RIVALRY AND MORE REMINISCENSES
Longstreet's and A. P. Hill's divisions--Rivalry between the
two--Publications in _Richmond Examiner_ and _Whig_--General Hill
resentful--Refuses recognition of Longstreet's adjutant-general--Hill
in arrest--Personal difficulty between the two major-generals adjusted
by General Lee's influence--General Hill cherishes no rancor--Later
gave me a brigade--Army busy drilling--Quartermaster Potts and Major
Fairfax--Books among the troops--Gambling.
There was some rivalry between the two splendid divisions. Each had
done its full share of fighting in the recent battles and each had
won glory and renown. Hill had handled his men well and fought them
gallantly. Needless to say how Longstreet had held his men, as it were,
in the hollow of his hand (his abilities for handling large bodies
under fire being remarkable), and how his never-failing valor and
tenacity had supported them. The papers came out of Richmond daily,
with fetching headlines and columns of description giving the events of
the previous day. One of the widest read of these was _The Examiner_,
very brilliantly edited. It seemed to have taken Hill's division under
its special favor. Every movement was chronicled, every clash of arms,
no matter how trifling, was written up, and the grand movements and
actions of the division given such prominence as to dwarf all other
commands. There was some feeling growing up about it, especially
since it was known that a newspaper man from _The Examiner_ office
was serving temporarily on Hill's staff. Nothing was then done about
the matter, but Longstreet's young staff officers were quite at the
fighting point, as our division had come in for some animadversions in
_The Examiner_.
After the short campaign, while we were occupying some of our old
positions about Richmond, Hill lying near by, under command of
Longstreet, the latter came one day to me with a rough draft of a short
communication to _The Whig_, a Richmond paper. It flatly contradicted
_The Examiner_, so far as Longstreet's division was concerned, and
criticized the major-general who could suffer such reports to emanate
from his own staff; it was short but positive. Longstreet asked if I
objected to send such a communication to _The Whig_, signed by myself
officially, as adjutant-general. He would answer for it, because
I should not be expected alone to attack or criticize my superior
officer. I was only too willing to carry out these wishes. The little
note was prepared for the press and published in _The Whig_. It was
stiff, but with military civility, and made some comment on the
taste of having such correspondents along with military operations.
It was not regarded as offensive, but was certainly pointed in some
contradiction. To my regret I have no copy.
Such was the bomb-shell that was to burst over us in a few days. Having
occasion for some routine report or information from General A. P.
Hill, a note was sent him for it in the usual form. It was returned
endorsed that "General Hill declined to hold further communication with
Major Sorrel." Of course I was surprised, but it was apparent that
trouble was brewing and that Longstreet must show his hand. The note
was handed him and he was at once on fire at such disobedience. "Write
him again," said he, "and say that note was written by my command, and
must be answered satisfactorily."
To this Hill insisted on holding to his refusal. The correspondence was
then taken up by Longstreet personally with Hill. I did not see the
letters, but several passed, until finally, a day or two later, General
Longstreet came to me with, "Major, you will be good enough to put on
your sword and sash, mount, and place Major-General Hill in arrest,
with orders to confine himself to limits of his camp and vicinity."
It was my first duty of that kind with such rank, but I was soon on
my way, followed by an orderly. The General was in his tent seated
in a low chair, and rose as I entered, returning stiffly my salute.
Bowing, when I had communicated the orders, he resumed his chair
without speech, and saluting again, I was quickly on the road to my
own friendly camp. I know only by hearsay what took place afterwards.
It was kept quite out of reach of the staff and confined to the two
principals. Certain it is, however, that some angry letters passed and
intimate friends (D. H. Hill and Toombs for Longstreet) were called
in and a hostile meeting between the two generals was almost certain.
General Lee, however, heard of it, and acted quickly and effectively,
using his unvarying tact and great influence. He brought matters,
through other friends, to an adjustment honorable to both. A few days
later General Hill's division was shifted out of reach of Longstreet's
command and nothing more was known of the affair. Later on Longstreet
and Hill became fairly good friends, but I naturally supposed I had
incurred his hatred. For a year or two we did not meet--his division
being in Jackson's corps--except occasionally on the march, and
then the General's manner seemed to me stiff and menacing. If so,
it was only the manner, not the feeling, because in 1864 I received
from General Hill the very highest evidence of his appreciation and
friendliness. On several occasions previously, Longstreet recommended
me for promotion to command, and it must necessarily be to a brigade of
Georgians. But where a brigadier was wanted for them, there were always
good colonels of long service in the brigade that properly gained the
preference. This was so general that I despaired of leaving the staff
for higher promotion, until one day in September, 1864, a commission of
brigadier-general came to me with orders to report to Lieut-Gen. A. P.
Hill.
My preparations began at once for the change and it was necessary
for me to go to the War Department, Richmond. There I found in the
Adjutant-General's Office Capt. John W. Reilly, A. A. G., a fine young
Virginia officer, who had once served under me.
"Did you ever see, General, the paper that brought about your
promotion?" It was entirely new to me. He drew from a file a letter
from Gen. A. P. Hill, commenting on the bad condition of his fine
Georgia Brigade, which, left without a brigadier by the wounds of
Wright and the death of Girardy, was then in the hands of a brave but
incompetent colonel. He concluded by asking with great earnestness that
Lieutenant-Colonel Sorrel, of Longstreet's corps, should be promoted
and sent to him. The letter was referred to General Lee for his opinion
and then passed between the Adjutant-General, the Secretary of War, and
the President, who finally scrawled, "Make the appointment, J. D."
I tried to get the paper from Reilly as an autographic souvenir, but it
was against orders and I was obliged to content myself with a certified
copy. "It never rains but it pours;" some days after, Major-General
Kershaw wrote me that he (Kershaw) had asked for my promotion to
command one of his Georgia brigades.
Hill was a West Point man of medium height, a light, good figure, and
most pleasing soldierly appearance. He surely handled his division on
all occasions with great ability and courage and justly earned high
reputation. When Lee created the Third Army Corps he placed him in
command of it, and it was thought Hill did not realize in that high
position all that was hoped of him.
His health was impaired toward the close of the war, and his noble life
ended by a stray bullet at Petersburg after withdrawal of the lines.
It was unnecessary and he should have had years before him. It is not
necessary to say how much I appreciated his action toward myself. It
proved him magnanimous and free of petty spite in that affair, and such
was his nature. When I reported to him no one could have been more
warmly welcomed, and thenceforward I had nothing but kindness and the
most valuable support and help while with his corps.
A. P. Hill was very close to both Generals Lee and Stonewall Jackson at
different times. Perhaps only a coincidence, but certainly significant
it is, that, the last dying words of the two military chiefs were
said to be of Hill. "Send word to A. P. Hill," whispered the expiring
Jackson. "Tell Hill he must come up," were the last words on Lee's lips.
July and early August, 1862, were busy months. In front of Richmond
General Lee kept the army well exercised in drill and the new men had
to get into shape. Our staff work had been severe and our horses had
suffered. I was obliged to keep two good mounts at least, sometimes
more. It was here I fell in love with a perfect little stallion named
Voltaire, and paid a round price for him; he soon proved too delicate
for army work and I gave him to my brother in Richmond. There he should
have thriven, but I think soon went to pieces. I succeeded in finding
a handsome, powerful chestnut mare, from which I got good service
until she was killed at Gettysburg. Longstreet was admirably mounted
on two bays; one he had brought to the army with him, the other, a
finer beast, was a present from Major Fairfax, whose horse judgment
was excellent. For himself, he rode a superb gray stallion, "Saltron,"
widely known, which he had raised at his Loudoun estate. Fairfax lost
him at Sharpsburg. A round shot struck him under the tail, fairly in
the fundament, and it was at once all over with the stallion. Fairfax
was excitable, and rushing to Longstreet, sitting grimly on his horse
directing the battle, he broke out, "General, General, my horse is
killed; Saltron is shot; shot right in the back!" Longstreet gave the
Major a queer look and consoled him with, "Never mind, Major, you ought
to be glad you are not shot in your own back!"
Frank Potts, a quartermaster in the corps, tells a story of these two.
Fairfax messed General Longstreet, took good care of all his wants,
and kept him in whiskey and in all else that was needful. Potts says
that in one of the campaigns he had parked his animals and wagons in a
nice spot by the roadside at a good hour and everything was made snug
for the night's bivouac until the early march next morning. Suddenly
he saw a figure galloping wildly across the fields to him, taking
fences and ditches as he came. "Now," grumbled Potts, "it's a move;
here are the orders coming." It was Major Fairfax in full uniform. He
pulled up sharply before the quartermaster, saluted, and then, "Captain
Potts, can you tell me where a washerwoman is to be found for General
Longstreet?" relieved the Irishman and tickled his humor.
During the war the men were without many books and eagerly clung to
a novel when one came their way. Many old volumes were sent from
home, but they did not go far among such numbers. Victor Hugo's "Les
Miserables," and Muhlbach's novels, translated from the German, and
reprinted at Mobile, had begun to appear and were devoured by readers.
Later on, after Gettysburg, Freemantle's "Three Months in the Southern
States" was reprinted at Mobile and widely read. These old volumes are
now a curiosity and not to be had except at great price. The dirty
old type, blurred and worn, the rough paper with florid designs, all
attested the stress of the Confederacy in everything entering into
life. Among the soldiers in camp there was the usual gambling going on;
they played some odd sorts of games, but the greasiest packs of cards
were their stand-by.
One day Longstreet received a note from General Lee, after a ride
through our camps. This informed the corps commander that he regretted
to see so much gambling among the men; they nearly all seemed absorbed
in a game called "Chuck-a-luck." "Could anything be done to better the
matter?" Longstreet had served much with soldiers, and knew they would,
many of them, gamble in camp in spite of all orders and watching; never
yet had he found anything that would completely cure the evil. He
would, however, see what could be done--but nothing came of it.