Companies E and F of the Eleventh Iowa were sent out at 6
o'clock this morning on the skirmish line, but there were no rebels to be seen
in our front. They left during the night, crossing the Neuse river, and
retreating towards Raleigh, the state capital. Kilpatrick's cavalry pursued
them for several miles. The rebels fought in the pine woods, which were set on
fire by the shells from our artillery. The fire compelled them to fall back,
and they left their dead and wounded on the battlefield, to the mercy of the
flames; the clothing was entirely burned off some of the bodies. The loss was
very light on both sides. We remained all day in bivouac at the rifle pits,
while the Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps moved back towards Goldsboro.
Source: Alexander G. Downing, Edited by Olynthus B., Clark, Downing’s
Civil War Diary, p. 263
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