458 NortH CArotina Troops, 1861-65.

tain; M. M. Williams, First Lieutenant; Wm. ©. Ferrell
Second Lieutenant, all of Wilson county.
Company I—J. O. Cherry, Captain; G. D. Ward, Cap-
tain, both of Bertie county; C. ©. Lovejoy, First Lieu-
tenant, Wake county; M. Bond, Second Lieutenant, Cleve-
land county.
Company K—James V. Sauls, Captain; Wm. Vann, First

Lieutenant; Dallas M. Beal, Second Lieutenant; all of
Northampton county. é

i the latter part of the war Company I was commanded
by Captain G. D. Ward, a gallant officer, who was severely
wounded near Petersburg, and who was in command of the
regiment at Gettysburg.

Companies I and K were transferred to the regiment from
the ‘Twelfth Battalion of Cavalry which, under command of
Major S. J. Wheeler, had rendered service along the Chowan
and had met the enemy in their advance on Jackson, N. ©. :

ON THE BLACKWATER.

Shortly after the organization of the regiment it was or-
dered to Franklin, Virginia, and saw its first actual service

Firry-Ninto REGIMENT. 459

poured into the pilot house and other exposed parts of the
steamer, quickly drove the pilot from the wheel and the men
from the deck, rendering the steamer powerless to move, or
her men to work the guns and her capture seemed to be as-
sured until other steamers coming up near began to drop shot
and shell by her side where Lieutenant Ruffin and his men
were stationed, forcing them to retire with a loss of a few
men wounded. The reported loss of killed and wounded on
board the steamer was quite heavy. However this may have
been, the gunboats from thi8 time ceased to make their runs

up our narrow rivers.
FOSTER’S RAID.

Early in the month of December, 1862, the regiment was
ordered to make a forced march to Goldsboro to meet an ex-
pected attack of the Federal forces, under General Foster,
on that town. The object of General Foster’s advance being
to cut the line of communication between Richmond and the
States south of this point. oster’s forces consisted of five
brigades of infantry with reinforcements of artillery and cav-
alry, and was much greater than any force which could have
been readily placed in his front, yet after reaching the Neuse

along the Blackwater and upper Chowan rivers, making fre-
quent reconnoissance in the country beyond the river in the
direction of Suffolk, then strongly garrisoned by Federal
troops and almost daily picket firing and skirmish fighting

river and burning the bridge which crossed it, he at once re-
treated in the direction of Kinston, closely followed by our
cavalry, which kept up the pursuit until the Federal troops

with detachments of the enemy’s cavalry were kept up with
oetasional"lésses in killed and wounded on either side. In
the skirmishes Companies A and B took an active part. At
this time, the Federal gunboats which had frequented our
waters since the fall of Roanoke Island, had become bold and
defiant and were making occasional trips up our smaller
streams, throwing shot and shell on either side as they ad-
vanced. With a view of shelling our camps and driving
away the troops located near Franklin, several boats made a
trip up the Blackwater river, near the town, when Lieutenant
Thomas Ruffin marched his company down to the edge of the
narrow river and then stationing his men behind trees and
bushes awaited the coming of the foremost steamer, which
was soon abreast of them, when a sharp volley of rifle shot,

finally fell back around New Bern.

About the first of March following the regiment was or-
dered to-join D. H. Hill’s forces, then operating against
Washington and New Bern. On arriving at the former place
our men were dismounted and for several days occupied posi-
tions under the shelling of the enemy’s gunboats with con-
stant skirmish fighting with detachments of troops from
the town. Finally our troops were quietly withdrawn, the
enterprise seemingly having failed to be characterized by

any profitable results.
ORDERED TO VIRGINIA.

The Fiftyninth and Sixty-third North Carolina Regi-

ments (Fourth and Fifth Cavalry), having been attached to
General Robertson’s Brigade, for some weeks following had a