After the close of the engagement, being totally unfit for duty, much more so than when I left camp, I obtained permission and returned there that evening when I reported to the company hospital. We had been during this time daily in the receipt of news of the retrograde movement of our troops before Sherman’s army, and were therefore not surprised when on the 16th February we received orders to prepare immediately for a move, which move [136] we knew meant nothing else than a retreat; rations consisting of “Hard Tack” (Buiscuits) and bacon for three days having been given out we went to packing up; here I saw a policy of having only a soldier’s allowance of clothing with me which I could easily carry in my knapsack, while others had boxes full along, even broadcloth suits, a large part of which had to be left behind while another was lost or discarded on the road afterwards. In the night time some of our men had set fire to some of the cabins or loghouses, and soon the whole camp was in a blaze, my own sharing the fate of the other cabins of which I was heartily glad as I did not care to have the enemy enjoy the benefit of my labor, nor have the satisfaction of burning it. At 12 o’clock the bugle sounded to “assemble”, and we were soon on our way; being yet on the sick list and unable to walk, I received permission from our Surgeon Dr. Cannon to ride on the wagon with the hospital stores. Having taken our position in the column of batteries [137] we were soon on the road to Summerville; before dark that evening, my cousin, A. W. Fagen, overtook us and told me that the city had also been evacuated that day, he leaving even after the army, and that several large fires had occurred, but that our house was then yet safe; this last consoled me in a measure although the thought of the evacuation of our city was a sore one to me. Reaching an old church, St. Paul’s, about 12 miles from Adam’s Run that evening we camped there for the night; when our commissary wagon came up shortly after, some of our men found much to their regret that their private stores such as whole hogs, turkeys, fowls &c., that had been killed and cleaned before leaving camp, had been put out by the roadside, on account of the too heavy loading of the wagon for the bad roads; so there were some rather gloomy faces there that evening; this was only the beginning though of “the cutting down process”, the longer we traveled the less became our baggage, so that after losing one of our wagons, [138] from stalling with a heavy load, the order was given that the men should carry their knapsacks on their back, it came down to one or two changes of underclothing, all else was discarded; as mentioned before this did not affect me so much as I had not any more when we started out, all along the way could be seen traces of this cutting down.

Summerville 17th Feby 65

Next morning early we were off again, reaching Summerville about 11 o’clock and camping for the remainder of the day in the village; while there I availed myself of the opportunity to look around, and found it to be a very pretty place, cool and shady; straying into Mr. Lesemann’s store I found Mr. Lampe and some others of the older men from Walhalla who were there in the militia. The next morning our batteries moved to the outskirts of the village where we camped that and the next day, our band meanwhile depositing their instruments, now useless encumbrances, there. On the 20^th we again made a start, passing through “Caw Caw Swamp” where one of our [139] negro teamsters ran away, but was shot by our pickets while trying to escape to the swamp; we camped that night at Bonnean’s, which is merely a station on the North Eastern rail road, and was only to be distinguished by a turpentine distillery. On the morning of the 21^st, we were again early on the way and soon reached St. Stephen’s, where we had to await rail road transportation across the Santee river and swamp which we did not obtain till the next day, when we reached Gourdin’s; both of these last named places are also only stations and very insignificant.

Kingstree, Feb 24/65

Leaving Gourdin’s the column proceeded and on the 24^th passed through Kingstree, camping several miles beyond that night, while going through the main street of the town I could not help noticing by the signs along the same, the large number of jews in the place, which is though not one of any importance. While there I met Wm. Stender and Wm. Knobeloch, who were there with their respective Head Quarters. Before reaching Kingstree I was so hungry and [140] tired that I could not keep up with the battery; so that at last with several others I stopped at a house just beyond the town, and asked for, and obtained, something to eat; the gentleman residing there gave us very willingly, and bade us also stay there that night, but after resting there a couple of hours, we thanked him and proceeded to hunt up our company.

Darlington Feby 26/65

Early on the morning of the 26^th we reached Darlington having passed through the village of Effingham on the way; the first mentioned I found to be a very pretty place, in fact it was one of the prettiest we passed through on our march; we were very hospitably treated by the people of the town, one of the batteries in our battalion, the Darlington Light Artillery was composed almost entirely of the men of this place.

Society Hill Feby 27/65

After stopping a short time we were soon on the road to Society Hill, which we reached on the 27^th; this was also a fine place, and counted many refugee Charlestonians among its inhabitants during the war, its hospitality exceeded even that of Darlington, at the depot we found [141] tables with bread and buiscuits with ham and also baked sweet potatoes, presided over by some of the young ladies of the place who bade us help ourselves, which kind invitation we were not loath to accept, and soon did full justice to the fare, eating to our hearts’, or rather our stomachs’, content. At this and the former place we found a large part of the rolling stock, engines, cars &c. of the South Carolina Railroad that had been run up here for safety, but which as it proved afterwards, had been useless trouble. As Cheraw was the next place on our route and the Pee Dee river which had to be forded near there was very much swollen the cannoneers received permission to take the cars at this place for Cheraw, while the battery went by road;

Cheraw Feby 27/65

we reached there on the afternoon of the 27^th, and camped on the outskirts of the town, I found it also to be a pretty, and what is more a thriving place, and was full of refugee Charlestonians, among whom was Dr. Bachman. Having been told by one of my comrades that a person [142] by the name of Bornemann was at the hospital there sick, I went there and found it, as I feared, to be my former employer, who was just recovering from an attack of fever; he had come from Columbia with the Engineer Department to which he had been attached. Knowing him to be hardly able to stand the hardships and privations we were likely to go through I asked him why he had not stayed behind as so many others had done, and which in his case would have been excusable; to which his answer was that though he had left his wife and children in the city, and it had been very hard to part from them, he could not stay, he thought it his duty to go with the army. Though I always had a very high regard for him, that sentiment placed him much higher in my esteem, and I thought to myself, that if only others who were more able had always had the same sense of duty we would then have been much better off. Having spent an hour or two with him I left, promising to visit him again, if possible, which I did, and which, alas, proved to be my last interview [143] with him, as I learnt, on my return to the city, that on being discharged friom the hospital he had tried to make his way home, but owing to his weak condition and the hardship of the road, he had take sick and died before he had reached home. Cheraw contained many fine buildings, and did considerable business, the Peedee which runs close by the town being navagable for light-draught steamers to the same.

Sherman was pressing us hard when we left Cheraw on the 2^nd of March before day, and after crossing the bridge, which was afterwards burst by our rear guard, we encountered the worst road that ever was our ill luck to travel; the soft mud being without exaggeration knee deep and in many places more, so that our march proved a very slow one, although we heard firing early in the morning already which we learnt afterwards had been a skirmish of our cavalry under Gen. Hampton with Sherman’s advance forces who had entered Cheraw before the former had even left, the object of our rear guard being to retard [144] the progress of the enemy in order to gain as much headway as possible for our army. In N.C.

On the same day, the 2^nd March at about 12 o’clock we crossed the state line into North Carolina, the same being marked by an old tree; this was the first time I had ever left the bounds of my native state, and the fact gave rise to many, many thoughts,

Thoughts of home

I had left behind me all that I held dear, my state, my home and my loved ones, and I could not help asking mentally whether I would ever see either again; would I live to return to my home and under what circumstances will it be? I had heard nothing from Mother since we were at Chisolmville in December, and all sorts of rumors that reached us did not tend to allay the fears that would ever present themselves to my mind, and made my thoughts of so unpleasant a nature. We were now in North Carolina, and it really seemed to me as if from the first moment that we entered the state I found a change in the people we met who were not half as hospitable as our own;

“Friends”, but no friends

this increased the nearer [145] we came to the centre of the state among the Quakers or “Friends” who are opposed to war or fighting, and so of course had now use for soldiers and no feeling for us, but we met too with places that came upon us on our dreary march as oases in the desert and which will ever be held in grateful remembrance by all who shared their hospitality; the names of Fayetteville, Hillsboro & some others are recalled with pleasure by the confederate soldiers who came upon those towns on their march, and redeems the good name of the old north state from the stain cast upon it in other parts of the same. Before reaching Cheraw we had already come upon clayey roads, but here were we first to experience the difficulties we were to contend with on them, considerable rain had made them very soft but the great travel over them had cut them up and made them more so, so that at every step we clogged in the deep clay, and had enough to do to get our shoes along; here we also came at intervals upon the hills and rocks of a mountainous country, so that the cannoneers had ofttimes [146] to assist the horses in getting the guns up some steep ascent made more so by the slippery condition of the clay road over the same.

Rockingham March 5/65

On the evening of the 5^th of March our battery camped several miles before Rockingham; I had gone on ahead to try to get something to eat, and after learning that our battery had camped for the night, also to get a place to sleep as I felt too tired to make my way back to the company; my efforts in regard to both proved of no avail neither food nor shelter was to be had, so no alternative was left me but to return to where the battery had stopped for the night several miles back, I retraced my steps for that purpose but had not gone far when I reached a camp where upon going up to the same to enquire the location of my battery I found myself with the German Volunteers,

With The German Volunteers

where I soon met with my cousin, A. W. Fagen, and a friend Edward Heintz who informed me that the battery was yet a mile or two further back and had camped on account of the horses of one of the guns giving out; they persuaded me to [147] remain with them for the night, which, by the way, I hardly needed a persuasion to do, I would have asked the privilege myself as I was nearly worn out. The next morning our battery came up, and we soon entered the town, though only to pass through the same; I found it to be a very inconsiderable place, although it contained the courthouse and other public buildings of the county.

Bostick’s

Leaving Rockingham behind us, we soon came upon Bostick’s, which is merely a mile from the former though in a very wild region; at this place we found a government “corral”, that is a place where the worn-out horses of the government were doctored and fattened up, after which they were again returned to service.

Carthage Mch 8/65

After Bostick’s we on the 8th reached Carthage, also merely passing through the same; almost the first thing that struck our sight was the gallows in the jail yard; I could not help wondering if the prominence of the same to the view tended any to make crime less in the neighborhood, this was about all that was remarkable about the place, [148] which was, in the language of camp “a one-horse town”.

Manchester Mch 9^th 65

The next point reached was Manchester on the 9^th, this was also only a small town but contained one or two large cotton factories driven by water power, we there also paid only a flying visit. Towards evening of the day it began to rain very hard, so that long before we camped we were soaked from head to foot, our blanket which we had used as a sort of protection included; that evening we camped about 4 miles from Fayetteville, the rain continuing to pour down in torrents; we pitched our gun covers for protection, such as it was, from the rain, and were about to build a fire to dry our clothes when a detail of men, myself and brother among the number was ordered to return to help our forge out of a bog; through a pelting rain and slush and mud over ankle deep, we proceeded to the spot, which was about 1 1/2 miles from where we had camped, and after a half hour’s tussle and labor succeeded in getting it out, arriving in camp again more wet than before. That night we laid [149] ourselves, in as soaking a condition as one could be, to sleep, and spite of the drawbacks of our wet clothes, wet blanket, and poor shelter we on account of our great tiredness slept soundly

Steamed

and awoke next morning steaming like so many hot potatoes. We rejoiced to find that the rain had ceased, and soon forgot our troubles of the night before.

Sherman behind us

Having harnessed up and gotten ready, we were ordered to hurry forward as Sherman was immediately in our rear, a half mile some said, proceeding we had not gone far when from the bad condition of the road the third gun stalled in the mud, the cannoneers of the fourth were ordered to assist in getting the same started again, which was soon accomplished

Stalled

but alas! the fourth, our own, gun fared no better, or rather worse, sinking into the mud to the hub of the wheel, and remaining almost immovable, spite of the united efforts of horses and men, and we began already to fear that we would have to leave the same behind, but having concluded either to get it out or be taken [150] with it “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” we again went at it, and as the old saying is, “where there’s a will, there’s a way” after trying long in vain to get it out with the horses, they were unhitched and the cannoneers with the aid of a “prolong” or rope which they pulled like the drags of an engine, while others, myself among the number, raised the wheels that had sunk, with a will and a shout we put our strength to the work and out she came. The horses were hastily hitched in and we went at a run to catch up with the battery that had gone on.

Fayetteville Mch 10/65

We soon reached Fayetteville, and received there one of the warmest welcomes given us on our march, from nearly every house the ladies came out, and offered us something to eat according to what was in their power to give, even if it only was corn bread with salt strewn on it was received as thankfully as something better, our appetites were too good to allow our stomachs to be choosers in those days; the ladies’ kindness touched our hearts and made us regret that we could not stay and protect them against Sherman’s visit; “The girls we left behind us.” leaving the town we crossed [151] the bridge over the Cape Fear river, the same being also burnt by the rear guard of our army, and proceeded several miles further when we camped for the balance of the day.

Averysboro Mch 12/65

The next morning we again resumed our march, and on the 12^th passed Averysboro, a place hardly deserving the name of village, at which the corps to which we were attached, Hardee’s, had a battle with Sherman’s advance that was pressing us so closely,

Holding McNeill’s ferry

during which we were ordered to McNeill’s ferry, a few miles further up on the Cape Fear river, to prevent the crossing of the enemy at that point to flank our army; we remained there three days without any appearance of the foe, when we were ordered to rejoin the column; having done which we proceeded on one of the worst roads again that we have traveled.

Smithfield Mch 17/65

On the 17th March we reached the vicinity of Smithfield, having forded the Neuse river, waist deep, on the way; there we also lay three days, the distant sound of artillery announcing to us that another battle was being fought in our rear, which we learned afterwards [152] was at Bentonville, a village not far from the town where we lay; soon the arrival of the wounded showed us that the same had not been a bloodless one.

Raleigh Mch 21/65

From Smithfield, which we left on the 20^th we proceeded to Raleigh, which we reached the next day, passing through Clayton, a small village on our way, at Raleigh we camped for the balance of the day having reached there about noon. I found it to be a beautiful city, and was particularly pleased with the State capital building and its site. Early the next morning we were again on the march through the dreary pine lands of the tar and rosin region, where the monotony of the scene was only occasionally broken by a cabin or hut of some squatter, generally of the lowest class;

Chapel Hill Mch 23/65

we reached Chapel Hill the next morning, the 23^rd, after camping just before it the previous night; this place is of somewhat more importance than the others with the exception of Raleigh it is a pretty place and the site of the State University,

Durham Mch 23/65

passing through the town we proceeded, our road carrying us [153] through Durham, then a village of not much importance, but later the place of meeting of Gens. Johnston and Sherman to arrange terms of surrender, since the same has become celebrated for the smoking tobacco manufactured there,