Return to My Command.
Long Stay at Taylorsville in November and December, 1863, and Part of
January, 1864.
Dr. Blackwell's Address.
Our Second North Carolina Campaign.
General and Mrs. Pickett and Baby George.
Back in Virginia.
The Advance to Newbern.
Capture and Execution of Deserters.
In Camp at Goldsboro.
Shooting a Confederate Deserter.
The Shoemaker's Letter.
Wilmington and Mouth of Cape Fear.
Return and to Tarboro.
The Capture of Plymouth, N.C.
To Washington and Newbern.
Return to Virginia.
I joined my command, then at Taylorsville, Virginia, whither it had
been sent to rendezvous and recruit, at the same time guarding the
bridges over the North and South Anna rivers. Our long stay at
Taylorsville during the months of November and December, 1863, and for
part of January, 1864, gave ample opportunity to discuss the serious
aspect of affairs. We had received a stunning blow at Gettysburg,
evidenced by the absence forever of brave men whose places could not be
supplied. Naturally the query was often made, how long will the war
last? When will it end? What are our prospects for success? Will it
continue until the last man falls? What do the Northern people mean? Is
it their intention to subjugate the states, and overthrow the citadel
of liberty itself? They call us rebels--can a sovereign be a rebel?
We had been taught that the states were sovereign and that their
governments were instituted to secure certain inalienable rights, with
which their Creator had endowed them--among these, life, liberty and
the pursuit of happiness, and that the security of all these resided
with the states and the people thereof, and not with their Federal
agent. These and many other matters were discussed, and the general
conclusion arrived at was: we will have to fight it out.
In the last days of November, the Federal army, under General Meade,
crossed the Rapidan, making a feint as if to attack the Army of
Northern Virginia, but instead re-crossed the river, seeming to have
crossed for no other purpose than to cross back again. We had orders to
be ready to go to General Lee's aid.
While at Taylorsville the Rev. Dr. Blackwell, who had resided in the
cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, Virginia, during General Butler's
reign of terror therein, delivered to our brigade a lecture on Butler,
his troops, and the noble women of those cities. After describing the
insults of the Federal soldiery, and the sacrifices and heroic conduct
of the women, he pronounced upon them an eulogy, a part only of which
is recalled, and is now here reproduced; he began by saying:
"Woman is lovely, but not a goddess. We call her angel, but she has
no wings to soar quite beyond the bounds of terrene. She is the
loveliest form of beauty known to earth, and presents the purest
type of that sweet companionship that awaits us in the bright land
of the hereafter; but still she is flesh and blood, loves to steal
from the bowers of her paradise and dwell with men, mingle in the
common concerns and partake of the common infirmities of the human
race. As the graceful vine entwines itself around the sturdy oak
when riven by the lightnings of Heaven, so she, though the feebler,
gentler sex, is the prop upon which the sterner sex in the midst of
revolution often leans for repose. * * * And when the history of
this revolution is fully written, these noble women will stand in
the front ranks of that illustrious galaxy of Southern females
whose heroic acts and beauteous deeds have illuminated our Heavens,
and thrown a halo of fadeless glory around the noble women of
Norfolk and Portsmouth."
Our General Pickett was married, as I now recall, in September, 1863,
in Petersburg, Virginia, to Miss Corbell, a lovely, highly cultivated
Virginia woman who occasionally rode with the General through our
camps, attending the division review. Later, when Baby George arrived,
he was exhibited in the camps, the soldiers eagerly fondling him; nor
was his linen as spotless or his humor as sweet when handed back to his
mother or nurse as when the boys received him.
The General and boy have both passed to the Great Beyond, but the
lovely wife and mother still lives to brighten the memories of husband
and son, the noble dead of the division, and to cheer the hearts of the
brave men who counted it the honor of their lives to have marched with
the noble Pickett, made famous for all time to come by his charge at
Gettysburg, now celebrated in song and literature.
Our rations were not abundant while at Taylorsville; one pint of
unsieved meal and a quarter of a pound of bacon per day. Coffee was
made of parched wheat rye, and sometimes of rice when we had it.
Occasionally the men managed to get turnips or potatoes, of which they
made fairly good soup. There was so little of the bacon that we could
not afford to fry it, so we generally ate it raw, with an ash or Johnny
cake; we had but few cooking utensils, and had need of few.
Religious services were held when possible; the weather for the most
part was too inclement to have open air services, and we had no church.
Such services as were had were generally in the messes, or conducted in
the quarters of J. Tyler Frazier, to which all were invited.
Being under orders to march, our preparations therefor completed, we
took up the movement January 20, going through Richmond and Petersburg,
where we were put aboard cars and transported to Goldsboro, N.C.,
remaining there a few days. Leaving camp at Goldsboro January 29, we
proceeded to Kinston, on the Neuse River, thence through the swamps and
bogs, crossing the Trent River to the vicinity of Newbern, N.C., where
we made some captures of prisoners and stores, and blew up a Federal
gunboat lying in the river, under the forts, which was accomplished by
Colonel Wood, with his marines. A section of 3d New York artillery--two
guns--was captured, together with several hundred prisoners, among them
35 or more of the 2d Loyal North Carolina regiment, who had been
soldiers in our army, deserted, and joined the enemy. These men were
recognized and sent back under guard to Kinston.
Our people found Newbern better prepared for defense than was
anticipated, and after some strong reconnaissances on all the roads,
gathering up all the supplies within reach that could be transported,
at dark, February 3, we silently folded our tents and stole away,
floundering all night along through the swamps and mud, crossing the
Trent a little after dawn. During the night we passed through extensive
turpentine orchards, which the men set fire to, and by the light of
which many sloughs were avoided. Our movement continued until Kinston
was reached, where we rested a few days.
The next day after reaching Kinston the court-martial was convened for
the trial of the thirty-five deserters referred to, who had been
captured wearing United States uniforms and with guns in their hands,
fighting under the flag of the enemy. The guilt of twenty-two of them
being fully established, they were sentenced to be hanged; the sentence
being approved by the department commander, was carried into execution
a few days thereafter in the vicinity of our camp: a gruesome piece of
business, which duty did not require me to witness.
About the middle of February we moved on westward to Goldsboro. Rations
were still short, and there was some complaint by the farmers of the
loss of hogs. This complaint was not without foundation, for fresh pork
was found in some of the camps, and the offenders punished, a penalty,
as the writer believes, not deserved. Most of these charges were made
against the 24th Virginia regiment, one against some of the teamsters
of our regiment. A member of Company D was charged with being the
informant, though he helped eat the hog, but whether the charge was
true or false, the informant made the disclosure in order to get a
furlough, which he received, but never came back--deserted. This same
informant had been wounded at the second battle of Manassas, and on his
return to the command at Goldsboro claimed that he was not able for
service, taking up lodgings with some of the teamsters. He wrote a
letter to General Lee, which ran about as follows:
"Dear General: I am a member of Company D, 7th Virginia Infantry. I
was wounded at the second battle of Manassas and am unfit for duty
in the field. I am a pretty fair shoemaker, and if I can be
detailed, I am willing to render all the services I can."
General Lee transmitted the letter to the regiment and the men had a
good deal of fun out of ----. Soon after he became informant as to hog
stealing, got the furlough, and deserted, as above stated--good
riddance to bad rubbish.
A member of Company B, 7th regiment, who was under death sentence for
desertion, was kept under strict guard with ball and chain. Late one
evening an order came for his execution the next day. I carried the
order to the officer of the guard, whose instructions were to double
the guard and see that their guns were loaded. The condemned man's
brother was a member of the guard, who, on ascertaining that his
brother was to be shot the next day, requested that I send Rev. J.
Tyler Frazier to see him. Frazier happened to be out of the camp; as
soon as he returned, I accompanied him to see the man, but he refused
to listen to Mr. Frazier; in fact, the man did not believe he would be
shot until the next morning when the wagon drove up with his coffin and
he was required to ride thereon to the place of execution, where he
died from the fire of a platoon of men of his own command.
March 5 we moved by rail to Wilmington, thence by steamer to
Smithfield, near the mouth of the Cape Fear River. The 24th regiment
was sent to garrison Forts Caswell and Campbell, while we remained in
camp near Smithfield.
I find in a letter written by me from Smithfield, March 14, the
following: "It has been nine days since our brigade arrived at this
place. One regiment, the 24th, has been sent to garrison Forts Caswell
and Campbell. I have just returned from a visit to the former. We
crossed over in an open boat, the distance being two miles. There was
quite a lively time at the forts this morning, when the blockade runner
'Lucy,' in attempting to run in, was beached, the enemy making attempt
to capture her, but he was driven off by our batteries."
[Illustration: Lieut. Thomas S. Taylor]
Here oysters were cheap and readily procured, the men cooking them in
various ways. Some roasted them in the shell, some ate them raw, and
some mixed them in corn dough and baked them. We did not like the coast
and longed for our Virginia hills. Under orders we left Smithfield
aboard a steamer for Wilmington. The river was full of torpedoes and we
were in dread of being blown up. The situation was in some measure
relieved by Bill Dean and his Glee Club, who sang: "Oh! Carry Me Back
to Old Virginia Once More."
Wilmington was reached Saturday, the 26th, where the ground was covered
with a light snow, which increased in depth as we receded from the
coast. We moved by rail from Wilmington to Goldsboro, where we went
into camp until Friday, the first of April, when the march was again
taken up through snow and mud to Tarboro, thence through Greenville,
crossing over to the waters of the Roanoke, to the vicinity of
Plymouth, N.C., where on the 18th a portion of Hoke's brigade (21st
Georgia regiment), assailed late in the evening an outlying fort, in
which assault Colonel Mercer was killed and the assault repulsed. Later
the same evening this fort was surrounded by a portion of our brigade
with a cloud of sharpshooters and artillery, which prevented the
garrison from handling their guns, and the fort finally surrendered.
The investing force of the town were the brigades of Ransom, Hoke and
Terry, formerly Kemper's.
Sergeant William Parrott of Charlottesville and I that night bore a
flag of truce to the enemy's lines, under which demand for the
surrender of the town was made, but refused. During the night the
Confederate iron clad ram "Albemarle" came down the Roanoke River and
aided in the assault next morning, when the enemy's works and the town
were carried, the garrison surrendering when all hope of successful
resistance was gone. Our brigade was moved across the Washington road,
whereon the enemy was attempting to escape. In this movement we were
brought under the fire of the heavy guns in the forts, which at close
range gave us a severe shelling, whereby quite a number of men of the
brigade were injured--a few in our regiment--but two in Company D--A.
L. Fry and John W. East--slightly wounded. Soon after occupying the
road referred to and close up to the enemy's entrenchments, there came
at a headlong run up to our line, and before he discovered us, a big,
black, burly negro soldier, the first of his kind we had seen. The
negro was so badly frightened that had it been possible he would have
changed his color.
The fruits of this victory, at comparatively small cost, were the
Federal commander, General Wessels, and 1,600 prisoners, besides
about 700 negroes, 2,000 small arms, and valuable quartermaster and
commissary stores, the capture and sinking of one or more Federal
gunboats. From the commissary and sutler's stores the men obtained
bountiful supplies of food, underwear, boots and shoes. The Federal
loss in this battle, other than prisoners, artillery and stores already
mentioned, was 41 killed and 59 wounded. The Confederate loss, 124
killed and 174 wounded. Our enjoyment was but brief, however, for that
evening we took the road to Washington, a town at the head of Pamlico
Sound, marching rapidly, so that by night we were in the neighborhood
of our destination, which early next morning General Hoke was preparing
to invest, when it was discovered that the enemy had evacuated it;
disgracing themselves and their flag before their departure by arson
and pillage.
General Hoke, determined to push his successes, marched immediately
upon Newbern, demanding its surrender, which, being refused, he was
preparing to carry by assault, when he was directed to hasten to the
relief of Petersburg, now threatened by a strong Federal army under
General Butler.
At Tarboro, B. L. Hoge was taken sick and sent to hospital, and J. B.
Croy had been sent on detached service to the Blackwater region. How
many of Company D were on this expedition to Plymouth, Washington and
Newbern, I am unable to state, but I know the company had been much
reduced in numbers. Lieutenant Stone was still a prisoner at Fort
Delaware, Lieutenant Walker, disabled at Gettysburg, had been retired;
Captain Bane and Lieutenant Mullins were the only commissioned officers
with us.
In May, 1864, the Federal General Butler landed at City Point, on the
James, with an army of more than 25,000 men, and feeling his way
carefully and slowly toward Petersburg, had on the 9th reached Swift
Creek, three miles north of the city. Confronting him was General
Pickett, with a small number of Carolina troops, and a few pieces of
artillery. Pickett kept his men so well in hand and so maneuvered as to
conceal from his adversary his real weakness. In this situation and
while the Confederates were far away, near Newbern, with the Federals
threatening Richmond and Petersburg, General Hoke, in front of Newbern,
received an order to repair with haste to Petersburg. About dark on May
6 we left the front of Newbern, the head of the column directed for
Petersburg, about 175 miles away. The 1st Virginia had hastened through
to Kinston, where it obtained railroad transportation, which carried it
to Jarrett's, twenty miles south of Petersburg. Our column, taking a
bee line, moved night and day, having to halt occasionally at the
tidewater streams to build bridges out of round logs thrown into the
water and fastened together with grapevines. Reaching Stony Creek,
twenty miles or more south of Petersburg, we found the railroad bridge
destroyed by the Federal cavalry. The situation at Petersburg was so
pressing as to demand the presence of the troops without delay. All the
rolling stock of every kind of the railroad at that point was rushed to
meet us, and we boarded the cars just wherever we met them. By 11
o'clock Thursday, May 12, we were in the city, and General Butler had
lost his opportunity. Never before had we done such marching. Mr. D. H.
Hill, in his Confederate Military History of North Carolina, page 248,
speaking of this march of General Hoke from Newbern to Petersburg,
says: "This march of General Hoke's troops stands at West Point as the
most rapid movement of troops on record."
Apparently the whole populace, men, women and children, of Petersburg
had gathered to welcome us, their deliverers from the presence and hand
of General Butler, whose notoriety in New Orleans, Norfolk and
Portsmouth had won for him the appellation "Beast Butler," a reputation
world-wide. General Butler was, therefore, regarded by these people as
a menace to the safety of property and helpless women and children.
This is why everybody in Petersburg shouted for joy when we entered the
city and marched across the Appomattox to interpose between them and
Butler's troops. We went forward to Swift Creek, taking position on the
east side of the turnpike road in front of the enemy's skirmishers. The
shades of night now having fallen, we lay on our arms, discovering next
morning by the advance of our skirmishers that the enemy had withdrawn
from our front, whereupon we proceeded along the road leading to
Richmond, the rear guard being fired upon as we passed the "Halfway
House." Reaching the outer defenses of Dreury's Bluff, our brigade, now
commanded by Brigadier-General W. R. Terry, was placed in battle line
on the west side of the aforesaid turnpike road, facing south--having
by the day's march placed ourselves between the enemy and Richmond.