work to the right and front of the enclosed work ; three companies of the Virginia battalion, under Maj. E. B. Montague; five pieces of artillery, under Maj. (afterward secretary of war) G. W. Randolph, of the Richmond howitzers; and the First North Carolina, under Colonel Hill, occupied the inside of the works. The companies composing the North Carolina regiment, which had the envied 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. Hi. 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 New York regiments, 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 General Carr[1] 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.[2] Thinking it impossible after the
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