352 Nort Carotina Troops, 1861-65.

as they could be reloaded. There were here many instances
of individual bravery, and it is a matter of regret that the
State, at whose call these men offered their lives, has no fuller
account of them. In Company B, D. P. Blizzard was killed,
and the gallant A. R. Carver, then a Lieutenant and subse-
quently Captain, lost an arm. David McKee, of Company D,
Orange county, is now remembered as among the conspicuous
ones in the position which he occupied, and from which he
fired sixteen times with steady aim, and it is thought, with
fatal effect, at such close quarters. When the exposed portion
of the brigade, after resisting the assault upon it, had been
withdrawn behind this effective fire, the Fifty-sixth as rear
guard, retired in perfeet order. They had simply practiced
the tactics of Forrest and checkmated a rear attack of the en-
emy. “Face about and get in their rear,” was his only order
for a similar occasion. The perfect discipline of the command
was evinced by there being no sign of a panic. Thomas
Owens and George Griffin, of Company I, were also among
those who displayed coolness and courage in this action, the
former being severely wounded. From exposure he had lost
his voice so that he could not speak above a whisper. The
wound directly above his breast instantaneously cured his
aphonia.

But the enemy is evidently in such force that we concen-
trate upon our second line of defences. Each side watches
for the initiative from the other. At night there is cheering

along our lines, and the cause is that Beauregard has just
come in from Petersburg.

SECOND DAY’S FIGHT.

13 May. The writer saw Beauregard on the field. Of
medium size and military bearing, his most striking feature
is his sharp bright eye, and a thoughtful, intelligent expres-
sion befitting his reputation as one of the best military en-
gineers. Firing kept up through the day by the artillery and
skirmishers.

THIRD DAY'S FIGHT.

14 May. Brigadier-General Ransom is severely wounded

Firry-SixtH REGIMENT. 353

in the left arm by a minie ball and does not return to the bri-
gade till the fall. Colonel Wm. J. Clarke, of the Twenty-
fourth, as senior Colonel, succeeds him. Battle at long range
continued through the day.

FOURTH DAY'S FIGHT.

15 May. Yesterday’s program continued, in which we
again lose a brigade commander, Colonel Clarke being
wounded in the shoulder by the fragment of a shell. Colonel
Leroy M. McAfee, of the Forty-ninth, then assumes com-
mand. The Fifty-sixth occupied a position on the line near
the Washington Artillery, of New Orleans.

Without the means of corroboration, I here note that we
hear that the President, who has come down from Richmond,
orders General Beauregard to make a general assault to-mor-
row, and that Beauregard files a protest, in view of the ter-
rible odds against his available force—at least 3 to 2, proba-
bly double that—and protected by breastworks.

BATTLE OF DREWRY'S BLUFF.

16 May. Soon after midnight the brigade is moved from
the trenches, occupied for the last three days, and formed in
line of battle across the turnpike, facing towards Petersburg,
with the left of the Fifty-sixth resting on the turnpike. Up
to this time it was thought we were going out to get a rest.
This opinion, however, was dispelled by the issuing of an
extra quantity of cartridges. But for the first time in our
history, we start in on the reserve line. Just Age ape dawn
we move forward supporting Bushrod R. J ohnson’s Tennes-
see Brigade. They suffer severely near the turnpike, their
advance being impeded by obstructions of telegraph wire
upon which many of them are tripped within deadly range.
But they gallantly carry the line in their front, ee our
Twenty-fourth and Forty-ninth take the enemy’s line of
works in a piece of woods to their right. The assault is, as
Mr. Davis had predicted, successful at every point; while
Major-General Robert Ransom, having come out from Rich-
mond with three Brigades, is sweeping down their left flank,

_ and rear, capturing some regiments entire. Before Ransom

23