104 Norra Caroiina Troops, 1861-’65.

wounded and sick men were relieved from duty by Dr. Cher-
ry, the only man who seemed to have any mercy or humanity.
Several of those relieved died soon after getting home.

From Ridgeville we were marched to Florence, where we
got on the train and went to Cheraw, and from Cheraw to
Wall’s Ferry. While there the men got completely disheart-
ened, went to the officers and asked them what they must do
for something to eat, who told them that they could do noth-
ing for them. Upon this some of the men went home.

From there we were marched fifteen miles west of Fayette-
ville, where General Wade Hampton charged Kilpatrick, cap-
turing some of his men, and from there to Averasboro, where
we halted for a day or two. We were marched back a mile
or so, where we threw up breastworks by cutting down pine
trees and chinking underneath with pine knots. There we
were attacked by Sherman’s forces. The line of battle ex-
tended from the Cape Fear to a small stream eastwards. If
two brigades next to the river had not given way, we could
have held our own, but as they did Sherman proved too hard
for us. Under cover of the darkness we retreated from the
place in good order and marched on to Bentonville, where we
. engaged Sherman on one Sunday morning (19 March). In
the evening our brigade was double-quicked from the left to
the right of the line, where Colonel Hardy rushed us up
within twenty feet of the enemy’s breastworks, telling the of-
ficers it was to relieve our men. We received a terrible vol-
ley, upon which one of the officers called out to cease firing,
that they were shooting their own men. Still the firing went
on. We took shelter the best we could behind the pine trees,
except some of us who were in a pond about sixty or seventy
yards wide. These retreated across the pond, the officers
shouting all the time, “You are shooting your own men.”
There we lost about fifty-one men in about half a minute,
out of about four hundred. When the firing ceased Captain
Bradshaw ordered Lieutenant Blalock to go forward and see
if they were our own men who fired into us. When he got
within fifteen or twenty feet of their works, two videttes
leaped out, took him by the arms and led him across the

8

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SRS eee Sree

.

SEVENTY-SEVENTH REGIMENT. 105

breastworks. Then, knowing who they were, we fired into
and drove them from their works.

After the firing ceased two of the officers gathered up all
the men they could find, marched out about three hundred
yards and built small fires of pine rails—one for Colonel
Wortham’s Regiment (Fiftieth North Carolina) and one for
the Senior Reserves,

The men being ordered to look after the wounded, split
lightwood rails, and, having lighted them, went back to the
breastworks and brought them out to the fires, where they
were placed into ambulances and carried away. We marched
back about half a mile, where we encamped for the night.
At daylight the firing was renewed, and continued until Tues-
day night at 12 o’clock. The enemy never broke our lines
during the whole fight.

After the battle we were marched four miles out towards
Smithfield, when we were ordered into line of battle again.
Sherman’s forces ceased to pursue us, and we went on to
within about two miles of Smithfield, where we rested two or
three days. Here, to the gratification of all, Hardy was re-
lieved, the Tenth Battalion and Fiftieth Regiment being or-
dered into Haygood’s and Kirkland’s Brigades. Here, also,
we were joined by those who had left us at Wall’s Ferry.
From Smithfield we went to Raleigh (27 March) when Gen-
eral Holmes gave our regiment a furlough for twenty days.
Two days before this had expired Johnson had surrendered.

Thus ended the connection of the Senior Reserves, of Ala-
mance County, with “The Lost Cause.”

Jno. G. AuBricut.

GRAHAM, N, C.,
27 March, 1874.