A.P. Hill’s Third Corps crossed the Potomac River at Shepherdstown, West Virginia, on the 24th day of June, 1863. On the 27th of June they were in Fayetteville, Pennsylvania.

Henry Heth’s Division reached Cashtown on June 29, and on the 30th, Pettigrew’s brigade was sent into Gettysburg to locate a store of shoes that were supposed to be there. They met dismounted Calvary troops, and Pettigrew, as ordered, fell back. On July 1, 1863, General Hill arrived along with Maj. General W. Dorsey Pender’s "Light Division". Hill decided to advance to Gettysburg. Heth’s division led the way. They ran head on into the dismounted Federal cavalrymen of Maj. General John Buford. The battle of Gettysburg had begun!!

Both the Confederates and Federals added reinforcements to the fray, and in short order, Pettigrew’s brigade was up against the Union’s famous "Iron Brigade", made up of westerners from Indiana, Wisconsin, and Michigan. A furious fight took place in the woods along Willoughby Run.

Pettigrew’s entire brigade was in action, but the 26th NC and the 11th NC regiments were catching the worst of the fight. The 52nd NC managed to flank the Iron Brigade and poured a deadly volley into the Yankee’s ranks, which broke them.

The 26th Regiment suffered tremendous losses, as well as the death of its gallant Col. Henry Burgwyn, the "Boy Colonel." He was only 21 years of age. He was killed while holding the regiment’s battle flag, and encouraging his brave men.

General Pender’s "Light Division" which included North and South Carolina brigades, drove the Yankees from Seminary Ridge and through the town of Gettysburg.

Heth’s Division was badly used up at the end of the first day, and was mainly held in reserve during the crucial fighting on July 2.

On July 3, 1863 General Robert E. Lee decided to attack the center of the Union line on Cemetery Ridge.

The remains of Pettigrew’s brigade, and the rest of Heth’s division,(with General Pettigrew in command of the division due to Heth being wounded the day before) was joined by Scale’s and Lane’s NC brigades from Pender’s division. These brigades were under the command of Maj. General Isaac Trimble.

They were called upon to carry out the attack along with Major General George Picket[t]’s Virginia Division of the First Corps. Pettigrew['s] and Trimble's divisions were not just in support of General Pickett, they were the left wing of the Confederate battle line.

Lt. General James Longstreet was in overall command of the assault.

General Pettigrew’s brigade, consisting of the 11th, 26th, 47th and 52nd NC regiments, was under the command of Colonel J.K. Marshall of the 52nd NC.

These men attempted to do what no mortal man could accomplish, and yet, almost succeeded.

The 26th NC is credited with going the farthest to the front at Gettysburg, but what was left of the 52nd NC was probably with them almost step for step. The gallant Colonel Marshall was unseated from his horse by an explosion, he remounted, and within a few moments, was shot dead. Whatever the specifics on where they were, and how far they went are difficult to determine, however, the regiment’s casualties for the entire three days of fighting were appalling. Final tallies revealed 77 killed or mortally wounded. 114 wounded, and 206 captured, of whom 112 were wounded. Sixty-three others suffered non-mortal wounds.

The 52nd NC regiment would never again be the fighting force it once was, despite the fact, that many of the wounded and captured eventually returned to duty.

Archibald Nixon was wounded in the thigh, he was captured on or about July 3, 1863 at Gettysburg. His leg was amputated. He died in a hospital there on July 19, of those wounds. He and his brother George (George Nixon was shot in the head, and died of these wounds on July 20, 1863) were among the seven men of the "Dry Pond Dixies" who were either killed or mortally wounded.

The 52nd NC Regiment continued to serve in the Army of Northern Virginia under General Pettigrew, who was mortally wounded just [a] few days later at Falling Waters, Maryland, during the army’s retreat back to Virginia. General W. W. Kirkland assumed command of the brigade. They finished the war under General MacRae.

They fought in all the remaining battles of the war in the east, and served their country in the trenches at Petersburg, Virginia, and surrendered with the army on April 9, 1865, at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia.

Seven men from Company G, were among the sixty men and six officers of the 52nd NC Troops paroled at Appomattox Court House, Virginia . They were:

Sgt. J.F. Caldwell
Cpl. J.T. Norwood*
Pvt. H. Roberson
Pvt. James D. Munday*
Pvt. Jackson Smith
Pvt. John Pendegrass*
Pvt. James Brotherton

The "Dry Pond Dixies" started back home, a place they had left just a little less than three years earlier, but to a place that would never be the same again.

Many of the "Dry Pond Dixies", other than the seven who surrendered at Appomattox, returned home eventually, after being released from prison camps across the North.

They came home to rebuild their lives, and to take care of their loved ones and the communities that they loved.

For many years after [the] war, Lincoln County remembered her sons with memorial gatherings and reunions. The veterans from Co. G, 52nd North Carolina State Troops, were always represented well.

Today, many of them sleep in peace in the cemeteries at Unity Church, and other local churches.

Their Great Great Great Grand children live on lands that they cleared, and put their lives and well-being on the line to defend.

A tribute to the men of the Confederate armies, was stated this way, "The world may not know who they were, but the whole world knows what they were, Southern Infantrymen."

The Dry Pond Dixies were and are worthy of that praise.

Epilogue
Susannah Norwood Nixon apparently never remarried after the death of Archibald. According to the county records, she applied for and was granted a pension in July, 1885, based on the service to North Carolina by Archibald. She was shown on the records as still receiving this pension on August 3, 1891. Even in death Archibald provided for his family.