Diary of A Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, 1861-1865

Diary of A Tar Heel Confederate Soldier, 1861-1865

This document was the day-to-day diary of a Confederate soldier from North Carolina. His name was Louis Leon and he served in the Charlotte Grays, Company C, First North Carolina Regiment. The entries recorded in the diary tell of the average life of a confederate soldier during the wartime. This is includes the battles he fought in, as well as the hum-drum toil of life in the army. He was stationed in Yorktown, VA.

Louis Leon

1861-04-25

Document

Raleigh, North Carolina

Wake County, North Carolina

Diary

October 14 - My corps of sharpshooters marched in front of the line. Left camp at 4 this morning, and at daylight, as General Ewell and staff rode up to us, there was a volley shot at us. We immediately deployed and after the enemy. We fought on a run for six hours, all the time the enemy falling back. They at one time raised a white flag and surrendered. We then stopped firing, and as we got within one hundred feet they opened on us again, for they saw we were only a line of sharpshooters. We then resumed firing at them. I captured a mail-bag in the fight, and in several letters I found some money. We halted, and the enemy kept on running like wild ducks. This is the battle of Bristow Station. We took many prisoners. As we got through fighting we heard firing on our right. We marched to their support, but when we got there the firing had ceased. Twenty-five miles to-day. We camped on Manassas Plain. Raining hard all night.