His blanket mate, J.S. Patch, who was taken prisoner at the battle of Drury’s Bluff, writes:
I heard in Andersonville, while there as a prisoner, from a member of
the 23d Massachusetts, who was taken prisoner at Cold Harbor, that when
the 23d received the orders to charge Charles was one of the first to swing
his hat with a hurrah, and the next instant fell with a bullet through
his brain. Charles could have escaped that campaign, as he was sick
at the time it started, April 26th, and the surgeon told him it was useless
to make the attempt. He persisted and went along until about May
1st, when he was sent back to the hospital at Hampton, VA. I was
surprised on returning to camp on the Appomattox river after a days work
on the fortifications, -May 12, -to find Charles there. He said the
surgeon in charge of the Hampton Hospital was anxious that he should remain
there and act as a nurse, but with him his first thought was to do his
duty and not to be classed with the scullions. As I said before,
I knew him well, and the ties of friendship formed by the touch of elbows
or sleeping under the same blanket, are perhaps stronger and entirely different
from any other ties. I am indebted to Charles for many a dainty dish
cooked by himself; he was ever thoughtful of others and always ready to
lend a helping hand. He was much respected in the company and regiment.