268 NortH Carotina Troops, 1861-’65.

us water from his well, and a rest upon the steps of his house,
although we informed him who we were, and he knew the
families of us all. We shook the dust of his premises from
our feet and renewed our journey. Before we had gotten out
of sight one of his old negro slaves, who had heard the con-
versation between us, followed with his wife and soon over-
taking us, introduced himself as an old acquaintance of the
father of each one of us whom he had known in Warren.
He made apologies for the conduct of his master. He
brought along with him a pair of chickens, some corn meal,
and a bucket of water, and in a short while the old man and
his wife had prepared for us a feast.

The old colored man said to us that when the female mem-
bers of his master’s family protested against his refusal to
give to a Confederate soldier a cup of cold water he replied
that he was afraid that they might have some contagious
disease or depredate upon his poultry during the night. To
the credit of humanity it may be said that we had few of such
in the South. The refined feelings and delicate sensibili-
ties of those old colored people, manifested so strikingly in
such substantial sympathy, made up a beautiful picture of
Southern life; and wherever we eight have been we have
told it as an everlasting memorial of them. On our last day’s

journey at a fork of the Ridgeway and Alexander Ferry
road, our party broke up, Watson, Allen and Gilliland contin-

uing their way to their homes in the same neighborhood and
we, the other five, to ours in Warrenton. We are all still
living except Gilliland, and all bear upon our bodies lasting
signs of those days.

Upon our arrival at Warrenton the streets were alive with
the inhabitants anxiously waiting for the particulars of the
surrender of which they had heard only vague reports. They
were astonished at the news and many of them expressed
themselves in favor of “continuing the struggle,” as they ex-
pressed it; but they were non-combatants.

Watter A. Montgomery.

Rarezicn, N. C.,
13 December, 1901.

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THE to PIS OF BAKERS
COMMAND AT WELDON.

By JAMES M. MULLEN, Private Company A., 137H N, C. Barration.

After the evacuation of Plymouth, Washington, Kinston
and Goldsboro, Brigadier-General L. S. Baker was sent to
Weldon, charged with the duty of holding on to that place,
not only for the purpose of preserving railroad communica-
tion between the other forces in North Carolina and the Army
of Northern Virginia, and those along the line of the Wil-
mington & Weldon Railroad from Goldsboro to that point,
but of collecting supplies for these armies from that por-
tion of Eastern Carolina not actually in the possession
of the enemy. The authorities recognizing the importance
of this position in these respects, it being one of the
principal sources of supply for the armies in the field, in-
structed General Baker to hold it until the last moment, and
at the same time, to watch out for and repel any raids of the
enemy coming from the Blackwater and Chowan, and from
Plymouth, Washington and Goldsboro. With the force un-
der his command, this was no light duty, and he was necessa-
rily absent from Weldon most of his time looking after the
various points under his supervision. Weldon, however, was
the headquarters of his department, which was styled “The
Second Military District of North Carolina.” In his ab-
sence the Captain of our battery (Captain L. H. Webb, Com-
pany A, Thirteenth Battalion, North Carolina Light Artil-
lery), was in command.

These were times that tried men’s souls, and put to the
severest test the metal with which Confederate soldiers were
made. All signs indicated that the end was near at hand. Lee
had abandoned Petersburg and Richmond, though this was un-
known to us until several days thereafter, as I shall show later
on; all of North Carolina east of the Wilmington & Weldon