692 NortH Carotina Troops, 1861-65.

were easily repulsed, leaving a large number of dead and
wounded in our front, and not a man in our whole line hurt.

RETURN TO NORTH CAROLINA.

On 22 December, however, an order came in the night time
arousing the division for the purpose, really, this time, of
going to North Carolina, Hoke’s Division having been or-
dered to Wilmington.

The Sixty-sixth Regiment broke camp on the morning of 22
December, marched to Richmond and crossed the river to
Manchester where it remained several hours in the snow and
sleet waiting for transportation to Danville. We were placed
on and in box cars and flat cars, and the train made its way
slowly from Richmond to Danville amid snow, sleet and rain,
and the severest bitter cold we had ever experienced. There
was no opportunity to have fires, no way to keep ourselves
warm and the train worked its way along, the men frequently
having to get off and run alongside of it to keep themselves
warm, and to fill the tender with water, by buckets, from
the mud holes on the side of the track, and to gather wood to
keep the fire in the engine burning. In this way we reached
Danville about 23 December, and made our way to Greens-
boro with such transportation as we could get and there took
the train for Wilmington. The Colonel of the regiment
noting the suffering of his men, telegraphed to the Governor
at Raleigh that it was necessary that some stimulant should
be furnished his troops for them to stand the bitter cold, and
when the regiment reached the city of Raleigh, it found on
the old depot a barrel of corn, persimmon or some other sort
of “juice” ready for their consumption. It also found that
the Legislature of North Carolina had just adjourned, and
some of the members were at the depot waiting for transpor-
tation home and were willing to take any means of convey-
ance that was furnished them. The soldiers very soon left
nothing in the barrel but “an empty sound,” and a more
jolly crowd from there to Goldsboro, along with the members
of the Legislature, was never seen in North Carolina, I ex-
pect, before nor since. The “Solons” did not seem to appre-
ciate their surroundings, and the men had their fun with

Srxty-SixtH RecGIMent. 693

them. On reaching Goldsboro the train was boarded for
Wilmington, and all along the line from Goldsboro to Wil-
mington, especially at Magnolia and Mt. Olive, the ladies
hearing of our coming, had such provisions as they could
spare from their scanty store to give to the regiment as it
passed by, the Sixty-sixth being on the foremost train and get-
ting the best share of all that was prepared for us.

WILMINGTON.

Our regiment reached Wilmington during the night of
the 24th, and on the morning of the 25th, Christmas day,
took up its weary march along the sandy road below Wil-
mington in the direction of Sugar Loaf Hill. As it went
along and drew nearer and nearer to Fort Fisher, the sound
of the shelling from the gunboats assembled there could be
more and more distinctly heard, and as we reached a point
just below Sugar Loaf Hill and near where “Carolina Beach”
now is, the shelling from the gunboats became terrific, but as
it was impossible to land troops with transports and keep up
the shelling at the same time, we were very soon engaged in
quite a strong skirmish with those of the enemy who had
landed and were about to land and they were soon driven back.
Immediately after this first shelling was over, the division
commenced to build a line of breastworks from the top of
Sugar Loaf Hill diagonally across the strip of land between
it and the ocean and in the direction of a battery which was
located on the beach.

Here we remained for some days, throwing up the fortifi-
cations which we made strong and, to us, seemed impregna-
ble for any land attack that could be made by land forces;
but we were not long allowed to remain. General Bragg
having been assigned to the command in that locality, we
were ordered back to Wilmington and went into camp a mile
or two east of Wilmington for the purpose of holding a grand
review,

WHY FORT FISHER FELL.

We remained in that camp some days, and while on review
the enemy again made his appearance in front of Fort