The Greensborough Patriot
July 10, 1862
Page 3
Letter from Sert.
Marshall McLean.
The
numerous friends of Capt. H. C. Gorrell and Sergeant
McLean (who have both fallen in the service of their country) will doubtless
read the following letter with deep interest:
Camp
near Richmond,
June 23rd, 1862
I
thank God for this opportunity of writing to you once more. He has saved me and brought me almost through
a fiery furnace, for on last Saturday evening I had but little idea of ever
seeing you all, or even of ever writing to you again. We went out on picket last Saturday
morning. Our picket line is one mile
long for one regiment, and it takes nine regiments to picket the whole line. Our line is right in front of the battery at
which we lost so many men in trying to take it.
We took it, but could not hold it.
Our picket line is about three-fourths of a mile from it. Between it and our line is a dense swamp
nearly covered with water. We received orders about 2 o’clock from the
General to take five companies and scatter them about five steps apart and go
through that swamp, and drive in the Yankee pickets, and see what kind of works
the Yankees had. We did so, wading
through mud and water, and dead bodies of men, and ran the Yankee pickets into
their fortifications, and did not lose a man, only two being slightly
wounded. We saw all we wished, and went
back. We took them by surprise, and they
could not get their artillery at work until we were out of the way. The General was mad, I guess, because none of
us were killed, and ordered us back to the batteries. We started back with co. E, Capt. Gorrell, and co. B in front, and co. I
and co. C about two hundred yards in our rear. We passed on, ran the pickets out again and
went clear through, right up to their breastworks, and I tell you about that
time they gave us “fits.” They had three
batteries, one on the right, one on the left, and one in front. They opened a severe fire with rifle and
musket at first, and they with shell and canister. We all dropped to the ground, and fired and
loaded lying down, and were ordered three different times to retreat before we
did so. It looked like a certain death
either way, but some how they shot a little too high for our heads. We were engaged with five large regiments,
and we had only two companies, E and B at first. They had fifteen pieces of artillery. I came out alive but God only knows how, for
I do not. I remained in with my “squad”
to take out the wounded after all had left the place, but the doctor and two or
three of my men ran off with the company, and will be punished for it. We took out seven wounded men, and left Capt.
Gorrell and two or three men on the field. I could not find them in the thicket, Capt. Gorrell was shot
through the head and killed dead. He was
up close to the battery. We could not
get him out. The General is now trying
to get a flag of truce over after his body.
I am sorry to say that Ross Summers was killed. I was knocked down, and fell in the
pond. Myself
and clothing will stink like a dead man.
The dead are lying all through the water about half decomposed. When I reached camp, I threw my clothes
away. My cartridge box was shot and I
cannot see how in the world we came out safe, for I said to some one that I did
not believe fifteen men could possibly escape.
When they commenced firing, it made as much fuss as you would by filling
up a bucket with corn and pouring it on the floor. It was a continual “whiz” and “tip,” “tip”
against the trees and bushes, and then the cannonading commenced, and shells bursted all around and over us, and grape shot flew
thick. We came off picket to day about
12 o’clock. We went out on Saturday
morning, and none of us have slept any since.
We had several little skirmishes through the night. Sometimes their pickets came upon us, and
sometimes we upon them. We have it hot
and heavy. We are now looking all the
time for a general engagement, but the Yankees are afraid to attack us. Then General hoped they would have come on
after us on Saturday, but they did not.
The road is covered with guns and nearly everything else belonging to a
soldier. Since we have been on picket we
have killed twenty Yankees, but do not know how many we killed at the
battery. Several
though I think. You have no idea
how we suffer for water at such a time.
I saw several men drink water out of the stinking pond, where rotten men
were lying all around, and Lieut. Scales was one of
them. He will be our next Captain. We are all badly hurt on account of the death
of Captain Gorrell.
He went up foremost, and the last I heard him say was, “Charge on them
and fix your bayonets as you go!” At
that moment a ball struck him, and he fell, I think, entirely dead. He was a nice man and a good man, and was, I
think, prepared to go to his God, if any man ever was. His hardships are all over now. No more sorrow and trouble for him. He is gone and I hope and trust to reign with
his God above. The only man in our
company that was wounded badly way Young Gray.
June
24th.—Since writing the above, we were ordered out in line of
battle, and had to lie down with everything on, expecting to be called all
night. It is now not sunrise, and we are
all ready to move at a moment’s warning.
The picket that relieved us were attacked by
the Yankee picket last evening. Gen.
Hill says we did more with two companies than any other regiment in the whole
command would have done. He praises us. All of our men are brave and will fight. Lieut. Col. Bynum stood in front, slapping
his hands and saying. “Give it to them,
boys!” He praises our company a good
deal. I have no idea now that he will
get Capt. Gorrell’s body. There is not a man in the regiment but what
liked him—he was so good, easy and kind to them all. The Colonel says we may go into fifty
battles, and never get in as dangerous a fire as we were in on Saturday. It was a cross-fire, the balls coming from
the north, south, east and west, from all three of the batteries.
