. _ nn ne
SM WE ETT SKS =z tar = ms =e
es inenaae 6 cee aed 5 ional —— nee
~-- ey - -~ --
= om S gi

Se IESE
ee =e

, OT - A ee ea aT

A TE EEE ESS SBE SE ES Fa SS, SE ES A
= : .
peer ay ere eis

 

352 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River

the rear of the Federal Army, and the body of Colonel Murchi-
son was never recovered. ‘The official correspondence on that
occasion is as follows:

CoLtp Harpor, VA., June 7, 1864—10.30 a. m.

GENERAL R. E. Leg, |
Comdg. Army of Northern Virginia.

I regret that your note of 7 p. m. yesterday should have been
received at the nearest corps headquarters to where it was delivered
after the hour that had been given for the removal of the dead and
wounded had expired. 10.45 p. m. was the hour at which it was
received at corps headquarters, and between 11 and 12 it reached my
headquarters. As a consequence, it was not understood by the troops
of this army that there was a cessation of hostilities for the purpose of
collecting the dead and wounded, and none were collected. Two officers
and six men of the Eighth and Twenty-fifth North Carolina Regiments,
who were out in search of the bodies of officers of their. respective regi-
ments, were captured and brought into our lines, owing to this want of
understanding. I regret this, but will state that as soon as I learned
the fact I directed that they should not be held as prisoners, but must
be returned to their comrades. These officers and men having been
carelessly brought through our lines to the rear, I have not determined
whether they will be sent back the way they came or whether they will
be sent by some other route.

Regretting that all my efforts for alleviating the sufferings of wounded
men left upon the battlefield have been rendered nugatory, I remain, &c.,

U. S. GRANT,
Lieutenant General,

HEADQUARTERS ARMY OF NORTHERN VIRGINIA,

LizvuT. GEN. U. S. GRANT, July 7, 1864—2 p. m.

Commanding U. 8S. Armies.

GENERAL:—Your note of 10.30 a. m. today has just been received. I
regret that my letter to you of 7 p. m. yesterday should have been too
late in reaching you to effect the removal of the wounded.

I am willing, if you desire it, to devote the hours between 6 and 8 this
afternoon to accomplish that object upon the terms and conditions as
set forth in my letter of 7 p. m. yesterday. If this will answer your pur-
pose, and you will send parties from your lines at the hour designated
with white flags, I will direct that they be recognized and be permitted
to collect the dead and wounded.

I will also notify the officers on my lines that they will be permitted
to collect any of our men that may be on the field. I request you will
notify me as soon as practicable if this arrangement is agreeable to
you. Lieutenant McAllister, Corporal Martin, and two privates of the
Highth North Carolina Regiment, and Lieutenant Hartman, Corpl. T.
Kinlaw, and Privates Bass and Grey were sent last night, between the
hours of 8 and 10 p. m., for the purpose of recovering the body of

The War Between the States 353

Colonel Murchison, and as they have not returned I presume they are
the men mentioned in your letter. I request that they be returned to
our lines, Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
R. E. Leg,
General,

June 7, 1864.

Referred to General G. G. Meade, commanding Army of the Potomac.
I will notify General Lee that hostilities will cease from 6 to 8 for
the purposes mentioned. You may send the officers and men referred

to as you deem best. Please return this. U. S. GRAnt,
Lieutenant General.

Cotp Harpor, VA., June 7, 1864—5.30 p. m.
GENERAL R. E. Leg,
Commanding Army of Northern Virginia.
Your note of this date just received. It will be impossible for me to

communicate the fact of the truce by the hour named by you (6 p. m.),
but I will avail myself of your offer at the earliest possible moment,

which I hope will not be much after that hour. The officers and men

taken last evening are the same mentioned in your note, and will be

returned. U. S. GRANT,
Lieutenant General,

Commodore W. T. Muse was an officer in the North Carolina
Navy. The State of North Carolina, immediately after the
adoption of the ordinance of secession, began the defense of her
inland sounds by the construction of forts at Hatteras and Ocra-
coke Inlets and by the purchase of several small steamers, which
were converted into gunboats. Those of her sons who were in
the United States Navy tendered their resignations and placed
their services at the disposal of their native State; prominent
among them being William T. Muse, who was ordered by the
Naval and Military Board, of which Warren Winslow was presi-
dent, to Norfolk, to take charge of, and fit out, as gunboats at
the navy yard at Portsmouth the steamers purchased by the
State. Commander W. T. Muse sailed from Norfolk, August 2,
1861, with the Ellis, arriving off Ocracoke Inlet the 4th. North
Carolina’s naval force consisted of seven vessels, but she sold
them to the Confederate Navy in the fall of 1861, and her naval
Officers were then transferred to the Confederacy.

A. W. Newkirk was commissioned as captain of Company A
(originally known as the “Rebel Rangers”), New Hanover
County, Forty-first Regiment, the 19th of October, 1861. A

brilliant exploit performed by the Rebel Rangers is reported by
Gen. W. H. C. Whiting, commanding the district of Wilming-

23