During the month following the foray into Deven’s camp, the
“Comanches” devoted themselves to the duty of recruiting their
horses and preparing for the return to the army whenever their chief
should call them from their winter quarters to perform their part in
what all felt and believed was to be the final campaign of the war.
The long rest and freedom from discipline had not been beneficial to
the “morale” of the command, and in fact a great deal of the energy
and fire that had formerly characterized White’s Battalion, had been
chilled and worn out by the privations and blood of the many trying
campaigns through which they had passed, and which had been
productive of no result, so far as they could see, except to make
each succeeding one more desperate and bloody, and the isolated
raids, skirmishes and picket fights, which had once been their
delight and pride, had now lost the peculiar charm to them, for all
the men saw that in the magnitude to which the war had grown, such
affairs were of no importance at all, and they all felt that to
attain the liberty for which so much blood had already been spilled,
there must be great and decisive battles fought, in which superior
generalship and stubborn courage on the part of the South should
overmatch the swarming legions of Northmen, who, bought by the
Federal bounty, were constantly swelling the ranks of Grant’s army.
Very few of the Southern soldiers doubted the ultimate success of
the cause which had stood such terrible storms, and all believed
that the last day of the war was very near, when, with a second
Waterloo, the stars on the Southern Cross would blaze grandly in a
glorious triumph or sink beneath an ocean of blood into the dark,
but still glorious, gloom of defeat; and with a faith that might
shame the Christian in his trust in his God the soldiers trusted in
Gen. Lee, willing to give their lives to his keeping, and if _not_
willing to die for their cause they _were_ willing and ready to
follow their great commander with unquestioning confidence wherever
he might lead them.
On the 17th of March, 1865, Col. White’s order for his men to join
him was put into the hands of his Company officers, and as it was
his last General Order to an organized battalion, I append it in
full; and the reader will bear in mind that it was written the day
after the Yankee Sheridan, whose name will ever be synonymous with
infamy, had marched with fifteen thousand cavalry up the Shenandoah
Valley;
“HEAD-QUARTERS, 35TH BATTALION, }
“March 6th, 1865. }
“GENERAL ORDER, NO. 1.
“_Soldiers of the renowned 35th_: Your Chief calls you again from
your pleasant homes and loved ones to the field of battle! You
will not be slow to answer his call.
“The invading foe has penetrated to the very heart of your beloved
Virginia, and proud spirits like yours cannot tamely rest while
upon every breeze is borne the wailing of helpless women and
children!
“Come, my gallant boys! and we will throw the weight of our sabres
in the scale with our brethren in arms against the dastard hordes
of the North, who thus, without mercy or justice, pollute the
sacred altars of our bleeding land.
“E. V. WHITE,
“_Lieutenant-Colonel Commanding_.”
After several attempts, which failed because of the scattered
condition of his command, Captain Myers got about sixty men of
Companies A, B and C, together on the night of the 20th, at the
Semper’s Mill rendezvous, and on the morning of the 21st started for
Richmond, leaving Boyd Barrett and Sam White in Loudoun, with
instructions to gather up the remaining “Comanches,” who were not
yet ready to march, and bring them out in ten days.
The line of march was by Madison C. H. and Gordonsville, through the
country that Sheridan’s army had just passed over, and it would have
taken a man with a nicely balanced mind for calculation to figure
out anything in the way of destruction that might be added to what
had been accomplished by these fire-brands of Satan or _Stanton_;
but what affected the military situation was the ruin to the Rail
Road, for there was literally not a rail or even a cross-tie left
upon it for miles, and everything that bore the faintest resemblance
to a bridge, though it was only a foot-plank over a ditch, had been
taken up and destroyed, but the injury which this destruction was
intended to inflict upon the army of Gen. Lee was scarcely felt by
it now, from the fact that the road ran through an already
impoverished country, and there were no supplies in the Valley to be
brought over it, while the necessity for sending rations from
Richmond to Gen. Early’s forces at Staunton was ended by the
annihilation of that command by Sheridan before he struck the Rail
Road at all, and consequently the raiding on the road was, in a
military point of view, utterly useless.
The Loudoun detachment marched by Hanover Junction, over the well
remembered fighting-ground of Cold Harbor and Mechanicsville, and
joined the brigade, on the night of the 25th, near Atlee’s Station,
six miles north of Richmond, where it encamped for the night, and on
the morning of the 26th passed through the city, crossing on Mayo’s
bridge to the south side of the James.
General Rosser’s division was composed now of two brigades, one
commanded by Brig. General McCausland, and the other—his own old
brigade—by Brig. General Dearing, an accomplished young officer, who
had highly distinguished himself under General Hoke at the capture
of Plymouth, N. C., and also on the Petersburg lines during the long
campaign of 1864, and although a total stranger to the Valley
brigade, his genial, affable disposition and soldierly appearance,
together with the brilliant reputation which had preceded him, soon
rendered him a great favorite with the troops who had followed the
lead of such men as Ashby, Jones and Rosser.
The division passed Petersburg on the 27th, and on the 28th united
with General W. H. F. Lee’s division near Stony Creek Station, and
encamped on the Nottaway river. The two divisions had less than
three thousand men in them, that of Rosser not numbering over twelve
hundred, when if all its men out of prison and capable of duty had
been present the brigade of Dearing alone would have had certainly
not less than twenty-five hundred in ranks; but what was true of one
part of the army was also true of the balance of it, and General Lee
had only a remnant of what had been the A. N. V. to meet Grant’s
hundred and sixty thousand men.
The weather was most unfavorable, as rain fell almost continually;
the ground was as full of water as a sponge, so that it was
difficult and dangerous to ride a horse off the roads, which were
themselves almost knee-deep in mire and mud, while the streams were
swollen to the brim, and many of them the troopers had to cross by
swimming their horses, to the great damage of ammunition and such
rations as they had.
On the 39th the command was ordered towards Dinwiddie Court-house,
where Sheridan was pressing the Confederates in his attempt to reach
the South Side Rail Road, which, if cut, would completely destroy
all outside communication with Richmond and Petersburg, and here
Gen. Fitz. Lee, who now commanded the Cavalry Corps A. N. V., was
combining all his energies to save the road and the right wing of
Lee’s army.
On the 31st of March the battalion took part in the battle of Five
Forks, and on the 1st of April was engaged all day in fighting,
scouting and picketing, in the vicinity of Hatcher’s run; two names
rendered famous in the history of the war by the desperate fighting
of the Cavalry Corps, and of the glorious Infantry Division of
General Pickett; and from now to the end, the battalion was closely
connected with the operations of the army, in the last brief and
gloomy, but forever glorious campaign, which crushed the hopes that
had sustained the hearts of Lee’s veterans through four weary years
of suffering and blood, and we cannot separate the history of the
“Comanches” from that of the Corps to which they belonged, and in
which they performed all the duties allotted to them.
The night of April 1st was a sleepless one, for the horribly
incessant thundering of the artillery at Petersburg, and the
rattling of the muskets over Hatcher’s run, told to the troopers
that the moment when they must take to their saddles and engage in
the fray might be at hand; but no move was made until the morning of
the 2d, when the enemy on the right succeeded in flanking the
divisions of Fitz. and W. H. Lee and Pickett, routing and driving
them from their position, and the retreat began, not towards
Petersburg, for that, too, had fallen, but along the Rail Road
towards the West.
Here Col. White, with his battalion of eighty men, was placed in the
rear, and until 3 o’clock kept back the harassing forces of the
enemy which pressed close on flanks and rear, threatening to ride
over the “Comanches” at almost every step of the march, which was
clogged and hindered continually by the trains of wagons that the
worn-out teams were dragging through the mud at what seemed almost a
snail’s pace.
In the evening it became necessary to halt, in order to protect the
trains, and Fitz. Lee’s division wheeled to the rear, where
temporary breastworks were thrown up, and the Yankees checked for a
time; but the battalion lost the services of two of its best
officers in Lieut. Chiswell, of Company B, and Lieut. Strickler,
Company E, who were both severely wounded, and also of Sergeant
Alonzo Sellman, Company B, who, though shot in the head and given up
for dead, survived and finally recovered.
The division of General Johnson (infantry) moved also to the rear,
and by aid of the cavalry repulsed every attack of the Yankees until
midnight, when the whole force again crossed Hatcher’s run and
halted until daylight, when the toilsome retreat was continued, the
wagons still dragging along slower and slower, requiring the cavalry
to dispute the passage of every stream with the enemy, and halt on
every hill-top to offer battle to their pressing columns, which,
flushed with success, and brave because of their numbers, grew more
and more determined in their dogging attacks upon the rear, while
the Confederates, worn-out, hungry and disheartened, still plodded
on through rain and mud, and still faintly hoped that General Lee
would stop, in some way, the advancing foe, and bring success out of
the cloud of disaster that now overwhelmed them.
The Quartermasters said that there were plenty of rations for the
army at Amelia C. H., and the prospect kept the men up, and on the
evening of the 4th they reached that place, only to meet the
bitterest disappointment, for not an ounce of rations was there, and
now it really did seem that famine would accomplish what all of
Grant’s bayonets could not effect and compel the veteran army of Lee
to surrender; but _that_ alternative impressed the men as worse than
starvation, and plucking the buds and twigs of the trees as they
passed along, these men of iron nerves and lion hearts essayed to
quiet the cravings of hunger by eating them.
A short rest was permitted at the Court-house, as the enemy’s
cavalry had not pressed them so closely to-day as before, and the
reason for this was discovered on the 5th, when near Amelia Springs,
a strong force of them dashed in from the flank upon the wagon-train
and destroyed more than a hundred wagons, causing such a stampede
among the Quartermasters, teamsters and stragglers, as only those
who had been in the Valley with Gen. Early could imagine, and
leaving the road blocked up with the smoking wrecks. As soon as Gen.
Rosser learned this he started the brigade of Dearing forward, and
as rapidly as possible they came up with the Yankees at the Springs
and attacked them furiously, the 11th Virginia, under Lieut. Col. M.
D. Ball, leading most gallantly, and being supported by the
remainder of the division, and by a portion of Gen. Fitz. Lee’s
division, they whipped the enemy’s cavalry handsomely, killing and
wounding nearly as many as were engaged on the Confederate side, and
driving the remainder back upon their infantry.
This affair did more to revive the drooping spirits of the Cavalry
Corps than anything else could, but it is doubtful if they would
have fought so fiercely if they had not been so hungry, and the
first demand, on taking a prisoner, was "hand me your haversack,
quick, or I’ll blow your brains out."
They camped that night at the Springs, and after this the cavalry
fared much better than the infantry, for they were kept constantly
riding on the flanks, from rear to front, and back again, having
thereby an opportunity to obtain something to eat at the houses of
citizens off from the line of march pursued by the main army, but it
was saddening to see the despairing looks cast by the inhabitants of
the country as they would say farewell to the boys in gray after
they had willingly fed them with the best they had and saw them ride
away, for they dreaded what was to come after them more than if all
the plagues of old Egypt’s King had been turned loose in their land
and were approaching their plantations, and on one occasion, when
the “Comanches” were riding past a house, some beautiful young
ladies came out, and closing the gate in front of the column, said,
"You are going the wrong way; please don’t leave us to Sheridan’s
mercy; go back and whip the Yankees for our sakes;" but noticing the
bitterness which their act and words added to the already
heart-crushing sadness of retreat and defeat, they opened the gate,
saying, "Go on; we know you can’t help it; but we will pray for you,
and hope that you will soon be back to drive them away; don’t forget
us when you meet the Yankees."
There is no doubt that the citizens of the South were subjugated
long before the armies were reduced to the extremity of
surrendering, but the noble-souled, true-hearted women of the sunny
Southern land were not, nor ever have been, willing to surrender
their faith in the justice of the “Lost Cause,” or to give up their
hope of a final triumph of the principles they so fondly loved and
cherished, and
“Though long deferred their hope hath been,
Yet it shall come at last.”
The Southern women were the “power behind the throne” during the
whole existence of the Confederate States, and were so acknowledged
by Seward, the Yankee Secretary of State; by Butler, “the Beast;”
and by Sherman, the prince of “bummers” and thieves, in their bitter
persecution of them, for they knew that the steady, unchanging
influence of the mothers, sisters, wives and sweethearts of the
South did more to fill the ranks of the Confederate army than all
the edicts of its Congress or acts of its Conscript Bureau. And
nobly and bravely did the ladies meet their persecution. Up to the
day of Lee’s surrender their voices were still for war, and their
tongues, sharper than sabre-blades, turned against deserters and
skulkers from the army and “bomb-proof” officers in it. They
equalled the women of Poland in their enthusiasm and devotion, and
excelled them in persistent opposition to, and hatred of, those whom
they regarded as the oppressors of their country. Many a poor fellow
whom the surrender caught in a Northern prison, hesitated to take
the oath of allegiance which would have procured his release,
although he knew there was no longer a “Dixie” banner to be true to,
because he did not know “what the women at home would say to it;”
and when they _did_ take the oath and go home the women sometimes
blamed them, sometimes said nothing, and sometimes only remarked,
"Yes, you did right, ’needs must when the devil drives,’ and if ever
he held the reins on earth he does to-day."
A Federal officer in North Carolina asked a lady “Are you not sorry
you ever used your influence in support of this rebellion, when you
see the misery which has followed it?”
“No, sir,” she replied, “we have done what we could, and my sorrow
is not for the effort we made, but for its failure. Better, ten
thousand times better, the present sufferings than the degredation
of submitting tamely without a struggle. We feel that we were right
and that is a great thing, let the conviction cost us what it may.”
But it is time to go back into the forlorn death-march of Lee’s
army.
Early in the morning of the 6th the enemy advanced on the pickets at
Amelia Springs, who were from the second squadron of White’s
Battalion, commanded by Captain French, who, after a firm
resistance, was compelled to retire upon the infantry, who at the
same time were being warmly pressed by the main body of Grant’s army
in the rear, and the retreat was resumed and continued during the
day with constant fighting.
On arriving near Rice’s Station a heavy force of the enemy’s cavalry
made an attack upon Rosser’s division, but the General wheeled his
regiments and threw them in fierce and desperate charges upon the
foe, routing and driving him back upon his infantry.
The old brigade seemed inspired with the fiery valor which had in
other days given it the proud title of the “Laurel,” and impelled
its men to follow the battle-flag of Dixie through blood to victory,
on many a well-fought field, and never in all the years of the war,
had it acted more gallantly.
When this affair opened the “Laurel” brigade was near the High
Bridge, and was forced to charge the enemy’s infantry, which in
strong force was posted in the edge of a body of timber, and here
the Yankee line was driven back, but pretty soon Gen. Dearing
ordered his people to retire, and riding up to Col. White, the
General informed him that the enemy had surrounded them, and asked
his advice, saying, “We must cut through or surrender.” The Colonel
only replied, by saying, “You know best what to do;” and Dearing
then said, “We _must_ whip that infantry, and if you and I lead the
charge, it _can_ be done,” which Col. White at once agreed to, and
the regiment were again ordered forward, the battalion in front,
with Col. White and Gen. Dearing leading it.
By this time the Yankees had returned and taken position some
fifteen yards in front of the woods, from which they opened a
terrible fire, but the “Comanches” swept onward, supported by the
brigade, and the enemy was again driven in great confusion over the
hill.
Here Gen. Dearing was mortally wounded, and carried from the field,
and Federal Gen. Read, who commanded the Yankee forces, was also
mortally wounded, and fell into the hands of the Confederates.
On reaching the top of the hill, and finding himself in command of
the brigade, Col. White halted, to reform his scattered line,
preparatory to charging again upon the Yankees, who were rallying at
a corner of woods about a quarter of a mile away, but while thus
engaged, a small party of the enemy’s cavalry, from towards Rice’s,
appeared, and two of them attacked the gallant Maj. Breathed, of the
Stuart Horse Artillery, who had ridden alone, some distance beyond
the Confederate line, and a desperate conflict took place, in full
view of both parties, wherein nothing but the sabre was used. In a
short time the Major knocked one of his foes from his horse, and was
almost instantly knocked down himself by the remaining one, but just
as the Yankee had wheeled his horse, and was leaning over with his
sabre in tierce to despatch the prostrate Major, one of White’s men
approached, and with a pistol shot brought the Yankee to the ground,
when Breathed sprang up with his sabre still in his hand,
exclaiming, "Oh! damn you! I’ve got you now," and killed him.
This seemed to convince the Yankees that they could do nothing with
such men, and they again retreated; but now a force of cavalry was
discovered advancing rapidly upon the right of the brigade, and
White turned to meet them, as they advanced bravely to the charge,
led by as gallant an officer as ever graced a battle-field, but
brave as was the commander, and promptly supported by his men as he
was, the “Comanches” had their fighting blood on fire, with the
excitement of victory, and in a few minutes broke the Yankee line
and captured their Colonel, using their sabres with such desperate
courage, that no troops could have stood long before this little
band of men who had been starved and harassed into very devils of
war and blood.
The battle-tide was again turned against the enemy’s legions, and
the cavalry driven back upon their infantry, who, in heavy force had
taken position on the crest of a steep, rocky hill, and here for a
moment they checked the Confederate advance, but General Munford had
now arrived with his division, and Gen. McCausland ordered Capt.
Myers to go to a regiment of dismounted men and take them to the top
of the hill. This regiment proved to be the 6th Virginia Cavalry,
commanded by Major Grimsley, who moved his men forward at once, and
Col. Boston, the commander of Paine’s Brigade, rode to the head of
the regiment to lead it, but was shot through the brain.
The 6th, however, kept on, and now Colonel White led his men through
a perfect storm of bullets, up the bluff, and again the Yankees
fled, pursued fiercely by the “Comanches,” who captured many
prisoners in the chase to the river, and on reaching the bank, near
the High Bridge, their infantry, to the number of over seven
hundred, threw down their arms and surrendered to White’s Battalion.
In this last charge, as Maj. Thompson, who had left his battery to
help the cavalry fight, was riding recklessly down upon the enemy,
whirling his sabre around his head and shouting to the “Comanches”
to “charge the devils,” that he "wanted to go in with White’s
Battalion," &c., a Yankee fired upon him with fatal aim, sending a
bullet through his head, and the brave young officer leaped from his
saddle a corpse, and thus the light of that gallant spirit, which
for four years had revelled unscathed, amid the most appalling
dangers, went out in blood upon the field of victory to the men whom
he had so often seen following the lead of his loved friend and
commander, Turner Ashby; that friend who, on the bloody field at
Harrisonburg, breathed out his noble life in Jamie Thompson’s arms,
but his eyes’ last glance rested on a beaten foe, and the last
sounds that fell upon his ear were the wild triumphant yells of the
“Comanches.”
The battalion took four regimental standards and about eight hundred
prisoners, while the total of prisoners amounted to about eleven
hundred, greatly exceeding the whole Confederate force engaged, and
their loss in killed and wounded was certainly not less than four
hundred, including many officers, and six flags were displayed as
trophies of the fight.
General Dearing had been carried to a house near the field, and
after the battle Colonel White went to see him, finding him unable
to speak above a whisper, and in fact, dying. Gen. Rosser was seated
on one side, and as White came in, the wounded General took his
hand, and pointing with the other to the Brigadier’s stars on his
own collar, turned his face to General Rosser and whispered, “I want
these to be put on his coat.”
Among the wounded in the battalion was Benjamin F. Leslie, Company
A, who had been remarkable for his unwavering faith in the success
of the South, through all the gloomy retreat, even when every heart
was despondent, and who while fighting desperately at the bridge was
mortally wounded.
He, too, was at the house, and when the Colonel went in to see him
found him suffering greatly from the bullet wound through his body
and lying with his knees almost drawn up to his chin. The Colonel
asked him if he was badly hurt, and he replied, “Yes, Colonel, I am
mortally wounded.” “Oh!” said the Colonel, “I hope not. Ben, you
must cheer up.” “No, sir,” said Ben, "there’s do hope for me; I
asked the doctor and he says I must die," and then raising his head,
with the light of faith in and devotion to his cherished country’s
cause beaming from his eye, he exclaimed, “But there are men enough
left to gain our independence.”
The gallant commander of the 12th Virginia cavalry, Major Nott, was
killed in the charge upon the infantry early in the engagement, and
the scene was full of sad and solemn meaning as the soldiers buried
their dead comrades on the hill near the house, just before leaving
the ground to the enemy, but many felt that the hero blood of the
Southland had not been spilled in vain when they saw so many of
their foes laid beneath the same sod, and knew they had lost so many
more, but the enemy had fought bravely and well, and the Confederate
loss was very severe, the battalion alone losing eighteen killed and
wounded out of about forty engaged. Only the first squadron was
present at the opening of the fight, as Capt. French with his
squadron had been left on picket at Amelia Springs in the morning,
and all day long was bringing up the rear closely pressed by the
enemy, and compelled to turn and fight at every hill and wood and
stream along the route, so that he did not reach the ground until
towards the close of the battle.
About dark the command of White reached the main army, which was
still wearily plodding along the muddy road towards Lynchburg, and
now the brigade lay in line of battle until midnight, waiting for
the slow-moving train to pass, while less than a mile away the
camp-fires of Grant’s army shone brightly through the gloom of that
dismal night.
Two hours after the last wagon had passed, the old Valley brigade
marched silently along in rear of the whole army, but it was as slow
as ever, for the rain was again falling, and the bottom of the road
sinking deeper and deeper beneath the mud, so that, although the
enemy had rested during the hours of darkness, their advance was up
with the Confederates by 9 o’clock on the morning of the 7th, and
the latter, who had toiled on through all the weary night, were
forced to renew and continue the same old story of turning at bay on
every hill along the route.
About noon the rear-guard reached Farmville, in Prince Edward
county, and so stubbornly did Rosser hang on in his bull-dog style
to the favorable positions around that place, that the pursuit was
checked, and the enemy compelled to resort to a flank movement,
which their great force rendered easy, but which came to grief from
being performed too near the view of Gen. Rosser.
During the operations on the hills of Farmville a Federal brigade
approached White’s people, and the commander, mistaking them for a
part of his own force, sent a courier forward to order them not to
advance too far ahead of their supports, but Col. White, not wishing
to be so supported, made no attempt to obey the Yankee’s order, and
only pointed his pistol at the courier’s head with a demand for his
surrender, which was of course complied with.
After destroying the bridges the brigade of White retired, and the
battalion, being the rear guard, was very hotly pressed, many of the
men being forced to swim the river in effecting their escape, as the
enemy advanced their whole force the moment the Confederates
commenced to fall back, and Captain Dowdell’s Company, together with
a portion of Co. A, under Lieut. Marlow, were very near being taken.
After getting clear of Farmville the men found some oat stacks, and
of course helped themselves to what they could carry, intending to
feed their horses at the first halt, and as Col. White was riding
along with Capt. Myers, who was in command of the battalion, each of
them carrying a sheaf of oats before him, while the battalion was
scattered for a mile (there being no thought of danger now as the
enemy had halted at Farmville), a sudden commotion was observed in
the woods through which the route of the main army lay, and in a few
moments Gen. Rosser appeared, almost alone, with the Yankees
charging after him.
Col. White instantly ordered his people forward, and hastily
throwing away their oats, the men went in again, driving the enemy
back upon their main body, which proved to be the flanking force
before spoken of, and numbered about four thousand cavalry commanded
by Gen. Gregg, who had been sent over the river to fall upon the
wagon train while the affair was enacting at Farmville, but although
they reached to within fifty yards of the train they did not reach
it from the fact that the very men whom they had left confronting
Sheridan at Farmville, were here between them and the wagons.
The few men of Rosser’s division held the whole force of the enemy
in check until Gen. Fitz. Lee’s division came up, and the two
together attacked so vigorously that Gregg’s command was driven back
in confusion before scarcely a third of its number, and Gen. Gregg
himself was captured as he was gallantly attempting to rally his
fugitive troops, he having made the same mistake as the courier to
Col. White, and tried to prevail on a body of Confederates, who were
chasing the Yankees, to “halt and form.”
After this, the Southern troops destroyed about one hundred of their
wagons, as it was evident they could not take them much farther, and
putting their teams to the other wagons attempted to make up in
speed for the time lost already; and to-night the Colonel halted his
brigade in line of battle again to watch the rear, and about two
o’clock in the morning followed on after the army, leaving the
battalion to act as rear guard for him, with instructions not to
approach nearer than one mile to the brigade unless _forced_ back,
and it was fully understood by the “Comanches” that they were not to
consider themselves _forced_ without a fight.
About sunrise the enemy became very troublesome and as not more than
one mile could be marched without a halt to wait for the wagons to
be pulled out of the mud, which in many places was hub-deep, the
position of the rear guard became a very exciting one, especially as
it was found that the enemy’s infantry had left the road and was
outmarching them through the fields and open pine woods to the left.
During one of the halts, about nine o’clock, as the battalion was,
as usual, drawn up in line facing the left, and Capt. Myers, with a
few pickets, was a half mile from his people down a road that led
towards the enemy, a party of four Yankees were seen approaching
through the woods, and as they came very confidently along making no
sign to the two Confederates, who were standing in full view, it was
decided best to halt them with a shot from a Sharpe’s rifle, which
resulted in the killing of the foremost Yankee, and in falling he
displayed a white flag, which, until that moment, had not been seen,
because of the pines.
Both parties hastily retired, and it being now discovered that the
army was moving again, the battalion also marched quietly, but in
the distance of two miles another halt was called, and now the
country being open the thousands of men in blue could be seen,
drawing close along the flank and rear, but what puzzled the
Confederates was the total absence of cavalry, in any force, with
Grant’s army.
While standing here, a mounted Yankee was observed galloping along
the road waving a white flag, and being met by one of the battalion,
he presented a letter addressed to General Lee, but Capt. Myers
refused to forward it unless the line of infantry, now within half a
mile, would halt, which the bearer of the flag communicated to the
enemy’s officers, and a halt was immediately ordered, the command
being distinctly heard by the Confederate rear-guard.
The letter was now sent forward to Gen. Lee, and in half an hour an
answer, directed to Gen. Grant, was returned, with a request from
Gen. Lee that one or two of the _best dressed_ officers in the
battalion be sent in company with the truce-bearer to the enemy’s
line, and this mission fell upon Capt. French and Lieut. James, who
rode back to Grant’s headquarters and met with his Chief-of-Staff,
Gen. Williams, who treated them handsomely, gave them a drink of
whiskey, and talked, as James said, “exactly like a gentleman.” He
asked them a number of questions, and informed them that they (the
Yankees) had taken thirty-two thousand prisoners since the capture
of Petersburg. Capt. French asked him the meaning of the
correspondence between the Generals, to which he replied that Gen.
Custis Lee had been taken prisoner, and his father, Gen. Lee, had
merely inquired if he was killed or wounded, and that Gen. Grant had
replied, telling him that his son was unhurt.
Another letter was dispatched to Gen. Lee, and the _well-dressed_
Confederates returned to their own lines, with no idea that they
were aiding the negotiations for the surrender of Lee’s army by
carrying the letters on the subject back and forth, and as the
wagons were again out of the mud the rear-guard resumed its march,
as also did the Federal army. About 3 o’clock the battalion was
relieved from its perilous position in the rear by a portion of Gen.
W. H. F. Lee’s division, and soon after the division of Rosser was
ordered to the front.
The scene which presented itself to the view of the rear-guard as it
passed the army on the way was distressing in the extreme. The few
men who still carried their muskets had hardly the appearance of
soldiers as they wearily moved along the toilsome route, their
clothes all tattered and covered with mud, their eyes sunken and
lustreless, and their faces peaked and pinched from their ceaseless
march, through storm and sunshine, without food or sleep, through
all that dire retreat, when in fact they were worn-out, from
excessive duty in the trenches at Petersburg, before the retreat
begun.
Many of the men who had thrown away their arms and knapsacks were
lying prone on the ground along the road-side, too much exhausted to
march further, and only waiting for the enemy to come and pick them
up as prisoners, while at short intervals there were wagons mired
down, their teams of horses and mules lying in the mud, from which
they had struggled to extricate themselves until complete exhaustion
had forced them to be still and wait for death to glaze their wildly
starting eyes, and still their quick gasping and panting for the
breath which could scarcely reach some of them through the mud that
almost closed their nostrils; but through all this a part of the
army still trudged on, with their faith still strong, and only
waiting for General Lee to say where they were to face about and
fight, for they knew that the enemy would be whipped, and that every
day brought nearer the last decisive battle-field, where the hosts
of the North would be overthrown and the final success of the
Confederate States assured.
About sunset of the 8th the cavalry, now entirely clear of the army,
went into a pleasant bivouac in a body of timber, where they were
permitted to build fires and remove the saddles from the horses’
backs, upon which they had constantly been since the fifth, and the
tired troopers felt good at the prospect of an all night rest, but
in less than two hours the bugles sounded “to horse,” and the march
was again taken up, and slowly followed until about two o’clock in
the morning, when the division of Rosser, which was in front, halted
at Appomattox C. H.
After waiting awhile to see if anything further was to be done, the
men made fires of the fences, and sat down, each man holding his
bridle rein and wondering what would come with daylight, but about
an hour before dawn a battery exactly in front opened fire, and now
the absence of cavalry in the rear during all of the day before was
explained, as was also the reason why the Confederate cavalry had
been brought forward, for right here, exactly before them, stood
Sheridan’s whole command, cutting off the retreat of the army from
Lynchburg.
Soon after the battery opened, Colonel White moved his brigade
forward a short distance and formed on a hill near some timber that
extended to the head of a swamp, and here it remained until after
sunrise, when the Colonel rode out to the battalion, which was on
the right of the line, and informed Captain Myers that the army was
about to surrender and Rosser was arranging to take his cavalry out.
There was no time to arrive at a full realization of the meaning
contained in this simple announcement, for the enemy was now
pressing vigorously in front and Sheridan’s cannon were throwing
their shells among the Confederates with great rapidity.
General Rosser moved forward about half a mile and halted to wait
for a demonstration which General Gordon, who now commanded all that
was left of “Stonewall” Jackson’s old corps, had arranged to make
with his infantry, in order to draw Sheridan’s force towards the
left, and about 7 o’clock the signal was given in the rattling
rifles of Gordon’s men, who had followed Lee and Jackson through
victory after victory, from Manassas, where they had made
“Stonewall” immortal, to fire their last shot and lay down their
arms in surrender at Appomattox Court-house.
Rosser now put White’s brigade in front and moved promptly upon the
enemy, who appeared not to understand exactly what was expected of
them, and as White took a position on a hill in an open field about
four or five hundred yards from a division of Federal cavalry, the
latter only looked, but made no hostile movement, and now Rosser,
finding the way open to gain the Lynchburg road, pushed forward with
the brigades of Munford and McCausland, leaving Colonel White to
guard the rear and the old brigade to be the sacrifice, if
necessary, to secure the safety of the balance. After looking at the
little line of Confederates for a little while a party of about four
hundred marched from the division and commenced to form on the same
hill with the little remnant of the “Laurel Brigade,” but this was
too much for White, and he ordered Capt. Hatcher, of the 7th
regiment, to charge, and Capt. Myers, of the battalion to support
him. The enemy soon broke and retreated upon their reserve, which in
turn gave way, and the whole force fled, panic-stricken, before the
little party of about one hundred Rebels, who were within an hour of
surrendering, and again, but for the last time, the avenging sabres
of the Ashby boys glanced fiercely over the Yankee cavalry. Many of
the enemy fell killed or wounded, but no prisoners were taken, and
when the chase had continued about two miles the Colonel again
called a halt, and the boys had to dismount and skirmish with the
Yankee infantry for a short time, and when the great firing of guns
and sky-rending shouts of Grant’s army away off to the front and
right announced that 9 o’clock had passed, and that General Lee,
with his troops had surrendered, Colonel White withdrew his men and
took the way to Lynchburg, overtaking Rosser about seven miles from
that place, and on reaching the city everything was in confusion,
nobody knew what to do and all thought it pretty certain that the
Yankees would soon be up.
About dark Gen. Rosser ordered the division to move to the Fair
Grounds, near the town, and wait for orders, but shortly after a
rumor was circulated to the effect that the Yankees were advancing,
and that Gen. Grant had sent a summons to the Mayor ordering that
the place be surrendered by 9 o’clock that night, which produced a
panic, and the regiments moved out across the river, where Colonels
White and Ball, the only two field officers in the whole brigade,
addressed them, urging the men to still keep their faith bright and
trust in the God who “gives not the battle to the strong;” and about
midnight the Laurel Brigade was disbanded, never to meet again, the
men going to their homes to wait for orders (which were never
received) to follow Gen. Rosser and Col. White to the army of
Johnson.
After this, the men who were not captured went by twos and threes to
the Federal officers and were paroled, and by the 1st of May the
“Comanches” could scarcely be recognized in the men who were in
their fields holding the plow-handles, or behind the counter, but
they hoped against hope for many months that they would be called
upon to rally again around the stars and bars and draw their sabres
for “Dixie” and Freedom.
Hope died at last though, and the world saw a nation of soldiers
transformed, as suddenly as the night vanishes before the rising
sun, into a nation of quiet, law-abiding citizens.
The war was over; the Confederacy was dead; and her soldiers
accepted the terms granted by their conquerors, in good faith, and
began to hope that peace would bring them back the blessings which
the sword had driven from them, and that the country might be
united, although they were conscientious in the conviction that the
Southern States had the _right_ to separate from the compact styled
the Federal Constitution, and that it was vastly to their interests
to do so; and thus the Southern Confederacy, in her brief but
brilliant career, followed the footsteps of nations gone before, and
like them, passed through all the chances and changes of triumph and
defeat that in this weak human life follow each other so closely
from sunshine to the sunless land.
=_Killed and Wounded in White’s Battalion._=
----------
The list of killed and wounded is incomplete, in consequence of the
loss of all the muster-rolls, which were in the wagons, and at the
surrender of the army, fell into the hands of the enemy; and the
author will esteem it a favor on the part of any one who will
furnish him with the names of any who are omitted.
=KILLED AND DIED OF WOUNDS.=
"On fame’s eternal camping ground,
Their silent tents are spread;
And glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead."
=COMPANY A.=
BROOK HAYS, Waterford, August 27th, 1862.
PETER J. KABRICH, mortally wounded, August 27th, 1862, and died at
Waterford, September 6th, 1862.
LYCURGUS W. BUSSARD, killed, Glenmore, October 21st, 1862.
SAMUEL JENKINS, killed, Poolsville, December, 1862.
DANIEL L. PRINCE, killed, Brandy Station, June 9th, 1863.
HENRY O. HUMMER, killed, Parker’s Store, Nov. 29th, 1863.
HENRY R. MOORE, killed, Wilderness, May 6th, 1864.
JOSEPH HENDON, killed, Wilderness, May 6th, 1864.
SAMUEL W. CRUMBAKER, Wilderness, May 6th, 1864, mortally wounded,
and died May 16th, 1864.
THOMAS E. TIPPETT, killed, Wilderness, May 12th, 1864.
WILLIAM EDWARDS, killed, Trevillian, June 11th, 1864.
SAMUEL T. PRESGRAVES, killed, Monk’s Neck, Sept. 16th, 1864.
WILLIAM BROWN, killed, Monk’s Neck, September 16th, 1864.
Orderly-Sergeant THOMAS S. GRUBB, mortally wounded at Tom’s Brook,
October 9th, 1864, and died Oct. 16th, 1864.
EDWIN DRISH, killed in Leesburg, July, 1864, after he had
surrendered to Means’ Company.
JAMES R. DOUGLASS, killed at Neersville, February, 1865.
BENJAMIN F. LESLIE, killed at High Bridge, April 6th, 1865.
JOHN W. MOBBERLY, murdered in Loudoun, April, 1865.
=COMPANY B.=
EDWARD WELCH, killed, Brandy Station, June 9th, 1863.
— MCCORMACK, killed, Mount Clifton, October 7th, 1864.
=COMPANY C.=
Capt. R. B. GRUBB, killed, Waterford, August 7th, 1863.
Lieut. THOMAS W. WHITE, killed, Wilderness, May 8th, 1864.
JOHN C. GRUBB, killed, Waterford, August 7th, 1863.
— WILSON, killed, Maryland, September, 1863.
JOHN J. CLENDENING, killed, Wilderness, May 5th, 1864.
JOHN DOUGLASS, killed, Wilderness, May 6th, 1864.
WILLIAM D. GOODING, killed, Hillsboro’, January, 1865.
=COMPANY E.=
ISAAC N. BRUMBACK, killed, Brandy Station, June 9th, 1863.
MARCUS MCINTURFF, killed, Brandy Station, June 9th, 1863.
PHILIP A. HOCKMAN, killed, Wilderness, May 6th, 1864.
GEORGE BENNETT, killed, Wilderness, May 20th, 1864.
— ROGERS, killed, Wilderness, May, 1864.
=COMPANY F.=
— GROGAN, killed, Greenland Gap, April 25th, 1863.
— BROY, killed, Wilderness, May 6th, 1864.
— RHODES, killed, Hawes’ Shop.
CHARLES SINCLAIR, killed, Tom’s Brook, October 9th, 1864.
Lieut. WATTS, killed at Brandy Station, June 9th, 1863.
WOUNDED IN THE BATTALION.
----------
=COMPANY A.=
Sergt. JOHN DOVE, Waterford, August 27th, 1862.
JACOB H. ROBERTSON, Glenmore, October 21st, 1862.
JOHN STEPHENSON, Snicker’s Gap, November 1st, 1862.
FENTON FOLEY, Greenland Gap, April 25, 1863.
THOMAS SPATES, ” ” ” ” ”
Lieut. W. F. BARRETT, Brandy Station, June 9th, 1863.
EDWARD S. WRIGHT, ” ” ” ” ”
PHILIP W. CARPER, ” ” ” ” ”
WILLIAM P. KYLE, ” ” ” ” ”
H. C. MCFARLAND, ” ” ” ” ”
JAMES T. FREEMAN, ” ” ” ” ”
CHARLES F. GALLAWAY, ” ” ” ” ”
ROBERT F. JONES, Edward’s Ferry, September 2d, 1863.
Corp. D. C. PETTINGALL, Thornton’s Mill, October 10th, 1863.
CHARLES L. MYERS, ” ” ” ” ”
Sergt. THOMAS S. GRUBB, Wilderness, May 5th, 1864.
” GEO. F. EVERHART, ” ” ” ”
C. BOYD BARRETT, ” ” ” ”
J. FRANK BICKSLER, ” ” ” ”
JOHN KEPHART, ” ” ” ”
W. W. MCDONOUGH, ” ” ” ”
Lieut. BENJ. F. CONRAD, ” May 6th, 1864.
Sergt. WILLIAM SNOOTS, ” ” ” ”
WILLIAM O. HOUSHOLDER, ” ” ” ”
JOHN HOWARD, Enan Church, May 28th, 1864.
Lieut. R. C. MARLOW, Trevillian, June 11th, 1864.
Sergt. EDWARD L. BENNETT, Trevillian, June 11th, 1864.
JOHN H. MARLOW, Sapony Church, June 29th, 1864.
Capt. F. M. MYERS, Mount Clifton, October 7th, 1864.
JAMES GOARD, ” ” ” ”
Corp. E. H. TAVENNER, Tom’s Brook, October 9th, 1864.
WILLIAM TITUS, ” ” ” ”
O. M. BUSSARD, Fairfax, February, 1865.
GEORGE CRAIG, High Bridge, April 6th, 1865.
GEORGE LEE, High Bridge, April 6th, 1865.
JOHN W. FLETCHER, High Bridge, April 6th, 1865.
JOHN W. WHITE, High Bridge, April 6th, 1865.
O. M. BUSSARD, Fairfax, February, 1865.
GEORGE CRAIG, High Bridge, April 6th, 1865.
GEORGE LEE, High Bridge, April 6th, 1865.
JOHN W. FLETCHER, High Bridge, April 6th, 1865.
JOHN W. WHITE, High Bridge, April 6th, 1865.
=COMPANY B.=
FRANK WILLIAMS, Greenland Gap, April 25th, 1863.
Orderly-Sergeant HENRY C. Brandy Station, June 9th, 1863.
SELLMAN,
Capt. GEORGE W. CHISWELL, Brandy Station, June 9th, 1863, badly.
Lieut. J. R. CROWN, Brandy Station, June 9th, 1863.
WILLIAM HERBERT, ” ” ” ” ”
PINKNEY MARTIN, ” ” ” ” ”
— PETERS, ” ” ” ” ”
ELIAS PRICE, Parker’s Store, November 29th, 1863.
DANIEL KEY, ” ” ” ” ”
CHARLES SMITH, Moorfield, January, 1864.
ALONZO SELLMAN, Wilderness, May 5th, 1864.
FRANK WILLIAMS, ” ” ” ”
WILLIAM SHEHAN, ” ” ” ”
ROBERT DADE, ” ” ” ”
MARTIN TAYLOR, ” May 6th, ”
ELIJAH VIERS, ” ” ” ”
— ODEN, ” ” ” ”
CRONE PHILLIPS, (bugler,) Trevillian, June 11th, 1864.
Lieut. E. J. CHISWELL, Tom’s Brook, October 9th, 1864.
Sergt. ALONZO SELLMAN, ” ” ” ” ”
” CHARLES GREEN, ” ” ” ” ”
HENRY ORME, ” ” ” ” ”
BYRON THOMAS, ” ” ” ” ”
AB. GAMAR, Lovettsville, February 25, 1865.
Lieut. E. J. CHISWELL, Hatcher’s Run, April 3d, 1865.
Sergt. ALONZO SELLMAN, ” ” ” ” ”
LEWIS NEEDHAMMER, High Bridge, April 6th, 1865.
CHARLES SCOLL, Monk’s Neck, September 1864.
16th,
=COMPANY C.=
JAMES HOOD, Glenmore, October 21st, 1862.
JOHN J. WHITE, ” ” ” ”
WILLIAM FRITZ, ” ” ” ”
Corp. JAMES M. FOSTER, Greenland Gap, February 25th, 1863.
SYDNOR FOUCHE, ” ” ” ” ”
Sergt. SILAS COPELAND, Brandy Station, June 9th, 1863.
JOHN W. HAMMERLY, ” ” ” ” ”
JOSEPH S. HART, ” ” ” ” ”
JOHN MILBOURN, ” ” ” ” ”
WILLIAM D. GOODING, ” ” ” ” ”
— WILSON, Waterford, August 7th, 1863.
MAITLAND TAYLOR, Wilderness, May 5th, 1864.
RICHARD FOLLEN, ” ” ” ”
MANLY TRIPLETT, ” ” ” ”
Color-Sergt. T. N. TORREYSON, Wilderness, May 6th, 1864.
WILLIAM T. CLENDENING, ” ” ” ”
HUGH S. THOMPSON, (mortally,) ” ” ” ”
AARON T. BEANS, Sapony Church, June 29th, 1864.
Sergt. EBEN SIMPSON, Tom’s Brook, October 9th, 1864.
THOMAS ELGIN, ” ” ” ” ”
ELWOOD BEANS, ” ” ” ” ”
Lieut. SAM. E. GRUBB, Hillsboro’, January, 1865.
GEORGE CHAMBLIN, Neersville, February, 1865.
Color-Sergt. RODNEY MATTHEWS, High Bridge, April 6th, 1865.
JOHN W. DAVISSON, ” ” ” ” ”
=COMPANY E.=
Lieut. H. M. STRICKLER, Payne’s Church, April 2d, 1865.
” A. C. GRUBBS, Parker’s Store, November 29th, 1863.
WILLIAM T. WARREN, Wilderness, May 6th, 1864.
JACOB HUFFMAN, ” ” ” ”
JAMES ATWOOD, Cabin Point, August 20th, 1864.
CHARLES B. FRISTOE, Brandy Station, June 9th, 1863.
RECAPITULATION.
Killed. Wounded. Total.
Company A 18 37 55
” B 2 28 30
” C 7 25 32
” E 5 6 11
” F 4 1 at Brandy Stat’n. 5
” D — 3 ” ” 3
—— —— ——
36 100 136
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Transcriber’s Note
The conventional use of single quotes within quoted material was not
followed in this text, and is given as printed.
Hyphenation of words is not entirely consistent, and is generally
given here as printed. Where hyphenation occurs on a line break, the
decision to retain or remove is based on occurrences elsewhere in
the text.
The errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been
corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and
line in the original text.
5.6 they are very far f[t/r]om presenting Replaced.
19.30 to go into south Loudoun and upper Replaced.
Fa[n/u]quier
24.20 with the other side of the river[.] Added.
65.23 asking each other [“]how far it was to Added.
Brown’s Gap
67.5 as soon as ever[y]thing had crossed the Inserted.
bridge
138.30 on being made General-in[-]Chief Added.
158.6 which illustra[ted] Col. White’s attention Added.
161.1 they acted nob[l]y while they were allowed Inserted.
194.1 c[o]uld travel farther Restored.
245.15 carrying fifteen days[’] rations Added.
259.15 Ross[s]er’s A. A. General Removed.
269.22 down went the Colonel’s head in Myer[’s/s’] Transposed.
breast
273.4 bee[d/n] badly wounded by his own men Replaced.
303.24 The “Comanches[”] had been ordered Added.
377.3 We _must_ whip that infantry[./,], and if Replaced.
384.20 they did[ did] not reach it Removed.