aE SAC RA ARE

608 Nortu Carouina Troops, 1861-’65.

bled, sicklied light into the pale faces of our dead, as we
quietly made our way back down the hill, up which we had
charged. The flag of the Sixth North Carolina Regiment,
which is to be placed in the monument at Raleigh, (pardon
me for making special mention of my own regiment) felt
more than one gallant color bearer shiver and fall in that
charge, yet ere it could fall, the nearest comrade of the sur-
viving color guards grabbed it and bore it bravely to the top
of that stronghold of* the enemy; and when ordered to fall
back from the ground won at such fearful cost, it was carried
safely back. That flag is worthy of the place accorded it in
the Confederate monument at Raleigh.

It is not my purpose to say anything as'to the mistake in
not supporting us in the position we had gained. But I ven-
ture to say that no one, not even our enemies, will say that
any blame could be attached to the troops engaged in storm-
ing Cemetery Hill on the evening of the second day.

On that hill to-day amid its embrazured earthworks and
along its stone walls are a number of costly monuments
erected by the several commands of the Union army that
were engaged there, and on these monuments they have writ-
ten in plain words, cut in granite and bronze, telling of the
desperate charge by Hoke’s North Carolina Brigade and
Hays’ Louisiana Brigade, 2 July, 1863; of the hand-to-hand
encounter, after every round of ammunition had been fired ;
of the capture and spiking of their guns. These are endur-
ing records. And on the Bachelder maps the positions of
these two brigades on the evening of the second day are
plainly marked as being on Cemetery Hill.

I have written briefly of the parts performed by the com-
mand to which I belonged. Being only a line officer, I
could know but little of what was being done on other parts
of the line. But I desired especially to call attention to the
“facts as being so well established, and yet so little known,”
and so seldom mentioned. No one can visit Gettysburg bat-
tlefield and stand on Cemetery Hill without being convinced
that it was the key to Meade’s position ; nor can any one stand
there and see the positions of the two armies, the Union ar-

 

Capture oF CEMETERY Hint. 609

tillery and its supporting lines (the earth works and stone
walls which protected them are still plainly visible), with-
out being impressed what an undertaking it was to storm
those heights. And as he reads the record of that charge,
written in living letters on the Union monuments, he will
admit that those who made it contributed thereby to the fame
of the “Confederate Soldier.” Let any North Carolinian
go to Gettysburg, view the grounds, study the operations of
the several days of the fight, and the part performed by the
several Confederate commands; let him consider the facts—
the well established facts—he will find no cause to blush, but
he will be obliged to feel proud of his State. He will find
the tracks of her soldiers all over that field, and he will -find
no record that reflects any discredit on them. They bore
their part on the first day, along Seminary Ridge, and Rock
Creek; on the second day, up the steeps of Cemetery Hill,
capturing the guns which crowned its summit; and on the
third day, in the assault on Cemetery Ridge, erroneously
called, by some, Pickett’s charge, they made a record, which
North Carolina may, with pride, compare with that of any
other troops.

I wish all the old Confederates who took part in that battle
could go there now and view the grounds. They would be
amazed at what they did; at how near they came to being
successful. And if those who were not there on either day
of the fight, and who yet attempt to write it up, would go
there and learn the facts—the well-established facts—as
shown by the record, they would at once see that only dense
ignorance is shown in attempting to write up Gettysburg
without telling of North Carolina’s creditable record in each
day of the hattle.

N. W. Ray.

Fayerrevitir, N. C.,
2 July 1894.

Norg.—All readers do not distinguish between Cemetery Hill which
we carried (only to abandon) so gallantly on 2 July, and Cemetery Ridge
which we assaulted in vain on 3 July.—Ep.

39