tion and to support them; but he forgets that the commanding officer was under positive orders from General Longstreet "not to involve us so as to delay the march after night," and it was nearly dark when the assault was fairly joined.
In commenting on the battle, General Longstreet says: "The success of General Hancock in holding his position in and about the forts with five regiments and two batteries against the assault of the Fifth North Carolina and Twenty-fourth Virginia was given heroic proportions by his chief, who christened him The Superb, to relieve, it is supposed, by the picturesque figure on his right, the discomfiture of his left. But reading between the lines, the highest compliment was for the two Confederate regiments. "[1] Draper, the New York historian, adds: "The manner in which the Confederate rear guard turned upon their pursuers at Williamsburg and gave them a bloody check will always exact the applause of military critics."[2]
On the 7th of May, at Eltham's landing, nearly opposite West Point, Va., Franklin's division of McClellan’s army disembarked from transports for the purpose of getting in the rear of Johnston's retreating army. The purpose, however, was frustrated, for Franklin found G. W. Smith on the ground, and Whiting's division attacked him there. Captain Reilly's battery and Colonel Fender's Sixth North Carolina regiment were under fire, but not seriously engaged.
The next battle in Virginia was at Slash church, near Hanover Court House, on the 27th of May. This, with the exception of one regiment, was purely a North Carolina fight. The Confederate force, one brigade and two attached companies, was commanded by Gen. L. O'B. Branch, of North Carolina, and of the seven regiments present all were from the same State except the Forty-fifth Georgia, Col. T. M. Hardeman. This brigade, after
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