258 Nort Caronina Troops, 1861-65. it is better to give an excerpt from a letter received from H. A. London: «“%# * * The Second Battalion at Gettysburg had more men killed and wounded than any full regiment in Pickett’s Division. Its killed was twenty-nine (including its com- mander, Lieutenant-Colonel Andrews), and wounded 124. The Fifty-seventh Virginia regiment had 26 killed and 95 ‘wounded, which was the heaviest mortality of any of Pickett’s regiments. Major James Iredell, of the Fifty-third, who took command at Orange Court House (Major Hancock having been captured at Gettysburg), was killed at Spottsyl- vania, where the battalion was nearly all captured, killed or wounded. I do not think any field officer commanded the battalion after Iredell’s death. It remained with Daniel’s Brigade until the end, but I do not know its number at Ap- pomattox—a mere handful, however. It was a noble band and shared fully in all the glory of Daniel’s (afterwards Grimes’) Brigade. * * * Yours truly, “H, A. Lonpon.” ADDENDA. The following addenda is from the pen of a gallant soldier of the same brigade, Sergeant Cyrus B. Watson, of the Forty- fifth North Carolina, now one of the most distinguished law- yers of our State. He says: “From September, 1862, the date given by Colonel Green when the Second North Carolina Battalion became a part of Daniel’s Brigade till 9 April, 1865, it fought along side of my regiment, the Forty-fifth. “Four companies of the battalion were from the counties of Randolph, Forsyth, Stokes and Surry, and the men com- posing them had many acquaintances in our regiment, from which there existed a friendly feeling between the men of the two commands. After the battle of Gettysburg, this senti- ment grew stronger, from the fact that the two commands were together in the dreadful conflict in and about the rail- road cut that cost both so many lives. Rae RANMA AC asin inc abn ir eo ie ne a eT sii i aereczi ithe arse Srconp BATTALION. 259 WILDERNESS. “Again on 10 May, 1864, the Forty-fifth Regiment felt the touch of the Second Battalion, while holding the line to the left of the break caused by the crushing of Doles’ Brigade by the massed forces of the enemy. In each of these engage- ments the battalion lost a commander. “On the latter occasion the companies on the right of the battalion were doubled back on those of the left, and in this position fought almost hand-to-hand with the enemy until nearly annihilated. “The morning after this conflict, the dead of the Maine Regiment which led the assault on the Second Battalion and the Forty-fifth Regiment were scattered thickly and indis- criminately over the field. “This Second Battalion had a number of commanders be- side the two noble men, Andrews and Iredell, who lost their lives, and these changes had the effect to some extent of inter- fering with discipline. General Daniel would some times call it “my little mob,” but its fighting and staying qualities were never questioned. No regiment of the brigade ever complained that it lagged in a charge or faltered in the line. “TI personally knew many of its officers and men. Most of them who survived the war have since passed away. The officers living as far as I can recall are O. F. Robinson, A. Q. M., of Farmington, N. C.; Captain W. H. Wheeler, of Win- ston, N. C., and Lieutenant Dempsey S. Brown, of Company G (written “Boon” in the Roster), now living in Missouri. “And I am reminded just here that one evening just before Christmas, 1862, two young lieutenants of the battalion in- vited me over to their camp to help devour a roasted wild ( ?) turkey that “some of the boys” had found the night before perched upon an old loom in an out house in the neighbor- hood the night before. It was argued that the old gobbler had no pass and was subject to arrest. “T have said that the battalion was not noted for its disci- pline, and this is true, but it is no less true that no body of men belonging to the army of General Lee sustained a bet- ter reputation for heroic devotion to duty in the hour of bat- tle than the Second North Carolina Battalion.”