332 Norra Carorina Troops, 1861-’65.

the night, in entire ignorance of the presence of the enemy,
the latter suddenly arose, thrust their guns through the fence
rails and opened fire. So close were they to us, says a mem-
ber of the regiment, that the beards of many of the men were
singed. The surprise was so great that seven of the compa-
nies on the right of the regiment went to the rear; however,
Companies G, H and K, undaunted by the nearness and num-
bers of the enemy, remained on the field. On the next morn-
ing those companies were highly complimented by their field
officers for their exceedingly creditable conduct in holding
their lines during the night under such trying circumstances.
Again, on picket, on the 27 June, the Twenty-sixth Regi-
ment was pushed to the front and took possession of some
unfinished works of the enemy. Just as it was about to be re-
lieved, it was attacked, but returned the fire so briskly and
with such effect as to drive the enemy back.

Quoting from so much of Brigadier-General Robert Ran-
som’s report of the part his brigade took in the battle of Mal-
vern Hill, as applies to the Twenty-sixth Regiment, he says:
“At 7 p.m. (July 1, 1862) I received the third request from
General Magruder, that he must have aid, if only one regi-
ment. The message was so pressing that I at once directed
Colonel Clarke to go with his regiment ( Twenty-fourth North
Carolina). The brigade was at once put in motion, Colonel
Clarke had already gone, Colonel Rutledge next, then Colonel
Ransom, Colonels Ramseur and Vance, all moved to the
scene of conflict at the double quick. As each of the three
first named regiments reached the field, they were at once
thrown into action by General Magruder’s orders. As the
last two arrived, they were halted by me to regain their
breath, and then pushed forward under as fearful fire as the
mind can conceive.

“Ordering the whole to the right so as to be able to form
under cover, I brought the brigade in line within 200 yards
of the enemy’s batteries. It was now twilight; the line was
put in motion and moved steadily forward to within less than
100 yards of the batteries. The enemy seemed unaware of
our movements. Masses of his troops appeared to be moving
from his left towards his right. Just at this instant the bri-

TWENTyY-SIxTH REGIMENT. 388

gade raised a tremendous shout, and the enemy at once
wheeled into line and opened upon us a perfect sheet of fire
from muskets and the batteries. We steadily advanced to
within twenty yards of the guns. The enemy had concen-
trated his forces to meet us. Our onward movement was
checked ; the line wavered and fell back before a fire, the in-
tensity of which is beyond description. It was a bitter disap-
pointment to be compelled to yield when their guns seemed
almost in our hands.”

The losses sustained by Ransom’s Brigade from 26 June to
1 July, 1862, inclusive, embraced three Colonels wounded
one Lieutenant-Colonel killed, several field officers and see

company officers, and a total of 499 privates killed and
wounded.

Casualties separately stated :

Regiments 24th. 25th. 26th. 35th. 49th.
Killed 9 22 6 18 14

Wounded. °2.060 «42 106 40 91 75
INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE.

During the charge of the regiment at Malvern Hill, Cap-
tain Lane, of Company G, had the pocket of his coat cut open
by a ball, and the contents fell on the ground. Among these
was a package wrapped in newspaper, containing the month’s
pay of hiscompany. Next morning Captain Lane discovered
his loss, obtained permission to go and hunt for it, and strange
to say, found the package untouched, lying in the open ground
where it had fallen among the dead and wounded.

After the regiment had taken its position for the night
after the charge, and the officers and men were resting on their
arms, Captain Lane lay down between two of his soldiers and
fell asleep. Next morning when he awoke the man on his
right and left had both been killed by the enemy’s fire while
asleep, and their deaths not discovered. They awoke to the
sound of the “reveille” in another world.

While the men were lying down in line of battle, waiting
the order to charge, they were subjected to a furious shelling,
and there was more or less dodging of the head as the missiles