544 NortH CAROLINA Troops, 1861-’65.

much promptness and steadiness as I ever saw in its ranks
on dress parade, and its fire, with Enfield rifles, was terrific.
Colonel Avery, Lieutenant-Colonel Hoke and Major Lewis
did their duty fully against an overwhelming force. Its gal-
lant Colonel was captured at his post.”

There were many instances of private bravery and devo-
tion. Lientenant-Colonel Hoke says: ‘Private David Phi-
fer, of Company A, was killed while carrying a message from
Major Lewis to Colonel Avery, and Private Dolchite, of the
same company, threw away his clothing in order to swim the
ereek and save his gun. He is a boy 16 years of age.”

In this battle the Federals had at least 12,000 men (Gen-
eral Branch says 13,000, with a reserve of 7,000) and the
Confederates had not more than 4,000. It was a severe en-
gagement. The casualties in the Thirty-third were as fol-
lows: Killed, 32; wounded, 28; prisoners, 144. The losses
were unusually heavy. Our regiment lost about three times
as many in killed and wounded as any other regiment that
was engaged in the battle. Some of our bravest and best
men found bloody graves in their first and only battle.

Among the killed were William Palmer, John M. Shuler,
Samuel Whitaker, Company A; John H. P. Bryan, Riley
Bullock, Wiley Whitley, Company B; Charles R. Carter,
Company E; Samuel R. Weston, Oliver S. Neal, William H.
Sadler, Company F; J. W. Faircloth, William McDonald,
D. Reynolds, Company G; George W. Griffin, Peter ith Lein-
bach, Company I; Robert Turnage, Sergeant Benjamin CG.
Beaman, Company K. Noble men. They died facing the en-
emy.

Afton the battle of New Bern the Thirty-third Regiment,
with the other troops, fell back to Kinston. All of the troops
at Kinston were subsequently thrown into two brigades. The
First Brigade was commanded by General Robert Ransom,
and the Second by General Branch. ‘The Seventh, EKigh-
teenth, Twenty-eighth, Thirty-third, and Thirty-seventh
Regiments were assigned to the Second Brigade, 31 Mareh,
1862. The brigade retained this name until it went to Vir-
ginia. It was then called the Fourth Brigade until the War
Department ordered the brigades to be designated by the

Turrty-THirD RrGImMeEnt. 545

names of their commanders. It was thereafter called
Branch’s Brigade until the death of General Branch at
Sharpsburg, 17 September, 1862, and thenceforth was Lane’s
Brigade.

The Twenty-eighth Regiment left for Virginia 2 May,
1862. The Thirty-third, with the other regiments of the
brigade, followed two days later, reaching Gordonsville 5
May, at night. The regiment remained there about ten days.
It was then ordered to join Jackson in the valley, but it went
no farther than the foot of the Blue Ridge. “The brigade,”
says General Lane, “was marched backwards and forwards
between the foot of the mountains and a little town called
Criglersville to deceive the enemy whose signal station was in
full view, and whose flag was kept constantly waving during
the day.” The brigade was suddenly ordered back to Gor-
donsville, and from that point it was moved quickly to Hano-
ver Court House, where it stayed a short time, doing picket
duty in the neighborhood.

SLASH CHURCH.

May 26th, the regiment was marched to Slash Church, or
Hanover Court House. The mud, in places, was almost knee
deep, and the weather extremely disagreeable, but the men
were cheerful and confident. The battle of Hanover Court
House was fought 27 May. The Confederate forces engaged
were Branch’s Brigade, the Twelfth North Carolina, Colonel
Wade; Forty-fifth Georgia, Colonel Hardeman—two regi-
ments temporarily attached to Branch’s Brigade—and La-
tham’s North Carolina Battery, which had arrived the day
before the battle. This battery was far from being in prime
condition. The horses were altogether untrained, and there
were not half enough men to serve the guns efficiently.
Still it did magnificent work. The Thirty-third, under Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Hoke, rendered admirable service, and added
no little to the fighting reputation it had already acquired.
The Twenty-eighth Regiment also won imperishable laurels
in this engagement by hard fighting and by a skillful retreat,
though cut off from the remainder of the brigade. General
McDowell was expected to reinforce McClellan in his opera-

35