18 Norra CAroiina Troops, 1861-65.

Regiment, the enemy retired, shelling heavily the woods as
they withdrew. General Leventhorpe, commanding the Dis-
trict of North Carolina, complimented our command for its
part in this affair.

Just here an anecdote: While passing along the line the
officer in command caught one of the boys with an unex-
ploded shell from the enemy between his knees, trying to ex-
tract the powder. Upon being sharply reprimanded and told
of the danger to himself and others, the boy replied : “T am
not skeered of the d—d things when they are coming at me

through the air, and I know I ain’t afraid of ’em when I have .

?em in my hands.” About 29 January this regiment, with
the Second and Third Regiments and Millard’s Battalion of
Junior Reserves, commanded by Captain C. M. Hall, were
formed into a brigade under command of Colonel F. 8S. Arm-
istead, by General Order No. 1, of this date, and Captain B.
F..Smith, Assistant Quartermaster, was assigned to duty as
brigade Quartermaster. This was our first acquaintance with
a quartermaster, as our dealings heretofore with that branch

of the service were at long range. We never had a commis- |

sary officer, but our brigade had an excellent ordnance officer
in Lieutenant E. S. Foster, of Company A, of our regiment,
assigned to duty as such.

About the middle of February, 1865, our regiment as part
of the First Brigade Reserves, went to Kinston, N. C., and
were accounted worthy to stand with their older brethren of
Hoke’s Division, as part and parcel of the same; and from
this time to the farewell address of that gallant General made
to his division on 1 May, 1865, we shared its hardships, as

well as its glories.
SOUTH WEST CREEK.

After being encamped with the brigade for some three
weeks at Kinston (about one mile west of the Jno. C. Wash-
ington residence), news came that the enemy was advancing
from New Bern in force. The brigade was placed under
command of General L. S. Baker, and attached to Hoke’s
Division, and on 6 March we crossed the river and marched
down to South West Oreek, where we lined the bank of that

SEVENTIETH REGIMENT. 19

stream, the right of our brigade (the First Regiment) resting
on the county road where it crosses that stream north of the
railroad. The morning of the 8th we heard the heavy fight-
ing and joined in the cheering as the news came down the line
that Hoke had captured 1,600 prisoners and a general officer
on the right. About 3 p. m. we were ordered to cross the
stream before us, which we did on an improvised bridge under
firing going on between our skirmishers and those of the en-
emy.

On the other side the brigade formed line of battle in the
same order as before, the First Regiment Reserves (Seven-
tieth North Carolina) on the right. On orders from Gen-
eral Baker the brigade moved handsomely forward, and drove
the enemy from behind their temporary breastworks of fence
rails and logs. We captured some prisoners and the loss in
the brigade was not very heavy.

MIS-STATEMENT CORRECTED.

General D. H. Hill, writing a month after, says in his re-
port of this battle, speaking from hearsay, for he states
therein that the Reserves were not under his command, as
follows, 98 (Serial Vol.) Off. Rec. Union and Confed.
Armies, 1087. The Reserves advanced handsomely for
a time, but at length one regiment (the First, I think),
broke and the rest lay down and could not be got forward.”
Had General Hill been writing of troops under his own com-
mand, or of matters of his own knowledge, his statement
would be accepted. But by the very reason of his high char-
acter this statement by him on hearsay can not be allowed to
go down in history uncorrected. I, who saw the whole mat-
ter, must say, and all others who were present (of whom hun-
dreds are still living,) among them the editor of this work,
will concur with me that this statement is a gross injustice to
the gallant boys. The facts are that the whole brigade went
forward handsomely, as General Hill says, and while closely
engaged, a portion of the First Regiment (not all) miscon-
ceiving a command that was given to the skirmish line, did
break and fell back some 150 yards to the stream. They did
not attempt to cross it by the bridge or otherwise and were