Bites

 

 

 

 

 

24 er
“AGB6 "Norau Caroiina Troops, 1861-’65.

At\Manassas Jumetion, in rear of Pope’s Army, it chased,
‘with. rebel, yells, Taylor’s New Jersey Brigade, after it had
"been broken by the artillery and made many amusing
«captures.in the-swamps of Bull Run.
ro Ge extreme left at Manassas Plains, it and MeGowan’s
splendid-South Carolinians fought repeatedly over the opie
-ground, while Jackson anxiously awaited the arrival of Long-
Toh as one of the brigades that met the enemy at Ox Hill,
sand. fought them successfully in a pouring rain. _
— this brigade that scaled at midnight the cliffs of os
‘Shenandoah and lay concealed in the woods on the left an
rrear of the enemy on Bolivar Heights, ready and poeh to
‘charge; but Harper’s Ferry having soon surrendered (14 208
:gust).under our concentrated artillery fire, it had no opportu
‘nity to do:so. ee
Tt ake in that noted rapid march of the Light Aen
‘from “Harper’s Ferry to Sharpsburg, where it arrived in the
afternoon of that long, hard-fought day of battle, Just in
.time to help hurl back the fresh troops of the enemy - gs
ithe ight of Lee’s grand, but hard-pressed army. ere 2
-was that the peerless Branch gave up his life in defense :
ithe cause he loved so well, and Lane was called upon to take
veommand of his heroes upon the battlefield.
Tt was one of the three brigades that formed the rear guard
“of ‘the Army of Northern Virginia when Lee retired oa
‘Sharpsburg and recrossed the Potomac. There sabe? we
ting the enemy, it held its ground until every wagon and am
'bulance had safely crossed—its own litter corps hauling an
:ambulance of brave wounded Georgians across that setae
iver, as the driver and others had mounted the mules an

ve deserted them.
ot se this brigade that chased the finely dressed Pennsyl-
vania Corn Exchange Regiment over the banks of the rag
near Shepherdstown, and under a heavy artillery aa hn
the opposite side of the river, made the Potomac red wi
Yankee blood at the old dam just above the ford.

It was also this brigade that fought so stubbornly on the
right at Fredericksburg, driving back two lines of battle after

he eirercremenhaetan iterating a

Sm mn ate tems tae yea mina arp ear prince er Sh Wat men eo a ao

“ere manana prceen an

+e tpetnniona

Un hee olin ti nla pe enn emi,

Tue Brancu-Lanr Briqape. 467

a large force of the enemy had penetrated that unfortunate
opening left between Archer and itself, turned its right, and
caught its intended support with their arms stacked.

It was this North Carolina brigade that was ordered to
the front to make a night attack in that matchless flank move-
ment of Jackson at Chanceellorsville, but the attack was aban-
doned on account of the wounding of Jackson and Hill. This
brigade and Pender’s braves constituted the front line that
terrible night until after 12 o’clock, and it was Lane’s men
that repulsed Sickle’s formidable midnight attack on the
right.

This brigade was charged by some of the heroes of the rear
with being unduly excited on that occasion, because the Eigh-
teenth, under a misapprehension caused by the darkness, had
fired upon its friends; and yet it stood its ground under three
terrific and prolonged artillery fires which doubtless made
those self-constituted critics of the rear quake; and it gal-
lantly repulsed that formidable attack of Sickles, taking from
him the colors of the Third Maine Regiment and a number
of prisoners—officers and men. It was this censured bri-
gade that carried the enemy’s works next morning in a direct
assault, but was forced to retire because its intended support
broke under the tremendous fire, in the teeth of which Lane’s
men had so intrepidly advanced.

At Chancellorsville this brigade lost nearly one-third of
its strength in killed and wounded, and of its thirteen field
officers carried into action, all were shot down—killed or
wounded—except the gallant young Barry. Here the noble
and fearless Purdie, of the Eighteenth, the gentle, but cour-
ageous and dashing Hill, of the old Seventh, the heroic boy
Captain, Johnnie Young, of the same regiment, Captain
Kerr, Lieutenants € ‘ampbell, Bolick, Emack, Weaver, Bou-
chelle, Babb, Callais, Ragin and other noble spirits lost their
lives in the gallant discharge of their duties, as did also Gen-

eral Lane’s boy brother, J. Rooker Lane, who was acting aide
at the time.

In the first day’s fight at Gettysburg, Lane’s brigade was
ordered from the centre of Hill’s line, put on the right and

charged with the responsible duty of protecting that flank of