 738 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-'65. As the Union army extended its lines to the right a portion of the regiment on picket duty at Ellyson's Mill had a small engagement, capturing a few prisoners, with no loss to the regi- ment. On the 30th and 31st of May the regiment marched and counter-marched almost constantly between Mechanicsville and "Seven Pines, and on Sunday morning, June 1st, was formed in line of battle to the right, near Fair Oaks, to re-inforce and renew the attack at that point. Before advancing the order was countermanded and the. regiment took position on the Nine Mile road above Fair Oaks, where it remained under daily fire from the enemy's batteries until Saturday morning, June 29th. It then moved forward through the enemy's works (he having retreated towards James River) towards Savage's Station on the York River Railroad, where, after frequent skirmishes during the day, it was formed in line of battle late in the evening in support of Barksdale's Brigade, which was actively engaged. Before Cobb's Brigade, to which the Fifteenth Regiment was attached, became engaged the enemy abandoned his position, destroying his supplies and leaving nearly two thousand sick and wounded prisoners. The regiment then moved west through the deserted works of the enemy, around the head of White Oak Swamp and from thence south and east, respectively, to the inter- section of Darby Town and New Market roads, near Frazier's Farm, passing over that battlefield Tuesday morning, July 1st, and forming in line of battle about one mile west of Malvern Hill. It moved forward to support Confederate batteries which took position on the edge of a piece of woods about one thousand yards from the enemy's line, and shortly after a terrific artillery engagement was opened, the equal of which, considering the number engaged, was perhaps not excelled during the war. The strong elevated position of the enemy at Malvern Hill gave them full control of the fields in their front, and they soon succeeded in disabling and silencing nearly every Confederate gun within their range. The infantry in the rear suffered heavily from the shot and shell. Fifteenth Regiment. 739 The infantry was ordered to advance and attack the enemy, ■who had concentrated a heavy force of artillery and infantry on the hill. The Fifteenth Regiment, forming the right of the bri- gade, moved to the attack through an open field of several hun- dred yards, broken by ravines, and was exposed to a murderous fire of grape and canister from the artillery and mortar shells from the gun-boats on James River and a heavy fire from the infantry in front. The regiment formed a part of the first line of battle and remained under fire until night, no re-inforcements ever reaching the line and position occupied by the regiment. The loss to the regiment in this charge was one hundred and sixty-four killed and wounded out of a membership of six hun- dred and ninety-two. The Confederate dead found nearest the enemy's lines on this part of the field belonged to Company L of the Fifteenth Regiment. After removing the wounded and burying the dead the regi- ment returned near Richmond on the Williamsburg road, where Companies L and M were transferred to the Thirty-second Regi- ment. The regiment here received about two hundred and fifty new recruits from North Carolina, but before receiving any mili- tary training the regiment commenced the march to Maryland. It left Gordonsville on August 26th, and by forced marches joined General Lee near Bull Run on the 2d of September. It moved thence to Leesburg and crossed the Potomac on the 6th at Point of Rocks, rendezvoused north of Monocacy River, near Frederick, and on the 10th marched through the city toward Middletown, crossing South Mountain on the 12th, thence down Pleasant "Valley, and on the night of the 13th was opposite Maryland Heights, four miles from Harper's Ferry. On Sunday evening, the 14th, the brigade was ordered back and reached Crampton's Gap, under forced march, late in the afternoon and formed line of battle on top of the mountain in the rear of a portion of General Mahone's Brigade and other remnants, under command of Colonel Mumford, which was then engaged with the enemy. The men were almost exhausted from constant marching over rough roads, nearly shoeless, and without rations, 740 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. except green beef without salt and some corn. The regiment formed on the left of the brigade and on the left of the road on the pass, leaving knapsacks and blankets with a guard near the top and on the west side of the mountain, moved forward and soon became engaged with the enemy, who was pressing up the pass from the east. During these movements and engagements of the regiment the recruits, who had learned but little of military tactics, were at a disadvantage in maneuvering, but stood the fire of the enemy well till captured. As the enemy pressed on the right the Fifteenth took position behind a rock fence, with instruc- tions to hold it, which they did until the enemy succeeded in forcing the Georgia regiments (which formed the right of the brigade) back and gained the rear and the possession of the road across the gap. Being engaged with the enemy in front, and con- fident of the strength of our position, the first knowledge we had of the situation on the right was a terrible volley of musketry from the rear and right flank, which was at first thought to be from our own troops, who had mistaken us for the enemy, but soon such thoughts were dispelled by seeing the Federal flag in the rear. Fortunately the volley did but little damage, and though the clothing of nearly every man bore the mark of a ball (the writer having thirteen without breaking the skin), but few were hurt. The loss of the regiment in this engagement was fourteen killed, forty-eight wounded and one hundred and twenty- four prisoners, one of which was the writer. Nearly all of the prisoners were from the five right companies. A, C, E, G and I, and doubtless some of the casualties were caused by those who escaped from the right, yet by the stand they made at the top of the mountain and checking the enemy they enabled the left of the regiment and brigade to escape to Pleasant Valley, where they formed and held the enemy in check until after the capture of Harper's Ferry on the 15th, passed through there and joined the army at Sharpsburg on the 17th with one hundred and thirty-three officers and men. After that day's battle they had at night only fifty-two men for duty, having lost seventy-one Fifteenth Regiment. 741 killed and wounded. The regiment (or, more properly, what was left) returned with the army to Virginia and thence to Fredericksburg, and about the iirst of December was transferred to Cooke's Brigade, all North Carolinians, and was, as then com- posed, the Fifteenth, Twenty-seventh, Forty-sixth and Forty- eighth North Carolina Troops, under the command of Brigadier- General John R. Cooke. On the 12th of December the brigade moved down near Fred- ericksburg, in the rear of Marye's Heights, in support of Cobb's Brigade and the batteries. Cobb's Brigade occupied the front line, the batteries the heights, with the infantry behind a rock wall on the telegraph road, where they remained in line all night, building small fires by which they endeavored to warm their almost frozen limbs, it being bitter cold, but the reflection of the lights on the hills soon became a target for the enemy's heavy artillery on the Stafford Heights. The shelling became so ter- rific that the fires were ordered extinguished and many of those who escaped unhurt the next day died from the night's exposure. Early in the evening of the 13th the enemy, having been repulsed on the right, advanced in heavy column from Fred- ericksburg across the open fields and attempted to force the lines west of the town. Cooke's Brigade was ordered forward, the Fifteenth Regiment occupying a position on top of the hill in front of Marye's house and to the left of a battery of Washing- ton Artillery, where it remained until dark under heavy fire from the enemy's infantry and artillery. For over five hours the regi- ment was continuously engaged, using over thirty-five thousand cartridges, and as fast as one column of the enemy was repulsed and broken another was formed and renewed the assault. When night closed the conflict the field in frout told with what despera- tion the assault had been made; indeed, it was in this respect thrice Malvern Hill — the armies reversed. About 4 o'clock the enemy succeeded in gaining a lodgment on the right in a railroad cut, from which the right of the regiment sustained its heaviest loss in less than thirty minutes, when the enemy was dislodged by artillery. The loss in killed and wounded in the regiment was two 742 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. hundred and seventy-four out of a membership of five hundred and sixty-three. After the engagement the enemy recrossed the river and the regiment returned to its former quarters on the telegraph road and remained there until early in January, 1863, when it was ordered to North Carolina. After marching to Petersburg it was conveyed by rail to Goldsboro and thence to Magnolia, marching thence to Kenansville, South Washington, Warsaw and Bur- gaw, thence by rail to Wilmington and then to Charleston, S. C, Pocotaligo and Coosahatchie and to a point near Savan- nah, Ga., where it remained until April, except during the bom- bardment of Fort Sumter and the naval engagement of Char- leston in February or March, when it was transferred to the support of Clingman's Brigade, then stationed at James Island. Afterwards it returned to Wilmington, N. C, and remained there until May 1st, when it moved to Kinston to re-iuforce the com- mand of General D. H. Hill. The enemy advanced from New Bern and engaged the Fifty-sixth Regiment, of Ransom's.Brigade, at Gam Swamp, and the Fifteenth Regiment (Cooke's Brigade) was ordered to its support, when the enemy was forced back to Core Creek or Deep Gully, within a few miles of New Bern. In these skirmishes the regiment lost two killed and fourteen wounded. The regiment moved back towards Kinston and camped at Seven Forks several days, when it was ordered to Richmond and thence to Gordonsville to join Lee's army, then on its way to Gettysburg. On reaching Gordonsville the regi- ment was ordered back to Richmond to meet a threatened attack of the army advancing from Yorktown and was almost con- stantly on the march around Richmond during the Gettysburg campaign, being about the only organized brigade left to protect the Capital during the absence of the army from Virginia, and had skirmishes from James River to Fredericksburg, with slight losses. Early in October the brigade moved to Gordonsville, joined the army near Culpeper Court House and was assigned to Heth's Division of A. P. Hill's Corps, then on the march to Bristoe Fifteenth Regiment. 743 Station, which place it reached on the evening of October 14th, after a forced march. Cooke's and Kirkland's Brigades were hastily formed in line of battle parallel to the railroad and ordered to attack the enemy, who had taken position in the cut and behind the railroad bank. The two brigades, composed of nine North Carolina regiments, charged the enemy in solid col- umn over an open field of several hundred yards, with Warren's Corps massed in front and two batteries of artillery occupying an elevated position on the right of the Confederate line. They were subjected to such a terrific fire from the enemy that their .lines were mowed down like grain before a reaper and their broken columns forced back to Davis' Brigade in the rear. In doing this Colonel MacRae retired the Fifteenth Regiment by alternate companies, firing and falling back, which stayed the enemy and greatly protected the line. General Cooke was severely wounded early in the action and the Fifteenth lost twenty-four killed and one hundred and seventeen wounded in the short space of about thirty-five minutes. The enemy's loss in killed was very great in proportion to the number wounded, as was evidenced by the print of lead on the railroad iron behind which they lay, their heads being principally exposed. The regiment remained on the field that night and, after burying the dead, marched toward the Rappahannock River, destroying the railroad as they went. After reaching the south side of the Rapidan River the regi- ment was engaged in doing picket duty, with occasional skir- mishes, until about December, when it fronted the Federal army at Mine Run, but had no general engagement. After a few days skirmishing it returned to near Orange Court House, built and occupied winter-quarters quietly until about the first of May, 1864, when it broke camp and moved toward the Wilderness, where, on the 5th of May, Cooke's Brigade engaged the enemy on the plank-road, occupying a position on the right of the road, the Fifteenth Regiment being on the extreme right of line as first formed. About 2 o'clock p. m., and before our lines were completed, the enemy advanced in column, but was soon repulsed, only to renew the charge with greater force. The battle raged 744 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. until uight, with the Fifteenth Regiment holding its position till dark. During the evening our ammunition was exhausted, and the re-inforcements coming in (Kirkland's and McGowan's Brigades), divided theirs with us. At the commencement of the battle the trees and small undergrowth were so thick that the enemy got within about thirty yards of us before we could see them, and the first volley fired broke their line and hurled them back, and many times did they renew the charge with fresh troops during the afternoon, but never passed the line where they received the first volley. At the close of the day the ground between the lines was covered with small trees, bushes and limbs cut off by minnle-balls. After night the regiment was formed to the left of the plank- road, on the right of Wilcox's Division, and worked all night throwing up breastworks, which gave us protection and enabled us to hold our position. At dawn on the 6th the enemy advanced in heavy columns and forced the troops on the right of the plank- road back and subjected Cooke's Brigade to a heavy fire from the right and rear. At this critical moment Longstreet's Corps arrived, followed by Anderson's Division. Gregg's Texas Bri- gade formed line of battle as they moved forward and the Ar- kansas regiment formed line with the Fifteenth Regiment at their works. General Lee "was present and started forward with the line of battle as they advanced, but was stopped by the men, who refused to advance if he went. These fresh troops charged and drove the enemy from the field, relieving the right and saving the battle. The Fifteenth Regiment moved forward and established a new line, but was not heavily engaged, only engaging in skirmishes during the day. The loss in the Fifteenth Regiment was two hundred and forty killed and wounded dur- ing the two days. The regiment moved to the right with the army, reached Spottsylvania Court House, and on the 10th, with other troops, was actively engaged and forced the enemy back from advanced positions he had gained on the Confederate left. Although under fire several hours and in various positions during the day, the casualties were small, all principally from artillery. Fifteenth Regiment. 745 On the moruing of the 12th the brigade, with the Fifteenth Regiment on the extreme right, occupied a position on the line northwest of the Court House, in front of Sedgwick's Corps and in view of the assault of the enemy on the new line formed after the attack on Johnston's Division at the "horse-shoe." In the after- noon the regiment, with others, was moved to the front, protected from view and fire of the enemy by a heavy piece of woods, and formed at right angles near the main line. It captured several stands of colors and a large number of prisoners by striking the rear and left flank of their column, which advanced in front of their main line to attack the Confederate center. This move- ment was so quietly made that the enemy knew nothing of it until the appearance of the Confederates in their rear, when they surrendered, without firing a gun or the loss of a man, to the Fifteenth Regiment. During the engagement on the 12th the regiment did not become actively engaged, but moved with the army towards Rich- mond, next fronting the enemy near Hanover Junction about the 23d, in support of Lane's Brigade, and suffered some loss from the enemy's artillery. On the 31st of May Heth's Division occupied the front line at Pea Ridge, the distance being so short between the armies that the lines were engaged as sharp-shooters. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon the enemy assaulted the line of Cooke's Brigade, but were soon repulsed, losing almost their entire force in killed, wounded and captured. On the evening of June 2d, at Turkey Ridge, Cooke's Brigade supported the left flank of Kirkland's Brigade and had a sharp engagement with the enemy until after dark. The Fifteenth Regiment was thrown forward in a big swamp for some distance, feeling their way in the darkness over fallen timbers and through mud and water, and, to prevent a surprise from the enemy, was preceded about fifteen feet by one man from each company. The lines were so near each other and it was so dark that private Smith, from Company G, was captured by the enemy and pri- vate Holmes, from Company E, captured one of the enemy. 746 North Caeolina Troops, 1861-'65. The lines were so close that they could hear each other whisper, but fortunately not a gun was fired. After remaining in the swamp some time the regiment was withdrawn and formed in line on the edge of a field and worked all night throwing up breastworks. Early next morning Cooke's Brigade was moved to the position occupied by Kirkland during the night. They had built no breastworks, and before the brigade formed its line the enemy drove in our pickets, advanced his line of battle and the firing became general. The front rank of the regiment was advanced a few feet, while the rear went to work with bayonets, plates, tin cups, or anything they could use to move dirt, and in a short time had a bank sufficient to afford some protection, behind which they formed, continuing their work and firing whenever the attack of the enemy demanded. The position was on the edge of a piece of woods, the timber in front, and the enemy's line of battle so near that they could not use their artillery effectively. By 10 o'clock the works were sufficiently strong and high to pro- tect the men, but the fire was so strong that nearly every horse to a Confederate battery was killed before it could get its guns in position. This was perhaps the hardest day the Fifteenth Regiment had during the war, being actively engaged for four- teen hours with three times their number without one mouthful to eat, but little water to drink and several times with but one round of ammunition. They used an average of one hundred and sixty rounds of ammunition to the man that day. The loss to the regiment was about sixty, nearly all of whom were ammunition or water-carriers. The regiment was withdrawn soon after dark, moved to Cold Harbor and from there to James River. On the 1 5th of June the enemy's cavalry moved up the Chicka- hominy towards Richmond, while the army was crossing James River to attack Petersburg. Heth's Division was sent to meet them, and Cooke's Brigade being in front, the Fifteenth Regi- ment was engaged in several skirmishes during the day, with considerable loss, and captured many prisoners, mostly wounded. Fifteenth Regiment. 747 The writer, with ten picked men, was ordered by General Cooke to reeonnoiter the enemy's position, during which he was wounded, and but for the gallantry of his squad would have been captured by about thirty of the enemy, who, in making a charge, received a volley which killed two and wounded several. We captured seven and the others retreated. After night the regiment moved towards Richmond, crossed James River and took position on the lines around Petersburg. During the siege we occupied various positions, but principally near the Crater, with constant duty, under iire from sharp- shooters, artillery and mortars day and night, with but little to eat. The losses in the regiment from the Wilderness to Peters- burg in the numerous skirmishes was twenty-four killed and . eighty-nine wounded. On the 25th of August the regiment moved down on the Peters- burg Railroad to attack the enemy at Reams' Station. Hancock's Corps was formed in line in the railroad cut behind the embank- ment and breastworks. Cooke's, MacRae's and Lane's Brigades, numbering about one thousand seven hundred and thirty men, were ordered to attack the enemy in this strong position with three times their number. After forming in line of battle the Confederates had to charge for several hundred yards across an open space of fallen timber, brush and other obstructions, which was done in good order. We reached the enemy's line without firing and captured several stands of colors, two batteries and about two thousand eight hundred prisoners. The loss in the Fifteenth Regiment was twenty-three killed and ninety-one wounded. After this the regiment took position again at the Crater. On the 27th of October the regiment took position on the lines near Hatcher's Run, remaining there until December, when, with other regiments, it marched towards Belfield, through sleet and snow, but had no general engagement. It returned to its former position and remained until February, 1865, when it moved to Petersburg and took position near the Crater, in sup- port of General Gordon in his night attack, but was not actively 748 North Caeolina Teoops, 1861-65. engaged. In the evening it returned, under forced march, to its former position, which was threatened by the enemy, which posi- tion it occupied until the 2d of April, when the lines near Pe- tersburg were broken and a retreat ordered. On reaching Sutherland's Station line of battle was formed to check the enemy. The army being in fragments and in full retreat, the Fifteenth Regiment was deployed as skirmishers to protect the rear and keep up stragglers during the day. It marched all night and almost continuously, with but few hours' rest and but little to eat, with frequent skirmishes, principally with cavalry, until the morning of the 9th of April at Appo- mattox Court House, where it was formed in line of battle to re-inforce General Cox's and other brigades, but before advanc- ing the Army of Northern Virginia, the pride of the South, yielded to overwhelming numbers and resources. The loss to the regiment during these latter months in the trenches, on the retreat and in the various skirmishes was about eighty killed and wounded. At the last roll-call on that event- ful morning there were two hundred and nineteen stands of arms turned over by those men in the regiment who had borne them for four years. Thus ended the services of one of the first regiments of North Carolinians that responded to the call of their State and to the Confederacy. In penning this short sketch of one of the first regiments that tendered its services to North Carolina and the Confederacy, it has been the object of the writer not to detract the least praise from any other reginaent or State that they may merit (for I believe that with few exceptions they all did their duty), but simply as a North Carolinian, proud of her honor and the valor of her sons, to assist in bringing to light and preserving the gal- lant deeds of her soldiery, whereby all impartial and unpreju- diced historians may be enabled to publish to the world the truth as it is, and that every citizen in our re-united country, whether from Maine or Texas, can in future ages point to their acts of Fifteenth Regimen's. 749 bravery and« devotion to duty, and with pride claim they were American citizens. In this instance the best proof of their honesty of purpose, devo- tion to duty and conviction of right in a cause they had espoused, was the five hundred and ninety-three shattered remnants left of the eighteen hundred and two that had belonged to this regiment during its four years' service. H. C. Kearney. LOUISBURG, N. 0., 9th April, 1901. ■■ ^ ' ' i ^ im^f^ WL H^^J m^m J ^■' " ^i £__ " ^■^ SIXTEENTH REGIMENT. 1. JamoB R. Love, Captain, Co. A. 3. Dillard L. Love, 1st Lieut., Co A 2. Benjamin IT. Cathey, 1st Lieut., Co. A. 4. William II. Catlicy, Private;, Co. A. SIXTEENTH REGIMENT By benjamin H. CATHEY, First Lieutenant Company A. The Sixteenth Regiment North Carolina Troops was organized June 17, 1861, at the city of Raleigh. Its officers were as fol- lows: Stephen Lee, of Buncombe county. Colonel. R. G. A. Love, of Haywood county, Lieutenant-Colonel. B. F. Beiggs, of Gaston county. Major. D. F. Sitmmey, of Buncombe county. Quartermaster. J. M. Israel, of Buncombe county, Commissary. J. H. Wheeleb, Jr., of Buncombe county, Adjutant. J. L. Robinson, of Macon county. Quartermaster Sergeant. Columbus Mills, of Polk county, Surgeon. The regiment was composed of twelve companies, as follows: Company A — Jackson County — A. W. Coleman, Captain. Company B — Madison County — John Peak, Captain. Company C — Yancey County — J. S. McElroy, Captain. Company D — Rutherford County — H. D. Lee, Captain. Company E — Burke County — E. J. Kirksey, Captain. Company F — Buncombe County — P. H. Thrash, Captain. Company G — Rutherford County — C. T. N. Davis, Captain. •Company H — Macon County — T. M. Angel, Captain. Company I — Henderson County — W. M. Shipp, Captain. Company K — Polk County — J. C. Kemp, Captain. Company L — Haywood County — R. G. A. Love, Captain. Company M — Gaston County — B. F. Briggs, Captain. The twelve companies were made up of those who were the first to volunteer from the mountains, and were men in the bloom 752 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. of manbood, ninety per cent, of whom were unmarried. When the regiment was organized, and before the hardships of future •campaigns had wrought upon it, it was remarked upon by citi- zens of Raleigh and Richmond for its unusual fullness in num- bers and faultless personnel. The regiment, after its organization, remained in Raleigh, drilling and performing guard duty, until the 5th of July, 1861, when it left there for the seat of war. It arrived in Richmond the 6th of July. From thence, after a stay of a few days, it was ordered to northwestern Virginia to re-inforce General Garnett, who was being pressed by General Rosecrans. Before reaching there we were met with the report that General Garnett had been killed in an engagement at Laurel Hill. The regiment now pro- ceeded to Valley Mountain, where we arrived in the latter part of July. Streagthening the forces late under the command of General Garnett, we held the gap without trouble, save an occa- sional heavy picket engagement. It was while we were stationed on this mountain, lifted high above the surrounding country, that the measles appeared in the regiment, rendering at least two-thirds of the men unfit for duty and resulting in a number of deaths. The earth, notwithstand- ing its elevation, beneath a moss-clad surface, was filled with water and the atmosphere was cold and dense. This was the first and one of the most severe experiences in sickness of the regiment. As we drowsed one day in our tents we were awakened by a small deer which leaped off the mountain side into the midst of camp. In almost a twinkling the little fellow was taken captive without force or demonstration other than our hands and the "rebel yell." It was on this mountain that the Sixteenth first got sight of General Lee. It is impossible to describe the effect upon the troops upon his appearance among them. Our courage, already full and determined, breathed a new life, for w« saw in him a leader in whom were met and blended those elements that would illustrate all that was meant by "our cause and our strife." His Sixteenth Eegiment. 75S person was the finest we had ever seen. There was only a bold hint of silver in his hair. His eye, lustrous and clear as a mountain brooklet, seemed in its normal line of vision never to fall below the distant horizon, and yet our souls were pierced by the mingled pathos and nobility of his look. He was the most magnificent horseman we had ever seen ; the most perfect citizen- soldier and the manliest man. The General had his field-glass and was making a survey of the surrounding country, when a member of the Sixteenth, a shrewd, inimitable fellow, stepped up to him and, paying the usual homage, promptly asked him for a chew of tobacco. General Lee as promptly turned to a member of his staff, who supplied the much coveted quid. The heart of our great chief responded as quickly to the humble private who sought a chew of tobacco as to the brilliant subal- tern who sought a promotion. On the 17th of September we vacated Yalley Mountain and fell back to Elk Mountain, where we remained a few days. From thence we marched to Greenbrier River, where we lay until October 4th, when we marched across the country to Millburn, where we boarded cars for Manassas Junction. Here we staid for several days. Thence we marched to Occoquan Bay and stopped a few days. Then we marched to Wolf Run Shoals, where, stationing our pickets several miles in the direction of Alexandria, we remained until about April 1, 1862, when we -took up the line of march to Yorktown, by way of Fredericks- burg. It was while we were at the last named place that we heard of the battle of Shiloh and the sad intelligence of the death of General Albert Sidney Johnston. At this time the Sixteenth was attached to Hampton's Legion. We arrived at Yorktown in April, where, on the 26th, we reorganized the regiment, electing C. T. N. Davis, Colonel; John S. McElroy, Lieutenant-Colonel ; W. A. Stowe, Major, and B. F. Moore, Adjutant. A good many changes were made in com- pany officers. After staying at Yorktown several days, eating oysters and taking in the points of historic interest, such as the old Revolu- 48 754 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. tionary fortifications and the spot where General O'Hara surren- dered Cornwallis' sword to General Lincoln, we marched again on the 5th of May, passing through Williamsburg. A short time before reaching the last named point a determined engagement took place between Hampton's Legion and the enemy's cavalry, in which there was some severe hand-to-hand fighting. Then fol- lowed several days of hard marching, through rain and mud, in which there was no time to stop or draw rations. It was under these circumstances that the regiment reached the Chickahominy swamps, where picket duty and skirmishing began in earnest. At this time General McClellan had got pretty good foot-hold on Virginia soil, and within a few miles of the Confederate Capi- tal. He had extended his line from the James River a consid- erable distance up the Chickahominy. His organization was to every appearance complete. Balloons could be seen to ascend every day, spying out our peculiar location. The enemy was using in front of the Sixteenth some large New Foundland dogs as advance pickets. When we wished to move forward our picket line we disposed of these "quadruped Yanks" in short order by administering our favorite prescription, "rebel" pellets in lead. On the 21st of May we were thrown in line of march in great haste and moved at a double-quick for a distance of four or five miles down the Chickahominy and brought up at the battle of Seven Pines. We were at once thrown in line of battle immediately in front of a Federal battery. The Sixteenth moved forward under a galling fire from these batteries and small arms as well. Our original purpose was to charge and take this bat- tery, but on coming within fifty feet of the guns we found our- selves confronted by a miry swamp, covered with timber felled towards us, the limbs of the trees being sharpened and forming an impassable abattis. Behind this the enemy had constructed heavy earth-works, making an impregnable barrier. Here we lay down so close to the enemy that he could not lower his guns so as to bring them to bear upon us. Finally we withdrew in per- fect order. Sixteenth Regiment. 755 Night-fall affording him opportunity, the enemy abandoned that part of his line. From memory, the only source from which the writer may draw, we are unable to give the accurate result of this engagement. The Sixteenth lost some of its bravest and best officers and men, among whom was the gallant and beloved Colonel Davis. The termination of the struggle at Seven Pines left the Confederates in possession of the ground and master of the situation. It was here that General Joseph E. Johnston was wounded by a fragment of shell, and he was carried back to Richmond. Robert E. Lee, having up to this time no command, was now assigned to duty in command of the forces in front of Richmond. The Sixteenth now belonged to Pender's Brigade, A. P. Hill's Division. The vigilance and activity of both armies hourly increased; picket and other service grew harder and more haz- ardous day by day. The mud and slush of the swamps along the Chickahominy were obliged to be traversed by day and by night and the only chance for rest or sleep was to drop upon the ground, at length to awaken to see the dirty foam-line tracing the high-tide on our already not overtidy jackets. In this wise we passed the leaden hours until the 26th of June, when A. P. Hill marched his division across the river at Meadow Bridge, hastened to Mechanicsville and dashed his brigades against the heavy fortifications of the enemy, taking them at the point of the bayonet. In this engagement the Sixteenth, after pass- ing our own batteries, came upon a paling fence which, at sight, appeared to be an obstacle, but the regiment went against it with such force that its presence did not affect in the least our orderly movement, and the regiment closed up to the enemy's fortifica- tions and immediately in front of a strong battery of artillery. It seemed that the enemy had made ready to bring a heavy cross-fire to bear upon the Sixteenth, especially its right wing, and, as if to increase our peril, we were exposed to a fusilade of grape and canister that was coming from our own batteries planted in our rear. The writer, discovering this situation, called the attention of Colonel McElroy, who, with all possible dispatch. 756 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. moved us to the left and thereby released the regiment from its unequal and perilous position. The struggle which now ensued was one of extreme prowess and severity, terminating at least in the complete dislodgment of the right wing of McClellan's grand army. I am not prepared to give the correct casualties of that memor- able evening, but for the purpose of illustration. Company A lost in killed and wounded twenty-seven men, twelve of whom were killed on the field or mortally wounded. In this engage- ment there happened a curious coincident. Company A had eight brothers, representing four different families. These eight brothers were messing together in pairs. When the battle was over and the roll was called only four of these brothers answered, and each of the survivors had lost a brother killed on the field. This was the second pitched battle in which the Sixteenth had participated. At night-fall we were moved a short distance to the right, the enemy having been dislodged from our front. Here we spent the night so close to the enemy that every word spoken in a com- mon tone of voice could be distinctly heard frorci our line. The writer stood picket during the night in the edge of the swamp so near the enemy's picket that any sound above a whisper could easily have been heard. Well does he remember his comrade who stood only a few paces away — a beardless boy, but as brave as any who wore the gray. Our surroundings were a solitary desert of horror. The owls, night-hawks and foxes had fled in dismay. Not even a snake or frog could be heard to plunge into the lagoon which, crimsoned by the blood of men, lay motionless in our front. Nothing could be heard in the black darkness of that night save the ghastly moans of the wounded and dying. The night overpassed, welcome day found us forming in line of battle. General Pender rode up in our front and, taking the stump of a cigar from between his lips and holding it between his thumb and finger, thanked us for our conduct during the previous day and notified us that in a few minutes we would be called upon to storm the line of Federal breastworks as we had Sixteenth Regiment. 757 done the past day. Expressing his utmost confidence in us, he said : " When you mount the enemy's works I will be with you, if living." In a few minutes the order was given and forward we moved, but on arriving at the enemy's lines we were only confronted by a strong picket, the enemy having abandoned his position during the night and retreated in the direction of the James. We pursued, and coming upon him at Gaines' Mill we again gave him battle. Here, for several hours, we waged against fearful odds one of the bloodiest struggles of the war, with the usual result — the complete rout and defeat of the enemy. The Sixteenth, as on all occasions, did her full duty, receiving the praise of her officers for coolness and execution. This engage- ment took place June 27th. The loss to tiie Sixteenth was heavy. On the 30th of June the Sixteenth helped to fight the battle of Frazier's Farm. Here, as at Mechanicsville, A. P. Hill opened battle and charged the enemy's earth-works. Sweeping over his first and second lines and reaching the third, we stormed the same with the bayonet. Just at this crisis there came Fed- eral re-inforcements in overwhelming numbers, and on making a determined charge they regained the works and, advancing, pushed the little force of Hill, about eight thousand strong, slowly back for some distance. Retreat, or even defeat, was unknown to us, and the Sixteenth, with Hill's Division, took and held a stand against odds of probably four to one. In this position we stood, destruction looking us in the face. Slowly but surely we were being cut to pieces, but no murmur or movement indicating disorder was to be heard or seen. As we thus stood and suffered, and just at the most trying moment, a welcome sound — the roll of musketry and thunder of artillery — came from the direction of the old Cold Harbor house. How welcome and inspiring the sound none may imagine except those who composed the deci- mated lines of the Sixteenth and Hill's Division. We closed up and raised the yell, for we knew it was Jackson and that re-inforcements were at hand. The struggle continued till about sunset, we holding the center, when suddenly the decisive strug- 758 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. gle ensued which ended in the repulse of the Federal lines and the driving of them back under cover of their gun-boats. Our loss in officers and men was heavy and apparently irreparable. Captain A. W. Coleman, of Company A, was killed by a shell early in the engagement. The command of the company then fell to Lieutenant A. W. Bryson until he became severely wounded, when Sergeant John S. Keener commanded the com- pany the remainder of the day. The Sixteenth participated in the engagement at Malvern Hill. The regiment displayed its wonted coolness and intrepidity. The loss was comparatively light. Thus ended the Seven Pines and seven days' battles. The survivors of the Sixteenth having got a little rest and recuperation, and McClellan having fallen back on Washington, our faces were turned northward. On the 9l,h of August we took part in the battle of Cedar Run. Our casualties were comparatively small. After much fatigue from hard marching we reached the field of Second Mauassas on the afternoon of the historic 29th. Pope at once made a vigor- ous attack on our left, plunging with great fury into A. P. Hill's Division and piercing with the bayonet a gap in our line. It looked for a time as if the entire left wing of our army would be annihilated by the greatly superior number of the enemy, and nothing but the most heroic fighting of which men were capable did save us from annihilation. Finally, after superhuman effort, the enemy along this line were repulsed. He rallied, only to be driven back the second time. So stubbornly was the ground contested that volleys were delivered at a distance of only ten to fifteen steps. The Sixteenth, true to its record, repulsed the enemy in its front in six separate assaults. Our opponents on this memorable day were led by General Kearney, of Mexican renown. They behaved themselves like men. Night-fall of the 29th found Hill, having been re-inforced, still holding his ground. With the close of the day General Kearney retired from our front. The field itself was the most unanswerable witness to the day's contest. A railroad cut run- Sixteenth Regiment. 759 uing through the field was filled with the bodies of men dead or wounded; some were riddled with bullets, others were torn by shells, and many were pierced by the bayonet. The morning of the 30th of August found the opposing armies face to face in battle array. Arms were taken up where they had been laid down and the struggle re-opened with increased fierceness. The events of the day are too numerous to admit of record in a brief sketch. In the afternoon a tremendous force was hurled against our left and center and a struggle ensued that beggars description. It is enough to say that it was one of the most desperate and bloody struggles of the war. The Sixteenth held her position from first to last, dealing such blows as she was capable, repulsing every onset of the enemy and faithfully con- tributing towards the rich but dearly earned victory to our arms at Second Manassas. The loss to the Sixteenth was heavy. On the afternoon of the 1st of September the battle of Ox Hill was fought in the midst of a terrible rain-storm. In this engagement the Sixteenth participated, sustaining her reputation for reliance and fortitude. It sustained some loss in killed and wounded. On the 4th of September we crossed the Potomac and arrived at Frederick City, Md., on the 9th. After remaining here some days we marched by a circuitous route, crossing the Potomac some distance above Harper's Ferry, to Martinsburg. The small force at the last named place fled before us to Harper's Ferry, leaving to us all they had of quartermaster and commissary stores. By Sunday night of the 14th we had completely surrounded Harper's Ferry. The Sixteenth, with Pender's Brigade and Hill's Division, occupied the south side of the town. Just after dark we were assaulted by a line of battle, receiving very unex- pectedly a heavy volley, but nothing .daunted, we as quickly as possible returned the compliment, raised the yell and, sweeping forward, repulsed the enemy with some loss. We were troubled no more during the night, except by the moans and groans of the wounded and dying enemy, who failed to regain their fortifi- cations. Our casualties were small. 760 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. Monday morning, the 15th, we apprehended another serious struggle. Sunday night had been cool and frosty, but the Six- teenth had laid upon her arms. Though chilled and shivering, we were eager for the fray. An artillery duel was already pro- ceeding with great warmth. At sunrise Pender was ordered to the front. He was on the spot in person and the order was instantly obeyed. Over the hill the left wing of the Sixteenth swung, and it was the fii'st to be exposed to the enemy's fire. As suddenly as the enemy's firing had begun it now ceased, and a white flag was seen to crown their stronghold. The Sixteenth, with Pender's Brigade, was the first to march down upon them. We found them drawn up in line, with arms stacked and dis- coursing music of a patriotic sort — from their point of view. It was in fact quite a splendid reception, but what a contrast ! The enemy was spotlessly dressed in brand-new uniforms, shoes and buttons, and gold and silver trappings glistening in the morning sun, while we were almost naked; a great many of us without shoes, without even a faded emblem on our ragged co£^ts to tell even rank or official command. Thus ended Harper's Ferry. The casualties of the Sixteenth were not severe. The fruits of Harper's Ferry were eleven thousand prisoners, thirteen thou- sand stands of arms and seventy-three pieces of artillery. From Harper's Ferry the Sixteenth, with Pender's Brigade and Hill's Division, marched to Sharpsburg. Arriving there early in the afternoon of the 17th, we found the battle raging furiously. General Jones, with two thousand five hundred men was opposing Burnside with fifteen thousand. Our force of two thousand men under Hill and two thousand five hundred under Jones fell upon Burnside and after a desperate struggle, in which the enemy numbered more than three to one, we drove him from his position and pressed him back until dark coming on the engagement ceased. Here again, all the circumstances considered, the grand army under McClellan had experienced another decisive defeat. The loss of the Sixteenth was comparatively slight. The next day General Lee lingered, awaiting another attack, but none was made. Sixteenth Regiment. 761 The morning of the day following found Lee on the other side of the Potomac supplying his army with rations and ammu- nition. Taking up the line of march, we halted long enough at Bunker Hill to devour some plain provisions and then to fall upon the ground for a little much-needed rest. On the 20th we were again ordered in line and were marched down the Harper's Ferry road. There were many conjectures among the soldiers as to where we were going. On reaching a point opposite Shepherdstown, we were halted, fronted toward the river, our guns were provided with fresh caps, skirmish lines were thrown out and the order was given to " Forward, march !" Our skirmishers were soon hotly contesting every inch of the ground with those of our same old enemy, and in less than fifteen minutes we were closely engaged. The Sixteenth moved steadily forward, driving everything before her. Retreating through an open field, the enemy fell back under cover of the river bank. It was here that our duty again became arduous and the demand of the moment called for a decisive blow. Rushing over the river bank, we intended giving the enemy the bayonet, but before reaching him he fled in the wildest confusion, some plunging head- long into the river and others attempting to cross on a foot-bridge purposely erected for their retreat if events should require. This engagement resulted in much loss of life to the enemy, the very river being tinged here and therewith his life-blood. This duty was performed under the fire of as many Federal cannon as could be planted and manned in our entire front. Added to the storm of grape and canister which the enemy continued to belch forth, there was a line of small arms playing upon us from the Maryland side; but the charge was made and the victory was gained with such amazing dispatch that our casualties were incon- siderable. Thus ended the battle of Shepherdstown. The writer deems it not uninteresting in this connection to reproduce from memory, and word for word, the official address of A. P. Hill after the last named battle, for the reason that in all the engagements therein referred to the Sixteenth was a par- ticipant. General Hill said: "Soldiers of the Light Division, 762 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. you have done well and I am pleased with you. You have fought in every battle from Mechanicsville to Shepherdstown, and no one can yet say that the Light Division was ever broken. You held the left at Manassas against overwhelming numbers and saved the army. You saved the day at Sharpsburg, and at Shepherdstown you were selected to face a storm of round shot, grape and shell such as I have never before witnessed. Your services are appreciated by your commanding general." After the battle of Shepherdstown the Sixteenth Regiment marched back to Bunker Hill. Here Company A was trans- ferred to the Thirty-ninth North Carolina Regiment and Com- pany L to the Sixty-ninth North Carolina Regiment (Thomas' Legion). The Sixteenth Regiment remained in camp at Bunker Hill until about the first of October. About this time the Federal army crossed the Potomac at Harper's Ferry and advanced to Warrenton. Leaving the Valley, Longstreet's Corps confronted the enemy near Culpeper Court House. About the 20th Jack- son also abandoned the Valley above Winchester and moved forward to New Market. From thence he proceeded to the vicinity of Guinea Station, a point on the railroad leading from Fredericksburg to Richmond. Everything now pointed to Fredericksburg as the scene of another great conflict. On the 10th of December Burnside began preparation for crossing to the south side of the Rappa- hannock. Finally, with much difficulty and great loss of life, he succeeded, and on the morning of the 13th the battle began. The engagement was a bloody and destructive one, ending in Burnside being literally cut to pieces, repulsed and defeated — not for any lack of courage or of numbers among his troops, but for want of generalship. Here, for some reason unknown to the writer, it seems that A. P. Hill left in his line a gap of about two hundred yards. Bordering on this gap, the Sixteenth, with Pender's Brigade, was placed. The enemy, perceiving this to be a vulnerable point in our line, sought to pass through it. He came near succeeding and in his attempt inflicted a severe pun- Sixteenth Regiment. 763 ishment upon that portion of our line. The Sixteenth was an active participant in the arduous duties and dangers of the day. Many unsuccessful attempts were made by the enemy to break through our lines, first at one point and then at another, but without avail. The battle as a whole resulted in a signal victory for our arms. Burnside retreated to the north side of the Rap- pahannock. The Sixteenth only lost in this engagement, in killed and wounded, thirty-two men. The regiment remained about Fredericksburg and along the Rappahannock, performing guard and picket duty, until a short time before the battle of Chancellorsville. In this engagement, which occurred May 3, 1863, the Sixteenth was thrown into the fight at a point where the service of none but veterans was com- petent. When the smoke had ascended from the field and the roll had been called it was ascertained that fifty-nine of her brave fellows were wounded or killed. Colonel John S. McEl- roy was severely wounded while gallantly leading his men. No braver soldier or more chivalric gentleman graced the Sixteenth with command than Colonel McElroy. He was universally trusted and esteemed by the men. Upon the disability of Col- onel McElroy, Lieutenant-Colonel Stowe assumed command. Colonel Stowe was a gallant and successful commander. His record was one of the best. It was upon this fatal field that Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded. The Sixteenth had marched and fought and conquered under the eye of this great chieftain. With us his name was the synonym for success, and we took fresh hope when we heard the booming of his guns. Well does the writer remember how he looked when first he had the pleasure of seeing him. He sat on his horse very awkwardly, or perhaps I should say carelessly. His stir- rups appeared to be several inches too short for his legs. His uniform was dingy and unkempt and his cap was pulled far down over his brow. He impressed one as being too much engrossed with the serious business of life to have time to attend to its numerous smaller amenities. It was upop this same deadly field that our gallant division commander, A. P. Hill, 764 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65. was seriously wounded and borne to the rear. These were some of the events that illustrated the battle of Chancellorsville. The dashing Stuart succeeded temporarily to the command of Jack- son's Corps. After Chancellorsville there was a brief but painful cessation of hostilities. About the 1st of June the larger portion of the Army of Northern Virginia disappeared from the valley of the Eappahannock, leaving Hill with his corps to watch the move- ments of Hooker. About the middle of June the latter with- drew from Fredericksburg and simultaneously ourforces withdrew from the same place. Hill's Corps crossed the Potomac on the 25th of June at Shepherdstown and arrived at Fagotville, Pa., on the afternoon of the 27th. The opposing armies were con- centrating their forces at Gettysburg for a decisive conflict. As before mentioned, after the battle of Shepherdstown Com- pany A of the Sixteenth (in which was the writer), was transferred to the Thirty-ninth Regiment, and for this reason he was not at Gettysburg and cannot write from personal knowledge. He has been unsuccessful in obtaining data from actual participants, and that he can truthfully record of the part the Sixteenth acted in all that, the fiercest, in some respects, of the battles of modern times, is that the regiment was there from first to last. The Sixteenth, as all the other regiments of Lee's army, before it reached the field of Gettysburg had been very much reduced in numbers, and at the close of those crucial three days it was found that the Federal bullets had deprived her of the loyal ser- vices of seventy-two more of her heroes. This, to the writer, is the Sixteenth's all-sufficient message from Gettysburg. Here it was that the Sixteenth lost her beloved first brigade commander, Wil- liam D. Pender. He was mortally wounded and died soon after. So familiar had his figure become to the ranks that his death was taken as a personal loss to each individual soldier. I recall his personal appearance and his conduct on the field and in battle as though it had been but yesterday. He was a medium size mat], round pf body, closely knit and muscular; his movements were agile and strong; his complexion was tan, his eye gray and Sixteenth Regiment. 765 kindly, and his whole exterior indicated courage, nerve and power of endurance. His words were not many, but exceedingly com- prehensive and to the point. Like all great soldiers, he was not a man of words but of action. He was one of the coolest, most self-possessed and one of the most absolutely fearless men under fire I ever knew. It was by no means an uncommon thing to see him smoking a cigar and issuing commands, to all human ap- pearance unmoved, in the heat of battle. If he had lived and the war had continued he would have been promoted to a high command. The Sixteenth, after Gettysburg, recrossed the river on the 14th, and thus ended the campaign north of the Potomac. The Sixteenth remained with the Army of Northern Virginia to the surrender — most of the time under fire and all the time march- ing, starving, but never despairing. The Sixteenth was briga- ded with the Thirteenth, Twenty-second, Thirty-fourth and Thirty-eighth North Carolina Regiments, and the incidents of its history are largely identical with those narrated in the sketches given of those regiments. Our first brigade commander was Pen- der, who was succeeded by General Scales. She passed through the trying and unequal experiences at Petersburg and in its fall with our own heroic dead she numbered her trusted corps com- mander, A. P. Hill. Next to her own native commanders the Sixteenth learned to respect the person of A. P. Hill. He was one of the greatest military leaders that the civil war developed. I remember how he looked perfectly. He was one of the hand- somest little men I have ever seen. I have seen his home (during the war) from which he was so rudely and suddenly torn — one of the most beautiful of the many beautiful Virginia places. General Hill was a fearless man and a brilliant commander, and his Light Division will go down side by side with the illustrious soldiers of history. After Petersburg the Sixteenth, still undaunted, divided the corn of the horses to appease hunger and, stubbornly marching and fighting to the last, surrendered with General Lee at Ap- pomattox. Their sacrifice was fully repaid when, the dread day 766 North Cabolina Teoops, 1861-'65. having arrived and the momentous act performed, they listened to the words as they fell from the lips of Robert E. Lee himself: " God bless old North Carolina ! " With this blessing resting upon their heads, they turned their faces in the direction of their broken homes, where, through all the years that have followed, they have cherished the parting benediction of their great chieftain as a priceless heritage. The total casualties of the Sixteenth Regiment for the entire war were something more than eight hundred men, leaving about five hundred men, a large majority of which last were not at the surrender for legitimate reasons. I am here reminded by Captain L. Harrill that at Fredericks- burg, in the spring of 1862, we were complemented with a com- pany of recruits from the county of Rutherford, making the Sixteenth temporarily to consist of thirteen companies. This company, which was eventually transferred to the Fifty-sixth Regiment North Carolina Troops, was officered as follows : W. J. Kirkpatrick, Captain; L. Harrill, First Lieutenant; J. H. Sweezy, Second Lieutenant; H. L. Sweezy, Third Lieutenant. Participating in the arduous campaigns of Yorktown and Seven Pines, in which it lost (killed) its Captain, J. W. Kirk- patrick, and four men, on the 19th of June it was ordered to Raleigh, where it was organized with the Fifty-sixth. No more appropriate account of the character of Company N could be given here than the simple statement that it was a temporary component of the Sixteenth, and it is to be hoped that it will have a deserving place in the narrative of its regiment. Now, if my comrades, the historians of the Thirty-ninth and Sixty-ninth, will pardon, I will return to Bunker Hill, where we were transferred from the Sixteenth to the Thirty-ninth, for a brief statement of our separate experiences. Companies A and L left the Sixteenth on the 5th day of Octo- ber, 1862. From Bunker Hill we marched by way of Staunton and Lynchburg to East Tennessee, where Company L stopped with the Sixty-ninth North Carolina Regiment (Thomas' Legion). Company A, to which the writer belonged, proceeded to Middle Sixteenth Regiment. 767 Tennessee, where we were formally organized with the Thirty- ninth, till then a battalion under Colonel David Coleman. From Middle Tennessee we were transported, in ihe spring of 1863, to Mississippi. The company had comparatively an easy experience until the 1st of July, when we took up the line of march, heading for Vicksburg. Our object was the relief of General John C. Pemberton, who was being severely besieged, but before reaching the city we learned that he had surrendered. Thereafter our faces were turned in the direction of Chickaraauga, where, in the battle of the 19th and 20th of September, the Thirty-ninth took part as follows: Transported from Mississippi as fast as freight trains could carry us, we reached Ringold, Ga., about noon of the 18th. Sweeping up the muddy little Chickamauga, we drove the blue coats before us until they were forced to take refuge within their main lines. At this juncture night came and with it a cessation of arms. Day-break on the 19th saw hostilities recommence with increased earnestness. Company A was placed behind and in support of a Georgia regiment. The latter heroically main- tained its stand and poured a hot and steady fire into the enemy until, re-inforcements finally coming to the relief of the enemy, he was making "proper smash" of the brave Georgians, when the Thirty-ninth North Carolina and the Twenty-fifth Arkansas moved forward, passed over the Georgians and, changing the tactics, raised the yell and charged. The Indianians stubbornly disputed our right to their stronghold, but at last, preferring to keep out of the way of the bayonet, they fell back. At the most critical moment of this charge the color-bearer of the Thirty-ninth, William Breedon, of Cherokee county, was shot down. As he fell the writer caught the flag before it touched the ground and bore it until Joseph Sutton, of Company A, took it from his hands and carried it during the remainder of the engagement. At night Sutton turned over the colors to Colonel Coleman, saying he preferred to carry his gun. J. Wesley Shelton, of Jackson county, then voluntarily took the flag, car- ried it until the close of the war and now has it in his possession. The preservation of this old relic after the surrender is due to 7tiS XoKTH Caeolixa Troops, 1SG1-'65. Lieutenaut E. H. Brown, of Jackson county, who. on leaving Spanish Fort after the surrender, took the flag, and concealing it about his person, carried it safely home. Such is the correct his- tory of the worn old battle-tlag of the Thirty-ninth, so often exhibitwl at our late reunions in Western Xorth Cai"olina. Company A went through the entire two days' struggle for the mastery at Cbickamauga, every inch of which ground was bitterly contested, and on Sunday evening, when the last charge was made and the Xinth Indiana Battery of nine pie<.-es \vas capture*^! in a life-and-death struggle and at the bayonet's point, members of Company A were among tlie first half dozen men to lay their hands on a Federal field-piece. This ended the struggle and the enemy fled toward Chatta- nooga. Company A's loss was heavy. It took part in all the fighting, marching and starving under Johnston and Hood from Dalton to S|)anisli Fort. Kennesawand Altoona, doubtless, still bear marks of her dogged skill. Until Xasliville, Company A never met what was indeed a defeat. In fact the defeat of our army at Xasliville was partly traceable to the fact that it had been rudely deprived of its beloved and able commander, Joseph E. Johnston, and partly because we clashed with Western men, led by a Soathern-born Union general. Throughout the war the best men we met were the Western men; the next best were bounty-paid foreigners, Irishmen and the like; the next best were men from the ^liddle States, and the last and very least were the Dowu-easters. I desire to say before closing this sketch that I have not yet changed, nor do I expect to change, mv mind as to the principles which prompted and the circumstances which actuated me to espouse the cause of my State in the war for Southern indepen- dence. I lived a quarter of a century before the war; by the blessing of Providence I went through the entire four years of that awful struggle and have lived more than a quarter of a century since, and I sity in all the candor of my nature to the future historian and to posterity that the actors in that war from the South were Sixteenth Regiment. 769 patriots, and that the rights for which they strove were those then guaranteed by the Constitution of the country and then recognized by the nations of the earth. I sincerely trust that my comrades of the Sixteenth will gen- erously pardon me for whatever errors of misstatement or omis- sion that I necessarily may have made, owing to meagre facilities for data and the treacherousness of memory, from which I have almost entirely written. Thirty-six years have elapsed since the last of the events transpired which I have related. I have pur- posely refrained from mentioning many instances where individ- uals distinguished themselves, for the reason that to have begun the task would have been to notice almost every man in the regiment first and last, for no better soldiers ever shouldered a musket or wielded a sword than the soldiers of the Sixteenth Regiment North Carolina Troops. Finally, my comrades, I have obeyed this order and performed this, doubtless, my last duty to you, as I did those of the Sixties, in behalf of my children and yours, my conscience and my country, to the best of my ability. Benjamin H. Cathey. Murphy, N. C, 9 April, 1901. 49 ADDITIONAL SKETCH SIXTEENTH REGIMENT. By CAPTAIN L. HARRILL, Company N. In his history of the Sixteenth North Carolina Regiment, Lieutenant B. H. Cathey has mentioned the camp at Valley Mountain during August and September, 1861, but its horrors have never been half told. Imagine a cold, chilly rain almost daily for weeks, the ground soaked with water, no other shelter except thin cloth tents, with wet blankets for bedding, an epidemic of measles, terminating in many cases, on account of the unavoidable exposure, in rapid pneumonia or followed by typhoid fever, with only such poor medical treatment as could be given under such circumstances. There were no experienced nurses, no suitable food for nourish- ment and no competent cook to prepare anything for the sick. The Surgeon and Assistant Surgeon both being sick and unable for duty, young doctors, J. L. Rucker and myself, privates in the ranks, detailed for medical services, did all we could with the very scant supply of medicines on hand, but the great num- ber of the sick, at one time amounting to several hundred, over- whelmed them. Strong, robust mountaineers, who had scarcely ever had a day's sickness, were stricken down to die in a few days. The disease contracted at this camp caused a greater mor- tality than any two battles the old Sixteenth fought during the war. In leaving camp the sick had to be transported in rough bag- gage wagons. At one time the writer had charge of a train of wagons and in this way conveyed more than fifty patients, sick with typhoid fever, across the mountains, fifty or sixty miles, to Rockbridge Alum Springs, where a hospital had been established. Lieutenant Cathey omitted to mention that there was at one 772 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. time thirteen companies instead of twelve, as given by him. In February, 1862, details of two or more men were sent out from the companies to enlist recruits. From Company D, Sixteenth Regiment, First Lieutenant J. W. Kilpatrick and the writer, a private, were ordered to Rutherford county, and while there enlisted about seventy-six men, organizing a new company with J. W. Kilpatrick, Captain; L. Harrill, First Lieutenant; J. H. Sweezy, Second Lieutenant, and H. A. L. Sweezy, Third Lieu- tenant. This company joined the Sixteenth Regiment at Fred- ericksburg, Va., April, 1862, and was on the long march from there to Yorktown. It tramped through rain and mud in the famous retreat of General Johnston to the Chickahominy. This march was made from Yorktown to near Richmond almost with- out food or rest. After two days' marching and starving, the attached company, through the generosity of one of its members, who had been detailed as teamster, had a feast of parched corn for supper. The poor mules did not fare so well. The attached company was a part of the Sixteenth Regiment at the battle of Seven Pines, May 31, 1862, and lost in killed Captain J. W. Kilpatrick, W. N. Brooks, A. K. Lynch, A. R. Sorrels and Fifer O. D. Price, belonging to the drum corps of the regiment, who went voluntarily into the battle and was killed. We went into the battle under the command of the dauntless old hero. General Wade Hampton, who rode quietly along the line of the Sixteenth and said to the men : " Do not fire a shot until you can feel the enemy on your bayonets." He gave the command " Forward ! " and five of the attached com- pany went to their death, besides a number wounded. After the battle of Seven Pines the company remained with the Sixteenth until June 19, 1862, only one week before the battle of Mechanicsville and the seven days fighting that followed, when we received orders to report at Camp Mangum, Raleigh, N. C, where we became Company I of the Fifty-sixth Regiment, and its history thenceforward becomes a part of the Ffty-sixth, written by Major John W. Graham and Captain R. D. Graham. Sixteenth Regiment. 773 This imperfect slietch is offered as a tribute to the memory of my comrades left dead upon the bloody field of Seven Pines, and that they may have their proper place in the true history of the war. L. Haeeill. Statesville N. 0., 9 April, 1901. NINTH EEGIMBNT (FIRST CAVALEY). 1. George N. Folk, Captain, Co. D. 3. J. W. Tockl, 1st Lieut., Co. D. 2. N. P. Foard, Captain, Co. F. 4. Samuel C. Jones, Ist Lient., Co. I. 5. D. P. Mast, 2(1 Lieut., Co. D. ADDENDA TO NINTH REGIMENT. (FIRST CAVALRY). By COLONEI/ W. H. CHEEK. Since the printing of this sketch and after reading that of General Barringer, I find so little written by both of us concern- ing the battle of Reams' Station that I think it entitled to a more extended notice. This battle was fought on the 25th day of August, 1864, and, be it remembered, almost exclusively by North Carolina troops. So bold, chivalrous and successful were their attacks on the intrenchments of the enemy that General R. E. Lee wrote a congratulatory letter to Governor Vance, in which he says : " On the same occasion the brigade of General Barringer bore a conspicuous part in the operations of the cavalry, which were no less distinguished for boldness and eflBciency than those of infantry." It is due to the brave men of this brigade that their gallant conduct on this occasion should receive more notice than we have given it. At this time General W. H. F. Lee was sick, General Barringer in command of the division, the writer in command of the brigade and Lieutenant-Colonel Cowles in command of the regiment. There was other cavalry from the divisions of Generals Young and Butler present, all under the command of General Wade Hampton. Early in the morning General Hampton, with his united force of cavalry, met the enemy's cavalry, supported by infantry, at Maloue's crossing on the railroad, about three miles south of Reams'. He drove them back upon their main line near the station, and for a time the action ceased. He then ordered the Barringer Brigade to make a considerable detour to our right to get around the left of the enemy and to attack his rear. We moved several miles and came into a large road running almost 776 NoETH Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. due west and leading direct to the station. The enemy's line of battle was along the line of the railroad, facing west, with the station about its center. We pushed up this road and soon encountered a heavy force of cavalry guarding their rear. Two regiments of our brigade (the Ninth and Sixty-third, I think) were dismounted and formed into a line of close skirmishers. We advanced, and after a hotly contested action drove them back across a creek and through a wide swamp and up to within a short distance of their line of infantry. We were then recalled by General Hampton and united again with him on the railroad and were placed on the extreme right of our line of battle, not in extension of it, but perpendicular to it and on the east side of the railroad and facing north. This brought us in opposition to their left curtain, which was thrown back at right angles to their main line for the protection of their left flank. This line was composed of infantry, and they had thrown up a line of rifle-pits and small breastworks. The brigade was again dismounted and formed into a line of close skirmishers. We opened the attack on the right about 5 o'clock p. M. and soon drove them out of their rifle-pits and rushed them in confusion back towards the station. It was this attack of ours and this driving back of their extreme left which uncovered the right of our line of infantry and made it possible for some of our artillery to do what Major Stedman in his memorial address at Wilmington on the 10th of May, 1890, says: "Was seldom done on any battlefield of the world, that is, for artillery to charge in advance of the line of infantry." This no doubt so appeared to Major Stedman and to the infantry on the left of the battery, which as yet had not begun the charge, but to the cavalry that had uncovered their front it appeared that this battery was acting in co-operation with the cavalry and was prompt to take advantage of the oppor- tunity we gave them. I saw the movement from my position on the east side of the railroad. Our losses in this day's fighting were considerable, but we inflicted lieavy punishment on the enemy. We passed over many dead bodies and captured a large number of prisoners, many of Addenda to Ninth Regiment. 777 them lying down in tiieir rifle-pits, afraid to rise andrun. The brigade did splendid fightiig on this day, and the Ninth, as usual, did her full part. Honestly believing that the conduct of the First North Caro- lina Cavalry at Chamberlain's Run entitles it to a place in his- tory beside the most celebrated cavalry commands of the world, I desire to add a word more concerning its action on this occasion. The fact that we fought as dismounted men in nowise detracts from the honors due us as cavalrymen, but should rather add additional laurels to our brows. The reputation of the regiment when mounted, by its brilliant charges on many hard-fought fields, had already reached the highest pinnacle of fame, and this fight demonstrated that as dismounted cavalry with its carbines it was worthy to be classed with the best infantry. General W. H. F. Lee said of it: "There was nothing done at Gettysburg more gallant than this charge of the First North Carolina Cav- alry." I have said nothing as to the forces opposing us, and regret that I have not the data to furnish the information. We isnow it was the plan of General Grant to throw his army on General Lee's right and prevent him from getting possession of the Rich- mond & Danville Railroad, and thereby make it impossible for him to form a junction with General Johnston in North Carolina. For this purpose he had sent General Sheridan with ten thou- sand cavalry and two corps of infantry to Dinwiddie Court House, not more than three miles distant from our battlefield. How much of this force General Sheridan sent to clear the road we do not know, but it is reasonable to suppose that he sent what he deemed sufficient, because the control of this road was neces- sary for him to carry out the plan of General Grant. After being driven back in the morning attack he had ample time and a sufficiency of men to send forward as large re-inforce- ments as he might wish. I know that their lines were much stronger in the afternoon than they were in the morning. Yet, 778 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. with the Ninth North Carolina (First Cavalry) in the lead, with Beall's Brigade co-operating, we broke ihd drove them back more than a mile and camped on the battlefield for the night. Our victory was full and complete and our losses have already been noticed. I wish that I could give the names of all our killed and wounded in this memorable battle. The surrender followed so soon afterwards that no official report of it was ever made. Since the re-opening of this sketch, to give more notice to the battle of Eeams' Station, I have been advised by my friends to give the incident of my capture, and to which reference is made on page 479. The reader will pardon any seeming egotism, but I am writing history, and this incident serves well to illustrate the adventures of a cavalryman. As before said, I was sent by General R. E. Lee to try and find Colonel Moore and his regiment (the Third Cavalry) and pilot them back to him. I took with me Chief Bugler Burke Privett, of Goldsboro, and the brigade color-bearer. Sergeant Churchill. In the afternoon, near Jeters- ville, we stopped at a farm-house to get some water. The gentle- man of the house cautioned us to be on the lookout, for some Yankee cavalry had been there a short time before. We rode on, and had not gone far before, in a long, straight part of the road, we saw three mounted men approaching. We stopped and care- fully surveyed them, but could not distinguish whether they were Yankees or our men. Finally I said to my companions: "There are but three of them and there are three of us. I will attend to the one on the right; you, Churchill, take the one in the center, and Privett, you look after the one on the left." I took my pistol from its case and stuck it in my belt in front. As we approached each other I saw that they were clad in Confederate uniforms, and this somewhat allayed my suspicions, yet we rode on until we met, each one of us riding up close beside our man, as agreed. After the usual friendly salutations, I inquired to what command they belonged. They answered: "The Ninth Virginia." Totest them further, T asked: "Who is your Colonel?" "Colonel Wal- ler." "And who is your Captain?" "Captain Eandolph," they replied. Being acquainted with Colonel Waller and knowing there Addenda to Ninth Eegiment. 779 was a Captain Randolph in the Virginia cavalry, my examination fully satisfied me that they were as they represented. Then we entered into a general conversation. I inquired if they could tell me anything of the whereabouts of Colonel Moore, and they asked for the Ninth Virginia, saying that they had gotten scat- tered in the fight the day before at Namozine Church. During this conversation I saw some twenty or more men coming towards us, and I inquired who they were. They answered: "Some of our boys who stopped at a house to get something to eat." These twenty approached near us and halted. I was a little in advance of Churchill and Privett, who were on my left, each one of us close up to our appointed man. Soon I heard the cry: "Sur- render!" Surrender!" coming from Privett's man. Instantly I had my pistol in my man's face, while he had his right hand in his boot. I knew what he was after, for cavalrymen frequently carry their pistols there, so I said to him : "If you attempt to lift your hand I will put a hole through you." I held him thus for several moments. Churchill had been disarmed and Privett's man had the drop on him, with his pistol in Privett's face. Privett would not give up his arms, though constantly threatened to be shot if he did not. This man had on the uniform of a Confederate surgeon, and so completely had my suspicions been allayed that I took them for Confederate soldiers and thought that they were taking us for a scouting party of Yankees clad in Confederate uniform, which was a thing of no uncommon occur- rence at this stage of the war. So, to convince him that we were real Confederates, I said to him: " Doctor, here is a letter directed to me as Colonel of the First North Carolina Cavalry," and at the same time I laid my pistol in my lap to get the letter from my breast-pocket. In an instant my man grabbed my pistol and jammed the muzzle of it in my face and called out: "Surrender, or I will kill you ! " Just then up rode one from out of the group of twenty and said to him : "Major Young says you have had enough of this." At the mention of Major Young's name I knew that we were in the hands of Sheridan's scouts, for I knew that Major Young was their commander. We then surrendered and were taken back to General Sheridan's headquarters. 780 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. After my capture Major Young rode with me back to his camp, and I found him to be a pleasant, entertaining and considerate gentleman; by considerate I mean one who has respect for the feelings of another, even though he be a prisoner of war. This incident occurred, which illustrates that he was also a gentle- man : That morning, when we started on the search for Colonel Moore, Churchill, then brigade color-bearer, took the flag from off its staff and put it into his saddle-pocket. On searching him after his surrender, it was taken from him by his captors as quite a prize — a brigade battle-flag. As we neared their line of infantry at Jetersville, Major Young called up this man who had the flag, and after a few words with him he and another man dashed off at full speed; soon they stopped and cut a long pole and fastened the flag on to it; then again they rode at a rapid gallop along the front of their line of battle, waving the flag as they went. They were greeted with loud and repeated cheers. Major Young said to me: "Listen at those fools; I knew they would do that, and I thought it would be mortifying to you, so I sent your flag on ahead." A delicate consideration of my feelings. He did me another great favor. It was reported all through our army that I was killed a few days before. When we three (Privett, Churchill and myself) were captured there were none of our soldiers present, and therefore none of our army could tell what had become of us, so my disappearance would be con- firmative of the report of my death. Fearing that this report might reach my wife, who had recently been quite sick, I was deeply concerned to let her know of my whereabouts and that I was unhurt. I told this to Major Young and he seemed to sympa- thize with me and anxious to assist me. "How far is she from here?" he asked. "About eighty miles," I answered. "I will fix that for you. Yon write a letter to your wife to-night and to-morrow I will make one of my men take it to her." I wrote the letter, and early next morning he came to my tent and said: " Colonel, lam sorry that I will have to disappoint you. General Sheridan has just ordered me to get ahead of General Lee and to destroy the High Bridge at Farmville, and I will need every Addenda to Ninth Kegiment. 781 available man ; but you give me your letter and I will send it to where your mails are running and have it mailed." I did so, and although I wrote many other letters and gave them to citi- zens along the road and to friends in Petersburg, with the request that they forward them by the first opportunity, it was near a fortnight before any of these letters reached her, still the one entrusted to Major Young was the first one that she received. He told me a circumstance that explains a piece of history which no historian of the closing days of the war has explained that I have seen. It has been an unexplained mystery why the seventy- five thousand rations which General Lee had ordered from Dan- ville to be sent to Amelia Court House were not there upon the arrival of his army. Some say it was the fault of the Superin- tendent of the Richmond & Danville Railroad; others put the blame on the commissary at Danville, and there are some who say it was the fault of President Davis. I suppose that I am the only person in the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia at that time who knew the true reason, and I got my informa- tion direct from first hands. The lack of these rations was a most disastrous blow to General Lee's plans. For the want of them he lost one day at Amelia Court House in the vain effort to impress food from the surrounding country to feed his fam- ished army. During this day Sheridan, with ten thousand cav- alry and two corps of infantry troops, was pushing rapidly for- ward to get between him and Danville and thereby prevent his junction with the army of General Johnston in North Carolina. Now, when Petersburg was evacuated. General Lee had to move across the country, away from railroad and telegraph lines. To send a telegram he must needs forward it by a mounted courier through the country to a telegraph office. This message to the commissary at Danville was thus sent. Major Young told ine that it had not left General Lee's headquarters two hours before he had it in his vest-pocket, and it was promptly forwarded to General Grant instead of to Danville. So, neither the commis- sary at Danville, nor the superintendent of the railroad, nor Presi- dent Davis, was to blame for this disaster, so fatal to our army. 782 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65. Another instance of the valuable service rendered by these scouts I witnessed on the 4th of April, when General Lee was rushing forward his wagon trains with all possible dispatch. At the crossing on a large creek I saw a major quartermaster seated on his horse near the ford and making every driver water his team. A great deal of time was thus consumed and the wagon train was blocked for hours. The delay so produced was of the greatest value to General Grant and equally fatal to General Lee. After my capture I recognized this same man among the "Jessie Scouts," and Major Young told me that he was the quarter- master that I saw who was having our teams watered at the ford. His scouts, clad in our uniform, were all through our army after the evacuation of Petersburg. He further told me that the night before they had been to every farm-house in ouf lines, look- ing for General R. E. Lee, intending to take him prisoner. Gen- eral Lee bivouacked that night in a piece of woods a short dis- tance north of Amelia Court House and on the east side of the railroad, and but for their failure to find him he would have been a prisoner of war before the surrender of his army, or else would have lost his life in the defense of his liberty. I have a list of the officers who were killed and wounded, and as we are writing this sketch to perpetuate the deeds of North Carolina's gallant sons, I desire to give their names, that pos- terity may pay them their well-earned honors. Among the killed were: Captains Henry Coleman, Company G, and George Dewey, Company H; Lieutenants D. T. Armfield, Company A, R. H. Powell, Company B, and W. M. Blair, Company D. The wounded were: Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. H. Cowles, Major M. D. L. McLeod ; Captains John L. Smith, Company A; W. H. Anthony, Company B; James F. Johnson, Company C, and C. J. Iredell, Company E; Lieutenants J. P. Alexander, Company C; Manly Steele, Company C; D. P. Mast, Company D; Jacob Barrier, Company F; H. J. Sauls, Company H, and S. B. Gibson, Company K. A long list of gallant men who shed their blood when the cause of the Confederacy was Addenda to Ninth Regiment. 783 almost lost and its sun about to set in the gloom of perpetual night as freely as they would have done when first they buckled on their sabres and unfurled their banner. W. H. Cheek. Henderson, N. 0., 24 March, 1901. Errata. — On page 481 read "Barringer" for "Beauregard." Note. — Oolonel Cheek died just after revising the above last tribute to his gallant regiment, 23 March, 1901. — Ed. END OF VOLUME I.