The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1893-06-22
HENDERSON, n. c., THURSDAY, JUNE %, 1898.

those three brigades, by their gallantry
at ReamS' Station, had placed not
only North Carolina but the who.e
Confederacy under debt of gratitude
which could never be repaid.
In the Jones Farm fight this brigade
occupied the right, soon routed the
enemy in its front and on its right
flank and captured large number of
prisoners.
1t was in the Pegram House fight
the next day that the modest but
daring young Wooten with his sharp
shooters dashed into the enemy's
works, which were being shelled by
Brander's artillery, and returned with
more prisoners than he had men in
his command. 1t was around that
r kc,<- cured city-Petersburg- the
I sharp-shooters of this brigade became
still more famous, and Wooten's name
was made SO familiar on the enemy's
skirmlsh line by his frequent and most
unexpected "pop calls" 1t was
Wootens brilliant Davis House sur
prise that elected congratulatory letters
from his corps, division and brigade
commanders, all of which were
embodied in a general order and read
on parade.
1t was this North Carolina brigade
that, after its attenuated lire on the
right at Petersburg had been broken
by Grant in the spring of 1865, stub
bornly fought the enemy from behind
the winter quarters, in real Indian
style, as it slowly fell back towards
the interior lines, some of the men
being ordered to Battery Gregg and
others to the dam near Battery As. 1t
was chiefly the brave men of this
brigade who were in Battery Gregg,
assisted by the supernumerary artil-
| lerists, that made the stubborn defence
of that little earth work one of the
most brilliant events of the war.
From Petersburg to Appomattox
, this brigade of brave and starving
! North Carolinians fought by day and
marched by night without murmur
and when at Appomattox it was
ordered back from the front, and told
that Gen Lee had surrendered, officers
and men burst into tears, and some
were heard to remark most feelingly
g And have we endured all this for
nothing? p
There were other minor engage
ments all through the war in which
this brigade took an active part, but
they were not of importance enough
to demand particular notice.
In a recent letter from a Northern
military historian asking Gen. Lane
for information about the battle of
Charlottesville, he closes with the
following playful but gratifying words:
elf Lanes Brigade had remained
at home many New England regiments
would have been happier. 1t is ad
mitted here that Lanes boys we're a
bad, quarrelsome set Of fellows, and
too fond of fight altogether"
Gen. Lees complimentary letters
and note about the battles at Slash
Church and Kinney's Farm and Reams'
Station, and the capture of the flags at
Spottsylvania Court House, have been
published in the Southern Historical
Society Papers; also Gen. Trimble's
admiration OF the conduct of this
brigade at Gettysburg. Copies of the
congratulatory letters to Major Wooten
are on file in the War Records office
in Washington. Most of the official re-
ports selating to this brigade have been
published in the Southern Historical
Society Papers and in the War of the
Rebellion" work authorized by the
United States government.