330 Norra Carotina Troops, 1861-65.

Company C by Captain C. M. T. McCauley, of Union
County; J. A. Grady, T. W. Bickett and 8S. S. McCauley, of
Union County, Lieutenants.

Company D by Captain Woodbury Wheeler, of Lincoln ;
E. B. Goelet, of Wayne County; J. M. Terrell and Calvin
Dickinson (county not known) Lieutenants.

There were over one hundred men in each company, and
about all the mechanics, carpenters and skilled workmen in
these companies were almost continually on detailed, de-
tached extra work without extra pay.

This was substantially the formation of the battalion when
I joined it in 1863. There were subsequent changes, among
which was the promotion of Adjutant Bickett to Assistant
Surgeon in some North Carolina Regiment; C. S. Powell to
Adjutant; B. S. Traywick to Assistant Surgeon; D. A.
Young to Sergeant-Major, and many minor changes among
the non-commissioned officers and privates. This battalion
operated mostly in and around the city of Wilmington, at the
forts below, and on the Cape Fear river at the inlets.

WILMINGTON AND VICINITY.

A semi-circle of three or more miles around the city was
entrenched and protected by skilfully erected dams across
water courses, entrenchments and traverses in the intervals
and high places, surmounted by heavy ordnance. In the city
itself, on the bluffs cn the river, were batteries of ten-inch
Columbiads and magazines stored with ordnance supplies.
Along the river front were immense sheds with government
supplies stored for shipment to the various armies in the field.
These guns, magazines, dams, government stores and line of
entrenchments were constantly guarded, day and night, with
a new guard every day, commanded by a mounted commis-
sioned officer of the day whose duty was to inspect every point
twice in twenty-four hours and make written report of the
same to headquarters on being relieved. This arduous duty
coupled with the exposure to the malarial swamps of the
ponds made by the dams, and marshy borders of the river,
the yellow fever, the smallpox scourge of 1862-63, the
sand flies, mosquitoes and bad water was about as serious and

 

TENTH Barra Lion. 331

mortal as shrieking shells and the inquisitive minie balls.
This duty lasted two long years and many noble men went
down to rise no more till resurrection day. We had one little
picnic excursion up to Kenansville, Duplin County, to inter-
cept a Yankee raid from somewhere on the coast. They did
not come, and the boys got fat on good country grub sent to
camp by the blessed ladies of the town and country. I turned
a plumb fool about then and went back there after the war
and fooled one of them off home with me and she is sitting in
eight feet of me now.

Ten days ended our picnic and our same beat was filled
again until one other little outing of a couple of weeks to the
sound, eight miles off, to- protect some salt works that was
being annoyed by the Yankee gunboats. A few shots from a
Whitworth gun stood them off and they gave no more trouble.
The fall of 1864 we were sent to the forts on the river below
Wilmington. A short time at Fort Anderson, which was
mostly a quarantine station for incoming vessels, and then to
Fort Caswell and later to Campbell.

It may be of interest to some to say that Wilmington is on
the Cape Fear river, thirty miles from its entrance into the
ocean, which was then through two outlets or channels. Fort
Fisher guarded one and Caswell the other, with Campbell
two miles down the beach on the right flank. These forts
were manned by heavy guns and commanded the inlets, and
were the principal defences for the city.

The inlets were besieged by a number of Yankee gun boats
forming a semi-circle four or five miles out at sea. Their
object was to prevent vessels passing in or out, but many,
called blockade runners (not the moonshine, hillside fellows),
did do so, bringing valuable stores of clothing, rations, muni-
tions of war and medical supplies as well as an occasional
calico dress for the ladies Sunday wear, ete., and so on, on
their return carrying out cotton which was sold at fabulous
prices. The ships could pass only on dark nights, and signal
lights at the forts, to point out the bar, were kept constantly
burning.

Our great and noble Governor Vance caused one of these
vessels, the Ad-Vance, to be bought and operated by the