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44 Nort Carorina Troops, 1861-’65.

Moscow, never displayed more heroism and fortitude than
did the boy-soldiers—the Young Guard of the Confederacy.

Under the law, the reserves could not be required to cross
their State lines, but without hesitation and without an ex-
ception, the brave boys at Weldon hurried on to Belfield, Vir-
ginia, there to meet the invading foe. The Federals with-
drew, leaving their dead unburied, after a sharp fire and re-
pulse from the reserves who had just reached the battlefield,
and the latter joined in the pursuit across the Meherrin river
at Hicks’ Ford. On 17 December, 1864, the General Assem-
bly of North Carolina, recognizing their heroism, passed the
following resolutions :

“Wuerras, The Legislature has heard with satisfaction
of the good conduct of the officers and soldiers of the Junior
Reserves and Home Guards, who volunteered to cross the
State line into Virginia, in order to repel the late advance of
the public enemy on Weldon; therefore,

“Resolved, That the officers and soldiers of the Junior Re-
serves and Home Guards, so acting, deserve the commenda-
tion of their fellow citizens, and are entitled to the thanks of
this Legislature.

“Resolved, That a copy of these proceedings be transmitted
to Lieutenant-General Holmes and Major-General R. C. Gat-
lin, that it may be communicated to the commands which
they are intended to honor.”

From Belfield the four battalions, together with the First
and Second Regiments of Junior Reserves, were ordered, un-
der Colonel Leventhorpe, to Tarboro to repel a Federal raid
from Washington, N. C. The command moved to Hamilton,
some miles below Tarboro. The enemy retired upon the ad-
vance of the Confederate troops. The battalions remained
there a day or two and returned to Tarboro. The troops
camped about a mile northeast of the town for several days.
The boys were without overcoats, tent flies or tents, and lay
upon the bare ground in the rain and sleet and snow Many
of them were frost bitten A good old farmer along side
whose fence the boys camped on the first night of their stay,
kindly gave them leave to start their fires by using the top rail
of his fence. When he came back next morning there was

SEVENTY-SECOND REGIMENT. 45

not a rail to be seen. When he remonstrated, saying that
they had taken more than he had given them leave to take,
one wag said: “No, sir; as long as there was a top rail,

. we had your permission to burn it. We never took any but

the top rail” The old man laughed good naturedly and
left.

The severity of the experience of the Reserves on the Bel-
field expedition may be realized when it is stated that
although they had been in camp over six months and had
been somewhat enured to a soldier’s life, over one-half of them
were sent to the hospital when the battalion returned to Wil-
mington.

The command marched thence to Goldsboro and by train
was conveyed to Wilmington, and thence back to Sugar Loaf.
There they remained under the command of General W. W.
Kirkland until the battle of Fort Fisher. This officer was
a splendid fighter and a superb soldier. He was Colonel of
the Twenty-first North Carolina Regiment, and afterwards
commanded Early’s Brigade, Pettigrew’s Division. He had
taken part in many of the desperate battles of Virginia and
had been twice severely wounded. He was transferred to
Wilmington late in December and established his headquar-
ters at Sugar Loaf.

FIRST ATTACK ON FORT FISHER.

The three battalions composing the Third Regiment of
Junior Reserves participated brilliantly in the defence of
Fort Fisher, when attacked by General B. F. Butler and Ad-
miral Porter on 23, 24 and 25 December, 1864.

Fort Fisher was located on the point of a narrow penin-

‘ sula which extends southwardly from New Inlet between the

ocean and Cape Fear river, near its mouth. It defended
Wilmington, the last remaining port through which army
supplies, ammunition, clothing and food for Lee’s Army
were brought in by blockade runners. Under its guns, the
“‘Ad-Vance” brought in supplies of inestimable value to our
North Carolina troops. Its defence was of supreme import-
ance to the Confederacy. It was an earthen fort of an irreg-
wlar form, with bastions at the angles. The land face, 250