The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1894-11-22
GETTYSBURG, THE greatest
BATTLE IN HISTORY.
"reminiscences of Capt. Bird, Who
Brought out the Flag of the nth
North CarOiiua Regiment.

OldlISlltS
War Department at Washington,
recently published in the New York
Times, show that the tide of civil war
reached its food on the field Of Gettys-
burg.
Other battles in history have en-
gagged more men, or exhibited more
ferocity, or have Immediately produced
more striking results but for intense
and long continued forttudc sustained
by moral courage, for heroism IN
daunted, by unparalleled carnage, as
well as for momentous and far reach
ing consequences, the battle of Gettys-
burg stands second to none in history.
The defeat of Lee at Gettysburg meant
not only the preservation Of the Union
and the abolition of slavery, but the
unobstructed progress of the English
race in its great career on this CONT
nent. The future historian will say
that the battle of Gettysburg has very
profoundly and very widely affected
the destiny Of the entire human family.
1t is remarkable that the bravest
fighting on this bloody field was done
by men who did not originally advo-
cate secession or favor the war. The
sentiment Of North Carolina, always
conservative, shrank from the contem-
plation of civil war and a dismembered
Union. And yet it was North Caro-
G., 81
lutte heroism; it was North Carolina
soldiers that marched in largest number
to meet and greet the angel of death;
it was North Carolina valor that shed
over the bloody field of Gettysburg
lustre that has dimmed the glory of
other battles.
The fighting population of North
Carolina in 1861 was only 1850
men, but she sent 2, 900 soldiers to the
war. Her loss in killed and MORALLY
wounded was larger than the COM
bined losses of Virginia and South
Carolina i. was about equal to the
combined losses of Virginia, Georgia
and Mississippi. The number of North
Carolinians that died of wounds heads
the list of all the States and she lost
by diseases three times as many as
Virginia.
At Gettysburg, says the New York
Times, the heroic valor of the North
| Carolina troops excites the highest
| admiration and Pennsylvania, which
lost more killed and wounded in pro-
portion to the number of its troops
than any Northern State, can we'll
send greeting to North Carolina, whose
soldiers at Gettysburg did the hardest
fighting on the other side
The praise is very mild. North
Cardinals fighting at Gettysburg has
never been surpassed anywhere. Let
the figures speak. The 10th Regiment
went into action with something over
500 men and lost 7oS. Capt. Tuttle's
company went in with :, officers and
81 men it lost all the officers and
every man but one! BY the side of
this warfare the g Charge of the Light
Brigade" is only poetry. Company
G of the nth went in with :, officers
and SO men, and lost officers and
81 men. The remaining officer, Capt
Frank w. Bird, and the tour remaining
men went into Pickett's charge. These
five men were now Company c, and
they carried the flag of the regiment.
The color bearer was shot down, when
Capt. Bird took the flag himself and
carried it probably to the fatherest
point that was reached during the war
by the flag of the :" Lost Cause" The
day before, each of Capt. Birds lieu
tenants was shot by his side and fell
dead in his arms. Capt. Birds life
was saved by heavy watch which
turned bullet from his heart. His
coat was riddled with bullets. He
was afterwards killed at Reams'
Station by a minnie ball, which pierced
his temple. His coat, watch and
sword are now in possession of his
sister, Mrs. 2. H. Winston, of Windsor,
BERTHE county.
Capt. Bird was a very handsome
man, small in stature but graceful and
active. He was educated at Brown
University, Providence, Rhode Island,
with his cousin James B. Jordan, a son
of the late Rev. VIM. Hill Jordan. He
was man of fine scholarship and of
elegant literary tastes. Among the
soldiers he was much beloved. Usually
on the march he was to be seen on
foot, while his steed was ridden by
some weary or half sick comrade. He
was strong Union man and was
bitterly opposed to the war; and yet
it was he that bore aloft the flag of the
Confederacy on the very crest Of the
wave that dashed Lees army down at
Gettysburg.
Capt. Bird was man of fine humor,
though quiet. On one Of his furloughs
he was telling some ladies various in
cldents of the war. Zone day." said
he, g | was taking walk from camp
and, being absorbed in mind, strolled
in path through the woods. Sud
denly the path turned; and found
myself face to face with five Yankees ="
odd they run? Did they run?"
cried the ladies. Il don't know
ladies" he replied, 81 didn't stop to
see"
| Capt Bird was a man of deep rev.
erence and of spiritual longing, but he
was not fond of religious forms and
ceremonies. He was once quite i'll in
the house ofhis sister, and was expected
to die. For some days he refused the
request of his sister that a minister be
allowed to come and hold religious
services at his bedside. She was grleved
at the thought of his going into the
next world unprotected by the blessed
influence of solemn and formal de-
votion. She argued, pleaded and