I would like to report on the condition of the 28th NC after its clash with those people in Hot Springs.
Saturday morning's sun rose above the mountain tops of Hot Springs. As soon as it did, the weather turned very hot, but the 28th NC was camped close by the town which had been overrun with Union swine and I am not talking about pigs. A detachment of some of the South's best troops were sent into town to assess the position of those people Saturday afternoon. The townspeople came out to see the thin gray line of brave Confederate soldiers. Most were friendly, but many were weary of us since they had been in Union control for so long and were so close to the TN border where Union sentiment is strong. An alert rang out and we suddenly faced a thin line of US marines in shiny white pants. They were amusing to see, but deadly shots. Only by our overwhelming force did we achieve the goal of running them out of town to the delight of the Southern supporters. We had enough time to cut back through town near the French Broad River to link up with the main body.
I will leave the first days battle to the good Captain to reflect on. As I was in combat, I could not ascertain any direction as I was too busy driving those people out of my way.
Following the battle, the good citizens of Hot Springs cooked us some of the Union Army's supply wagon meat that was not carried off in town. It was very good. I also had time to do some recruiting. A feller who had hiked 240 miles starting in south GA had heard we were in this area and decided to join us for the night and for a possible battle in the morning. Lt. Cheek signed Pvt Gage to the 28th NC, if for only a short time. His orders were from Jeff Davis and he had to continue his mission north, but seeing the Union Army had blocked his path, he decided to fight with us.
I will leave the details out for the good Captain to describe the 2nd days fight, but I can tell you we lost a lot of good men out there this day. We won a great victory, but at what cost? Several of our officers were wounded and we were patched together with elements of the 20th NC and 14? TN. It was a tough and a hot fight, but we prevailed and were able to drive the Yankees into the French Broad. We were very greatful for the artillery support of the Columbia Flying Artillery.
