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The 26th Regiment North Carolina
Troops
A History by David McGee
CHAPTER V "IT LOOKS LIKE OUR TIME WILL COME NEXT"
On July 15, the troops continued their march south. They reached Bunker Hill that afternoon and halted. For five days, A. P. Hill allowed his men to rest in camp. The corps that so boldly marched northward only a few weeks before resembled a ragtag body of scarecrows. Pettigrew's brigade contained "about 500 broken down, half famished men." The clothing of many soldiers hung about them in tattered rags. To make matters worse, few provisions could be found in the area.
By July 21, the troops had resumed their southward journey. Except for a brief skirmish on July 24, when Federal cavalry under George A. Custer attempted to hinder the movement of Hill's corps, the march proved uneventful. On July 25, the Confederates halted in the vicinity of Culpeper. They remained there until the first week of August, when Hill shifted his troops to Orange Court House.
The encampment of the 26th North Carolina sat on a hill about a mile and a half from the town. For the next ten weeks, Gen. Hill set about rebuilding the morale of the troops and increasing their numbers. One of the first things he did was improve the physical welfare of his men. For once, the soldiers received food in abundance. One man reported his company stayed "very busy" eating rations. They also received new clothing. Noah Deaton told his wife that, to his knowledge, "every man has as much as he needs for the present."
Although Hill kept the troops busy, they were not worked very severely. They drilled regularly, policed their quarters daily, and stood for inspection on occasion. Every few days the regiment took its turn on picket duty. Even this did not prove onerous. As had been the case when stationed at Fredericksburg, the lookouts agreed not to fire upon each other. An officer told his brother that the opposing sentries soon appeared "quite friendly" with each other. One man felt that camp routine provided the soldiers a "very lazy life." He stated that they "spend most of their time lying in the shade, sleeping, or writing wives, parents or sweethearts."
The morale of many soldiers soon improved in the relaxed atmosphere at Orange Court House. Their esprit de corps also received a boost from a more spiritual source. During the late summer and fall of 1863, the "great revival along the Rapidan" swept through the camps of the Army of Northern Virginia. Every day and night, the sounds of sermons and prayer and singing could be heard.
The revival sparked one of the few complaints heard from the men in the 26th North Carolina at this time. The grievance arose because the regiment did not have a chaplain (in fact had not had one officially since it left North Carolina). Because of this lack, the soldiers had religious services only on those occasions when a chaplain from another regiment came and preached.
Despite the apparent contentment in camp during this period, a serious problem plagued the entire army. Since the retreat from Gettysburg large numbers of soldiers had deserted. The situation became so desperate that President Davis, at Lee's suggestion, published a proclamation which claimed that the enemy's superiority in numbers was caused by men who had abandoned their duty. He asked the civilian population to refuse shelter to any deserters. In the same address, Davis offered a full pardon to all who returned to their regiments within twenty days. The proclamation had little success in getting men to return to their units.
The 26th North Carolina showed that it was not immune to the problem. On July 31, Julius Leinbach noted in his diary that desertions occurred more frequently; nineteen men had left the regiment the night before. Captain Henry Albright expressed little confidence that many of Company G would remain in the ranks. He told his brother that, with few exceptions, "they all speak favorably of desertion." Between mid-July and the end of September, the service records listed twenty-five men as deserters or absent without leave.
The causes for desertions varied with the men. The losses at Gettysburg and Vicksburg undoubtedly convinced some that the Confederate cause was hopeless. Letters from home persuaded others that their families were suffering and needed them. Much of the blame, however, was placed on the growing peace movement in North Carolina and on the Raleigh Standard, which supported reunion.
Feelings about the peace movement evidently differed between the officers and the enlisted men. The officers expressed their "mortification . . . at the course of our people at home" and quickly passed a resolution publicly condemning the Standard. They argued that few North Carolina troops supported the efforts for obtaining peace. A number of the enlisted men strongly disagreed. They felt the officers passed the resolution without giving the soldiers a chance to speak. One soldier told the Standard that he was a "peace private . . . and two-thirds of the regiment are the same way." Other men, in the regiment and the brigade, echoed this feeling, stating that their sentiments lay with the "people at home."
Although the problems caused by desertions and the peace movement remained, events in Virginia soon focused attention there. On September 10, Gen. William W. Kirkland assumed command of the brigade. Previously the colonel of the 21st North Carolina (in Ewell's corps), he had served in the army since First Manassas. At about the same time, a North Carolina brigade led by Gen John R. Cooke joined the division.
The months of August and September remained fairly quiet along the Rapidan River, as only minor skirmishing took place between the two opposing armies. Early in October the lull in the fighting came to an end. Lee decided to remove the Federal "menace" from Virginia by launching a flank attack against Meade's forces.
On October 9, the 26th North Carolina left its camp as A. P. Hill's corps moved northward. Skirting Cedar Mountain, the troops traveled eastward until they struck the Warrenton Turnpike north of Culpeper. As Meade learned of Lee's intentions, he quickly retreated northward along the Orange and Alexandria Railroad. Lee pursued in hope of cutting the Federal line at some point along the railroad.
By 10 a.m on October 14, Hill's men reached the town of Greenwich. There they found campfires still burning, indicating that the enemy was not very far ahead. The troops pushed ahead and came upon the enemy near Bristoe Station. As Hill surveyed the scene, he noted that the Federal III Corps waited to ford Broad Run. Although the creek would not be difficult to cross, it might delay the enemy long enough for the Confederates to launch an attack.
Hill believed no time should be lost in attacking. He hurried Heth's division forward to the hills overlooking the ford. Once it arrived, Hill ordered Heth to form three brigades in a line of battle and attack. Cooke's men took up a position along the right of the road with Kirkland's troops on his left. Before the third brigade, under Gen. Henry H. Walker, could complete its formation, Hill commanded Heth to push forward with the units already in line.
As the two brigades swept down toward the Federal column at the creek, Hill brought them to a stop. He finally noticed a second line of Northern troops behind the railroad. Cooke warned Heth that the second enemy force would be able to attack his flank if they continued. Nonetheless, after a ten- minute halt, Hill again ordered the troops forward. Cooke and Kirkland advanced "in beautiful order and quite steadily."
In a short time, the right flank of the North Carolinians came under severe rifle and artillery fire from behind the railroad embankment. Realizing that they could not continue forward, the two brigades turned and charged to their right. The "rebel yell" rang out as they closed with the enemy.
As the 26th North Carolina neared the enemy, Maj. Jones halted and reformed his battered line. The men continued on and reached the ten-foot high embankment. Rushing up it, a small group managed to close with Federal troops on the other side. Yet fierce musketry soon drove them back. [Map 9. Battle of Bristoe Station; Positions of Kirkland's and Cooke's Brigades.] Kirkland's and Cooke's units retreated in confusion under the heavy fire. A number of soldiers decided not to run the gauntlet and remained under the shelter of the embankment. Union troops soon captured them.
The battle ended with the retreat. The two Confederate brigades making the attack were mangled. Cooke reported 700 casualties among his men. Kirkland suffered slightly less, losing 602 troops. In the 26th North Carolina, 31 men lay dead or mortally wounded, 66 were wounded and another 71 fell prisoner. Company F had the unenviable distinction of nearly repeating its 100 percent loss at Gettysburg. Of the thirty-four men who made the attack at Bristoe Station, only two came through unhurt. One of the survivors, Thomas Setser, told his father-in-law that "when I look a round and See nun of our boys, and think what has become of them, I cante helpe but cry, and it looks like our time will come next." George Glenn summed up the attitude of the regiment when he stated that "we did not gain anything by that fight."
The Confederates retired southward across the Rappahannock and Rapidan, destroying miles of the Orange and Alexandria Railroad as they went. Except for a brief time in late November, during the Mine Run campaign (where the regiment was lightly engaged), the troops remained in camp during the winter months. Men rapidly set to work building comfortable quarters. Many laid floors and built chimneys for their tents. Others erected small shanties. While the quarters were often crowded, they provided adequate protection from the elements.
During November, Col. Lane returned to the regiment. Wounded severely on the first day at Gettysburg, he had remained at home on furlough since that time. Upon reaching his unit, he found the troops "low in spirits and few in number." The summer and fall campaigns reduced the regiment's strength so much that Gen. Kirkland warned Lane that the 26th North Carolina might be consolidated with another unit. The officers immediately exerted their efforts to recruit new soldiers and to bring those absent back into the ranks. Lane reported that their efforts were "crowned with success." By the end of the year the regiment numbered at least 305 men. The threatened merger was avoided.
Although the officers remained busy during the winter, enlisted men frequently used the word "dull" to describe their routine. Christmas was dull, drill was dull, reviews by their commanders were dull, and most of all, the food was dull. Apparently the only thing that lightened their spirits was the prospect of receiving a furlough. A change in the system of granting leave allowed more men the chance to go home. The soldiers heartily approved the new rules.
At the same time, the army cracked down on deserters. In one letter after another, soldiers told their families and friends of the executions they witnessed in their brigade. James Wright informed his wife and parents that between January and April, 1864, he had witnessed seven executions in his brigade. One letter described in detail how the firing squad had to discharge three volleys before the prisoner died. Wright even included a diagram of the scene. In another instance, he commanded a squad that guarded two condemned men the night before they were shot. One man, George W. Owens, talked to Wright about his impending death. "He did not fear being shot, he appeared to give satisfaction to all that talked with him." The threat of execution may have helped stem the tide of desertions. According to George Underwood, an early chronicler of the regiment, many deserters returned to the regiment, "gave themselves up and ever afterwards made good soldiers."
With the arrival of good weather around the middle of April, the soldiers believed that active campaigning would come soon. One indication came from the increase in drill to twice a day. By April 26, regimental officers had received orders to send tents and baggage to the rear and to be prepared to march at a moment's notice.
The labor expended by the officers during the winter to rebuild the regiment succeeded. By the first of May, the 26th North Carolina, which nearly lost its separate existence during the previous fall, numbered 760 men. Lt. Col. Jones stated that the soldiers were "never in so fine a condition and they feel confident of victory." Whether they would be ready for the hard campaigns of 1864 remained to be seen.
