SESS 4 par pera lat nner tp eotgce compere sugges cere sterner sate = RR astsece ranepeatn se | i} Hil i a Wi Wi Wil i bau Wi ismeabinicsiconiilinaieatiae 170 Norra Carotina Troops, 1861-65. have never witnessed so great destruction of property as I saw then. Articles of clothing and blankets (all new) by the thousands, were piled in great heaps and apparently sat- urated with oil and fired. Great heaps of corn and oats in sacks were similarly treated and guns by the hundreds and various other articles of value were scattered over the camp, indicating that they must have left in a very great haste. In the early part of the war it was persistently charged and as persistently denied, that the Federal troops used “steel breast-plates” for protection. I can not certify as to the truth of the charge, but will state that I saw a number of their breast-plates which were left in McClellan’s camp. We remained at and around Drewry’s Bluff the balance of the year. In December we constructed comfortable log eabins in which to spend the winter. We completed them in time to move in just a few days before Christmas. We en- joyed a jolly Christmas and congratulated ourselves on being comfortably housed for the winter, but on the last day of De- cember the brigade received “marching orders,” and on 1 Jan- uary, 1863, we started for North Carolina and reached Golds- boro on 3 January. We remained here until 3 February, when we started on the march to Kinston in a very heavy snow storm. We reached Kinston on 7 February, and went into camp. ATTACK ON NEW BERN. A plan for a general and concerted movement along the coast region between Norfolk and Wilmington had been ar- ranged for the early spring. A part of the plan was to make a simultaneous and combined attack on New Bern from three points. General Pettigrew was to open the attack from the north side of the Neuse river and General Daniel with his brigade was to follow on the south side, while General Rob- ert Ransom moved down the Trent river, these last two com- mands to attack from the land side and the rear of the eity. J he Forty-third, Forty-fifth and Fiftieth Regiments of Dan- iel’s Brigade left the eamp near Kinston on the morning of 12 March, moving down on the south side of Neuse river, accom- panied hy General D. H. Hill in person. Late in ihe after- FirrietH REGIMENT. 171 noon of 13 March, we encountered the enemy in considerable force of infantry, cavalry and artillery, and strongly forti- fied at “Deep Gully,” a small stream a few miles west of New Bern. General Daniel led the attack in person, and after a lively skirmish the enemy retired hastily and in much confusion. After thoroughly shelling the woods in front, we occupied their abandoned works for the night. During the night the enemy was reinforced by three regiments of Massachusetts in- fantry, together with cavalry and artillery. At daybreak on the following morning we moved to the east side of the stream and took position in the following order: Forty-fifth Regi- ment in the centre, Forty-third to the right, and Fiftieth to the left of the road. ~ A strong skirmish line was immediately thrown forward by the Fiftieth Regiment to feel for the en- emy in the thick wood in our front. When they had ad- vanced only a few paces in front of the main line they re- ceived a volley from the enemy, to which they promtly re- plied, and then followed a lively skirmish, our line slowly, but steadily, advancing all the while. The enemy resisted stubbornly, but were forced back on their main line. This our men were instructed to do, and then to slowly fall back in the hope that the enemy would follow and be drawn on our main line and thus bring on a regular engagement, but they remained behind their fortifications. While the Fiftieth Regiment was thus engaged, Colonel Kenan, with his Forty- third Regiment, gallantly drove the enemy frorn his front on the right of the road. We were in suspense in the meantime, waiting for the sound of Pettigrew’s guns on the north side of the river, which, by arrangement, was to be the signal for our advance to the attack of the city from the rear. Owing to the soft, miry character of the soil on the flat lands on the north side of the river, he found it impossible to move his guns near enough to be brought into action, and without these nothing could be accomplished, and he concluded to withdraw his line and this forced us to retire from our position, which we did the following day and returned to Kinston.