118 Norra Carorina Troops, 1861-’65.

Station on 14 October, 1863. We had missed all the hard
marching on the campaign to Pennsylvania and the great
battle of Gettysburg, but at Bristoe we suffered the heaviest
loss of any battle we had yet been in, charging a heavy body
of the enemy entrenched behind a railroad. From here we
fell back to Orange Court House, where we went into winter
quarters.

The next battle was at the Wilderness, 4 May, 1864.
Heth’s Division fought a heavy force of the enemy for two
hours before we were relieved. At no time during the war
did his division do better fighting. The writer heard Gen-
eral Lee tell General Cooke that night that he (Gen. Cooke),
and Kirkland, with their brigades, had held 25,000 Yankees
in check for more than two hours. Our loss was not heavy,
but the enemy’s was very great. There seemed to be as
many dead men in our front as we had men engaged. The
ground on which we fought was a dense thicket of small
growth, which was cut down by minie balls before we were
relieved, so that we could see the enemy’s lines as they would
come up to relieve one line after another, which they did
about every fifteen or twenty minutes. And to show that
the undergrowth was cut down principally by our balls, the
tree tops in the rear of us were cut all to pieces, while but few
balls struck trees near the ground, showing that the enemy
shot over us. We were relieved a little before sunset by
Wilcox’s Division, and after dark were marched out and
formed in line in an old straw field, where we lay until morn-
ing. At daylight the skirmish firing began. At sunrise
the enemy advanced in several lines. In the meanwhile a
battery of small guns was brought in and opened on the ad-
vancing lines of Federals which were between us and the ris+
ing sun. This was all the cannon used in the battle. The
smoke from the cannon was so dense the Captain could not
see what he was doing. The writer was ordered by General
Cooke to go in front to see where the shells were falling. I
soon saw that they were going over their lines and doing no
execution at all. I informed the commander of the distance
of the enemy. The next fire he began to cut lanes through
the advancing lines, but the artillery had time only for a few

Forty-EraHtH REGIMENT. 119

rounds, when General Longstreet’s Corps advanced and drove
them back into and out of their breastworks and took pos-
session of the same. This was a most gallant act. Long-
street with one line drove several lines of Federals back, leav-
ing the ground strewn with Federal dead. That night when
we were in the captured breastworks and all was perfectly
still, Gen. Lee rode across the line on the extreme right. Some
one cried out “Three cheers for General Lee,” which was

- taken up on the right and went the rounds to the extreme

left—the grandest rebel yell of the war. The rear guard of
the retreating Federals fired and ran. Some of them, cap-
tured a few days afterward, reported that several corps were
ordered back as they thought we were advancing.

The regiment had a heavy skirmish on Po river and was
severely shelled. The Federals, in falling back at this place,
fired the woods on us, but the fire, like their shells, did not
stop us in our advance. This all amounted to but little.

At Spottsylvania Court House we were engaged on 12
May, but the loss of the Forty-eighth was not so great as that
of some other regiments, as we were not in the hottest of the
battle. However, we did some hard marching through the
brush and some fighting.

From here we were on the memorable march to Richmond,
and exposed to an awful heavy shelling on 25 May, near Han-
over. The solid shot were falling and bouncing thick on the
ground. The only casualties I remember were Sergeant C.
Lawhon and Corporal M. ©. Yon, Company D, Forty-eighth
North Carolina, both killed with the same shot. Our next en-
gagement was at a place called Turkey Bend, or Turkey Hill.
Wilcox’s Division was fighting in front of us, and a heavy
body of Federals were moving on his left flank. We were
preparing to meet them, throwing up some temporary breast-
works under a sharp skirmish fire. Lieutenant W. C. How-
ard, of Company F, Forty-eighth, was killed. Some four or
five men wounded, were, I think, all of those lost by the
Forty-eighth in this engagement. The enemy was moving in
line of battle to our right. We were ordered to move in quick
time and make no noise. While on this rapid march an
amusing incident occurred, which I will relate: We were