It started with a war-whoop and an entire Southern company’s flight to arms to meet the enemy.
1st Lt. John M. Lawing, a newly-appointed surgeon of North Carolina troops, and his commander, artillery officer Capt. Thomas H. Brem, had just dismounted Monday, November 4, 1861 at “Point Fisher” – south of New Bern at Riverdale – when the alarm was raised. Brem’s company of cannoneers was building a fort there as winter quarters in anticipation of the coming Northern invasion. (That 1862 fight, known to history as the Battle of New Bern, occurred 157 years ago this month.) For now, however, all the men had dropped their shovels and axes in favor of long guns.
A few hundred yards up the Neuse River, Lt. Lawing recalled in a letter to The Charlotte Democrat, “we were agreeably surprised to see a most magnificent bear swimming at leisure toward the opposite bank. A few men were dispatched down the river for a boat to make an attack upon the animal by water, while others, armed with muskets were sent up the river to fight him by land in case he should attempt to come ashore. The boat was so far down the river, and the bear was making such rapid strides up the river that Capt. Brem became apprehensive of losing the splendid prize.”
In gauging the soldiers’ reaction, it must be recalled that in those days wild beasts were still considered a hazard to civilization. Black bears will attack humans and the Newbern Journal reported in 1857 that “within ten or twelve miles of Newbern” bears, cougars and bobcats were major predators of hogs and sheep. The newspaper urged the legislature to offer “a bounty to the slayer for every wild animal of the kind.”
According to Lawing, the swimming bear eventually tired and headed ashore. When the bruin hit the beach, “the land force opened a volley of musketry upon him.” The firing appeared to have no effect except to set the bear running. Lawing wrote: “As he landed, the brave soldiers charged bayonets, but the animal broke through and retreated at the double quick. Now all hopes of gaining the prize were about to vanish. The great bear was gaining ground and would have been lost forever. Soon, from a dense marsh on the left, a report was heard; the fatal shot made by Private [Francis] Veni [or Veno]. Thus, ended the first bear chase I ever saw. Thus, ended the first victory gained by Capt. Brem’s battery of artillery.”
by Edward Ellis, Special Correspondent
[Source: Charlotte Democrat, 11/19/1861. Steve Shaffer and Victor Jones contributed to this story.]