334 NortH Carotina Troops, 1861-65.

whizzed by. ‘Why are you so polite in the presence of the
enemy,” remarked Colonel Vance. A rabbit was flushed by
the line as it advanced, which caused the men to raise a shout
as it ran past them, whereupon Colonel Vance joined in the
ery, saying: ‘Go it cotton tail. If I had no more reputation to
lose than you have, I would run too.”

On 7 July Ransom’s Brigade was ordered back to General
Holmes’ command, and on 31 July, 1862, Major-General D.
H. Hill relieved General Holmes in command of the Depart-
ment of North Carolina, and 11 August Brigadier-General J.
Johnston Pettigrew, who had been severely wounded and
captured at the battle of Seven Pines, 1 June, 1862, was as-
signed to the command of Petersburg, and given the brigade
then under the command of Colonel Junius Daniel.

o PS
TWENTY SIXTH REGIMENT DETACHED FROM RANSOM S AND
ASSIGNED TO PETTIGREW S BRIGADE.

Colonel Vance’s election as Governor in August, 1862,
caused a vacancy in the Coloneley of the Twenty-sixth Regi-
ment. The Lieutenant-Colonel was not 21 years of age, and
the opposition of General Ransom to his promotion on account
of his age, the General saying: ‘He wanted no boy Colonel
in his brigade,” was well known to the regiment, and indig-
nantly resented.

Application was made through the proper channels for a
transfer to some other brigade, and on 26 August, 1862, by
special order No. 199, from the A. & I. G. office, at Rich-
mond, the Twenty-sixth Regimont was detached and ordered
to report to Brigadier-General S. G. French, at Petersburg,
Va., for duty with the brigade formerly commanded by Brig-
adier-General J. G. Martin.

Referring to the election of Colonel Vance as Governor,
one of the regiment writes as follows: “Though rejoicing
that he had been chosen Governor of the State by such a com-
plimentary majority, with a pang of regret we saw Colonel,
now Governor-elect Z. B. Vance, exchange the sword for the
helm of State. He received almost the unanimous support
of the regiment, there being only seven votes cast against him,
which well attests his popularity among his troops.

Twenty-SixtH REGIMENT. 335.

“His separation from us was quite sad, all feeling the
heavy loss to the regiment. In his farewell address to the
regiment, he, with his usual truthfulness and sincerity, scorn-
ed to hold out any false promises to those who had been under
his command, telling them plainly, that all they: could expect
was ‘War! War!! War!!! Fight till the end.’

“But in the promotion of Lieutenant-Colonel Burgwyn to
the Coloneley of the regiment, we gained an officer, young,
gallant and brave, and eminently fitted to fill the vacancy.”

Speaking of the transfer of the regiment to Pettigrew’s Bri-
gade, this writer goes on to say: “Never was there a more
fortunate change. It seemed as if Pettigrew and Burgwyn
were made for each other. Alike in bravery, alike in action,
alike in their military bearing, alike in readiness for battle
and in skillful horsemanship, they were beloved alike by the
soldiers of the Twenty-sixth. Each served as a pattern for
the other, and in imitating each other they reached the high-
est excellence possible of attainment in every trait which dis-
tinguishes the ideal soldier.” It will be of pathetic interest to
state in addition to the above eloquent panegyric, that both
General Pettigrew and Colonel Burgwyn were alumni of the
State University, and fell on the field of battle within a few
days of each other, the one on Gettysburg’s gory field, 1 July,
1863 ; the other, commanding the rear guard of the army on
its retreat across the Potomac at Falling Waters, 14 July,
1863.

The promotion of Lieutenant-Colonel Burgwyn, and the
death of Major Kendall, who had been sick since his election,
required the filling of the positions of Lieutenant-Colonel
and Major. A board of examination having been appointed
to pass upon the qualifications of all officers before their pro-
motion, Captain John R. Lane, of Company G, and Captain
John T. Jones, of Company I, were summoned for examina-
tion, and obtaining the favorable report of the board, which
was composed of Colonel H. K. Burgwyn, of the Twenty-
sixth; Colonel Thomas Singletary, of the Forty-fourth, and
Lieutenant-Colonel T. L. Hargrave, of the Forty-seventh
North Carolina Regiments, duly received their commissions
as Lieutenant-Colonel and Major, respectively. About this