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The 26th Regiment North Carolina
Troops
A History by David McGee
CHAPTER VI "DRESS ON THE COLORS"
As the Civil War entered its fourth year, the new General-in-Chief of the Federal armies, Ulysses S. Grant, launched a new offensive against Richmond and the Army of Northern Virginia. Shortly after midnight on May 4, the Army of the Potomac began crossing the Rapidan. Observers at the Confederate signal station atop Clark's Mountain informed Lee of the movement. He quickly moved his forces to block the Union advance. The Overland Campaign of 1864 had begun.
Lee wanted to make contact with the Federal army before it cleared a forest known locally as the Wilderness. The area's name came from its heavy second growth timber and dense undergrowth. If Lee could force Grant to give battle amid the tangle of the Wilderness, the numerical superiority of Grant's forces would be minimized.
Early in the afternoon of May 4, A. P. Hill's corps started down the Orange Plank Road in the direction of Fredericksburg. Heth's division headed the column. About sunset, the troops reached the old Confederate entrenchments near Mine Run and bivouacked for the night.
At dawn the next morning, Heth's troops continued eastward along the Plank Road. Kirkland's brigade took the lead. Soon after the Confederates entered the Wilderness, they encountered enemy cavalry. The infantrymen quickly formed skirmish lines and advanced through the woods. The Union troopers, armed with Spencer repeating carbines, poured a heavy fire into the advancing gray lines. Nonetheless, Kirkland's regiments pushed forward and occupied the crossroads at Parker's Store. [Map 10. Battle of the Wilderness; Hill's Corps, Afternoon, May 6.]
At this point, the brigades of Cooke, Davis, and Walker advanced to the front. The three units formed a line of battle and proceeded down the Plank Road toward its intersection with the Brock Road. While the balance of Heth's division pressed eastward, the 26th North Carolina and Kirkland's other regiments sat down to rest. An hour later, the brigade continued forward and took up a position in rear of Cooke.
Around 4 p.m. three Federal divisions burst through the woods and struck Heth's front. General Kirkland sent the 26th North Carolina to support Cooke's forces. Colonel Lane led his men down the road at the double quick. They soon reached the spot where Confederates were hotly engaged with the enemy. Cooke ordered Lane forward to assist the 46th North Carolina. The regiment went into position "in splendid order" under a heavy musketry. The soldiers fell to the ground, below the dense clouds of smoke, and returned the fire. Gus Jarratt later told his father that it was the "heaviest firing" he had ever been under.
The regiment held its ground until "a little before sunset." Suddenly the entire line to its right gave way. The men fell back through the heavy undergrowth, which was "so dense as to render it almost impossible for a body of troops to move in any direction." Troops repeatedly turned to pour volleys into the ranks of the advancing enemy. As they retreated, a bullet struck Lane in the thigh, incapacitating him. Lieutenant Colonel Jones assumed command.
As darkness approached, the division of Cadmus Wilcox charged forward and relieved some of the pressure against Heth's battered ranks. By nightfall, the Federal attacks ceased. The 26th North Carolina shifted from the right to the left side of the Orange Plank Road. Once in position, the weary soldiers formed a line of battle and promptly lay down to find what rest they could.
Although Hill's corps fought well on the first day, the next promised to be more difficult. Believing that Gen. Longstreet would have his troops on the field by midnight, Lee and Hill allowed the exhausted men of Heth and Wilcox to remain where they had stopped at day's end. According to Heth the two divisions were "so mixed, and lying at every conceivable angle, that we cannot fire a shot without firing into each other." He and Wilcox sought permission to adjust their jumbled ranks. Hill told them to let the soldiers rest.
Early the next morning, the 26th North Carolina switched positions again. This time it moved back to the south side of the Plank Road. Shortly after dawn, the Union II Corps shattered the tense stillness as it attacked along Hill's entire front.
One officer reported that the Federal attack crumpled the Confederate left flank "as a sheet of paper would be rolled without the power of effective resistance." Kirkland's brigade briefly held its ground, but an enfilading fire soon routed it. As Kirkland retreated, the 26th North Carolina turned and made a brief charge. This delayed the Union advance long enough to allow the brigade to form a new line. Shortly afterwards, Longstreet's corps arrived and relieved Hill's splintered units.
As the regiment moved rearward, the men learned that Lt. Col. Jones had fallen mortally wounded by a gunshot wound in the back. The wound occurred as the men sought cover from the unusually heavy fire at the beginning of the Federal assault. After Jones fell, Lane returned to command the regiment. He led his troops to their new position near the Chewning Farm. After throwing up breastworks, the soldiers settled down to relax. They remained near the farm until late afternoon. At that time the unit advanced to support a planned assault by several brigades of Gen. Richard H. Anderson's division. The charge failed to materialize and the regiment returned to its trenches.
On May 7, the opposing armies held their ground. Except for occasional skirmishing the lines remained quiet. The men of the 26th North Carolina spent the daylight hours strengthening the earthworks they began the day before. That evening, the unit shifted a short distance to its right and set up a bivouac.
At the same time, Grant began moving his army to the southeast, trying to get between Lee and Richmond. Lee countered by quickly sending part of his troops in the same direction. The fighting in the Wilderness had ended; now the race for the crossroads at Spotsylvania Court House had begun.
During the afternoon of May 8, Heth's division started toward the Court House. The troops marched four or five miles before they halted and set up camp for the night. Late in the afternoon they heard the sounds of "heavy firing" as the two armies renewed the conflict.
Early the next morning, the division resumed its trek. Some time around noon the troops reached the Spotsylvania Court House. Kirkland's brigade filed into the newly dug trenches just east of the village. As was becoming the habit of soldiers on both sides, the men immediately set to work building and improving the earthworks.
On the morning of May 10, Heth's troops left the entrenchments and proceeded toward the Po River. Their objective was to drive back a Union column that threatened the Confederate left flank. After some "very hard marching" they encountered a division from the Federal II Corps. The Southerners made three charges against the enemy line. They succeeded in forcing the Northern troops back across the river. Afterwards, Heth issued a congratulatory order to his men, praising them for their valor in driving the enemy back.
The 26th North Carolina, along with the rest of Heth's division, returned to the trenches at Spotsylvania Court House. During the night of May 11, the regiment received orders to report to the army's quartermaster. Upon doing so the men heard the "glad tidings" that they would accompany a forage train to collect fodder for the horses. The wagons needed an escort because much of the route they would take lay close to enemy lines. For the remainder of the night and much of the next day, the troops rode in the wagons. Late in the evening of May 13, they returned to the village. The regiment spent the night in the courthouse yard.
On the morning of May 14, the unit moved to support the rest of Kirkland's brigade. The troops remained in their position as reserves for the next four days. Daniel Liles told his mother that "were it not for the firing of the skirmishers or the occasional explosion of a shell from the enemies batteries, we would almost forget that we were so near the enemy." Not until May 18 did the heavy fighting resume. That morning, the Federal artillery opened with a "terrible cannonade" against the Confederate lines. The Union infantry followed the bombardment with a "feeble" charge that Henry Albright described as a complete failure.
On May 20, Grant abandoned the assaults at Spotsylvania and shifted his army to the southeast. This maneuver forced Lee to abandon his trenches and pursue. The following evening, Hill's corps started in the direction of Beaver Dam Station. The troops continued their severe march along the Virginia Central Railroad line. By mid-morning of May 23, the troops ended their thirty-mile tramp at Anderson's Station, about three miles from Hanover Junction.
Late that afternoon, Hill sent Heth's brigades to support Wilcox's division in an attempt to repel a Federal column that had crossed to the south of the North Anna River. Heth's troops saw little action in the attack. The 26th North Carolina engaged the enemy's skirmishers, but did not participate in the main assault. Unable to drive the enemy back, the Confederates retired to their defenses.
Failing to penetrate the defenses at the North Anna river, the Union Army once more marched by its left flank in an effort to get between the Confederates and Richmond. Lee quickly countered. On the morning of May 27, Heth's troops abandoned their trenches and headed in the direction of Richmond. Three days later they took up a new defensive line near Mechanicsville. As soon as the 26th North Carolina halted, the men started to fortify their position. This pattern had been repeated so often that James Wright told his family that he spent the month of May "marching, fighting, and throwing up breastworks."
The first day of June found the Union army poised for another assault on Lee's lines. During the afternoon, Federal troops charged the earthworks of Kirkland and Cooke. The Confederate artillery beat back the attack so easily that many of the infantrymen barely noticed it. One man described the action as "heavy skirmishing"; another stated that the day was "quiet with some firing on the left of the regiment."
Things heated up the next evening when Kirkland's brigade struck at the enemy entrenchments. The charge faltered before the Union works. The two sides held their ground and exchanged a "heavy fire" which did little damage to either. After nightfall, the Southerners returned to their own defenses.
In the early morning hours of June 3, Grant launched a major assault against the Confederate earthworks at Cold Harbor. Heavy fighting took place over much of the line. The Federal attackers were brutally repulsed, losing 7,000 men in the charge. Most of the casualties occurred during the first fifteen minutes.
Because Heth's division held the far left of Lee's line, the 26th North Carolina avoided the heaviest fighting during the battle. Sometime in the morning, Kirkland's brigade occupied the abandoned enemy breastworks in its front. The Federals retaliated by advancing a line of battle to within 400 yards of the works. The two sides spent the remainder of the day exchanging skirmish fire. According to Henry Albright, "they annoyed us very much with their sharpshooters." During the night, Northern troops worked their way behind the rear of Kirkland's line. This forced the unit to fall back to its original works.
The regiment remained near Cold Harbor for six more days. On June 9, it moved to the south side of the Chickahominy River and took up picket duty near Bottom's Bridge, about twelve miles from Richmond. While there the men enjoyed a brief interlude from the fighting. During this respite, they received "enough to eat and some to spare," making up for the times they had gone hungry while on the march. Although the Confederate and Union sentries were stationed very close together, the opponents stayed "on very friendly terms." The men of the regiment felt quite content with their situation.
Daniel Liles took advantage of the proximity of the two lines to trade with Federal pickets. He exchanged "some tobacco for a splendid canteen and . . . some cornbread for crackers and sugar and coffee." Liles stated that the Northerners were "quite a clever set of fellows," but warned if they tried to cross over the river without permission they would get "lead balls instead of cornbread and tobacco."
The lull ended when Grant slipped away from Lee and shifted the Union army across the James and Appomattox rivers. He planned to capture the vital rail center of Petersburg, south of Richmond. Grant's maneuver forced Lee to rush reinforcements to the undermanned defenses there.
On the evening of June 17, the 26th North Carolina left their position along the Charles City Road and started for Petersburg. The men halted that night near White Cross. At three o'clock the next morning, they resumed their journey. Hill, knowing that the fate of Petersburg might depend on his corps, pushed the troops vigorously.
The regiment crossed the James on a pontoon bridge at Chaffin's Bluff. After striking the Richmond and Petersburg turnpike, the soldiers marched "furiously . . . fighting thirst and spitting dust" as they went. About five miles from Petersburg the men boarded a train and rode for three or four miles. After finishing the journey on foot, the weary infantry filed into the trenches south of the city. One soldier called the journey "the hardest day's marching we have had during the present campaign; I think I was never so tired in all my life."
The seven-week campaign from the Wilderness to Petersburg exacted a severe toll on the 26th North Carolina. The numerous battles, large and small, inflicted 180 casualties among the ranks. More men, most likely broken down by the near constant exertions, died of disease. The hot, dry weather of late May and June contributed to the suffering.
The regiment remained in the entrenchments around Petersburg for most of the next two months. The weather continued to be dry through most of July, causing some discomfort. But it would be one of the lesser problems faced by the troops. One soldier from Moore County wrote a friend back home, giving a vivid description of the hardships and demoralization the men faced while they remained in the trenches.
"Thair is a continuel sharpshooting kept up from our brestworks at each other. We hav to have trenches cut to go after water and they do too. Thair is a continuel shelling kept up nearly all the time with morters, but it is only once and a while they can drop them [in] our brestworks and we drop ours in thair brestworks too . . . We hav to ly in our trenches day and knight, rain or shine, hot or cold. Thair is som[e] killed or wounded more or less every day by morter shells or sharp shooters. The men hav becom[e] so careless, they don car much for any thing."
The latter part of August saw the 26th North Carolina on the move again. This time, it joined in the effort to counter a Federal thrust against the Weldon Railroad, which linked Petersburg to southern Virginia and North Carolina. It would be their first action under the leadership of William MacRae, who replaced Kirkland (wounded at Cold Harbor) as brigade commander. In July, he had joined the unit as it escorted a wagon train going to bring in supplies. The colonel temporarily commanding the unit had permitted the men to ride in the wagons. MacRae quickly got the soldiers out and marching again. One officer later observed that the restoration of strict discipline prepared the troops "for the trying ordeal through which they were to pass from now to the end.
The fight for the Weldon Railroad came about as Grant, looking for a way to hasten the fall of Petersburg, decided to cut one of the major supply lines to the city. On August 17, he ordered Gen. Gouverneur K. Warren's V Corps to attack the railroad. The Federals struck the line in the vicinity of Globe Tavern, about four miles south of the city.
The Confederates reacted quickly to the threat. Hill dispatched part of Heth's division to parry Warren's thrust. On August 18, Heth attacked at Globe Tavern. Although he succeeded initially, his force lacked sufficient strength to completely drive the Federal troops from the railroad. Hill ordered more troops forward to support Heth.
On August 21, MacRae's brigade joined the action at Globe Tavern. Early that morning William Mahone's division attacked the Union lines. At the same time, MacRae's men (along with Ransom's brigade) advanced and drove the Federal pickets from their front. The North Carolinians continued forward through a dense stand of trees. Reaching the southern edge of the woods, they stormed another lightly-held line of entrenchments. Close on the heels of the fleeing Northerners, the Tarheels rushed the main enemy works.
Many of the men in the 26th North Carolina reached the Federal entrenchments. They were pinned down there by fire from four Union batteries. According to T. W. Setser, "that made the grape and Canister fly." MacRae's and Ransom's troops, alone in front of the Northern lines, found themselves pinned against defenses too strong to capture and too dangerous to flee. All day long, men lay pressed up tight against the enemy works. Only after nightfall could they fall back in relative safety.
Following the success of Warren's corps in occupying the area around Globe Tavern, Gen. Winfield S. Hancock's II Corps struck the railroad near Reams' Station. On August 24, seven brigades from Hill's corps, along with cavalry and artillery support, quietly made their way close the Union lines. Early the next afternoon Hill attacked. Two brigades from Wilcox's division made the first charge, but were repulsed. Hill decided to let Heth lead the next assault.
At 5 p.m., three North Carolina units under MacRae, Cooke, and Lane advanced. Cooke and Lane started first because they had to cover rough terrain and abatis in their front. When MacRae saw that Lane's men were held up under severe fire he ordered his brigade forward. MacRae told his troops that when the charge began, "every man must yell as though he were a division in himself, dash for the enemy's works, and not fire until there."
The attack succeeded beyond anyone's expectations. As the Tarheels surged forward at the double quick, inexperienced Federal troops fired one volley and "then throde down the[i]r guns and come runing over" to surrender. James Wright boasted that the breastworks fell "at the point of a bayonet." Other Confederate units soon joined the assault. Although Hancock tried desperately to rally his men, the II Corps disintegrated. Before the day ended, the Southerners captured over 2,100 prisoners, 9 cannon, 3,100 rifles, and 16 flags.
Four days later, Gen. Lee stated in a letter to Governor Vance that the "gallantry and conduct" of the men under Cooke, MacRae, and Lane "were never more deserving of admiration than in the engagement at Reams' Station." Inspector-General Samuel Cooper continued the praises a month later. He reported that troops under MacRae and Cooke were "in specially good order and commanded by two most excellent officers." MacRae had one of the finest assault units in the Army of Northern Virginia, and the men knew it.
Soldiers in the 26th North Carolina knew other things as well. They followed the progress of the war, not only at Petersburg, but in the Valley and in Georgia as well. The men realized that the South had little chance for victory. They also read letters from home, telling of problems faced by their families. Finally, they looked around their ranks and saw how many comrades had fallen in combat or to disease. They knew the regiment could no longer recruit troops to make up for these losses.
Many members of the regiment decided it was time to quit. During the period from May-August, 1864, desertions had dropped to an average of only six per month. In the last four months of the year the number rose to nearly nine each month. But the worst did not come until the beginning of the next year. From January-March, 1865, sixty-two men deserted the unit. Many who left during that period were long-time veterans, men who had fought for the South since 1861. They simply gave up any hope of a Confederate victory.
During the last months of 1864, the troops who remained with the regiment faced difficult times. They spent many of their days building and improving the defenses around Petersburg. Captain Gus Jarratt felt that if work on the breastworks continued much longer, they would be so strong that the "Yankees can't get in even if there was no men in them." But every time the Confederates perfected their trenches, Grant extended his lines further to the west. This forced Lee's army to follow suit.
At times Grant overextended his forces. Twice, the 26th North Carolina took part in blunting Union offensives. On September 30, the Federal V and IX Corps launched an assault on Southern positions near Peeble's Farm. Heth's division counterattacked, recovering much of the ground lost earlier in the day. Four weeks later, on October 27, Heth's and Wilcox's divisions were called upon to stop the better part of three Union corps near Burgess' Mill. After the Confederates penetrated the enemy lines, MacRae's brigade found itself unsupported on either flank. Facing about, the North Carolinians again cut their way through the enemy and returned to their original lines. The brigade suffered a heavy loss in prisoners during the battle. The 26th North Carolina lost its battleflag and fifty-five men captured.
As the winter months passed, the troops suffered under the harsh conditions. During the cold, wet weather, the only thing keeping soldiers warm was "green pine wood," which produced more smoke than heat. The men's clothing usually hung in tatters. Most of the little food they got proved poor in quality. In his report on the battle at Hatcher's Run, Gen. Lee protested that his men could not fight much longer if they continued to receive inadequate supplies.
Despite all the hardships, a considerable number of men remained with the 26th North Carolina until the end. In late March, 1865, when the Petersburg defenses began to crumble, at least 234 soldiers were still in the ranks.
After the Union victory at Five Forks on April 1, the defenses around Petersburg began to crumble. Grant decided to make the collapse complete. On April 2, he launched an all-out assault against the thinly held Confederate lines.
The 26th and the 11th North Carolina regiments held a portion of the trenches near Hatcher's Run as the final assault began. One officer stated the ranks were so thin that the men stood "five or six feet apart." The line disintegrated when the Federals struck. The Confederates fell back fighting as best they could, but they were hopelessly outnumbered. Almost 100 soldiers from the 26th North Carolina fell prisoner along the route.
On the night of April 2, Lee evacuated Petersburg and Richmond. He moved west towards Amelia Court House hoping to get around the Union army. If possible, he would then take his troops to North Carolina and join with Joseph E. Johnston's army. The Confederate columns progressed slowly along roads clogged with artillery and wagons. The march became "pathetically fatiguing" to the half-starved defenders of Petersburg.
Lee's army reached Amelia Court House by April 5, but found the way south blocked. Lee decided to continue westward. On April 8, as the remnants of the Army of Northern Virginia neared Appomattox Court House, MacRae's brigade formed the rearguard. The pitifully thin line formed a triangle across the road. Fortunately, relief arrived before the Federals could attack.
On April 9, Lee surrendered to Grant. Three days later Lt. Col. James T. Adams signed the paroles for those who remained with the regiment. Out of a unit that had one time numbered nearly 1,200 soldiers, only 120 were left to receive their paroles.
The war ended for the men of the 26th North Carolina. The survivors left Appomattox in small groups, trying to reach their homes and loved ones as best they could. As they departed, the men took with them the right to their boast of later years: "The men of the Twenty-Sixth Regiment would dress on the colors in spite of the world."
