302 Nort CaRouina Troops, 1861~'65,

Firry-FirtH REGIMENT. 303

sg eg — — Peg tee Lieutenant M. tion. The position of the regiment in that battle was on the
ae the sae na : was the ranking officer, and com- left of the brigade, which was just to the right of Cooke’s Bri-
Wiles whos Ge —— Ps “y ear until it reached Falling gade. A piece of forest was in front and consequently our
as hss coin ERED itte ‘ had sufficiently recovered loss was slight as compared to the loss of some of the regi-
of Ctcnes de oo A Captain R. W. Thomas, ments of Cooke’s Brigade. The regiment was also with the
mic wect tne - 223 2 urned to the regiment soon after army at Mine Run, and was a part of a line that was formed
ment with great Sot t we apidan, and commanded the regi- for the charge upon the enemy’s left flank in the early morn-
Soturn-the' felloain ptability until Lieutenant-Colonel Belo’s ing, when it was discovered after throwing out a skirmish
4 a g — In the official report of his line that General Meade, during the night, had withdrawn
ERGRROEE B his 2 a. made by General Heth, and found in his forces. :
tae pe | . © y the United States Government, Col- Colonel Belo returned to the command of the regiment late
fortadatl see vi ne oa ne Smith and Major Belo are in January, 1864, but he had not entirely recovered from his
but-ol Ahn este for gallant and meritorious conduct, wound received at Gettysburg. It was made on the leg by
hic if J was so severely wounded that he was never the fragment of a shell, and in his determination not to be
again to command the regiment. This was a great loss, captured, he fell back with the army from Gettysburg. A

 

 

 

for he was not only brave and loyal in his support of the
Southern cause, but his sentiments and conduct were so chiy-
alric, that he impressed all the men and officers of the regi-
ment with his own lofty ideals, and Lieutenant-Colonel Smith
was dead. The very soul of honor, he was older and less
impetuous than Colonel Connally, but gentle and refined as a
woman; he was conscientious and painstaking in the dis-
charge of every duty and enforced among the men the same
= rule of attention to duty he prescribed for himself. No
asty utterance and no unclean word ever escaped his lips
and by his daily life, he taught us what a beautiful thin, it
is to be a Christian gentleman. :

Colonel Connally was left in a house ne
and fell into the hands of the enemy. His pagers
putated and from that and the wound in his hip it was
thought for a long while he would die. His brave spirit

pulled him through. As a lawyer and in politics he attained
high position in Galveston, Texas, and Richmond, Va., but
after several years he became an eloquent preacher of the
Gospel and now resides at Asheville, N. C.

The regiment, after its return to the line of the Rapidan,

e Army of Northern Virginia to
Manassas and became engaged in the battle of Bristoe Sta-

portion of the time he was in such danger of capture that he
exposed himself greatly, and by the time he reached Win-
chester the condition of the wound was so serious that for sev-
eral days it was feared that amputation would be necessary.
Soon after his return to the regiment, our brigade, one
severely cold night, was ordered out of camp and marched to
Gordonsville. As soon as it reached that point, the Fifty-
fifth Regiment was sent out to picket the roads on the south.
The rain was falling and sleeting and the clothing on the
men was frozen. The next day the regiment with the brigade
was marched some distance to the southwest and bivouacked
for the night with orders to have very few fires, the purpose
being to intercept a raiding detachment of the Federal army,
but the detachment went around us, and after enduring the
intensest suffering that night, the regiment returned to camp.

THE WILDERNESS.

On 4 May, 1864, the regiment, Colonel Belo, now recov-
ered of his wounds, commanding, left its camp near Orange
Court House, and commenced its march to the Wilderness.
It was going down the Plank road towards Fredericksburg

about 2:30 o’clock in the afternoon of the 5th, when it was

discovered that the enemy were advancing up the road.
Heth’s Division was formed into line of battle, not for the