received intelligence of the birth of the little child mentioned
in the letter of Major Hutchinson. The birth of one's first born
arouses a thousand thrilling emotions in the heart of every manly
bosom, which can be felt but not described.
General Ramseur was a superb horseman, and on the day of the battle
he appeared upon the field well mounted and dressed with unusual
care in his handsome general's uniform. He wore upon the lapel
of his coat a _boutonniere_, the gift doubtless of some fair and
patriotic woman in that section, bestowed in recognition of the
joyous event which he had made known to her.
"He died; but his end was fitting,
Foremost in the ranks he led,
And he marked the heights of his nation's gain,
As he lay in the harness--dead."
The Rev. E. Harding, his connection and chaplain, in his sketch of
General Ramseur, to which I am indebted in preparing this memoir,
writing of his Christian character, says: "Ramseur read his Bible
a great deal, and when opportunity offered held family prayers";
he was "fond of conversing on religious subjects, and punctual in
attending divine service"; that he "was a high-toned and chivalrous
gentleman, a gallant soldier, an humble Christian."
His last thoughts on earth were of home and heaven, the sweetest
words in any language. He said bear this message to my precious
wife: "I die a Christian, and hope to meet her in heaven." No balm
to the bruised heart could be more precious, no assurance more
gratifying.
Irrespective of section, irrespective of service, the blue and the
gray--Sheridan, Custer, Federal and Confederate surgeons--gather
around his couch to minister to his wants and smooth his dying
pillow. His soul takes its flight, and the day men called his
last was his first in the Paradise of God. His body was carefully
embalmed by the Federals, borne through their lines and delivered
to his early and cherished friend, General Hoke. And thus was
illustrated the saying that the world would remain at peace if those
who made the quarrels were the only men that fought, for between
the soldiers of the two armies there was no personal animosity--of
one race, of one nationality, equally brave and equally sincere,
they did not bring on the war, and not with their consent have
its animosities been continued. Ramseur's remains were carried to
his native village, and there a large concourse of his neighbors
and friends assembled to express their sorrow and do honor to his
memory. They accompanied his remains to their last resting-place,
which is in the Episcopal churchyard, and deposited them beside
those of his father and mother. Over them a loving and devoted
kinsman has had erected a handsome monument, on one side of which is
engraved the Confederate flag and the names of the principal battles
in which he fought, and on the other the date of his birth and of
his death, with this appropriate inscription: "A Good Soldier of
Jesus Christ."
* * * * *
Want of space causes the omission of several pages, not strictly
biographical, of General Cox's sketch, delivered originally as an
address before the Ladies' Memorial Association of Raleigh, May 10,
1891. It is well enough, however, that he and others have taken such
occasions to give brief analyses of the causes and motives which
shaped events of which he was an eye-witness and in which he was a
conspicuous actor.
General Cox has shown something of the same nerve and courage in
writing this sketch that characterized him in battle. In justice to
the State and her dead heroes he has uttered some truths which small
men are willing to suppress in the interest of harmony. His sketch
is a valuable chapter of North Carolina history.
[Illustration: BRYAN GRIMES.]
BRYAN GRIMES.
BY H. A. LONDON.
Bryan Grimes, a Major-General in the provisional army of the
Confederate States, was born on the 2d day of November, 1828, at
Grimesland, in the county of Pitt, about eight miles from the town
of Washington, N. C., and was the youngest child of Bryan and Nancy
Grimes. He received a good academic education--having been a pupil
of the late William Bingham, Sr., and graduated at the University
of North Carolina in June, 1848. For his _alma mater_ he always
cherished a fond remembrance, and the last letter written by him on
the day of his death was one ordering an oil portrait of himself to
be sent to the Philanthropic Society, in accordance with a request
made therefor by that body. Soon after graduating, his father gave
him a valuable plantation in Pitt county, whereon he resided until
the time of his death, with the exception of the four years during
which he was in the Confederate army. On the 9th of April, 1851,
he was married to Miss Elizabeth Hilliard, daughter of Dr. Thomas
Davis, of Franklin county, who died in November, 1857. The only
surviving issue of this marriage is the wife of S. F. Mordecai,
Esq., of the Raleigh bar. In 1860 he made a visit to Europe, but
returned home soon after Lincoln's election, and, at the first
mutterings of the approaching storm he became deeply interested in
the movements of the Southern States. As soon as he heard of the
bombardment of Fort Sumter he hastened to the scene of conflict, but
arrived after its surrender. Thence he visited Pensacola, which was
then threatened with an attack, and then went on to New Orleans,
returning home early in the month of May to find that, during
his absence, his friends had nominated him as a candidate for a
seat in the State Convention, and to which he was elected without
opposition. That body is known as the "Secession Convention," and
was the most remarkable--composed of the ablest men--ever assembled
in North Carolina. The ordinance of secession was signed on the
ever-memorable 20th of May, and, in a few days thereafter, General
Grimes, feeling that duty called him to the tented field, resigned
his seat in the Convention and accepted the appointment of Major of
the Fourth Regiment of State Troops, then organizing at Garysburg.
He was also, at the same time, offered by Governor Ellis the
positions of Lieutenant-Colonel of the Eighth Regiment and Major of
the Second Regiment of Cavalry, but he declined these offers because
he felt his deficiency in the knowledge of military tactics (never
having had any military training whatsoever), and wished to have the
benefit of the military knowledge and experience of the Colonel of
the Fourth Regiment, George B. Anderson, who was a graduate of West
Point, and one of the best officers of the old army. Without delay
he joined his regiment at Garysburg, where it remained drilling
until ordered to Richmond, and arrived at Manassas only a few days
after the victory at that place. During the remainder of the year
and until March, 1862, his regiment was stationed near Manassas, and
he was in command of it most of that period, as Colonel Anderson had
been appointed commandant of the post at Manassas.
On the 1st of May, Major Grimes was appointed Lieutenant-Colonel
of his regiment, and a night or two thereafter, when Yorktown
was evacuated, he was assigned the very responsible position
of commander of the picket line, with instructions to keep up,
as usual, the firing throughout the night and retire about
dawn, which perilous duty was most successfully and gallantly
performed. At the battle of Williamsburg, on the 5th of May, the
Fourth Regiment was only slightly engaged, and was commanded by
Lieutenant-Colonel Grimes, as Colonel Anderson was commanding the
brigade. But soon thereafter, on the 31st of May, at Seven Pines,
that gallant regiment received its baptism of fire--the most bloody
ever recorded. Lieutenant-Colonel Grimes led his regiment into
that battle with twenty-five officers and five hundred and twenty
non-commissioned officers and privates, and out of that number every
officer, except himself, and four hundred and sixty-two men, were
either killed or wounded. Such carnage is almost unparalleled in
the annals of war, and seems incredible! In this battle the escape
of Colonel Grimes seems miraculous. He acted with a bravery that
rendered him conspicuous even in such a band of heroes. In attacking
the enemy's fortifications his horse's head was blown off by a
cannon ball, and the horse fell so suddenly as to catch his foot
and leg under it. While in this position the regiment, thinking
that he was killed, began to waver, when he, pinned to the ground
by the dead horse, waved his sword and shouted, "Forward! Forward!"
whereupon some of the men came to his assistance and pulled the
horse off, and thus freed, he sprang to his feet, seized the flag of
the regiment that was lying on the ground (the color-bearer and all
the color-guard having been killed or wounded), and rushing forward,
called upon his men to charge, which they did most gallantly, and
captured the fortifications. Most nobly did the gallant Grimes,
in this bloody charge, prove himself the worthy leader of such
heroes! On the 19th of June, 1862, he was appointed Colonel of
his regiment, Colonel Anderson having received his commission as
Brigadier-General. The next battle in which Colonel Grimes was
engaged was at Mechanicsville, on the 26th of June, where, with
no officers and a mere handful of men, his regiment rendered most
efficient service, and where he had another horse killed under him.
After this battle Colonel Grimes, with his regiment, was detailed
by General D. H. Hill to take charge of the captured stores and
prisoners and report with them at Richmond. General Anderson
protested against this, paying Colonel Grimes the high compliment of
saying "Although small in numbers, Colonel Grimes' regiment is the
key-stone of my brigade."
After remaining around Richmond until the middle of July, he
was seized with typhoid fever and returned to Raleigh until he
recovered. He rejoined his command in time to take part in the first
Maryland campaign and the battles previous to the crossing of the
Potomac. When crossing the Potomac, on the 5th of September, he
received a very severe hurt upon the leg from the kick of a horse,
causing a permanent indentation of the bone, and rendering him
incapable for several days of walking or riding horseback. On the
14th of September was fought the bloody battle of Boonsboro, where
Colonel Grimes, although really unfit for duty, again acted with
conspicuous courage and had another horse killed under him; and
just here it may be proper to mention that altogether during the
war he had seven horses shot under him in battle. The exertions of
the day exhausted him and rendered his injured leg so much worse
that General Anderson insisted upon his being carried to a hospital
in the rear, where amputation was seriously talked of. His injury
incapacitated him for further service until November, when he was
assigned to the temporary command of General Anderson's Brigade,
that officer having been mortally wounded on the 17th of September,
at Sharpsburg. Colonel Grimes commanded this brigade at the battle
of Fredericksburg with much skill and judgment, and remained in
command until February, when he was relieved by Brigadier-General
Ramseur. During the remainder of the winter and until the opening of
the campaign in May, Colonel Grimes diligently drilled his regiment
until it became noted for its proficiency in military tactics and
soldierly discipline.
During the next campaign Colonel Grimes and his regiment passed
through a most fiery ordeal and nobly sustained their well-won
reputation. On the 1st of May, 1863, began the battles around
Chancellorsville. In the first day's fight Colonel Grimes' Regiment
and a Mississippi regiment were detailed "to feel" the enemy,
which they did in gallant style, driving everything before them
until the main body of Hooker's army was reached. General Jackson
himself accompanied Colonel Grimes in this movement, and when much
resistance was shown by the enemy, would say, in suppressed tones:
"Press them, Colonel." On the second day Colonel Grimes and his
regiment took an active part in routing Sigel's Corps, and on the
third day an incident occurred that deserves special mention. On the
morning of the 3d of May General Ramseur's Brigade, having borne the
brunt of the fights of the two previous days, was held in reserve
to support other troops who were to take the advance. The brigade
rested just in rear of a ... brigade of previous good reputation,
which occupied the breastworks captured the day before by Ramseur's
Brigade. A staff officer of General J. E. B. Stuart rode up to the
officer in command of the ... brigade and gave orders to advance
and charge the enemy, General Ramseur and Colonel Grimes standing
near by and hearing the order given. The ... officer declined to
move forward, whereupon General Ramseur said to the staff officer,
"Give me the order, and I will charge." He was then told to make
the charge. He and Colonel Grimes hurried back to their troops,
and, at the command "Forward!" moved up to the earthworks occupied
by the ... brigade, and actually climbed over these men now lying
down behind it for protection, and over the breastworks, and then
formed in line of battle under a murderous fire. Colonel Grimes was
so disgusted with the cowardly conduct of the ... troops that, in
passing over them, he singled out an officer of high rank who was
lying down, and placing one foot on his back and the other on his
head, with contempt and fierce indignation ground his face in the
earth. After climbing over the breastworks and forming in line of
battle, Ramseur's Brigade rushed forward, Colonel Grimes' Regiment
and three companies of the Second Regiment not halting or firing
a gun until they had captured the enemy's works and bayoneted
the Federal soldiers on the opposite side of the earthworks. The
remainder of the brigade had in the meantime halted to deliver their
fire on encountering the enemy where they were engaged. This was one
of the few times during the war when the opposing troops actually
crossed bayonets, and where an inferior force in broad daylight,
without firing a gun, captured breastworks held by superior numbers
and drove them out at the point of the bayonet! In this charge
Colonel Grimes' sword was severed by a ball, his clothing perforated
in many places--a ball imbedded in his sword-belt and scabbard and
he received a severe contusion on the foot. His regiment suffered
fearfully, forty-six being killed and one hundred and fifty-seven
wounded out of three hundred and twenty-seven carried into action.
Truly may we claim that this charge was as gallant, daring, and
self-sacrificing as the world-renowned charge of "the immortal six
hundred" at Balaklava!
In the Pennsylvania campaign Colonel Grimes and his regiment were
with the advance, and went on picket duty only eight miles from
Harrisburg, the capital of the State. While on picket duty there,
about five hundred Pennsylvania militia, wearing high, sugar-loaf
hats, marched out to drive back the "bloody Rebels." As soon as
Colonel Grimes caught sight of them he placed a portion of his men
in ambush, who, as soon as the militia passed, opened fire in their
rear, while those in front raised the terrifying "Rebel yell" and
charged them. Of course the militia were completely stampeded, and
sought shelter in the neighboring fields, dropping in their flight
their hats, with which Colonel Grimes' men supplied themselves. In
the first day's fight at Gettysburg Colonel Grimes and his regiment
were the first to enter that town and drove the enemy through
Gettysburg to the heights beyond, capturing more prisoners than
there were men in his command. Had this temporary success been
followed promptly by Lee's army Gettysburg would not have sounded
the death-knell of the Southern Confederacy!
In the retreat from Pennsylvania Colonel Grimes was placed in
the rear guard and assisted most efficiently in protecting the
retreating army. It seems always to have been the fate of this
officer to occupy the post of honor and danger--in the front in
every advance and in the rear in every retreat, beginning with
Yorktown, in 1862, and ending at Appomattox, in 1865. This fact
speaks louder than any words the great confidence placed in him by
his superior officers.
On the 5th day of September, 1863, Colonel Grimes was married to
Miss Charlotte Emily, daughter of the late Honorable John H. Bryan,
of Raleigh. This lady now survives him, with four daughters and
four sons. May the latter prove themselves to be worthy scions of
so noble a sire, and their mother be enabled to point them out as
her jewels, as did the mother of the Gracchi! In October, 1863,
the friends of Colonel Grimes urged him to become a candidate to
represent the Second District in the Confederate Congress, and at
first he yielded to their wishes; but upon further consideration, he
declined the honor, and published a letter, which well illustrated
his unselfish patriotism, in which he stated that he "preferred to
remain in active service in the field until peace and independence
were secured." In November Colonel Grimes was placed in command of
the brigade for the second time, while General Ramseur was at home
on a furlough. The following winter was spent quietly, both armies
preparing for the great conflict that was soon to begin at the
Wilderness. Commencing on the 5th day of May, 1864, there was one
almost continuous battle for a month, fighting all day and at night
resting on their arms in line of battle. Colonel Grimes was actively
engaged every day, but his services on the 12th and 19th days of
May deserve especial mention. The Federal troops, by a sudden
movement, had surprised that portion of the Confederate breastworks
known as the "Horse Shoe," and captured about two thousand men
belonging to General Edward Johnson's Division. It was necessary to
retake this position, and Ramseur's Brigade was selected for this
difficult task. The charge was ordered, and while being gallantly
made, General Ramseur was wounded, and was not able to keep up. At
this critical juncture Colonel Grimes, seeing the need for prompt
action, assumed the responsibility of ordering a second charge,
himself leading it, and recovered the entire works and all the
guns, capturing many prisoners and killing more of the enemy than
the brigade numbered men. General Lee himself rode down, and in
person thanked the brigade for its gallantry, telling them that they
deserved the thanks of the country--they had saved his army.
General Junius Daniel having been mortally wounded on the 12th of
May, Colonel Grimes was placed in command of that lamented officer's
brigade, and soon thereafter received his well-deserved commission
of brigadier-general. This commission, though not received until
the 5th of June, bore date May 19th, on which day he had handled
the brigade with such efficiency (on a flank movement towards the
rear of Grant's army) that General Rodes (the division commander)
approached him soon after the battle, and, shaking him by the hand,
said: "You have saved Ewell's Corps, and shall be promoted, and your
commission shall bear date from this day." Upon being assigned to
the command of Daniel's Brigade, General Grimes' old regiment (the
Fourth) made application to be transferred to that brigade, in order
to be with their old commander, but their request, in which General
Grimes heartily joined, was not granted. Still they were in the
same division, and on every occasion possible General Grimes' old
regiment testified their affection for him.
About the middle of June, Grimes' Brigade, with the other troops
of Ewell's Corps (now commanded by General Jubal Early), was
ordered to the Valley of Virginia, and began a series of movements
almost unparalleled in war. They quickly drove the Federal forces,
commanded by General Hunter, entirely out of Virginia, although the
latter greatly outnumbered them. Forced marches were made almost
every day, and the men were exhausted by hunger as well as by
fatigue, and yet they marched on, crossed the Potomac, threatened
Baltimore, alarmed the government at Washington, and defiantly
flaunted their blood-stained banners in sight of the very dome of
the Capitol!
In July General Grimes went home on a sick furlough, but soon
returned to active duty, although still sick and having a surgeon's
certificate of unfitness for duty. He could not remain at home while
his services were so much needed at the front. Until the 19th of
September Early's forces were generally victorious in every skirmish
and battle, but on that fatal day a victory was turned into a rout,
the enemy's vastly superior numbers overwhelming the Confederates
and disastrously defeating them. Here fell the division commander,
General R. E. Rodes, than whom there was no better officer in the
Army of Northern Virginia. In this battle General Grimes greatly
distinguished himself, and his escape was marvelous, he being in the
thickest of the fight, his horse shot under him and nearly every
member of his staff severely wounded. A month afterwards, on the
19th of October, Early's army was again defeated by overwhelming
numbers. General Grimes made desperate efforts to stem the tide,
exposing himself with an utter indifference to danger in his
efforts to rally the panic-stricken troops, and having two horses
shot under him. General Ramseur, who had succeeded Rodes in the
command of the division, was mortally wounded in this battle, and
General Grimes was placed in command of the division and retained
that command until Lee's surrender, his commission as major-general
being issued in the following February. This division was composed
of as gallant a body of men as ever marched to battle, and had
greatly distinguished itself in every campaign. For two years it
had been commanded by General Rodes, who was one of General Lee's
most trusted officers, and under its new commander--the gallant
Grimes--it well sustained its brilliant reputation. It was composed
of four brigades, two from North Carolina, one from Alabama, and one
from Georgia. One of the North Carolina brigades was Daniel's old
brigade--afterwards Grimes'--and the other was formerly Ramseur's,
now commanded by General W. R. Cox. While North Carolina may well
be proud of all her troops in the late civil war, she has especial
cause to be proud of such heroes as composed those two brigades. The
Alabama brigade had won at Seven Pines a reputation that was well
sustained afterwards on many a hard-fought field. Its commander,
General Cullen Battle, was so severely wounded at Winchester
as not to be able to return again to active duty. The Georgia
brigade, though the smallest in the division, always did its full
duty, its first commander having been General Doles, who fell at
Spottsylvania, and its second, General Phil. Cook, who was wounded
at Hare's Hill and captured at the evacuation of Petersburg.