The Conclusion.
War Ends.
The Return to Civil Pursuits.
The Confederate Soldier.
The war was now ended, the issues involved settled and closed, so far
as they could be by the sword. The Federal government had stood the
test, proved itself too strong for the allied seceded states,
overthrown their separate government, maintained by a separate people
for four years, and established the fact that no state could secede or
leave the Union unless by revolution and force of arms strong enough to
defy and successfully resist the power of the general government.
Slavery was abolished and could not exist among the American people. To
accomplish these two things had cost thousands of lives, anguish, blood
and billions of treasure.
With the close of the war the survivors of Company D who were either at
home or in hospital when the war ended, or who had gotten home from the
surrender at Appomattox, or had been released from military prisons,
accepted the result of the conflict in good faith and again entered the
pursuits of civil life. As they had been gallant soldiers, they became
law-abiding, upright and worthy citizens. Numbers of the company had
perished on the battlefield, in hospitals and in prison. Some were
buried on the field where they fell, with no monument or slab to mark
their last resting place, yet they died for a cause the justness of
which they never for a moment doubted. The survivors lived to see their
efforts for separate government defeated, the principles and the
righteousness of the cause not lost, but the struggle to establish and
maintain the same had failed. This failure is, however, no argument
against the justness and right of the cause. No braver, nobler company
of men had part in the contest than the company of which I write.
Theirs was a sacrifice for liberty not to be gained and a struggle in
which all was lost save honor and manhood.
Now (1914), nearly fifty years have passed since the close of the
mighty conflict, and there remain alive of those brave men who stood on
the firing line, baring their bosoms to the storm, but few, eighteen,
so far as I know or can ascertain, and whose names are as follows: A.
L. Fry, J. T. Frazier, John A. Hale, B. L. Hoge, James J. Hurt, David
E. Johnston, ---- Lewy, N. J. Morris, Thomas N. Mustain, A. C. Pack,
William D. Peters, John W. Sarver, Alexander Skeens, Joseph Skeens, W.
H. H. Snidow, Thomas J. Stafford, Gordon L. Wilburn and Jesse B. Young.
In what is said herein in praise of the honor and glory won in war and
peace by the Confederate soldier, particularly of those of the Army of
Northern Virginia, with which I served throughout the four years'
struggle, I do not for one moment mean or intend to detract from the
laurels won by the heroic Union soldier, who stood in the firing line,
faithfully discharging his duty; for he, as well as we, was contending
for principles regarded sacred and for which we had risked our lives,
and in which struggle one or the other of the combatants must yield.
All were American soldiers, and the glory and honor won by each is the
common heritage of the American people, not to be obscured or clouded
by the questions about which we differed. Each struggled to maintain
the right as God gave him to see the right.
We often talked along the skirmish lines with Union soldiers and they
invariably and vehemently denied that they were fighting to abolish
or destroy slavery. Particularly was this true of those from the
Northwestern states. In opposition to our claim or contention that we
were fighting for independence--separate government--they insisted that
they were fighting for the Union, a common, undivided country; did not
want to see the country broken up by division; and I feel fairly safe
in stating that this feeling and sentiment largely dominated the great
majority of the Union soldiers. I recall one or more conversations with
Union soldiers along the lines on the above subject, in which they told
me that if they believed they were fighting to free the slaves they
would quit the army and go home.
The Confederate soldier, as I have already said, accepted in good faith
the result of the war, bore no malice toward those whom he had fought
face to face, knowing:
"Malice is a wrinkled hag, hell-born;
Her heart is hate, her soul is scorn.
Blinded with blood, she cannot see
To do any deed of charity."
And again remembering the thought expressed in the lines:
"You cannot tame the tiger,
You dare not kill the dove;
But every gate you bar with hate
Will open wide to love."
No such army ever trod this earth as the Army of Northern Virginia,
composed of the best body of fighting men that ever shouldered a
musket. President Roosevelt said of them: "The world has never seen
better soldiers than those who followed Lee."
The Federal General Hooker--"Fighting Joe," as he was aptly called by
his soldiers, in his testimony before the committee of Congress on the
conduct of the war, in speaking of the Army of Northern Virginia, among
other things said: "That army had by discipline alone a character for
steadiness and efficiency unsurpassed, in my judgment, in ancient or
modern times. We have not been able to rival it."
Colonel David F. Pugh, a gallant Federal soldier, and a late commander
of the Grand Army of the Republic, in an address delivered by him at
the unveiling of the Confederate monument at Camp Chase, Ohio, June 7,
1902, said: "All the bitterness has gone out of my heart, and in spite
of a Confederate bullet in my body, I do not hesitate to acknowledge
that their valor is part of the common heritage of the whole country.
We can never challenge the fame of those men whose skill and valor made
them the idols of the Confederate army. The fame of Lee, Jackson, the
Johnstons, Gordon, Longstreet, the Hills, Hood and Stuart and many
thousands of non-commissioned officers and private soldiers of the
Confederate armies, whose names are not mentioned on historic pages,
can never be tarnished by the carping criticisms of the narrow and
shallow minded."
If this be the estimate of a Northern president and of a leading
general of our adversaries, who at one time commanded the gallant Army
of the Potomac, and of the other brave Federal soldier whom I have
quoted, what shall we in truth say for ourselves?
Lieutenant-General Early, among the bravest and best soldiers in the
Army of Northern Virginia, and who fought nearly a hundred battles and
skirmishes, hence competent to speak on the subject, in his Memoirs
says: "I believe the world has never produced a body of men superior in
courage, patriotism and endurance to the private soldiers of the
Confederate armies. I have repeatedly, seen these soldiers submit with
cheerfulness to privations and hardships which would appear to be
almost incredible; and the wild cheers of our brave men, when their
lines sent back opposing hosts of Federal troops, staggering, reeling
and flying, have often thrilled every fiber in my heart. I have seen
with my own eyes ragged, barefooted and hungry Confederate soldiers
perform deeds which, if performed in days of yore by mailed warriors in
glittering armor, would have inspired the harp of the minstrel and the
pen of the poet."
But arguing the nobility of the Confederate soldier is like arguing the
brightness of the sun at noonday. The Confederate soldier was truly an
American, for his people in the South were the truest type of Americans
in the land, having very little foreign population among them. Again,
this Confederate soldier was born and reared a gentleman, was so by
instinct. He was not a mercenary; he was neither for conquest nor
aggression, but stood purely for self-defense. He believed in his
inmost soul that no people had juster cause, higher aspirations, or
made braver or nobler resolves for cause, country, families, homes and
firesides. I turn to ask, who were these Confederate soldiers? They
were principally country folks, farmers, mechanics, school boys, as
stated; native born Americans, descendants of Revolutionary patriots,
by no means all slave owners; thousands never owned slaves, and many
were opposed to the institution. The Confederate soldier was always
impatient of military restraint, feeling himself the equal of and as
good as any man, and not inferior to his superior in rank; in battle,
as a rule, his own general; his individuality and self-reliance, among
his noted characteristics, were the crowning glory of his actions, and
this self-reliance taught him when it was wise and prudent to fight,
and when it was the better part of valor to decline. On the battlefield
he was at his best; "his clothes might be ragged, but his musket and
saber were bright. His haversack empty, but he kept his cartridge box
filled. Often his feet were bare, blistered and bleeding; occasionally
he might straggle on the march, but was up when the battle was on."
Barefoot, ragged, without food, no pay and nothing to buy if he had
money, he marched further, laughed louder, making the welkin ring with
his rebel yell; endured more genuine suffering, hardship and fatigue,
fought more bravely, complained and fretted less, than any soldier who
marched beneath the banners of Napoleon. His nerve was steady and his
aim was sure, and his powers of endurance and resistance unmeasured.
This same Confederate soldier fought and hoped and hoped and fought:
"Sometimes he won, then hopes were high;
Again he lost, but it would not die;
And so to the end he followed and fought,
With love and devotion, which could not be bought."
Though his ears were often greeted with the cries of woe and distress
of those at home (enough to break his heart), his ardor chilled not; he
had a never faltering courage; his spirit remained unbroken, his
convictions never yielded. In the darkest hour of our peril, in the
midst of dark and lowering clouds, with scarcely the glimmer of a star
of apparent hope, he still stood firm and grasped his musket with a
tighter grip. Following is the description given of this soldier by
another:
"Look at the picture of this soldier as he stood in the iron and leaden
hail, with his old, worn out slouch hat, his bright eyes glistening
with excitement, powder-begrimed face, rent and ragged clothing, with
the prints of his bare feet in the dust of the battle, a genuine
tatterdemalion, fighting bravely, with no hope of reward, promotion or
pay, with little to eat and that often cornbread and sorghum molasses.
If he stopped a Yankee bullet and was thereby killed, he was buried on
the field and forgotten, except by comrades or a loving old mother at
home."
"In the solemn shades of the wood that swept
The field where his comrades found him,
They buried him there--and the big tears crept
Into strong men's eyes that had seldom wept.
His mother--God pity her!--smiled and slept,
Dreaming her arms were around him."
In modern times there has never been such valor and heroism displayed
as in our Civil War, never such soldiers as the Union and Confederate,
and certainly never such as the Confederate soldiers, and it would be
nothing to their credit to have achieved victories over less valorous
foes than the Union soldiers, and no credit to the Union soldiers that
they overwhelmed men of less bravery. The individuality of the
Confederate soldier was never lost, and this with his self-possession
and intelligent thought made him well nigh invincible. The Army of
Northern Virginia as a whole was never driven from a battlefield,
although confronted by as good soldiers as were on the continent. No
danger could appall these men of Lee, no peril awe, no hardships
dismay, no numbers intimidate. To them duty was an inspiration. They
had devastated no fields, desecrated no temples and plundered no
people, always respecting woman, and feared no man. The record of these
soldiers since the war is clean, their names a stranger to criminal
records; few, if any, who followed Lee have been behind the bars of a
jail. He was their great exemplar. Thousands of these non-commissioned
officers and private soldiers, after the first year of the war, were
fitted not only to command regiments, but could well have filled much
higher military positions.
Great soldiers were Lee, Johnston, Jackson, Longstreet, Hills, Pickett,
Stuart and others, but who made them great? No generals ever had such
soldiers. It was these Confederates in the ranks that made the names of
their generals immortal. Who would have ever heard of them, or of
General Grant, but for the Confederate soldier?
What this Confederate soldier has been to the South since the war
cannot be measured or stated. Shortly after the close of the conflict
and he had reached his home, if he had one left, his troubles were not
over. He was confronted with the aftermath--the carpet-bagger and the
scallawag, as well as by military-enforced reconstruction, the blackest
spot on the page of American history. Well we might and did forgive the
wrongs of war, but how were we to overlook and forget the outrageous
and shameful things done in the name of restoration of civil
government, by the carpetbagger, Northern political pest and
pirate--the Southern scallawag, the low, mean, unworthy Southern white
man, thrown to the surface by the revolution, but, like all dirt and
filth, to go to the bottom and sink in the mud when the flood had
subsided.
Serious and grave as these questions were, which sorely tried the
Confederate soldier's courage, patience and forbearance, as they had
been tested in war, he met them bravely, firmly and by his indomitable
spirit directed and controlled them. His broad, keen, intelligent
knowledge of men and things finally carried him through the trying
ordeal, and crowned his labors with stable governments for the states
of his Southland, the most American conservative portion of the
republic, made so largely by the brain, brawn, energy and industry of
the Confederate soldier, who has been the leader, promoter and
architect of her industrial and political fortunes, the idol of her
people, her representative in the every fiber and thought of her
existence and governments. He has raised her from her ashes and poverty
into a veritable garden and to industrial and political power. The last
roll call will shortly be sounded, his sun will soon set--what a hero!
What an object of interest, will be the last surviving soldier of the
Confederacy (I crave to be the one!), the only and last representative
of that government of which the great English scholar and poet,
Professor Worsely, has written:
"No nation ever rose so white and fair,
Or fell so free of crime."
Appendix No. 1
RANK, WOUNDS, DEATHS, DISCHARGES, ETC.
No. 1. James H. French, captain first year of war; led the company in
battles of Bull Run and First Manassas.
No. 2. Eustace Gibson, first lieutenant first year of war; in battles
Bull Run and First Manassas. Brave soldier.
No. 3. W. A. Anderson, second lieutenant first year.
No. 4. Joel Blackard, second junior lieutenant first year; elected
captain at reorganization, April, 1862; in battles of Bull Run, First
Manassas, Williamsburg, Seven Pines, Cold Harbor; killed in Battle of
Frazier's Farm, June 30, 1862.
No. 5. R. H. Bane, sergeant; elected first lieutenant at
reorganization, April, 1862; promoted captain on death of Blackard;
wounded at First Battle of Manassas; led the company for the remainder
of the war; died since the war.
No. 6. John W. Mullins, second sergeant; promoted to first sergeant;
elected second lieutenant at reorganization, April, 1862; wounded at
Second Battle of Manassas and Howlett House, dying of wound received at
last named place.
No. 7. Elisha M. Stone, corporal; elected third lieutenant at
reorganization, April, 1862; wounded in battles of Williamsburg and
Gettysburg; captured at last named battle; remained a prisoner to close
of the war; led Company E, 7th regiment, in Battle of Gettysburg.
No. 8. Elijah R. Walker, elected second junior lieutenant in 1862;
promoted to second lieutenant on death of Mullins; wounded in battles
of Seven Pines and Gettysburg; disabled for service in last named
battle, and retired in April, 1864.
No. 9. Thomas S. Taylor, first sergeant; elected second lieutenant,
November 25, 1864; slightly wounded at Gettysburg; captured at Battle
of Sailor's Creek.
No. 10. A. C. Pack, first sergeant; in battles of Bull Run and First
Manassas; discharged on account of disability in Fall of 1861.
No. 11. B. P. Watts, elected second sergeant, but on account of ill
health not mustered into service.
No. 12. J. C. Hughes, elected third sergeant in April, 1861; in prison
at close of war.
No. 13. William D. Peters, fourth sergeant in April, 1861; third
sergeant at reorganization; severely wounded at Battle of Five Forks,
April 1, 1865.
No. 14. Hamilton J. Hale, fifth sergeant; died at Culpeper, October,
1861.
No. 15. A. L. Fry, first sergeant; wounded at First Battle of Manassas;
captured at Warrenton, September, 1862; slightly wounded at Battle of
Plymouth, N.C., April, 1864; captured at Battle of Sailor's Creek,
April, 1865; a prisoner at Point Lookout at close of the war.
No. 16. W. H. H. Snidow, second sergeant; in Confederate prison at
close of the war.
No. 17. Joseph C. Shannon, fourth sergeant; slightly wounded at Battle
of Frazier's Farm; captured at Battle of Sailor's Creek; a prisoner at
Point Lookout.
No. 18. David E. Johnston, fourth sergeant; slightly wounded at Battle
of Williamsburg; appointed sergeant-major 7th Virginia Regiment,
December 10, 1862; severely wounded at Battle of Gettysburg, July 3,
1863; left on the field and captured; also captured at Battle of
Sailor's Creek, April 6, 1865; a prisoner at Point Lookout at end of
the war.
No. 19. T. N. Mustain, second corporal; transferred 1862 to 57th
Virginia Infantry.
No. 20. John W. Hight, fourth corporal; wounded at battles of Seven
Pines and Second Manassas; captured at Gettysburg on third day's
battle; deserted.
No. 21. A. J. Thompson, first corporal; wounded at Battle of
Williamsburg; in prison at close of war. No better soldier.
No. 22. Daniel Bish, second corporal; wounded at Battle of Frazier's
Farm; killed at Battle of Gettysburg, third day.
No. 23. George C. Mullins, third corporal; captured at Battle of Five
Forks; a prisoner at Point Lookout.
No. 24. Jesse B. Young, fourth corporal; temporary regimental ensign;
wounded at battles of Frazier's Farm and Gettysburg and captured; again
wounded in Battle at Clay's House. A brave and valiant soldier.
No. 25. Edward Z. Yager, first sergeant in 1864; wounded in Battle of
Williamsburg; captured at Sailor's Creek; prisoner at Point Lookout.
No. 26. David C. Akers, wounded at Battle of Frazier's Farm; killed in
Battle of Gettysburg.
No. 27. George W. Akers, died in 1862.
No. 28. W. R. Albert, discharged in 1862.
No. 29. Allen M. Bane, transferred from 4th Virginia regiment in
exchange for John H. Martin, of Company D; wounded in Battle of
Williamsburg; captured at Battle of Frazier's Farm; transferred to
1st Kentucky battalion of cavalry.
No. 30. Alexander Bolton, cook and member of ambulance corps; a
prisoner at Point Lookout.
No. 31. Joseph E. Bane, killed at First Battle of Manassas.
No. 32. Jesse Barrett, killed at Battle of Gettysburg, third day.
No. 33. Travis Burton, wounded at Battle of Seven Pines; transferred.
No. 34. W. H. Carr, wounded at Second Battle of Manassas; retired.
No. 35. James M. Collins, detailed as blacksmith.
No. 36. John R. Crawford, slightly wounded at Battle of Boonsboro Gap;
captured in Battle of Five Forks; a prisoner at Point Lookout.
No. 37. William Crawford, over age; discharged.
No. 38. James B. Croy, on special service; captured and held a prisoner
until near end of war.
No. 39. James Cole, killed at Battle of Boonsboro Gap.
No. 40. T. P. Darr, wounded and taken prisoner at Battle of Frazier's
Farm; captured at Battle of Sailor's Creek; a prisoner at Point
Lookout.
No. 41. John S. Dudley, wounded in Second Battle of Manassas; also at
Sharpsburg, and captured; slightly wounded at Dreury's Bluff; captured
at Five Forks; a prisoner at Point Lookout.
No. 42. M. J. Dulaney, died June, 1862.
No. 43. D. R. Dulaney, transferred to Virginia Reserves.
No. 44. W. H. Douthat, discharged in 1862.
No. 45. Thomas Davenport, deserted in Spring, 1862.
No. 46. David Davis, discharged in 1862.
No. 47. Elbert S. Eaton, wounded in Second Battle of Manassas; captured
in Battle of Sailor's Creek; a prisoner at Point Lookout.
No. 48. Elisha D. East, whipped out of service.
No. 49. John W. East, wounded in battles of Williamsburg, Plymouth,
N.C., and Dreury's Bluff; deserted in 1864.
No. 50. Joseph A. Eggleston, died in 1862 of wounds received in battle
of Frazier's Farm.
No. 51. James H. Eggleston, died of disease, June, 1862.
No. 52. John S. W. French, deserted at Suffolk, Va., May, 1863.
No. 53. F. H. Farley, wounded in second battle of Manassas; deserted in
1864.
No. 54. William C. Fortner, wounded in battle of second Manassas; also
at Gettysburg, where he was captured.
No. 55. James H. Fortner, wounded in second battle of Manassas and
Gettysburg; left on the field and captured.
No. 56. J. Tyler Frazier; slightly wounded in second battle of
Manassas; captured on retreat from Petersburg, 1865.
No. 57. William Frazier, died October, 1861.
No. 58. Creed D. Frazier, discharged in fall 1861.
No. 59. W. A. French, in battles of Bull Run and first Manassas;
discharged July, 1861.
No. 60. Andrew J. French, discharged in fall of 1861.
No. 61. James H. Gardner, slightly wounded in battle of Bull Run, July
18, 1861; deserted May, 1863.
No. 62. Francis M. Gordon, wounded in battle of Frazier's Farm;
captured in battle of Sailor's Creek; prisoner at Point Lookout.
No. 63. Andrew J. Grigsby, promoted to Major 27th Virginia regiment.
No. 64. Charles A. Hale, surrendered at Appomattox.
No. 65. John A. Hale, wounded in battles of Williamsburg and Five
Forks.
No. 66. John D. Hare, died November 23, 1861.
No. 67. Isaac Hare, slightly wounded in battle of Bull Run, and
severely wounded in battle of Williamsburg; transferred.
No. 68. John R. Henderson, died October, 1861.
No. 69. James B. Henderson, captured in battle of Sailor's Creek; in
prison at Point Lookout.
No. 70. B. L. Hoge, at home sick at close of the war.
No. 71. James Hughes, discharged, died in 1861.
No. 72. James J. Hurt, wounded in battle of Gettysburg; captured at
Sailor's Creek, and prisoner at end of the war.
No. 73. George W. Hurt, detached as teamster.
No. 74. John F. Jones, wounded in battle of Gettysburg; leg amputated;
discharged.
No. 75. George Johnston, discharged.
No. 76. Manilius S. Johnston, wounded in first battle of Manassas;
discharged.
No. 77. George Knoll, wounded in battles of Williamsburg and Boonsboro;
captured at last named battle.
No. 78. Charles N. J. Lee, wounded in first battle of Manassas;
discharged.
No. 79. Henry Lewey, wounded in first battle of Manassas; surrendered
at Appomattox.
No. 80. Joseph Lewey, wounded at battle of Seven Pines; surrendered at
Appomattox.
No. 81. W. H. Layton, deserted, February, 1862.
No. 82. James Lindsey, discharged, 1861.
No. 83. P. H. Lefler, discharged in 1862.
No. 84. Anderson Meadows, wounded in battle of Williamsburg; captured
at Sailor's Creek; prisoner at Point Lookout.
No. 85. John Meadows, wounded in battles of Williamsburg and
Gettysburg; died in 1864.
No. 86. Ballard P. Meadows, died June 18, 1862, of wounds received in
battle of Frazier's Farm.
No. 87. N. J. Morris, discharged in 1862.
No. 88. George A. Minnich, wounded in battle of Frazier's Farm;
captured in battle of Sailor's Creek; prisoner at Point Lookout.
No. 89. Christian Minnich, captured in battle of Sailor's Creek;
prisoner at Point Lookout.
No. 90. John H. Minnich, discharged in 1861.
No. 91. A. D. Manning, killed in battle of Seven Pines.
No. 92. Raleigh Merricks, detailed as teamster.
No. 93. T. P. Mays, wounded in battle of Frazier's Farm; killed in
battle of Boonsboro.
No. 94. John H. Martin, transferred in 1861 to 4th Virginia regiment in
exchange for Allen M. Bane, transferred to Company D from 4th Virginia
regiment.
No. 95. John Q. Martin, killed in second battle of Manassas.
No. 96. W. W. Muncey, wounded in battle of Gettysburg.
No. 97. James J. Nye, died of wounds received in second battle of
Manassas.
No. 98. John Palmer, deserted in spring of 1862.
No. 99. Charles W. Peck, Second Corporal, wounded in battle of
Williamsburg; died in summer of 1862.
No. 100. John W. Sarver, severely wounded in battle of Frazier's Farm;
disabled and discharged.
No. 101. Demarcus L. Sarver, wounded in battles of Williamsburg and
Gettysburg; deserted.
No. 102. Josephus Suthern, wounded in battle of Frazier's Farm;
captured in battle of Sailor's Creek; died in prison at Point Lookout.
No. 103. Samuel B. Shannon, wounded in battle of first Manassas; served
his one year enlistment; joined 1st Kentucky battalion of cavalry.
No. 104. John P. Sublett, wounded in first battle of Manassas; killed
in battle of Gettysburg.
No. 105. William T. Sublett, died October, 1861.
No. 106. Alexander Skeens, discharged in 1862.
No. 107. Joseph Skeens, discharged in 1862.
No. 108. Lewis R. Skeens, died August 6, 1862.
No. 109. A. L. Sumner, captured in battle of Five Forks; prisoner in
Point Lookout.
No. 110. Thomas J. Stafford, discharged in 1862.
No. 111. William H. Stafford, killed in battle of Williamsburg.
No. 112. R. M. Stafford, captured in battle of Sailor's Creek; a
prisoner in Point Lookout.
No. 113. Adam Thompson, wounded in battle of second Manassas; deserted
February, 1864.
No. 114. Alonzo Thompson, died, November, 1862.
No. 115. Lee E. Vass, died August 4, 1862, of wounds received in battle
of Frazier's Farm.
No. 116. W. R. C. Vass, killed in second battle of Manassas.
No. 117. Gordon L. Wilburn, wounded in second battle of Manassas;
surrendered at Appomattox.
No. 118. Hugh J. Wilburn, wounded in battles of Frazier's Farm and
second Manassas; deserted in May, 1863.
No. 119. William I. Wilburn, wounded in battles of Williamsburg, and
second Manassas; surrendered at Appomattox.
No. 120. Lewis N. Wiley, wounded in battle of Fredericksburg; captured
in battle of Sailor's Creek; a prisoner at Point Lookout.
No. 121. Isaac Young, transferred to 28th Virginia battalion.
No. 122. Thomas J. Young, deserted in February, 1862.
Total Enlistment, 122.
Number killed in battle and died of wounds 17
Number died of disease 14
Number discharged for various causes 29
Number transferred to other commands 6
Number in prison at Point Lookout and other
places (at close of war) 27
Number absent, sick in hospital, wounded, or
at home (at close of war) 8
Number surrendered at Appomattox 9
Number deserted 12
---
122
Memo.--Absent, sick and wounded or at home at close of war:
B. L. Hoge.
W. W. Munsey.
W. C. Fortner.
James H. Fortner.
George Knoll.
J. B. Young.
W. D. Peters.
John A. Hale.
Appendix No. 2
In concluding my reminiscences I have determined to add some statistics
as to the campaigns, strength and losses of the two greatest armies of
the war--the Army of Northern Virginia and the Federal Army of the
Potomac. Never before in modern warfare had it fallen to the lot of two
such armies to fight so many bloody battles, with neither able to
obtain any decided advantage over the other. Beginning with the battles
around Richmond in the spring of 1862, to the close at Appomattox,
these two armies fought many battles through seven great campaigns. The
Army of Northern Virginia, under General Lee, numbering at its greatest
not exceeding 80,000 men, certainly greatly inferior in numbers to that
opposed--badly armed, equipped and fed, fought against six most
distinguished Federal commanders, to-wit:
McClellan before Richmond.
Pope, Cedar Mountain and Manassas.
McClellan in Maryland.
Burnside at Fredericksburg.
Hooker at Chancellorsville.
Meade at Gettysburg.
Grant from the Rapidan to Appomattox.
In these campaigns the Federals lost in the aggregate about 263,000
men. The Confederate loss is not definitely known.
General Grant's casualties were about 124,390 men, and in his campaign
from March 29, 1865, to April 9, 1865, his losses were 9944.
General Lee's surrender at Appomattox embraced 28,356 men, of whom only
8000 had arms, the residue being largely made up of broken down,
barefoot and sick men, teamsters and attaches of the medical, ordnance,
quartermaster, and commissary departments.
It may be of interest to the reader to know the number of men enrolled
in the Union and the Confederate armies during the war, and the losses
in killed, wounded, and prisoners held by each.
Official compilation shows that there were
enrolled of white troops in the Union army 2,494,592
Negro troops 178,975
---------
Total 2,673,567
Of this number the white troops from the
Southern and border states 278,923
Negro troops 140,298
---------
419,221
The enrollment of Confederate troops,
estimated 700,000
This may not be entirely correct, but is
believed to be substantially so.
The Union losses in killed, died from
wounds, disease, and from other causes 360,212
Of which the killed in action were 67,058
Died of wounds received in action 43,012
Died of disease 224,586
Deaths from other causes, or
from causes unknown 25,556
--------
Total 360,212
The Confederate losses, as far as can be ascertained, though not
believed to be entirely correct, were as follows:
Killed in action 52,954
Died of wounds 21,570
Died of disease 59,297
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Total 133,821
The number of Confederate prisoners
taken and held by the Federal government
during the war was 220,000
Number that died in Northern prisons
(12 per cent of the total) 26,000
Number of Union prisoners held by Confederates
270,000
Number that died in Southern prisons
(less than 9 per cent) 22,000
Confederate soldiers paroled, 1865 174,223
Number of battles and skirmishes fought during the war, over two
thousand.
NOTE--The most of the above statistics were obtained from
"Confederate Military History," edited by General Clement A.
Evans, and from "The Century Book of Facts," by Ruoff.