The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1901-10-18

a smell from q hOWlIZer-
The fighting then shifted to the right.
and was kept I'D two or three hours
longer, the Federals several times at
tempting TO carry the Confederate
works by assault, but in every instance
they were met with such a deadly fire
they fell back. During n or these
assaults a gallant young officer, Major
Theodore winthrop, OF New Haven,
Conn, who vas General Buffers prl-
yate secretary, and who volunteered as
an aid on General Pierce's staff for this
expedition, while attempting to rally a
wavering column, drew his SWORD,
waved it aloft, leaped on the trunk OF
a fallen tree, and shouted to his men,
zone more charge, boys, and the oay
is ours," Alas. for poor Winthrop! 1t
was his last charge. ~ North Caroiin-
ian sent a bullet crashing through MS
heart, and he fell dead at the head OF
the olumn. which retired III great con-
fusion. This practically ended the pat
tie, after four or five hour or hghtlhs,
and the Federals returned TO fortress
Monroe
A gathering up of the ana
a m m of the casualties showed a
loss of Federals killed, Is; federals
wounded. So; federals missing, 5; feder-
ais total, 76. C~onferates killed, L; con-
federates wounded, 81; confederate
missing. =; confedeates total, 10.
The small IOSS VI Tx
was due probably to the fact that they
were fighting for the most part behind
works.
TYING A PRISONER.
During the battle a prisoner was TAX
en- by the confederates, which was con-
sidered a great feat in those early DAYS
of the war. and SO fearful was his CAP
tor that he would escape he tied him 10
q tree during the battle, in rear OF
Bethel church, in line or hre. III new
er forget the look of fright upon his
countenance while thus exposed, nor
did he ever forget his experience, 1 an
sure.
Here's to you, old friend, if this
should meet you eye. If l were as
near you today as I was on that MEM
orabIe 10th of June 1 would shake o
by the hand.
A COINCIDENCE.
The soldier killed on the confederate
side was young Henry l.. Wyatt, and
he was the first soldier killed IN q
pitched battle on the southern side.
T~hirty-five years after seeing young
Wyatt lying mortally wounded on the
battlefield, | was walking through the
soldiers section of Hollywood cemetery,
in the suburbs of Richmond, and came
across a wooden ~headboard that had
rotted down and fallen with the blank
SIDE UP l. turned II over Will my LooI
and discovered that it had been over
this soldiers grave, as 1 read his name,
late of death, n regiment to which
he belonged.
NO SAFE PLACE ON A BATTLE
FIELD.
Behind the chimney of a house on
the field. where he had taken shelter,
I came across one of Duryea's red
breeches Zouaves, cold in death, killed
by an artillery shot that had passed
through the house and chimney that
shielded him, thus proving that there is
no safe place on a battlefield.
NORTHERN SENTIMENT.
After the battle there was a great
clamor for the removal of Butler, the
New York b declaring that the
president would show his wisdom by
making peace with the Southern con-
to send generals into Virginia who were
up to their work. while the Herald
sustained Butler as evidently the right
man in the right place."
The Charleston Courier about the
same time stated that a letter had been
received in that city saying that q
great reaction had taken place among
the capitalists of New York and Bos-
ton, and that petitions were being cir
culated to be aid before congress ask
ing the peaceful recognition of the
Southern Confederacy and the estab-
lishment of amicable relations by treat
les; the speedy closing of the a or
else New York and Boston would be
ruined cities.
BECAME FAMOUS.
Among the participants in this battle
who afterwards became famous We're:
Captain Fitzpatrick, on the federal
side. as a cavalry general.
Colonel Hill, OF the confederate side,
as a lieutenant general.
General Butler, on the federal, as a
major general, who was bottled up"
at Bermuda Hundred at the beginning
of the siege of Petersburg.
Major George w. Randolph, who COM
manded the confederate artillery, as
secretary of war of the confederate
states.
And a host of lesser lights who be-
came captains, majors, colonies, and
even b~rigadier generals.
ILLUSION DISPELLED.
The impression precailed at the out
break of the civil war (and prevails
now to considerable extent) that volun-
teers were no match for regulars in
battle, but this fight dispelled hat illus
ion, as on this occasion the firing of the
regular United States battery was wild
in n extreme, while hat of the con-
federate artillery was accurate and
deadly, as attested by official reports of
federal officers engaged in this affair,
and these guns were name by young
men man of whom had never fired a
cannon even in target practice.
Lieutenant John II. Greble, who
commanded the regular" artillery, lost
his life just as the engagement closed.
COLONEL HILLS OFFICIAL RE-
PORT.
Following is the official report of
Colonel D. H. Hill. AS compared with
official reports of great battles later in
the war, which were brief and desti-
tute of all but the most important de-
tails, it is quite a curiosity. Neverthe-
less, it is interesting, and tells the read
er all he wants to know of this first
battle of the civil war about which
very little is said in history:
First North Carolina Infantry,
Yorktown, JUNE Il. 1861.
In obedience to orders from the COLO
mel commanding. 1 marched on the 9th
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