Early in 1863 Longstreet was placed in command of the Department
of Virginia and North Carolina, with head-quarters at Petersburg,
and with Hood’s and Pickett’s Divisions he moved to that place. An
effort to capture Suffolk, on the Norfolk and Petersburg Railroad,
was contemplated, and most of our command moved in that direction.
I remained at Petersburg during the operations, which were
unsuccessful.
It was, of course, very pleasant for me in the Cockade City, and
my pay had accumulated sufficiently to permit me to provide myself
with new uniforms, in the latest style and at extravagant prices.
There was considerable excitement in the city, in consequence of an
order that the pleasure horses of the citizens should be impressed
for the use of the artillery. To this there was a very decided
objection, and every manner of device was resorted to save the pet
animals. Some good people attempted to run off their horses into
the country, but pickets had been stationed along the roads and
the fugitives were easily captured. When the impressing officers
went around to examine the horses in town, they found horses in
the cellars and even in the dining-rooms. A carriage containing
three ladies and drawn by a pair of fine bay horses was going down
Sycamore Street when a guard ordered the driver to halt, and told
the ladies that it was his unpleasant duty to impress the team.
The ladies, who were young and pretty, declared that the horses
should not be taken. They tried both entreaty and expostulation,
but the guard was inexorable. The ladies then declared that if
the horses were taken they must be taken too, and thought they had
gained the victory. The guard did go away, but he quickly unhitched
the traces, and took the horses with him, leaving the ladies in
their carriage in all their glory. In some cases the impressment
was useless, as delicate horses were taken which were of no use for
service in the field.
The battle of Chancellorsville had been fought during our stay
around Petersburg, and the command was then hurried back to the
neighborhood of Fredericksburg. It was in May, 1863, I think, that
I returned there. The Gettysburg campaign began, but before this I
saw the review of the whole cavalry of the army at Brandy Station.
The enemy came in upon us shortly afterwards, and, in the very
beginning of the cavalry fighting, Colonel Sol. Williams, of the
1st North Carolina, was killed. He had been married to Miss Maggie
Pegram, Captain Robert B. Pegram’s eldest daughter, only about two
weeks before. The Adjutant of his regiment was John Pegram, Captain
Pegram’s eldest son, who was killed at Petersburg in 1864.
The march from Culpepper Court House through Chester Gap, in the
Blue Ridge, was very delightful to me, as the weather was fine
and the scenery was beautiful. I was particularly struck with the
scenery at Front Royal and Shenandoah. The Valley of Virginia then
showed few signs of war.
This time we crossed the Potomac at Williamsport. It was a dreary
day! The rain was falling in torrents. General Lee, General
Longstreet and General Pickett were riding together, followed by
their staffs. When we reached the Maryland shore we found several
patriotic ladies with small feet and big umbrellas waiting to
receive the Confederates who were coming a second time to deliver
down-trodden Maryland. As General Lee rode out of the water, one
of the ladies, with a face like a door-knocker, stepped forward
and said: “This is General Lee, I presume?” General Lee gave an
affirmative reply, and the lady continued: “General Lee, allow me
to bid you welcome to Maryland, and allow me to present to you
these ladies who were determined to give you this reception--Miss
Brown, General Lee; Miss Jones, General Lee; Miss Smith, General
Lee.” General Lee thanked them courteously for their attention, and
introduced General Longstreet and General Pickett to Miss Brown,
Miss Jones and Miss Smith. This was not the end of the affair,
however, as one of the ladies had an enormous wreath which she was
anxious to place on the neck of General Lee’s charger. The horse
objected to it seriously, and the wreath was turned over to one of
the couriers. The next morning we went into Hagerstown, where more
ladies were in waiting. There were more presentations to General
Lee and more introductions for Generals Longstreet and Pickett.
One fair lady asked General Lee for a lock of his hair. General
Lee said that he really had none to spare, and he was quite sure,
besides, that they would prefer such a souvenir from one of his
younger officers, and that he was confident that General Pickett
would be pleased to give them one of his curls. General Pickett did
not enjoy the joke, for he was known everywhere by his corkscrew
ringlets, which were not particularly becoming when the rain made
them lank in such weather as we then had. The ladies did not press
the request. When we resumed our march more ladies came to be
presented, but this time there were no petitions for a lock of
Pickett’s hair.
It was some satisfaction for me to pass once more through
Greencastle, where I had been bedeviled by both men and women
when taken there by the cavalry who captured me the year before.
Thence we went to Chambersburg, and I was amazed to find that
hundreds of sturdy well-dressed citizens were still in the town. In
Virginia there was hardly a white man to be found who was not in
the Confederate service, excepting the sick and those who were too
old or too infirm for any sort of military duty; and it gave us a
realizing sense of the strength of the enemy to see that they could
have so large armies in the field and leave so many lusty men in
peace at home.
The army behaved superbly in Pennsylvania. The orders against
straggling and looting were strict, and they were cheerfully
obeyed. It was on the march in Pennsylvania that I saw General
Lee, one morning, dismount from his horse and replace the rails of
the fence of a wheat field which had been thrown down by some of
our men. It was the best rebuke that he could have given to the
offenders.
At Chambersburg I paid a visit to the jail in which I had been
confined, and found a number of Yankee soldiers in the yard. Had I
been so minded, I might have played upon them the malicious trick
of which the Chambersburg boys made us the objects when we were
there. Riding through the town, I recognized one of the citizens
who had been peculiarly kind to me when I was a prisoner, and who
had given me then an excellent dinner. I thought I would catechise
him a little, and called out in a loud voice: “Halt, there!” He
seemed rather nervous, and asked what I would have. “Do you live
here?” I asked. He said that he did. “Did you live here last year?”
He replied in the affirmative. “Were you here in September last,
when a number of Confederate prisoners were brought in?” He said,
“Yes, I was, but I did nothing against them.” Looking sternly at
him I said, “Do you remember me?” He said that he did not. “Well,
sir,” I continued, “I was one of those prisoners.” By this time
he was badly frightened, and I hastened to relieve him by saying
that my only object was to thank him for his kindness to me, and
ascertain if there was anything I could do for him in return. He
thanked me, but said that the town was so quiet that he needed no
protection.
Late in the evening I rode out of the town, and it was dark before
I came back. I was riding quite rapidly, and my horse, striking
his foot against one of the stepping stones in the middle of the
street, fell and threw me about ten feet over his head. As I went
down I heard a woman exclaim: “Thank God, one of those wicked
Rebels has broken his neck.” I was not hurt, and my horse was not
much injured, so I remounted and, riding to the sidewalk, informed
my unseen foe that the pleasure she anticipated was, at least,
postponed.
The people generally were evidently greatly surprised at the
devotion of our men to General Lee, and made some rough remarks
about it. One old lady called out to an officer of ours as he
strode by: “You are marching mighty proudly now, but you will come
back faster than you went.” “Why so, old lady?” he asked. “Because
you put your trust in General Lee and not in the Lord Almighty,”
she replied.
I should mention here that the horse which I was riding was a fine
black gelding, which I had bought on our way to the Valley of
Virginia. A more thoroughly trustworthy animal I could not have
had, and he stood fire splendidly. I had two other horses at this
time, but always rode in action the black gelding I have just
spoken of. I had intended to have given him some fancy name, but my
boy Aleck dubbed him “Pete” the day I bought him, and by that name
he went.