aORTHCAkou,. _^ XALEIGH, »«,t ? THE ANSON GUARDS COMPANY C, FOURTEENTH REGIMENT NORTH CAROLINA VOLUNTEERS 1861-1865 BY MAJ. W. A. SMITH STONE PUBLISHING CO. CHARLOTTE, N. C. 1914 ! / DEDICATED TO THE MOTHERS, THE WIVES AND THE DAUGHTERS OF THE CONFEDERACY- DOWERED WITH ALL THE GRACES- DOWERED WITH THE COURAGE OF CON- VICTION—SUSTAINERS OF THE ARMY- ANGUISHED, PATHETIC, LONGING, WAIT- ING, IMPASSIONED, SORROWED !—ENDUR- ING TO THE END: AND—AND BEYOND:— UNCONQUERED, HEROIC, SOUTHERN WOMANHOOD REVERENTLY WE SALUTE THEE. THE AUTHOR. 54106 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I The Southeen Soldier. What he Fought For 1 II Flag Presented. Bon Mots of Dargan, Nelme and Others 5 III Secession. Camp Life 15 IV Forward Movement. Women of Virginia . 18 V Company C, 14th Reg. N. C. Volunteers . 22 VI First Hard March. Peach and Honey ... 25 VII Fort Bee. Oyster Fishing. Captain Vance . 29 VIII Chills and Fever. Christmas Day at Fort Bee 34 IX Ladies at Fort Bee. Brigade Formed. Ben's Church 38 X First Hostile Bullet Heard. Hazardous Re- connoissance 42 XI Re-enlisting. Captain Smith 47 XII Colonel of 26th N. C. V. Anecdotes ... 55 XIII Company C. Baptism of Blood at Williams- burg 58 XIV Anson Guards Generals. Hello. Charlie, What you Doing? 63 XV Reveille. Pay Day. Chaplain Power ... 70 XVI Seven Pines. The Lone Private 74 XVII The Situation. General Johnston. General Lee 81 XVIII Battle of Seven Pines. Incidents .... 85 XIX Comforts of the Yankee Soldiers. Candles. Chickahominy Fever 89 XX The Northern and Southern Armies. Gen. D. H. Hill's Division 93 XXI Mechanicsvllle. Beaver Dam. Powhite . 96 XXII Cold Harbor. Gains Mill. Artillery Dis- play at Night 100 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XXIII Freyser's Farm. Savage Station. Runaway Train. The Storm 107 XXIV Malvern Hill. Heroism. Happy Go Lucky, Devil May Care 110 XXV The Aftermath. Roll Call after Malvern Hill 118 XXVI General Lee Outlines his Plans. A Fighter from the Way Back 120 XXVII Gen. Lee's Strategy. General Consternation 123 XXVIII Failures of Confederate Generals. The Cross of Honor 126 XXIX The Epp's Home. The Confederate Surgeon . 130 XXX Fatalism in the Confederate Army. Spoils of Battle, Conscripts 135 XXXI Jackson's Foot Cavalry. Headquarters in the Saddle 139 XXXII Sultry Heat. Fiendish Dust. Bivouacking. Marse Robert 146 XXXIII Crossing the Potomac. Maryland . .. .150 XXXIV South Mountain. Sharpsburg. Going into Battle with an Honorable Discharge . 153 XXXV Recuperating on the Opequan. The Savory Pot of Backbones 159 XXXVI Religious Services. Artillery Hell. Infan- try Inferno 165 XXXVII Foraging. Billy Yank and Johnny Reb. Faithful Darky Cooks 170 XXXVIII The Wilderness 176 XXXIX Chancellorsville. Medal Awarded .... 181 XL The Bravest Man in the Army. Gen. Early and the Irish Soldier ... .... 187 XLI Re-organization. Copperheads. Prison Life . 191 XLII Brandy Station. Berryville. Winchester. Capturing a Yankee Camp 197 XLIII Gettysburg. A Shoe Store. The Iron Bri- gade 203 XLIV Incident of the Battle Field. Masterly Re- treat 209 XLV Falling Waters. Jokes. Laughter. Songs . 214 CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE XLVI Mine Run Campaign. Devastation. The Feast we Could not Enjoy 219 XLVII WlNTEE QUAETEBS. THE LOVE FEAST. KabBITS Smoked 225 XLVIII Spbing of 1864. Battle of The Wildebness . 228 XLVIII Spbing of 1864. Battle of the Wlldebness . 228 XLIX Spottsylvania. Giving Wateb to the Wounded Enemy. Leading Tbaveleb to the Rear . 237 L General Gbant Shunning His Objective. Capt. Fbeeman Killed at Bethesda Church 243 LI Cold Habbob. A Leadeb Without His Rewabd. CONTBOL OF THE SEA ........ 247 LII Captain Fbeeman. Geo. L. Stanback . 253 LIII Spottsylvania. In the Evening by the Twi- light 257 LIV General Stuart. In the Valley. Old Jube's Foot Cavalby 263 LV Genebal Shebidan in the Valley. Women of the South 270 LVI The Young Volunteer's Heboism. The Divided Pie. Tom Watkins' Nabbattve .... 275 LVII The Valley Campaign. Seige of Petebsbubg. Exhaustion 287 LVIII General Lee's Last Council of War. Appo- mattox 291 LIX List of the Anson Guards Subbendebed. Gen. Gbant' s Kindness. Lee on Tbaveleb . .298 LX Nostalgia. Home Again. Genebal Shebman's Devastations 306 LXI Bbief Histoby of the Individual Membebs of the Anson Guards 314 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Gen. Kobert Edward Lee Frontispiece PAGE Col. Eisden Tyler Bennett 8 Thomas J. Watkins 14 Gen. Daniel Harvey Hill 74 Maj. W. A. Smith 132 Corp. James A. Smart 162 Sergt. E. F. Fenton 190 George L. Stanback 256 Charles H. Cox 256 William L. Stanback 256 Presley 1ST. Stanback 256 Gen. Stephen Dodson Eamseur 258 THE ANSON GUARDS CHAPTER I Words, dead words, but faintly describe the active scenes and stirring life in the sixties — the war between the States — in which the Anson Guards participated, but words are our only medium to portray the boy soldiers' doings; their joys, their sorrows, their hardships and en- durance of those days now passed near and quite a half century. The readers will pardon imperfections of style and omissions, for the subject is too great to be compassed in the brief history we are writing. This history is written by the men who, as boys, were actively engaged — eyewitnesses of the facts herein set down, chiefly taken from a diary kept by Thomas J. Wat- kins, attested and ratified by others. What we have writ- ten, we have written and know to be true. That taken from information we believe to be true. Nothing in exaggeration, nothing in malice, simply a statement of facts as we saw them. In interpreting the valor of the Southern troops in the great war full credit must be given to the idea and the fact that he was fighting for principle — the interpreta- tion of the Constitution as held by the fathers, when they formed and created that nation called the United States, by adopting that immortal instrument — taking their stand against the expounding of that sacred instrument made 1 2 THE ANSON GUARDS by the North by what is known as the higher law. His conscience was clear in the conviction that he had right and law on his side to fight in defense of the reserved rights of the States, which included the right of secession — especially was this so when the North invaded the South. This was the high ground upon which he stood — he must in all honor resist and defend his State and country from invasion. Hence the South, as one man sprang to arms regardless of consequences, regardless of the question of secession or of slavery or of States rights — all lost or overshadowed by the thought that their independence was threatened by the invasion of their country. They looked upon the Federal Government as transcend- ing its powers when it placed an armed foot on sacred Southern soil — to conquer a free people — to coerce them into fraternity. They knew the cause of freedom was holy, and throughout the whole four years of the war con- ducted themselves and their warfare so as to preserve in- tact this holy conception. It is only by grasping these thoughts clearly that one can understand the ardor of the Southern soldier — his invincibility, and his cheerful en- durance of hardships. That among all his privations his government was doing all in its power and the final out- come would be independence. His cause was just, God was just and would not suffer wrong to prevail over right. This it was that made him so fearless and brave, enabling him to wrest victory from overwhelming numbers. He did not fight in defense of slavery, never fired a gun to perpetuate slavery; indeed the freedom of the negro was scarcely thought of and never discussed. He volunteered to fight in defense of his country, to drive back the in- vaders, believing the God of battles was on his side and would give him the victory regardless of fearful odds in ; THE ANSON GUARDS S numbers, in armament, in supplies and in everything con- ducive to thorough equipment of an army organized for invasion and victory. Southern sentiment regarded the war as righteous and even men, eminent in the church, endued with all the Christian virtues, did not hesitate to volunteer, not only as chaplains but in the ranks. The Anson Guards had a chaplain, Eev. William C. Power, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. When the company was organized into a regiment, by the army regulations only one chaplain was allowed to a regiment, and our chaplain was voluntarily supported by the com- pany. These reverend gentlemen thought it not deroga- tory to their Christian calling to take up the musket of some disabled comrade and engage in the higher calling of using it in defending their country from invasion. Many company chaplains entered the ranks as privates, and shared, without complaint the hardships, the dangers, in the camp and in the field. The Southern army was thor- oughly imbued with the idea that they engaged in a holy contest, in defense of their rights, their homes, their fire- sides, and in opposing the invasion of their country, there- fore, courage and prowess animated them far beyond their brave opponents. "Thrice armed is he who has his quarrel just." This it was that made him victor in desperate battles over foes of the same blood, equally as brave and quadrupled in numbers. There was a kind of passionate glorification in renunciation of the Stars and Stripes, because the South had been imposed upon by the aggressive spirit of the North — denying them equal rights in the Union by the running of the Mason and Dixon line (some of the pillars of this line are still standing) ; by the over- riding of the decision of the Supreme Court; by intoler- 4 THE ANSON GUARDS ance and coercion; by the establishing the underground railroad, and last but not least, the public proclamation of the doctrine "that the Constitution was a league with the devil and a covenant with hell." This spirit drove the South to secession, and as one man, the chivalry of the Southern States arose to do battle against the aggres- sive acts of the North — trampling rough-shod over our rights guaranteed by the Constitution.