soi ate ty Sk enelik B TiaN i ti tl e

 

56 Nortu CaRroLina Troops, 1861-65.

which they did not have time to finish and mail. They all
breathed hostility to the South.

Our regiment tried to head off the enemy. We could not
get nearer to the land where we were sent, than two miles.
We got out of our boats and tried to get ashore, but after
wading about a mile, the water got too deep, and we had to
go back. Our boys hated to go back. We were close to Hat-
teras light house, and in sight of the enemy’s shipping at
Fort Hatteras. Night overtook us by the time we re-em-
barked and we could not try to land any more that day. We
were about twenty-five miles distant from the Yankees’ camp
at Chicamacomico. The Yankees had named it Live Oak
Camp. They were the Twentieth Regiment of Indiana
troops, commanded by Colonel Brown. We heard next day
that they saw our regiment trying to land, and being broken
down running from the Georgians, who were pursuing them,
they prepared to surrender to us, by stopping and shooting
off their guns. The people on the island told this. They
got rested before the Georgians came up with them and went
on and were reinforced from Fort Hatteras next day. Had
we landed, we would have taken them all prisoners and blown
up Hatteras light house. Bad generalship on the part of
Colonel Wright prevented it. He had made boats, but would
not let us have them to land in. He kept them to make good
his retreat. Next day the Pawnee steamship came up from
Hatteras and commenced firing at the Georgians. We could
see it all from our boats out in Pamlico Sound. She fired
about 200 guns at them, but never killed a man. The bombs
would sometimes fall among them, but did not burst. Colo-
nel Wright got back at night and all his men got off safely
except one, who died from fatigue. It was a warm day.
We got back here on Sunday night last, hungry, dirty and
greatly fatigued. We had the enemy completely in our

power, but owing to his bad management and want of mili-
tary skill, we failed to catch them.”

 

E. C. YELLowty.
ROANOKE IsLanpD,

8 October, 1861.