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310 Nortu Carorina Troops, 1861-'65.

with great rapidity, as the enemy left him no time for delay.
At 4 p. m. on the 12th of March, General Branch was notified

of the enemy’s approach. He ordered Colonel Sinclair, of
the Thirty-fifth North Carolina Regiment, to proceed to
Fisher’s landing, just above the mouth of Otter Creek, to sf
sist any attempt of the enemy to land. Late in the night
he ordered the Twenty-sixth North Carolina Regiment and
Brem’s Battery, Lieutenant-Colonel Burgwyn in command, to
follow, Colonel Vance being temporarily in command of the
Post of New Bern. ‘These troops arrived to find the enemy
had anticipated them by occupying this ground, 80 the a
regiments fell back to take their places in the main line tor

the next day’s battle.
General Branch divided his forces that were to defend the

works on the left of the railroad, namely, between the rail-
road and Fort Thompson, into two wings to be ——
respectively by Colonel ©. C. Lee, of the Thirty-sevent

North Carolina Regiment, and Colonel Reuben P. Campy
bell, of the Seventh North Carolina Regiment. Colonel Lee’s
douimand embraced the troops between the fort and the county
road, and was composed of the Twenty-seventh Soph anes
lina Regiment and his own, the Thirty-seventh North oe

lina Regiment; on the right of the county. road reaching 4
the railroad constituted Colonel Campbell’s command an

was defended by his own regiment (the Seventh) ; the ee
fifth and Captain Whitehurst’s independent aban er
on the right next to the railroad was placed the battalion o
militia under command of Colonel H. J. B. Clark. Two sec-
tions of Brem’s and Latham’s batteries of artillery —
posted along this line between the county road and railroad,

under Colonel Campbell’s command. e
Colonel Vance, of the Twenty-sixth North Carolina Regi

ment, was in command of all the defences
railroad, comprising a distance of one an

His own regiment, one or two :
tion of Brem’s artillery, were the only troops a

-for this important defense.
Bullen’s Creek for about half a mile, unti

into a swamp ; beyond this swamp his lin

d a quarter miles.

on the right of the

detached companies and a sec-
his disposal
His line ran along the bank of
1 the creek emptied
e was extended to the

TWENTY-SIXTH REGIMENT. 311

Weathersby road leading to New Bern; and beyond this (on
the right) was Bryce’s Creek, a deep and impassable stream of
about 75 yards wide, which empties into the Trent River.
Shortly after the battle opened, the part of Governor Vance’s
line next to the railroad and under the immediate command
of Major Carmichael, of the Twenty-sixth Regiment, was re-
inforeed, first by five companies of Colonel Avery’s Regi-
ment, the Thirty-third North Carolina, held in reserve; and
as the battle progressed and more determined became the at-
tempt of the enemy to carry this position, the other five com-
panies of the Thirty-third Regiment, under the gallant Colo-
nel Avery and Lieutenant-Colonel Robert F. Hoke, came to
Major Carmichael’s assistance. As will hereafter be seen,
the enemy never succeeded in carrying the works on the right
of the railroad.

During the day of the 13th, the enemy kept up a brisk
shelling from their gun boats, now in the Neuse, and keeping
abreast of their land forces; and by night had gocten his three
brigades in position for the attack early the next morning.
These were disposed as follows: General J. G. Foster formed
his line across the county road parallel to the Confederate
works, the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-fourth Massachusetts
Regiments on the right, and the Twenty-seventh and Twenty-
third Massachusetts on the left, supported by six navy howitz-
ers and the howitzers of Captains Dayton and Bennett.

General Jesse L. Reno formed his brigade on the left of the
railroad in the following order, viz., the Twenty-first Massa-
chusetts, Ninth New Jersey and Fifty-first Pennsylvania
Regiments. General Parke’s Brigade was drawn up in line
in the intermediate space between General’s Foster and Reno,
with orders to support whichever brigade needed it.

About 7:30 a. m. the battle was opened by a shot from a
Parrott gun from Latham’s battery under Lieutenant Wood-
bury Wheeler. This shot dispersed a squad of horsemen who
seemed to be reconnoitering under cover of the woods. Imme-
diately after this, the firing became general. General Fos-
ter’s attacks on the main works in his front made but little, if
any, impression; they were easily repulsed. Doubtless the
enemy knew the weak points in the Confederate line of de-