Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 23.djvu/52

 46 Southern Historical Society Papers.

burg battles and not exchanged, many of the vacancies could not be filled, and this defective organization continued to mar the efficiency of the regiment to the end of the war. Colonel Leventhorpe did not return to the command, and for some time Lieutenant-Colonel Martin was the only field officer. He became, upon the exchange of Colonel Leventhorpe and his promotion to be Brigadier-General of the North Carolina Reserves, Colonel of the regiment, and Cap- tain Bird, of Company C, its Major. On the death of Captain Arm- field, at Johnson's Island, who was entitled by seniority to the Lieu- tenant-Colonelcy, Major Bird became Lieutenant-Colonel. The ranking Captains were prisoners, and so we could not have a Major, and when Colonel Bird was killed at Ream's Station, Colonel Mar- tin, for the second time, became the only field officer in the regi- ment, and so continued to the end of the war. In a similar way most of the companies were crippled in the matter of officers. In spite of this great hindrance, the career of the regiment continued to be in every way worthy of its glorious past, a fact which is infinitely to the credit of the private soldiers and their non-commissioned officers.

FALLING WATERS.

Pettigrew's Brigade was the rear guard when the Potomac was re-crossed at Falling Waters on the i4th, and about n o'clock the men mostly asleep from exhaustion a small body of cavalry, a squadron of the Sixth Michigan, made its appearance and was mis- taken for our own cavalry and allowed to approach with 175 yards unmolested. They madly charged our lines and were annihilated; but in the melee General Pettigrew was mortally wounded by a ball from the pistol of the major in command. Subsequently a heavy force of the enemy came up, and the crossing of the brigade had to be done fighting, and some loss was sustained, including a few cap- tured, doubtless because they were too much exhausted to keep up. As the brigade crossed about 12 o'clock, the pontoon bridge was cut loose, and for the first time for many days the command drew a free breath. Next day the brigade marched to Bunker Hill in com- mand of Major Jones, where the army encamped for several days to recuperate and where Lieutenant-Colonel Martin, who had been sent back to the hospital after the brigade left Fredericksburg, re- joined his regiment and took command of the brigade, being in turn relieved by Colonel Singeltary, of the Forty-fourth, when that regi- ment rejoined the brigade.