236 Norto Carortina Troops, 1861-’65.

Captain Wilson, of Company A, was severely wounded;
Lieutenant Owen, of Company B, was killed. Eight or nine
others were killed and quite a number wounded. The bat-
talion was also at the capture of Harper’s Ferry, and the
battle of Sharpsburg, sometimes called Antietam.

FREDERICKSBURG.

The battalion remained in northern Virginia until the mid-
dle of November and then moved down to Fredericksburg in
time for the battle of 18 December, 1862. In the beginning
of that battle our position was in the second line, near Hamil-
ton’s Crossing, on the railroad. We were directly in the rear
of one of our batteries which was hotly engaged with the en-
emy, the enemy’s shot and shell passing over us, at first fif-
teen or twenty feet above our heads. Their aim was soon
lowered and we were compelled to lie flat on the ground to
avoid being hit. One solid shot passed between the writer
and the man lying next to him, and the Adjutant of the
Twenty-first, who was lying a few feet away, was instantly
killed by a solid shot striking the ground directly under him.
Under such circumstances the order to advance was a welcome
one. The enemy had broken our first line in our front. We
soon drove them back and advanced some distance beyond the
railroad. This position being much exposed we fell back
to the railroad cut, in which we remained during the night.
Many of our dead foes, and among them a General Jackson
who that day commanded a brigade of Pennsylvanians, called
Buck Tails, because each man wore a wisp of a buck’s tail in
his cap, were lying near us and some of our men who had

worn out their shoes in the march from the Valley took the op-

portunity to get a new supply. In this fight the battalion had

some wounded, but none killed. After the fight was over
and General Burnside had got back to the north side of the
river, the battalion with the rest of the brigade went into win-
ter quarters on the Rappahannock, sixteen miles below Fred-
ericksburg. At this time our rations were small in quantity
and poor in quality. Poor beef, corn meal, and flour, and not
enough of that, constituted the bill of fare. There were thou-
sands of ducks on the river, almost every day, and it was

aint Nasi aes ts eS

peepee hh CR RTS

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First BattaLion. 237

agreed that Captain Adams, Adjutant-General of the brigade,
and the writer should make an effort to bag some of them. We
made the effort and the result was, got ourselves bagged. We
borrowed a double-barreled shot gun from a man living near
our camp and went ducking. The river at that point, Port
Royal, is about 500 yards wide and was picketed on the south
side by Confederates and on the north by Federal cavalry.
The pickets did not molest each other nor any one out on the
river.
CAPTURED.

While we were out a heavy wind storm came up from
the south, blowing directly across the river, and in spite of
all we could do, boat and duck hunters were blown over to
the north side and picked up by the Yankee pickets: We
were treated very well, however, by our captors, and were
sent up to General Burnside and thence to Washington City
to spend the winter in the old Capitol prison. We were
exchanged and got back to the Confederacy in time for the
next fight, the battle of Chancellorsville. During this fight
the battalion was in Early’s Division and was engaged more
or less on the skirmish line or in line of battle, from Thurs-
day morning until the next Monday morning, when the last
of the enemy, not killed or captured, succeeded in getting
back to the north side of the Rappahannock. In the Sunday
evening fight, Early’s Division charged and drove the enemy
from a strong position. General Hoke was severely wounded
and his brigade suffered severely, especially in officers. In
the battalion a number of men were wounded, but not killed
outright.

GETTYSBURG CAMPAIGN.

The next move was that which culminated in the battle of
Gettysburg. General Ewell had assumed command of his
corps, and, though he had lost a leg at Second Manassas
could still mount and ride a horse quite well. At the be
ginning of the campaign the battalion was detached from
Hoke’s Brigade—then commanded by Colonel Isaac E.
Avery, of the Sixth North Carolina, and ordered to report
directly to General Ewell.