180 Norra Carorina Troops, 1861-’65.

two hours, when the firing ceased and soon the order came,
“Forward.”

General Pender having been wounded the day before,
Scales’ and Pettigrew’s Brigades were put under Major-Gen-
eral Trimble and sent in on the left of Pickett. We were met
by a storm of shot, shell and minie balls which caused Pick-
ett’s men to waver and fall back in confusion, leaving the sup-
porting brigades to stand the brunt of the fight.

Finding that Pickett had been repulsed, it was deemed nec-
essary to withdraw if possible, and there was a general break
to the rear, under a destructive fire which killed and wounded
a great many men. A part of the Sixteenth, under Captains
Cloud, McKinney and McEntire, had advanced so far that
they found it impossible to withdraw and were forced to sur-
render. They were at once taken to the rear in a great hurry,
where they found everything in confusion and ready to re-
treat, teams were hitched up and turned to the rear as if ready
to run, and if Lee had made another assault then, they would
have done so. Being badly crippled himself, and out of am-
munition, far away from his base, with a big river behind
him and heavy rains coming on, he found it necessary to re-
tire, and did so at his. own leisure, lying in their front the
whole day, the 4th, without being attacked, which shows how
much they feared him. The Sixteenth lost very heavily in
men and officers, there not being an officer left in the regiment
higher than Lieutenant, several companies without a single
officer. :

General Pender was wounded and died at Staunton; Gen-
eral Seales wounded, Colonel W. J. Hoke, Thirty-eighth,
wounded, leaving the brigade in command of Colonel Low-
rance, of the Thirty-fourth.

General Trimble said to General A. P. Hill as he left the
field: “If hell can’t be taken by the troops I had the honor
to command to-day, it can’t be done at all.” This was the
remark of General Trimble, a Virginian, to General Hill, a
Virginian, about North Carolina troops—Pettigrew’s and
Seales’ Brigades. The Sixteenth Regiment was one of them,

which fact ought to set aside the oft-told tale that there was

no troops in that assault but F. F. V’s.

 

SIXTEENTH REGIMENT. 181

THE RETREAT FROM GETTYSBURG.

About 12 o’clock on Sunday, 4 July, orders came to the
hospital for a general move to the rear, and the movement back
to the Potomac began. The wagons and ambulances were
loaded with all the wounded that could be moved, but we had
to leave many of our poor fellows whom we never saw again.
The writer managed to secure a seat on the top of a load of
hay, where he spent about thirty hours. When we reached
the top of the mountain it began to rain and soon got very
dark, but there was no halt made, a steady trot being kept up
all night, and I could never tell how we got along without
some accident. During the night we passed Thad Stephens’
Iron-Works, which Ewell’s troops had burned as they passed
on some days before, and they were still smoking. I heard
after the war that the old man said that it saved him from
bankruptcy, as he got a big price for them from the govern-
ment, enabling him to settle up all his affairs.

About daybreak Sunday morning it ceased raining and
soon the sun came out, and we poor wounded rebels who had
been riding all night in the cold began to feel the influence of
his gentle rays, and though hungry, tired and sore, began to
crack jokes with the natives, they jeering and telling us that
we would never cross the Potomac, that we would soon be
gobbled up. About 10 o’clock there was a short stop to feed
and rest the teams as they were very tired. After an hour’s
rest they were hitched up again, and soon we passed through
Greencastle, where the Dutch women paid us their compli-
ments by abuse and wishing us in a warmer climate than
Pennsylvania. Here we saw the effect of a raid that had
been made on the train ahead of us, several wagons cut down,
the teams and men captured and gone. General Imboden had
been sent with us as an escort to protect us, but he was a com-
plete failure in that part. A few hours after, just as the
wagon I was on had passed across the road near Emmetts-
burg, one of Imboden’s cavalrymen dashed by at full speed,
ran over a man and horse in front, but made no stop, only
looking to his own safety. Hearing considerable commotion

‘in the rear, I looked back and saw that a small squad of eav-

alry had dashed into the road just as the last of Pender’s train