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ciacrpnen aie, naan renner OeNt IFT

env mer

 

 

 

 

 

 

844 Norta Carotina Troops, 1861~’65.

for the first time saw their enemy in the town, and were ready
with the portion of the retreating line that had joined them,
to enfilade Company B as it came up. Here Colonel Faison,
with this gallant company under Captain F. N. Roberts, had
his hands full for some time and accomplished important re-
sults, as described by the subsequent Captain, then First Ser-
geant A. R. Carver:
“In this charge our Lieutenant, B. W. Thornton, fell on

Water street with a bullet through the side of his forehead
near the eye. I stopped long enough to see the wound, and
thought him dead; but he survived for a day or two. Our
company had become detached by the evolutions and obstacles
in getting through the town. Just before General Wessells
capitulated, say by 9 or 10 o’clock, we had reached the vicin-
ity of Fort Hal, with the 200-pound gun bearing on the river.
It was full of the enemy, on whom we were firing with our
rifles and they were briskly returning our fire. Colonel
Faison came up to me during this firing, when I pointed to a
hill on the right overlooking the fort, and said if the artillery
were posted there, we would, have the fort in five minutes.

Soon after he left me, I saw our battery open from the hill,

and immediately a white handkerchief was hoisted on a bay-

onet above the fort. I was very near and ran for the fort.

General Dearing got across the moat and into the fort ahead

of me, and jumped on the big gun as if he were going to spike

it, when I met an officer at the gate and demanded his surren-

der. He asked to be allowed to surrender to some higher

officer. I called General Dearing and he told him to surren-

der to me. He thereupon handed over his sword and pistol,
which I kept during the war. I think he belonged to the in-
fantry. He had on his overcoat.”

So there were two captures of the same fort, separated by
an interval of two or three hours.

General Dearing (Colonel at Plymouth), subsequently fell
6 April, 1865, at High 3ridge, on the retreat towards Ap-
pomattox Court House, in a hand-to-hand contest with Major
Read, of General Ord’s staff, both antagonists going down
together. The big gun was naturally the chief attraction to
him, and of course he believed to the day of his death that his