For the record, this regiment and the 1st NC Regiment served together for almost the entire war, assigned to the same brigades and fighting in all the same battles/skirmishes except for Farmville, VA (as shown below).

Company A was raised in Greene County, and originally commanded by Capt. Robert H., Drysdale.
Company B was raised in Duplin County, and originally commanded by Capt. Stephen D. Thruston, M. D. of Brunswick County.
Company C was raised in Cumberland County, and originally commanded by Capt. Peter Mallett.
Company D was raised in Wilmington [New Hanover County], and originally commanded by Capt.Edward Savage.
Company E was raised in Onslow County, and originally commanded by Capt. Marquis LaFayette S. Redd.
Company F was raised in Wilmington [New Hanover County], and originally commanded by Capt. William M. Parsley.
Company G was raised in Onslow County, and originally commanded by Capt. Edward H. Rhodes.
Company H was raised in Bladen County, and originally commanded by Capt. Theodore M. Sikes.
Company I was raised in Beaufort County, and originally commanded by Capt. John R. Carmer.
Company K was raised in New Hanover County, and originally commanded by Capt. David Williams.

The several companies were ordered to assemble at Garysburg; and in the latter part of May they began to report to the officer in charge of the camp. A portion of the 3rd NC Regiment was ordered to Richmond early in July, where it was joined some weeks later by the remaining companies. A few days after the first battle of Manassas the regiment was ordered to report to Major General Theophilus H. Holmes (NC) at Acquia Creek, and went into camp near Brooks' Station, on the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad, later moving camp to a point near the Potomac River.

As winter approached, having meantime built substantial quarters, they took up their abode therein immediately in rear of the lower battery of those constructed for the defense of Acquia Creek. Upon the evacuation of the line of the Potomac, the 3rd NC Regiment, with the 1st NC Regiment, was ordered to Goldsborough to meet an expected advance of Federal Major General Ambrose Burnside from New Bern, remaining thereabouts until early in June, 1862. In May, Lt. Colonel Cowan having been promoted to the colonelcy of the 18th NC Regiment, Major William L. DeRosset was made Lt. Colonel and Capt. Edward Savage became Major.

The 1st and 3rd NC Regiments were under the same brigade commanders from first to last; but, unfortunately, were brigaded with troops from other States until the capture at Spotsylvania Court House, on May 12, 1864, of so many of this regiment. First, Colonel John G. Walker (TX) was promoted to Brigadier General and assigned to command the brigade, then consisting of the 1st and 3rd NC Regiments and the 30th Virginia and 1st Arkansas. This regiment having been ordered to Richmond, arrived on the battlefield of Seven Pines just after the battle had been fought. Here it remained for several weeks, chiefly on picket duty, with an occasional skirmish with the enemy, losing several of its men. While here a new brigade was formed, composed of the 1st and 3rd NC Regiments, the 4th and 44th Georgia, with Brigadier General Roswell S. Ripley (SC) was assigned to its command, Major General Daniel H. Hill (NC) being in command of the division.

During the period from that date to the opening of the battles around Richmond the command was in camp about six miles from Richmond, drilling and preparing for the summer campaign. Late in the evening of June 25, 1862, Col. Gaston Meares received orders to march, and proceeding early next morning in a northerly direction, we halted on the high hills on the south of the Chickahominy River where it was crossed by the Mechanicsville Pike. On the 26th of June, after a circuitous and fatiguing night march, the regiment arrived in the vicinity of Mechanicsville. Here a detail of one company from each regiment was made, and Lt. Col. William L. DeRosset, of the 3rd NC Regiment, was placed in command. The object of this select battalion was to clear the way and examine the bridge across the Chickahominy River. (A mine was thought to have been placed under it by the enemy). In order to understand its duties more fully, its officers were sent to the top of the hill nearby, from which could be seen the route intended, etc. On this hill, and in range of the enemy's guns, a group of distinguished Confederates were assembled, including President Jefferson Davis, Mr. George W. Randolph (CSA Secretary of War), Generals Robert E. Lee, James Longstreet and Daniel H. Hill, waiting to hear Lt. General Stonewall Jackson's guns on the north side of Mechanicsville before ordering an advance.

After the battalion alluded to above had examined and crossed the bridge, and cleared the field of skirmishers, Ripley's Brigade having been selected as the assaulting column, was ordered across the bridge and to form a line of battle. It advanced to the attack in front of the splendid artillery of the enemy strongly posted across the pond at Ellyson's Mills. The regiment pressed forward in the face of this heavy fire in open field for more than a mile, advancing steadily to what seemed inevitable destruction, until it reached the top of the hill, when a halt was ordered, bayonets fixed, and a charge, led by Col. Gaston Meares, was made down the hill, which was checked by the canal; and after lying down a short while, the regiment was ordered to the right and rear, and up the hill, taking shelter in a skirt of woods, where we remained until just before daybreak. We were so near the enemy that the least noise, even the snapping of a twig, provoked their fire. From thence, before day, we marched to Mechanicsville and were placed in line of battle under a heavy artillery fire in the rear of the 18th NC Regiment, until the enemy were driven from their works on the opposite side of the creek. The 3rd NC Regiment lost perhaps less than either of the other regiments. Maj. Edward Savage being the only one of our field officers wounded.

Joining, after the battle, the forces of Lt. General Stonewall Jackson, the command was marched by a circuitous route to Cold Harbor, or Gaines's Mill, where the battle took place on the afternoon of June 27th. Here the regiment, under the command of Col. Meares, with the exception of a small portion which had somehow become detached, was exposed to a musketry and a very severe artillery fire, and endured the ordeal known among all soldiers to be the most trying to which they are subjected, that of being under fire without being engaged in the fight. Marching thence, after two or three days' delay, the brigade found itself in front of one of the bridges over the Chickahominy River, which had been destroyed by the enemy on the south side, who had crossed the day before on the famous "grape-vine" bridge, some distance above. Here, being exposed to the enemy's fire of artillery without the means of replying, Ripley's Brigade was withdrawn into a heavy woods on the northwest side of the road, lying there all day under the artillery fire, at times very annoying, but with little loss. This was the day of the battle of Frayser's Farm, a few miles lower down the stream.

Next day, the enemy having withdrawn and the bridge having been repaired, Brig. Gen. Ripley crossed and marched on Malvern Hill, arriving there at noon, and was posted immediately in the rear of what was known as the Parsonage, on the near side of the road leading by Malvern Hill, and on the left of the army. Being ordered to advance, the whole line moved forward up the hill, across the parsonage yard, into the road beyond. Being under a most terrific fire of musketry and canister, and in close proximity to the enemy stationed in an open field in front, the left of our regiment penetrated the woods beyond, into the open field on Poindexter's Farm, where it engaged the enemy, making several charges upon him, led by Capt. David Williams of Company K, and causing the battery in front to move back. To Capt. Williams and his men great praise should be accorded for their gallantry. The right of the regiment, then in the road, after firing several rounds, was ordered by Col. Meares to lie down. At this point Capt. William M. Parsley, of Company F, was wounded in the neck, fell, and Col. Meares, being very near, went to him. The regiment was thrown into some confusion prior to reaching this position, owing to the fact that the Parsonage and yard referred to were an obstruction.

About an hour before dusk word came from the left that Capt. Hamilton A. Brown, commanding the 1st NC Regiment, was hard pressed, and wanted assistance, when the gallant Col. Meares gave the command to move by the left flank. He, being on foot in the road in front of the line, upon reaching a point near the left of the 3rd NC Regiment, stopped, and mounting the bank on the side of the road, was using his field glass surveying the Federal lines, when he was instantly killed by a slug from a shrapnel fired from a battery directly in front, said to be the 3rd Rhode Island Battery, not over seventy-five yards distant. Col. Meares was a dignified and elegant gentleman and a true type of a soldier. Kind, humane, intrepid, he always commanded the admiration of his regiment, for in him they recognized a leader who would lead. Upon his death, Lt. Col. William L. DeRosset took over command of the 3rd NC Regiment - Lt. Colonel Robert H. Cowan had been given command, as a Colonel, over the 18th NC Regiment.

Night came at last to end this bloody and disastrous struggle, though the firing was kept up until about 11 o'clock. Darkness revealed the explosive balls which the Yankees fired at us, as they struck the fences in front and rear and the undergrowth. The removal of the wounded back to Bethesda Church, our hospital, was pushed with vigor. So great was the loss of all commands in the field and road that one could walk hundreds of yards on the dead and wounded without touching the ground.

The next day the dead of these two regiments, the 1st and 3rd, were found nearer to those of the enemy than were those of any other troops on this part of the line, proving that they approached nearer the enemy's line of battle than any of the other regiments that fought on this part of the field. Our regiment suffered heavily in this engagement. The 3rd held its position during the night and bivouacked near that point for several days, when the brigade was ordered back to the old camping grounds nearer Richmond. Ripley's Brigade lay in camp for several weeks, while details were made to work on the intrenchments in our front and for several miles down towards the Chickahominy River, and other details gathered arms from several battlefields.

In the latter part of July, Col. William L. DeRosset returned from Raleigh, and brought with him four hundred conscripts, who were at once divided into squads, and, under command of non-commissioned officers, were drilled several hours daily. This not only helped to discipline the raw levies, but hardened them somewhat, thus enabling them the better to stand the strains incident to the march into Maryland, which soon followed.

About the 9th of August the regiment moved in the direction the army had taken, passing the battlefield of Cedar Run, and was in reserve at 2nd Manassas and Chantilly. Afterwards, it crossed the Potomac River at Point of Rocks and camped near Frederick, MD, where it remained for several days, then crossed the South Mountain at Crampton's Gap and remained at Boonsboro Gap until the 14th, when it participated in the battle of the gap, Ripley's Brigade marched by a road leading towards the Boonsboro and Sharpsburg Pike. On reaching a point on the crest of the hill, just after crossing Antietam Creek on the stone bridge, the command was placed in line of battle under the hill, the right of the 3rd NC Regiment, in the absence of the 4th Georgia, on the right of the bridge, and resting on the Boonsboro Pike. This was on the evening of the 15th, and the brigade remained in that position until the evening of the 16th, under a heavy artillery fire from the enemy's guns on the side of the creek, but without loss, being well protected by the crest of the hill under which they lay.

Col. Stephen D. Thruston's account of the battle of Sharpsburg, MD:

On the evening of the 16th September, 1862, being in line of battle in front of the town of Sharpsburg, a little before sunset we were moved, left in front, from this position, along the Sharpsburg-Hagerstown Pike, some distance to the left, until reaching the mouth of a lane (apparently a private road leading to a farm) leading in a generally perpendicular direction from the pike to Antietam Creek; following this lane a short distance, we again filed to the left, across the field and halted under the brow of a hill, on which and in front was a white farmhouse (Mumma's) about two hundred yards distant. A little to the right and rear of this honse was an apple orchard surrounded by a rail fence. In this position we slept, to be aroused at early dawn of the 17th by the guns of the enemy. Before advancing to the attack, the house was set on fire by order of Major General Daniel H. Hill (NC), three men from the 3rd NC Regiment—Lt. James F. Clark was one of the three, also Jim Knight—volunteering to perform the duty.

The order to advance was then given, and we moved up the slope of the hill until reaching the fence around the orchard, where we halted to give time for the left center of the brigade to pass the obstruction of the burning house. (It was at this fence Brigadier General Roswell Ripley (SC) was hit in the throat - he survived). The house being passed, the 3rd NC Regiment mounted over the fence and through the orchard, when the order was given to change direction to the left, to meet the pressure upon Lt. General Stonewall Jackson, near what is known as the Dunkard Church, on the Sharpsburg-Hagerstown Pike. This change of front was admirable, though executed under a heavy fire of infantry and artillery. Owing to this change, our line of battle was five hundred yards further to the left than that of the early morning, when first ordered to advance, which brought us in close connection with the troops of the right, and in the deadly embrace of the enemy. I use the word embrace in its fullest meaning. Here, Col. DeRosset fell, severely wounded, and permanently disabled, Capt. Stephen D. Thruston taking command at once.

It was now about 7:30 a m., and Lt. Gen. Jackson's troops were in the woods around and west of the Dunkard Church and north of the Sharpsburg-Hagerstown Pike. As we came up he advanced and drove the enemy back across a corn field and into a piece of woods east and north of the church; here the enemy, being reinforced by Federal Major General Joseph K. Mansfield's Corps of three divisions, returned to the assault, and the fight became desperate for an hour. The two weak divisions of Lt. Gen. Jackson aud one brigade of Brig. Gen. Daniel H. Hill (SC) fought and held in check the six divisions of Federal Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker and Maj. Gen. Mansfield. So tenaciously did these brave troops cling to the earth, that when reinforced by Maj. Gen. John B. Hood (TX) and two brigades of Maj. Gen. Daniel H. Hill (NC), they were still north of the pike and contending for every inch of ground between it and the corn field in front. At the moment when their ammunition was absolutely exhausted, and all had been used from the boxes and pockets of their wounded and dead comrades, the reinforcements of Hill and Hood, above referred to, came up and stayed the tide for a short time. Now Federal Maj. Gen. Edwin V. Sumner, with his three divisions, put in an appearance, when our thin lines were slowly pressed back, by weight of numbers, into the woods and beyond the church to the edge of a field to the south, through which the divisions of Maj. Gen. John G. Walker (TX) and Maj. Gen. LaFayette McLaws (GA) were hurrying to our assistance. When the 3d NC Regiment laid down on the edge of the field to allow their friends to pass over them to the front, there was not one single cartridge in the command, and every gun was empty. It was now about 10:30 o'clock a.m., so that the men of this gallant regiment had been fighting vast odds for three hours, never quitting the field until absolutely pushed off, and not then until every cartridge of the living and the dead had been exhausted.

One curious incident of this morning's battle was when Federal Maj. Gen. Mansfield's Corps came into action a Federal division marched up, and halting in column of battalions in the west woods, part of the time within one hundred yards of the right of the 3rd NC Regiment, made no effort to advance, although for five hundred yards to our right there was nothing to prevent its doing so. Nor did this division make any show of resistance until attacked by Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Colquitt's (GA) and Brig. Gen. Samuel Garland's (VA) Brigades (the latter under Colonel D. K. MacRae), when we were reinforced by Maj. Gen. Hill. The only grounds upon which we can account for this are that this division was covering the movements of Federal Maj. Gen. Israel B. Richardson and Brig. Gen. William H. French, who were preparing to assault our center, now desperately weakened, at a point now known as the "Bloody Lane." This conjecture is based on the fact that these two divisions did make an attack at that point a short time after Maj. Gen. Hill had sent his two brigades from that position to reinforce the left, and just as Maj. Gen. Walker came to the relief of Maj. Gen. Hill. It is a fact, that for five hundred yards on our right, that is, from the right of the 3rd NC Regiment to the left of Maj. Gen. Hill, there was a gap in our lines, directly in front of which, in the early part of the engagement, a Federal division halted and remained halted until it was filled by a part of Walker's Division [?]. The gap existed, and the enemy was expected every minute to march through.

In the June "Century" Longstreet (page 313) speaks of Col. John R. Cooke's (NC) holding a fence without ammunition, while his staff (Longstreet's) fought two guns of the Washington Artillery. He does not say that while working the guns the 3rd NC Regiment, having refilled its cartridge boxes, and going to the front a second time, volunteered to relieve Col. Cooke's 27th NC Regiment, and while doing so two more full batteries also came to his relief, from whose duels with the enemy the 3rd NC Regiment suffered severely. He says nothing about my message to him by Lt. Cicero E. Craige, who rather exaggeratingly delivered it thus: "Captain sends his compliments, and requests re-nforcements, as he has only one man to every panel of fence, and the enemy is strong and very active in his front," and his reply: "Tell Captain Thruston he must hold his position if he has only one man to every sixteen panels of fence. I have no assistance to send him." Nor does he say how faithfully this order was obeyed, by which the regiment remained on that hill and under that fence, with the rails of which the enemy's artillery played battle-dore and shuttlecock from midday of the 17th until 10 o'clock a.m. of the 18th, with not so much as one drop of water. Yet these are facts, and stand a monument to the soldierly endurance of the 3rd NC Regiment on the memorable field of Sharpsburg.

It was while riding with Maj. Gen. Daniel H. Hill (NC) on the morning of the 18th, to obtain a regiment to relieve the 3rd NC Regiment, from that position at the fence, that he said: "Your regiment fought nobly yesterday." The words are well remembered as we all know that a compliment from General Hill was of the rarest sort.

The tenacity with which the 3rd NC Regiment held its ground in front of the Dunkard Church, entirely unsupported on its right, and with a very thin line on its left, with three separate lines of the enemy pelting it mercilessly in front and a reserve column standing like a hound in the leash on its immediate right, waiting its chance to pounce upon it as soon as any wavering was seen; its steadiness when ammunition began to run short, and the cartridge boxes and pockets of the wounded and dead were emptied to meet its necessities; the sullen backward step, as inch by inch it was pressed from its line, all pronounce it, with voices loud, a fearless, enduring, self-reliant body of as glorious men as were ever led to battle. Every man seemed to know and feel the responsibility of his position; seemed to know that there was no help to send him, and that he must do or die until relief had time to reach him from the rear, or General Lee's army was doomed.

And how thoroughly was that duty performed. Twice, before any relief or reinforcements came, did the regiment, when reduced to a handful, but that handful dauntless, stand and receive the volleys of the Federals at twenty paces, and then, with a yell, dash and drive back the foe. As Brig. Gen. Alfred H. Colquitt's (GA) Brigade dashed in splendidly on our right, the joyful yell: "Come on, boys; we've no ammunition, but we will go with you!" was heard over the din of battle. But human endurance has a limit. At this moment the 3rd NC Regiment reinforcement, in the shape of Federal Maj. Gen. EdwinV. Sumner's Corps, was marched to the Federal assistance, and our brave boys were forced stubbornly and sullenly from the field. Their duty was nobly done; their sacrifice had enabled Maj. Gen. Walker and Maj. Gen. McLaws to come up, and the day was saved.

Thus was fought, and successfully, the battle of the 3rd NC Regiment at Sharpsburg; and if it had been retired from service and had not fired another gun, the endurance fearlessness, tenacity and valor of that day would have been a crown of glory suitable to adorn the brow of the bravest of the brave. In truth, this one North Carolina regiment was in the vortex of the fire, the pivot upon which success or annihilation turned, and thank God, it stood the test and saved the day. Of the twenty-seven (27) officers who went into action on that memorable morning, all save three were disabled, and seven killed. Lt. Duncan E. McNair, of Company H, was badly wounded in the leg early in the day, but refused to leave, although urged to do so by the Colonel, and soon after gave up his life-blood on his country's altar. The official report of the division commander gives the loss in the 3rd NC Regiment, but it is less than was reported at the close of the day by Lt John S. F. Van Bokkelen [by now at Sharpsburg, he was a captain], acting Adjutant, who stated that of the five hundred and twenty carried into action only one hundred and ninety could be accounted for.

Ripley's Brigade, after bearing the brunt of the battle, was ordered to retreat, the enemy not pursuing. The manner of this retreat was slow and in order, and under Maj. Gen. Daniel H. Hill's personal supervision. Observing an abandoned caisson, he (Hill) ordered the soldiers to remove it from the field, remarking: "We will not leave the enemy so much as a wheel." We continued the retreat to the Dunkard Church, on the Hagerstown Road, where, after being supplied with ammunition, our lines were reformed, the enemy making no further demonstration on that day. The following day the troops rested on the field, in plain view of the enemy's lines, and during the night crossed the swollen Potomac River at Shepherdstown, marched to Bunker Hill, where they bivouacked for several weeks, being employed in watching the enemy and tearing up the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad at night, near Martinsburg, Charlestown, and Harper's Ferry.

End of Thruston's account of the battle of Sharpsburg, MD.

After resting several weeks in the lower valley, the army moved by way of New Market Gap, passing Orange Court House in the direction of Fredericksburg. While in bivouac for the night near Gordonsville, Maj. Gen. Daniel H. Hill issued orders requiring company commanders to see that the bare-footed men made moccasins for themselves of the hides just taken from the beeves, and the brigade continued its march to Port Royal, on the Rappahannock River, where it remained for several days. On the morning of the 12th of December the troops moved back in the direction of Fredericksburg, marching the greater part of the night, and reached Hamilton's Crossing on the morning of the 13th. This regiment was in the second line until the evening of the first day, when it took position in the first line. The enemy being driven back, we lay on the field, anticipating another furious battle, and "bitterly thought of the morrow," but no blood was shed this day. The enemy sent a flag of truce on the 14th, asking permission of Lt. General Stonewall Jackson to remove his dead and wounded. The enemy retreated, and thus ended the first battle of Fredericksburg.

After this the regiment built and occupied winter quarters on the Rappahannock River, near Skinker's Neck. Here we spent the winter of 1862-'63 on picket duty along the river. While stationed at this point this regiment, which had been in Maj. Gen. Daniel H. Hill's Division, was now changed to Jackson's old division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Isaac R. Trimble (VA), and our gallant Georgia comrades, the 4th and 44th Regiments, were exchanged for the 10th, 23rd, and 37th Virginia Regiments. These regiments, with the 1st and 3rd NC Regiments, formed a new brigade, and Brig. Gen. Raleigh E. Colston (VA) was assigned to command it.

Lest the continuity in the promotion of the field officers should not be apparent to all, and especially such as are unacquainted with the military gradation below the rank of a general officer, we formulate it with the following results: After the death of Col. Gaston Meares at Malvern Hill, Lt. Col. William L. DeRosset was promoted to Colonel; Maj. Edward Savage became Lt. Colonel; and Captain Stephen D. Thruston became Major. You will observe in Colonel Thruston's account of :the battle of Sharpsburg (not report, as it appears, for it was written some years after the war) that he refers to himself as Captain; his commission as Major had not then reached him, owing to the rapid and uncertain direction of the movements of the army, and consequently the greater uncertainty of the mails. It not infrequently happened that commissions were dated months prior to their being received by officers in the Army of Northern Virginia for whom they were intended. Subsequent to the battle of Sharpsburg, Lt. Col. Edward Savage resigned on account of ill health, Maj. Stephen D. Thruston then became Lt. Colonel, and Capt. William M. Parsley was promoted to Major. Subsequently Col. William L. DeRosset resigned his commission, having been disabled by a wound received at Sharpsburg. By regular gradation then Lt. Colonel Thruston became Colonel; Major William M. Parsley became Lt. Colonel, and Capt.William T. Ennett was promoted to Major. Such was the personnel of the field officers prior to the battle of Chancellorsville, in May of 1863, and so it remained until the close of the war. The regiment was ever after this time commanded either by Colonel Thruston or Lt. Colonel Parsley, as further narration will show, save for three days after the death of Lt. Colonel Parsley, which occurred on April 6, 1865, and until the surrender, April 9, 1866, when Major Ennett was in command.

On the 29th of April, 1863, this regiment, commanded by Lt. Colonel Stephen D. Thruston, left its camp at Skinker's Neck and marched to Hamilton's Crossing, thence in the direction of Chancellorsville. On the 2nd of May, Saturday morning, was commenced that grand strategic movement which has since been the wonder and admiration of the world. Rapidly marching around the enemy's lines to his right and rear, crossing the plank road and arriving on the old turnpike about 4 o'clock p.m., two and a half miles west of Chancellorsville, having marched in all more than fifteen miles in a few hours, and about five miles in a direct line from the starting point in the morning, Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson's Corps had been detached from the main body of the army to make this attack. Regimental commanders were ordered to march in rear of their regiments, with a guard of strong men with fixed bayonets, to prevent straggling. Immediately on arriving at the stone road the troops were formed in three lines of battle, Brig. Gen. Raleigh E. Colston's (VA) Brigade being in the second line. The order to advance was obeyed with promptness. Rushing on toward the enemy's camp, the first scene that can be recalled is the abundant supply of beef and slaughtered rations cooking. The Federal Brig. Gen. Alexander Schimmelfennig's (PA) Brigade suffered heavily as prisoners. The whole affair was a wild scene of triumph on our part. Thus we continued the pursuit until night, when the enemy made a stand within a mile of the Chancellor house. Here great confusion ensued. The two front lines having become mingled, were halted and reformed. Shortly after, it was charged by a company of Federal cavalry, which proved to be a part of the 8th Pennsylvania Regiment. The greater portion of them were unhorsed and captured.

This was a critical period in the battle, and Lt. General Jackson seemed unusually anxious. The fighting was kept up until night, when this regiment was relieved and put in the second line, and during the first part, and even up to midnight, they were exposed to a terrific cannonading. Our men were completely exhausted from the forced march and the three or four hours of brisk fighting. Our position had to be changed from the time that we were placed in the second line until about midnight, and most of the time without avail, until the enemy's fire ceased, before our men could get any rest. They would locate our troops in the second line and so time the fuses that their shells would explode just over our heads. On Sunday, the 3rd instant, the regiment was formed on the right of the road, and, advancing, captured the first line of the enemy's works—a barricade of huge logs with abatis in front. The portion of these works that crossed a ravine and swamp, and which was favorable to the occupancy of the enemy, was assaulted three times by the Confederates before it was finally held. During one of these assaults Col. Stephen D. Thruston was wounded, and the command devolved upon Lt. Colonel William M. Parsley, who remained in command during the campaign of 1863, known as the Pennsylvania Campaign. This regiment participated in the last two of these charges. It was then that Maj. Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, who was in command (Lt. Gen. Jackson and Maj. Gen. Hill having been wounded on the evening before), ordered the whole line forward. The enemy's earthworks in front were carried by storm, and many pieces of artillery, which had occupied them, were captured. We were now in full view of the Chancellor House, and the captured guns were turned on the fleeing enemy. Soon the Chancellor House was in flames, and a glorious victory perched upon our banners.

The Confederate line was again moved forward, and executed a wheel to the left, bringing this brigade and regiment immediately to the Chancellor House, hence this brigade, which had been commanded since early in the day by Lt. Colonel Hamilton A. Brown, of the 1st NC Regiment, the other officers of the brigade out-ranking him having been wounded, was the first of the Confederate troops to reach the Chancellor House. During one of these assaults alluded to above, this brigade became detached from the division, and when it arrived at the Chancellor House was between two of Major General Robert E. Rodes' brigades. On May 6th the brigade marched to U. S. Ford. While here the enemy was permitted by General Robert E. Lee to lay a pontoon bridge and send over about one thousand ambulances to the battlefield of Chancellorsville for his wounded. The ofiicers of this regiment and brigade acted on the part of the Confederates to carry out these negotiations, General Sharp, Deputy Provost Marshal of the Army of the Potomac, acting on the part of the enemy. A whole week was consumed in effecting this object, after which the brigade was removed and operations resumed. The troops now returned to the vicinity of Fredericksburg.

Early in June of 1863, soon after the Chancellorsville battle, Major General Edward Johnson (VA) was assigned to command the former Maj. General Stonewall Jackson's Division, and Brigadier General George H. Steuart took over Brig. Gen. Raleigh E. Colston's Brigade. The division was now composed of Brig. Gen. John M. Paxton's, or the First Brigade; Brig. Gen. John M. Jones's, or the Second Brigade; and now Brig. Gen. George H. Steuart's, the third Brigade, and Lt. Col. William M. Parsley being in command of the 3rd NC Regiment.

The army now marched in the direction of Winchester, crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains at Chester Gap and participating in the battle of 2nd Winchester on the 13th and 14th June, 1863. This brigade marched all night, and by indirect route arrived at daylight on the 15th five miles below Winchester. This movement was intended to intercept and capture the fleeing troops of Maj. Gen. Robert H. Milroy (IN), who had been driven from Winchester on the previous evening. After a sharp contest at Jordan Springs more than twenty-five hundred of the enemy threw down their guns. This engagement, though of short duration, was decidedly of an active character on both sides, and this regiment, as was its wont, was in the thickest of the fray. In this battle George Rouse, of Company D, was killed, and Lt. Cicero E. Craige and others wounded. Our position being in a railroad cut, we were in a great measure protected from the enemy's bullets. While Steuart's Brigade fought the battle, a guard from Paxton's Brigade was sent to Richmond with the prisoners, and were highly commended for gallantry, which praise belonged to this brigade.

On June 18, 1863, our regiment crossed the Potomac River at Shepherdstown and encamped near the Dunkard Church, in a piece of woods embraced in the battlefield of Sharpsburg. While here and in the quietude of twilight, when all nature seemed to be in repose, and so emblematic of those weary souls, which slept peacefully under the sod of this spot, made so memorable by the heroism displayed by them scarcely a twelvemonth ago, the 1st and 3rd NC Regiments assembled, and with arms reversed and to the roll of the muflied drum marched to the battlefield, where the Rev. George Patterson, Chaplain of the 3rd, read the burial services. A detail of men under the command of Lt. James I. Metts (afterwards Captain) had previously during the day fired a military salute over the spot where their bodies were buried. Upon this solemn occasion many tears stole down the bronzed cheeks of the old veterans, and all heads were bowed in grief.

From this camp the regiment, with the brigade, marched via Hagerstown to Chambersburg, Greencastle, and McConnelsburg, to the vicinity of Carlisle, from which point we counter-marched, and after a very long and tiresome march, on the 1st of July, 1863, arrived at Gettysburg, PA about 7:30 o'clock, and filed to the left, nearly encircling the town. Here we lay in line of battle until the evening of the 2nd, when about 6 o'clock we were ordered forward. We were on the right of the brigade and were ordered to connect our right with the left of Brig. Gen. Francis T. Nicholls' (LA) Brigade, and at the same time by wheel to the right to properly prolong their lines. We did so, thereby in some degree disconnecting our regiment from the rest of the brigade. We continued to the front, driving the enemy's skirmishers before us without trouble, and with very little loss, until we met his line of battle at his first line of breastworks. He was, however, driven from those, and soon thereafter we received a front and oblique fire from behind his second line of breastworks, to which he had fallen back. He was soon driven from the portion from which we received the oblique fire, and then the fire from the front seemed even more terrific. A steady firing was kept up until 10 o'clock p.m., when, as by common consent, it ceased, re-opening at 4:30 o'clock next morning. We here found our ammunition nearly exhausted, some men having not more than two rounds. We partially refilled our cartridge boxes from those of the dead and wounded, of whom there was a great number, and held this position that night and the next morning, exposed to a terrific fire until about 10:30 o'clock p.m., when we were ordered to move by the left flank along the line of the captured breastworks, and to cross them and form line with the rest of the brigade to charge the enemy's works on what was supposed to be his right flank. The few men then remaining in this regiment were formed on the right of the brigade and very soon thereafter were ordered forward, the line advancing beautifully under the heaviest fire, until we found our regiment alone moving to the front, unsupported, when the officers and men were ordered to withdraw, which was done slowly and without confusion, the regiment being greatly reduced (one company—Captain John Cowan's—and part of another being detached to fill up a space between the regiment and the Louisiana brigade). Too much praise cannot be given to the officers and men of our command for their coolness and bravery, for the promptness with which they obeyed all orders given them, and their untiring zeal generally. The enemy was driven back to the Baltimore Turnpike in this charge by Steuart's Brigade, which came so near inflicting a critical blow on the enemy's extreme right flank. Had this gallant movement been supported the charge of Longstreet would not have been necesssary.

That last charge on the third day was a cruel thing for the 3rd NC Regiment. They had borne their full share of the engagement, not even enjoying the protection of the works they had captured from the enemy, by reason of their position, other regiments of the brigade happening by the fortunes of the battle to have them (breastworks) in their front. There they stood, heroes, holding their ground unprotected, receiving a most deadly fire, giving in turn, like true soldiers, what they could from their decimated ranks, most of their comrades being already down, dead or wounded, until ordered to the right to join the balance of the brigade to participate in the charge.

The battle of Gettysburg is generally conceded to have been the hardest fought battle of the war on either side; at least of those in which General Robert E. Lee's army was engaged. This regiment certainly suffered more in killed and wounded than in any of the many battles in which it was engaged. What fearful slaughter it endured is shown beyond peradventure by the figures. Entering the battle with three hundred guns, it was greatly reduced by the killing and wounding of two hundred and twenty-three men. When the regiment was mustered after the battle, seventy-seven muskets were all that could be gotten in the ranks, and it lost no prisoners and had no stragglers. The loss was within a fraction of seventy-five per cent. Lt. Col. William M. Parsley, Capt. Edward H. Armstrong and Lt. Robert H. Lyon were the only officers, perhaps, not killed or wounded.

Next day we turned our faces toward Virginia, and after several skirmishes and hard marches, arrived at Williamsport, MD, and forded the swollen Potomac River on the 15th, the men having to put their cartridge boxes on their bayonets to keep them above the water. After various marches via Front Royal and Page Valley, and with some skirmishing, we reached Orange Court House early in August and participated in the Bristoe Campaign in October of 1863, with an occasional skirmish with the enemy.

Prior to going into winter quarters, while in bivouac, the order was given about noon of November 27th for the march instanter, probably to go in force on a reconnoitering expedition, as the sequel would seem to show. However, on the first and only day of the march, about 3 o'clock p.m. on November 27, 1863, the battle of Payne's Farm was fought by Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson's Division (VA), of which this regiment formed a part. This was decidedly one of the most unique battles, in all the details connected with it, in the annals of warfare, being conducted, seemingly, regardless of tactical evolutions. A body of troops marching slowly along a country road, with no idea that their progress would be impeded or their right to proceed peaceably questioned, indulging in the characteristic chat which was usual among troops of the "same persuasion," passing two or three cavalrymen dressed in gray, who had reined their horse to the side of the road and were quietly at a standstill, ostensibly waiting for the column to pass, and when questioned by the men, as they would reach them, as to the whereabouts of the enemy, or in the usual vernacular, "have you seen any Yankees around this way?" with the utmost assurance replying, "No, there are no Yankees within miles of this place."

Imagine that under such conditions, and within a few minutes after the rear of the column had passed the point where the cavalrymen, who doubtless were spies, were stationed, this small body of troops being suddenly fired upon; what consternation, demoralization, is likely to ensue among any troops, raw or veterans, and yet these heroes of many a hard-fought battle, who had been in so many perilous positions, stood the test of this hazardous situation. Skirmishers are at once thrown out, and meet with a hot fire. They are confronted either by a line of skirmishers vastly out-numbering them, or by a close line of troops; they are checked and have to be reinforced to enable them to hold their ground. The enemy, which proved to be Maj. Gen. William H. French's Corps of infantry, has evidently flanked us, for our line of battle is immediately formed perpendicular to our line of march, and facing the direction from which we were marching, and then begins as warm a contest as this regiment was ever engaged in for the same length of time. It seemed as if the enemy was throwing minnie balls upon us by the bucketfull, when the battle got fairly under way. The 1st and 3rd NC Regiments charged across a field and routed the men who were there in a skirt of woods and in their front. Our casualties were many for a fight of such short duration. Maj. Gen. Johnson's horse was killed under him; he immediately mounted the horse of a courier and continued the direction of the battle. We drove the enemy back, completing the job by nightfall, and then pursued our way to Payne's Farm. So adroitly did Maj. Gen. Johnson handle his troops at Payne's Farm, and so successfully did he extricate them from the chaotic situation described, being further successful in repelling the enemy who were, numerically, by long odds superior to his command, that he was complimented in a special congratulatory order by General Robert E. Lee.

Reaching Mine Run (aka Payne's Farm), we remained in line of battle several days. Pickets in force were of course kept out day and night. The weather was as cold as we ever experienced; raining, too, which added to the disagreeableness of the situation. The men on the picket line were almost benumbed with cold, for fires were prohibited by special order, as if to emphasize the precarious situation at this particular juncture. Officers in command of the picket lines did endeavor, and successfully, to keep up the spirits of the men; not that the men were wanting in patriotic fervor, or that their characteristic fortitude had abated one jot or tittle, but human endurance hath limits, and poorly fed, and worse clad, their suffering was intense. When the men were stationed on the picket line after dark, they remained stationary until relieved the next night, and were expected to be the eyes and ears of that particular post or point; for the interval between the pickets was short, and each man was required to exercise the extremest surveillance over that part assigned to him individually. There was a consolatory reflection even at that time, founded upon the hypothesis that "misery loves company," to-wit, the enemy were in the same plight we were. There we lay, watching each other for several days, and beyond an occasional artillery duel, for a short time, and an occasional fire of musketry from one side or the other at some soldier who was sent out from one of the flanks to ascertain what he could, nothing occurred. The temperature was well down to zero and the biting cold was such as to chill the warmest resolution, and when both sides marched (or stole) away, each was glad.

This ended the campaign of 1863, and the regiment built and occupied winter quarters near the Rapidan River and did picket duty along that river at Mitchell's Ford during the winter 1863-'64. The writers again find themselves under special obligations to Col. Stephen D. Thruston, who has so vividly described events from the 4th to the 10th, when he was wounded; and as he says in an elaborate account covering those seven days: "The only object is simply to put upon record, for history, those men and comrades who at the time had no one to do that duty for them."

On the morning of May 4, 1864, the brigade, commanded by Brig. Gen. George H. Steuart, being on picket along the Rapidan River, discovered the columns of the Federal army in the distance, moving to the right, and apparently to the river below. The order soon came to be ready to move, and at midday the brigade took up the line of march in the direction of Locust Grove, a point on the old stone pike running from Orange Court House to Fredericksburg. This point was reached and passed in the evening of the same day, and the brigade went into bivouac about two and one half miles beyond. The night was passed in quiet. The next morning (May 5th) about 10 :30 o'clock, a few scattering shots being heard in the front, the troops were called to arms and put in motion towards the firing. We soon discovered that the Sixth Corps of the Federal army was posted in line of battle, while the remainder of the Army of the Potomac was passing on the right, along the road from Germania Ford, immediately in the rear of this line to cover the movement. Lt. Gen. Richard S. Ewell's Corps, our brigade forming a part, and the Sixth Federal Corps were then both in what was known and always called the Wilderness Campaign, the name being derived from the character of the land, which is described as "covered with a matted growth of scrub oak, stunted pine, sweet-gum brush and dogwood," and the two corps of which we write were only separated by a few hundred yards.

Steuart's Brigade was in column on the pike a very few minutes after the firing began at 10:30 o'clock a.m. Line of battle was immediately formed in the following order: The 3rd NC Regiment to the right, the 1st NC Regiment across, and the Virginia regiments to the left of the pike. It was now 10:30 o'clock a.m. (The line advanced and struck a stout line of Federal infantry in a thicket of pines skirting a field. This line of Federals was assaulted, and after a hard fight the 3rd NC Regiment and the 1st NC Regiment captured two pieces of artillery and more than one hundred prisoners. Here Colonel Jenkins, of the 146th New York Regiment, was killed. Lt. Shelton, commanding the battery (Battery D, New York Light Artillery), the captain, Winslow, having been wounded, at last surrendered two guns, howitzers, the other two escaping. We attempted to bring off the two guus captured, and did get them some distance, but the enemy, being reinforced, made an advance, and we were in turn driven back to our first position, leaving the guns between the lines. Preceding and up to the capture of the howitzers referred to the fighting was desperate, muskets and their butt ends and bayonets being used. At one time there was such an intermingling of troops that confusion decidedly predominated; every man was going it on his own hook, for it was a hand-to-hand contest. We recall that in a gully which formed a part of the topography of this battlefield, and which ran for more than a brigade front, Confederates and Federals were so nearly on even terms, or at equal advantage, that they were simultaneously demanding each other to surrender. However, we succeeded in establishing the superiority of our claim, and came off victors. It was now about 2 o'clock p.m. No more fighting was done on this front, save a few picket shots and a feeble attempt of the enemy late in the afternoon to recapture the two guns, which still remained between the lines and at a point to which we had pulled them in the morning. This was a signal failure, and the repulse was largely assisted by the men of the 1st and 3rd NC Regiments. After dark the two howitzers were brought in by details from the two North Carolina regiments.

In the early morning of the 6th, Steuart's Brigade was closed in to the left, until its right rested on the pike, with Jones's (Virginia) Brigade on its right, which connected with the left of Battle's (Alabama) Brigade. Several vigorous attempts were made during the day by the enemy by attack upon that quarter, to force the line to the left, but they were as vigorously repulsed, and then we would return to our position of the morning.

The morning of May 7th revealed the enemy gone, and the day was spent by the men in congratulations. Late in the evening of this day the brigade began closing or extending—cannot call it marching—to the right, which continued during the entire night, the men having no time for rest or sleep. The morning of May 8th dawned bright and hot. The line of march was taken up and pushed with vigor, notwithstanding the heat, dust, parching thirst and smoke and fire of burning woods. The nature of the march was sufficient to convince those heroes that their presence was required to meet the foe on some other field, and gallantly did they toil through the day. As the sun was hiding behind the western wood the brigade was thrown in line to the support of Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes's Division, in front of the Spotsylvania Court House, but was not engaged. After dark it marched and counter-marched in search of a position, and at 10 p.m. was formed in line and ordered to throw up works in that salient which proved so disastrous on the 12th following. By daylight of May 9th, in spite of the fatigue and loss of sleep on the night of the 7th and the terrible march of the 8th, the entire brigade, with no tool except the bayonet and tin plate, was entrenched behind a good and defensible rifle pit. This day was spent in strengthening the lines, scouting to the front, and that sleep, so much needed. The works or fortifications referred to assumed the shape of, and were always designated as, the "horseshoe."

The morning of May 10th found the brigade closed to the right, connecting with the left of Maj. Gen. Daniel H. Hill's Corps, with Brig. Gen. John M. Jones's (VA) Brigade on our left, occupying the works in the salient proper. Late in the afternoon Brig. Gen. George P. Doles's (GA) Brigade, whose position was on the left of Jones' Brigade, was attacked about sunset, and was pressed back upon Steuart's rear, followed closely by the exultant enemy. Orders to "Fall in," "Take arms," "Face by the rear rank," and "Forward" were repeated in quick succession. The brigade responded with alacrity, and soon was moving steadily, though moving in line of battle by the rear rank, through a small strip of woods into a field (in which stood a dwelling), and there meeting the enemy, immediately attacked. The work here was sharp and quick, resulting in the repulse of the Federals across and out of Brig. Gen. Doles's works and their occupation by Brig. Gen. Steuart. It was, however, soon discovered that Steuart did not cover Doles's entire front to the left, and fifty or more of the enemy were having a happy time enfilading the lines. Lt. Robert Lyon, with Company H, 3rd NC Regiment—the then left company—was formed across and perpendicularly to the line, and, moving promptly down the left, drove them off. Before this could be accomplished the 3rd NC Regiment, on the left, had suffered severely. Many men were wounded, including Col. Stephen D. Thruston, seriously, and Lt. Cicero E. Craige and Sergeant-Major Robert C. McRee were killed. Lt. Colonel William L. Parsley, of course, after Col. Thruston was wounded, was in command of the regiment. The brigade was then moved back to its original position and remained inactive throughout May 11th. Just after nightfall of the 11th, the artillery, for some reason or other which was never apparent to those not high in authority, if to them, was removed from their position on this part of the line, and for aught we know, from all parts, the direct effect of such withdrawal, commencing to be felt on the 12th, was never fully recovered from. We had great generals, but they were human, and "to err is human."

At the peep of dawn on May 12, 1864, dark and rainy, an attack was made by the Federals en masse on Jones's Brigade, occupying the salient angle of this doomed "horseshoe," the shock of which was felt throughout the entire Confederacy. No pen can adequately portray what occurred then and there. The weather, thus early, was a fitting prelude to a day that eventuated in so great sorrow and anguish. The elements seemed to portend impending fate—hopes blasted, aspirations crushed. The 1st NC Regiment was on the right of Jones' Brigade, and their commander, the brave Col. Hamilton A. Brown, says: "For a short time the fighting was desperate. The terrific onslaught of this vast multitude was irresistible, there being a rectangular mass of twenty thousand Federal troops, not in line of battle, but in column of regiments doubled on the centre, supported by a division on each flank—in all more than thirty thousand concentrated against this one point. The portion of the works assaulted by this formidable column was little more than four hundred yards wide. The Confederate troops occupying this angle were Jones's Brigade and the 1st NC Regiment, numbering about two thousand." The clash of arms and the murderous fire around this bloody angle are indescribable.

The enemy sweeping to the right and rear of the fortifications and striking the 3rd NC Regiment, which adjoined the 1st NC Regiment, and capturing that entire regiment, with very few escapes, pursued their way into the lines of Lt. Gen. A. P. Hill's (VA) Corps, making many captures there. Lt. Col. William L. Parsley, commanding the 3rd NC Regiment on that morning, and who was captured in his works, says: "Steuart faced the rear rank and continued to fight inside the lines until a second column attacked him in front, when, finding himself betweeen two fires at short range, he was compelled to surrender." At what particular point the enemy was checked on our right we do not know, as we were captured with Lt. Col. Parsley. The prisoners of war hauled in by the Federals on that morning we have heard estimated at three thousand, including Maj. Gen. Edward Johnson, Brig. Gen. George H. Steuart and other brigadiers, and very many field and line officers. Captain Edward H. Armstrong of Company G was killed. Some aspersion has been cast, and that, too, by one high in command, upon Jones' Brigade, for not holding their ground when attacked that morning (12th). Such a judgment, in our opinion, is not only at fault, but has a tinge of garrulous fatuity, or is predicated upon malevolence. In the name of all that is reasonable, fair, or an equitable decision as to another, how could about two thousand men, probably less, withstand the combined attack of thirty thousand men, concentrated upon a point of four hundred yards, and resist them successsfully, and that, too, without an important arm of the service (the artillery) aiding them, for, as we have said, it had been removed from their front? Remember, this was in an open space. The breastworks referred to were trenches, in depth not more than four and one-half or five feet. We have said this much in sheer justice to Jones' Brigade, for we do not believe that any similar number of troops could be found anywhere who could have done more than was done by them. We count any brigade fortunate which was not exposed to such a test.

[This website Author provides the following list of the known officers of the 3rd NC Regiment killed, wounded, or captured at the battle of Spotsylvania, VA on May 12, 1864:]

Col. Stephen D. Thruston (wounded)
Lt. Col. William L. Parsley (POW)
Capt. Edward H. Armstrong (killed)
Capt. John A. Cantwell (POW)
Capt. Archibald Craige (probable POW)
Capt. John C. Gorman (wounded)
Capt. Henry W. Horne (POW)
Lt. Thaddeus P. Barrow (POW)
Lt. Cicero E. Craige (killed)
Lt. John E. King (POW)
Lt. Christopher C. Lane (POW)
Lt. Robert H. Lyon (POW)
Lt. Charles P. Mallett (POW)
Lt. Charles W. McClammy (POW)
Lt. George M. Ormsby (POW)
Lt. Isaac J. Pickett (POW)
Lt. George Washington Ward (wounded).

At this time such portions of the 1st and 3rd NC Regiments as were not captured on May 12th were consolidated and placed in Brig. Gen. William R. Cox's (NC) Brigade.

On the night of May 21st, the army was withdrawn from its position to meet the enemy, who had retired toward the North Anna River. On the morning of the 23rd we confronted the enemy near Hanover Junction, where the line of battle was formed and earthworks thrown up. May 24th the enemy attacked the sharpshooters and drove them from their position, but after a sharp and hand-to-hand fight for several minutes they were driven to the opposite side of the breastworks and the assault was continued several hours. The enemy several times attempted to recapture the works, but were as often repulsed. A heavy rain having set in and darkness approaching, the enemy retired. Shortly after dark the army retired towards Richmond to meet the enemy, who were moving in the same direction. Nothing save frequent skirmishing occurred until the afternoon of May 30th, on which the battle of Bethesda Church occurred.

Further skirmishing took place May 31st, June 1st, and the battle of Gaines's Mill on June 2d, and Cold Harbor on June 3rd, in all of which the 1st and 3rd NC Regiments (consolidated) participated. After the battle of Cold Harbor on June 3rd, the Second Corps, composed of Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur's (NC), Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes's (VA), and Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon's (GA) Divisions, under the command of Lt. General Jubal Early (VA), was directed to proceed to the Valley of Virginia for the purpose of destroying or capturing Federal Maj. Gen. David Hunter, who was in camp near Lynchburg. Maj. Gen. John C. Breckinridge (KY) and Maj. Gen. Robert Ransom (NC), commanding the cavalry, were awaiting our arrival. Maj. Gen. Hunter, upon learning of the arrival of the Confederates on the 18th, under the cover of night, made a hasty retreat. Early on the morning of June 19th we commenced pursuit, and just before night overtook the enemy's rear at Liberty, where a skirmish ensued, and again at Buford's Gap, on the afternoon of the 20th. The pursuit was continued on the 21st through Salem, Va., where another skirmish took place.

After resting a day, we resumed the march in the direction of the Potomac River, reaching Staunton on the morning of the 27th, then marched in the direction of Harper's Ferry, which was reached on the morning of July 4th. Here Bolivar Heights was captured about 10 o'clock a.m., and about 8 o'clock p.m. the enemy was driven from Harper's Ferry across the river to Maryland Heights. On July 6th, the corps crossed the Potomac River at Shepherdstown, and engaged the enemy in the rear of Maryland Heights (aka 2nd Hagerstown). The battle continued nearly all day. We moved through Crampton's Gap toward Frederick, and after many skirmishes reached Frederick MD, on the morning of the 9th, where Maj. Gen. Lewis Wallace's Division of Federals was strongly posted on the eastern bank of the Monocacy River. After a stubborn fight the enemy was driven from the field, leaving in our hands six or seven hundred prisoners, besides killed and wounded. Our loss in killed and wounded was severe.

The march was resumed on July 10th in the direction of Washington City. As the weather was hot and the roads dusty, it was very trying to our troops, who arrived in front of Fort Stevens on the evening of July11th, within sight of the dome of the Federal Capitol. After reconnoitering and skirmishing a couple of days, and upon hearing of the arrival of two additional corps at Washington from the Army of the Potomac, our troops were withdrawn on the night of the 12th, and we crossed the Potomac River on the night of the 15th near Leesburg, followed by the enemy's cavalry. We then moved towards the Valley of Virginia, crossing the Blue Ridge Mountains at Snicker's Gap on the 17th of July, the Federals slowly following. On the afternoon of the 18th Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes's (VA) Division attacked the enemy at Snicker's Ford, driving them in the Shenandoah River, where they lost heavily in killed and drowned. On the 19th the division moved towards Strasburg, and on the afternoon of the 20th to the support of Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur (NC), but arrived after the engagement had ceased. The division then retired to Fisher's Hill, remaining until the enemy was attacked at 2nd Kernstown, on the 24th, and driven across the Potomac River into Maryland. Maj. Gen. Rodes's Division then marched and counter-marched between the Potomac River and Fisher's Hill until September 22nd, during which time it was engaged almost daily in skirmishing, and took part in the battles of Winchester on August 17th; Charlestown on August 21st; Smithfield Crossing on August 29th; Bunker Hill on September 3rd; 3rd Winchester on September 19th; Fisher's Hill on September 22nd.

On the morning of September 19th this division, while moving in column up the Martinsburg Road to the support of Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur (NC), who was engaged with Federal General Philip H. Sheridan's army near Winchester, was unexpectedly called to attention, faced to the left and moved forward to engage the enemy, who had advanced to within one hundred yards of the road. After a brief and vigorous assault the Federals commenced falling back, and were driven through the woods and the open fields until Brig. Gen. John R. Cooke's (VA) Brigade was brought to a temporary halt and Brig. Gen. William R. Cox (NC) received orders to push forward his brigade.

At this time Maj. Gen. Robert E Rodes (VA) was shot in the head by a ball, and fell from his horse. The troops pushed on, unaware of this calamity, and struck a weak line of the enemy. At this point the Federals were severely punished, and fell back, leaving their killed and wounded. A large number of officers and men, who were secreted in a ditch, were captured. We pursued the enemy with a hot fire beyond the crest of a hill, on which Brig. Gen. Bryan Grimes (NC) had established his line. Here Brig. Gen. Clement A. Evans's (GA) Brigade, upon meeting a heavy fire, fell back, which exposed this brigade to a concentrated, direct and left-oblique fire. At the request of Brig. Gen. William R. Cox (NC), a battery was placed on a hill in our rear, and the brigade fell back and formed behind it, which opened with telling effect upon the enemy's heavy lines. They laid down, and the victory appeared to be ours. While our loss in men and officers had been severe, the troops had good spirits. Here Col. Stephen D. Thruston was severely wounded, the command devolving upon Lt. Col. Wiliam L. Parsley. After remaining until about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, we discovered that the Federals were in our rear, and fell back in good order to the Martinsburg Pike and formed on the left of our troops. Here we were exposed without any protection, to a heavy artillery fire, which was telling upon our men. We were then faced about and commenced retiring deliberately to the hills, all the troops conforming to this movement. Lt. Gen. Jubal Early, through a staff officer, directed Brig. Gen. William R. Cox (NC) to return, when we were faced about and moved to the front. Upon reaching the turnpike, we were ordered by Lt. Gen. Early to fall back, which we slowly accomplished. Our troops now retreated toward Fisher's Hill. While retreating in column, this brigade was ordered to protect the artillery then passing. Facing about, we were deployed, and advanced between the enemy's cavalry and our artillery, which was done with great spirit and promptness. In this manner we moved on, protecting the artillery until near dusk, when we found Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur (NC) with his division thrown across the turnpike to prevent pursuit. About the time this brigade and the artillery crossed his line the enemy made a spirited charge to capture the guns, which was met with a well-directed fire from Ramseur's men, which stopped further pursuit. After our defeat at 3rd Winchester we fell back and formed line of battle behind Fisher's Hill.

After the fall of Maj. Gen. Robert E. Rodes (VA), Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur (NC) was placed in charge of his division. On the 22nd we had a skirmish with the enemy. About dusk the brigade was promptly formed across the road to cover the retreat. We advanced rapidly to a fence, where we met the enemy in a hand-to-hand encounter, repulsed him, and stopped pursuit for the night. Here Lt. Col. Alexander S. Pendleton (VA), of the artillery, fell, mortally wounded. After the defeat at Fisher's Hill we fell back up the Valley as far as Waynesboro, where reinforcements were received. On October 1st, we returned down the Valley, reaching Fisher's Hill again on October 13th, and there formed behind breastworks. A flanking movement was directed by Lt. Gen. Early, and we commenced moving soon after dark. The night was consumed by a very fatiguing and exhausting march, which was conducted with the greatest secrecy. We crossed Cedar Creek at early dawn, being joined here by Brig. Gen. William H.F. Payne's (VA) Cavalry, who at full speed advanced upon and captured Federal General Philip Sheridan's headquarters. But for his absence they would have captured him.

The first warning Federal Maj. Gen. George Crook's Corps had of our presence was the rebel yells and volleys of our musketry, which sent them hastily from their camp, leaving all behind. This victory was delightful to our troops, after so many repulses. So great was the demoralization of the enemy after this little brigade drove back a division ten times its number, meeting with but slight resistance, that by 8 o'clock we had captured all of their artillery and from one thousand five hundred to two thousand prisoners. The Federals were in retreat. About 3 o'clock in the afternoon General Sheridan, having joined and rallied his troops, the tide of battle was turned, and the Confederates were driven up the Valley to New Market (aka Belle Grove). Here, Maj. Gen. Stephen D. Ramseur (NC) was mortally wounded endeavoring to rally his troops, where they remained until about the 22nd of November, when Ramseur's Division routed General Sheridan, commanding a considerable body of cavalry, between New Market and Mount Jackson. This ended the Valley Campaigns of 1864, and North Carolina Brigadier General Bryan Grimes was promoted to Major General, and assigned to the command of this division.

About a week before Christmas this regiment and other troops composing the Second Corps returned to Petersburg and went into winter quarters at Swift Creek, about three miles north of the city. About the middle of February, 1865, we moved to Southerland's Depot, on the right of the Army of Northern Virginia. Here the regiment remained until the middle of March, when it was ordered into the trenches in front of Petersburg, where it remained until the night of the 24th of March, when Maj. Gen. John B. Gordon's (GA) Corps, this brigade forming a part, was massed opposite Hare's Hill, where the distance between the lines was, one hundred yards. On the morning of the 25th the division corps of sharpshooters, commanded by Colonel Hamilton A. Brown of the 1st NC Regiment, surprised and captured the enemy's pickets and entered his main lines. This regiment, with the other troops of the division immediately following, occupied the enemy's works for some distance on either side of Hare's Hill, and held them against great odds for about five hours, during which time the enemy poured a deadly fire into the Confederates from several batteries, and having massed large bodies of infantry, forced the withdrawal of the Confederates, with considerable loss in killed, wounded and prisoners. We then resumed our position in the trenches.

About 11 o'clock on the night of April 1st the enemy opened a heavy cannonading all along the line, under cover of which they attacked in heavy forces at several points, making a break in the division on our right. On Sunday morning, April 2nd, at daylight, they made a breach in the line held by the brigade of the left center of the division, and occupied our works for some distance on either side of Fort Mahone. The division attacked the enemy at close quarters, driving him from traverse to traverse, sometimes in a hand-to-hand fight, until the works were retaken up to a point opposite Fort Mahone, which was finally captured. The Confederates thus regained the entire works taken from the division in the early morning. The enemy, however, promptly moved forward and recaptured the Confederate line and Fort Mahone, leaving Maj. Gen. Bryan Grimes's (NC)) Division still in possession of that portion of the line retaken from the enemy in the early part of the day, and which was held until the lines in front of Richmond and Petersburg were opened, when we, with the army, commenced to retreat. Marching day and night, with only short intervals of rest, we reached Amelia Court House on April 4th, where the exhausted troops rested a few hours. Being closely pursued by the enemy, the march was resumed that night.

Maj. Gen.Bryan Grimes (NC) was assigned to the position of rearguard. Brig. Gen. William R. Cox (NC) still commanding our brigade and Lt. Col. William L. Parsley the 3rd NC Regiment. The enemy's cavalry, elated over their successes, frequently rode into the Confederate lines, making it necessary to form a line of battle across the road in column of brigade, while the others continued to march. This running fight continued until the afternoon of the 6th, when at Sailor's Creek, near Farmville, VA, a general engagement ensued, where the Confederates, overwhelmed by superior numbers, retreated along the bridge at Farmville. Here the gallant hero, Lt. Col. Parsley, gave up his life, being shot in the head with a minnie-ball.

Beyond Farmville, on the morning of April 7th, the division charged the enemy and recaptured a battery of artillery which had been taken by him. We continued the march towards Lynchburg upon a parallel road to that the enemy had taken for the purpose of intercepting us. We reached Appomattox Court House on Saturday evening, the 8th, where the exhausted troops bivouacked until about the middle of night, when this division was ordered from the position of rearguard to the front to open the road towards Lynchburg, now occupied by the enemy in large force. About sunrise on Sunday morning, April 9, 1865, this division (Grimes's) engaged a large body of the enemy's cavalry, supported by infantry, and drove them more than a mile, capturing a battery and several prisoners. While engaged in this pursuit, they were ordered back to a valley. This brigade was commanded by the veteran soldier, Brig. Gen. William R. Cox (NC), who, as his men were retiring, ordered a halt, and the command was given: "Right about, face!" to meet a cavalry force which was coming down upon him. It was promptly obeyed, and once more and for the last time, these valiant, ragged, foot-sore, and half-starved North Carolinians withstood in the strength of their invincible manhood the men whom they had met and driven back on many a bloody field. In the clear and firm voice of the gallant Brig. Gen. Cox, the command rang out: "Ready, Aim, Fire!" and the last volley fired by the Army of Northern Virginia was by these North Carolina troops, this regiment among the number. Defeated, but not dishonored! On leaving the valley, we learned the sad intelligence that the Army of Northern Virginia had surrendered. Sad and gloomy indeed were the faces of those noble heroes, who could not realize that General Robert E. Lee would ever surrender.

The fragment of the 1st and 3rd NC Regiments, commanded by Maj. William T. Ennett, since the loss of Lt. Col. William L. Parsley on April 6th, was bivouacked with the brigade (Cox's), Grimes's Division, Gordon's Corps, and prepared the muster rolls for the final capitulation. On the morning of April 12th they laid down their arms, dispersed on foot, many ragged and without shoes, and made their way to their desolated homes.

Gaston Meares, of Wilmington, NC, was appointed by Governor John W. Ellis to the command of the 3rd NC Regiment of State Troops, and Robert Harper Cowan and William Lord DeRosset were commissioned, respectively, Lieutenant Colonel and Major of the same regiment. Steps were at once taken to form the regiment, first from material already partially organized into companies and partly by regular enlistments under company officers likewise appointed by the Governor. This regiment, one of ten authorized by the Constitutional Convention [no, State Convention] to be raised, enlisted for the war, and all officers were appointed by the Governor, with the understanding clearly had that all vacancies should be filled by promotion or appointment by recommendation of the commanding officer.

The several companies were ordered to assemble at the camp of instruction at Garysburg as fast as their ranks were filled, and in the latter part of May they began to report to the officer in charge of the camp. Colonel Meares and Lieutenant Colonel Cowan reported at the camp about June 1st. Major DeRosset, having been ordered to Fort Macon to relieve Colonel Charles C. Tew, of the 2nd NC Regiment, of the command of that post, was delayed in joining his command until some two weeks later. Meanwhile, the men were being drilled in the school of the soldier, preparatory to company drill; and so soon as Major DeRosset reported for duty he was ordered to take charge of the drilling and disciplining of the force.

A portion of the 3rd NC Regiment was ordered to Richmond early in July, where it was joined some weeks later by the remaining companies which had been left at Garysburg under Maj. DeRosset. A few days after the first battle of Manassas the regiment was ordered to report to Major General Theophilus H. Holmes (NC), at Acquia Creek, and went into camp near Brooks' Station, on the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad, later moving camp to a point near the Potomac River, and, as winter approached, having meantime built substantial winter quarters, they took up their abode therein, immediately in rear of the lower battery of those constructed for the defense of Acquia Creek.

Upon the evacuation of the line of the Potomac the 3rd NC Regiment, with the 1st NC Regiment, was ordered to Goldsborough to meet a supposed advance of Brig. Gen. Ambrose Burnside from New Bern, remaining thereabouts until early in June of 1862. In May, Lt. Colonel Cowan having been promoted, Major DeRosset was made Lt. Colonel, and Capt. Edward Savage became Major. The 1st and the 3rd NC Regiments were under the same brigade commanders from first to last, but, unfortunately, were always brigaded with troops from other States, and never received the deserved meed for their achievements.

First, Colonel John G. Walker (TX) was assigned to command, the brigade then consisting of the 1st and 3rd NC Regiments and the 30th Virginia and 1st Arkansas; but Colonel Walker proved to be the junior colonel in the brigade, and Maj. Gen. Holmes asked for and obtained a commission for him as brigadier general, and he continued in command. Brigadier General Roswell S. Ripley (SC) next had its command, and upon reaching Richmond on the evening of the last day's fight at Seven Pines a change was made in the composition of the brigade and the 40th and 44th Georgia Regiments took the places of the Virginia and Arkansas troops. The 3rd NC Regiment reached the battlefield only in time to be held in reserve late in the evening, but were not ordered to participate.

The march from Richmond was most trying to the raw troops of the brigade, who had not then received their baptism of fire, passing thousands of dead and wounded from the time they left the rail cars until they arrived on the field; and the groans and cries of the wounded were not calculated to inspire the boys with a martial spirit. During the period from that date to the opening of the battles around Richmond the command was in camp about six miles from Richmond, drilling and preparing for the summer campaign.

Late in the evening of June 25, 1862, Col. Gaston Meares received orders to march, and proceeding early next morning in a northerly direction, was halted on the high hills on the south of the Chickahominy River where it was crossed by the Mechanicsville Pike. Lt. Colonel DeRosset was here again detached and ordered to take charge of a battalion composed of one company from each regiment, and to advance, crossing the stream, to Mechanicsville; but after reaching the middle of the creek he was ordered to assemble his command and cross on the bridge. The battalion was thus thrown on the left of the brigade, advancing left in front, and, on being drawn up in line of battle on the north side, went into action, charging the enemy's position, which was well fortified on the further side of a small stream about one-half mile from the pike. The brigade suffered severely in this attack, mainly from the stupid manner in which it was put into action. The 44th Georgia was almost annihilated, having lost heavily in killed and wounded, the others mostly routed. The 40th Georgia lost its colonel early in the action, and were more or less demoralized. The 1st NC Regiment perhaps suffered in killed and wounded more than either of the regiments, if not of all combined. They had the misfortune to be immediately in front of the heaviest of the Yankee batteries, which swept the approaches with grape and canister continuously. The 3rd NC Regiment lost perhaps less than either of the others, Maj. Edward Savage being the only one of the field officers wounded.

Joining after that battle the forces of Lt. General Stonewall Jackson, the command was marched by a circuitous route to Cold Harbor, or Gaines's Mill, where the battle took place on the afternoon of June 27th. Here but a small fraction of the 3rd NC Regiment was exposed to direct musketry fire, for reasons none but Brigadier General Roswell S. Ripley (SC) could explain, and the officers of the command are not known to have said that any explanation was vouchsafed. Marching thence, after two or three days' delay, the brigade found itself in front of one of the bridges over the Chickahominy River which had been destroyed by the enemy on the south side, he having crossed the day before on the famous "grape-vine" bridge, some distance above. Here, being exposed to the enemy's fire of artillery without the means of replying, Brig. Gen. Ripley was withdrawn into a heavy woods on the northwest side of the road, lying there all day under the artillery fire, at times very annoying, but with little loss. This was the day of the battle of Frayser's Farm, a few miles lower down the stream.

Next day, the enemy having withdrawn and the bridge repaired, Brig. Gen. Ripley crossed and marched on Malvern Hill, arriving there at noon, and was posted immediately in the rear of what was known as the Parsonage, on the near side of the road leading by Malvern Hill, and on the left of the army. Being ordered to advance, the whole line moved forward, and from the peculiar conformation of the land in front, the hill up which Brig. Gen. Ripley moved being almost an isolated knoll on Poindexter's Farm, upon reaching the top each regiment was found to be represented in the mass of disorganized troops occupying the yard of the Parsonage and the road in front. The officers of the several commands seemed not to have noted the conformation of the ground, and as each company reached the foot of the hill it would change direction to go up the shortest road, thereby bringing about the trouble as seen at that point. Meantime a terrific fire of artillery and infantry swept the field, and the men involuntarily hugged the ground. Here they lay for some time, men falling every minute, and some leaving the field in search of surgical assistance.

There was no possibility of doing anything, so far as could be seen by the field officers, and Brig. Gen. Ripley had not been seen about the lines after the first order was given to advance. About an hour before dusk word came from the left that Capt. Hamilton A. Brown, commanding the 1st NC Regiment, was hard pressed, and wanted assistance, when Col. Gaston Meares determined to reinforce him, and gave the command to move by the left flank. He, going on foot into the road in front of the line, upon reaching a point about opposite the left of the 3rd NC Regiment, stopped, and mounting the bank on the side of the road, was using his field glass, surveying the Yankee lines, when he was instantly killed by a slug from a shrapnel fired from a battery directly in front, said to be the 3rd Rhode Island Battery, not over seventy-five yards distant. Col. Meares was a man of marked individuality. Respected by his superior officers, beloved by his subordinate officers, and even by the most humble private, his untimely death was deeply deplored by all alike. It is certain that he would have been recommended for promotion.

The 3rd NC Regiment held its position until withdrawn sometime during the night, aud bivouacked near that point for several days, when the brigade was ordered back to the old camping grounds nearer Richmond. The losses in officers of the regiment were numerous, but several were temporarily disabled by wounds. Some vacancies occurred about this time, and the conspicuous gallantry of Cicero H. Craig caused his recommendation for promotion, and he was at once put on duty, by brigade orders, as 2nd Lieutenant of Company I. Col. William L. DeRosset having been promoted to the command of the regiment, decided to visit Raleigh for the purpose of recruiting for the regiment.

Brig. Gen. Roswell S. Ripley (SC) lay in camp for several weeks, while details were made to work on the entrenchments in our front and for several miles down towards the Chickahominy River, while other details gathered arms from the several battlefields. Up to this time the 3rd NC Regiment was armed principally with smooth-bore muskets, but with the ample supply of the Springfield rifled muskets gathered from the field and captured, there was enough to supply our whole army with the improved gun. Orders came from headquarters that all muskets should be turned in and the troops armed with the rifles. Col. DeRosset believed firmly in the great efficiency of the smooth-bore with buck and ball cartridges, and, after a consultation with Brig. Gen, Ripley, secured a modification of the order as applying to the 3rd NC Regiment, and was allowed to retain muskets for eight companies, arming the two flank companies with the rifles. He always insisted that it was owing to the good use of the buck and ball at close range at Sharpsburg that the 3rd NC Regiment were enabled to do so much damage, and to hold their position after advancing for so long a time.

In the latter part of July, Col. DeRosset returned from Raleigh and brought with him four hundred conscripts, who were at once divided into small squads, and, under command of non-commissioned officers, were drilled several hours daily. This not only helped to discipline the raw levies, but hardened them somewhat, thus enabling them the better to stand the strains incident to the march into Maryland, which soon followed. During this period, awaiting marching orders, the first execution under sentence of a military court took place in the brigade on the person of an Irishman who had deserted and was captured in his efforts to reach the enemy's lines. He belonged to Capt. Guilford L. Dudley's company, of the 1st NC Regiment, and the firing party was from his own company, who did their sad duty like true soldiers.

About the time that Lt. Gen. Stonewall Jackson was looking for Federal Maj. Gen. John Pope's "headquarters," from Culpeper to Manassas, Ripley received marching orders, and our brigade went by rail to Orange Court House. Here the brigade bivouacked for several days, officers and men wondering why we were held back, when it was evident that hard work was going on at the front. However, marching orders came at last, and after much time given to preparation, we finally took the road for Culpeper Court House, thence in a northerly direction to the Alexandria and Luray Pike, striking that road about sundown at a point called Amisville. To the amazement of the field and line officers, instead of marching toward Warrenton, where it was generally understood General Robert E. Lee had passed, the head of the column was changed to the left. One of the officers here rode up to the head of the column, and accosting Brig. Gen. Ripley, asked if he had any objection to saying where we were marching to. His reply was: "I am going to see my sweetheart at Luray." He thereupon ordered a halt, and to go into bivouac at once and prepare rations as issued, having just received by courier orders from General Lee to march at once, and quickly, to Manassas Junction.

Next morning, after a deliberate breakfast, the column counter-marched and reached Warrenton about 2 or 3 o'clock p.m. The General repaired to a private house for refreshments, directing the command to proceed to a point a mile or two out on the Manassas Road and bivouac, with special instructions to the officers left in command to have the column drawn up in line on the road ready to march at 4 o'clock a.m. next day, but not to move until he came up. The command was on time, and stood in a drenching rain until about 7 o'clock, when Brig. Gen. Ripley appeared, and the column moved on. Arriving at the Junction about 3 or 4 o'clock p.m., in full hearing of the desperate conflict going on a short distance ahead of us, we were deliberately filed off the road in an opposite direction and halted, bivouacked there that night and next morning crossed Bull Run Creek at Sudley's Ford, having passed over perhaps the bloodiest portion of the field, where the dead and many wounded still lay in the sun. Marching through a country entirely destitute of water for several miles, we finally reached the Alexandria and Leesburg Pike, where a halt was made to allow the men to drink and fill their canteens. Moving on in the direction of Alexandria, which point was understood to be General Robert E. Lee's objective point, we came up while the battle of Ox Hill was being fought, and were held in reserve until its close, falling back next morning to a beautiful country-seat known as Chantilly, where we bivouacked for several days.

The march into Maryland then commenced, and we moved towards Leesburg, where we received rations again and prepared them for another march; bivouacked there for twenty-four hours, and then taking a road direct to the Potomac River, crossed at Point of Rocks ; thence moving down the bank of the river along the canal to Point of Rocks, where, taking our last view of old Virginia, we took the road for Frederick City direct, halting there for two or more days. The army moved westwardly along the Great Western Turnpike, crossing the mountains, and bivouacked that night a little beyond Boonsboro. On the evening of Saturday, September 13, 1862, the brigade was counter-marched toward the mountain and placed in line of battle on the north side of the pike, near the foot of the mountain, again in reserve. Next morning, Sunday, Col. George P. Doles, with the 4th Georgia, was detached and ordered to take position in a gap on the north side of the pike, and the other three regiments were moved up the mountain, and just to the east of the tavern on the summit filed to the right, and moved along the summit road, having, before leaving the pike, passed the body of Brig. Gen. Samuel Garland, Jr. (VA) who had just been slain at the head of his command.

Leaving this road, they moved by one leading diagonally down the mountain, and, on reaching the foot, were halted some half mile to a mile from the pike, on the south. Here Brig. Gen. Ripley concluded that his command and that of Brig. Gen. George B. Anderson (NC) were cut off from the troops on his left, and assuming command of the division, notified Col. William L. DeRosset to take command of the brigade. Brig. Gen. Anderson seemed to have moved up the mountain very promptly, and Brig. Gen. Ripley ordered Col. DeRosset to do likewise. Lt. Col, Stephen D. Thruston was ordered to take a company of skirmishers, covering the front of the brigade, and soon reported that troops were in his front, and later that Brig. Gen. Anderson was moving across his front. Brig. Gen. Ripley, remaining at the foot of the mountain, was informed of the situation, and at once ordered his brigade to fall back. It was then moved by the left flank up a road leading diagonally up the mountain and halted, occupying that position until quietly withdrawn sometime between 9 o'clock p.m. and midnight.

Brig. Gen. Ripley again assumed command of his own brigade and marched by a road leading towards the Boonsboro and Sharpsburg Pike. On reaching a point on the crest of the hill, just after crossing Antietam Creek on the stone bridge, the command was placed in line of battle under the hill, the right of the 3rd NC Regiment, in absence of the 4th Georgia, on the right of the brigade and resting on the Boonsboro Pike. This was on the evening of the 15th, and the brigade remained in that position until the evening of the 16th, under a heavy artillery fire from the enemy's guns on the east side of the creek, but without loss, being well protected by the crest of the hill under which we lay. Meantime the battle had opened on our left, and as that seemed to be the point at which Federal General George McClellan would make his greatest effort. Brig. Gen.Ripley was ordered in that direction and bivouacked to the east of the Hagerstown Pike, directly opposite the Dunkard Church and south of the Mumma farm house, which latter was destroyed by fire early next morning.

About daylight on September 17th the Federal artillery opened, and one of the first guns, from a point near which Gen. McClellan made his headquarters, fired a shell which fell just in front of the brigade, wounding some sixteen officers and men of the 3rd NC Regiment. The advance was soon ordered, and the enemy was first encountered in an open field a little to the south of the famous cornfield near the East Woods, and the smooth-bore muskets with the buck and ball cartridges did most excellent service, being at very close quarters, not over one hundred yards from the first line of the three lines of the enemy. There being quite a gap in our lines on Brig. Gen. Ripley's right, a change of front was made to meet a flank attack by the 128th Pennsylvania, a new and large regiment, and the 3rd NC Regiment, being still on the right, met with heavy losses from this attack before the movement could be made with assured safety. Brig. Gen. Ripley had been slightly wounded in the throat early in the action and the brigade was now under the command of Col. George P. Doles, of the 4th Georgia, the ranking officer.

About the time that the movement in changing from front to rear began, Col. William L. DeRosset was severely wounded, and permanently disabled. Lt. Col. Stephen D. Thruston at once took command, and charged the enemy, maintaining his advanced position until forced back by mere weight of numbers. From this time the 3rd NC Regiment was under the command of Col. Thruston, who succeeded to the full command upon the resignation of Col. DeRosset, some months later, when it was definitely determined that the wound of the latter had disabled him permanently for active service. There were few, if any, regimental commanders in the Army of Northern Virginia who were the superior of Col. Thruston, if his equal, in all that goes to make up an intelligent, able and successful leader. He was painfully wounded during this action, but refused to leave the field.

Of the twenty-seven (27) officers who went into action on that memorable morning all save three were disabled and seven killed. Lt. Duncan E. McNair, Company H, was badly wounded in the leg early in the day, but refused to leave, although urged to do so by the Colonel, and soon after gave up his life-blood on his country's altar. The official report of the division commander gives the loss in the 3rd NC Regiment, but it is less than was reported at the close of the day by Capt. John F. S. Van Bokkelen, Acting Adjutant, who stated that of the five hundred and twenty carried into action only one hundred and ninety could be accounted for.

Of the conscripts who were enlisted in the 3rd NC Regiment, about one hundred succeeded in keeping up with their comrades and taking part in the Sharpsburg battle. During this engagement, while the whole line was busily engaged in their deadly work, one of the conscripts was observed calmly walking up and down behind his company, and upon being asked why he was not in ranks and firing, replied: "I have seen nothing to shoot at, and I have only sixty rounds of cartridges; I don't care to waste them." He was instructed to lie down, and being shown the blue breeches under the smoke, his face brightened up at once as he began firing. Seldom was truer courage displayed than by this man, who, under his first experience in battle, having evidently been left behind as his company double-quicked to the front, came up after the smoke from the first volleys had obscured everything, and could see nothing in front. It would indeed be interesting to know this man's name and fate, but such cannot be, for he probably sleeps in a soldier's grave in the famous cornfield, unhonored and unsung, where so many comrades lie buried.

Of the original captains of the 3rd NC Regiment:

- Capt. Robert H. Drysdale died in winter quarters at Acquia Creek during the winter of 1861-'62,'and was buried in Goldsborough. He died of pneumonia contracted in service.
- Capt. Stephen D. Thruston held each office in succession until he reached the colonelcy. He lives in Dallas, Texas, and is an honored member of the medical profession.
- Capt. Peter Mallett, having been appointed conscript officer of the State, with the rank of Major and subsequently Colonel, resigned his captaincy. He now lives in New York.
- Capt. Edward Savage, afterwards Lt. Colonel, resigned after the battles around Richmond. He now resides in New York.
- Capt. Marquis LaFayette F. Redd resigned his commission on December 31, 1861. He is now a farmer in Onslow County.
- Capt. William R. Parsley, rising to the rank of Lt. Colonel, was killed only three days before the surrender at Appomattox, respected and beloved by all.
- Capt. Edward H. Rhodes was wounded at Sharpsburg, and as he has never since been heard of, it is supposed he died of his wounds.
- Capt. Theodore M. Sikes, having absented himself from his command during the Seven Days' fight, and gone to his home without proper leave of absence, was allowed to resign.
- Capt. John R. Carmer resigned his commission on May 12, 1862, soon after the battles around Richmond.
- Capt. David Williams, known by his men as "Pap," as brave a man as ever lived, was disemboweled by a rifle shot from the enemy's batteries at Sharpsburg, and sleeps in a soldier's grave, with his blanket for a shroud, in the front yard of the house in rear of the village, which was used as a field hospital near the Shepherdstown Pike.