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ZEBULON B. VANCE. GOVERSOR, 186a-1866L
HISTORIES
SEVERAL REGIMENTS AND BATTALIONS
NORTH CAROLINA
GREAT WAR 1861 -'65. .
VRITTEN BT nEMEERS Of THE RESFECTIVE COnrLftNDS
EDITED BY
WALTER £LARK,
(Lieut. -CoLOJfKL SEVE^TIETH Regiment X. C. T. )
VOL. III. ^
PUBLISHED BY THE STATE.
XASH BROTHERS. BOOK AND JOB PRINTERS, GOLDSBORO, N. C. 1901 I
5H
whecked
THE NEW YORK'
PUBLIC LIBRARY
264072
ASTOR. LE' TILOEN <--- R .--.
— s
CONTENTS.
PAGE.
Forty-Third Regiment, by Colonel Thomas S. Kenan,..^ 1
Fortv-Third Regiment, (Company A.) by Colonel Thomas S. Kenan • 19
Forty-Fourth Regiment, by Major Charles M. Stedman '21
Forty-Fifth Regiment, by Sergeant Cyrus B. Watson 35
Forty-Sixth Regiment, by Lieutenant J. M. Waddill 63
Forty-Seventh Regiment, bii Captain John H. Thorp 83
Forty-Seventh Regiment, by Lieutenant J. Rowan Rogers 103
Forty-Eighth Regiment, by Captain, W. H. H. Lawhon 113
Forty-Ninth Regiment, by Lieutenant Thomas R. Roulhac 125
Forty-Ninth Regiment, by Captain B. F. Dixon 151
Fiftieth Regiment, by Lieutenant J. C. Ellington 161
Fifty -First Regiment, by Lieutenant A. A. McKethan 205
Fifty-Second Regiment, by Adjutant John H. Robinson 223
Fifty Third Regiment, by Colonel James T Morehead 255
Fifty-Fourth Regiment, by Lieutenant J. Mai-shall Williams 267
Fifty-Fifth Regiment, by Adjutant Charles M. Cooke 287
Fifty-Sixth Regiment, by Captain Robert D. Oraham 313
Fifty-Seventh Regiment, by Colonel Hamilton C Jones 405
Fifty-Eighth Regiment, by Major G. W. F. Harper. 431
Fifty-Eighth Regiment, by Captain Isaac H. Bailey 447
Fifty-Ninth Regiment, (Fourth Cav.,) by Lieutenant W. P. Shaw.. 455
Sixtieth Regiment, by Lieutenant- Colonel James M. Ray 473
Sixtieth Regiment, by Captain Thomas W. Patton . . 499
Sixty First Regiment, by Captain N. A. Ramsey 503
Sixty-Second Regiment, by Lieutenant- Colonel B. G. McDowell 515
Sixty-Third Regiment, (Fifth Cav.), by Major John M. Galloway. . 529
Sixty-Third Regiment, (Fifth Cav. ), by Private Paul B. Means. . . . 545
Sixty-Fourth Regiment, by Captain B T. Morris 659
Sixty -Fifth Regiment. (Sixth Cav.), by Captain M. V. Moore... 673
Sixty-Sixth Regiment, by Adjutant George M. Rose 685
Sixty-Seventh Regiment, by Lieutenant- Colonel Rufus W. Wharton 703
Sixty-Eighth Regiment, by Corporal J. W. Evans 713
Sixty-Eighth Regiment, by Sergeant W. T. Caho 725
Sixty-Ninth Regiment, 6?/ im(ie?ia/i/-CoZo?ie^ W. W. String field 729
ASTOfi,
■-^NOX AND
^i2s^:c.
FORTY-THIHD REGIMENT.
J. Thos. S. Kenan, Colonel.
2. W. Gaston Lewis, Lieut. -Colonel.
3. James (i. Kenan, Captain, Co. A.
4. Rufflu Barnes, Captain, Co. C.
5. Drury Lacy, Adjutant.
6. Wtti. R. Kenan, -M Lieut, and
A<Ijutaiit.
7. R 11. Uttttle. 1st Lieut., Co. I.
FORTY-THIRD REQIHE^T.
By colonel THOMAS S. KENAN.
This regiment was organized at Camp Mangum, about three miles west of Kaleigh, in March, 1862, bj electing Junius Daniel, Colonel; Thomas S. Kenan (Captain Compa- ny A, formerly Captain Company C, Second Korth Carolina Volunteers), Lieutenant-Colonel; and Walter J. Boggan (Captain Company H), Major, commissions bearing date 25 March, 1862. Daniel was at the time Colonel of the Four- teenth Regiment, and soon thereafter was also chosen Colonel of the Forty-fifth, and accepted. Upon his reporting for duty he was placed in command of a brigade, of which the Forty-third afterwards formed a part. Daniel was subse- quently promoted to Brigadier-General. About 20 April, Kenan was notified that he had been chosen Colonel of the Thirty-eighth upon its reorganization at Goldsboro, the in- formation being officially conveyed by the hands of Lieuten- ant D. M. Pearsall, of the Thirty-eighth; but he remained with the Forty-third and was elected its Colonel a few days thereafter, and William Gaston Lewds (Major of the Thirty- third) was elected Lieutenant-Colonel, commissions bearing date 24 April, 1862.
The staff and company officers, and their successors by pro- motion from time to time in the order named, as appears from the "Roster of North Carolina Troops," pp. 196-225, and gathered from memoranda of participants in the opera- tions of the regiment, were :
Adjutants — Drury Lacy, W. R. Kenan. Surgeons — Bedford Brown, Jr., William T. Brewer, Joel B. Lewis.
QuARTERMASTEES — Johu W. Hiusou, Joscph B. Stafford.
Commissary — W. B. Williams.
Chaplains — Joseph W. Murphy, Eugene W. Thompson.
2 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'()5.
Sekgeant-JMajohs — W. T. Smith, Ilezekiah Brown, Thos. H. Williams, liobert T. Burwell, W. K. Kenan.
CAPTAINS.
CoMi'A.xY A — From Dnplin — James G. Kenan (succeeded T. S. Kenan) ; numl)er of enlisted men, 117. The company entered the service in April, 1861, and was Company C, Sec- ond North Carolina Volunteers (Colonel Sol. Williams), sta- tioned near Xorfolk. Upon the expiration of its six-months term of service it was reorganized and assigned to the Forty- third. Captain Kenan, of this company, was wounded and captured at Gettysburg, and was a prisoner when the war ended, and many of the officers, liereinafter named, met a similar fate, or were killed or disabled there or in subsequent engagements, but a correct list of casualties cannot now be had — and they were so numerous that during the latter part of the war the regiment was commanded by Captains, and companies by Lieutenants, Sergeants and Corporals.
CoiMPAKY B — From Mecldoiburg — Robert P. Waring, William E. Stitt. Enlisted men, 73.
Company C — From ^yihon — James S. Woodard, Kuffin Barnes. Enlisted men, 102.
Company D — From Halifax — Cary Whitaker. Enlisted men, 93.
Company E — From Edgecombe — John A. Vines, Jas. R. Thigpen, Wiley J. Cobb. Enlisted men, 96.
Company F — From Halifax — William R. Williams, Wm. C. Ousby, Henry A. Macon. Enlisted men, 101.
Company G — From Warren — Wm. A. Dowtin, Levi P. Coleman, Alfred W. Bridgers. Enlisted men, 110.
Company H — From Anson — John H. Coppedge (suc- ceeded W. J. Boggan), Hampton Beverly. Enlisted men, 112.
Company I — From Anson — Robert T. Hall, John Bal- lard. Enlisted men, 139.
Company K — From An-son — James Boggan, Caswell H. Sturdivant. Enlisted men, 120.
Forty-Third Regiment.
FIEST LIEUTENANTS.
Company A, James G. Kenan, Robert B. Carr.
Company B, Henry Ringstaff, William E. Stitt.
Company C, Henry King, Rnffin Barnes, L. D. Killett.
Company D, Thomas W. Baker, John S. Whitaker.
Company- E, James R. Thigpen, Wiley J. Cobb, Charles Vines.
Company F, William C. Onsby, Henry A. Macon, J. H. Morris.
Company' G, Levi P. Coleman, Alfred W. Bridgers.
Company- H, John H. Coppedge, Hampton Beverly, Ben- jamin F. Moore.
Company' I, Richard H. Battle, Jr., John H. Threadgill.
Company' K, Caswell H. Sturdivant, Henry E. Shepherd.
SECOND LIEUTENANTS.
Company' A, Robert B. Carr, John W. Hinson, Thomas J. Bostic, Stephen D. Farrior.
Company' B, William E. Stitt, Julius Alexander, Robert T. Burwell.
Company' C, William T. Brewer, Ruffin Barnes, L. D. Kil- lett, Bennett Barnes, Hezekiah Brown.
Company D, John S. Whitaker, William Beavans, George W. Wills.
Company E, Wiley J. Cobb, Van B. Sharpe, John H. Leigh, Charles Vines, Willis R. Dupree, Thomas H. Wil- liams.
Company' F, Henry A. Macon, William R. Bond, J. H. Morris, W. L. M. Perkins, Jesse A. Macon.
Company G, William B. Williams, Alexander L. Steed, John B. Powell, Luther R. Crocker.
Company H, Hampton Beverly, Benjamin F. Moore, W. W. Boggan, Henry C. Beaman, Peter B. Lilly.
Company I, John H. Threadgill, John Ballard, Stephen W. Ellerbee, Leonidas L. Polk.
Company K, John A. Boggan, Stephen Huntley, Francis j:. Flake.
4 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65.
The regiment Avas ordered to Wilmington and Fort Johnson at Smithville, on the Cape Fear river, where it re- mained about a month in General French's command, and thence to Virginia. Daniel's Brigade, composed of the Thirtj-second, Forty-third, Forty-fifth, Fiftieth and Fifty- third Regiments, was placed in the command of Major-Gen- eral Holmes, and on the last of the seven days' operations around Richmond was ordered to occupy the road near the James river, where it was subjected to a fierce shelling from the gunboats on the right and the batteries on Malvern Ilill in front, but was not in the regular engagement; was after- wards ordered to Drewry's Bluff, and constituted part of the forces under Major-General G. W. Smith for the protec- tion of Richmond and vicinity during the advance of the army under General Lee into Maryland in September, 1862 ; and about the same time a demonstration was made against Suffolk, Va., by troops under General French (this regi- ment being a portion of them), probably for the purpose of preventing the Federals from sending reinforcements from that territory to oppose the movement of the Confederates in Maryland. They returned in about ten days, and the regi- ment resumed its position at Drewry's Bluff, where it was engaged in drilling and putting up breastworks under the direction of Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis, who, being a civil engineer by profession, was ordered by the brigade com-- mander to supervise their construction. Shortly after quar- ters were prepared for the winter, the brigade was ordered to Goldsboro, in December, 1862, to reinforce the Confeder- ates in opposing the advance of the Union troops from Xew Bern under General Foster ; but on the day before its arrival they succeeded in burning the railroad bridge over the Neuse river, and, after a sharp engagement with the Confederates on the south side of the river, retreated to their base of oper- ations at New Bern. The bridge was immediately rebuilt on trestles by a detail of men from the brigade, Lieutenant- Colonel Lewis superintending the work.
During the spring of 1863 it was stationed at Kinston and detachments sent out to prevent the approach of the enemy into the interior. Major-General D. 11. Hill having assumed
Forty-Third Regiment. 5
conunand of the department, directed demonstrations to be made in aid of military operations at other points and to com- pel the enemy to abandon their outposts. In the affair at Deep Gully, a small creek, upon the eastern bank of which the enemy were entrenched, the Forty-third was ordered to attack, and after a few rounds the enemy abandoned the works and retreated. The brigade was then ordered to Washing- ton, IST. C, and was there subjected to the artillery fire of the Union forces occupying that place, but, with the excep- tion of some skirmishing, no engagement was brought on. It then returned to its former quarters at Kinston, and, later on, went to Fredericksburg, Va., and was assigned to Rodes' Division of the Second Corps (Ewell's), the Thirty-second, Forty-third, Forty-fifth and Fifty-third Regiments and the Second ISTorth Carolina Battalion then constituting the brig- ade— the Fiftieth Regiment having been assigned to another brigade. The Army of Northern Virginia was there reviewed by General Lee and ordered to commence the memorable Pennsylvania campaign in June, 1863.
ON THE MARCH.
Upon arriving at Brandy Station the brigade was placed in line of battle to meet any attempted advance of Union in- fantry to support its cavalry, but was not engaged — the main fighting in that terrific battle (9 June) being between the cavalry of the opposing armies. At Berryville the enemy were driven by the cavalry, supported by this brigade, and camp equipage, etc., captured. It then marched by way of Martinsburg, Williamsport, Hagerstown and Chambersburg to Carlisle, Pa., and occupied the barracks at that place, from which it was ordered to Gettysburg.
IN THE THREE DAYS^ EIGHT.
Upon arriving at Gettysburg, on Wednesday, 1 July, 1863, about 1 o'clock p. m., a line of battle was formed near For- ney's house, northwest of the town and to the left of Pender's Division of Hill's Corps, which had repulsed the enemy in the forenoon, and the troops advanced to the attack. The
6 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65.
fight was continued till late in the afternoon and the enemy driven back, the brigade being handled with consummate skill by the brave General Daniel. Seminary Ridge was gained and occupied — the right of the Forty-third resting on the railroad cut. The fight was terrific and the loss heavy on both sides. On Thursday morning, 2 July, the regiments were assigned to various positions iipon the line. The Forty-' third supported a battery, during the artillery duel which continued nearly the whole day, at a point on the Ridge just north of the Seminary building, and the shot and shell from the guns of the enemy on Cemetery Heights caused serious loss. It was during this cannonade that General Lee and staff passed to the front along the road near by, and the troops saluted him by raising their hats in silence, and were encour" aged by his presence. From this point a movement was commenced at night in line of battle, in the direction of the enemy's works, the skirmishers firing upon the Confederates and retreating, but inflicting no loss. The moon was shin^ ing brightly, and it seemed that a night attack upon Cemetery Heights was contemplated ; but when the brigade crossed the valley in front, orders were given to march by the left flank near the southern and eastern limits of the town, and about daybreak on Friday, 3 July, it reported to Major-General Johnson, who commanded the Division of Ewell's Cor])s on the extreme left of the Confederate line. Daniel's Brigade, with other troops, had been ordered to reinforce Johnson's position on Culp's Hill. • It marched nearly all night, and formed a line of battle near Benner's House, crossed Rock Creek, and, through the undergrowth, among large boulders and up the heavily timbered hill, the attack n]ion the enemy was made, the line of works (formed by felled trees) taken, but the charge upon tlie main line was repulsed. Colonel Kenan, of the Forty-third, was wounded in leading this charge, and taken from the field (captured on the retreat and imprisoned until the close of the war), and the connnand de- volved on Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis.
The forces under Johnson held their positions until night, when they were withdrawn^the Forty-third occupying its first position on Seminary Ridge until tlio army moved to
Forty-Third Regiment. 7
Hagerstown. On the retreat it was assigned the rear posi- tion, and in consequence was repeatedly engaged with the Union advance. After remaining at Hagerstown a few days the Confederates crossed the swollen Potomac (carrying their guns and their ammunition on their heads, the water being up to their armpits), and fell back to the village of Darks- ville. Later, they were in front of the Federal army, on the south bank of the Rapidan river, guarding the fords, and en- gaged the enemy at Mine Run when an advance towards Richmond was made. After the retreat of the Federals to the north of the Rapidan, and active operations having com- paratively ceased, winter quarters were built, but they were not long occupied by this regiment, for it was detached for duty with General Hoke's Brigade in the winter campaign in 1863-'64 in Eastern Korth Carolina, Major-General Pickett being in command of all the forces.
In this campaign Hoke's Brigade consisted of the Sixth, Twenty-first, Fifty-fourth and Fifty-seventh J^orth Carolina Regiments and the First North Carolina Battalion, and at- tached to it were the Forty-third iSTorth Carolina and Twen- ty-first Georgia. In approaching New Bern this regiment arrived at Bachelor's creek, about seven miles from the city, and made a night attack upon the enemy's works, but, discov- ering that the flooring of a bridge across the creek, about seventy-five feet long, had been removed Lieutenant-Colonel Lewis informed General Hoke that if he would send him plank from the pontoon train he would renew the attack as soon as practicable. Hoke complied, and the attack was made at daylight the next day — one of the companies laying the plank, under fire, and the others crossing over, also under fire, driving the enemy and causing a retreat to New Bern.
There were also some Union troops at Clark's brickyard, on the Atlantic & North Carolina Railroad, nine miles above the city, and information was received that a train of cars had been sent from New Bern to bring them in. The regiment was ordered to capture this train, without wrecking it, if possible, and accordingly a three-mile march at quick and double-quick time was made to intercept it. When the regi- ment got within about twenty or thirty yards of the track
8 North Carolina Troops, 186l-'65.
the train was passing at its highest speed, and shots were exchanged between the opposing parties. If success had at- tended this movement, the purpose of General Hoke was to place his troops on the train, run into the town and surprise the garrison. Pickett's expedition, however, was not suc- cessful, and the troops fell back to Kinston, remaining there a few weeks, and then marched on Plymouth.
THE BATTLE OF PLYMOUTH.
April 18, 19 and 20, 1864: General Hoke, who suc- ceeded to the command of all the forces in this department, directed the campaign, and was also authorized by the ISTavj Department to secure the co-operation of the Confederate ram, Albernarle,, then near Hamilton on the Roanoke river, in an unfinished state and in charge of Commander Cooke. Colonel Mercer, of the Twenty-first Georgia, commanded Hoke's Brigade. He was killed in a charge at night upon a fort about half a mile in advance of the enemy's line of works at Plymouth, and Lewis, of the Forty-third, assumed com- mand and was subsequently promoted to Brigadier-General. The fort was taken and the Alhe marie simultaneously steamed down the river and engaged the enemy, sinking one of their gunboats and driving their flotilla a considerable dis- tance below Plymouth, thus relieving the land forces in future movements of the apprehended attack from them. During the night the different commands were placed in position for the general assault upon the works around the town, and this necessitated the moving of the troops by cir- cuitous routes to avoid being discovered by the enemy, and consumed all of the 19th. Accordingly, on the morning of the 20th General Matt. Ransom attacked on the east side of the town, Lewis on the west and Hoke, with the other brig- ades, moved upon the enemy's center. The town was taken in a short while, the garrison and an immense amount of sup- plies being captured. The brilliancy and dash of this move- ment, which was planned and faithfully executed according to the directions of the commanding officer, received recogni- tion in the following :
Besolved by the Congress of the Confederate States of
[the new YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
ASTOR, LENOX M TILDE.N FOUNDATW
FORTY-THIRD REGIMENT.
1. R. B. Carr, 1st Lieut, Co. A. 3. L. L. Polk-, M Lieut.. Co. I.
S. Robt. Turnbull Burwell, 1st Lieut., 4. B. F. Hall. SerKeant, Co. A.
Co. B. 5. Robert J. Southerlaud, Sergeant, Co. A.
Forty-Third Regiment. 9
America, That the thanks of Congress and the country are due and are tendered to Major-General Robert F. Hoke and Commander James W. Cooke, and the officers and men under their command, for the brilliant victory over the enemy at Plymouth, N. C.
Joint resolution, approved 17 May, 1864. Official Records Union and Confederate Armies, Vol. 60, page, 305.
Washington, J^. C, was next threatened, and after an ar- tillery duel during the day the enemy evacuated it. The forces then moved upon 'New Bern again. The Forty-third engaged the enemy about nine miles from the city during the afternoon of 2 May, and again on the morning of the next day. The enemy were forced back in a running fight Avithin sight of the town. At this juncture, when the capture of the town seemed probable, orders were received to march imme- diately back to Kinston and thence to Petersburg, which point General Butler, of the Union army, Avas threatening with a large force. The distance covered by the regiment on this day's march, including the running fight towards New Bern and the return to Kinston, was thirty-seven miles in about twelve hours. Of the reinforcements ordered to Petersburg the Forty-third was the first regiment to arrive, and, there being but few other troops on the ground, orders were given to occupy the entrenchments in front of the city by deploying at twenty paces, and, in order to impress the enemy with the belief that they were confronted by a large force, instructions were given to make as much noise as pos- sible and fire off guns at frequent intervals. From this time till 15 May the regiment was moved to different portions of the line, from the south of Petersburg to the north of Rich- mond, a distance of about thirty miles, seldom remaining more than one day at any point. These frequent movements were deemed necessary on account of the small force availa- ble to meet real or supposed movements of the Union army. In the meantime reinforcements were brought in, and Gen- eral Beauregard commanded the Confederate forces in the engagement which took place the next day.
10 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
the battle of drewky^s bluff^ 16 may,, 1864.
The attack was made by the Confederates about daylight under cover of a dense fog. When within about forty paces of the enemy's main line the Forty-third encountered (as did also the other troops of the division) a line of telegraph wires fastened to stumps about twelve inches above the ground, which caused most of the men to trip and fall. This checked the forward movement, but from this position a heavy fire was poured into the enemy until they were dis- lodged. Finding their ammunition nearly exhausted, as the enemy commenced retreating the regiment repaired to the rear to replenish it. This being done, it returned to the line near the right of General Robert Ransom's Division, to which it was then temporarily attached, and occupied the right of the brigade in a charge upon the works when a bat- tery of artillery was captured, the enemy driven across the turnpike and a position in rear of the Union forces secured. The position of the regiment was now near the turnpike^ which constituted the dividing line of the divisions of Ran- som and Hoke during most of the engagement. Hoke, being appointed Major-General after the battle of Plymouth, was assigned to the conunand of another division after his arrival at Drewry's Bluff. About this time a council of war was held on the turnpike, which was participated in by a dis- tinguished group, consisting of President Davis, Generals Beauregard, Ransom and Hoke, with their respective staff of- ficers. Very soon after this incident, the enemy having given way at all points of the line, were driven into Bermuda Hundreds, the angle between the James and Appomattox rivers, under cover of their gunboats, this regiment taking part in the pursuit.
After remaining in line of battle in front of General But- ler's troops for about two days, orders were issued for the regiment to rejoin its old brigade in the Army of Northern Virginia. In obedience thereto it marched to Drewry's Bluff and was transported by boat to Richmond, thence by rail to Milford Station on the Richmond and Fredericks- burg Railroad, reaching there about noon on 21 May, 1864.
Forty-Third Regiment. 11
The march was at once resumed, and the regiment bivouacked that night near Spottsylvania Court House. The army- having been withdrawn from its position in front on the night of the 21st to meet a movement of the enemy, who had retired towards the North Anna, the regiment was ordered to follow on the morning of the 2 2d. Late in the afternoon, informa- tion was received from General Ewell that the regiment was then in the rear and in danger of being captured. To avoid this risk an all-niglit march was made, the old brigade joined and the enemy again confronted near Hanover Junction on the morning of the 23d. It was then commanded by Gen- eral Bryan Grimes, Daniel having been killed at Spottsylva- nia on 12 ]\Iay, and General Lewis remained in charge of Hoke's old Brigade. In this march more than 60 miles were traversed, and the troops were hungry and nearly exhausted. But not long after arriving upon the groun<l a line of bat- tle was formed northwest of the Junction and earthworks thrown up. After dark this line was al)andoned and the reg- iment withdrawn about a mile to the rear, and occupi('<l the bank of a railroad cut, leaving the brigade sharpsliooters in possession of the first line. Xext day (24 May), about noon, the enemy in force attacked the sharpshooters and drove them from their position. Companies A and F, numbering about seventy men, under command of Lieutenants Bostic, Farrior and Morris, were detailed and sent to the front with instruc- tions to retake the works. On reaching the works they found that both sides of them were occupied by a regiment of Union troops, supported by a brigade at a short distance to the rear. On the sudden appearance of this small force from the thick woods which covered their approach, they were ordered by the enemy to surrender. To tliis they responded with a quick and destructive fire at close range, and, after a hand- to-hand tight of several minutes, forced them to the opposite side of the breastworks, and the assault was fiercely con- tinued about two hours. Encouraged by the forward move- ment of the brigade and the firing of a field battery consti- tuting their support, the LTnion forces attempted several times to retake the position, but were as often repulsed. A heavy rain having set in, the firing ceased and the enemy
12 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
withdrew under cover of the rain and approaching darkness. After the rain ceased a survey of the field was made, showing a larger number of dead and wounded of the enemy than the aggregate number of the two companies engaged in the fight. On receiving a detailed report of the affair and its results, General Grimes was heard to express himself to the effect that all things considered, he believed this to be one of the great fights of the war. These two companies rejoined the regiment after dark, and in a few hours the entire army re- tired towards Richmond to confront the Union army, then moving in the same direction.
jSTothing of special note occurred, except frequent skir- mishing, till the battle of Bethesda Church, which was fought on the afternoon of 30 May. Further skirmishing took place on 31 May and 1 June, and the battle of Gaines' Mill was fought 2 June, and Cold Harbor 3 June, in all of which this regiment bore its part.
After the battle of Cold Harbor, the Second Corps, then commanded by General Early, was ordered into camp near Gaines' Mill and held in reserve till 13 June. The sharp- shooters of Rodes' Division had been previously organized into a separate corps under command of Captain W. E. Stirt (Company B), and numbered about one thousand men, made up of details from the different regiments, the Forty-third contributing about thirty-five from the right wing under command of Lieutenant Perkins (Company F), and thirty- five from the left wing under command of Sergeant-Ma j or Kenan, who had been appointed by the brigade commander, 10 June, a Junior-Second Lieutenant. On 13 June the Sec- ond Corps was ordered to Lynchburg, Va., arriving there on the 18th, and in the afternoon the sharpshooters engaged those of the Union forces. The withdrawal of the encMay during the night was promptly discovered, and the sharp- shooters marching at the head of the division in pursuit over- took their rear guard at Liberty, when another skirmish en- sued, and again at Buford's Gap on the afternoon of the 20th. The pursuit was continued on the 21st through Salem, Va., where another skirmish took place. On the 2 2d the troops rested at Salem, and resumed the march on the 23d in
Forty-Third Regiment. 13
the direction of the Potomac river, reaching Staunton early on the morning of the 27th; remained there till the next morning, and then marched to Harper's Ferry, which was reached on the morning of 4 July. Here the Corps of Divis- ion sharpshooters captured Bolivar Heights about 10 a. m., and about 8 p. m. drove the enemy from Harper's Ferry across the river to Maryland Heights. On the 5th the Forty-third occupied Harper's Ferry, relieving the sharp- shooters. Skirmishing continued most of the day. On the 6th the corps crossed the Potomac at Shepherdstown and engaged the enemy in the rear of Maryland Heights, the bat- tle continuing ne"'arly all day. On the 7th they moved through C'rampton's Gap towards Frederick, and after fre- quent skirmishing reached Frederick on the morning of the 9th, where General Lew Wallace's Division of Union troops was strongly posted on the eastern bank of the Monocacy river. After a stubborn fight they were driven from the field, with the loss of a large number of killed, wounded and prisoners. On the 10th the Confederates moved in the direc- tion of Washington City, and, after a hard march in extreme- ly hot weather and over a dusty road, arrived in front of Fort Stevens abo\it noon of the 11th, within sight of the dome of the Federal Capitol. The sharpshooters advanced within 200 yards of the fort, but retired to a position about 300 yards to the rear, where they halted and dug rifle-pits. In the afternoon the enemy threw forward a heavy li-ne of skirmishers, who attacked vigorously, but were repulsed with some loss. Here, our sharpshooters remained, subjected to a severe shelling from the forts till the afternoon of the 12th, when the enemy, reinforced by two corps from the Army of the Potomac, advanced and drove them from their improvised works. Rodes' Division then moved forward and retook the lost ground. The casualties on both sides were considera- ble. On account of the arrival of the above-mentioned rein- forcements, a further advance of Early's troops was not made, and they were withdrawn on the night of the 12th, and recrossed the Potomac on the 14th near Leesburg, Va. The movement into Maryland was probably made to create a diversion in favor of operations around Richmond.
14 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
Thus, within thirty days the army of which the Forty- third composed a part had marched about five hundred miles and taken part in not less than twelve battles and skirmishes, in most of which the enemy were deafeated with severe losses.
The troops then moved towards the Valley of Virginia, and crossed the Blue Ridge at Snicker's Gap on 17 July, the Union troops slowly following and an additional force threat- ening the flank of the Confederate right. On the afternoon of that day Rodes' Division attacked the enemy at Snicker's Ford, driving them into the Shenandoah river, where the loss in killed and drowned was heavy. On the 19th the division moved towards Strasburg, and on the afternoon of the 20th went to the support of General Ramseur, who was resisting an attack near Winchester. But the engagement having ceased before the arrival of the division, it retired to Fisher's Hill and there remained till the morning of the 24th, when an attack was made upon the enemy at Kernstown and they were driven across the Potomac and followed into Maryland. And tlien Rodes' Division, sometimes in detachments and at others in a body, marched and countermarched between the Potomac river and Fisher's Hill until September 2 2d. Dur- ing this time the Forty-third Regiment was engaged in al- most daily skirmishing, and took part in the battles of Win- chester, 17 August; Charlestown, 21 August; Smithfield, 29 August; Bunker's Hill, 3 September; Winchester (No. 2), 19 September, and Fisher's Hill, 22 September.
Having been defeated in the last engagement at Fisher's Hill, the Confederates retreated up the valley, followed by the enemy to Waynesboro, where reinforcements were re- ceived, and then, on 1 October, returned down the valley, reaching Fisher's Hill on 13 October. The Forty-third com- posed part of the body of troops which marched around the left and rear of the enemy's camp at Cedar Creek on the night of 18 October, preparatory to the general attack made on the morning of the 19th, resulting in their defeat in the early part of the day. Reinforcements having been received by the enemy in the afternoon, the tide of battle was turned and the Confederates were driven up the valley to New Mar-
Forty-Third Regiment. 15
ket, where they remained in camp without further incident till about 22 November, when a considerable body of Union cavalry under the command of General Sheridan was at- tacked and routed by Rodes' Division between New Market and Mount Jackson. This ended the noted Valley campaign of 18G4.
About a week before Christmas, the Forty-third, with the other tr(jops composing the old Second Corps of the Army of Xortlieni Virginia, returned to Petersl)urg and went into Avinter (piarters on Swift creek, three miles north of the city. The next movement was to Southerland's Depot, on the right wing of the army, south of Petcrsljurg, on 1') February, 1865. Here tlie regiment remaiiu'*! with the otlier troops of the division till about the middle of March, when they were or- dered into the trenches in front of Petersburg to relieve Gen- eral iiushrod Johnson's Division, which was to occupy an- other position.
The increasing dispntj^orticm in the numbers of the oppos- ing armies made it necessary for Rodes' Division, now com- posed of only about 2,200 men, to cover a distance of about three and a half miles in the trenches, and to do this it re- quired one-third of the men on picket duty in front of the trenches and one-third on duty in the trenches, where the mud Mas frequently more than shoe-deep and sometimes knee-deep, Avhile the remaining third caught a broken rest on their arms. Xo general engagement took place till 25 March, but at night there was almost constant firing between the pickets. At most points the main lines of the two armies were within easy rifle-range, and at some points less than one hundred yards apart. The monotony of the constant cracking of small arms was frequently relieved by the firing of mortars and the dropping of shells in the trenches, calling for con- stant watchfulness on the part of those who were in the trenches, and disturbing the broken rest of the small remnant who were off duty. On the night of 24 March, General Gor- don's Corps was massed opposite Hare's Hill with a view to making an attack at that point, where the lines were within one hundred yards of each other. Entrance into the enemy's works was effected just before daylight on the morning of the
16 North Carolina Troops, 1861 -'65.
25tli by the Division Corps of sharpshooters, who, with un- loaded muskets, surprised and captured the enemy's pickets and entered their main lines. The Forty-third Regiment, with the other troops of the division immediately following, occupied the enemy's works for some distance on either side of Hare's Hill, and stubbornly held them, against great odds, for about five hours. During most of this time the enemy poured a deadly fire into the Confederates from several bat- teries on elevated positions, and, having massed large bodies of infantry at this point, forced the withdrawal of the Con- federates with considerable loss in killed, wounded and pris- oners. After this fruitless effort to dislodge the enemy the Forty-third resumed its position in the trenches and remained until Saturday, 1 April, iibout 11 o'clock on the night of this date the enemy opened a furious cannonading all along the line. Under cover of this firing they attacked the Con- federates in heavy force at several points, effecting an en- trance beyond the limits of the division on the right. At daylight on Sunday morning, the 2d, they made a breach in the line held by a brigade to the left center of the division, and occupied the Confederate works for some distance on either side of Fort Mahone, wdiich stood on an elevation about fifty yards in front of the main line. The division, massing in this direction, attacked the enemy at close quar- ters, driving them from traverse to traverse, sometimes in a hand-to-hand fight, till the lost works were retaken up to a point opposite Fort Mahone, which was still occupied by the enemy. Its commanding position making its recapture of importance in the further movements of the Confederates, two details of about twelve men each, in charge of a Ser- geant— one from the Forty-third (now commanded by Cap- tain Cobb, Captain Whitaker having been mortally wounded just previously), and the other from the Forty-fifth Regi- ment of the brigade— were ordered, about noon, to enter the fort by the covered way (a large ditch) leading from the main line into the fort. This was promptly done, and the enemy occupying the fort — more than one hundred in num- ber— perhaps in ignorance of the small force of Confederates, and surprised at the boldness of the movement, surrendered
Forty-Third Regiment. 17
and were sent to the rear as prisoners. From this position the little squad of about twenty-five men poured a deadly fire into the left flank and rear of the enemy occupying the Confederate line beyond Fort Mahone, while the main body of the division pressed them in front till they were dislodged and retreated to their own lines, thus giving up the entire works taken from the division early in the morning. In this affair Sergeant B. F. Hall commanded the squad from the Forty-third. A brigade of Zouaves, however, promptly moved forward, meeting the retreating force, and recaptured both the Confederate line and Fort Mahone, leaving Kodes' 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 after dark, when the lines in front of Richmond and Petersburg were abandoned. The army then commenced its retreat. Marching day and night, with only short inter- vals of rest, Auielia Court House was reached about 4 April, where the well-nigh exhausted troops were permitted to rest several hours. The march was resumed that night, and, being closely pursued by the enemy. General Grimes (then Major-General commanding the division to which the Forty-third belonged) was assigned to the position of rear guard, ('olonel 1). G. Cowand, of the Thirty-second, being in command of Daniel's Brigade. The enemy's cavalry, em- boldened by success, frequently rode recklessly into the Con- federate lines, making it necessary to deploy alternately as a line of battle across the road one brigade after another, while the others continued the march. This running fight culmi- nate<l in a general engagement on the afternoon of the 6th at Sailor's creek, near Farmville, Va., where the Confeder- ates, overwhelmed by superior numbers, retreated beyond the long bridge at Farmville.
On the morning of the 7th, beyond Farmville, the division charged the enemy and recaptured a battery of artillery which had previously fallen into their hands. Continuing the march from this point, there was no further fighting on this or the following day, the Union anny having taken par-
18 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
allel roads for the purpose of intercepting the Confederates in their march towards Lynchburg.
The vicinity of Appomattox Court House was reached on the evening of Saturday, the 8th, and the exhausted troops bivouacked until midnight, when the division was ordered from the position of rear guard to the front, with a view of opening the road towards Lynchburg, now occupied by Union troops in large force. About sunrise on Sunday morning, the 9th of April, 1865, the division engaged a large body of the enemy's cavalry, supported by infantry, and drove them more than a mile, capturing a battery of artillery and several prisoners. While engaged in this pursuit they were ordered back to a valley in which the larger part of the Confederates was now massed, and on arriving there received the sad intel- ligence that the Army of [NTorthern Virginia had surrendered.
Manifesting under defeat the same spirit of fidelity and endurance which had characterized them in success, the rem- nant of about 120 men and officers composing this regiment accepted the fate of war and awaited the final arrangements for capitulation ; and on the morning of 12 April, after lay- ing down their arms, dispersed on foot, many in tattered gar- ments and without shoes, and thus made their way to their distant and, in many instances, desolated homes.
And "the picture of the private soldier as he stood in the iron hail, loading and firing his rifle, the bright eye glistening with excitement, and with powder-stained face, rent jacket, torn slouch hat and trousers, blanket in shreds, and the prints of his shoeless feet in the dust of the battle, should be framed in the hearts of all who love true courage wherever found."
The preparation of this sketch, giving the organization and outlining the movements of the Forty-third Eegiment, is largely due to the assistance rendered to me by W. G. Lewis, B. F. Hall, W. R. Kenan, John B. Powell, W. E. Stitt, W. B. Burwell, Thomas P. Devereux, John J. Dabbs and S. H. Threadgill, members of the regiment, and participants in its movements. The material employed was gathered from memoranda and such official documents as were accessible.
Thos. S. Kenan.
Raleigh, N. C,
9 April, 1895.
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY.
a8t0r, lenox and TIlDen foundations.
J w
ADDITIONAL SKETCH FORTT-TtiIRD REGI/IENT. COMPANY A.
Bv COLONEL THOMAS S. KEXAN.
The ''Duplin Rifles" (organized at Kenansville in 1859) entered the army in April, 1861, as volunteers, under Thomas S. Kenan, Captain; Thomas S. Watson, First Lieutenant; William A. Allen and John W. Hinson, Second Lieutenants ; and was. immediately ordered into the Camp of Instruction at Raleigh. It was mustered in for six months with the First Regiment of Volunteers, and assigned to it under Colonel D. H. Hill, but as this regiment had more companies than the number allowed l)v army regulations, the "Duplin Rifles" and ''Lund)ert()n Guards" were taken out, and with eight other companies, formed the Second Volunteers and elected Sol. Williams, Colonel ; Edward Cantwell, Lieutenant-Colo- nel, and Augustus W. Burton, ]\[ajor ; the "Duplin Rifles" being Company C.
The regiment was ordered to Virginia in May, 1861, (a few days after the First Regiment) and served in and around Norfolk, without special incident, except at Sewell's Point, where a detachment consisting of this and three other com- panies was subjected to repeated shellings from the long- range gims of the L^nion troops stationed at the "Rip-Raps." At the expiration of the term of service of the "Duplin Rifles" and "Lumberton Guards" they were mustered out, and the regiment supplied mth other companies in their stead, and numbered the Twelfth Regiment of State Troops, after the re-organization.
L'^pon the return of the company to Duplin coimty, it was reorganized under a notice dated 23 December, 1861, for the war, by electing Thomas S. Kenan, Captain; James G. Kenan. First Lieutenant ; Robert B. Carr and John W. Hin- son, Second Lieutenants; ordered to Raleigh in March, 1862,
20 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65.
and assigned to the Forty-third Regiment as Company A. It therefore belonged to three different regiments.
Some of the officers and men of the company, "C," organ- ized other companies in Duplin county and likewise enlisted for the war.
From a roster kept by Sergeant B. F. Hall, it appears that there were fifty-six on the roll at the close of the war, thirty- five of whom were either in prison, on parole or detail, and no deserter from the company during the entire war. Twenty-one surrendered w4th the Army of Northern Vir- ginia at Appomattox on 9 April, 1865, to-wit : Thomas J. Bostic, William R. Kenan, Benjamin F. Hall, William B. Blalock, William N. Brinson, James D. Brown, LaFayette W. BroAvn, Alex. Chambers, Thomas E. Davis, Lewis J. Grady, R. M. S. Grady, Alex. Guy, James G. Halso, Jesse Home, Hargett Komegay, Jere J. Pearsall, Lewis J. Rich, Calvin I. Rogers, John E. Smith, Jere Strickland, Frank A. Simmons.
The roster also shows that the number killed was 25, died of disease, 22 ; disabled by wounds, 10 ; discharged for disa- bility, 12 ; transferred to other regiments, or companies, 5.
Thos. S. Kenan.
Raleigh, N. C,
9 April, 1901.
THE NEW YORK
PUBLIC LIBRARY-
A8TOW, LENOX AHO
TILDEN F0UNDATK3HS.
FORTY-FOURTH REGIMENT.
1. Taz well F.Hargrove, Lieut. -Colonel. 3. R. C. Brown. Captain, Co. B.
2. Elkanah E. Lyon, Captain, Co. A. 4. Robert Bingham, Captain, Co. G.
5. Thos. Hill Norwood, Captain, Co. H.
FORTY-FOURTH REGIMENT.
By major CHARLES M. STEDMAN.
This brief record of the organization, movements and achievements of the Forty-fourth Regiment, North Carolina Troops, could not have been ^\'Titten except for the assistance of Captains W. P. Oldham, Robert Bingham, Abram Cox, and Lieutenants Thomas B. Long and Richard G. Sneed, of- ficers of the regiment, who participated in its career, and especialh' am I under obligations to Captain John H. Robin- son, of the Fiftj-seoond North Carolina Regiment, who was detailed during the latter part of the campaign of 1864, at the request of General William ^lacRae, to serve on his staff as A. A. G., in place of Captain Louis G. Young, who had been severely wounded. The facts stated in a memorial ad- dress delivered by tlie writer in Wilmington, N. C, on 10 May, 1890, on the lite and character of General William MacRae, in so far as they are connected with the o])erations of the regiment, and its participation in the various engage- ments described lune been used without reserve, as they are known to be correct, nor has there been any hesitancy in quot- ing from the language of that address, when appropriate to a description of events constituting alike a part of the history of the regiment, as well as of the brigade.
This regiment was organized at Camp Mangum, near Ral- eigh, N. C, on 28 March, 1862, with George B. Singletary as its Colonel, Richard C. Cotten, Captain Company E, its Lieutenant-Colonel, and Elisha Cromwell, Captain Company B, as its Major. Colonel Singletary was killed in a skir- mish with Federal troops at Tranter's Creek, in Eastern North Carolina, on 5 June, 1862. He was an officer of ex- traordinary merit, and would have unquestionably attained high distinction but for his premature death. On 28 June, 1862, Thomas C. Singletary, his brother, was elected Colonel
22 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
in his stead. Lieutenant-Colonel Gotten resigned, on ac count of advanced age, on 10 June, 1862, and Major Elisha Cromwell was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel to fill the vacancy caused by his resignation. The vacancy caused by the promotion of Major Elisha Cromwell was filled by the election of Tazewell L. Hargrove, Captain of Company A, on 10 June, 1862. On 24 July, 1862, Lieutenant-Colonel Cromwell resigned and Major Tazewell L. Hargrove was elected in his place, and on 28 July, 1862, Charles M. Sted- man. Captain Company E, was promoted and elected Major* The Staff and Company officers are named as they appear in the following list, and in the order of their promotion:
Adjutants^ Stark Armistead Sutton, John A. Jackson, R. W. Dupree.
Ensign, W. S. Long.
Sergeant-Majors^ John H. Johnston, Alexander S< Webb, E. D. Covington.
Quartermaster Sergeant^ Isham G. Cheatham.
Ordnance Sergeant, Robert J. Powell.
Commissary Sergeant^ D. F. Whitehead.
Chaplains, John H. Tillinghast, Richard G. Webb.
Surgeons, William T. Sutton, J. A. Bynum.
Assistant Surgeons, J. A. Bynum, William J. Green.
Quartermasters, William R. Beasley, William L* Cherry.
Commissary, Abram Cox.
Company A — Captains, Tazewell L. Hargrove, Elkanah E. Lyon, Robert L. Rice; First Lieutenants, Elkanah E. Lyon, Robert L. Rice, Richard G. Sneed, A. J. Ellis ; Second Lieutenants, Robert L. Rice, William R. Beasley, John B. Tucker, Richard G. Sneed, Robert. Winship Stedman. En- listed men, 148.
Company B — Captains, Elisha Cromwell, Baker W. Ma- bry, Robert C. Brown ; First Lieutenants, Baker W. Mabry, Robert C. Brown, Thomas M. Carter; Second Lieutenants, Thomas M. Carter, Robert C. Brown, Charles D. Mabry, Elisha C. Knight. * Enlisted men, 135.
Forty-Fourth Regiment. 23
Company C— Captains, William L. Cherry, Macon G-. Cherry; First Lieutenants, Abram Cox, Andrew M. Thig- pen, Samuel V. Williams ; Second Lieutenants, Andrew M. Thig-pen, Macon G. Cherry, Samuel V. Williams, Reuben E. Mayo, Samuel Tapping. Enlisted men, 131.
Company D— Captain, L. R. Anderson; First Lieuten- ants, Cornelius Stevens, John S. Easton ; Second Lieuten- ants, John S. Easton, James M. Perkins, George W. Parker, Thomas King. Enlisted men, 116.
Company E— Captains, R. C. Gotten, Charles M. Sted- man, James T. Phillips, John J. Crump ; First Lieutenants, Charles M. Stedman, James T. Phillips, John J. Crump, ^. B. Hilliard; Second Lieutenants, R. C. Cotten, Jr., James T. Phillips, John J. Crump, Thomas B. Long, K. B. Hil- liard, C. C. Goldston, S. J. Tally. Enlisted men, 183.
By reason of his health. Lieutenant Thomas B. Long re- signed in July, 1862. He was a most accomplished officer; brave, competent and true — he was respected by all.
Company F— Captains, David D. DeBerry, John C. Gaines; First Lieutenants, John C. Gaines, John C. Mont- gomery ; Second Lieutenants, John C. Montgomery, Alexan- der M. Russell, George W. Montgomery. Enlisted men, 127. Company G— Captain, Robert Bingham; First Lieuten- ant, S. H. Workman; Second Lieutenants, George S. Cobb, James W. Compton, Fred. N. Dick, Thomas H. Norwood. Enlisted men, 129.
Company H— Captains, William D. :\[offitt, James T. Townsend, R. W. Singletary ; First Lieutenants, James T. Townsend, William H. Carter, Thomas H. Norwood; Second Lieutenants, Daniel L. McMillan, R. W. Singletary, Moses Haywood, E. A. Moffitt, R. W. Dupree. Enlisted men, 141. Company I — Captains, Downing H. Smith, John R. Roach ; First Lieutenants, J. J. Bland, John R. Roach ; Sec- ond Lieutenants, John R. Roach, John A. Jackson, J. M. Lancaster. Enlisted men, 120.
Company K— Captains, Rhet. R. L. Lawrence, W. P. Oldham ; First Lieutenants, Joseph W. Howard, W. P. Old- ham; Second Lieutenants, David Yarborough, Bedford
24 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65.
Brown, J. H. Johnson, A, S. Webb, Joseph J. Leonard, Rufus Starke. Enlisted men, 144.
On 19 May, 1862, the regiment was ordered to Tarboro, N. C, thence it proceeded to Greenville, jST. C, and for a few weeks was engaged in outpost and picket duty in that section of the State during which time it participated in no affair of consequence, save the skirmish at Tranter's Creek which, though otherwise unimportant, was to the regiment most un- fortunate in that its accomplished commander lost his life.
From Eastern jSTorth Carolina the regiment was ordered to Virginia and there assigned to the Brigade of General J. Johnston Pettigrew, one of the very ablest commanders of the Army of Northern Virginia. Not only the Forty-fourth Regiment, but the entire Brigade, which consisted of five regiments — the Eleventh North Carolina, the Twenty-sixth N^orth Carolina, the Forty-fourth North Carolina, the Forty- seventh N^orth Carolina, and the Fifty-second North Caro- lina, felt the impress of his soldierly qualities. It was ever a matter of regret to the officers and men of the regiment that no opportunity was offered them of manifesting their appre- ciation of his great qualities by their conduct on the battle- ffeld uudor his immediate command. The other regiments of his brigade were with him at Gettysburg and contributed to his imperishable renown by their steadfast valor, but the Forty-fourth North Carolina, whilst en route, was halted at Hanover Junction, Va., to guard the railroad connections there centering, and thus protect General Lee's communica- tions with Richmond. Colonel T. C. Singletarv with two companies, remained at the junction. ]\[ajor Charles M. Stedman, with four companies, commanded north of the junction and the bridges of the Fredericksburg and of the Central (now the (1 & O.) Railroad across the South Anna and the Little Rivers, four in numl)ei', were entnisted to Lieu- tenant-Colonel Hargrove, who posted one company at each bridge, remaining personally with C(UU])any A at Central's bridge across the South Anna, the post of greatest danger. On the morning of 26 June, 1865, the Federal troops, con- sisting of the Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry, two compa-
Forty-Fourth Regiment. 25
nies of a California cavalry regiment, and two pieces of ar- tillery, about fifteen hundred, all included, commanded by Colonel, afterwards General Spear, appeared before Lieuten- ant-Colonel Hargrove, and his small force of forty men, sta- tioned in a breastwork on the south side of the river, built to be manned by not less than four humlred men. Before Col- onel Spear made his first attack, Lieutenant-Colonel Har- grove abandoning- the breastwork as being entirely untenable by so small a force, fell back to the north side of the river, posted his men under cover along the river bank and for two hours successfully resisted repeated efforts to capture the bridge by direct assault, although assailed by a force outnum- bering his own at least thirty-five to one. Failing in a direct attack, Colonel Spear sent four hundred men across the river by an old ford under cover of a violent assault in front from the south and was about to assail Lieutenant-Colonel Har- grove in his rear, which was entirely unprotected, when Com- pany G, consisting of -iO men, having been ordered from Cen- tral's bridge, over the river at Taylorsville, more than three miles distant, arrived and occupied the breastwork north of the river at its intersection with the railroad, and about two hundred yards from the bridge, thus protecting the rear of Company A. Company G had scarcely got into position when the charge of four hundred cavalry, intended for the unprotected rear of Company A, was delivered against Com- pany G, protected by the breastwork, and was repulsed, as were two other charges made at intervals of about fifteen minutes, while attacks were made simultaneously on Com- pany A from across the river with like results. During a lull in the fighting the Federal force on the north side was re- inforced by four hundred men, and an assault on both Com- panies A and G was (at the same time) ordered. Colonel Spear crossed the river and ordered the attack made up the river bank against Company G's unprotected right, and Com- pany A's unprotected left flank at the abutment of the bridge. The enormous odds prevailed, but only after a most desperate and hand-to-hand conflict with pistol, sabre and bayonet, in which Confederates and Federals were commingled. In the final assault Company A lost half of its men. The loss of
26 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
Company G was not heavy. The Federal loss exceeded the entire number of Confederate troops engaged. Colonel Spear retreated after burning one bridge instead of four. He stated in the presence of his own command and that of Colo- nel Hargrove that: "The resistance made by the Confed- erates was the most stubborn he had known during the war; that he supposed that he was fighting four hundred infantry instead of eighty, and that his expedition had entirely failed of its object, which was to cut General Lee's communica- tions with Richmond." No more gallant fight was made dur- ing the entire Civil War, than by Lieutenant-Colonel Har- grove's command. He won the admiration of both friend and foe by his personal gallantry, and only surrendered when overpowered and taken by sheer physical force.
General Pettigrew having been mortally wounded on the retreat from Gettysburg, Colonel William Kirkland, of the Twenty-first N^orth Carolina Regiment, was promoted to Brigadier-General and assigned to the command of Petti- grew's Brigade about 10 August, 1863.
ON THE MARCH.
The brigade left camp at Rapidan Station, wliere it had been in cantonment, on 8 October, 1863, and marched rapidly with a view of engaging General Meade at Culpepper Court House. General Meade fell back and avoided a conflict at Culpepper Court House, but was overtaken at Bristoe Sta- tion. Here on 14 October, 1863, a bloody and disastrous engagement was precipitated between Cooke's and Kirkland's Brigades, and the bulk of Warren's Corps, supported by a powerful artillery with a railroad embankment as a fortifica- tion. In this fight, so inopportune and ill-advised and not at all in accordance with the views of General Lee, the Forty- fourth Regiment greatly distinguished itself. Advancing through an open field directly upon the line of fire of the Federal artillery, it sustained a heavy loss without flinching. Three different couriers rode up to the regiment and deliv- ered a message to fall back. The order was disregarded and the regiment moved steadily on under heavy fire of both artil- lery and infantry, and when close upon the works, with the
Forty-Fourth Regiment. 27
shout of victory in the air, only retreated under peremptory orders from Lieutenant-General A. P. Hill. The loss of the regiment in this engagement in killed and wounded was large. This was the first time the conduct of the regiment fell under the observation of Colonel William MacRae, of the Fifteenth North Carolina Regiment, and after^vards its brigade commander. He w^as struck with admiration at the splendid conduct of the men, and often afterwards re- ferred to their steady valor upon that field. It endeared the regiment to liim, for he loved brave men, and it became his habit to frequently place himself with the colors of the regiment for, said he: 'Tf I am with the Forty-fourth Reg- iment and am lost, I shall always be found to the fore-front of the fighting."
WILDERNESS.
General Lee having received information that General Grant had commenced the passage of the Rapidan on the night of 3 May, 1864, broke up his cantonments on the 4th and prepared to meet him. The Forty-fourth ISTorth Caro- lina, with Kirkland's Brigade, left camp near Orange Court House on the 4th and bivouacked the same night at Verdiers- ville, about nine miles from the battlefield of the "Wilder- ness." Two roads led in parallel lines through the dense thickets which gave its name to the territory upon which the battle was fought. One was known as the Orange Plank Road, and the other as the Turnpike. The Forty-fourth marched by way of the Plank Road and became heavily en- gaged about 2 o'clock of the afternoon of the 5th. The right rested immediately upon tlie Plank Road, and next in line to it, with its left on the road, was the Twenty-sixth North Carolina Regiment. This immediate locality was the storni-eenter of the fight, and it is doubtful if any more violent and sanguinary contest occurred during the entire Civil War than just here. The road was swept by an inces- sant hurricane of fire, and to attempt to cross it meant almost certain death. At this point of the line three pieces of Confederate artillery were seriously menaced with capture, the horses belonging to the guns having all been
28 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
killed or disabled, whilst the gunners were subjected to an incessant and murderous fire. At this juncture Lieuten- ant R. W. Stedman, of Company A, volunteered to drag the guns down the road out of danger if a detail of forty men was furnished. Forty men immediately stepped to his side and said they would follow him, althovigh they all knew the effort was full of peril. The work was done suc- cessfully, but only three of the volunteers escaped unhurt. Lieutenant Stedman was severely wounded by a grape shot. For his personal gallantry in this action he was honorably mentioned in high terms of praise, in an official order from division headquarters. The loss of the regiment in the en- gagements of the 5th and 6th was exceedingly heavy ; a large proportion of its officers were killed and wounded; amongst the latter the Major of the regiment. Both officers and men won the special commendation of brigade and divis- ion commanders. On the 8th the regiment moved with the brigade towards Spottsylvania Court House. On the 10th Heth's and Anderson's Divisions, commanded by Early, had a serious conflict with a portion of General Grant's army, which was attempting to flank General Lee by what was called the Po River Road. In this engagement the Forty-fourth, suffered severely, and fought with its accustomed valor.
Captain J. J. Crump, of Company E, elicited by his con- duct, warm commendation from the general commanding.
SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE.
On the 12th the regiment was assigned its position directly in front of Spottsylvania Court House, and was in support of a strong force of Confederate artillery. Repeatedly during the day it was charged 1)y the Federal columns, their ad- vance always being heralded and covered by a lieavy artil- lery fire. Every assault was repulsed with gi'oat loss to the assailants, whose advance was greeted by loud cheers from the Forty-fourth Regiment, many of the men leaping on the eartliworks and fighting without covei-. The loss during this engagement was comparatively slight. The ^lajor com- mandinsi' the regiment was ao'ain wounded and sent to a hos-
FORTY -FOURTH REGIMENT.
1. R. W. Stedman, 2d Lieut., Co. A., 3. John Ruffin Buchanan, Sergeant, Co. A.
Famous Scout. 4. Joseph M. Satterwhite, Private, Co. A.
2. E. A. Moffitt, 2d Lieut., Co. H. 5. James Andrew Wilson, Private, Co. A.
Forty-Fourth Regiment. 29
pital in Kichniond, and was not able to rejoin his regiment until a few days before the battle at Reams Station.
The regiment participated in all the engagements in which its brigade took part from Spottsylvania Conrt Plouse to Pe- tersburg, constantly skirmishing and fighting as Grant con- tinued his march on Lee's flank. On 3 June, 186-i, it was heavily engaged with the enemy near Gaines' Mill. In this fight General W. W. Ivirkland, commanding the brigade, was wounded. Pursuing its march, and almost daily skirmish- ing, the regiment reached Petersburg on 24 June, 18()4-, and commenced the desultory and dreary work of duty in the trenches. During the latter part of July, 1864, the regi- ment left Petersburg for Stoney Creek, and whilst on the march Colonel William MacRae, of the Fifteenth North Carolina Regiment, joined the brigade and assumed com- mand under orders. This gallant officer was promoted to the rank of Brigadier-General in I^ovember, 1864, and from that time never left the brigade, of which the Forty-fourth was a part, until the last day at Appomattox. From Stoney Creek the regiment returned to Petersburg.
REAMS STATION.
The regiment bore its part with conspicuous good conduct in the brilliant engagement at Reams Station on 25 August, 1864.
Upon the investment of Petersburg the possession of the Weldon road became of manifest importance, as it was Lee's main line of comnumication with the South, whence he drew his men and supplies. On 18 August, 1864, General G. K. Warren, with the Fifth Corps of Grant's anuy, and Kautz's Division of cavalry, occupied the line of the Weldon road at a point six miles from Petersburg. An attempt was made to dislodge them from this position on the 21st, but the effort failed. Emboldened by Wan-en's success, Hancock was or- dered from Deep Bottom to Reams Station, ten miles from Petersburg. He arrived there on the 2 2d and promptly commenced the destruction of the railroad track. His in- fantry force consisted of Gibbons' and Miles' Divisions, and in the afternoon of the 25th, he w^as reinforced by the divis-
30 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
ion of Orlando B. Wilcox, which, however, arrived too late to be of any substantial service to him. Gregg's division of cavalry, with an additional brigade commanded by Spear, was with him. He had abundant artillery, consisting in part of the Tenth Massachusetts battery. Battery B First Rhode Island, McNight's Twelfth New York Battery, and Woer- ner's Third New Jersey Battery. On the 2 2d Gregg was as- sailed by Wade Hampton with one of his cavalry divisions, and a sharp contest ensued. General Hampton, from the battlefield of the 2 2d, sent a note to General R. E. Lee, sug- gesting an immediate attack with infantry. That great commander, realizing that a favorable opportunity was of- fered to strike Hancock a heavy blow, directed Lieutenant- Gen eral A. P. Hill to advance against him as promptly as possible. General Hill left his camp near Petersburg on the night of the 24th, and marching south, halted near Arm- strong's Mill, about eight miles from Petersburg. On the morning of the 25tli he advanced to Monk's Neck Bridge, three miles from Reams Station, and awaited advices from Hampton. The Confederate force actually present at Reams Station, consisted of Cooke's and MacRae's Brigades of Heth's Division, Lane's, Scales' and McGow^an's Brigades of Wilcox's Division, Anderson's brigade of Longstreet's Corps, two brigades of Mahone's Division, Butler's and W. H. F. Lee's Divisions of cavalry, and a portion of Pegram's Battal- ion of artillery.
Being the central regiment of the brigade, MacRae's line of battle was formed on it as was customary. Just previous to the assault upon General Hancock's command, the regi- ment was posted in the edge of a pine thicket, about three hundred yards from the breastworks held by the Federal troops. When the order was given to advance, the men threw themselves forward at a double-quick in a line as straight and unbroken as they presented when on parade, and without firing a gun, mounted the entrenchments and precipitated themselves amongst the Federal infantry on the other side, who seemed to be dazed by the vehemence of the attack, and made a very feeble resistance after their ranks were reached.
A battery of artillery, captured by the regiment, was
Forty-Fourth Regiment. 31
turned upon the retreating columns of the enemj. It was manned by sharpshooters of the Forty-fourth, who had been trained in artillery practice. Captain Oldham, of Com- pany K, sighted one of the gims repeatedly, and when he saw the effect of his accurate aim upon the disarmed masses in front, was so jubilant that General MacRae with his usual quiet humor remarked: "Oldham thinks he is at a ball in Petersburg."
The Federal loss in this battle was between six and seven hundred killed and woimded, and 2,150 prisoners, 3,100 stand of small arms, twelve stand of colors, nine guns and caissons. The Confederate loss was small, and fell princi- pally upon Lane's Brigade ; it did not exceed five hvmdred in killed and wounded. The casualties in the Forty-fourth Regiment were trifling, as well as in other regiments of the brio'ade, for Hancock's men in our front fired wildlv and above the mark, being badly demoralized by the fire of the Confeder- ate artillery, under cover of Avhich MacRae's men advanced to the assault.
James Forrest, who carried the colors of the regiment, be- came famous for his chivalrous devotion to the flag, and his gallantry on every field.
On the night of 25 August, 1864, the regiment returned with MacRae's Brigade to its position on the line of entrench- ments at Petersburg, held by General Lee's right, and contin- ued to perform the routine of duties incident to such a life until 27 October, 1864.
BURGESS'' MILL.
The enemy having forced back our cavalry, and penetrated to a point on our right known as Burgess' Mill, on 27 Octo- ber, 1864, General MacRae was ordered to attack with the understanding that he should be promptly reinforced by one or more brigades. Reconnoitering the enemy's position, he pointed out at once the weak part of their line to several officers who were with him, and ordered his brigade to the assault. It bore down everything in its front, capturing a battery of artillery, and dividing the corps which it had as- sailed. The Federal commander, seeing that MacRae was
32 North Carolina Troops. ISOl-'Go.
not supported, closed in upon his flanks and attacked with gi'eat vig<)r. Undismayed by the large force which sur- rounded him, and unwilling to surrender the prize of victory already within his grasp, MacRae formed a portion of his command (ibli(|uely to his main line of battle, driving back the foe at every point, whilst the deafening shouts and obsti- nate fighting of his brigade showed their entire confidence in their commander, although every man of them knew their situation to be critical, and their loss had already been great. Awaiting reinforcements, which long since ought to have been with him, he held his vantage ground at all hazards, and against enormous odds. jSTo help came whilst his men toiled, bled and died. Approaching night told him that the safety of his brigade demanded that he return to his original posi- tion. Facing his men about, they cut their Avay through a new^ line of battle wdiich had partially formed in their rear. In this encounter the Forty-fourth Xorth Carolina bore a brilliant part ; it drove the Federal line, everyA\'her(^ in its front, steadily to the rear. Lieutenant R. W. Stcduuni, of Company A, with less than fifty men, charged and captured a battery of artillery which was supported by a considerable force of infantry. This battery was disabled and left, as it was impossible to bring it off the field when the regiment was ordered to return to the position it occupied at the commence- ment of the fight. The affair at Burgess' Mill was uiarred by the misunderstanding of his orders by an officer of high rank, by which he failed to reinforce General MacRae, as instructed, causing a heavy loss to his brigade.
From Burgess' Mill the regiment again returned to its old position in the entrenchments at Petersburg. On 2 April, 1865, the Confederate lines having been pierced and broken through, the regiment, under orders, commenced its retreat towards Amelia Court House, which place it reached on 4 April. Its line of march was marked by constant and bloody engagements with the Federal troops, who followed in close pursuit, but wlio were entirely unable to produce the slight- est demoralization or panic. At Southerland's Station the fight w^as severe. On the night of tlie 5th it left Amelia Court House and reached Appomattox on the morning of the
Forty-Fourth Regiment. 33
9th, where, together Avith the bleeding remnants of the army of l^orthern Virginia, it stacked its arms and its career was ended.
The esprit de corps of the regiment was of the very highest order. Xeither disease, famine, nor scenes of horror well calculated to freeze the hearts of the bravest, ever conquered its iron spirit. The small remnant who survived the trials of the retreat from Petersburg, and who left a trail of blood along their weary march from its abandoned trenches to Ap- pomattox Court House, were as eager and ready for the fray on that last memorable day, as when, with full ranks and abiuidant support, they drove the Federal troops before them in headlong flight on other fields. This spirit especially manifested itself in the love of the regiment for its flag, which was guarded by all its mend^ers with chivalrous devo- tion, and which was never lost or captured on any field. The first flag was carried from the commencement of its cam- paign until about 1 Januaiy, 1865, when a new one was presented in its stead, for the reason that so much of the old flag had been shot away that it could not Ix^ distinctly seen by other regiments during brigade drills, and as the Forty-fourth was always made the central regiment, upon which the oth- ers of the brigade dressed in line of battle, as well as on pa- rade, a new flag had become a necessity.
The new battle flag was carried by Color-Sergeant George Barbee, of Company G, until the night of 1 April, 1865, when crossing the Appomattox, he wrapped a stone in it and dropped it in the river, saying to his comrades about him : ''No enemy can ever have a flag of the Forty-fourth ISTorth Carolina Regiment." The wonderful power which the high order of esprit de corps exerted for good amongst the officers and men, is illustrated by an incident which is worthy to be recorded amidst the feats of heroes.
A private by the name of Tilman, in the regiment, had on several occasions attracted General MacRae's favorable at- tention and, at his request, was attached to the color-guard. Tilman's name was also honorably mentioned in the orders of the day from brigade headquarters. 3
34 North Carolina Troops, 18G1-'65.
Soon thereafter, in front of Petersburg, the regiment be- came severely engaged with the enemy and suffered heavy loss. The flag several times fell, as its bearers were shot down in quick succession. Tilman seized it and again car- ried it to the front. It was but an instant and he, too, fell. As one of his comrades stooped to raise the flag again, the dying soldier touched him, and in tones made weak by the approach of death, said: "Tell the General I died with the flag." The tender memories and happy associations connected with his boyhood's home faded from his vision as he rejoiced in the consciousness that he had proved himself worthy of the trust which had been confided to him.
The old battle flag of the regiment tattered and torn by ball and shell, its staff riddled, and its folds in shreds, was pre- sented to Mrs. Delia Worth Bingham, wife of Captain Robert Bingham, Company G, by the Major commanding, as a mark of respect and esteem in behalf of officers and men to a woman who had won their affectionate regard, and whose hus- band had ever followed it with fidelity and fortitude upon every field where it waved. Captain Bingham, whose home is in Asheville, 1^. C, still has it in his possession.
Its folds shall become mouldy with the lapse of years. The time will come when the Civil War shall only be remembered as a shadow of days long passed, but the memories of the great deeds of the sons of Carolina who followed that flag, and who sleep in unknown graves upon the fields of Northern Virginia, shall survive unshaken amidst the ruins of time.
Chas. M. Stedman. Greensboro, N. C,
April 9, 1901.
PUBLIC LIBR^R"?
FORTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.
1. Junius Daniel, Colonel. 5. Andrew J. Boyd, Lieut.-Colonel.
2. John R. Winston, Colonel. 6. Thomas M. Smith, Major.
8. J. Henry Morehead, Colonel. 7. Samuel C. Rankin, Captain, Co. K.
4. Samuel Hill Boyd, Colonel. 8. J". A. Roach, Sergeant, Co. E.
9. C. B. Watson, Sergeant, Co. K.
FORTY-FIFTH REGIMENT.
j3y CYRUS B. WATSON, Second Sergeant, Company K.
ITS ORGANIZATION.
The Forty-fifth Regiment was organized at Camp Man- gum, Raleigh, 'N. C, in the early spring of 1862, with:
Junius Daniel, Colonel, of Halifax County.
Jno. Henky Mokehead^ Lieutenant-Colonel, of Greens- boro, IT. C.
Andrew J. Boyd, Major, of Rockingham. W. M. Hammond, Adjutant, of Anson. Pryor Reynolds, A. Q. M., Rockingham. Dr. Wm. J. Courts, Surgeon, of Rockingham. Jno. R. Raine, Assistant Surgeon, of Rockingham. Rev. E. H. Harding, Chaplain, of Caswell County.
The regiment contained ten companies, six of which were organized in Rockingham County, one in Caswell, two in Guilford and one in Forsyth. These companies were en- listed and organized for three years' service. i\.t the time of their organization, the war was on in dead earnest. The first battle of Manassas had been fought and won ; the battles of Forts Henry and Donelson had been fought and lost, and the capital of one of the States of the Confederacy was in the hands of the enemy. The State of ISTorth Carolina had been invaded ; Fort Macon had been captured, and the city of New Bern was occupied by the Federal forces. The au- thorities at Washington were putting forth tremendous en- ergies in organizing and equipping great armies for the sub- jugation of the seceding States. The Confederate Govern- ment at Richmond, to meet these mighty preparations, had called upon the States of the South for more troops.
Thes^ ten companies were raised and commanded by such
36 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
men as Dr. Jno. W. May, of Rockingham County, then nearly 50 years of age, Captain of Company A.
Chas. E. Shober, of Greensboro, Captain of Company B, himself fit to command a regiment.
Jas. T. Morehead, Jr., of Greensboro, Captain of Com- pany C, afterwards the splendid commander of the Fifty- third Regiment.
Jno. L. Scales, of Rockingham, Captain of Company D, a man of sterling worth and splendid ability.
Samuel H. Boyd, of Rockingham, Captain of Company E, afterwards Colonel of the regiment and a most gallant man.
Jno. R. Winston, of Rockingham, Captain of Company F, a man who afterw-ards won great distinction as commander of the regiment.
Jno. H. Dillard, of Rockingham, Captain of Company G, who afterwards filled with distinction a position upon the Supreme Court bench of the State, and w^hose qualities of head and heart fitted him for any position he might be called upon to fill.
Dr. Wm. J. Courts, of Rockingham, Captain of (^ompany H., afterwards Surgeon of the Regiment.
Thomas McGehee Smith, of Caswell, Captain of Company I, a most lovable man, afterwards promoted to Major and killed while commanding the regiment.
Dr. J. M. Hines, of Forsyth, Captain of Company K, whose manly qualities and unifomi kindness to the boy sol- dier, the writer of this sketch, who served under him, will al- ways be held in the fondest remembrance.
Junius Daniel, the first Colonel of the Regiment, was an ofiicer in the old army and a gi\aduate of West Point. He was transferred from the command of the Fourteenth Regi- ment to the Forty-fifth Regiment, of which he w-as elected Colonel upon its organization. He was promoted to Briga- dier-General in September, 1862, and commanded Daniel's Brigade with conspicuous ability from its organization in the spring of 1862, until killed at Spottsylvania Court House on 12 May, 1864. On his promotion^ Lieutenant-Colonel J. Henry Morehead, of Greensboro, was made Colonel of the regiment. He was a fine disciplinarian and did much before
Forty-Fifth Regiment. 37
his untimely death in 1863 in qualifying the regiment for the ordeals through which it had to pass along its subsequent march to imperishable renown. After the death of Colonel Morehead, Samuel H. Boyd became Colonel of the regiment. He was wounded at Gettysburg and left on the field a pris- oner, and remained a prisoner of war until exchanged in May, 1864. He then returned to the army and took com- mand of the regiment on 17 May, at Spottsylvania ; was killed two days thereafter while gallantly leading his regi- ment in a charge upon the enemy's line. A few moments be- fore the charge, in which he lost his life, he received a gun- shot wound in the arm. He had his arm bandaged with his handkerchief to stop the flow of blood, refused to leave the field, and was killed as above stated.
He wore a bright, new uniform in this battle, was about six feet four inches tall, which made him a shining mark for the enemy's riflemen. After his death John R. Winston became Colonel of the regiment. Mature had fashioned him for a soldier. He was a man of deep piety, of stem integrity and the coolest courage in battle. He was often wounded, but rarely left the field because of wounds. Was wounded and captured at Gettysbui'g in July, 1863, carried to Johnson's Island as a prisoner of war, escaped from the island on a cold night in January, 1864, walked across the lake on the ice to the Canadian shore, went from Canada to ISTassau, from there he reached a Confederate port by running the blockade, and returned to the regiment in time for the campaign of 1864. He led the regiment through all the battles of the Wilder- ness, Spotts^dvania and Cold Harbor ; was then transferred to General Early's command in the Valley, advanced with that command upon Washington, carried his regiment in sight of the Capitol, fought his regiment at the battle of Win- chester, Fisher's Hill and Cedar Creek, and in the last two engagements, held the regiment in line until most of Early's command had left the field. After the Valley campaign wa.s over, he joined the army of General Lee at Petersburg, where he remained during the winter of 1864 and 1865, marched and fought to Appomattox Court House where he surren- dered with the army of his great Chieftain.
38 North Carolina Troops, 1861 -'05.
Thomas McGehee Smith, Major of the regiment, was a splendid officer, beloved by the men of the regiment, and was killed in one of the battles near Richmond which followed the Spottsjlvania campaign of 1864.
I have given this sketch of the field officers of the regiment who served for any length of time with the regiment. Majo]* Andrew J. Bojd, a brother of Colonel Samuel H. Boyd, was promoted from Captain of Company L, of the Twenty-first Regiment, but did not long remain with the regiment. Chas. E. Shober was promoted from Captain of Company B, but re- mained Major of the regiment only a short time until he be-' came Lieutenant-Colonel of the Second North Carolina Bat-" talion.
In approaching the difficult task assigned me of writing a true historical sketch of the Forty-fifth Regiment in this, the year 1900, thirty-five years after the regiment laid down its arms at Appomattox Court House, I find myself involved in gi'eat difficulties. Very few of the officers of the regiment are living. In looking over the Roster of the non-commis- sioned officers of the various companies, I find that they, too, have nearly all passed away. Among the surviving private soldiers of the various companies, there are very few, whose whereabouts I can ascertain. I have little left but personal recollection.
It will be seen that the men who composed this regiment were drawn from four contiguous counties, Forsyth, Guil-' ford, Rockingham and Caswell. The officers who organized, disciplined and prepared them for war were such as would have made a good regiment out of almost any material. But the men themselves, in the main, would have made good sol- diers under almost any circumstances. The rank and file of the regiment was composed of men from tlie farm, from the shop, from the school room, from the office, from mercantile pursuits, in fact from all the Avalks of life. Many of thera were without property, some of them the sons of the wealthy, but most of them from the middle classes. I knew one young private who was the owner of many slaves in his own right.
From the organization of the regiment in the early spring of 1862 until the beginning of the seven days' fight beloW
Forty-Fifth Regiment. 39
Richmond, the men were drilled almost incessantly. They were upon the drill ground upon an average from six to eight hours each day. When the first battle opened at Me- chanicsville, Daniel's Brigade was in camp near Petersburg. We immediately struck tents and started for the field ; crossed the James on a pontoon bridge above Drewry's Bluff, and be^ came a part of the division of General Holmes. The brigade did not encounter the enemy until late in the evening of 30 June. We marched down the river in almost blinding dust until we reached a point between McClellan's army, then en- gaged in the battle of Frazier's Farm, and the river.
The brigade was halted and the command was given for the first time to load Avith cartridges. A few stray balls of the enemy were falling around the regiment. While the regi- ment was loading its guns, a field battery opened fire directly enfilading the line. At the same time a squadron of Confed- erate cavalry stampeded up the road, threatening to trample us under the feet of their horses. Just at this moment, two gunboats, the Galena and another on the river directly behind the line, opened fire with 160 pounders. This was, what has always seemed to me, a poor way to break in a raw regiment. The regiment thought so, and eight companies immediately broke to the woods and "Stood not upon the order of their going." Two companies, commanded by Captain May and Captain Jno. H. Dillard, rapidly disappeared up the lane. Just as these eight companies climbed out of the road, which was lower than the land on the sides. Private Harrison Green, of Company K, was killed by a shell from one of the gunboats and fell by the writer's side. Private Jesse Sapp, of Com- pany K, was run over and permanently disabled by the horse of a frightened cavalryman. The eight companies did not go far until they recovered from their fright, formed on the flag and quietly marched back to a position near the point where they had left the road, each man with his mouth full of ex- cuses for having lost his head. Just at this time the two com- panies, commanded by Captains May and Dillard, came marching down the lane with their two captains in front and marched up to Colonel Daniel. Captain May saluted the Colonel and said that Companies A and G had
40 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65.
misunderstood the order and had marched up the lane. Colo- nel Daniel replied, with a smile on his face: "Yes, Captain, I saw the companies march \jp the lane at a very rapid gait, and, if I am not mistaken, their two Captains were making good time, and in front," which created a langh all tlirough the regiment, the two Captains joining in the fun. By a mis- take of some one, our division that evening was not permitted to engage in the battle of Frazier's Farm, although it reached a point immediately upon tlie enemy's flank in time to have done effective service. The next day the sanguinary conflict of Malvern Ilill raged until after dark, with our division again on the enemy's flank and under the enemy's fire with- out taking any active part in that engagement, except to endure the shelling from the enemy's guns. It was not the fault of "the men behind the guns." Daniel's Brigade, after the battle of Malvern Hill, returned to its camp near Petersburg. It remained near Petersburg until the army started on its march to ^laryland. We were ordered to Richmond and remained in the city one day, awaiting trans- portation to Culpepper. The enemy made a demonstration on Drewry's Bhiti' and we were hurried back to tluit point. We went into camp immediately in the rear of Fort Darling, where we renuiined until ordered to T^orth Carolina in the late fall of 1862. The In-igade went to Ivinston ; was en- gaged through the spring of 1862 in marching and counter- marching in the country between Ivinston and Xew Bern and around Washington on the Tar river, under General D. H. Hill ; some little fighting, but none worth describing here. We returned to Kinston in time to have reached Fredericks- burg before the battle of Chancellorsville, l)ut were delayed for want of transportation facilities, and arrived at Freder- icksburg just after the liattle had closed and were immedi- ately attached to General Rodes' Division of Ewell's Corps. Early in June the army broke u]) camp and started on the memorable Gettysburg campaign. The first excitement occurrcMl over the great cavalry Icittle of Brandy Station. The brigade double-cpiicked from ("'ulpepper Court House most of the way to Brandy Station one hot evening, going to the relief of General Stuart, l)ut arrived on the field only
Forty-Fifth Regiment. 41
in time to receive a few parting shots from the retreating en- emy. The next morning found us on our way across the mountains marching rapidly toward Winchester. Rodes' Division was sent to Berryville, where it had a slight engage- ment, and cut oif the retreat of Milroy, whose entire command fell into the hands of General Ewell as prisoners of w^ar at Winchester. Ewell's Corps innnediately took up its line of march into Pennsylvania, and Rodes' Division went as far !N"orth as Carlisle, Pa. From this point the Brigade turned back in the direction of Gettysburg and arrived on that field in the afternoon of 1 July.
BATTLE OF GETTYSBURG.
I was not present with my regiment at the battle of Get- tysburg. I was left at Front Royal, on the march to Gettys- burg, with a severe attack of acute pneumonia, contracted from lying on the damp ground at Brandy Station, after the rapid march from Culpepper, before alluded to. I met the regiment on its return between Hagerstown, ]\Id., and Get- tysburg, in command of a Captain. This much I know, when I met the regiment it was but a mere skeleton of what it was when it left me at Front Royal.
My own company lost seven men dead on the field, and lost between twenty-five and thirty wounded, including all of its officers save one. The Gettysburg Federal Memorial i^sso- ciation in 1897 published ''A History of the Gettysl^urg Me- morial Association with an Account of the Battle," from Mdiich I quote as follows :
"Another of Rodes' Brigades, Daniel's jSTorth Carolina, moved past the front of Robinson's Division, and while the Fifty-third Regiment of the brigade, with the Third Alaba- ma of O'^N^eal's, which had been detached from its brigade, and the Twelfth Xorth Carolina, of Iverson's, attacked the Seventy-sixth iSTew York, Fifty-sixth Pennsylvania and One Hundred and Forty-seventh j^ew York, of Cutler's Brigade, on left of Robinson, Daniel's other regiment — the Thirty- second, Forty-fifth, Second Battalion and the Forty-third — moved further to the right around to the railroad cut, and attacked the One Hundred and Forty-third and One Hun-
42 North Carolina Troops, 18G1-'65.
dred and Forty-ninth Pennsylvania, of Stone's Brigade, which regiments had been withdrawn from their first position and placed along the Chamhersburg Pike to meet this attack. These regiments were from the lumber region of Pennsylva- nia and were expert riflemen, and the vollies with which they greeted Daniel's men were said by the Confederate offi- cers to have been the most destructive they ever witnessed."
The same account of the battle, in giving a table of losses, shows that these two Pennsylvania Regiments lost 589 men out of a total of 915. While the Forty-fifth Regiment and the Second North Carolina Battalion (six companies), lost that day nearly 400 men. After rei'rossing the Potomac, I remember that General Daniel inspected the regiment, pass- ing down the line inquiring after the condition of cartridges, we having waded the Potomac the night before. I remember hearing him ask Captain Hopkins, who commanded the reg- iment, ''How many Rockingham companies are there in the regiment?" He answered, ''Six." The General replied, "Rockingham county has reason to be proud of the record made by the regiment at Gettysburg."
After the Gettysburg campaign, we returned to the south side of the Rapidan, after many days of hot and toilsome marching, and went into camp near Orange Court House, and finally moved down the river to Morton's Ford, In the fall we left camp, marched to Madison Court House, turned the flank of General Meade, and started on, what appeared to be, a foot race after Meade's army retreating toward Washing- ton. We overtook Meade at Bristoe Station just at sunset, after having been engaged in a running fight which lasted all day. The battle of Bristoe Station ended disastriously to us but Gen. Meade continued his retreat toward Washington. After a day or two's rest, we slowly returned to the south bank of the Ttapp:diannock river and went into camp, as we thought, for the winter. Shortly afterwards, after some sharp skirmishing with the enemy, we retired across the Rapidan and again took up our old (piarters near Morton's Ford. Winter being now upon us, we thought all fighting was over for the year lSfi3, but shortly afterwards. General Meade, not satisfied with the result of the recent campaign.
Forty-Fifth Regiment. 43
threw his army across the Rapidan. We hastened down to confront him, and for several days skirmished and fought by day and built breastworks by night in severe winter, until the enemy, finding that it was impossible to fight us to ad- vantage, fell back across the river, and both armies returned to their quarters to remain during the winter. Each com- mander immediately engaged in filling up the ranks of the depleted regiments, preparing for the dreadful conflict that was to open up in the spring of 1864.
THE WILDERNESS AND SPOTTSYLVANIA COURT HOUSE.
In the afternoon of 4 May, the regiment abandoned its winter quarters and started on the march to meet General Grant, the new commander of the Army of the Potomac. At nightfall we went into camp in ^'The Wilderness." On the morning of the 5th, after a hurried breakfast, we took up the line of march, and within a very short time, were halted and drawn up in line of battle. It was a beautiful May morning. We began to advance in line, having been informed that we had some of our troops in front of us. We could hear the scattering picket fire to the left and right. Suddenly we heard, what appeared to be a heavy volley of musketry a few hundred yards in front of us. Soon the woods were filled with de- moralized men and we ascertained that the lines of Jones' Brigade had been broken, and that the regiments composing the brigade were quitting the field in the utmost confusion. We halted and let the men pass through our ranks. We were presently informed by the Colonel of one of the regiments that the brigade had broken at the first fire of the enemy, and that its commander, the brave General Jones, had refused to retreat with the men and had remained on the line until shot down. As soon as the way in front had been cleared, we heard the voice of our brigade commander, General Junius Daniel, give the command, "Attention, Battalions ! Battalions forward, the center the battalion of direction, march !" The brigade moved for^vard at a quick step through the underbrush, just budding into spring life. We had not advanced far until, without notice, a white volume of smoke burst through the thick bushes, rendered
44 North Carolina Troops, 1801 -'05.
thicker by the interlacing haniboo briers that had grown up in a little depression of the earth, parallel with our line, fal- lowed with an almost deafening crash of musketry. We had not, up to this moment, seen an enemy. The aim was too high and hardly a man in the regiment was touched. With- out waiting for a command, every gun was leveled, and into the line of smoke we poured a terrible volley, and, with a shout, Avent at them. On reacliing a little narrow thicket, which, with clubbed muskets, was instantly leveled, we dis- covered a thin line of the enemy in full retreat, with the dead and wounded lying before our eyes, indicating that something like half of the line of battle had fallen at our first fire. On went the brigade in a full run. Presently we ap- proached a small opening containing only a few acres of cleared land.
In this was placed a battery of guns which opened upon us as soon as the fleeing enemy had passed beyond. They had time to fire but once. Down the little slope the brigade rushed past the guns. At this point we received, at short range, the fire of a new line of the enemy, concealed in the pines beyond. The brigade halted, the men dropped on their knees and engaged in a conflict, the length of which I liave no means of knowing. This fight continued until both lines had suffered severely, and, as if by common consent, our line withdrew to the edge of the woods from which it had emerg- ed, while the enemy went in the opposite direction. Shortly afterwards the position we held was given to another brigade and our l>rigade was permitted to retire a few hundred yards and rest. We had lost heavily. The battle was then raging all along the line of Ewell's Corps and continued until after nightfall. In the darkness we arranged our lines and worked most of the night throwing up earth works. Early the next morning the firing betw^een the picket lines began. From time to time during the day we sent forward men to strengthen the picket line. This picket fire continued all day with a light fire of artillery at intervals. During this day, the 6th of May, the dreadful fight was raging on our right between the Corps <^f Hill and Longstreet and the greater part of Grant's army. We remained in our position
Forty- Fifth Regiment. 45
during the night of the 6th and all day of the 7th with con- tinued heavy picket and artillery firing. Early in the night of the 7th we moved out by the right flank, having been cau- tioned to make as little noise as possible, and commenced what turned out to be, a hurried flank movement to Spottsyl- vania Court House. We marched all night, and the whole of the next day, and in the afternoon heard heavy firing in the direction of Spottsylvania Court House, We hurried on. Now and then we passed through sections where the woods were on fire and would become enveloped in choking smoke, but nothing delayed us. Late in the afternoon, as we were approaching the field where Longstreet's Corps, now" com- manded by General Anderson, was engaged in an unequal fight with the assaulting columns of the enemy, the march became more hurried, frequently breaking into a double- quick. The afternoon was hot. The men, worn out by the long march and from loss of sleep, were dropping exhausted along the way. A little before sunset, and as we reached a point almost in range of the enemy's rifles, but in the rear of Longstreet's right, we were halted, the regiment closed up and ordered to a front. General Daniel dashed along on horseback in front of the brigade, halting in the center of each regiment, and announced that Longstreet's Corps had for hours been successfully resisting the repeated attacks of the enemy that had been thrown against him in almost over- whelming numbers ; that we were now in half mile of his ex- treme right ; that the enemy would, within a few minutes, turn his flank and get possession of a most favorable posi- tion unless we arrived in time to prevent it ; that the only question was whether we should arrive in time to save the position or retake it after it had been secured by the enemy. This only occupied a few minutes, but it gave the tired men these few minutes to recover breath.
The announcement of General Daniel was greeted by each regiment with a shout. The brigade was ordered into column, and, in a rapid run, we passed the last regiment on Longstreet's right and discovered that the splendid brigade of General Ramseur, the front brigade in our corps, had passed Longstreet's last regiment, had turned by the left flank, and
46 North Carolina Troops, 1861 -'65.
was moving forward in a beautiful line to meet the enemy that had just arrived and was advancing to turn Longstreet's right. Our brigade pressed on until its last regiment had passed General Ramseur's right, when it, in turn, halted and closed up its ranks, fronted, and under the immediate eye of General Eodes, our commander, who had by this time ar- rived on the spot, raised a yell and dashed at the enemy. In rapid succession the brigades of Generals Doles and Battle passed in our rear, and with a similar movement turned the enemy's flank, whose whole advancing line was driven back. The fight continued in the woods until after nightfall, the two respective lines firing at the flash of the adversary's guns. Slowly the firing ceased, the litter-bearers came in along the line and bore away the wounded. The dead, for the time, and in many instances perhaps for all time, were left undisturbed where they fell.
THE HORSE SHOE.
Soon after the firing ceased, our lines were drawn back for a short distance and preparations for the next day's fight were begun. A sergeant from each regiment of our brigade was called for and assembled at brigade headquarters. I was detailed as one. We were placed in charge of Captain W. L. London, now of Pittsboro, IST. C, (and I could write many pages about the courage and faithfulness of this staff officer). Captain London carried us forward in the dark, and selected, what appeared to be, the highest point of a low ridge between the lines. He posted us, one at a place, along the crest of this low ridge, until he had posted each guide about the length of a regiment apart, giving each instructions to remain in the pine thicket where we were placed, "until we heard the signal come down the line from our right," and then to take it up and repeat it as often as it came, until the regiment formed upon us. In leaving the place where I stood. Captain London cautioned me not to sit down, for fear I might go to sleep, but to stand and rest upon my gun. I must have stood there for more than an hour listening to the strange cries of the wounded, doubtless of both armies, some begging for water, and one poor fellow, as I remember, who
Forty-Fifth Regiment. 47
had perhaps been wounded in the head, was delirious, and now and then would change his cries and groans into a sound like the bark of a dog. After what seemed to me a long time, I heard away on my right coming down the line, a low "Halloo." This passed down the line and continued until we heard the tramp of the regiments as they came up and formed upon us. This was doubtless done all along most of the lines of Ewell's Corps, and done in many places in the dark- ness of a pine thicket. I have never been able to account for the forming of this salient, which was soon to become what is known as the historic "Bloody Angle," except in this way ; we threw up breastworks all night, and, when daylight came^ we found that a part of our division, and perhaps all of Johnson's Division and a part of Hill's men, were occu- pying breastworks formed in the shape of a horse shoe, with the toe upon elevated ground and the sides running back to the caulks, which were not, as I now see the ground, more than 500 yards apart.
All day of the 9th we encountered a deadly fire from the sharpshooters and a heavy fire of artillery from the enemy, to which we replied in kind. This died away after nightfall and was renewed in more aggravated form on the morning of the 10th, and continued until late in the afternoon. Sud- denly, at about an hour by sun, the enemy broke from cover to our right, and poured in overwhelming numbers upon the line occupied by General Doles' Georgians. These gallant men were overpowered by sheer force of numbers and driven from the works. The enemy poured through the breach, captured quite a number of men on the extreme right of our brigade; forced the brigade to retire to avoid the enfilading fire, and caused us the temporary loss of sixteen pieces of artillery. Our brigade slowly fell back firing as it retreated, the enemy advancing and taking possession of our abandoned guns. In a short time we were in line at right angles to the works ; the enemy massing in great numbers in our front. It seemed even to the eye of a private soldier that a dangerous crisis was upon us. Suddenly a single horseman came dash- ing up to the rear of our regiment. He was instantly recog- nized by the men who saw him, as General Ewell, our corps
48 North Carolina Troops, 18G1-'65.
coininaiKk'r. lie had outstripped his staff officers who were following- him, but not then in sight. He luilted in the rear of the Forty-lif th Keginient, and called out, "Don't run boys ; I will have enough men here in five minutes to eat up every d — d one of them." His eyes were almost green. The line steadied and poured volley after volley into the enemy. Presently we heard a yell up the line in our rear as we stood, and Battle's Brigade of Alabamians were seen coming to our support. They ran down the line by us. We raised a yell and dashed forward. jS^ow, what became of Battle's men, whether they passed around us forming a line parallel with the works and then charged with us, I cannot tell. I did not then know. I only know that we went forward in a full run ; found the enemy standing where we had left our batteries ; the gnins all withdrawn from their embrasures, turned upon us, but not firing, while the infantry fired into our faces. They stood their ground until there were but a few paces be- tAveen the lines. A fine-looking Federal officer stood in the front of their line wuth drawn saber, encouraging his men. He fell dead, within a few paces of the writer, shot through the neck. I ascertained the next morning that his name was Colonel Huling, of the Sixth or Seventh Maine Regiment, temporarily connnanding the front brigade in this assault. He was a brave fellow and deserved a better fate. When he fell, his men breaking in confusion leaped over the breastworks, and we went in near the same place we had left them. My re- collection is that these lines were restored by our brigade. Bat- tle's Alabama Brigade, one or two regiments from Bamseur's Brigade and a part of the brigade of General B. D. Johnston. But I reiiKMubor well that a few days thereafter, we had in the company a Richmond paper, giving an account of the battle as connnunicated by an army correspondent, as having been won and the lost line recovered by certain Virginia brigades ; this, indeed, was (]uite a common thing with the Richmond papers. As we recaptured the line the brave artil- lerymen, one company of which was the Richmond Howitz- ers, as fine a body of men as ever wore a uniform, rushed up with rannners in hand ; wheeled the guns to their places and commenced pouring canister into the ranks of the re-
Forty-Fifth Regiment. 49
treating foe. We then saw why it was that we had not been fired upon by our own guns. The artillerymen had carried away the rammers. Thus ended the bloody engagement of 10 May. The gTound was covered with the dead and wounded from both armies. The gallant Colonel Brabble, of the Thirty-second ]^orth Carolina, of our brigade, was among the former.
If space permitted, I would be glad here to give instances of individual acts of heroism witnessed by me in this and subsequent engagements in this bloody angle. The morning after this fight, I was asked by a wounded Sergeant belong- ing to the Sixth Maine Regiment, to help him down under the hill where he would not be exposed to the artillery fire from his own batteries. I did so, and made him as comfort- able as I could. I filled his canteen with water, and learned from him the name and rank of the officer killed the evening before. I observed among the enemy's dead inside our lines, what I thought was an unusual proportion of non-commis- sioned officers. I asked this Sergeant how this happened. He answered that the evening before, just before his brigade led the assaulting column upon our works, that this same Col- onel Huling addressed the regiments of the brigade ; re- minded them that during the preceding battles many com- pany officers had been killed or permanently disabled, and that he expected to keep an eye on the non-commissioned of- ficers of the brigade and see to it that commissions should be given the deserving ones. He said : "We came in front looking for promotion, and you see the result." He himself had a badly shattered leg below the knee. The 11th of May passed with nothing more than heavy skirmishing and severe artillery firing at intervals. Early in the morning of the 11th, General Rodes placed our brigade at the right of the division and in the space previously occupied by General Doles. The brigade took this as a compliment, and General Daniel, soon after the brigade was so placed, passed down the line behind the men and said to ns : "I want you boys to remember that if the enemy come over these breastworks today, you are to receive them on your bayonets." 4
50 North Carolina Troops, 1861 -'65.
The night of tho 11th was dark and drizzly. We sat with guns in hand the entire night, with a man to eaeh company whose business it was to see that the men kept awake. We were so near the enemy's lines that I heard them knocking open cracker boxes and heard them call to the men to come and get their rations (giving '*a'' the long sound). We could hear, during the night, the sound of axes. They were evi- dently engaged in clearing away the pine bushes near the toe of the horse shoe to unmask their batteries. Just as the light was beginning to show on the morning of the 12th, we heard a sharp rattle of musketry away to the right, and suddenly the enemy came rushing over the line of works occupied by Edward Johnson's Division. They did not come in front of our brigade. The Forty-fifth Regiment occupied the posi- tion at the extreme right of the brigade next to Johnson's Division. It seemed to me then, as I remember now, that they captured almost the entire division down to the extreme left, and up to our right. I saw very few men go to the rear. We instantly sprang to our guns at the first firing. Our brave brigade commander came running up the line from near the center of the brigade to our regiment and observed that the enemy on our immediate right was confused in gath- ering up prisoners. He called the regiment to attention; gave the command, "About face," and, as I remember, moved the regiment at a right wheel, thus turning the regiment upon a pivot on the left company, and in this movement threw our backs to the enemy. While we were executing this movement, we were ordered to fire to the rear, which we did as rapidly as we could. When we had reached a point at almost right angles Avith the works, we were halted, ordered to about face, where we stood for a minute or two firing into the enemy's lines enfilading them. We were shortly com- manded to right face and double-quick, the brigade following us. This threw us partly across the lines between the two •caulks of the horse shoe, perhaps half the brigade occupy- ing that position. In the meantime the battalion of artil- lery, down the line to our left, drew their guns from the breastworks and threw them into line about fifty yards to our rear, in a position several feet higher than the position we
Forty-Fifth Regiment. 51
occupied. We dropped upon our knees and opened fire upon the enemy, every man loading and firing as rapidly as possi- ble. Immediately the artillery in our rear opened fire over our heads. For a little while the rush of canister and shrap- nel above us seemed dangerous, but the conflict was on and in a short time we became accustomed to it. By the time the prisoners of Johnson's Division had been disposed of, the enemy in unbroken lines reaching back as far as we could Bee, came sweeping on in our front, but this combined fire of infantry and artillery was more than human flesh could stand and it was impossible for them to reach our line. The first men that came to our assistance was that brigade of North Carolinians commanded by the peerless Ramseur. This brigade always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. It came up and formed on our right, as I remember, in an open field, lay down for a moment, but soon, at the command of its leader, sprang up and dashed forward into the horse shoe. For a moment it seemed to me our brigade ceased firing and held its breath as these men went forward, apparently into the very jaws of death. They were soon en- veloped in smoke, which the heavy atmosphere of a misty morning caused to linger over the field. Now, from this time until dark I know nothing of what took place, except that which occurred in my immediate neighborhood. Without moving at times for hours, we fired into the advancing columns of the enemy who were trying to carry our position, while Ramseur's Brigade, and doubtless many other brigades, were fighting on our right. We made during the day during the little intervals between the enemy's assaults, a little temporary protection composed of fence rails, poles and earth, behind which w^e sat on our knees and fired. We went in with sixty rounds of cartridges each. This supply of ammunition was replenished from time to time during the day. How many rounds were fired no man knew.
The pine saplings standing at intervals in the field in front of us and along on the sides of the old breastworks of John- son's Division, were torn and shattered by minie balls. The enemy would take shelter sometimes behind the captured works, which formed an acute angle with the line we occupied
52 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
and several times during the day I saw pine saplings perhaps six or eight inches in diameter, finally bend, break and fall, from the fire of musketry aimed at the top of the breast- works. From some point along this line, the stump of a white oak, perhaps ten inches or more in diameter, that was cut down in this way, during the day, was taken up by the Federal forces after the battle and carried to Washington, and is there now presented to show the efl^ect of the mus- ketry fire. There was not a moment, as I now remember, from daylight in the morning until long after dark that the battle did not rage in this horse shoe. The fire of the en- emy's artillery from the higher ground near the toe of the horse shoe, and also from the right where Hill's men fought, was terrific the entire day. Just after a severe cannonading, I heard General Daniel, who was sitting at the root of a little tree in the rear of my company with watch in hand, say to Captain London: ''London, how does this ar- tillery fire compare with the second day at Gettysburg." I do not remember Captain London's reply, but General Dan- iel continuing, said : "I have been holding my watch and counting the shells as they came into these lines, and part of the time they have averaged more than one hundred to the minute." I do not think I am mistaken in my figures. When night came on, the tired regiments fell asleep upon the wet ground. The men were in no condition to sit up and discuss the losses. We knew that General Daniel had been borne from the field mortally wounded. We knew that two senior Colonels succeeding him in command of the brigade during the day had also fallen, and that when night came on the brigade was in command of Lieutenant-Colonel Jas. T. More- head, of the Fifty-third Regiment. After the night's sleep, the soldiers looked about tliem and found that our losses had been terrific.
The next morning we occupied a new intrenched line that had been fortified during the night, by whom I know not, and we were again ready for the enemy. There was little fight- ing of any consequence along our part of the line until the morning, as I remember, of the 16th, when the enemy ad- vanced just at daylight in heavy forces, but were easily
Forty-Fifth Regiment. 53
driven back without much loss on our side. On the 17th or 18th and after the enemy had drawn back their line into the woods, giving up the entire field where the conflict raged on the 12th, I asked permission of Lieutenant Frank Erwin, commanding my company, to pass the picket line and go over into this angle to make observations. It was a bright May day. There was no fighting on any part of the line, and by his permission I went. The pickets permitted me to pass, and I went over the breastworks to that portion of the field which had been occupied by our brigade, and then to the right, to the position which had been occupied by Eamseur's Brigade. On my arrival in this angle, I could well see why the enemy had withdrawn their lines. The stench was almost unbearable. There Avere dead artillery horses in considerable numbers that had been killed on the 10th and in the early morning of the 12th. Along these lines of breastworks where the earth had been excavated to the depth of one or two feet and thrown over, making the breastworks, I found these trenches filled with water (for there had been much rain) and in this water lay the dead bodies of friend and foe commingled, in many in- stances one lying across the other, and in one or more in- stances I saw as many as three lying across one another. All over the field lay the dead of both armies by hundreds, many of them torn and mangled by shells. Many of the bodies swollen out of all proportion, some with their guns yet grasped in their hands. Now and then one could be seen covered with a blanket, which had been placed over him by a comrade after he had fallen.
These bodies were decaying. The water was red, almost black with blood. Offensive flies were everywhere. The trees, saplings and shrubs were torn and shattered beyond description ; guns, some of them broken, bayonets, canteens and cartridge boxes were scattered about, and the whole scene was such that no pen can, or ever will describe it. I have seen many fields after severe confiicts, but no where have I seen anything half so ghastly. I returned to my company and said to old man Thomas Carroll, a private in the com- pany, who was frying meat at the fire, "You would have saved rations by going with me, for I will have no more appe-
64 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
tite for a Avcck." On tlie 19th our corps marched in the af- ternoon around the enemy's right, crossed one of the prongs of the Mattapony River, and attacked the enemy on his right flank and rear. We carried no artillery, and, as it happened, that which we had hoped would be a successful surprise to the enemy turned out to be a desperate and unsuccessful battle. We found a large body of fresh troops coming up as re- inforcements from Fredericksburg. We attacked them. The engagement began perhaps two hours by sun and lasted until in the night, and under cover of darkness our corps returned to its former position. In this engagement our regiment suf- fered severely. The Colonel of our regiment, the brave Samuel H. Boyd, was killed while leading a charge. My own company came out of tlie fight with not an officer nor non-commissioned officer left. In this last charge the writer received a severe wound from which he has never entirely re- covered. The next day the armies commenced a movement toward Richmond, confronting each other and fighting almost daily, which finally culminated in the great battle of Cold Harbor, 3 June, in which battle the enemy received awful punishment, and our regiment again suffered severely. While this battle was raging, I was lying helpless in the Win- der Hospital in Richmond, listening to the roar of the guns. After nightfall the wounded began to arrive from the field. I remember liow the wounded in my ward lay upon their beds and inquired, as the Avounded were brought in from their companies and regiments, as to the result of tlic battle and as to friends engaged. There I first learned of the death of Major Smith. The Avard masters and nurses were prin- cipally composed of disabled men, assigned to liglit duty. I remember that about 10 o'clock tliat night, a man was brought in from an ambulance upon a stretclier, and when brought to the light, was found to be the only brother of our ward mas- ter, and iiKirtally wounded. The next morning I learned of the death of a dear friend and school mate, a meud)('r of Manly's Battery, M. F. Cummins. He was sliot tlirough the head while mounted ou the breastworks, ea]i in liand, watching the effect of a sliell fired from his gun ; a brave, gallant fellow. Soon after this battle, the regiment was sent
Forty-Fifth Regiment, 55
to join General Early, and with his comma;id marched down the Valley, crossing the Potomac about 5 or 6 July, and had a severe engagement with the enemy's forces, commanded by General Lew Wallace, near Monocacy Junction. The regi- ment marched from there to the suburbs of Washington and lay there for a day or twO' drinking water from the spring of Hon. Montgomery Blair, and, as the boys afterwards told me, they interfered with the milk and butter in his spring house, but this is hearsay and therefore not evidence. On 14 July the command recrossed the Potomac with quite a number of prisoners and camped about Martinsburg and Winchester for some time, occasionally skirmishing with the enemy until 19 September, when Sheridan advanced with an overwhelming force and attacked Early's Corps, driving it from the field. In this battle our division lost its com- mander, General R. E. Rodes, He was a superb officer and beloved by every man in his division. The army retreated to Fisher's Hill, where it was again attacked on 22 Septem- ber, both of its flanks turned, resulting in a disastrous rout. On this occasion, as I was afterwards informed by the men of my regiment, the regiment held a position across the turn- pike, which it maintained after the troops both on the right and left had fallen back, and retired in good order but not till it became apparent that to remain longer would result in its capture. The courage and fortitude of the regiment on this disastrous day served the purpose of holding back the enemy and covering the retreat of the arm3^ It was on this occa- sion that Colonel John R. Winston, coming up the pike with his regiment in the rear of the retreating army, was accosted by one of his soldiers, who was lying on the roadside disabled by a wound, and who pleaded with his Colonel not to leave him to fall into the hands of the enemy. He rode to where he was lying, reached down and took him by the hand, pulled him to his feet, removed his own foot from tlie stirrup of his saddle, assisted the soldier in placiug his foot in the empty stirrup, lifted him into his lap and brought him off the field. The army fell back to Cedar Creek, where it remained until 19 October. On the night of the 18th the regiment participated in the flank movement which resulted in the
56 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
rout of Sheridan's army in the early morning of the 19th, which splendid victory in the early morning was turned into a disgraceful defeat later in the day, through the inexcusable blunder of some one. This ended Early's campaign in the Valley. Later in the fall the brigade returned to Lee's army and took a position in the line engaged in the defense of Pe- tersburg. Here it remained through the winter of 1864 and 1865 in the trenches, almost continually under fire. The regiment had suffered severely during the Valley cam- paign and by the spring of 1865 had become a mere skeleton.
During the month of March, the regiment occupied a posi- tion a little to the right of Petersburg and just to the left of Port Mahone and near the Crater. Just in front of the left of the regiment stood Fort Steadman which the boys called Port ""Hell," a powerful earthw'ork of the enemy.
On the night of 25 March, the regiment participated in an assault upon Port Steadman directed by General Gordon, and again suffered severely. Hence Proctor^ a private in my company, was one of the skirmishers who first entered the fort about daybreak. Inside of the fort bomb proofs were occupied by officers and men. Llence was a fine soldier, full of fight and fun. He poked his head into one of these bomb proofs, and called out with ugly words, to give emphasis to his command, "Come out of there. I know you are in there." He wore long hair. An officer, startled by this unexpected command, sprang out of his bertli in his night clothes, snatched his saber from its scabbard, seized Hence by the foretop and commenced to slash him about the head with his saber. Hence backed out of the bomb proof, the officer con- tinuing his hold, coming out with him. On getting outside in the open, the fight became an uiuMiual one. Hence's fixed bayonet on the end of liis gun while thus held by the hair, was no match for the saber in the hands of liis adversary, and but f<ir timely aid from one of his comrades, he would have been (piiekly overcome. As it was, he came out of the fight with many gashes on his head and face. The assault upon the fort was unsuccessful.
Along the line of works we occupied we had but one man to five or six feet, an ordinary skirmish line. On the morn-
Forty-Fifth Regiment. 57
ing of 2 April, just before daylight, the enemy advanced upon our works in massed columns ; brushed aside iliechevaux de frise, cutting the chains that linked the parts together with axes, and poured over the line occupied by a part of Battle's and a part of our brigade. Then commenced a struggle which, to my mind, was the most desperate of all the war, and which lasted until into tlie night. Our main line of works stood about four feet high, and was very strong. In the rear of, and at right angles with the line, had been built traverses, made by building log pens about five feet high and filling them with earth. They extended back perhaps forty or fifty feet. The purpose of these traverses was to protect the men, standing in line, from the enfilading artillery fire from Fort Steadman away to our left. There was just room enough between the end of these traverses and the main line for a man to pass. When the enemy broke over the line they filled the spaces between these traverses, the traverses being about 200 feet apart. About 200 yards in the rear of this line had been placed batteries of heavy howitzers, which, up to this time, had been masked to conceal them from the en- my. As these traverses filled, with the Federal troops, these batteries in the rear opened upon them with gTape and can- ister. Major-General Bryan Grimes commanded our divis- ion, and I need not say that at this perilous moment he was with the men at the point of greatest danger, for he was always at such places. All day long the men of this division fought between these traverses, slowly yielding one after an- other when compelled to do so by overwhelming forces. The fire from the enemy's artillery up and down the line was concentrated on our struggling troops.
Huge mortar shells, 12 inches in diameter, came plunging down, sometimes exploding between these traverses and some- times burying themselves in the earth and harmlessly burst- ing six feet under gi'ound. Long before noon all of our bat- teries had been silenced, and the conflict on our side was maintained by infantry alone. I saw the men of my regi- ment load their guns behind the traverses, climb to the top, fire down into the ranks of the enemy, roll off and reload and repeat the same throughout the day. While in the midst of
58 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65.
this din of battle, time after time they woiild send up the old time defiant rebel yell. Late in the evening, I asked Matt. Secrest, of my company, whose cheeks from the corner of his mouth to his ears were almost black as lampblack from the frequent tearing of cartridges, how many rounds he thought he had fired. His answer was : ''I know from the number of times I have replenished my supply of cartridges that I have fired more than 200 rounds."
It was a matter of surprise to us during the day that we did not receive reinforcements. We did not know that our lines were broken throughout their length and that every sol- dier in the army of General Lee was doing five men's work, but it was a fact. In the afternoon, the Petersburg battalion of Junior Reserves, composed of boys without beard, were sent to our assistance and fought like veterans. At last, night came, and under cover of darkness the army that had been so long engaged in defending the gallant little city, retired from its lines crossed the Appomattox and started on the long re- treat which ended at Appomattox Court House. If General Grant had succeeded in successfully breaking through our lines at Fort Mahone, he w^ould have cut the army in two, and the war would have ended at Petersburg instead of Ap- pomattox Court House. I have recently been along the lines at Petersburg, and it now seems to me a mystery how those lines were maintained so long with so few defenders.
The rest of my story is short. We fell back to Amelia Court House on the old Richmond & Danville road, where we expected to draw rations. It is hard to imagine our disap- pointment when we ascertained at this point that by some cruel mistake, the train loaded with provisions for our sus- tenance had gone through to Richmond and was in the hands of the enemy.
On 6 April, wc started toward Lynchburg. Shortly after sunrise we were attacked l)v Sheridan on our loft flank, and all day long we retreated and fought and fouglit and retreated, arriving at Farmville after night, leaving thousands of pris- oners in the hands of the enemy. We continued our retreat on the 7th and 8th with little fighting. On the night of the 8th we camped in the woods near the village of Appomattox, and
Forty-Fifth Regiment. 59
before day the next morning again started on the march to- ward Lynchburg. Our division, commanded by General Grimes, marched up the red road through the little village, passed the Court House and halted and formed a line of bat- tle just behind the crest of a ridge that lay at right angles with the road. As soon as the line was established, the division was ordered forward in line of battle, no enemy in sight. As we reached the top of the hill, we were greeted with a fire of artillery and infantry. We did just what we had always done before; raised a shout and made a dash at Sheridan's line. The line was broken, of course, and his troops driven from the field. The division was halted and the men lay down to rest awaiting further orders. It was a supreme moment, and the fate of that division rested with General Lee, the man, who was almost worshipped by his sol- diers. It was for him to say whether the conflict should there end or whether the remnant of his army should close the last scene of the mighty drama, by submitting to annihi- lation. In the kindness of his great heart, he determined that his soldiers had done enough, and he yielded to "over- whelming numbers and resources." During the seven days' retreat many of the regiments of that army had not eaten what was sufficient for one full day's rations. The ceremo- nies and capitulation having ended, the men returned to their homes. The course pursued by these scarred veterans during years following that surrender, in helping to build up waste places and establish stable government, in the Southern States, is a part of the country's history, and is as glorious as were their actions on the field. I venture to say that the conduct of the Confederate soldiers since the war, in submit- ting to its results, in bearing the burdens of taxation to raise enormous sums of money, with which to pay pensions to their old enemies, and all without scarcely a murmur, finds no parallel in the history of the human race.
The foregoing sketch has been written from time to time, between pressing professional engagements. I greatly re- gret that it had not been written years ago, while facts might have been furnished by the actors, most of whom are now dead.
60 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65.
I trust I may be permitted to say that my name does not appear, as Second Sergeant of Company K, in the Roster, published some years since, while the name of C. B. Mabson, Second Sergeant, does.
Some people do not believe in bad luck. I do.
Gyrus B. Watson. "Winston, N. C.
9 April, 1901.
NOTE.
On 19 May, 1901, I attended the unveiling of a monument by the survivors of the First Regiment Massachusetts Heavy Artillery, on the battle field of 19 May, 1864, the thirty-sev- enth anniversary of the battle. I here met about sixty-five of the said survivors, some of them attended by wives and daugh- ters. I spent a day or two with them and at their request took part in the ceremonies and delivered a short address. This regiment fought immediately in front of the Forth-fifth N^orth Carolina, and the conflict was bloody. The monu- ment bears the following inscription:
'^'iN COMMEMORATION OE THE DEEDS OF THE FIRST REGIMENT
HEAVY ARTILLERY;,
MASSACHUSETTS VOLUNTEERS.
Three hundred and ninety-eiglit of whose members fell ivith- in an hour around this spot during an action, May 19th, 1S64, between a division of the Union Army coinmanded hy General Tyler, and a corps of the Confederate forces under General Eicell.
Erected hy the survivors of the Regiment.
1901."
Together with these gallant men of New England I went over every part of the field and was surprised to find how familiar the fields, woods and houses appeared.
I also went into the Bloody Angle about a mile distant, and had no difficulty in finding the places where the regiment fought for days and nights. The fortifications arc pre- served without clianoe all round the horse shoe. The old
Forty- Fifth Regiment. 61
McCool house is just as it was thirty-seven years ago, the weatherboards perforated with bullets ; the Harrison house almost ready to fall down from neglect ; the trees that suffer- ed during the battles are mostly down or dead, yet quite a number living, with marks of bullets and shells healed over, but plainly visible. There is considerable growth of young- er pine trees. I brought away three blocks from a dead pine, with bullets embedded in two and a grape shot in another, which lies almost at the spot where the brave General Daniel fell. Another section from the preserved heart of the dead pine, too large for me to bring away, had nine bullets in it, partly concealed by the wood that had grown around them in the effort of the tree to outlive its injuries ; many of the wounded trees seem to have recently died. It seems that after the armies left this dreadful angle, the dead of both ar- mies were buried in shallow graves, or rather covered with earth, and the ground in the pine woods along these trenches plainly shows where the remains had since been removed. The survivors of Daniel's brigade should erect a monument on the spot where he fell.
C B. Watson. 3 June, 1901.
FORTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
1. W. L. Saunders, Colonel. 4. Robt. Preston Troy, Captain, Co. Q.
2. A. C. McAll sler, Lieut-Colonel. 5. J. R Heflin, Captain. Co E.
3. R. A. Bost, Captain. Co. K. 6. O. W. Carr, Captain, Co. G.
7. Adolphus Theodorus Bost, Captain, Co. K.
FORTY-SIXTH REGIMENT.
By J. M. WADDILL, Second Lieutenant, Company B.
Well may ISTortli Carolina be proud of the part taken by her sons in the war between the States — proud of the large number of full regiments furnished, and of the promptness and willingness with which they were kept full, as shot, shell and saber thinned their ranks ; proud of their gallantry on the battle field, of their patient endurance in camp and on the march ; of their steadiness and reliability under all cir- cumstances. Truly she has good cause to be proud of her sons. But of the long list of gallant regiments which march- ed away from her soil, none shed greater luster on the mother State than the Forty-sixth (Infantry) the subject of this sketch.
Others may have been as brave, others as patient and true, but few, if any, united all these virtues, which, combined with the perfect hamiony prevailing among its officers and men all through those bloody years, entitle it to a topmost place in the record of the many faithful ones.
The writer (a boy in the early 60's) has little more than memory to rely on in outlining the experiences of his regi- ment. A third of a century casts a mist of uncertainty about even these historic events of the long ago, which is his apology for any errors as to dates, or other inaccuracies which may appear.
Promoted to the line from the Quartermaster's Depart- ment after much of the history of the Forty-sixth was made, he gives, prior to that event, the story as heard from partici- pants, not having been an eye-witness of some of the facts nar- rated.
The many acts of individual gallantry, then so brilliant and conspicuous, have in large measure, faded from his mem- ory, leaving but a shadowy recollection of a group of heroes.
64 North Carolina Troops, 1861 -'65.
bound together as a band of brothers, vieing with eath other on the battleiield, affectionately helping each other on the march and in camp, or tenderly caring for each other in the hospital.
The memory, indistinct though it be, of the daily, hourly sacritices of these gallant ones Ijrings even now the tears to his eyes as he recalls how, on the weary march, the last crust or the blood warm contents of the canteen were divided with those less fortunate — how, in the winter, on the bleak hill- sides of Virginia, those begrimed, nnkempt knights sat in the blinding smoke about the camp fires, all through the long nights, lest if they lay on the threadbare blankets they should be frozen at reveille — and above all, how those thin, grey lines marched gallantly to their death in unbroken, unwavering ranks, closing up the gaps made by shot and shell, as they rushed onward to their graves.
Grand and glorious record is that of the hosts of the South which emblazons the page of history with a brilliancy sur- passed only l)y that l)loodless, but no less heroic battle of life, w^hen returned to their blasted homes, they began the struggle for bread and raiment for loved ones, absolutely empty handed.
What success has crowned their efforts is best illustrated in the well-filled barns, the numberless tall factory chimneys, and the busy marts of numerous populous cities all over the once Southern Confederacy.
ORGANIZATION OF THE REGIMENT.
The Forty-sixth ]*^orth Carolina Infantry had its birth in March, 1862, at Camp Mangum, a camp of rendezvous and instruction four miles from Raleigh, and was composed of ten companies, as follows :
Company A- — From Robeson County — Captain, Tx. M. Norment.
Company B — From Bowcun and Burke — Captain, W. L. Saunders.
Company C — From Warren — Captain W. A. Jenkins.
Company D — From Richmond — Captain, Calvin Stewart.
Company E — From Granville — Captain, R. J. Mitchell.
Forty-Sixth Regiment. 65
Company F — From Randolph — Captain, A. C. McAlister. Company G — From Randolph — Captain, R. P. Troy. Co:vrPANY II — From Moore — Captain, ]^. McK. MdNTeill. Co:mpany I — From Sampson — Captain, Owen Holmes. Co:NrPANY K — From Cataicha — Captain, A. T. Bost.
The organization of the field and staff was as follows:
E. D. Hall, Colonel, Wilmington.
W. A. Jenkins^ Lientenant-Colonel, Warrenton.
R. J. Mitchell, Major, Oxford.
S. T. Green, Snrgeon, Warren county.
V. O. Thompson, Assistant Surgeon, Warren county.
J. A. Maesh, Quartermaster, Randolph county.
G. Holaies, Commissary, Sampson county.
Richaed Mallett, Adjutant, Cumberland county.
T. S. Teoy, Sergeant-Major, Randolph county.
J. M. Waddill, Quartermaster Sergeant, Warrenton.
O. P. Shell, Commissar}^ Sergeant, Warrenton.
T. C. Hussey, Hospital Ste^vard, Missouri.
The changes occurring in the composition of the field and staff from the organization until the final end at Appomattox were as follows :
Resignations — Colonel E. D. Hall, November, 1863; Lieutenant-Colonel W. A. Jenkins, August, 1863 ; Major
R. J. Mitchell, June, 1862; S. T. Green, Surgeon, — ;.
J. A. Marsh, Quartermast-er, March, 1864; Major R. M. I^orment, 11 September, 1862.
Deaths — Lieutenant Richard Mallett, killed August, 1863.
Promotions — Captain W. L. Saunders, Company B, to be Major, 1 October, 1862 ; to be Lieutenant-Colonel, 1 Janu- ary, 1863; to be Colonel, 1 January, 1864; Captain R. M. JSTorment, Company A, to be Major, 4 August, 1862 ; Cap- tain A. C. McAlister, Company F, to be Major, 1 January, 1864; to be Lieutenant-Colonel about June, 1863; Captain :N'. McK. McXeill, Company H, to be Major, 18 March, 1864; Surgeon Jenkins, of Charleston, S. C. appointed sur- geon upon the resignation of Surgeon S. T. Green ; Sergeant-
5
66 North Carolina Troops, 1861 -'Go.
Major T. S. Trov, to be Second Lieutenant of Company F., succeeded by T. W. Wright, of Wilmington ; Quartermaster- Sergeant, J. M. Waddill, to be Second Lieutenant Company B. September, IS 64.
For a few weeks after its organization the regiment re- mained at Camp Mangum, receiving instruction in the art of war at the hands of sundry drill masters, removing thence to Goldsboro, X. C, when after a stay of a few weeks it was hurried to Richmond, Va., arriving there on the day of the battle of Seven Pines.
Xear Richmond the Forty-sixth was brigaded with the following commands, under Brigadier-General J. G. Walker, as follows : Twenty-seventh North Carolina Regiment, Forty-eighth North Carolina Regiment, Third Arkansas Reg- iment, Thirtieth Virginia Regiment, Second Georgia Bat- talion, Cooper's Battery of Artillery.
Previous to the Seven Days battles the regiment was sta- tioned at Drewry's Bluff in support of the batteries at that place, when it was recalled to Richmond and sent to strengthen the army already engaged in the struggle with McClellan, which resulted in that officer's now historic ^X'hange of Base."
During these trying days the regiment was but little under fire, being usually in reserve, though it sustained a few cas- ualties at Malvern Hill from the shells of the gunboats in the river.
Pending the removal of the Federal army to its new field of operations in Maryland, the Forty-sixth occupied various positions around Richmond, mainly at Hanover Junction.
The larger portion of tlie Confederate army had proceeded northward before marching orders were received to follow, and thus was lost the opportunity of a participation in the brilliant victory at Second Manassas.
Following the main body, the regiment marched toward Rapidan Station, where it bivouacked for some days — thence on toward Culpepper, encamping on the battlefield of Cedar Run ; thence on to Warrenton, passing over the field of Sec- ond Manassas, over which lay scattered hundreds of dead bodies, rotting in the sun — thence to Leesburg and beyond,
Forty-Sixth Regiment. 67
crossing tlie Potomac at ''The Upper Ford" to the music of ^'My Maryland" from hundreds of soldiers' throats.
At Buckeyetown, Md., a halt was made, at which place the tired and footsore men rested for three days, moving thence to Frederick City, ^fd. Thence the regiment moved at night, in a southeasterly direction, for the destruction of something in the nature of an acqueduct or canal lock (the Monocacy Bridge), but exactly what it was, few in the regi- ment knew, as the night was pitch dark and the country totally unknown.
Xothing was accomplished, however, and at dawn a hur- ried movement southward, was begun, continuing all day and far into the succeeding night, when the Potomac was again crossed at a ford near Point-of-Rocks just before day- light. This ford will ever be remembered as one of the many impossibilities ( i) triumphed over by Lee's foot cavalry.
The chill of the water, the multitude of boulders which lit- erally covered the bottom of the river, coupled with the depth of the stream (which came to the shoulders of the shorter men) all served to impress this bit of experience indelibly upon the memories of those who took that early morning dip.
Here, in the early gray of the dawn, by some mistake, the Forty-sixth received a volley from one of General Ransom's regiments, resulting in a few minor casualties.
Having rested for a day on the Virginia shore, line of march was taken up for Harper's Ferry, where the regiment took part in the operations, resulting in the surrender of that stronghold with 11,000 prisoners, with slight loss to the Con- federates.
From Harper's Ferry the command moved to Shepherds- town, Va., arriving on 16 September, crossed immediately over into Maryland and w^as once more united with the Army of ISTorthern Virginia.
In the great battle of the 17th, near Shaii3sburg, Md., the Forty-sixth bore a conspicuous part, calling forth from the division commander especial mention of its gallant colonel and staff for distingiiished bravery and coolness under fire, as well as for the line, which received the shock of battle like veterans of an hundred fields.
68 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'G5.
It was said by an eye-witness of one of the charges of the Forty-sixth, in which a force of the enemy was driven from its position and his guns captured, that "he hoped for their own sakes that the Forty-sixth North Carolina would soon learn the difference between the deliberation of a dress parade and a charge over an open field in the face of largely supe- rior numbers." During the day the regiment occupied sev- eral different positions of importance and great danger, in which on every occasion it exhibited that steadiness and cool- ness which was to characterize its record all through the eventful years to follow. Space allotted to this sketch for- bids details of this or other engagements in which the regi- ment participated. The losses for the day aggregated about eighty, being fully one-fourth of the number in line. It is proper to explain, in view of the small number of men in line at Sharpsburg, that this was the first forced march under- taken by the regiment, and in the mad rush from Harper's Ferry to Sharpsburg, many of the men were physically une- qual to the task and fell by the wayside from exhaustion, re- joining the regiment, some during the engagement, others coming up during the next two or three days.
The Potomac was again crossed on the night of 18 Septem- ber with the army in perfect order, and position taken up near Martinsburg, where for several days the men were engaged in destroying railway tracks and bridges in that vicinity.
The next stop of importance was at Winchester, where a stay of two or three weeks was made. Here, in this then land of plenty, the men revelled in the best of fresh beef, vegeta- bles, fruits, not forgetting the honey, needing nothing for the stomach's sake, save "salt," which commanded a price near its weight in gold.
A short time after Sharpsburg General J. G. Walker, who had comuiaudcd tlie brigade, was promoted to a division in the West, and Brigadier-General John R. Cooke was assigned to the command and held this position to the close of the war.
The men of the Forty-sixth parted with General Walker with unusual regret, having learned, in the brief period in which he commanded the brigade, to regard him with the
Forty-Sixth Regiment. 69
highest esteem, for his care of the force under his command, as well as for his courage and coolness under the most trying conditions.
General Cooke assumed command of the brigade almost a stranger to the men of the Forty-sixth, and many a doubt was expressed as to the ability of "that kid" (as he was at first called) to handle the brigade, being almost boyish in his appearance.
A year or less thereafter all doubts had vanished, for "that kid" had proven his ability on many occasions. It is doubt- ful if any general officer in the army, with the exception of Lee and Jackson, was more beloved by the men of his com- mand than was John R. Cooke. Young, brave, generous and kindly in his dealings with officers and men, there ever ex- isted the strongest ties between commander and men, which lasted to the end. No braver cavalier ever rode to death than General Cooke.
From Winchester the next move was down the valley and through Ashby's Gap, encamping for several days at Upper- ville, on the top of the Blue Ridge.
From Upperville, on 31 October, the command moved in the direction of Culpepper Court House, stopping for a brief rest at Orleans.
Marching by easy stages, pausing here and there for a day or tw^o, the regiment made its way to Fredericksburg, arriv- ing in front of that place 22 ISTovember. The last five days was a forced march in a continuous downpour of rain.
The experiences of the men on this march across Virginia were very severe — poorly clad, many barefooted — little or no camp equipage and with an almost unprecedented spell of bad w^eather, all conspired to the utterance of some bad lan- guage, which history does not require should be reproduced literally.
From 22 March to 11 December the regiment remained in camp two or three miles from Fredericksburg, when it took position at the foot of the heights fronting the little city, and immediately behind the stone wall on Marye's Heights.
Here it awaited the attack of Burnside, and bore a full share in that historic slaughter. In comparative security,
70 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
protected by the wall about breast bigh, all day long it shot doAvn the brave men who charged again and again acros? the level plain in front, vainly yeit most gallantly striving to ac- complish an impossibility. The loss in the regiment in killed and wounded during the (hiy was seventy-one. Among the wounckMi was Colonel W. L. Saunders, shot by a minie ball through the mouth. It was rehited by those near the Colonel, that during a lull in the tiring, he was enjoying a hearty laugh at some remark when the luinie entered the wide open mouth, making its exit through llie check. It was said to have been the most abruptly ended laugh heard during the war.
Among the lamented dead in this engagement was Lieu- tenant Samuel P. Weir, a young otticer of great promise — a gentlenum and a ( 'hristian.
The command remained in front of Frederiekslnirg until 3 January, 1863, when orders were received to move to a new camp ground, a mile away, which had been carefully pre- pared the day before.
Accordingly, the men moved the next morning loaded down with rude benches, tables, tubs, etc. — such accumidation of conveniencies as come, no one knows how, in a camp of some days. Instead of moving a mile, as was expected, the next sto]i with any scml)hiucc of pcnuaueucy was at Holly Shelter near Wilmington, X. C'., which found the men in much lighter marching order, having laid aside their burdens of benches, buckets, tables, etc. Holly Shelter pro\'e(l a haven of repose after the Virginia campaign. Some weeks were spent in this vicinity, the time being divided between Holly Shelter, Burgaw and Wilmington.
From this agreeable stay the regiment was called to Charleston, S. C, on 8 April, where a stay of a few days was made at the "Four ^lile House,'' whence the command moved to Pocataligo, S. C., a cam]i dubltcd liy tlic rcuimcutal wit as '"The Devil's ]\risery Hole.''
Insects in millions iiivad(Ml the camjt by day and night, dev(>loping a biting and stinging power hitherto unknown to tlie up-country men composing the regiment.
Rations were scarce and Commissary Sergeant Shell made
PUBLIC 1I«8ARY. A8T0R, a*«o« A»»
FORTY-SIXTH REGIjyiENT.
1. Thomas Troy. Lieutenant, Co. G. 3. W. C. Bain, Sergeant, Co. G.
2. Henry C. Latta. 2d Lieut., Co. E. 4. James A. Crews, Sergeant, Co. E.
(Killed at Petersburg, Nov. 12, 1864.) 5. C. R. Thomasson, Private, Uo. E.
Forty-Sixth Regiment. 71
affidavit before Serg'eant-Major Troy that "thirteen typical South Carolina cattle yielded only eleven hundred pounds of blue beef."
With shouts of joy, the regiment bade adieu to Pocataligo about 20 April, proceeding to Topsail Sound, near Wilming- ton, where the usual anny ration was totally disregarded for the luscious oyster, to be had in the sound for the getting.
8 ]\lay camp was broken and the regiment moved to Goldsboro, from whence it took a bloodless part in the Kin- ston campaign.
6 June the command left Xortli Carolina for Virginia, where it was stationed near Hanover Junction.
Various camps were occupied near Richmond, the brigade being stationed here for the protection of the city, while the main army marched to Gettysburg.
Nothing of interest occurred here except a most brilliant engagement at South Anna bridge, between Company B, of the Forty-sixth, supporting a battery, and a force of T'uion cavalry, about 6 July, in which that company covered itself with glory. Thirty-three fresh graves were counted on the Federal position of the engagement. Loss in Com- pany B, four killed and ten wounded.
Late in July, 1863, found the regiment near Fredericks- burg, where it remained until 30 Augiist. During this time the death of Adjutant ]\lallett, at the hands of deserters from another regiment, whom he was endeavoring to arrest, cast a gloom over the entire regiment.
Tliis gallant young officer had endeared himself to every member of the regiment by his excellent bearing in the field, as well as the genial good nature manifested in his daily duties in camp. A detail under Lieutenant Mallett had been sent in pursuit of the party of deserters. By some means he became separated from most of his small force and coming up Avith the refugees he, with his usual fearlessness, rode up to them, demanding their surrender, when one of the party shot the noble fellow dead.
1 September, 1863, the regiment bade a final adieu to Fredericksburg, proceeding by the way of Guinea's Station to Taylorsville, where it remained some days, when on 25 Sep-
72 North Carolina Troops, 1861 -'65.
tember orders were received to repair to Gordon sville, wliere a quiet sojourn was had until 9 October, removing on that day to Madison Court House, this being the first day's march in the fatal flank movement to Bristoe. On this date Cooke's brigade (now composed of North Carolina regiments, as fol- lows. Fifteenth, Twenty-seventh, Forty-sixth, Forty-eighth and Fifty-fifth) was attached to General Harry Heth's Divis- ion, and was thus attached until the close. The Division w^as composed of following brigades: Cooke's North Carolina, Kirkland's North Carolina, Davis' Mississippi, Archer's Tennessee, Walker's Virginia. Heth's Division formed a part of A. P. Hill's Corps, composed of the divisions of Heth, Wilcox and Anderson.
From 9 to 14 October the command made a series of most difficult marches over the ridges and across the rapid run- ning streams which characterize the foothills of the Blue Ridge — in the effort to reach Manassas ahead of Meade, who was being pressed toward that point by General Lee.
Much of the distance was covered at night, over such roads as language fails to describe. .
On the morning of 14 October, Cooke's Brigade took the advance and in the afternoon struck the Union forces in a strong position behind the railway embankment at Bristoe Station, with a number of field guns on the eminence in the rear. Before any support came up General Cooke, under orders, imme.liately attacked with great gallantly. In the charge ma(k> hy this devoted brigade, the gallant Cooke fell, shot in the forehead, when the connnand devolved on Colonel E. D. Hall, of the Forty-sixth.
The unequal struggle was waged, with no result, save the loss of valuable lives ; indeed a disaster was only averted by a rapid change of front by the Forty-sixth under Colonel Hall's immediate lead by which the enemy's left flank movement was checked. This movement, made under a heavy fire from both infantry and artillery, elicited great praise, and added new laurels to the record of the Forty-sixth for steadiness and deliberation. The effort to dislodge the enemy from liis posi- tion proving fntile, the command was withdrawn in g(^od or-
Forty-Sixth Regiment. 73
der, out of rifle shot, which position it held until the next morning, bj Avhich time the enemy had disappeared.
It was said that General Lee most severely criticised Gen- eral A. P. Hill for this blunder — that of sending a force of only two small brigades (Cooke's and Kirkland's) against overwhelming odds strongly intrenched, with ten or twelve regiments in reserve, who never fired a gun. Such a course was then, and is yet unaccountable, on the part of a command- ing officer of undeniable ability.
In this unfortunate affair the Forty-sixth had about sixty casualties — the configuration of the ground over which it fought only saving it from a much severer loss.
On 18 October the command crossed the Rappahannock on pontoons, which were necessary, the river being much swollen, and went into what was at the time supposed to be winter quarters.
About this time the Forty-sixth lost its brilliant Colonel, E. D. Hall, who resigned to accept a civil office in ISTorth Car- olina. Col. Hall had brought the regiment up to a high stand- ard in every respect — a brave man, a good disciplinarian, the service lost, in his resignation, a most valuable and efficient officer — and it was with much regi'et that his regiment bade him farewell. On the hillside, near the Rapidan, huts were built and the men proceeded to make themselves comforta- ble, but the hope of a winter's rest was rudely dissipated by being suddenly ordered, on 8 November, to a position two miles from Culpepper Court House to oppose Meade's threat- ened advance, who had already captured a large portion of Hoke's and Hayes' Brigades. Expectations of a general en- gagement were not realized, and 12 I^ovember found the Forty-sixth in camp near Rapidan Station, on the south bank of the river, from which on 27 of l^ovember it again moved to confront IMeade at Mine Run. Here the army entrenched and awaited the attack, which never came. The artillery was at times engaged, and there were a few casualties in the brigade, but no loss in the Forty-sixth.
From this date until 8 February, 1864, the regiment oc- cupied its winter quarters near Rapidan, the monotony varied
74 North Carolina Troops, 1801 -'65.
by one or two bloodless and brief expeditions to tbe left wing of the annj, caused by Federal cavalry demonstrations.
On 8 February, new quarters near Orange Court House having been constructed, the command again moved. This cam]) was the best yet occupied, in a well-wooded and w-atered section, and the severe winter of 1863-'6-i — what re- mained of it — was spent here in comparative comfort.
The monotony here was unbroken by any event w^orth re- cording save possibly the gTcat battle of ''The Snow," which took place on 23 March, the snow being about fifteen inches deep and is thus chronicled. On the morning of this eventful day, the Twenty-seventh North Carolina challenged to mortal combat the Forty-sixth North Carolina. As the two regi- ments were getting into position, a long line of gTay skir- mishers from the direction of Kirkland's camp announced the fact that Cooke's command was to defend itself from the onslaught of that gallant brigade. Hastily sending word to the other Cooke regiments to come to the support, the Twen- ty-seventh and Forty-sixth rushed upon Kirkland.
For an hour the fight raged furiously, ending in the utter rout of the brave Kirklandites who were driven pell mell out of their quarters, the victors appropriating to their own use and behoof all the cooking utensils to be found therein. That evening orders were issued to company commanders to see that all such utensils were promptly returned.
Diligent search was made, but as every man found in pos- session of a cooking vessel vowed tliat *iie liad owned it for many months," it is doubtful if a single article was ever re- turned.
Tlie Kirkland men being dissatisfied, sent a foi-nial chal- lenge to r\:>oke, for a "settlement" the next day, which was had in a ceremonious Avay in ]iresence of an immense crowd of onlookers, including a nuniher of general officers with their staft's from other commands.
The result was disastrous in the extrt'iiic, to (^toke's com- mand, which was utterly rontccl, losing nearly one-half its of- ficers and men as prisoners of war, who were confineil and informed that they would be detained until the "skillets" were prodnceil, l)nt the approach of night an<l rlie increasing cold frustrated this ])urpose and all lian<ls retnrned to tlieir
Forty-Sixth Regiment. 75
huts, good friends. A number of minor casualties resulted from this wholesale fun, but only one of a serious nature.
On 30 March, Governor Z. B. Vance addressed the brigade, closing with a series of anecdotes, which sent the men to their quarters in excellent good humor. It was observed that the Governor did not once allude to Holden and his adherents, these being the then absorbing topics in Xorth Carolina.
The months of March and April witnessed a series of re- vivals of religion throughout the army. It was hoped that the Forty-sixth derived great and lasting good from these meetings, more to be prized than any earthly blessing.
1 May found the regiment with comparatively full ranks, and by the restored health of the sick and wounded, number- ing over 500 strong. The efficient Colonel, W. L. Saunders, who had succeeded Colonel Hall, having lent his best energies during the winter to bring it up to a high state of discipline, it marched away from its comfortable quarters on 4 May, 1864, in better condition than ever to meet the trials and struggles of its last and most terrible campaign.
On 5 May, in the dense undergrowth of the "Wilderness," the Union army was encountered — the Forty-sixth l^eing in line immediately on the plank road, Company B being in the road. The record of that day of butchery has often been written. A butchery pure and simple it was, unrelieved by any of the arts of war in which the exercise of military skill and tact robs the hour of some of its horrors. It was a mere slugging match in a dense thicket of small growth, where men but a few yards apart fired through the lu-ushwood for hours, ceasing only when exhaustion and night commanded a rest.
The fight in General Cooke's front was opened by the gal- lant Wishart with his skirmishers, who in the dense brush, ran right into the enemy before he knew their whereabouts, receiving a volley at but a few paces distance, which laid low more than half our nund)er, including their fearless com- mander severely wounded.
All during that terrible afternoon, the Forty-sixth held its own, now gaining, now losing — resting at night on the ground over which it had fought, surrounded by the dead and wound-
76 North Carolina Trooi's, 1801 -'05.
ed of both sides. Early on the morning of the 6th, the bat- tle was renewed with increased vigor by the enemy who had received reinforcements during the night, and it was not long before the heavier weight of the Union attack began to slowly press back the decimated Confederate line. Matters were assuming a serious aspect \\hon T.ongstreet's Corps, fresh from the west, with Lee at its head, trotted through the weakened line and forming under lire, soon liad the enemy checked, driving him back to his original position. The writer had the pleasure of witnessing this glorious scene — the most soul-inspiring sight the imagination can conceive, and one never to be forgotten.
The night of the 6th the list of casualties was hastily made up — possibly not accurate — as follows: Forty-sixth Xorth Carolina, killed 39, wounded 251, total 200, out of an effec- tive strength of 540 men. The following were instantly killed : Captain N. N. Fleming, of Company B ; Lieutenant George Horah, of Company B; Lieutenant J. A. B. Blue, of Company H ; Lieutenant T. S. Troy, of Company G. Wounded: Colonel W. L. Saunders, Captain A. T. Bost, of Company K ; Lieutenant F. M. Wishart, of Com- pany A ; Lieutenant T. G. Jenkins, of Company C.
After the 6th, Grant's famous left flank movement began ; the Forty-sixth on the front line almost daily until Appo- mattox.
On 10 May, the regiment was again engaged at Spottsyl- vania Court House, where Cooke's Brigade made a most liril- liant and successful charge on the enemy's batteries — -loss not heavy, except in Company C, (Captain S. W. Jones) who lost three killed and eight wounded. Officers wounded : Captain S. W. Jones, of Company C; Lieutenant Kouib, of Com- pany K, mortally.
Again on 12 May was the Forty-sixth engaged — suft'ering slightly. From the 12th to 19th, the Forty-sixth was con- tinuously in line, confronting the enemy — with suuill loss.
The continual lateral movement of both armies brought them near Mechanicsville, on 28 May, being a series of skir- mishings to this date.
On 2 and 3 June the entire brigade did some handsome
Forty-Sixth Regiment. 77
work near Mechanicsville, receiving the highest encomiums from the Richmond Examiner which was said to have praise only for Virginians.
From 3 to 12 June, the Forty-sixth well entrenched, con- fronted the enemy at vei*y close quarters — so close that con- versation could be carried on between the opposing forces.
12 June, the sidelong movement was resumed. 15 June the regiment Avas engaged in White Oak Swamp for some hours — losing about twenty-five men. Here it was that Lieutenant Robert A. Small, of Company G, met his death. Few nobler spirits "passed over the river" during those ter- rible years than that of Lieutenant Small — a Christian and one of nature's noblemen.
18 June the command crossed the James river, above Drewu-y's Bluff, and occupied a position near Petersburg, in the entrenchments.
The line of march of the regiment, from the beginning of the campaign, was as follows : Along the Fredericksburg turnpike to "The Wilderness" — thence to Spottsylvania Court House, Hanover Junction via Brooke turnpike to new Mechanicsville — thence via ''ISTine Mile Road," Williams- burg road, Charles City road, Darbytown road, River road, across Drewry's Bluff" pontoon bridge to the Richmond and Petersburg turnpike, thence to Petersburg — a path marked at almost every step wdth blood.
From 19 June to 22 August, the regiment occupied various positions on the front lines near Petersburg, being moved hither and thither as emergency required.
22 August the Forty-sixth took part in a brilliant affair, on the extreme right of the lines, on the Weldon Raihvay, driving from their works two lines of the enemy, but was checked in its mad rush at the third line by a wdthering fire of grape and canister — under which a number of gallant spirits sank to rise no more, among others Captain L. Bran- son, Company F, shot through the body by a gi'ape shot.
25 August, one of the most desperate actions of the year was fought at Reams Station, mainly by Cooke's and Kirk- land's Brigades. The enemy was strongly fortified with a quantity of artillery. Two brigades of Wilcox's Division had
78 North Carolina Troops, 1861 -'Go.
failed to drive them, when Cooke's and Kirkland'.s were sent forward, and in a most terrific storm of tlnnnhn" and light- ning, steadilv adxaiiced over tlie lield, facing a th'adlv fire, and with a veil carried everything before them, capturing seven stands of coh)rs, nine guns, 2,100 prisoners and a large quatitv of camp e(iui])age.
The bayonet was freclv used in this afl^air, and Lieutenant- (^olonel A. C. McAlister distinguished himself hy his daring in leading the regiment to the muzzles of tlie cannon.
Loss in the Forty-sixth, seventy-three killed and wounded. Among the wounded were Captain H. R. KcKinney, of Com- pany A ; Captain A. T. Bost, of Company K ; Captain Troy, of Company G ; Lieutenant T. R. Price, of Company C ; Lieutenant M. X. Smyer (both eyes shot out) ; Lieutenant. J. W. Brock, of Company G.
After Reams Station the regiment returned to the lines around Petersburg, occupying different positions until De- cember, when winter quarters were built on llatclu-r's Run, near Burgess' mill, about ten miles from Petersl)urg and im- mediately in front of the enemy.
About 7 December took place the famous Bellfield expedi- tion, noted for the suffering endured by the men from cold and exposure, which continued for five days.
From 7 December to 4 February the Forty-sixth re- mained in winter quarters, with little to vary the monotony.
5 February, 1865, took place the affair at ILitcher's Run, in wliicli the regiment was engaged, with some loss, among tlie killed being Lieutenant T. W. Brock, of Comjiany G, by a shell.
27 February Lieutenant-Colonel A. C. McAlister was de- tached from the regiment and with the writer as Adjutant, assumed command of a force of about six hundred men and was assigned to duty in the counties of Randol]ili, Chatham, Montgomery and Moore, Nortli Carolina. This force was composed of the Seventh Xortli Carolina, ^lajor James G. ILii-ris connnanding. and two companies each from the Fif- teenth, Twenty-seventh, Forty-sixth. Forty-eighth and Fifty- fifth Xorth Carolina Regiments, designed for the protection of that sectiitn from raiding parties of the enemy, as also to
Forty-Sixth Regiment. 79
preserve order in enforcing the Conscript Act. This force was actively emploved until General Johnson's army arrived near Greensboro, when it was attached to General D. H. Hill's Division until paroled by General Sherman.
An episode of this bit of service was a lively engagement in the streets of Greensboro with a portion of Wheeler's dis- organized cavalry, which undertook to capture the Govern- ment stores in the warehouses, and incidentally the town gen- erally. The cavalry was driven out, but not without a num- ber of casualties to both sides.
By reason of the above mentioned detail service, the writer can give no particulars of the regiment's experience from Pe- tersburg to Appomattox from personal knowledge. Those whose duties kept them at the front near Petersburg state that the morning when Lee's lines near Hatcher's Run were broken, the Forty-sixth, with the balance of Cooke's Brigade, retired in its usual good order.
On the retreat to Appomattox its experiences were those of the army generally, continued fighting and starvation. Ever ready to do its duty, no apparent disaster, however great it seemed, shook its steady column, and up to the su- preme moment at Appomattox its unity was preserved, its men, those whom the bullet and disease had spared, an- swering promptly "here," when the final roll call was had.
At Appomattox the remnant of this band of heroes laid down their arms to take them up no more forever, and the Forty-sixth Xorth Carolina passed into history with not one member who but feels a just pride in its record, upon which rests no blemish. At the surrender the regiment was commanded by Colonel W. L. Saunders. Its strength is not recorded, but the whole Cooke's Brigade numbered 70 officers and 490 men. Official Records Union and Confederate Armies, Vol. 95, p. 1278.
Its torn and tattered battle flag which waved in triumph over many a bloody scene, was never lowered until by order of the immortal Lee it was laid down forever, but not in dis- grace or shame, for about its folds shone the glories of Mal- vern Hill, Harper's Ferry, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, Bris- toe, Wilderness, Spottsylvania, Mechanicsville, Cold Har-
80 NoKTH Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
bor, White Oak Swamp, Petersburg, Eeams Station, Davis' Farm and Hatcher's Run.
]^ot many remain to tell the story of its bivouacs, marches and battles, its patience and endurance, its hardships and sufferings for three years of hard service Soon none will remain, but its glory is as fadeless as is that of "Lee's Army," whose fortunes and misfortunes it shared to the end.
OFFICERS OF THE FORTY-SIXTH. (Compiled mainh' from memory,)
Company A — R. ]M. Xorment, Captain, promoted, succeed- ed by Lieutenant H. R. McKinney, a New Yorker by birth, but a staunch believer in States Rights, who served faithfully to the end, wounded several times. The regiment had no more capable or efficient officer. First Lieutenant Frank M. Wish- art, for many months, was commander of the regimental skir- mish line. (The writer, during the latter months of the war, w^as intimately associated with Lieutenant Wishart, then Captain of Company B, and testifies to his absolute indiffer- ence to danger and his total ignorance of fear, laughing and joking under fire as in camp, always wanting to ''get at 'em.") He survived the war only to be treacherously murdered by Henry Berry Lowa-y. Upon the promotion of Lieut. Wishart to Captaincy of Company B, his brother, Wellington Wish- art, became First Lieutenant. He is remembered as the most silent man in the regiment, and as brave as he was silent. Sergeant J. H. Freeman was promoted to be Second Lieuten- ant and John Hammond from Ensign.
Company B — Captain W. L. Saunders having been ad- vanced to a Majority, Lieutenant IST. 1^. Fleming became Captain -and served as such until his death on the field at the Wilderness, when Lieutenant Frank M. Wishart, of Com- pany A, was elected Captain, serving in that capacity until the close. Second Lieutenant George Horah, having been advanced to First Lieutenancy, was instantly killed at the Wilderness. Sergeant W. B. Lowrance was promoted to Second Lieutenant and was transferred to another regiment. James T. Pearson and John J. Stewart were also promoted to Lieutenant. Quartermaster-Sergeant J. M. Waddill was
Forty-Sixth Regiment. 81
promoted to be Second Lieutenant, serving; as sucli until sent on detached service under Lieutenant-('olonel A. C. McAlis- ter.
CoMPAXY C — Upon the promotion of Captain W. A. Jen- kins, Lieutenant Stephen W. Jones became Captain, serving gallantly in that capacity until the close. Lieutenants, W. A. J. Xicholson, Samuel M. Southerland, Leon S. Mabry, Thomas R. Price and Thomas G. Jenkins. The latter two were several times wounded in discharge of duty.
Co:\rPAXY" D — C^iptain Colin Stewart was with his com- pany in the one capacity from the organization to the final ending, and (I think) never received a wound. Daniel Stew- art and S. M. Thomas were successively First Lieutenant, and Hugh Middleton, Malloy Patterson, John A. McPhail and John W. Roper were Second Lieutenants.
Company' E — Captain R. J. Mitchell having been pro- moted to Major, Lieutenant R. L. Hetlin became Captain, and later resigned, being succeeded by Lieutenant Jesse F. Heflin, who served as Captain until the close — a steady, brave, capable officer, ever at his post, in camp or field. James Meadows, First Lieutenant, resigned and was succeeded by Second Lieutenant J. J. Walker. James Wheeler, John C. Russell and Henry C. Latta became Second Lieutenants.
Co]MPAXY' F — Captain A. C. McAlister, promoted to Ma- jor, Lieutenant Thomas A. Branson was advanced to Cap- taincy, losing his life on the field at Da\is' Farm, near Peters- burg, 1864, when Sergeant M. M. Teagiie, a gallant young fellow, was promoted Captain. His Lieutenants were J. A. Spencer and R. D. McCotter. James A. Marsh, originally First Lieutenant, was made A. Q. M. 17 April, 1862. Sam- uel P. Weir, killed at Fredericksburg, was Second Lieutenant in this company.
Company^ G — Upon the resignation of Captain R. P. Troy, Lieutenant O. W. Carr was advanced to Captain, and re- mained in command until the close — always at the post of duty, alike in the service of his country or his God. Ransom H. Steen, First Lieutenant, was succeeded by R. S. Small, and T. S. Troy, who fell at the Wilderness and was suc- ceeded as Second Lieutenant by J. W. Brock, killed at Ilatch- 6
82 North Carolina Troops, 1861 -'65.
er's Run 5 February, 1865, and Robert W. Stinson also killed at Petersburg.
CoMPAKY H — The promotion of Captain 'N. McK. Mc- Neill to Major, led to the advance of Lieutenant George Wil- cox to a Captaincy, serving until the close. Charles C. Gold- ston. First Lieutenant, having resigned, J. A. Blue suc- ceeded him and fell at the Wilderness, being succeeded by Lieutenant N. A. McNeill, who also shared the fortunes of the company to the end. John N. McNeill became Second Lieutenant 3 September, 1863.
Company I — Captain Owen Holmes commanded the com- pany from beginning to the end — was in nearly every en- gagement, with never a wound, if memory is not at fault. First Lieutenant O. P. White has (I think) the same unusual record. John C. Wright, Second Lieutenant, was succeeded by Thomas Owens. John D. Herring, Minson McLamb and Isaiah Herring were also Second Lieutenants.
Company K — ^Captain A. T. Bost (if memory be not at fault) fell at Reams Station, and was succeeded by his brother, R. A. Bost, who, as Captain, receiving a severe face wound, was disabled thereby. No steadier men ever faced a firing line than these two. First Lieutenant A. Routh was mortally wounded while charging a battery at Spottsylvania 10 May, 1864. Second Lieutenant M. N. Smyer was mor- tally wounded at Reams Station 25 August, 1864. Lieuten- ants J. M. Hoover and Sidney Shuford were then in com- mand until the close.
In commenting on certain names here mentioned, it will be borne in mind that by reason of longer acquaintance or closer intimacy, the writer knew more of certain ones than of oth- ers. Some company officers were appointed but a short time before the writer was called away from the regiment, and whom he knew only by name.
No invidious discrimination is intended, for it is distinctly remembered that no officer of the Forty-sixth was ever charged with doing less than his full duty.
J. M. Waddill. Gkeenvii.i-e. i'^ C. ,
9 April. 1901.
I PUBLIC LlSt^R?-
|,STOR, LEHOX AND
FORTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT.
1. Sion H. Rogers, Colonel. 4. J. J. Thomas, Captain and A. Q. M.
2. W. C. Lankford, Lieul. -Colonel. 5. John H. Thorp, Captain, Co. A.
3. Campbell T. Iredell, Captain, Co. C. 6 Geo. W. VVestray, 1st Lieut., Co. A.
FORTY-SEVEriTH REGIMENT.
By JOHN H. THORP, Captain Company A.
In March, 1862, amid the rush to arms of North Carolina volunteers, the 1,200 men wlio made the aggregate of its ten companies, organized the Forty-seventh North Carolina Reg- iment.
As the companies were coming together, New Bern was taken by the Federal General, Euraside, and those that had arrived at Raleigh were sent, without guns, below Kinston under Major Sion H. Rogers, to assist in staying the Federal advance. These remained there a week or two, when they re- turned to Raleigh, and with the other companies, now ar- rived, completed their organization with Sion H. Rogers, Colonel ; George H. Faribault, Lieutenant-Colonel, and John A. Graves, Major.
On 5 January, 1S63, Rogers resigned to become Attorney- General of the State, when Faribault became Colonel, Graves Lieutenant-Colonel, and Archibald D. Crudup, Captain of Company B, became Major. Graves was wounded and cap- tured at Gettysburg 3 July, 1863, from which he died; Cru- dup became Lieutenant-Colonel March, 1864, and William C. Lankford, Captain of Company F, Major at the same time. Faribault and Crudup were wounded and the first re- signed January, 1865, and the latter in August, 1864, where- upon Lankford became Lieutenant-Colonel and continued the only field officer. Hence, mainly by casualties in battle, the regiment was scant of field officers during very much of its severest trials, and frequently was without one. On such oc- casions it was led through hard-fought battles by a Captain, and some times by a Lieutenant. W. S. Lacy was Chaplain ; R. A. Patterson, first, and after him Franklin J. White, were Surgeons ; J. B. Wiustead and Josiah C. Fowler, Assistant Surgeons, of the regiment. Thomas C. Powell was Adju- tant.
84 North Carolina Troops, 18G1-'65.
CoMPAiNY A — Nash County — It wa? first coiiiinanded by Captain John W. Bryan, who died in June, 1862, when Lieu- tenant John II. Thorp became Captain and commanded to the end of the war. The Lieutenants of Company A were: George W. Westray, who was kiUed at Cold Harbor; Wilson Baily, who died ; Sidney H. Bridgers, killed at Bristoe Sta- tion ; I>. II. Bunn (since menilx-r of United States Congress) and Tlioiiias Wostray.
Company B — Franklin County — After Crudup, its first Captain, was promoted, Joseph J. Harris was made Captain ; was wounded, captured and remained a prisoner. Its Lieu- tenants were Harvey D. Griffin, who died ; Sherrod J. Evans, Hugh H. Perrv and William B. Chamblee.
Company C — ^Vahe County — The first Captain of Com- pany C was Edward Hall, who died 1 September, 1862, when Cameron T. Iredell became Captain, was killed 3 July, 1863, and George ^l. Whiting became Captain, taken prisoner at Gettysburg and died after the war of disease contracted in prison. The Lieutenants of this company were Xathaniel L. Brown, David M. Whitaker, ]\larmaduk^ W. Norfleet and A. H. Harris.
Company' D — Nash County- — John A. Harrison was first Captain of Company D, resigned in November, 1862, and Lieutenant Geo. jST. Lewis became Captain, was elected to the State Legislature in August, 1864, when Richard F. Drake became Captain. Its Lieutenants were Benjamin F. Drake, resigned ; William H. Blount and John Q. Winborne.
Co:\rPANY' E — Walxe County — John H. Xorwood was the first and only Captain of Company E. Its Lieutenants were Erastus LI. Ray, Benj. W. Justice, promoted A. C. S. af tlie regiment; Lconidas W. Robertson and William A. Dunn.
Company F — FranJclin County — W. C. Lankford was the first Captain of this company, and when he was promoted, Julius S. Joyner became Captain. Its Lieutenants were J. J. Tliomas, promoted A. Q. M. of the regiment; Sylvanus P. Gill, W. I). Harris (resigned) and H. R. Crichton.
Company G — Franl-Jin and Granville Counties — Joseph J. Davis was the first Ca])tain of Com])any G, and was wounded, captured and a prisoner 3 July, 1863, and remain-
Forty-Seventh Regiment. 85
ing a prisoner, no other could succeed to the Captaincy. Its Lieutenants were P. P. Peace, Richard F. Yarborough, pro- moted to Colonelcy of another regiment ; W. H. Pleasants, George D. Tunstall and George Williamson. Captain Davis was afterwards member of United States CongTess and Jus- tice of our Supreme Court.
Company H — Wake Cotmty — Charles T. Haughton, first Captain of Company H, died in June, 1863, when Lieuten- ant Sydney W. Mitchell became Captain and was, to the close of the war. Its Lieutenants Avere T. L. Lassiter, Syd- ney A. Hinton, J. D. Xewsom and John T. Womble.
Company' I — Wal-e County — I. W. Brown was the first Captain of Company I, and killed at Reams Station. Its Lieutenants were Charles C. Lovejoy, transferred to another regiment; William Henry Harrison, J. Wiley Jones and J. Rowan Rogers, a brother of the first Colonel of the regi- ment.
Company K — Alamance County — Robert H. Faucette was the first and only Captain of Company K, and as Senior Captain- commanding the regiment, signed the paroles of the commanders of companies on 9 April, 1865. Its Lieuten- ants were James H. Watson, Thomas Taylor, Jacob Boon and Felix L. Poteat.
After a short stay at Camp Mangaim, in Raleigh, during which time it was drilled incessantly, the regiment was camped between Xew Bern and Kinston, where several weeks were spent in guarding our outposts, marching to near-by points where attacks were threatened, but never escaping to be drilled daily, and taught the duties of a soldier by the never-tiring General, J. G. Martin. It was here the men went through the sick period consequent upon the change from civil to military life ; through measles and mumps and malarial fevers, from which quite a number died. Very few escaped sickness in passing through to the toughened condi- tion.
At this time the predominant desire was to g'o to the scenes being enacted around Richmond, where General Lee and his illustrious co-generals were entering on that career which as
86 North Carolina Troops, 1861-'65.
leaders of the Army of Northern Virginia, made them so famous. But the boon is not jet gi^anted us. In July we go to Drewry's Bluff, at this time a position that must be held, and General Martin goes with us, and carrying us into a hot field, in view of delightful shade, continues his incessant drilling from morning till night. After a stay of three weeks the regiment is appropriately made provost guard of Peters- burg. So thoroughly trained itself, it efficiently executed the delicate duties of guard in this important city, then a mili- tary center. During its stay the strongest of friendship was formed between civilian and soldier. Not a single unpleas- ant incident is recalled.
Early in November, to meet a threatened attack, we were taken to Weldon, where we took our first snow storm in camp without covering except such as the men hastily made with bark and boughs and dirt.
The regiment had returned to Petersburg when, on 14 December, it was rushed by rail to Kinston to resist the Fed- eral General Poster in his attack on that town. We arrived late in the evening just as the Confederate General, Evans', Brigade was retreating across the bridge over the Neuse. In a jiffy we were unloaded from the cars, which Averc run of? immediately, ordered to pile our knapsacks, overcoats and blankets, which we never heard of afterwards, and double- quicked to tlic rescue. As Colonel Rogers formed us in line of battle. General Evans learning of our arrival, ordered us to the north of the town to cover the retreat of his brigade which had been overpowered, and showing our full regimental front received General Foster's messenger, who bore his demand to surrender, and replied : ''Tell General Foster I will fight him here."
Foster did not come, but night soon did, and Ave had again escaped a battle. At nightfall General Evans collected his scattered brigade and retreated to Falling Creek. The next day Company A, of the Forty-seventh, reconnoitered tAVO miles toAvard Kinston Avithout finding the enemy, and aftei* night A and K Avent to Kinston to learn that Foster had ad- vanced up the south bank of the Neuse. He attempted to cross at White Hall, but Avas driven back and continued his
Forty-Seventh Regiment. 87
march toward Goldsboro, to which the Forty-seventh was inarched on the following day. On our arrival at Goldsboro we were marched across the county bridge and formed line of battle, in which we remained all this cold December night, to find at light that Foster had retreated and was now far away.
A few days afterwards the regiment is on Blackwater un- der General Roger A, Prior, protecting Eastern Virginia. I^ow for rigid marching. Every day marching thirty miles. All foot logs and small bridges are cut away ahead of us that the men may lose no time in breaking from column of four, and we must take the mud and water in the roads through this boggy section. And so, as we had been perfected in the drill and tactics by Martin, we were now Romanised by Prior. Frequently during this time a battle was immo- nent, but one did not occur. It was skirmishing, retreat- ing, advancing on another distant point, over a large extent of territory to keep the 6nemy pushed within his limited lines.
ATTACK ON NEW BEKN.
Thus inured to the vicissitudes of war, except actual battle, the Forty-seventh was, early in 1863, brigaded with the Eleventh, Twenty-sixth, Forty -fourth and Fifty-second, under that splendid General, J. Johnston Pettigrew, and re- turned to Eastern Xorth Carolina. The points of Rocky Mount, Magnolia and Goldsboro, as they Avere threatened, were quickly covered, and thence we were marched in D. H. Hill's army to the vicinity of New Bern, which town Hill threatened. Here about the middle of March, 1863, after a forced march of several days in bleak winter, Pettigrew, in the early dawn, drove in the enemy's pickets and passed one of his block houses, which protected !N^ew Bern, but by failure of other troops to co-operate time Avas lost and the enemy got one of his gunboats in action, Avith wliich our brigade was terribly shelled. PettigrcAv being unable to reply with can- non, or to cross the Avater Avith his infantry, Avithdrew his bri- gade in regiments by echelon in such masterly manner, the men exhibiting the utmost coolness, that not a man Avas lost,
88 North Carolina Troops, 18G1-'65.
though the retreat was a long waj over an open, level field. Soon after this we went to Greenville and thence to Wash- ington, crossing the Tar in canoes in high water, when the regiment threatened the town and waked np the enemy's gnnboats again ; we lost one man killed and several wounded.
But the main oliject, on the part of the Confederate au- thorities, of these operations in Eastern jSTorth Carolina, to- wit : to gather in the supplies of this rich section, having been accomplished and General Lee making preparations for his second invasion, Pettigrew's Brigade, early in May, 1863, became a part of Heth's Division in A. P. Hill's Corps.
Thus after more than a year, perhaps well occupied, both in doing arduous, but less conspicuous service as in be- coming thoroughly efficient for the sterner activities of ac- tual battle, the Forty-seventh Regiment is at length, and henceforth to the end, will be with the Army of JSTorthern Virginia. It was well it had a thorough training, for soon it was to go tlir(^ugh fiery trials, its ranks to be torn by shot and shell, to be depleted of its officers, leaving it to be led in great emergencies by a Captain, and the companies some times by a private. Whenever and wherever tried it was equal to the emergency. It responded with promptness to the command "Charge!" to the very end.
It was early in May, 1863, when we arrived at Hanover Junction, thence we marched to Fredericksburg, thence to Culpepper Court House, across the Blue Ridge mountains, through Winchester, and crossed the Potomac at Shepherds- town. On the nortli bank of the Potomac the disciplinarian, Pettigrew, delivered his strict commands against interfering with private rights and property, and right well were these commands obeyed. As we passed through Hagerstown, the eyes of our men were dazed l)y the fullness of an opulent city, but no one dared to loot it. On 20 June we camped near (~^ashtown, and on the 30th were marching rapidly into Get- tysburg with the avowed object of shoeing our bai'efooted men. Already the non-combatants had gotten (as they always do when danger is far off) to the front, and we were almost at o\ir destination when a person in citizen's dress, on a farm horse, rode leisurely from the adjacent woods up
Forty-Seventh Regiment. 89
to the fence, on the other side of ^^'hich we were moving, in- quired for onr commander, and paced up to the head of our column. On his arrival there the command ''Haiti" rang down our line. Was this a spy ? ''About face — quick time, march I" and back we went ; but not without several shots at long range being fired at us from both sides of the road. So we escaped the ambuscade that had been set for us.
GETTYSBURG.
Early on 1 July the Forty-seventh was in the line which opened the battle of Gettysl)urg. It is rememlxn-ed that Company A had eighty-two trigger pullers, each with forty rounds of ammunition, and the other companies were per- haps as large. The morale of the men was splendid, and when it advanced to its first grand charge it was with the feelings of conquerors. We were met by a furious storm of shells and canister and further on by the more destructive rifles of the two army corps confronting us. One shell struck the right company, killing three men, and exploding in the line of file closers, by the concussion, felled to the earth every one of them. The other companies were faring no Ijetter. Still our line, without a murmur, advanced, delivering its steady fire amid the rebel yells, and closed with the first line of the enemy. After a desperate struggle this yielded and the second line was met and quickly l)roken to pieces. The day was a hot one, and the men liad difficulty in ramming down their cartridges, so slick was the iron ram-rod in hands thoroughly wet with perspiration. All expedients were resorted to, but mainly jabbing the ram-rods against the ground and rocks. This, with the usual causes, undressed our advancing line; still all were yelling and pressing for- ward througli the growing wlieat breast high, toward a body of the enemy in sight, l)ut beyond the range of our guns, when suddenly a third line of the enemy arose forty yards in front, as if by magic, and leveled their shining line of gim- barrels on the wheat heads. Though taken by surprise the roar of our giins sounded along our whole line. We had caught the drop on them. Redoubled our yells and a rush, and the work is done. The earth just seemed to open
90 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
and take in that line which five minutes ago was so perfect.
Just then a Federal officer came in view and rode rapidly forward bearing a large Federal flag. The scattered Fed- erals swarmed around him as bees cover their queen. In the midst of a heterogeneous mass of men, acres big, he approach- ed our left, when all guns in front and from right and left turned on the mass and seemingly shot the whole to pieces. This hero was a Colonel Biddle, who (if he were otherwise competent) deserved to command a corps. It was with gen- uine and openly expressed pleasure our men heard he was not killed. The day is not ended, but the fighting in our front is over, and the Forty-seventh dressed its line and what re- mained of it marching to the place whence it started on the charge, bivouacked for the night, intoxicated with victory. Many were the incidents narrated on that beautiful, moon- light night.
On the 2d we were not engaged save in witnessing the mar- shaling of hosts, with much fighting during the day, and at night a grand pyrotechnic display, this being the struggle on the slope of Little Round Top for the possession of the hill.
On 3 July the Forty-seventh was put in the front line pre- paring to make that celebrated, but imprudent charge, famil- iarly called Pickett's charge, though just why called Pickett's instead of Pettigrew's charge, is not warranted by the facts. And why it has been said that PettigrcAv supported Pickett instead of Pickett supported Pettigrew, is also incompre- hensible. It is certain that the two divisions (PettigreAV led Heth's Division to-day) started at the same time, in the same line. Pickett's distance to traverse was shorter than that of Pettigrew. Both went to and over the enemy's breastworks, but were too weak from loss of numbers to hold them. Pick- ett's Division was perfectly fresh. Pettigi'ew's had just passed through 1 July in which even its commander (Heth) had been knocked out.
If further witness be sought, the respective numbers of dead men in the correctly recorded spots where they fell, sup- ply it. But let it be distinctly understood Pettigrew's men appreciate that it was not the brave Pickett and liis men, who claimed for themselves pre-eminence in this bloody affair.
^0"E^^1
-t\lo£'^_
FOOf
k) ^
1'^/ >^
u
{^
FORTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT.
1. J. D. Newsom, 2d IJeut , Co. I.
2. J. Wilie Jones, 2(1 Lieut., Co. I.
3. J. Rowan Rogers, 2(1 Lieut., Co. I.
4. Thomas Westray, 2(i Lieut., Co A.
5. B. H. Buim, 2d Lieut., Co. A.
George B. Moore, Sei'tjeant, Co. C. Luke E. Estes, Private, Co E. Jolin Wesley Bradford, Private, Co. G. (Picture in Supplementary Group, 4tli volume.)
Forty-Seventh Regiment. 91
They remember, vividly remember, how Pickett chafed while waiting to make his spring, like an untamed lion for hia prey. Perhaps the assault was a Confederate mistake. So good an authority as General Lee is quoted as saying this much, but that the stakes for which he was playing was so great (it being Harrisburg, Baltimore and Washington) he just could not help it. Later a similar excuse was plead by General Grant for the slaughter at Second Cold Harbor. The late Captain Davis, ''Honest Joe," who led Company B in this charge, and who charged over the enemy's breastworks and became a prioner, said the enemy was literally torn to pieces. But, then our "hind sights are better than our fore- sights." And may be, after all the best conclusion is that a kind Providence had heard the prayers for the Union that has ascended from both sides, though uttered not so loud from the South, and in answer, just wrote doAvn in the book of Fate: "Gettysburg, 3 July, 1863, the beginning of the end." The writer, who was in the line of sharpshooters which preceded the main line of battle, witnessed an incident which (although not belonging to the Forty-seventh Regi- ment) ought to be recorded. Lie saw Brigadier-General Jas. H. Lane, on horseback, quite near the stone wall, riding just behind and up to his men, in the attitude of urging them forward with his hand ; a moment later a large spurt of blood leaped from the horse as he rode up, and rider and horse went down in the smoke and uproar. This was about the time of the climax of the battle when darkness and chaos obscured what followed.
Surely the rank and tile of the army of Xorthern Vir- ginia did not realize the bigness of the event that had just happened ; nor can we believe the Army of the Potomac did, inasmuch as it behaved so nicely while we spent several days in the same neighborhood.
The Forty-seventh now had had its ups and its downs. On the 1st as it double-quicked on Reynold, it had an equal chance with the enemy and had hurled 80,000 bullets in their faces. On the 3d they had attempted to march 1,000 yards in quick time through a raking fire of cannon and minies, with virtually no chance to use their minies — a soldier's
92 North Carolina Troops, 18G1-'65.
main weapon. The skeleton of its foniier self it returned to the ])lace Avhence it l)eo-an its charo-c and l)eg'an business with- out a held (tthcer, and duriiiii" tlie balance of the day and the succeeding- night welcomed the retuni of several of our mem- bers who, miscatlied or Avounded in various degrees, crawled from the field of cariuige, for the space between the armies continued neutral ground, being covered bv the wounded of both. On the -itli General Pettigrew t(dd us that had we succeeded the evening before, no doul)t onr army would have been on the road to Washington and ])erhaps negotiations for peace would then be on foot. Surely the c'6-prit de corps of our regiment was undaunted.
On the night of the 4tli we moved off leisurely toward Funktown, where we stood up on the 11th to meet a threat- ened attack which did not materialize, and on the 14th were in the rear guard of the army at Falling Waters to cover the crossing of the Potonuic. Here a drunken squad of Federal cavalry rashly rode on us while resting. Of course they were dispatched at once, but in the melee General Pettigrew re- ceived a pistol ball in the stomach from which he died in a day or two. Major John T. Jones, of the Twenty-sixth, was now the only field officer left to the brigade, and as we began to retire to cross the river the enemy furiously charged up and took quite a nund^er of prisoners mainly by cutting our men ofF from the pontoon liridge.
BRISTOE STATIOX.
A few daA'S rest was taken at Bunkei' Hill, tlience we marched to Orange Court ILaise, where we recu])erate(l rap- idly by the return of those who had been wounded and a goodly number of recruits from home. So that on 14 Oc- tober the Forty-seventh carried (piite a strong foi-ce into the battle of Bristoe Station. In this battle Kirkland's and Cooke's Brigades, being in the van of Lee's army, overtook Warren's Corps of ^leade's retreating army, and without awatiug reinforcements made a furious attack against it thor- o\ighly entrencli(Ml. This was a gross Idunder on the ])art of our corps' general ( A. P. Hill) who sent ns in. Let it be
Forty-Seventh Regiment. 93
recalled that the gi-ciimd over which we charged sloped down to the railroad embankment behind which were the enemy's in- fantry, and sloped np from their infantry to their artillery. Under these circumstances their artillery would have driven back any infantry in indefinite numbers. Of course we were repulsed with heavy loss. An incident in this fight was that the skirmishers of the Forty-seventh, forty strong, in going in this charge, saw a space of the enemy's front, not reached by the left of our advancing line, passed the front of the Eleventh or left regiment, and filled the space. The ground was more favorable for us on this end of the line, and the Eleventh and the skirmishers of the Forty-seventh captured the breastworks with the enemy behind them. The Confederates here were herding the enemy in squads to send them to the rear as prisoners, when the rest of the line l)eing repulsed, these too, were compelled to retire. Our loss was heavy, including General Kirkland among the wounded. As on 3 July, at Gettysburg, we fell back to the point from which we started the charge, and for the same reason as on that day could not bring off our wounded who lay on the field of bat- tle all night. The next morning, General Meade having made good his retirement on the fortifications at Manassas, we returned to the Rapidan. Here and at Orange Court House we wintered without military incident, save in fre- quent manoeuvering ; ^feade and Lee, like two big bulls, each trying to put his head into the other's flank, and once at Vidiers^'ille an imminent battle was avoided by the two gen- erals doing like the king of France who, ''with 40,000 men, marched up the hill and then marched down again." The Forty-seventh lost a man or two at Vidiersville by the en- emy's artillery.
The health of the men of the Forty-seventh is excellent, perhaps in part, because of short rations, and by the spring the regiment is pretty full again by returning convalescents and recruits from home.
General Grant is now in command of the Army of the Po- tomac, and by his hammering process proposes "to fight it out on that line if it takes all summer," which summer ran sharply into the following spring. General Kirkland has
94 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
returned to the command of the brigade, and Colonel Fari- bault to the command of the Forty-seventh.
THE WILDERNESS.
On 5 May, 1864, Grant moved out on Mine llun and the Forty-seventh Regiment deployed as skirmishers in the van of Lee's army, opens the battle, beginning with that of the Wilderness and continuing (with little intemiission in the winter) till 9 April, 1865.
We first struck the enemy's cavalry, dismounted, and grad- ually pushed them back over five miles, during which we now and then lost a man, till the middle of the evening, Avhen we came up to Cooke's Brigade just engaging the enemy's in- fantry in the tangled brush, the battle of the Wilderness. The Forty-seventh went in and mingled with Cooke's men in the fight, and so severe was the rifle fire and the opposing armies so near each other that neither advanced on the other. The night was spent in this position, and lines were not put in or- der; our men having been ordered to rest, as Longstreet's Corps was to relieve Hill's during the night. Longstreet did not arrive, and at dawn the enemy having ascertained our dis- ordered condition, promptly advanced. Our men began to retreat sullenly, and fighting back at first, but as the day grew on our confusion increased until about 10 o'clock, when we met the welcome Longstreet. This splendid Corps came into line of battle by the order of "By the right of com- panies into line," and without any halt continued their ad- vance in the face of the, 'till now, victorious Federals. It was a terrific battle in which the Confederates pushed the Federals over the same ground tliey had taken in the morn- ing, mingling vast numbers of dead Federals among the Con- federates slain a few hours before. The Forty-seventh lost no prisoners in this battle, but heavily in killed and wounded.
On the 10th the Forty-seventh was prominent in the battle of Wait's Shop, when General Early pressed Hancock back across the river after an engagement of several hours, wherein the Confederates advanced steadily, the Federals retreating Avithout much resistance. This was a battle in Avhioh the powder used far exceeded a commensurate loss of men on
Forty-Seventh Regiment. 95
either side. The loss of the Forty-seventh was, perhaps, twenty. But the object of the Confederates was effected. Hancock left the important place at which he tried to break through our lines.
On the 12th at Spottsylvania the Forty-seventh was but slightly engaged. It supported our artillery which did great havoc near the bloody angle.
The succeeding fifteen days the regiments was more or less engaged, some of it at least being under daily fire, under which we seemed to grow stronger.
BETHESDA CHURCH.
On 1 June Kirkland's and Cooke's Brigades were desper- ately charged behind breastworks. The Forty-seventh was in splendid fighting trim on this occasion, and as the enemy started across an open field the order was given us not to fire until a certain cannon fired, and company commanders were to order the fire by file. The Federal officers threw them- selves in front of their men and most gallantly led them, but when the cannon sounded the signal, our deadly fire opened on them within fifty yards and it was so steady and accurate, for our men were perfectly cool, that before the companies had fired a round, the enemy was completely broken and routed, a large number of them killed and wounded. Our loss was almost nothing as the enemy, depending on giving us the bayonet, withheld their fire, until they were repulsed. The sharpshooters of the two brigades, having previously been or- dered, rushed after and harrassed their rear for two miles. This was the battle of Bethesda Church, and amid the tre- mendous events occurring, was the occasion of a dispatch from General Lee to the Secretary of War complimenting the two brigades.
While the sharpshooters were pursuing, the main body of the two brigades was ordered off towards Cold Harbor and participated in another battle at that place the same even- ing. In this last fight in which the Confederates charged the enemy out of their good breastworks, General Kirkland was again wounded and did not return to this command. General William MacBae succeeded to the command of our
96 North Carolina Troops, 1861-65.
bi"ii;;i(k' al)out rliis lime, and tlii'nuiili every vicissitude proved the equal of any brigadier in tlie army, (^uite a nnniber of the men of the Forty-seventh were killed and wounded in the engagement.
General lletli, with his division, remaiue<l on the ground taken that night, fortihed aiul a\\aite(| lo-moi'i'ow. Karly on to-morrow the enemy massed a host in our front and at- tem])ted to break through lis all day. They were in the Avoods, we on the edge of it with a small field liehind us. This enabled them to get very near tis, perhaps forty to sixty yards, and we learned l)y sound rather than by sight, \yhen they arose to charge, and kept them in check by shooting in the direction of their noise, as they would attem]~»t to encourage their men. It was literally an all-day aifair. .Vmong our other embarrassments we were nearly surrounded, and once when the enemy's cannon sent a shell from our i-car and our men had craned their necks, General Heth coolly comman<led an aid "to go stop that battery — tell them they are firing into my men." Fortune was propitious, and they did stop, doubt- less, because they could suppose their own men tO' be fired into by their slielling, so close were we together. Our loss was considerable during the day, but at length night came. At dark a detail collected every canteen and bayonet and took them out, and as soon as it was dark good, we silently stole away by the only outlet left us.
From Cold Harbor we went to Gaines' ^Mill, just after Hoke had repulsed the enemy at that place, infiicting heavy loss. From Gaines' Mill we crossed the Chickahominy. Thence about the middle of Jtme we crossed the James and a few days after the Appomattox riv(>rs, and our division took position on the extreme right of General Lee's long line of defense extending from the Chickah<iminy to Hatcher's Kun. a distance of about thii'ty-five miles.
Hatcher's Kun ami its vicinity are henceforth to be tlie scene of our operations, and it was around this flank and in this vicinity that General Grant did most of his hammering, an<l near here he finally broke throngh Lee's linos to begin the A])pomattox campaign.
Once, in July, our division recrossed the A]ipomattox to
Forty-Seventh 1\egiment. 97
meet Grant's feigned attack on the north of the river, when the episode of the crater, on 30 July, took place.
On 21 August our division was a part of the attacking column to dislodge Warren's Fifth Corps from the Weldon Railroad. For about two days before and two after this date, the Forty-seventh was under almost daily fire, in which series of fights it lost several killed and wounded.
KEAMS station.
On 25 August MacHae's, with Lane's and Cooke's Bri- gades distinguished themselves in the battle of Reams Sta- tion. Hancock had fortified this place and other Southern troops had failed to dislodge him, when these Xorth Caroli- nians were assigned the honor of doing so. MacRae pointed out to his men how they could approach under the protection of an old field of pines, and we imagine the heretofore trium- phant Federals must have smiled as they beheld the small force adA^ancing against them, and intended to withhold their fire mitil we should reach a point from which we might be unable to escape. Suddenly MacRae ordered : ''Don't fire a gun, but dash for the enemy." The dash was made, and be- hold the assault is successful. The result is several flags and cannon, a large number killed and wounded, and 2,100 pris- oners. A Federal officer, as he sat, a surprised prisoner, re- marked to one of our officers: "Lieutenant, your men fight well; that was a magnificent charge." The loss in the Forty- seventh was heavy, and it included an over-proportion of our very best men. This was notably so in Company A. Men who seemed to have possessed charmed lives ; who struck so quick, and were so cool and daring to pass the danger line, were struck down almost in a body. Many of them returned after recovery, but the regiment was notably weakened after this.
On 30 September General Heth attacked two corps of Federals trying to extend to our right, near the Pegram house, and captured quite a number of prisoners. On 1 and 2 October the effort to extend continued and we continued to resist it ; but after several days doggedly fighting and putting in fresh troops, they succeeded and fortified themselves. It 7
98 North Carolina Troops, 1861 -'05.
was Grant's way, a continual extending his left with fresh troops and making his line impregnable with the spade and cannon.
BUKGESS'' MILL.
On the 27th the enemy again felt for oiir right flank, and at Burgess' jMill General MacRae's Brigade assaulted them, repulsing the full length of his line of battle, taking a battery of artillery and passing far to the front, discovered that the enemy were closing from both his flanks the gap he had just made. MacRae was on foot leading his command, and point- ing to the perilous situation, asked them to follow him out, which they gallantly did by cutting their way out. Our loss here was very heavy in killed and wounded, but none were taken prisoners. Hill's Corps took a great number of prison- ers. ^lacRae complained bitterly about his superiors in com- mand allowing him to be cut to pieces when it could have been prevented.
Winter had now set in, and the men settled down with some degree of comfort in their rudely constructed quarters. Some attended religious worship by our Chaplain. The regiment in early 1864 had a good Young Men's Christian Associa- tion, but no sign of it was visible at the close of the cam- paign— the members of it having been knocked out. Some who could raise a Confederate dollar went to the theatre ; yes,