Land Troops Attack Gunboats on the Roanoke in 1862 ? ?: f- ? ? ; ??r??-?? Lieutenant Andrews Harasses the Enemy Gunboat Is Engaged By Calvary FQr The First Time In War I'ullit'r |M>rt* Movement of Boats Up Hoanoke River Martin County has a rich war rec ord from the Revolution on down but unfortunately there are only broken accounts to throw light on the parts played by the loyal ones who led and followed their leaders in time of war. A unique storv. one that records for the firstTimeTrTafiy kind of war the engagement of gun boats by a calvary unit, appears in the North Carolina Troops. Reviewing the work of the Ninth North Carolina Regiment, later known as the First Calvary, Colonel W II Cheek, writing in "North Car olina Troops" refers to the account written by Brigadier-General Rufus Barringer who dwelt at length on the part played by the Ninth throughout the war. The regiment was looked upon as one of the brav est m support of the South's Cause. The men were reviewed by Jeffer son Davis, President of the Confed eracy, and its record includes action in many sections from the beginning of the war until the end. The Mr. Burroughs referred to in the account was the father of Mi Hugh M Burras, of Williamston, ev en though the name is spelled dif "Terastiyr ?? The story: General Barringer, in his preced ing sketch of the First North Car olina Cavalry, so fully described the organization, instruction and move ments of our regiment up to the time of his promotion to Brigadier General ill June, 1864, that it is im- I possible for me at this late day, with the limited data at my command, to enlarge or to improve ujxin his nar rative. There are, however, several engagements during the time cover ed by General Barringer's article which I consider so well calculated to illustrate the talent of our officers and the courage and discipline of the enlisted men, and which udded so largely to building up the reputation of the regiment, that I desire to go back- -and- -brine, lhem forward and place them in a mnrp puncniono..,, . ~f place them in a more conspicuous po sition than he has given them. And first in order of time comes the attack of Company B upon the gunboats in Roanoke River in the spring of 1862. At that time the pres ervation of the railroad bridge at Weldon was of the utmost import ance to the Confederacy. So, when the regiment was returning from K as tern North Carolina to rejoin the Army of Northern Virginia, Com pany R Captain Wiiitaker, was de tached to do picket duty down the Roanoke, and especially to watch the approach of the enemy's gunboats. Captain Whitaker was a large plant er on the river, and once when he was home, and the Company was un der the command of First Lieuten ? ?ant A. B. Andrews, the enemy made an effort with three gunboats to as cend the river, his object being the destruction of the railroad bridge at Weldon. Lieutenant Andrews (now Colonel A. B Andrews, first vice president of the Southern Railway System), very skillfully attacked him from the bluffs and other favor able points, and so harassed and punished him that at Hamilton he abandoned the expedition and re turned to Plymouth. This engage ment of cavalry with gunboats was a novel proceeding, a new feature in warfare, and the first of the kind that happened in our army. This success of Lieutenant Andrews shows the wonderful capacity of the officers and men of this celebrated command to contend with an enemy on water as well as when mounted on horses or dismounted as infantry Lieutenant Andrews has kindly furn ished me with the following account of his operations: Attack of Lieutenant Andrews On the Gunboats "On the morning of July 9, 1862 (I think this date is correct) a cour ier from Mr. Burroughs came to my camp soon after sunrise with a note stating that three gunboats had passed Jamesville, supposed to be on their way to Weldon to destroy the Seaboard and Roanoke Railroad bridge at that point, that bridge be ing on the main thoroughfare be tween General Lee's army and the South (as you will recall, that was before the Piedmont Road between TJanvttte and Greensboro was built); On reading the note I at once had sounded 'boots and saddles,' and had my company of 43 men mounted, rode down the river, saw the boats coming up and waited until they had passed the wharf at Williamston, going up towards Weldon, There was great excitement in the town. I ask ed some of the citizens to pilot me up the river with a view of attacking the gunboats from different points along the river, leaving two cour iers at Williamston to report to me in rase the boats should turn back and land at Williamston. Mr. S. W. Watts (afterwards Jbdge Samuel Watts) and a Mr. Williams went up the river with me. At a place call ed Poplar Point, about ten miles from Williamston, I stationed Sec ond Lieutenant J. W. Peel with ten men dismounted, with instructions to fire upon the first boat, which was commanded by Lieutenant Plus FIRST TAVERN < / Back in the Revolutionary Period what is believed to be the first tavern in Martin Coun ty was opened and operated by a man named Hudson. Little or nothing is known about the tav ern. but the keeper had a daugh ter who was the belle of the then important Roanoke River port. His daughter, Marina Hud son, it has been told, possessed great beauty and she number ed her admirers by the doiens. Strange as it may seem, Marina never married. The years took their toll, and in her old age she was believed to have been akin to a witch. Miss Bell Whitaker, a native of this county, recently recalled the story at her home in En field. "1 ran see the old woman quite vividly now smoking her pipe and begging from house to house for something to eat." Minister Conserves Soil To Save Souls In Country Parish ?TT~ Suwet-iliitfi in II in Important Tusk Where Many llatl Failed Brfari1 llini ? Twenty six?years .iRii. a young preacher, Paul Doran, went to a rur ; al parish on Calfkillcr River in White ; County, Tenn. Twenty-eight differ ent pastors had served here during the previous 25 years. Each one left as soon as he could get away. But Doran has been here 26 years. And hopes to stay much longer. When he came, there were 4 churches on the circuit with memberships of 2(1, 411. 12 and 12 Now there are 11 churches with a total membership of"800 The church budget is now 30 times what it was when he came. There are now 110 miles of improved roads in the parish, where there were none be fore The average yield of corn pel acre has increased from 18 bushels to 42. A stranger driving through this county today can tell when he reaches this parish by the painted ligion has found expression in the total life of the community. And how was this change brought ] about? Mainly by a program begun | and led by this unusual country pas tor. From an article in The Progres sive Farmer we learn that his first decision was that he must lift the economic level of his people. So he bought a farm and set apart some demonstration plots to show them the value of soil conservation and soil ser, of the United States Navy, and as soon as he delivered his volley to at once remount his horses and re port to me at Rainbow Banks, which was two miles below or east of Hamilton Rainbow Banks was bluff on the river, afterward forti-1 fied and called Fort Branch 1 dis mounted the men I had and arrang ed them along this bluff, taking po sition on tbe right of the company myself, and ordered the men not to fire until 1 had commenced firing my pistol, and then to fire and reload as rapidly as possible. 1 waited un til the front boat, on which Lieu tenant Flusser was. had gotten op posite me and then commenced fir ing my pistol, and the 41 men be gan firing and reloading and firing again as rapidly as possible. Lieu tenant Flusser was on deck, and I have never seen a man display more bravery than he did in command of this fleet. Finally the front boat passed us and opened its stern gun upon us, shelling the banks so that I was compelled to retreat, mount my horses and go to another point higher up the river. The men had had no breakfast and it was nearly 1 o'clock in the day. I went to a farm house nearby, secured what provi sions they had, giving the men some thing to eat, and then proceeded to I Hamilton. On the outskirts of the| town I was met by a good many rit izens who were very much excited, and begged me not to go in the town and asking me to go around it, as Lieutenant Flusser had landed one hundred and twenty-five marines and two pieces of artillery, and they were satisfied that if I made an at tack on them in the town of Hamil- | ton that they would destroy the | town. "I waited until they started down the river again and then proceeded down the river to undertake to har ass them again at Rainbow Banks, but they placed a boat in position and shelled the banks until the oth er two had passed, and then com menced shelling the banks upon the river so as to enable the first boat to pass. I attempted at other places to fire upon them, but they were shell ing the banks on the river all the way down, and it was impossible fur us to get another opportunity to attack them. I followed them until about nine o'clock, several miles be low Williamston, then returned to | Williamston. "I did not get a man hurt, and lost I nb property, except one relay horse J which I had left in a stable at Ham ilton, and which they took. Lieuten ant Peel and all the men displayed \ great coolness and bravery. "Yours truly, "A. B. Andrews." improvement? Then he put on some | livestock projects. The first purebred Jersey cow in his parish belonged to the church. He also started a night school which during the winter months met five evenings a week. This night school is still'one of his leading activities and has trained his men alike in techniques of farming and methods of church work. He or ganized a consumer-producer coop erative. He offered prizes for the best home gardens. He made him self a sort of local health officer. He helped young men buy farms. His personal library of 7.000 books be came a community library. His ef forts brought results in enriched lives, improved farms, and increas ed church income. The first year Mr. Doran was in his parish the main j church gave only $20.10. Last year their -contribution was $1,100. His [circuit of 11 preaching places now has over 800 communicant members and on an ordinary Sunday the at tendance is about 1.200 people. As! The Progressive Farmer points out: "This rural parish in the Cumber land Plateau illustrates rural recon struction through the church. The i program here was not handed down [ but it grew up from within. It was indigenous. It began where the peo ple were It was built around the needs of the people. Individual con flicts were changed to cooperative living. Religion was expressed in to tal life. First there was a leader,' then knowledge, then vision, then planning The church led, but coop erated with other agencies. The Gos pel was clearly preached. And the whole program rested on a program f eeonomic improvement " Strong Organization Is Needed By the Farmer Farming Is Not All c Pleasure, Secretary Claud Wickard Says Learned First llauil That Farm Prices Went Down While Olht 'rs Went l'|> One of my iphildhood memories helped me see the need for farntVr | organization. Our ot11fi agent. old 4.-H club pee mi i -1 outhtu'd a program for tin i.iiurvouMi group. A major ?objective "l the m-vv program is to d?\e|op de: Jlaftje ideals .111(1 light attitudes tow ard the farm and. home, community life, citizenship and dem ocracy in Aniei ur^a, Direct.or C. E. Brehm. >aid. It i planned to teach, , hy d? loon,.! i .a ii.11,. iinpi ' . folk games and other rec reational parties-, educational trips, ? te will' lie f< 'In c(l in . addition to work;' will) individuals 1 Miss Texaco Says: liya TEXACO DEALER next time \iiss 11 \ t( a They All Call for TEXACO TEXA$S MOTOR 0"1 INSUlAtf? 1. (irunkruH1 nluyn full longer.^ 2. Ili^li milt'iifcc per ipiurl of oil. Kri'|m engine ill full power. I. Kiioy Htaiiing. .">. Fewer repair liilU. ft. Prolong* life of engine. 1. Itilhi iii^mh |>iohclion. 2. Itiylni mili'ii^c |iri i|iinrl. I.i-kh t'liuini' wear. I. Morr "a-oliiii' inilca^r. I a?ii'i' -tailing. (>. 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