The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-02-18
THE FIRST \. E. VOLUNTEERS
History OF the Regiment Which Was First
at Bethel"
By Edward j. Hale
BY Edward J. Hale.
tContinu9d from l.aSt Tunday.)

General Butler en- 4he 9th Of May in
his report 10 General Scott ta) appeal
ing to the latter to send him more am
muniton, especially buck and bail,
suitable 10 the smooth bore musket with
which 'the major part of my command
is provided" Again. il General P'erce's
report ~ or Buffers plan OF opera
tiens" for the Bethel expedition. We
find this item: "Duryca TO have the
200 rifles; he will pick the men 10 whom
they are entrusted" Indeed, the pa
pers Of the day ridiculed the talk abou;
improved arms" declaring that it was
tht, men tthe man behind the gun We
call il now which was the important
thing (c,.,
Major Randolph reports that his navy
howitzers were mounted upon the ran
ming gear Of ordinary wagons, thus Sc
riously interfering with their turning in
the ordinary road. and thet the fuses
ef lis nlgst effective piece, the rltied Far
rott, were already cut, aud for nothing
less than four seconds, toJ great an III
tervaI for the distance between the OPP
posing forces at Bethel. The enemy
equipment was no doubt more complete,
but. with the exception Of the defects
noted by Major Randolph as above,
there is no reason To believe that either
side had the advantage III arms AL
the armies at that period were arnlet.
with muZZle leaders, except the rus
SLAMS. who had adopted. couple of de
cades before, n needle gun then 50
clumsy and defective that no other ma
tion followed her example. It was 1864
before the Spencer magazine rifle made
its appearance in our war tin the hand:
OF Sheridan's command) II was not
until the same year that the general
adoption Of breech-loaders was even 50
much as recommended fer the British
army; and Sadowa, which BUNDLED Aus
tralia. and made the German empire pos
sible because the PrussianI used their
needle guns and the Austrians their
rnuzzle-loaders. was not fought until
1856. Indeed, it was nearly the close
of the campaign Of 1854 before our
engineer officers began to recognize the
change required III field defenses by
the use of such long range weapons ~
We then possessed. These were chiefly
the Enfield rife. which had come into
use by us some thirty months before.
After the Battle of Bethel two more
companies were aS2igrer 10 the regiment
as follows:
Company L--Bertie county Captain,
Jesse G. Jaeocks; First Lieutenant,
Stark A. Sutton: Second Lieutenant.
Francis W. Bird; Junior Second Lieu
tenant. J. J. Speller.
Company M-Chowan county; Cap
tain J. X. Marshall; First Lieutenant.
Dr.I LJewellcn Warren; Second Lierten
ant, +. J. Small: JUNIOR Second Iicuter-
ant, Thomas Capehart.
PROMOTION OF COL. HILL AND
CLOSING SERVICE OF THE
REGIMENT.
The history OF the First Regiment
from this time until the date set for is
muster out of service, November 18th,
was uneventful. 1t changed its camp
Il number OF times, and it did great
deal Of drilling, digging and other werk
on OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES labor for
the kind OF men who composed its ranks
but performed cheerfully and without
ulurmuring.
On the 22d Of August the regiment
was moved from Yorktown to Ship
Point. place some eight miles distant.
near the mouth Of pcquosin River. a1l'i
facing the Chesapeake On the I'd o;
September an election was held for Il
SUCCESSOR TO Colonel Hill. who had just
been promoted september lst 10 BIZ
Rrigadier, General. Lieutenant Colonel
Charles G. Lee was elected Colonel Ma
ior James H. Lane, Lieutenant Colonel
aud Lieutenant Robert F. Hoke. Of
Company *. Msjor. The new Major
was Second Lieutenant Of his company
and had been commended by Colonel
Hill, in his report Of the Battle Of beth
81, for great zeal. energy and judgment
as an engineer officer on various occa-
sions" He was a native Of Lincolntcn,
and was educated at the Kentucky Mill
tary Institute.
Hill was generally regarded as the OF
Gcer enr}led 70 the chief credit for the
victory at Bethel. Indeed, Major Ran
dolph. in his admirable report TO Coio
nel Magruder OF the operations Of his
artillery, made occasion 10 say: i am
happy at having an opportunity to rer-
der my acknowledgements 10 Cc!0ncl
Hill. the commandment of the North
Carolina regiment, for the useful sus-
EsaStions which his experience as an ar
tillcry officer enabled him TO make to
ME during the action, and to bear teStl-
nony to the gallartry and discipline Of
that portion OF his command with which
j WIS uF'>NNldltd. ! ne uiillEllGS lubuStIS
of his regiment in intrenchinC our po-
Sition enabled US TO defeat the cncm5'
with n nominal loss On our side" An
officer Of the regiment Id says, as a
matter vi hin his knowledge, that it was
due 10 Colonel HiN that the stand
against Picrce's advancing army was
made ct the strong position (Which Hill
had in1rencned) on the Yorktown side
Of the creek instead Of on the Hampton
side Nevertheless, Magruder. as
ranking officer. WAS made a Brigadicr
General on the 18th OF June North
Carolina was still the Boeotia which
unfriendiy critics had pictured her in
the period of agitation preceding the
war; and We find that in January, 1859.
out of list te, of ninety
three general officers of the Con
federate Army. but six (Holmes,
Hill, Loring. Gatlin, Rains and Branch
were accredited to North Carolina.
OF the FIVE full generals. none were
from that State; of the fourteen major
generals. five were ahead of Holmes, our
only one; and of the seventy-four briga-
diers twenty-one appear ahead Of Hill,
the first North Carolinian in the list.
Nevertheless. North Carolina had 50