228 Norra Carotina Troops, 1861-65.

General Jackson, with Taylor’s Brigade of Louisianians, ap-
proached Winchester by the Valley Pike, while Ewell, wit

Trimble’s Brigade, and one or two batteries, approached by
the plank road from Port Royal. Shortly before night, on
the evening of the 24th, Trimble’s Brigade, with the Twenty-
first North Carolina in front, came upon the enemy’s picket,
some three miles out from the town. The picket was soon
driven in and the troops advanced until they were about a
mile and a half from Winchester. Soon after dark the writer
was ordered to proceed with his own and another company to
a skirt of woods on the left of the road and about a mile from
town. It was expected that we would find the woods occu-
pied by-the enemy’s skirmishers. We were to drive them out
of the woods and hold the same until further orders. We
found no one in the woods, but the enemy had left evidence

of having recently been there.

WINCHESTER.

At daylight on 25 May, 1862, Colonel Kirkland came up

with eight companies of the Twenty-first, ordered the writer
to call in his two companies and join the regiment and
immediately proceeded down the road toward town at a
doublequick. Just at the edge of the town, where the land
was cut up into small parcels, surrounded by stone walls and
without any warning a whole brigade of Yankees rose up
from behind a stone wall on our left and less than seventy-
five yards from the road on which the regiment was march-

ing, and poured a deadly fire into our ranks. Colonel Kirk-

land ordered a charge; some of the men got to the wall behind

which the enemy were, but none got over it. We then fell
back behind a wall that ran along side the road on which we
had been marching and kept up the fight until the enemy’s
hich was much longer than ours, extended around on
our side so as to subject us to a flank as well as front fire.
The regiment was then moved about a hundred yards to the
left, in order to protect its right flank and formed with a view
of making another attack on the enemy’s position, but not in
front of the stone wall this time. Our intention was to make

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First BatTTAation. 229

a short detour and get on both sides of the enemy’s wall and
attack them on the flank.

_The men were thoroughly aroused and had no idea of
giving up the job until they had driven the enemy from its
position. At this juncture orders came to desist from making
a further attack, as troops were being sent to the rear of the
town to intercept the retreat of the enemy. About this time
Major Fulton, with the two other companies, came up and
joined the regiment. The Major with two companies had
been sent out the previous night into another part of the field
and had not got back when the fight began. We were then
ordered to protect Latta’s battery, which was on a hill not far
away. The order was given by General Ewell in person, and
was very emphatic. We were told to go with the battary
wherever it went and not to leave it under any circumstances.
In a short time the battery moved off briskly to and through
the town. We followed at a double-quick. When we
reached the main street, we found it full of the citizens—old
men, ladies and children, who had turned out to feed the Con-
federate soldiers. Some had pitchers of water, others had
plates and trays of bread and chicken and ham and all kinds
of good things to eat. As the writer was passing along, a
very beautiful young girl gave him a glass of water, at the
same time a fine looking old gentleman seized hint by the
arm, saying come in here, opening a door. I was led
up to a side board and commanded to take something
While I was “taking something” in came the good lady of
the house with fried chicken and bread. I had no time
to stop and eat, but taking my hands full of the good things
I put out after that battery. We followed it all that
day. Some times we were in sight of it and some times not.
On reaching Bunker Hill, twelve miles below Winchester on
the road to Martinsburg, we decided to halt for the night and
give the stragglers time to come up. These continued to
come in for two or three hours and it was noticed that most
of them had something that was not water in their canteens.
We were on the road again, next morning, as soon as it was
light and soon overtook the battery and marched into Mar-
tinsburg with the battery and Ashby’s Cavalry, about 10