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2 BITS OF WAR HISTORY A SKETCH OF TIIE FIFTY-FIFTH NORTH CAROLINA REGIMENT. BY LIEUT. CHARLES !¥!. COOKE This Regiment Was Organized at Camp Mangnm, Near Raleigh, in the Early Part of 1802—After Being Suf ficiently Drilled it Was Sent to the Pamlico District Then to Washing ton, N. C., and Thence to Virginia-Its Position in the Fight at Gettysburg. The Fifty-fifth North Carolina Regi ment was organized at Camp Mangum, near Raleigh, in the early part of 1862. The companies composing the Regiment were Company A, from Wilson county, William J. Bullock, Captain; Company B, Wilkes county, Abner S. Calloway, Captain; Company C, Cleveland county, Silas I). Randall, Captain; Company E, Pitt county, James T. Whitehead, Cap tain; Company F, composod of men en listed from Cleveland, Burke and Ca tawba counties, principally from Cleve land county, Peter M. Mull, of Catawba county, Captain; Company G, Johnston county, J. P. Williams, Captain; Com pany H, composed of men enlisted under Vandevere Teague, who was Captain from Alexander county, and some en listed from Onslow county under Alex ander J. Pollock, who was First Lieu tenant; Company I, Franklin county, Wilson H. Williams, Captain; Company K, Granville county, Maurice T. Smith, Captain. John Kerr Connelly, of Yadkin county, who was for a while ai the National Naval Academy at Annapolis,and who had been Captain of a company in the 11th Regi ment of North Carolina Volunteers, was elected Colonel of the regiment; Captain Abner S. Calloway, of Company B, was elected Lieutenant Colonel, and Capt. James T. Whitehead, of Company E, was elected Major; William H. Young, of Granville county, was appointed Ad jutant: W. N. Holt, of Company G, was appointed Sergeant Major; George W. Blount, of Wilson county, was appointed Quartermaster; W. P. Webb, of Gran ville county, Commissary; Dr. James Smith, of Granville county. Sur geon ; Dr. Isaac G. Cannady, of the same county, Assistant Sur geon; Rev. William Royall, of Wake Forest College, Chaplain; A. H. Dunn; of Company 1, Quartermaster-sergeant, W. B. Royall, ot Company I, Commis sary Sergeant; S. W. C. Young, Ordin ance Sergeant; Peterson Thorpe, of Com pany K, Hospital Steward; Charles E. Jaekey, of Pitt county, Chief Musician. Lieut. Col. Calloway, resigned and Major Whitehead died within a few months after the organization of the regiment, and Captain Maurice T Smith, of Company K, was made Lieutenant- Oolonel, and Captain A. H. Belo, of Salem, who commanded a company in the 11th Regiment of North Carolina Volunteers, was made Major. Lieut. Col. Smith was killed at Gettysburg and Maj Belo became Lieutentant Colonel, and upon the resignation of Col. Connelly, on account of severe wounds received in the same battle, Lieut. Col. Belo became Colonel. On account of the fact that the senior captain of the regiment was in prison from Gettysburg until the close of the war the regiment had no other field officers. Sjatant Young resigned in Novem 862 and Henry T. Jordan, of Per ounty, was appointed Adjutant. He was captured at Gettysburg and, after, Lieut. Charles R. Jones, of Iredell.county, acted as adjutant for several months, and then C. M. Cooke, from company I, was assigned to that position and held it until the close of the war. Surgeon James Smith resigned in December 1862, and Dr. B. T. Greene, of Franklin county, was appointed surgeon. A. H. Dunn died in August 1862, and Henry 8. Furman, of Franklin county, was ap pointed Assistant Quartermaster Serge ant. W. N. Holt, Sergeant Major, was made Lieutenant in Company H, and Jesse A. Adams, of Johnston county, was made Sergeant Major. The regiment, after it had been sufficiently drilled to take the field, was sent to the department of the Pamlico, then under the command of Gen. James G. Martin, and remained there during the summer .and early part of the fall of 1862. It was on duty a greater part of the time around Kinston and in Trenton. The first time the regi ment was under fire was on the 7th of August, 1862. A Federal gun-boat had come up the Neuse to a point a few miles below Kinston, and the regiment was sent down to prevent the landing of the troops. We were formed in a line on the south side of, and not far from the river; the gun boat came up to a point nearly opposite the position occu pied by the regiment, but after the firing of a few shells went back without at tempting to land any troops. The regiment during the time spent in that section was thoroughly drilled and disciplined. On the 3rd of September, while the regiment was in camp near LaGrange, , there was a special order made on dress parade that two hundred men were needed for daring service and volunteers were called for. That number was at once obtained and they were organized into two companies of one hundred each. Oapt. P. M. Mull, of Company F, was put in command of one company, and Capt. Maurice T. Smith, of company K, in command of the other, and the lieu tenants were selected from the different companies. Capt. Williams, of Company J, w.as so anxious to be among the num ber that he procured the consent of the Colonel to his going as First Lieutenant of one of the companies. It was or ; tiered that these companies be prepared 1 with three days’ rations to march the ! next morning at sunrise. Oapt. Mull : was senior officer and in command of the j detachment. Just as the sua rose the next morning we moved out of camp, ’ marching a little north of east, and we j were then iuformed that the movement j aii iut a surprise attack upon Washing-; i . .'I. C., aad that we would be joined I, ./re we reached the pi ice by other tmops. We met on the 6th, between Greenville and Washington, a detach ment from the Bth, and also from the 7th regiment,and an artillery company, but without cauuon, armed as infantry, •mder the command of Col. 8. D. Poole, who from this time, being the ranking <Ueir took the command of the force .... X’march, although Gen. J. G. Mar * r. uad the general direction of the lament. Later, Capt R. 8 Tucker, with his company of cavalry, joined us. lakL camped on the night of the 6th with- IHt few miles of Washington, and be IK dawn the next morning, wo com- march upon the town. Wo jmH&t; Federal picket.-, just outside ggJjSgßLn beS:v :: w;t* lairiy i'ev we double quick, and with t. “rebel yell,” entered the town. The Federal troops were taken by surprise, and after firing a round or two, fell back through the town upon the river, under cover of their gun boats. We were in possession of the town, the troops from our regiment being stationed on a square near the centre of the town. We held the position for several hours, but the cannon from the gun boats were turned upon us, and the Federal infantry, having re-formed, commenced to fire upon us with a long range ritle, while we were armed with the old smoothbore musket. We were forced to fall back to the place where we had camped the night before; the enemy did not' pursue us, and the next day we commenced out march back to camp. Captains Mull and Williams, both of whom behaved with great bravery, were wounded; of the men of the 55th Regiment engaged seven were killed and eight wounded. There was no other meeting with Fed eral forces while the regiment was in this section. On the Ist day of Octol>er, while the regiment was doing picket duty at Wise’s fork, between Kinston and Newborn, it was ordered to Vir ginia, and for awhile did provost duty in the city of Petersburg. With the 2nd, 11th, and 42nd Mississippi, it was formed into a brigade, and General Joseph R. Davis was assigned to its command. The regiment remained in this brigade until January, 1865, when it was transferred to Cooke’s Brigade. The 2Gth Missis sippi Regiment and the Ist Confederate Battalion were brought into the brigade in the early part of 1864. It was a fine brigade. The 2nd and 11th Mississippi, with the 4th Alabama and the 6th North Carolina, had constituted the immortal Bee brigade at the first battle of Manas sas, |and General Whiting afterwards commanded that brigade. In forming the brigade for Gen. Davis,the 6th North Carolina was sent to Hoke’s brigade, the 4th Alabama was transferred to a brig ade of Alabama troops, and the 42nd Mississippi, which was brought to the Army of Northern Virginia foi- that pur pose, and the 55th North Carolina took their places in the old brigade. Although all the other regiments, except the 55th, were from Mississippi, their relations with the officers and men of that regi ment were quite as pleasant as they were with each other. The regiments of Da vis’ Brigade were a part of the force which General Longstreet carried to Suffolk, Va., in the spring of 1863. It was while near Suffolk that an incident occurred which illustrates the high spirit of the officers of the regiment and how jealous they were of its honor. One evening about dark, a heavy piece of Confederate artillery was captured by au unexpected and surprise attack by a brigade ot Federal troops. Capt. Ter rell and Capt. Cousins, the one Assistant Adjutant General of Gen. Law’s Brigade, and the other on the staff of that Gen eral, reported that the 55th North Car olina had been assigned to protect the battery, whereas, in fact, it was a mistake. As soon as Col. Connelly heard of the report, he went to see those gentlemen and stated to them t hat they were mistaken; that the 55th Regiment had held the position to which it had been assigned, and was in no way responsible for the disaster; and demanded that tney should correct their report at once. This they declined to do. Thereupon Col. Connelly returned to his regiment, called a meeting of the field officers and captains, stated the cir cumstances to them, and insisted that the honor of the regiment required that its officers should demand satisfaction from those who had slandered it He proposed that the field officers should first challenge the Alabamians, and if the matter was not satisfactorily ar ranged, consistent with the honor of the regiment, and if they should be killed, each officer should pledge himself to take up the quarrel and fight until the last man was killed unless proper amends should sooner be obtained. To this the officers generally assented, but Lieut. Col. Smith, who was an elder in the Presbyterian church, and a young sol dier of unquestionable bravery, arose and stated that he was conscientiously opposed to duelling, and that he would not resort to that method of settling any question. Col. Smith’s Christian char acter and his personal courage were so well known, that his scruples on the subject were respected, and Maj. Belo proposed to take his place; and so it was arranged that Col. Connelly should chal lenge Capt. Terrell, and M*j. Belo should challenge Capt. Cousins. Capt. Satterfield, of Person county, then Cap tain of Company H, was Col. Connelly’s second, and Lieut. W. H. Townes, of Granville county, then Ist Lieutenant in Company D, was Major Belo’s second. The challenges were accepted and Cap tain Terrell selected as weapons double barreled shot guns, loaded with buck shot and Captain Cousins se lected the Mississippi rifls at 40 paces. According to appointment, the parties next day met in a large field in the neigh borhood, in one part of which were Col. Connelly and Capt. Terrell and their friends In another part were Maj. Belo and Capt. Cousins and their friends. As soon as Maj. Belo and Oapt. Cousins came to their place of meeting, they took the positions assigned to them by the seconds, and at the command, fired their first shot. Maj. Belo’s shot passed through Capt. Cousins hat, and Capt. Cousin’s first shot entirely missed Col. Belo. Capt. Cousin’s second shot passed through the coat of Maj. Belo just above the shoulder and Maj. Belo’s second fire missed Capt. Cousins. In the meantime, in the other part of the field, the friends of Col. Connelly and Capt. Terrell were engaged in an effort to make an honor able settlement of the affair, and Capt. Terrell, who was a gallant officer and true gentleman, became satisfied that he had been mistaken in the report which he had made and which had been the cause of offence, and he withdrew the same, which action prevented any further hostilities between him and Col. Connelly, and came just in time to pre vent the exchange of a third shot be tween Maj. Belo and Capt. Cousins. On the night of April 30th our brigade was in the trout of the town of Suffolk, which was occupied by the Federals, and around which the Union forces were stationed behind formidable intrench incuts. About 9 o’clock that night Maj. Belo was sent with four companies of the regiment to relieve the pickeis iu t ie rifle pits to our front, with instructions to hold the position in case there should be au attack. Tho next day, the Federal forces made several demonstrations in front of the rifle pits, and in the afternoon opened upon them with several pieces ot artil lery. About the same time, two Federal infantry regiments came outside their breast works, and formed into line. 001. Connelly then ordered Maj. Belo to re inforce the men in the ritle pits with four other companies of the regi irnent. This was promptly accomplished under a very fierce fire and not without loss. The 55th Regiment was the only The News and Observer, Sunday, Sept. I, ’95. regiment on the line that was armed with the old smoothbore muskets. The others were armed with rifles. Tkis must have been discovered by the enemy dur ing the day, and was the cause of their selection of the part of the line occu pied by that regiment for their attack. The two regiments moved forward in splendid order for the attack. The Fed eral artillery ceased filing upon that part of the field. The soldiers of both armies on the right and left were watch ing with deep interest the movement. The attacking column had moved so near to our position, that the other troops were beginning to whisperingly enquire of each other what was the matter. But Maj. Belo knew that the effectiveness of the arms, which his men held, depended upon short range, and cool and clear headed, as he always was, he had ordered that not a shot be fired until he gave the command. The ad vancing column was now so near, that the features of the men’s faces could be distinguished. Every one of the men in the rifle pits had his musket in position and his finger on the trigger, and the word “fire” the last given in Maj. Belo’s command, seemed to expand into one grand roll of sound; for there had been the fire of five hundred muskets as if by one man. Not one had snapped fire and there was not a single belated shot. The shower of leaden hail was too much for human courage. The assaulting regi ments fell back in confusion, with some loss. But they were quickly ral lied by their officers, and returned to the attack. This time the fire by Maj. Belo’s command, was reserved until they had advanced several yards further than ! before, when again a deadly fire swept! them baok with greater loss. Again and yet- again they attempted to storm the picket force, but were re pulsed each time, until finally abandon ing their purpose, they retired from the field. The old smooth bore muskets in the hands of five hundred brave North Car olina patriots had done their work. About this time Lieut. Col. Smith came down to Maj. Belo with Col. Connelly’s compliments to inquire if ho needed, other re-inforeements. Maj. Belo re turning his compliments to Col. Connelly replied that he thought the battle was over. The 55th Regiment had been but V ipl» HON. CHARLES M. COOKE. a short while in Davis’ Brigade, and it was their first engagement since then, and the cordial words of commen dation of the gallant behavior of the reg iment expressed by the Mississippiansjwas very gratifying to us. Thence forward they were as jealous of and as quick to defend the honor of our regiment as we were ourselves. Some years after the war, Maj. Belo met an officer of one of the regiments engaged in this attack, and he informed Maj. Belo that the terms ot enlistment of the men of those two regi ments was to expire the next day and they were to be marched out of service, and that it was at their own request they were ordered to make the attack, but that it proved a very sad experience to them. Shortly after this, Longstreet returned with his command to the army of North ern Virginia, our brigade accompanying him. When the 55th Regiment left the cars at Hamilton’s crossing, near Fred ericksburg, to take its place in its brigade in Heth’s division, A. P. Hill’s corps, of the Army of Northern Virginia, it was both in respect to its discipline and its appearance one of the finest regiments in the army. Col. Connelly was a fine tac tician, and was without a superior as a disciplinarian. He was admirable on the field in his handling of his regiment. The time which had been spent in East ern North Carolina had allowed the opportunity for the drilling of the regi ment, and it had been faithfully attended to. The regimental band, composed of 17 pieces, led by Prof. Charles E. Jaekey, educated at Heidelberg, was a very fine band. The men of the regiment were well-clad, and the ranks of each com pany were full. It was well officered, aud all had full confidence in its field officers, and no volunteer regiment, in the opinion of the writer, ever had three better field officers. They were all young men—erect and soldierly in their bear ing, proud of their regiment and enthu siastic in their patriotism. Lieutenant- Colonel Smith, the eldest, not yet thirty years of age—was from Granville county. He was au accomplished gentleman and had been a member of the Granville Grays in the 2nd regiment of North Carolina Volunteers. Muj. A. H. Belo, was a fine specimen of young Southern manhood, and had seen service before as captain in the 11th volunteer regi ment of North Carolina. Changes had taken place in the com pany officers since the organization, aud the following were the officers of the companies at that time: Ootnnany A, Captain, Albert E. Up churc L uureuants, B. F. Briggs, T. J. Hadley, T. R. Bass. Company B, Captain, George Gilreath; Lieutenants, John T. Pedeu, Hiram L. Grier. Company C, Captain, Edward D. Dixon; Lieutenants, George J. Bethel, Philip R. Elam, Thomas D. Falls. Company D, Captain, Silas D. Ran dall; Lieutenants, Wm. H. Townes, Jas. H. Randall, Joseph B. Cabiness. Company E, Captain, Howell G. Whitehead; Lieutenants, James A. Han rahan Godfrey E. Taft, William S. Wil son. Company F, Captain, Peter M. Mull; Lieutenants, Joel J. Hoyle, A. H. A. Williams, Peter P. Mull. Company G—Captain, Walter A. Whitted, Lieutenants, MarcusC. Stevens, Charles R. Jones, Mordecai Lee. Company H,—Captain E. F. Satter field; Lieutenants, N. W, Lillington, Benjamin H. Blount, W. N. Holt. Company T, —Captain, W. H. Wil liams; Lieutenants, B. H. Winston, Chas. M. Cooke. Company K, —Captain, R. W T . Thomas; Lieutenants, Wilkins Stovall, W. H. Webb, R. McD. Royster. The regiment, as it marched from the railroad depot to take its place in the hue, with its blight arras gleaming iu the sun of that beautiful day, with quick martial step, its company officers splen didly (ire -red, as if tor a grand parade, its field officers mounted on fiery chargers, and its magnificent band playing first “Dixie” and then “Maryland, My Mary land”—presented one circumstance of war, that is, its pomp, and if not its most impressive, certainly its least hor rible. Little did it occur to any of us, that the aspect of this organization, would bt so completely and so unhappily changed within a few weeks. The regiment crossed the Potomac with the Army of Northern Virginia in fine spirits, and when it reached Cash town on the night of the 29th of June, it was in splendid condition. The regiment marched out of Cashtown early into morning of the Ist of July going down the Chambersburg turnpike toward Gettysburg. We came in sight of the town about 9 o’clock a. ra. The Uuiou forces were on the ridge just outside of ! the tow land formed across the turn 1 pike to dispute our advance. Marye’s ! battery was placed by General Heth ou the south side of the turnpike and open ed fire on the enemy. Davis’ brigade was immediately thrown iuto line of bat tle on the north of the road and ordered to advance. Archer’s brigade was form ed on the south of the road and was or dered forward about the same time. There was a railroad which iwtl been graded but not ironed, which ran nearly i parallel with tho turnpike and about one i hundred yards from it. The 55th regi ment was on the left of the brigade, and owing to the character of the ground was the first one to come into view of the j enemy, and received the first fire in the j battle. Ir was a volley fired by the 56th Pennsylvania Regiment, commanded by I Col. Hoffman of Cutler’s brigade. Two men in the color guard of the regiment | were wounded by this volley. The regi ment immediately returned the fire and inflicted considerable loss upon the 56th Pennsylvania Regiment. The 11th Mis sissippi Regiment was on detail duty that morning, so we had only three regi ments of our brigade, the 2d and 42d Mississippi Regiments, and the 55th North Carolina. The regiments in our front were the 76th New York,the 56th Pennsylvania and the 147th New York of Cutler’s brigade. After the enemy’s position became known by their first fire, our brigade charged them in mag nificent style. The left of our regiment extended considerably beyond the right of the enemy’s line—and at the proper time our left was wheeled to the right. The enemy fled from the field with great loss. From the beginning of this engage ment it was hot work. While the regi meut was advancing,Col. Connelly seized the battle flag and waved it aloft. This drew upon him aud the color guard the fire of the enemy and he fell badly wounded in ths arm and hip. His arm was afterwards amputated Maj. Belo, who was near him at the time rushed up and asked him if he was badly wounded. Col. Connelly replied: “Yes, but do not pay any attention to me; take the colors and keep ahead of the Mississippians.” After the defeat of the forces in front of us, the brigade swung around by the right wheel and formed on the railroad cut About one-half of the 55th Regiment be ing on the left extended beyond the cut on the embankment. In front of us there then were the 95th and 84th New York (known as the 14th Brooklyn) regiments who had been supporting Hail’s battery, and were the other two regiments of Cut ler’s brigade, aud 6th Wisconsin, of the Iron brigade, which had been held in re serve, when, the other regiments of that brigade were put in to meet Archer’s ad vance. Just then the order was received to retire through the road-cut, and that the 55th North Carolina cover the re treat of the brigade. The Federal Regi ments iu front of us threw themselves into line of battle by a well executed movement notwithstanding the heavy tire we were pouring into them, aud as soon as their lino of battle was formed, seeing a disposition on our part to retire, charged. They were held in check, as well as could be done, by the 55th Regi ment. covering the retreat of the brigade; a part of the regiment was in the road cut and at a great disadvantage. One of the Federal ofiicers on the embank ment, seeing Major Belo in the cut, threw his sword at him, saying, “Kill that officer, and that will end it,” The sword missed Maj. Belo, but struck a man behind him. Maj. Belo directed one of the men to shoot the officer and this was done. This somewhat checked their charge, and we fell back to another position. The loss of the regiment was very great in killed and wounded, aud a large number were captured in the road cut. From that time until 8 o’clock in the afternoon we were not engaged. About Early came in with fresh troops from the left. We formed in iine with them on their right and were hotly engaged in the battles of that atternoon, driving the enemy before us and capturing a number of prisoners. At sundown we were in the edge of Get tysburg, and the regiment, was placed behind the railroad embankment just in ! from of the seminary. In the afternoon j L' lit. 001. Smith, while tho regiment was waiting iu reserve, walked towards the right to reconnoitre and was inor-; tally wounded and died that night, j Maj. Belo was also severely wounded in ; the leg just as the battle closed that j evening. Davis’ brigade, during the I night, was moved from its position on I the railroad cut near the seminary to a ; piece of woods across Willoughby Run, j west of the mineral springs, ar d there; rested during the 2d. On the night of j the second it was moved to its position j on the Confederate line known as Semi-! nary Ridge, on the right center, and j i stationed in McMillou’s woods. Our i division being on the left of Longstreet, : and our brigade being the left center of our division. Gen. Heth’s had been wounded on the Ist, and Gen. Pettigrew was in command of our division. Gen. ; ! Pickett’s division of Longstreet’s corps ! was on the right of our division, and occupied a position just in the edge of i Spangler’s woods. And it was from | these positions that we moved out to that | > last fatal charge, on the afternoon of' i July 3d. Our division was not support [ ing Longstreet as has been repeatedly j > published, but was one line with his i troops. Our regiment had suffered so j : greatly ou the Ist that in this charge it i was commanded by a captain, and some i of the companies were commanded by i non-commissioned officers. But the men - came up bravely to the measure of their } duty, aud the regiment went as far as - any other on that fatal charge, aud we 1 have good proof of the claim that a por tion of the regiment led by Capt. Satter - field, who was killed at this time, . reached a point near the Benner barn l which was more advanced than that j attained by any other ot the assaulting 3 columns. Lieut. T. I). Falls, of Com pany C, residing at Fallstown, Cleve -1 land county, aud Sergeant Augustus i Whitley, of Company E, residing at 3 Everitt’s, in Martin county, who were with Capt. Satterfield, have recently visited the battlefield, -and have made affidavit as to the point reached by them. The pi ace’has been marked by the United States commission, and the map below will show the position attained by these men of the 55th Regiment, in relation to other known objects on the battle-field such as the Benner barn and the Bronze Book which marks the high-water mark of the struggle for Southern independ ence. The measurements for the map were made by the late Col. Batchelder, of the United States commission, and by Col. E. W. Cope, United States engineer, for this field. The forces engaged in this last charge which settled not only the result of the battle of Gettysburg, but the fate of the Confederacy, weie as follows : Longstreet’s Corps, composed of: 1. Pickett’s Division. Kemper’s Brigade, Ist, 3d, 7th, 11th and 24th Virginia regiments. Garnett’s Brigade, Bth, 18th, 19th, 28th and 56th Virginia regiments. Armistead’s Brigade, 9th, 14th, 38th and 57th Virginia regiments. 2. Heth’s Division, commanded by Brigadier General Pettigrew. Archer’s Brigade, commanded by Col. Fry, 13th Alabama regiment, sth Ala bama battalion, and the Ist, 7th and 14th Tennessee regiments. Pettigrew’s Brigade, commanded by Col. Marshall, 11th, 26th, 27th and 52nd Nortn Carolina regiments. Davis’Brigade, 2nd, 11th and 42nd Mississippi regiments and the 55th North Carolina regiment. Brockenborough’s Brigade, 40th, 47th and 55th Virginia regiments, and 22ud > Virginia Battalion. , 3rd. One-half of General Pender’s Di ■ vision. 5 Scales’ Brigade, commanded by 001. , Lawrence, 13th, 16th, 22nd, 34th and . 38th North Carolina regiments. [ Lane’s Brigade, 7th, 18th, 28th, 33rd , and 37th North Carolina regiments. So there were eighteen regiments and , one battalion from Virginia, sixteen regi ments from North Carolina, three regi [ menta from Mississippi, three regiments [ from Tennessee, and one regiment and . one battalion from Alabama, in the as , saulting columns. ‘ The contention between Pickett’s di s vision and Heth’s division, the latter ; commanded then by Pettigrew, has - doubtless arisen from the following: ; The portion of the enemy’s forces just in ; front of Pickett’s division was behind a ’ low rock wall which terminated at a point just about opposite Pickett’s left. About eighty yards to the rear of this point there was another stoue wad which com menced there and ran along by Banner [ barn towards the cemetery, and the i enemy, instead of continuing his line to s his right from the termination of the ■ first wall, aud through th field, drop ; ped eighty yards to the second wall, and continued his line behind that. So to * have reached the enemy iu our front, we must have marched eighty yards be yond a continuation of their line from the point where Pickett reached the enemy in bis front. Some of Pickett’s men passed over the first line of the enemy and a few of them reached a point some forty yards in the rear of the line and near the Federal battery. Some of our regiment reached a point within nine yards of the rock wall in i front of us. That was seventy-three yards beyond a continuation of the line of the first wall, and allowing two yards for the thickness ot the first wall, and adding to that the forty yards beyond the rock wall to the point reached by some of Pickett’s men, and running a line par allel with the first wall so as to strike the most advanced point reached by Pick ett’s men, and continuing beyond to the most advanced point reached by the men of the 55th Regiment, it will be found that the latter point is thirty ; one yards in advance of that line. The 55th Regiment was a part of the rear-guard on the retreat, and in the at tack made upon them at Falling Waters, they lost several killed and wounded. The loss of the regiment at Gettysburg amounted to 64 killed and 172 wounded, including the few casualties at Falling Waterand the numberof captured about 200 added to these, madeau aggregate of more than one half the number of men iu the regiment. All ot the field ofiicers and all of the captains were either killed, wounded or captured. Lieut. M. O. Stevens, of company G, was the ranking officer, aud commanded the regiment on the retreat until it reached Falling Wa ters, when Oapt. Whitted had sufficiently recovered from his wound to take com maud. Oapt.R. W.Thomas, of company K, however, returned to the regiment soon after we went into camp on the Rapidan, and commanded the regiment with great acceptability until Lieutenant-Oolonel Belo’s return the following winter. In the official report of his division at Get tysbnrg made by Gen. Heth, aud found in the records published by the United States government, 001. Connelly, Lieut. 001. Smith, and Major Belo are partic ularly mentioned for gallant and meri - torious conduct, but Col. Connelly was iso severely wounded that ho was never able to again command the reg iment. This was a great loss, for he j was not only brave aud loyal iu his I support of the Southern cause, but his i sentiment aud conduct were so chivalric, | that he impressed all ihe men and offi ;eerso£ the regiment with his own lofty i ideals, aud Lieut. Col. Smith was dead. ! The very soul of honor, he was older | land less impetuous than Col. Connelly, j but gentle and refined as a woman; he | was conscientious and painstaking in the i discharge of every duty and enforced j ! among the men the same rigid rule of I | attention to duty he prescribed for him j I self. No hasty utterance aad no unclean j word ever escaped his lips, and by his | daily life, he taught us what a beautiful | thing it is to be a Christian gentleman. Tho regiment, after its return to tho lino of the Rapidan, was engaged in drilling and picketing at the fords until 1 October, when it went with the army of ! Northern Virginia to Manassas and : became engaged in the battle of Bristow ; Station. The position of our regiment | in that battle was on the left of our bri I gade, which was just to the right of ■ Cooke’s brigade. A piece of forest was in front aud consequently our loss was I slight as compared to the loss of some of ! the regiments ot Cooke’s brigade. The j regiment was also with the army at Mine I Run and was a part of a line that was ! formed for the ebargo upon the enemy’s left flank in the early morning, when it was discovered after throwing out a skirmish line that Gen. Meade, during the night, had withdrawn his forces. Col. Belo returned to tho command of tho regiment late iu January, 1864, but he had not entirely recovered from his wound received at Gettysburg. It was made on the leg by the fragment ot a shell, aud in his determination not to be captured he fell back with the army from Gettysburg. A portion ot the time ho was in such dauger of capture that he i exposed himself greatly, and by the time be reached Winchester the condition of > the wound was so serious t hat for several - days it was feared that amputation i would be necessary. Soon after his return to the regiment. [ our brigade,one severely cold night, was • ordered out of camp, and marched to ) Gordonsville. As soon as we reached > that point, the 55th Regiment was sent 1 out to picket the roads on tho south, s The rain was falling and sleeting and the : clothing on the men was frozen. The next day the regiment with the brigade i was marched some distance to the south west and bivouaced for the night with ■ orders to have very few fires, the purpose being to intercept a raiding detachment of the Federal army, but the detachment went around us, aud after enduring the s mtensest suffering that night, we ro • turned to camp. On the 4th of May, 1864, the regi ment, Col. Belo, now recovered of his wounds, commanding, left its camp i near Orange Court House, and com menced its march to the Wilderness. It was going down the plank road towards Fredericksburg about half past 2 o’clock in the afternoon of the sth, wheu it was discovered that the enemy were ad vane ing up the road. We were formed into line of battle, not for the purpose of ad vancing or bringing on an engagement, as Gen. Lee said to A. F. Hill, but to hold the enemy in check until Long street’s corps and Anderson’s division of ours. A. P. Hill’s corps, should come up ; D.tvi.-,’ brigade was formed on the left of the road; our regiment w;is the right i centre of the brigade and on the crest of iia sm 11 hill or ridge. It was in a dense I force of small trees; the hill in our front i slop- h gradually to a depression or val [ leyve. ch was a few yards wide, and then i. ere was a gradual incline on the oppose side until it reached a point of about tue same altitude as that occupied by us. about one hundred yards from . our lin We had 340 men including non co.' - missioned officers in our regi ment. A'>out half past three o’clock, our skirmis hue was driven in, and the first line of he Federal forces charged us, but they rot no further than the crest of the hill ii. front of us, and were repulsed with great loss; from then until sunset, they eha ged us with seven successive lines of battle, but we repulsed every one of them. Our line never wavered. The officers and men of the regiment realized that the safety of the army depended upon our holding the enemy in check until the forces left behind could come up, and there was a fixed determination to do it, or to die 'About half-past five o’clock, the enemy were pressing us so heavily with their successive lines of fresh troops; it was thought that they would annihilate us before night fall, and a conference of the general officers of the field determined that it would probably become necessary as a last re sort to make a vigorous and impetuous charge upon them with the hope that we might be able to drive them back. Col. Belo, who was sitting just iu the rear of the regi ment by the side of a little poplar tree, sent his orderly to the line to the writer of this sketch, C. M. Cooke, instructing him to report to him immediately I went at once. He then stated to me that the necessity of a charge seemed apparent and that the order for making it would probably soon be given, and he desired that I return to the line and notify the men, that they might be pre pared for it, and take the command of my own company, C, which was the Hag company, the commanding officer of which had been a few moments before severely wounded, and to see that the Hag was kept well to the front, and to make the charge with all the dash that was possible I went back to the line and gave the men the information. They expressed the hope that it might not be necessary to make the charge, but there was no disposition to shirk the duty if it FOR BABY'S SKIN Scalp and Hair (%f (uticuiij TSOAP ♦ The most effective skin purifying and beau tifying soap in the world, as well as purest and sweetest for toilet, bath, and nursery. 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Ou the 6th day of May, early in the morning before sunrise, the Federal forces opened tho battle on our left be fore we were in line, and while our arms were yet stacked, and forced tho troops to the left of us, and us along with them back upon and along the road. These were fresh troops which Gen. Grant had moved into position during the night, and they were attacking the troops of A. P. Hill’s corps which had been fearfully depleted by the engagements of the day before. But just at this time. Long street’s corps came ui> aud Kershaw's division relieved our division. < hir reg iment. w.’£ uot engaged further during the Wilderness fight. Oar brigadecom posed part of the rear guard of the army ou its march from the Wilderness to Spotsylvania, and consequently, the reg iment did not reach Spottsylvauia tiutil tho 9ih of May. We had some skirm ishes along the march- nothing serious. On the arieruoon of the 10th of May, our regiment was part of the force which made an attack upon the enemy's right near Talley’s mill. We charged and cap tured a piece of artillery and drove the enemy across the Mattapony. The reg iment, upon this occasion, behaved with great gallantry, charging for a half of a mile up the hill-side through an old field. Though subjected during this charge to a fire fiom both artillery aud small arms, the loss was uot very great; wo were charging up hill and the fire of the enemy went over our heads. Ou this charge, three color bearers were shot down in succession before we captured the artil lery. Wo wore engaged iu the tight iu the battle of the 12th at Spottsylvauia, but as we were behind temporary breast works, and some distance to the right from the point where Grant broke the Confederate lines, our losses on that day wore comparatively small. At the sec ond battle of Cold Harbor, we reached the field late in the afternoon on June the 2nd. The Federal troops were attempting to occupy an advanced position on our left for the battle of the next day. Our brigado was put in to prevent this, and charged them just about sunset. We checked the advance of the enemy, but it was a fearful charge we made. The ground was unfavorable on account of a thick undergrowth aud the loss was consider able. Col. Belo was seriously wounded in this charge aud was never able after wards to take command of the regiment. We were engaged in the battle all the next day, but we were protected by tempo rary breastworks, and we did uot suffer as heavily as some of the regiments, but the punishment we inflicted upon the enemy was fearful. Colonel Belo’s wound was in the arm, half way between the elbow and the shoulder joint; the bone was shattered and the operation of re section was per formed. The loss to the regiment was irreparable. 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The News & Observer (Raleigh, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Sept. 1, 1895, edition 1
2
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