340 NortH CARoLina Troops, 1861~-’65.

vanced, the brigade was over. With a line of skirmishers out
in front, the brigade slept in line of battle, and perhaps never
more soundly, for tired nature’s sweet restorer was welcome
even on the eve of certain battle. :
20 April. At the first break of day Ransom was again in
the saddle, and his ringing voice came down the line: “At
tention, brigade!” Every man was upon his feet instant]
and the adjusting of twisted blankets across the left shoulder
and under the belt at the right hip was only the work of ait
other moment ; the line of battle was formed, “Fix bayonets,”
“1 rail arms!” “Forward march!” and the charge begun
The alignment was as follows: The Fifty-sixth on the viele;
flanked by Company I, as sharpshooters, (resting on the
Roanoke and near the “Albemarle,” then engaged as it had
been at intervals through the night, with Battery Worth on
the river face of the town), and Twenty-fifth, Thirty-fifth
Eighth and Twenty-fourth successively on to the left. On
our part of the line a large drove of cattle was encountered
and driven on as a living wall between us and the enemy until
they reached the canal, down which they refused to plunge, or
ees us further. Maddened by this strange spéotacle: of
man’s inhumanity to man,” they turned about, and ‘with
no reputation to lose,” dashing through our line sought safety
in flight. The canal was found with steep banks but fortu-
nately with fordable water. Ranks were apceasetrily broken
in getting across, but were soon in perfect order on the farther
side, and the forward movement resumed. The next obsta-
cle was a swamp, in places waist deep, through which the
regiment floundered as best it could, impeded by the mire and
cypress knees with which it abounded. The Fifty-sixth was
the first through, and immediately reforming under an
oblique fire from the left, charged up a slight hill, and routed
the opposing regiment sheltered behind a fond of palings
here the outer line of the town. This and the adjacent Jivani
blocked further advance in regimental line of battle
But the halt here was only for a moment. Chaat any I
pressed straight forward, sweeping everything fetes dees
between Water street and the river bank, while the Twenty-
fifth on getting through the swamp and finding the Fifty sixth

Firry-SixtH REGIMENT. 341

in its front, debouched to the right and thus went up Water
street between the Fifty-sixth and its detached company. At
the same instant General Ransom, reaching this point, the
Fifty-sixth moved off by the left flank and entered the town
on the next street east, by filing to the right, left in front.
Major Graham was at the extreme left, now head of column,
and on gaining the open space about the county jail, deployed
the regiment forward into line of battle, just in time to check-
mate a battery of artillery taking position to rake the street
with its guns. These movements and the obstacles encoun-
tered, again divided the regiment, carrying the Colonel and
Lieutenant-Colonel back to Water street to direct the extreme
right, while the Major, with eight companies, pressed
forward to silence the artillery. The fire, delivered before
we could reach them, was fortunately a little too high, the
shells in a direct line being plainly visible as they passed
over, and the guns were at once in our possession—not, how-
ever, until one brave fellow had blown up his limber in our
faces, killing his nearest horses and wounding several of our
men. It would be a pleasure here to record his name. The
man retreating with the caisson was killed in the street, with
four of his six horses, by a shell from Fort Williams.

This wing of the regiment, then, without waiting for any
support, as all seemed to have enough to do, swept on fighting
between these two streets the entire length of the town, and

without a halt charged the redoubt in their front, constitut-
’s heavy line of fortifications,

ney captured a Pennsylvania
the works with the

ing a west section of the enemy
facing front and rear. Here tl
regiment, and Major Graham, mounting
regimental flag, waved it to Hoke’s Brigade, now under Lieu-
tenant-Colonel Lewis (afterwards Brigadier-General), and
thus announced that the way was open on that side. In this
last charge the Twenty-fourth went in abreast with us, having
entered the town by the Columbia road, which leads into Seec-
ond street, after crossing Conaby ereek with a northwest
trend and then midway changing to due west. While the
Eighth and Thirty-fifth swung around to invest Fort Com-
fort, the Twenty-fourth overcoming all opposition before
them at the Bateman and Latham redoubts, pushed forward