rebel troops, commanded by Captain
Whitfield.

The first brush with the enemy commenced about 8 o'clock on Friday
morning, about twenty miles from New Berne, on the main road to
Kinston, a little to the right of Trenton when Company B, Captain
Marshall, Third New York Artillery, encountered them.

The enemy's force consisted of one company of cavalry and four companies
of infantry, of Major Nethercote's North Carolina battalion. After a
brief skirmish we dispersed the rebels, killing two, wounded and missing
amounting to fifty. Our loss was two wounded and four missing. The
advance then moved on, after crossing a bridge, partly destroyed, over a
creek, and being delayed an hour in fixing the same. Captain N. encamped
the same night within nine miles of Kinston.

On Saturday morning Company K, Captain Cole, Third New York Cavalry,
took the advance, and while moving forward captured two prisoners,
belonging to Nethercote's battalion, who gave some valuable information,
proceeded thence to Southwest creek, about five miles from Kinston. On
Captain Cole's approach, the enemy were found engaged in endeavoring to
destroy the bridge over the creek. Captain Cole dismounted a platoon,
who fired a volley upon the enemy while they were at work. The enemy
then retreated, but soon after fired from a battery of two six-pounders,
howitzers, upon our advance, wounding one man--a private, named John
Costello--who was shot through the head.

Colonel Heckmann, of the Ninth New Jersey (the advance guard of the
infantry), here came forward and ordered the Ninth to deploy as
skirmishers. This order was quickly executed, and had the effect of
partly dispersing the enemy; and Schenck's Third New York battery coming
up, fired about a dozen shells, driving the enemy entirely away. On the
Ninth New Jersey crossing the bridge, four of the enemy were found dead,
the wounded being carried on with the retreating enemy. The Ninth
succeeded in capturing one of their howitzers, which was brought into
New Berne this morning.

As soon as Captain Cole had crossed the bridge, following the New Jersey
Ninth, he was ordered forward by Colonel Heckmann, and his company
directed to act as scouts to find the position of the enemy. They had
proceeded about eighty or one hundred rods beyond the pickets of the
Ninth when the advance guard of Company K was fired upon by a concealed
body of the enemy, and Private Chapman wounded in the thigh. Captain
Cole then