Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 24.djvu/338

 330 Snilllnrii llislui'irul Xor/V///

those bloody fights and sustained a loss of twelve killed and 146 wounded.

It encamped below the city of Richmond for a short time and was then ordered, July 29th, to Gordonsville, near which place it re- mained until just before the battle of Cedar Run, August gth, in which it bore a very conspicuous part. Many of the men wiped their guns out as they advanced under the hottest fire; and when in- fantry and cavalry had been repulsed, and General Jackson appeared on the field in its front, the men wildly cheered him and called to him to let them know what he wished done and they would do it. The loss in this fight was three killed and twenty-six wounded.

In this battle, after the enemy had been repulsed and the regiment had crossed the road to connect with General Taliaferro's command, the colonel chided a member of Company F for falling out of ranks. When the soldier replied that he was no coward but was exhausted and could go no further, the colonel took off his canteen, handed it to him, and told him to take a "stiff drink " and rejoin his company. Not long after, as the colonel was passing down the "line, compli- menting his men for their gallantry, that brave fellow stepped out of ranks, saluted and said: " Colonel, here I am. I tell you what, that drink you gave me just now has set me up again, and I feel as though I could whip a whole regiment of Yankees." Everybody was in a good humor, and of course everybody laughed.

At the shelling across the Rappahannock on the 24th of August, the 28th was sent to the support of Braxton's and Davidson's Bat- teries, and a part of the regiment was thrown forward with instruc- tions to prevent, if possible, the destruction of the bridge across the river near Warrenton White Sulphur Springs.

The most laughable fight was at Manassas Junction, August 27th, when Jackson got in Pope's rear, and the brigade chased Taylor's New Jersey command into the swamps of Bull Run. One of the 28th was very much astonished, after jumping over a bush from the railroad embankment, to find that he had also jumped over a Yankee crouched beneath. Another was still more astonished when he got on all-fours to take a drink of water, to find that a fellow had sought safety in the culvert. He was an Irishman, and after he had crawled from his hiding-place, he created an uproar by slapping the Tar Heel on the shoulder and remarking: "You got us badly this time. Come, let's take a drink." Both of them "smiled" out of the same canteen.

At Manassas Plains, on the 28th of August, this regiment was