The battalion returned to camp, near New Market, about the 20th of
February, and for two months there was nothing to mar the monotony
of camp life, save the interminable drilling and sabre grinding
ordered by Gen. Jones, which was really the most monotonous part of
it as well as the most vexatious, for White’s men didn’t like to
drill, and they had a small opinion of the sabre as a weapon to
fight Yankees with, no matter how sharp it might be, and the regular
Saturday grindings were looked upon as perfect nuisances.
Discipline in the command was at a low ebb, in fact it was hard to
keep it up to any degree of perfection at all, for several reasons;
first of which was, that Col. White himself was naturally much
better qualified for the stirring and active life of a partisan,
whose parade ground is the enemy’s picket line and wagon camp, than
to command the choicest body of troops behind the army lines; and
experience gives as a rule, that as the Colonel is, so is the
regiment, and it is one that holds good under all the circumstances
of the camp, the march and the battle-field.
The carelessness of the Colonel very soon showed itself to a far
greater degree in the battalion, and really, as of necessity it
must, impaired the efficiency of it, for there is a vast difference
between the dashing tactics of the raider, in which numbers are
little considered, and all depends upon the suddenness of the attack
and surprise of the enemy, and the operations in the face of a
prepared enemy, where the success of an army depends upon its
different parts performing the proper evolutions at the right moment
and best manner, amid the din and roar of battle, where the “flying
shot and reeking steel” are performing their bloody work.
Early in 1863, the Colonel had most fortunately secured the services
of an excellent Adjutant, in the person of Lieut. R. T. Watts,
formerly of the 2d Va. Cavalry, and a native of Bedford county, Va.,
who had been recommended to him by Col. Munford, of that regiment,
and many persons thought that the very existence of the battalion
was due to the precision and care with which Lieut. Watts performed
his duties, for the company officers, with few exceptions, were as
careless as the Colonel.
Lieut. Crown, Co. B, Lieuts. Dowdell and Tom White, Co. C, and Capt.
Grabill, Co. E, were disciplinarians, and did their best to make
soldiers of their men; but Capt. Myers and Lieut. Conrad, who formed
the character of Co. A, Lieut. Sam. Grubb, Co. C, Lieuts. Dorsey and
Chiswell, Co. B, and Lieut. Strickler, Co. E, all officers of great
influence with their companies, cared as little for drill and
discipline as possible. Company F had, for some time, been rendered
rather inefficient through the carelessness and indifference of its
officers, but it was finally raised to the position of being one of
the best in the service, by having two first-rate officers given it
in Capt. French and Lieut. James; but previous to that, Capt.
Ferneyhough was seldom with it, and Lieut. McVeigh was like the
majority, willing to let matters take their course. Lieut. Barrett
was unfortunate in being for a long time a prisoner, and Lieut.
Marlow was so frequently on detached service in the quartermaster’s
department, and elsewhere, that his services were to a great extent
lost to his company.
The quartermaster’s department exhibited the same lack of system
observable in other places, and it was soon discovered that high
attainments in law and literature, and brilliant talents as an
orator, did not fit Capt. Kilgour to perform the duties of this
important position, and he resigned in favor of John J. White, who
had been his Sergeant, and who was vastly better calculated for the
office in question than the distinguished gentleman who had preceded
him. The business was now managed by Capt. White, aided as he was by
active and energetic assistants, such as Wm. H. Luckett,
Quartermaster-Sergeant; Thomas Brown and Jack Simpson, Frank Saffer,
and last, but by no means least, “Uncle Billy Dove,” as forage and
wagon-masters; in a systematic and highly satisfactory manner.
The medical department, under the management of Dr. Ed. Wootten, was
almost a farce, from the fact that medicines of all kinds were
scarce in the Confederacy, and worth almost their weight in gold, so
that the office of Surgeon, except on battle days, when wounded men
were to be cared for, was almost a sinecure; but in the absence of
medicine, the Doctor, by all the little arts known only to the
profession, would work upon the imagination of his patients and
bring them out, generally, all right, except in cases of camp itch,
which active disease prevailed widely, and positively refused to
succumb to the imaginary efficacy of bread pills.
While in winter quarters, the first court-martial in the battalion
was convened; composed of Captains Myers, Chiswell and Anderson, and
Lieutenants Watts (Co. F,) and Strickler, (Co. E,) and proceeded to
the trial of a number of cases of absence without leave, and similar
offenses.
After the court got through with its business, the report of their
proceedings, showing that they had awarded only such light penalties
as extra duty, walking a beat, &c., was handed to the Colonel for
his approval, as military law required, when, after examining the
report, he came out in a general order at dress parade, denouncing
the action of the court as folly, fit only for school-boy nonsense,
winding up by setting aside all its judgments and discharging the
delinquents unconditionally, which ended the court-martial business
for a year.
Gen. Rosser used to tell a story which illustrated Col. White’s
attention to the minutiæ of the business of the battalion, and which
will not be out of place here.
On one occasion Gen. Lee wrote to Rosser, saying that no reports had
been received for a long time of the ordnance department of White’s
Battalion, and asking him to look into the matter, to which Rosser
replied that he had never been able to get an ordnance report from
that command, and if Gen. Lee could do so he would be glad to see
it. This brought a staff officer from army headquarters at once, to
get a report; and Gen. R. tells the story as he received it from the
officer, who, after calling at Rosser’s quarters, rode over to the
battalion, and introducing himself to Colonel White, explained his
business. “Very well, sir,” said the Colonel, “go ahead.” And by aid
of Adjt. Watts, the report was made out pretty well, until the
officer, reading from a paper which he held in his hand, said, “I
see, Colonel, that 340 guns have been issued to your command; what
report do you make of them?” (White’s men _never_ would carry guns.)
The Colonel turned to the Adjutant and asked how many guns were on
hand, to which he replied, “eighty, sir.” “Well,” said the officer,
“how do you account for the 260?” At which, White seemed somewhat
perplexed; but Gen. R. says that while he was studying the matter
over, one of the young “Comanches,” in a corner of the tent, said:
"Why, Colonel, ain’t them the guns that busted in Western Virginia?"
“I golly, yaas;” said the Colonel, “they did bust; you sent us a lot
of them drotted Richmond carbines, and they like to have killed all
the men.” The staff officer put down on his report: “260 guns
bursted in Western Virginia,” and took his departure, everything
being now accounted for.