14 NortH Carouina Troops, 1861-’65.

Thus, within thirty days the army of which the Forty-
third composed a part had marched about five hundred miles
and taken part in not less than twelve battles and skirmishes,
in most of which the enemy were deafeated with severe
losses.

The troops then moved towards the Valley of Virginia,
and crossed the Blue Ridge at Snicker’s Gap on 17 July, the
Union troops slowly following and an additional force threat-
ening the flank of the Confederate right. On the afternoon
of that day Rodes’ Division attacked the enemy at Snicker’s
Ford, driving them into the Shenandoah river, where the loss
in killed and drowned was heavy. On the 19th the division
moved towards Strasburg, and on the afternoon of the 20th
went to the support of General Ramseur, who was resisting
an attack near Winchester. But the engagement having
ceased before the arrival of the division, it retired to Fisher’s
Hill and there remained till the morning of the 24th, when
an attack was made upon the enemy at Kernstown and they
were driven across the Potomac and followed into Maryland.
And then Rodes’ Division, sometimes in detachments and at
others in a body, marched and countermarched between the
Potomac river and Fisher’s Hill until September 22d. Dur-
ing this time the Forty-third Regiment was engaged in al-
most daily skirmishing, and took part in the battles of Win-
chester, 17 August; Charlestown, 21 August; Smithfield, 29
August; Bunker’s Hill, 83 September; Winchester (No. 2),
19 September, and Fisher’s Hill, 22 September.

Having been defeated in the last engagement at Fisher’s
Hill, the Confederates retreated up the valley, followed by
the enemy to Waynesboro, where reinforcements were re-
ceived, and then, on 1 October, returned down the valley,
reaching Fisher’s Hill on 13 October. The Forty-third com-
posed part of the body of troops which marched around the
left and rear of the enemy’s camp at Cedar Creek on the
night of 18 October, preparatory to the general attack made
on the morning of the 19th, resulting in their defeat in the
early part of the day. Reinforcements having been received
by the enemy in the afternoon, the tide of battle was turned
and the Confederates were driven. up the valley to New Mar-

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Forty-THirp REGIMENT. 15

ket, where they remained in camp without further incident
till about 22 November, when a considerable body of Union
cavalry under the command of General Sheridan was at-
tacked and routed by Rodes’ Division between New Market
and Mount Jackson. This ended the noted Valley campaign
of 1864.

About a week before Christmas, the Forty-third, with the
other troops composing the old Second Corps of the Army
of Northern Virginia, returned to Petersburg and went into
winter quarters on Swift creek, three miles north of the city.
The next movement was to Southerland’s Depot, on the right
wing of the army, south of Petersburg, on 15 February, 1865.
Here the regiment remained with the other troops of the
division till about the middle of March, when they were or-
dered into the trenches in front of Petersburg to relieve Gen-
eral Bushrod Johnson’s Division, which was to occupy an-
other position.

The increasing disproportion in the numbers of the oppos-
ing armies made it necessary for Rodes’ Division, now com-
posed of only about 2,200 men, to cover a distance of about
three and a half miles in the trenches, and to do this it re-
quired one-third of the men on picket duty in front of the
trenches and one-third on duty in the trenches, where the mud
was frequently more than shoe-deep and sometimes knee-deep,
while the remaining third caught a broken rest on their arms.
No general engagement took place till 25 March, but at
night there was almost constant firiug between the pickets.
At most points the main lines of the two armies were within
easy rifle-range, and at some points less than one hundred
yards apart. The monotony of the constant cracking of
small arms was frequently relieved by the firing of mortars
and the dropping of shells in the trenches, calling for con-
stant watchfulness on the part of those who were in the
trenches, and disturbing the broken rest of the small remnant
who were off duty. On the night of 24 March, General Gor-
don’s Corps was massed opposite Hare’s Hill with a view to
making an attack at that point, where the lines were within
one hundred yards of each other. Entrance into the enemy’s
works was effected just before daylight on the morning of the