d
distinction of being the initial troops to enter organized battle, were: Edgecombe Guards, Capt. J. L. Bridgers; Hornet's
Nest Riflemen (Mecklenburg), Capt. L. S. Williams; Charlotte Grays, Capt. E. A. Ross; Orange Light Infantry, Capt. R. J. Ashe;
Buncombe Rifles, Capt. William McDowell; Lafayette Light Infantry (Cumberland), Capt. J. B. Starr; Burke Rifles, Capt. C.
M. Avery; Fayetteville Light Infantry, Capt. Wright Huske; Enfield Blues, Capt. D. B. Bell; Southern Stars (Lincoln), Capt.
W. J. Hoke. The whole force was nominally under the command of Col. J. B. Magruder, and numbered between 1,200 and 1,400 men.
To surprise and capture this force, Gen. B. F. Butler, commanding on the
Virginia coast, sent Gen. E. W. Pierce with five companies of the First Vermont, five companies of the Fourth Massachusetts,
two of Carr's Mountain Howitzers, and two pieces of regular artillery under Lieut. J. T. Greble, the whole force amounting,
according to Gen. Carr of the Federal army, to 3,500 men. On the night of the 9th, this force was advanced toward the Confederate
position on two roads. At the convergence of these roads, Colonel Bendix's Seventh New York Regiment mistook Colonel
Townsend's Third New York for Confederates and fired upon it. The fire was returned and twenty-one were killed and wounded
before the mistake could be corrected. Thinking it impossible after the firing to surprise the Confederates, General Pierce
sent back for reinforcements and then moved on toward Bethel. About 9 o'clock, on the morning of the 10th, the Federals appeared
on the field in front of the Southern works, and Greble's Battery took position. A shot from a Parrott gun in the Confederate
works ushered in the great Civil War on land. The first Federal attack was on the front. As a result of this attack, Colonel
Carr says: "Our troops were soon seeking shelter of the woods after a vain attempt to drive the enemy from the works." This
attack was repelled mainly be Randolph's accurate fire, aided by the gallant conduct of Burke's Rifles under Capt. Avery and
by the Hornet's Nest Rifles. A little later in the action the Edgecombe Guards, Captain Bridgers, gallantly took a redoubt
that had, on the accidental disabling of a gun, been abandoned by the Confederates. In front of this redoubt the Federals
had found shelter behind and in a house. Colonel Hill called for volunteers from the Edgecombe Guards to burn this house.
Sergt. George H. Williams, Thomas Fallon, John H. Thorpe, H. L. Wyatt and R. H. Bradley promptly offered their services and
made a brave rush for the house. On the way a shot from the enemy's rear guard struck Wyatt down. The determined spirit of
this heroic young soldier led to a premature death, but by dying he won the undying fame of being the first Confederate killed
An attempt to turn the Confederate left having failed, a force headed by
General Butler's aide, the gifted young Connecticut novelist, Maj. Theodore Winthrop, made an attempt on the left, but the
Carolinians posted there killed Winthrop at the first fire, and his followers soon rejoined Pierce and the whole force retreated
toward Fortress Monroe. Just at the close of action, Lieutenant Greble, who had served his guns untiringly against the Confederates,
was killed. The gun that he was firing was abandoned, says General Carr, and his body left beside it, but subsequently recovered
by a company that volunteered for that purpose.
Swinton in his "Army of the Potomac" says that while Colonel Warren yet
remained on the ground the Confederates abandoned the position. This is far from correct. General Magruder in his report says
that Confederate cavalry pursued the Federals for five miles. Colonel Carr, who commanded the Federal rear guard, says: "The
pursuit of the Confederates was easily checked." These two reports establish the fact that there was a pursuit and not abandonment.
Colonel Magruder further says, "It was not thought prudent to leave Yorktown exposed any longer. I therefore occupied the
ground with cavalry; and marched the remainder of my force to Yorktown. So 