North Carolina, Lenoir County, Kinston
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After the fighting near Southwest Creek, the Confederates withdrew toward Kinston. Marching north, they crossed a creek and waded through the frigid swamp. Many cold, wet soldiers spent a miserable night at Harriet’s Chapel.
The Confederate officers forbade the men to build fires. This prohibition only made the cold night even worse. Capt. William Edwards of 17th South Carolina went to his colonel and asked if his men could build fires. Col. Fitz William McMaster explained that fires would attract Union artillery. Edwards replied, “A death by a shell would be much easier than to slowly freeze to death.” The colonel relented, allowing his men to build “small fires.” The next morning the 17th South Carolina manned the line near the church.
The records indicate that the 61st North Carolina, 17th South Carolina and Holcombe’s Legion, another South Carolina unit, camped at or near Harriet’s Chapel on the cold night of December 13, 1862. The next day, some Confederate soldiers sought the protection offered by the church building. One Union account recalled, “In front of part of their lines stood a wooden church, and from its widows came many a shot…”
"Imagine our feeling lying upon the cold ground on a bitter cold December night knowing it would be a battleground on the morrow…” David Jackson Logan, 17 South Carolina
(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
After the fighting near Southwest Creek, the Confederates withdrew toward Kinston. Marching north, they crossed a creek and waded through the frigid swamp. Many cold, wet soldiers spent a miserable night at Harriet’s Chapel.The Confederate officers forbade the men to build fires. This prohibition only made the cold night even worse. Capt. William Edwards of 17th South Carolina went to his colonel and asked if his men could build fires. Col. Fitz William McMaster explained that fires would attract Union artillery. Edwards replied, “A death by a shell would be much easier than to slowly freeze to death.” The colonel relented, allowing his men to build “small fires.” The next morning the 17th South Carolina manned the line near the church.
The records indicate that the 61st North Carolina, 17th South Carolina and Holcombe’s Legion, another South Carolina unit, camped at or near Harriet’s Chapel on the cold night of December 13, 1862. The next day, some Confederate soldiers sought the protection offered by the church building. One Union account recalled, “In front of part of their lines stood a wooden church, and from its widows came many a shot…”
"Imagine our feeling lying upon the cold ground on a bitter cold December night knowing it would be a battleground on the morrow…” David Jackson Logan, 17 South Carolina
(War, US Civil) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.