Wilmington journal., 1876-03-03

from the Newbern district, to return
ai.d take possession Of CprDett's T rry
over b. ok river. al oy every mean!
in his power to diztr SIS the enemy anc
obottuct his progress. He also ord"reG
Colonel M,trtiu aud Colonel Thaoketoi
! t. take possession Of Cross C'e,' il
| order toprevent their retire. T. lpiorel
| l. iiiugton and CDIDIei Ashe he o"dsr-
I'd, by q forced mar IL, TO rripf.,rc
Colonel Caswel if possible, if not t.
| take possession Of 1looces. Greek
! Bridge. Wirh tie remainder of his
| / oops u0d his own Immediate com
nlnnd Colonel Moore proposed to
cross the Northwest at E!izabethtown
so a. either to meet the enemy ON his
WY to Cprbett's Ferry or TO come up
! ~ their rear AID surround them there
! Accordingly on the 2}d Ccionel
Moore crossed et E.iz:tbethtnwn whrr,
ht was compelled t. wait until in the
nigtt f the 34th for provisions, having
been :fformed that Colonel Casweil
was almost entirely without supplies
On the night Of the 24:h, just as he
WAS abvnr to match, COlO.tl Moore
received dispatch from Colonel Cas-
well informing him that the enemy had
RAISED !. fiat which had beeu sun K
IN Black river about fonr miles
above his camp had erected u bridge
and had passed over 1t with their
whole army. In order to prevent the
e cape of the enemy General Moore
determined AS the last eXp.dient to
proceed Immediately in boats down
the Nor, Invest River to Dollerson's
Landing, about so miles, aUi take pos
s. s5:on of Moorr's Greek Bridge,
about 10 miles from there. before
they could pass it; at the same time
direc lag COioucl Casweil to repair to
Mppre's Greek, if possible, but # Il IT,
to follow in rear of the enemy. He
REACHED Dolicr-on's landing on the
evening of tee 2G h. by 4 clock, but
VS. unal,!e to marcn that night for
want of horses to NJ we the artllls ry.
\ courier was s.ft to Mocre's Creek
Bridge to learn the stuatipr of affairs
ti.,rts and brought back Information
tirnt CsloLeI Li;iingfon bad, til" day
b for. che % ~, taken his stand at
the Bridge. al L had, that afternoon,
been rs nfOrccd by Colonel Casweli;
that fI,y V had raised small breast
work and had destroyed part of the
bridge
Tne Torylrmy had started from Cross
Gre or The Nnrthw st side ol the
Crpe Fear RIVER for Wilmington. but
upon learning that thare w"re roOps
iiY tIA tiIe-r f.OH!, crossed the river
near the month # kJckti~ti Creek and
,tHerGd the ir c.:ur~e through Du3tn,
now Sampson county, IN 1mHny places
.'ntilng Their Wy ~ th'y Y went unfi
tlt,v got Into the III an -ragr road from
Hl'ifax TO Wiimin tnn which they tot
lowed until they again tonId an enemy
III heir front whom they attempted t"
Fl NIX by crosSine Black River, five
m lee above Corb It's Ferry, where
down the west side Of South River in
Baden county On the night Of the
25th the 10Y army canpcd on the
banks of South River. aouut 20 miles
above Wilmington, and on the mora
ing Of the 26th crossing over from
Baden into New iu1over. learned
that another enemy was IN their from;
that is 10 say, Colonel Ellington, who
of Moore's Creek, small stream that
mpties into South River.
The situation of the Tory army with
General Moore III its rear aud Coiouel
l. iiiugtOn IN it's front, and Colonel
Caswe'l in striking distance, wa now
critical in the extreme. A council of
war was held and an engagement was
d termined on under the immediate
C m,rand Of Col mel Mcleod, brave
and Efficient officer, General Me-
Donald being unwell. On the same
dav, Colonel Caswell came down from
Crfhett's Ferry on the west side of
Mo0rs's Creek and halted before cross
ing the bridge, raised small breast
work and awaited the enemy. A mes
niger from the Tory army sent to his
g MP under the pre- ext of summOoiug
him to return TO his allegiance carri. q
back word that he had halted upon the
same side of the river with themselves
and could ne attacked with advantage,
ut the wise Carolina comm ander, who
was one of the. best woOdmen in the
province, had no sooner misled the
enemy than lighting mp fires and Ieav-
ing them burning, be crossed the
creek and took up his position on the
e st side of the bridge. That night
Intelligence Vas received in the Amer
ican camp that the enemy had deter
mined 10 max" the attack early next
morning aud the ne cessary arrange
ments were made accordingly to meet
it. Ear,y in the night the flooring was
partially removed from the bridg" aud
the piarIks left were SO distributed AS
20 increase the perils of the passage.
Th4 eleepers too we're CREASED with
s 1T soap and taiiow for the same pur
pose. The troops were kept under
arms all night. Colonel CaSwelle com
mand. Consisting of the Newbern bat
ta!ion Of mounted men and the militia
from Craven. Johnston, Dobbs, (now
Greene aud Lenoir) and Wake coun-
tie, and amounting to 800 men, con
stltuted the main body Of the army,
and took position in the second or
main line. Colonel Lillington, with
his mounted men-300 in all-was in
front, formed across the peninsula
made by the creek and commanding
both the creek ani bridge. At break
of day the forces of the Scotch Gen
eral were in motion marching in good
order, AMI with great eagerness to the
attack, under Colonel Mcleod. When
they came i'll sight all was as still as
the grave on the American side and
but few men were to be seen. A small
intrenchment which stood near the
bridge appeared to be deserted, and
taking for granted they would have an
easy conquest, they rushed on with in
creased confidence, Colonel Mcleod
walking the sleepers IN front, side by
side with Captain John Campbell and
his company of swordsmen pressing
on their heels Crossing the bridge
was difficult and peril0us. The sleep
ers being round, skinned pine logs.
Some of the foremost officers, by stick.
ing the points of their swords into the
logs, stayed themselves up until they
were shot down. An incessant Shove;