We started early
this morning by the northerly road; we "fell in "regularly enough,
but it was not long before we took the "route step," taking the whole
road. A mile or two out we halted and loaded up. Evidently the officers thought
there would be plenty of game. We saw or heard little or nothing for about six
miles, when we passed a camp-fire, and were told the advance had come across an
outpost and killed a man. We still kept up a steady tramp, and about noon the
light marching order became heavy again, and whatever useless articles we had
on hand were thrown aside. At noon, we halted to feed in a field near a
planter's house; the family were all on the piazza. For dinner we had potatoes,
chickens, honey, applejack, and persimmons; the last of which are good if eaten
with care, but, if a little green, beware! We stayed here about an hour, then
packed up and started again, followed no doubt by the blessings of that whole
family.
RAWLE'S MILL.
About six o'clock
(the time probably when our friends at home were writing to us) we heard the
artillery, and, coming to a halt, waited anxiously for the next move. To us it
soon came. Companies H, Capt. Smith, and C, Capt. Lombard, were ordered
forward, "E" being next in line. For a while we heard nothing of
them; but when they were about half-way across the stream the rebels fired into
their ranks. They, however, succeeded in crossing, and returned the rebels'
fire; but Gen. Foster thought it better to shell them out, so Companies H and C
were ordered back; "H" having Depeyster, Jacobs, and Parker wounded;
and Co. C, Charles Rollins killed; Sergt. Pond and W. A. Smallidge wounded.
Lieut. Briggs was stunned by a shell.
After the return of these
companies, Belger's Battery shelled across the stream for some time, trying to
dislodge the enemy. Our company and "I" were sent forward in the same
track of "H" and "C," Company I being held in reserve. We
had the fight all to ourselves. It was quite a distance to the water, and an illimitable
one before we arrived on the other side. It was very nearly waist-deep and very
cold. We had gone about over, when they fired, but the shot went over our
heads: we were nearer than they thought. After coming out and shaking
ourselves, Capt. Richardson deployed the company as skirmishers, and we
commenced to feel our way up the slope. Before we were well at it we received
another volley, which sadly disarranged the ideas of several of us, some of the
boys firing back at their flash; but probably very many of our first volley
went nearer the moon than the rebels; and then we jumped for cover. Some found
the grape-vines not conducive to an upright position. We got straightened out
at last, and gradually worked our way forward; the writer's position being in
the gutter (or where the gutter ought to have been) on the left of the road;
soon receiving another volley which we answered in good shape, hoping we did
better execution than they had done. We could hear those on the right of the
road, but could see nothing, and could only fire on the flash of the rebels.
After five or six volleys from our side, and as many from the rebels, we were
ordered back, recrossed the ford, and found we had met with loss. Charles Morse
was shot through the head. His death must have been instantaneous, as the ball
went in very near the temple and came out the opposite side. A detail buried
him among the pines, very nearly opposite the surgeon's head-quarters. Charles
H. Roberts was quite severely wounded in the left shoulder. There were some
narrow escapes, and, among the minor casualties, E. V. Moore was struck by a
ball in the heel of his boot; he was tumbled over; immediately picked up by the
stretcher-bearers and carried to the rear, but would not stay there, and soon
found his way to the front again.
The writer, not
wishing to be wounded, persistently held his gun ready to ward off all shot,
consequently one of the numerous well-aimed shots struck the gun instead of his
leg, fracturing the rifle badly; the bullet, after going through the stock of
the gun, entered his pantaloons, scraping a little skin from his leg, and
finally found its way to his boot.
The surgeon would
not report him as wounded or missing, so he had to report back to his company;
found his blanket and tried to turn in, but it was no use: the company had more
work on hand.
The part of the
company who went into the woods on the right of the road, had a clear passage
up the hill, as far as the walking was concerned, but they met their share of
fighting, happily coming back with no loss. Parsons, Tucker, and Pierce
succeeded in taking three prisoners, who were sent to the rear. We were
detailed as baggage guard, which duty we did bravely!! Every time the line
halted we would lie down, and were asleep as soon as we struck the mud!!
Finally we made a grand start, forded the stream again, and, after being
frightened to death by a stampede of horses up the road, we found a cornfield,
and, after forming line several times for practice with the rest of the
regiment, spread ourselves on the ground and hugged each other and our wet
rubber blankets to get warm.
SOURCE: John Jasper
Wyeth, Leaves from a Diary Written While Serving in Co. E, 44 Mass.
Dep’t of North Carolina from September 1862 to June 1863, p. 17-8
