Greensborough Patriot
July 3, 1862
Page 3
For
the Patriot
“Guilford Men”
Battlefield,
June 28, 1862
Mr. Editor: The “Guilford Men” have
acted so nobly in the late series of
engagements on the North side of the Chickahominy,
that I feel it my duty as their commander to give their friends notice of my
appreciation of their great worth. On
the evening of the 25th we were ordered to prepare to march
immediately, and left Camp about 5 o’clock and arrived near the Meadow Bridge
on the Chickahominy about 10 o’clock P. M. We remained here until 3 o’clock P. M. the
next evening the 26th, when we were again ordered forward. When we got to the bridge we were ordered to
load and informed that we would soon be in action, as we expected to find the
enemy immediately. We found their camps
and breast-works immediately on the hill, but they had deserted them. We pushed on with the whole of Pettigrew’s,
now Gen. Pender’s Brigade; but had not gone more than one half mile before we
came in contact with the enemy’s batteries; but we pushed forward, though under
their fire for more than a mile, their shells exploding amongst us at every
step, now and then tearing off an arm, a leg, or a head, and sometimes
literally tearing a man into strings; but we pushed right on until the whole
Brigade became engaged, charging batteries and infantry Regiments. The 22nd N. C. Regiment was
ordered to charge through a meadow, where the grass, weeds and briars were
waist high and over a ditch whose banks were covered with briars, much higher
than a man’s head, and so thick that one could not see through them; but we got
through them somehow, though some of the men with very little clothes on—your
humble servant suffering greatly in this respect, his hands bleeding freely;
but on we went, until we reached the opposite side, and came to a piece of
woods, where we were ordered to march by the left flank down the side of the
woods. We had gone but a short distance
when we saw a Regiment in the woods not more than twenty paces in front; not
liking their general appearance, we hailed them, having halted and come to a
front,--“What Regiment comes there?”
“The 4th Michigan,” was their prompt reply. “Fire!” was the quick command of our brave
and gallant Colonel, (James Connor, of Hampton’s
Legion, lately elected Col. Of the 22nd), when a deadly volley was
poured directly into their ranks. The
shock was so terrible that they fled without firing scarcely a gun. Our boys kept throwing the buck and ball until
they reached the summit of the hill, or at least those of them who were
left. When they reached here, a fresh
Regiment or two came rushing to their assistance. Our Regiment being wholly unsupported, and
Col. Conner seriously wounded and carried off the field, Lt. Col. Gray gave the
command to fall back. The whole of the
right wing, with the exception of a part of Company M, Capt. Odell, hearing the
command, fled to the rear of the meadow.
This command I did not hear, and thinking the right wing in a panic, I
called aloud to the “Guilford Men” to stand by me, for I would not retreat
without orders; and I am happy and proud to say that not a single man left me
but fired volley after volley into the faces of the enemy, until they were
driven from the woods, the three right companies having gone to the rear.
In
this engagement my acting Ord. Sergeant, R. W. Cole,
with some others, were wounded. A number
in other companies were also wounded and killed. Lt. J. A. C. Brown was badly wounded in the
hand. After the work was over, we fell
back to join the right wing.
Next
morning about light, the battle opened furiously to our left. We were immediately ordered up, and came upon
the enemy in rifle-pits. Some Georgia
regiments here attacked them on our right, as we were thus stationed. This fight was terrible on the part of the
Georgians, who were slain in great numbers.
When we saw their position, we were commanded to fall down, a terrible
fire being showered upon us from the ditches; but our men being wounded so
fast, we were ordered forward to a creek which lay between us and the
rifle-pits. Under the banks of this
creek we sheltered ourselves until Capt. Andrews brought up his Maryland
battery, which played terribly for a while on their entrenchments. We were then ordered to plunge the creek and
forward. Our regiment was the first to
reach the ditches, but when we reached them they were empty. The Yankees had tucked their heads and
fled. We then commenced the
pursuit. We passed Camp Astor, which the
enemy had hastily deserted, leaving quarter master and commissary stores,
tents, knapsacks, guns and ammunition, and in fact every thing that one can
imagine. They endeavored to destroy much
of their property. In one instance, we
found a large pile of guns, whiskey, hay, etc. to which the torch had been
applied. There were several bushels of
Irish potatoes in this pile, which were nicely roasted when we arrived, and
feeling somewhat hungry, our boys helped themselves freely. At one place we found hundreds of small
canoes, that the rascals had made with which to cross the river, when they
should make their “onward to Richmond.”
It
would astonish the reader were he to see the amount of luxuries these fellows
had in their camps. Liquors of all
kinds, lemon candies, oranges, nuts, cakes, cigars, etc., etc., were found in
the most abundant profusion. But our
next scene was of a far different character.
The enemy had made a stand about 6 miles below where we first found them. No sooner had our army come upon them than a
terrible carnage ensued. Charge after
charge was made by both sides. A number
of regiments were ordered in before ours, who slew their hundreds, but becoming
exhausted, fell back to rest while fresh troops were thrown forward. But we had no time to wait. As soon as our brigade came up, it was
ordered to charge. Into the timber and
brush we went, and soon found the expected foe.
Volley after volley we fired upon them, and they gave way before us. On we went until we ascended the hill, and
encountered a body of fresh troops.
Being slightly protected by the hill, we did a deadly work. At no greater distance than one hundred
yards, the enemy was drawn up in heavy force, presenting a splendid line. We fired into them until not one hundred of
our men were able for duty, when we were ordered to fall back. At this, the enemy poured in by the
thousands. To check their advance seemed
almost impossible. The fight now commenced
in earnest all along the line. (I have
not yet learned the length of the line though) and just at this juncture
Jackson comes up in splendid order, and to the contest he flies. The progress of the enemy being now checked,
such desperate fighting few nations ever witnessed. At last they give way, and our men go with a
deafening yell. This was a little after
dark. After the excitement was over, I
sat down in an old broken rocking-chair, which I found in a house near by, and
slept until morning, when Lt. Col. Gray, Lt. Wolfe, some others and myself,
went to the battlefield, to view in the calm what we had passed over in the
storm. And such a sight! The dead were lying thickly everywhere. We went to the hill where our noble boys
fought, and here we saw the effect of our work.
They were Pennsylvanians, and were strewn over the ground in every
direction. We went to different parts of
the field, where other brigades had fought and found the dead and dying
everywhere. Our litter-bearers were now
engaged in carting off our wounded.
After
being tired with the dreadful sight, we retired from the field, and after enquiring
the fate of my men, I sat down by a tree to write this letter, having picked up
some paper in a Yankee camp, on which I am writing. I cannot give you any of the casualties, or
tell you the extent of the fight—not having time to learn. But I may say it has been terrible, and is
yet going on. I do not know how many
miles they are driven by this time, but our army is fast cutting McClellen to pieces.
The casualties in the “Guilford Men” are not yet definitely known, but I
give the following which I know: Harmon Wade, M. D. Mendearis,
R. W. Cole, C. McQueen, Henry Long, Garrison Anderson, John Quackenbush,
John Dodd, N. Martin, J. W. Yates, N. S. McClintock, Y. A. May, Wm. Irvin and
Richard Crouch are known to be killed or wounded. The majority of them are wounded. John Dodd is the only one I could find dead
on the field, he was shot through the bowels.
N. S. McClintock bore the flag, the same that was presented to our company
by the ladies of Greensboro’. And it was
well and truly said by Col. Gray that a flag was never borne more
manfully. McClintock, though badly
wounded, would not let it fall until it was caught by other hands and he borne
off the field. Tell the ladies of
Greensborough that we are proud of that old flag, though it is literally shot
to pieces. The gilt knob upon the top of
the staff is gone; the staff was shot into just above the bearer’s hand; and
the flag itself is riddled with balls.
I
feel proud that I am a member of the Twenty-Second. We were highly complimented by Gen. Pender
when he said, “The twenty-second acted so nobly.”
H.
E. CHARLES
[Transcribed by Sharon Strout]
