The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1895-08-11

| lance, After most sangulnary battle
of two hours, in which we lost some of
our brayest and best men, Lieut.. Larkin
Curtis among the number, the works
were recaptured and we returned to our
position in line. The regiment rested on
| the nth. On the morning of the 18th,
a dark and rainy one, a fitting prelude
to day that was dark in the fullest
sense of the term, the enemy made a
desperate assault on the salient angle oc-
cupied by Jones' brigade, this regiment
| being Immediately on the right of it. For
a short time the fighting was desperate.
The terrific onslaught of this vast multi
| tude was irresistible, there being rec
| tangular mass of twenty thousand Fed
eral troops; not in line of battle, but in
column of regiments doubled on the cen
tire, supported by a division on each
flank, in all more than thirty thousand
concentrated against this one point. The
portion of the works assaulted by this
| formidable column was little more than
400 yards wide. The Confederate troops
occupying this angle were Jones' brigade
and the First Regiment, numbering
about two thousand. The clash of arms
and the murderous fire around this
bloody angle are indescribable. Every
one who was present will ever remember
the wreck and the anguish of that dark
and direful day. Let it also be remem-
bered that this regiment did its whole
duty here, as on all other occasions; that
it did all that mortal man could do, and
proved even in defeat, true to its State
hr1$ oh Nf
the whole regiment were captured, the
Colonel wounded, captured and recap
turedthree times. The last time was from
the enemys ambulance corps, who, in
turn, were made prisoners and bore
him to the Confederate rear. A hickory
tree, said to be sixteen inches in diam
eter, was cut down by minnie balls alone
and fell near our works. From this time
until the close of the war the regiment
was mere company, but preserved its
organization and was with the Third,
transferred to Cox's brigade and partici-
pated in all the battles in which that
brigade was engaged between Spottsyl-
vania and Richmond.
Valley Campaign of 1864.
About this time General Early was as
signed to command the 22d corps, and
was ordered to Lynchburg to meet Hun
ter's raid, at which point the corps ar
rived on the 18th, and after some Skin
mishing the enemy withdrew during the
night and were driven from this portion
of Virginia, leaving his artillery and a
portion of his train. Gen. Early then
marched in the direction of Staunton,
passing Lexington; the cemetery in which
Gen. Jackson had been buried, lay on
the right of the road which we travelled.
We passed into the cemetery with muf-
fled drums, field officers dismounting,
bands playing funeral dirges, banners
dropped and arms reversed. A mound
covered with beautiful June flowers, a
flag staff standing near, told the men
who had followed him wherever he had
led, that beneath that unostenta-
tious pile of valley soil lay the body
of Stonewall Jackson A hush, as deep
as midnight, fell upon those men in their
ragged gray, and the eagle eyes of the
veterans grew moist, as they thought of
the glory they had won under the lead
ership of the most unique soldier of the
age. From this point the army marched
in the direction of Washington City by
way of the Valley and Minocasy juno
ton, near Frederick, where battle took
place, the enemy being greatly damaged
Next day, after long march, through
the dust and heat, the regiment and the
army reached Silver Spring, in view of
the dome of the Capitol, where, after
some further skirmishing, Gen. Early
withdrew to the Valley by way of Lees
burg and Smokers Gap. Gen. Early
now organized corps of sharp shooters
from the different regiments in the sec
ond corps, this regiment furnishing its
quota, and its Colonel was appointed to
command the corps of sharp shooters
thus formed.
Alter this the sharp shooters were en-
gagged in almost daily skirmishes with
the enemy and took part in the battles
of Winchester, August 18th; Charles
town, August 21st; Smithsfeld, August
Goth; Bunker's Hill, September 3rd; and
in the bloody and disastrous battle of
Winchester, September 10Th, in which
Gen, Rhodes, who was ever equal to oc
casions, was killed, and we lost some of
our brayest and best officers and men,
the true and the genial Capt. Tom Boone
of Company Z, being among the
wounded on this unfortunate occasion. In
this battle, the Confederates, ten thousand
in number, met thirty thousand of the
enemy, they retreated and took position
at Fishers Hill, where, again being over
powered, retreated up the valley to
Waynesboro. The Confederates, beirg
rain fCrco1 ra+urpa1 1amu tho va1Iav
and marched, on the night of the 18th
of October, around the end of the Mas
sanutten mountain, crossed the Shenan-
doah at Bowman's Ford and attacked
the enemy at daylight in his rear, the
sharpshooters capturing twelve pieces Of
artillery before the main body arrived
This strategy on the part of Gen. Early
was pronounced by military critics to be
equal, or even superior, to that Of Ger.
Lee at Charlottesville. On account OF
overwhelming odds, the Confederates
were prevented from following up their
advantages, and our decided victory of
the morning was turned into signal
defeat before the day was over. A por-
ton Of this regiment and the sharp
shooters were under the immediate com
mand of Gen. Ramseur, who, collecting
his veterans behind stone fence, and
fighting like lion, in this his last battle,
was MORALLY wounded. Although this
regiment had never been in his com
mand, it had, as if by accident, been
thrown with him in many bloody bat
ties, and his undaunted courage and
heroic conduct inspired many falter
ing spirit to revive and crush on to vic