17FFERINO OF THE TWELFTH GEORGIA REG'T, IN THE BY PARSON PARKER. In the first place, give justice to whom it belon The Confederate soldiers that wintered in it belongs West Point rules like to have been the ever lasting r„ei!0Un; f.um ?f 0ULinfant cTn_federacy- I believe in discip- men kind- tarns of Virginia to defend the homes and firesides of line, but treat thS the Sunny South from the ruthless invader, is the ly, and make them feelwere a band _ollowmg Regiments, and should be long remembered of brothers. If the South is to be dominecrd over bv litert/thTy LffireYfOT-'Vhe 12th r° » ™lit»ry despot^ we had better never have Vir^r/fith vfand ihe 58th vt. i ^ tb° ™ J d° »<* W ** our offi- t fi_ .."r i_i . ioimtain. lor freedom; A. After several months of hardships and all the pi i various that tne norrors 01 a war tus -Toj— we then moved a distance of 9 miles, to the summit of the APeghany November 24th, 1861. In evacu¬ ating Camp Bartow—as that was the name of our camp at Green Brier river—the men had to burn all their clothing, or nearly so, owing to the road being nearly knee deep in snow and mud ; when we arrived on the Alleghany, we then needed the clothing we had so recently committed to the flames. As there was no clothing to be had, we had to grin and endure it. f he howling winds and the sighing maple and and liberty; and I do not hesitate in saying, that those Regiments was as. near like a band of brothers as any body of soldiers of the same size in the Con¬ federate service. It was simply because they had stood side by side in the field of battle; they stood side by side, and bowed their weather-beaten cheeks to the howling winds of the snow clad Mountains tor the sake of our beloved country. Hundreds of frost¬ bitten fingers and feet was the result; but were they disheartened ? No, they were cheerful and bore it all without a murmur. Shall the history of such vete¬ rans go unnoticed Shall they be foi gotten in his to-1 snow clnd mountains which greeted you in every di- ry ? No, Godforbid ! But let the old veteran, with | rection, all seemed to help to make it one of the most miserable places that I ever saw. It was a very his hair fringed with icicles go and sound it in the ears of the school boy, and in every t ywn and hamlet in the Sunny South, so that the rising generation can have some idea what those men suffered for the glo¬ rious cause which they advocated. This post was under the command of General E. Johnson, the whole command being under General Stonewall Jackson—two.Generals that I never can forget, for I have witnessed their gallant conduct in the heat of battle, and a more cool set of Generals never was on earth, according to my judgment, fight¬ ing under such great disadvantages as they did.— While on the march, I have frequently saw the Gen¬ eral walking in mud shoe-mouth deep, and a poor fatigued and worn out soldier on his horse, so you now know what kind of a leader the soldiers of the mountains had. We have fought the Yankees in the Mountains and in the Valley of Virginia, and we were always successful. As I am destitute of education and am only trying to state to you how our poor soldiers suffered in the mountains of Virginia, in my feeble way, I am in hopes you will not look for preat onts npd rlngflpg w for big words, for I only write from sad experience. I am glad that I am permitted by an Allwise God to record the miseries and sufferings of my fellow-soldiers, and I do not feel satisfied without I do give an ac¬ count of our sufferings, although it may be ever so feeble, my conscience tells me to do it, and it is my duty to do so, and why should I hesitate in perform¬ ing that which I think is my duty ? I do not sup¬ pose that the laugh of a grammarian is half so dan¬ gerous as Minie balls; therefore, I shall not let the pride of the world make me shrink fr< >m that which I think is just and right. The 12th Georgia Regiment was the only Regi¬ ment of Georgians that remained on the summit of the Alleghany Mountains, in the winter of 1861 and 1862. As they were not accustomed to cold weather, and the greater part of them coming from Middle Georgia, their suffering was very severe. We reached Green Brier river the 12th of July, 1861, and remain¬ ed in the mountains until the 2nd day of April, 1862. Fully 750 members of the bloody 12th Ga. Regiment —as it was often called—were members of the vari¬ ous Churches before leaving home. Therefore, you may readily suppose that they were not destitute of that which make men show kindness towards one another. It was not lone: before a more brotherly feeling was created in the Regiment than I have ever seen in any other Regiment; no prejudice existed in our ranks. The songs of this gallant band ef soldiers were often heard to echo in the rugged mountains, and their prayers to God often repeated. As a writer addressed himself to the Richmond Dispatch relative to the 12th Ga. Regiment, he says : " Georgians, I feel incompetent to do you justice," the writer being a private soldier in a Virginia Regiment. I will here ' Lb. .A iLr-utn urn. Ucg. so acted as to create the kindest feelings among the Virginians. — The kindness of the ladies of Virginia, and most especially Rockingham county,to our sick and wound¬ ed has made the tears gush out of the eyes of many a poor fellow. There is a great many that cannot talk about the hospitalities of the Rockingham ladies without shedding tears. I do not pretend to say that other Ga. Regiments have not suffered, but I do say that there is no other Regiment of Georgians suffered more than the 12th Ga. Regiment, and to test the fact examine the muster roll of that regiment, and you vriil find that the calamities has been greater than "Any other regiment of Georgians in the field. Give justice to whom it belongs and you will have a clear conscience. Reader, will you follow me to our camp at Green Brier river ? Imagine yourself in the midst of more than five hundred sick and dying comrades, with scorching fevers and parched lips, far away from all that is near and dear to them. I am sorry to say it of my superiors, but justice demands it. They did not allow a single man to leave camp except he was an officer; therefore, nothing was left to encour¬ age the poor sick and dying man. Tears has often been shed by me in their behalf. In September, 1861, there was. an order past, or at least all the sick and wounded was taken away.— common thing to see them come in off of j icket with icicies hanging to their heads. When we went out on picket duty we remained 24 hours before we re¬ turned to camp; again at each picket post we con¬ structed a kind of Wigwam, by setting three forks together, letting them rest together at the top, and then spradling them out at the bottom so as to make them stand there, then we placed ten foot rails around it, similar to a potato hill, only leaving a hole for the potato, or Southern soldier to creep in at; dirt W'-is then thrown up about a foot deep all around, leaving a little air hole at the top to keep the potato or Southern soldiers from spoiling ; from three to four generally stood at one of these posts, one being on watch all the time ; a great many times while on picket if you did not keep walking, jmur feet would freeze to the ground. Our suffering was severe from the intense cold. I have heard some of my fellow soldiers say if they lived until the war ended and a man was to tell tjumi to go to Allegliany ^Ippnitaiii, they would take it as the meaning 61 J -- • of our guns one_ n the stoutest men of our reigment wrenching their hands and shedding tears from cold, in short, it's almost a matter of im¬ possibility to describe the sufferings of the soldiers on the Alleghany Mountain. I have passed one winter in the Rocky Mountains, in the far west, and I have passed one winter on the summit of the Alleghany Mountains of Virginia; and I had much rather win¬ ter in the Rocky Mountains than on the summit of the Alleghany, from the simple fact that you could make your camp in the canons or deep ravines, so as to shelter yourself from the cold, howling winds which scarcely ever abates. The Rocky Mountains is the coldest place in America, and yet I had much rather winter in the Rocky Mountains than on the summit of the Alleghany Mountains ol Virginia. Many a poor Georgian is laid in his last resting place on the summit of the Alleghany. And why it is I cannot tell, but the 12tli Georgia regiment all feel like brothers to me, and if I am permitted to outlive this war, I never could feel otherwise; we suffered together, we battled togethei and never was whipped, although hundreds of us have been laid weltering in our blood on one battle field. I am glad that I belong to the bloody 12th Ga. reg., that band of brothers—even to the mouth of the belching cannon and whizzing missils. The number of the regiment at present is a mere skeleton, and if it were reduced to thirty, I do not believe it would be right to add it to any other regiment or change her name; she lost her men honestly. This is^wliat General Jackson said: I never saw a regiment stand a cross fire before the 12th Ga. regiment. Old Stonewall is a judge of determined men, and knows how to appreciate their feelings. This regiment has been in one dozen hard fought battles and never trx ho- poit»+; .but now T onn luok ' back and imagine I hear the moans and groans of my fellow soldier in his dying moments, sending up prayers to God to have mercy on those whom he had left behind, while the blood is still gushing out of his wounds; a man that can witness such a scene without shedding a tear must have a hard heart, and a man that would treat a soldier's widow wrong is meaner than a Yan¬ kee. I was with one poor fellow-soldier in his dying hours, and he said I do not mind suffering if I just knowed that the neighbors at home, would try to console my poor wife and children. Georgians, in the name of God, and for the sake of the rising generation and humanity, and the welfare of society, treat the poor soldiers' widow and orphans kindly— let not dollars influence you to forsake them in time of need. Southern people, let us all die together; let us be actuated by true patriotism; let not dollars in¬ fluence us to forsake our country in time of need, and God will have mercy on us, and other nations will raise their voices and will exclaim three cheers for the gallant Southerners! Bloody 12tii Ga. Reg't.—Co. I, I V v