280 Nort Carotina Troops, 1861-’65.

out an oath to quit such foolishness; that they were shooting
their own men. ‘‘What command is this?’ he inquired, and
being informed that it was the Fifth North Carolina Battal-
ion of cavalry, exclaimed: ‘By -———, boys, I’m in the
wrong command,” broke ranks and sped away. As he dashed
away he left a pressing invitation to return the visit. Those
of us who lived through the scenes of that awful night will
never live long enough to blot it from their memory. The
raging storm, the blackness of the night, the crashing thunder,
the flashing lightning, the drenching rain, the roaring artil-
lery, the bursting shells and the constant rattle of the enemy’s
small arms, the heroic efforts of the brave, tired, famished
and drenched soldiers to beat back the aggressive enemy, will
never pass from the memory of those who lived through it all.
The horses of many of the soldiers had either been killed or
disabled, while many others had given out by sheer exhaus-
tion, and the brave riders, nothing daunting; were with the
column trudging along the muddy road on foot always in line
to face the enemy. The slain were left where they fell, while
those of the wounded who could ride were mounted, and
those who could not were thrust into a stuffy ambulance and
sent forward, some to die, and others to fall into the hands
of the enemy. This was war—cruel, heartless, relentless
war, that crushes all love of humanity and sympathy out of
the hearts of men. War, that mad game the world so loves
to play. Daylight dawned upon us somewhere on the road
midway between Winchester and Irvine after an all-night’s
fight, without a morsel to eat, either for man or beast, as wet
as a driving storm could make us, not a dry thread on us, and
confronted by an enemy seemingly as vigilant as they were
the preceding night. I had notified the Colonel command-
ing that I must have reinforcements, that my command had
been fighting all night, and was so exhausted that it was im-
possible for them to hold the enemy in check mneh longer.
In response I received as reinforcements a detachment of the
Fifth Tennessee and two pieces of artillery with orders to
hold the enemy in check at all hazards. I subsequently as-
certained that during the night the enemy had succeeded in
throwing a force in our rear south of the Kentucky river in

Fiero Battalion. 281

the hope of cutting off our retreat at Irvine. This force had
to be disposed of before the main force of the enemy reached
that point. This force was successfully attacked and de-
feated, losing eighty prisoners, a battery and many horses.
The Fifth Battalion was not in this engagement, being other-
wise engaged with the enemy on the main road leading to
Winchester. We had taken up a position on a hill close to a
church, while the battery was stationed on another hill in
our rear and on the opposite bank of a creek with high banks.
The ereek or river or whatever it might be called, was swollen
and out of banks. The stream was crossed by a wooden
bridge, floored with loose planks. Our position seemingly
was impregnable. Our line was formed along the top of a
hill behind a rail fence, which the soldiers had torn down and
constructed into hasty breastworks. The horses had been re-
moved to a sheltered position on the other side of the creek.
The enemy soon attacked us both with artillery and mus-
ketry. Our battery replied while our men behind the rail
pile greeted them with a well directed volley from their rifles.
The fight lasted from early in the morning until the middle
of the forenoon, when we were ordered to fall back to avoid a
flank movement by the enemy on our left. We tore up the
plank on the bridge and threw it into the stream and fell back
on the main road in the direction of Irvine.

BATTLE NEAR IRVINE.

The topography of the country lying between the place
where we had the last fight at the creek and Irvine is uneven,
rough and mountainous. North of Irvine (just how far is
not known) a range of mountains run at right angles to the
main road along which we were falling back. The main road
followed a narrow valley for quite a distance with cleared
fields on both sides of the road extending up on the sides of
the mountains. This valley culminated at a low gap in the
mountain through which the main road passes to Irvine,
flanked by a high mountain on both sides of the gap. The
valley is also flanked by high mountains on both sides. While
there were cleared fields on both sides of the valley, extending
well up on the sides of the mountains, a lane fence constructed