{"id":2039,"date":"2012-11-04T08:09:21","date_gmt":"2012-11-04T13:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/?p=2039"},"modified":"2014-12-09T20:36:15","modified_gmt":"2014-12-10T01:36:15","slug":"a-brief-history-of-the-27th-nc-at-sharpsburg-by-h-z-bogue-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/a-brief-history-of-the-27th-nc-at-sharpsburg-by-h-z-bogue-iii\/","title":{"rendered":"A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 27th NC AT SHARPSBURG by H.Z.Bogue III"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Brief History of the 27th NC at Sharpsburg taken from a manuscript by H.Z.Bogue III.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

On September 28, 1861 by the direction of the governor, ten companies of militia were\u00a0<\/span>organized at New Bern into a military organization officially designated the 27th North\u00a0<\/span>Carolina Troops.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The regiment first served as security forces, with companies located in several newly\u00a0<\/span>constructed fortifications along the south banks of the Neuse River, below New Bern\u00a0<\/span>and at Fort Macon. In August 1861 war came to North Carolina.<\/span><\/p>\n

On August 27, as Federal General Ambrose E.Burnside captured Fort Hatteras on the\u00a0<\/span>Outer Banks, Confederate troops were reinforcing their defensive works at New Bern,\u00a0<\/span>bracing themselves for a fight that would determine who controlled the coastline north\u00a0<\/span>of Wilmington.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

On March 14, Burnside landed thirteen seasoned regiments below New Bern and quickly\u00a0<\/span>engaged six poorly equipped North Carolina regiments. With support from artillery and\u00a0<\/span>naval gunboats, the Federals broke the Confederate line in the center and won a decisive\u00a0<\/span>victory.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 27th NC had been located on the far left of the line, their flank resting on the Neuse\u00a0<\/span>River. When the center collapsed, it was reported that many in the regiment never fired a\u00a0<\/span>shot, but bolted to the rear in panic. The disorganized retreat did not stop until the\u00a0<\/span>spooked regiments reached the outskirts of Kinston. New Bern remained in Yankee\u00a0<\/span>hands until the end of the war.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 27th had been humiliated in it’s first action. The defeat had occurred on native soil\u00a0<\/span>and frightfully close to the homes of many of the regiment’s soldiers. The regiment was\u00a0<\/span>disgraced as was the Old North State.<\/span><\/p>\n

By May 31, the Army of the Potomac had landed at Fort Monroe, Virginia and was\u00a0<\/span>pressing up the peninsula on the north side of the James River, within sight of the church\u00a0<\/span>spires of Richmond. Confederate President Jefferson Davis appealed to all governors for\u00a0<\/span>reinforcements. In response, the 27th boarded cars in Kinston and went to Richmond,\u00a0<\/span>where it was integrated into the Army of Northern Virginia.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The regiment saw this as an opportunity to avenge the result of their first battle. This was\u00a0<\/span>not to be. Now in a veteran army of great acclaim, the 27th was a regiment of poor\u00a0<\/span>reputation. Confederate generals , many of whom had never lost a battle, thought little of\u00a0<\/span>the men who had panicked at New Bern. Morale was again dashed when the men were\u00a0<\/span>turned away from the sound of battle and marched south toward Petersburg where they\u00a0<\/span>were relegated to picket duty along the James River.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet again on August 26th, the morale of the 27th was crashed when they were told that\u00a0<\/span>they would not be called upon, so they waited and only heard the glowing reports of the\u00a0<\/span>great victory at Second Manassas.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

General Robert E. Lee was now beginning his movement to the northwest, the Maryland\u00a0<\/span>campaign was underway. A week of hard marching brought them to Fredrick, Maryland\u00a0<\/span>where they were assigned to Manning’s Brigade, Walker’s Division, of Longstreet’s Corp.<\/span><\/p>\n

On September 12th, the 27th marched to Harpers Ferry where it occupied Loudon Heights,\u00a0<\/span>supporting General Jackson’s siege of the Federal garrison there. From there they were\u00a0<\/span>ordered to the town of Sharpsburg, Maryland.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>I won’t go into great detail setting up the battlefield, we all know the story. This narrative\u00a0<\/span>will focus only on the 27th and it’s involvement in that the bloodiest single day in American\u00a0<\/span>history.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

About 3:00am on September 17th, the regiment as a part of Walker’s Division, was\u00a0<\/span>marched from just west of the town of Sharpsburg, in a light rain, southeast where they\u00a0<\/span>took up defensive positions close to Antietam Creek. They were positioned as the last\u00a0<\/span>regiment on the far right flank of the army.<\/span><\/p>\n

At 9:00 am, after the disaster of Miller’s cornfield and the continued momentum of the\u00a0<\/span>Federal troops through the North and East Woods, General Lee gambled by stripping his\u00a0<\/span>right to save his left. He dispatched urgent orders for Walker’s Division to displace from the\u00a0<\/span>right with all deliberate speed and move to Jackson’s support.<\/span><\/p>\n

In their haste to Jackson, Walker was informed, by a staff officer, that a gap existed in the\u00a0<\/span>army line between the southern point of the West Wood, near Dunker Church, and D.H.\u00a0<\/span>Hill’s men.<\/span><\/p>\n

Walker detached the 27th NC and the 3rd Arkansas of Mannings Brigade and placed them\u00a0<\/span>under the orders of Colonel John R. Cooke, of the 27th.<\/span><\/p>\n

Colonel Cooke ordered his newly created light brigade, about 700 men, forward to fill the\u00a0<\/span>gap where S.D. Lee was withdrawing his artillery. He brought them to a halt, behind a\u00a0<\/span>wooden rail fence about 50 yards from the Hagerstown Pike which offered little protection\u00a0<\/span>from the musket and cannister fire from the pickets if the Union XII Corps.<\/span><\/p>\n

To Cooke’s left was the south point of the West Woods, which was held by Jackson, and\u00a0<\/span>Dunker Church. About 200 yards on his right were the regiments of D.H. Hill’s Division that\u00a0<\/span>made up the center line of the army. In front lay more wooden fences and open ground that\u00a0<\/span>rose to a gentle crest.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cooke’s light brigade assisted Jackson against several charges made by Union Generals\u00a0<\/span>Tyndall, Sedgewick, and Greene who were assaulting Jackson’s position in the West Woods.<\/span><\/p>\n

During a lull in the fighting, Cooke moved his troops twenty paces to the rear, into a cornfield\u00a0<\/span>where they were ordered to lie down.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hill’s Division was heavily engaged in battle with with two fresh divisions of the Union II Corps\u00a0<\/span>from his position in the sunken road or what is known as “Bloody Lane” General Lee saw his\u00a0<\/span>army crumbling.<\/span><\/p>\n

General Longstreet surveyed the the line and deduced that Cooke’s command was strong\u00a0<\/span>enough to mount a charge at the Federal center, and sent the much awaited order for him to\u00a0<\/span>advance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Around noon, Cooke pointed his sword and gave the order, “Forrr Warrrrd!” and with high\u00a0<\/span>pitched rebel yells, approximately 650 men scrambled over the rail fences and advanced\u00a0<\/span>toward the Federal center.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clouds of smoke spread over the high ground as they endured volley after volley of musket\u00a0<\/span>fire from Tyndall’s skirmshers. The Confederates advanced straight and true over pasture\u00a0<\/span>land littered with hundreds of bodies that had fallen earlier from both sides. Cooke’s men\u00a0<\/span>never took time to realize that they were outnumbered and took four volleys for every one\u00a0<\/span>they delivered while on the move. The Yankee skirmishers were driven into their main line;\u00a0<\/span>then elements of the Federal brigade began to falter, and finally fragment into standing and\u00a0<\/span>retreating groups.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cooke’s charge carried over the crest and through two guns that had been brought up\u00a0<\/span>moments earlier. The attack wheeled to the right on the reverse slope and swept away\u00a0<\/span>the Union soldiers who remained. Tyndall tried twice to form a defensive line, but both\u00a0<\/span>crumbled as the Confederates pressed their advantage.<\/span><\/p>\n

At one point Colonel Cooke called to 18 year old color bearer, Private William Campbell to\u00a0<\/span>slow the pace so the remainder of the command could keep up. With the 3rd Arkansas on\u00a0<\/span>the right, Campbell replied, “Colonel, I cant let that Arkansas fella get ahead a me.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

General Walker observed the attack and commented. “The 27th North Carolina and 3rd\u00a0<\/span>Arkansas obeyed the order to charge in the face of such fire as troops have seldom\u00a0<\/span>encountered without running away, and with steadiness and unfaltering gallantry seldom\u00a0<\/span>equaled. Battery after battery, regiment after regiment, opened fire on them, hurling a torrent\u00a0<\/span>of missles through their ranks, but nothing could arrest there progress, and three times the\u00a0<\/span>enemy broke and fled before their impetuious charge.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Seven regiments of Tyndall’s command were so battered they were withdrawn from action.\u00a0<\/span>Scores of Union soldiers who could not keep pace with the retreat ran to the adjacent field\u00a0<\/span>and hid behind haystacks, waving white handkerchiefs. No one took time to organize those\u00a0<\/span>trying to surrender. The charge had assumed the character of a runaway locomotive, and\u00a0<\/span>now the Confederates were clearly getting too far into the Federal center.<\/span><\/p>\n

To the right of the 3rd Arkansas stood the 1st Delaware. Now Cooke would be up against the\u00a0<\/span>II Corps infantry. At twenty paces the front rank of the Delaware delivered a volley. Then the\u00a0<\/span>regiment was ordered to attack. Their charge broke in confusion when their rear rank fired\u00a0<\/span>into the charging front rank. The inexperienced men lost their composure and stampeded\u00a0<\/span>from the field along with Battery G, 1st Rhode Island Artillery.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The valiant charge lost momentum after covering 850 yards. They had penetrated McClellan’s\u00a0<\/span>line by 450 yards, an extrodinary accomplishment. Longstreet and Jackson had been\u00a0<\/span>hammering the federals all day – but only Cooke had broken through.\u00a0<\/span>The charge had several profound effects on the events of the day. Among them 12,500 fresh\u00a0<\/span>troops of the Union VI Corps were sent in and 5 regiments under the command of William Irwin,\u00a0<\/span>about 2000 men were detached and ordered to drive Cooke from his advanced position and\u00a0<\/span>restore the Union center. Cooke’s light brigade could muster about 550 effectives in a position\u00a0<\/span>that was clearly untenable.<\/span><\/p>\n

Colonel Cooke ordered a parting volley at Irwin’s advance, and a rapid withdrawal toward the\u00a0<\/span>gap. Suddenly, the light brigade was subjected to galling fire. There was no cover for the men\u00a0<\/span>during the retreat, and no supporting regiments or artillery to retard Irwin’s pursuit. Some of\u00a0<\/span>Tyndall’s men who had been bypassed and tried to surrender now leveled muskets and were\u00a0<\/span>shooting the Confederates down as they ran past. Cooke’s men were forced to go through a\u00a0<\/span>blistering crossfire that took a terrible toll. The movement soon lost all semblance of order and\u00a0<\/span>disintegrated into a desperate run to save life and limb. A dreadful semblance to the panic of\u00a0<\/span>New Bern.<\/span><\/p>\n

With Cooke’s command streaming back in disorder, the prime question for all concerned was\u00a0<\/span>if the routed troops could be halted and reformed at the gap. To the observer’s amazement, <\/span>man by man, as if by heroic instinct, they quit their lively run at the same rail fence where it\u00a0<\/span>had begun. Here, fatigue and emotion forgotten. the soldiers stopped and faced about. Their\u00a0<\/span>practiced fingers snatched cartridges from the pouch, tore, rammed, capped and fired at the\u00a0<\/span>pursuing Yankees.Soon Cooke had his survivors, perhaps no more than 425, in line and\u00a0<\/span>delivering a disciplined fire. For fifteen minutes commencing at noon the gallantry of Cooke’s\u00a0<\/span>small command had held the spectators of both armies spellbound. Now they were in a fierce\u00a0<\/span>struggle to hold their ground …….and keep their newly won pride.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Irwin’s five regiments began to falter at the Hagerstown Pike. They fell back to the reverse\u00a0<\/span>slope of the high ground that Tyndall had defended earlier.<\/span><\/p>\n

General Longstreet determined that Cooke’s position held the greatest jeopardy. He sent\u00a0<\/span>Cooke repeated dispatches telling him that his command held the key to the whole line and\u00a0<\/span>he must hold at all hazard.<\/span><\/p>\n

At about 1:00pm the 15th N.C. came upon the light brigade and their commander William\u00a0<\/span>McRae asked Cooke to share ammunition. It quickly became apparent that all cartridge\u00a0<\/span>boxes were empty! Disregaring this critical factor, Cooke invited McRae to stand with him at\u00a0<\/span>the gap. McRae accepted. No honor greater, no bond stronger than fighting men who willingly\u00a0<\/span>stand together with almost no hope of surviving the challenge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Another courier arrived from Longstreet telling Cooke to hold on. Cooke shouted back “Tell\u00a0<\/span>Longstreet to send ammunition. I have not a cartridge in my command, but will hold my\u00a0<\/span>position at the point of bayonet.” The rider galloped off leaving Cooke little promise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Federal bullets took their deadly toll on the gray infantry. Soldier after soldier slumped to the\u00a0<\/span>ground clutching bleeding wounds. Nevertheless, the North Carolina and Arkansas soldiers,\u00a0<\/span>in the face of a greatly superior force, obeyed Longstreet’s order. Displaying their colors, they\u00a0<\/span>cooly remained in line armed only with empty, bayoneted guns.<\/span><\/p>\n

Longstreet, hearing of Cooke’s predicament, saw two unmanned pieces of artillery of Miller’s\u00a0<\/span>Louisiana Battery. He put his staff officers to the guns while he held the horses. It was easy\u00a0<\/span>to see that if the Federals broke through Cooke’s line , the Confederate army would be cut to\u00a0<\/span>pieces and probably destroyed. He had the guns loaded and sent a rattle of hail into the\u00a0<\/span>Federals as they came over the crest of the hill.<\/span><\/p>\n

As the Federals would come up they would see the colors of the North Carolina regiment\u00a0<\/span>waving placidly and they would receive a shower of cannister fire.\u00a0<\/span>Once a regiment was out of ammunition, it was standard procedure for the regiment to be\u00a0<\/span>disengaged and replaced by a regiment from the reserve or second line. However there\u00a0<\/span>was not a single regiment available to relieve him. The Light Brigade stood well into the\u00a0<\/span>afternoon, constantly submitted to Irwin’s volleys. All the defiant Southerners could do was\u00a0<\/span>wave their tattered flags and show the bayonet in a rash attempt to make the Union generals\u00a0<\/span>believe the troops in the gap were in strength and anxious to have another go.<\/span><\/p>\n

Union musket and cannon fire inflicted appalling losses on the regiment, but the North\u00a0<\/span>Carolinians vowed to hold the gap or go down together. For two painful hours, the troops\u00a0<\/span>stood to their line, empty cartridge boxes at their feet, and blood red battle flags flying\u00a0<\/span>defiantly above them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Around three o’clock, Captain James A. Graham, of the Orange Guards at the side of\u00a0<\/span>Colonel Cooke, beheld the terrible sacrifice of life. “The rail fence, which was our only\u00a0<\/span>protection, was riddled with bullets and torn with shot and shell and our men were falling\u00a0<\/span>fast, but still the 27th NC and the 3rd Arkansas flinched not. Endued with the courage of\u00a0<\/span>their commander, they stood firm to their post.”<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Longstreet along with the two newly arrived 12 pounder guns of Captain M.O. Miller,\u00a0<\/span>continued to fire double cannister over the heads of the ragged Confederates and cruelly\u00a0<\/span>scored in the regiments from Maine and New York. Irwin found it a pointless waste to\u00a0<\/span>continue to expose his brigade to such fire.<\/span><\/p>\n

The hostilities ceased about 3pm as the two armies lay panting and licking their wounds.\u00a0<\/span>The 27th NC and the 3rd Arkansas had held Lee’s left- center from the time they were\u00a0<\/span>committed, about 10 am,until all infantry action was completed. They had over- run Tyndall’s\u00a0<\/span>reinforced brigade and penetrated deep into McClellan’s center. This gallant Confederate\u00a0<\/span>assault, the most significant of the day, destroyed the momentum of II Corps which had\u00a0<\/span>shattered the Confederate center and nearly destroyed the Southern army.<\/span><\/p>\n

The regiment that had disgraced itself at New Bern; that was relegated to picket duty during\u00a0<\/span>the Peninsula Campaign; that was shunted to the rear guard during Second Manassas, had\u00a0<\/span>won unprecedented fame. Stephen Southall Douglas, in his second volume of Lee’s\u00a0<\/span>Lieutenants refers to the 27th NC more than any other unit, describing them as “gallant”,\u00a0<\/span>“great”, “magnificent”, “earned immortality at Sharpsburg”‘ and crowns their great success\u00a0<\/span>by naming them “the rock of Sharpsburg.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Among the most gallant events in recorded military history is the stand made by a\u00a0<\/span>distinguished British regiment, the Coldstream Guards, at the Battle of Waterloo. They\u00a0<\/span>along with the famed Scots Guards held Wellington’s right against determined attacks by\u00a0<\/span>superior French forces. in doing so they suffered a 27% loss. Their feat was eclipsed by\u00a0<\/span>the 27th NC at Sharpsburg. They held a vital position against a vastly superior enemy and\u00a0<\/span>refused to give ground despite a 61% loss.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Brief History of the 27th NC at Sharpsburg taken from a manuscript by H.Z.Bogue III. On September 28, 1861 by the direction of the governor, ten companies of militia were\u00a0organized at New Bern into a military organization officially designated the 27th North\u00a0Carolina Troops.\u00a0 The regiment first served as security forces, with companies located in … Continue reading “A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE 27th NC AT SHARPSBURG by H.Z.Bogue III”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26588],"tags":[33073,33068,6152,6221,33072,6161],"class_list":["post-2039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-regiments","tag-burnside","tag-cooke","tag-davis","tag-douglas","tag-graham","tag-lee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2039"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9316,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2039\/revisions\/9316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2039"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2039"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ncgenweb.us\/perquimans\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2039"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}