The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1895-04-17


.Nlcc Station. nine miles from Rich
momd. was plainly visible several miles
to our front. and between us and Rich
mond. Fires that were doubtless
made to guide pahlsrccn, were as bril-
liant to us rs to him. so toward them
we Immediately took orr line Of march,
the vicinity Of which we reached
shortly before midnight. Our pro-
yrcss was necessarily slow, on account
| of the rain which had fallen continu-
ouSly sincc we moved out the nj ght
before. The mud by this time had
become deep and the horses and men
were somewhat iaded. At ~ o clock
the rain had ceased and snow began to
fall: our clothing, before wet, now be-
gan to freeze. When you add all this
to that seeming natural trcmulousncss
that is the accompaniment Of a night
attack under the most favorable cir
cum stances. it will readily be admit
ted that this combination was enough
to shake up a tin soldier. We had
| approached within mile of the camp
fires when VIC were brought to sud
den halt BY vollcy poured into the
head of our column by the enemy S
| p;c!icts: bu; on account Of the pltchy
darkness only one man was wounded,
Sergeant Mcneil, Of Company e.,
First North Carolina Regiment. being
shot through the arm. Perfect silence
had been cnjoincd by Gen. Hampton
for two reasons. The camp-frcs being
50 close to Richmond and between us
and the city, they might be those OF
friends. and this information must be
obtained before any attack was made.
If they were those of the enemy, our
arrangements must be perfect before
the enemy were reused from their
slumbers. So in silence and without
pursuit Of tic picl;cts that had fallen
back. We waited until the alarm was
supposed by them to be false. Then
Gen. Hampton ordered the first squad
ron OF the North Carolina Regiment,
composed of Companies L. and C., to
dismount, dcrloy as skirmishcrs, ad-
| vance toward the camp, and when
assured of the fact that foes, not
friends. were in front, to charge the
camp. The captain of Company f..
being ranking officer. had command OF
the execution of these details and the
subsequent attack When this skir-
mish line had advanced short dis
tancc. horse was discovered tied to
fence Which had been abandoned by
those who had fallen back this horse
was equipped with new bride, saddle
and blanket, that pointed sharply to
the fact that the enemy was near
but this suspicion was enforced to a
certainty of conviction when our ad-
vance brought us near enough to the
picket. who challenged, "Who comes
here p
Gen. Hampton was quickly inform
cd of the certainty Of the cncmys
presence. lie quickly placed the two
pieces of Hart ) Battery in position on
an cmincnco close by, and gave in
structions to the commander of the
dismountcl men to charge when the
artillery had fired fourteen shells into
the enemy camp. We were now
within one hundred and fifty yards of
the sleeping foe who seemingly over
come by the exposure and fatigue of
three days and two nights of severe
weather were now an easy victim to
surprise and panic. This little band
of forty dismountcd men counted the
shells with great precision as they
went over their heads into the cncmys s
camp, which were fired with that
rapidity which would indicate to a
startled foe the presence of as many
batteries as there were pieces. as
soon us the fourteenth shell had passed
on it's mission Of inquiry, those dis
mounted men rose and charged the
enemies camp with all the noise that
could cmanatc from forty mouths with
the dreaded rebel yell and from forty
well handled repeating carbincs all
of this conducted by Old vets who
so well knew that what We lacked i'll
numbers must be compensated for i'll
noise and rattle.
The night attaci, of the three hun
drcd of Israel that rut to flight the
hosts Of the 'Iidianitcs was not more
successful than this onc. The enemy
roustcd. were driven from their camp
in the greatest considerations. Many
uf them left their horses and equip
ments behind them. some mounting
bareback, and all left with the greatest
celebrity. The charge was made so
swiftly that we got to tie house which
was occupied by the officers i'll com
mand rs headquarters just as they
were getting out Of il and Corporal
Goodman. of Company f.. had Il per.
sonal encounter with Il Yankee colonel
around the same corner Of the house.
Each was using the corner rs Il Shield
against the attack Of the other. lhc
colonel tliruslin his pistol around the
corner fired and carried off one OF
Goodman fingers, and Goodman with
his carbne fired and brought down the
colonel, severely wounded i'll the
breast.
When We had charged across the
enemies camp. the dismountcd men
were rc-infnrcc,! b. the remainder Of
the First North Carolina as 4 prccau-
ton against the enemies return to the
attac when they had time to form.
But 80 thoroughly convinced were
they Of Il large fnrcc oh onr part. that
this apIrcllendcd attack was not made
bv thea. Thi> we gathered from the
,..,,,u,r,. rCn,,i, ,.l, tni,i ES next day