Fe a Q 2 Ie
242 Norra Carorina TROOPS, 1861-65.

About this time the brigade now but a handful, fought and
ran off a heavy cavalry force endeavoring to hold the high and
d court house at Spottsylvania.
The cavalry was a splendid body and fought desperately, but
no incident of the war was more relished by the boys than
prim set of blue-coated horsemen.
We took no part in the battle of 10 May till nearly sun-
The enemy had broken over the works by Dole s bri-
against General Lee's head-

other troops assi 1 his flanks, yelaleig
While other troops as aulted his flanks, our et
cade took the most important part in repelling this assault 0
i a . . 1 sas
The men refused to go forward till General Lee,
The following account

open ground around the ol

trouncing and chasing that

set. :
gade and were advancing direct

quarters.

the enemy.
then on the field, went to the rear. (
of the battle is from notes of Captain A. T. Cole, made not
long after the war: “About sunset the enemy broke through
cas angle in the works and were advancing rapidly
eadquarters then in sight, and directly
as doubled-quicked by the right
ine thicket where it had been

our line at an
towards General Lee’s h
before them. Our brigade w
fank in column from behind a p é |
resting and concealed. Emerging suddenly in their front,
then going by the left flank in line of battle, we met and
drove the enemy back across the breastworks and regained sev-

eral pieces of artillery which were still in position. Some -
the Confederate gunners who, concealed in the cannon Pp1ts,

S 1s ver.
apture, now sprung out: and used the gut y

had escaped ¢ :
als. Just as the brigade

effectively on the retreating Feder :
faced by the left flank and advanced towards the ae
saw facing the head of the column General Lee on horseback,

: ee 0
hat in hand, cheering on the men, within not more than 10

vards of the enemy. The fighting lasted till probably :
o’elock that night. Killed and wounded in our regimen

numbered 20 to 25.”
In making the charge Major Brooks, of the Twentieth

TWENTY-THIRD REGIMENT. 243

with the request that it be sent back to North Carolina as one
of the trophies of the brigade. It was sent to this State with
a letter from General Lee very complimentary to North Caro-
lina troops.

After repulsing the attack of the 10th, the brigade was
again withdrawn, occupying its place on reserve till the 12th.
Daybreak 12 May, a foggy, dismal dawn as May ever
saw, found us at the Harris House half a mile to the rear of
the apex of Lee’s salient, thence forward to be known as the
“Bloody Angle.” The Confederate line of fortification swept
around Spottsylvania Court House in an irregular semi-circle
seven miles long. A mile due north of the Court House a
spur in the hills made it necessary, in order to prevent the en-
emy from occupying a commanding position, to construct a
great angle or salient in the works. This salient, not unlike
a huge horse shoe in shape, was about three-fourths of a mile
long and half a mile broad at its base. This position, with
artillery, was strong; but without, it was weak. Lee believ-
ing that Grant had resumed his movement by the left flank,
had ordered the withdrawal of all artillery on this part of the
line not easy of access. On the night of the 11th General Ed.
Johnson, who with his division of 2,000 men, held the toe of
the horse shoe, apprehending an attack from the movements
in his front, asked that the artillery be returned. The guns
were just going back into position when at daylight Grant
threw a solid mass of 20,000 men against Johnston’s 2,000,
taking the guns before they could open fire. The victorious
enemy then pressed onwards to seize the whole salient and
pierce Lee’s centre. Our weak brigade in bivouac at the
Harris House, half a mile to the rear, were the only troops
immediately available to stem the onset. General Gordon at
the sudden outbreak of battle, threw us forward. Going for-
ward at the double quick in the woods below the McCool
House and far down in the salient, we ran upon the Federals

 

North Carolina, and Captain Jos. F. Johnston, Aid-de-Camp

to General R. D. Johnston, were competitors Im a gs set
Federal flag which had been planted on the captured Conte

j ‘ x hed
erate works now held by three lines of battle. Brooks reac

out his hand just in front of Johnston and seized the flag,

carried it back to the rear and presented it to General Lee

coming forward in three dense lines of battle. Our numbers
were so few and the enemy so strong, the intervening distance
so short, that twice Federal Line Officers came within ten
steps of us and demanded the surrender of the brigade. Our
reply in both instances was a volley that struck down the ven-