606 Nortu Carouina Troops, 1861-65.

berries in the fence corners and quietly talking of the scene in
front of us; and all the while we could plainly see platoon
after platoon of reinforcements coming over the bluff into
the fort on the decline next to us. The shells from the 100-
pounders, 20-pounders and 12-pounders were still bursting
over us and other parts of the line. Our regiment and some
others on our immediate right in the line were to make the
charge, while those in front and on left of the fort were to
fire incessantly on the fort when the charge began. About
2:30 or 3 p. m., the signal gun fired and the Sixty-third
arose with a mighty yell for that terrible charge. We mounted
the high rail fence in our front and went straight and fast, as
the obstructions would permit, for that fort—yelling and
firing as we went and receiving fierce front and cross fires into
our ranks from rifles and artillery in the fort and the gun
boats; we were within thirty feet of the fort when we saw the
utter hopelessness of the attack. The line halted a moment;
the order to retreat was given and we retired under that awful
fire from the most useless and unwise attack and the most
signal failure we were ever engaged in.

General Wild reports: ‘They massed troops on our ex-
treme right, concealed by wooded ravines and made a deter-
mined charge, at same time keeping up a steady attack all
along our front and left flank. This charge approached our
parapet, but failed under our severe cross fires.” Vol. 68, p.
270. For naval reports, giving names of vessels engaged
and calibre of guns, see “Official Records Union and Confed-
erate Navies,’ Series 1, Vol. 10, pp. 87-91.

Out of the detail of ten or twelve men from Company F,
W. S. Prather and Green L. Bingham were killed outright;
Worth McDonald and I were wounded. I was shot through
the left shoulder within thirty feet of the fort, firing, at the
moment, I am sure at the very identical white man who shot
me. Worth McDonald was wounded by one of those 100-
pounders. It passed at least ten feet from him and paralyzed
his right arm by concussion of the air. There was no visi-
ble flesh injury to the arm, but it fell useless to his side,
quickly turned black its entire length, and he never recovered
the use of it during his life time. He got an honorable dis-

Srxty-Tuirp REGIMENT. 607

charge for the war and I got a furlough, 5 June, from Chim-
borazo Hospital in Richmond, for three months, with great
joy at the thought of going home.

Some Virginians charged immediately on the right of our
regiment. As we retreated we came to a long, wide lagoon in
a ravine, back of where we began the charge. The water was
three to four feet deep. In some way, unknown to me,
I attracted the attention of one of those Virginians, a giant
of a fellow. I knew he was a Virginian by his regimental
designation on his coat sleeve. Of his own motion, he
kindly and tenderly offered to carry me over that water. I
thankfully declined and said to him: “I think that I can
make it all right.”” He looked down at me and said: “Oh!
boy get on my shoulders.” And suiting his action to his
words, he stooped down in front of me. I put my arms
around his neck, he put his right hand under my right knee,
his left holding his own gun, and thus, like we used to play
when children, he carried me over that water and almost to
the top of the steep slope beyond. It has always hurt me that
T never kttew his name. He stands in memory for Virginia.
And this is stated solely to show and commemorate the cour-
ageous, absolutely unselfish, generous kindness of the private
soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia in the face of dan-
ger to themselves, too, when showing it. There were mil-
lions of such acts that will never be known.

After he let me down, I walked a short distance and, from
loss of blood, lay down in some young corn. I heard some
one tell Major McNeill of my condition. The Major came
to me and asked me to ride out on his horse, which had just
been brought to him after he had led our charge, and from
which he dismounted. I refused, he insisted. I refused
positively, and he sent a man on his horse for mine and stood
by me until the horse came, put me on it and sent the man
with me to the surgeon, while he directed the men of the regi-
ment how to move out ready for the expected attack from our
rear. And it was acts like this, of gentleness and love for all
his men, which he was continually doing, that caused the men
of the Sixty-third all to love him.