Newspapers / Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, … / Dec. 15, 1918, edition 1 / Page 18
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' i, .. - ,u . - if v 4 i 1 MEMORIES OF THE GOHFEDEftABY MRS. ELOISB B. BURKHEIMER. Chapter Historian. Historical Department of the Cape Fear Chapter, XT. D. C. - OCTAVIUS A. WIGGINS. The following interesting war story I . 'a from a sketch published in "Caro-'.(j-'ina and the Southern Cross" which W . was 'formerly the official organ of the 1 North Carolina Daughters of the Con- - .federacy, which chronicled so much of ? .' the valuable life sketche-and history j -cv of-the state: Octavius A. Wiggins was the eighth -'-ton of Mason Lee and Elizabeth Slade 1 . Wiggins of Halifax county, North Caro lina. He was born at the family plan tation, Woodlawn, on April 9th, 1845. ' When the war clouds began to gather in 1861 he and his brother Thomas, who" was a few years older, -were at the state university at Chapel Hill, and Eugene, the brother just a little young er, was at a preparatory 'school at Scotland Neck. In the little book which my father wrote for his children some ten years before his death a record of his four years service as a soldier he speaks of this time thus: -"As soon as trie spring session opened in January, 1861, it was evident that I most 6f the students thought more of ,t the disturbed condition of the country ?! s than they did of their books. Secession j ,;,v and union meetings were held, also '. Joint meetings, where prolonged and : biter lebates would take place. This i '., was kept up from January until April Z when war was declared. Then all at e once everything became excitement and confusion." $S Octave was not carried away with p ' the idea of leaving college and tried '''' to persuade his brother to wait until 4 4 the end of the session, but to no pur " pose .Tom left immediately for home, ' and a little later joined the Scotland : Neck cavalry. Finally, unable to study. Octave left too, and upon reach ing home begged to be allowed to join the same company. But his father would not consent to this, as he was only sixteen, and after much persuasion he was prevailed upon to return to college. But he could not get into his studies again. As a boy Napoleon had been the idol of his enthusiastic young heart; he had read of his campaigns and con quests until he knew them almost by heart. Now they rose before him from the pages of his text books, between his big. dark eyes and the lessons he should have been learnir- His terror was that the war might end before he could get Into it, that he might miss his chance of real battle. Finally Mr. Wiggins saw the useless ness of it all; the boy was wasting his time and growing thin with longing. Permission was given for him to come home, and then to join the army. As proud as ever one of Murat's horsemen, and as dashing and handsome in his yellow trimmed grey uniform, shining pistols and long sabre, he rode away to join1 the Scotland Neck cavalry, Which was encamped on the coast near Wilmington. "Our camp life around Wilmington was a most enjoyable and easy one" he writes. "Almost- every man in the company 'had his. body servant to at tend - his personal wants and his horse, his trunk full of fine clothes from home; and the city offered many attractions to be beaux rather than soldiers." But before very long his ardent spirit began to long for real action. When' he heard of the battles around Rich mond and that Eugene who had run way from school and joined a South Carolina company, knowing permission would be refused if asked for- had re turned home a wounded hero of fifteen he could wait no longer. Opportunity ;ame in thf offer of a lieutenancy in Co. E 37th regiment, which he instant , iy accepted. Bidding the cavalry troopers farewell, he set out for Vir ginia, arriving there just in time to get his baptism of lire at the first bat tle of Fredericksburg. "And it was not half so pleasant or dramatic as I had thought it would be" he used to 6ay afterwards. From there on the pages of the Ut ile book of recollections are all filled with the things of war; with march ing and maneuvering, shriek of shell and boom of cannon, orders of officers and blind obedience of men. All the battles fought by the army of Northern Virginia after he joined it are describ ed, but on some of them he dwells at length, and it seems to me in looking back along the years, that it was Chan sellorsville that he spoke of most fre quently. Always he spoke of the fight ing there as "the fastest I ever wit nessed." Vividly he tells of the hap penings of. that fatal second of May, ending with the wounding of Jackson, and at the bottom of the page adds his Short but fervent opinion: "I shall die in the belief that history would Standers, Wallcors, "6ots-lt" for Corns 7orld Has Never Known Its EquaL "What will get rid of my corn?" The answer has been made by mil lions there s only one corn-remover that you can bank on, that's abso lutely certain, that makes any corn y Cora-Pain Is Eased -the Cora ! Doornail skin and that's magic "Gets-It" right ehoes and dancing even when you have a corn need not disturb Getfl-It on the corn or callus Sou want a corn-peeler, not a corn fooler. You don't have to fool with corns you peel them right off with your fingers by using- "Gets-It" Cutting1 makes corns grow and bleed. Why use Irritating salves or make a bundle of your toe with tape or bandages? Why putter and Still have the corn? Use "Gets-It" r your corn-pain is over, the corn 10 a "goner enre as the sun rises. -"Gets-It," the guaranteed, money back corn -remover, the only sure war. costs but a trifle at any drag store. ; M'f'd by E. Lawrence & Co Chicago, 111. - Sold in Wilmington ana revumuioua ed-as the world's best corn , remedy by R. R.Belamy, Elvington Phar macy, The Payne Drue Co., and have been changed had Jackson been spared to his country just' two -short hours more. But that Was not to be the god of. battles decreed otherwise." Then he takes up the fighting on tiie next day, and believing that it will be of interest to all who Ijove and honor those men who followed Lee, and thrill and glow at the memory of their deeds, I, give here a page of that little book jost as he wrote it. It comes .from one who knew whereof he told. "The sun rose on that memorable Sunday morning May 3rd, 1S63 as bright as possible, and with it rose the old Light division from behind the works arid crossed over. The left of our regi ment (the 37th N. C.) rested upon the plank road, the ISth on the opposite side, and the gallant old 7th on our right. This was all I could see of our command. There was no good place on that battle ground, but there was one which must be regarded as worse than all others as will be proved by the casualties in the 37th, which held it. It confronted the hill upon which "Chancellorsville house" was situated, and where we captured twenty-eight pieces of artillery. At the command this noble brigade of Lane's moved for ward as if on parade, and the bloody work commenced. Inch by inch and foot by foot we pressed forward. Line after line is met and forced back. Nothing is heard but the roar of can- non and the crackling of rifles. Our line would halt, squat dow'n fire until a way -was. cleared, then rise and press forward. "Amid the smoke and noise we must have obliqued a little to the left, for we crossed the plank road and took possession of works the enemy had thrown up during the night. They were very poor, hardly sufficient to shelter ,a man, bu when Lane's men got possession of them they held on with a bulldog tenacity I w . o . a t j. 1 1 never sa-w Deiore or aiierwarus. jliiic after line was brought upon them tb be driven bak in confusion. It was there the "red breeches Zuaves' were brought upon us, only to share the fate of others who at least did "not present so frightful an appearance. When ammunition grew short cartridge boxes were cut from the dead and wounded of friend and foe. I remember distinctly emptying the contents of sev eral such boxes upon the grtmnd by my company, in order that the men might be facilitated in their loading. Here behind these little works our loss greatest. The troops on our right were driven back first, and the enemy pres sing on were about to flank ms. We were then ordered to fall back. While we were doing so. I .received a pain ful wound on my knee from a piece of shell. Being unable to get out or render any assistance to my 1 command. I cap-wled behind a large tree, and from that vantage point witnessed the beau tiful fighting of Ransom's brigade, which came up and relieved us. What was left of a grand brigade only a short time before, was refdrmed, car tridge boxes replenished, and was taken back upon the field, but it did no more fighting during that battle. The Six Hundred at Balaklava, the Old Guard at Waterloo deserves no higher place upon the roll of honor nor in the hearts of their countrymen, than does Lane's brigade for its hero ism at Chancellorsville." The days that followed Chancellors ville were the saddest of all the war for him. His wound was not a serious one, but severe enough to confine him to the field hospital for some time; he had lost many noble friends in the battle; and the last of May he learned 0 f the death of a dearly beloyed brother Doctor Alfred Slade Wiggins, who had been killed at the head of his company in a cavalry charge near Suffolk, Va. And Jackson was dead. Often and often 1 have heard of the scene when the message of General Lee, announcing the great chieftain's death, was read to the assembled troops; how the sol diers walked restlesly about from one to another, clasped hands, gazed into each other's eyes in sorrow, even wonder and disbelief that such a thing could happen, and then in their rag ged grey packets, often with no handkerchiefs to catch Ahe tears that would race down their brown scarred faces, sought secluded spots arnong the trees or along the banks the river, to indulge in their grief. A little further on in the little book comes Gettysburg with all ts horror and disappointments; then a bref ac count of the retreat "that retreat which is known in its horror only to the line of the army of General Lee. It was intensely dark, rain fell contin uously, the only illumination came from occasinai flashes of lightning. Men who had worn nothing but kid boots made to order, trudged uncom plainingly along in ankle deep mud, shod in brogans, rags or no shoes at all; stumbled and fell in the darkness, and rose to march on." At Falling Waters Lieutenant Wig gins saw General Pettigrew carried off the field on a stretcher and heard a surgeon say His wound was mortal. "I felt that North Carolina's brightest star was passing into eclipse" he la ments. But it is not the bravery of . North Carolinians alone that the little book records! others are often mentioned and praised. A charge made by Greg g's Tigers at the Wilderness is. com mented on thus: "We're the boys what eats men alive' they flung back- as they passed us a splendid looking body of men. Another moment with a yell they rushed forward upon the enemy, to 'do or die.' Ah, that Rebel yell? In imitable by no other troops upon the face of the globe, it rose instinctively to the lips of Confederates when mak ing a charge, striking terror into the hearts of the adversary. A few days later when we passed that spot on our way to Spottsylvania, , the young trees 'all lay flat upon the ground as though hewn instead of cut down by minnie balls, and on a huge oak, from which the bark had been stripped away, there was cut in large black let ters the words 'Texas Dead.' Brave fellows, planted side by side like potato ridges, far from home and kindred, it required a hard heart indeed to pass you by with dry-eyes." It was at Spottsylvania court house that Lieutenafrt Wiggins distinguish ed himself for personal bravery. There is but slight mention of It in. his recol lections, but as a tiny child, sitting upon that brave man's -knee, I heard it from the lips of General Lane him self. "The story runneth thus: "Dur ing that fearful period of the battle when the troops of the contending armies fought hand to hand with bay onets and swords, and guns as clubs, Lieutenant Wiggins captured a major and several prisoners and started to the rear with them. On the way he was joined by General Lane. W-hen they had gone but a short way , they ran ( into a squad of about twenty of the enemy, who rose up suddenly , out of the bushes and demanded - tne sur- bering that "a good run is better, (nan a bad stajid" both ..officers took, to their heels, the Lieutenant losing of course his prisoners. But a little further on he ran into another squad, a smaller one -of but four, carrying the flag., of the 51st Pennsylvania regiment, and this time, resorting to a game of "bluff," and behaving as though he had at his back a goodly "company of his own uniform. Lieutenant Wig gins made them surrender, and a little later marched into tthe works with a handsome stand of" colors, ..and four prisoners, one of them an officer. Gen eral Lane must have brought the little affair to the attention of the "powers that be," for the next day the regi ments of his brigade had a communica tion read to them from General Lee, in which he thanked Lieutenant Wiggins and three others who had captured flags, calling each one by name and commending them for their bravery. In our family scrop book we ave a couple of newspaper' clippings telling of the incident, one of them quoting from General Lane's official report of the battle ,and adding as the paper's J comment "that this very flag Gen. Ma- hone tried to claim as a part of the spoils which his men did not gather." And upon the walls of our home, there hangs a beautiful sword that once be longed to the 51st Pennsylvania regi ment. Lieutenant Wiggins was . 'wounded very severely toward the close of this battle, .his leg being almost shot off while standing on the breastworks. This wound put him on crutches for many weeks, and earned for him a good stay at home. It was Septem ber before he joined the army again, but from then on until the battle around Petersburg he did steady ser vice. In that battle he received a wound in the head, was left for dead upon the field, and so taken prisoner. With many others, many of them friends, he was sent to Washington, confined there in the Old Capitol until the 9th of April, and on that date started by train for the Johnson Island prison. "I had never been a prisoner before" he writes "and the very thought of it was maddening. Together with an other officer I planned an escape. We were to jump from the window of the saloon of the moving train -when night came on.- When the time came, the other man backed out preferring the ills he had rather than those unknown. "It's death of you jump he said. "Its death if you go on a slower, more lingering one" I replied. I then made my will, leaving my oil cloth to one friend, my haversack to another. My blanket had been taken from me in Washington, being a captured one with U. C. on it. After it had become quite dark, I got up and made for my point of escape. Without a moment's hesi tation I raised the window, thrust my feet out. sittins as straisrht in the window as I could, and jumped, breath ing a short prayer to God as I did so. Down, down I fell, first heels over head and then heard over heels, till at last I landed on a sand embankment, and found to my relief that I had sustained only a cut forehead and a sprained ankle, the latter by no means sufficient -to keep me from travelling." That night, stiff, and sore, but relieved of heart, he slept on the seat of an old carriage in a dilapidated stable belong ing to one of the farms along the road, and the next day began to beat his way back to Baltimore. The details of that journey read like a story book; he was wook cutter, hostile, man ser vant and guest all In turn and at dif ferent stages of his wandering."At last he reached Baltimore, but before doing so had heard of General Lee's surren der, and the assassination of President Lincoln. From Baltimore he went to Richmond, where he happily ran across his old Commander, General Lane, who assisted him in getting his parole and an old suit of the familiar grey in which to make the journey the rest of the way. The uniform he was wearing when he made his escape, he had left behind him in Pennsylvania, finding a suit of common store bought clothes safer while in alien territory. From Richmond to Petersbu-g; from Petersburg home. What wduld he find there and whom? How much of the old plantation was there left? How many of the loved ones? With ques tions such as these within his soul he started off following the railroad track that led to Halifax. You- -who may read this little inadequate sketch must picture for-yourselvea what hap pened when he reached there when wearied almost to exhaustion, gaunt, jaded, he walked slowly up the long avenue of oaks that led to the house at Woodlawn, where news had been carried of his death by those who had seen him fall at Petersburg. Mason and Elizabeth Wiggins had given gen erously of their children to the Con federacy seven sons had been sent forth in the strength and beauty of their young manhood and this was the sixth that had been returned to them. HOW GRAND FLEET CELEBRATED NEWS OF THE END OF THE WAR Every Siren Sounded Simultaneously Heard a Hundred allies Around. London, Nov. 11. (Correspondence of the Associated Press.) A vast chor us of siren whistles from a thousand fighting ships split the air when the British grand fleet received the news of the signing of the armistice. First, the 30-mile line of Vessels sprang into light. Then, suddenly, the great fleet of battleships, cruisers,, torpedo de stroyers, mine-layers and patrols unit ed in One huge, synchronised dlapson that startled the hearers for a radius of a hundred miles. The tremendous sound re-echoed amongst the hills on both shores, awesome in Its Intensity. A hundred searchlight's, which for four yea'rs had resolutely watched the skies, or peered SteaOTastly along dark waters for enemy craft, merrily .criss crossed about the sky. Flares were lit,, star shells fired, and here and there some of the greater Bnips were fortunate in a fireworks display. For 60 minutes the fleet threw off all reserve and Jet itself go. At 9 o'clock the- sirens suddenly silenced, the lights snapped out and the grand fleet was again waiting and watching and ready, and scarcely had the last sounds died away Ihan from ,the ad miral's ships there were winking at the mastheads the orders for further duty. HITS m-spT- SAFS ABSOLUTELY E6TOCS We Giv Dessert Molds This Week to Users of Jiffy-JellSee Of fer Below Fruit-Juice Essences in Glass Vials A Bottle in Each Package FresSnFrait Desserts Of the Finest Fruits At Trifling Cost With a Wealth of Fruit- Juice Essence Note the fruity delights which Jiffy-Jell puts at your in stant call. And now, when you need fruit, and fruit is so costly. Each package of Jiffy-Jell contains the flavor in liquid form, in a vial. Each fruit flavor is an essence, condensed from the juice of the fruit. . The flavors are abundant. We use half a ripe Pineapple to make one vial of flavor. We use 65 Loganberries to make another all for one dessert. 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Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, N.C.)
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Dec. 15, 1918, edition 1
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