166 Norra Carorina Troops, 1861-65. Brigade lost a large number of men killed and wounded. The whole of the 18th we lay in front of McClellan, expecting every moment to be attacked, the sharpshooters with their long range rifles making it dangerous for a man to show his head from behind the stone wall where we were lying. Well does the writer remember having been sent out before daylight on some slight duty, and on coming back under cover of the stone wall, I found that Branch’s Brigade where I was then, was separated from Pender’s which I wished to reach, by a deep ravine, and about a dozen sharpshooters in rifle pits were shooting at every man who attempted to cross. The officer then in command told me not to attempt to cross, for I cer- tainly would be killed, and advised me to lie down by him and wait until dark. I found him to be Lieutenant-Colonel Robert F. Hoke, of the Thirty-third, afterward Major-Gen- eral Hoke, of Plymouth fame. When the time came I crossed in a hurry and was soon with my company, posted behind a heavy rail fence. About 10 p. m., a cavalry charge was made upon us, I suppose to find out whether we had left, but a well directed fire soon sent them back wiser if not better soldiers. Tt was a rainy day, and about 12 o’clock at night orders came down the line for every man at a certain signal to rise up and without a word or noise march back to the road on top of the hill, which movement was executed perfectly, and after some delay we moved toward the river which we crossed about 8 a. m., and climbing the steep hill below Shepherdstown, went into camp in the woods near by. The Federals followed up with artillery and shelled the town and woods for some time with little damage. SHEPHERDSTOWN. On the 20th, McClellan crossed a large force over the river. A. P, Hill and Early were sent out to drive them back, which was splendidly done. We formed on top of the high bluff, and the Federals having to charge up over the steep bluff were soon repulsed and driven into the river and slaughtered like hogs, the river being blue with their bodies. After they had retired, the artillery on the Sharpsburg hills and the sharp- shooters posted in the canal commenced shooting at the boys, oie a a c Tee na Ra er ag a SIXTEENTH REGIMENT. 167 and every man had to take care of himself until dark so we could leave. Pender’s Brigade lost many men in this affair. We moved back a mile or so and camped for the night. Next morning we marched up near Martinsburg where we re- mained two weeks, when we again moved up to Bunker Hill, where we remained a month or more resting and getting ready for the next campaign, and where the boys had lots of fun yelling at “Old Jack” and the rabbits.* About 20 October the writer was sent to Winchester on sick list, and after two days was transferred to Staunton and then to Richmond, where after a week in the hospital I was sent home, which I reached just in time to get down with a long spell of typhoid fever, not returning to the regiment until March following, and this gap in our history I filled in from information. After General Lee’s return from the campaign in Mary-_ land, there was two months comparative quiet, the two armies on either side of the Potomac watching, resting and reorgan- izing after the hard fought battles and arduous service each had undergone. Around Martinsburg and Winchester General Lee’s forces remained quiet, the infantry and artillery drilling, and the eavalry keeping watch on the enemy’s movements, ready to strike or receive a blow whenever opportunity offered. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad received General Jackson’s at- tention, and in one day it was torn up, crossties burned and rails destroyed for twenty-five miles, but before we had got- ten entirely out of hearing distance, the Federals had rebuilt and equipped it. On this raid our brigade distinguished itself by running down and capturing a red fox, General Pender coming in a close second for the brush, the Sixteenth adding to its former reputation for tackling and eapturing every sort of wild animal from a woodchuck to wildeat. The lower Valley was then a most excellent foraging ground, and our chef in his element bringing to the larder chickens, honey, * “Qld Jack’? was Stone wall’s sobriquet and whenever vociferous vell- ing was heard down the line, our boys would say ‘That’s-old Jack or a rabbit.” —Ep.