The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1895-09-01

TeOeI yell, 6HtSEcu Luc DoNA' hS
Federal troops were taken by surprise,
and after firing round or two, fell
back through the town upon the river,
under cover of their gun boats. We
were in possession of the tewn, the
troops from our regiment being stationed
on square near the centre of the town.
We held the position for several hours,
but the cannon from the gun boats were
turned upon us, and the Federal infantry,
having reformed, commenced to fire
upon us with long range rife, while
we were armed with the old smooth bore
musket. We were forced to fall back to
the place where we had camped the
night before; the enemy did not pursue
us, and the next day we commenced our
march back to camp. Captains Null
and Williams, both Of whom behaved
with great bravery, were wounded; Of
the men of the 55th Regiment engaged
seven were killed and eight wounded.
There was no other meeting with Fed
eral forces while the regiment was in
this section.
On the list day of October,
while the regiment was doing picket
duty at Wises fork, between Kinst0n
and NeWbern, it was ordered to Nir-
ginia, and for awhile did provost duty in
the city of Petersburg. With the end,
18th, and 42nd Mississippi, it was formed
into brigade, and General Joseph K.
Davis was assigned to its command. The
regiment remained in this brigade until
January, 1865, when it was transferred
to Cookies Brigade. The Goth Missis-
sippi Regiment and the 1st Confederate
Battalion were brought into the brigade
in the early part of 1864. 1t was a fine
brigade. The End and 18th Mississippi,
with the 4th Alabama and the 9th North
Carolina, had constituted the immortal
Bee brigade at the first battle of Manas-
sas, Sand General Whiting afterwards
commanded that brigade. In forming
the brigade for Gen. Davis, the 9Th North
Carolina was sent to Hoke's brigade. the
4th Alabama was transferred to brig
ade of Alabama troops, and the 42nd
Mississippi, which was brought to the
Army of Northern Virginia for that pur-
pose, and the 55th North Carolina took
their places in the old brigade. Although
all the other regiments, except the 55th,
were from Mississippi, their relations
with the officers and men of that regi-
ment were quite as pleasant as they were
with each other. The regiments of Da
Wis Brigade were part of the force
which General Longstreet carried to
Suffolk, Va, in the spring of 1868. 1t
was while near Suffolk that an incident
occurred which illustrates the high spirit
of the officers of the regiment and how
jealous they were of its honor. One
evening about dark, a heavy piece of
Confederate artillery was captured by an
unexpected and surprise attack by a
brigade OF Federal troops. Capt. Ter
rell and Capt. Cousins, the one Assistant
Adjutant General of Gen. Laws Brigade,
and the other on the staff of that Ge2-
eral, reported that the 55th North Car
olina had been assigned to protect the
battery, whereas, in fact, it was a
mistake. AS soon as Col. Connolly
heard of the report, he went to
see those gentlemen and stated to
them that they were mistaken; that the
55th Regiment had held the position to
which it had been assigned, and was in
no way responsible for the disaster; and
demanded that they should correct their
report at once. This they declined to
do. Thereupon Col. Connolly returned
to his regiment, called meeting of the
field officers and captains, stated the cir
cumstances to them, and insisted that
the honor of the regiment required that
its officers should demand satisfaction
from those who had slandered it. He
proposed that the field officers should
first challenge the Alabamians, and if
the matter was not satisfactorily ar
ranged, consistent with the honor of the
regiment, and if they should be killed,
each officer should pledge himself to take
up the quarrel and fight until the last
man was killed unless proper amends
should sooner be obtained. To this the
officers generally assented, but Lieut.
Col. Smith, who was an elder in the
Presbyterian church, and a young sol
der of unqueStionable bravery, arose
and stated that he was conscientiously
opposed to duelling, and that he would
not resort to that method of settling any
question. Col Smiths christian char
aeter and his personal courage were so
well known, that his scruples on the
subject were respected, and Maj. Belo
proposed to take his place; and so it was
arranged that Col. Connolly should chal
lenge Capt. Terrell, and Msj. Belo
should challenge Capt Cousins. Capt.
Satterfeld, of Person county, then Cap
tain of Company H, was Col. Oonnelly's
second, and Lieut.. w. FL. Townes, of
Granville county, then 1st Lieutenant in
Company D, was Major Belo's second.
The challenges were accepted and Cap
tain Terrell selected as weapons double
barreled shot guns, loaded with buck
shot and Captain Cousins Sc
lected the Mississippi rife at 40 PAGES.
According to appointment, the parties
next day met in large field in the neigh
borhood, in one part of which were Col.
Connolly and Capt. Terrell and their
friends In another part were Maj. Belo
and Capt. Cousins and their friends. AS
soon as Maj. Belo and Capt. Cousins
came to their place of meeting, they
took the positions assigned to them by
the seconds, and at the command, fired
their first shot. Maj. Belo's shot passed
through Capt. Cousins hat, and Capt.
Cousins first shot entirely missed Col.
Belo. Capt. Cousins second shot passed
through the coat of Maj Belo just above
the shoulder and Maj. Belo's second fire
missed Capt. Cousins. In the meantime,
in the other part of the field, the friends
of Col. Connolly and Capt. Terrell were
engaged IN an effort to make an honor
able settlement of the affair, and Capt
Terrell, who was a gallant officer and