284 NortH Carormina Troops, 1861-65.

line during the night. At dawn of the day, the 20th, Cap-
tain Durham of Ransom’s Staff, ordered Captain Lane to
forward his line of Skirmishers. This order was greeted by
a shower of minie balls from the enemy. At the time all
of his artillery that could be brought to bear upon us was in
full play, which made the earth quake beneath our feet.
Amid this storm of shot and shell, Lane led his line in ad-
vance of the line of battle to the first fort. On arriving at
the fort, Daniel King, Orderly Sergeant of Company E,
mounted the parapet and demanded its surrender, which
order was obeyed. The second fort was then stormed and
carried; the third also, and our victory was complete. The
Twenty-fourth Regiment and Ransom’s Brigade had stormed
and taken an army greater in numbers than they themselves,
and the enemy well fortified within these strong forts, but
this was not done without some loss to us, for in Company E,
Lane’s, alone, we numbered twenty-one killed and wounded.

Hoke’s Brigade occupied the line above town on the river
and consequently did but little of the fighting on this day.
This was a complete victory for our side and it was greatly
due to Ransom and his brigade.

The recapture of Plymouth, N. C., under the existing cir-
cumstances, was one of the most splendid victories achieved
by Southern arms in this great contest, and about the only
hard fought battle on North Carolina soil. At night, the
troops were marched out of town and the dead buried with
military honors. On the following day the Twenty-fourth
Regiment was sent to garrison the town where we remained
for a day or two, when we were relieved by the Fiftieth Regi-
ment, North Carolina troops, and Ransom’s Brigade sent to
lay siege to Washington, N. C.

Soon after our arrival at this town the Yankees took to their
gunboats and left for parts unknown, and we set out for New
Bern, N. C., reaching a point near the city on the south side
of the Trent, 6 May. Here we had some fighting, cap-
turing about fifty prisoners, with a loss of but two men on
our side killed.

8 May, we reached Kinston, N. C., on our way to
Virginia. About 10 May, we reached Petersburg, Va.,

Twenty-FourtH REGIMENT. 285

and were sent down on the James river to intercept Butler,
then advancing on Richmond from the south side of the
James; Ransom’s Brigade was now assigned to Bushrod

_Johnson’s division, under command of General Beauregard.

Ransom’s Brigade was now sent to Drewry’s Bluff, and on
the 14th, was sent down the railroad to oceupy a line of
breastworks on the extreme right of our lines. The Twenty-
fourth Regiment rested its right at the end of the works, on
a marsh said to be impassable by troops.

The enemy was closing in upon us in front and file. Soon
after reaching this position the enemy broke through this
swamp and attacked ouy line in rear, breaking our line tem-
porarily and severely wounding General Ransom. At this
moment, the gallant Captain Durham was killed at the head
of the Twenty-fourth Regiment, which was now being pressed
from all sides and the only alternative was to cut through the
enemy’s lines from the rear, which was done in admirable
style. The Twenty-fourth was ordered to cover the retreat
up the railroad, the enemy shelling with all their artillery
which made this position anything but comfortable. At
night, the Twenty-fourth was ordered to rest on their arms
and Company E was sent forward on a skirmish. During
the night we could hear the cries of a wounded reb in front
of our lines, the words of whom we could not understand at
the time, or that it had a special signification or meaning
until hostilities ceased for the time and the wounded man
was brought safely into our lines. It was said, by men that
knew, that this man was a Free Mason, and was thus safely
rescued. Firing was kept up during the night, and in the
early morning of the 15th assumed the proportions of a regu-
lar battle. Fighting was kept up during the day, and in the
afternoon the whole line became engaged, Ransom’s Brigade
occupying much the same position of the night before. The
Twenty-fourth Regiment suffered terribly during the day.
Company E lost nine men wounded and one killed by the ex-
ploding of a shell. It was here that Colonel Clarke, com-
manding the brigade, was severely wounded, and never again
returned to the regiment. Night closed this day’s fighting,
and as the morning of 16 May, 1864, was ushered