The Battle of Plymouth. The regiment was engaged in the memorable battle of Plymouth, N.C., 20 April, 1864, where it successfully assaulted the enemys fortified position, the entire garrison surrendered to General Hoke. The enemys position here was a very strong one, protected by forts and gunboats. About dark we were ordered to make an assault upon one of the outer forts up to which our brigade charged, time after time, with persistent courage and stern determination. In the third attempt the parapet gained. Here the fighting was desperate and at close quarters and deadly - waxing hotter from beginning to finish. The commander of the fort, though mortally wounded, refused to surrender, cursing his lieutenant, (who had assumed command), for hoisting the white flag and surrendering. It was indeed a gallant defense. The Twenty-first Georgia and the Twenty-first North Carolina Regiments, as at the first of the war, again fought side by side in this fierce conflict - mingling their voices together in the same deafening yell of triumph. Many of them were stricken down on this bloody field and many of them sleep in a common grave. In this fight officers and men in both regiments, vied with each other in deeds and unsurpassed courage. Where all acted as heroes, it would seem invidious to make any special mention of names, but I must call attention to the distinguished and daring courage of Captain James O. Blackburn, Company G, and Private Francis Clinard, Company A. Both fell far in advance of our line in making the assault. The command then laid down under arms, in line of battle, among the dead and wounded, hearing all night the distressing cries of the wounded. Knowing what was before us, we slept but little, expecting to make as attack on the main fort near the town early the following day. But the Confederate ram, the Albemarle, coming down the Roanoke river, sank or ran off the Federal gunboats. Then, after a brief and futile resistance to our combined land and naval forces, the entire garrison surrendered unconditionally to General Hoke, who paid the brigade a handsome tribute by saying: My men, my confident expectations in you have been fully realized in this fight. Major James F. Beall - 21st North Carolina North Carolina Confederates
Posted on: Wed, 06 Aug 2014 20:13:16 +0000
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