Others had survived narrow
escapes to see this day [July 1 1963, the first day of the
battle]... Lieutenant John B. Holloway of Company F could have avoided this day.
The twenty-nine-year-old officer had been elected to a lieutenant's post in the
regiment's early days, but for some reason the men of his company had not reelected
him in the reorganization that had followed New Bern.
He could have gone home to stay, but instead he later stood for election
again—and made it. Now, Holloway waited to enter battle with the men of Company F.
... J.T.C. Hood, who was an orderly
sargeant at Gettysburg with Company F wrote the following account:
"On that morning Co. F having been on picket the night before, we marched some
distance on Emmettsburg road, to the best of my recollection, leading to Gettysburg,
crossing the stone bridge some two miles south or southeast from Gettysburg, to
a ridge right of the road, where we remained, in rear of a battery of artillery,
which was shelling the Federal line, and on advancing to the top of the ridge we
could see Davis's brigade of Mississippians engaged in regular conflict, several
charges being made on both sides which lasted some time when we were ordered forward
and halted at the foot of the slope in a skirt of woods, where knapsacks were
unslung and we were ordered to lay down. We remained in this position for about
half an hour— no firing from our side— no enemy in sight, as there was a
field of some elevation between our line and the Federal lines. Still there was
some sharp shooting on our right and left but none in our immediate front. The
flag staff was cut nearly in two by a minie ball and one of the color guards was
wounded. At the command 'Attention!' given by Col. H. K. Burgwyn, the 26th rose
to their feet. Co. F. with 87 men, one being detailed to guard the baggage. At
the command, 'Forward!' we proceeded about one hundred and fifty yards up a
slant to where there was a high fence, after crossing the command was given by
Col. Burgwyn to charge, the Federal lines being then in full view. I say lines,
as there were at least three distinct lines visible, and probably more. One
thing occurred at this time that drew my attention particularly. At the command
to charge Corp. S.P.Philyaw ran out in front and fired his gun which, I think,
drew the fire from the Federal lines, the whole volley striking ground about 15
paces in front of us. The next volley passed over us. As we were on the
double quick we had advantage nearer and in the open field the Federal got a better
range and volleys of deadly missiles were sent into our ranks which mowed us
down like wheat before the sickle."
From the chapter "Covered With Glory":
To the exhausted troops of the
Iron Brigade [Union Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana divisions holding McPherson's Ridge],
the men of the 26th North Carolina undoubtedly sounded
ferocious as they advanced through the smoke with fixed bayonets, screaming the Rebel yell.
The Tarheels' gritty willpower, however, far exceeded their numbers. The regiment had been
shot to pieces. In the few minutes it had taken the 26th North Carolina to advance from Herr
Ridge and across Willoughby Run up to the crest of McPherson's Ridge— little more than a
half hour— the strength of the regiment had been blasted away. The 26th's once-strong companies
had been reduced to mere squads. Despite the slaughter, the survivors dressed their line,
closed ranks and followed Lieutenant Colonel Lane, who led the charge toward enemy line holding
aloft the 26th's bloodied flag. Suddenly, amid the smoke and confusion, Lane and his troops
realized the Yankee battle line had again broken. The enemy troops were driven from the woods.
Even as they fell back, however, the hard-fighting Black Hats poured a deadly fire into the
26th. Company G's Private Perrett went down with two wounds. Sergeant Preston Kirkman— one
of the four Kirkman brothers— paused over the wounded Perrett. Since Perrett couldn't go on,
would he give up his coveted rifle? Perrett handed over the weapon. Kirkman took it, advanced
just a few feet and fell mortally wounded. At the center of the line, the ninety-one men of
Company F had been reduced to three. Every officer was dead or wounded. Lieutenant John
Holloway was dead. Captain Tuttle was down with a severe leg wound; and Lieutenant Charles
Sudderth was also wounded. Sergeants Henry Coffey and Robert Hudspeth were still alive and
standing. So was seventeen-year-old Jimmie Moore, who was the only Company F private still
unhurt when the Federals abandoned Herbst Woods. Young Moore had seen practically his entire
company shot down around him. Now, as the black-hatted men in blue backed through the haze
and out of the timber, the enemy fire became scattered and sporadic. Moore suddenly felt a
sense of relief. Now, he congratulated himself, he was finally safe. Then he was hit twice.
Struck in the neck and thigh, he was knocked to the ground unconscious. Sergeant Coffey was
hit, too, leaving Sergeant Hudspeth as the sole unhurt survivor of Company F.
From the chapter "The Sickening Horrors of War":
The charge had also taken a toll on
the regiment's junior officers. Two lieutenants had been mortally wounded,
and as many as 14 more were casualties. Lieutenant Holloway of Company F was dead on the field,
and twenty-eight-year-old Second Lieutenant William W. Richardson of Company B,
who had held his rank for a little more than six months, was mortally wounded...
When Major Jones counted the cost among
the regiment's enlisted men, he could only conclude that "the Old 26th" had suffered a "sad fate."
At least two-thirds of the regiment's enlisted men were dead or wounded.
Companies E and F, which had flanked the colors in the center of the line,
had practically ceased to exist. Of the eighty-two men who had gone into
battle that morning with Company E, only twelve were left unhurt. With only one man unharmed,
Company F suffered even worse. Ninety-one men from the company— three officers and eighty-
eight enlisted men— had made the charge against McPherson's Ridge, and ninety were killed or
wounded. Only Sergeant Hudspeth was fit for duty when the assault had ended.