Col. Root of the 94th New York Regiment, relates the following incident, which transpired after the battle of Fredericksburg :
During Monday afternoon I revisited the scene of Saturday’s charge, in order to make arrangements for burying the dead, and on arriving on the skirmishing line, I observed a rebel officer near the woods, who cordially responded to a friendly wave of my handkerchief, and was kind enough to keep his skirmishers quiet while I looked around the field for my dead. Subsequently he came out, shook hands and compared notes. He was a Captain of the Twentieth North Carolina Regiment, and, during the conversation, stated that the Twenty-third North Carolina had been nearly annihilated by a charge on Saturday. On being informed that my Brigade had made the charge, he anxiously inquired after several of his brother officers whom we had captured, and I was gratified at being able to assure him of their safety. I saw a number of familiar faces among the dead, for two officers and fifty men of my brigade lay there, men that I had drilled, instructed and loved, and finally led to death in battle. I bade good-bye to the generous southerner, sending by him my regards to my relatives in Georgia, and conveying his regards for his relatives in Ohio.
The Weekly Pioneer and Democrat, Saint Paul, MN