346 NortH CAroLtina Troops, 1861-’65.

Clingman’s Brigade which had been halted in the skirts of
the woods, resting on their arms, ordered an immediate
charge, notwithstanding the explanation given to him of Gen-
eral Clingman’s plan of attack; and, as he was the ranking of-
ficer, the command was obeyed with disastrous results to the
brigade. While the infantry was attacking on the left Lieu-
tenant Thos. C. Fuller brought one piece of Starr’s Battery
into position just where the county road crosses the Wil-
mington & Weldon Railroad, and went into action under
the heavy fire of the enemy’s eight guns. The fight at this
point was short but bloody. Andrew Weir was killed at the
piece by a ball through the head, and his comrade, Linebery,
stepped over his dead body and took his place. Sergeant
Myrover received a sealp wound from a piece of shell, Cor-
poral McLean, and Privates D. J. Harrell, W. H. Pearce and
McLauchlin were wounded; indeed, so great were the casu-
alties in this engagement to the small detachment about this
one devoted piece of artillery, that Lieutenant Fuller himself
served the gun, bringing ammunition, cutting fuse, ete.

At sunset the fight was over, the enemy’s fire slackened, and
finally ceased, but Colonel Shaw’s Eighth Regiment and
Lieutenant Iuller’s piece of artillery held the position until
a late heur in the night, when orders were given to fall back
to the county bridge. During this time General Thos. L.
Clingman passed down the line, and warmly complimented
Lieutenant Fuller and his men for the excellent work which
they had performed, in sustaining a fight against odds so
tremendous. On the approach of Lieutenant Rush, who
had by this time come up—the reception accorded to him by
the General was very different.

GUM SWAMP.

In May, 1863, couriers brought the news to Kinston that
a large force of the enemy was approaching by the road at
Wise’s Fork, and the Confederates, under General D. H.
Hill, with General Robert Ransom second in command, took
a position on the borders of Gum Swamp, eleven miles below
Kinston. A piece of Starr’s Battery, with a detachment,
commanded by Lieutenant Whitmore, was placed in position
on the right center of the line, supported by a part of the Fif-

THIRTEENTH BATTALION. 347

ty-sixth North Carolina Regiment of infantry and other
troops. :

During the previous night either through the treachery of
disaffected citizens living in the neighborhood, or through the
vigilance of the scouts in making the discovery, the enemy
found a way through a part of the swamp, up to that time
deemed impassable, and a volley of musketry poured into
their ranks gave to the Confederates the first startling intima-
tion that they were surrounded—trapped in a veritable cul
de sac.

This unfortunate affair, which may charitably be placed
among the accidents of the war, cost the life, among others,
of the gallant Jarvis B. Lutterloh, of the Fifty-sixth, and the
capture, together with a part of the infantry, of Lieutenant
Whitmore and the artillery detachment under his command.
The men were exchanged in a few days, but the officer never
returned. It must be remembered that Lieutenant Whitmore
was a non-commissioned officer of the Union forces which
surrendered with the arsenal at Fayetteville in April, 1861,
under Major Bradford and Lieutenant D’Lagnel; that, con-
cealing himself in the suburbs of the city, he failed to depart
with his command, and enlisted in the Confederate Army.
He was of course, recognized immediately after his capture at
Gum Swamp, and he stood before his captors guilty of a most
serious offence. He could doubtless make peace, and save
himself from grave punishment, only by recantation, and the
historian must deal leniently with him, in consideration of
the critical peril in which he stood. He was a man of lim-
ited intelligence, but a superb drill master, a machine who
knew naught but obedience to the orders of a superior of-
ficer—a Dugald Dalgetty on a reduced seale.

Lieutenant Whitmore’s military apostaey—when some
time made it certain that it could be considered naught
else—left a vacancy among the commissioned officers which
was filled by the election of Sergeant G. B. Atkins to the po-
sition of Second Lieutenant, whose merits were to make
themselves felt with his continuance in office.

The election of Lieutenant Thos. C. Fuller to the Confed-
erate Congress in 1863 was followed by the appointment of