The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1892-03-02

fend the famous railroad cut which was
Stopewall Jackson's. key in that desperate
contest. Che Firstwa sent across the cut
rs skirnishers to meet an attacking col
umn Retiring step by step under fire, it
reioincd it's line behind the cut and helped
repulse the Union charge, at times fight
ing the enemy at ten PAGES. Excited men
often rushed ahead of their ranks and
grappled in deadly combat; officers used
their pistols and fought man for man. In
the last hours or moments, perhaps, of the
hand to hand struggle the First lost its
quota for the day and came out minus "A
killed and ll9 wounded, a total Of 143 out
of 2S3 taken into the fight Its command
ing officer, Maj. McCrady, was among the
wounded. The next afternoon the Eighty
third Pennsylvania charged upon that
railroad cut, then defended by other troops,
and lost commanding officers wounded
in quick succession and 81 men out of 224.
In the Maryland campaign, following
Second Bull Run, the South Carolinians
shared in the bloodless victory at Harper's
Ferry, and late on the bloody 18th of
September double quicked to Antietam
just in time to mingle their dead with the
ldllel dEOUlltl UuG DuuhSE AhS
First lost "a men out of it's roster of less
than $50. A Fredericksburg, in December
following, it again found warm corner by
one of those accidents of battle that do not
lessen the sting of bullets even if they win
no victories. Gregg's brigade occupied the
second line in front of position charged
by Union troops. Owing to displacement,
there was gap in the front line and
Union charging column burst through and
struck the First's companion regiment,
Orr's South Carolina Rifles, sosuddenly as
to throw it into confusion. The First
stood next to the Rifles, and its COM
mander Immediately swung it around at
right angles with the old line so as tc buffet
the enemy's advance. Again the fight
ragged at arms length, or few PAGES at
most, and the regiment stood its ground
until supports reached the spot The affair
cost officers and Is men killed and oil
GERS and So men wounded, So in all
Gregg was killed in the gap trying to
right things, and another colonel OF the
brigade, Samuel MCGOWAN, took command,
giving his name to the organization. The
First would have been wiped out at Fred
ericksburg but for the return of its wound
ed to duty and the shrewd Confederate sys-
tenn Of conscripting into old organizations.
By the time ''StonewalP' jackson, who
was its corps leader while he lived,
was once more on the warpath to double
up the Union army, the regiment had
picked up fighting strength of 800, and
started out on Sunday morning, May 8,
to drive old "Stonewall's" wedge home
to the heart of Hooker's camp at Chancel-
Tors House. 1t was not as plain sall1ng as
was expected, for Sickles' Third Union
corps was moving in the same direction
lust ahead of the % ohnnies" and wouldn't
be hurried even to suit Lees "Invincibles. Z"
The First regiment passed in splendid line
over a bare knoll, at the base OF which
Sickles' men lay under cover. The Caro-
linians stood it so long as men could and
then ran back, with the enemy at their
heels, to a line of breastworks in the rear
They made stand at the breastworks and
the pursuers took turn at punishment
and then at running away. The First lost
IL killed and IS wounded 100 in all, with
officers among the fallen.
The Carolina brigade marched to the field
of Gettysburg in July with well filled ranks.
Gen. A. p. Hill was their corps leader
in place of the dead "Stonewall." With
him they assaulted Reynolds corps in Nc
| Pherson's woods on July |. As at Gaines
| Mill, battery confronted their advance
| and rained shell and canister into the ranks,
| chiefly upon the First regiment. That bat
| terry was doomed. One piece was the prize OF
| the First, and they dashed forward without
| a halt until their banner was floating in the
town, the first Confederate flag in Gettys-
| burg. One day LATER almost to an hour,
at the other flank of the same field the
| Eighty-third Pennsylvania fought gallant
| " to defend Round Top with success equal
| to that of the Carolinians in their charge.
| The First lost officer and 10 men killed; G
| officers and 81 men wounded-120 in all,
| which was more than half it's membership.
| In the Wilderness battle on May 5, 1864,
| the First led it's brigade and division in an
attack on the Union left on the Orange
| plank road, and at the same hour its
| double, the Eighty-third Pennsylvania,
had the place of honor in a Union attack
| on the Confederate left along the Orange
| turnpike, couple of miles distant. Both
regiments suffered in the ensuing three
| DAYS, the First with loss of l6 killed and
| la wounded, besides officers killed.
| At SpottsyIvania week later the First
reduced to handful, entered the BLOODY
| Angle" with it's brigade in the forlorn at
| tempt to hold it's assailants at arms length
| It's commander and other officers were
wounded, the second in command killed
| and the ranks lost 10 killed and 81 wounded
| At the end of another week, after almost
two years of this eccentric dueling, the two
| regiments met fairly at Jericho Ford, NORTH
Anna river, on the road to Richmond. The
First charged at the head of McGowan's
brigade and ran into battery supported
| by the Pennsylvanians. The regiments
grappled for an instant, the commander Of
the Carolina brigade was captured by one
of the Eighty-third and the leader of the
First was killed in the melee. The first
lost 25 prisoners, the highest in any battle
of its career.
Bloody Cold Harbor next following
both escaped, and through the siege q
Petersburg their lines ran separate again
though with proportionate losses. Almost
at the close the brigades to which each be