THE BATTLE OF GREAT BETHEL CHURCH 
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 THE BATTLE OP GREAT BETHEL CHURCH 
 By W.H.Bailey, Sr. 
 
 Blue & Gray 
 March, 1895 
 
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THE BATTLE OF GREAT BETHEL CHURCH-I. 
 
 W. H. Bailey, Se., LL.D. 
 
 BEFOBE proceeding with a sketch of this 
 important — in more sense than one — 
 battle, I wish to correct one or two 
 errors which occur in an article by 
 Colonel H. C. Graham, in your November issue, 
 on " How North Carolina Went into the War." 
 I was, when the war began, thirty years of age, 
 a lawyer by profession, and then engaged in 
 teaching a law school in conjunction with my 
 father, at the foot of the Black Mountain, North 
 Carolina. I was a secessionist, but not of the 
 ultra school of Calhoun and Davis. I believed 
 that a State had a right to secede, but only for 
 such causes as would have justified a revolu- 
 tion in a consolidated government. This was 
 the moral right, but whenever the people in 
 convention, legally assembled, should have de- 
 clared that there existed that just cause, con- 
 trary individual opinion must yield, and alle- 
 giance thereupon became only due to the seceding 
 State. Colonel Graham states correctly that 
 the proposition to call a convention merely to 
 consider secession was voted down, but he leaves 
 the impression that this action was taken before 
 the secession of South Carolina.* The truth of 
 history demands that so important a result 
 should not be left in doubt. The fact is, that a 
 plebiscite of the kind stated by him was submit- 
 ted to the voters not before, but after the seces- 
 sion of South Carolina, to wit, in February, 
 1861. 
 
 I addressed several assemblages of the people, 
 advocating the holding of that kind of con- 
 vention, but the scheme was voted down by 
 several hundred majority. Later on the legisla- 
 ture called a convention peremptorily, and the 
 ordinance of secession was passed on the 20th 
 of May, 1861. Before, however, this ordinance 
 was enacted, Governor Ellis had called for vol- 
 unteers, and the 1st North Carolina Begiment 
 was formed early in May, 1861. It was com- 
 posed originally, at Raleigh, North Carolina, of 
 ten companies : 
 
 Company A — Edgecombe Guards, Captain Bridgers. 
 Company B — Hornet's Nest Riflemen, Captain Williams. 
 Company C — Charlotte Grays, Captain Ross. 
 Company D — Orange Guards, Captain Ashe. 
 Company E — Buncombe Riflemen, Captain McDowell. 
 Company F — Lafayptte Light Infantry, Captain Starr. 
 Company G — Burke Rifles, Captain Avery. 
 Company H — Independent Light Infantry, Capt. Huske. 
 
 Company I — Enfield Rifles, Captain Parker. 
 Company K — Lincoln Stars, Captain Hoke. 
 
 Colonel Graham has stated the names of the 
 field officers correctly. I name the companies 
 from recollection, and may not be perfectly ac- 
 curate. It may not be uninteresting to note the 
 fate of these captains. Bridgers became a colo- 
 nel, and is dead ; Williams is alive ; Boss (cap- 
 tain of what were called the Spring Chickens, 
 and himself one) was killed in battle; Ashe 
 lives in California ; McDowell became a colonel ; 
 Starr became a colonel ; Avery became a colonel, 
 and was killed in battle ; Huske is dead ; Parker 
 became a colonel, and was killed in battle ; 
 Hoke became a colonel, and was killed in 
 battle. Many of the lieutenants and non-com- 
 missioned officers rose to high rank during the 
 progress of the war. Lieutenant Lewis, of 
 Company A, became a general ; Saunders and 
 Mallett, of Company D, became colonels ; Lieu- 
 tenant Gregory, of Company E, became a major ; 
 Lieutenant B. F. Hoke, of Company K, became, 
 I believe, a lieutenant-general. In Company E, 
 Sergeants Young and Patton became majors, 
 and Private Fleming a colonel. Colonel Gra- 
 ham is entirely mistaken in stating that there 
 was a Warren company in the regiment — the 
 more our loss, as Warren contains the crime de 
 la crime of North Carolina aristocracy. The 
 companies came from the counties of Edge- 
 combe, Mecklenburg, Orange, Buncombe, Cum- 
 berland, Burke, Halifax,- and Lincoln. Either 
 before we started or after reaching Yorktown 
 two other companies were added — one from 
 Halifax and the other from Perquimans. 
 
 At Yorktown General J. B. Magruder com- 
 manded, as he did at the battle of Great Bethel 
 Church. In, as I recall the 9th of June, 1861, 
 our regiment, a company of artillery, called the 
 Bichmond Howitzers, and a Virginia company 
 of cavalry were marched to Great Bethel 
 Church. There were two Bethel churches, not 
 far apart — Great Bethel and Little Bethel. On 
 arriving we were set to work throwing up 
 breastworks. 
 
 The church was a wooden structure situated 
 in a grove of large holly and hickory trees on a 
 very slight acclivity. Here is a rough diagram 
 presenting a view of the situation as seen on the 
 10th of June, 1861 : 
 
 153 
 
154 
 
 "BLUE <AND GRAY. 
 
 I I I I I E 
 
 Fx 
 
 Fz 
 
 A — The church. D — The howitzers. 
 
 B — The blacksmith shop. E — Our regiment. 
 
 C — The cavalry. F — Breastworks. 
 
 G — The direction of the attack. 
 
 The breastworks F2 and F3 were little, if any, 
 higher than a man's knee. F4 jvas to the 
 breast, and Fl — the point of attack — about a 
 yard high. The battle commenced at nine 
 o'clock a. m. on a bright morning — June 10th. 
 General Hill stated in his report that it lasted 
 five and a half hours. My impression is that it 
 ended about noon. I apprehend that our force, 
 all told, did not exceed thh-teen, possibly four- 
 teen hundred. General — then Colonel — Hill, in 
 his report (Rise and Fall of the Confederate 
 Government, Volume I, page 342) says that 
 ' ' this [our] small force was engaged for five and 
 a half hours with four and a half regiments of 
 the enemy. * * The enemy made three dis- 
 tinct and well-sustained charges, but were re- 
 pulsed with heavy loss." These charges were 
 made on breastwork Fl. Captain Winthrop, a 
 gallant officer, led the charges. The Federal 
 troops sprang on to the breastworks, received a 
 shower of shot-musketry, twice fell back. At 
 the third charge Winthrop sprang on the breasts 
 work, waved his sword, exclaiming: "Rally, 
 boys, rally ! one more rally and the day is 
 ours!" The brave words had scarcely been ut- 
 
 tered when poor Winthrop fell, mortally 
 wounded. This caused first, confusion, then a 
 panic, and finally a complete rout for miles. 
 
 Whilst this was going on, the howitzers — as 
 brave a body of men as ever . wore a uniform — 
 were handling their guns, poor howitzers, with 
 the utmost coolness and skill. It looked more 
 as if they were practising before their sweet- 
 hearts. A blacksmith shop (B) was directly 
 within the range of their guns, and General 
 Magruder stated that he would not order any 
 one to go outside to fire the shop, as the chances 
 were all against succeeding, yet if any one de- 
 sired to volunteer to do so he would accept hiB 
 services. Several privates sprang from the 
 ranks to offer themselves, but Wyatt got in ad- 
 vance and was chosen. We know his sad fate 
 — riddled with bullets even before he reached 
 the shop. 
 
 We all had an (to me at least) unexpectedly 
 good lunch that day from the canteens and 
 haversacks dashed down by the rapidly flying 
 Federals. Wyatt was our only loss. The Fed- 
 erals lost between five hundred and a thousand 
 men. It was said that Winthrop was killed by 
 the negro cook attached to the Orange Guard. 
 
 Yet, a battle so fought and won against such 
 odds is termed by Butler, in his " Book," " an 
 affair ' ' ! and Davis only devotes a page to it. 
 
 The moral effect of the battle was electrical. 
 It stimulated the weak-kneed, encouraged the 
 pessimists, and doubtless operated as an un- 
 seen but no less powerful factor in the battle of 
 Bull Run, which happened forty days afterward. 
 The logic of it was that one Southerner was 
 equal to four Federals, but the proportion ran 
 much higher in the average Southern mind. 
 Philosophically viewed, it turned out to be a 
 misleading star of destiny, as it remotely but 
 certainly became the cause of a fearful destruc- 
 tion of human life, commencing with Bull Run 
 and lasting through nearly four sad years. As 
 a just tribute to our regiment, the legislature 
 gave us the nam deplume of the "Bethel Regi- 
 ment." 
 
 II.— EXTRACTS FROM GENERAL D. H. HILL'S OFFICIAL REPORT 
 
 OF THE BATTLE. 
 
 Sir : — I have the honor to report that, in 
 obedience to orders from the colonel command- 
 ing, I marched, on the 6th instant, with my 
 regiment and four pieces of Major Randolph's 
 battery, from York town, on the Hampton Road, 
 to Bethel Church, nine miles from Hampton. 
 
 We reached there after dark on a wet night, 
 and slept without tents. Early on the morning 
 of the 7th, I made a reconnoissance of the 
 ground preparatory to fortifying. I found a 
 branch of Back River in our front and encircling 
 our right flank. On our left was a dense and 
 
 * From Charleston Daily Courier of June 26, 1861. Addressed to Governor J. W. Ellis. 
 
■THE BATTLE OF GREAT 'BETHEL CHURCH. 
 
 155 
 
 almost impassable wood, except about one hun- 
 dred and fifty yards of old field. The breadth 
 of the road, a thick wood, and a narrow culti- 
 vated field covered our rear. The nature of 
 ground determined me to make an enclosed 
 work, and I had the invaluable aid of Lieuten- 
 ant-Colonel Lee, of my regiment, in its plan and 
 construction. Our position had the inherent 
 defect of being commanded by an immense field 
 immediately in front of it, upon which the 
 masses of the enemy might be readily deployed. 
 Presuming an attempt would be made to carry 
 the bridge across the stream, a battery was 
 made for its especial protection, and Major 
 Eandolph placed his guns so as to sweep all the 
 approaches to it. The occupation of two com- 
 manding eminences beyond the creek and on 
 our right would have greatly strengthened our 
 position, but our force was too weak to admit 
 of the occupation of more than one of them. A 
 battery was laid out on it for one of Randolph's 
 howitzers. 
 
 We had only twenty-five spades, six axes, 
 and three picks, but these were busily plied all 
 day and night of the 7th, and all day on the 
 8th. * * * 
 
 On Sunday, the 9th, a fresh supply of tools 
 enabled us to put more men to work, and when 
 not engaged in religious duties the men worked 
 vigorously on the intrenchments. We were 
 aroused at three o'clock on Monday morning for 
 a general advance upon the enemy, and marched 
 three and a half miles, when we learned that 
 the foe, in large force, was within a few hun- 
 dred yards of us. We fell back hastily upon 
 our intrenchments. Lieutenant-Colonel Stew- 
 art, of the 3d Virginia Regiment, having 
 joined us with some one hundred and eighty 
 men, was stationed on the hill on the extreme 
 right beyond the creek, and Company G of my 
 regiment was also thrown over the stream to 
 protect the howitzer under Captain Brown. 
 Captain Bridgers, of Company A, 1st North 
 Carolina Regiment, took post in the dense wood 
 beyond and to the left of the bridge. Major 
 Montague, with three companies of his battal- 
 ion, was ordered up from the rear and took 
 post on our right, beginning at the church and 
 extending along the entire front on that side. 
 This fine body of men and the gallant command 
 of Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart worked with 
 great rapidity, and in an hour had constructed 
 temporary shelters against the enemy's fire. 
 Just at nine o'clock a. m. the heavy columns of 
 the enemy were seen approaching rapidly and in 
 
 good order, but when Randolph opened upon 
 them at a quarter past nine their organization 
 was completely broken up. The enemy replied 
 promptly with his artillery, firing briskly and 
 wildly, and made an attempt at deployment on 
 our right of the road, under cover of some 
 houses and a paling. 
 
 They were, however, promptly driven back 
 by our artillery, a Virginia company (the Life 
 Guard) , and Companies B, C, and G of my regi- 
 ment. The enemy made no deployment within 
 musketry range during the day, except under 
 cover of woods, fences, or paling. Under cover 
 of the trees he moved a strong column to 
 an old ford about three-quarters of a mile below 
 where I had placed a picket of some forty men. 
 Colonel Magruder sent Captain Worth's com- 
 pany, of Montague's command, with one how- 
 itzer under Sergeant Crane, to drive back this 
 column, which was done by a single shot from 
 the howitzer Before this, a priming wire had 
 been broken in the vent of the howitzer com- 
 manded by Captain Brown and rendered it use- 
 less. A force, estimated at fifteen hundred, 
 was now attempting to outflank us and get in 
 the rear of Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart's small 
 command. He was accordingly directed to fall 
 back, and the whole of our advance troops were 
 withdrawn. At this critical moment I directed 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Lee to call Captain Bridgers 
 out of the swamp and order him to occupy the 
 nearest advanced work, and I ordered Captain 
 Ross's Company C, 1st Regiment, North Carolina 
 Volunteers, to the support of Lieutenant-Colo- 
 nel Stewart. These two captains, with their 
 companies, crossed over to Randolph's battery 
 under a most heavy fire, in the most gallant 
 manner. 
 
 As Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart had with- 
 drawn, Captain Ross was detained at the church 
 near Randolph's battery. Captain Bridgers, 
 however, crossed over, and drove the Zouaves 
 out of the advanced howitzer battery and re- 
 occupied it. It is impossible to over-estimate 
 this service. It decided the action in our favor. 
 In obedience to orders from Colonel Magruder, 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Stewart rushed back, and in 
 spite of the presence of a foe ten times his supe- 
 rior in numbers, resumed in the most heroic 
 manner possession of his intrenchments. A 
 fresh howitzer was carried across and placed in 
 the battery, and Captain Avery, of Company G, 
 was directed to defend it at all hazards. We 
 were now as secure as at the beginning of the 
 fight, and as yet had no man killed. The ene- 
 
156 
 
 "BLUE zAND GRAY. 
 
 my, finding himself foiled on our right flank, 
 next made his final demonstration on our left. 
 A strong column, supposed to consist of volun- 
 teers from different regiments, and under com- 
 mand of Captain Winthrop, aid-de-camp to 
 General Butler, crossed over the creek and ap- 
 peared at the angle on our left. Those in ad- 
 vance had put on our distinctive badge of a 
 white band around the cap, and they cried out 
 repeatedly, "Don't fire !" This ruse was prac- 
 tised to enable the whole column to get over the 
 creek and form in good order. They now began 
 to cheer most lustily, thinking that our work 
 was open at the gorge and that they could get 
 in by a sudden rush. Companies B and C, 
 however, soon dispelled the illusion by a cool, 
 deliberate, and well-directed fire. Colonel Ma- 
 gruder sent over portions of G-, C, and N Com- 
 panies of my regiment to our support. And 
 now began as cool firing on our side as was ever 
 witnessed. , 
 
 The three field officers of the regiment were 
 present, and but few shots were fired without 
 their permission, the men repeatedly saying, 
 '• May I fire ? I think I can bring him." They 
 were all in high glee and seemed to enjoy it as 
 much as boys do rabbit shooting. Captain Win- 
 throp, while most gallantly urging on his men, 
 was shot through the heart, when all rushed 
 back with the utmost precipitation. The fight 
 at the angle lasted but twenty minutes ; it com- 
 pletely discouraged the enemy and he made no 
 further effort at assault. The house in front, 
 which had served as a hiding-place for the en- 
 emy, was now fired by a shell from a howitzer, 
 and the out-houses and paling were soon in a 
 blaze. As all shelter was now taken from him, 
 the enemy called in his troops and started back 
 for Hampton. As he had left sharp-shooters 
 behind him in the woods on our left,, the dragoons 
 could not advance until Captain Hoke, of Com- 
 
 pany K, 1st Eegiment, North Carolina Volun- 
 teers, had thoroughly explored them. When he 
 gave assurance of the wood being clear, Captain 
 Douthatt, with some one hundred dragoons, 
 pursued. * * * 
 
 There were not quite eight hundred of my 
 regiment engaged in the fight, and not one-half 
 of these drew a trigger during the fight. All 
 remained manfully at the post assigned, and not 
 a man in the regiment behaved badly. The 
 companies not engaged were as much exposed 
 and rendered equal service with those partici- 
 pating in the fight. They deserve equally the 
 thanks of the country. In fact, it is the most 
 trying ordeal to which soldiers can be subjected 
 to receive a fire which their orders forbid them 
 to return. Had a single company left its 
 post, our works would have been exposed, 
 and the constancy and discipline of the unen- 
 gaged companies cannot be too highly com- 
 mended. 
 
 A detachment of fifteen cadets from North 
 Carolina Military Institute defended the howit- 
 zer under Lieutenant Hudnal, and acted with 
 great coolness and determination. * * * 
 
 Permit me, in conclusion, to pay a well-de- 
 served compliment to the 1st Eegiment, North 
 Carolina Volunteers. Their patience under 
 trial, perseverance under toil, and courage under 
 fire have seldom been surpassed by veteran 
 troops. After working night and day, and 
 sometimes without tents and cooking utensils, a 
 murmur has never escaped them to my know- 
 ledge. They have done a large portion of the 
 work on the intrenchments at Yorktown, as 
 well as those at Bethel. Had all the regiments 
 in the field worked with the same spirit there 
 would not be an assailable point in Virginia. 
 After the battle they shook hands affectionately 
 with the spades, calling them clever fellows and 
 good friends. 
 

 UNIVERSITY OF N.C. AT CHAPEL HILL 
 
 00032769914 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION 
 
 

 
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