The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-05-26

respect, to see the monument to Col
Harry X. Burgwyn. Then they visite,
the Camp of Instruction at Crabtree
where Colonel Lane saw his first military
service under the command of his youth
| full officer who afterwards became ,nC
colonel of his regiment. Colonel Lane had
not visited the place since he left it in
September 1861.
Mr. Mcconnell, with the eye of an ex-
perienced soldier said it was a miserable
place for a camp. fact which Colonel
Lane was not prepared to deny. From
there they went to the Soldiers Home
where Mr.. Mcconnell was greeted very cor
daily by its inmates and was very fra
ternal in his greetings in return. Among
Others Mr.. Mcconnell met were Private
Drake. who served under Admiral Blu
chanan on the Merrimac in the fight with
the Monitor in Hampton Roads the first
engagement of iron clads in the history
of naval warfare, fight that revolution
lied naval construction.
Mr.. Mcconnell considers it quite a
strange coincidence that on a recent trip
to Norway he met at Bergen a Norwegian
named John Anderson. who had served
in the same fight on the Monitor.
Next the party visited the State
Museum, and the office of the Corpora
ton Commission, where they met Mr..
Henry c. Brown, the invaluable chief
clerk to the Commission, Colonel Lane Is
nephew. They then went to the State
Library and saw the painting of the three
famous colonies of the 26th Regiment,
Vance, Burgwyn and Lane, as well as the
other portraits of famous officers of the
Confederacy. In the Library of the SUI
preme Court, Mr. Mcconnell was intro
duced to Marshal Bradley who was one
of the five who volunteered at Bethel to
burn the house which sheltered Federal
sharp shooters In this action it was
that William Wyatt was killed, the first
of the war on either side.
Mr.. Mcconnell had the pleasure of meet
ing also Colonel Thomas S. Kenan and
talking about Gettsburg with him, for
there.
The Michigan man is not quite 81 years
of age, a remarkably well preserved man
In comparing height with Colonel Lane,
he found to his great surprise that he was
taller by an inch and a half than the
great leader of the 26th. At Gettysburg
Mcconnell weighed about 80 pounds and
Colonel Lane 1S5. The Northern man has
developed to over 200 pounds since then,
while the Colonel has never weighed as
much since as he did at that time. In
the excitement of battle and youthful en-
thusiasm, Mr.. Mcconnell says, Colonel
Lane doomed up before him about feet
inches tall and of about $50 pounds
weight. Accordingly he was somewhat
disappointed to find that his big antagon-
list had shrunk so much.
Seemingly never did two men enjoy a
day more. and at about ten o'clock last
night they babe each other adieu, Colonel
Lane to start early this morning for his
home in Chatham county, and Mr.. Nc
Connell to leave by the 1890 train this
morning for Weldon, where he and Mrs.
Mcconnell will be the guests of Colonel
Burgwyn.
Mr. Mcconnell was enthusiastic in his
admiration for the gallant courage and
reckless bravery of the men Of the 26th.
"They were the bavest men, said he,
that ever fought. Their advance was
slow, overwhelming, Irresistible
Mr.. McConnelTs relations with the Con
federate Veterans Camp at Chicago arc
most cordial, as illustrted by the fact that
he once presided as toast master at a
banquet given by them. Colonel Bur
gwyn was a guest of Mr.. Mcconnell at
the annual banquet of the Iron Brigade
in Chicago In 1900.
That infantry fight between the 2Gth
North Carolina and the Iron Brigade and
the infantry duel between the 26th North
Carolina and the oath Michigan constitute
the most desperate fight known IN the
annals of warfare, the loss to the 26th
North Carolina being so per cent of 500
men, or 720 killed and wounded. and the
oath Michigan 80 per cent of 500. or 400
killed and wounded in round numbers.
Last night at the hotel Colonel Bur-
gwyn met Mr.. Daniel G.. Fowle, son of
the late Governor Fowle. and who had
served under the colonel in the Spanish
American war, and on the mastering out
of his regiment subsequently enlisted Tor
two years service in the Philippines.
Colonel Burgwyn introduced the young
soldier to Colonel Lane and Mr.. Neon
nell, wishing to give him the opportunity
of meeting two such splendid surviving
specimens of the two regiments that en-
gagged in the greatest infantry duel known
to the history of warfare.
Mr. Fowle was chief OF Maccabebe scouts
in the Philippine Islands, and gave the
visiting gentlemen very. graphic and
very interesting description of his ex-
periences there for two years. He was
wounded twice and was in upwards Of a
hundred engagements. He is now reading
law