The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-07-23

give back at the fence" Oetter quoted
in Moore's History H., p. 1850
Gen. Lanes testimony, the testimony
of IL gallant VirginiaI. is the same. He
SAYS: AS soon as | could dismount
from my wounded, plunging horse, I or
dered Colonel &C.. NJ Avery. in COM
mand of my left regiment, to move to
meet the forces above referred to, when
he quickly replied, My God, General.
do you intend rushing your men into
such place unsupported when the
troops on the right are failing back
Seeing that it was useless to sacrifice
my brave men, | ordered my brigade
beck" (Rebellion Records 81, 30. 33S-
346) The testimony Of scores of others
| to the same facts is on record.
In the Gettysburg cavalry fight. of
| which W. Brooke-Rawle says: For
| minutes which seemed like hours. amid
| the caShing Of sabres. the rattle of
| small arms, the frenZied imprecations.
the demands to surrender, the undaunt-
ed replies, and the appeals for mercy,
| the Confederate column stood it's
ground North Carolina had also wor-
| thy representation in the enthusiastic
charge of its First cavalry regiment UNI
| der tol. Baker.
| In the second place, ii is a rule Of war.
| 10 Wlhch there are exceptions generally
| due 10 position, that the force that in
| ours the most casualties in killed or
| wounded is the force that stands most
| Obsinately under fire and also inAicts
| the most loss on it's adversaries. Tried
| by this rule. the soldiers from the
| North State have, according TO Surgeon
Guilds official report, Letter in Do,
p. 300. much to show their bravery.
| First, the total Confederate loss in
| killed and wounded mot including
''missing') was 1891; the total North
| Carolina, loss in killed and wounded
| was 1905, over one-fOufTti or the total
! loss. -Four hundred in killed and wound
| ed is considered severe brigade loss.
| Only sixteen Confederate brigades lost
over that number at GettySbugr: four
| of these. One-fourth were from
| North Carolina. The heaviest regimen
| tai loss at Gettysburg. 5SS men. was in
| Cured by the Twenty North Car
oiiha- regiment In the whole Of Gem
| eral Lees army only eight regiments
lost 200 men in killed and wounded:
three of these, the Eleventh, Twenty
sixth and Eorty-hfth, were from the
same State. Only eighteen regiments
had over one hundred and fifty killed
| and wounded; seven of those were like
wise from North Carolina.
Second in Pickett's grand charge on
| the right there fifteen regiments
| The total number of killed and wounded
i'll these fifteen regiments was 1,464. In
Hetb's division. commanded on the Sd
by Pettigrew. there were five North
Carolina regiments. The killed and
wounded in these five regiments amount
ed i'll the two days that they fought to
LOB. In other words, the killed and
| wounded in five North Carolina regi-
ments Of Pettigrew's division lacked
only 81 men of numbering as many as
| the killed and wounded in the whole fif-
| teen of Pickett's division. Yet i'm the eyes
o. some historians, Pettigrew's North
| Carolinans were only common EARTH"
| and PickettS men were superb Vir-
| ginians." The five regiments just men,
| toned had 30 killed in their two days
| Of fighting: Picketts fifteen regiments
had 224 killed. That is these five regi-
| ments from North Carolina had during
the battle actually five more men killed
| than Pickett's fifteen. Yet little has
| ueeH written Oh tne modest daring OF
these men, Swinton goes so far as to
| say that men who could die this way
were induced to charge only by being
told that they were merely to meet
pennsylvania militia" and that when
they saw Meade's banners, they broke
in disorder, crying. THE Army Of the
Potomac" Most of the men on the left
composing Pettigrew's and Trimble's di-
vision had chased the Army of the Po-
tomac too often to so suddenly make a
good Pan out of it.