152 Nort Carotina Troops, 1861-’65.

Soon we heard another whistle, and moving up the road,
greeted the train with a volley as it passed. The engineer
did as the other, giving it all the speed he could, cut about

half way through the cars standing on the track, scattering .

them in all directions and doubling up his own train into a
jumbled mass. Soon we heard the whistle of another train,
and treating it as we had the others, drove it headlong into
the mass of wreckage that already encumbered the track.
This was the last one to come down, and we had three long
trains piled up in a mass of wreckage on the track. They
were all long trains of empty box cars, filled up with rough,
board seats, and were transporting McClellan’s troops to
Pope. The first engine we ditched was called “The Presi-
dent,” and had a very fair picture of President Lincoln
painted on the steam dome, with one of our bullet holes
through his head.

If we had struck the trains going the other way, they would
have been full of troops, and we would have made a big haul
of prisoners. The first train that succeeded in passing us re~
ported at the junction, where there was a company of artillery
that Mosby’s gang had fired on it as it passed Brandy Sta-
tion and they might look out for an attack before day. But
for this warning, we would have caught the artillerymen in
their beds.

My regiment was sent forward to capture the junction,
which we reached about 1 o’clock in the morning. The artil-
lerymen, warned by the train that escaped us, had their guns
loaded with grape shot and canister and were in position wait-
ing for us. Grape shot are iron balls about the size of mar-
bles, and a 12-pound gun is loaded with about a half gallon of
them. Canister is a tin can about the size of a three-pound
tomato can, sealed up full of musket balls loaded into the
cannon that way. When fired, the can is torn to pieces and
the bullets scatter out. Marching up to cannon loaded with
grape and canister is rough medicine, but soldiers some times
have to take it. We approached the station as silently and
stealthily as we could and succeeded in covering behind some
box cars standing on the track. We were wanting them to
fire, knowing they would get a shot any way, but we were

Twenty-First REGIMENT. 153

dreading the fire at the same time. They held their fire
until we got within a hundred yards, but we could not see
them well enough to shoot them, and they were waiting to see
us plainly. Finally we made such a noise among the cars
they thought we were charging, and fired all four of their
guns. Fortunately for us, their aim in the darkness was
bad. Their grape shot and bullets went whistling over our
heads, and no one was hurt. This was the opportunity we
were wishing for. Their guns were now empty and we were
careful not to give them time to load again. With a quick
dash we were soon among them and made them all prisoners
before they could reload their guns. Having secured our
prisoners and arranged for their safe keeping, we laid down
and slept soundly until next morning.

SECOND BATTLE OF MANASSAS.

The large warehouse full of rations that we had burned
about six months before, had been rebuilt and was full of
army supplies, this point being used as Pope’s base. It will
be observed that Jackson, with his corps only, was square in
the rear of Pope’s army, which consisted of the united forces
of Banks, Fremont and Shields, with heavy reinforcements
from McClellan’s army. All this force was between us and
the main body of our army. In addition to this, on the other
side of us and not far off, was the main body of McClellan’s
great army, pressing up from Acquia creek to join Pope. We
were exactly between these two great armies and completely
cut off from our friends, and it looked as though they only
had to move together and crush us with their mighty weight.
The men as well as the generals knew that our position was
an extremely critical one, but not one of us had any fears of
being crushed or captured. That Jackson was with us and
could lead us out, was felt and expressed. If our friends
could not reach us before this great anaconda closed around
us, we knew that Jackson would concentrate his strength on
some weak point and cut his way through and walk off where
he pleased. We all felt we were able to do that in a great
emergency. We filled our haversacks and loaded our wagons