214 Norto Carotina Troops, 1861-’65.

to Couch’s assistance. During this time, Whiting on the
left and Huger on the right, suffer Hill’s soldiers to become
exhausted without supporting them. * * At 7 o'clock,
Hill reorganized the debris of his troops in the woods * *
his tenacity and the courage of his soldiers had only had the
effect of causing him to sustain heavy loss.”

Not till far in the night did the terrific voleano of Malvern
Hill become extinct. Fearful had been its execution not only
on the fighting line, but numbers of the supports far back in
the woods to the rear had been struck down. It was one of
the few battles in history in which the casualties from artil-
lery fire were as large, probably larger, than those from small
arms.

Battered and shattered, but undismayed, the Twenty-third
slept that night upon its arms ready for the eventualities of
the morrow. But the stir and rumble within the hostile line
had been significant. Jackson’s drowsy response, when
awakened from the slumbers which from sheer exhaustion
had mastered him, and asked what must be done should Me-
Clellan attack tomorrow. ‘He won’t be there,” had been
indeed prophetic words. The morrow broke over Malvern Hill
tenanted only by Federal dead and wounded, all of which the
enemy had left in their flight. It broke over the “Little Na-
poleon”—very little he then appeared at Washington, if not
to himself—safe under shelter of his gunboats at Harrison’s
Landing, clamoring for 50,000 fresh troops. McClellan had
lost 15,849 men in killed, wounded and captured, besides 52
pieces of artillery, 27,000 stands of small arms and millions
of dollars worth of stores. But the Confederates being every-
where the assailants, sustained a still heavier loss, their casu-
alties reaching the enormous aggregate of 19,749.

It is impossible to give with accuracy our regiment’s loss
during the Seven Days fighting. Moore’s Roster, often inac-
curate and incomplete, is here unusually so. According to
statement of Captain A. T. Cole, Company D, who esti-
mates the casualties of the regiment in proportion to those
known to have been sustained by his own company, the
Twenty-third began the Seven Days fighting with about 175
men. It sustained the heaviest loss at Malvern Hill. Here

Twenty-THIRD REGIMENT. 215

about 30 were killed and 75 wounded. These figures, while
only approximate, are believed to be near the mark. These
losses left the command a mere skeleton, till strengthened by
recruits and the return of wounded men who had recovered.

Colonel D. H. Christie and Adjutant V. E. Turner were
wounded at Cold Harbor. Captain I. J. Young, who com-
manded the Twenty-third at Malvern Hill was, in that bat-
tle, wounded in the face, and Private C. C. Courtney, Com-
pany A, killed in taking him from the field. Here also Cap-
tain A. T. Cole, Company D, and Lieutenant Munday, Com-
pany K, were wounded, and Lieutenant Wm. F. Gill, of
Granville County, killed. The list, though incomplete,
covers so far as can now be ascertained, the casualties of the
commissioned officers.

LIEUTENANT WM. P. GILL.

Wm. P. Gill was born in Franklin County, N. C., October
1842. While yet a lad fresh from college, he enlisted as a
private in the Granville Rifles, afterwards Company G, was
appointed Sergeant Major and at the reorganization, elected
Second Lieutenant in the company. His duties as Sergeant
Major had brought him in frequent contact with the officers
of his regiment, and most of the men. His death caused
genuine sorrow and regret to every member of the command.
He was handsome in person, and his bearing that of a gentle-
man. His bravery, manliness, his frank, open face alight
with the quenchless enthusiasm of a youth, won and held the
love and respect of all. For though gentle and polite, he was
firm in the discharge of his duties. His abilities were so gen-
erally recognized that his promotion must have been rapid
had he been spared to his country and the army. He said
the morning of Malvern Hill, that he would not survive the
battle. So strong was this premonition that when Captain
I. J. Young was borne to the rear, wounded, he asked the
Captain to take charge of a watch which had just been en-
trusted to him (Lieutenant Gill) by a dying Federal, for
transmission to his mother. And I will add that after the
war Captain Young found the mother and delivered the
watch. Lieutenant Gill, now in command of the regiment,