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CAPTAIN WM. W. CHAiviBERLAlNE 
 IN 1863 
 
MLMOIR5 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CIVn WAR 
 
 Between the Northern and Southern 5^ 
 of ^J^' Untied States of America 
 
 5y 
 
 Captain William W. Chamb 
 
 of the Confecierate 5tates Army o* 
 Northern Vir<!lniB 
 
 Press of Byroa 5, Adams 
 
 Washinsiton, D. C, 
 
 I9I2 
 
MLM0IR5 
 
 OF THE 
 
 CIVIL WAR 
 
 Between the Northern and 5outhern Sections 
 
 of the United 5tates of America 
 
 1861 to 1865 
 
 By 
 
 Captain William W. Chamberlaine 
 
 of the Confederate States Army of 
 Northern Virginia 
 
 Press of Byron 5. Adams 
 
 Washington, D. C. 
 
 1912 
 
bLdO 
 
 
 C&i^, z 
 
 
INTRODUCTION 
 
 The intention of these memoirs is to fur- 
 nish my children and their descendants, in 
 printed form, an account of the experience of 
 the writer during the War waged from 1861 
 to 1865 by the Northern States of the Union 
 against the Government set up by the South- 
 ern States, 'in order to force the latter to re- 
 turn to the Union. During its existence, the 
 group of Southern States took the name of 
 the Confederate States of America. My Great 
 Grandfather was a Lieutenant serving with 
 the Barrons in the Navy of the Colony of 
 Virginia during the Revolutionary War of 
 1776 and his son, my paternal Grandfather, 
 served with the Militia in the war with Eng- 
 land in 1812, both were named George Cham- 
 berlaine. Having often wished they had left 
 an account of their experiences in the Serv- 
 ice, I determined that if my descendants had 
 a desire to know something of my Experience 
 in the War of 1861 to 1865, they would have 
 it in permanent form. I have now reached a 
 ripe old age, but my memory of the events 
 related is clear, and I have a few cotem- 
 poraries left, who served in the same Army 
 and perhaps some of them may take an inter- 
 est in reading this account of scenes familiar 
 to themselves. If they find the personal pro- 
 noun used very often, they should remember 
 that this is a statement of my personal recol- 
 lections and excuse its frequent use. 
 
 The Author. 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 Service With the Infantry. 
 
 In the year 1859 (I was then twenty-three 
 years old) John Brown attempted to array the 
 negroes in Northern Virginia against the 
 white people, and with his followers, mostly 
 negroes, took possession of Harper's Ferry. 
 Troops were dispatched to the scene by the 
 U. S. Government, as there was an Arsenal 
 at Harpers Ferry, and after a short struggle 
 John Brown and his followers were taken 
 prisoners and turned over to the authorities 
 of Virginia. There were some casualties dur- 
 ing the fight, which was conducted by Col. 
 R. E. Lee assisted by Lieut. J. E. B. Stewart, 
 both of the Regular U. S. Cavalry and an of- 
 ficer of the U. S. Marines, on the part of the 
 Government. That attempt of John Brown 
 excited the Military spirit of the young men 
 and Volunteer Companies were formed in 
 different places in Virginia. 
 
 At Norfolk, Va., a Company was formed 
 by the young gentlemen of the City, and was 
 called the Southern Guard and Company F. 
 I had attended the Norfolk Military Academy 
 in my youth, and was quite proficient in the 
 School of the Company and of the Battalion. 
 An election was held for officers, both Com- 
 missioned and Non-Commissioned, and I was 
 elected Corporal. The Company was com- 
 manded by Captain Edmond Bradford, form- 
 erly an officer of the U. S. Artillery, with 
 Harry Williamson, who had served in the 
 War with Mexico, as First Lieutenant, and 
 
 [S] 
 
Q9emoir0 of ti)e Citiil MJat 
 
 R. C. Taylor, a graduate of the Virginia Mili- 
 tary Institute, as Second Lieutenant. Walter 
 H. Taylor was First Sergeant. 
 
 The Company was drilled and paraded dur- 
 ing two years following. In the meantime 
 Sergeant Taylor had been promoted, by elec- 
 tion, to Second Lieutenant to fill a vacancy 
 and I was made First Sergeant. 
 
 Then came the election of A. Lincoln as 
 President. The Gulf States began to pass or- 
 dinances of Secession from the Union. In 
 March following Lincoln was inaugurated and 
 took his place at the head of the Government. 
 Step by step in the next month acts were com- 
 mitted by the Seceded States and the U. S. 
 Government which led to the War. A con- 
 vention was in session at Richmond, Va. A 
 majority of the members were opposed to Se- 
 cession and great efforts were made to pre- 
 serve peace, but when the President called 
 upon the States for their quota of a force of 
 seventy-five thousand men to coerce the Se- 
 ceded States, the Virginia Convention decided 
 to join the Gulf States and passed an ordi- 
 nance of Secession. I was then staying at my 
 father's house on E. Main Street, and that 
 same night at twelve o'clock, there was a ring 
 of the front door bell. It was a messenger 
 with an order for me to assemble Company F 
 at the Armory. Before 2.00 A. M., the Com- 
 pany having assembled, it was marched by 
 Lieut. Williamson by way of Ghent to Fort 
 Norfolk. The distance was two miles. At 
 Ghent the command was given to halt and 
 load. The muskets being loaded we pro- 
 ceeded to Fort Norfolk. 
 
 [6] 
 
09emoit0 of tht Citiil mux 
 
 On the way rumors were heard that other 
 Volunteer Companies had preceded us to the 
 Fort and had been attacked by U. S. Marines 
 from the Navy Yard and cut to pieces. On 
 arrival it was found that the rumors were 
 false. Several Companies had reached the 
 Fort and were removing ammunition; that 
 being a Magazine of the U. S. Navy. During 
 the rest of that night and all the next day, the 
 work of removing the ammunition went on. 
 There were some alarms during the day, but 
 no effort was made by the U. S. officers to 
 stop the work. There were several U. S. 
 Ships at the Navy Yard, one mile distant, and 
 one shell dropped near the Fort, I believe, 
 would have caused a cessation of the work, 
 because it might have blown up the whole 
 Fort, by setting fire to the ammunition. By 
 sunset the large stock of powder and shell had 
 been hauled back one mile and piled on the 
 land of Mr. Robert Searles. 
 
 The men of our Company had now been 
 at work about twenty hours and were much 
 fatigued, so they were marched back to the 
 Armory; when they arrived there the U. S. 
 Navy Yard had been abandoned by the Ships, 
 •including the "Pawnee," which arrived dur- 
 ing the afternoon, and was in flames. The 
 Company remained on duty at the Armory 
 until early in the month of May. Meantime 
 Lieut. Williamson was promoted to be Cap- 
 tain, and I to be Lieutenant, by election. It 
 was ordered to Craney Island. Lieut. W. H. 
 Taylor was called to the Staff of General R. 
 E. Lee, and E. M. Hardy and Duncan Rob- 
 ertson elected Lieutenants. 
 
 [7] 
 
Q^emoiris of tfte Citoil EUar 
 
 The garrison of Craney Island was rein- 
 forced from time to time until the force 
 reached the total of nine hundred men. 
 Earth works were raised along the front of 
 the Island and cannon from the Navy Yard 
 mounted. Company "F" held the right of the 
 right of the line, at the point where stood an 
 old block house built of brick and the earth 
 works enclosed the space. Captain Charles 
 Dimmock, of the Engineer Corps, was in 
 charge of the construction of the earth works 
 and Captain H. Williamson was detailed to 
 assist him. Our first commanding officer was 
 Col. Richardson, an appointee of Governor 
 Letcher. Captain Wm. McBlair and Lieut. 
 Commander Fitzgerald of the Navy were also 
 on duty there. I was detailed as Adjutant of 
 the Post. Afterwards Col. Richardson was 
 ordered to other duty and Col. F. H. Smith, 
 of the Virginia Military Institute, was placed 
 in command. He was accompanied by Lieut. 
 Col. Preston and Major S. Crutchfield. At 
 my request I was relieved from the position 
 of Adjutant and returned to duty with Com- 
 pany "F," which I commanded (the Captain 
 having been detailed as stated), until the 
 month of May in the year 1862. Dr. H. M. 
 Nash was the Surgeon of the Command. The 
 Command was drilled regularly as Infantry 
 and also at the Naval Guns. The young 
 ladies of Norfolk sent a deputation to the 
 Island and presented Company "F'^ with a 
 very handsome silk Confederate States Flag, 
 which was received with a most agreeable 
 but solemn ceremony. The Enemy occupied 
 Fort Monroe and Newport News, and had 
 
 [8] 
 
Q^emoirs; of tfte CitiU mar 
 
 several Men-of-War at each place. Meantime 
 the force at Norfolk and vicinity was or- 
 ganized into Regiments and Brigades. Gen- 
 eral Benjamin Huger commanded the Depart- 
 ment and Generals Blanchard and Mahone 
 the Brigades. In that organization our Com- 
 pany became Company ''G" of the 6th Vir- 
 ginia Infantry. Many times a small steamer 
 came from Old Point displaying a flag of truce 
 and our Commanding Officer would send a 
 barge with an officer to meet the same. The 
 Steamboat William Selden, Captain T. S. 
 Southgate, made two regular trips from Nor- 
 folk to the Island. Sometimes she was re- 
 placed by the Kahukee, Captain Babel Tay- 
 lor. One morning in the fall Lieut. Duncan 
 Robertson and I went to the wharf on the 
 arrival of the William Selden. As the lines 
 were cast off for her departure, a newsboy 
 named Bremmer made a leap to reach the 
 deck of the boat, but missed and fell into the 
 water at the end of the pier. The water was 
 deep and he sank. A heaving line was thrown 
 to him as he rose, but he failed to get it ; then 
 several pieces of cord wood. He sank out of 
 sight twice. I could not bear seeing the youth 
 drown, so I removed my uniform coat and 
 plunged into the water with the purpose of 
 taking the loose end of the heavy line and 
 passing it to him. A man on the deck of the 
 steamer held one end of the line, but the 
 steamer drifted away. I swam to the loose 
 end, then turned and swam to the boy who 
 was struggling to keep above the surface of 
 the water with a stick of wood, which was 
 not enough to sustain him. I placed the line 
 
 [9] 
 
9@emoir0 of tf)e CitJil MJat 
 
 in his hands and it sustained him, then I 
 swam to the side of the steamer and seized 
 the loop of one of her large lines hanging 
 from her sides. Thus young Bremmer and 
 myself were supported by lines and we re- 
 mained in that position until a small boat was 
 rowed from the shore and took us both to the 
 Island. The water was very cold, so I pro- 
 ceeded at once to my quarters and remained 
 in bed for several hours and there were no 
 bad results from my plunge. Bremmer's 
 father was a member of the Company com- 
 manded by Captain Wilbern and was a tailor 
 by trade. He was grateful for what I had 
 done for his young son and took my clothes 
 and dried and pressed them nicely. In the 
 afternoon a flag of truce boat was sighted and 
 I received an order to go out in the barge to 
 meet it. I promptly obeyed the order and 
 had the pleasure of escorting three ladies to 
 Norfolk who had been permitted to pass 
 through the lines. They were Mrs. General 
 Wm. Martin, Mrs. C. M. Fry, formerly Miss 
 Leigh, daughter of Benj. Wiatkins Leigh, of 
 Virginia, and Mrs. Harvey, wife of an officer 
 of the English Army, who was in the Fed- 
 eral Service and was among the missing at the 
 Battle of Balls' Bluff near Leesburg, Va. 
 Mrs. Harvey was permitted to pass through 
 the lines in search of her husband. I have 
 never heard whether she found him. 
 
 By that flag of truce, also came the news 
 of the seizure of Mason and Slidell on their 
 way to Europe to represent the Confederate 
 States. They had taken passage at Havana on 
 an English Passenger Ship which was inter- 
 
 [10] 
 
emoit0 of tbt CilJil max 
 
 cepted by a United States Man-of-War and 
 Messrs. Mason and Slidell taken as prisoners. 
 Towards the end of the year Colonel Smith 
 was relieved and went back to the Virginia 
 Military Institute, accompanied by Lieut. Col. 
 Preston; Major Crutchfield was transferred to 
 a regiment serving in the Western part of Vir- 
 ginia. Lieut. Col. J. A. DeLagnel, the hero of 
 the battle of Rich Mountain, just released 
 from Fort LaFayette, New York Harbor, as- 
 sumed command and Major Mark Hardin, 
 from the Stonewall Brigade, took the place of 
 Major S. Crutchfield. Col. DeLagnel had 
 served in the 2nd Artillery of the U. S. Army 
 and was a very accomplished officer and was 
 highly esteemed by the garrison. That garri- 
 son was fortunate to have had so many excel- 
 lent superior officers. 
 
 I turn aside for a moment from my own 
 recollections to relate a story told me by Col. 
 DeLagnel. When hostilities commenced he 
 was on duty at the U. S. Arsenal at Fayette- 
 ville, N. C. The Arsenal was surrounded by 
 a large force of North Carolina Soldiers and 
 its surrender demanded. As dt was manifestly 
 useless to try to defend the place garrisoned 
 by one Company, the Commanding Officer 
 agreed to surrender, provided he would be 
 permitted to march his Company away with 
 their arms and baggage. Colors flying and 
 drums beating, the Company was marched to 
 the Steamboat landing and proceeded to the 
 mouth of the Cape Fear River, and embarked 
 on a schooner for New York City. They 
 reached that place in due time, and then took 
 a train for Washington, D. C. There the 
 
 [11] 
 
90emoir0 of tfte CiDil Mlar 
 
 Company was turned over to the U. S. Au- 
 thorities and DeLagnel handed in his resigna- 
 tion. His duty performed, he went to the 
 Paymaster to settle his account, which was 
 done, but to pay the balance due him up to 
 that date, the Paymaster said he was ordered 
 to give a draft on the funds which the U. S. 
 Government had in the hands of the Officer 
 of the Treasury at Charleston, S. C. The 
 State of South Carolina having seceded, what- 
 ever funds had been there when hostilities 
 commenced, were then held by the Confeder- 
 ate States Government. As he knew the draft 
 would not be honored, DeLagnel refused to 
 accept it. The balance remained to his credit 
 until about 1886, when after the lapse of so 
 many years it was finally recovered. 
 
 When Major Crutchfield left the Island 
 Col. Smith directed an escort of two Com- 
 panies to go to Norfolk with him. Captaiin 
 R. C. Taylor's Company and our own formed 
 the escort. That was the last time these Com- 
 panies, as organizations, visited their native 
 city. 
 
 In our Company, now Company "G" 6th 
 Virginia Infantry, there were many of the 
 dear friends of my youth. As it was com- 
 posed of young men of intelligence, many of 
 the best families of Norfolk, besides many 
 who came from other parts of the State, a 
 great many were eagerly sought for to fill 
 responsible positions in the Confederate Army. 
 My friend, John H. Sharp, was appointed 
 Captain and Commissary of Subsistence. He 
 accepted at first, but afterwards decided not 
 to hold the position, and at his request my 
 
 [12] 
 
9^emoir0 of tfie CiUil Wiat 
 
 older brother, George Chamberlaine, was ap- 
 pointed in his place and was ordered to the 
 Post of Craney Island. My friend, Theo- 
 derick A. Williams, was appointed Sergeant 
 Major of the regiment, and as the Colonel, 
 Wm. Mahone, and most of the companieis 
 were stationed at an entrenched camp near 
 Norfolk, he reported at that Camp. There 
 were four brothers of the Urquhart family 
 from Southampton Co., F. M. Whitehurst, 
 from Princess Anne Co., two brothers, Robin- 
 son, from Washington, D. C, also two 
 brothers of the Todd family, Henry and 
 George M., I. Barry King and others. On 
 the 8th of March, 1862, the "Iron Clad Vir- 
 ginia," rebuilt from the U. S. Ship "Merri- 
 mac," came down from the Navy Yard and 
 passed our Fort on the way to Newport News. 
 Colonel DeLagnel ordered the Command to 
 Arms. The guns were manned and the re- 
 sult of the attack on the ships at Newport 
 News was awaited with anxiety and excite- 
 ment. Newport News, seven miles distant, 
 is in plain sight of Craney Island, and the 
 weather was perfectly clear. From our po- 
 sitions at our guns we could see all the maneu- 
 vers; could see the smoke of the guns, the 
 Slinking of the ''Cumberland," the arrival of 
 two Confederate Steamships from Richmond, 
 and the attack on the "Congress." The "Vir- 
 ginia" was accompanied by the small armed 
 ship "Beaufort" and several armed tug boats, 
 all of which participated in the engagement. 
 We saw the "Congress" hoist sails and at- 
 tempt to slip away, but she ran aground near 
 Newport News. After awhile we could see 
 
 [13] 
 
0iemoft0 of tfte CitJil mat 
 
 that she was on fire and was still burning, 
 when fatigued by the excitement of the day, we 
 fell asleep. We could see several of the U. 
 S. Ships start towards Newport News to the 
 aid of the "Congress." All, after having pro- 
 ceeded a short distance, returned to Old Point, 
 except the_ ''Minnesota," which ship ran 
 aground about three miles and a half from 
 Newport News, that is, about half way from 
 Old Point. At dusk the Confederate ships 
 anchored off Sewall's Point. Next morning, 
 the 9th, we were up early and I was told the 
 Magazine of the "Congress" exploded about 
 4.00 A. M., but it did not wake me. Soon 
 after daylight the "Virginia" proceeded to at- 
 tack the "Minnesota," still aground. I saw a 
 shell strike a tug boat lying alongside of the 
 "Minnesota," and an escape of steam. Then 
 the "Monitor" appeared and an engagement 
 followed between the "Viirginia" and the 
 "Monitor" which lasted several hours. We 
 could see the shots rebound from the iron- 
 sides of both vessels. The engagement ceased, 
 but we could not see well enough to determine 
 the reason, as both vessels were constantly 
 changing positions. It was said the "Moni- 
 tor" moved into shoal water, where the "Vir- 
 ginia" with her deep draft of water could not 
 follow. That afternoon the Confederate Ships 
 went up to the Navy Yard. Some weeks 
 after the "Virginia" accompanied by several 
 small armed steamers, passed down towards 
 Old Point and captured a transport. 
 
 The U. S. Vessels did not show any dis- 
 position to engage the Confederate Ships and 
 the latter returned to the Navy Yard. In the 
 
 [14] 
 
Memoirs; of tfte Citiil Wiat 
 
 spring of 1862, the Army of the Potomac 
 was transferred from its line of defenses near 
 Alexandria to a point on the Viirginia Penin- 
 sula near York Town and commenced the 
 seige of that place. On our side the regiments 
 were reorganized. Elections were held ac- 
 cording to the law in the Companies for Cap- 
 tain and Lieutenants, and then the Company- 
 officers were convened to elect Field Officers. 
 H. Williamson was re-elected Captaiin and E. 
 M. Hardy, Duncan Robertson, and John T. 
 Eester, Lieutenants of Company ''G." When 
 the Company Officers of the regiment were 
 convened for the election of Field Officers, 
 Major George T. Rogers was elected Colonel, 
 Captain H. Williamson Lieut. Colonel, and 
 Captain Robert B. Taylor, Major, of the 6th 
 Virginia Regiment of Infantry. 
 
 Early m May, 1862, the Confederate troops 
 were withdrawn from Norfolk and its vicin- 
 ity and proceeded to Petersburg, Va. Early 
 one morning my colored servant called at my 
 father's house to inform me that the Federal 
 forces were advancing on the City and the 
 Confederate troops were leaving. I was not 
 in the service at that time, having in mdnd 
 the intention of becoming the Adjutant of a 
 new Regiment, and in case that was not at- 
 tained, to attach, myself to a Battery of Light 
 Artillery to be raised by Major S. Crutchfield, 
 who wished me to take the place of First 
 Sergeant. Neither of those plans was car- 
 ried out. A new Act of Congress forestalled 
 the organization of the new Regiment and 
 Major Crutchfield was appointed to a position 
 on the Staff of Major General (Stonewall) 
 
 [IS] 
 
9^emoir0 of tfte Citiil mat 
 
 Jackson. I went to Petersburg and lived at 
 the Bolingbrooke Hotel two weeks, when I 
 received a message from Captain Hardy that 
 there was a vacant Lieutenancy in Company 
 "G" and the Company desired me to fill it. 
 I consented to the proposition and was duly 
 elected and reported for duty to Col. Rogers 
 at Drewry's Bluff, where Mahone's Brigade 
 was in Camp. There the Brigade was on out- 
 post duty below Fort Darling, which position 
 was menaced by the Federal Gunt)oats. 
 Towards the end of May the 6th Regiment 
 was sent across the James River and attached 
 to General Wise's Command', which was 
 guarding the right flank of the Army under 
 Gen. Jos. E. Johnson. On the 30th of May 
 we saw President Davis and Gen. Jos. E. 
 Johnson near our Camp examining the posi- 
 tion. That night a very severe thunder storm 
 came up with wind and a deluge of rain. 
 Many tents were blown down and the camp 
 flooded. The lightning was very sharp and 
 the clouds hung over us for several hours. 
 The Battle of Seven Pines occurred the next 
 day. Seven Pines lis about seven miles from 
 Chapin's Bluff, where the 6th Virginia Regi- 
 ment was at that time. The noise of that bat- 
 tle did not reach us. The other part of the 
 Brigade was marched with Huger's Division 
 to Seven Pines and was engaged on the sec- 
 ond day of the battle — June 1st. 
 
 [16] 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 Battles Near Richmond. 
 
 A few days afterwards some Federal Gun- 
 boats were seen comdng up the river. General 
 Wise's Command was deployed and marched 
 in line of battle down the river towards them. 
 The country is clear of trees, so each side 
 could see the other. The Gunboats, however, 
 did not fire a shot and soon withdrew and our 
 command returned to Camp. A few days after 
 the Regiment was ordered to rejoin the Bri- 
 gade and marched to the outskirts of Rich- 
 mond; then, by the Charles City Road, to the 
 line of the Army commanded by General R. 
 E. Lee, who succeeded General Jos. E. John- 
 son, who had been seriously wounded at the 
 battle on the 31st of May. We were then in 
 front of the Army of the Potomac under the 
 Federal General Geo. B. McClellan. During 
 our stay of several weeks at that position, the 
 Regiment was frequently marched to the 
 front, when the Brigade skirmished with the 
 Enemy's outposts. Company "G" performed 
 its tour of picket duty. On the 18th of June, 
 in the afternoon, a report came to the Briga- 
 dier-General that a Federal Regiment was on 
 the Charles City Road, marching towards our 
 line. He ordered the 41st Virginia to take 
 an old road running parallel nearly to the 
 main road, and the first battalion of the 6th 
 Virginia to proceed by a similar road on the 
 south of the main road. The plan was to sur- 
 round the Federal Regiment and capture or 
 defeat it. Company ''G" was in the first bat- 
 
 [17] 
 
9@emoit0 of tfte Citiil ^at 
 
 talion. The troops started and felt their way 
 slowly towards the enemy's front. They had 
 to pass through the advanced line of pickets. 
 The leading Company of our Battalion had 
 originally the name of Manchester Grays and 
 wore jackets and light blue trousers. One of 
 the advanced pickets saw one of the Grays 
 and taking him for a Federal soldier, fired at 
 and wounded him severely. That caused some 
 delay and finally, after advancing two miles, 
 a shot was fired; from where, no one knew 
 at the time, which wounded two men of our 
 Company, Privates Wise and Fletcher. We 
 were ordered to lie down. Fletcher was 
 alongside of me. I bound up his wound with 
 my pocket handkerchief — he was struck on 
 the knee. After lying down a few moments, 
 no other shot being fired, we were ordered to 
 form line. As we got up, I saw following our 
 Battalion, the 2nd Battalion, led by Major 
 R. B. Taylor, quite near us and just beyond 
 a slight elbow in the road. The main Charles 
 City Road was supposed to be a very short 
 distance to our left, and the Federal Regiment 
 on that road. As soon as we rose to our feet 
 a tremendous discharge of musketry was 
 poured into us. We laid down quickly, and 
 the firing was kept up for several minutes. 
 I heard Major Taylor give the order "Fix 
 Bayonets." I supposed the discharge came 
 from the Federal Regiment. Some twenty- 
 eight men were killed or wounded. Very 
 soon afterwards we were marched slowly back 
 to the Camp. The picket line was passed in 
 safety — much to my surprise — for night had 
 fallen at the tjfrje of the firing. The next day 
 
 [18] 
 
emoir0 of tfie Citiil Mat 
 
 a detail was sent to the place, the dead were 
 buried and the wounded cared for, but to this 
 day I have never heard what became of Pri- 
 vate Fletcher. Wise was brought back, but 
 he was slightly lamed for life. Sergeant 
 Major James W. Bell was with the 2nd Bat- 
 talion and lost a part of his hand. The pre- 
 vailing opinion was that there was no enemy 
 there and the two Battalions had fired into 
 each other, and I now incline to that opinion, 
 but for a long time I believed we had' been 
 ambushed. Whether any Federal troops were 
 there or not, there was another enemy present, 
 just as much to be feared; that was the lack 
 of experience of our Commanding Officer. 
 He was then serving his apprenticeship. 
 After a year or two of practice he became a 
 good General Officer, 'indeed, one of the best 
 Division Generals in the Army of Northern 
 Virginia. 
 
 There was a law in force at that time, which 
 allowed a soldier to be discharged upon pro- 
 viding a substitute. A member of our Com- 
 pany furnished a substitute and was dis- 
 charged at that Camp. He left at once, but 
 before he had reached the City of Richmond, 
 eight miles distant, the substitute had deserted 
 and I never heard anything more of him. 
 
 On the 25th of June an alarm was sounded, 
 the Regiment at once paraded under arms. 
 The enemy attacked our troops on the Will- 
 iamsonburg Road about one mile to our left. 
 The Brigade, with the exception of one Bat- 
 talion of the 6th Virginia, proceeded to at- 
 tack the left of the Federal force near King's 
 School House and performed good service. 
 
 [19] 
 
^emDit0 of ti)e Citiil Wat 
 
 Our Battalion, under Lieut. Col. Williamson, 
 was marched on the road leading to the Will- 
 iamsburg Road and held in reserve. Towards 
 sunset an order came for us to join in the 
 6attle and we proceeded left in front. We 
 passed a North Carolina Regiment, which had 
 fled from the enemy and officers were trying 
 to rally them. It was their first trial undei 
 fire. I have understood that after a little 
 experience, it became an excellent Regiment. 
 As WT went towards the field, we met strag- 
 glers w4io said our force was cut to pieces, de- 
 feated, and so on. We kept on and advanced 
 rear rank in front toward the enemy, who was 
 in fact retreating. We reached the advanced 
 line of troops and fired a volley after them. 
 Darkness w^as coming on, and the battle was 
 soon ended. The intention of the enemy was 
 said afterwards to advance their picket line. 
 It took several Brigades to make the attempt 
 and as they were opposed by three Brigades 
 of Confederates the result was a bloody battle. 
 General Lee had determined to attack 
 McClellan's Army on the north side of the 
 Chickahominy River on the next day, the 
 26th, and a large portion of the Army 
 marched on that day to Mechanicsville, about 
 ten miles from our position, leaving McGru- 
 ders' and Huger's Divisions to hold the en- 
 trenchments which extended from the Charles 
 City Road, through or near Seven Pines to the 
 Chickahominy River. Opposed to those two 
 Divisions was the bulk of the Federal Army. 
 The force to which the 6th Virginia was at- 
 tached was then on watch to protect the City 
 of Richmond, while the rest of Lee's x\rmy 
 
 [20] 
 
empir0 of tfte CiUil mat 
 
 crossed the Chickahominy River to fight the 
 battles of Ellyson's Mill and Cold Harbor. 
 It was generally supposed that our two Divi- 
 sions occupied a very critical position. At 
 night we could hear the music of their bands 
 and much shouting. On the afternoon of the 
 26th a battle was fought at Ellyson's Mill and 
 on the 27th the first battle of Cold Harbor. 
 Our Command was some ten miles from the 
 latter place, with the Chickahominy River 
 between. We passed the nights of the 26th, 
 27th, and 28th of June in some anxiety, ex- 
 pecting to be called to arms at any moment. 
 But these three days and nights passed with- 
 out any demonstration by the enemy in front 
 of us. The next day, the 28th, was very hot, 
 and about midday the Brigade was ordered to 
 march by the Charles City Road to intercept 
 the Federal Army marching towards the 
 James River. About 7.00 P. M. the advance 
 guard discovered Federal Troops at one of the 
 crossings of White Oak Swamp. A slight 
 skirmish took place, and the Federals retired 
 to seek another crossing. The Brigade pro- 
 ceeded down the road a little farther when, 
 night having fallen, it bivouacked in the woods 
 on the side of the road. Soon after a Federal 
 Cavalry patrol trotted up towards our posi- 
 tion. The men opened fire on the patrol and 
 almost destroyed it ; a few turned and escaped. 
 That was a valuable lesson to us, who were 
 then without experience. That patrol should 
 have been surrounded and captured. In the 
 first place there was no use shooting their 
 men. In the second, valuable information of 
 the enemy's movements might have been ob- 
 
 [21] 
 
C0cmoir0 of the Ciuil m^t 
 
 tained. There was no further excitement that 
 night. The next morning the Adjutant of the 
 6th Virginia was reported sick and I w^as sent 
 for to take his place, and the 6th Virginia 
 was tlie advance guard. The Colonel was 
 also taken sick and Lieut. Col. Williamson 
 commanded the Regiment. After proceeding 
 a mile or two we came to a swamp which the 
 road crossed; in crossing the little bridge a 
 shot was fired by a vidette of the enemy. We 
 pushed across and found the road obstructed 
 by huge trees, which had been cut down and 
 fallen across. Farther on other pine trees were 
 found across the road, then more. The Regi- 
 ment was deployed on the right of the road 
 and advanced, bayonets charged. On the left 
 of the road the 49th Virginia, Col. Wm. 
 Smith, advanced in the same way. After 
 passing four obstructions Col. Williamson 
 sent me to inform General Mahone of the 
 progress made. I found him sitting on a tree 
 at the first obstruction. He said, very well, 
 tell the Colonel to go on. About that time 
 Captain Carter W^'illiams went forward to re- 
 connoiter and, bringing back a drum, said 
 he had not seen any enemy in front. We had 
 been passing through woods, but now on the 
 left of us was an open field called Brackett's 
 Field; the right of the road was wooded. A 
 portion of Moorman's Battery was brought 
 up, going around the obstruction, and went 
 into batteiy in the field near the road and 
 opened fire. Captain Williams had not seen the 
 enemy, but they were very near, lying down 
 in line of battle, with two batteries ready for 
 action, which replied to Moorman's guns im- 
 
 [22] 
 
C0emoit0 of tbe CiDil tfflat 
 
 mediately. From what I have read since I 
 beheve they were Upton's and Hexamer's bat- 
 teries, and they had a part of another, making 
 fourteen guns. Moorman's two gun^s were 
 soon withdrawn, badly damaged, and the fir- 
 ing from those batteries was continued for an 
 hour or more. Another Regiment was 
 brought up and the Confederate Infantry laid 
 there under that terrific fire without making 
 any movement, losing many men. Wh'cn the 
 firing slackened a slight change was made in 
 the position of the 6th Virginia, it was drawn 
 back a little; then darkness came and firing 
 ceased. Being young I did not know any- 
 thing about the plans of the Generals, but sup- 
 posed that our Command alone was con- 
 fronted by the whole Federal Army. The 
 facts were, as I have since learned, that Gen- 
 eral Thos. J. Jackson's troops were at the 
 crossing of White Oak Swamp, not much 
 more than one mile to our left, and General 
 I>ongstreet, with his own and General A. P. 
 Hill's division, were two or three miles to 
 our right. The question arises, is it good 
 policy to keep the Field and Company Offi- 
 cers in perfect ignorance of the plans and of 
 the whereabouts of the other parts of the 
 Army. After coming in contact with the 
 enemy, had our officers and men known that 
 Jackson and Longstreet with Hill were so 
 near, that knowledge would have inspired 
 them with as much courage to enter into the 
 work before them as a reinforcement of thou- 
 sands of men. Then, instead of two little 
 guns, we ought to have brought up two full 
 batteries and the Infantry filed off to the 
 
 [23] 
 
emoir0 of tJ)e CilJil Wlni 
 
 right and joined to Longstreet's line. I have 
 no right, and do not mean, to criticize any 
 one. It seems to me now that a numerous 
 staff was needed to keep the Commanding 
 General posted as to the movements of the 
 different columns and to keep the Com- 
 manders of the different columns informed of 
 the movements of each other, to ensure co- 
 operation. Huger's Division remained in that 
 position during the night and started early- 
 next morning. The Federal Army had moved 
 during the night. We soon reached the posi- 
 tion evacuated by them, passing on the road 
 dead and wounded soldiers, articles of equip- 
 ment, including some breastplates. We soon 
 passed a battery of captured guns, as our po- 
 sition the afternoon before was not over two 
 miles from the scene of Longstreet's and A. P. 
 Hill's battle. The weather was very hot, it 
 was July 1st, by noon we arrived at Malvern 
 H'ill and formed line of battle under the 
 northern slope of that hill ; occasionally a shell 
 passed over our heads. The 6th Virginia was 
 leading the Brigade and, as I was acting Ad- 
 jutant, I was near the head of the column. 
 Between two and three o'clock Gen. Magruder 
 came to the right of the line, where came also 
 Generals Mahone, Armstead and Ransom. 
 General Magruder wore a straw hat and ap- 
 peared to be warm, but was lively and vigor- 
 ous and gave his orders to the Generals with 
 a clear, firm voice. "General Mahone's Brig- 
 ade will form on the right, General Arm- 
 stead's the center, and General R. Ransom's 
 the left, and charge the enemy's position." 
 General Mahone then lead the way and the 
 
 [24] 
 
emoir0 of tfte Citiil mat 
 
 Brigade filed along the west side of the hill. 
 As we ascended we saw the valley to our 
 right, it had been sowed in wheat, which had 
 been cut and the shucks of wheat stacked at 
 regular intervals, which sheltered the enemy's 
 skirmishers, who, seeing our advance, began 
 to fire on us. I was near General Mahone 
 when he took "his binocular and examined the 
 field and spoke of seeing the skirmishers. 
 When the head of the column reached the 
 summit Lieut. Col. Williamson gave the com- 
 mand, *'0n the right, by file, into line." The 
 first three Companies executed the movement, 
 advanced the proper distance, and laid down, 
 for at that moment the Federal Batteries, some 
 five or six hundred yards in front, opened a 
 furious fire. We could not see where the rest 
 of the 6th Regiment went, a part of the 16th 
 Virginia took position a little to our right. 
 Lieut. Col. Williamson did not give, in my 
 hearing, any order to advance, but I believe 
 he went ahead himself. We could see the 
 Federal Batteries' over sixty guns in front, 
 and we could see the troops on each side near 
 us, but undulations of the ground and the 
 growth of the high weeds and bushes pre- 
 vented us from seeing where our other Com- 
 panies had gone. The first three Companies, 
 having obeyed the order given, lay there 
 awaiting further orders. I insisted to them, 
 and to the 16th Virginia, that I thought we 
 should charge the Federal Battery, but I had 
 no authority, and no one seemed to agree with 
 me. So there we lay until nine o'clock at 
 night, under that terrific cannonading. Some 
 of the shells came from the Gunboats lying in 
 
 [25] 
 
^empir0 of tbe Citotl mat 
 
 the James River, which was in sight. A man 
 was shot alongside of me. I saw Armstead's 
 Brigade advance to our left, remember dis- 
 tinctly seeing the 9th Virginia advancing m 
 line. Adjutant J. A. Crocker was in front 
 with his sword raised— their loss was consid- 
 erable, Crocker himself being wounded. They 
 were soon out of sight. The charge was a 
 brilliant one, but was a failure, for our troops 
 were repulsed, and our loss in officers and 
 men was very large. After dusk we could see 
 the shots fired by the Federal Infantry; they 
 looked like fireflies. About nine o'clock Cap- 
 tain Carter Williams assumed command of 
 that portion of the 6th Virginia and marched 
 it off the hill, about five hundreds yards, to a 
 barn in the field, where we had first formed. 
 I slept near Charles McCourt of Company 
 "G" and Private Smith of Wilbern's Com- 
 pany, both of whom were shot in the breast. 
 The ball went clear through McCourt, but he 
 survived. Smith's wound was not serious. 
 While ascending the hill, Wm. McLane and 
 David Myrick were both shot in the knee— 
 they died in a few days. They were members 
 of Company ''G." It rained hard that night 
 and the next day. The Federal Army re- 
 pulsed the attack of the Confederate Army, 
 and inflicted upon it a heavy loss, but had 
 also sustained a serious loss, and retreated 
 during the night to Harrison's Landing on 
 the Tames River. Our Division remained 
 near Malvern Hill a few days, then proceeded 
 to the south side of the James River and en- 
 camped near Falling Creek. While at that 
 Camp Regimental Commanders were directed 
 
 [26] 
 
 
emoir0 of tfte Citiil Wiat 
 
 to select each three Lieutenants to go in 
 search of men who had been assigned from 
 the Mihtia while at Norfolk to different Regi- 
 ments, had been taken sick while there, and 
 at the evacuation of that part of the State, 
 were permitted to go to their homes, promis- 
 ing to return as soon as they were able. 
 Lieutenants Crawley, Happer and myself were 
 detailed from the 6th Virginia and ordered 
 to proceed to Franklin and Patrick Counties. 
 General Huger was relieved from Command 
 of the Division and General R. H. Anderson 
 was sent in his place. 
 
 PM 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 It was late in July when the three Lieuten- 
 ants arrived at Rocky Mount, the County 
 seat of Franklin. We had great difficulty in 
 finding the absentees, as they were scattered 
 in different parts of that mountainous country 
 and would hide in the thickets. They had 
 ver}^ little relish for service in the Army. 
 Most of the good men of that section had 
 volunteered at the beginning of the War. 
 These whom we sought had been drafted 
 when the Militia was called out. After see- 
 ing a few and directing them to report on a 
 certain day at the railroad depot at Big Lick, 
 twenty-eight miles from Rocky Mount, I was 
 selected to meet and conduct them to Rich- 
 mond. I went to the depot; not one of them 
 appeared. We had no means of taking care 
 of them, hence had to rely on their promise 
 to report. I returned to Rocky Mount. That 
 little village was then quite inaccessible, the 
 roads leading to it were bad, and it was con- 
 sidered a good point for refugees from the 
 theater of the War. Ex-Governor Henry A. 
 Wise had rented a commodious and comfort- 
 able house there for his family, while he com- 
 manded a Brigade in the western part of the 
 State. His sons, Henry A. and John S., then 
 young, were there. The former \\^s a stu- 
 dent of Divinity; the latter, a youth of about 
 sixteen, spent a good deal of his time at our 
 quarters. We found him very agreeable and 
 interesting. Hughes Dillard, a prominent law- 
 yer, lived in a very pretty cottage on the main 
 street opposite to our quarters. John S. Wise 
 
 [28] 
 
emoir0 of tfte CitJil mat 
 
 knew the family *very well and invited me to 
 go with him to make a call. I accepted and 
 . found Mr. Dillard, his wife, and three daugh- 
 ters, very charming people. The young ladies 
 were Miss Bettie, Miss Mattie, and Miss Pat- 
 tie. There were also three young sons. Miss 
 Mattie pleased me very much and when 
 they left one morning early for Henry Coun- 
 ty, where they intended to spend the balance 
 of the season, I found Rocky Mount a rather 
 lonesome place. About that time also came 
 the news of Jackson's movement against 
 Pope's Army in Culpepper County and then 
 the evacuation of the James River Peninsula 
 by McClellan's Army, and I determined to 
 apply for an order to return to my Regiment. 
 The request was granted and I bid adieu to 
 my two comrades, and set out for Richmond. 
 By the same conveyance John S. Wise left to 
 enter as a cadet at the Virginia Military In- 
 stitute at Lexington, Va. 
 
 I arrived in due time at Richmond and, 
 after making some necessary purchases, I took 
 the railroad train for Rapidan Station on the 
 road to Alexandria. We arrived in the after- 
 noon. The railroad from that point to Man- 
 assas was not in running order. The twO' 
 Armies had been disputing for its use and it 
 was badly torn up. General Lee's Army, after 
 driving Pope's Army back to the intrenchment 
 near Washington, had crossed the Potomac 
 and w^S in Maryland. An order was issued 
 for officers and men returning to the Army 
 of General Lee, then known as the Army of 
 Northern Virginia, to proceed to Winchester 
 and await further orders. I left my valise 
 
 [29] 
 
9@emoir0 of tfte Citoil mat 
 
 with other baggage piled there on the bank of 
 the river, and drew rations, consisting of raw- 
 bacon, cooked lamb, and bread. When I met 
 Lieut. Lewis White, of the Cavalry, as we 
 had to walk to Winchester about seventy 
 miles, he proposed that we should make the 
 journey together. I accepted and found him 
 a very agreeable companion. It took us four 
 days to make the march. The first day we 
 walked along the railroad to Culpepper Court 
 House, meeting on the way a good many Fed- 
 eral prisoners, some with red Zouave trousers. 
 It seemed very queer, we passed close to them, 
 neither side made any remarks. We learned 
 afterwards that they were permitted to go that 
 way as prisoners under parole to report them- 
 selves to the authorities at Richmond. Some- 
 times we would find Army wagons going in 
 our direction and would get them to carry us 
 a few miles. At night we stopped with 
 friendly country people. We crossed the Blue 
 Ridge at Chester Gap and spent one night at 
 Front Royal. On the fourth afternoon we ar- 
 rived at Parkin's Mill, five miles from Win- 
 chester, about the 10th of September. There 
 were several attractive young ladies at the 
 Parkin's House. After resting, I wished to 
 push on to Winchester, but I could not in- 
 duce my companion to leave Parkin's Mill, so 
 I went alone to our destination and never saw 
 my traveling companion any more until after 
 the close of the War. Since then we have 
 been very good friends. He was and still 
 is a very fine fellow, and a worthy citizen of 
 Norfolk. 
 
 [30] 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Sharpsburg. 
 
 Arriving at dusk, I felt very forlorn in 
 Winchester, but succeeded in finding a very 
 nice boarding house just above Taylor's Hotel, 
 where I remained until the morning of the 
 16th, when an order was published for officers 
 and men to push on towards Harper's Ferry 
 and join their Commands. Lieut. Col. Will- 
 iamson came to the boarding house while I 
 was there, so on the morning of the 16th 
 we set out for the Army. We found the 6th 
 Virginia near Hall Town within a few miles 
 of Harper's Ferry, about half past five in the 
 afternoon. Captain John R. Ludlow was in 
 command. Lieut. Col. Williamson assumed 
 command and before darkness came on, the 
 Brigade was marched off towards Sheppards- 
 town. The road was narrow, the country 
 wooded, and the night very dark. Col. Will- 
 iamson tied a white handkerchief, so that it 
 would hang below his neck, to guide the col- 
 umns, but he lost his way, or fell out from 
 fatigue, I do not know which. The column 
 arrived at daylight near Sheppardstown and, 
 after a short rest, was put in motion for the 
 ford, by which it crossed the Potomac. Ad- 
 jutant-General Robertson Taylor, of the 
 Brigade, offered to take me over the river be- 
 hind him. I accepted and thus got across 
 without getting wet. We had very little idea 
 of where the rest of the Army of Northern 
 Virginia was, and no idea at all as to the 
 whereabouts of the Army of the Potomac, 
 then commanded again by General McClellan. 
 
 [31] 
 
^emoir0 of tfte CitJiI Wlat 
 
 We knew that Harper's Ferry had been cap- 
 tured on the 15th, so after reaching the Mary- 
 land shore, and hearing two cannon shots, I 
 reahzed that we were approaching a field of 
 battle, and I said tO' myself, "Goodness, are 
 we going to fight a battle here with our backs 
 to this river?" That proved to be true, for 
 it was the 17th day of September, 1862, and 
 the battle of Sharpsburg had commenced. 
 The 6th Regiment had lost quite a consider- 
 able number of its men on the Charles City 
 Road, at the Battle of Bracket's Field, at Mal- 
 vern Hill, at second Manassas, and Cramp- 
 ton's Gap. Many had fallen out of the ranks 
 during the night from fatigue and sore feet, 
 so when we halted in the rear of the town of 
 Sharpsburg, in a field on the north side of the 
 main street, the Brigade mustered only eighty- 
 two officers and» men. General Mahone had 
 been wounded at Second Manassas and the 
 Brigade was commanded by Lieut. Col. Par- 
 ham of the 41st Regiment. Captain Ludlow 
 was the senior of^cer present with the 6th 
 Virginia. Captain Charles W. Wilson was 
 present and many other of^cers, including 
 Lieut. Duncan Robertson and myself. The 
 proportion of of^cers was entirely too large 
 for the number of men bearing muskets. 
 Pryor's Brigade was with us, but it also was 
 very much reduced in numbers. After resting 
 about one-half an hour General Pryor rode 
 up and assumed command and ordered the 
 column forward. It passed to the west of 
 Sharpsburg and advanced across the fields 
 towards Piper's farm. As soon as this body 
 of about three hundred troops was seen by 
 
 [32] 
 
S@emoir0 of the CitJiI Wiat 
 
 the Federals, a tremendous fire of artillery 
 was directed against it. It proceeded by file 
 at double quick step, crossed the Hagerstown 
 Turnpike about one-half a mile south of the 
 Dunker Church, entered Piper's field and 
 stopped at the west side of a large apple or- 
 chard, but had been almost scattered by the 
 heavy fire. I estimated that it was nearly ten 
 o'clock A. M. There were but few of Ma- 
 hone's Brigade to be seen. Lieut. Duncan 
 Robertson was wounded while we were near 
 Piper's barn. He was alongside of me; I 
 stopped a moment, saw that he was shot in 
 the foot, which bled profusely. I kept on; he 
 crawled into the barn, where there were al- 
 ready many wounded. After resting a few 
 moments, I went into the orchard and endeav- 
 ored to rally enough of the 6th, whose uni- 
 forms I recognized, to form a small squad to 
 push farther, the front line of battle was just 
 ahead, lying in the sunken road, now called 
 Bloody Lane, While doing so, Lieut. Col. 
 Parham beckoned me to come to him. I did 
 so ; he said, "Lieutenant, go back a little, try 
 and find General R. H. Anderson, explain to 
 him the situation and ask for reinforcements." 
 I turned towards Hagerstown Turnpike and 
 on reaching it I asked an officer the where- 
 abouts of General Anderson. He replied he 
 had been wounded. I looked then towards 
 the front and saw our troops falling back ; 
 they were coming across the field and down 
 Piper's Lane. The officers present then com- 
 menced to rally the men and I joined them. 
 I did not see any of our men of the 6th Vir- 
 ginia, all were strangers, but a line was 
 
 [23] 
 
^emoir0 of tfte Citil mat 
 
 formed along the Turnpike. Not very for- 
 midable at first, but was strengthened from 
 moment to moment. Asking a young soldier to 
 stop, he replied, *'I have been shot in the 
 hand." I said, *'We must whip them to-day. 
 Give me your gun, I will load it." I was 
 thinking how near our lines were to the Po- 
 tomac River. I took his musket and loaded it 
 and as I returned it to him, he was wounded 
 again, and he reproached me, saying, *'Ah, if 
 you had not stopped me." There was a con- 
 fused crowd at that place, opposite to the en- 
 trance to Piper's Lane, but the efforts of the 
 officers succeeded in forming a line along the 
 eastern side of the Turnpike; different com- 
 mands were mixed. I did not recognize there 
 any of the 6th Virginia. Looking down the 
 Turnpike I saw a gun standing on one side. 
 There was no soldier with it and but one 
 horse hitched to the limber and wounded be- 
 sides. I requested the assistance of four In- 
 fantry soldiers near me, and we drew the gun 
 to the entrance of Pipe's Lane and loaded it. 
 The enemy's skirmishers were crossing the 
 lane near Piper's dwelling. Just at that mo- 
 ment Major Fairfax, of General Longstreet's 
 staff, stopped there and dismounted. I asked 
 him if we should fire. He said yes and I 
 handed the lanyard to him. He pulled it and 
 the shell went bounding down the lane by 
 Piper's house. He mounted and rode away. 
 Then some voices were heard saying, "Over 
 here is the place for that gun" and several 
 more Infantry soldiers came and the gun was 
 drawn to the top of the next rise in the Turn- 
 pike about fifty yards. From that point could 
 
 [34] 
 
emoir0 of tfte CiDil mat 
 
 be seen the Dunker Church, and in the field 
 in front of it were Hnes of the Federals ad- 
 vancing towards the Church. Quite a num- 
 ber participated in getting the gun in position 
 and aiming it at the advancing Hnes. When 
 it was fired the shell bounded along some dis- 
 tance in front of those lines. It was a very 
 poor shot. After that shot the enemy's artil- 
 lery was directed in that position. The Colonel 
 of the 14th North Carolina Regiment was 
 there, as well as other officers, and I believe 
 they were glad to have the gun moved, for 
 when I remarked, "This is not the proper 
 place for it" and directed the improvised gim's 
 crew to draw it back to the original position, 
 no one objected. So it was taken back. In 
 loading the gun, I discovered that there were 
 no more friction primers in the limber chest 
 and requested one of the crew to go to a Bat- 
 tery on the elevation to the left and rear of 
 our position and ask for a supply of primers. 
 He did so and soon returned with them. It 
 was none too soon, for the enemy soon ap- 
 peared advancing towards our position. A 
 Regiment or small Brigade of Confederates 
 had been advanced from the Turnpike and 
 stationed about one hundred feet east of the 
 same under a slight rise in the ground and 
 some outcropping rock, and their battle flag 
 was waved; that movement, and the appear- 
 ance of the flag encouraged the rallied men; 
 before that some appeared to be demoralized.' 
 Between the orchard and the sunken road was 
 a corn field, the stalks being from four to six 
 feet in height. The enemy's line appeared ad- 
 vancmg through the corn about three hundred 
 
 [35] 
 
^emDit0 of tl)e Cit)il ^at 
 
 yards from the Turnpike. The gun was then 
 in just the right position to oppose their line ; 
 three shots were fired and struck them where 
 their colors were visible. Their line halted 
 and fell back and was hidden by the corn. In 
 a few moments they appeared again. Ihree 
 more shots were fired with the same precision; 
 a^ain the line disappeared. Then it advanced 
 the third time, and again it received three 
 more shots equally as true. As the line re- 
 tired the third time, a Federal soldier turned 
 around and fired deliberately at me, and his 
 ball struck the ground near my feet. The 
 Battery on the eminence to our left and rear 
 was firing, but more to our left. The line 
 that we fired at was partly in the corn held 
 and extended through the west side of the 
 orchard towards Piper's farm house. Our In- 
 fantry line did not have occasion to fire. The 
 Federal fine apparently fell back to the ravine 
 a little to their rear and remained quiet the 
 rest of the day, so far as we could judge from 
 our position. The gun was a smooth bore six- 
 pounder and supposed to belong to Huger s 
 Battery. That Battery had been heavily en- 
 gaged early in the morning in the adjoining 
 fiefd and had been pretty badly used by the 
 Federal Artillery. It had not been able to 
 take away that gun because of the great loss 
 of horses. A movement of the Infantry was 
 then made ; the line was stretched towards the 
 hill where now is located the cemetery. It 
 was quiet on that part of the line for quite a 
 long time. General Longstreet came along 
 the'^Turnpike from Sharpsburg. He stopped 
 and asked where were the Battery horses. I 
 
 [36] 
 
emoir0 of tfte Ciliil MJat 
 
 told him that we had found the gun abandoned 
 and had been working it against the enemy. 
 He said, ''Hold on to it." I noticed that he 
 was wearing slippers. He then went towards 
 the left. By this time two of our Company 
 "G" of the 6th had come up and joined us, 
 and the temporary gun detachment had left 
 with their Command, which I am quite sure 
 belonged to General G. T. Anderson's Brigade 
 from Georgia. George M. Todd and C. Hill 
 were the men from Company "G" who joined. 
 That portion of the line, where I remained 
 with the gun, was then held by Wright's 
 Brigade of R. H. Anderson's Division, Col- 
 onel William Gibson, of the 48th Georgia 
 Regiment, being in command, who came to 
 where I was standing and spoke of the situa- 
 tion. It was quiet at that moment, but no 
 one knew when the next blow would fall. 
 The enemy could not be seen in front, be- 
 cause of the corn, and the accidents of the ter- 
 rain. He asked me what I thought he ought 
 to do. I replied, ''Advance skirmishers and 
 have them ascertain what the enemy is doing." 
 He ordered forward a line of skirmishers and 
 the line met the 7th Maine Regiment, which, 
 as I have since seen in the Official Report, had 
 orders to take the eminence to our left and 
 rear, where were some stacks of straw. They 
 were attacked by Col. Gibson's Command, 
 also by some other troops nearby, and were 
 forced to return to their place in the Federal 
 line with a considerable loss in killed, wounded 
 and prisoners. That little affair impressed 
 upon the Federals that the Confederate line 
 was on the alert and ready to meet them, 
 
 [37] 
 
Q@emoir0 of tfte CiUfl Mat 
 
 Towards four o'clock — I believe — we heard 
 sharp musketry to our right and soon a Bat- 
 tery opened in front of our position, directed 
 on the Turnpike, as I supposed, to prevent a 
 movement of troops from our left to our right. 
 The musketry firing was Burnside's attack. 
 None of the enemy's Infantry was in sight, 
 although our position there near Piper's was 
 the most advanced part of our Confederate 
 line at that stage of the battle. A little to 
 our left the line made an angle and ran in rear 
 of the Dunker Church towards the Potomac 
 River. The shelling was very severe and 
 lasted an hour or more. While using a field 
 glass examining the fields in front, I was 
 struck in the face — I felt as if some one had 
 struck me with a fist. I was losing a good 
 deal of blood and did not know whether or 
 not I was badly wounded. George M. Todd 
 accompanied me along the Turnpike to the 
 town of Sharpsburg, but a short distance. At 
 the corner of the first street we saw several 
 Federal prisoners and asked to what command 
 they belonged. They repHed the 7th Maine. 
 Todd then went back and I urged him to try 
 and have that gun brought off. He did so 
 and a detachment brought the gun off after 
 dark. Noticing a pump in the yard of a 
 house in the town, I went to it and bathed my 
 wound. The flow of blood had ceased and I 
 concluded it was not serious. At the pump 
 was a middle-aged citizen of Sharpsburg and 
 two soldiers. They said the Federal Infantry 
 had advanced quite near that place a little 
 while before, but had fallen back. I then 
 walked on the road towards the west, passed 
 
 [38] 
 
Q0emoir0 of tfte €i\^il M3at 
 
 a group of officers standing in an open space 
 near the street, which I took to be General 
 Lee and staff and other Generals; kept on 
 past the town and seeing a large stack of 
 straw in a field, went to it, stretched myself on 
 the straw and fell asleep, and did not awake 
 until sunrise. Then I commenced a search for 
 the Field Hospital of Anderson's Division. I 
 soon found it and Surgeon Thos. B. Ward 
 dressed my wound. By that time my face 
 was black and blue, the bridge of my nose 
 was slightly fractured, but there was nothing 
 serious. He applied a large piece of absorbent 
 cotton and it was to be kept moistened with 
 cold water. I passed that day at the Hos- 
 pital. I declined to go any further to the rear, 
 but in the afternoon I was told that all 
 wounded men were ordered to cross the river 
 into Virginia, so I walked to the river oppo- 
 site Sheppardstown. On my way I met an 
 acquaintance, Lieut. Thos. H. Smith, from 
 Lexington, who told me he was on his way 
 to report to Col. E. P. Alexander, command- 
 ing a Battalion of Artillery. I was put across 
 the river and after wandering around the 
 town and not being able to find any better 
 lodging place, I laid down on the low porch 
 of a dwelling house, and soon fell asleep. I 
 awoke at sunrise and walked out of town and 
 took the road to Boteler's Ford. 
 
 During the night the Army of Northern 
 Virginia had crossed the Potomac River and 
 were moving through the town. I did not 
 meet any of Mahone's Brigade, but spoke to 
 Lieut. John Vermillion, of the 9th Virginia, 
 of Armstead's Brigade. While sitting by the 
 
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^emoir0 of tfte CitJil max 
 
 side of the road my brother, Captain George 
 Chamberlaine, A. C. S., of the 9th Virginia, 
 came along. He was mounted and had come 
 up with rations for the Regiment. I joined 
 him and we proceeded in search of the 
 Brigade wagon train, but did not find it until 
 the next day. We rode the horse turn by 
 turn, and at night slept in the woods. Early 
 the next morning we arrived at the little town 
 called Charlestown, got breakfast at a private 
 house and soon afterwards found the wagon 
 train and went with it to where the Army was 
 bivouacked on the Opequon River. Here 
 many men who had fallen out of ranks from 
 fatigue or illness rejoined and our Company 
 "G" mustered ten or twelve men. I soon re- 
 covered from my wound and participated in 
 the daily drills. No other Company officer 
 was present. After a few days the Army was 
 put in motion and marched to Stephenson's 
 Depot, six miles north of Winchester, where 
 it remained until October 31st, then marched 
 to Culpepper Court House. After halting 
 that afternoon, we had the customary muster 
 October 31st, which was supposed to be held 
 every two months. On the march from the 
 Opequon River to Stephenson's Depot I was 
 detailed to command the Rear Guard. The 
 main duty of the Rear Guard on such a march, 
 not in presence of the enemy, is to keep the 
 stragglers from dropping to the rear. It was 
 a very hard task, but by close attention we 
 prevented that evil on that day. When a 
 column passes a spring or well, so many men 
 rush to get water, some with a string of 
 canteens around the neck to get water for 
 
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empir0 of tfte CitJil mat 
 
 their comrades. The Rear Guard had to wait 
 until all were supplied and then catch up with 
 the column. On arriving at the bivouack, 
 entirely worn out, I dismissed the Guard to 
 their respective companies. Next morning I 
 was summoned to Brigade Headquarters; 
 General Richard B. Garnett had been placed 
 in command, and asked why I had not kept 
 the Guard on duty all night. General Gar- 
 nett was an amiable man and excellent officer. 
 On my replying that I was not aware that 
 the duty continued after the day's march was 
 concluded, he said, "Very well, but another 
 time you must remember that." I had not re- 
 ceived any instructions of that kind from the 
 Adjutant-General. I presume he thought I 
 ouglit to have known. All passed very amic- 
 ably and I always remembered that lesson. 
 We remained in Camp near Culpepper Court 
 House several weeks. It became very cold. 
 At this time the troops were segregated; 
 Brigades were formed of Regiments from the 
 same States, that before were composed of 
 Regiments from different States. General 
 Mahone returned for duty. Our field officers 
 also returned to duty and many of the men. 
 I was called on to act as Adjutant at Dress 
 Parade and we had again four or five hundred 
 men in ranks. About the middle of November 
 the Division was ordered to march to Freder- 
 icksburg. The Adjutant being absent, I was 
 again called on to take his place, and rode his 
 horse on the march and messed at Regimental 
 Headquarters. The first night we halted just 
 after crossing the Rapidan River at Raccoon 
 Ford. The night was dark and it rained. 
 
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9@emoir0 of tfte Citoil mat 
 
 Colonel Rogers had a servant who attended 
 to the horses and Major Taylor had one who 
 cooked. On the Colonel's spare horse was 
 carried a large piece of canvass, which was 
 used for making a shelter. Three fence rails 
 were placed on end and the three upper ends 
 tied together as a frame and the canvass hung 
 around it, like an Indian Tepee. The sabers 
 and pistols were hung to one end of a rail. 
 In the middle of the night the wind blew the 
 tent down and the mass of sabers and pistols 
 fell directly on my chest. It proved to be 
 quite a shock to be awakened in that way, but 
 no material damage resulted, and the tent was 
 soon put up. Next day we marched to a 
 camping place beyond Salem Church, not far 
 from Fredericksburg. Winter was approach- 
 ing and the ground was covered with snow. 
 The turn came for the 6th to do picket duty 
 along the Rappahannock River above the 
 town. It marched to the cemetery above the 
 city about dusk and relieved the Regiment on 
 duty. Only the narrow river separated us 
 from the pickets of the Federal Army. The 
 weather was cold with the snow on the 
 ground, but each one found some improvised 
 shelter. Luckily there was no picket firing. 
 The officers of Company "G" established 
 themselves in a little house of one room which 
 had been used as an office for a mill. The 
 time of duty ended and we marched back to 
 camp at dusk, as many troops as a Regiment, 
 if seen by the enemy would have drawn the 
 fire of a battery. Most of the inhabitants of 
 Fredericksburg were still in their dwellings, 
 but the bridge was destroyed and there was 
 
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 no communication. While on picket we sent 
 one of our number into the town in search 
 of food. He obtained a pot of preserv^es. 
 During the few weeks we were in that Camp, 
 a circular was distributed inviting young men 
 to appear before a Board to be examined to 
 ascertain their fitness for appointment as Ar- 
 tillery officers for duty with the Ordnance 
 Corps. Richard Walke and I discussed the 
 proposition and concluded to study the Ord- 
 nance Manual and appear before the Board. 
 The time fixed for the examination was early 
 in December and the place — a camp near the 
 headquarters of General R. E. Lee on the 
 road to Hamilton's Crossing. We reported 
 to Lieut. Col. Broun and stood the examina- 
 tion. Richard Walke was the First Sergeant 
 of Company "G." A few months afterwards 
 he was appointed First Lieut, of Artillery for 
 Ordnance duty, and ordered to duty on the 
 staff of Brigadier-General Mahone. I never 
 heard officially about my case until long after 
 the close of the War, when I saw an official 
 paper from the Adjutant and Inspector-Gen- 
 eral's office, giving my name among those who 
 passed the examination and were recom- 
 mended for appointment as Second Lieuten- 
 ants of Artillery for Ordnance duty. I had 
 some friends in the Ordnance Corps. Among 
 them John S. Tucker, who lost an arm at the 
 battle of Corinth, Miss., who was appointed 
 First Lieutenant and afterwards promoted to 
 a Captaincy, and Fred S. Colston, a Lieutenant 
 and others. In the meantime a more agree- 
 able duty was offered me. 
 
 [43] 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Fredericksburg. 
 
 Early on the morning of the 11th of De- 
 cember, 1862, I was awakened by the Long 
 Roll. The Brigade was marched to the front 
 and took its position on Taylor's Hill a little 
 to the left of Marye's Heights. The Federal 
 Army, under General Burnside, succeeded in 
 laying several pontoon bridges across the 
 river. This work occupied most of the day, 
 as the Brigade of General Barksdale of the 
 Confederates contested the laying of the 
 bridges with the engineers and their supports. 
 The next day the Federal Army of the Poto- 
 mac marched across the bridges with bands 
 playing and colors flying and established a line 
 extending from Falmouth along the south 
 bank of the Rappahannock River to Massa- 
 ponax Creek. During that day our Brigade 
 was exposed to a heavy fire of Artillery. I 
 was assigned to the command of two Com- 
 panies, whose officers were absent. A man be- 
 longing to one of the Companies returned to 
 the Command that day and as he came up to 
 us a part of a shell cut off his canteen which 
 hung from his shoulder. As the troops were 
 covered by the slope of the hill, very little 
 damage was done. Being quite unwell, I was 
 permitted to go to the camp that night. The 
 main battle occurred the next day, but no at- 
 tack was made on Taylor's Hill and Mahone's 
 Brigade was not called into action. The main 
 assaults were made on Marye's Heights, a 
 short distance to our right, and at Hamilton's 
 Crossing. The Federal Army was repulsed 
 
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 with great slaughter, and after remaining one 
 day in their position near the bank of the river, 
 recrossed and took a position on the north 
 side, as before the battle. The Light Battery, 
 commanded by Captain Frank Hager, was in 
 position on Taylor's Hill and was a part of 
 General Mahone's Command. Upon the ap- 
 plication of Captain Huger to the General for 
 an officer from the Infantry, to take the place 
 of an officer absent — sick — I was detailed for 
 the duty and ordered to report to Captain 
 Huger for service with the Field Artillery. I 
 found Captain Huger to be an amiable man, a 
 fine officer, and he received me as if I had been 
 his brother. He had two horses and allowed 
 me the use of one of them. The Federal 
 Batteries were in position across the river and 
 at the least sight of activity on our side, they 
 seemed to have the lanyard in hand and the 
 guns aimed, and a shell would come hurtling 
 towards our position. This was especially the 
 case with Benjamin's Battery of twenty- 
 pounder Parrot guns, at that time the most 
 formidable Field Artillery in use. We re- 
 mained in position until the latter part of De- 
 cember, at which time the greater part of the 
 Artillery was ordered back about twenty-five 
 miles, to go into winter quarters. We had 
 the pine forests as a protection against the 
 winter blasts and were near the railroad, 
 "Ruther Glen Station." 
 
 If I may be permitted to comment on the 
 last two battles, I would say that I regarded 
 the battle of Sharpsburg at that time, as a 
 drawn battle. Our line, as originally formed, 
 was forced back in some places a few hundred 
 
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9^emoir0 of tfte Ciuil mat 
 
 yards, but the new positions were held against 
 all assaults. That angle of the line near the 
 Bloody Lane and Hagerstown Pike was never 
 given up. Our Army remained in position all 
 of the 18th awaiting an attack, and crossed 
 the Potomac that night, ,and when the Federal 
 Commander sent the 5th Army Corps in pur- 
 suit, that portion of it which crossed the river 
 was driven back with considerable loss, but 
 after the Confederate Army returned to Vir- 
 ginia the Federals claimed that it was a vic- 
 tory for them. It appears that A. Lincoln, the 
 President of the North, had made a vow that 
 as soon as the Army of the Potomac should 
 gain a victory that he would issue a procla- 
 mation declaring the slaves in the Southern 
 States to be free, and claiming the battle of 
 Sharpsburg, or Antietam as they called it, to 
 be a victory for the Federal Army, he soon 
 afterwards issued such a proclamation, and 
 it has been made good by subsequent events. 
 But whether it was a victory for the South 
 or the North, the question remains. What 
 good did the South derive from the stand its 
 Army made at Sharpsburg? The Confeder- 
 ate Army had been in Maryland long enough 
 to receive all Marylanders who wished to 
 join its ranks, and at a time when its prestige 
 was at its height. But very few joined ; in 
 fact, nearly all the men in Maryland who 
 wished to take sides with the South had al- 
 ready done so. Harper's Ferry with its gar- 
 rison and large quantities of stores of all 
 kinds, cannon and small arms, had been cap- 
 tured. What else was there to be gained by 
 remaining on Maryland soil? With the Army 
 
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99emoir0 of tfee Citoil lOat 
 
 reduced as it was by casualties before Rich- 
 mond, Cedar Mountain, Second Manassas and 
 Chantilly or Ox Hill, and an immense number 
 of stragglers, who had been unable for dif- 
 ferent reasons to keep up with the column and 
 were mostly in that part of the State bounded 
 by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the 
 Opequon River, it seems hardly reasonable that 
 it could do any more than hold its ground 
 against the concentrated Federal Army of the 
 Potomac, with its reinforcements. For these 
 reasons it seems that it would have been better 
 to have concentrated the Confederate Army 
 near Charlestown. After the battle of Boones- 
 boro, Longstreet and D. H. Hill fell back to 
 Sharpsburg about eight miles. They were 
 drawn up in line at that position all of the 
 15th and 16th of September. The Federal 
 Army was approaching slowly. There was a 
 skirmish on our extreme left in the evening 
 of the 16th.. That portion of the Confeder- 
 ate Army could have crossed without molesta- 
 tion on the night of the 15th and reached 
 Charlestown on the 16th, would have met 
 General Jackson at or near Charlestown, also 
 the Divisions of McLaws, Anderson, Walker 
 and A. P. Hill. As it was, the troops of Gen- 
 eral Jackson, McLaws, Anderson, Walker and 
 A. P. Hill had to march twelve miles and ford 
 the Potomac to join Longstreet and D. H. 
 Hill at Sharpsburg. Some of the columns 
 had two rivers to cross. It is within bounds 
 to say that the Confederate Army would have 
 been reinforced by twenty thousand stragglers 
 had it concentrated at Charlestown. These 
 men were able and willing to fight when in 
 
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99emoir0 of tfte CitJil mat 
 
 line, but foot sore and weary, they were un- 
 able to march and keep up with the moving 
 columns. On the 17th of September, 1862, 
 at the battle of Sharpsburg, it is stated that 
 General R. E. Lee's Army had in line only 
 37,000 men. McClellan's Federal Army of 
 the Potomac was fully twice as strong in num- 
 bers. That the Confederates withstood that 
 host and held their ground is wonderful. 
 The battle cost the Confederates some of its 
 best officers and over ten thousand men, and 
 then the slaves were freed on the strength of 
 what President Lincoln regarded as a vic- 
 tory. Had the Confederate Army concen- 
 trated at Charlestown perhaps there would not 
 have been any battle before the one at Fred- 
 ericksburg. At the latter place our ardor was 
 somewhat cooled and the Army was drawn up 
 in a fine defensive position. Our losses were 
 comparatively small and the loss inflicted on 
 the enemy was very great. Like the Con- 
 federate Army, after the battle of Sharpsburg, 
 the Federal Army remained one day on their 
 original battle line, but they were protected by 
 the batteries placed on the north side, where 
 the banks are high and dominate the low lands 
 on the south side. It is not always practicable 
 to remain on the defensive, which was demon- 
 strated at the battle of Chancellorsville, which 
 occurred some four months later. There tac- 
 tics of an entirely different character were 
 necessary and our Commander-General R. E. 
 Lee displayed his military talent in the most 
 conspicuous manner. But let us see what hap- 
 pened to the writer who is simply giving his 
 personal recollections and risking occasionally 
 a comment on the general movements. 
 
 [48] 
 
CHAPTER VL 
 
 Field Artillery. 
 
 Soon after being established in quarters for 
 the winter, all of the Artillery was ordered to 
 the front, because of a movement made by 
 General Burnside. He threatened to cross 
 the Rappahannock River at Banks Ford, six 
 miles above the old position and at other 
 fords. We marched over the Telegraph Road 
 towards Fredericksburg and were sent to 
 Banks Ford. As the movement was aban- 
 doned by the Federal Commander, the Artil- 
 lery was immediately ordered back to their 
 winter quarters. The roads had become very 
 bad, and when some twelve miles on the way 
 back a snow storm set in. Huger's Battery 
 was alone on the march. We bivouacked that 
 night, and started early next morning for our 
 winter quarters, and under ordinary circum- 
 stances should have reached there by one 
 o'clock P. M., but owing to the mud and 
 snow, two of our guns became stalled. There 
 were three guns. Captain Fluger went with 
 the first and got through to the quarters by 
 sunset. Lieut. Gale had one gun, and I the 
 third. Lieut. Gale's gun was stalled; the road 
 was narrow with quite a bank on each side. 
 The third gun could not pass, the weather 
 was intensely cold, the cannoneers had walked 
 on, so we were compelled to leave the two 
 guns at a point about five miles from the win- 
 ter camp. We rode on, reported the trouble 
 to Captain Huger; night had come on, so he 
 sent men and horses for them early next 
 morning, and the guns were brought in. The 
 
 [49] 
 
0@emoit0 of tl)e CitJil mat 
 
 men had built huts for themselves and man- 
 aged to keep fairly comfortable; the officers 
 had tents, and the horses provided with shel- 
 ter of small pine trees cut down and placed in 
 the form of sheds. With plenty of pine straw 
 and the adjacent pine thickets, they fared very 
 well. There was a long line of batteries 
 there; among them the Companies of the 
 Washington Artillery, Bearing's Battery, the 
 Blues from Norfolk, and many others. The 
 Washington Artillery men improvised a thea- 
 ter and we enjoyed the performances and the 
 songs. It was a fine place for winter quar- 
 ters, not hilly and dry, with a running stream 
 nearby. I thoroughly enjoyed the two months 
 spent there. In the latter part of February, I 
 received an order from the Headquarters of 
 the Army, through the regular channel, to re- 
 port to Colonel S. Crutchfield for duty as Ad- 
 jutant of the Artillery of the 2nd Corps. 
 Huger's Battery was attached to the 1st Corps, 
 commanded by Lieut. General Longstreet. 
 The 2nd Corps was commanded by Lieut. 
 General Jackson (Stonewall) and Col. Crutch- 
 field was then the Chief of Artillery of Jack- 
 son's Corps, 
 
 [50] 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Service on the Artillery Staff. 
 
 The Artillery of the 2nd Corps was then 
 in winter quarters near Milford Depot and 
 consisted of six battalions commanded by Col. 
 J. T. Brown, Majors H. P. Jones, Thomas 
 Carter, Lieut. Col. R. L. Walker, Major R. 
 Snowden Andrews, and General W. W. Pen- 
 dleton, Chief of Artillery of the Army of 
 Northern Virginia, commanded all the Artil- 
 lery of that Army then in winter quarters, 
 with headquarters some ten miles distant and 
 near Hanover Junction. The reorganization 
 of the Artillery had been achieved during the 
 winter; that is, instead of having one battery 
 assigned to each Brigade of Infantry, it was 
 organized into battalions of from four to six 
 batteries, each battalion commanded by a Field 
 Officer. When the Army started on a cam- 
 paign one battalion was ordered to report to 
 each Division Commander, to be under his 
 immediate supervision in battle, and the other 
 battalions remained under the command of 
 the Chief of Artillery of the Corps to which 
 it belonged, and constituted the Reserve Ar- 
 tillery of the Corps, and on its arrival on the 
 battlefield received its orders from the Corps 
 Commander. The Chief of Artillery of the 
 Corps had a staff consisting of Adjutant, 
 afterwards Adjutant-General, a Major of the 
 Quartermaster's Department, a Major of the 
 Commissary Department and an Ordnance 
 Officer and the Battalions were provided for 
 by those Supply Officers. As soon as practi- 
 cable, after receiving my order, I bade my 
 
 [51] 
 
emoir0 of tfte Citiil mat 
 
 friends adieu and set out on a horse I had 
 purchased, with my servant, a mulatto man 
 named WiUiam Poole, for the railroad depot 
 at Milford. I think the distance to Colonel 
 Crutchfield's quarters was fifteen miles. 
 When I arrived at the Mattapony River, 
 which is a short distance from Milford Depot, 
 I found that river very high, spreading on 
 the south side over the causeway and woods. 
 It was impossible for a stranger to tell where 
 was the causeway. There were wagons and 
 horsemen waiting, not knowing what to do. I 
 said to them, "If there is any one here familiar 
 with the road, I will follow him." The offer 
 was accepted by one rider; it seemed he sim- 
 ply wanted company. We went along and 
 fortunately kept on the causeway, and after 
 proceeding some distance, saw above the flood, 
 the upper part of the arch of the bridge over 
 the regular channel. We crossed in safety, 
 and after many inquiries I found the way to 
 Colonel Crutchfield's quarters. He was estab- 
 lished for the winter with the Battalion of 
 Lieut. Col. Walker on the Estate of Mr. De 
 Jarnette. It was night when I arrived there. 
 I disposed of the servant and our horses, and 
 accepted Col. Crutchfield's invitation to share 
 his tent until another could be obtained. I 
 made the acquaintance of many officers in the 
 Artillery of the 2nd Corps, some of them at- 
 tained great prominence in the Army, men of 
 great ability and intelligence. In this Com- 
 mand were Colonel J. Thompson Brown, 
 Lieut. Col. R. L. Walker, Majors H. P. Jones, 
 Thomas M. Carter, Captains William Peg- 
 ram, Carter M- Braxton, D. G. Mcintosh, 
 
 [52] 
 
^emoir0 of tfte CitJiI mat 
 
 Thomas A. Brander, Lieutenants James Tyler, 
 George M. Cayce, W. Gordon McCabe, Rich- 
 ard Byrd and J. H. Chamberlayne. We en- 
 joyed the hospitality of the De Jarnette fam- 
 ily, on whose estate the cantonment of 
 Walker's Battalion was located ; the other Bat- 
 talions were within a radius of five miles. 
 But the spring was approaching and active 
 service was to be expected on any day. 
 
 On the 28th of April Colonel Crutchfield 
 rode off to the Headquarters of General Pen- 
 dleton for a conference. On the next day 
 about 12 noon, a telegram came to our quar- 
 ters from General Jackson, as follows: ''Have 
 the Artillery at Hamilton's Crossing at dawn 
 to-morrow." I opened the telegram and went 
 to Lieut. Col. Walker's tent and showed it to 
 him and Captain Braxton, who was present, 
 and after getting their advice, issued an order 
 for the Artillery to start at once for the place 
 designated, leaving a small guard at each 
 Camp to look out for the sick and property 
 which could not be sent with the batteries, and 
 by three o'clock P. M., the last of the column 
 was on its way. Colonel J. Thompson Brown 
 was next in rank to Colonel Crutchfield, his 
 headquarters were five miles distant, so the or- 
 der was signed by order of Col. Crutchfield. 
 No instruction had been given me for such an 
 event. As the rear of the column was leaving, 
 Col. Crutchfield appeared. He asked me why 
 I had not turned the command over to Col. 
 Brown. He was evidently in a bad humor. 
 I replied that I did not think the exigency of 
 the occasion permitted any delay. It would 
 have taken considerable time to have turned 
 
 [53] 
 
93emoir0 of tlje CitJil mat 
 
 over the command to Col. Brown and it would 
 have been late in the evening before the com- 
 mand could have been gotten on their way. 
 The telegram led me to believe that the serv- 
 ice of the Artillery would be required at dawn, 
 and after a march of twenty-five miles, the 
 men and horses should have time for rest 
 before engaging the enemy. As it was the 
 head of the column reached Hamilton's Cross- 
 ing by ten o'clock that night. When we 
 reached that place, Col. Crutchfield went at 
 once to report to General Jackson and sent 
 me to announce the arrival of the Artillery to 
 General Rodes. He had retired for the night, 
 but his voice came to me from the inside of 
 his tent, saying he was glad to hear it. That 
 country around Hamilton's Crossing was new 
 to me. I found General Rodes, but after that 
 I had a hard time to find Col. Crutchfield, or 
 anything else, and have no idea where I rested, 
 but remember well I was up early the next 
 day and rode with Col. Crutchfield along the 
 line. A part of the Federal Army had crossed 
 the Rappahannock River and deployed and 
 were threatening the line extending from 
 Hamilton's Crossing towards Fredericksburg; 
 that was Sedgwick's Corps. The main body 
 of the Army of the Potomac had marched up 
 the left bank of the river, crossed at several 
 fords, and were marching against the left flank 
 of the Army of Northern Virginia. General 
 Hooker had succeeded General Burnside in 
 command of the Federal Army. Soon after- 
 wards General Jackson's Corps was ordered to 
 march towards our left wing. When the head 
 of the column of Artillery reached Salem 
 
 [54] 
 
^emoir0 of tfte CitJiI mat 
 
 Church, on the Fredericksburg and Orange 
 Plank Road, we found that Anderson's Divi- 
 sion had been engaged with a part of the Fed- 
 eral Army, which was retiring slowly towards 
 Chancellorsville. I was sent forward to re- 
 port to General Jackson the arrival of the 
 Artillery and told to ask him if he desired it 
 sent forward by Battery or Battalion. I found 
 him near the skirmish line. There was a thick 
 copse of wood near, in which the enemy's 
 skirmishers were supposed to be. General 
 Jackson's reply was, "Have a battery planted 
 there," pointing to a position commanding the 
 woods. Almost at once a battery was placed 
 at the point indicated. Someone else had or- 
 dered it. I started to return, when seeing a 
 little way towards the left Captain Huger 
 with a section of 24-pounder Howitzers on 
 the line, I stopped a moment to speak to him. 
 Lieut. Col. E. P. Alexander was with him. 
 While there I saw a shot fired at the Federal 
 skirmish line, which brought down one man. 
 The enemy was retiring, but to what point? 
 That was what General Lee wished to find 
 out, as I saw Colonel Tallcot trying to ascer- 
 tain the direction the Federal skirmishers 
 were going, whether towards Chancellorsville 
 or the United States Ford. It turned out to 
 be the former place. The Confederate column 
 pushed on and in an hour or two reached the 
 neighborhood of Chancellorsville. This was 
 the first engagement since I had become a 
 Staff Of^cer — mounted — I thought of how I 
 should conduct myself. Capt. Braxton had 
 once said that the position was one which 
 often took the ofgcer into some very hot 
 
 [55] 
 
9^emoir0 of tf)e Citoil MJar 
 
 places. I determined to ride by the side of 
 Col. Crutchfield and keep dressed to his left 
 as near as possible. As the column ascended 
 the slight hill to Chancellorsville, a Federal 
 Battery fired on it. It had approached too 
 near the Federal position in column. It was 
 necessary to return. The guns and caissons 
 were turned around — I have often thought if 
 the enemy had discovered the true situation a 
 charge by a squadron of Cavalry, or an ad- 
 vance by Infantry, could have destroyed the 
 usefulness of a good many of our guns. Baron 
 Marbot speaks of that sort of mistake in his 
 memoirs, when the French Army pressed too 
 closely the retreating Spaniards through a 
 mountain pass. The French troops were too 
 closely packed in a narrow road and were un- 
 able to defend themselves and suffered se- 
 verely. Fortunately in the case in question, 
 the country was wooded and our condition 
 was not found out. The column turned back 
 without damage. The Infantry was in line 
 to the right of the Plank Road. On the left 
 there was Cavalry, but none in sight. Col. 
 Crutchfield moved to the left, then entered a 
 narrow road leading towards the enemy to 
 make a reconnaissance. We rode several hun- 
 dred yards, when a battery opened on us. We 
 turned to regain the column, galloping — the 
 shots passing over our heads. A limb of a 
 tree, extending over the narrow road, took off 
 my cap. I thought to myself, what a ridicu- 
 lous sight I would make if I returned without 
 my cap; so I stopped, dismounted and re- 
 covered it. Passing on a little farther the fir- 
 ing ceased. Then I saw two fine rubber blan- 
 
 [56] 
 
emoir0 of tfte Ci\3il mat 
 
 kets left by the Federals. I picked them up 
 and attached them to my saddle. I had pur- 
 chased from the Ordnance Department a fine 
 English saber, which I had worn for more 
 than a year, but as it was not the custom at 
 that time for Staff Officers to wear their 
 swords, it was left with my baggage in the 
 Headquarters' wagon. It was taken by 
 someone and I never saw it again. When we 
 returned to the Plank Road, we found the 
 column of Infantry at a halt. Quite a brisk 
 Artillery duel was going on a little to the 
 right. General R. E. Lee was there. He 
 called for General Pender commanding the 
 leading Brigade ,and I heard him say to the 
 latter, "General, send some sharpshooters to 
 pick off the gunners of that Battery." Very 
 soon afterwards several Cavalry Officers rode 
 up from the left and said one of General J. 
 E. B. Stuart's staff named Channing^ had just 
 been shot a short distance from w^ere we 
 were standing. Night came on, the firing 
 ceased, and Col. Crutchfield went back to the 
 Headquarters' wagon, where we passed the 
 night. When General Jackson's Corps left 
 Hamilton's Crossing, General J. A. Early was 
 left there with a force to hold in check Sedg- 
 wick's Corps, then threatening the Fredericks- 
 burg position. On the march towards Chan- 
 cellorsville, we saw a balloon on the north 
 side of the river ascend about four hundred 
 feet, from which officers watched the move- 
 ments on our side. 
 
 C^/Vt- 
 
 [57] 
 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Chancellorsville. 
 
 Early next morning, May 2nd, Jackson's 
 Corps was on the march by way of the Cath- 
 erine Furnace towards the Brock Road. The 
 Infantry had flankers, or skirmishers, out, but 
 the road was so narrow and the woods sO' 
 thick, that often the Hne of flankers was with- 
 in a few steps of the column. Occasionally 
 in the clear space I could see a Cavalry vi- 
 dette. Col. Crutchfield rode at the head of 
 the column with General Jackson, General J. 
 E. B. Stuart, Major Von Bourck, Major 
 Chew, and several other officers. When I 
 reached the Plank Road I saw General Jack- 
 son and another officer ride along that road 
 and stop at a turn of the same for observa- 
 tion. They then rode back and the column 
 kept on the Brock Road until it reached the 
 Old Orange Turnpike. While approaching 
 the latter General Stuart was with the Cavalry 
 skirmishers. They were advancing through 
 a field covered with broom straw and bushes. 
 The line hesitated a little, whereupon General 
 Stuart called out to them, "Go ahead, there 
 is nothing but Cavalry there." Finally the 
 old turnpike was reached a little east of the 
 Wilderness Tavern. There were woods on 
 each side. The Infantry commenced to arrive 
 and was at once deployed. The officers were 
 warned not to give their orders in a loud 
 voice. There were twelve or more officers in 
 a group on the road, when Major Von Bourck 
 and another officer rode towards the east to 
 reconnoiter. They returned in a short time 
 
 [58] 
 
Q0emoir0 of tfte CiiJil MJar 
 
 and reported that one had dimbed a tree and 
 had seen the enemy's position. They had two 
 guns pointing towards the west, but the men 
 were evidently not expecting an attack, as 
 they were laying around smoking, some play- 
 ing cards, and a little back from the road were 
 oreparing food. About that time a report 
 came that the enemy had attacked the column 
 on the road near the Catherine Furnace, and 
 Col. Crutchfield dispatched several couriers at 
 different times to the Battalions of Artillery 
 and for the wagon train to take another road, 
 and come to the Wilderness Tavern. It took 
 considerable time for the Infantry to arrive 
 and deploy. Evening was approaching and 
 I was ordered to proceed to Wilderness Tav- 
 ern and await the train. While I was there 
 the order to advance was given, and the pur- 
 suit was so rapid that it was quite dark before 
 I reached the front. I was not able to find 
 Col. Crutchfield. At last I attached my horse 
 to a tree and lay on the ground and slept un- 
 til daylight. Next morning I found lying 
 near the side of the turnpike the body of Col. 
 Frank Mallory, of the 55th Virginia Infantry. 
 There were many more dead Confederates. 
 Col. Mallory was the son of a neighbor of my 
 father and college mate of my older brother. 
 I cut a lock of hair from his head to carry to 
 his family. I then inquired for Col. Crutch- 
 field and learned that he had been wounded 
 the evening before; also General Jackson. I 
 then went back to the hospital near the Wild- 
 erness Tavern, and as the Surgeon, Dr. Mc- 
 Guire, was about to operate on Col. Crutch- 
 field's wounded leg and needed assistance, I 
 
 [59] 
 
emoir0 of tbe CitJil mat 
 
 remained and held cotton saturated with 
 chloroform to his nose, while Surgeon Mc- 
 Guire removed the pieces of broken bone from 
 his wound. The third day of the Battle of 
 Chancellorsville was being fought at that very- 
 time. That night I slept in the Hospital Tent. 
 General Jackson was lying wounded in the 
 next tent and I heard one of his staff read the 
 message of condolence from General Lee to 
 him. One of General Jackson's couriers was 
 lying in the tent shot in the stomach. He 
 asked me to get him some water. I did so. 
 When we awoke next morning he was dead. 
 General Jackson was then placed in an ambu- 
 lance and sent to Guinney's Station, and Col. 
 Crutchfield was sent to his father's farm in 
 Spottsylvania County, about twenty miles dis- 
 tant. He left his horse in my care. General 
 Jackson died in about one week. Col. Crutch- 
 field was disabled for eighteen months and 
 never returned to his position as Chief of Ar- 
 tillery of the 2nd Corps. The Battle of Chan- 
 cellorsville was over when I rode to the front 
 and reported to Col. J. T. Brown, who said he 
 would be glad to have me remain at his Head- 
 quarters, but he had his own Adjutant, who 
 
 "J^^•^Vl«i ^J^^^^^^^*^^'^^^'' ^^^^ ^^*^^^ Lieut. Col. 
 
 R. L. Walker was present at the interview and 
 
 said he would like to have me accompany him, 
 which was agreed to. The Army returned to 
 its old position near Fredericksburg and was 
 organized into three Corps. Many promotions 
 were made. The 1st Corps was slightly re- 
 duced in numbers. Lieut. General Longstreet 
 remained in command. Major Generals B. S. 
 Ewell and A. P. Hill were made Lieutenant 
 
 [60] 
 
9@emDit0 of tht Ciuil mat 
 
 Generals, and assigned to the command of the 
 2nd and 3rd Corps, respectively. Lieut. Col. 
 Walker was made Colonel and Chief of Artil- 
 lery of the 3rd Corps. Colonel A. L. Long 
 was made a Brigadier-General and Chief of 
 Artillery of the 2nd Corps. I saw General 
 Long soon afterwards and he told me it was 
 the understanding that I should go with the 
 Artillery of the 3rd Corps, which was then 
 composed of the Battalions of Lieut. Col. 
 Cutts, Major William Pegram, Major D. G. 
 Mcintosh, Major W. A. Poagne, and Lieut. 
 Col. John J. Garnett. This Artillery command 
 proceeded to a Camp near Guinney's Station, 
 and made preparations for the next campaign. 
 I rode to see Col. Crutchfield, who was con- 
 fined to his bed, but gradually improving. 
 While at this Camp, news was received of the 
 death of Gen. T. J. Jackson, Commander of 
 the 2nd Corps Army of Northern Virginia, 
 and the Rev. Dr. Moore, of Richmond, re- 
 peated his funeral oration of General Jackson 
 at a church near our Camp, which we heard. 
 It was sublime; an inspiration to the soldiers 
 to follow his example of devotion to duty in 
 the Southern cause. 
 
 [61] 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 With the Artillery of the Third Corps. 
 
 Early in the month of June the command 
 was ordered to march to Fredericksburg. The 
 Artillery of the 3rd Corps was by that time 
 thoroughly organized. Our Quartermaster, 
 Major Wm. C. Scott, was a very efficient offi- 
 cer and the command was provided for in 
 every respect except we lacked a supply of 
 horse shoes. We had a small corps of couriers 
 detailed from different batteries, who were in- 
 telligent men. A young man named J. W. 
 League from Smithfield, one of the couriers, 
 was used as a clerk in the Adjutant's office. 
 Charles H. Buskey, of Norfolk, was courier 
 and also a Mr. Bragg, from Orange County. 
 On our arrival at Fredericksburg, we found 
 the Infantry of the 3rd Corps, R. H. Ander- 
 son's Division, H. Heth's and C. M. Wilcox's 
 Divisions, confronting a force of General 
 Hooker's Federal Army, which had crossed 
 the pontoon bridges to the south side of the 
 river, and appeared to have the intention to 
 attack. General A. P. Hill's field headquar- 
 ters were on Howison's Hill. The Corps of 
 General Longstreet and Ewell were at Cul- 
 pepper Court House, about forty miles to the 
 west. General Lee was about to invade the 
 State of Pennsylvania. The main body of the 
 Federal Army was near Falmouth, and Gen- 
 eral Hooker was trying to ascertain the inten- 
 tions of General Lee. The former sent a 
 large force of Cavalry to Brandy Station, ac- 
 companied by two Brigades of Infantry to re- 
 connoiter. The result was a severe Cavalry 
 
 [62] 
 
^ernoir^ of tfte Ciuil Wat 
 
 battle which lasted all day, when the Federal 
 forces retired. They discovered a part of 
 the Confederate Infantry near Brandy Sta- 
 tion. The force that was in front of General 
 A. P. Hill then recrossed the river. The next 
 day the 3rd Corps marched in the direction of 
 Culpepper Court House. We passed by Chan- 
 cellorsviile where six weeks before had been 
 fought that bloody battle. We saw the strong 
 entrenchments which Hooker's Army had 
 thrown up just in the rear of that place. We 
 crossed the Rapidan River at Eley's Ford 
 and reached Culpepper Court House early on 
 the third day. Next day the Artillery marched 
 to Sperryville, the Infantry took a shorter 
 route by Gaine's Cross Roads. We pursued 
 the route via Front Royal and arrived at a 
 place near Berryville where we remained in 
 camp during the 21st and 22nd of June. I 
 was engaged at that place in making the Field 
 Report of the Artillery of the 3rd Corps. As 
 well as I can remember, we had eighty odd 
 guns and fifteen hundred men, with a full 
 compliment of horses and wagons, besides the 
 Ordnance Train under Captain L. Points, with 
 Lieut. Henry Thorburn acting quartermaster. 
 It was understood at that time that the Army 
 of Northern Virginia consisted of three Corps 
 of three divisions each, and the divisions had 
 six thousand men for duty. General J. E. B. 
 Stuart commanded the Cavalry, with its Horse 
 Artillery. The Artillery of each Corps had 
 eighty odd guns and about fifteen hundred 
 men. On the 23rd of June we started on the 
 march for Pennsylvania, bivouacked near 
 Sheppardstown, crossed the Potomac River 
 
 [63] 
 
90emoit0 of tfte CitJil Wint 
 
 the next day, and marched to Hagerstown. 
 There we found Longstreet's Corps passing 
 through that town. The night we spent at 
 Sheppardstown I went with Col. Walker to 
 the house of the Hon. Mr. Boteler and spent 
 part of the evening. General Archer was there 
 and Lieut. Lemon of his staff. Leaving Hag- 
 erstown next morning we took the eastern 
 road by Waynesboro, camped at Fayetteville. 
 On the march the Artillery accompanied Gen- 
 eral Pender's Division. We remained at Fay- 
 etteville several days and on the 30th started 
 for Cashtown, passing through the Gap near 
 which was located Thad. Stevens' Furnace. 
 We passed General R. E. Lee standing near 
 the road in full uniform with swort belt, but 
 no sword. To us young men he had the ap- 
 pearance of being in fighting humor. While 
 we were marching towards Fayetteville, our 
 Colonel dispatched Lieut. J. H. Chamberlayne 
 and several enlisted men to get horses. They 
 crossed the mountains to the east, but did not 
 return; they were captured. As we were 
 descending the mountain near Cashtown, there 
 was a sudden halt of the column of wagons 
 in front of us. That usually indicates that 
 the enemy has been seen. It turned out to 
 be Pettigrew's Brigade which was returning 
 from Gettysburg. Heth's Division had crossed 
 the mountain the day before and stopped at 
 Cashtown. On the 30th General Heth sent 
 Pettigrew's Brigade to Gettysburg, eight 
 miles southeast, to obtain a supply of shoes. 
 They discovered that Gettysburg was occupied 
 by the enemy, therefore abandoned the plan 
 of getting shoes and returned That Brigade 
 
 [64] 
 
9^emoir0 of tfte CiUiI mat 
 
 was just returning to Cashtown when Pen- 
 der's Division arrived in sight, hence the sud- 
 den halt of the cohimn. Soon afterwards we 
 reached the outskirts of Cashtown and bivou- 
 acked for the night. General A. P. Hill that 
 night determined to make a reconnaissance in 
 force the next day to ascertain what was in 
 front. 
 
 [65] 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 Battle of Gettysburg. 
 
 When General A. P. Hill started his column 
 across the mountain on the 29th his orders 
 were to proceed through Gettysburg towards 
 York. Ascertaining from General Pettigrew 
 that the enemy occupied Gettysburg, as be- 
 came the able soldier that he was, he notified 
 General Lee and General Ewell and proceeded 
 early on the morning of July 1st to make the 
 reconnaissance, sending forward Heth's Divi- 
 sion with Pegram's Battalion of Artillery, fol- 
 lowed by Pender's Division and Mcintosh's 
 Battalion of Artillery. Col. Walker rode at 
 the head of the column with a three-inch rifle 
 gun of Captain Edward Marye's Battery. 
 The skirmishers were in front. When they 
 reached the crossing of Marsh Run, the place 
 looked suspicious, the banks of that stream 
 w^ere covered with trees and underbrush, so 
 the skirmishers halted. The three-inch rifle 
 gun was brought up and fired one shot, where- 
 upon the Federal Cavalry skirmishers rose and 
 retreated. That place is about four miles from 
 Gettysburg. The column pushed on and soon 
 arrived at Willoughby Run, two miles far- 
 ther. There General Heth ordered Archer's 
 Brigade to deploy on the right of the road and 
 advance in line across the Run, which was 
 done. The enemy's Cavalry had determined 
 to make a stand there and two batteries were 
 in position on the hill east of the Run. I 
 have since learned they were Hall's and 
 Calef's Batteries. Just at that time the lead- 
 ing Brigade of Reynold's First Corps of the 
 
 [66] 
 
9iemDit0 of tfie Citoil Wiat 
 
 Federal Army arrived on the scene and at- 
 tacked that portion of Archer's Brigade which 
 had crossed the Run, captured the General and 
 several hundred men, while the Batteries 
 opened fire on the troops arriving on the other 
 side. It was then evident to General Heth 
 with whom he had business. As the other 
 Brigades of Heth's Division arrived they were 
 deployed on the hill on the west side of Will- 
 oughby Run. Lieut. John Morris had one of 
 his legs crushed by a shell. We saw him as he 
 lay in a dying condition on the hill near 
 Pegram's Batteries. He died soon afterwards. 
 Col. Walker then rode back towards Cash- 
 town where the Reserve Battalions of Artil- 
 lery had remained and ordered them to the 
 front. The contest was kept up at that place 
 for several hours from each side of the Run. 
 Davis' Brigade crossed the Run and attacked 
 the right flank of the Federal First Corps at 
 the Railroad Cut, assisted by Captain Bran- 
 der's Battery, but without success. On Col. 
 Walker's return to the front, we were riding 
 near our Infantry line on the right of the 
 road, when one of our Infantry men brought 
 a Federal Cavalry soldier of a Michigan Regi- 
 ment from the front, where he had captured 
 him. Colonel Walker received the prisoner 
 and directed me to conduct him to General A. 
 P. Hill, who was on the hill just west of the 
 Run. General Hill asked him a few questions 
 then turned him over to the Provost Guard. 
 The Cavalry man was mounted and fully 
 equipped. I took possession of his holster 
 in which was an Army revolver and attached 
 it to my saddle bow. While with General Hill 
 
 [67] 
 
99emoir0 of tbe Ci\)il ^at 
 
 he ordered a Battery to relieve Brander's Bat- 
 tery, whose ammunition was exhausted, and 
 by order of Colonel Walker, Maurin's Bat- 
 tery was sent to relieve Brander's. At that 
 time, about 2.00 P. M., General Hill was 
 watching for the arrival of Ewell's Corps, 
 the head of whose column could be seen near 
 the right of the Federal line. As soon as 
 Ewell's troops deployed, the battle was re- 
 newed and in an hour or two the Federal line 
 gave way and was pursued towards Gettys- 
 burg, Pender's Division having advanced in 
 support of Heth's in driving the Federal 
 troops from Seminary Heights. About five 
 o'clock I saw General Lee and Longstreet rid- 
 ing up to Seminary Heights, and also saw 
 Johnson's Division of Ewell's Corps arriving 
 on the field. The Federal troops retreated to 
 Cemetery Heights, south of Gettysburg, and 
 took position there. Night came on and we 
 lay down to rest on the side of the Cashtown 
 Road. Fleth's and Pender's Divisions had 
 taken position on Seminary Heights with 
 Pegram's and Mcintosh's Battalions of Artil- 
 lery. We were up by daylight next morning. 
 As I was riding up the slope leading to Sem- 
 inary Heights, I met General Semmes riding 
 alone. He asked me where the battle of the 
 day before had been fought. I told him he 
 was at that time on a portion of the field. 
 He commanded a Brigade in McLaw's Divi- 
 sion of Longstreet's Corps and was killed that 
 afternoon. Farther to the right I met General 
 Mahone riding at the head of his Brigade. He 
 asked me, ''Where is the Enemy?" I pointed 
 towards Cemetery Heights about fourteen 
 
 [68] 
 
ernoir^ of tfte Citoil ffiJat 
 
 hundred yards to the east and said, "over 
 there." At that time Anderson's Division, to 
 which his Brigade belonged, was moving into 
 position, and he said why there is musketry 
 firing on this side, pointing to McMillan's 
 woods, which is an extension of Seminary 
 Heights. That was true and the leading 
 Brigade of Anderson's Division had to^ skir- 
 mish and drive away some Federal troops to 
 take up their position in the line. General 
 Mahone was accompanied by Colonel William 
 Gibson, whose acquaintance I had made on 
 the field of Sharpsburg, to which he made a 
 pleasant allusion. I told him that I was then 
 attached to the Artillery and he said, "That 
 is just where you ought to be." Soon after- 
 wards I saw the Infantry of Longstreet's 
 Corps arriving, but seemed to be awaiting or- 
 ders. I think it was then between seven and 
 eig*ht o'clock A. M., and the day was not clear, 
 but overcast. The field headquarters of Gen- 
 eral Lee was near the Fairfield Road, in rear 
 of the center of the right wing and I saw him 
 and other officers at that point later. After 
 reconnoitering the front, it was determined to 
 have Longstreet attack the enemy's left flank. 
 The order to that Corps Commander was to 
 partially envelop the enemy's left flank and 
 move along the Emmettsburg Road. It is 
 several miles from the Seminary, near which 
 I saw Longstreet's Infantry arriving to the 
 Round Top, which was believed to be the 
 enemy's left. When Longstreet's troops ar- 
 rived there, instead of finding his troops on 
 the enemy's left flank, he found that Sickles 
 3rd Corps of the Federal Army had moved 
 
 [69] 
 
9gemoir0 of tfte CitJil mat 
 
 forward from the prolongation of the Cem- 
 etery Ridge and had taken position on the 
 Emmettsburg Road as far as a peach orchard, 
 where his Hne made an obtuse angle with its 
 left running along the ridge to a place called 
 Devil's Den at the foot of the Big Round 
 Top. The Little Round Top was in rear of 
 Sickles line and was occupied by some of the 
 Signal Corps. General Longstreet's troops 
 were deployed in front of the two sides of 
 that angle. It was a very strong position. Its 
 weak spot was the point of the angle and the 
 Confederate Artillery was posted to enfilade 
 the two fronts. AH being ready, an advance 
 of the Infantry was ordered and a bloody bat- 
 tle followed. Prior to that Colonel Walker 
 received a note from General Hill conceived 
 in the following terms: "General Longstreet 
 is about to attack the enemy's left, watch his 
 movements and aid him as much as possible." 
 I took that note and showed it to each Bat- 
 talion Commander and when Longstreet's at- 
 tack was made the Artillery of the 3rd Corps 
 opened fire and followed the instructions. The 
 enemy's Artillery replied, and a cannonade 
 was kept up for at least two hours. The Ar- 
 tillery lost some men and a great many horses. 
 Pegram's Battalion's loss in horses was very 
 great. While that battle was progressing Gen- 
 eral Hill with his staff rode along a part of 
 his front and in rear of McLaw's Division, 
 which by that time had passed beyond the 
 peach orchard and was pursuing the enemy 
 towards the prolongation of Cemetery 
 Heights. That gallop under the Artillery fire 
 was very exciting, but I lost my holster with 
 
 [70] 
 
0^emoir0 of tfte Citiil mar 
 
 the revolver. No one was struck. General 
 Hills' staff were occupied in rallying some of 
 the Confederates, who were falling back in 
 groups of two or three. I could see the little 
 Round Top very plainly, the enemy was draw- 
 ing some guns by hand on its summit. We 
 remained near that position until nearly dusk. 
 At that time I saw a force of Federals mov- 
 ing to the front in columns of companies. 
 That day's fighting on our right closed at dark 
 and we returned to our quarters. Longstreet's 
 Corps and a part of Hill's had gained consid- 
 erable ground, had taken all of the position 
 to which Sickle's Corps had moved, and driven 
 that Corps and all the reinforcements sent to 
 its support back to the prolongation of Cem- 
 etery Heights, which they held with their left 
 resting on Little Round Top, at the foot of 
 which the Confederate skirmishers remained 
 and from that point along the Devil's Den to 
 McMillan's woods. 
 
 Next morning we were up early and I rode 
 to the peach orchard where were lying many 
 dead Federal soldiers, conspicuous among 
 them Zouaves with the baggy red trousers. 
 On the Federal side they seemed to be 
 strengthening their defenses. I met my old 
 Captain Huger, then promoted to Major. He 
 said he was trying to bring Artillery to bear 
 on the Big Round Top, which the Federals 
 had occupied during the night. Col. Alexan- 
 der was arranging many pieces of Artillery 
 for a grand cannonade to be opened later. I 
 was sent to our left to notify the Commanders 
 of the Artillery Battalions that they were to 
 advance when their Infantry supports should 
 
 [71] 
 
99emoir$ of tfte CitJil Wint 
 
 move forward. As I came back I saw Heth's 
 Division lying under the crest of the hill. An 
 old friend, John Q. Richardson, Major of a 
 North Carolina Regiment, spoke to me and 
 said, ''I understand that we are to charge that 
 hill," pointing to Cemetery Hill. I looked 
 over at the hill and the position looked so for- 
 midable that I replied I did not think the 
 rumor was true, although the order that I 
 had just carried to the Artillery Battalion 
 Commanders indicated that it was true. Poor 
 fellow, he was killed shortly afterwards in the 
 assault. I passed on down the line and soon 
 came to Pickett's Division also lying down 
 under the crest of the hill. General R. B. 
 Garnett was in front of the line, with his aide- 
 de-camp, Lieut. John S. Jones, a relative of 
 mine. I stopped to speak to them; they were 
 mounted. They said nothing about the 
 charge to be made. Soon afterwards Garnett 
 was killed. Jones was wounded but recovered. 
 I was trying to find Colonel Walker and soon 
 found him riding with Colonel Walton, Chief 
 of Artillery of the First Corps; they were 
 riding on the Fairfield Road. Occasionally 
 a cannon ball or shell crossed the road. Dur- 
 ing that short ride the charge of the column 
 of attack took place, and as the view was ob- 
 structed by woods, I did not see it. When we 
 returned I passed General Lee and Lieut. Col. 
 W. H. Taylor of his staff, riding to meet the 
 defeated troops. A litter passed with a 
 wounded officer, who raised himself on his 
 elbow and saluted the General, who looked 
 anxious and careworn, but resolute and self- 
 possessed. After awhile the firing ceased. 
 
 [72] 
 
^emDit0 of tfte Citoil max 
 
 Our troops remained in the positions which 
 they had taken before the fighting commenced 
 on the second day. That night the Corps of 
 General Ewell left their position in front of 
 Gulp's Hill, and took position on the northern 
 extension of Seminary Heights ; that is, on the 
 left of the 3rd Gorps. 
 
 Next day, July 4th, I was sent to a point 
 near the Seminary and saw there a battery of 
 the Richmond Howitzers. Occasional shots 
 were exchanged by the Artillery of the two 
 Armies. While at that place a shell burst 
 very near me, which indicated that both sides 
 were on the alert. The losses of the two 
 Armies were fearfully large, something like 
 forty thousand. I was near a conference of 
 high ranking Artillery officers and heard Gen- 
 eral E. P. Alexander say that we did not have 
 left more than four rounds of ammunition to 
 each gun. An order was issued to leave the 
 lines at dusk and take the Fairfield Road. A 
 rain storm set in that evening and we found 
 the road very muddy. We passed through 
 Fairfield in the night and arrived at the foot 
 of Jack's Mountain at daylight. The 3rd 
 Gorps, which led the column, stopped there 
 during that day and the 1st Gorps passed. 
 That afternoon we started following the 1st 
 Gorps and crossed the mountain at Monterey 
 at daylight and proceeded to the town of 
 Waynesboro, where we halted to rest. I rode 
 during that night the horse of Golonel Grutch- 
 field and my servant rode my own horse. It 
 was the custom of the officers' servants to ac- 
 company the wagons on the march. Next 
 morning, July 6th, when we halted my ser- 
 
 [73] 
 
9|emoir0 of tbe Citoil Mlat 
 
 vant did not appear. I did not see him again 
 until after the close of the War. He then told 
 me, that being very much fatigued on the 
 night of the 5th, he tied his horse to a tree 
 and went to sleep. After the column passed 
 he was captured. So I lost servant, horse and 
 equipment. The 3rd Corps reached Hagers- 
 town on the 7th. I was permitted to take the 
 horse and equipment of the prisoner that I 
 had conducted to General A. P. Hill during 
 the battle of the first of July. We stopped on 
 the outskirts of Hagerstown several days. My 
 father's family had removed to Baltimore and 
 I wrote to him and mailed the letter at the 
 Post Office at Hagerstown. When the Con- 
 federate Army left that place, communication 
 with Baltimore was re-established and the 
 mail went forward. While at Hagerstown, I 
 visited the family of a former rector of Christ 
 Church, Norfolk, Virginia, who were living 
 in that town, Mr. Parks. On the 10th the 
 enemy were reported advancing from Boones- 
 boro, and the Army of General Lee was or- 
 dered to take position a few miles from Hag- 
 erstown, extending from the Williamsport 
 Road to St. James College and beyond. The 
 3rd Corps was in front of that College. The 
 Federal Army moved up and established a line 
 in front. There was a little skirmishing, but 
 no attack was made. 
 
 It was the intention of General Lee to re- 
 cross the Potomac River into Virginia, but 
 that river was rendered, by frequent rains, too 
 deep to ford, and a pontoon bridge was being 
 built at Falling Waters, several miles in rear 
 of our line. On the afternoon of the 13th, I 
 
 [74] 
 
was directed to see each Battalion Commander 
 and tell him to select an intelligent officer to 
 go at once and familiarize himself with the 
 road leading from his position to the main 
 road to Falling Waters. It came on to rain 
 and by dusk was very dark, and notwithstand- 
 ing the precaution taken, one battery lost its 
 way, and had blue lights burning in their ef- 
 forts to find the road. Fortunately the enemy 
 did not seem to notice the lights, and after 
 awhile the Artillery column got well under 
 way. The road was narrow and muddy, 
 badly cut up by the wheels, and crowded. I 
 fell asleep repeatedly while riding, but at last 
 by daybreak we reached the pontoon bridge 
 and rode on into Virginia and bivouacked at 
 Bunker Hill. 
 
 175] 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 Comments on the Battle of Gettysburg. 
 
 Some years ago the Count de Paris, who 
 was writing a History of the War between 
 the Northern and Southern States, wrote to 
 many prominent officers, asking the cause of 
 the failure of the Confederate Army to gain 
 the battle of Gettysburg. If he had access 
 to the archives of the War Department, he 
 might have found a brief, but concise, answer 
 to his question by General R. E. Lee himself, 
 for in a letter written by himself to President 
 Jefferson Davis four days after the battle, to 
 wit, July 7th, will be found in Series 1, Vol. 
 27, Part 2, Serial No. 44, the following : 
 
 "Mr. President — My letter of the 4th inst. 
 will have informed you of the unsuccessful 
 issue of our final attack on the enemy in the 
 rear of Gettysburg — Finding the position too 
 strong to be carried — and being much hindered 
 in collecting necessary supplies for the Army, 
 by the numerous bodies of local and other 
 troops which watched the passes, I determined 
 to withdraw to the west side of the moun- 
 tains." 
 
 The Army of Northern Virginia in that 
 battle was successful in everything except their 
 final attack. On the first day the victory was 
 complete. That portion of the Federal Army 
 engaged was driven from the position its 
 Commander had chosen, at least one mile, and 
 had lost about five thousand prisoners and 
 many small arms. 
 
 On the second day Longstreet fought a 
 terrific battle with two divisions, aided by 
 three Brigades of A. P. Hill; he drove back 
 the 3rd Corps and the 5th Corps, and all the 
 
 [76] 
 
Q0emoit0 of tfte CitJil MJat 
 
 reinforcements sent to their aid, about one 
 mile. Ewell also gained considerable ground, 
 but could go no farther. 
 
 On the third day the final assault was not 
 successful, and the Confederate Army fell 
 back to the position it had assumed on the 
 second day. As General Lee said in his letter 
 of July 7th, the enemy's position was found 
 to be too strong to be carried. General 
 Sickle's change of position to the front has 
 been pronounced a mistake. In my opinion, 
 it proved to be the safety of the Federal Army. 
 It is true he was driven from it after a terri- 
 ble struggle, which so exhausted Longstreef s 
 troops that when they approached the exten- 
 sion of Cemetery Heights with the Federal 
 left resting on Little Round Top and with 
 that stronghold and the crest of the extension 
 held by the Federal troops, he was not able 
 to carry it. Those two hills, Gulp's on the 
 Federal's right, and Little Round Top on their 
 left, might properly be called Gibraltars on a 
 small scale. 
 
 The Federal position on the third day, ex- 
 tending from Gulp's Hill on their right, to 
 Round Top on their left, was an exceedingly 
 strong position, and it was held by two lines 
 of Infantry, in some parts three lines, and 
 garnished with Artillery, with the weak point 
 partly fortified with stone walls and earth- 
 works. Such positions are rarely carried by 
 assaults in front, and after the failure of the 
 assault by the column of attack on the third 
 day. General Lee decided that it was too 
 strong to be carried and determined to with- 
 draw his Army. 
 
 [773 
 
emoit0 of tfte CitJil mat 
 
 Here follows what General Lee said in his 
 Official Report of his final attack, which is 
 found in Series 1, Vol. 27, Part 2, Serial No. 
 44, Page No. 20: "General Longstreet was 
 delayed by a force occupying the high rocky 
 hill on the enemy's extreme left from which 
 his troops could be attacked in reverse as they 
 advanced. His operations had been embar- 
 rassed the day previous by the same cause, 
 and he now deemed it necessary to defend his 
 flank and rear with the Divisions of Hood and 
 McLaws. He was therefore reinforced by 
 Heth's Division and two Brigades of Pen- 
 ders. A careful examination was made of 
 the ground secured by Longstreet and his 
 Batteries placed in positions, which it was be- 
 lieved would enable them to silence those of 
 the enemy. Hill's Artillery and part of 
 Ewell's was ordered to open simultaneously, 
 and the assaulting column to advance under 
 cover of the combined fire of the three. The 
 batteries were directed to be pushed forward 
 as the Infantry progressed, protect their flanks 
 and support their attack closely. 
 
 ''About LOO P. M., at a given signal, a 
 heavy cannonade was opened, and continued 
 for about two hours, with marked effect upon 
 the enemy. His Batteries replied vigorously 
 at first, but toward the close their fire slack- 
 ened perceptibly, and General Longstreet or- 
 dered forward the column of attack, consisting 
 of Pickett's and Heth's Divisions, in two lines, 
 Pickett on the right, Wilcox's Brigade 
 marched in rear of Pickett's right to guard 
 that flank and Heth's was supported by Lane's 
 and Scale's Brigades under General Trimble." 
 
 [78] 
 
emoit0 of tfte Citiil Wiat 
 
 It will be seen from General Lee's report 
 that the component parts of the column of at- 
 tack are given and consisted of two Divisions 
 of Infantry and three other Brigades, two of 
 Pender's and one of Anderson's, in all about 
 twelve thousand men. The assault was a bril- 
 liant one, but it could not carry, but tempo- 
 rarily, a small portion of the Federal line, and 
 being attacked in front and flank, the assault- 
 ing column was forced to retire to the Con- 
 federate line with heavy loss. Pickett's Di- 
 vision was reduced from four thousand, five 
 hundred men, to about fifteen hundred, and 
 on the return to Virginia was charged with 
 guarding about five thousand prisoners, most 
 of whom were captured on the first day of 
 the battle. 
 
 That battle has been called the high water 
 mark of the Confederate States. On the 
 march back to Virginia Lieut. Col. Taylor 
 told me of the capture of Vicksburg and that 
 news, together with the failure at Gettysburg, 
 made us feel rather gloomy. My impression 
 of the Battle of Gettysburg from what I wit- 
 nessed and from reading since the of^cial re- 
 ports is, that every portion of the Army of 
 Northern Virginia obeyed orders and accom- 
 plished all that it was in their power to do, 
 but that Army was not strong enough to carry 
 that formidable position defended by the Fed- 
 eral Army of the Potomac. 
 
 [79] 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Battle of Bristow Station. 
 
 The Army Again on the Soil of Virginia. 
 
 After resting two days at Bunker Hill, the 
 Artillery of the 3rd Corps proceeded with the 
 1st Corps and the Infantry of the 3rd Corps 
 by way of Winchester and Chester Gap to 
 Culpepper Court House. The Artillery en- 
 camped near Cedar Mountain and remained a 
 few days, where I was engaged in writing a 
 report of the Campaign. The wife of our 
 Commanding Officer came up to meet him and 
 stayed at the farm house of Mr. Slaughter. 
 At Bunker Hill, I occupied one side of Col. 
 Walker's tent. One night a thief cut open 
 the back of the tent and took my clothes, which 
 had been folded and laid near my head, but 
 he must have been frightened off, for I re- 
 covered them within fifty yards. So it ap- 
 pears that thieves break through and steal 
 even in an Encampment of an Army. I re- 
 member also that a thief stole the dough from 
 our cook one night, who had placed it in an 
 oven to rise. 
 
 The 1st and 3rd Corps then moved to 
 Orange Court House and were joined by the 
 2nd Corps about the first week of August, 
 which had to go some distance up the valley, 
 as the route through Chester Gap was occu- 
 pied by the enemy. We had a good rest at 
 Orange Court House. I met the daughters 
 of Mrs. Bull, who lived there, and rode with 
 Miss Mary to Montpelier, the former resi- 
 dence of President Madison. The enemy oc- 
 cupied Culpepper Court House, about fifteen 
 
 [80] 
 
99cmoir0 of tfie CiUil mat 
 
 miles distant, and there were frequent alarms 
 when the troops were called to arms. Our Ar- 
 tillery was encamped on the road to Rapidan 
 Station, At this camp Major Arthur Parker, 
 C. S., reported for duty. Major Miles Sel- 
 don, Q. M., was also ordered to report to 
 Colonel Walker, but his orders were revoked. 
 The Army was very much strengthened by 
 the return of wounded and sick soldiers to 
 duty. 
 
 About the 10th of October, General Lee 
 determined to strike a blow at the enemy, not- 
 withstanding the fact that the 1st Corps under 
 General Longstreet had left us and gone to re- 
 inforce the Army in Georgia commanded by 
 General Bragg. We set out early in the morn- 
 ing and crossed the Rapidan at Liberty Mills 
 and bivouacked. Our Quartermaster, Major 
 Scott, was the son-in-law of Mr. Graves, who 
 lived near that place and invited me to accom- 
 pany him to make a visit. I did so and found 
 Mrs. Graves a fine old lady, who had known 
 some of my mother's relatives. We had a 
 good supper and enjoyed the visit, returning 
 to the column early next morning. That day 
 the column reached a place near Sperryville. 
 Everyone has a grain of superstitution. I 
 believe I have very little, but I could not help 
 remarking on a flock of black birds some dis- 
 tance on the road to Culpepper Court House, 
 where the column halted, and we heard that 
 the Federal Army having learned of our 
 flanking movement, was retiring towards 
 Warrentown Junction. Our column started 
 early the next morning and proceeded by a 
 road leading to the Warrentown While Sul- 
 
 [81] 
 
emoitg of tfte CitJil Uiat 
 
 phur Springs, and bivouacked near the town 
 of Warrenton. The next day we marched to 
 New Baltimore and then turned into a road 
 leading to Bristow Station of the O. and A. 
 R. R. General Heth's Division was at the 
 head of the column, followed by Anderson's 
 Division and Wilcox's Division brought up 
 the rear of the Infantry. Major Mcintosh's 
 Battalion accompanied Heth and the Reserve 
 Battalions followed Wilcox. General Heth 
 found the Fifth Federal Corps, under General 
 G. K. Warren, passing along the side of the 
 railroad and attacked them with two Brigades 
 and Mcintosh's Batteries. The enemy lined 
 the railroad embankment and, as the two 
 Brigades approached, they received a volley 
 of musketry and the fire of batteries posted 
 on the hill beyond, which broke them and they 
 retreated with severe loss, leaving Mcintosh's 
 Batteries exposed and he lost five of his guns. 
 The Reserve Artillery arrived soon after and 
 I was sent to the front to inform General Hill 
 of its arrival. In going to the front I passed 
 some soldiers who had been killed and soon 
 came to the Division of General Anderson 
 lying in an open field just in rear of the posi- 
 tion where Mcintosh's Batteries had been cap- 
 tured. I inquired for General Hill and was 
 told he had gone towards the right. Several 
 hundred yards to the right there was woods, 
 and followed by courier J. W. League, I rode 
 in that direction, and, as I did so, a battery 
 posted on the enemy's right opened ; the firing 
 was directed towards the line of Infantry, and 
 the shell rained over our heads. We reached 
 the woods and were thus out of sight without 
 
 [82] 
 
emoir0 of tfie CitotI mux 
 
 being struck, but the Infantry fared badly, 
 several men of my old Company *'G" of the 
 6th Virginia were killed and men of other 
 Regiments, among them Lieut. T. L. Barrand 
 of the 16th Virginia. I found General Hill 
 not very far off and reported the arrival of 
 the Reserve Artillery and received instruc- 
 tions for the night which was fast approach- 
 ing. General Hill was conversing with Gen- 
 eral Ewell, whose Corps had arrived after the 
 engagement of Hdth's Brigades. 
 
 Early next morning Col. Walker was at 
 the Headquarters of General Hill, and I 
 heard the latter give an order for skirmishers 
 to advance and discover what was in front. 
 Skirmishers were sent forward and found 
 that the enemy had left, but they managed 
 to carry off the five guns. Then Generals Lee, 
 Hill and Ewell rode over the field and on the 
 hill beyond the railroad track. General Lee 
 seemed to be dissatisfied. General Ewell had 
 lost a leg, but he rode his horse. He was 
 quite bald on top of his head, with gray hair 
 on the back. His cap covered the top of his 
 head, but left a bald place in the shape of a 
 quarter moon. It was so noticeable that in 
 my mind's eye I can see it now, forty-nine 
 years after. The army remained at that place 
 several days, engaged in destroying the O. & 
 A. R. R. track, then marched back to the 
 Rappahannock River. The Artillery of the 
 3rd Corps encamped near Brandy Station. 
 There was a pontoon bridge near the railroad 
 bridge and on the north side of the river an 
 earthwork held by some Infantry of Ewell's 
 Corps. 
 
 [83] 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Army Returns to Orange Court House. 
 
 After being there a few days the enemy was 
 reported advancing and the troops were called 
 to arms. I was on the south bank of the river 
 where we had a Battery posted about half a 
 mile above the bridge. We saw the Federal 
 line advancing just across the river. The 
 Battery opened on it, but the ammunition was 
 so inferior that not a shot reached the enemy. 
 The order was to retire that night to the line 
 of the Rapidan River about fifteen miles dis- 
 tant. As night closed I could see the battle 
 progressing at the bridge and learned after- 
 wards that the Federal troops captured the 
 earthwork and some prisoners. I was sepa- 
 rated from Colonel Walker and was not able 
 to find him that night. The Artillery pro- 
 ceeded according to the order. After riding 
 alone towards the Rapidan River through Cul- 
 pepper Court House, and not finding Artillery 
 Headquarters, I stopped on the south bank of 
 the Robertson River, and as the night was 
 cold, collected some wood — rails I am almost 
 afraid to admit — made a fire and laid down 
 for the balance of the night. Orange Court 
 House, near the Rapidan River, was about 
 seven miles distant. I moved off at daylight 
 and soon fell in with Major Wm. C. Scott, 
 our Quartermaster, and we rode into Orange 
 Court House together. We passed a young 
 lady on the street and Major Scott said it was 
 Miss Taliaferro. Later that lady married 
 Charles W. Hardy, one of my schoolmates in 
 Norfolk — ^Orange Court House was her home. 
 
 [84] 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Mine Run. 
 
 The Artillery of the 3rd Corps went into 
 Camp near the town, with one or two Bat- 
 teries posted on the river bank. It was now 
 late in October. We made our Headquarters 
 on the road to Rapidan Station and hostilities 
 were not renewed until the latter part of No- 
 vember, when General Meade sent his Army 
 across the river at several fords below and the 
 Army of Northern Virginia was ordered at 
 daylight to march to meet its old enemy. The 
 advance of the two armies met a little east of 
 v/here Mine Run crosses the roads, leading 
 to the wilderness and thence to Chancellors- 
 ville and Fredericksburg, and a skirmish took 
 place a little before dark. The weather was 
 very cold. General Lee chose the position to 
 the west of Mine Run and after dark we 
 moved back and took position there. The next 
 day all was quite ready to receive an attack. 
 Some entrenchments were thrown up. The 
 Corps of General Longstreet was still absent. 
 The Corps of General A. P. Hill held the 
 right. Its flank extended beyond the plank 
 road. On the second day the enemy's sharp- 
 shooters were very active on that side and 
 Colonel Walker rode over there and was asked 
 to establish another Battery on the extreme 
 right. He sent me back on the Plank Road to 
 bring a Battery from Lieut. Col. J. J. Gar- 
 nett's Battalion. Fearing the Battery might 
 be fired at if it passed along the entrenchments 
 in plain view, I discovered another road by 
 which it could reach the desired position with- 
 
 [85] 
 
90emoir0 of tfte CitJil mux 
 
 out being seen. I found Lieut. Col. Garnett 
 and gave the orders. He selected Captain 
 Charles R. Grandy's Battery— the Norfolk 
 Light Artillery Blues — I guided them to the 
 position without mishap. The Captain and 
 many of his men were old acquaintances of 
 mine. It turned out that General Warren had 
 been ordered to attack that flank, but the posi- 
 tion looked so formidable, that he advised 
 General Meade against it. On our side the 
 position appeared to, me to be very weak, but 
 no doubt the posting of the Battery of Cap- 
 tain Grandy strengthened it. The enemy not 
 attacking, General Lee determined to attack 
 them the next morning near that position. 
 Early next day, I was at Antioch Church on 
 that side, but General Stuart's Cavalry soon 
 discovered that the enemy had left during the 
 night. A number of officers were in the 
 Church conversing and the subject of slavery 
 was discussed. I heard Lieut. Col. Marshall, 
 of General Lee's Staff, say, that if he supposed 
 the object of the War was to uphold the right 
 to own slaves he would resign. 
 
 The enemy was followed for some distance, 
 but as they had a good start, our troops did 
 not catch up with them and before night they 
 w^ere back across the river. They did not 
 leave very much behind, but an ox was found 
 all ready to be slaughtered. I heard a pris- 
 oner complain to General Lee of being 
 abused and taunted by some of the Confeder- 
 ate soldiers. He mildly rebuked the latter. 
 The Army then returned to Orange Court 
 House. The Headquarters of the Artillery 
 of the 3rd Corps was established in front of 
 
 [86] 
 
^emoit0 of tfte €i^il mat 
 
 the home of Major Lee, near Madison Run. 
 Mahone's Brigade of Infantry had its canton- 
 ment near the farm of our Quartermaster, 
 Major Wm. C. Scott, on the Run. While 
 in Camp at Major Lee's farm. Captain 
 McMasters was assigned to duty temporarily 
 as Inspector General on the Staff of Colonel 
 Walker. We rested there quietly for one 
 month. There was a grand review of the 
 Infantry during that month, which I attended. 
 Lieut. Richard Walke and I called on the 
 bride of Major R. B. Taylor of the 6th Vir- 
 ginia, who was staying in the neighborhood. 
 She was Miss Lelia A. Baker, an acquaintance 
 of ours from Norfolk, Virginia. Major 
 Scott and his estimable wife were very kind. 
 About the first of the year, 1864, the Artil- 
 lery of the 3rd Corps was ordered to move 
 back to Lindsay's Turnout on the Virginia 
 Central Railroad, and establish cantonments 
 for the winter. Headquarters was fixed at 
 Meeksville, one mile from the railroad, and 
 Battalion Commanders were ordered to cor- 
 duroy the roads leading to the railroad depot 
 from their respective cantonments. I obtained 
 a ten days' leave and went to Richmond and 
 thence to Rocky Mount, Virginia, to visit 
 Col. Dillard's family. 
 
 Longstreet's Corps returned during the 
 winter and encamped a few miles from us. 
 Captain McMasters was ordered back to the 
 staff of General Field, Commanding a Division 
 of Longstreet's Corps, and Colonel Walker 
 was asked to name some one for appointment 
 as Inspector General. He turned the matter 
 over to me and I recommended Lieut. Richard 
 
 [87] 
 
90empir0 of tfte CitJil Olar 
 
 Walke, then serving as Ordnance Officer on 
 the Staff of General Mahone. There was also 
 a vacancy in the office of Chief Surgeon of 
 the Artillery of the 3rd Corps. At his re- 
 quest, I suggested Major Herbert M. Nash, 
 Surgeon. In due time Lieut. Walke was ap- 
 pointed Captain and Inspector General and he 
 and Major Nash were ordered to report for 
 duty on the Staff of the Artillery of the 3rd 
 Corps. After the return from the Bristow 
 Station Campaign, I received notice of my ap- 
 pointment as Captain in the Adjutant and In- 
 spector General's Department, and was or- 
 dered to remain on duty with Colonel R. L. 
 Walker. My appointment bore the date of 
 October 23rd, 1863. This promotion was 
 quite a surprise to me. While near Orange 
 Court House the Artillery Battalion of Major 
 King was ordered from Southwestern Vir- 
 ginia to join the Army of Northern Virginia. 
 One of its Batteries was known as Otey's Bat- 
 tery, to which belonged my old friend John 
 H. Sharp. This Battery had been engaged in 
 the principal battle§ in Southwestern Virginia 
 and was commanded by Captain D. N. Wal- 
 ker. Beverly A. Tucker, now Assistant 
 Bishop of Southern Virginia, was also a mem- 
 ber. I rode over to see my friends and met 
 there also Major James Y. Leigh, a Quarter- 
 master, who was a fellow townsman. I sent 
 to Richmond and had a tailor make over my 
 dress uniform, which b.ore the new insignia 
 of rank and had a buff colored collar and cuffs 
 of the same material, also a service uniform 
 consisting of a double-breasted sack coat of 
 fine gray cloth and sky blue trousers. I had 
 
03emoir0 of tfte Cit3il mar 
 
 exchanged a heavy overcoat with my brother, 
 Captain George Chamberlaine, C. S., for a 
 fine gray cloth cape and was then provided 
 with suitable clothes for the coming campaign. 
 The cape was especially useful as a protec- 
 tion against bad weacher and was much en- 
 vied by other officers. On the march to Bris- 
 tow Station, Captain Blackford, Engineer, 
 said to me, ''Where did you get that fault- 
 lessly fitting cape?" I managed to keep my 
 dress uniform and cape to the end of the War, 
 then gave the cape to my brother, who had it 
 dyed black. The rest of my belongings were 
 lost during the final retreat from Petersburg. 
 At the winter cantonment near Meeksville 
 there was a shoemaker, who made me a pair 
 of top boots, but the price was high — seven 
 hundred dollars in Confederate notes. That 
 currency was then very much depreciated and 
 people used to say that it was necessary to 
 take a basket to hold their money, while they 
 could bring back their purchases in their hands 
 from the market. The depreciation of Con- 
 federate notes made me think of a scheme for 
 having the staple cotton as a basis for the 
 currency. The tithe tax was then in effect. 
 My idea was, in brief, to establish large cotton 
 warehouses at convenient but safe points, to 
 store in them cotton received for taxes, and to 
 pay the troops by orders on a warehouse for 
 so many pounds of cotton, instead of Confed- 
 erate notes. Those orders would have repre- 
 sented actual values, and the families of the 
 soldiers would have had something to keep 
 the wolf from their doors. The helpless con- 
 dition of the families at home caused many 
 
 [89] 
 
^emoir0 of tfte CiUil (DOat 
 
 desertions. Some of these men were tried by- 
 Court Martial and shot, and many crosses 
 might then be seen from the road from Or- 
 ange Court House to Liberty Mills, which in- 
 dicated the graves of soldiers condemned by 
 Court Martial and executed. A soldier in 
 our Artillery Command was tried for deser- 
 tion and condemned to be shot near Orange 
 Court House. As Adjutant General of the 
 Command, it was my duty to be present at 
 the execution and read the orders. I made 
 preparation on the day appointed to go to Or- 
 ange Court House. Lieut. J. T. Allyn's horse 
 was sent to meet me at the station, but when 
 I arrived on the ground, I found that General 
 Hill had modified the order, and I was spared 
 the unpleasant duty. I witnessed the execu- 
 tion, the man died instantly, and his wife, who 
 was present, left with the remains for Rich- 
 mond. He was said to be a bounty jumper, 
 that is, one who made a business of enlisting 
 as a substitute, receiving the compensation and 
 then deserting, to repeat the fraud in another 
 part of the Army. He received little sym- 
 pathy. My military duties prevented me from 
 elaborating the scheme for a currency of cot- 
 ton orders, and it never had any existence ex- 
 cept in my mind. 
 
 The Artillery of the 3rd Corps remained in 
 that cantonment the balance of the winter of 
 1863-64. We had a great deal of snow and 
 frequent snow ball battles were engaged in 
 between the men of different Battalions. A 
 Battalion commanded by Major John C. Has- 
 kell with Major Reilly as second in command, 
 had joined our Corps. One of Haskell's 
 
 [90] 
 
0^emoir0 of tint CiUiI mat 
 
 Batteries, Captain Lambkin, was about two 
 miles away from the snow battlefield and Has- 
 kell's men were being driven back by the men 
 of Pegram's Battalion, when Haskell is said 
 to have exclaimed, ''Oh, for Lambkin or 
 night," thus imitating the Duke of Welling- 
 ton, who when Napoleon's men were gaining 
 the advantage at the Battle of Waterloo, ex- 
 claimed, "Oh, for Blucher or night." Military 
 operations being at a standstill, I applied for a 
 ten days' leave of absence and went to Rocky 
 Mount, where I was married by the Rev. John 
 Lee, of the Episcopal Church, to Miss Mattie 
 Hughes Dillard on the 20th of April, 1864. 
 My friend, John H. Sharp, heard of my pass- 
 ing the town of Liberty and hastened to join 
 me the day of the wedding and acted as one 
 of the groomsmen. I returned to the Com- 
 mand at the cantonment at the expiration of 
 my leave, just in time for the Wilderness Cam- 
 paign. The wife of Colonel Walker was at 
 the Camp and had Miss Rose Morris visiting 
 her. While I was absent a large box of pro- 
 visions, meats, cakes, etc., arrived at the Camp 
 for me. My fellow officers did not wait for 
 my return, but opened the box and gave a 
 party with the contents. What did I care? 
 On the 2nd of May a telegram came from 
 General Hill, ordering the Artillery of his 
 Corps to Orange Court House. I opened the 
 envelope and taking it to Colonel Walker's 
 tent, where he and the ladies were talking, said 
 'There was a sound of revelry by night, etc." 
 quoting a part of the poem inspired by the 
 news of the approach of Napoleon's Army to 
 the Belgium Capital. 
 
 [91] 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 Battle of the Wilderness. 
 
 Orders were at once issued for the march 
 and the Artillery started for the battle ground 
 of the Wilderness. In my youth I remember 
 hearing my grandmother Chamberlaine in re- 
 lating her experiences of the War with Eng- 
 land in 1812, say that a family should never 
 abandon their dwelling house until the shin- 
 gles commenced to fly off. I never understood 
 exactly what she meant until the War of which 
 I am writing came on. It was this, and I saw 
 many instances proving the correctness of her 
 remark, if you abandon your house it will be 
 ruined or terribly injured by the soldiers of 
 whichever side have access to it; whereas if 
 the family continues to occupy it, while they 
 may be robbed and otherwise disturbed, rarely 
 will the house itself be destroyed. She meant 
 by the shingles flying off, that if a battle was 
 going on near, then it was necessary to seek 
 temporarily a place of safety. 
 
 As our column passed Orange Court House 
 it was awfully inspiring to see the Army of 
 Northern Virginia — ^Cavalry, Artillery and In- 
 fantry — on their way to the Wilderness, about 
 twenty miles distant. We bivouacked the first 
 nisfht at Vidiersville. I had been sent ahead 
 to Gordonsville the night of the 2nd to send 
 some dispatches to General Hill, and was 
 made very ill by something I ate and passed a 
 very miserable night in the telegraph office, 
 but joined the Command next day. We left 
 Vidiersville very early, Heth's Division in the 
 advance, and his skirmishers encountered 
 
 [92] 
 
emoir0 of tfie CitJil Wiat 
 
 those of the enemy early on the morning of 
 the 5th of May. A heavy battle was fought 
 in the afternoon ; Heth's and Wilcox's Divi- 
 sions held their ground. I had been well to 
 the front and near sunset was at Parker's 
 Store. Capt. Grandy's Battery was at that 
 place and the Ordnance train was arriving. A 
 cross road comes into the Plank Road at that 
 place from the Wilderness Tavern on the Old 
 Orange Turnpike, and suddenly it was ru- 
 mored that a column of the enemy was advan- 
 cing by that cross road. Grandy's Artilleiy 
 was ordered into Battery and was ready to 
 fire down that road. As I had just arrived 
 from the front from that direction I was sure 
 there could be no enemy advancing on that 
 road and at once rode in front of the Battery 
 and announced my belief, but the drivers of 
 the Ordnance wagons took fright and the 
 leading wagon, turning to the right, proceeded 
 at a dangerously rapid rate for Ordance 
 wagons, followed by the rest of the train to 
 get away from what they believed was going 
 to be a battlefield. I tried to assure them there 
 was no enemy near, but without success, and 
 had to draw my saber and galloping alongside 
 threatened to cut down the drivers unless they 
 slackened their speed. That effort was suc- 
 cessful, and the panic was soon over. The 
 trees and undergrowth was so thick that only 
 three or four guns were brought into action 
 that afternoon. The enemy came very near 
 getting one which had been posted on the 
 Plank Road. The enemy's Infantry ap- 
 proached so near the gun, that it had to be 
 abandoned, but was drawn off after darkness 
 
 [93] 
 
empire of tfte €i\yil Wiut 
 
 set in. Our Headquarters were established 
 near Parker's Store. The next morning we 
 were up at dayHght and proceeded to the 
 front. Hancock's Corps had attacked Heth's 
 and Wilcox's Divisions and were driving them 
 back nearly to Parker's Store, but fortunately 
 Longstreet's Corps arrived at that moment 
 and filing to the right and left of the Plank 
 Road, and facing towards _the front, drove 
 the enemy back beyond the position Heth and 
 Wilcox held the night before. While our 
 men were falling back I saw General Lee 
 among them, the bullets were flying by, and 
 it seemed to me to be a very critical moment, 
 but as I said Longstreet's Corps was arriving. 
 After the enemy were driven back, Anderson's 
 Division of the 3rd Corps arrived and General 
 Lee established his field headquarters in an 
 open space on the left of the Plank Road be- 
 yond Parker's Store, where there were several 
 large oak trees, it was sort of an oasis in that 
 wilderness. There were many staff ofificers 
 there of the different Arms of the Service. I 
 remember seeing the Chief Engineer of the 
 Army. The 3rd Corps was deployed to the 
 left of Longstreet's troops. I was directed 
 to conduct a section of twenty-pounder par- 
 rotts towards the left. As we reached a clear 
 space, across which one could see for one mile, 
 we found a Battery of Artillery firing at a 
 line of Federal skirmishers, which had 
 emerged from the woods. On seeing me. Gen- 
 eral Hill told me to order the Battery to cease 
 firing, as the skirmish line was disappearing. 
 I looked across the open space in order to see, 
 if possible, the right flank of Ewell's Corps, 
 
 [94] 
 
^emair0 of tfte Citil Wiut 
 
 which was over on Old Turnpike, but could 
 only see the woods where it was supposed to 
 be. Wilcox's Division was filing off in that 
 direction. On my return to where General 
 Lee was sitting, he directed me to come to him 
 as I was the first officer who came from the 
 direction of the firing. He. asked the cause 
 of the firing; then if I had seen the right flank 
 of Ewell's Corps ; then if I had seen the 
 enemy. I replied that I had seen the place 
 where the flank of Ewell's Corps was supposed 
 to rest, and Wilcox's Division marching in 
 that direction ; that I had seen the reflection of 
 the sun's rays on the musket barrels of troops 
 in front of Ewell's Corps; also told him the 
 cause of the firing. 
 
 There was occasionally a sputtering of mus- 
 ketry at the front, and some musket balls 
 dropping around. The General muttered to 
 himself, "Those balls keep coming this way." 
 I did not then understand what he meant, but 
 in a very short time, it was explained. He had 
 ordered General Longstreet to pass around to 
 our right and attack the left flank of the Fed- 
 eral Army under Hancock, and as soon as that 
 attack should take place, the Federal musket 
 balls would be fired in a different direction. 
 That soon happened. Anderson's Division 
 struck the enemy's left flank and drove it to 
 the north of the Plank Road and cleared our 
 front as far as the Brock Road. Very soon 
 afterwards General Longstreet at the head of 
 Jenkins Brigade rode to the front and some 
 of Anderson's Division, which had advanced 
 up near the Plank Road and seeing Longstreet 
 and Jenkins' Brigade unfortunately supposed 
 
 [95] 
 
emoir^ of tfie CilJil MJat 
 
 them to be Federals; a volley fired towards 
 them killed Jenkins and wounded Longstreet 
 and many of the men. That accident delayed 
 the movement. After the wounded General 
 was removed, I saw Lieut. Col. Taylor rid- 
 ing from the front accompanying his brother 
 Captain Robertson Taylor, who had been 
 wounded in the knee. That was the same 
 officer who had taken me across the Potomac 
 behind him on his horse on the morning of the 
 Battle of Sharpsburg. He was Assistant Ad- 
 jutant General of Mahone's Brigade. He re- 
 covered from that wound. Lieut. Col. Taylor 
 was on General Lee's Staff. 
 
 I then rode to the front and a short distance 
 ahead saw an elderly Federal General 
 wounded in the head and was propped in a 
 sitting position with his back to a tree. His 
 boots had been removed and he wore 
 white socks. He was apparently badly 
 hurt and was picking at his nose. He died 
 soon afterwards and his body was sent by 
 General Lee by flag of truce to the enemy's 
 line. It was Major General Wadsworth. 
 
 [96] 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Spottsylvania. 
 
 General R. H. Anderson was placed in com- 
 mand of Longstreet's Corps and General Ma- 
 hone in command of Anderson's Division. 
 The undergrowth was on fire in many places, 
 which communicated to the trees, and man) 
 wounded soldiers of both Armies were burned 
 who might otherwise have recovered. Later 
 in the afternoon another attack was made on 
 Hancock's line at the Brock Road, but did not 
 succeed in driving it from the entrenchments. 
 The Artillery of the 3rd Corps did not take a 
 very active part in that battle, owing to the 
 woods and undergrowth, but Poague's Bat- 
 talion performed good service in one of the 
 few clear spaces. Captain Richard Walke had 
 reported for duty and was serving as Inspector 
 and Aide-de-Camp. He and I accompanied 
 Colonel Walker and were generally at his side 
 unless temporarily absent on some duty. 
 When one of us went off on some duty, on the 
 return, he would take place on the left of the 
 other, thus it was the turn of the one on the 
 right to go for the next duty. Captain Walke 
 was a very valuable addition to the Artillery 
 Staff and a very agreeable tent mate. 
 
 The Armies remained quiet on May 7th. 
 On the next day the 3rd Corps followed the 1st 
 Corps, which had moved to Spottsylvania 
 Court House. Our command bivouacked at 
 Shady Grove Church and early on the 9th 
 arrived at the Court House and took position 
 in front of the Court House buildings, that 
 was the right of the Army. General A. P. 
 
 [97] 
 
emoir0 of tbe CitJil CQat 
 
 Hill was taken sick and General Early was 
 placed in command of the 3rd Corps. His 
 home was very near that of Mr. Dillard. They 
 had been opposing candidates at the election 
 for members of the Convention. The General 
 was a pronounced Union man. Mr. Dillard 
 was a Secessionist. The General was elected. 
 As soon, however, as War was decided upon 
 by the Virginia Convention, General Early 
 threw himself into the movement with all his 
 spirit and kept up his antagonism to the end 
 of his life. Mr. Dillard was not a soldier, 
 had passed the age and was not fit for mili- 
 tary duty. I Avas standing near the camp fire 
 of General Mahone, where were General Early 
 and some of his staff, I believe it was on the 
 11th, when he saw me and remarked, 'T hear 
 you have married a young lady from my 
 County." I replied that it was true. 
 
 It was easy to recognize General Mahone's 
 Headquarter's wagon, for one always saw that 
 a cow accompanied it. That General was a 
 confirmed dyspeptic and a good supply of milk 
 was necessary. 
 
 The fighting at Spottsylvania was done 
 mainly on the left wing and center. Some In- 
 fantry of the 3rd Corps was sent from time 
 to time to reinforce the left wing. When 
 Hancock made an attack on the extreme left 
 Captain Grandy's Battery was engaged. Han- 
 cock forced that wing back and crossed the 
 River Po, but did not remain long in that 
 advanced position, separated as he was by that 
 river from the rest of the Federal Army. 
 During his forward movement, Grandy's Bat- 
 tery was compelled to retire rapidly. One of 
 
 [98] 
 
a0emoir0 of tf)e CitJiI Wiat 
 
 my friends, Theodore A. Rogers, of Norfolk, 
 fell from the seat of the limber of a gun and 
 a wheel passed over his right leg, crushing it. 
 He rolled himself out of the road and re- 
 mained there some hours. After Hancock's 
 force retired he was taken to a Hospital. That 
 accident was most unfortunate. He suffered 
 more or less the rest of his life and he was 
 past fifty years of age, when it was found 
 necessary to amputate the leg. But he was 
 courageous and bore his sufferings manfully, 
 and up to 1910, when he died, was an active 
 and useful citizen of Norfolk. 
 
 On the 12th the enemy assaulted a salient 
 angle in the line on the left center and cap- 
 tured from us a large part of Johnson's Divi- 
 sion of the 2nd Corps and several Batteries 
 of Artillery. The fighting at that point lasted 
 all day, but the enemy made but little progress. 
 On our wing Mahone's Brigade was advanced, 
 and made an attack on the flank of the at- 
 tacking force. When that movement was go- 
 ing on I was sent with an order to our Bat- 
 teries posted along the line, to aid the move- 
 ment as much as possible. The order deliv- 
 ered, I started a yell to encourage the Infantry 
 and was galloping back towards the right, the 
 enemy's batteries bombarding our line of guns, 
 when a shell burst just to the front and left 
 of me, enveloping myself and horse in a cloud 
 of smoke. I felt the horse make an unusual 
 movement and when one hundred yards far- 
 ther, I stopped, dismounted and examining 
 the horse found he was wounded in the knee. 
 Just then courier Bragg was approaching and 
 I took his horse and sent him with the one I 
 
 [99] 
 
09emoir0 of tfte Citiil MJar 
 
 had been riding to the rear for attention. 
 When I reached Col. Walker he was talking 
 with General Early, the Artillery firing con- 
 tinued and soon we saw General Lee gallop- 
 ing on the road towards us. Shells were 
 dropping in the road, but he reached us in 
 safety. He directed General Early to have 
 the Batteries cease firing. Col. Walker sent 
 Captain Walke with the order and he set off 
 in a gallop by the same road on which General 
 Lee had come. The latter turned around and 
 said, "Have that ofificer take a road nearer the 
 rear of the line of guns, it is a safer way." 
 But Captain Walke was beyond hearing dis- 
 tance, and gave the order and returned with- 
 out injury. General Grant, having failed to 
 carry our position on the left, was moving his 
 Army towards our right. There was compar- 
 ative quietness for two or three days. Grant 
 did not seem disposed to make another trial 
 against our line. I was quite unwell at this 
 time. I had not removed my boots for several 
 nights and was sent to the Hospital at Gor- 
 donsville. That Hospital was crowded with 
 wounded and the train was ordered to proceed 
 to Lynchburg. I was assigned to a Hospital 
 in that city and soon felt much better, but 
 needed a few days more to recuperate and the 
 Surgeon permitted me to go to Rocky Mount, 
 where I remained a few days, then returned 
 to the Army by way of Richmond. 
 
 The Army of Northern Virginia had moved 
 first to the North Anna River, then to Cold 
 Harbor, and a battle had been fought there 
 on June 3rd, which is said to have lasted less 
 than one hour, and in which the Federal Army 
 
 [100] 
 
^emoir0 of tfte Citoil Mlat 
 
 lost ten thousand men. The two Armies were 
 confronting each other at Cold Harbor when 
 I rejoined. The picket firing was very severe. 
 I rode with Col. Walker along the line pro- 
 tected by a slight rise of the ground to where 
 Major Mcintosh was preparing a pit in which 
 to sink the trail of a Napoleon Gun, with a 
 view of firing shell to drop into the enemy's 
 line a short distance in front, as it was re- 
 ported they were constructing gradual ap- 
 proach works. Nothing of importance oc- 
 curred for several days, when on the morning 
 of the 13th of June it was found that the 
 enemy had disappeared from our front. Cap- 
 tain Charles W. Wilson, who commanded the 
 Battalion of Sharpshooters of Mahone's Divi- 
 sion, was captured at that time. Each Divi- 
 sion had a Battalion of sharpshooters, made 
 up of details from the different Regiments, 
 and as soon as a Division took its place in 
 line, its Battalion of sharpshooters covered its 
 front as pickets. 
 
 Before setting out for the Wilderness Cam- 
 paign, while we were at the winter canton- 
 ment, my younger brothers came to see me. 
 They were cadets at the Virginia Military 
 Institute when Norfolk was evacuated in 
 May, 1862. Richard graduated in 1863 and 
 joined McGregor's Battery of Horse Artil- 
 lery, with which he served to the end of the 
 War. Henry, two years younger, was not 
 able to keep up with his class, he said because 
 the Battalion of Cadets were sent so often to 
 places in the southwest of Virginia to repel 
 raids; so after the January Examinations he 
 was discharged. He came to me, and as per- 
 
 [101] 
 
9©emoir0 of tfte CiDil Wiat 
 
 mission to return to the family through the 
 lines was refused, I concluded to choose a 
 Battery of nice young men and have him en- 
 list in it. He was seventeen years and some 
 months. I asked Major W. T. Poague to 
 recommend a Battery; he advised me to take 
 him to Captain Ward's, from Madison, Miss. 
 So he enlisted in that Battery belonging to 
 Poague's Battalion, where I would be able to 
 look after his welfare. He got through the 
 Wilderness Campaign, but his former Captain, 
 Major Ward, was killed at Oxford on the 
 North Anna. 
 
 [102] 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 The Siege of Petersburg. 
 
 Finding Grant's Army had left our front 
 at Cold Harbor, the Artillery of the 3rd 
 Corps was ordered to take the road towards 
 the James River. We crossed the Chickahom- 
 iny River, passed near Bottom's Bridge and 
 pursued the road to the crossing of White 
 Oak Swamp. I was approaching familiar 
 ground, but we were not expecting to meet the 
 enemy so soon. 
 
 Col. Walker was riding with General John 
 R. Cooke, commanding a force of Infantry, 
 the Artillery column following. As soon as 
 we crossed the swamp we found the enemy 
 on the Charles City Road. General Warren's 
 5th Corps of the Federal Army with Cavalry 
 was screening the movement of the rest of 
 that Army towards the James River. Quite 
 a brisk skirmish took place, but as night was 
 approaching the fighting soon ceased. Next 
 morning the enemy had left. 
 
 Our Corps remained at that place several 
 days. Captain Walke and I rode over to Mal- 
 vern Hill, about two miles distant. Having 
 been present at that battle, we thought we 
 would recognize the field, but we could not, the 
 appearance of a battlefield is so much changed 
 in two years by the growth, be it of bushes, 
 weeds, or a different crop growing in the 
 fields, that we were on the ground before we 
 knew it, and then only by information from a 
 Cavalry man, one of the force watching that 
 flank. Perhaps if we had had more time, we 
 might have traced the charge of Mahone's 
 
 [103] 
 
emoir0 of tbt CitJil mm 
 
 Brigade at that battle, but we were obliged 
 to return to Camp. 
 
 On the 17th, the Corps was ordered to 
 march to Petersburg. The first night we bi- 
 vouacked at Four Mile Creek and early next 
 morning crossed a pontoon bridge near 
 Drewy's Bluff. Soon after crossing, we passed 
 General Lee, who was alone. Those were ex- 
 citing times ; the fact of Grant's having crossed 
 his Army over the James River and was 
 marching against Petersburg had just become 
 known to him, but he looked as serene as a 
 May morning. He had sent the 2nd Corps 
 under General Early from Cold Harbor to 
 Lynchburg and was going to meet General 
 Grant again with the 1st and 3rd Corps, 
 reinforced by the force under General Beaure- 
 gard. The latter General with his small force 
 had manfully resisted the first assaults of the 
 advance of Grant's Army, had displayed great 
 ability in the management- of his inferior 
 force. 
 
 Our column reached Petersburg about two 
 P. M. As we passed Bollingbrooke Street, I 
 left the column, went to Mr. Norman Page's 
 house for a few minutes to see my sister-in- 
 law, Mrs. George Chamberlaine. There was 
 great excitement in the city, the Federal Ar- 
 tillery was shelling it. I found Mrs. Cham- 
 berlaine well. While there a shell struck a 
 house diagonally opposite and raised some- 
 thing like smoke. There was no other man 
 near and I was asked to carry a bucket of 
 water to extinguish the fire. I took the water 
 up to the third story; arrived there I found 
 the shell had not set fire to the house, but had 
 
 [104] 
 
9@emoit0 of tfte Citiil mat 
 
 raised much plaster dust, which had been taken 
 for smoke. I soon left and caught up with 
 the column. Mahone's old Brigade was 
 marching up from Pocahontas Bridge, the 
 12th Regiment, composed mainly of Peters- 
 burg men, at the head of the Brigade, then 
 commanded by Col. D. A. Weisiger, and the 
 band was playing a lively tune. 
 
 It was a long time since that Regiment had 
 been in Petersburg, and oh, so many who had 
 gone away with it were then missing, many 
 of them dead, killed, some by bullets, others 
 had died of disease, and many more were go- 
 ing to follow the same sorrowful road before 
 the end of the siege. 
 
 The 3rd Corps took position on the right 
 and our guns were placed in the entrench- 
 ments already happily provided for just such 
 an event as was then taking place. There was 
 fighting going on at that time, but some dis- 
 tance from our position. Captain Walke and 
 I rode over to the river above the bridges and 
 enjoyed a swim. It was then the 18th day of 
 June, the w^eather was very warm and the 
 roads were dusty. Artillery Headquarters 
 were established out Halifax Street near a 
 railroad cut back from the dwelling houses. 
 Occasionally a force of Infantry was sent out 
 in front accompanied by Artillery. One of 
 these expeditions led by General Mahone en- 
 countered the 2nd and 6th Corps of the Fed- 
 eral Army and took many prisoners. In this 
 engagement the Captain of my old Company, 
 E. M. Hardy, was wounded in the head, but 
 recovered. The battle took place a short dis- 
 tance in front of our line of guns, but was not 
 
 [105] 
 
9^emoir0 of tfte €i'oil mat 
 
 visible on account of the woods. One of our 
 Batteries, Captain Grandy's, was placed in 
 position on arrival in the Reeve's Salient, 
 which was really beyond the left of our Corps, 
 but having occupied the works there it was 
 found next to impossible to withdraw it, be- 
 cause of the proximity of the enemy's earth- 
 works; they fired at anything which appeared 
 above our earthworks, whether it was a head 
 or only a hat. 
 
 The Battery had to remain there for several 
 months and had a very hard time, losing many 
 men. Wm. E. Taylor was a Sergeant in that 
 Battery. He obtained a furlough and was 
 on a train which had an accident, his knee be- 
 ing badly injured. He is still living in Nor- 
 folk and one of its most highly esteemed citi- 
 zens, but he has never recovered entirely from 
 that injury, which often gives him a great deal 
 of trouble. During the month of July on Gen- 
 eral Burnside's front the enemy were prepar- 
 ing a mine; to prevent the discovery of his 
 work, the pickets kept up a fusillade daily. 
 At last, on the 29th of July, it was all ready, 
 and was exploded early on the morning of the 
 30th. It blew up a number of men and sev- 
 eral guns, and his columns charged over his 
 own works and up the slope to the scene of 
 the explosion, where they found a large and 
 deep crater. Meantime the Confederate on 
 each side brought guns to bear on the advan- 
 cing Federals and their Infantry to fire at 
 them. The Federals took position in the 
 crater, which occupied a considerable space, 
 but they could not get farther. General 
 Beauregard commanded that part of the Con- 
 
 [106] 
 
^emoir0 of tfte CiUil mm 
 
 federate line. Mahone's Division was ordered 
 to that position and made its way by a ravine 
 concealed from the enemy. A furious bom- 
 bardment was going on, the Confederate Bat- 
 teries to the right and left of the crater formed 
 by the explosion of the mine, replied vigor- 
 ously. Captain J. H. Chamberlayne's Battery 
 on the right and Colonel H. P. Jones' Artillery 
 on the left took a very active part. The lat- 
 ter had wisely arranged his guns for just such 
 an event, for the Confederates suspected that 
 the enemy were preparing a mine in that lo- 
 cality. Mahone's Division was deployed on 
 Blandford Hill and advanced against the 
 enemy, whose lines were about to move for- 
 ward, drove them back and forced all who re- 
 mained, into the crater. A bloody hand to 
 hand conflict took place. In a short time those 
 who remained in the crater surrendered and 
 were sent to the rear, many of them were 
 negro soldiers, some from our city of Norfolk. 
 Many of our old Regiment, the 6th Virginia, 
 were killed or wounded. Lieut. Col. William- 
 son lost an arm, Ensign Howard Wright was 
 killed. Sergeant Whitehurst, of Portsmouth, 
 acted very bravely, in fact, there were many 
 acts of individual heroism. Lieut. Col. Stew- 
 art, of the 61st, was present and has written 
 a graphic account. I was near the scene, but 
 was not called upon to participate. I saw the 
 negro prisoners going to the rear. The next 
 day was quiet. Captain Richard Walke and I 
 were lying in our tent at night talking, when 
 I felt something like a grasshopper. We got 
 up and shook the top blanket, then laid down. 
 As I stretched out, I felt something like the 
 
 [107] 
 
empit0 of tfte Citoil Wlat 
 
 prick of a needle in my left foot. I got up, 
 put on my boots, and went to the kitchen fire, 
 called my servant, who lighted a candle, it 
 was then midnight, went and examined the 
 blanket where Walke was still lying. We 
 found a Moccasin snake coiled up. Walke 
 got up rapidly and the snake was killed, but I 
 had been bitten. A Surgeon was sent for 
 and remedies applied, my servant willingly 
 sucked the wound. A pint of new apple 
 brandy was procured with difficulty, and later 
 Lieut. Col. Cutts sent a pint of peach brandy, 
 which he had just received from his home in 
 Georgia. All of which I consumed in order 
 to counteract the effect of the poison. The 
 Surgeon arrived in about two hours. I was 
 very sick and unconscious, but next morning 
 was much better, although the foot was very 
 much swollen. A sick leave of absence was 
 procured, and with my servant, I left for the 
 home of Mrs. Chamberlaine's father, Mr. Dil- 
 lard at Rocky Mount, Va. We arrived there 
 on the third day, not without difficulty, for 
 the railroad had been cut and bridges burned 
 by raiders, a manner of warfare taught the 
 enemy by our great Cavalry leader. General 
 J. E. B. Stuart. I am greatly indebted to an 
 old lady named Ashenhurst, who lived near 
 Rocky Mount, for a reasonably speedy cure of 
 the bite. She secured in the forest some snake 
 weed, made a poultice of the leaves, and also 
 some tea to take internally. At the end of a 
 month the swelling was reduced, but there 
 were some yellowish streaks up to my knee. 
 I returned to the Army about September 1st 
 and found Walke occupying the same resting 
 
 [108] 
 
95emoir0 of tfie CiUil UliM 
 
 place. Surgeon H. M. Nash had reported and 
 we three lived together awhile, when Col. 
 Walker's Headquarters were moved to a point 
 near the Old Fair Grounds and in rear of 
 Battery No. 45. General A. P. Hill's Head- 
 quarters were quite near. Colonel Walker 
 was promoted to Brigadier of Artillery. 
 While we were there Captain Thos. A. Bran- 
 der was married to a daughter of the Rev. 
 Lewis Walke, a cousin of Captain Richard 
 Walke, who procured a leave and acted as one 
 of the groomsmen. 
 
 While I was off on sick leave the news re- 
 ceived from the North led us to believe that 
 the Northern people were anxious to make 
 peace, but a month or two later an entire 
 change of sentiment seemed to have taken 
 place. The Presidential Campaign was then 
 in progress. Lincoln had been renominated 
 by the Republicans and McClellan by the 
 Democratic Party. General A. P. Hill and 
 Mrs. Hill dined one day with General and 
 Mrs. Walker, and in the course of the con- 
 versation I heard General Hill say that he 
 hoped McClellan would be elected, because if 
 it became necessary to surrender, he would 
 prefer to do so to McClellan. He and Mc- 
 Clellan had been close friends; at the mar- 
 riage of the latter, Hill had acted as grooms- 
 man. 
 
 The siege of Petersburg was long and 
 wearisome, it lasted nine months. At times 
 there was great activity on parts of the long 
 line which extended from five miles south of 
 Petersburg to eight miles east of Richmond, 
 at least thirty miles. The Otey Battery had 
 
 [109] 
 
9gemoir0 of tfte €it3il KJar 
 
 joined our Corps and I met my friend, John 
 H. Sharp, occasionally, who was detailed as a 
 courier attached to the Headquarters of Gen- 
 eral E. P. Alexander, Chief of Artillery of the 
 1st Corps. General Longstreet had almost re- 
 covered from his wound, and was welcomed 
 back to the Army. General Beauregard had 
 been ordered South and General R. H. Ander- 
 son succeeded to his Command. Col. D. A. 
 Weisiger was promoted to Brigadier General 
 and retained Command of Mahone's old Brig- 
 ade. There were also many promotions in 
 the Artillery. Wm. Pegram was promoted to 
 Colonel, D. G. Mcintosh to Colonel, Thos. A. 
 Brander to Major, Poague to Lieut. Colonel, 
 Jos. McGraw to Major. Towards the end of 
 the year General Walker was indisposed and 
 appealed for a sick leave. He asked me to 
 take it by the regular channel for approval. I 
 rode to General Lee's Headquarters just be- 
 fore sunset. He occupied Pryor's house in 
 Petersburg. One entered the front door and 
 on the right was General Lee's room, and the 
 left Lieut. Col. W. H. Taylor's office. I went 
 in the latter and Col. Taylor was attending 
 to the application when General Lee entered. 
 I rose and saluted and the General said, ''Good 
 morning, sir." It was then late in the after- 
 noon and his remark made me feel a great de- 
 sire to leave, so, as soon as Col. Taylor 
 handed me the application, which had the ap- 
 proval written on it, I left. The old General 
 was probably fatigued by the great responsi- 
 bility of his position. Supplies were scarce 
 and there were a great many desertions from 
 the ranks. No doubt he knew that the lines 
 
 [110] 
 
S0tmoit^ of tj)e Ciuil Wiat 
 
 were closing around his Army and that he 
 saw that disaster was approaching. 
 
 It was now winter, not much going on at 
 the front, and it was usual for officers to have 
 their wives come to Petersburg and find a 
 boarding house in that city. It was, however, 
 hard to find suitable places. Captain George 
 C. Reid, a Quartermaster, was stationed there 
 and had rented a house on Halifax Street. 
 His family had been neighbors of my father 
 in Norfolk, Va., so he invited me to take a 
 spare room in his house, which I accepted with 
 thanks. He had with him his wife and two 
 young daughters, Alice and Annie. Mrs. 
 Chamberlaine arrived with her father and was 
 duly installed with the Reids. As provisions 
 were scarce my rations were turned over to 
 them daily. It was a great favor on the part 
 of the Reids and I have always felt exceed- 
 ingly grateful to them. Mrs. Chamberlaine 
 remained there six weeks. Cannon and mor- 
 tar firing was going on continually and we 
 could from that house hear the explosions and 
 also the crack of the rifles of the pickets, who 
 kept up a continual battle. 
 
 'Mr. Dillard was very anxious to see the 
 works and the enemy's lines, so I ordered my 
 horse and a spare one to be taken to Jarratt's 
 Hotel and we rode to the front. Our horses 
 were so much reduced by the lack of forage 
 that he was astonished at their condition, and 
 said if I would send my black mare up to 
 Rocky Mount he would put her in the pasture 
 to fatten up and let me have another. When 
 Mrs. Chamberlaine was ready to return, I ob- 
 tained a short leave and accompanied her 
 
 [111] 
 
90emoir0 of tfte CitJil ^at 
 
 home, and sent the mare by railroad. On my 
 return I rode the new horse to Lynchburg, 
 sixty-two miles. When I reached a point five 
 miles from that city, there was a steep hill 
 to ascend, and I dismounted and walked be- 
 side the horse. He was tricky and as we 
 reached the top of the hill, jumped away out 
 of my reach, turned around and ran away. I 
 tried to catch him, but when I got almost to 
 him, he trotted off again; that was at the top 
 of the hill, back towards his old home. I 
 met a carriage with one lady, a colored man 
 was driving. The lady refused my request 
 to allow her servant to assist me to catch my 
 horse, and drove on in the direction my horse 
 had gone. I was almost in depair, for I 
 thought he would certainly return the fifty- 
 seven miles to Rocky Mount. I sat down on 
 the side of the road, and had not to wait very 
 long, for soon the lady's servant came back 
 riding my horse, some distance back on the 
 road they had found him grazing. With a 
 gratified heart I rewarded the servant, 
 mounted and was soon at Lynchburg. The 
 day had been beautiful and no other contre- 
 temps had occurred on that long ride. I had 
 sent my servant by the railroad from Big Lick 
 to Lynchburg, and he met me there. It was 
 easy to get transportation from Petersburg, 
 but not on freight trains going towards the 
 Army, because the cars were all needed for 
 supplies for the Army. I stayed that night in 
 Lynchburg with my good friend, John R. 
 Todd, he being employed in the Nitre and 
 Mining Bureau and had a comfortable place 
 on the Island, near the railroad depot. He 
 
 [112] 
 
emoit0 of tfee CitJil mat 
 
 was very kind and hospitable to me, and to 
 many other friends. A snow storm came up 
 that night and the next morning the ground 
 had a covering of six inches of snow. I sent 
 my servant on the horse to Petersburg, one 
 hundred and twenty-five miles. It took him 
 nearly a week to make the trip. I left by the 
 train that afternoon, but the snow was so deep 
 in the railroad cuts that it stalled before we 
 had gone twenty-five miles. The passengers 
 had to remain on that train all night and all 
 of the next day, when we had gotten as far 
 as Parnplin's Depot; then one night there. 
 The weather was milder the third day, and 
 our train reached Petersburg in the afternoon. 
 The first news we heard was, that there had 
 been a battle near Burgess' Mill on our right 
 flank and General John C. Pegram had been 
 killed. Military operations had now become 
 more active. It was about the first of 
 March. The number of desertions had in- 
 creased. Our line was so long that it was 
 more like a skirmish line than a line of bat- 
 tle. The latter part of March, General Lee 
 determined to strike a blow and assembled a 
 force of Infantry and Cavalry near Blanford 
 Church. We were ordered to arms at day- 
 light all along the line. The force under Gen- 
 eral Gordon rushed forward and captured a 
 considerable part of the enemy's line a little 
 to the left of the crater; but was not able to 
 hold it long, for the enemy rushed reinforce- 
 ments to the scene, and Gordon's force was 
 obliged to return to our lines. In the after- 
 noon I was sent to notify Major Richardson 
 that Captain Grandy's Battery would be re- 
 
 [113] 
 
emoirs! of tht Ci\3il Wiut 
 
 lieved that night. There was a sort of truce 
 then on that part of the Hne, the enemy did 
 not fire at everything that appeared. I went 
 by the covered way to the Battery, saw Major 
 Richardson and he called my attention to a 
 movement of Federal troops on their Military 
 Railroad towards their left. He took me to 
 the crest of the earthworks, from which point 
 I could see the movement, which I reported 
 on my return. A little while before that it 
 would have been certain destruction to go on 
 the breastworks, but our neighbors were then 
 more pacificably disposed. That night I went 
 again to that Battery to see it withdrawn and 
 conduct it a part of the way to its new posi- 
 tion, which was several miles to the right. It 
 was withdrawn about one hour before day- 
 light. Several weeks before that, Captain 
 Charles R. Grandy and I rode over to see 
 the crater. We examined it carefully, it was 
 like an excavation, long and comparatively 
 narrow, our line had been established directly 
 after the battle in rear of the place, and the 
 rains had washed the sides, giving the appear- 
 ance of a railroad cut. The clay taken from 
 the bottom was found to be of an excellent 
 quality for pipes. On the 31st of March a 
 large force of the enemy had been collected 
 on our extreme right, a number of our Bat- 
 teries had been sent there. On that morning, 
 while there, quite a brisk engagement took 
 place and we saw Wise's Brigade with others 
 charge the 5th Corps of the Federal Army, 
 which was driven back some distance. 
 
 That evening, after I returned to our quar- 
 ters, I rernarked to a friend, that our line 
 
 [114] 
 
emoir0 of tfte CitJiI mat 
 
 from the dam in front of Battery 45 to Bur- 
 gess' Mill did not appear to me any stronger 
 than a horsehair. We did not have the troops 
 to make it any stronger. About this time 
 General Walker was directed to organize two 
 Companies for temporary Infantry duty from 
 the supernumerary Artillerymen. Those men 
 were ordered to appear at our Headquarters 
 one morning and were duly organized into two 
 Companies of about sixty men each, and the 
 Non-Commissioned officers appointed pro tem. 
 They were armed and equipped as Infantry 
 and sent to man Fort Gregg, which was a 
 small earthwork raised about two hundred 
 yards in rear of the main line, with its front 
 perpendicular to the latter, and located about 
 three hundred yards from Battei-y 45. There 
 was another work two hundreds yards farther 
 back from the main line. In case of a flank- 
 ing movement by the enemy those earthworks 
 were intended to be occupied by troops to re- 
 pel it. 
 
 By daylight on April 2nd heavy firing being 
 heard on our left, General Walker mounted 
 his horse and rode rapidly in that direction, 
 followed by Captain Walke and myself. He 
 found the enemy had captured a small portion 
 of our line near the Reeve's Salient. As he 
 saw me approach, he directed me to go to the 
 line in front of Fort Gregg and bring him a 
 section of Artillery which was posted there. 
 I started at once, but when I reached Fort 
 Gregg, I was informed that the main line 
 in front had been seized by the enemy and the 
 section of rifle guns with it, together with 
 other pieces, and that Lieut. Ellet had been 
 
 [115] 
 
emoir0 of tfte Citail Mlat 
 
 killed. Captain J. Ham Chamberlayne was 
 there, and was in great distress because his 
 friend Ellet had been killed and the guns cap- 
 tured. I started back to inform General Wal- 
 ker and met him half way. He went at once 
 to that point, where Ellet had been killed. It 
 appeared that the main force of the enemy had 
 left and the captured line with the guns was 
 held by a skirmish line only. A few of our 
 Infantry men were standing around and ac- 
 companied by General Walker, they drove the 
 enemy away and recovered several of the cap- 
 tured guns. Very soon afterwards we saw a 
 Brigade of Infantry, commanded by General 
 Harris of Mississippi, coming from Peters- 
 burg, about four hundred strong. At the same 
 time, a column of Federals marched by file 
 over our line of works about one mile to the 
 south of where we were standing. As soon 
 as that column had passed over our entrench- 
 ment, it faced to the right and advanced in line 
 of battle towards us. The Brigade of General 
 Harris deployed in line advanced to meet 
 them. The Federals outnumbered them by 
 one thousand at least. Both lines were ad- 
 vancing, and when within musket range, a 
 few shots were exchanged. Then Harris' 
 Brigade retired slowdy, and when it reached 
 Fort Gregg, a part of it entered that Fort, thus 
 reinforcing the force of Artillerymen armed as 
 Infantry, and the other part occupied Fort 
 Whitworth, about two hundred yards to the 
 right. There were also some men of Lane's 
 Brigade which had been driven from our main 
 line, who entered Fort Gregg, besides a sec- 
 
 [116] 
 
9gemoir0 of tfte CiV3il mat 
 
 tion of rifle guns of the Washington Artil- 
 lery, commanded by Lieut. McElroy. 
 
 The enemy's line halted and its Commander 
 made preparations for an assault. General 
 Walker with his staff went to Battery No. 45, 
 from which point there was a good view of 
 the two Forts and the terrain in front. A 
 small stream flows between Battery No. 45 
 and Fort Gregg, and winds along the valley 
 in front of the Confederate works and empties 
 its waters into the Appomattox River above 
 Petersburg. The limbers of the section of the 
 Washington Artillery had been sent back to 
 that stream. Seeing the preparations for the 
 assault of that Fort, General Walker directed 
 me to go and say to the Commander of the 
 Artillery that he thought two guns should be 
 withdrawn. I started and found Lieut. Col. 
 Eschelman at the stream near the limbers, and 
 delivered the message. He was the Com- 
 mander of the Battalion of Washington Artil- 
 lery. But there was not time enough to send 
 the limbers with the horses ,to the Fort and 
 withdraw the guns before the first assault. 
 Immediately afterwards the enemy delivered 
 an assault and was repulsed, but remained 
 close to the Fort and kept up a fusillade. 
 
 I had returned to the hill where General 
 Walker was watching the action. He had 
 sent Captain Walke with a similar message to 
 Fort Whitworth and two guns were with- 
 drawn from that work, the enemy had not 
 shown any disposition to assault it. Very soon 
 the enemy made another assault on Fort 
 Gregg. There were some of the soldiers' 
 cabins in front of Fort Whitworth occupied 
 
 [117] 
 
emoir0 of tfte CitJil mat 
 
 during the winter, and our men set fire to 
 them, and they were burning furiously while 
 the enemy was occupied at Fort Gregg. The 
 second assault was also repulsed. 
 
 In a short time a third assault was made, 
 and succeeded, the Federal soldiers climbed the 
 slope of the work on its right flank and filed 
 along the crest and fired on the Confederates 
 huddled together on the parade. We could 
 see them very plainly. A color bearer ran out 
 of the Fort with his flag; two men pursued 
 him, but he passed the little stream. Men 
 near Battery No. 45 fired at his pursuers and 
 they went back to Fort Gregg. So the color 
 bearer escaped with his flag. Major General 
 C. M. Wilcox was in command of that part 
 of the Confederate line, and was standing 
 near the limbers of the guns of the Washing- 
 ton Artillery just in rear of Fort Gregg, by 
 the little stream. We witnessed the whole 
 of that battle at Fort Gregg and felt very in- 
 dignant when we saw the Federal troops fire 
 down on its brave defenders after they had 
 crowned the ramparts. There is no doubt 
 that our men were sacrificed, but the intention 
 was to hold the Federal troops in check until 
 reinforcements could arrive and the inner line 
 of works surrounding Petersburg be manned. 
 That result was accomplished, for Longstreet's 
 troops from Richmond arrived about that time 
 on the scene, and the inner line of works, a 
 very strong position, was occupied by them. 
 Our line then commenced at the Appomattox 
 River below the city and stretched around 
 Petersburg and rested on the same river above 
 the city, and was firmly held until night. 
 
 [118] 
 
00empir0 of ttt Citoil mat 
 
 General A. P. Hill had been killed early in 
 the morning in attempting to reach that part 
 of his Corps on the right which had been cut 
 off by the Federal troops, who had broken 
 through the line to the southwest of Battery 
 Gregg. He was shot by a Federal skirmisher. 
 General A. P. Hill was regarded as one of the 
 best of the Corps Commanders. He was very 
 much esteemed by his men, and was a dashing 
 soldier, and beloved by his officers. 
 
 [Il9j 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The End Approaches. 
 
 'No attempt was made by the enemy to force 
 the new hne, and at sunset it remained as 
 when established in the forenoon. General 
 Walker went to Field Headquarters, where 
 General Lee was sitting on the porch of a 
 dwelling with General Longstreet. Hill's 
 Corps was placed under the command of the 
 latter. The order was given to evacuate the 
 lines at dusk. I was sent to withdraw the 
 Artillery of the 3rd Corps posted on the line 
 to the left of Battery No. 45, and Captain 
 Walke to withdraw that on the right of that 
 position. All of the guns of the 3rd Corps 
 were promptly withdrawn and marched 
 quietly through the city to Campbell's Bridge 
 and after crossing the river, proceeded on the 
 Hickory Road towards the Clover Coal Mine. 
 Very little rest was obtained that night. We 
 were moving when the day dawned on April 
 3rd. There were many refugees from the city 
 of Petersburg. I saw the Reverend George 
 D. Armstrong plodding along the road on 
 foot. He was pastor of the Presbyterian 
 Church in Norfolk and it was reported had 
 been harshly treated by the Federal Officer 
 in Command of that city and finally expelled 
 from the Federal lines, and had been in 
 Petersburg for several weeks, but was now 
 compelled to move again, when that city was 
 evacuated. As he was then an old man and 
 seemed to be without anything to protect him 
 from rain or the dampness of the earth, I pre- 
 sented him with a rubber blanket which I had 
 
 [120] 
 
9@emoir0 of tfte Citiil mm 
 
 secured during the battle of Chancellorsville, 
 for which he seemed to be very grateful. The 
 retreat continued until the morning of the 5th, 
 when, after having crossed the Appomattox 
 River again, we arrived at Amelia Court 
 House, where Sheridan's Cavalry was found 
 barring the road to Danville, and the railroad 
 supply trains had been sent back towards 
 Lynchburg. As those trains contained food 
 for the Army, there was great disappoint- 
 ment, for the troops had consumed all they 
 had taken with them from the lines at Peters- 
 burg. 
 
 While at Amelia Court House, I witnessed 
 the destruction of a number of caissons filled 
 with ammunition, but never learned whether 
 it was an accident, or by design. General Lee 
 ordered a few Battalions of Artillery — those 
 best equipped — -to accompany the Infantry and 
 ordered all the rest to be formed into a column 
 under the Command of General R. L. Walker, 
 and proceed through Buckingham County 
 towards Lynchburg. The Artillery column 
 left the m,ain column at Deatonsville, crossed 
 the Appomattox River, and took the route as 
 directed. On the way to Deatonsville we saw 
 several places where the enemy's Cavalry had 
 attacked the wagon train and burned some of 
 the wagons, so after crossing the river. Cap- 
 tain Walke was ordered to have the bridge 
 burned, which duty was performed. The col- 
 umn proceeded some miles and at dark bi- 
 vouacked for the night. Our force consisted 
 of a part of the Artillery of each Corps, with 
 two Battalions of dismounted Artillery armed 
 as Infantry, all accompanied by their wagons. 
 
 [121] 
 
emoir0 of tfte CiDil Wat 
 
 Next day we passed through Cumberland and 
 Buckingham Counties, and on the 7th of April 
 arrived at a place called New Store, where 
 the road we were moving on comes into that 
 over which the main body of the Army was 
 marchinp'. and about eleven miles northwest of 
 Farmville. Here we observed certain indica- 
 tions of a rout; some teams with harness, but 
 no wagons. Food was very scarce, but we 
 managed to collect a little on the way. Our 
 column continued its march, and at dusk bi- 
 vouacked. The moon was about full and the 
 weather clear. The column was ordered to 
 move forward at one o'clock A. M. Major 
 H. M. Nash, Chief Surgeon of the Artillery 
 of the 3rd Corps, accompanied the General 
 and his staff. That night he. Captain Walke, 
 and myself, were discussing the situation and 
 as there was a strong probability of losing 
 some of the wagons, we determined to put on 
 as many of our clothes as we could wear, the 
 weather was cool and the extra clothing was 
 not uncomfortable. 
 
 Major R. C. Taylor, of Norfolk, Virginia, 
 joined us that afternoon and when we halted 
 for the night, he heard from some one pass- 
 ing, that his brother, Lieut. Col. Walter H. 
 Taylor, had been killed on the retreat. He 
 therefore determined to turn back to meet the 
 main body of the Army, which was coming 
 on the road several miles behind our column. 
 The report was not true. 
 
 We moved at one A. M. and passed through 
 Appomattox Court House about midday and 
 two miles west of the Court House took a 
 road to the left, which led to Appomattox Sta- 
 
 [122] 
 
^emoir0 of tfte CiUil Mlar 
 
 tion on the Southside Railroad. When within 
 one-third of a mile of that depot, we found a 
 large open field. It was then nearly two 
 o'clock and General Walker ordered the col- 
 umn to halt and form a park, so the men could 
 eat their food, as well as the horses. General 
 W. N. Pendleton rode up and entered into 
 conversation with General Walker, in the 
 course of which he directed that the number 
 of guns should be reduced to the point that 
 could be drawn by the number of horses in 
 suitable condition — many horses being com- 
 pletely worn out — to fill up ammunition chests 
 and to bury such guns as could not be drawn. 
 I was sent with that message to Colonel W. L. 
 Cabell, whose command was a few hundred 
 feet away. As I was delivering the message, 
 the advance guard of Custer's Division of 
 Federal Cavalry rode up and commenced fir- 
 ing their revolvers. 
 
 [123] 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 The Last Battle. 
 
 As soon as the park was formed, I had 
 gone on to the raih-oad station, and seeing 
 Surgeon James D. Gait, he told me that it was 
 reported there, that the Federal Cavalry had 
 reached Pamplin's Depot, ten miles east, and 
 would probably reach Appomattox by nine 
 P. M. I returned at once to General Walker 
 and reported what I had heard, and was sent 
 at once to Colonel Cabell with the message. 
 The Federal Cavalry was much nearer to us 
 than the report indicated. General Walker 
 directed me to ride back to the Lynchburg 
 Road to get any troops that I might find, to 
 come to our support. I met one of our Bat- 
 tallions armed as Infantry, led by Captain 
 Walke, advancing in line of battle towards the 
 enemy. Not finding on the Lynchburg road 
 anything but a few stragglers, I returned to 
 the front. General Walker directed the wagon 
 train to retire by the Lynchburg road. 
 
 As many guns as could be brought into ac- 
 tion commenced firing at the approaching 
 Cavalry, the Battalions armed as Infantry 
 joined in the battle and held the enemy back, 
 but they siezed 'the trains of cars standing 
 at the depot. About one hour after the first 
 attack, Gary's Brigade of Cavalry,^ several 
 hundred strong, arrived, and having dis- 
 mounted took position on the right of the line. 
 General Pendleton took position a little in rear 
 of the line and I remained with him. Our 
 men stood off the enemy until dusk, repelling 
 numerous attacks, until the greater part of the 
 
 [124] 
 
emoir0 of tfte CiDil K^ar 
 
 guns and wagons had moved off towards 
 Lynchburg, when nearly the whole of Cus- 
 ter's Division having arrived, they made a 
 charge and swept over all that was left, some 
 twenty guns and a few wagons (among the 
 latter our Headquarter's wagon), which were 
 captured. 
 
 A section of the Washington Artillery 
 brought up our rear and held the enemy back 
 from our line of retreat, holding a position 
 at the junction of the road to the depot and 
 the road to Lynchburg. We had a number 
 of men killed, wounded and some taken pris- 
 oners. Our_Commissary, Major A. W. Par- 
 ker, lost an arm and was sent in an ambulance 
 to Lynchburg. He had taken a musket and 
 fought in the ranks. Major Miller was with 
 the section of the Washington Artillery. 
 
 After riding about one mile on the Lynch- 
 burg Road, I came up with General Walker 
 and the rest of his Staff. He directed me to 
 return and bring off the section of the Wash- 
 ington Artillery. I went back at once ; we did 
 not know what had happened during that 
 charge and I supposed those two guns had 
 been captured with the rest. Nevertheless, it 
 was the General's duty to send after the rear 
 guard and mine to go for it, but on arriving 
 at the position it had held so firmly, I found 
 it still ready for anything which might turn 
 up. The enem}^ held in check by those two 
 guns, had stopped and taken the road on 
 which our main body was approaching. 
 
 Our Surgeon. Major H. M. Nash, had been 
 caught in the charge of the Federal Cavalry; 
 had been thrown from his horse, and dras^eed 
 
 [125] 
 
9^emoit0 of tfte CilJil MJat 
 
 by one foot in the stirrup quite a long dis- 
 tance? his foot then was disengaged and he 
 rolled himself to the ditch on the side of the 
 road, thus escaping being injured by the hoofs 
 of horses following. He told me afterwards 
 that his extra clothing helped to keep his body 
 from being bruised. He was found and kindly 
 treated by a Federal Surgeon and recovered 
 his horse. He lived until 1911, a distin- 
 guished surgeon and physician in Norfolk, 
 highly esteemed and beloved. 
 
 I gave the order to the section of Artillery 
 to limber up and led them to the column, but 
 it was nearly daylight, before we caught up 
 with it. Soon after daylight appeared. Sur- 
 geon Carrington arrived at our bivouack and 
 gave the following message from General R. 
 E. Lee : "I intend to try to cut my way out at 
 daybreak. If 3^ou can reach us and think you 
 can be of any service, do so. If not disband 
 your Command and allow the men to go either 
 to join General Jos. E. Johnson in North 
 Carolina or to their homes, as they may elect." 
 
 Our column was at least ten miles from the 
 main body, and when the message was re- 
 ceived, it was then past the hour for the at- 
 tack. General Walker decided to disband the 
 command, which was done. Many of the guns 
 were dismantled, wheels cut and guns buried. 
 The General and StafT took a road leading to 
 Bent Creek Ford on the James River; before 
 reaching the ford we met some of our Cavalry- 
 men, who said the Army of Northern Virginia 
 was then being surrendered. Captain Walke 
 decided to go back to surrender, but after- 
 wards changed his plan, and went to join the 
 
 [126] 
 
emoit0 of tfte Ciuil mat 
 
 Army of General Jos. E. Johnson. We 
 crossed at the ford, the river was high, and the 
 water came over my boot tops. Proceeding 
 along the tow path, we reached the Estate of 
 Doctor Gilmer near Tye River Warehouse, 
 about 8.00 P. M. Mrs. Gilmer was a sister 
 of the General. Doctor Gilmer's brother was 
 there, he had served in the Legislature with 
 Mr. Hughes Dillard, Mrs. Chamberlaine's 
 father, and on learning that I intended to 
 make my way to the latter's home, he sent this 
 message, ''What do you think now of the 
 rights of the States in the Territories?" 
 
 Next morning the members of the Staff 
 separated. The General remained. I went 
 as far as North Garden, where I stopped one 
 night at Mr. Slaughter's, whose home was 
 near Cedar Mountain, in Culpepper County, 
 but had taken refuge at a place at North Gar- 
 den. Next day I crossed the Blue Ridge 
 Mountains alone at Rock Fish Gap, and ar- 
 rived at Waynesboro at sunset. There was a 
 report in that town that General Lee had sur- 
 rendered, but a kind blacksmith put a shoe 
 on my horse and took Confederate money in 
 payment. A gentleman named Turk took me 
 home with him, where I spent that night, for 
 which I was very grateful. He gave me an 
 early breakfast and directed me to Tinkling 
 Spring, where I found the main road to Lex- 
 ington. I sta3^ed that night at Wallace's Inn, 
 I think in the town of Brownsburg. Next 
 morning I passed through Lexington and went 
 as far as Colonel Poague's farm. Col. Poague 
 was one of our most distinguished Artillery 
 Officers. We had been very good friends in 
 
 [127] 
 
^emoir0 of tfte CiUil mnt 
 
 the Army and he was very hospitable. I have 
 invited him to my home, but he never got as 
 far as Norfolk, but did serve a term in the 
 Legislature. 
 
 From his house, I rode to Big Lick, now 
 called Roanoke, forty-seven miles. As I 
 passed through the town of Buchanan, the 
 churches were open and services being held. 
 We had decided that it would be best to leave 
 our sabres at the Gilmer's, as we might meet 
 some of the enemy's troops, and be conducted 
 to prison. As I approached Big Lick, I de- 
 cided to avoid it, if occupied by the enemy. I 
 reconnoitered and found it was not, so went 
 to Trout's Inn and spent the night. Mr. Trout 
 kindly accepted a five-dollar Confederate note 
 for my bill. I presume the news of Lee's 
 surrender had been received in the village, but 
 he did not object to the money. Next day I 
 reached the residence of Mr. Dillard by twelve 
 o'clock noon, twenty-eight miles. Of course I 
 was warmly welcomed by all. They had had 
 no news from me since the retreat commenced. 
 
 I am nearly at the end of my story, but it 
 was necessary to surrender and get a parole 
 before my connection with the Military service 
 would be completely severed. I remained at 
 Mr. Dillard's home in the village of Rocky 
 Mount about five weeks. While sitting on the 
 front porch one morning a troop of Federal 
 Cavalry rode through the town. They were 
 in search of General J. A. Early. They did 
 not find him, for he had notice and had taken 
 refuge at the home of Captain Woods, twelve 
 miles away. The troop stopped at the house 
 of Mr. John Saunders, Sheriff of the County, 
 
 [128] 
 
9©emoir0 of tfte CitJiI mat 
 
 about one mile from the village. I started to 
 go there, but it came on to rain, and I con- 
 cluded to wait for a better opportunity to sur- 
 render. 
 
 While there, we heard of the assassination 
 of the President of the United States and were 
 very sorry that such an act had been com- 
 mitted by one pretending to be in sympathy 
 with the South. 
 
 [129] 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 Return. 
 
 About the first of June, in company with 
 Mr. Dillard, I rode to Danville, the 6th Corps 
 of the Federal Army was stationed there. 
 When we arrived at Martinsville, the County 
 seat of Henry, we rode into a company of 
 Federal Infantry. I was not noticed and after 
 a short conversation between Mr. Dillard and 
 the officers in command, we started for Fair- 
 mount, the Estate of Mr. Dillard's mother, 
 who was then living. 
 
 After a visit of a day or two, we started 
 for Danville. We found that town full of 
 troops. There was at that time much talk 
 about sending the Federal Army to Mexico, to 
 drive away the French troops, Napoleon HI 
 having established Maximillian on the throne 
 of Mexico and was supporting him by a Corps 
 of French troops under Marshall Bazine. 
 
 But the United States authorities, in order 
 to keep the Southern States in subjection, sta- 
 tioned a Company of Infantry or Cavalry in 
 each County. 
 
 I applied for a parole at the office of the 
 Provost Marshall, which was given without 
 hesitation. This permitted me to return to 
 my home and to remain undisturbed so long 
 as I obeyed the laws of the Country. Ileft 
 on the Richmond train the next morning, ar- 
 rived at Richmond at midnight. The clerk 
 at the Spottswood Hotel said he was not al- 
 lowed to receive Confederate Soldiers, but he 
 permitted me to stay in the front window the 
 rest of the jiight, also two other Confederates ; 
 
 [130] 
 
e^tmoit^ of tfte Ciuil Mlat 
 
 one was an officer of the Confederate States' 
 Marines, and the other Captain William Face, 
 a pilot who had lived in Norfolk. At least 
 we had a roof over our heads. We left at 
 dawn of day for the Norfolk steamboat land- 
 ing. In the afternoon I arrived at my native 
 city after an absence of a little more than 
 three years. 
 
 The retreat from Petersburg was very hard 
 on the Army of Northern Virginia. Its num- 
 bers had been reduced by casualties, provisions 
 were scarce and by the end of the 6th day 
 General Lee had reached the conclusion that it 
 was impossible to keep up the struggle any 
 longer and wisely decided to seek an agree- 
 ment with General U. S. Grant for a 
 cessation of hostilities. The latter replied 
 that he had no authority to do anything 
 more than to accept a surrender, but his 
 terms were very liberal. He allowed both 
 officers and men to keep their horses and 
 issued rations to our almost famished 
 troops. On the day before the surren- 
 der by General Lee had our column of Re- 
 serve Artillery not stopped where it did, but 
 gone beyond the Southside Railroad, leaving 
 a small detachment to procure supplies from 
 the railroad trains, which were only one-quar- 
 ter of a mile from the place where we had 
 halted, it seems probable that it would have 
 escaped the Federal Cavalry and reached Dan- 
 ville. But we had no information of the 
 movements of the Federal Cavalry and sup- 
 posed they were following the main body of 
 our Army, which was some twenty miles be- 
 hind us. But the result would have been the 
 
 [131] 
 
9iemoir0 of ttt Cftoil mat 
 
 same. The Armies of the Confederate States 
 were about worn out and could hold together 
 but a little while longer. The Southern States 
 lost a great many men and much treasure, but 
 those who survived the War had learned a 
 great deal by their experience and many whose 
 health had been feeble had become strong by 
 the out-of-door life, all of which was neces- 
 sary, for most of them had really to begin life 
 again, and the Army had maintained its honor. 
 
 [132] 
 
GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 The majority of the people of Virginia was 
 not in favor of a resort to arms to settle the 
 question in dispute between the Sections : they 
 preferred Peace in the Union and many efforts 
 were made by our Statesmen to prevent con- 
 flict, but the radicals on both sides were so 
 insistent on their respective views that all such 
 efforts were futile. 
 
 Once War declared, then it was not only 
 the duty but the desire of all the young men 
 of my acquaintance to do their best to main- 
 tain the position of the Confederate States. 
 As to the martial qualities of the men of the 
 two sections, those of the South seemed to 
 have a little more elan than the natives of the 
 North, while the latter possessed more per- 
 sistence. Both were brave, hence the terrible 
 battles and the fearful slaughter which took 
 place during the ensuing four years. The 
 benefits of an education at the West Point 
 Military Academy was shared by both sides. 
 Any man who had been educated at that In- 
 stitution was eagerly sought after in the South 
 to fill a prominent place in the Army, and the 
 men in the ranks, as well as the young oflficers, 
 had great confidence in their ability to lead 
 them properly. 
 
 Ex-Governor William Smith was appointed 
 Colonel of the 49th Virginia Infantry, which 
 regiment at one time was attached to the 
 Brigade of General William Mahone. I do 
 not think the Governor pretended to have a 
 military education, but he was a brave man, 
 and like a good planter was careful of those 
 
 [133] 
 
9iemoit0 of tfte Citoil mat 
 
 in his charge: two very important qualities 
 for a commanding officer, and when he wished 
 his skirmishers to advance and said to them 
 "Sic em, boys," they understood as well what 
 was required of them as if he had given the 
 Command as provided in the books on Mili- 
 tary Tactics. Then he was an elderly man, 
 and when on the march in a hot sun did not 
 disdain the use of an umbrella, which action 
 some military men would have condemned. 
 Governor Smith reached the rank of Major- 
 General before the close of the war. 
 
 The troops stationed around Norfolk, Va., 
 under Major-General Benj. Hager, although 
 near the enemy were not brought into actual 
 contact until they participated in the battles 
 near Richmond, Va. Just before those bat- 
 tles occurred, an order of General James 
 Longstreet was read to our Regiment at 
 parade, in which occurred this language: 
 ''While the noise of battle is indeed terrifying 
 and seems to threaten universal destruction, 
 after all but few soldiers are actually slain." 
 I well remember hearing that order read and 
 it had a good effect on the soldiers who had 
 not been under fire in a general engagement. 
 It was felt by them that General Longstreet 
 knew all about it, and there was a good chance 
 for them to go through all that fearful firing 
 and come out without a scratch or perhaps 
 with only a slight wound. After the seven 
 days' battles were fought and we had an op- 
 portunity to read the lists of killed and 
 wounded, we felt that the General had treated 
 the subject lightly, but then we had been 
 through it and became, as it were, seasoned. 
 
 [134] 
 
9gemoir0 of tfte €i\}U Wint 
 
 The most unfortunate thing about the bat- 
 tles fought early in the war was the impetuos- 
 ity and lack of experience of the high ranking 
 officers. Many attacks were made by single 
 Brigades and even single Regiments, which 
 were quickly repulsed with great loss, while 
 if the whole front line could have moved at 
 the same moment, a different result would 
 probably have followed. That was perhaps 
 due to two or more reasons ; first : Some offi- 
 cers wished to have the credit of capturing 
 guns ; second : The orders to advance were 
 not explicit ; third : Lack of Staff Officers to 
 communicate orders and information. Such 
 things happen to the Army making an attack. 
 On the other side, the party attacked should 
 be always ready to receive the attacking foe. 
 I believe the great loss sustained by the Con- 
 federates, in the battles around Richmond, 
 Va., was due to those causes. As time passed 
 the General Officers became more proficient 
 and their men became veterans. 
 
 To supply the army with food seemed in 
 those days to be a very difficult thing. I am 
 sure the Army of Northern Virginia never 
 reached to the 100,000 mark, and I have since 
 often thought how our large cities, even those 
 in Virginia, always seem to have abundant 
 supplies for their inhabitants, and I have asked 
 myself the question, did we formerly receive 
 a large part of the supplies for the Southern 
 States from North of Mason and Dixon's line. 
 Vegetables were scarce, the Confederate Sol- 
 diers lived on flour and corn meal and bacon 
 or beef most of the time the war lasted. At 
 one time there was a ration of plug tobacco 
 
 [135] 
 
09emoir0 of tfee CitJil mat 
 
 issued. I used smoking tobacco but had no 
 use for the plug, so gave it away. Officers 
 were allowed two rations each day, one for 
 himself and the other for his servant, and 
 forage for two horses, if he had two. 
 
 There were many highly intelligent men 
 who served as couriers attached to the Head- 
 quarters of General Officers. The duties of 
 these men differed but little from those of 
 aides-de-camp, who were regularly commis- 
 sioned officers, and deserved to be rewarded 
 in the same degree as the commissioned staff, 
 but the law restricted the number of those 
 who received commissions. Some General 
 Officers acknowledged the services of their 
 couriers in their official reports, but the prac- 
 tice was not generally followed. Many of 
 them received commissions later in the War. 
 While our Company "G", 6th Virginia In- 
 fantry, formed a part of the garrison at 
 Craney Island, only four miles from our 
 homes, many little tricks were resorted to by 
 the men to go off without leave and spend a 
 night at home. On one occasion when the 
 steamboat was about to leave the wharf in 
 the afternoon, I was standing on the wharf, I 
 saw the wife of one of our men standing at 
 a window of the saloon, apparently very sad 
 at leaving, the yellow shade of the next win- 
 dow was lowered, but the western sun cast 
 the shadow of her husband full upon the yel- 
 low shade and I recognized it distinctly. His 
 person was concealed, but the shadow told on 
 him. In such cases it was best not to notice 
 the little trick, so I let it pass. The volun- 
 teers were making a great sacrifice for their 
 
 [136] 
 
 RD-94 
 
00emoit0 of tfte Cil3il Wiat 
 
 country and I did not think we ought to be 
 too strict in Httle matters. I had seen only 
 his shadow and not the man. His absence 
 was not officially reported to me. For shelter 
 at that post log huts were built; a detail was 
 sent to the neighboring pine forest, and cut 
 poles; these were used to build the huts and 
 were duly chinked and the openings closed 
 with mud, making quite comfortable quarters 
 during the cold weather. When Norfolk was 
 evacuated the garrison of Craney Island 
 marched to Suffolk, twenty-five miles distant, 
 and then proceeded by railroad to Petersburg. 
 The following list contains the names of 
 the members of Company ''G," 6th Virginia 
 Infantry, not heretofore mentioned in these 
 memoirs : 
 
 d^A.^^ ;7:-~ ' 
 
 €aU©ll>' John R. 
 Styron, Oscar M. 
 Archer, R. L. 
 Baylor, Robt. B. 
 Bell, Robert S. 
 Clark, Fred. W. 
 Deiches, W. 
 Fentress, Thomas 
 Fletcher, Oliver N. 
 Goodridge, T. E. 
 Hopkins, Richard 
 Langhorn, Wm. W. 
 Merritt, John B. 
 McKenny, Wm. W. 
 Reid, J. T. S. 
 Robinson, W. C. 
 Rosenberg, M. 
 Seal, John R. 
 
 Butt, J. L. D. 
 Biggs, Wm. G. 
 Biggs, James H. 
 Chisman, John R. 
 Core, John H. 
 Gordon, John D. 
 Gordon, W. R. 
 Holmes, Alex. T. 
 Kerr, Edward. 
 Moiisden, B. A. 
 McPhail, C. H. 
 Pentz, Geo. M. 
 Robertson, C. 
 Robins, Geo. S. 
 Rowland, J. H. 
 Smith, J. K. 
 Shipp, John S. 
 Southo:ate. lu 
 
 [137] 
 
^emoit$ of tfte CitJil Wiat 
 
 Segar, John 
 Smith, Henry 
 Stone, David S. 
 Voss, Albert C. 
 WiUiams, John N. 
 Walsh, William. 
 Simmons, Albert B. 
 Hill, John T. 
 Arrington, Peter 
 Bell, Douglass 
 Bell, James N. 
 Cole, Cornelius M. 
 Dey, James B. 
 Fitchett, Julius M. 
 Freeman, Robert 
 Goodridge, Geo. K. 
 Hardy, Thos. A. 
 Lawson, A. S. 
 Moore, Walter S. 
 Murray, John 
 Reynolds, H. S. 
 Robinson, William 
 Rowe, S. D. 
 Seal, Wm. B. 
 Segar, A. S. 
 Smoot, William 
 Thomas, Rich. S. 
 Ward, Josiah J. 
 Wise, W. M. B. 
 Young, Thos. A. 
 
 Umstaoblin, M. 
 Whiting, W. N. 
 Wicker, D. H. C. 
 Marsden, J. B. 
 Stokes, M. N. 
 Beale, Brook 
 Cason, Benj. F. 
 Gcyot, R. S. 
 Hudgins, W. R. 
 Keeling, S. S. 
 Morris, J. S. 
 Saunders, Palmer 
 Taylor, Robertson 
 Wilkinson, H. D. 
 Collier, James M. 
 Freeman, Joseph N. 
 Gwynn, T. P. 
 Hyman, T. M. 
 Mapp, R. A. 
 Mallory, Chas. O. 
 Stone, Geo. F. 
 Walker, Geo. B. 
 Walker, J. T. 
 Cannan, D. C. 
 Foeman, C. W. 
 Hunter, W. W. 
 Jaquineau, A. H. 
 Milhado, A. G. 
 Porttock, R. G. 
 Tunstall, Alex. 
 
 Langley, W. H. 
 
 Of the above many were appointed to im- 
 portant positions in the Army, some were 
 transferred to other Commands and some 
 discharged for disability. 
 
 Finis. 
 
 [138] 
 
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