Book 3 ^6 . 
 Copyright^? 
 
 copssaaat deposie 
 
A Lieutenant of Cavalry 
 in Lee's Army 
 
 BY 
 
 G. W. BEALE 
 
 mmmmmm 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 THE GORHAM PRESS 
 
 MCMXVIII 
 
Copyright, 1918, by .G. W. Beale 
 
 All Rights Reserved 
 
 MADE IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 
 Tub Gorham Pebss. Boston, U. S. A. ^ 
 
 !, 
 
 JUN27I9I8 ^^'' 
 
 :QCi.A4994(53 ' ^j_^^' nX 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 The title of this book is a correct one, except as to the first 
 and second chapters, which relate to events which preceded the 
 date of General R. E. Lee's assumption of the command of the 
 Army of Northern Virginia in June, 1862. These events were 
 preliminary to the formation of that army and disciplinary for 
 its arduous and exciting duties. The narrative of them may 
 well serve as an introduction to the account that follows of 
 service on a larger scale under "Job" Stuart and Hampton. 
 
 G. W. Beale. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Chapter. Page. 
 
 I Early Engagements with Gunboats on the 
 
 Potomac 9 
 
 II Too Late to Take Part in Manassas Battle i6 
 
 III The Federal Occupation of Fredericksburg 
 
 in April, 1 862 20 
 
 IV Stuart's Dash Around McClellan's Army on 
 
 the Chickahominy 24 
 
 V Stuart's Cavalry in the Battle Before Rich- 
 mond 33 
 
 VI Dead and Wounded Lay in Heaps at Man- 
 assas 40 
 
 VII The Maryland Campaign 44 
 
 VIII Engagements at Mountsville, Aldie, and 
 
 Union 52 
 
 IX Watching the Enemy's Approach at Port 
 Royal and Capturing a Squadron at 
 
 Leedstown 5^ 
 
 X The Battle of Fredericksburg 63 
 
 XI Cavalry Operations Under W. H. F. Lee 
 
 during the Battle at Chancellorsville... . 68 
 XII A Great Federal Raid in 1863 and How it 
 
 was Defeated 75 
 
 XIII Battle of Brandy Station 80 
 
 XIV Battle of Brandy Station (Continued) 88 
 
 XV Cavalry Engagements at Middleburg and 
 
 Upperville, June 17 to 21, 1863 lOO 
 
 XVI How the Repulse of the Federal Cavalry at 
 Brandy Station Affected General Milroy 
 
 at Winchester 106 
 
 XVII General Stuart's Gettysburg Raid no 
 
 XVIII After Gettysburg in '63 118 
 
 XIX Engagement at Culpeper Courthouse, Sept. 
 
 13, 1863 124 
 
 XX Second Cavalry Fight at Brandy Station. . . 128 
 5 
 
Contents 
 
 Chapter. Page. 
 
 XXI The Kilpatrick— Dahlgren Raid: Its Pre- 
 liminaries and Sequels 133 
 
 XXII Charging Infantry Along With a Georgia 
 
 Brigade on the Spottsylvania Lines. ... 142 
 
 XXIII Watching Grant's Army on Flank Move- 
 
 ment 1 46 
 
 XXIV Cavalry Battle at Ashland 152 
 
 XXV Cavalry Operations in Hanover County. . . 157 
 
 XXVI Battle of Nance's Shop June 24, 1864 . 161 
 
 XXVII Battle at White's Tavern in Charles City 
 
 County 166 
 
 XXVIII Wilson's Raid 174 
 
 XXIX The Battle at Reams Station 181 
 
 XXX Cavalry Battle on the Boydton Plank Road, 
 
 Oct. 27, 1864 188 
 
 XXXI General Wade Hampton and His Fine 
 Management of a Raid After Cattle in 
 
 September, 1864 192 
 
 XXXII Recollections of the Battle of Hatcher's Run, 
 
 Feb. 6, 1865 197 
 
 XXXIII Experiences in a Confederate Hospital .... 201 
 
 XXXIV The Closing Weeks Under the Stars and 
 
 Bars 206 
 
 XXXV How Fun Follows Fighting 210 
 
 XXXVI General W. H. F. Lee 220 
 
 XXXVII A Narrow Escape From the Squadron 
 Which was on the Track of the Assas- 
 sin Booth and Succeeded in his Capture 
 and Death 226 
 
A LIEUTENANT OF CAVALRY IN LEE'S ARMY 
 
A Lieutenant of Cavalry in 
 Lee's Army 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 EARLY ENGAGEMENTS WITH GUNBOATS ON THE POTOMAC 
 
 TN June, 1 86 1, there had been assembled in the vicinity of 
 -*■ Mathias Point, on the Potomac, a regiment or more of in- 
 fantry and several companies of cavalry. Two of the latter 
 from Westmoreland and Lancaster Counties, and one of the 
 former — the "Sparta Grays," of Caroline County — were under 
 the immediate command of Major Robert Mayo, and the whole 
 force commanded by Brigadier-General Daniel Ruggles, an 
 ex-officer of the United States Army, who had resigned his com- 
 mission and offered his sword to the Confederacy. 
 
 A number of gunboats and armed cutters and the more for- 
 midable ship Pawnee were patrolling the river and throwing 
 shot and shells whenever and wherever any sign of the presence 
 of the Confederates could be gained. The remarkable thing 
 about this cannonading for two months or more was the 
 enormous expenditure of ammunition without killing or wound- 
 ing a single man on the Southern side. Picket stations were 
 established along the shore for miles, and both infantry and 
 cavalry videttes kept a sharp lookout for any attempt to effect 
 a landing by Federal soldiers or marines, and the troops in the 
 several camps were held in constant readiness to meet such an 
 attempt. 
 
 On the early morning of June 27, while Henry Porter and 
 another man of the Westmoreland Cavalry, were on watch at 
 the picket station nearest the point, they were suddenly startled 
 by the approach in the darkness of a small body of Yankees, who 
 had landed under cover of the night and advanced so noiselessly 
 as not to be heard until within a few feet of the men on watch. 
 Porter and his companion discharged their guns in time to give 
 
 9 
 
lO A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 the alarm to the other pickets in their rear, but not in time to 
 mount their own horses» These fell into the enemies' hands and 
 were gotten aboard of a tender that had anchored nearby in 
 the river during the night. 
 
 The landing and surprise of the pickets were promptly re- 
 ported to General Ruggles and Major Mayo, and their respec- 
 tive camps were quickly astir with preparation for action. The 
 Ruggles's camp was higher up the river, and separated from 
 Mayo's three companies by a depression, or valley, in the land, 
 that terminated near the river shore in a morass and pond. On 
 the lower side of this marshy valley the ground was densely 
 covered with pine woods, admitting the close approach to the 
 river by Mayo's companies without detection or danger. In 
 consequence, the "Sparta Grays" and the Westmoreland Cav- 
 alry, under Captain Saunders and Lieutenant R. L. T. Beale, 
 were put into motion, and the cavalry company, having been 
 dismounted and placed in line on the right of the infantry, were 
 quickly advanced to within two hundred yards of the river 
 bank. As yet, in this advance, no sight or sound had been gained 
 of the presence of any enemy. 
 
 A halt was made, and Major Mayo and the officers command- 
 ing the companies appeared to be consulting whether to go for- 
 ward, or to await orders from General Ruggles. Presently I 
 was called into their presence, and directed to take a trusty 
 man, proceed through the pines, ascertain the enemies' position, 
 and bring back a report. 
 
 With Pete Stewart (an old soldier of the Mexican War), 
 I proceeded to execute the order, having Stewart in the lead. 
 We moved cautiously, with guns cocked, from tree to tree, till 
 we came to an open space of stumps and low pine bushes, where 
 we got a clear view of the gunboat Freeborn, the warship Paw- 
 nee and the tender. We had now to crawl on our knees to 
 escape being seen, and paused every now and then to listen. 
 
 While thus crawling, I came to a large pine stump, which 
 had been struck by a cannon ball, and saw a huge hole cut in 
 one side of it — the first evidence I had ever seen of the tre- 
 mendous force of a cannon shot. 
 
 When we had proceeded on our knees to within a few yards 
 of the river bank, Stewart stopped, and whispered: **I hear 
 them," significantly, pointing at the same time to a wooded bluff 
 
Early Engagements With Gunboats on the Potomac 1 1 
 
 a little above us. Listening, we could catch the sound of voices 
 and that of picks and spades, as of men at work digging in the 
 sand and making a breastwork. 
 
 Believing that we had an accurate knowledge of the enemies' 
 position, we hastened back and reported. We were at once 
 ordered to act as guides for the companies, and to direct them 
 to where we had seen the enemy. My companion led the way 
 for one company, and I for the other. 
 
 The sight of that line of armed men moving through those 
 woods, down a gentle decline into a valley, and up a gradual 
 descent to the blufE beside the river, was one never to be for- 
 gotten. There was the armed enemy, the gunboat with its 
 cannon, the war vessel, and here were we advancing to open 
 fire on them. My boyish dreams of battle seemed about to be 
 fulfilled, the anticipation of my early soldier's life seemed to be 
 turning into a stern reality. It was an exciting hour! 
 
 Presently, the order came, "Charge!" and up the slope rushed 
 the men with a resounding yell. The infantry company opened 
 with their muskets a rapid fire; the cavalry more slowly got 
 their shotguns into action. 
 
 It quickly became apparent that Stewart and I had been mis- 
 taken in locating the enemy. They were not, as we supposed, 
 on the lower side of the marsh and pond ; but on the upper side, 
 seventy yards away, where it was impossible for us to reach 
 them, except with bullets. 
 
 At the first shot and yell they dropped their tools, leaped into 
 their large boats and rowed for the gunboat, our men mean- 
 while pouring a continuous fire at them, as well as at the Free- 
 born, the guns of which had opened on us with rapid volleys 
 of grape shot. 
 
 About the time the long boat with the fugitives got behind the 
 Freeborn, her captain, J. H. Ward, fell dead on her deck, 
 pierced in the abdomen by one of our bullets, and the command 
 on board her was heard: *'Slip the cable!" The vessel got at 
 once into motion, heading up the river, having in tow the boat 
 in which the landing had been made, now all bullet-ridden, 
 blood-stained, and bearing the bleeding bodies of a number of 
 desperately wounded marines, including William J. Best, sea- 
 man of the Pawnee, who had received two gunshot wounds 
 and had a leg broken; William McChumney, landsman, of 
 
12 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 Freeborn, with gunshot wound; John Williams, of Pawnee, 
 with gunshot wound in soft part of the right thigh, and George 
 McKenny, of Freeborn, with gunshot wound in left thigh. The 
 flagstaff carried on the small boat, in which these marines es- 
 caped from the shore to the Freeborn, was shot off and nine- 
 teen holes were cut in the flag. 
 
 The captain of the gunboat Reliance, which was also near 
 the scene of action, reported that "Lieutenant Draper and his 
 command escaped utter destruction by a miracle." 
 
 The body of Captain Ward, wrapped in the national colors, 
 was transferred to the Pawnee, and with the wounded men, 
 was taken to Washington. 
 
 On the Confederate side, remarkable to say, in view of the 
 grapeshot to which we were exposed, there was not a casualty. 
 The nearest approach to one of which I learned was in my own 
 case, when a cannon shot from the Freeborn, having struck a 
 pine limb overhead, glanced to the ground within a foot of me. 
 I reached forth my hand to seize the blackened ball of iron, 
 but quickly let it go, because of its being so hot. In more than 
 one sense, I could say I was in the heat of that action. 
 
 A considerable pile of sand bags had been thrown up and a 
 regiment of New York infantry was coming from Washington 
 that night to take possession of them. We captured some 
 spades, shovels, and a few muskets. We suffered intensely of 
 thirst in the heat of that June day. 
 
 The party of Federals who landed were thirty-four marines 
 of the Pawnee, commanded by Lieutenant Draper, of that 
 vessel. 
 
 Early in the month of August because of the attack of 
 measles to which I had become a victim, I obtained a leave of 
 absence and set out to reach home by way of Fredericksburg 
 and thence down the Rappahannock on the Virginia, formerly 
 the St. Nicholas, which had been captured by "Zarvoni" 
 Thomas, and turned over to the Confederate Government. My 
 recovery was very rapid. On August loth, the landing of the 
 Yankees was reported as having been made near Cole's Point. 
 A smoke, as from a burning building in that vicinity, tended 
 to confirm the report and much excitement prevailed in the 
 community. Such soldiers as were at home on furlough, sev- 
 eral members of the home guard, and a few armed citizens, 
 
Early Engagements With Gunboats on the Potomac 13 
 
 hastened on horse back in the direction of the smoke. I ac- 
 companied these men. It having been discovered that a party 
 from the Resolute were on shore, it was agreed to take position 
 on Fort Hill — a very advantageous ground — and dispute their 
 advance, which they gave signs of making. Our waiting here 
 was brief, when it was ascertained that the enemy, having 
 burned the house occupied by Richard Reamy and his family 
 and collected together most of the slaves on the place with such 
 property as they could readily take away, had returned to the 
 steamer. 
 
 We rode down to the spot near the burnt house, where they 
 had improvised a wharf, and on our way met poor Reamy with 
 his wife and children, bemoaning with tears, the loss of their 
 home and all their earthly goods. The volleys of his impreca- 
 tions on the raiders were both plentiful and profane as he 
 lifted his arm in vigorous gesticulation towards the steamer 
 making its way out into the Potomac. 
 
 Captain William Budd, commanding the Resolute under 
 date of August loth, 1862, reported this dastardly act as fol- 
 lows: "When I landed there, there was a party of secessionists 
 from Maryland in the house. They made good their escape. 
 I chased them for a mile, but they got off. I took ten contra- 
 bands belonging to Colonel Brown. Colonel Brown has been 
 a receiver and forwarder of recruits, and of course his property 
 used for that purpose was confiscated." Colonel Brown owned 
 the Cole's Point plantation, and Reamy lived on it as manager. 
 
 Less than a week after this occurrence, I rejoined my com- 
 pany and was sent at once with twelve men to relieve Corporal 
 John Critcher who had command of a picket stationed at the 
 house of Benjamin R. Grymes in King George County, from 
 which the family had removed because of its exposed situation 
 near the bank of the Potomac. 
 
 It was by no means assuring and comforting on arriving at 
 this house to find that a bomb, fired at it a few days before, 
 had left the marks of over fifty shrapnel shot in the side of it 
 next to the river, and to learn that a solid shot had entered the 
 back door, cut the rounds out of a chair at the dining table, 
 and passing out of the front door had shattered a gate post at 
 the edge of the yard. 
 
 It was perhaps on the morning following our arrival at this 
 
14 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee^s Army 
 
 house that one of the men on sentinel duty reported that a 
 friendly schooner had run aground under a high embankment 
 close at hand near Metompken Point. Our horses were at 
 once taken back and concealed in the woods, and our party pro- 
 ceeded towards the vessel in distress in the most cautious man- 
 ner and under all possible concealment of our persons. Near 
 the bank was a deep rifle-pit made there in the spring, and it 
 gave us good hiding and safety. We saw no means of captur- 
 ing the vessel and deemed it improper to hail it lest it might 
 not be manned by friends. 
 
 While thus hiding in the rifle-pit, the gunboat. Resolute, 
 under Captain Budd, was heard steaming in haste towards the 
 schooner aground. Now as we caught sight of her, it seemed 
 certain we could get a good shot at some of the crew, — an op- 
 portunity we had often eagerly sought. 
 
 . The men were ordered to lie low and not to shoot till the 
 command was given to do so. 
 
 Very soon the Resolute's wheel ceased to turn as it drew near 
 the schooner. Captain Budd began to hail the unfortunate 
 captain of the schooner and to address him in rough language, 
 while a boat shot out from his steamer taking with it a hawser 
 for the purpose of attaching it to the vessel and drawing it off. 
 This boat was allowed by us to get within a few feet of the 
 stern of the vessel when the squad of men were ordered to 
 take aim and fire. Then ensued a rapid fusilade which was 
 kept up by us until the boat was drawn back by the hawser and 
 concealed behind the Resolute's hulk. Another gunboat now 
 reached the scene, the Resolute backed out into the stream, and 
 the two began to shell the woods. Our party creeping and 
 crawling, and then with a yet more lively use of our legs, 
 hastened back to where our horses had been left. 
 
 Much costly ammunition was thrown away in the shelling 
 that followed, but no harm was done. 
 
 With a slight error as to the exact location of this stranded 
 craft and a decided miscalculation of her distance from the 
 shore, the captain of the Resolute reported that on August i6th, 
 ''Hearing that a schooner was ashore opposite (Cedar Point), 
 I thought it advisable to go down to her and get her off, if 
 possible, and I dispatched an officer and four men in a boat for 
 the purpose of capturing her. They had just reached her, and 
 
Early Engagements With Gunboats on the Potomac 15 
 
 were in the act of making fast, when a volley of muskerty was 
 fired from the adjoining bushes, not more than five or six yards 
 distant, instantly killing three of the boat's crew and wound- 
 ing another. I immediately opened fire into the cover that 
 sheltered the enemy. After four or five rounds they were 
 driven out, running in parties of three or four in different direc- 
 tion * * * the Reliance coming up at this moment 
 commenced throwing shells at the flying enemy * * * My 
 boat is completely riddled, particularly in the after part. Killed: 
 John T. Fuller, master's mate ; George Seymour, seaman (shot 
 through spine and lungs) ; Thomas Tully, seaman (in head) ; 
 Ernest Weller, wounded." 
 
 Of the effects of our shots in this affair we were completely 
 ignorant, though well aware that, as the above report states, 
 the "boat was completely riddled." 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 TOO LATE TO TAKE PART IN MANASSAS BATTLE 
 
 'T^ HE month of July, 1861, was one of anxious suspense in 
 -*■ all Southern circles, due to the expected battle between the 
 enemy under General Scott in and around Washington, and 
 that under General Beauregard at Manassas. There were 
 good grounds for such anxiety. The early advance of the 
 Federal army was deemed certain, and its superiority in num- 
 bers and equipment was well understood, as also that it was 
 strengthened by numerous well-disciplined regiments of the 
 regular army. The troops under Beauregard were known to 
 be entirely volunteers, lacking in equipment, never before under 
 fire, in a great degree undisciplined, and inferior in numbers. 
 Whether they could maintain their ground when the shock of 
 battle came was to us a cause of profound concern. 
 
 The troop of which I was a member had been ordered about 
 the middle of the month from King George County up to 
 Brooke's Station, where several regiments of infantry and one 
 or two batteries, commanded by Major-General T. H. Holmes, 
 were encamped. On the evening of July 20th, with our haver- 
 sacks filled, we were ordered to march in the direction of Dum- 
 fries, with the infantry and artillery following us. No one 
 had any doubt but that our destination was to join Beaure- 
 gard's army and that the battle which we had been anticipating 
 with impatient zeal, not unmixed with grave concern, now was 
 to take place. It was a revelation to us who rode on horses that 
 day, how little advantage we had over the infantry, who cov- 
 ered in their march mile after mile in about the same time 
 that we did. 
 
 As night came on, we were permitted to halt, feed our horses, 
 and go to sleep. Very early next morning the column was put 
 in motion again, with our company in the lead. With eight or 
 ten men, I was sent ahead as an advance guard, with orders to 
 keep a sharp lookout for the enemy approaching from our right. 
 Within sight of our company was Colonel Carey at the head 
 of the Thirtieth Virginia Infantry. 
 
 16 
 
Too Late to Take Part in Manassas Battle 17 
 
 No sooner had our march begun, than the distant booming 
 of cannon satisfied us that a battle in the vicinity of Manassas 
 had been opened. As the hours passed, the noise of the guns 
 increased, becoming plainer as we approached nearer. At times, 
 the sound veered to the left, as though our army were being 
 driven back, and again it veered to the right, as though the 
 enemy were yielding ground. Now there would be a lull in 
 the cannonade, and again it would seem to gather volume and 
 fury. 
 
 The effect of all this noise of battle was almost electrical on 
 Holmes's command. It inspired his men with ardor to mingle 
 in the fray, and they so accelerated their march that it was not 
 easy for our horses to keep the proper distance in advance of the 
 infantry. 
 
 As for myself, the nervous strain of the march was intense. 
 From the instructions given me, I was momentarily expecting 
 to discover a body of the enemy in front, or on my right. From 
 every hilltop we reached, down every valley into which we 
 looked, up every road bearing to the right, from behind every 
 cluster of houses and from the cover of every grove we passed, 
 we were on the alert, watching for the sudden appearance of 
 the enemy, seeking to turn Beauregard's right flank. The ten- 
 sion on the nerves through the long hours of the day from 
 this constant expectancy of suddenly meeting the foe was in- 
 tensified by the constantly increasing roar of the battle ahead 
 of us. At no other time during all the war, save for an hour 
 or two in the late afternoon at Gettysburg, was I the subject 
 of so much painful suspense as on this day. 
 
 When we reached Manassas it was approaching night. John 
 Critcher, a private, then in our company, and later a colonel 
 of the Fifteenth Virginia Cavalry, was sent by General Holmes 
 to announce the arrival of his command, and to ask for orders. 
 I saw him on his return, and heard him report what Beauregard 
 had said of the battle, ''Our victory is complete." 
 
 While we were halted near the station, squads of prisoners 
 were coming from the battlefield under guard, and were added 
 to a group of several hundred or more that already had been 
 gathered under a cluster of oaks on the southern side of the 
 track. While we were waiting here, a train arrived, and pres- 
 ently vociferous cheering was heard. We were told the cheers 
 
1 8 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 were for Jefferson Davis, who had alighted from the train and 
 was one of a number of men we had seen riding off. 
 
 The gathering clouds now gave promise of a heavy rain, and 
 we were marched to a large, roomy barn, scarcely a mile distant, 
 where we found abundant hay for our horses and soft beds for 
 ourselves, as well as dry and comfortable shelter. Here we 
 forgot the weariness of our march, and the excitement of the 
 day in slumber deep and sweet as that of childhood. 
 
 The earth became very wet and soft from the heavy rain dur- 
 ing the night. Next morning my mare sank in the earth above 
 her fetlocks as I led her to water, and the stream was found 
 to be so swollen and filled with red mud that she wouldn't 
 drink it. The weather conditions made it plain that no success- 
 ful pursuit of the retreating Federals under McDowell could 
 be expected, even if Beauregard had any fresh regiments to 
 undertake it. 
 
 We were not ordered out from our cozy quarters that day, 
 but enjoyed a quiet rest in the barn. A number of men asked 
 permission to visit the battlefield, and having ridden over it, 
 returned in the afternoon with harrowing accounts of its ghastly 
 scenes of suffering and death. They brought, in one form and 
 another, numerous mementoes of the first great field of Southern 
 victory. A courier was asked for by General Beauregard, and 
 Private Edwin Claybrook was sent to him. He was directed 
 to find Colonel Stuart and to deliver a dispatch to him. Clay- 
 brook returned at night, having found Colonel Stuart at Fair- 
 fax Courthouse, and related with enthusiasm the impression 
 he had gained of the commander of the First Regiment, who 
 was destined before long to become one of the most famous 
 cavalry leaders. 
 
 On the 23d, under a hot July sun, we set out on the return 
 to Brooke's Station. The march over the same road we had 
 followed two days before was with sensations and emotions very 
 different from those we then had felt. About noon, we halted 
 near a home to which a spring house belonged by the roadside. 
 The good woman of the home, eager to hear the particulars of 
 the battle and enthusiastic over the victory to Southern arms, 
 came down to talk with us, and having opened the door of the 
 spring house, brought forth jars of cool milk. She handed me 
 a full goblet, saying "It is buttermilk." I felt as I swallowed 
 
Too Late to Take Part in Manassas Battle 19 
 
 it that nothing more cooling and refreshing ever had entered 
 my lips. Others of my comrades expressed a like feeling after 
 taking draughts. Through the long, long lapse of years that 
 have passed since that day, with all their crowding events and 
 distracting thoughts, that glass of buttermilk has remained a 
 fresh and pleasing memory. 
 
 On the night before leaving Manassas, I had slept in the 
 hayloft close beside a fellow-soldier — Gordon F. Bowie — who 
 was sick and the subject of a high fever. It now became known 
 that he had the measles, and I had good reason to fear I would 
 have it, too. Sure enough, after reaching Brooke's Station, the 
 fever set in, and our surgeon, having removed me some dis- 
 tance from the remainder of the company to a rude hospital of 
 his own contrivance in the woods, gave me the soft earth for 
 my couch and a holly tree for my shelter, and there, with a 
 fire and a tin can of hot boneset tea, doctored me for several 
 days in a dreary fog and drizzle, which seemed to me to be the 
 long season in May recurring in July. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE FEDERAL OCCUPATION OF FREDERICKSBURG IN APRIL, 1 862 
 
 A BOUT April loth, 1862, I was encamped at Office Hall, 
 -^^ the birthplace of the Hon. William Smith, who was later 
 Governor of Virginia and already popularly styled "Extra 
 Billy." An order had been received for the company to march 
 to the vicinity of Boscobel in Stafford, nearly opposite to Fred- 
 ericksburg, and the impression had been created among the men 
 that important Federal movements were in contemplation with 
 a view to driving the Confederates from the northern side of 
 the Rappahannock and the occupation of Fredericksburg. 
 
 Scarcely had we established our bivouac in Stafford before 
 the number of pickets ordered to be sent out from the company 
 and several other companies, which had assembled in the same 
 vicinity, and the rigid cautionary instructions given them to keep 
 a vigilant eye on the enemies' approach satisfied us that a 
 Federal advance was hourly expected. 
 
 We ascertained that Major W. H. F. Lee, with several com- 
 panies of cavalry was holding the roads leading to Falmouth 
 from the west, and that Major W. T. Taliaferro, with four 
 companies of the Fortieth Virginia Infantry, was in position to 
 support the cavalry if an attack should occur. The other com- 
 panies of the Fortieth Regiment, under Colonel J. M. Brocken- 
 brough, were on the Spotsylvania side of the river and were 
 subsequently ordered to move over to the assistance of Major 
 Taliaferro in the event he should be heavily pressed. 
 
 On Thursday, April 17th, late in the afternoon. Major 
 Lee's orderlies saw the approach of Federal calvary on the 
 Warrenton road, and some skirmishing took place in the vicinity 
 of Spotted Tavern and Grove Chapel. The troops on the 
 Federal side engaged in this advance had made a forced march 
 from Catlett's Station, twenty-six miles distant, and were a 
 brigade of King's Division, commanded by Colonel Jeremiah 
 C. Sullivan, and seven companies of the Harris Light Cavalry, 
 under Colonel Judson Kilpatrick, with also four companies of 
 the First Pennsylvania Cavalry under Lieutenant Colonel 
 
 20 
 
The Federal Occupation of Fredericksburg in April, 1862 21 
 
 Owen Jones. Brigadier General Irwin McDowell (of Bull 
 Run fame) commanded these troops, and his plan was to at- 
 tack the Falmouth bridge so secretly and suddenly as to gain 
 possession of it before the Confederates could burn it. For 
 this purpose Colonel Bayard, having command of the cavalry, 
 designated four companies of his regiment to be led by Lieuten- 
 ant Colonel Owen, who were to ''seize the bridge, rush across 
 it, cut down the heavy gates on the opposite side and throw 
 out pickets in advance." 
 
 The skirmishing with Lee in the afternoon of Thursday re- 
 sulted in the fall of Lieutenant James N. Decker, of the First 
 Pennsylvania Cavalry, as well as the wounding of several other 
 men. On the side of the Confederates one man was killed, 
 and Lee was compelled to abandon his camp at Berea Church 
 with some haste. 
 
 This action led to the speedy movement of the cavalry com- 
 panies under Major Beale with which I was connected, and they 
 passed through Falmouth and beyond a mile or so where Major 
 Taliaferro had stationed his infantry companies, and built across 
 the road a log and rail barricade. When near the barricade, 
 after nightfall, the cavalry was marched into a field on the 
 right of the road and permitted to dismount, each man being 
 allowed to lie down and get such sleep as he could, while holding 
 the reins of his horse. Many of the men fell into sound slum- 
 ber, when in the stillness and darkness of the morning some 
 time before day light, the noise of a few pistol-shots was heard, 
 followed by a volley of musketry, and with these were mingled 
 the yells of the infantry-men guarding the barricade. 
 
 These voices breaking forth suddenly on the night's darkness 
 and silence had a most startling effect on the sleeping calvary- 
 men and their horses. The horses were not easily restrained 
 from dashing away in wild flight, and if the men had only been 
 mounted many probably would have dashed away with them. 
 The infantry, firing from the barricade and conscious of how 
 suddenly the enemy's charge was stopped and how rapidly they 
 retreated, gave vent to their feelings in cheers and yells. 
 
 The result of the -cavalry charge in the dark was, in the 
 language of the Federal commander, "a loss of five killed, six- 
 teen wounded, and some fifteen dead horses." On the Con- 
 federate side, the engagement was a bloodless one. 
 
32 A Lieutenant of Cavalry iji Lee's Army 
 
 As the dawn of Friday morning (the i8th) began to break, 
 the heavy force of the Federal side was reported as advancing, 
 and General C. W. Fields, in command of the Confederates, 
 ordered their withdrawal over the Falmouth bridge, and this 
 was accomplished as the sun rose. The company of cavalry, 
 brought up the rear, and crossed the bridge in time only to 
 escape the flames that had been kindled for its destruction. 
 
 The company was still on the bridge and near the mill which 
 stood at the southern end of it when a Federal cannon was un- 
 limbered on the hill above Falmouth and hurling a charge of 
 canister down on us struck Private R. S. Lawrence in the 
 shoulder as he rode in the line with his comrades, inflicting on 
 him a painful wound. 
 
 After crossing the river, we halted briefly, and then the 
 march from the bridge to the town was in perfect order, but 
 with no unnecessary further delay. When the command reach- 
 ed the shelter of the houses on the north side of Main street, it 
 was halted. Many citizens of the place were busily engaged 
 in removing their families and effects to places of greater safety 
 and much haste and confusion prevailed. While we sat on our 
 horses momentarily anticipating the order to march, a member 
 of the Spotsylvania troop, whose hungry horse sought to nibble 
 a little grass on the edge of the street, gave a violent jerk to his 
 rein with its rank bit so as to cause the animal to throw itself 
 backward suddenly, with the effect of striking the hammer of 
 the rider's carbine against the cantel of his saddle and dis- 
 charging it. The bullet entered the man's brain near his neck 
 and passed out at the top of his head. He fell unconscious to 
 the ground, while his hat carried several feet into the air de- 
 scended a short distance away. A soldier, who had dismounted 
 and was standing near, was quite unused to so horrible a scene 
 before getting his breakfast, and became nervously unstrung and 
 fainted. 
 
 When the order came to march, we passed through the town 
 to the fair grounds and fed our horses. From this point, a clear 
 view was gained of several of General Augur's regiments 
 marching in fine order across the fields of the Chatham estate 
 with their muskets glittering brightly in the morning sun. 
 
 The retreat of the Confederate forces and the formidable 
 appearance of infantry with the artillery on the commanding 
 
The Federal Occupation of Fredericksburg in April, 1862 23 
 
 hills of Stafford, led the mayor and council of Fredericksburg 
 to hold an interview on the day following with General Augur, 
 and several other of the commanding officers of King's division. 
 The same day T. B. Barton reported to General Fields: "To- 
 day the committee had an interview with Augur, and we are in 
 the hands of the Philistines." 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 Stuart's dash around mc clellan's army on the chick- 
 
 AHOMINY 
 
 r\ N the thirteenth of June, 1862, most of the cavalry under 
 ^^ the command of General J. E. B. Stuart was encamped 
 within a few miles of Richmond in groves near the Mordecai 
 residence on Brooke turnpike. Among the regiments compris- 
 ing this force was the Ninth Virginia Cavalry, commanded by 
 CoL W. H. F. Lee. On the day named there was commotion 
 in the camp, ammunition had been distributed and haversacks 
 filled with cooked rations, horses saddled and bridled, the com- 
 mand to mount had been sounded and about twelve hundred 
 cavalrymen were in motion accompanied by a section of ar- 
 tillery. The column was headed northward and in its march 
 inclined rather away from, than towards, the Federal army 
 which like a huge tiger lay crouching along the Chickahominy 
 ready at any moment to spring upon its antogonist on the farther 
 side of that stream. Stuart was directing his march so as to 
 create the impression that he was making for Louisa County, or 
 towards Fredericksburg, and allay all suspicion that he had any 
 designs against McClellan's lines. 
 
 It happened that a day or two previously I had gotten back 
 to camp my young and fiery mare which had been sent off to 
 be recruited and was now in fine condition, sleek and gay. On 
 so nimble and handsome a steed, this march was an enthusiastic 
 delight. At nightfall we were halted and went into bivouac 
 on the Winston Farm in the vicinity of Taylorsville. When I 
 fed my mare that night, it was with a feeling of admiring ap- 
 preciation of her excellent condition and the pleasant ride she 
 had given me. 
 
 As yet curiosity was rife as to the intent of our march, and in 
 what direction we would move on the morrow; but no hint 
 had been disclosed to confirm one or the other of our specula- 
 tions. 
 
 Before the morrow broke, with the first faint signs of the 
 coming dawn, several rockets were shot up from our camp, 
 
 24 
 
Stuart's Dash Around McClellans Army 25 
 
 making a whizzing noise and bursting into fiery flashes above 
 the tree-tops. Immediately afterwards, our steeds were fed, 
 our own breakfasts eaten, and without bugle sound we mounted 
 and renewed the march. Few if any of the command now had 
 any doubt but that our course would be towards the lines in 
 rear of McClellan's army, which belief was soon confirmed as 
 we took the road leading to Hanover Court House. 
 
 On this road, our regiment took the lead with our Adjutant 
 W. T. Robins, with a small detachment proceeding as an ad- 
 vance-guard. The squadron to which I was attached (then 
 companies B and C under Captain Samuel Swann), was in 
 front, and following us came Captain William Latane's squad- 
 ron (E and F). My position being at the rear of the leading 
 squadron, I was placed near Captain Latane at the head of the 
 one following, and so we rode side by side for some miles our 
 right and left boots touching together as we proceeded. I do 
 not recall anything of our conversation, but have an impression 
 that he seemed serious and reflective. 
 
 As we moved forward, however, the daring enthusiasm of 
 the command was very noticeable, and Southern ardor was prob- 
 ably never more manifest in soldiers' faces. As we came in 
 sight of Hanover Court House, the indications ahead made it 
 clear that the advance-guard had come upon the enemy's pickets, 
 and was giving them chase. The order now came, "Trot, 
 March" and at that gait we passed through the village and on 
 towards Hawe's shop. The quickened motion of our horses, 
 and the knowledge that we were rapidly coming into hand-to- 
 hand contact with the Federal Cavalry, yet further inspired the 
 ardor and dash of the movement. Suddenly, when past Hawe's 
 shop and near where a body of timber on the left was bordered 
 by our open field in the angle made by the road as it turned to 
 the left beside the Tolopotomiy creek, we halted to make dis- 
 positions to assail the enemy in front and another body in the 
 field to the left. It was necessary to tear down the fence in 
 order to charge into the field, and while handling the rails 
 here, a bullet cut an ugly gash in the flesh of a member of Com- 
 pany B, the first blood yet drav/n on our side. The 
 fence having been removed, a part of our squadron dashed 
 towards the enemy in the road, and another part towards those 
 in the field. I accompanied those who entered the field, and 
 
26 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 the squad of men at whom we were charging, broke and dashed 
 to the right joining their comrades in the road, and formed with 
 them a confused mass, galloping for the bridge which spanned 
 the creek. The bridge was too narrow to admit of all crossing 
 at once, and a number thus delayed were made prisoners as had 
 been several before reaching the bridge. 
 
 In the gallop in the field, I did not pause on the hill and 
 bear to the right as some of our party did, but continued with 
 a few others, down the hill into the meadow below where the 
 earth, made wet by recent rains, caused my mare to sink leg- 
 deep in mire, throwing me several feet over her head. Before 
 I could gain my feet, she had struggled out of the soft ground 
 and, wild with excitement, dashed on into the road and joined 
 the Yankee column at the bridge. Beautiful but foolish mare, 
 she made no pause here and unable to get on the bridge leaped 
 down the bank into the river! A few minutes later, I found 
 her on the farther side of the stream vainly attempting to ascend 
 the steep bank, and prvented from going farther down the 
 stream because of fallen trees. I made my way to her; saw 
 the hopelessness of her rescue, took a pistol and haversack from 
 the saddle and resigned Sally Payton — such was her name, to 
 her fate. 
 
 Meanwhile, Captain Latane's squadron had crossed the 
 bridge and was charging up the hill beyond, the cheers of his 
 men echoing from its wooded summit. Hastening back to where 
 the provost-guard had the prisoners, I obtained a captured horse 
 and with it re-crossed the bridge, and just beyond in the narrow 
 road descending the hill, I met four or five members of Com- 
 pany E who were bleeding with the wounds just received. 
 About half way up the hill, I met four men, each holding the 
 corner of a blanket, and protruding from it behind was Captain 
 Latane's boot, so familiar to me from our ride together that 
 morning. He had been instantly killed at the top of the hill 
 where he had met a Federal squadron. His younger brother 
 John, a former schoolmate of mine at Fleetwood Academy, 
 and now a soldier in his dead brother's company, took charge 
 of his body, and having secured an ox-cart and negro driver, 
 took it to the home of Dr. Brockenbrough near by for burial. 
 The service that followed was chiefly administered by the gentle 
 hands of women and has found touching and tender commem- 
 
- Stuart's Dash Around McClellans Army 27 
 
 oration both in poetry and painting. 
 
 It was found that the men whom we had met were com- 
 manded by a Captain W. B. Royal of the 5th Regulars of 
 the U. S. Army, a regiment of which General Robert E. 
 Lee had been the Colonel and Fitz Lee a lieutenant. It was 
 interesting and impressive to see a number of these men, held 
 as prisoners, crowd around the latter officer, shake hands with 
 him, and to hear them greet him in familiar manner as "Lieu- 
 tenant." The fact that he now wore the uniform of a Con- 
 federate Colonel apparently did not extinguish their friendly 
 feeling for him. 
 
 No time at this critical stage of the expedition was to be lost, 
 and we hurried on from the scene of Latane's fall, at the trot, 
 having opportunity as we resumed the march to glance at a 
 cavalryman in blue lying across a corn-row near the road, as 
 he had fallen from a fatal bullet. This was the first dead cav- 
 alryman, on the side of the enemy that I had seen. Our rapid 
 course was past Old Church beyond which a short distance was 
 the camp of the Fifth Regulars, a squadron of which we had 
 been fighting. Col. Fitz Lee having ascertained the location of 
 this camp of his old regiment desired the privilege of charging 
 it, and so at the head of the First Virginia Cavalry led our 
 column. No stand was made at this camp. Colonel Lee's friends 
 of former days not tarrying to give him welcome, but hastening 
 away at full speed towards Mechanicsville. 
 
 As I rode by the site of this camp, there stood the vacant tents, 
 some piles of burning hay and here and there were a few sol- 
 diers hastening to their places in the line with articles of trifling 
 value picked up where the enemy in the haste of flight had left 
 them. 
 
 We were now on the road leading down through King Wil- 
 liam County to Tunstall's Station on the York River Rail Road, 
 and our route led along many rich plantations, and fine homes 
 where dwelt families of most ardent Southern sympathies. The 
 women of these homes who had been for weeks shut in the 
 Federal lines beheld our moving column with wondering de- 
 light, rushing to the doors and windows and porches clapping 
 their hands and waving their handkerchiefs in an ecstacy of 
 patriotic joy. 
 
 As we passed on, the evidences multiplied of the presence not 
 
28 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 far off of a great army. The roads bore the marks of the pass- 
 ing of vast trains, often through the midst of wheat fields 
 ripening for the sickle. Now and then, a sutler's wagon was 
 met and captured and once a fat surgeon and new ambulance 
 came into our road just in time to meet us. Once at least, we 
 came upon some quarter-master and commissary wagons whose 
 drivers and guards, having discerned our approach, had fled. 
 
 As we approached within a few miles of Tunstall's, our road 
 was near enough to Pamunkey river to see the masts of some 
 vessels lying at Gulick's Landing. Captain Knight with two 
 companies was despatched to destroy the vessels, which he 
 readily succeeded in doing, the guards of the Tenth Pennsyl- 
 vania Cavalry having taken to cover at sight of his approach. 
 This guard abandoned besides the vessels seventy-five loaded 
 wagons on the river bank, which were burned. 
 
 As we drew near to Tunstall's Station, the signs increased of 
 serious opposition before us. As the railroad here was the main 
 means of communication between McClellan's army and its 
 base of supplies at the White House, it was naturally inferred 
 that it was under strong infantry guard at this point. Stuart 
 consequently arranged his men in a column of platoons and we 
 dashed into the place at a gallop. The small guard having 
 watch here, made no resistance. The order was given as soon 
 as we reached the station to remove the track, cut the telegraph 
 poles and wires, throw obstructions on the road, and make ready 
 for the coming of a train, supposed to be filled with infantry, 
 hastening to resist us. Before their orders could be put into 
 execution, the engine of a train, puffing its smoke, came into 
 sight and approached, slowing down the nearer it came, and 
 evidently preparing to stop. A man at the upper end of our line 
 of sharpshooters incautiously fired his carbine at the engineer, 
 when instantly the whistle blew, and the train bounded forward 
 at tremendous speed. A volley from all along our line was 
 poured into it, but we had lost the chance of its capture, and it 
 sped on bullet-scarred to the White House. 
 
 With as little delay at Tunstall's as possible, we moved on 
 in the growing darkness in the direction of Talleysville, near 
 which we passed a hospital filled with sick and wounded men of 
 the Union army who with their surgeons and' nurses were not 
 molested. The weariness of our horses and our own hunger and 
 
Stuart's Dash Around McClellans Army 29 
 
 fatigue demanded a halt here which was allowed us. A large 
 store was found in charge of a sutler, and filled with goods 
 suited to the tastes and physical needs of our men — substantial 
 articles of food, cakes, confectionaries and fruits in great variety. 
 We were directed by Colonel Lee to help ourselves. 
 
 Perhaps my empty stomach and eager appetite made this 
 permission to indulgence unfortunate for me, for a little later 
 when I besought a much needed nap instead of getting it, as 
 was the case with the comrades around me, I became the sub- 
 ject of an internal commotion and violent upheaval which ill 
 fitted me for the march through the later hours of the night 
 to the point on the Chickahominy river where it was proposed 
 we would effect a crossing. 
 
 The place of this anticipated crossing was a somewhat se- 
 cluded one on a plantation, to which no public road led and was 
 capable of being forded only when the river was low. We 
 reached it at daylight, and Colonel W. H. F. Lee, laying 
 aside his clothing, and descending an embankment somewhat 
 obstructed with bushes and trees, entered the water like a 
 bold swimmer to test the depth and force of the current. He 
 soon returned from his venture reporting that it was impossible 
 to get the horses over without swimming them. 
 
 Having had some experience in swimming horses in swollen 
 streams, I offered to swim over that of my father, the Lt. 
 Colonel of the regiment. His horse was a compact and hand- 
 home bay called Dan which swam the stream with ease, and 
 was left tied on the farther shore. Having swam back to 
 the side of my companions, I led my own horse — the capture of 
 the previous day — into the river and swimming at its head 
 landed it on the opposite shore and saw it go up out of the 
 water. I did not deem it necessary to halter it, but turned to 
 swim back. When I got about mid stream coming back, I heard 
 the heavy breathing of a horse and the sound of its feet like 
 paddles in water and looking back saw the animal I had just 
 released following me like a dog and in danger of striking me 
 with its hoofs. It was evident that it was intent on getting 
 back to the other horses from which I had taken it, and I let 
 it return. 
 
 While occupied in this endeavor to get these horses across the 
 river, two tall pines near the water's edge had been cut down, 
 
30 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee*s Army 
 
 in the vain hope that they would span the stream. Each of 
 them in falling sprang clear of the shore and proving too short 
 to reach the farther side were borne down the current. A 
 long line made of bridle-reins and halters tied together had 
 been carried by this time across and made secure to two trees, 
 one on either side, and an attempt was made to ferry a raft of 
 fence-rails over, capable of bearing ten or twelve men with their 
 saddles and equipments. Only one trial of the raft was made, 
 since as soon as it reached the centre of the stream the force 
 of the water submerged the lower end of it, sweeping off some 
 of its occupants' saddles, coats and boots, which were hopelessly 
 borne away on the current. 
 
 It became manifest now that to cross twelve hundred horses 
 and a section of artillery here was impossible, and the command 
 was put in motion for Jones' Bridge, a mile or so farther down, 
 where the river dividing into two streams formed an insland, 
 and greatly lessened the width of the main current. 
 
 On reaching Jones' Bridge, we found that sometime pre- 
 viously it had been burned and nothing but the charred piles 
 remained. The current here though narrower than we had 
 found it above, was correspondingly more swift and deeper. It 
 offered just below the bridge favorable approaches for getting 
 the horses into the water and out on the opposite side. While 
 a force of men were detailed under Captain Redmond Burke 
 to demolish a large barn which fortuitously was distant only a 
 hundred yards or so, the process of swimming the horses was 
 undertaken. It fell to my lot to swim eighteen, half the number 
 in my company. The method was to mount a horse, force it 
 into the water, leap off at once on the lower side and grasping 
 the bridle-bit or halter swim against the current so as not to be 
 swept below the landing-place on the other side. Stuart sat on 
 one of the remaining timbers of the bridge watching the opera- 
 tion with great interest and giving helpful directions from time 
 to time. 
 
 The barn having been taken to pieces, its timbers and planks 
 were brought on the men's shoulders, and with these a bridge 
 was constructed on the ruins of the old one, and across this 
 many of the command walked, carrying their saddles, blankets, 
 etc. This bridge, after more than half the horses had crossed 
 by swimming, was made so secure that the remainder were led 
 
Stuart's Dash Around McClellans Army 3 1 
 
 over on it, and so came over the artillery. 
 
 In the hot sun of that June afternoon when all had crossed 
 and the command was given to mount, to renew the march, I 
 found myself unable to obey it. The labor of swimming 
 twenty horses across the Chickahominy and exposure for hours 
 to its muddy waters had stiffened my limbs and made it impos- 
 sible to lift myself into the saddle. The kindly aid of Captain 
 Forrest, a gallant Marylander who accompanied the expedition 
 as a volunteer, enabled me to regain my seat. 
 
 The island which we were now crossing was narrow, and in a 
 few minutes we were in a great swamp covered with trees be- 
 tween which the water of the swollen river rushed like a turbu- 
 lent flood. The water was above our saddle-skirts. Lieutenant 
 Breathed's guns as the horses dragged them were under water. 
 We could barely see the tops of the caissons. Presently, one of 
 these became obstructed in the mud, and in the effort to extricate 
 it, the pole was broken. We left it there submerged, the only 
 thing on wheels that we lost. 
 
 Leaving the Chickahominy behind us, our general direction 
 of march — painful and wearisome — was towards Charles City 
 Court House, near which on the farm of Col. Wilcox, we 
 halted to feed the horses and to get our own supper, and a short 
 nap. About eleven o'clock, we resumed our march along the 
 road near the James River leading towards Richmond. It was 
 well understood that we were within the enemy's lines and that 
 our movement might be intercepted by them, and we marched 
 in quietude. Once in the night, we came to a vacant camp the 
 tents of which stood silent and tenantless. Human endurance 
 had reached its limit on this night's ride, and many men sat in 
 their saddles in drowsy unconsciousness as their weary horses 
 bore them along. If the march of that fourteenth day of June 
 was not the longest we ever had made ; it was, including the 
 excitement and labor incident to crossing the Chickahominy, 
 by far the most taxing and exhaustive on our physical powers. 
 
 The following morning we reached Richmond and were 
 greeted by thousands of the populace with cheers and waving 
 handkerchiefs, as we marched through the streets towards 
 Brooke Avenue. On the farther ride to our camp at Mordecai's, 
 the correspondent of the Dispatch joined us on horseback, gath- 
 ering from us the particulars of the raid, which were graphically 
 
32 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee*s Army 
 
 given in several columns of the paper on the ensuing morning. 
 The active participation in various forms of helpful service dur- 
 ing this exciting and daring adventure, brought a number of 
 young soldiers into notice, and opened the way for their pro- 
 motion. Conspicuous among these were: Captain Heros Van 
 Borke of the Prussian army, who had cast in his lot with us and 
 in whose honor the Confederate Congress a year later passed 
 a highly commendatory resolution; Captain Farley, who was 
 killed at Brandy Station, the next year; Dr. J. B. Fontaine, who 
 was later also killed; private R. E. Frayser, who afterwards 
 became our distinguished Captain of the Signal Corps; Lieu- 
 tenant John Estair Cooke, a gifted author of books as well as 
 efficient ordnance officer; John S. Mosby, destined to become a 
 partisan-ranger of world-wide fame; and our daring adjutant, 
 W. S. Robins, who became distinguished before the war closed 
 as Colonel of the Twenty-Fourth Virginia Cavalry. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 STUART's cavalry in the battle before RICHMOND 
 
 T T was on the 25th of June, 1862, while the regiment to 
 -■■ which I was attached — the Ninth Virginia — was encamped 
 at Mordecai's, on the Brooke Turnpike, that the intense sus- 
 pense which we had felt since returning from the raid around 
 McClellan found relief from receiving orders to fill our haver- 
 sacks and cartridge boxes and be in readiness to move. That 
 afternoon we were mounted and marched out on the pike 
 towards Yellow Tavern, beyond which we took a road bearing 
 to the right at Turner's and followed it to the vicinity of Ash- 
 land. It was our first opportunity to see the new battle flags 
 of several of our cavalry regiments as they floated in the evening 
 air. 
 
 It was on this march, late in the afternoon, that I first be- 
 held ''Stonewall" Jackson. He passed near me, attended by a 
 number of his staff, riding his famous little sorrel, and wearing 
 his no less famous slouch cap, which evidently had seen service. 
 His appearance, which was not imposing or graceful in the 
 saddle, drew my closest scrutiny, and his face betokened that 
 his mind was intent on grave and momentous matters. 
 
 After nightfall, as we emerged from the cover of some woods, 
 there broke upon us the campfires of his army. They were 
 bivouacking in a large, open field, and were freely using the 
 fence rails which had inclosed it in making fires and in cooking 
 their suppers. Thousands of fires lighted up the gathering dark- 
 ness, and the forms of his men were seen standing around, or 
 moving among them, presenting an impressive and animating 
 scene of war. Passing on beyond them, we soon halted near 
 Ashland and unsaddled for the night. 
 
 On the following morning betimes we were up, mounted, and 
 in motion as the advance of Jackson's command. Our march 
 for some time seemed rather away from the Federal army on 
 the Chickahominy than towards it. In the afternoon, we were 
 halted and massed in a body of woods on the right of the road, 
 as though some obstruction had been met in front. It was 
 
 33 
 
34 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 • 
 
 soon reported that we were near the Totopotomy Creek; that 
 the bridge had been destroyed, and the enemy held the opposite 
 bank. After waiting some time, it became manifest that Jack- 
 son's infantry and some of his artillery — ^Whiting's Texans and 
 Reilly's battery — were in motion, and presently here they came, 
 with a battery in the lead. The wildest enthusiasm prevailed 
 among the artillerymen. The horses were urged forward under 
 spur, and the men ran and leaped like school boys hastening to 
 their play. 
 
 The enemy speedily retreated, and we resumed the march, 
 passing over the creek on a newly improvised bridge, and a few 
 miles beyond encamped for the night near the yard of Pole 
 Green Church. What had been the necessity for the long and 
 tiresome detour we had made, we did not know; nor has it yet 
 been explained. 
 
 The next morning we continued the march, and by a circuit- 
 ous route, in which we passed Bethesda and Beulah Churches, 
 we reached the vicinity of (Old) Cold Harbor. As we drew 
 near, about 2:30 P. M., moving along amidst dense groves of 
 pine through which came no warlike sound to break the quietude 
 of our march, suddenly the boom of a cannon, a mile or so dis- 
 tant, roused our intense attention. The cannon fire became 
 louder and more rapid, and we all were assured that we were 
 on the edge of a great battle. 
 
 As we advanced towards the field of the fighting our course 
 was diverted to the left, so as to place us opposite the extreme 
 right of the Federal army, and in supporting distance of the 
 horse artillery and Carrington's Battery on our left. 
 
 Very quickly the musketry fire to our right, and extending 
 back apparently for a mile or more, grew terrific in the rapidity 
 and volume of its discharges. No lull for several hours was 
 noticeable in its murderous volleys. No where else in all the 
 war did I hear the sound of muskets so heavy and so continuous. 
 
 Meanwhile, the roar of cannon mingled with deafening sound 
 with the noise of the small arms and cheers of our charging 
 lines. The guns near at hand had an open plain before them 
 and were used with intense activity. A mile in front of them 
 a road led ofi from the field of carnage, and beside it stood 
 a tall and shapely pine, which became as the enemy retreated 
 on it, a target for our gunners. Around that tree, their solid 
 
Stuart's Cavalry in the Battle Before Richmond 35 
 
 shots and shells played with marked effect. 
 
 Solid shot from the Federal battery whizzed over the heads 
 of the cavalrymen, but only once, I believe, came low enough 
 to do harm. In that case, while the Fourth Regiment was in 
 line, a solid shot struck a young soldier, Warrock, of Richmond, 
 in the body, hurling him, horribly mangled, to the ground. It 
 sent a shudder through those of us who witnessed it. 
 
 When the musketry fire, to which we had listened so intently, 
 slackened, and died away, it became evident to us that the 
 enemy was retreating. Very quickly, we were ordered forward 
 in a direction that led us over a part of the ground occupied in 
 the battle. The awful struggle had left many sad witnesses in 
 dead and wounded men of its bloody nature. As we marched 
 over the spot where a Federal gun had stood, we saw one of 
 its cannoneers lying on the earth without a head. Some paces 
 farther on his head entangled by his hair and heavy beard in 
 the branches of a locust into which it had been hurled by a 
 cannon ball, attracted our sight. His face was turned down- 
 wards and his still open eyes with a ghastly stare seemed to 
 look down sadly and reproachfully upon us. Farther on, we 
 passed the tall pine around which we had seen our shells burst- 
 ing. Many severed limbs of the tree lay on the ground, and 
 the trunk of it was scarred and bruised from bottom to top, 
 showing how well our gunners had aimed. 
 
 Near this tree, was the limber of a Federal gun with axle 
 shattered by a solid shot. Near it sat a boy of some thirteen 
 or fourteen summers, wearing the blue uniform of a soldier. 
 His leg was terribly shattered near his body, and his death was 
 inevitable. His fair, young cheeks were unblanched, and his 
 calm, composed, unruffled spirit in the face of death was never 
 surpassed by any bronzed and bearded warrior. His bright, 
 boyish face, seen under death's shadow, haunted me through all 
 the subsequent days of war, and the sight of him proved to 
 me one of its saddest and most touching incidents. 
 
 Stuart was now proceeding three miles to the left of Mc- 
 Clellan's lines to observe and obstruct any movement of his 
 troops towards the White House, and his route led him past a 
 shop, or church, on the road side, used as a Federal hospital. 
 It was growing dark and the evening air was warm and sultry. 
 As we drew near to the hospital the smell of human blood grew 
 
36 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 dense and sickening, and we quickened our way past to escape 
 from it. One of my comrades, whose nasal faculties were less 
 acute than mine and who shrank less from gruesome sights, 
 ventured near to get a view of what was going on. He came 
 back to tell us that he saw wagons filled with hands, feet, arms, 
 and legs, and surgeons still busy with their amputating in- 
 struments. 
 
 No movement of the enemy such as was anticipated having 
 been detected, we were moved back to the edge of the battle- 
 field and slept there. Next morning at early dawn, as I opened 
 my eyes, I noticed one of my company spring up from the 
 ground, jerking his blanket after him, and beat a hasty retreat. 
 I soon discovered that a cannon ball lay on the ground near 
 where he slept, having been thrown there the previous day. The 
 fear that it might be a shell and might yet burst had put him to 
 undignified flight, no little to my amusement at the time. 
 
 Leaving the Cold Harbor field that morning, our regiment 
 marched in advance of General Ewell's troops towards Dis- 
 patch Station, and on the way found two field pieces of Tid- 
 ball's Battery, which had been abandoned on their retreat. Soon 
 we separated from the infantry, they inclining towards James 
 River and we directing our course to the White House, on the 
 Pamunkey. Some skirmishing occurred as we approached the 
 latter place. Captain Pelham did some cannonading. Very 
 soon the smoke of burning buildings and army supplies gave 
 signs that the Federal troops there were abandoning the place. 
 We approached cautiously for a time (a gunboat still remaining 
 to guard the place), and then took eager possession. We found 
 our colonel's (W. H. F. Lee's) house was a bed of redhot 
 embers. A number of adjacent houses were still hot and smok- 
 ing from the torches that had been applied. 
 
 The mass of commissary, quarter-master, medical, and sut- 
 ler's supplies not yet burned was enormous. Army wagons had 
 been backed over the river bank until they formed an island, the 
 wagon tongues in great numbers protruding out of the water. 
 Muskets and carbines had been cast into the river until one 
 could stand on them dryshod above the current, so large was 
 the pile. 
 
 A hospital of new white tents occupied a large part of one 
 of the fields of the plantation, arranged in orderly rows, and 
 
Stuart's Cavalry in the Battle Before Richmond 37 
 
 furnished with cots, and every necessary facility and utensil 
 for the care and comfort of the wounded of a great battle. As 
 I moved among them, the thought could not be suppressed of 
 how sadly the thousands of McClellan's bleeding men on the 
 Chickahominy needed the hospital, and how utterly useless it 
 had proved to them. 
 
 Having observed some locomotives and cars standing on 
 the tracks, I examined them to see if the cars were there which 
 had run the gauntlet of our fire at Tunstall's Station two weeks 
 previously, during the raid made by Stuart. They were soon 
 found, and the bullet marks on them bore witness to the severity 
 of the fire through which they had passed. 
 
 Our physical wants were abundantly supplied here, and the 
 next day we moved back towards the Chickahominy, and halted 
 on the wooded hills above Forge Bridge. A body of Federal 
 infantry and a section of artillery held positions near this bridge. 
 The hill beyond was elevated and unobstructed by timber. Some 
 delay and reconnoitering resulted from seeing the enemy here. 
 Suddenly, as we were watching from our sheltered position, 
 Pelham dashed forward, with two guns, down the incline and 
 across the plain, and taking position near the river, opened on 
 the guns on the hilltop. He had already received their fire. 
 The duel became rapid and exciting. It was quickly apparent 
 that Pelham 's guns were aimed with fatal effects. At each 
 discharge of them a man, or a horse, was seen to fall or flee. 
 In a few minutes after the firing began, the Federal guns were 
 in full retreat. As they dashed along the road in the distance, 
 we saw the branches of the cedars falling about them, cut down 
 by Pelham's parting shots. 
 
 As illustrative of the exaggeration and unreliability which 
 often marked reports of engagements sent in from the field, that 
 of Lieutenant Val. H. Stone, commanding the Federal guns on 
 this occasion at Forge Bridge, is a striking example. He re- 
 ported: "June 30, II A. M., the rebels appeared on the op- 
 posite side. At I P. M. they opened fire with eight guns. I 
 was under fire the greater portion of the time until 6 P. M. 
 For two hours of the time, I had their guns completely silenced. 
 . . . My riding horse was killed with a shell. No men 
 killed in my command. One of the cavalry killed. Consider- 
 able loss on the enemy's side." 
 
38 A Lieutenant of Cavalry^ in Lee's Army 
 
 It is quite likely that other participants in this affair on the 
 Union side gave a different version of it, since the officer, Major 
 Robert M. West, to whom the above quoted report was ad- 
 dressed, indorsed on it: "This young officer, with new horses 
 and men that had never been tried, performed exceedingly well, 
 considering." To those of us on the opposite side it seemed that 
 the only performance in' which he acted "exceedingly well" was 
 the rapidity of his flight. 
 
 No attempt was made by us that evening to cross the aban- 
 doned bridge, but about dark 1 was sent along with our squad- 
 ron to ascertain the position of the enemy in the direction of 
 New Kent Courthouse. It fell to my lot to ride with another 
 man in advance, and it was an exciting ride, not knowing at 
 what moment a watchful enemy might salute us with a volley. 
 We had come within one or two hundred yards of the court 
 house, when, discerning an object in a ditch by the road side, 
 my comrade said in a low tone: "It's a cow," whereupon the 
 Yankee picket spurred his horse from the ditch, and too much 
 startled to fire a shot, disappeared at a gallop in the darkness. 
 We turned back to report the circumstance, when the officer 
 commanding us, having heard a bustle, as of troops mounting, 
 in the direction of the enemy faced about, and hastened back at 
 a trot. 
 
 My position became then in the rear, and before going far, 
 from carelessness in sitting properly in my saddle it turned on 
 the horse's back precipitating me to the ground. The column 
 moved on rapidly, no one in the line being conscious of the 
 accident. I was left alone in the road with my saddle loosely 
 strapped to the horse's belly instead of his back. 
 
 Hearing that the enemy was in pursuit, and might dash up on 
 me in a moment, I led my impatinet and restless horse (neighing 
 lustily for the others of the command) down into the woods and 
 fastened him to a limb, and then proceeded to adjust the saddle 
 while he pawed and pranced. I succeeded in saddling and 
 mounting him with intense satisfaction, and on getting back 
 into the road, gave him the rein. He followed the track of the 
 other horses and before long caught up with them. 
 
 It was daybreak when we reached our regiment, and by the 
 time our horses could eat we were in motion for Bottom's 
 Bridge, twelve miles higher up the river. From some over- 
 
Stuart's Cavalry in the Battle Before Richmond 39 
 
 sanguine source we were informed that we were marching to 
 witness the surrender of McClellan's army — information which, 
 however groundless, made us forgetful of fatigue and the last 
 night's sleeplessness. 
 
 On reaching the above-named bridge with slight delay, our 
 column was turned about and somewhat impatiently and wearily 
 we marched back to the point we had left in the morning. We 
 were not halted here, but passed over the Forge Bridge, and on 
 the hill beyond saw a dead horse, and under the cedars farther 
 on two freshly made graves — silent witnesses of Pelham's death- 
 dealing shots seen by us the day previous. Our march was 
 towards Malvern Hill, near which place we halted for the 
 night. Having ridden fifty miles or more, I tied my horse to 
 a fence and gave him his frugal meal, and then threw myself 
 down, sleepy and almost exhausted, in a shallow ditch by the 
 fence side, and was soon in the deepest unconsciousness. The 
 rain fell during the night in a heavy downpour, but I knew 
 it not. When I awoke next morning, water stood around me, 
 and as I raised my body up out of it,^ I could hear the noise of 
 suction such as a log makes when lifted up out of soft mud. 
 
 The following day we were placed in position near the bloody 
 field of Malvern Hill, but took no part in the fighting. We 
 were on ground sadly marked by signs of the battle of the 
 previous day, the destructive marks of shot and shell on the 
 earth and on houses, trees, fences and the prostrate forms of 
 our fallen soldiers having been seen by us. 
 
 That night, not far from this field of carnage, I lay down to 
 sleep near my horse with my oilcloth spread over a few rails 
 resting on a fence. During the night I awoke to find myself 
 on a horse, I knew not where, and all alone in a road, I knew 
 not where. The reins, as I grasped them, felt strange to my 
 hand and the horse was wholly unlike my own. I turned 
 around and moved in a direction opposite to that I had been 
 heading. Soon I was back at our camp, tied the unknown 
 horse to a tree and found my shelter and went again to sleep. 
 
 Next morning I was delirious with fever, and was placed by 
 our surgeon in an ambulance and sent to a field hospital near 
 Atlee's Station, where Edward Lee, a faithful colored servant, 
 nursed me with most considerate and gentle care. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 DEAD AND WOUNDED LAY IN HEAPS AT MANASSAS 
 
 T WAS unfitted for service by an illness of several weeks, 
 -■• which well-nigh proved fatal, and separated, in consequence, 
 from my regiment. It meanwhile, marched from Atlee's Sta- 
 tion, not far from Richmond, on the campaign against Pope. 
 Having been thus left behind for a few days, I was not permit- 
 ted to share in the exciting dash in the darkness on Catlett's 
 Station and the capture of General Pope's coat and orderbook; 
 but, nevertheless, it fell to my lot to secure the book, and I have 
 it still as a souvenir of the occasion, when the Federal com- 
 mander was said to have called to the engineer of a train at 
 the station and ready to move: "Hurry up! Hurry up! They've 
 got my headquarters, and if you don't hurry they'll get my 
 hindquarters!" I also escaped the raid on Manassas Junction, 
 w^hen Pope's immense stores of provisions for his army were 
 captured and burned. 
 
 On August 27th, I set out to overtake our army by way of 
 Louisa Courthouse, Culpeper Courthouse, and Thoroughfare 
 Gap, having as companions my brother Robert, Gawin C. Tali- 
 aferro, John Sturman and later Colonel Joseph Mayo and 
 Captain William B. Newton. After reaching Culpeper Court- 
 house, we were on the track of the two great armies as they 
 moved towards Manassas preparatory to the second bloody 
 battle on that memorable field. As we rode through Fauquier 
 County, couriers bearing dispatches, men slightly wounded and 
 other persons who had followed the army were met, and they 
 told us of the bloody battle, and how signally the victory had 
 been on our side. As we approached closer to the field, the 
 melancholy signs of the strife became more frequent. Major- 
 General Taliaferro was seen badly wounded with his two at- 
 tendants, making his way painfully back to a hospital, and other 
 officers from colonels down to lieutenants were met with band- 
 aged heads, legs, and arms, all showing the deadly work in 
 which they had been engaged. 
 
 On the right of the road, beneath a grove of oaks, shady and 
 
 40 
 
Dead anu Wounded Lay in Heaps at Manasses 4I 
 
 cool, such as are frequently to be seen in Prince William 
 County, we came upon a field hospital, with hundreds of 
 wounded men lying on blankets, spread under the trees, and 
 attended by surgeons and their assistants. No tent as yet had 
 been put up to shelter any of them in case of rain. It was a sad, 
 sad sight, that large assemblage of brave men, wounded in every 
 possible way, and many of them dying, out beneath the trees, 
 away from the sound of a woman's voice or ministry of her 
 hand. 
 
 Near the spot of ground by the roadside, a fine horse, per- 
 haps a surgeon's, which had been tied to a stake, succeeded in 
 pulling the stake from the ground just as we were passing, and, 
 becoming wildly frightened by having it dangling at his side, 
 rushed blindly into the grove among the wounded men, turning 
 this way and that and whirling the stake furiously as he ran. 
 We could see the commotion created, but were helpless to avert 
 the harm, and hastened on without learning what injury was 
 done. 
 
 Very soon after this, we were on the battle ground of the 
 previous day, moving where the fighting had been very heavy. 
 The dead were lying just as they had fallen. We rode through 
 a body of timber, near the edge of which the Federal infantry 
 had made an obstinate stand, firing from behind the trees. 
 Beside nearly every tree on this line, we saw a dead soldier 
 lying, and in some instances more than one. Deeper in the 
 woods, here, there, and yonder, the fallen lay on the ground, 
 some facing the over-arching branches of the trees, others with 
 their faces turned to the earth, and yet others having xht'ix 
 eyes gazing towards the right or left — all with death's glazed 
 and ghastly stare. 
 
 Of this field and the furiously contested struggle which took 
 place on it. General Jackson said: "Eagerly and fiercely did 
 each brigade press forward, exhibiting in parts of the field, 
 scenes of close encounter and murderous strife not witnessed 
 often in the turmoil of battle. The Federals gave way before 
 our troops, fell back in disorder and fled precipitately, leaving 
 their dead and wounded on the field." . . . "We captured 
 eight pieces of artillery with caissons, and 6,520 small arms were 
 collected from the field." 
 
 On the day of my ride through the blood-stained fields and 
 
42 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in L, 
 
 my 
 
 woods of this historic ground where death held high carnival, 
 I halted to eat within a few feet of one of the capturtrl batteries. 
 The guns were new, the horses sleek blacks, and their harness 
 superb. 
 
 That afternoon I moved on in quest of my regiment, and at 
 nightfall slept near the road leading to Centerville. A very 
 large part of Lee's army moved that night over that road, 
 hastening forward to bring Pope's demoralized regiments to 
 battle again. I never can forget the regular, rhythmic tread of 
 those heroic regiments, marching four abreast as they passed in 
 silence and darkness from fields of victory in quest of others. 
 
 The following morning, on the road to Fairfax Courthouse, 
 I discovered General Stuart and staff, dismounted near the 
 roadside, and learned that my regiment was close at hand. 
 Stuart wore a jacket, and carried a sword suited to a powerful 
 arm. His eye beamed with unusual brightness, he appeared 
 the splendid cavalier that he was, and, like a warrior, finding 
 delight in a victory on a hard-fought field. 
 
 Later that day, on our advance line, I met my comrades, from 
 whom I had been separated for a month. They were lamenting 
 the death of one of the company, Octavus Gutridge by name, 
 who had fallen under circumstances that did not admit of his 
 comrades burying him, and so was left to fill an unknown grave. 
 
 That morning as I sat in the saddle beside the pike, I saw 
 an ambulance pass me under a flag of truce, escorted by a de- 
 tachment of infantry with arms reversed. It was moving to- 
 wards the Federal lines, and bore the body of General Phil 
 Kearny, who, in trying to rally his men in the Ox Hill or 
 Chantilly battle, had been killed. He was brave to a fault, 
 and greatly admired and esteemed in the army of the Potomac. 
 His State, New Jersey, afterwards placed a bronze statue to 
 his memory and honor in Statuary Hall in the National Capitol. 
 Thousands of his countrymen will look upon his manly figure 
 there without knowing what a knightly and dauntless plume 
 he wore where he fell. 
 
 We followed the line of Pope's retreat as far as Fairfax 
 Courthouse and Fairfax Station, and then marched to Drains- 
 ville, where the long-absent wagon-train was met. For days 
 previously, the men had subsisted principally on green corn, 
 gathered from the fields, and toasted. The cooking of the scant 
 
Dead and Wounded Lay in Heaps at Manasses 43 
 
 ration of meat obtained had been by most primitive methods, 
 without frying-pan or skillet. 
 
 On September 4th, we moved up near Leesburg, the tin 
 roofs of some of the houses of which we could see glistening in 
 the sunlight. On the 5th, we marched through fertile planta- 
 tions east of that town towards Edwards Ferry. Several lines 
 of Stuart's regiment on different paths were wending their 
 way to this ferry, and as they proceeded with regimental flags 
 floating above them, the scene was attractive and inspiring. 
 Having forded the Potomac, we passed beneath an aqueduct, 
 or canal rather, which spanned the road, and that night biv- 
 ouacked at Poolesville, rejoicing in the abundance of the rich 
 yellow corn and hay which we were able to secure for our 
 horses. 
 
 We were now well launched on the Maryland campaign. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 THE MARYLAND CAMPAIGN 
 
 "P\ URING the camaign in Maryland in 1862, the Ninth 
 Virginia Cavalry was attached to the brigade commanded 
 by General Fitz Lee. After nine days spent among the fine 
 hay and rich yellow cornfields of Montgomery and Frederick 
 counties, the regiment crossed the Catoctin mountain at Ham- 
 burg at dawn on the morning of September 14th. Hamburg 
 was a rude and scattering village on the crest of the mountain, 
 where the manufacture of brandy seemed to be the chief employ- 
 ment of the villagers, and at the early hour of our passage 
 through the place, both the men and women gave proof that 
 they were free imbibers of the product of their stills. It was 
 not easy to find a sober inhabitant of either sex. 
 
 To our troopers descending the western slope of the moun- 
 tain, the peaceful valley below, dotted over with well-tilled 
 farms, with a bold stream winding down among them, presented 
 a scene of unusual beauty and loveliness. Near a large grist- 
 mill, the command was halted after a march of several hours, 
 and here rested beneath the shade of a large apple orchard until 
 four o'clock in the afternoon. The distant boom of artillery 
 assured us of the bloody conflict going on at South Mountain, 
 the issue of which we were in suspense to know. The march 
 in the afternoon brought the command to the vicinity of Boons- 
 boro, where a brief halt was made after nightfall to rest and to 
 feed the horses. Near midnight, the march was resumed in the 
 direction of the mountain pass above Boonsboro. The disaster 
 to our arms in the fight of the previous day was now made 
 manifest, as artillery, ambulances, and infantry were met re- 
 treating down the mountain. The brigade, having ascended a 
 mile and a half, perhaps, above the town, was held in readiness 
 to charge in column of fours. The nature of the ground was 
 ill-suited to the operation of cavalry, and much relief was felt 
 when, at dawn, we began to fall back towards Boonsboro. Our 
 retreat was none too early, for already the columns of the enemy, 
 with their bright muskets gleaming in the morning light, could 
 
 44 
 
The Maryland Campaign 45 
 
 be seen as we entered Boonsboro. More than once, we were 
 faced about as we retreated, as if to repel a threatened charge 
 by cavalry. 
 
 Having been halted in the streets of Boonsboro, the men, after 
 being so long in the saddle, were allowed to dismount, and for 
 some time remained in this way, the men standing by their 
 horses, or sitting down on the curbstones and holding their 
 bridle reins. Suddenly, the order "Mount! Mount!" resounded 
 down the street, and simultaneously a rapid fire of pistols and 
 carbines was heard near at hand. Before the men could mount 
 and form ranks, the rear guard, retreating at full speed, dashed 
 into our already confused column and in an incredibly short 
 time the street became packed with a mass of horses and horse- 
 men, so jammed together as to make motion impossible for most 
 of them. At the same time, the upper windows in some of the 
 houses were hoisted and a volley of pistol shots poured down 
 on our heads. The Federal cavalry, quickly discovering our 
 situation, dashed up boldly and discharged their carbines into 
 our struggling and helpless ranks. When the way was opened, 
 and retreat became possible, a general stampede followed, our 
 whole force rushing from the town down the pike at a full 
 gallop. This disorderly movement was increased by the discov- 
 ery that some of the enemy's infantry had almost succeeded in 
 cutting off our retreat, and were firing from a corn field into 
 our flank. 
 
 We were scarcely outside the town before our colonel's 
 (W. H. F. Lee) horse was killed, and he, falling heavily on 
 the 'pike, had to take flight, dust-covered and bruised, through 
 the field on the left. Captain Hughlett's horse fell in like man- 
 ner on the edge of the town, and he, leaping the railing, found 
 concealment in a dense patch of growing corn. In the middle 
 of the turnpike, were piles of broken stone, placed there for 
 repairing the roadway. On these, amidst the impenetrable dust, 
 many horses blindly rushed, and falling, piled with their riders 
 one on another. Here and there in the pell-mell race, blinded 
 by the dust, horses and horsemen dashed against telegraph posts 
 and fell to the ground, to be trampled by others behind. 
 
 When the open fields were reached and we were beyond the 
 range of the infantry, a considerable force was rallied and the 
 Federal horsemen were charged in turn. In this charge our 
 
46 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 lieutenant-colonel's horse was killed, and a second charge was 
 led by Captain Thomas Haynes, of Company H, in which a 
 number of prisoners belonging to the Eighth Illinois Cavalry 
 were captured and brought out. With this charge, pursuit by 
 the enemy was checked, and two battle-flags, about which some 
 brave men fell into ranks, with Fitz Lee in the centre, served 
 as a rallying point, where our regiments were quickly reformed. 
 We then withdrew leisurely in the direction of Sharpsburg, and 
 were not further pressed. 
 
 In this brief and ill-starred encounter, the Ninth Regiment 
 lost two officers and sixteen men killed and mortally wounded, 
 and ten men captured. Among the killed were Lieutenant 
 Fowlkes, of Lunenburg, and Frank Oliver, of Essex — two very 
 gallant men. 
 
 Captain Hughlett, who was dismounted early in the action 
 by the falling of his horse, remained in concealment in the corn 
 throughout the day, and was a sad and silent witness of the 
 burial of his dead comrades by the enemy. Under cover of 
 darkness, he sought food at the hands of a woman who was 
 strongly Union in sentiment, and had two sons in the Federal 
 army. She relieved his hunger, and, strengthened at her hands, 
 he made his way into our lines, and reached the regiment next 
 day, having had during the night several narrow escapes from 
 the enemy's sentries. 
 
 On the morning of the i6th of September, the regiment was 
 again in motion, after spending a quiet and restful night in a 
 fine grove of oaks, and soon became satisfied that the move- 
 ments of our army did not mean an immediate retreat across 
 the Potomac, but a preparation for battle in the beautiful, wind- 
 ing valley of the Antietam. Our line of march led us past the 
 position of Hood's Division, the troops of which already had 
 thrown up a slight breastwork of rails, logs, stones, and lay on 
 their arms, in readiness for the enemy's advance. These gal- 
 lant men, who were destined to meet the first furious onslaught 
 of McClellan's troops, occupied rising ground, partly in the 
 woods, and partly in the open fields, with an open valley wind- 
 ing in front of them. A few hundred yards in advance of 
 Hood's line, the cavalry was drawn up in line on a wooded 
 eminence in rear of several pieces of artillery. The position 
 commanded an extended view of open fields and a straight road- 
 
The Maryland Campaign 47 
 
 way leading towards Antietam river, and in the distance could 
 be seen the heavy column of the advancing Federals. Their 
 march was regular and steady towards our position. Only 
 once, where a road diverged from that on which they moved, 
 was there a halt. After pausing at this point for a few minutes, 
 the column was set in motion again up the road on which we 
 were posted. As yet, no Federal skirmish line had been de- 
 ployed, and only a few mounted men were visible. Infantry and 
 artillery composed the heavy blue column. The foremost file 
 of these troops had approached almost near enough to count the 
 buttons on their coats, when our guns opened from the covert 
 a rapid fire, and thus began the bloody battle of Sharpsburg. 
 The Federal batteries were hurried forward rapidly, and our 
 guns were soon withdrawn. In retiring, we passed after dark 
 through the valley on the farther side of which Hood's Division 
 rested on their arms. The Federals were now discharging a 
 deafening fire of artillery, and a few guns on our side were 
 answering them. As we moved through the valley, the shells 
 from two directions were passing over our heads, their burning 
 fuses gleaming like meteors, and the whole making a com- 
 paratively harmless but brilliant spectacular performance. 
 
 If I learned at the time to what battery the guns belonged 
 that fired these first shots at Sharpsburg, I have quite forgotten 
 now. This information was earnestly sought by the Antietam 
 Battle-Field Board, of the War Department. General E. A. 
 Carman, of that board, wrote from Sharpsburg once to me: 
 "For some time I have been endeavoring to ascertain what force 
 opposed Hooker's when he first crossed the Antietam on the 
 afternoon of September i6th, and before he came in contact 
 with Hood's Division, but have been unable to get anything 
 satisfactory. He was opposed by artillery, yet I can get no 
 trace of any artillery within a mile of where he was first fired 
 at. I have come to the conclusion that the gun, or guns, oppos- 
 ing him must have been one or more of Pelham's, but I cannot 
 verify my conclusion, nor can I communicate with any sur- 
 vivors of that battery." 
 
 The cannonading at nightfall was of short continuance, and 
 it soon became almost as quiet on the field of Sharpsburg as 
 though no armies were there confronting each other. The 
 movement of the troops was made as noiselessly as possible. 
 
48 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 Our brigade was on the march for several hours, and through 
 the mistake of a blundering guide, was led to a position very 
 close to a line of Federal batteries. Here we slept unconscious 
 of danger until nearly dawn. Before daylight, General Fitz 
 Lee ascertained the situation of the command, and endeavored 
 to extricate us as quietly as possible, going around himself arous- 
 ing and cautioning many of the men. We had gone a quarter 
 of a mile away, perhaps, and had nearly reached a position of 
 safety bej^ond the crest of a hill, when we were discovered, and 
 the enemy's guns opened on us. This discharge began the 
 fray on the memorable and sanguinary 17th of September, 1862. 
 One of the first shells fired, striking the earth near us, exploded, 
 covering some of us with dust and inflicting on brave Colonel 
 Thornton, of the Third Virginia Cavalry, a mortal wound. 
 I was near him at the moment, and witnessed the shrugging of 
 his shoulders and quiver of the muscles of his face, as he felt 
 the shock of the piece of shell, shattering his arm close to the 
 shoulder. 
 
 We had been, thus far, on the extreme left of our line of 
 battle, and early in the day were ordered to report to General 
 T. J. Jackson, who commanded on the right. Our men, with- 
 out a round of ammunition left, were seen leisurely retiring 
 towards the rear, singly and in groups. Some of our batteries, 
 having shot their last round, were leaving the field at a gallop. 
 General Jackson's order was that we should take position in 
 rear of his troops, intercept the stragglers, and direct them to 
 stated points, where they were refurnished with ammunition 
 and marched back to the line of battle. Motioning to our cap- 
 tain to give him his ear, he directed him, in a whisper, "not to 
 halt any men of Hood's Division, saying they had liberty to 
 retire. General Jackson's position was in the open field, near 
 a large barn. He commanded a full view of the contending 
 lines in the valley below, and of the Federal batteries ranged one 
 above another on the hills beyond. The shells of the latter 
 were passing thickly, and bursting near him, while he sat on 
 his steed giving his orders, as serene and undisturbed as his 
 statue in the Capitol Square at Richmond. 
 
 In moving from the place of our bivouac at dawn of the 
 bloody day at Antietam, we passed near an orchard beyond 
 which stood a brick house with chimneys at its farther end, and a 
 
The Maryland Campaign 49 
 
 flight of ten or twelve steps leading up to the front door. 
 Through this orchard were fleeing in consternation and most 
 pitifully, the female part of the family, without their breakfast, 
 with most hastily arranged attire, and bearing nothing in their 
 hands that I noticed, of the cherished contents of their home. 
 Many of our troops had reached the house in advance of me, 
 and could be seen ascending those steps or coming down them, in 
 the latter case having their hands filled with meat, cans of fruit, 
 honey, jars of pickle — whatever was eatable found in the build- 
 ing. I am sure the supplies of the family were in a few minutes 
 all seized by our men, and the home left as bare as Mother Hub- 
 bard's fabled cupboard. 
 
 As we approached our line of battle, we were halted near a 
 large barn, used by us as a hospital, and from our position we 
 could see on the sloping hills beyond the Antietam, the thickly 
 frowning batteries of the enemy, while the smoke of battle rose 
 from the infantry lines contending desperately in the vale be- 
 tween. The percussion shells from one of the batteries began 
 to fall near us, and one of them striking a ledge of rocks close 
 by, was exploded, much to our peril and that of the barn, which 
 presently took fire over the wounded men, and to the grim hor- 
 ror of the battle, added those of its flames and smoke. 
 
 Before the barn took fire, however, we had been withdrawn 
 and assigned to the unwelcome task of halting the fugitives from 
 our battle-line, supplying them with ammunition and directing 
 their return. These men, with scarcely an exception, were ready 
 and eager to return to their posts and renew the fight. 
 
 While halted beside the pike and on the lookout for stragglers 
 our attention was frequently called to shells bursting overhead, 
 the fragments of which, plainly visible and hurled in eccentric 
 and zig-zag courses, left us uneasy lest a piece should strike us. 
 While thus occupied, in a large ploughed field to our right, a 
 lone soldier was seen making his way to the rear by the most di- 
 rect line that occurred to him. It was evident that he was seek- 
 inng to make good his escape from the battle with apparently all 
 the speed he could command. Just as I called attention to him, 
 a shell struck the ground near his feet, and burst enveloped him 
 in smoke and dirt. We all felt, poor fellow, he is blown to 
 pieces ; but when the dust and smoke lifted we saw him raising a 
 dust with his own feet and with renewed energy and vigor mak- 
 
50 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 ing far better speed than before. 
 
 After this, we took position somewhat under a hill, supporting 
 a battery above us. The battery, it was plain, was a target, for 
 several of the Federal guns, and their shots were making the 
 ground on which it stood dangerous and bloody. Now and then 
 a shell would explode, or a solid shot strike near us. Once, I 
 saw a soldier hurled from his saddle very near me, the cannon 
 shot having struck him and thrown his body several feet from his 
 horse. I later learned that he was John Garnett Fauntleroy 
 with whom I had often played when we were school-mates at 
 Fleetwood Academy. 
 
 When the night's approach put an end to the fighting on this 
 field, we were allowed to seek some camp near by for food and 
 rest. Wherever we rode for this purpose, however, the ground 
 seemed to be occupied with dead or wounded men. At length, 
 we sought some stacks, and a barn, resolved not to ride farther ; 
 but there, on the straw and in the buildings, were the dead. I 
 sought an empty wagon in the barnyard and fastened my horse 
 to a wheel. Next morning, under the wagon, lay a young sol- 
 dier, fair and noble in his death, with his clothes partly unfast- 
 ened and his clinched fingers near the ghastly wound in his ab- 
 domen from which he had died. The last scene on which my 
 eye rested that night before it closed, in such close comradeship 
 with the dead, was that of a small group with a flickering lan- 
 tern beside a fence near by, who were digging a grave and rude- 
 ly raising the earth over some fellow-soldier who had fallen. 
 Next day, the i8th of September, was spent in line of battle 
 awaiting a renewal of McClellan's attack ; but he showed no 
 disposition to renew it, and preparations were made on our side 
 to withdraw at night, and cross the Potomac at Shepardstown. 
 The need of food among us had now become imperative and des- 
 perate, and in our company, at least, was fast beginning to sur- 
 mount all other considerations. Towards night, six or seven 
 sheep, the frightened and pitiful remnant of a large flock, were 
 found in a field, and on the edge of it, we halted and made ready 
 to cook our supper. Several of the men were detailed to catch 
 two sheep. I watched the chase, and for celerity of movements 
 and skill of plan to make a speedy capture, the performance could 
 not well have been surpassed. That night, our monotonous fare 
 was varied, and for once at least we ate mutton-chops. 
 
The Maryland Campaign 51 
 
 Late in the night, the infantry and artillerJ^ having quietly 
 moved towards the Virginia shore, we followed them with as lit- 
 tle noise as possible, taking the direct road to Shepardstown. On 
 this march at one point, we came to a big cut in the pike with 
 steep and high sloping embankments on each side. A few men 
 had chosen to ride along a narrow path above one of these em- 
 bankments. I could dimly see the horses and riders moving high 
 above me along that path, and presently, one of them — Tom 
 Wheelwright — under whose horse's feet the edge of the em- 
 bankment had given way, came sliding, struggling, falling into 
 the road, startling us and interrupting our march. We had no 
 thought but that both horse and rider were killed, or badly hurt, 
 but they were found to be unhurt. Wheelwright, though un- 
 harmed in body, was from his muddy slide a fit subject for the 
 cleansing waters of the Potomac through which we soon rode. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 ENGAGEMENTS AT MOUNTSVILLE, ALDIE, AND UNION 
 
 'T^ HE month of October, 1862, was passed in the Shenandoah 
 "*■ Valley, near the Potomac, by Stuart's Cavalry with little 
 of importance occurring save the daring expedition into Penn- 
 sylvania and around McClellan's army, from which the men 
 engaged returned on the 13th, laden with plunder, without 
 having lost a single man, — a feat quite unparalleled in modern 
 warfare. On the 30th of October, the division crossed the Blue 
 Ridge, and bivouacked in London County, near Bloomfield. 
 
 On the following morning, to borrow the language of 
 Stuart: ''Having ascertained during the night that there was a 
 force of the enemy at Mountsville, where the Smickersville turn- 
 pike crosses Goose Creek, I started with the command for that 
 point. Pursuing an unfrequented road, I succeeded in sur- 
 prising the enemy, who were in force of about one hundred, and 
 dispersing the whole without difficulty, killed and captured 
 nearly the whole number, among the former Captain Gore, of 
 the First Rhode Island Cavalry. * * * i^ the camp cap- 
 tured at Mountsville, several flags, numbers of saddles, valises, 
 blankets, oil cloths, and other valuable articles, were captured, 
 which the enemy had abandoned in their hasty flight. * * * 
 The attack was made by the Ninth Virginia in front, supported 
 by the Third." 
 
 Brig. Gen. Geo. D. Bayard, U. S. A., commanding Cavalry 
 Brigade near Aldie with reference to this affair said : "The 
 major of the Rhode Island Cavalry reports the loss of a captain 
 and most of his pickets," and also, "I regret to say that Captain 
 Sawyer is badly wounded, and I left about eight men on the 
 field as I was unable to bring them away." 
 
 The following letter written three days after the occurrences 
 to which it relates, presents some of the particulars of this excit- 
 ing affair: 
 
 "Near Piedmont Station, Fauquier, Va. 
 
 "November 3d, 1862. 
 "Dearest M.:— 
 
 "Captain Murphy is going home this morning and though I 
 arti much hurried, I cannot allow so good an opportunity to 
 
 52 
 
Engagements at Mountsville, Aldie^ and Union 53 
 
 pass without making an effort to send you a letter. I am now 
 sitting in F.'s covered wagon where I have been since early 
 yesterday morning, having been compelled to adopt this means 
 of travelling because of a severe sickness which attacked me 
 night before last. I am now feeling as well as usual, though 
 yesterday I was in great pain all day, and suffered from a burn- 
 ing fever. The attack was caused, I think, by exposure to the 
 sun for two days without eating, and afterwards partaking too 
 freely of fresh beef without salt and clammy wheat bread baked 
 in the ashes. 
 
 "Yesterday, our wagon train moved about twenty-five miles 
 from our encampment near Union in Londown to this point, 
 leaving our cavalry to resist the advance of that of the Yankees. 
 Our regiment is now, in consequence, some distance from us. 
 
 "For the last four days, we have been constantly fighting. 
 On Friday last, we accomplished quite a feat. Our brigade, 
 with our squadron in front attacked a superior force of the 
 enemy and fought them for several hours. Lieut. Robinson of 
 our company with eight men having the fleetest horses first 
 charged the Yankee picket and captured them all, — seven in 
 number. Then Captain Pratt, at the head of our squadron 
 pushed rapidly on to the headquarters of the pickets where there 
 were three companies encamped. When the Yanks saw us 
 coming, they attempted to mount and form ranks, but as their 
 first notification of our coming was the sound of our horses' 
 feet and the dust they raised, of course, we were upon them 
 before they could prepare to resist us. Many of them surren- 
 dered without attempting to run. The remainder darted down 
 the pike and across the field with all the celerity it was possible 
 their steeds could make. Our squadron became divided, some of 
 the men pursuing the enemy in the field, the others those that 
 took down the pike. Owing to the superior running qualities 
 of our horses, we overtook a good many of them and killed or 
 wounded a number of others. The cha^e continued until the 
 few remaining of the flying enemy, led us within rifle shot of 
 their brigade encampment when a halt was made and we waited 
 for the rest of our troops to arrive. 
 
 "The Fourth Regiment was the first to come up, and they 
 were ordered ahead, and charged the Yankees in their encamp- 
 ment, but found, I think, that with their artillery they held 
 
54 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 too strong a position for us to dislodge them. After this, there 
 was heavy firing by sharpshooters on each side, and when our 
 artillery reached the field a duel of cannon; but without im- 
 portant results. 
 
 "There was but one man wounded in our regiment — John 
 Rust of our company — a brave young man and good soldier. 
 The ball passed through his boot and leg, splintering a small 
 bone. 
 
 "We returned to our encampment at night with fifty-nine 
 prisoners, as many horses and saddles, many pistols and sabres 
 and a good lot of overcoats and other clothing, besides three 
 captured guidons. F. got a fine horse and saddle. I exchanged 
 saddles with a Yankee's horse, I captured, and secured with the 
 saddle a fine overcoat, new trousers, two oil cloths, two new 
 shirts, three pairs of socks, pair of drawers, pair of buckskin 
 gloves, cap cover, pins, needles, supply of thread and cotton, 
 buttons, combs, matches, sweetoil, soap, salve, painkiller (which 
 came in well on yesterday), writing-case, pens, ink, and paper, 
 three blank books, tin box of salt and — but Captain Murphy 
 is starting and I must close. 
 
 "The fight day before yesterday between Philamont and 
 Union and again on yesterday resulted in but little. Love to all. 
 
 "Hastily yours, 
 
 "W." 
 
 The engagement or skirmish mentioned in this letter as occur- 
 ring near Union, resulted in more than was known at the date 
 it was written. McClellan's army had at the time crossed the 
 Potomac east of the mountains, and a strong force of cavalry 
 and infantry was moving to ascertain whether or not Lee's army 
 was advancing eastward, and Stuart's aim was to cover Lee's 
 movement. The Federal troops engaged in this reconnoisance 
 were Pleasanton's division of cavalry and a brigade of infantry 
 and battery, under Col. J. W. Hoffman. Stuart prepared to op- 
 pose their advance by posting much of the cavalry, dismounted, 
 behind stone fences, and by advantageously stationing Major 
 John Pelham's artillery, which became very quickly and effec- 
 tively engaged. On no other field did the gallant Pelham appear 
 to us who supported his guns on the field, to a greater advantage. 
 The rapidity and accuracy of his fire elicited rounds of hearty 
 
Engagements at Mountsville, Aldie, and Union 55 
 
 cheering from those of us who could see its effects. Once dur- 
 ing the day, he dashed forward with two of his guns at a gallop 
 far beyond our line and through an open field, and delivered his 
 fire close to the enemy's line. We were in deepest concern lest a 
 sudden charge by the Federal cavalry might capture his pieces 
 before we could reach him, but they only seemed dazed and dis- 
 concerted by the unwonted boldness of his action. 
 
 General Pleasanton in his report of this day's operations has 
 paid high praise to Pelham in saying: "These woods in our pos- 
 session was subjected to such a fire of grape and canister from 
 the enemy that I withdrew my skirmishers and sent to General 
 Pleasanton for a piece of artillery. * * in this affair our 
 loss was 2 men killed and one commissioned officer and twelve 
 men wounded." Col. J. W. Hoffman also testifies to the effec- 
 tiveness of this young cannoneer's guns: "As we advanced on the 
 enemy, they again opened on us with shell, one of which struck 
 the line of the Seventh Indiana, killing the color-sergeant and one 
 corporal, and wounding a number of others." Again: "As vve 
 were crossing an open field a shell struck the line of the Fifty- 
 sixth Pennsylvania Volunteers killing two men of Company G, 
 and mortally wounding two others." 
 
 The five men killed and twenty-three wounded were the re- 
 sults of the artillery fire. Well did Stuart in his report to Lee 
 say: "Major Pelham, directing one of the shots himself at the 
 color-bearer of an infantry regiment struck him down at a dis- 
 tance of 800 yards. * * The Stuart Horse Artillery and 
 its gallant commander exhibited a skill and courage which I 
 have never seen surpassed. On this occasion, I was more than 
 ever struck with that extraordinary coolness and mastery of the 
 situation which more eminently characterized this youthful offi- 
 cer than any other artillerist who has attracted my attention." 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 WATCHING THE ENEMY's APPROACH AT PORT ROYAL AND CAP- 
 TURING A SQUADRON AT LEEDSTOWN 
 
 o 
 
 N November I2th, 1862, our cavalry brigade were on the 
 march from Culpeper county towards Fredericksburg, and 
 it became known to us that the Federal army was moving to oc- 
 cupy that place before Lee could get into position to prevent it. 
 The weather was unusually cold, and several inches of snow fell 
 as we were marching. Having reached the vicinity of Fredericks- 
 burg, we made but short delay, and were hastened on down the 
 river road leading to Port Royal. It was made evident by the 
 rapidity with which our march was urged that apprehensions 
 were felt that an attempt would be made by a part at least of 
 Burnside's troops to effect a crossing at Port Royal. When our 
 regiment reached the point where the roads cross each other un- 
 der the hills south of the town, I was directed to take a small 
 detail of men to reconnoitre and establish a picket-post. Two 
 men having been sent forward to ascertain if any of the enemy 
 were in the place, the detail followed on to the centre of the vil- 
 lage where we dismounted and picketed our horses, and then pro- 
 ceeded, as secretly as possible, to the river-bank, without discov- 
 ering any hostile signs on the opposite side. 
 
 We perceived at once that our situation was an exposed one, 
 there being no means of concealment or shelter, save such as 
 were furnished by two or three trees which stood near the bank 
 several feet apart. While deliberating how to provide some 
 means of shelter in the event of being fired on by sharpshooters, 
 we saw a squadron of cavalry make their appearance in Port 
 Conway, nearly opposite us, and several of them ride across the 
 spacious grounds of Mr. C. Turner in the direction of his house. 
 Their free and easy motions and unconcerned air so moved upon 
 the men who were with me that they opened their carbines on 
 them, at which they wheeled and galloped in another direction. 
 Immediately afterwards, one or two cannon, of the presence of 
 which we had been hitherto entirely unconscious, were placed in 
 position near the Turner mansion or more strictly near the site 
 
 56 
 
Watching the Enemy's Approach at Port Royal 57 
 
 of the old Conway house in which James Madison was born 
 (Belle Grove), and at the sight of these, our little squad left 
 without standing on the order of our going. We succeeded in 
 reaching and mounting our horses without hearing the whiz- 
 zing note of bomb or ball. 
 
 As we galloped back to find a place of safety for our horses, 
 a solid shot passed over our heads and struck a small house be- 
 side the street, the iron ball making a clattering noise, as if in 
 contact with a cupboard of plates, dishes, cups, and saucers, and 
 scattering fragments of plaster and splinters. The occupants of 
 the house were several negro women and children, how engaged 
 at the time of the crash, I know not, but the manner of their 
 escape through the front door with rushing, leaping, squeezing 
 screaming, formed a scene never to be forgotten. 
 
 The appearance of the Federal cavalry and artillery at Port 
 Conway was a diversion, or feint, to weaken Lee's force at Fred- 
 ericksburg, and Early's division was sent by him to Port Royal 
 in consequence of it. 
 
 For several days after Early's arrival, we were encamped near 
 Carrington's battery, which had been organized at Charlottes- 
 ville and contained several masters of arts of the University of 
 Virginia and other finely educated young men among its mem- 
 bers. They were cultured, scholarly, genial, and sociable, and 
 it was with regret that we parted with them, under orders to 
 make our camp farther down the river in the vicinity of Lloyds 
 in Essex county. 
 
 The establishment of picket camps by the enemy on the op- 
 posite side of the river as far down as Leedstown, and their 
 frequent reconnoitering and foraging parties causing alarm and 
 dread still farther down the Northern Neck, much disturbed 
 us while at Lloyds, especially those of us whose homes were 
 over there. However, it seemed to us a happy circumstance to 
 get into Essex, where we were able to obtain corn and provender 
 for our horses as well as many provisions and delicacies for our- 
 selves. 
 
 During the week of our encampment in Essex our duties were 
 not onerous and the men longed for some diversion to break 
 the monotony of their life. The duties of the regiment were to 
 guard the river shore with an extended line of pickets. These 
 pickets were frequently aroused and entertained by the passage 
 
58 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 up the river of Federal gunboats and transports, communicat- 
 ing with Burnside's army at Fredericksburg. Frequently, also, 
 an exchange of rifle shots was made with the Federal pickets 
 on the Northern Neck shore of the river. 
 
 Many men of this regiment had their homes and families 
 on that side of the river, and the sight of the Union horsemen 
 riding unchecked over the roads and fields so familiar to them 
 asoused in many breasts an int^se desire to cross the river and 
 strike the enemy a blow. Into this feeling, none entered more 
 heartily than the Colonel himself. Accordingly, scouts were 
 dispatched to ascertain the enemy's exact position, strength, dis- 
 position of sentinels, and also to search for boats sufficient to 
 carry over several hundred troops. An application was at the 
 same time forwarded to headquarters for permission to cross 
 the river with three hundred men. 
 
 The scouts returned promptly, having ascertained that one 
 cavalry regiment — the Eighth Pennsylvania — was on outpost 
 duty, encamped at Greenlaw's, in King George, and picketing 
 the river as far down as Layton's Ferry. One squadron, quar- 
 tered at Leedstown, held the extreme left of their line. The 
 scouts carefully noted the houses in which the men of this squad- 
 ron slept, where their horses were picketed, and how their 
 sentinels were posted at night. Only two boats — a large bat- 
 teau and a skiff — could be secured, and these were duly provid- 
 ed with oars and concealed in a marshy creek, a mile or two 
 above Leedstown, in readiness for use. 
 
 These preliminaries having been arranged, the necessary per- 
 mit from General Lee was awaited impatiently. It came on 
 the first of December, but forbade that more than one hundred 
 men should be allowed on the expedition, or an officer holding 
 rank above that of major. In consequence, the purpose of at- 
 tacking the entire Federal regiment was abandoned, and a plan 
 arranged for capturing the squadron at Leedstown. 
 
 The execution of this plan was entrusted to Major Thomas 
 Waller, as cool and intrepid an officer as ever wore stars on his 
 collar. To the call for volunteers, more than a hundred re- 
 sponded from the regiment. As the point of attack was in 
 Westmoreland, from which county Company C hailed, the men 
 of this company offered to go almost in a body. 
 
 On reaching the shore of the little creek in which the boats 
 
Watching the Enemy's Approach at Port Royal 59 
 
 were concealed, about dark, December i, 1862, it was found 
 that their capacity was much less than had been supposed. 
 Thirty-six men seemed as many as the larger boat would carry, 
 and only fourteen could be accommodated in the skiff. Major 
 Waller commanded the batteau and Lieutenant G. W. Beale 
 the skiff. The night was cold and dark, and it was necessary 
 to maintain the strictest silence. The boats were rowed noise- 
 lessly out into the river, the officers in charge having a precon- 
 certed plan to rendezvous at a given point on the other shore 
 in the event of becoming separated in the dark. This proved a 
 wise precaution, for the boats became quickly lost to each other. 
 The skiff' being light and easily managed, shot straight across 
 and quickly reached the opposite shore. The larger boat drifted 
 down with the tide, and grounded on a sand-bar far out in the 
 river. It was necessary for a number of the men to get out into 
 the icy-water, waist deep, and push the craft over the bar by 
 main force. A landing was made by Major Waller's party 
 half a mile lower down the river than had been contemplated. 
 Leaving two men as guards to the batteau, he joined the party 
 under Lieutenant Beale at a straw stack, the place of rendezvous 
 that had been agreed upon. 
 
 Here a number of details of scouts were made to proceed, as 
 quietly and stealthily as possible, for the purpose of capturing 
 the enemy's picket-guards. There were six of these, at as many 
 different points; and it needed much adroitness and boldness of 
 action to secure them all without an alarm being made. The 
 plan was for two men to get in rear of each picket, and two to 
 advance upon them quietly in the dark. If one set failed to 
 bag the game, it was thought the other would. And so it proved. 
 The pickets were captured without breaking the stillness of the 
 night with the faintest alarm. 
 
 Having secured the outer guards, it was next necessary to 
 capture the reserve guards, who were fifteen in number, and 
 occupied a vacant store in Leedstown, where they slept on their 
 arms, having their horses saddled and bridled, close at hand. 
 The writer of this account led the party advancing to the cap- 
 ture of this reserve, having at his side "Pete" Stewart, an old 
 Mexican soldier, and a tried and trusty scout. From the shadow 
 of an adjacent house as we drew near to the store the form of 
 the sentinel was described under the porch. The moon was just 
 
6o A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 rising, throwing a gleam on the river, the sound of whose flow- 
 ing only disturbed the perfect stillness of the night. Our pause 
 was but for a moment, when a dash was made for the steps lead- 
 ing up to the door of the store. The startled sentined ran for 
 the steps, too, without pausing to fire his carbine. He had 
 nearly reached the uppermost step, when "Pete" Stewart, 
 grasping him by his coat-tail, pulled him back. The Union 
 horsemen in the store were made prisoners by the time they had 
 well cast aside the blankets under which they had been cosily 
 sleeping. Indeed, so rapid and sudden had we fallen on the 
 unsuspecting sleepers that some of them were assisted by us in 
 waking, by having their blankets pulled off them by our own 
 hands. 
 
 In this store at the time of our entrance, were two Con- 
 federate prisoners, members of the Fifteenth Virginia Cavalry, 
 who had been captured the previous day, and also a citizen (and 
 his goods), caught running the blockade. The joy of these men 
 at their unexpected release was so great that it was needful to 
 suppress its demonstration, lest the enemy near by should hear it. 
 
 Having placed the prisoners and their horses under guard, 
 Major Waller's next aim was to surround and capture the 
 main body of the enemy, who occupied the residence of Dr. 
 Thomas Taylor (the assistant surgeon of the Ninth Virginia 
 Regiment), a quarter of a mile distant. The march towards 
 this building was made as noiselessly as possible. When yet 
 distant a hundred yards or more, a bright fire was seen in the 
 yard, and a sentinel pacing to and fro on his beat in front of it. 
 It seemed as we drew nearer that he would not detect our ap- 
 proach in time to give an alarm, when, suddenly, "Bang!" went 
 the report of the gun of one of our men, whose excitement had 
 quite overcome his discretion. Instantly, the Federal sentinel 
 returned the shot and rushed for the main building. 
 
 No time was now lost by Major Waller in surrounding the 
 dwelling and smaller houses. The demand to surrender was an- 
 swered from doors and windows by small volleys, which fired in 
 the dark, did no harm. With the aid of a gun-barrel and a few 
 rails the doors of the main building were forced open, when a 
 general surrender at once followed. 
 
 Captain Samuel Wilson, a soldier of fine appearance and 
 splendid physique, commanded the Federal squadron, and it 
 
Watching the Enemy's Approach at Port Royal 6 1 
 
 looked for a moment as if he had determined to die, rather than 
 yield. When he at length yielded up his weapon, and was made 
 a prisoner, his face wore an air of resolute defiance, mingled with 
 mortified pride. 
 
 When the prisoners had been collected it was found that for- 
 ty-nine had been here captured, with their horses, saddles, bri- 
 dles, arms, and accoutrements. 
 
 The problem now was how to get the prisoners and horses 
 across the river, which was nearly a mile in width. A large 
 lighter, capable of carrying one hundred men, or more, was 
 found near the water's edge at Leedstown, and this was quickly 
 launched. The prisoners were put into it, with a suitable guard 
 of men, and the boat was speedily poled over (as the watermen 
 say), to the Essex shore. 
 
 The approach of daylight, and the prospect of a gunboat's ap- 
 pearance made the passage of the captured horses a hazardous 
 undertaking. It was decided to take the horses two miles higher 
 up the river, where the stream was narrower and the banks 
 higher, where better security was offered against gunboats, and a 
 better opportunity could be found for swimming over the horses. 
 The two boats were rowed up to the latter point, where, after 
 the arrival of the men with the horses, the saddles, blankets, and 
 arms were put in the boats, and the horses were all lashed to- 
 gether by their halter-reins. In this way, strung together in a 
 long line, they were forced after the large boat into the river, 
 and were made to swim across. 
 
 The water was a full half-mile in width, and had on it a 
 skim of ice near the shore. The prolonged bath must have been 
 very severe to the horses, but they stood it well. All were safely 
 landed, save one, which, being lean, was benumbed by the cold 
 water, and when its feet touched the mud on the Essex side, it 
 would make no further effort, and was left to perish. 
 
 By sunrise, the expedition had been safely landed, the boats 
 concealed, and the men, having mounted their horses, and lead- 
 ing the captured ones, were on the march to the camp at Lloyds. 
 
 The colonel of the regiment to soothe, in part, his disappoint- 
 ment in not being permitted to cross the river himself, had taken 
 position advantageously on the bank, with a section of artillery 
 under command of Lieutenant Betts, intending to arrest the 
 progress of any gunboat that might chance to appear, and en- 
 
62 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 danger the expedition. From hi^ station he listened through 
 the still hours, anxiously, and not in vain, for the sounds of vol- 
 leys and yells that would tell of the successful assault of his men. 
 
 Only one casualty occurred among the enemy, and that the 
 painful wounding of a man under the eye. 
 
 The boldness and success of the enterprise were recognized 
 and commended in general orders, issued from the headquar- 
 ters of the army; and the disaster to the Federal regiment is 
 mentioned in the official history of the Pennsylvania regiments, 
 published by that State. Major H. B. McClellan, in The Life 
 and Campaigns of General /. E. B. Stuart, briefly refers to the 
 affair in a sentence, in which the Boston printer gives the name 
 of our major, erroneously, as Weller. 
 
 Of the participants in this nocturnal raid, I can now recall 
 but 'few. Among them was Major R. Bird Lewis, the late 
 president of the Confederate Veteran Association of Washing- 
 ton, D. C, who was a sergeant at the time, and the only man on 
 our side who was wounded. Dr. Gordon E. Bowie, late of 
 Richmond county, was one of the men who took an icy bath in 
 shoving the batteau over the sand-bar. William R. Rust, of 
 Colonial Beach, was active in forcing open a door of the house, 
 where the chief danger was met. Lawrence Washington, of 
 Oak Grove, rendered valuable service in surprising and captur- 
 ing the most important of the pickets, and to him the Union 
 captain surrendered his pistol in the last encounter. 
 
 Private L. L. Jett was present in this action and incautiously 
 fired his gun at the sentinel and so gave warning of our ap- 
 proach. The capture of the Federal squadron was made the 
 subject of an official investigation, and an elaborate report was 
 published with a diagram of the post at Leedstown, the river, 
 and the point at which our crossing was made. Major Wilson, 
 commanding the captured squadron at the time, was exonerated 
 of all blame for the disaster, and was subsequently promoted and 
 proved a most efficient and meritorious officer. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 ^ THE BATTLE OF FREDERICKSBURG 
 
 np HE battle of Fredericksburg, on December 13-14, 1862, 
 ^ to an observer on the heights on either side of the Rap- 
 pahannock River near that citj^ much resembled two battles 
 waged at the same time. The smoke and noise of one of these 
 contests was in the cit)^ itself and on the Marye Heights above 
 it; the smoke and thunder of the other were four miles below 
 on the Hamilton crest and the plain below it. It fell to my lot 
 to witness the last-named part of this terrific conflict of arms, 
 and I here record my impression and recollections of it: 
 
 The cavalry brigade of General W. H. F. Lee was encamped 
 near Lloyds, in Essex County, when, on the nth of December, 
 they set out, with well-filled haversacks and cartridge boxes, 
 for the field of this great battle. They reached the vicinity of 
 Massaponax Run in the afternoon of the 12th, and halted for 
 the night. Their bivouacs were made near the Port Royal 
 Road, on either side of which grew a row of cedar trees. The 
 branches cut from these trees afforded many of the calvarymen 
 soft and springy mattresses, as it were, on which their blankets 
 were spread, and which, raising them above the two or three 
 inches of snow which had fallen during their march, gave them 
 cozy and comfortable couches for slumber for the night. 
 
 The march during nearly all of this day to many had been 
 enlivened, and to others solemnized, by the ominous roar of 
 artillery in the direction of Fredericksburg, and all felt assured 
 that a terrific battle had been begun between the armies of 
 Burnside and Lee. The morale of the Southern army at this 
 time was superb, and the cavalry were as full of hope and en- 
 thusiasm as the infantry. Our march this day was full of eager 
 expectancy and assured confidence in a coming victory, and in 
 this state of feeling our tired bodies sank to sleep at nightfall. 
 
 On the morning of the 13th, at a very early hour, before the 
 horses and men had time to be fed, we were mounted and pro- 
 ceeded in an exceedingly dense fog along the Port Royal Road 
 to one of the *'Smithfield" or A. Bernard's large fields on the 
 
 63 
 
64 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 side next to the river, and into tliis we entered and formed in 
 companies behind one of Major Pelham's Napoleons. We had 
 not yet formed into position before this gun opened the battle 
 for the day. It was quickly perceived that we had gone into 
 a lion's mouth, because of the close proximity of heavy masses 
 of Federal infantry and four batteries, which began to return 
 Pelham's fire. Very serious fears were felt that our gun could 
 not be extricated from its dangerous position, and that the 
 Federal cannoneers, by getting our range, would cut deadly 
 swaths through our ranks. Two circumstances saved us: one 
 was the intrepid hardihood of Pelham, with his one gun and its 
 rapid fire, and the other the fortunate fog, which wrapped us 
 from view in its dense and friendly folds. 
 
 When Pelham withdrew his gun across the road and sought 
 a position on higher ground, we followed and formed a line be- 
 yond the hill in his rear. A heavy fire of artillery was now 
 directed against this hill, and shot and shell passed over us 
 with uncomfortable frequency and nearness of approach. The 
 fog was now lifting, and the sun, breaking through the mist, 
 began to shine on the dark lines of the Federal troops and their 
 bright muskets. 
 
 The soldiers of the Union presented an imposing and formid- 
 able array. Near where the Port Royal Road intersected the 
 gently rising plain, they were arranged in three separate lines, 
 and moved forward with well-dressed ranks, their banners 
 floating in the air, and sixty or more pieces of artillery thunder- 
 ing on their flanks. Extending down the Port Royal road on 
 their left was Doubleday's Division, disposed, as it were, to 
 protect them from attack on that flank. 
 
 It is quite probable the pick and flower of Burnside's army 
 marched in this magnificent battle array. Franklin's grand 
 division of veterans was there; the corps commanded by Smith 
 and Reynolds were there; there Meade led his fine division in 
 the center, and Birney followed him with his: Gibbons held 
 position on the right, and Stoneman co-operated at the head of 
 a corps. Generals Daniel Sickles and Joe Hooker mingled with 
 other brave and distinguished general officers, as this warlike 
 host, moved towards the wooded heights, a mile or more distant. 
 
 Assisting this formidable movement, were numerous heavy 
 field guns planted at various commanding points on the Stafford 
 
The Battle of Fredericksburg 65 
 
 hills beyond the Rappahannock, which hurled their missiles in 
 various directions, where the Confederates were supposed to 
 lurk in readiness to meet this threatening and powerful dem- 
 onstration. 
 
 It i^ not easy to overestimate the importance which the Fed- 
 eral commander-in-chief and many of his subordinate command- 
 ers attached to this attack on the Hamilton Heights or a part 
 of the general plan of the battle of Fredericksburg. If these 
 hills were gained and held, Burnside was confident Lee could 
 not retain his position on Marye Heights, and his army would 
 be forced to a perilous retreat. In his general order he said : 
 "Holding these two heights, with the heights near Hamilton's, 
 will, we hope, compel the enemy to evacuate the whole ridge 
 between these points." Lee, on his part, fully appreciated the 
 strategic importance of these heights, and Jackson's Corps and 
 D. H. Hills' Division had been hastened to assist in their de- 
 fense. Opportunely enough, they reached the ground in good 
 time to be of service at the critical moment of need. While 
 the Federal regiments and batteries were advancing, Lee rode 
 to that part of his lines which they threatened, and held an 
 interview with Jackson, Stuart, and A. P. Hill. W. F. Dun- 
 away, captain and adjutant at the time, of the Forty-seventh 
 Virginia, one of A. P. Hill's regiments, says: "Before the battle 
 began. General Lee, inspecting the disposition of his forces, 
 rode lip to where we stood, and, dismounting from 'Traveler,' 
 handed the bridle to an orderly." His eagle eye surveyed the 
 masses of his approaching antogonists and his own good gray 
 lines, disposed to meet them. 
 
 During the entire march of the Federals from near the river, 
 Major Pelham, with one or more guns of his horse artillery, 
 first in one position and then in another, poured shot and shell 
 into their ranks. It was intensely exciting to watch the effect 
 of his firing, as from time to time the shells struck the enemy's 
 lines, and, bursting, created no little confusion. Very soon, 
 Pelham's guns were reinforced by two of Lindsey Walker's 
 batteries, and the Federal guns opened on them with increasing 
 vigor. The duel was fast and furious. 
 
 The Richmond, Fredericksburg, and Potomac Railroad, in 
 its course northward, soon after reaching Hamilton's Crossing, 
 bears to the left and runs for about two miles parallel with the 
 
66 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 river, on high and wooded ground. The line of the road formed 
 in general the line of Lee's defense, and here, in silence and con- 
 cealment, the troops of Jackson and Hill awaited the Federal as- 
 sault. The artillery of these generals was held in check until 
 the men in blue came within eight hundred yards of the guns, 
 and then opened on them a simultaneous and murderous fire. At 
 points in the advancing lines, there was, under these volleys, 
 wavering and faltering; but, as a rule, the troops advanced 
 steadily and firmly, and before long, on the wooded hills and 
 along the railroad and beyond, the fire of musketry, attested a 
 severe and stubborn encounter. 
 
 A gap having occurred between the Confederate brigade of 
 Lane and Archer, some of Franklin's Regiments pressed through 
 and gained the wooded hills beyond the railroad, necessitating 
 the forming of a new line of battle by Archer's men, who, with 
 Thomas's Brigade, assailed the Federals with intense vigor and 
 turned them back in flight. Gibbons and Mead's commands also 
 pushed their way beyond the railroad, but were soon repulsed 
 and began to retire in confusion. Some of Reynolds's Regiment 
 on approaching the railroad and seeing the Confederate position, 
 became panic-stricken and began a rapid retreat. As Berney's 
 Division approached the line of fire, their ranks were broken and 
 thrown into confusion by masses of Reynolds's troops in tumul- 
 tuous flight, who, to borrow General Berney's words: "burst 
 through the right wing in pell-mell retreat." Of these demor- 
 alized and fugitive men. General Stoneman declares: "Every ef- 
 fort was made to rally them, but all to no purpose. Regardless 
 of threat and force, and deaf to all entreaties, they sullenly and 
 persistently moved to the rear, and were reformed near the bank 
 of the river." 
 
 The scene of the morning as the splendid left wing of Burn- 
 side's Army marched to meet the regiments of Jackson and Hill, 
 was all changed in the afternoon. The bold front, the advanc- 
 ing lines, the fluttering standards, were all changed, and a mot- 
 ley disordered mass rushed madly for safety towards the river, 
 with thirty or more Confederate guns pushing forward and 
 pouring shot and shell after them. 
 
 Much of the Federal artillery, with the troops supporting it, 
 did not participate in the panic, but continued to fire towards the 
 hills with unyielding tenacity of purpose. In doing so, they met 
 
The Battle of Fredericksburg 67 
 
 a heavy fire from the Confederate guns on the hills, and it was 
 very exciting at times to see the falling horses and exploding 
 limber-chests which this fire caused. 
 
 Most of the retreating troops towards evening disappeared be- 
 yond the Port Royal Road, and some of them in the eagerness 
 of their flight after reaching the river and making good their es- 
 cape over it, cut the pontoon bridge loose, and caused no little 
 apprenhension and dismay among their comrades left on the 
 Southern side of the river, lest an assault should be made on 
 them by the troops of Jackson and Hill before their means of es- 
 cape could be replaced. 
 
 The action of this day having ended, our commanding ofllicers 
 had under consideration the advisability of a night attack on the 
 demoralized Federals, and word was passed around among us 
 as to how the assault would be conducted and with what weap- 
 ons. Every man's coat sleeve, it was decided, was to be removed 
 from one arm, which would enable us in the darkness to distin- 
 guish friends from foes. The martial genius of Jackson ap- 
 proved this night attack, we were told, but General Lee felt that 
 it would sacrifice the lives of many females and other noncom- 
 batants in Fredericksburg, and withheld the order. 
 
 By me, personally, this memorable and important engage- 
 ment was more enjoyed than any other of the war. It offered a 
 clearer view of the field of battle than any other; nowhere else 
 could I see so many cannon pitted against each other in a furious 
 duel, and nowhere else did so many of the enemy appear advanc- 
 ing to the charge and then retiring in tumultuous disorder. No 
 bullet, so far as I recall, whizzed near me, and no solid shot or 
 shell took effect in our ranks. Seated on my horse in the rear 
 of one or more of our guns, I was not unlike the scriptural 
 horse that "smelleth the battle from afar, the thunder of the 
 captains and the shouting." 
 
 On high ground, near the railroad, not far from Hamilton's 
 Crossing, the decisive point of the battle on Lee's right, stands a 
 pyramidal pile of rough granite blocks to mark it. I never see 
 it from the window of a passing car without feeling stirring 
 memories of Gregg, Cobb, Coleman, Robinson and other men 
 whom I was want to see, whose voices were hushed and their 
 eyes forever dimmed on this victorious field. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 CAVALRY OPERATIONS UNDER W. H. F. LEE DURING THE BATTLE 
 AT CHANCELLORSVILLE 
 
 '^rO battle, probably, in which the Federal and Confederate 
 -^^ armies were engaged reflected more lustre on Southern gen- 
 eralship and the valor of the Southern soldiers than the bloody 
 struggle of Chancellorsville. The events which took place on 
 that historic field and at Salem Church, May 1-3, 1863, were 
 of a nature so important and brilliant as to eclipse and obscure 
 the co-operating movements and detached services performed at 
 the time in connection with the two contending armies. The 
 operations of the cavalry having covered a wide extent of terri- 
 tory and issued in numerous skirmishes without any regular 
 battle, have claimed but slight attention in comparison with the 
 desperate fighting and signal successes on the chief scenes of 
 action. 
 
 And yet, according to the well laid plan of the Federal com- 
 mander, the cavalry of the A.rmy of the Potomac were carefully 
 prepared, cautiously despatched and confidently expected to add 
 in no small measure to the success of that army. This force, 
 comprising all the cavalry under General Hooker save one 
 brigade, were in two bodies, one under General George Stone- 
 man and the other under General W. W. Averell, and were 
 designed to operate on two distinct lines. The destination and 
 objects of the movements were set forth in orders from General 
 Hooker as early as April 13th. These orders are noteworthy, 
 as showing not only the work assigned to the cavalry, but the 
 spirit and manner in which it was to be done. "You will 
 march," so the orders read, *'on the 13th instant with all your 
 available force except one brigade, for the purpose of turning 
 the enemy's position on his left, and of throwing your command 
 between him and Richmond and isolating him from his supplies, 
 checking his retreat, and inflicting on him every possible injury 
 which will tend to his discomfiture and defeat." * * * "jf 
 the enemy should endeavor to retire by Culpeper and Gordons- 
 ville, you will endeavor to hold your force in his front and 
 
 68 
 
Cavalry Operations Under W . H. F. Lee 69 
 
 harass him day and night, unceasingly. If you cannot cut off 
 from his columns large slices, the general desires that you will 
 not fail to take small ones. Let your watchword be fight, and 
 let all your orders be fight, fight, fight, bearing in mind that 
 time is as valuable to the general as rebel carcasses. It is not 
 in the power of the rebels to oppose you with more than 5,000 
 sabers and those badly mounted, and after they leave Culpeper 
 without forage or rations. Keep them from Richmond and 
 sooner or later they must fall in our hands. * * * Jf dg. 
 volves upon you, general, to take the initiative in the forward 
 movement of this grand army, and on you and your noble com- 
 mand must depend in a great measure the extent and brilliancy 
 of our success." The orders closed with this emphatic caution: 
 ''Bear in mind that celerity, audacity and resolution are every- 
 thing in war, and especially it is the case with the command 
 you have and the enterprise upon which you are about to em- 
 bark." 
 
 Such were the orders under which, two weeks or more later 
 than was first proposed. Generals Stoneman and Averell crossed 
 the Rappahannock from Fauquier into Culpeper County, and 
 bivouacked near the above river. The passage was made on 
 April 29th and that evening, as General Stoneman states, the 
 division and brigade commanders assembled together and "we 
 spread our maps and had a thorough understanding of what 
 we were to do and where we were to go." 
 
 Early on the following morning, Stoneman with his com- 
 mand set out for the Rapidan at Raccoon Ford and a ford be- 
 low, and pushed on without serious opposition to destroy the 
 Central Railroad, the James River Canal and the Richmond 
 and Fredericksburg road. 
 
 Averell moved towards Brandy Station, Culpeper, and Rap- 
 idan Station, for the purpose of masking Stoneman's movement 
 and cutting Lee's communications towards Gordonsville. His 
 instructions said: "In the vicinity of Culpeper you will be likely 
 to come against Fitzhugh Lee's brigade of cavalry, consisting 
 of about 2,000 men, which it is expected that you will, be able 
 to disperse and destroy without delay to your advance. At 
 Gordonsville, the enemy have a small provost guard of infantry, 
 which it is expected you will destroy, if it can be done without 
 delaying your forward movement." 
 
70 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 General Averell's command consisted of the two brigades of 
 his division, Davis's brigade of Pleasanton's division and Tid- 
 ball's battery, numbering in all about 4,000 men, while opposed 
 to him on the line from Brandy to Rappahannock Station was 
 General W. H. F. Lee with two regiments (Ninth and Thir- 
 teenth Virginia Cavalry) and one gun. 
 
 General Lee with his small force, fell back before Averell's 
 advance, one squadron only being kept near the enemy to retard 
 his progress, until the Rapidan was crossed, when he disposed 
 his men and one gun above the ford near the station, to give 
 battle if the attempt was made to cross. The approach of the 
 enemy was announced by the discharge of his cannon, as also 
 by a feeble attempt to cross a ford a mile or two above the 
 station. 
 
 The day following. General Lee according to his own re- 
 port, was engaged all day with one or two brigades of cavalry. 
 One charge made by Colonel Beale with one squadron to draw 
 them out, took eighty prisoners, but could not bring them off; 
 he w^as pressed very hard. 
 
 The charge thus sententiously stated by General Lee was 
 made for the purpose of developing the enemy's strength, and 
 was made by a rapid trot to the river and dash through it, 
 under the fire of the enemy's sharp-shooters, who were forced 
 back on their main line a half mile or more distant. Nothing 
 but the temporary confusion and surprise caused by the sudden- 
 ness of this dash permitted the squadron to wheel and retreat 
 successfully. 
 
 Two men of the Ninth Regiment, M. U. F. and J. N. 
 Wright (brothers), borne too far by the impetuosity of their 
 charge, or overtaken in retreating, were made prisoners, and the 
 younger one was basely shot and severely wounded after his 
 surrender. The elder of the two, M. U. F., was taken into the 
 presence of General Averell, who questioned him closely as 
 to the troops opposed to him, their number, etc. Wright re- 
 plied to the inquiries that there was no cavalry in front of him 
 except W. H. F. Lee's brigade, but that the trains had been 
 hurrying down all the morning from Gordonsville crowded 
 with infantry and artillery. Precisely what effect this answer 
 had on the mind of General Averell, cannot be definitely stated. 
 All the circumstances seem to indicate that it had great weight, 
 
Cavalry Operations Under W . H. F. Lee 71 
 
 for no attempt was made to push his command farther. 
 
 At 6.30 P. M. that day, the day of the Chancellorsville 
 battle, General Hooker sent a dispatch to Averell, through Cap- 
 tain Chandler, which read in part: "I am directed by the Ma- 
 jor General commanding, to inform you that he does not under- 
 stand what you are doing at Rappahannock Station." To this 
 message, Averell replied at 7.20 A. M. next morning: "I have 
 the honor to state in reply that I have been engaged with the cav- 
 alry of the enemy at that point, and in destroying communica- 
 tions." On the day following. General Hooker issued an order 
 as follows: "Brigadier-General Pleasanton, will assume com- 
 mand of the division now commanded by Brigadier-General Av- 
 erell. Upon being relieved, Brigadier-General Averell will re- 
 port for orders to the Adjutant-General of the army." 
 
 In explanation and justification of the above order. General 
 Hooker on May 9th, in a report to the Adjutant-General of the 
 army, stated : "General Averell's command numbered about 4,- 
 000 sabers and a light battery, a larger cavalry force than can be 
 found in the rebel army between Fredericksburg and Richmond, 
 and yet that officer seems to have contented himself between 
 April 29th, and May 4th, with having marched through Culpep- 
 er to Rapidan, a distance of twenty-eight miles, meeting no ene- 
 my deserving the name, and from that point reporting to me for 
 instructions." 
 
 "I could excuse General Averell in his disobedience if I could 
 anywhere discover in his operations a desire to find and engage 
 the enemy. I have no disposition to prefer charges against him, 
 and in detaching him from this army my object has been to pre- 
 vent an active and powerful column from being paralyzed by his 
 presence." 
 
 In a report written by General Averell, whilst stung by the 
 order relieving him, he explained his delay at Rapidan Station 
 on the ground that, "All the intelligence we had been able to 
 gather from a captured mail and from various other sources, 
 went to show that the enemy believed the Army of the Potomac, 
 was advancing over that line, and that Jackson was at Gordons- 
 ville with 25,000 men, to resist its approach." When he penned 
 that sentence, he must have had well in mind among the intelli- 
 gence which he had been able to gather, what young Wright had 
 told him. 
 
72 A Lieiitencmt of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 The two Wrights, named in this c(Jmmunication, are still liv- 
 ing (at Oldliam's, Westmoreland County, Va.,) and retain 
 vivid recollections of the incidents here recorded in their lives as 
 soldiers. It is a pleasure to testify to their singular gallantry as 
 soldiers and their substantial worth as citizens. 
 
 While Averell was halting and blundering at the Rapidan and 
 incurring the intense displeasure of his superior officers, as has 
 been shown, Stoneman with thirteen regiments and six guns, 
 forming the brigades of Kilpatrick, Wyndham and Buford, pur- 
 sued his way to Louisa Court House, where he divided his com- 
 mand into six or seven parties, designed to operate in different 
 directions, or at different points in destroying the railroad tracks, 
 depots, bridges and culverts, along the Central Road to the junc- 
 tion in Hanover and beyond, and also the canal on James River, 
 the aqueducts, bridges and boats. Of these various parties, for- 
 midable ones were led by Colonel Kilpatrick and Colonel H. 
 Davis, who after doing what damage they could to the railroad, 
 made their way by different routes and ferries across the Pa- 
 munkey and Mattapong rivers, and on May 7th, at 10 A. M., 
 to borrow Kilpatrick's words ''found safety and rest under our 
 brave old flag within our lines at Gloucester Point." 
 
 Brig. General D. McGregg with his brigade proceeded to de- 
 stroy the Central road from Louisa Court House towards the 
 South Anna bridge, and Brig. General John Buford set out to 
 assist in this destruction, and also to support Colonel Percy 
 Wyndham in his attempt to destroy the canal. 
 
 On the third of May, General W. H. F. Lee, no longer 
 threatened by Averell, who was that day relieved of his com- 
 mand, hastened to Gordonsville, which was now endangered by 
 the advance of a position of Stoneman's force. We reached the 
 latter place about 11 A. M., and having ascertained that the 
 enemy was approaching from Trevillian station, we at once re- 
 sumed our march towards that point. As we neared Trevil- 
 lian's. Captain Robinson with a part of our company was sent 
 ahead to reconnoitre, and we were withdrawn a few rods dis- 
 tant from the road to get a short rest. This, however, was de- 
 nied us for almost immediately, Robinson's party came back at a 
 gallop witli a detachment of the First Maine regiment in pur- 
 suit of them. The order was then given to us to charge, and be- 
 fore we reached the road some of the Maine men had dashed 
 
Cavalry Operations Under W . H. F. Lee 73 
 
 up too close to escape, and fell into our hands. Some dispositions 
 were made to meet a heavier advance here, but none occurred. 
 At this point, my attention was attracted to a Union cavalryman, 
 one of tl\e Maine regiment, lying at the foot of a tree, mortally 
 wounded, the result of a meeting in the charge with Tom Jett 
 of our company. The detachment of Federals met here was 
 commanded by Captain Benjamin F. Tucker of the First caval- 
 ry, and their loss was one killed, one wounded and twenty-four 
 captured. On our side, Lieutenant James Boulware, of Com- 
 pany B, made a reckless dash beyond his men, and was captured, 
 a circumstance erroneously reported by General Stoneman to 
 have occurred at Raccoon Ford. 
 
 From Trevillians, we returned to Gordonsville, and very 
 early next morning were mounted and in motion for Columbia 
 on James river, where it was reported the Federal cavalry were 
 engaged in destroying the canal. Our march was very fatiguing 
 to both men and horses, and we reached Palmyra, near the river 
 about nightfall only to find that the enemy (Colonel Wynd- 
 ham's New Jerseymen) had withdrawn a few hours previously. 
 After a brief halt, the order came to mount, and with our 
 horse's heads turned back towards the Central Road, we were 
 soon on the march again, and what a toilsome, painful march it 
 was ! As the hours passed in slow and wearisome procession, the 
 soft earth seemed to woo in with a tantalizing persuasiveness to 
 pause and recline our aching limbs upon it, but in vain. 
 
 On the succeeding morning when thoughts of the enemy with 
 most of us were giving place to thoughts of breakfast, it was an- 
 nounced that a Federal picket had been seen nearby. We were 
 summoned to prepare for action, and in column of fours began 
 the trot. 
 
 A squadron (E and F) preceded us, led by our Major (Tom 
 Waller). We followed two hundred yards or less, in their 
 rear. Very quickly we saw the men ahead of us flashing their 
 sabres in the morning light, and meeting a charge by a Federal 
 squadron. The contest was quickly over. When we reached 
 the scene of it Waller's men were giving chase to the flying foe, 
 or collecting the prisoners, captured horses, arms and accoutre- 
 ments. Presently, General W. H. F. Lee rode up, recognized 
 the Federal captain Wesley Owens, who had been unhorsed and 
 made a prisoner, and engaged him in conversation. While they 
 
74 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 were talking, a squad of our men rpde in from the right, having 
 Captain Owen's lieutenant, Temple Buford, and fifteen men, 
 who had been caught before they could escape from their post on 
 picket. Two officers and thirty-three men were captured here and 
 we discovered that they belonged to the Fifth Regulars, the 
 same regiment encountered by us on the raid around McClellan's 
 army, and at whose hands Captain Latane had fallen nearly a 
 year before. 
 
 General Stoneman in his official report attributes Captain 
 Owen's capture to the fact that his horse was shot, which was 
 a mistake, since the fine dark mare having escaped injury, was 
 ridden for many months afterwards by Major Waller, and be- 
 came one of the favorites among the officers' horses of our regi- 
 ment. 
 
 We had no further engagements during the memorable bat- 
 tle of Chancellorsville, and the enemy having retired beyond the 
 Rapidan and Rappahannock, we went into camp beneath the 
 beautiful shade of a grove of oaks near the village of Orange, 
 and it was here on the twelfth of May, 1863, that we were in- 
 formed of the death of General T. J. Jackson, near Guinea's 
 in Caroline County. The effect of the announcement wrought 
 a change in every man's expression, and threw a solemn gloom 
 over the camp. The sun shone less brightly and the shade of 
 the trees seemed to cast a sombre gloom. With subdued voices 
 and ill suppressed emotion one soldier said to another: "Jackson 
 is dead !" 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 A GREi^ FEDERAL RAID IN 1 863 AND HOW IT WAS DEFEATED 
 
 /^ N the 9th of April, 1863, General Joseph Hooker, com- 
 ^^ manding the Army of the Potomac, had as his guest at his 
 headquarters, near Falmouth, President Lincoln, who, on the 
 day following, returned to Washington. Hooker wrote him 
 on the next day: "I sincerely trust you reached home safely and 
 in good time yesterday. We all look back to your visit with 
 great satisfaction." 
 
 Among the grave matters discussed by the President and 
 General Hooker, was one of supreme interest and importance, 
 which contemplated a powerful cavalry raid under General 
 George Stoneman, which, by destroying General Lee's supplies 
 at Gordonsville and Charlottesville, tearing up the Central and 
 Acquia Creek Railroads, and burning the bridges, and at the 
 same time threatening Richmond, would force Lee to retreat 
 from Fredericksburg and offer opportunity to the Federal army 
 to make a concerted attack on his retiring lines with good 
 prospects of complete success. These high functionaries agreed 
 upon the plan, and on April 13th, orders were issued by Hooker 
 directing the movement to begin, and providing that the troops 
 should be supplied with eight days' rations and one hundred 
 and forty rounds of ammunition for each man, with the injunc- 
 tion: "Corps commanders will require every serviceable man 
 to march with the columns." 
 
 The force employed in the proposed raid was the cavalry 
 corps of Hooker's army, numbering 12,000 men, including six 
 light batteries. It was arranged that these troops should march 
 up into Fauquier County and cross thence over the Rappa- 
 hannock into Culpeper — Davis's Brigade at Freeman's Ford; 
 Averell's and Gregg's divisions, at Beverly's Ford ; and Buford's 
 reserve brigade, at Rappahannock Bridge. To facilitate these 
 crossings, an infantry brigade of the Eleventh Corps, with a 
 section of artillery, was sent to the lower Ford (Kelly's) to 
 make a feint, and, as the order expressed it, "to prevent any 
 communication across the river on the part of the citizens, or 
 
 75 
 
76 J Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 the enemy from crossing in case they should attempt it." 
 
 In pursuance of the plan of getting Stoneman's force over the 
 Rappahannock, a portion of Davis's Brigade was directed to 
 proceed along the North Fork of that river and cross it at 
 Sulphur Springs, and then, descending the stream, join the re- 
 mainder of the brigade near Freeman's Ford. They were to 
 cross at Welford's on the night of the thirteenth, and then, by 
 sweeping rapidly down the main river, uncover Beverley's 
 Ford for the safe crossing of Averell and Gregg. Simultane- 
 ously with the passage of these two divisions at the upper ford, 
 Buford was directed to press his way across at Rappahannock 
 Station, two or three miles below. These well planned strategic 
 movements were to signalize the morning of April 14th. 
 
 While this finely equipped and powerful cavalry force was 
 marching hopeful and exultant up the Rappahannock, Lieutenant 
 Alexander D. Payne, of the Black Horse Troop, commanding 
 a Confederate scouting party in Fauquier, hastened to inform 
 General William H. F. Lee, at Brandy Station, of the move- 
 ment and that alert and watchful officer at once dispatched Cap- 
 tain Stith Boiling with his company of sharpshooters to rein- 
 force the pickets of the Thirteenth Virginia cavalry at Kelly's 
 Ford. Captain Boiling reached the ford before daylight, and 
 arranged his men in the rifle pits. About 8 A. M. a regiment 
 opened fire on him, and a body of Buford's Cavalry made a 
 dash at the ford, but retreated at the first fire from Boiling's 
 men, and the attempt to cross at this point was not renewed. 
 
 While this demonstration was engaging Captain Boiling at 
 Kelly's Ford, Colonel Kilpatrick made a dash over the ford at 
 Rappahannock Station, the pickets from the Thirteenth Regi- 
 ment, occupying a blockhouse, being forced to retreat. This 
 dash over the ford was materially aided by Lieutenant Wood- 
 roof, of Light Company M, Twentieth United States Artillery, 
 who fired seventy-eight rounds from two cannon posted about 
 three hundred yards from the blockhouse. The threatening 
 conditions at this point caused General Lee to hasten with the 
 Ninth Virginia Cavalry galloping to its relief. This regiment 
 was followed by two guns of Moorman's Battery, which, under 
 direction of General Stuart, quickly engaged the Federal pieces, 
 which already had begun their fire. The Confederate sharp- 
 shooters soon reoccupied the blockhouse and riflepits, and Kil- 
 
A Great Federal Raid in 1863 and How it was Defeated 77 
 
 Patrick's men recrossed the river. No further serious demon- 
 stration was made at this ford. 
 
 While the Ninth Regiment was supporting Mooreman's 
 guns near the bridge, it became necessary to detach two squad- 
 rons with orders to proceed at a gallop to Beverley's Ford, 
 where the divisions of Stoneman sent to that point were threat- 
 ening to cross. Here the sharpshooters of these squadrons, 
 after crossing an open plain on foot, found a well sunken road 
 on the river side to offer an excellent breastwork. No sooner 
 were they posted behind the bank of this road than Federal 
 carbineers began to try to dislodge them, firing from the trees 
 and ravine on the opposite side. This fire kept up till late in 
 the afternoon, with no attempt by the Federal cavalry to ride 
 through the hazardous stream. 
 
 As yet there had been no crossing by Davis's Brigade at 
 Welford's Ford, above, and the fourteenth of April, which had 
 been planned to be so eventful, was drawing to a close under 
 thick and ominous clouds, which threatened a downpour of 
 rain. 
 
 The Federal General commanding was in profound ignor- 
 ance of these facts, and felt sanguine that all had gone well 
 with the expedition. Early on the fifteenth he wrote to Mr. 
 Lincoln: "I am rejoiced that Stoneman had two good days 
 to go up the river, and was enabled to cross it before it became 
 too much swollen." The President, in the deep solicitude he 
 felt for the movement, already had written to Hooker: "Would 
 like to have a letter from you as soon as convenient." Again 
 Hooker wrote to Lincoln: "Just heard from Stoneman. His 
 artillery has been brought to a halt by the mud, one division 
 only having crossed the river." No hint is given that any cause 
 other than the mud had delayed his movement. On April 
 15th, two days after the Rappahannock should have been cross- 
 ed, the President informed General Hooker: "It is now 10:15 
 P. M. An hour ago I received your letter of this morning, and 
 a few moments later your dispatch of this evening. The latter 
 gives me considerable uneasiness. The rain and mud were, 
 of course, to be calculated upon. General Stoneman is not mov- 
 ing rapidly enough to make the expedition come to anything. 
 He has now been out three days, two of which were unusually 
 fair weatker. * * * And yet he is not twenty-five miles 
 
78 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 from where he started. * * * f fear it is another failure 
 already. Write me often; I am very anxious." 
 
 The information sent to the general commanding by Stone- 
 man that his artillery had been "brought to a halt by the mud," 
 did not discourage that high officer as to still pushing the en- 
 terprise, and he directed him on the fifteenth as follows: "If 
 your artillery is your only hinderance to your advance, the 
 major-general commanding directs that you order it to return, 
 and to proceed to the execution of your orders without it. It 
 is but reasonable to suppose that if you cannot make use of that 
 arm of the service the enemy cannot." 
 
 When this communication from Hooker was received by 
 Stoneman, the conditions which confronted him were interest- 
 ing and perplexing. The strong brigade commanded by Colonel 
 B. F. Davis, delayed in the execution of its orders by causes 
 that were never reported, had before daylight of the fifteenth 
 crossed at Welford's Ford in a terrific rainstorm, dispersing 
 the pickets of the Second North Carolina Cavalry on guard 
 there in hot haste, and, with every man wearing an oilcloth 
 cover, had marched down the river to uncover Beverley's Ford. 
 In doing so, they got in between the sharpshooters on guard at 
 the ford and their horses left in care of the reserve pickets on 
 the hill in the rear. They captured the horses, and greatly 
 threatened to do the same for the sharpshooters. Colonel Lewis, 
 of the Ninth Cavalry, commanding these reserve pickets, 
 opened fire on the men under the oilcloths, and gave abundant 
 warning that they had crossed the river. General W. H. F. 
 Lee, with the Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry and several squad- 
 rons of the Ninth, hastened to oppose the adventurous regi- 
 ments of Davis. 
 
 The situation of these latter regiments was not an enviable 
 one. The torrents of rain that had fallen during the night had 
 swollen the river beyond its banks. Only by swimming the 
 horses could it be crossed. There was no possibility of Gregg 
 or Averell or Buford coming to Davis's assistance. Within an 
 hour, at least, Stuart might hurl his whole available force of 
 two thousand men against them, and rake the plain with Moore- 
 man's guns. Nothing seemed to remain to Davis but to get 
 back over the river, and this he hastened to do by a rapid march 
 to Beverley's Ford and a precipitate and daring plunge by his 
 
A Great Federal Raid in 1863 and How it was Defeated 79 
 
 men into the raging current. 
 
 The two regiments of W. H. F. Lee's command, above men- 
 tioned, charged the retreating column near the river, capturing 
 men and horses and their equipments. How many horses or 
 men were lost, having been swept down on the swollen torrent, 
 we never ascertained. Under the circumstances, there was little 
 prospect of General Stoneman's proceeding to the execution of 
 his orders, although the commanding general advised him : 
 "This army is now awaiting your movement. * * * Jn 
 view of the swollen condition of the streams it is not probable, 
 in the event of j^our being able to advance, that you will be 
 troubled by the infantry of the enemy." 
 
 On April i6th, Stoneman informed the commanding gen- 
 eral: "No command ever had higher hopes, or was more confi- 
 dent of success, though ignorant of what it was expected to per- 
 form ; but the elements seem to have conspired to prevent the 
 accomplishment of a brilliant cavalry operation." The great 
 raid, and the paralyzing blow which it was designed to strike, 
 was for the time defeated, and Lincoln's prophetic fear abund- 
 antly fulfilled when he said: "I fear it is another failure 
 already." 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 BATTLE OF BRANDY STATION 
 
 '"p HE advent of June, 1863, found the Federal Army under 
 -■■ General Joseph E. Hooker, and that of the Confederates 
 under General Lee, occupying their respective camps on the 
 Rappahannock, at Fredericksburg, enjoying a much needed rest 
 and recuperating after the sanguinary battle of Chancellorsville, 
 one month before. 
 
 In official circles on the Northern side, much uncertainty and 
 uneasiness began now to be felt because of the concentration of 
 most of the Confederate cavalry under General J. E. B. Stuart 
 in Culpeper County. General John Buford, of the Federal 
 cavalry, communicated this information to General Pleasanton 
 on June 5th, and the latter officer forwarded it to General 
 Hooker, who in turn sent it to the Adjutant-General in Wash- 
 ington. At three in the afternoon of the same day the gen- 
 eral-in-chief (Halleck) informed General Hooker that: "Pris- 
 oners and deserters brought in here state that Stuart is pre- 
 paring a column of from I5,cxx) to 20,000 men, cavalry and 
 artillery, for a raid." 
 
 The uneasiness created by the apprehension of this powerful 
 raid was not confined to army circles, but at Baltimore, Havre 
 de Grace, York, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and other places the 
 authorities were warned to make preparations to resist Stuart's 
 column. General Milroy, in a dispatch to General Schenk, 
 said: "I would advise that the militia of Maryland, Pennsyl- 
 vania and Ohio be called out at once, as doubtless there is a 
 mighty raid on foot." 
 
 General Hooker deemed it expedient and well to crush this 
 apprehended raid in its incipiency by dealing Stuart a staggering 
 blow before he had time to set his column in motion, and the 
 orders for the preparation of the troops and their equipment 
 were duly issued, and as a preliminary step Colonel A. N. 
 Duffie, a well tried and most efficient officer, was sent with a 
 strong reconnoitering force of cavalry to cross the Rappa- 
 hannock near Sulphur Springs, and proceeding by way of 
 
 80 
 
Battle of Brandy Station 8 1 
 
 Jeffersonton, to ascertain the location and strength ^of Stuart's 
 troops. Duffie crossed the river without serious opposition, and 
 proceeded within four or five miles of the town of Culpeper. 
 The reconnolssance, or Intelligence from it, was sufficiently de- 
 layed to cause some anxiety on the Federal side as to the fate 
 of it. However, at 3 A. M. on June 7th, Colonel Duffie In- 
 formed Buford : "I am safe with my command. The recon- 
 nolssance has been successful." 
 
 The Information brought back from this expedition was 
 deficient, both as to the strength and location of the Confederate 
 cavalry in the vicinity of Brandy Station — matters which It was 
 gravely Important that the officers commanding the Federal cav- 
 alry should know. About the time that the report of Duffie's 
 safe return reached the headquarters of the Federal Army, Cap- 
 tain Ulric Dalghren was sent by General Hooker to General 
 Alfred Pleasanton, chief of the cavalry of the Army of the 
 Potomac, bearing instructions to him to proceed with over 
 10,000 cavalry, infantry, and artillery, and by a rapid, con- 
 certed, and vigorous movement from two directions, to attack 
 whatever Confederate force might be encamped in the vicinity 
 of Culpeper. Captain Dalghren was directed to accompany 
 General Pleasanton until he had recrossed the river. 
 
 For this expedition there were assigned to Pleasanton, In 
 addition to the cavalry corps and horse artillery of the Army 
 of the Potomac, two brigades of Infantry, under command, re- 
 spectively, of Brigadier-Generals A. Ames and D. A. Russell, 
 numbering 4,800 muskets, 3,000 under the former and 1,800 
 under the latter. The regiments assigned to Russell were taken 
 from three army corps — the First, Second, and Sixth. Six 
 batteries took part in the movement. 
 
 The orders from Hooker were deemed unsafe to be sent by 
 telegraph, and so were Intrusted to the hands of the young and 
 fearless Dalghren. They read in part as follows: ''From the 
 most reliable information at these headquarters, it is recom- 
 mended that you cross the Rappahannock at Beverly and Kelly's 
 Fords, and march directly on Culpeper. For this you will 
 divide your cavalry force as you think proper to carry into 
 execution the object in view, which is to disperse and destroy 
 the rebel force assembled In the vicinity of Culpeper, and to de- 
 stroy his trains and supplies of all descriptions to the utmost of 
 
82 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 5^our abilitji." • 
 
 In anticipation of these instructions and impatient of any 
 delay in undertaking their accomplishment, Pleasanton had the 
 same day notified the general commanding: "Let us act soon, 
 and please telegraph any instructions. My people are all ready 
 to pitch in." The day following, the entire force was in motion 
 towards the Rappahannock. Agreeably to Hooker's instructions, 
 it was divided into two bodies, one of which pursued the roads 
 through Fauquier County leading to Kelly's Ford, and the 
 other those leading to Beverly's Ford, six or seven miles above. 
 These troops, thus divided, bivouacked on the night of the 
 eighth, ready to cross the river at six o'clock the following 
 morning. The body directed to cross at the upper ford was 
 commanded by Brigadier-General John Buford, and consisted 
 of three brigades of cavalry (thirteen regiments), a brigade of 
 infantry (Ames's) of five regiments, and four batteries. This 
 command having in it Pleasanton's old brigade, he accompanied 
 it in person. 
 
 The force directed to cross at the lower ford (Kelly's) was 
 placed under command of Brigadier-General David McM. 
 Gregg, and comprised two divisions of cavalry (twelve regi- 
 ments), three regiments of infantry and two batteries of light 
 artillery. 
 
 The entire command directed by Pleasanton — thirty-three 
 regiments and six batteries — represented twelve States of the 
 Union: Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, Penn- 
 sylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, Ohio, Illinois, 
 Indiana, and Wisconsin, besides the District of Columbia, New 
 York, and Pennsylvania furnished seven regiments each ; and 
 Massachusetts and Winconsin three each. There were, besides 
 of United States Regulars, four regiments and four batteries. 
 
 These troops were in excellent condition, admirably equipped 
 with arms, ammunition, and horses. Nothing that the quarter- 
 master, commissary, and ordinance departments of the govern- 
 ment could supply was lacking to fit them for the enterprise 
 that lay before them. In most, if not all, of the regiments, the 
 men were clad in new uniforms, had their faces cleanly shaven, 
 and appeared as if they were in readiness for inspection, or a 
 grand review, rather than the rough encounter of battle. 
 
 Such were the conditions under which the men who followed 
 
Battle of Brandy Station 83 
 
 Pleasanton, Buford, and Gregg spread their blankets on the 
 night of the eighth of June, and laid down to rest, many light- 
 hearted fellows who did so being all unconscious that they 
 would never do the like again. 
 
 Whilst the Federal commander was making these disposi- 
 tions of his troops, and preparing for a sudden and concerted 
 dash on the lines held by the Southern cavalry the following 
 morning, these latter were engaged during this bright June day 
 in a grand review, under the eyes of General Lee and other prom- 
 inent generals of his army. A train from Culpeper and Orange 
 with visitors, including many ladies, stood on the track near the 
 reviewing stand, the long double lines in which Stuart mar- 
 shalled his men, as he with Generals Lee, Hampton, and others 
 galloped past, were truly imposing in appearance. When these 
 lines were broken into platoons and marched in review, first at 
 a walk, again at a trot, and then at a gallop, the scene became 
 grandly inspiring. A mimic battle, in which Hampton led a 
 regiment in a charge on a battery, closed the splendid pageantry 
 of the day. These men retired at night, hungry and weary 
 and needing rest after the excitement and vigorous exercise 
 through which they had passed. 
 
 They comprised five brigades commanded by Brigadier- Gen- 
 erals Fitz Lee, Wade Hampton, W\ H. F. Lee, J. E. Jones and 
 R. H. Robertson, the latter having but two regiments. The 
 entire force numbered 8,500 men. They were from Maryland, 
 Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, and in 
 one battery were men from New Orleans. Besides this battery 
 there were four others. 
 
 These brigades bivouacked in the vicinity of the three fords of 
 the Rappahannock, nearest to Brandy Station, with the artillery 
 under Major R. F. Beckham, on the road leading to Beverley's, 
 and near St. James Church. Near the artillery were the regi- 
 ments of Jones's brigade, one of which, the Sixth Virginia, 
 furnished the squadron under Captain Bruce Gibson, which 
 was placed on picket duty at the above ford Captain William 
 White, from one of Robertson's North Carolina regiments, was 
 on guard with a squadron at Kelly's Ford. 
 
 So well had the movements of the Federals been covered, and 
 so silently had they approached the vicinity of the river that 
 no knowledge of their advance had reached General Stuart. 
 
84 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 Both he and his command slept duriflg the night of the eighth 
 all unconscious of the rude awakening in store for them next 
 morning. 
 
 According to the preconcerted plan the men with Buford and 
 those with Gregg were put in motion without bugle note, or 
 other noise to give the alarm, at four o'clock in the morning, 
 and proceeded to the two fords which it was proposed they 
 would cross simultaneously. A mistake as to the right road by 
 one of Gregg's brigades — that under Duffie — delaj^ed his column 
 so that it was not at the ford as early as was contemplated. 
 Nothing, however, retarded Buford's march, and in the twi- 
 light of the early morning, two squadrons of the Sixth New 
 York Cavalry, with which rode the daring young Dalghren and 
 George A. Custer sent in advance moved quietly down the 
 hill to the river and dashed across. They received the fire of 
 the Confederate pickets, and rapidly followed them, as they 
 retreated, arousing Captain Gibson and his men on the hill. 
 The men of the Sixth New York were closely followed by the 
 Eighth New York and Eighth Illinois Regiments, and Captain 
 Gibson, despite a bold attempt to retard them, found it necessary 
 to fall back in haste. While doing so, there was a busy stir 
 among the other squadrons of the Sixth Virginia Regiment, and 
 mounting in hot haste, Colonel C. E. Flournoy with these 
 squadrons hastened to Gibson's support, and with such of his 
 men as were at hand, met the advancing Federals within three 
 hundred yards of his camp. With this encounter was now 
 fairly begun the heaviest and most hotly contested cavalry bat- 
 tle ever fought on the American soil. 
 
 The dash of Flournoy 's squadron down the road on which 
 the New York and Illinois regiments were boldly advancing, 
 was quickly followed by those of the Seventh Virginia, under 
 Colonel Thomas Marshall, which regiments, advancing on the 
 left of the Sixth, pushed forward until checked by a body of 
 sharpshooters deployed in the woods. 
 
 The prompt and spirited action of the men under Flournoy 
 and Marshall had an important bearing on the fortunes of the 
 day in giving time to the artillerists under Major Beckham to 
 extricate their guns, endangered by the rapid advance of the 
 Federals; and also in the killing of Lieutenant R. O. Allen, of 
 Company D, Sixth Virginia Cavalry; of Colonel B. F. Davis, 
 
Battle of Brandy Station 85 
 
 who was leading the foremost brigade in the advance from the 
 river. One of Captain Hart's guns, planted in, the road and 
 opening fire on the Federal columns, materially aided in hold- 
 ing them in check. At six A. M., Pleasanton wired Hooker: 
 "Enemy has opened with artillery. Colonel Davis is badly 
 wounded." 
 
 The two regiments which had opened the engagement — the 
 Eighth New York and Eighth Illinois — were speedily joined 
 by a battalion of the Third Indiana, a squadron of the Third 
 West Virginia, the Ninth New York, and the Seventeenth 
 Pennsylvania. Detachments of Ames's infantry regiments were 
 deployed on either side of the wooded road. These troops were 
 closely supported by four regiments of United States regulars. 
 The Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Smith was advanced, to the front, and through an open field 
 made a dash of conspicuous gallantry on Beckham's well served 
 guns, and through an interval between Jones's and Hampton's 
 lines, swept beyond these guns. The Confederates closing in 
 from each side quickly dispersed them. 
 
 Beckham's pieces began now to shell the woods furiously in 
 the direction of the I^ederal line, and the Eleventh Virginia 
 under Lomax, the Twelfth under Harman and White's Bat- 
 talion, all under the eye of Stuart, were successively hurled 
 against it. Meanwhile, the ground occupied by the Federals 
 was extended towards their left, both the infantry and the 
 regulars being hurried into position, and the carbineers and in- 
 fantrymen, taking advantage of the cover afforded by the woods, 
 pressed forward against these regiments with vigor. They were 
 met by successive charges on the part of the mounted men of 
 Jones's brigade, and by several squadrons dismounted as sharp- 
 shooters as well. 
 
 While the conflict was raging along the Beverly Road, Gen- 
 eral Wade Hampton had taken position with three of his regi- 
 ments (First North Carolina, Cobb and Jeff Davis legions), 
 and having dismounted a body of sharpshooters, pushed them 
 forward on the right of the above road, and engaged the in- 
 fantry in his front. The Jeff Davis legion followed quickly 
 in support of the line of sharpshooters, checking the Federal 
 line which had begun to force them back. The timely arrival 
 of Colonel Black, with the First South Carolina Cavalry, made 
 
86 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee^s Army 
 
 this effort the more effective in checking this line. 
 
 This activity on the part of Hampton's regiments in resisting 
 the Federal advance on the right of Jones's line of fire was not 
 greater than General W. H. F. Lee now found necessary in 
 order to resist the vigorous advance on the left, where dis- 
 mounted cavalry and infantry pressed forward through the con- 
 cealing and protecting timber. Detachments of the several regi- 
 ments of Lee's brigade — Ninth, Tenth, Thirteenth Virginia 
 Cavalry and Second North Carolina — were dismounted and 
 hastened forward to oppose Buford's infantry and dismounted 
 horsemen on a line reaching toward the river and forming a 
 right angle with Jones's line, and became engaged at short 
 range. The resistance to the Federal advance thus offered by 
 Lee's men on foot, ably led by Colonel John R. Chambliss, Jr., 
 was well supported by a section of Breathed's battery which sent 
 its missiles into the woods, and with deadly effect also on the 
 Federal horses in the field below. The position of W. H. F. 
 Lee's brigade threatened the flank and rear of Buford's line, 
 which that general began now to reinforce with the Eighth 
 Illinois Cavalry and detachments of Ames's infantry. 
 
 The determined and effective resistance which had been met 
 by Buford's entire line, with Lee confronting him on the right 
 of his position, and especially by Jones in the centre, with 
 Hampton on the left, caused a lull in the storm of battle, and 
 Pleasanton having wired to Hooker, the latter at twelve noon 
 reported to Halleck: "Brigadier-General Pleasanton reports 
 that after a severe encounter with the rebel cavalry over Bev- 
 erly Ford, he has not been able to make head against it. He 
 reports that his movement was anticipated." The experience 
 of his troops in this encounter he also expressed to Hooker as 
 "a perfect hornet's nest." 
 
 Developments during this lull in the battle seemed to protend 
 a fierce and sanguinary struggle for the elevated ground held 
 by W. H. F. Lee's regiments. Colonel Lomax, with the Elev- 
 enth Virginia Regiment, had been sent by General Stuart to 
 strengthen this line, and Colonel T. T. Munford with two 
 regiments of Fitz Lee's brigade, had been ordered to move in 
 closer from the opposite side. Opposed to these regiments, and 
 for the most part concealed by woods, were assembled the 
 Eighth Illinois, Sixth Pennsylvania, First, Second, Fifth, and 
 
Battle of Brandy Station 87 
 
 Sixth United States Cavalry, with whom also operated the 
 Second and Third Wisconsin Infantry. 
 
 An attack by these troops, and a general advance of Bu- 
 ford's entire line only awaited the knowledge on Pleasanton's 
 part that the long-delayed brigades of General Gregg were com- 
 ing to his support. This intelligence reached him about noon, 
 and he promptly wired Hooker: "General Gregg has joined me, 
 and I will now attack the enemy vigorously with my whole 
 force." 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE BATTLE OF BRANDY STATION Continued 
 
 WHILST Pieasanton with Buford, on the hills above Bev- 
 erly's Ford, were baffled and held in check by Stuart's 
 three brigades, during the morning hours of June 9th, it is prop- 
 er to note how the co-operating force under Gregg had been en- 
 gaged. A passage at Kelly's Ford had been readily effected at 
 six A. M., and this was duly reported to Stuart through Briga- 
 dier-General Robertson. 
 
 Colonel A. N. Duffie led the advance of Gregg's troops, with 
 the First Rhode Island Cavalry, Sixth Ohio and First Massa- 
 chusetts. A section of Pennington's battery followed these regi- 
 ments, supported by the Third Pennsylvania Cavalry. Duffie's 
 orders were to move on Stevensburg, whilst Gregg, with the 
 larger part of his command, proposed turning to the right at a 
 point called Madden's and taking the road leading to Brandy 
 Station, where he expected to form a junction with Pieasanton. 
 
 Brigadier-General Russell, with his infantry brigade, after 
 leaving five hundred men to protect the road behind these com- 
 mands, was directed to move towards Brandy Station on a road 
 nearer the river than the one by which Gregg marched. 
 
 The progress of the three columns into which Gregg's force 
 w^as now divided, though duly communicated to Stuart, appears 
 not to have affected him with serious apprehensions. It is mani- 
 fest that he counted, however vainly, on General Robertson's 
 command to retard the movement on the station. Nevertheless 
 whilst with Lee, Hampton, and Jones, he was defending his 
 position against Buford and Ames in front. Gregg's columns 
 were seriously threatening it from the rear, and Duffie's advance 
 towards Stevensburg was scarcely less endangering his line of 
 communication with Culpeper. 
 
 The advance of the Federal troops from Kelly's Ford led 
 General Stuart to detach the First South Carolina Regiment, 
 under Colonel Black, from the line facing Buford, and to send 
 it forward on the road leading to the above ford. General 
 Robertson, with his two regiments, was also sent in this direc- 
 tion. Colonel Butler, with the Second South Carolina Cavalry, 
 
 88 
 
Battle of Brandy Station {Continued) 89 
 
 was held in reserve at Brandy Station, but the advance on 
 Stevensburg by Duffie led to an order directing him to hasten 
 to assist in checking it. Colonel W. C. Wickham with the 
 Fourth Virginia Cavalry was sent in support of Butler. 
 
 A prudent precaution was taken to have the division wagons 
 loaded and moved out on the road to Culpeper. 
 
 In advance of Duffie's column, Major Stanhope, of the Sixth 
 Ohio Cavalry, proceeded with little interruption to Stevensburg, 
 where he was almost immediately attacked by Lieutenant-Col- 
 onel Frank Hampton, of the Second South Carolina Regiment, 
 with a small detachment. The Ohio squadron fell back until 
 they joined the main body of Duffie's men, being pursued also 
 by Major T. J. Lipscomb, of Hampton's Regiment, who had 
 endeavored to cut them off. Butler's sharpshooters, in order to 
 confront those of Duffie, were deployed on either side of the 
 road, and became rapidly pressed and forced to fall back through 
 the woods into the open fields. A simultaneous charge was now 
 made by the First Rhode Island, on the right, the First Massa- 
 chusetts on the left, and a part of the Sixth Ohio in the road. 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Hampton, with his small detachment of 
 South Carolinians, now boldly charged down the road in the 
 face of the Ohioans exposed to a fire in front and on either side. 
 
 He was mortally wounded in the charge, and his men broken 
 into disorder by the heavy force confronting them, retreated 
 precipitately. Whilst Butler was thus endeavoring to check 
 the advance of Duffie's heavy regiments, Colonel Wickham 
 reached the scene with the Fourth Virginia, the line of his 
 march being along a narrow by-road through a dense copse of 
 pine. His column had been halted and one squadron sent to 
 strengthen Butler's skirmish line, when the South Carolianians 
 in their retreat dashed down on his mounted men and threw 
 them into immediate disorder. The regiment was cut in twain 
 by the onset of the Federal squadrons; the situation was un- 
 favorable to forming the broken ranks ; the pine woods obscured 
 from many of the men the numbers attacking them, and the 
 men from Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and Ohio dashed for- 
 ward with boldness. The result was that Wickham's men, 
 excepting the squadron which had been sent already to the left, 
 were stampeded, one part in the direction of Stevensburg and 
 the other towards Carrico Mill. The road being now cleared, 
 
90 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 the troops under Duffie resumed the march to Stevensburg. 
 
 The men of the Second North 'Carolina and Fourth Vir- 
 ginia were quickly rallied, and directed by Colonel Butler, were 
 interposed between Stevensburg and Brandy Station, being 
 forced at times to yield ground to the pressure of the six regi- 
 ments opposing them, and the guns of Pennington and Clarke, 
 which subjected them to a continuous shelling. 
 
 Among the casualties inflicted by Pennington's guns were 
 those made by the first shot, which taking effect on Captain 
 W. D. Farley and Colonel M. C. Butler, who had met in the 
 road, caused the latter the loss of a leg and the former his life. 
 The brave Farley dying on the field exhibited a calmness and 
 heroism in keeping with his noble coolness and courage in battle. 
 
 With his two regiments now reduced by the loss of sixty- 
 two men, opposing Duffie's six, nothing more could be done by 
 Colonel Wickham, who had succeeded in command after But- 
 ler's wounding than to watch the Federal movements, and 
 strike as occasion might offer. Duffie was preparing for a 
 charge with the First Massachusetts Regiment on Wickham's 
 line, when a courier from Gregg summoned him to hasten with 
 his commands to his support. The direct and short route to 
 reach Gregg lay along the road held by Wickham. Duffie chose 
 the long and circuitous road over which he had marched in the 
 morning by Madden's. With J. Irwin Gregg's brigade in the 
 rear with two guns to cover his retreat, he slowly retraced his 
 steps toward Brandy Station, with Wickham following closely 
 and retarding his movement, and then probably affecting in 
 an important measure the final issue of the day. 
 
 During Duffie's advance on Stevensburg and skirmishes in 
 that vicinity, General Gregg having turned to the right at 
 Madden's, was directing his column to Brandy Station. Wynd- 
 ham's brigade was in advance, and Captain P. Yorke Jones, of 
 the First New Jersey Regiment, led the advance guard so swiftly 
 and cleverly that the approach of these troops was not dis- 
 covered, or at least reported, by any Confederate vidette. Gen- 
 eral Robertson, commanding south of the railroad towards Kel- 
 ly's Ford, had not seen fit to guard this road, and a guard 
 ordered by General Stuart to be placed at the station, from 
 some unexplained cause never got there. Half a mile or so 
 beyond the station on a gradually ascending eminence was Fleet- 
 
Battle of Brandy Station {Continued) 91 
 
 wood, General Stuart's headquarters. Here Major H. B. Mc- 
 Clellan, his assistant adjutant-general had been left on the 
 lookout, and two pieces of Chew's Battery with scant supply 
 of ammunition defended the hill. Lieutenant J. W. Carter 
 commanded these most opportunely placed guns. 
 
 With Pleasanton and Buford assailing from the north, and 
 the key of Stuart's position attacked by Gregg, Wyndham, and 
 Kilpatrick from the south, it was as if the formidable jaw of 
 a huge vice were rapidly closing to crush the already hard fought 
 Confederate line. 
 
 Numerous groves bordering the road over which Gregg's 
 troops moved concealed his approach until the leading regiment 
 of Wyndham 's brigade emerged into the open country around 
 Brandy Station. When this regiment appeared to the small 
 group of Confederates on the hill. Carter's guns opened fire at 
 once on them, and on the Federal side two pieces of the Sixth 
 New York Battery were placed in position under Lieutenant 
 M. P. Clarke and returned Carter's fire. The resounding 
 echoes of these guns gave Stuart and his troops opposing Bu- 
 ford abundant warning that the enemy had gained their rear. 
 
 The presence of Confederate guns on the heights appears to 
 have led Gregg and Wyndham to conclude that the position 
 was more formidable than was true. At any rate, there was 
 some hesitation on their part, or delay in arranging for a charge. 
 The moments thus gained were of incalculable value to Stuart. 
 They enabled him to detach the Twelfth Virginia Regiment, 
 under Colonel A. W. Harman, from the line confronting Bu- 
 ford, and to send them at a gallop to the new point of danger, 
 and to hasten Colonel White with the Thirty-fifth Battalion 
 to his support. These two commands, undaunted by the des- 
 perate encounters of the morning, moved under spur to gain 
 the Fleetwood hill. 
 
 As they galloped towards this crest from one side. Major C. 
 H. Russell, on the other, led a squadron of the First Maryland 
 Cavalry into Brandy Station, whilst the remainder of the regi- 
 ments under Lieutenant-Colonel Deems, the First New Jersey 
 under Major Janeway, and the First Pennsylvania, under Col- 
 onel C. P. Haylor, charged up the hill on each side of the 
 Fleetwood house in magnificent order. Lieutenant Carter hav- 
 ing exhausted his ammunition, was forced to retire with his guns 
 
92 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 as these regiments with their fluttering guidons dashed up on 
 either side of the house that croWns the hill. No sooner had 
 the Federals gained the hill-top than they were in clash with 
 Harman's regiment, which, however, was strung out in col- 
 umns of fours and unable to cope with the solid mass which they 
 encountered. They were thrown rapidly into confusion and re- 
 coiling before the heavy odds which they had encountered greatly 
 disarranged a squadron of White's battalion which they met rid- 
 ing gallantly to their support. Despite this mishap, White and 
 Harman renewed the contest for possession of the hill and only 
 retired when in danger of being surrounded. With their squad- 
 rons partly mixed, they fell back to reform, Harman on one side 
 of the hill and White on the other. They were quickly ready to 
 renew the charge, which Harman led on the Eastern side, from 
 which he was forced to retreat, being himself wounded. White, 
 sweeping around the western side of the hill, charged these guns 
 of the sixth New York Battery under Lieutenant Clarke, which 
 were now in position at the foot of the hill. His command was 
 soon surrounded and had to cut their way out in a desperate 
 hand-to-hand encounter. 
 
 In this exciting contest. Colonel Joseph W. Martin, of the 
 Sixth New York Battery, had been pushed forward with two 
 guns to take position near Lieutenant Clarke in co-operation 
 with the regiments of Wyndham on the left ; and Lieutenant J. 
 Wade Wilson, with the two remaining guns of the same battery, 
 had been advanced to a commanding position on the right in con- 
 junction with the brigade of Kilpatrick. At this juncture, Kil- 
 patrick's regiments: First Maine, under Colonel Doughty; Sec- 
 ond New York (Lieutenant-Colonel Davies) ; Tenth, New 
 York (Lieutenant-Colonel Irvine) ; and Orton's company, of 
 District of Columbia Cavalry, were passing forward in splendid 
 style en echelon in reinforcement of Wyndham's brigade, and to 
 maintain the mastery of the hill. The First New Jersey Cavalry 
 had pressed beyond the front of the. principal conflict, and were 
 in possession of the heights in the vicinity of the Barbour house, 
 some distance west of the Fleetwood hill, and their advanced po- 
 sition served as a signal of cheer to the five regiments hastening 
 to their support. 
 
 Meanwhile, on the Confederate side, the broken ranks of the 
 Twelfth Virginia and White's Battalion were again reforming 
 
Battle of Brandy Station {Continued) 93 
 
 to renew the strife, Colonel Flournoy, with four squadrons of 
 the Sixth Virginia, under Hampton's orders, was leaving the line 
 confronting Buford, and by direction of Stuart, bearing to the 
 left, so as to strike a body of Federals beyond the railroad ; Colo- 
 nel Lomax, with the Eleventh Virginia Regiment, was advanc- 
 ing on the farther side of the Fleetwood hill, on the right 
 towards the Barbour house ; Colonel Young, leading Cobb's Le- 
 gion, having also withdrawn from in front of Buford, was 
 dashing in column of squadrons towards the Fleetwood hill ; Col- 
 onel Black, at the head of the First South Carolina Cavalry, was 
 closely following Young; Hart's Battery was rushing under 
 spur along side of Cobb's Legion, and sections of McGregor's 
 and Chew's batteries also hastened into positions on the hotly 
 disputed crest. 
 
 Scarcely had these guns been unlimbered, before the New Jer- 
 sey regiments in their advanced position found themselves pressed 
 by Jones's regiments and their way of retreat down the hill 
 blocked by the sudden dash of the men under Young and Black. 
 They consequently rode tumultuously down the narrow ridge, 
 taking the Confederate guns in the flank, pressing between cais- 
 sons and pieces, and causing a general melee, in which sabres, 
 pistols, gun-rammers, sponge-stafis and whatever else could be 
 seized, served as weapons. Unsupported as they were, the can- 
 noneers in this encounter defended themselves and their guns 
 with singular coolness, bravery and skill and Federal troopers 
 unhorsed, killed, wounded, and captured gave proof of their in- 
 dividual prowess. 
 
 The pressure of Jones's regiments on the one side, and of 
 Young's and Black's on the other, caused the two Federal bri- 
 gades to yield their hard-won ground, and they retreated beyond 
 the railroad, where a new danger awaited them. General Hamp- 
 ton with his two remaining regiments, the First North Carolina 
 (Colonel Baker) and Jeff Davis Legion (Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Waring), having abandoned his line on Buford's extreme left, 
 hastened to add a blow to those already being dealt to Gregg's 
 troops. He accordingly swept around to the left of the Fleet- 
 wood hill, and passing over the railroad, hurled these regiments 
 in magnificent fashion against the right of the Federal line, cre- 
 ating no small confusion and making important captures. Per- 
 haps no more spirited or brilliant charge than this was made dur- 
 
94 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 ing all this battle. • 
 
 During these determined charges, the earth shook with the 
 tramp of dashing regiments ; from a single point of view nearly 
 7,000 horsemen contended in battle, forty or more battle flags 
 and guidons fluttered in the air, thousands of flashing sabres 
 gleamed in the sunlight; the rattle of carbines and pistols min- 
 gled with the roar of cannon ; riderless horses dashed wildly this 
 way and that; armed men wearing the blue and the gray be- 
 came mixed in promiscuous confusion ; the surging ranks swayed 
 up and down the sides of Fleetwood hill, and dense clouds of 
 smoke and dust rose as a curtain to cover the tumultuous and 
 bloody scene. 
 
 A critical moment in the contest for the heights was reached 
 when Cobb's Legion, under Young, and the Eleventh Virginia 
 under Lomax, one on the one side and the other on the other, 
 dashed upon the three pieces of the Sixth New York Battery, 
 under Martin and Clark, and compelled their surrender, not, 
 however, until only six of the thirty-six brave cannoneers re- 
 mained to defend them. Lomax's charge bore his flag beyond 
 the captured guns into and beyond Brandy Station, from which 
 Wyndham's men were retreating. There was no rallying of the 
 Federals to drive back the men in this charge or to recapture the 
 lost guns. 
 
 Colonel Flournoy, with four squadrons of his regiment, hav- 
 ing ridden over the guns under Lieutenant J. Wade Wilson, 
 supporting Kilpatrick on the left, had been forced by overwhelm- 
 ing numbers to relinquish these pieces ; but General Hampton in 
 that quarter of the field with the First North Carolina Regiment 
 and the Jeff Davis Legion, had thrown Kilpatrick's column into 
 confusion, captured numerous prisoners, a stand of colors and 
 Lieut.-Col. Irvine, of the Tenth New York Cavalry. Hamp- 
 ton's further vigorous movement was checked by the fire of 
 Beckham's guns on the hill, where the dense clouds of dust pre- 
 vented the gunners from distinguishing friends from foes. 
 
 In the language of Stuart: "The contest for the hill was long 
 and spirited." Major H. B. McClellan, Stuart's assistant ad- 
 jutant-general, declared : "Modern warfare cannot furnish an 
 instance of a field more closely, more valiantly contested." 
 
 General Gregg said : "Assailed on all sides, the men stood to 
 their guns nobly. Thus, for an hour and a half was the contest 
 
Battle of Brandy Station {Continued) 95 
 
 continued * * * fn determined charges." 
 
 Major Beaumont, of the First New Jersey Cavalry declared 
 the engagement "to be the hardest fought cavalry battle ever 
 fought in this country." 
 
 Whilst the brave men under Gregg and Wj^ndham were con- 
 tending, as has been shown, on the summit and slopes of Fleet- 
 wood hill, and Duffie was moving to their support, it had not 
 been quiet on the side next to Beverly's Ford, where since early 
 dawn Generals Jones and W. H. F. Lee had confronted the cav- 
 alry, infantry, and four batteries under Buford. On this line 
 General Pleasanton had not been unmindful of his message to 
 Hooker, wired at 12.30 P. M. that he would "attack vigorously" 
 with his "whole force." 
 
 The massing of troops in front of W. H. F. Lee's position 
 preliminary to this vigorous attack by Pleasanton's whole force, 
 and the withdrawal of Lomax's regiment from Lee's line, leav- 
 ing a road unguarded on his right, compelled the latter general 
 to shorten his line by falling back to higher ground nearer to the 
 Fleetwood hill. This movement was effected with little or no 
 interference on the part of the Federals, and the new line formed 
 occupied a strong position ; admirable for the concealment of the 
 miounted men and with a commanding eminence of Breathed's 
 guns, and a strong stone fence for the line of dismounted sharp- 
 shooters. On the Federal side, the Second and Third Massa- 
 chusetts and Second Wisconsin Infantry, supported by the other 
 regiments of Ames's brigade, were pushed forwarded and hotly 
 engaged Lee's sharpshooters under Colonel John R. Chambliss. 
 Chambliss's line was broken and a part of his force captured. 
 
 The Sixth Pennsylvania Cavalry, under Colonel Taylor, 
 which had in the morning so distinguished itself by a brilliant 
 charge on the Confederate guns near St. James Church, were 
 quick to take advantage of the opening which the infantry had 
 effected, and pushed forward in fine order, bearing down upon 
 the line of sharpshooters behind the stone fence, putting them to 
 flight and making some captures. No sooner had this regiment 
 reached the top of the hill behind which Lee's mounted regi- 
 ments were in line than the Ninth Virginia, led by Colonel 
 Beale, assailed them with the sabre, breaking them into confu- 
 sion and forcing them back, not along the line of their retreat, 
 but directly on the stone fence through which there was but a 
 
96 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 narrow opening, and dealing them some heavy blows during the 
 necessary delay in forcing their way through it. They were fol- 
 lowed by men of the Ninth at a gallop through the field beyond 
 the fence to the edge of the woods, where a Federal battery was 
 in position. A good many of the prisoners which the Federals 
 had taken were released by this charge. 
 
 The Pennsylvanians scarcely had been driven from the hill 
 before the Second United States regulars dashed up on it along 
 the line of the previous charge, attacking the Ninth Virginia on 
 the flank, and forcing them back in a severe hand-to-hand en- 
 counter. At this juncture, the Second North Carolina Regi- 
 ment, dashingly led by its young Colonel, Sol. Williams, reached 
 the hill, and swept the regulars back, pursuing them almost to 
 the mouth of the cannon. A charge by the Tenth Virginia Cav- 
 alry in co-operation with that of the Second North Carolina 
 ended the combat in the saddle in this quarter of the field. The 
 gallant Colonel of the latter regiment, Sol. Williams, had fallen, 
 pierced in the brain with a pistol ball; General Lee had been 
 wounded in the leg, and Captain Charles Caulfield, of the Sec- 
 ond Regulars, lay dead on the field. 
 
 Colonel T. T. Munford, commanding three regiments of Fitz 
 Lee's brigade, long delayed in coming by reason of some uncer- 
 tainty in his orders, had reached the left of Lee's line and gave 
 important support during these stirring engagements. His 
 sharpshooters under Captains James Breckenridge and G. D. 
 White, had been pushed forward engaging Buford's skirmishers 
 and the supporting infantry. 
 
 It soon became evident that Buford had commenced to re- 
 treat towards Beverly's Ford. Three of Breathed's pieces were 
 advanced, and actively served on the Federal column. Colonel 
 John R. Chambliss, now commanding Lee's brigade, and Colo- 
 nel Munford with his three regiments (First, Second, and 
 Third) followed the retreating foe without making any further 
 attack. They moved overground on which at intervals lay 
 Federal dead and across a field strewn with fallen horses. 
 
 General Buford, well protected by Ames's infantry and sev- 
 eral batteries, efifected a crossing at the ford over which he had 
 advanced at early dawn, and with his escape, silence settled down 
 upon the field of the conflict. 
 
 Of the fighting under Lee, General Stuart had this to say: 
 
Battle of Brandy Statioti {Continued) 97 
 
 "His command was handled in a handsome and highly satisfac- 
 tory manner and engaged the enemy in a series of brilliant 
 charges." Of these various encounters on the right of Pleasan- 
 ton's line, he reported: "Buford's cavalry had a long and desper- 
 ate encounter, hand-to-hand, with the enemy." With respect to 
 his final assault on Lee and Jones, he said: "A grand attack was 
 made by our right, and the finest fighting of the war took place." 
 
 The part played by Lee's brigade, with which co-operated the 
 Seventh Virginia Cavalry, under Colonel Thomas Marshall, 
 was most important in its relations to movements on other parts 
 of Pleasanton's line. The threatening attitude of this brigade, 
 menacing the flank and rear of Buford's men, compelled the 
 withdrawal of the Eighth Illinois, Sixth Pennsylvania, and the 
 reserve brigade, as also most of the infantry from the left of 
 Pleasanton's line to the right in front of Lee. This movement 
 was in progress at the critical moment when it became necessary 
 for Stuart to withdraw Jones's and Hampton's regiments for the 
 defense of Fleetwood hill, and it greatly facilitated and assured 
 that delicate and hazardous procedure. 
 
 An examination of the lists of casualties on both sides shows 
 that on no part of the field w^as the contest more bloody than 
 where W. H. F. Lee and Jones repelled the last assaults of Bu- 
 ford's line. The men killed and wounded under Wyndham and 
 Kilpatrick during the successive charges of their regiments on 
 Fleetwood hill were considerably less than those sustained by 
 the reserve brigade and Eighth Illinois. 
 
 The effect of the charges made by Colonel Flournoy and 
 General Hampton beyond the railroad appear in the reports of 
 Colonel Jacob B. Switzer, of the Sixty-second Pennsylvania In- 
 fantry, who states: "Clouds of dust were seen approaching from 
 the same direction; then down the road at full speed came the 
 usual crowd of mounted countrabands, camp-followers and 
 stragglers, ea omne genus, * * * shouting, 'We are all cut 
 to pieces; the rebels are coming,'" etc. These charges against 
 the right of Gregg's line probably led to the disorderly retreat 
 on another road, reported by Colonel A. N. Duffie: "On ap- 
 proaching the road leading from the StevensburgRoad to Brandy 
 Station," said he, "I found one squadron of the Tenth New 
 York Cavalry moved up with pack mules, fleeing in the greatest 
 disorder. ^ *■ "^ Upon inquiring the cause, I was informed 
 
gS A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee^s Army 
 
 that the flank had been charged by a party of the enemy and 
 been thrown into the greatest confu'sion. This detained me for 
 half an hour." 
 
 DufEe's arrival in the vicinity of Brandy Station, while too 
 late to assist Gregg in maintaining his position on the hill, hap- 
 pened most opportunely to cover his withdrawal to Rappahan- 
 nock Ford, towards which his regiments now began an orderly 
 and undisturbed retreat. The battle on this part of the field was 
 now ended. 
 
 On the Confederate side, the encounters of the day fell most 
 heavily on Ashby's old brigade, the Sixth, Seventh, Eleventh and 
 Twelfth Virginia, and White's battalion. They bore the very 
 brunt of the battle, and for hours, upon foemen in front and 
 rear, made charge after charge with dauntless courage and un- 
 yielding obstinacy. Their brave leader (Jones) said of them: 
 "Throughout, the officers and men sustained their well-earned 
 reputation for gallantry." 
 
 Reviewing the part performed by the men under Hampton, 
 that chivalrous soldier said: "During the entire fight of twelve 
 hours, I did not see, nor do I think there was one single strag- 
 gler from the ranks." 
 
 The testimonials of the Federal officers — general and regi- 
 mental — are no less unanimous and enthusiastic as to the cool- 
 ness, courage and intrepid dash of the men who followed them 
 in this battle. If the deeds of personal prowess and individual dar- 
 ing which were witnessed during the day on both sides could be 
 accurately described, it would be a thrilling recital of manly 
 heroism on the part of men of the South as well as of the North. 
 
 When it is remembered how many of Stuart's regiments dur- 
 ing nearly the whole of the day were under the fire of Ames's 
 infantry, it seems a splendid tribute to the Southern cavalry that 
 their commander in his congratulatory order should have said 
 that "the losses inflicted by them were at least double their 
 own." The disparity in the casualties was not so great as Stuart 
 estimated, but it is nevertheless remarkable in a battle in which 
 the Federal commander of five infantry regiments says: "The 
 entire infantry was engaged more or less the entire day and al- 
 ways with success," whilst not a musket was fired on the South- 
 ern side, nor piece of artillery other than Stuart's. 
 
 The losses under Stuart in this battle in killed, wounded, and 
 
Battle of Brandy Station {Continued) 99 
 
 missing were 575 ; under Pleasanton, 866; Stuart had seven offi- 
 cers killed; Pleasanton, ten. The number of Stuart's officers 
 wounded was twenty-three ; that of Pleasanton, thirty-five. The 
 number of men killed and wounded on the Confederate side was 
 321 ; on the Federal side, 485. 
 
 After getting his command across the Rappahannock, General 
 Pleasanton reported to the general commanding: "Having crip- 
 pled the enemy by desperate fighting so that he could not follow 
 me, returned with my command to the north side of the Rappa- 
 hannock." Again he wired : "We had splendid fighting yester- 
 day, and I think it will prevent Stuart from making his raid." 
 These messages were not quite assuring to General Hooker, and 
 he reported to President Lincoln: "I am not certain that the 
 raid will be abandoned from this cause." Again, he wired: 
 "General Pleasanton without additional cavalry, I fear, will not 
 be able to prevent the rebel cavalry from turning his right." 
 
 Pleasanton himself did not seem quite confident of his ability 
 to check an advance by Stuart, and asked that a corps of infantry 
 be sent to Bealeton, near the Rappahannock, and the Third 
 Corps was accordingly sent. When, a few days later, Stuart 
 crossed the river, he found Pleasanton's corps escorted and pow- 
 erfully assisted by three strong infantry brigades. 
 
 As respects the attamment of his object "to disperse the rebel 
 force at Culpeper," and "to destroy his trains and supplies of all 
 descriptions," it must be conceded that Pleasanton's enterprise 
 on June 9, 1863, was a marked failure, however well planned 
 and bravely fought. 
 
 H the expressed design of this movement by General Pleasan- 
 ton was defeated by Stuart and his officers and men, the effects 
 of the battle tended much to inspire confidence and courage in 
 the Federal cavalry. The failure of a dispatch sent by Stuart 
 to Col. Munford, commanding Fitz Lee's brigade, much im- 
 paired the full and effective co-operation of that brigade in this 
 greatest cavalry battle fought on the American continent. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 CAVALRY ENGAGEMENTS AT MIDDLEBURG AND UPPERVILLE, 
 JUNE 17 TO 21, 1863 
 
 A FTER the battle at Brandy Station in 1863 our brigade, 
 ^^ commanded by Colonel John R. Chambliss, crossed the 
 Rappahannock on June 15th, and proceeded towards Thorough- 
 fare Gap. On the 17th as our regiment approached this Gap, 
 Colonel A. N. Duffie, with the First Rhode Island Regiment, 
 numbering two hundred and seventy-five men, was marching 
 from Manassas Junction to Middleburg along a route which 
 led through this same mountain pass. We had reached a point 
 in the vicinity of the Gap, and were marching in quiet com- 
 posure, in consequence of reports brought by our scouts that no 
 enemy was near, when suddenly a line of skirmishers in blue 
 appeared on a hill to our right. Instantly, Major Tom Waller 
 led a squadron into the field to make a charge, when the blue 
 line disappeared beyond the hill, and we saw no more of them. 
 
 As this Rhode Island regiment moved on towards Middle- 
 burg, we followed them, quite ignorant of their numbers, and 
 how soon they might turn to attack us. We were ordered to 
 be in readiness to fight at any moment. Very soon the twilight 
 dusk settled over us, and then came darkness. An order passed 
 down the line giving us a watchword and reply for distinguish- 
 ing friend from foe in a night battle. With sabres drawn and 
 in silence, we marched by fours in a darkness that hid us from 
 our comrades at our side, and halted about nine or ten o'clock, 
 and went into camp on the edge of a large field, where we ate 
 our supper, fed our horses, and lay down for sleep. 
 
 Meanwhile, Colonel Duffie pursued his way to Middleburg, 
 and strongly posted his men to resist any attack our troops might 
 be preparing to make. A part of Robinson's Brigade, ap- 
 proaching the town from a different direction from us, after a 
 bloody encounter, drove Duffie's men out, and they, after re- 
 tiring in the quiet and darkness of the night, sought the same 
 field in which our bivouac was made, and, like us, lay down to 
 sleep. The proximity of the gray and the blue to each other 
 
 100 
 
Cavalry Engagements at Middleburg and V pperville lOl 
 
 did not, in their unconsciousness of this nearness, disturb the 
 slumber of either party. 
 
 In the gray mist of the early dawn, a detail of men were 
 sent by us to a barn located in the field of our bivouac. As they 
 approached it, the Federals were discovered and their presence 
 reported. There followed among us bridling and saddling in 
 hot haste. Captain Tom Haynes's squadron (G and H) was 
 the first in readiness to mount, and he took the lead, the re- 
 mainder of the regiment moving after him at a gallop. The 
 Rhode Island men began a rapid attempt to escape as soon as 
 they perceived the situation they were in, taking in their flight 
 a road leading towards the Bull Run mountain. Captain 
 Haynes was too close on them to admit of their rallying and 
 giving battle. Twice, or oftener, they attempted to turn and 
 face him, and at each point several of their dead marked the 
 points where such attempts were made. The pursuit was con- 
 tined till the mountain crest was reached. Colonel Duflie, in 
 reporting the affair on the following day from Centreville, to 
 which he had continued his fiight, said: "I returned here ex- 
 hausted at I 130 o'clock to-day, with the gallant debris of my 
 much-loved regiment — four officers and twenty-seven men. 
 * * * The following is our lost in killed, wounded and 
 missing; twenty officers and 248 enlisted men." Many of the 
 missing here reported, 160 at least, it fell to my lot to assist in 
 paroling, and I had occasion in the performance of this duty 
 to observe the fine demeanor of a body of brave men in the hour 
 of deep mortification and calamity. 
 
 After returning from the above-mentioned chase and parol- 
 ing the prisoners, we marched to Middleburg, where, on the 
 porch of a store at a street corner, we saw laid side by side 
 the dead bodies of five or six of our men who had been killed 
 the previous evening in the charge by Robertson against Duffie's 
 regiment. We continued our march for about a mile beyond 
 the town where we halted and spent the night. The day fol- 
 lowing, we remained in this vicinity, engaged in skirmishing, 
 and on the lookout for the enemy's advance; but no serious at- 
 tack was made on our line, which extended to the right and left 
 of the turnpike leading to Upperville. We went to sleep that 
 night confidently anticipating that the attack which we had 
 taken position to meet would be pushed on the morrow. 
 
I02 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 We were summoned to mount very early next morning, and 
 were soon greeted by the rapid firmg of our dismounted men 
 on the ridge above <us — a firing which seemed to indicate that 
 our whole line was attacked by the enemy on foot. Our regi- 
 ment was formed in line somewhat under the hill, as if in readi- 
 ness to make or repel a mounted charge. Several cannon of the 
 enemy had begun to shell the woods through which our line ran, 
 and one of our guns, placed on the edge of the pike in front of 
 a blacksmith shop, was making rapid replies to them. It soon 
 became evident that a Federal regiment was charging down the 
 pike on our gun, and the order "Forward!" was given to us. 
 We took the gallop in platoons, and struck the First Maine 
 Cavalry just as they surrounded our gun, where a desperate 
 encounter had begun between their leading files and our can- 
 noneers. These dashing men began to wheel and retreat as we 
 reached them, and one whom I chanced to notice, having de- 
 layed his wheeling too long, was shot by the bugler of our 
 company, and fell to the ground near our cannon. 
 
 We were able to pursue these Maine men but a short dis- 
 tance before their heavy skirmish line, on both the right and left, 
 checked us with their fire, and very quickly the Tenth Penn- 
 sylvania Regiment, hastening to support the one we had met, 
 came bearing down on us in most threatening style. The hand- 
 to-hand encounter that ensued between us and these men of 
 Maine and Pennsylvania was sharp and bloody. 
 
 One of them, I observed, who had been unhorsed, and had 
 backed up against an oak in the grove, and having fired his last 
 cartridge, was defending himself with rocks, which he furi- 
 ously hurled at his assailants until he fell from their pistol shots 
 dead at the roots of the tree. Another soldier in blue, young, 
 handsome and studentlike, had his horse shot under him near 
 me, and I called to him to hand me his arms. Looking mo- 
 mentarily for another charge by a friendly regiment, and so 
 hoping to be liberated, he was slow in unfastening his sable belt, 
 and when I struck him on the shoulder with the side of my 
 sword to make him hasten the operation, he undertook to re- 
 monstrate against my striking a prisoner. As I was hurrying 
 him back at a double-quick, the eyes of a fallen soldier lying 
 on the ground over which we had charged, and gazing up into 
 my face, arrested my attention, and sent a pang through me as 
 
Cavalry Engagements at Middleburg and Upperville 103 
 
 I recognized his face as that of my own captain (John W. 
 Hungerford), a brave officer and a cherished friend, who had 
 been pierced through the brain by a bullet. 
 
 At this stage of the engagement, Colonel Chambliss having 
 halted me, directed me to gallop into the woods to our left and 
 see that a proper number of videttes were placed on the look- 
 out for the safety of our line of sharpshooters, posted behind 
 stone fences, and now thought to be in danger of being cut off. 
 After reaching this line and performing my mission, as I was 
 turning my horse to ride back, one of the men called attention 
 to the blood on my leg, and, looking down, I saw my trousers 
 red down to my shoe. It caused me a momentary feeling of 
 fear that I had been shot and was bleeding profusely, but 
 quickly I satisfied myself that in our charge I had only come 
 into contact with a badly wounded horse. 
 
 After this engagement, we took a position farther back on 
 the road to Upperville, where it was comparatively quiet the 
 next day. General Pleasanton, commanding the Federal cav- 
 alry, having deemed it prudent to re-enforce his command with 
 a division of infantry, and was now awaiting their arrival. Such 
 a division, three brigades strong, reached Middleburg that af- 
 ternoon, and were, under their able and efficient general, James 
 Barnes, ready to co-operate in a movement against us early the 
 next day. Meanwhile Pleasanton had obtained from General 
 Meade his sanction to his making an attack on Stuart with his 
 whole available force, or "to throw it at once," as he said, "upon 
 Stuart's whole force, and cripple it up." 
 
 Very early the next day, Pleasanton proceeded to execute his 
 purpose by advancing on Stuart's line, as well as by threatening 
 his position with the movement of Buford's powerful brigade 
 some distance to his right. No sooner had the action well begun 
 on the turnpike leading to Upperville than our brigade was 
 ordered off to the left to operate along with Jones's brigade, 
 on the road on which Buford was advancing. 
 
 To reach this (Trappe Road, as it was called), it was neces- 
 sary for us to march along a very narrow one parallel with 
 the enemy's skirmish line, in which the supporting infantry had 
 become distinctly visible, and along the course of this narrow 
 road were numerous large rocks protruding above the ground. 
 As we marched near these, the Federal bullets whirred by our 
 
I04 ^ Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 heads and were heard striking the rocks in a manner neither 
 comforting nor musical. We got on the route by which Buford 
 was seeking to turn Stuart's flank ahead of him and disputed 
 and delayed his advance with our skirmishers. In these move- 
 ments, which consumed nearly all the day, we could hear the 
 nring on the turnpike, indicating severe fighting. 
 
 As we approached Upperville, it became apparent that the 
 enemy's rapid advance would cut of¥ our artillery and wagons, 
 and that our pace needed to be quickened. We therefore took 
 the trot, and the regiment in front of us in doing so became very 
 much stretched out, causing later considerable delay in closing 
 up their ranks, so that before we could get in order to charge 
 Buford's men, they had taken a strong position behind fences 
 on a hill, both their skirmish line and their infantry. 
 
 One or more of their mounted regiments dashed down to- 
 wards the road, as if to secure our guns and wagons, and we, 
 after breaking gaps in a stone wall, entered a field to meet them. 
 We charged, as did Jones's regiments, not in well-ordered ranks, 
 but rather each man for himself, and drove the mounted men 
 before us, but soon found ourselves exposed to the fire of the 
 carbineers and infantry, and were forced to retire with heavy 
 loss. In doing so we were, in turn, charged, and had to face 
 about to meet a second onset, and deemed ourselves fortunate 
 to get back through the stone wall without being captured or hit. 
 
 Meanwhile, the other regiments of Stuart's command, under 
 Hampton, had been hotly pressed on the pike, where he had lost 
 a gun and was retiring towards Ashby's Gap. After doing 
 what we could to bring off our wounded, we followed our guns 
 up into the mountain pass held by our infantry. 
 
 In the fighting that afternoon, I had seen our lieutenant- 
 colonel, who was riding near me, shot through and through and 
 made a prisoner, the bullet that wounded him having passed 
 out at his back, making a rent in his coat near the seam, in its 
 exit. I had seen Lieutenant Robinson, commanding my com- 
 pany, fall wounded into the enemy's hands. A number of 
 brave comrades — Turner, Greenlaw, Gutridge, and McKildoe 
 — had been wounded badly. While rallying with a few others 
 near one of our guns, I had seen a young soldier galloping across 
 the line of the gun's aim at the fatal moment of its discharge 
 and the solid shot strike him, and his headless body fall heavily 
 
Cavalry Engagements at Middleburg and Upperville 105 
 
 to the ground, while his riderless horse rushed on. 
 
 With such impressions, I fell to sleep that night behind our 
 infantry, and such memories followed me from Upperville, 
 which nestles now so peacefully and pleasantly at the foot of 
 the Blue Ridge. This day's conflicts marked, on the whole, the 
 worst discomfiture Stuart's Division had ever yet met, and the 
 enemy, much elated over it, sent our captured piece to Washing- 
 ton for exhibition as a trophy. 
 
 We learned at the close of this battle that the colonel of 
 Hampton's command who led the last charge on the pike lead- 
 ing to Upperville was killed, and that Major Heros Von 
 Borcke, the Prussian officer who had acted on Stuart's staff 
 for more than a year, had been badly wounded while riding at 
 Stuart's side. It may be said that this officer of distinguished 
 gallantry greatly endeared himself to Stuart's command, and his 
 name has since become a favorite, second to none, as applied to 
 fine horses in Virginia. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 HOW THE REPULSE OF THE FEDERAL CAVALRY AT BRANDY STA- 
 TION AFFECTED GENERAL MILROY AT WINCHESTER 
 
 TTT'HATEVER effect the hard-fought battle by Stuart against 
 ^^ Pleasanton on June 9, 1863, may have had on the armies 
 under Lee and Hooker, it was not without some important bear- 
 ing on the fortune of the Federal forces in the Valley, in and 
 around Winchester, Major-General R. H. Milroy, command- 
 ing 7,000 troops of that city, had been for several weeks much 
 exercised in mind over a contemplated raid by Stuart, and had 
 advised the calling into the field of the militia of three powerful 
 states in order to repel him. The probability of these daring 
 troopers crossing the mountains and appearing in his front 
 haunted his imagination apparently to the exclusion of all 
 thought that any infantry of Lee's army possibly could do the 
 like. When, on June nth, the advance brigade of the army ap- 
 peared beyond the Blue Ridge, General Milroy still nursed this 
 delusion. "On Friday," he wrote, "when I perceived indications 
 of the approach of the enemy on the Front Royal road, I felt 
 confident it was composed of the forces I had faced, or that the 
 expected cavalry expedition of General Stuart was in progress." 
 
 Although admonished repeatedly by the authorities in Wash- 
 ington through General Schenk, his corps commander, of the 
 danger of attempting to hold Winchester, and of the better de- 
 fenses afforded at Harper's Ferry, so fully possessed was he with 
 the belief that he was there only exposed to cavalry and horse 
 artillery that as late as June 12th, he said in a message to 
 Schenk: "I am therefore decidedly of opinion that every dictate 
 of interest, policy, humanity, patriotism, and bravery require that 
 we should not yield a foot of this country up to the traitors 
 again." 
 
 To fulfill the more certainly his wish and purpose to hold 
 Winchester, he dispatched on June nth, a number of messages. 
 In one to General Schenk, at Baltimore, he said: "I have the 
 place well fortified and am prepared to hold it. * * * I 
 can and would hold it against any force the rebels can afford to 
 
 106 
 
Repulse of Federal Cavalry at Brandy Station 107 
 
 bring against me." Again, to Don Piatt, of Schenk's staff, he re- 
 ported: "I am perfectly certain of my ability to hold this place." 
 Piatt, having been sent to personally examine Milroy's defenses, 
 wired Schenk in his behalf: *'Just in from inspection of fortifi- 
 cations and troops. All looks finfc. Can whip anything the reb- 
 els can fetch here." 
 
 On June 12th, Milroy again informed Schenk: "The fortifi- 
 cations on the hill near this place are now so perfect and all ap- 
 proaches to them so well protected by outworks that I can hold 
 them against five times our number." On the same day he as- 
 sured the above officer: "Nothing but cavalry appears. Let 
 them come. I am entirely ready for them. I can hold the place." 
 
 On the morning following, he notified Schenk: "Enemy ap- 
 pearing in strong force. Infantry and artillery on the Strasburg 
 road. Elliott pitching into them. Any extra star very much in 
 the way. I ought to be there myself. Will get them if Elliott 
 falls back." At nine P. M. of this day (June 13th) he again in- 
 formed his superior at Baltimore: "McReynolds will soon be 
 here; * * * he is closely pursued and hard pressed by a 
 heavy body of cavalry. They will surround, but can't take my 
 fortifications." At ten P. M. he again notified him: "I was 
 sharply engaged with the enemy on last evening; prospect of a 
 general engagement, but will hold this place in spite of fate." 
 Before the night of the thirteenth set in he was made aware by 
 the capture of a Louisiana prisoner that General Ewell's troops 
 were in his front and reported to Schenk: "Ewell's (Jackson's 
 old) corps are all in front of us." 
 
 Whatever confidence Milroy may have felt in his "ability to 
 hold the place," it was a feeling by no means shared by Schenk 
 and the Washington authorities, and the intelligence that Jack- 
 son's old corps was at Winchester greatly increased their un- 
 easiness. 
 
 On the morning of the fourteenth Schenk wired General Dan 
 Tyler at Martinsburg: "If possible, offer relief to Milroy by the 
 Harper's Ferry and Winchester road," President Lincoln having 
 already urged Schenk: "Get General Milroy from Winchester 
 to Harper's Ferry if possible. He will be 'gobbled up' if he re- 
 mains." To this latter message Schenk replied : "I am doing 
 all I can to get Milroy back towards Harper's Ferry. * * * 
 The rebels appear to have pushed on beyond him rapidly and im- 
 
lo8 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 petuously, and are reported approaching Martinsburg." Again 
 Lincoln inquired: "Is Milroy invested so that he cannot fall 
 back to Harper's Ferry?" 
 
 At three P. M. General Tyler telegraphed Schenk from Mar- 
 tinsburg: "General Milroy is in a tight place. If he gets out, 
 it will be by good luck and hard fighting ; not a straggler in from 
 his army yet; it is neck or nothing." 
 
 A courier sent by Milroy in the night brought word to Schenk 
 that "if he (Milroy) could not fall back, he could sustain him- 
 self and hold his position for five days," and a message went to 
 him from Schenk saying: "Our forces have evacuated Martins- 
 burg and fallen back to Harper's Ferry. You must hold out to 
 the last, and then use j^our judgment as to cutting your way 
 out." 
 
 The door of hope for help to Milroy being closed in Schenk's 
 department west of the mountains, Lincoln looked to Hooker to 
 send him relief from east of them, and at 5.50 P. M. telegraphed 
 that general: "So far as we can make out here, the enemy have 
 Milroy surrounded in Winchester, and Tyler at Martinsburg. 
 If they could hold out a few days, could you help them? If the 
 head of Lee's army is at Martinsburg and the tail of it is on 
 the Plank Road between Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville, 
 the animal must be very slim somewhere. Could you not break 
 him?" To this Hooker in part replied: "I do not feel like mak- 
 ing a move for an enemy until I am satisfied as to his where- 
 abouts. To proceed to Winchester and have him make his ap- 
 pearance elsewhere would subject me to ridicule." 
 
 Thus gloomily sank the sun on Milroy at Winchester June 
 14th, 1863. A message to Schenk on the following day from 
 him at Harper's Ferry read : "They carried my outer works by 
 storm, six o'clock Sunday evening. I spiked all my guns Sunday 
 night and left with the whole of my command quietly at one 
 o'clock this morning. * * * i gQ^ through, but my force 
 was greatly scattered and shattered^ We were pursued by a 
 large cavalry force, who picked up numbers of our weary boys." 
 
 General Ewell, whose troops made the assault on the outer 
 works at Winchester on Sunday evening, reported concerning 
 Milroy 's quiet retreat on the night following: "Anticipating the 
 possibility of the enemy's attempting to retreat during the night, 
 I ordered General (Edward) Johnson, with the Stonewall, 
 
Repulse of Federal Cavalry at Brandy Station 109 
 
 Nichols and three regiments of Stuart's Brigades, and Dement's 
 battery, with sections of Raines's and Carpenter's, to proceed to 
 a point on the Martinsburg Pike, about two and one-half miles 
 from Winchester, so as to intercept any attempt to retreat. * * * 
 Just as the head of his column reached the railroad, 200 yards 
 from the Martinsburg Road, the enemy were heard retreating 
 down the pike toward Martinsburg. * * * Here was the 
 hardest fighting which took place during the attack. * * * 
 After several front attacks had been steadily met and repulsed, 
 they attempted to turn both flanks simultaneously, but were met 
 on the right by General Walker and his brigade, * * * 
 and on the left, by two regiments of Nichols's Brigade. * * * 
 In a few minutes, the greater part of them surrendered, 2,300 to 
 2,500 in number. The rest scattered through the woods and 
 fields, but most of them were subsequently captured by our cav- 
 alry. General Milroy, with 250 or 300 cavalry, made his way 
 to Harper's Ferry. 
 
 "The fruits of this victory w^ere twenty-three pieces of artil- 
 lery (nearly all rifled), 4,000 prisoners, 300 loaded wagons, 
 more than 300 horses and quite a large amount of commissary 
 and quartermasters' stores." 
 
 On the same day that Milroy made report of the calamitous 
 ending of his occupancy of Winchester, the commander-in-chief, 
 Halleck, wired a command to Schenk: "Don't give General Mil- 
 roy any command at Harper's Ferry; we have had enough of 
 that sort of military genius." 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 GENERAL STUART's GETTYSBURG RAID 
 
 T T may be readily inferred from the letter given below that 
 ^ many misgivings were felt among his men at the time as to 
 the prudence and wisdom of General Stuart's movement by 
 which he placed three brigades of his command on the farther 
 side of Meade's army instead of between it and Lee's, on the 
 advance to Gettysburg. Many prominent officers, including 
 colonels, deemed the enterprise ill-judged and hazardous. Never- 
 theless, it should not be forgotten that General Stuart in un- 
 dertaking to get around the rear and on the farther side of the 
 Northern army, left three of the strongest cavalry brigades — 
 Jones's, Robinson's and Jenkin's, in addition to Imboden's, to 
 act in front of and on the flanks of Lee's advancing column. 
 
 Further, it deserves to be considered that General Long- 
 street on the day of Stuart's battle at Upperville, said in his 
 message to him, referring to General Lee: "He speaks of your 
 leaving via Hopewell Gap, and passing by the rear of the enemy. 
 If you can get through by that route, I think that you will be 
 less likely to indicate what our plans are than if you should 
 cross by passing to our rear." A letter from General Lee to 
 Stuart on June 23d, the day previous to his setting out on his 
 expedition, said : "You will be able, however, to judge whether 
 you can pass around their army without hindrance, doing them' 
 all the damage you can, and cross the river east of the moun- 
 tains." Stuart had communicated with General Lee as to the 
 proposed movement and in his subsequent report to him said: 
 "The commanding General wrote me authorizing the move, if 
 I deemed it practicable." 
 
 Two things should be borne in mind in deciding if censure 
 was properly incurred by Stuart, or not, in his unfortunately 
 delayed march to Gettysburg. The first is the effort he was 
 enjoined to make to divert the enemy's observation of Lee's 
 movements, and the second, the charge to him to inflict on the 
 enemy the utmost possible damage. Here follows the letter: 
 
 IIO 
 
General Stuart's Gettysburg Raid III 
 
 "Four Miles North West of 
 "Williamsport, Md., July 13, 1863. 
 
 "Dearest Mother: — My last letter was written in Loudoun 
 County, and so hurriedly, and under such circumstances, as to 
 render it very brief and unsatisfactory, I have no doubt. In 
 that letter, I informed you of the many trails and dangers we 
 had passed through, and how the tender mercy of our gracious 
 Heavenly Father had so wonderfully attended us, and how 
 through it we had been spared in health and soundness. How 
 few and trivial were the dangers, I then referred to, compared 
 with those through which we have since passed, and if such 
 were possible how more vast and boundless the conpassionate 
 care and love of Him who ordaineth all things well! We are 
 yet alive and well. Surely our hearts should melt in gratitude 
 to God for the privilege of being able to say so. I am this 
 morning lying flat upon the ground under a very low-pitched 
 leaky shelter, our horses saddled and bridled and we in momen- 
 tary expectation of being called on to fight. Meanwhile, the 
 rain is descending in torrents, so dampening my paper as to 
 render it almost useless to attempt to use ink opon it. Under 
 these circumstances, I am sure that I'll not be able to write 
 you such a letter as our long silence should lead you to expect. 
 
 "Upon the very date that I wrote to you last, our brigade 
 with Gen. Fitz Lee's and Hampton's started from Loudoun in 
 a Southernly direction, encamping at night for a few hours at 
 Salem in Fauquier. This move considering the northward 
 direction our army was marching, filled us all with astonish- 
 ment, and was one, the mystery of which none of us could 
 understand. The fact that General Stuart headed the expedi- 
 tion led many of us to understand that our journey southward 
 would not continue long. Leaving Salem at three o'clock 
 
 Thursday morning, June , we moved through Thoroughfare 
 
 Gap, and a little beyond the rugged mountain attacked a wagon 
 train, but did nothing more than to throw some shells in among 
 them. 
 
 "The night was rainy and disagreeable, and we spent it with- 
 out shelters or fires. The next day we moved to attack the 
 enemy at Bristoe Station, but they had fled before we got there. 
 Continuing our march that day, we halted near Frying Pan 
 shoales for the night. 
 
112 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 "We started very early Saturday morning, and that day at- 
 tacked the enemy at Fairfax Court ^ouse, routed them, captur- 
 ing many prisoners and stores, and secured rations for which 
 the men were suffering much. There were many nice things 
 taken here, and consumed by us 'ravenous rebs.' Having him 
 in anticipation of an attack by the enemy all the time we were 
 at the place no opportunity was offered to many of us to secure 
 the valuable merchandise with which the sutlers' stores were 
 *well supplied, but pursuing on, we came to Davisville, where 
 we remained in line of battle till dark, and then filing off into 
 hidden paths in the woods, proceeded to the Potomac which 
 by a difficult and dangerous ford, after some delay, we passed 
 in safety, and spent the night in the hills beyond in line of 
 battle. 
 
 "At light we moved forward, engaged the enemy a mile from 
 the river, routed and drove them off in confusion, killing and 
 capturing a few, and then halted for a few minutes to feed, 
 before commencing the march for Rockville, near which town 
 General Hampton was in line of battle, having had a little 
 fight in which he captured some prisoners and wagons. Gen- 
 eral Hampton, supposing the enemy to be in force near the 
 town, waited for us to come up before making an attack. When 
 we arrived, a charge was ordered by the squadron I commanded, 
 with Company K taking a road leading to the right and Com- 
 pany C moving straight down the Georgetown Pike. We 
 charged down the pike for six miles or more, captured nearly 
 two hundred wagons of the finest kind, eight hundred mules, 
 the most magnificent I ever saw, besides many prisoners and 
 runaway negro teamsters. The last wagon caught was within 
 a few miles of Georgetown. Many of the elegant wagons 
 were overturned and broken in their flight, and burnt by us, and 
 many of the drivers (especially the negro) abandoning their 
 teams escaped in the woods on either side. The wagon train 
 extended for four miles, and the chase and fight were the most 
 interesting, exciting and filled more with ludicrous scenes than 
 any I ever before witnessed. It was truly sad to observe the 
 frequent piles of wagons and mules which in different places 
 blocked the road. In several places, I saw as many as four 
 wagons with their teams, drivers, and bales of hay, all piled 
 together indiscriminately under an embankment, or in a gully, 
 
General Stuart's Gettysburg Raid 1 13 
 
 with the poor mules fallen on the ground, and struggling in vain 
 with their feet in the air beneath the heavily laden wagons and 
 the strong harness which held them suffering in their places. 
 Returning to Rockville, we were joined by Fitz Lee, who had 
 been operating on a different road, and who brought with him 
 many prisoners, and among them a number of contrabands, 
 who were recognized and claimed. There were some known 
 to me, among whom was one of uncle Tom Brown's, two of 
 Col. F. W. Cox's, and one of J. W. Branson's, besides several 
 free-negroes. 
 
 "From Rockville we continued the march towards the Balti- 
 more and Ohio Railroad leading by Frederick City. We trav- 
 elled all night, moved the track and burned a part of it the 
 next morning. This day we marched all day and had a sharp 
 fight at Westminster in which the 4th regiment lost two Lieu- 
 tenants, Pierre Gibson and John W. Murray. The enemy were 
 routed and most of them captured, and many stores fell into 
 our hands, which were either appropriated or destroyed. 
 
 "The men, now well nigh exhausted, were allowed four 
 hours' rest, after which we again started and proceeded towards 
 Hanover in Pennsylvania. Reaching Hanover we learned the 
 enemy held the place in force. Both men and horses being worn 
 out, all of us regarded the prospect of a fight with no little regret 
 and anxiety. No time was to be lost though and while I was 
 sent with a small party to the left to guard against the enemy's 
 flanking in from that direction unnoticed, the 13th, gth and 2nd 
 N. C. regiments were ordered to charge. The charge was made 
 and the enemy driven from the town. But our men were soon 
 turned upon by the enemy, or else attacked by another force, 
 and driven back in confusion. We lost a number of men, prin- 
 cipally from the N. C. regiment. Our Company lost E. D. 
 Brown, shot in the knee badly, and William Franklin, missing, 
 and thought to be killed. Being on the left, I did not partici- 
 pate in the charge, and do not know how our men acted, but I 
 feel quite sure if they had done their duty bravely, we would 
 have captured the town and held it. Having failed to do this, 
 all of us seemed to regard our situation as critical. Blockaded 
 in front, but twenty miles from the Yankee army, and encum- 
 bered by an immense wagon train and a retinue of more than a 
 thousand prisoners, broken down men and horses, it did look 
 
114 ^ Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 critical! After fighting the eneijiy for several hours with our 
 sharpshooting and shelling, the town quite furiously, thereby 
 giving most of our men time to move around the town and get 
 several miles away, we withdrew without being pursued. 
 
 "In the day's fight we killed and captured as many of the enemy 
 as we lost, though Col. (W. H.) Payne of the 4th regiment and 
 Captain Billingsly of the 9th and several minor officers were 
 captured from us. We marched all night and the next day, and 
 arrived in front of Carlisle about dark. It was here that we 
 confidently expected to meet our troops, but what was our 
 surprise (and almost dismay) when we learned that Gen. Ewell 
 had left the place twenty-four hours before, and that quite a 
 large force of Yankees held the town. It is impossible for me to 
 give you a correct idea of the fatigue and exhaustion of our men 
 and beasts at this time. From our great exertion, constant men- 
 tal excitement, want of sleep and food, the men were overcome 
 and so tired and stupid as almost to be ignorant of what was 
 taking place around them. Couriers in attempting to deliver 
 orders to officers would be compelled to give them a shake and 
 call before they could make them understand. This was true 
 of Colonels. As for men though in line and in momentary ex- 
 pectation of being made to charge, they would throw themselves 
 over on their horses' necks, and some even down on the ground 
 and fall asleep. As soon as we reached the town, General Stuart 
 sent in an order for its surrender, which w^as refused. A charge 
 was made but repulsed by the enemy who fired on our men from 
 the windows of brick buildings. After this General Stuart 
 placed his artillery in position and opened a terrible cannonade 
 to which the Pennsylvanians made a feeble reply. 
 
 "Weak and helpless as we now were our anxiety and uneasi- 
 ness grew to be painful indeed. Thoughts of saving wagons were 
 now gone from many of us, and we began to consider only how 
 we ourselves might escape. But this was not so with (that 
 lady's man) Stuart. He seemed neither to suppose that his train 
 was in danger nor that his men were not in a condition to fight. 
 He could not have appeared more composed or indifferent, with 
 fresh men and horses and no incumbrances. Most of us were 
 kept in our saddles to fight till midnight, though neither the 
 prospect of a melee nor the thunder of artillery, nor the bright 
 red glare of a burning town in the enemy's country kept me 
 
General Stuart's Gettysburg Raid 1 15 
 
 awake. About twelve o'clock we started, with the wagons mov- 
 ing behind us and Fitz Lee's brigade in the rear of them, and 
 travelled till nearly daylight, when we stopped on the summit 
 of South mountain. The mountain side was yet illumined by 
 the burning at Carlisle. Tired — exhausted — as I was — I could 
 not but reflect as I looked back on the burning town on the 
 wickedness, the horrors of this felt war. 
 
 *Trightened women driven with screaming children in terror 
 from burning homes, could not have suffered much more keen- 
 ly than did many of the Vandal rebels' who with supposed 
 'fiendish delight' were beholding the conflagration at Carlisle 
 that night. I was made to feel unhappy indeed, and to pray, 
 'God grant that terrible war may lead to early peace.' 
 
 "Next morning found us on the mountain more jaded and 
 wearied than I had ever seen our men before, but with our 
 train safe and the enemy considerably behind us. This day we 
 marched all day expecting all the while to be attacked on the 
 flank by Yankee cavalry. About 12 m. we reached the pickets 
 of our army. This ought to have been a source of profound 
 relief and gratification, but was not, for our army was then 
 engaged in the great battle of Gettysburg, and we well knew 
 that as tired as we were there was to be no rest till it was over. 
 We marched straight into position and commenced the fight 
 about dark. We were ordered to remain mounted ready to 
 drive the enemy back should he attempt to move that way that 
 night, but General Stuart having been informed by one of the 
 officers that there was a limit to human endurance, he replied, 
 yes, and added that as he had noticed that one of our brigades 
 in attempting to get over a fence had fallen asleep on the top 
 of it, we should rest that night. Accordingly, we went back 
 one quarter of a mile, fed our horses and spent the night in 
 peace. 
 
 "Next morning commenced early the hard day's fighting at 
 Gettysburg. The appearance of light was welcomed by the 
 roar of a few cannon, and as the sun rose higher and higher 
 in the heavens louder and louder became the roar of heavy guns, 
 and at breakfast time the thunder sound of artillery was deafen- 
 ing. Then the peals became less loud, and until, perhaps, mid 
 day or later the firing was not considered as very heavy. Mean- 
 while, the cavalry was moved far down on the left of our line, 
 
Il6 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 and far away from the scene of carnage at Gettysburg. The 
 guns there were audible to us though, and so furiously did they 
 seem to fire that we knew a terrible scene of death and slaughter 
 was being enacted there. 
 
 "Though we were all day in line, and expecting to fight, we 
 did not become engaged until about 12 o'clock, or later, when 
 the Yankee cavalry made a powerful assault upon us. The com- 
 bat did not last more at least than three or four hours, but was 
 the fiercest I ever saw waged by cavalry. The enemy fought 
 well and our men evinced no disposition to yield an inch of 
 ground. The fight occurred on a plain. The enemy in vain 
 sought to drive our sharpshooters back to the woods; did drive 
 them back at several places, and at a moment when our men 
 were hard pressed by their dismounted men, their (mounted) 
 cavalry dashed forward in a charge to clear the field. Our 
 regiment and the 13th, numbering in the charge not more than 
 some 150 men apiece dashed forward likewise to meet this 
 onset. We met them beyond a large barn at a fence over which 
 neither party could readily get. They outnumbered us, and 
 were well supported by their sharpshooters, yet we dismounted, 
 pulled down the fence, and drove them from the field and 
 through another, almost back to their artillery. We then fell 
 back to our line of dismounted men, followed by new regiments 
 of the enemy, who were in turn charged by another brigade 
 (Hampton's) and driven from the field. 
 
 "The loss of the enemy in the fight was decidedly heavy. We 
 suffered considerably, but our loss is small, I think, compared 
 to theirs. General Hampton who led the second charge was 
 severely wounded. Ashton was killed in our company. Rust, 
 Carroll and Palmer were wounded. Poor Ed. did not go into 
 the fight, lost his horse and we feel sure was captured. A. 
 Cox was left to nurse our wounded. 
 
 "That night we marched several miles and spent the night 
 in quietude. Next day we were in anticipation of a fight, but 
 had none. We commenced in the evening a march after the 
 Yankee cavalry, who were said to be pursuing our wagon trains. 
 We marched all night and all the next day and had a fight in a 
 pass of the mountain below Emmettsburg. We were in the 
 saddle all the next night and reached Lietersburg where we 
 learned we were close upon the enemy who had that day cap- 
 
General Stuart's Gettysburg Raid 1 17 
 
 tured about thirty of our wagons, besides many prisoners. 
 
 ''Next day, we followed the enemy toward Hagerstown 
 where we came up with him. This day we captured many 
 prisoners who with those caught on yesterday amount to nearly 
 three hundred. The fight at Hagerstown lasted nearly all day. 
 My company was in three distinct charges. We killed and 
 captured a great many Yankees. In the evening, we drove the 
 enemy off, and General Stuart ordered us to follow them up. 
 Our brigade endeavored to take a piece of artillery. We were 
 in front, and we charged up almost to the mouth of the piece, 
 they pouring the grape or canister into us. When we got close 
 up to the gun, we found it so well protected by sharpshooters 
 and cavalry supports, that we couldn't hold it. We accordingly 
 left the pike, formed in the field, and fought until our support 
 came up, when the enemy broke and fled, our men closely pur- 
 suing. Our Company had now only a handful of men. 
 
 "We lost but one in number, a host though in value, — or- 
 derly-sergeant Richard Washington, than whom no truer, 
 braver, spirit has yet been martyred in defence of Southern 
 freedom. My horse (the fifth since I left Virginia) was broken 
 down, and when Washington fell I paused to take a last look 
 at him, one whom I had not known long, but had learned to 
 respect, admire, and esteem. He spoke not a word after he fell, 
 nor was there any evidence that he was alive visible, though with 
 my hand on his breast, I felt his heart still to beat. I was driven 
 from his body by a sudden dash of the enemy, before I could 
 pull a gold ring from his finger, and ere I could return the blood 
 had left his cheeks, and he lay painted in the sallow and ashy 
 paleness of death. I remained near his side, after taking off his 
 arms and effects and waited until arrangements could be made 
 to carry his body off the field, and as I saw him wrapped in a 
 worn blanket, distressed as I was, I felt a sense of relief. I 
 contrasted the excitement, the strife, the horrors of this war, 
 with the peace, the happiness, the bliss this Christian soldier 
 has found in death. Peace to his ashes! 
 
 "Your son affectionately, 
 
 "G. W. Beale." 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 AFTER GETTYSBURG IN '63 
 
 'T~^HE following letter, written during the retreat of Lee's 
 •^ army from Gettysburg, gives the impression of a Southern 
 cavalryman gained during the progress of the great battle on 
 that field. 
 
 "Camp of the Ninth Virginia Cavalry, 
 
 Near Leetown, Jefferson County, Va., 
 July 16, 1863. 
 
 "Dear M., — I wrote you a hurried scrawl a few days ago 
 whilst near Williamsport, which I placed in Major A. G. 
 Dade's hands, to be transmitted to you by the earliest convey- 
 ance, but fearing lest that letter has not been yet sent, I will 
 write again, hoping that through Wat Bowie I may find to-mor- 
 row a means of sending it to you. 
 
 "When I last wrote our whole army were resting on their 
 arms, in anticipation of an early battle. Every disposition had 
 been made on our side preparatory to a fierce conflict. General 
 Lee had issued an order to the army admonishing them of the 
 impending conflict, and urging upon them the importance of ex- 
 hibiting in the fight more than ever that fortitude, zeal, and un- 
 flinching bravery which they had shown on so many fields be- 
 fore ; and General Stuart had notified us that we were about to 
 engage in a 'bloody battle in which the cavalry would have a 
 more than ordinary part to play.' Accordingly, all of us felt 
 quite certain that Maryland's soil had to be again crimsoned 
 with the blood of one of the most important and desperate bat- 
 tles of the war. 
 
 "Though the enemy continued to skirmish for several days 
 along our lines, General Lee concluded that he had no intention 
 of attacking him, -and on the night of the thirteenth ordered our 
 whole army to withdraw across the (swollen) Potomac, which 
 dangerous and difficult operation, through God's blessing, was 
 successfully accomplished before ten o'clock next morning. 
 
 "In consequence, the grand raid of the war may be said to 
 
 118 
 
After Gettysburg in '63 119 
 
 have terminated upon our return to Virginia soil, on the morn- 
 ing of the fourteenth. Now you, and many others are disposed, I 
 presume, to regard the return of General Lee as a defeat — sad 
 and disastrous — to our arms. The Yankee nation is mad with 
 excess of joy at 'the decisive and crushing blow' that has been 
 dealt Lee and his army, and such scenes of jubilation as have 
 been witnessed among them were never seen before. 
 
 "I, for one, am pained that the Army of Northern Virginia 
 should ever have fought a battle in regard to which there could 
 be a possibility of dispute as to which side gained the victory. 
 Hence, the result of the Gettysburg battle rather depressed me 
 than otherwise. I thought we ought to have crushed and over- 
 whelmed the Federal army — a glorious result which I felt to be 
 within our easy grasp, and then to have pushed our victorious 
 columns on to relieve Baltimore and capture Washington. But 
 before the turning point came in the battle — at a time when our 
 arms had triumphed at every contested point, before the fiercest 
 conflict came, I felt uneasy, uncertain, that is, I lacked that con- 
 fidence of victory and enthusiasm that I usually feel when a 
 great battle commences. 
 
 "I could not account for my feelings because every soldier 
 with a musket (to such, you know, we look for victory) was in 
 the finest spirits and seemingly would be happiest when ordered 
 to give the foe the bayonet. My weak and exhausted condition, 
 with the knowledge I possessed of the total inability of our cav- 
 alry to successfully maintain a long fight, created the depression 
 of spirits which I felt and which I construed into a presentiment 
 of the failure of our army to achieve on that occasion the success 
 with which God has heretofore so graciously rewarded its strug- 
 gles. 
 
 "The result of the battle did not greatly surprise me, of 
 course, yet I was deeply pained at it, chiefly because it soon be- 
 came evident to us all that the day was lost by bad management. 
 The most unhappy page in the history of our campaign in Mary- 
 land and Pennsylvania will be that which chronicles how that, 
 when a small part of our troops had driven the enemy from 
 their stronghold in dismay, they were induced to abandon their 
 prize in a haste that resembled a panic, by the unnecessary, un- 
 accountable, and unhappy flight of their powerful support, which 
 was two hundred yards in their rear, and hadn't fired a gun 
 
I20 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 in the fight. Officers who participated in the struggle and wit- 
 nessed it all, and who, I have no dOubt, know what they affirm 
 to be true, assert that it was an easy task for a single brigade of 
 our immense, unengaged reserve, or support, by rushing to the 
 front on two occasions during Friday's fight to have secured for 
 us as glorious a victory as ever perched upon an army's banners, 
 and one as decisive and complete as ever destroyed an enemy. 
 
 "P'ully convinced that it was the same unerring providence or- 
 dering and ordaining the issue of the great battle that has on 
 other occasions and other soil vouchsafed to us the blessings of 
 victory, I was consoled ; and when I witnessed the still undaunt- 
 ed spirit of most of our men ; saw in their manners and counte- 
 nances the signs of the invincible determination of their minds, 
 their zeal and readiness, yet to wring victory from the foe whom 
 the result of that battle had not altered in their estimation. I 
 thanked God it was no worse, and prayed that our failure to 
 have a sufficient supply of ammunition, our mismanagement in 
 other respects, and the consequent defeat of our noble general's 
 plans might yet redound to our good. 
 
 "And now when I cast a retrospective glance back upon the 
 various scenes enacted in that campaign, the most remarkable, 
 daring, and astounding ever performed by an army, and carefully 
 consider each result, I feel grateful; and though there is much 
 remembered to lament, regarding the whole, I am much encour- 
 aged and think our cause has gained, our army added new lustre 
 to its fame, and our illustrious commander risen higher in the 
 estimation and dearer in the love and greater in the confidence 
 of his followers. Noble Lee ! we think none the less of him for 
 his having had to say to us in his general order: 'Your efforts 
 have not been crowned with the success which has hitherto at- 
 tended them ;' but we feel more than ever honored when he adds : 
 'Your actions have evinced in a great degree that devotion to the 
 cause and heroic bravery which challenge the respect of the 
 enemy, and the admiration of mankind.' 
 
 "There are rumors, as I write, that the enemy have crossed 
 the Potomac and are advancing, though I cannot give you one 
 morsel of fact in reference to their movements. Our horses 
 are kept saddled, and men in their places as though a fight 
 would occur at any minute; such may be likely. 
 
 "The morale of the army is excellent, and through God's help, 
 
After Gettysburg in '63 121 
 
 I have no fear of the Yankees gaining any great advantage over 
 General Lee now, however, much in some quarters they claim 
 his army partakes of the nature of a disorganized mob. Our 
 Colonel remained with us long and faithfully, until every horse 
 he could raise broke down. His own became lame, Dick's was 
 stolen, and only regained yesterday, and mine worn out with 
 long continued and too severe usage. He is now with the 
 wagons, well in health and as much so in spirits as not being 
 able to be with his regiment, the shattered condition of his com- 
 mand, etc., etc., will allow. The boys all say 'Well, I thank 
 you,' and are in good spirits. Ed Claybrook is missing, I much 
 regret to say. His parents and sisters must patiently wait until 
 time can reveal his whereabouts, and relieve their anxiety. He 
 is safe, I feel sure; he was not lost in any fight, but left be- 
 hind in our retreat from Gettysburg, having let his horse 
 wander off in the clover. His horse. Red Eye, the shadow of a 
 formerly magnificent steed, was then lost. Dick is with us. 
 Bob at the wagons. Major Dade keeps our late captain with 
 him, and the latter meanwhile is tossing about like a small boat 
 in a squall without a rudder. I wish he could get poor Hun- 
 gerford's place, but do not know what his chances are of doing 
 so. Holliday is much troubled, and is troubling me with his 
 substitute matter. He is of no use to Jeff Davis, and gives me 
 more trouble than a full legion of good soldiers would. When 
 he gets home again I hope his friends will keep him there, or 
 that Miss Lizzie's apron strings may be long enough to tie 
 him with. 
 
 *'The brigade in which the Fortieth and Forty-seventh Regi- 
 ments are, I learn was charged by Yankee cavalry day before 
 yesterday. Besides General Pettigrew, mortally wounded, I 
 have heard of no casualties. Having enough to eat now is a 
 source of congratulation. May Heaven's smiles be upon your 
 household ! 
 
 "Your son, 
 
 "G. W. B." 
 
 On the morning the foregoing letter was written. Colonel 
 James H. Drake, at the head of his regiment, the First Virginia, 
 passed our encampment near Leetown. We were soon after- 
 wards in the saddle and marching towards Sheperdstown on 
 
122 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 the Potomac. 
 
 While Lee's army lay in their etitrenchments before Wil- 
 liamsport and Falling Waters, with the swollen Potomac be- 
 hind them, and Meade's heavily reinforced army confronting 
 them, a finely conceived plan by the Federal commander was 
 to have a heavy force of cavalry proceed by way of Harper's 
 Ferry to the south side of the Potomac, and get on the roads 
 leading up the valley, and thus destroy Lee's trains, interrupt 
 his communications, and obstruct his re-crossing the Potomac. 
 For this enterprise. General D. McD. Gregg was chosen, and 
 he set out with his division to accomplish it, followed by Gen. 
 Buford with strong brigade to assist him. 
 
 Lee's army reached the Virginia shore safely on the night of 
 July 13th, and the following morning, all unknown to Gregg, 
 who having taken his command over the Potomac marched to- 
 wards Shepardstown, in the vicinity of which he appeared on 
 the morning of September i6th. It was for the purpose of 
 attacking Gregg's troops and defeating his plans that Stuart's 
 regiments were now in motion. 
 
 The ground around Sheperdstown was open in the main 
 with here and there a body of timber. Heavy lines of sharp- 
 shooters were deployed and advanced dismounted, and their 
 fire quickly checked the Federal advance. Artillery became 
 warmly engaged on each side, every gun being plainly visible 
 from where I was. Stuart having been called away, Fitz Lee 
 directed the battle on the Southern side. On no other field, 
 perhaps, were guns used after the custom of a holiday or grand 
 review occasion. Occupying a long line across the fields with 
 cavalry in supporting distance, they were fired by piece, one 
 after another, again by sections, and again simultaneously. 
 
 It became apparent that our force outnumbered the enemy's; 
 it was known that the swollen river behind them was im- 
 passable; and we were informed that one of our brigades had 
 gone into position between them and Harper's Ferry, and 
 would hold the roads in that direction against any attempt to 
 escape in the darkness. Hence, when "night silenced our guns, 
 we went to sleep, confidently anticipating that Gregg was 
 caught in a trap from which he could not extricate himself. 
 Soldiers, probably, never looked forward to a day more certain 
 in their feelings that it would bring a great success to them, and 
 
After Gettysburg in "63 1 23 
 
 disaster to their enemies. 
 
 The approach of day on the following morning dispelled all 
 our fine calculations. A Federal cavalry brigade having come 
 up from Harper's Ferry to support General Gregg, that astute 
 and prudent officer availed himself of the opportunity to escape, 
 and silently withdrevi^ his regiments under cover of the darkness. 
 
 It was only an hour or so after I had seen Colonel Drake in 
 the morning ride past, presenting so fine and stalwart a figure, 
 with his heavy massive beard touching his breast, that he had 
 fallen in the battle and was borne from the field for burial. 
 
 The attempt, however, to get in Lee's rear, interrupt his 
 communications and obstruct his retreating army had signally 
 failed. 
 
A 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 ENGAGEMENT AT CULPEPER COURTHOUSE, SEPTEMBER 1 3, 1 863 
 
 COURIER dashed up to the headquarters of Chambliss's 
 
 Cavalry Brigade while the stars were yet thinning on the 
 
 morning of September 13th, 1863, and bore the following order: 
 
 "Colonel R. L. T. Beale, commanding cavalry brigade — at a 
 
 gallop, important — Headquarters Cavalry Corps, A. N. V., 
 
 3.30 A. M., September 13th, 1863: 
 
 "Colonel, — There is every reason to expect an advance of the 
 
 enemy's cavalry by Rixey's and Beverley's Fords, as well as by 
 
 the Fleetwood front, very early this morning. Have your camp 
 
 packed up and your wagons sent to the rear and be ready for any 
 
 emergency. Notify your pickets and communicate with General 
 
 Lomax. 
 
 "By command of 
 
 "GENERAL STUART, 
 "H. B. McCLELLAN, 
 
 "Major and A. A. G." 
 
 The brigade on the bright Sunday morning in question was 
 encamped in the groves of S. S. Bradford's splendid farm, be- 
 tween Brandy Station and Culpeper, and before daylight the 
 wagons, ambulances, and camp equipage were in lively motion 
 towards the latter place. They scarcely had reached the road 
 and disappeared in the distance before the command had 
 mounted, moved out and had a very long line of skirmishers de- 
 ployed to resist those of the enemy who were pushing forward 
 rapidly. 
 
 It soon became evident from the superior forces of the Federal 
 cavalry advancing from towards Brandy, and the preponderance 
 of their artillery, that nothing remained for our regiments to do 
 but to fall back towards the town of Culpeper. In this move- 
 ment, a heavy fusilade was kept up by the skirmish lines and ar- 
 tillery on each side, and a bullet striking the leg and splintering 
 the bone of Colonel Beale compelled his withdrawal from the 
 field. This change of commanders occurred at an unfortunate 
 moment when the brigade had reached the sloping ground of the 
 
 124 
 
Engagement at Culpeper Courthouse, Sept. 13, 1863 125 
 
 George, Wallack, and Taliaferro fields, with the Mountain Run 
 in the valley below, and no cover to shield our troops from the 
 artillery fire from the high ground behind us. 
 
 As we contested the advance of Kilpatrick's regiments, led 
 by Custer and Davis, his brigadiers, Lomax's Brigade, appeared 
 to our right hotly pursued by that of Buford. It seemed a prob- 
 lem now to dispose our men and guns so as to cross the fords 
 above and below the railroad bridge without an awkward con- 
 gestion and a murderous fire from the Federal artillery on our 
 crowded masses. 
 
 These guns, commanded by Lieutenant Jacob H. Cornselman 
 (Battery K, First United States Artillery) were soon in posi- 
 tion on the Wallack heights, and their fire was begun. A train 
 at the station in Culpeper, on which our wounded and valuable 
 supplies had been placed, attracted the aim of these guns, and 
 their shells passed high over our heads and burst over the train 
 as it steamed away. 
 
 That portion of my regiment with which I crossed Mountain 
 Run led so near the railroad bridge, at a point that my school- 
 day sports of swimming and skating had made familiar to me, 
 and after following the track several hundred yards we turned 
 into the field, leaving the female institute to our right and pro- 
 ceeded towards the crest of hills in the direction of Mount 
 Poney, south of Culpeper. In this march we now became ex- 
 posed to the Federal battery on the hills behind us, and their 
 guns were well aimed. One shell, I recall, exploded a little 
 ahead of me, sent some of the fragments with fatal effect into 
 the neck and head of Private Lem Barker's horse, while it cut, 
 at the same time, through Barker's clothing without the least in- 
 jury to his person. His pocketbook, worn in the breast pocket 
 of his shirt, was torn into fragments and the money which it con- 
 tained also. I saw one fragment of a Confederate note, which 
 had been thrown into the air, float down to the earth, a parti- 
 cle so small as barely to afford the figures "X" space on it, as I 
 detected with a passing glance. 
 
 While we were hastening to the high ground south of the 
 town, the contest became very warm in its streets, where a piece 
 of artillery, supported by a part of our regiment, fell into the 
 enemy's hands, as did two other pieces at other points, which 
 appear to have been without support. The charge by a part of 
 
126 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 the brigade on the enemy approacljing the town, was sketched 
 by a correspondent of the London Times, who was with the 
 Federals at the time, and forms one of the most spirited and 
 realistic war scenes to which the great struggle gave rise. 
 
 We had not formed into position on the ridge which we had 
 been ordered to occupy, before it became apparent that several 
 Federal regiments were endeavoring to push their way to the 
 same point. While getting ready to charge them, some of our 
 men urged their horses unwittingly into a patch of briars, from 
 which there issued such a swarm of hornets as began to sting 
 both men and horses and throw them into disorder. At this in- 
 opportune moment, the First Vermont Cavalry began to emerge 
 from the timber on the slope of the hills, and were met and driv- 
 en back by a charge on our part. At this point, Richard Corbin, 
 of the Caroline troop, who had just returned from a furlough, 
 fell under my ej^es, as a fatal bullet hurled his manly form to 
 the earth. 
 
 A heavy cavalry force, against which two charges were made, 
 advancing with a view to flank us on the left, and the appearance 
 of an infantry corps of the Federal army (General Warren's) 
 following close behind the cavalry, made it necessary for us to 
 fall back from our line to another until, towards nightfall, we 
 crossed the Rapidan and rested on the Orange hills with our 
 trains, which furnished us some much-needed provisions for men 
 and horses. 
 
 The enemy's guns were active during this retreat, and some 
 skirmishing was done, but after leaving the vicinity of Culpeper, 
 I scarcely heard the whiz of a bullet. A fine horse, which had 
 been horribly gashed by a shell in the side, and whose entrails 
 were protruding from the wound, dashed from a field towards 
 me, on the march, giving vent to piteous shrieks of pain as it ran, 
 and, having reached me, threw its head appealingly over my 
 horse's neck. Seeing its hopeless case, I drew my pistol and 
 placed it back of its eye and fired it, and the noble steed fell to 
 the ground in the convulsive, but painless, rigor of death. 
 
 General Stuart made no report of this day's operations that 
 has been saved, but General Lee informed the President of them, 
 and addded as to Stuart: 
 
 "He was greatly outnumbered, the enemy having three divi- 
 sions of cavalry with infantry, and he having three brigades, 
 
Engagement at Culpeper Courthouse, Sept. 13, 1S63 127 
 
 Fitz. Lee's being still at Fredericksburg. ... It may be a 
 reconnoisance in force merely, but I have made preparations in 
 case it should be an advance of the whole force." 
 
 An incident of the engagement in the town of Culpeper may 
 deserve to be chronicled. In the operations of the cavalry during 
 the previous months, not a few of our men had had occasion to 
 observe in Custer's Brigade, either belonging to his stafi or one 
 of his regiments, a conspicuously white horse of fine size and ac- 
 tion. On this occasion, after the combat in the streets of the 
 town, W. W. Palmer of the Ninth Virginia Cavalry, emerged 
 from it, leading this familiar horse with its fine equipment, but 
 without a rider. During all his subsequent military service Pal- 
 mer rode this white horse, and when on the retreat to Appomat- 
 tox he was captured, among the dismounted men, and taken to 
 Point Lookout, among his griefs was the feeling that he would 
 not again see this much loved animal. But, after his release, on 
 reaching home the first object that greeted his eye was this horse, 
 which a faithful comrade had saved and sent home for him. He 
 was later enabled with its use to accomplish a successful court- 
 ship, and when at length it died, its memory was endeared in his 
 mind with thoughts of both war and love. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 SECOND CAVALRY FIGHT AT BRANDY STATION 
 
 'T^ HE morning of October 9th, 1863, presented a most in- 
 ■*■ teresting series of movements on the wide field of opera- 
 tions occupied by the armies under Meade and Lee. Despite 
 the unfavorable result of the Gettysburg campaign to the army 
 of Northern Virginia, its commander, with his characteristic 
 boldness, was moving across the Rapidan to offer his an- 
 tagonists the wage of battle on the Culpeper fields. On the 
 day following, Lee's corps had entered that county and were 
 pushing across it towards Meade's army. General Stuart, with 
 Hampton's division (that general having not yet recovered from 
 his Gettysburg wound) was moving in advance towards Cul- 
 peper Court House and on the flank of Ewell's and Hill's regi- 
 ments in front, while General Meade's troops began to fall 
 back before him. At the same time, that general, uncertain of 
 Lee's movements, had directed Brigadier-General John Bu- 
 ford, with a division of cavalry, to cross to the south side of the 
 Rapidan and proceed towards Orange Court House with a view 
 to discover what was on foot in the Southern lines. 
 
 Buford crossed the Rapidan and found the intrenchments 
 lately held by Lee's infantry unoccupied, but his further progress 
 was obstructed by the Confederate cavalry under Major-Gen- 
 eral Fitzhugh Lee, who, having made the necessary disposition 
 of his command, supported by two brigades of infantry, speedily 
 attacked Buford's force and drove them back across Morton's 
 Ford. In this charge, Colonel T. L. Rosser led his regiment 
 (the Fifth Virginia), with marked gallantry, even though a 
 bullet, striking him on the forehead, stunned him for a while. 
 Here, too, the guns of Chew's battery played on Buford's 
 retiring line with bloody effects. 
 
 When the Federal cavalry had gone back on the Culpeper 
 side, they made no hurried retreat at once, but met Fitzhugh 
 Lee's attempt to follow then with a stubborn resistance. This 
 was particularly the case when Wickham's brigade, which cross- 
 ed the river at Raccoon Ford, pressed closely upon them. In 
 a charge on the enemy's sharpshooters, who were well-protected 
 
 128 
 
Second Cavalry Fight at Brandy Station 129 
 
 behind a fence, Captain William B. Newton, who was in 
 command of the Fourth Regiment at the time, was killed, and 
 Captain Williams, of the same regiment, also fell. Captain 
 Newton was the older brother of the late Bishop Newton, and it 
 was pathetic to see the grief of the latter when the captain's 
 death was told him. William B. Newton was one of the noblest 
 offerings Hanover County laid on the altar in the army of Lee. 
 
 Following the encounter in which these brave men fell, 
 Buford's brigade fell back towards Brandy Station, pausing, 
 as if for battle, very briefly only, near Stevensburg. Mean- 
 while, as Fitzhugh Lee, with Wickham's brigade, under com- 
 mand of Colonel Tom Owen, Lomax's brigade, and Cham- 
 bliss's brigade, approached Brandy Station, following Buford's 
 retreating column, General Stuart, with Young's, Jones's and 
 Gordon's brigades, hardly pressing Kilpatrick's troops, was on 
 the road to the same place from Culpeper Court House. 
 
 It soon became evident that by a rapid movement Lee's regi- 
 ments could reach the station in advance of Kilpatrick's and 
 seriously obstruct their union with Buford. The country 
 through which they would move in order to effect this was 
 remarkably open, affording a view for a long distance down 
 the road leading from Culpeper. Probably no more interest- 
 ing or exciting scene in cavalry warfare occurred during the 
 long struggle than was here presented, that of Stuart in pur- 
 suit of Kilpatrick, and Fitz Lee dashing forward to cut him off. 
 The Federal column rushing down the road at full speed, 
 Hampton's division in hot pursuit, and Lee's twelve regiments 
 throwing themselves across the path of the Federal retreat — 
 all in fastest motion, horsemen at the gallop, artillery at the 
 gallop, battle flags borne swiftly above the dust, all made a 
 sight to be remembered. 
 
 If the situation was animating and exciting to the men 
 wearing the gray, it was not less so to those wearing the blue. 
 General George A. Custer, leading one of Kilpatrick's brigades, 
 wrote of the situation: "My advance had reached the vicinity 
 of Brandy Station when a courier hastened back with the in- 
 formation that a brigade of the enemy's cavalry was in a posi- 
 tion directly in my front, thus cutting us off completely from 
 the river. * * * Heavy masses of the rebel cavalry could 
 be seen covering the heights in front of my advance, a heavy 
 
I30 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee^s Army 
 
 column was enveloping each flank, and my advance confronted 
 by more than double my own number. The perils of my situ- 
 ation can be estimated." 
 
 Colonel E. B. Sawyer, of the First Vermont Cavalry, stated: 
 ''The scene began to grow interesting. It was seen that we 
 were not only flanked on both right and left, but right across 
 the road we desired to travel we were confronted by a strong 
 force — that we were surrounded. * * * We were now 
 ordered to support a section of Captain Elder's battery. The 
 scene had become wild and exciting. * * * Charges and 
 countercharges were frequent in every direction, and as far as 
 the eye could see over the vast rolling field were encounters by 
 regiments, by battalions, by squads in hand-to-hand conflict. 
 * * * General Custer, with the other regiments of the 
 Second Brigade, had made a magnificent charge, but finding 
 the rebel line formed beyond a ditch too wide for his horses to 
 leap had, after the exchange of a few rounds been obliged to 
 retire in considerable disorder. 
 
 "In this engagement nearly the whole cavalry force of the 
 armies of the Potomac and (Northern) Virginia confronted 
 each other, and having a splendid field, exhibited the most mag- 
 nificent display ever witnessed on this continent." 
 
 General Stuart mentioned the combat which ensued on the 
 arrival of Kilpatrick's column at Brandy Station, or Fleetwood, 
 as of "the most obstinate and determined character." 
 
 Two circumstances tended to abate the severity of the battle, 
 and the fullness of the victory which the Confederates had so 
 fair a prospect of winning. They were the fact that General 
 Stuart on leaving the town of Culpeper, had not himself directly 
 followed Kilpatrick down the road to Brandy Station, but, with 
 Funston's brigade, had taken another route, intending to reach 
 the Fleetwood Hills in advance of Kilpatrick. This column, 
 as it approached those hills, was mistaken by General Fitzhugh 
 Lee for Federal troops, and thus delayed his movement. The 
 Fourth and Fifth North Carolina cavalry having been suddenly 
 charged from a body of woods, broke and fled in spite of Gen- 
 eral Young's and Stuart's efforts to rally them. 
 
 This unfortunate affair gave the Federals time to get their 
 artillery in position on the Fleetwood Heights, which having 
 been accomplished, it was not feasible for Stuart to dislodge 
 
Second Cavalry Fight at Brandy Station 131 
 
 him, particularly as his force was now well supported by in- 
 fantry. 
 
 Fitzhugh Lee's division was moved around towards St. 
 James Church, threatening the rear of the Federals, whereupon 
 they began to retire, brigade after brigade, beyond the Rappa- 
 hannock at the bridge of that name. Of this retreat, Buford 
 said: "The enemy pressed my left closely in retiring, but by 
 eight P. M. the division was across the Rappahannock. Dur- 
 ing the night we found our forage and went to sleep." 
 
 In the operations of General Fitzhugh Lee's command on the 
 morning of this day, I was in a position to see Colonel Rosser 
 with his men in the line of breastworks, from which our in- 
 fantry had retired, and to do so at the moment he was struck 
 by a spent bullet. He began at once to retire, supposing his 
 wound to be serious, but had gone but a few rods towards the 
 rear when, having seen some slight wavering in his line, he 
 turned around quickly and went forward again as if no ball had 
 touched him. 
 
 Some guns of Chew's battery had begun at this time to open 
 on Buford's men and they began to retreat under their fire. 
 From a small window in the attic of a house beside the road I 
 could see the smoke flash in rapid succession from the rifle of a 
 Federal sharpshooter. As we advanced, a halt occurred in front 
 of this house, near the yard gate of which lay one of the enemy, 
 who had been slain by a solid shot from one of Chew's guns. 
 The deadly missile had gone through his breast, and the poor 
 fellow's hand had been thrust up to the wrist in the gaping 
 wound. 
 
 I entered the house, examined the garret window, and saw 
 on the floor beneath it twenty-eight empty metallic cartridges, 
 which the sharpshooter had used when practicing on us with his 
 Spencer rifle. 
 
 During the advance from the Rapidan, our progress was 
 disputed at several points, so that Chew had repeated opportuni- 
 ties to bring his guns into action. One shell fired by him we 
 noticed to explode in the enemy's ranks, and when we marched 
 by the spot there lay two men dead, and another of noble form 
 and physique, with both legs shattered, and dauntless and de- 
 fiant, though dying. 
 
 At an exciting stage of this battle, when the enemy had given 
 
132 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 away before one of our charges, and we were pursuing them 
 with vigor, I chanced to be thrown in the chase very near the 
 impetuous captain of Lee's Rangers (W. H. Haynes), who 
 was emptying his revolver without effect on the man in blue 
 whom he was chasing. Having discharged his last cartridge, 
 he held his pistol aloft by the barrel and hurled it against the 
 back of his flying foeman, only, however, to make him speed 
 away the faster. 
 
 The enemy's infantry, having re-crossed the Rappahannock, 
 next morning occupied the ground of this battle, while we at 
 same time were hastening over an upper ford to participate in 
 the exciting engagements at Bristoe Station, Manassas, and 
 Buckland. 
 
 At Bristoe Station we witnessed the advance of several bri- 
 gades of our infantry against the Federal troops well posted 
 behind the embankments or rather the shallow side of the rail- 
 road sink. The fire of these troops into our men advancing on 
 them was what had not been anticipated, and our brigades 
 recoiled before its severity. The movement of our infantry 
 against Meade was here checked and they began to retire 
 practically over the route of their advance. 
 
 Our regiment having advanced as far as Manassas, went 
 into a fight there with cavalry, and our gallant Captain Haynes 
 was shot through the body, and permanently disqualified for 
 further service. 
 
 On the succeeding night, on the ground now occupied by the 
 town of Manassas, while the larger part of the regiment were 
 eating their supper, our pickets, under Lieutenant Davis were 
 driven in upon us, and made us mount in hot haste. The lieu- 
 tenant and two other men were killed, among them a former 
 schoolmate of mine at Fleetwood Academy, named Hoskins. 
 
 On the day following. General Stuart having retired before 
 Kilpatrick towards Warrenton, directed Fitz Lee to get behind 
 him on the Buckland Pike. This Lee succeeded in doing, and we 
 had the pleasure of witnessing the famous ''Buckland Races," 
 in which Kilpatrick's men escaped capture only by the speed of 
 their flight. 
 
 On the day succeeding, we were back on the ground near 
 Brandy Station, and saw several of the unburied bodies of the 
 men who had fallen in our battle there the week previous. 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE KILPATRICK DAHLGREN RAID: ITS PRELIMINARIES AND 
 
 SEQUELS 
 
 EARLY in February, 1864, General B. F. Butler, command- 
 ing the Federal forces on James river, was in communication 
 with Miss Van Lew, a Union sympathizer in Richmond, from 
 whom he received information as to the number and location 
 of troops guarding that city. Information thus obtained led 
 him to conclude that a sudden dash might enable a body of cav- 
 alry to surprise Battery No. 2, and get into Richmond with lit- 
 tle prospect of being attacked for three hours. Accordingly on 
 February 5th, he informed the Secretary of War at Washington : 
 "I shall on Sunday make a dash with 6,000 men," and asked that 
 Major General Sedgwick might make a co-operating movement 
 with his corps to the east of Richmond. 
 
 That same day, orders were issued through Brig. General I. 
 J. Wistar to Col. S. P. Spear, commanding a cavalry brigade, 
 to march via New Kent Court House and Bottom's Bridge to 
 the Richmond defences, and having surprised, captured, or 
 passed Battery No. 2, to "push forward." Instructions were 
 given Col. Spear how to proceed, and what particular troops to 
 employ in destroying the Navy Yard, in breaking ofi to the left 
 to attend to Libby Prison and other public buildings, in crossing 
 Mayo's bridge, seizing Belle Isle and liberating the prisoners, 
 burning the bridges and Railroad Depots, in capturing Jeff 
 Davis at his residence, burning the Tredegar Iron Works and 
 numerous public buildings, factories and storehouses adjacent. 
 
 On February 9th, Gen. Eppa Hunton, commanding his bri- 
 gade in the vicinity of Bottom's Bridge, reported the advance of 
 this body and their speedy retirement when opposition was met, 
 saying: "I am at a loss to understand why the enemy has retired 
 for the small repulse received." General Wistar, two days 
 previously, had informed Butler of this retreat, saying: "Have 
 just arrived after a fifteen mile gallop ivith my staff from Burnt 
 Ordinary, where I left infantry and artillery strongly posted. 
 * * * I regret your disappointment. It is no greater, I as- 
 
 133 
 
134 ^ Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee*s Army 
 
 sure you, than mine." 
 
 Thus speedily and ingloriously en^ed this dash on Richmond 
 by Wistar's negro regiments and Spear's cavalry — a result that 
 was at once communicated by Butler to President Lincoln. That 
 Mr. Lincoln had regarded this expedition with great interest 
 and high expectation we may be sure, and only three days after 
 its failure he summoned General Judson Kilpatrick to Washing- 
 ton for consultation on the expediency of making another at- 
 tempt from a different direction by well tried and picked troops. 
 He found Kilpatrick in hearty sympathy with the enterprise and 
 ready to lead it, although General Pleasanton, the commander 
 of the Union Cavalry, said "that since Stoneman's raid of the 
 previous year had brought a loss to the Government of over 7,- 
 000 horses," this undertaking "is not feasible at this time," and 
 "I cannot recommend it." Notwithstanding, the project was ap- 
 proved in Washington and by General Meade and orders were 
 issued for its attempt. 
 
 In conformity with these orders, towards nightfall on Febru- 
 ary 28th, Gen. Kilpatrick began his march from Stevensburg in 
 Culpeper towards Ely's Ford, on the Rapidan with a force of 
 3685 men, including a battery of six guns. In advance of his 
 column, proceeded Colonel Ulric Dahlgren with over five hun- 
 dred picked men. 
 
 A few hours previous to the marching of Kilpatrick's troops, 
 General Geo. A. Custer with 1500 cavalry had set out towards 
 Madison Court House to make a demonstration against Char- 
 lottesville. He was followed by the whole of Sedgwick's corps. 
 This powerful diversion, by destroying the Central Railroad and 
 the bridge over the Rivanna and threatening Charlottesville, it 
 was hoped would weaken the defences at Richmond, and facili- 
 tate a coup-de-main by Kilpatrick. Custer with his accustomed 
 boldness and dash proceeded on his mission so quietly and rapidly 
 that he came near surprising and capturing Stuart's Horse Artil- 
 lery in camp in Albermarle under Captain M. N. Moorman. 
 The guns — four batteries — were gotten off, but the camp, a 
 good deal of the equipage and some of the personal effects of 
 the men were captured. The railroad bridge over the Rivanna 
 was saved, and General Stuart, moving in person against Custer 
 with Wickham's brigade, turned him back on Sedgwick's corps 
 in Madison. 
 
The Kilpatrick—-Dahlgren Raid 135 
 
 Another diversion east of Richmond in concert with Custer's 
 march towards Charlottesville was again made by Wistar's col- 
 ored regiments and Spear's cavalry, along the line of their pre- 
 vious futile demonstration. Of this second expedition its com- 
 mander subsequently wrote: "No loss is reported save the slight 
 wounding of one colored soldier by a bushwhacker," from which 
 we may infer that it had proved of but little value to the move- 
 ment which it was undertaken to assist. 
 
 The order under which Kilpatrick advanced towards the 
 Rapidan directed him to "move with the utmost expedition on 
 the shortest route, past the enemy's right flank to Richmond, 
 and by this rapid march to effect an entrance into that city, and 
 liberate our prisoners." A number of circumstances gave en- 
 couragement to this daring undertaking. The remoteness of 
 Lee's army from his base of supplies favored it; the extremely 
 scattered conditions of Stuart's cavalry regiments, made neces- 
 sary by the scarcity of forage, encouraged it, while Kilpatrick's 
 familiarity with the ground to be traversed and that of many 
 of his men inspired their confidence. 
 
 Whether because of the treacherous conduct of a citizen in 
 conducting the advance guard of Dahlgren's force over the river 
 so as to get behind the detachment of Captain Young's Company 
 on picket at Ely's Ford, or because of the rapidity of their dash 
 across the stream, the sixteen men were of the Confederate 
 picket captured, and none escaped to give warning of the ad- 
 vance. Never in the history of the war, perhaps, was the need 
 of vigilance and protection against surprise by men on picket 
 more signally illustrated than on this occasion, since the Federal 
 cavalry, having crossed the Rapidan unheralded, moved directly 
 in the darkness towards the Railroad over which General Lee 
 was that night travelling from Richmond to his army in Spottsyl- 
 vania, and with every passing minute increasing the peril of 
 capture by an unlooked for foe. 
 
 Captain Young, a brave and trusted member of Cobb's Legion 
 was the officer in charge of this picket, and Lieutenants Merritt 
 and Hogan of the Fifth New York cavalry led the party that 
 made the capture. 
 
 Dahlgren's march, so auspiciously begun, was continued 
 towards Frederickhall, which it was deemed prudent to avoid 
 by a detour because of the proximity of Confederate troops. 
 
136 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 After some slight damage was done to the railroad the column 
 proceeded towards James River through Goochland County, 
 which was reached twenty miles above Richmond. Here a de- 
 tachment of the Second New York cavalry under Captain J. F. 
 B. Mitchell was sent down the canal to destroy locks and dams, 
 and to burn mills and storehouses. The day of that memorable 
 raid, though the first of March did not indicate that the month 
 had come in as a lamb, for the non-combatant people along the 
 river could see the smoke of eight flour-mills, the barn of Hon. 
 James A. Seddon and other private property sacrificed to the 
 matches, turpentine, oakum, and other combustibles, which 
 formed, by order of their superiors before leaving camp, a prom- 
 inent feature of these soldiers' equipment for the raid. 
 
 Dahlgren with four hundred men moved along the river-road 
 without interruption, proposing to get over James river at a 
 ford five miles from Richmond to which a negro named Robin- 
 son whom he had encountered in the march through Goochland, 
 promised to conduct him. Whether from fault of this guide as 
 to the excellence of a ford or the swollen condition of the river, 
 it was found impassable, and the daring exploit of attacking 
 Richmond from the Manchester side, and freeing the prisoners 
 on Belle Isle had to be abandoned. The young and impulsive 
 Colonel of the expedition gave vent to his feelings by a singularly 
 harsh procedure, and when Captain Mitchell and party followed 
 on in his tracks a little afterwards, within three miles of Rich- 
 mond, they met a gruesome sight. It was the body of the negro 
 guide hanged at Dahlgren's order by the neck with a leather 
 rein, and swinging from a tree that grew beside the road. 
 
 Dahlgren having been joined by Mitchell proceeded north- 
 ward and by close attention to the sound of the guns endeavored 
 to locate and join Kilpatrick's column. 
 
 The latter officer with over 3,000 men had, after crossing 
 the Rapidan, passed through Spottsylvania Court House and 
 thence to Beaver Dam Station where his supply of incendiary 
 material was put into use. At this place, one of his command 
 has reported that "twenty wooden buildings were at once set 
 on fire, forming one sheet of flame, rising high above the sur- 
 rounding woods; and the black forms of our men jumping 
 around the fire. seemed from a distance like demons on some 
 hellish sport." It is apprehended that a closer view would have 
 
The Kilpatrick — Dahlgren Raid 137 
 
 but little changed their appearance. 
 
 Leaving this station and passing near Ashland, Kilpatrick's 
 column proceeded till halted by troops in the defence of Rich- 
 mond, which they threatened on Brooke turnpike and the West- 
 ham plank-road, where Col. Walter H. Stevens employed five 
 hundred men and six cannon in their protection. The various 
 attempts made by Kilpatrick's regiments to effect an entrance at 
 this quarter proved discouraging by reason of the increasing 
 fire which they met, and after dark they were moved farther 
 east to Mechanicksville turnpike, anticipating less resistance 
 there.' Scarcely had a charge led by Lieut. Col. Preston of the 
 First Vermont and Major Taylor of the First Maine regiments 
 met a repulse here before the dense darkness of the drizzly night 
 led Kilpatrick to suspend operations, and give his men and 
 horses rest. The command accordingly went into camp. Gen- 
 eral Hampton had been endeavoring with the First and Second 
 North Carolina Cavalry to come up with these daring raiders 
 and was getting close to them at night fall. Having ascertained 
 where Kilpatrick had encamped, he planned a night attack on a 
 part of his force near Atlee's Station. This attack was under- 
 taken by one hundred dismounted men led by Colonel Cheek, 
 who had with him also two guns of Hart's battery. The sudden 
 opening of these guns and dash of the dismounted men threw 
 the Federals into confusion, if not consternation, and they beat 
 a hasty retreat, leaving a wagon and caisson, numerous horses 
 and prisoners in the hands of Hampton's men. 
 
 A correspondent of a Northern paper who accompanied this 
 expedition and furnished a graphic account of it, leaves one no 
 room to doubt from his description of the effect of this night 
 attack on Kilpatrick's camp that it was most disconcerting and 
 demoralizing, and effectually disposed of any purpose on his 
 part to renew the assault on Richmond the following morning. 
 It resulted in a movement at once by the raiders towards Han- 
 over Court House, which at every step put them farther and 
 farther from the defences which they had intended to attack. 
 It is not improbable that but for this night engagement there 
 would have been secured a junction of Kilpatrick's command and 
 Dahlgren's and a second day's endeavor to retrieve the failures 
 of the first. 
 
 About the time that Kilpatrick became satisfied of the futility 
 
138 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 of the attempt to force a passage through the defences in his 
 front, and began to withdraw fo renew the attack on the 
 Mechanicsville road, Dahlgren with his brave followers reached 
 the Green farm on the river road, and was met by the Armory- 
 Battalion, a part of the force under Brig. General G. W. C. 
 Lee. Believing their troops were only "d — d melish" as was 
 reported, Dahlgren boldly charged them, put them to rout and 
 pursued them to the second line of defences. There, on the 
 Hick's farm, the Third Battalion of the Armory Corps, consist- 
 ing of Department clerks and youths of seventeen or eighteen 
 years of age under Captain John A. McAnerney, were in posi- 
 tion and ready with the coolness and precision of veteran sol- 
 diers, to meet a second charge. They had but a short time to 
 wait before Dahlgren's force with reckless impetuosity dashed 
 forward to override and scatter them. They met a firm stand 
 and two destructive voUies which emptied forty saddles by 
 death, wounds, and captures. In the gathering night and driz- 
 zling rain, encumbered with a number of wounded men and 
 prisoners, the young Federal leader withdrew, intending to 
 form a union with Kilpatrick, hoping to be guided to him by 
 friendly rockets and the light of his camp-fires. 
 
 In the endeavor to accomplish his purpose there happened to 
 Dahlgren's column what is always a danger to cavalry march- 
 ing in darkness on unfamiliar roads, — his troops became separat- 
 ed, about one hundred and twenty-five of them following him 
 on one road and the remainder, marching behind Captain 
 Mitchell, on a different road. The dawn of March 20th found 
 the raiders in three bodies, two of them separated by several 
 miles, and pursued and harassed by Col. Bradley Johnson's 
 command, making their way towards Tunstall Station where 
 at length Kilpatrick's column was overtaken by Mitchell and 
 the friendly relief sent forward by General Butler was met ; the 
 third part of the command, composed by Dahlgren and his few 
 followers, whose line of march amidst hostile camp-fires and 
 marching regiments, cannot be told, was also proceeding by 
 such ways as they could command towards the Pamunkey, 
 which they crossed at Hanover Town, having despaired of 
 rejoining their comrades on the south side of that stream. No 
 sooner had they gone over and begun to traverse King Wil- 
 liam County in the direction of the Mattapony than Captain 
 
The Kilpatrick — Dahlgren Raid 139 
 
 James Pollard, commanding a company of the Ninth Virginia 
 Cavalry, Captain E. C. Fox of the Fifth Virginia Cavalry, 
 Captain Magruder with a small command and Captain R. H. 
 Bagby of the King and Queen Home Guards, began in rapid 
 succession to arrange a concerted plan of resistance, should they 
 succeed in crossing the river into King and Queen. 
 
 This crossing was effected by means of a flat-boat found at 
 Aylett's and by swimming the horses. Soon after leaving the 
 river when, near Bruington, their rear was attacked, and some 
 delay caused, which enabled the several Confederate bodies to 
 get into position ahead of them and await their coming. It was 
 at night when the attempt was made to force a passage through 
 this ambuscade, and in making it. Col. Dahlgren was killed, and 
 later his men surrendered. The place of this occurrence became 
 known as "Dahlgren's Corner," and is at the intersection of the 
 Stevensville road with the river-road leading to the Court 
 House. 
 
 A lad belonging to a group of school-boys who had come with 
 their teacher (Halbach) to assist in repelling this raiding-party 
 took from Col. Dahlgren's pocket a note-book, which having 
 been placed in Captain Pollard's hands was sent by courier to 
 his immediate commander, Colonel Beale, and in consequence 
 fell the following day under my eye. Imagine my surprise and 
 horror to read in an order in that book this sentence: "We hope 
 to release the prisoners from Belle Isle first and, having seen 
 them fairly started, we will cross the James river into Rich- 
 mond, destroying the bridges after us, and exhorting the releas- 
 ed prisoners to destroy and burn the hateful city, and not allow 
 the rebel leader Davis, and his traitorous crew to escape." 
 
 It appeared from subsequent correspondence between Gen- 
 erals Lee and Meade that the destruction of Richmond and kill- 
 ing of President Davis and his cabinet were unauthorized by 
 him, and all knowledge of them disclaimed by Dahlgren's im- 
 mediate commander General Kilpatrick. 
 
 After his fall, about twelve of the men accompanying Dahl- 
 gren, abandoning their horses, made their escape in the direction 
 of Gloucester Point, which they successfully reached. Along 
 with them escaped Dahlgren's body-servant also, and the report 
 given to Kilpatrick of the fight and loss of their leader in King 
 and Queen was accompanied with the statement of how "his 
 
140 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee*s Army 
 
 body had been seen on the roadside stripped of his clothing and 
 horribly mutilated." 
 
 After their arrival at Yorktown some days were necessary for 
 the recruiting of Kilpatrick's command and the arrival of trans- 
 ports to take them to Alexandria. During this interval he medi- 
 tated on a plan whereby an expedition might be sent to King 
 and Queen county "to punish," as he said, "those who had been 
 engaged in the murder of Colonel Dahlgren and the capture of 
 his men." In this scheme, he met with the heartiest support and 
 encouragement of Major General Butler and Brig. Gen. I. J. 
 Wistar and his dusky comrades. 
 
 Accordingly, on March 9th, the above mentioned dusky bri- 
 gade and an additional regiment (230) of negroes were placed 
 on transports at Yorktown and sent under convoy of three gun- 
 boats to Shepherd's Landing on the Mattapony, whilst, with a 
 view to co-operation with them, the Pennsylvania Cavalry, the 
 First New York mounted rifles, and four hundred of Kilpat- 
 rick's command under Lt. Colonel A. W. Preston (who had led 
 the recent attack on the Richmond defences) were despatched 
 from Gloucester Point, to march by land and form a junction 
 with the negro regiments at the point of their landing. This 
 cavalry column was accompanied by six guns of Bulger's and 
 Hunt's batteries. 
 
 The negro infantry having been landed at Shepherds, 
 marched to within six miles of King and Queen Court House 
 and there halted, and Kilpatrick was sent forward with the cav- 
 alry under orders of his ranking officer Wistar "to attack any 
 enemy he might find, or hear of there * * * destroy the 
 court house and public buildings and particularly the ferry at 
 Fraziers." 
 
 This order Kilpatrick, whilst manifestly, according to his own 
 statements, in full sympathy with, seems to have been reluctant 
 to obey. Having reached Little Plymouth, he seems to have 
 been unwilling to proceed further. The fate of Dahlgren in 
 that vicinity may have deterred him, and it does not appear that 
 he wished the men of his own command to have part in execut- 
 ing that order; but he sent Col. Onderdonk of the First New 
 York Mounted Rifles to the camp of the Forty-third Virginia 
 Battalion to disperse them while Captain Gerard Reynolds of 
 the Eleventh Pennsylvania Cavalry (both of Wistar's com- 
 
The Kilpatrick — Dahlgren Raid 141 
 
 mand) was sent to King and Queen county seat "to burn the 
 court house, jail, mill and ferry," and these under the direction 
 of this officer were burned, as ordered, on March 12th, 1864. 
 
 General Kilpatrick's .report of this memorable and daring 
 raid on Richmond, makes mention of the mills and other private 
 property destroyed, but he seems to have been ashamed to ac- 
 knowledge any part in the burning of this historic seat of justice, 
 and so passes it in silence. 
 
 When this demonstration occurred against King and Queen 
 Court House, transports had assembled at Gloucester Point and 
 Yorktown to take Kilpatrick's command back to the Army of 
 the Potomac by way of Alexandria, and a considerable part of 
 it was that day embarked. It had been previously recommended 
 by those in authority in Washinngton that the command should 
 march over to Urbanna on the Rappahannock, be transported 
 across that river and march through the Northern Neck and 
 thence to Culpeper county. This plan was, however, counter- 
 manded by a subsequent order. Notwithstanding, a part of Kil- 
 patrick's troops were taken over to Lancaster and Richmond 
 counties and marched through the Northern Neck, as at first 
 proposed. This movement was wholly concealed in Kilpatrick's 
 report and those of his subordinates, as well as in the itineraries 
 of the regiments engaged, so that it is not easy to determine 
 which precise troops they were. No mention was made by their 
 officers of this predatory passage through the Northern Neck, 
 perhaps because of the looting of private houses, wholesale plun- 
 dering and violence to women connected with it of which they 
 felt ashamed. Nevertheless it proved a visitation of horror to 
 the old men, women, arid children living there, and long re- 
 mained to them a burning and harrowing memory. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 CHARGING INFANTRY ALONG WITH A GEORGIA BRIGADE ON THE 
 SPOTTSYLVANIA LINES 
 
 A N official message from the Headquarters of the army under 
 ^^General Grant, dated May 13th, 1864, and addressed to the 
 Secretary of War referring to the assault on the ''Bloody 
 Angle" of the previous day said, "the number of cannon actually 
 captured on yesterday now appears reduced to eighteen. The 
 prisoners are 3,500." The despatch further said: "In changing 
 his lines, Lee has left rnore uncovered the roads leading south- 
 ward along his left wing, and Grant has ordered Meade to 
 throw the corps of Wright to the left of Burnside, leaving Han- 
 cock on our right. This maneuvre will be executed immediate- 
 
 While Wright was complying with this order and movmg 
 his troops down the northern side of the Ny river, Major Tom 
 Waller reconnoitering with a squadron of the Ninth Virginia 
 cavalry, discovered and reported the movement, and also the 
 crossing of the river and occupancy of a hill on which a house 
 stood on the southern side of that stream. 
 
 Lieut. Robert J. Washington bore in person to General Lee 
 the report of this threatening advance on his extreme right. He 
 found the General at a very early hour asleep after the strain 
 and stress of the "Bloody Angle" disaster, lying on a plank with 
 one end raised on a rail. His coat had been laid aside, and no 
 blanket covered his form, and his superb figure in the morning 
 rays was exhibited in its sleeping posture to fine advantage. 
 Washington brought back from the General orders which led to 
 an immediate attempt to dislodge the Federal force, and drive 
 them beyond the Ny. He brought also to his regiment the in- 
 telligence of the death of General J. E. B. Stuart. No infor- 
 mation could have been to the men who had long followed him 
 more startling, astounding, or painful. He had seemed to them 
 to lead a charmed life not to be cut short by any fatal bullet. 
 They now looked at each other in mute wonder, and their faces 
 bespoke the bitterness of disappointment and grief. It was the 
 
 142 
 
Charging Infantry Along With a Georgia Brigade 143 
 
 morning of May 14th, 1864, and they felt it to be the gloomiest 
 one that had ever dawned on the cavalry corps of Lee's army. 
 
 In marching through a body of timber that morning, two of 
 our horse artillery guns were heard firing into the enemy near 
 the Gayle house, and the shells of the enemy were bursting 
 among the trees near us; but then these signals of battle were 
 not affecting the men near me so much as the news that Stuart 
 was dead. 
 
 On the farther side of the woods, we saw two men of the 
 regiment — Martin and Pemberton — who had been struck and 
 killed by a bursting shell, laid across their horses and led to the 
 rear. One of them — Pemberton — I recognized as a companion 
 who had attended Fleetwood Academy with me, and felt how 
 little there had been in its classic and peaceful shades to fore- 
 tell the present ones so full of angry strife and prostrate forms. 
 
 Our motion at this point was quickened, and passing in the 
 rear of our guns, we proceeded at a gallop to a position on the 
 right somewhat enfilading that of the enemy at the Gayle house, 
 and were dismounted as if designed to be advanced in foot. 
 
 While we were getting our line in readiness, the Georgia 
 brigade commanded by Gen. Ambrose E. Wright emerged from 
 the cover and began in magnificent order to move across the 
 plain in attack on the troops occupying the yard and garden of 
 the house. 
 
 The opportunity of charging with infantry never had fallen 
 to our lot before, nor had we been pitted against infantry; but 
 there was no shrinking on the part of our men. They were 
 filled with an ardor it was not easy to restrain. They were 
 mourning for Job Stuart who was that day being borne to his 
 burial, but his spirit seemed to hover near them and to beckon 
 them on with his own intrepid and dauntless courage. * * * 
 They found much in the Georgia brigade to inspire and im- 
 bolden them. No nobler bearing on the battle field could have 
 been exhibited than they displayed. Their alignment was per- 
 fect, their steps regular and unwavering, and when cannon 
 shots or bullets made gaps in their line, they were promptly 
 filled up, and when a color-bearer was shot down, another man 
 at once seized the flag. When the larger part of the level field 
 had been crossed, the enemy seeing that the Georgians were 
 not to be checked and that the dismounted cavalry were en- 
 
144 ^ Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee*s Army 
 
 dangering their rear percipitately fled from the hill in a tu- 
 multuous rush down the decline ind beyond the river Ny. If 
 I should except the stampede on the left at Fredericksburg in 
 December, 1862, when the men of Jackson's and Hill's corps 
 drove Burnside's troops back to the Rappahannock, I never 
 elsewhere beheld Federal artillery and infantry disappear with 
 such celerity, down a decline towards a shattering river. 
 
 The number of men who fell in the brigade making the 
 attack seemed to us greater than those we found on reaching the 
 house; it is probable, however, that many who fell here were 
 taken off before we reached the ground. 
 
 The house-dog remained at home during this engagement and 
 when we reached the house, it lay dead in the yard, the victim 
 of a Georgian's bullet. * * * One of the Federal sol- 
 diers had taken a rocking-chair from the house, — perhaps a 
 mother's or a sister's, and discharged his rifle while sitting in it ; 
 he did not arise from it on our approach ; a fatal bullet having 
 made the chair his bier. 
 
 The body of timber into which we advanced in the morning 
 and under cover of which our infantry later joined us and made 
 the attack was occupied early in the day by skirmishers pushed 
 forward from General Emory Upton's brigade, and he says in 
 his report of the affair: "The Ninety-Fifth Pennsylvania and 
 Tenth New Jersey were sent to support the Ninety-Sixth Penn- 
 sylvania and Second New Jersey. They were barely in position 
 when the enemy's column emerged from the woods. Simultane- 
 ously, cavalry with a battery of horse artillery galloped on the 
 field to the left of the house, which opened fire nearly enfilading 
 our line. The enemy was received with a well directed fire, 
 which checked his advance, but coming on in superior num- 
 bers we were compelled to abandon the position. Our loss in 
 killed, wounded, and missing was about 100. * * * After 
 dark, the position was re-occupied by our troops." 
 
 When this advance of Upton skirmishers was made Generals 
 Meade and Wright followed them with the acting chief of the 
 U. S. Corps of Engineers, whose report states: "The skirmish- 
 ers were ordered forward to take possession of a belt of timber 
 which might conceal any movement on the part of the enemy. 
 Generals Meade and Wi;ight appeared about the time the men 
 advanced. The skirmish line scarcely had entered the woods 
 
Charging Infantry Along With a Georgia Brigade 145 
 
 when it was met by a large force of the enemy who were al- 
 ready marching to attack. Generals Meade and Wright for- 
 tunately escaped capture." Some of our men in advance doubt- 
 less saw the escaping horsemen but were not at all aware they 
 were officers of such dignity and prominence. 
 
 Lt. Col. Weibeck of the Second New Jersey regiment, "a 
 brave officer and thorough soldier," lost his life in this engage- 
 ment. 
 
 No official report appears to have reached General Lee of the 
 transactions of the day on this part of his line, and no chronicle 
 has survived of the heroic spirits who followed Ambrose Wright 
 in this very gallant encounter, but even in this humble and 
 indirect way, tribute is paid to his valor and that of his men. 
 Many valiant men of the Empire State of the South have 
 enriched and consecrated the soil of Virginia with their dust, 
 but none more valiant than they who fell on this field on the 
 margin of Ny river. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 WATCHING grant's ARMY ON FLANK MOVEMENT 
 
 /^N May 20, 1864, from the position we occupied in the 
 ^^Confederate line of battle in the vicinity of Spottsylvania 
 Court House the Ninth Virginia Cavalry was withdrawn and 
 sent to the crossings of the little river which flows near Guiney's 
 Station. After reaching that stream, the company to which I 
 was attached was sent across it to watch the road running paral- 
 lel with the railroad, as well as several other roads farther north 
 in the direction of the Rappahannock River. It fell to my lot 
 to command the company on this mission, and the orders given 
 with such urgent and explicit instructions as to making imme- 
 diate reports of any movements of the enemy made it quite cer- 
 tain that our officers felt that Grant was preparing to move his 
 army past Lee's left flank in the direction of Richmond. 
 
 Lieutenant Washington, with a detail of twelve or fifteen 
 men, was sent to picket the roads nearer the Rappahannock, and 
 I posted several men, the most trustworthy I could get, to keep 
 watch on the road that passes near the station. The orders to 
 the man posted farthest up on this road were to fire his carbine 
 on the enemy's approach and then to gallop to regimental head- 
 quarters to report their advance. Another picket, posted a quar- 
 ter of a mile nearer, was instructed to hold his ground until the 
 enemy came near, and then to fire and hasten to report to me. 
 
 I had taken the company to bivouac for the night to a barn 
 located on the elevated ridge overlooking the valley, within a 
 mile or so of the house in which "Stonewall" Jackson had died 
 under the same ridge the year before, and the men, without un- 
 saddling, had fallen asleep. Just after midnight the "bang" of 
 the farthest picket was heard, and the men were at once aroused 
 and called to mount. We were scarcely in our saddles and 
 ready to march when the "bang" of the second picket was heard. 
 This picket very soon met us and reported that a column of cav- 
 alry was advancing. 
 
 Knowing that a mill was not far ahead of us on the road of 
 this advance, a trot was at once taken to get to it before the Fcd- 
 
 146 
 
Watching Grant's Army on Flank Movement 147 
 
 eral advance guards did, so that by removing the planks from the 
 fore bay which crossed the road, we could secure a good position 
 to check the enemy for a time. We reached the mill, dismount- 
 ed, and were prying the planks up from the bridge, when we 
 heard the rattling of sabers and were admonished of the enemy's 
 near approach. We at once hastened to our ambuscade. The 
 enemy halted as if they discovered some signs that we were lying 
 in w^ait for them, but very quickly began to proceed cautiously. 
 Just as they reached the bridge and were stopped by its damaged 
 condition, we rose from our hiding place, and our carbines flashed 
 out on the night's darkness. We then hastened back to our 
 horses and fell back about a mile, when most of the men were 
 dismounted and arranged along a hedgerow and fence. 
 
 When the enemy advanced again, they put out flankers on 
 either side, and we were unable to give them a volley at close 
 range. We then retreated along the Bowling Green Road to 
 where it turned and crossed the river on a bridge. Here we 
 halted, and, having removed ten or twelve planks from near the 
 center of the bridge, secreted ourselves in the bushes on the 
 southern side. The streaks of dawn were now appearing, and 
 we could see a long line of cavalry halted on the road over which 
 we had just passed. A line of their sharpshooters was deployed 
 in the fields on either hand and began to advance towards the 
 bridge. We commenced to fire on them from our cover, but 
 none appeared to be hit by our shots. We were thus engaged 
 when we heard a volley above us and somewhat in our rear. 
 There was then some lively running to get to our horses. We 
 reached the horses and mounted, and found that a dismounted 
 party of the enemy had waded the river above us, and were as 
 near the road where it turned towards the hills as we were. We 
 had to go at a gallop to get by, receiving a volley as we turned. 
 At this turn in the road, or angle, rather. Corporal Carroll's 
 horse fell dead, our only casualty. 
 
 We retired to the hills south of the river, which offered admir- 
 able posts of observation, and there watched Hancock's and 
 Warren's corps as they moved down towards Bowling Green, 
 till the gathering darkness stopped us. Just then a courier came, 
 directing me to rejoin the regiment at the Mud Tavern. 
 Towards this point we directed our march, and ere long, as we 
 followed a road having timber on each hand, until we reached 
 
148 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 the open land. Around the tavern ahd a few hundred yards be- 
 yond, numerous campfires gleamed brightly before us. I halted 
 the company and asked two men, Lewis and Edwards, to trot 
 ahead and ascertain if the fires were those of our regiment. 
 They soon came back, saying "All right." 
 
 We resumed the march, and the pleasant glow of the fires and 
 the gladdening words, "all right," made us rejoice, rest broken, 
 and hungry as we were. 
 
 As we rode on and came within forty or fifty yards of the first 
 fires, something about them, or the men, moving around them 
 preparing supper, excited some doubt or misgiving in my mind, 
 and I halted the company and asked Edwards if he had asked 
 any one what command was camping there, and he said, "No" ; 
 but he felt certain it was our brigade. I then told him to ride 
 up near to one of the fires and ask what troops were there. He 
 rode forward and I heard him ask, "What regiment is this?" 
 and heard the answer; "Fourth New York Cavalry." We were 
 in quarters far too close to be comfortable, and at once wheeled 
 about and began to trot, not however, before the Federal camp 
 began to get into a commotion. 
 
 We proceeded but a short distance before coming to a private 
 road leading through dense pine woods, and into this we turned. 
 It led us into a field and beside a comfortable home of a farmer, 
 but we made no pause to get supper or to learn who lived there. 
 We soon were satisfied that we were not pursued, and then rode 
 on leisurely in a southerly course until we came to the Potomac 
 River and at a point where we could discover no ford. 
 
 Here I left the men "to catch a nap" and permit their horses 
 to nibble the meadow grass, while I rode with a sergeant to find 
 a house and learn the location of the nearest ford. It was rather 
 dark and the country entirely new and strange to us. We were 
 ignorant of how close we were to the enemy's lines, or at what 
 moment we might be stopped with the hostile command, "halt!" 
 by an unseen picket. My companion at length discovered the 
 faint glimmer of a light, and we rode in that direction. The 
 light grew plainer as we approached it, but very soon wholly 
 disappeared. Almost at once, we saw that we were close to a 
 house, and surmised that the last of the family, being ready for 
 bed, had blown out the lamp. 
 
 I knocked at the back door, and soon, somewhat timidly and 
 
Watching Grant's Army on Flank Movement 149 
 
 cautiously, a man called to me from the inside. He proved to 
 be a soldier of Company E of my own regiment, to whom I 
 told the nearness of the enemy and where I had left my com- 
 pany. He quickly prepared to seek a place of greater safety for 
 himself, as well as to help me, and said as we left the house: 
 "Your company is down here in my meadow, only one hundred 
 and fifty yards off." I knew I had ridden fully two miles in 
 the darkness, and it seemed incredible that I was so close to the 
 spot where I had left my comrades. But so it was, and after 
 passing a barn nearby, there, beside the river within easy ear- 
 shot, was my company. The ford was pointed out to us, and 
 in a few minutes we had crossed the stream and were heading 
 for the Telegraph Road. Before leaving the meadow, however, 
 we heard a sharp report as of a picket's rifle break on the night's 
 stillness, and the man of Company E, who had now become our 
 guide, remarked that the report seemed to come from the direc- 
 tion of the tavern. We afterwards learned that the shot killed 
 a fine young fellow named John Waller, belonging to this same 
 Company E, who, knowing nothing of the enemy's advance, had 
 ridden unawares upon the picket. 
 
 We reached the Telegraph Road, and were at a loss to know 
 which direction to take, when two soldiers' forms moving side 
 by side rode past us. One of the men with me proposed to get 
 some information from them as to where W. H. F. Lee's Bri- 
 gade could be found. He quickly returned, saying: "Why that 
 was General Robert E. Lee!" The great commander, with an 
 orderly, was riding silently through the deep shadows of the 
 night, pondering probably those dispositions of his army which 
 were destined to make the North Anna and second Cold Har- 
 bor campaigns memorable in military history. 
 
 From him we derived all necessary information as to the posi- 
 tion of his son's brigade, and by daylight we had joined them 
 and found our place in the regiment. The brigade was em- 
 ployed in watching and retarding the advance of another of 
 Grant's army corps, a part of it being dismounted and en- 
 gaged with the enemy's skirmishers. As we moved behind 
 Breathed's Battery along a road through timber, we reached an 
 open space of an acre or two, when it was discovered that the 
 Federal infantry had made rapid progress and had gone so near 
 the road which it was intended we should pursue as to endanger 
 
I50 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 our battery's escape in that direction. 
 
 Breathed's guns were unlimbered on the western side of this 
 open space, and we were massed nearby to protect them, while 
 the Tenth Regiment and perhaps several companies of our own, 
 disputed the advance of the Federal skirmish line. The fire 
 on this line became more and more rapid, and the shells from 
 our battery flew faster and faster. I listened anxiously to 
 the enemy's guns to be heard in our rear on the road over which 
 we had passed, in which case, it being impossible to get the 
 battery off through the woods, nothing could remain but to 
 abandon it. I felt sure Breathed must be in very deep concern 
 for the escape of his guns, but on looking at him he appeared 
 sitting composedly on his horse with one leg across the boot of 
 his saddle and reading an open volume with an intentness that 
 the roar of his guns did not seem to disturb in the smallest 
 degree. 
 
 In a little while, one gun and then another was taken back 
 over the road by which we had come, and then, by taking an 
 obscure one found leading toward the west into a valley, made 
 good their withdrawal from a most perilous situation. The 
 cavalry, without any serious engagement with the infantry, fol- 
 lowed the battery, and when we ascended the slope from the 
 valley to the high land beyond, Breathed was unlimbering his 
 rear gun near a body of woods. Looking to our left, three-quar- 
 ters of a mile away, we could see a column of Federal infantry 
 emerging from the timber from which we had escaped, and 
 Breathed was bent on giving them a parting shot. His first 
 shell struck the ground near the head of the column, and con- 
 cealed the files where it struck for a moment with the dust and 
 smoke of its explosion. The gap created was quickly closed up, 
 and the column moved on. Other shots from our gun went 
 wild, and a Federal battery having opened on us, we con- 
 tinued our course under the cover of the woods. 
 
 During our subsequent march after this incident we were 
 not again under fire as we moved towards the Central Railroad, 
 which we reached at dark. I picketed and fed my horse, when 
 we halted for the night very close beside the road, and lay down 
 myself within a few feet of the track. Next morning my horse 
 and many others were found loose, with broken halters, at which 
 I expressed astonishment. I was then laughingly informed that 
 
Watching Grant's Army on Flank Movement 151 
 
 several trains had passed during the night loaded with infantry, 
 who were cheering and yelling, at which the horses had taken 
 fright. Though so near to the track, the noise of the wheels, 
 the puffing of the locomotives, the yells of the soldiers, all 
 combined, did not loosen the bonds of my unconscious slumber. 
 Having been in the saddle for three continuous days, and with- 
 out sleep for two consecutive nights, I had caught, in a measure, 
 the spirit of Rip Van Winkle. 
 
D 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 CAVALRY BATTLE AT ASHLAND 
 
 URING the progress of Grant's campaign against Rich- 
 mond in May and June, 1864, it became a matter of much 
 importance to the Federal commanders to destroy the bridge of 
 the Richmond and Fredericksburg and Virginia Central Rail- 
 roads which crossed the Pamunkey River, and to tear up the 
 tracks in the vicinity of Ashland. The destruction of the above- 
 mentioned bridge was effectually accomplished at daybreak on 
 the nth day of June, so Colonel J. B. Mcintosh, reported, by a 
 regiment of Chapman's Brigade. He further states that with 
 three regiments of his own brigade — the Fifth New York, Sec- 
 ond Ohio, and First Connecticut — he pushed on to Ashland, and 
 "there, while we were engaged in destroying the railroad, we 
 were attacked by two divisions of the enemy's cavalry." For the 
 protection of the men engaged in the destruction of the track, a 
 body of dismounted men were placed in position in a body of 
 woods through which ran a deep ditch with a considerable em- 
 bankment, offering excellent protection against an attack. No 
 sooner than the advance of this Federal body on Ashland was 
 reported to General W. H. F. Lee than he was in motion with 
 a part of his division to oppose it. 
 
 When the Ninth Regiment of this division reached the vicinity 
 of the woods occupied by the enemy, one of our regiments had 
 been dismounted and were moving to attack them. We were 
 also quickly dismounted, and entered the woods as a support to 
 the men in advance. Beside a fence, at the edge of the timber, 
 as we hurried forward, lay the body of a soldier who had re- 
 ceived a death shot as our first line of skirmishers had approached 
 the fence before us. 
 
 As our men proceeded into the woods, a heavy fire was heard, 
 and it was supposed the regiment in front of us was hotly en- 
 gaged. Now and then amidst the flying bullets one or another 
 of our men would be struck, but no volley was fired by us for 
 fear of killing friends in the line which it was thought we were 
 supporting. It presently became evident that not a Confederate 
 
 152 
 
Cavalry Battle at Ashland 153 
 
 was in our front, the regiment which we supposed to be there 
 having borne to one side or the other and left only the Federals 
 before us, well protected in the ditch which has been mentioned. 
 
 When this discovery was made our regiment at once raised a 
 yell and dashed forward for the ditch, while its occupants, leap- 
 ing over the bank, beat a hasty retreat. A shot from one of 
 them before turning his back to us struck the man at my side — 
 R. B. Spilman and, the bullet striking his teeth and destroying 
 several of them, passed out of his cheek. The contact of the 
 ball with his teeth sounded to me very much as if it had struck 
 and shattered a china plate or cup. The wounded man told me 
 later that this noise was caused by the bullet striking the metal 
 plate of his carbine, from which it glanced to his mouth. 
 
 Close to this ditch, John Neale, another comrade near me, was 
 mortally wounded, and I never saw him again. Here, too, fell 
 a brave young fellow named Gaines, from Culpeper County. 
 Farther to the left, fell Lieutenant John B. Harwood, of the 
 Richmond County Cavalry, an uncle of the late Colonel John 
 B. Harwood, of Richmond, for whom he was named. My last 
 glimpse of him was as William Reamy bore his body on his 
 shoulder back from where he fell. For this sad task, Reamy was 
 so stout and stalwart as to need no assistance. 
 
 When we reached the farther edge of the woods, an open field 
 of no great size appeared before us, where the retreating enemy 
 were seen mounting their horses amidst considerable confusion. 
 An officer who sat prominently on his horse directing the dis- 
 mounted men as they regained their saddles offered a tempting 
 target to Tom Jett, who chanced to stand near me and called 
 to me, saying, "See me knock that officer off," and then raising 
 his carbine, taking aim, and firing. The officer fell back on his 
 horse and then to the ground as if killed or badly wounded. Our 
 fire here was rapid, and evidently with serious effects on the 
 confused ranks of the enemy, who rapidly retired from our view. 
 
 It began now to be reported that General Rosser, with his 
 brigade, had gotten in their rear, and that there was a fine pros- 
 pect of our making a large capture. We were, therefore, 
 marched in the direction of our led horses, and when we got to 
 them, lo instead of mounting them, we were hurried forward 
 on foot in the woods on the right, while Lieutenant Christian 
 led a squadron in a charge down the road, only to find the road 
 
154 ^ Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 barricaded and in possession of a fresh Federal brigade which 
 had come to the rescue of the m^ whom we had been fighting. 
 The timely arrival of this brigade enabled the enemy to escape 
 with his ambulances filled with his seriously wounded, of whom, 
 however, thirty remained in our hands, the Federals not having 
 had adequate means to carry them away. This escape was largely 
 accomplished also by the opening up of a road through some 
 dense woods and over a way that had been deemed by us impas- 
 sable. 
 
 A few days later, the Federal lines before the Confederate 
 intrenchments at Cold Harbor became very close, and the scouts 
 of Lee's army were unable to enter to secure information which 
 he deemed it necessary to obtain. Accordingly on June lOth he 
 directed General W. H. F. Lee to send a reconnoitering force 
 sufficient to break through the Federal picket line and to make 
 the needful observation. The Ninth Virginia Cavalry was chos- 
 en for this reconnoisance, and was led by its colonel, and General 
 Chambliss, who accompanied it in person. 
 
 The direction in this enterprise led us towards the Cold Har- 
 bor and Old Church Road, near which the movement of the 
 regiment was concealed by woods. In a road that ran through 
 these woods, our men, in advance, met the enemy's picket, and 
 made a dash for its capture, and the squadron to which I was 
 attached followed at a gallop. When we reached the Old 
 Church Road, strands of barbed wire, the first we had seen in 
 military use were encountered, which ran into the woods with 
 only a narrow space left between two small pine trees sufficient 
 to admit one horse at a time. Here several of the enemy were 
 captured, and none was left to give warning of our approach. 
 Our course was taken from this point at a gallop towards Old 
 Church, and two or three Federal cavalrymen whose horses had 
 been left at the gates of houses by the roadside were seen rushing 
 from the houses to the woods in the rear. 
 
 Half a mile or so beyond, we came upon the reserve picket, 
 most of whom had discovered our approach, mounted their 
 horses and fled, but several had not yet mounted, and a few 
 seemed to halt for battle. One of these was killed and the 
 others captured. 
 
 An animating chase now ensued, and the captain commanding 
 the Federal squadron, Joseph Backus, by name, was endeavor- 
 
Cavalry Battle at Ashland 155 
 
 ing to rally his men and make a stand when we came upon him, 
 and he fell dead in the road. Farther on, Lieutenant Lai. 
 Washington, having reached the enemy's ranks, raised his right 
 arm, not less powerful than that of the English King styled 
 ''Coeur de Leon," and smote one of them with his sharp saber 
 a ghastly and fatal blow, splitting his skull in twain. 
 
 At Old Church our impetuous chase was abruptly halted 
 when we came into view of a line of entrenchments well man- 
 ned with infantry and artillery. This halt was not true, how- 
 ever, of Jim Sullivan, of the Lancaster troop, who having been 
 shot through his wrist, was unable to check his spirited steed, 
 and so dashed on and into the breastworks and was made a 
 prisoner. The Federal infantry encountered here were of a 
 dusky and sable hue, and belonged to General Ferrero's negro 
 division, and our contact with them at this point offered the 
 only slight opportunity we ever had of exchanging a shot with 
 them. 
 
 Though fully anticipating a vigorous pursuit by the Federal 
 cavalry, and arranging to meet it, our return was without seri- 
 ous interruption. On reaching the spot where the Connecticut 
 captain had fallen, I glanced at his nearly nude body with a 
 sense of shame for that small part of our men whose aim in 
 battle seemed to be rather for the pockets of the enemy's dead 
 than the armed persons of the living, and whose bravery was 
 less noticeable than their brutality. 
 
 After this, we established our bivouac in the rear of, and near, 
 the Cold Harbor breastworks. Very soon it became apparent 
 that Grant, weary of his unsuccessful and bloody assaults here, 
 was retiring, and that Lee was also withdrawing to oppose him 
 south of the James River. Our regiment followed the line of 
 the retreating Federals, and in doing so passed through the works 
 which General Lee's men had held. It was enough to make one 
 s^hudder to see on this line how the bodies of the cedar trees had 
 been scarred and chipped, and the branches cut and splintered, 
 and the foliage piled on the earth with the twigs from the terri- 
 fic artillery and musketry fire to which the brave men under Lee 
 had been exposed. 
 
 On reaching the opposing works where the Federals had 
 fought, these evidences of the terrific discharge of shot and sheP 
 and bullets which they had faced were no less marked. 
 
156 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee^s Army 
 
 Between the two lines of works where thousands had fallen, 
 there appeared as we traversed the ground what seemed to have 
 been an intervening line of earthworks that had been dug down 
 and levelled. In crossing this newly-turned earth, our horses 
 hesitated and showed much unwillingness to proceed, as if dis- 
 trustful of the ground beneath them. When we urged them 
 forward, the sinking of the feet and the breaking of bones 
 beneath them revealed the horrible truth that we were march^ 
 ing over a long sepulchre of dead soldiers, a fact of which we 
 had no previous suspicion. In the gospel it is recorded : "For 
 ye are as graves which appear not, and the men who walk over 
 them are not aware of them," but this truly could not be said 
 of our horses in their walk over the graves of the dead at Cold 
 Harbor. 
 
I 
 
 CHAPTER XXV 
 
 CAVALRY OPERATIONS IN HANOVER COUNTY 
 
 N the closing days of May, 1864, the army under General 
 
 Grant crossed the North Anna and Pamunkey Rivers and set 
 out across Hanover County towards the Chickahominy and the 
 Richmond defenses. General Lee's army was at the same time 
 moving to get into position at New Cold Harbor to resist this 
 movement. On the 27th of the month, our regiment, the Ninth 
 Virginia Cavalry, was moved so as to get in the rear of Warren's 
 Corps as it advanced from the Pamunkey to annoy them and 
 gather up the stragglers. 
 
 It was distressing and harrowing to the last degree to witness 
 as w^e fpllowed the line of march of this corps the smoking ruins 
 of houses, the spoliation and outrages committed on the innocent 
 women and children, whose homes had been looted, their scanty 
 provisions carried off, and they left to weep and starve. 
 
 A part of my company formed our advance guard in this 
 movement, who marched two hundred yards or more in front of 
 us, and among them were my two younger brothers. At a cer- 
 tain point on the road where another from the left intersected it, 
 quite suddenly late in the afternoon a small body of Union cav- 
 alry, escorting an ambulance, made an appearance ahead of us. 
 It was seen by us that this was but a small party, and a few of 
 our men dashing forward captured them without a shot being 
 fired on either side. 
 
 Our advanced guard, having passed the intersecting road 
 without observing this party, were moving on quietly when some 
 of them, looking back, saw the road behind them filled with 
 mounted men in blue, and, feeling sure that a regiment or bri- 
 gade had cut them off and were ready to give them chase, at once 
 put spurs to their horses and plunged into the woods, and we 
 saw them no more until the darkness had well set in and we had 
 gone into camp and kindled fires. 
 
 It was deemed needful now to our commanding officers for 
 the secure movement of a part of our army to stay the progress 
 of several of General Grant's corps who were threatening the 
 
 157 
 
158 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 Confederate line of march ; and nearly all of our cavalry took 
 position near Hawe's Shop to retard the Federal advance. Both 
 Fitz Lee's and Hampton's divisions were dismounted in the 
 woods where they threw up such meager breastworks as they 
 could. The Federal cavalry, consisting of General Greggs's di- 
 vision and Custer's brigade, soon assailed this line, and there 
 ensued for seven hours a fiercely contested engagement, with 
 heavy losses on each side. 
 
 We did not reach the ground of this battle until the afternoon, 
 and were then halted in the road as though we might be needed 
 in a mounted charge. While we halted, I rode to a tree by the 
 roadside where the body of a young Georgia major had been laid. 
 His head rested at the roots of the tree, and his upturned face 
 showed that a bullet had penetrated his forehead just above the 
 line of his eyes. He was rather small of stature, but his face was 
 intellectual and his brow noble, and it seemed a pity indeed that 
 the death-dealing missile had found so splendid a mark. 
 
 We soon moved forward and then were halted, and ordered 
 to dismount, form a line of battle, and march across a field. A 
 line of skirmishers was deployed in front of us and a lively fire 
 was opened on the enemy's lines. Private B. B. Atwill, of my 
 company, was seen to leave the skirmish line wounded in the side 
 by a minnie ball, and we learned that the force advancing on us 
 were infantry. Very soon we were ordered to halt, and slowly 
 fall back. This we were glad to do, and having gained our 
 saddles, we withdrew without being pressed. 
 
 In marching away from this field, our course led us near some 
 open and swampy ground from which the enemy discharged 
 their guns on us quite furiously. The twilight had set in, and 
 the flashes of the musketry would have been beautiful but for 
 the whizzing of the bullets. One of them cut the hatband of 
 Lieutenant William McGauley, in the file ahead of us, but hap- 
 pily did his head no harm. One man near me exclaimed as the 
 guns flashed out on the darkness, "Lor's, they beat the lightning 
 bugs." 
 
 It was in this day's engagement that Custer's Michigan bri- 
 gade came into action, and with their customar}^ resolution and 
 dash, greatly assisted the Federal cavalry in maintaining their 
 ground and winning the day. In one of the regiments of this 
 brigade was Private John A. Huff (Company E, Fifth Michi- 
 
Cavalry Operations in Hanover County 159 
 
 gan), who, just seventeen days before at Yellow Tavern, had 
 fired the shot which mortally wounded General J. E. B. Stuart, 
 the idol of the Southern cavalry. He was in the action of this 
 afternoon and received a bullet wound from which he died. 
 
 On the day following this battle at the intersection of the 
 road on which we marched with one leading to Richmond, and 
 where some fighting had occurred, a large mound of fresh earth 
 appeared, with a tall fence of rails inclosing it, and at the head 
 of the mound a board set up on which was written the name of a 
 colonel's horse that had been shot and here buried. The men of 
 the regiment thus had paid tribute to the familiar steed which 
 they had been wont to follow on the march and in battle. This 
 regiment, with many others, was now forcing its way to the 
 bloody field of New Cold Harbor, and the inquiry readily sug- 
 gested itself within me, how many of these brave men are 
 destined to fail of such considerate and honorable sepulture, but 
 will rest in nameless graves. 
 
 That evening as our march was pursued, we came in sight of 
 the home of Colonel Shelton, where two years before, when ill, I 
 had received generous shelter at his hands, and the most gentle 
 and kindly nursing by his wife and daughters. Apprehending 
 that the house would fall between the contending lines of the 
 two armies, I went with our colonel's hearty consent with the 
 regimental ambulance to take the family to a place of safety 
 within our lines. I found the household in consternation and 
 grief. The suspense and tears of the mother and daughters were 
 piteous to behold, and wrung my heart. Misses Fannie and Em- 
 ma and Mrs. Shelton were unwilling to leave their home but 
 urged that Colonel Shelton should go. Preparations were 
 promptly made for his departure, and having kissed his wife and 
 daughters a sad good-bye, he entered the ambulance and was 
 driven off. I followed the ambulance, leaving these dear women 
 and their servant girl to a defenseless home and a gathering night 
 of horrors. 
 
 We were not out of sight before the advance guard of Han- 
 cock's Corps reached the place and began to throw up rifle pits 
 in the yard and garden which were occupied by Brooke's Bri- 
 gade, the batteries of which opened fire on ours stationed beyond 
 Swift Run. Of an incident which occurred at this time adding 
 to the distress of Mrs. Shelton and her daughters, I borrow 
 
i6o A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 General Hancock's account : 
 
 "A most singular incident occurred here to-day. We had sev- 
 eral guns in position behind a rifle pit which ran through the 
 yard of the Shelton house. These guns were firing rapidly at 
 some batteries of the enemy placed on the other side of Swift 
 Run. In the Shelton house were several ladies who had refused 
 to leave, notwithstanding the danger; they had taken refuge in 
 the cellar and had with them a negress who when the fire was 
 hottest became delirious from fright, and, picking up a shoveful 
 of live coals from the hearth rushed out into the yard and threw 
 the coals into one of the gun limbers, exploding the ammunition 
 it contained, killing two men, I believe, and burning the eyes out 
 of one or two others. The negress, who was unhurt, ran into 
 the house as if the devil was after her, and nearly scared to death 
 by what she had done. Colonel Brooke, Fifty-Third Pennsyl- 
 vania Volunteers, witnessed this affair with many other officers. 
 I myself arrived on the ground just as the men whose eyes had 
 been burned out were taken off the field. It was not supposed 
 that the negress had any intention of doing such mischief. She 
 was so crazy that none believed she knew what she had done." 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 BATTLE OF NANCe's SHOP JUNE 24, 1 864 
 
 TJ EPORTS of the Battle of Nance's Shop, or Samaria 
 -•^ Church, on June 24, 1864, are sadly lacking on the Confed- 
 erate side. This engagement should be distinguished from an- 
 other bloody cavalry combat bearing the name of Hawe's shop 
 and fought on May 28th of the above year. 
 
 The field of the battle of June 24th is in Charles City County, 
 about two and one-half miles from the Chickahominy River, and 
 on, or near, an imaginary line drawn from the White House on 
 the Pamunkey to Harrison's Landing on James River. It is 
 twenty miles or more from Richmond. 
 
 General Sheridan having retreated from the Trevilian battle 
 of June 1 2th in Louisa, checked by Hampton in his endeavor to 
 reach Gordonsville and Charlottesville, and from a junction with 
 General Hunter in his raid on Lynchburg had conducted his 
 corps down on the north side of the North Anna towards the 
 White House, which place he reached on June 21st- 
 
 His arrival was opportune enough, since many supplies for 
 the army were there ready to be shipped in w^agons across the 
 Peninsula to James River, while at the same time, Chambliss's 
 Brigade of cavalry was near by, ready to attack the train should 
 it move. Among these supplies were 795,000 pounds of grain 
 and 371,000 pounds of hay, besides the cargo of an unloaded ves- 
 sel, so Rufus Ingalls, the chief quartermaster, reported. 
 
 Two divisions of the Federal cavalry having advanced 
 against Chambliss's Brigade on the 22nd, they fell back to the 
 vicinity of Nance's Shop, where they were joined by Hampton's 
 men returning from the Trevilian raid. 
 
 Under the escort of three divisions of cavalry, the long wagon 
 train was moved out across the Chickahominy on its way across 
 Charles City County to James River. The number of wagons 
 was over nine hundred. 
 
 To assist in protecting the train, the division of cavalry com- 
 manded by Brigadier-General D. M. Gregg was sent in the di- 
 rection of Samaria Church to resist any approach of the Con- 
 
 161 
 
1 62 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 federates from that quarter. Thftse regiments, numbering elev- 
 en, with three batteries, were placed in a strong position, which 
 they at once proceeded to fortify with breastworks of logs, rails, 
 and felled trees. 
 
 General Hampton had now arrived in person and, anticipating 
 the Federal movement towards James River, placed his troops 
 so as to cover the roads leading in that direction. No sooner 
 was he advised of Gregg's arrival at St. Samaria's Church than 
 he determined to attack him, and made his disposition accord- 
 ingly. 
 
 General Lomax was left with his brigade to guard the road 
 next to the river, and Wickham's Brigade was advanced so as to 
 be ready to join in the attack. General Gary, with two regi- 
 ments, was sent around so as to threaten the enemy on the flank. 
 Chambliss's Brigade was assigned a position so as to take part in 
 the attack in front, or if needed, to co-operate in the flank move- 
 ment of Gary. Major-General Fitz Lee commanded the line in 
 front. While these plans of battle were in what seemed a slow 
 process of execution, the morning hours wore away, and the 
 June sun flared down with sweltering heat on the exposed men. 
 
 It was perhaps two o'clock before the line of dismounted men, 
 awaiting the sound of Gary's guns, received the order to move 
 forward. Only the videttes and men in the skirmish line had as 
 yet seen a blue coat, owing to the woods of pine that restricted 
 the view. Scarcely had the Confederate line began to advance 
 before the fire of the skirmishers in the woods before them be- 
 came more and more rapid. Presently, the main body had 
 reached the skirmish line, and only sixty or seventy paces in 
 front of them stretched away on either side the formidable line 
 of breastworks, which were partly concealed and partly revealed 
 by the smoke and fire of carbines. 
 
 A rapid and concerted rush was made for these works by the 
 Confederates, many of whom fell within a few feet of them, and 
 some on them, so bravely and resolutely were the men under 
 Gregg determined to hold their ground. When at a few points 
 men in the attacking line began to leap over the piled logs, and 
 the Federals were forced to beat a hasty retreat, receiving volleys 
 as they ran. Their forms were almost immediately hidden in the 
 dense pine thicket that rose conveniently near. 
 
 Having gained the works, the Southern line made no delay, 
 
Battle of Nance s Shop June 24, 1864 163 
 
 but pursued the fleeing enemy. Beyond the thicket, the trees 
 were larger and woods more open, permitting the view of the 
 enemy's line to the left, just beginning to retreat, and having to 
 pass along the front of one or more Confederate regiments in 
 order to escape. These unfortunate Federals maintained good 
 order in their double-quick movement, despite the fact that num- 
 bers of them fell in the road as they ran. 
 
 One of them, pursuing a path beside the road, fell specially 
 under the eye of the present writer, who, seeing him fall, sup- 
 posed at the moment he had stumbled and fallen. On reaching 
 the body, however, it was found to be shot through with a bul- 
 let. From it, a fine pistol was taken and a few letters, which 
 proved to be tender missives from his New England lady love. 
 
 The men who were posted behind the breastworks being now 
 in general retreat, the Southern line was pushed forward in 
 eager pursuit. It had not advanced far, however, before an open 
 field was reached, at the farther side of which, behind a barri- 
 cade and trees, a second Federal line appeared, and this met the 
 Confederates with such a furious fusilade as made it necessary to 
 pause and reform their line. Here the Confederate fire became 
 so rapid that their ammunition was soon exhausted. Some of 
 Hampton's regiments were advancing under more favorable con- 
 ditions, having the shelter of woods. Their advance soon caused 
 the men under Gregg to withdraw from their barricade and re- 
 mount in order to escape. 
 
 When Hampton's line advanced into the woods thus vacated 
 they could see from its farther edge not a little hurrying and 
 confusion in the Federal ranks. Ambulances were in motion, 
 and litters carried by four men each were noticeable bearing 
 away the dead and wounded. A few sharpshooters were still in 
 line, giving occasional shots, and shells continued to be thrown 
 to check pursuit, but the order to retreat had been given, and the 
 move had begun. Never, perhaps, had the Confederate cavalry 
 a more inviting or promising occasion for a bold and rapid dash. 
 
 After this several movements on foot had been made, how- 
 ever, a considerable distance intervened between most of the 
 men and their led horses, and such was the overpowering heat 
 of the day and the unappeased thirst of the men that many were 
 placed hors de combat. The only troops in readiness for the 
 pursuit were the Phillips' and Jeff Davis Legions, Robin's Bat- 
 
164 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 talion, and the Twelfth Virginia Cavalry. These gave chase to 
 the retreating columns, which they followed to within two and 
 one-half miles of Charles City Courthouse, and halted some time 
 after darkness had obscured the road. Colonel Thomas B. Mas- 
 sie, of the Twelfth Regiment, was wounded in this pursuit. One 
 hundred and seventy-nine prisoners were taken in the engage- 
 ment by the Confederates, including one colonel and twelve oth- 
 er commissioned officers. The aggregate of casualties on the 
 Federal side was three hundred and thirty-nine, and on the Con- 
 federate probably not less, though the reports of these have not 
 been preserved. 
 
 General Gregg, in reporting this engagement, says: "The 
 force of the enemy was largely superior to ours," and that his re- 
 treat was "without confusion or disorder." General Sheridan in 
 his report, with greater candor, states that General Gregg, 
 "after a subborn fight, which lasted until after dark, was forced 
 to retire in some confusion." 
 
 This hard-fought engagement and pursuit of the Federals 
 created no little uneasiness within their lines. Early that night 
 General Grant telegraphed General Butler: "Sheridan has been 
 attacked this evening, and with great difficulty and heavy loss of 
 men has saved his train so far. He expects another attack at 
 daylight, and would be much assisted if some infantry could 
 reach him in time." 
 
 Butler, in reply, asked: "Will General Grant please tell me 
 exactly where Sheridan is?" And the answer came back: 
 "Charles City Court House is place where our troops are, and 
 the enemy is confronting them." General Butler immediately 
 on getting this reply, directed General Brooks as follows: 
 "March at once two regiments which will number I, OCX) men to 
 the hospital wharf in the utmost haste. . . . Take the near- 
 est men." About two hours later, General Brooks responded: 
 "Orders gone out. It will take three regiments"; and at 5.15 
 A. M., June 25th, he wired : "Three regiments have started for 
 Point of Rocks." Soon afterwards, that same day, Butler's as- 
 sistant adjutant-general wired General Brooks: "Sheridan is 
 safe behind the intrenchments at Douthat's Landing." 
 
 Both General Hampton and one of the Federal commanders 
 bore witness to the efficiency of General Gary's regiments with 
 their Enfield rifles, on this field. Of Chambliss and his men, 
 
Battle of Nance's Shop June 24, 1864 165 
 
 Hampton wrote: "Brigadier-General Chambliss with his brigade 
 rendered most efficient service, contributing largely to the suc- 
 cess at Samaria Church." 
 
 It deserves to be noted that in the reports of this battle con- 
 tained in the compilation of official Records by the Government, 
 the church near which the fighting occurred is called *'St. 
 Mary's" erroneously by the Federal officers, and in the Confed- 
 erate reports the editors have substituted this name for the prop- 
 er one — Samaria. 
 
CHAPTER XXVII 
 
 BATTLE AT WHITE's TAVERN IN CHARLES CITY COUNTY 
 
 'T^HE James River, not far below Curl's Neck, makes a bend 
 -*■ towards the north, encircling in part Jones's Neck, at the 
 upper end of which is Deep Bottom, in Charles City County, 
 which, however quiet and peaceful ordinarily, was on August 13, 
 1864, the scene of no little stir and commotion. The engineer 
 brigade of Grant's army was active there preparing a bridge with 
 thirty-six pontoon boats. At the same time, transports were ap- 
 proaching heavily laden with troops of Hancock's famous corps. 
 The disembarkment took place early on the following morning, 
 when it was proposed they should effect a junction with other 
 troops already operating on the north side of the river. 
 
 The object contemplated by this junction of forces at Deep 
 Bottom was to make a sudden and formidable assault on the de- 
 fences of Richmond. In concert with this movement, and the 
 more certainly to insure its success by a powerful diversion, Gen- 
 eral Warren had begun a march with his corps to destroy, or 
 hold, the railroad below Petersburg. 
 
 From the vicinity of Deep Bottom, three roads lead towards 
 Richmond, the one nearest the river known as the New Market 
 Road, the middle one as the Darbytown Road, and the other 
 as the Charles City Road. Over these several roads it was Han- 
 cock's plan to advance, and his orders were issued to his several 
 commands to set out on the march at five A. M. on August i6th. 
 As the infantry proceeded on the two roads nearest the river, 
 they encountered General C. W. Field's division, and were re- 
 puked with heavy loss. 
 
 In the movement along the Charles City Road, a part of Bir- 
 ney's Infantry Division and the veteran cavalry division com- 
 manded by Brigadier-General D. McD. Gregg, were opposed 
 by General W. H. F. Lee's division and Gary's brigade. 
 
 General Lee was advised of the Federal advance — had, indeed, 
 been hastened from below Petersburg to resist it — and now, not 
 far from White's Tavern, dismounted a large part of his com- 
 mand, which was placed in line, much of it at least, in a verita- 
 
 166 
 
Battle at White's Tavern in Charles City County 167 
 
 ble jungle of small bushes and underbrush, and on either side 
 of the road. 
 
 Brigadier-General J. R. Chambliss (whose father of the same 
 name was a member of the Confederate Congress at the time, or 
 previously), commanding the Ninth, Tenth and Thirteenth Vir- 
 ginia Cavalry, was preparing to resist with his customary firm- 
 ness the enemy's advance near the road, and was making the 
 necessary dispositions when, in riding from one side of his line 
 to the other, and while crossing the road, was shot by a volley 
 from dismounted cavalrymen of the Sixteenth Pennsylvania Reg- 
 iment, who rose suddenly from the cover of the brush, and he 
 fell dead from his saddle and into the enemy's hands. At eight 
 A. M. General Gregg sent a message to Hancock saying: "We 
 are getting along and driving the enemy * * * j have the 
 body of General Chambliss, killed a few minutes ago." Two 
 hours later, he replied : "The enemy are making a spirited ad- 
 vance, but are held by one of my brigades dismounted." In the 
 subsequent desultory firing that occurred. Captain Oliver, of the 
 Ninth Regiment, was instantly killed by a bullet in the head. 
 General Robert E. Lee, in reporting the engagement, said of 
 Chambliss: "The loss sustained by the cavalry in the fall of Gen- 
 eral Chambliss will be felt throughout the army, in which, by 
 his courage, energy and skill, he has won for himself an honor- 
 able name." 
 
 General Chambliss, who had on his person when he fell a 
 pocket testament and map of Richmond and its environs, well 
 deserved the high commendation bestowed upon him by General 
 Lee. No braver or more intrepid officer yielded up his life in 
 defence of Richmond in the days of her peril. He was trained 
 at West Point and possessed the spirit and bearing of a true 
 soldier. He was small of stature, but finely proportioned, lithe, 
 active and graceful. His face was handsome, his eyes were 
 piercing and beamed with intelligence, and his thick and evenly 
 clipped beard added to his manly appearance. Having distin- 
 guished himself at the head of an infantry regiment (Forty-first 
 Virginia), in the battle of Seven Pines, he later was appointed 
 to the colonelcy of the Thirteenth Virginia Cavalry, and began 
 at once to develop and make marked the fighting qualities of that 
 regiment. 
 
 When W. H. F. Lee was made a major-general and the place 
 
i68 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 of the commander of his brigade made vacant, though there were 
 in it officers holding the same rank with Colonel Chambliss and 
 older commissions, and who had seen far more cavalry service, he 
 was elevated over them as brigade commander, and so was per- 
 mitted to place a wreath around the three stars of his collar 
 which his bravery had already wreathed with honor. He rose 
 steadily in the confidence and admiration of the brigade till the 
 hour of his melancholy fall. 
 
 Of the circumstances of his death and recovery of his body, I 
 am permitted to record the recollections of my friend and com- 
 rade, Hon. Theo. S. Garnett, at present commander of the De- 
 partment of the Army of Northern Virginia Confederate Vet- 
 erans, who at the time of these events, was serving on the staff 
 of General W. H. F. Lee, and was an observer of what he de? 
 scribes. He says in reply to my inquiry: 
 
 *'On the second Sunday in August, 1864, I think, the division 
 of General W. H. F. Lee, on whose staff I was then serving, 
 marched from a point below Petersburgh to the north side of 
 James River, camping that night over on the Charles City Road. 
 One regiment of Chambliss's Brigade was on picket that night at 
 the W^hite Oak Swamp, and early next morning was attacked 
 by Gregg's Division of Cavalry and driven back. The rest of 
 the brigade was hurried to its support, together with a part of 
 Barringer's North Carolina Brigade, and the fight was joined. 
 In a few minutes after reaching our line, I was informed that 
 General Chambliss had been shot from his saddle, and his horse 
 was at that moment being led to the rear. I was told by some 
 one on the spot that General Chambliss had been directing the 
 fight as his men fell back from the swamp, riding back and forth 
 across the main road, the enemy pushing forward on one side 
 and then on the other. The general, after visiting his line on 
 one side of the road, which there ran through a thick body of 
 woods and undergrowth, was returning to the other side expect- 
 ing to find his line in the same position it had occupied only a 
 few minutes before, but was surprised to find himself in the im- 
 mediate presence of a line of the enemy, some of whom demanded 
 his surrender. I have heard that Chambliss frequently had said 
 that he never would, under any circumstances, be taken prison- 
 er. Acting on this determination, he was in the act of wheeling 
 his horse to ride away when the enemy shot him down. From 
 
Battle at Whitens Tavern in Charles City County 169 
 
 the examination which I made of his body two days later when 
 it was delivered to me on flag of truce, I am sure that quite a 
 volley must have been fired at him, as there were several wounds 
 through the breast. 
 
 "The enemy gained no further ground, but were driven back 
 across White Oak Swamp, taking with them General Cham- 
 bliss's body. 
 
 "A few minutes after the general was killed, I was ordered 
 by General W. H. F. Lee to take two men and go on a scout 
 over to White Oak Road and ascertain whether the enemy were 
 attempting to flank us. I selected the two men from my old 
 company (Ninth Virginia Cavalry), one of them being my old 
 schoolmate, T. Monroe Jones, and made the trip, fortunately 
 ascertaining and reporting that no enemy was making such a 
 movement. 
 
 *'Two days after this fight I was sent across the White Oak 
 Swamp, on the Charles City Road, to recover General Cham- 
 bliss's body by flag of truce. The flag was carried by one Mc- 
 Clanahan, from the Lancaster troop, I think, one of General 
 Lee's efficient couriers. Just across the swamp lay Gregg's Divi- 
 sion, and I rode up until they warned me to stop. They proved 
 to be the Tenth New York Cavalry, one of whose horses I was 
 then and there riding, having captured him in the previous fight. 
 And I am pleased to say that they recognized him. 
 
 "One of General Gregg's staff met me and received General 
 Lee's note, and brought back an answer from General Gregg, 
 stating that the body of General Chambliss had been buried, but 
 would be promptly exhumed and be delivered at a point on the 
 infantry lines near Fuzzel's Mill, on the Darbytown Road, 
 where a flag of truce was at that moment pending. Taking 
 with me Walter B. Chambliss, the brother and aide-de-camp of 
 the general, we rode over three miles and struck the infantry 
 line of battle exactly at the point where the flag was then pend- 
 ing, and we had hardly dismounted at the breastworks before I 
 noticed a squad of our men bringing a rough plank box towards 
 the line of our works. I asked if they knew whose body they 
 were carrying, to which they replied, *No, but some one had said 
 the box contained some general or other.' I then told Walter 
 that we must have the box opened at once, and this being done, 
 we both identified the remains as the body of that gallant gentle- 
 
I70 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 man and soldier, John R. Chambliss. Swollen and disfigured 
 as it was by his wounds and recent interment, we recognized him 
 by his full beard and uniform, and lying on his breast was an 
 envelope in which General Gregg (his classmate at West Point) 
 had sent back to his family a pair of gold sleeve-buttons and his 
 West Point class ring. 
 
 "Saddened beyond measure, I turned over the rude coffin to 
 Walter, and placing it in an ambulance, he set out for Richmond, 
 leaving me to make my lonely way to our bivouac, on the Charles 
 City Road, through the dark night. 
 
 "There were no other persons connected with this service." 
 
 I did not share in the early part of the engagement in which 
 General Chambliss fell, but, on joining my company later in 
 the day, learned the particulars of it from the men who had 
 borne the brunt of it, which I gave in a letter written a few days 
 later. I was present when an advance was made by Lee's Divi- 
 sion in the afternoon, and learned how the Federal cavalry, be- 
 fore a part of our line in a hurried retreat, left forty or more of 
 their horses mired in a swamp just below where the road 
 crosses it. 
 
 The letter referred to, makes mention also of General A. P. 
 Hill's battle on the Weldon Road, in which, after a hurried 
 march, we participated. In this affair, the Federals lost 4,279 
 men, and a brigadier-general (Joseph Hayes) was captured. Af- 
 ter this severe engagement, it was my melancholy privilege to 
 see numbers of our brave men, who had fallen, carted, like so 
 many hogs dressed for market, in a state of nudity, for burial in 
 their rude and shallow graves. 
 
 In this battle, fought by Hill, I saw for the first time Briga- 
 dier-General James Dearing, a young artillerist, who now had 
 command of a brigade of cavalry, and his handsome appearance 
 and fine military bearing impressed me greatly. From a group 
 of Yankee horsemen, who had been scattered by his charge and 
 were hiding in a swampy thicket, I secured a finely mounted offi- 
 cer's sabre, which did me good service till the war ended. The 
 weapon belonged to a field officer of the Twenty-fourth New 
 York Cavalry. 
 
 The letter mentioned above was begun on the 20th of August, 
 interrupted by a call to arms, and was completed on the twenty- 
 third of the month. It read as follows: 
 
Battle at White's Tavern in Charles City County 171 
 
 "Below Petersburg, Va., 
 
 "August 20, 1864. 
 
 "My Dear M., — The sullen and significant boom of can- 
 non greeted my ears many miles and hours before reaching my 
 regiment after parting with you, and when I came up with them 
 they were in the midst of battle, and hotly engaged. I was not 
 surprised to find them faint, heated, and almost exhausted, un- 
 der the labors of a severe engagement of a whole day's length, 
 and mourning the loss of many comrades, whose forms, stiffen- 
 ing in death, had not yet been committed to their last resting 
 places beneath the sod. This was on Tuesday, the sixteenth day 
 of August. 
 
 "Our brigadier-general, John R. Chambliss, was killed early 
 in the morning, and his body fell into the hands of the enemy, 
 under circumstances which the papers will explain before this 
 reaches you. Lieutenant J. T. Stewart was shot through the 
 leg, the bone fractured, as soon as the first volley from the ene- 
 my was received. Whilst he was being borne from the field, 
 two more bullets, one in the body and the other in the re- 
 maining leg, took effect and completed the work of death, well- 
 nigh caused by the first missile that struck him. Poor Stewart 
 lived an hour longer, and was painfully conscious that his end 
 was at hand. His suffering cannot be depicted. With both legs 
 horribly shattered, and with a most painful wound in his body, 
 he was borne by four men, under a heavy fire and closely pressed 
 by the enemy, for more than a mile, over ground obstructed by 
 fallen timber, underbrush, and briers, and this, too, upon no 
 stretcher, his chief support being the sabre belt that encircled his 
 waist. Thus, bleeding, scratched, maimed, and gasping, he was 
 at length placed in an ambulance to speedily undergo the final 
 struggle with the great monster. His mind was troubled, but, 
 amid the crowding thoughts that rushed upon him, while feel- 
 ing that his life's current was ebbing fast away and his vital 
 breath almost gone, he tenderly remembered his absent wife, and 
 asked a soldier near him to say to his officers that he hoped they 
 would not permit his family to suffer. 
 
 "The spirit of the brave soldier animated him to the last, and 
 shortly after saying that he hoped we would drive the Yankees, 
 he yielded to the fell destroyer, and his face, which I had so 
 often seen glow with the enthusiasm of the charge and the bat- 
 
172 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 tie, assumed the ashen paleness of death. As other human beings, 
 he had his faults ; but I shall long remember him as possessed of 
 many noble traits. He was buried in Oakwood Cemetery, in 
 Richmond. 
 
 "In the same battle Gordon F. Bowie was wounded painfully 
 in the left breast and Bob Sanford in the ankle. These wounds 
 are not believed to be serious, and I trust may not prove so, but 
 slight wounds of late so often assume a dangerous character that 
 I know not how to believe any casualty to be slight. 
 
 "We reached here this morning, having left the north side 
 yesterday about daybreak. A heavy battle was fought by Gen- 
 eral A. P. Hill near here yesterday. Heth and Mahone were 
 also engaged. They failed to drive the enemy from their posi- 
 tion on the railroad, but drove them from two lines of works, 
 capturing three thousand prisoners. The enemy drove our men 
 back about night, catching some of them. Waller's Brigade was 
 engaged. The Forty -seventh Regiment lost Lieutenant-Colonel 
 John Lyell for a time, his arm having been amputated, and Major 
 Lawson, of the Fifty-Fifth was killed. Captain Davis was com- 
 manding the Fortieth. No officers in that regiment were killed 
 so far as I have learned. Lieutenant Chandler was in the 
 enemy's hands a while, but escaped. 
 
 "August 23 rd — My letter was abruptly cut short at the close 
 of the last sentence by the bugle call to mount. All day yester- 
 day we lay in our fortifications, while the bullets flew constantly 
 over our heads. This was not so bad as we anticipated in the 
 morning, for we accompanied a long line of infantry, which we 
 knew was moving around to attack the enemy upon his extreme 
 flank on the Weldon railroad. We knew the Yankees were 
 strong in numbers and positions, and we were aware, also, that 
 it was of great importance to us that they should be dislodged. 
 Accordingly, we reasonably concluded that a bloody day's work 
 was before us. 
 
 "Our infantry made the attack, as we expected, and their loss 
 was very heavy. As the Yankees were found to be in much 
 greater force than had been supposed, no assault was made upon 
 their second line of works. Their first line was carried, and 
 some prisoners were taken; report says about three thousand, 
 but I can't vouch for it. Harris's Brigade lost two hundred and 
 fifty men, the other brigades not so heavily ; but our list of cas- 
 
Battle at White s Tavern in Charles City County 173 
 
 ualties on the whole is a sad one. I don't think a man was hurt 
 in our regiment. 
 
 "Since I rejoined the regiment our duties have been onerous 
 and trying. Scarcely a night, I believe — no, not one — has been 
 enjoyed in uninterrupted sleep. Our horses have gone whole 
 days without food or water. And now, at the time when we sin- 
 cerely hoped it might be quiet, the prospect is good that our la- 
 bors will be increased. Hard fighting appears to me to be im- 
 minent, as the Yankees are far from being discouraged by their 
 lack of success into an abandonment of their operations against 
 Richmond, but seem only fairly to have commenced the consum- 
 mation of their designs. 
 
 ^'Cheering news reached us yesterday from the Valley, which 
 I believe, is correct, that the Yankees were compelled to retire 
 before Early. If the latter general proves more than a match for 
 them in that quarter, it must have the effect of still further re- 
 ducing their strength here. The fall is approaching, and a few 
 more weeks must decide this momentous campaign. 
 
 . . . You will have heard probably before this reaches you 
 of the death of Sergeant Stephen Hardwick in a hospital in 
 Richmond from a wound received at Nance's Shop. Poor 
 Bushrod Brown, wounded in the same battle, must, I fear, soon 
 follow his comrade. 
 
 "May God continue to bless you is my prayer. W." 
 
CHAPTER XXVIII 
 
 WILSON S RAID 
 
 I 
 
 N the latter part of June 1864, after the Army of the Poto- 
 mac had crossed James River and gone into position before 
 Petersburg, two powerful cavalry movements were proposed by 
 General Grant, which, if successful, gave the promise of the 
 downfall of Richmond nine or ten months earlier than it oc- 
 curred. One of these was the expedition led by General Sheri- 
 dan for the purpose of destroying the railroad connection be- 
 tween Richmond and Charlottesville, and the latter place and 
 Lynchburg, and forming a union at that city with General 
 Hunter. This raid was successfully intercepted and defeated by 
 General Wade Hampton in a bloody engagement near Trevil- 
 lian Station. The other movement was that which Brigadier- 
 General James H. Wilson was directed to make around the 
 southern wing of Lee's army, past Reams station, on the Wel- 
 don Road, and thence to the Southside Road, and on to Burke- 
 ville, and from that point down the Danville road to that city, 
 destroying the tracks and bridges, culverts, and depots, and such 
 military stores as might fall in his way. 
 
 This latter expedition, known as "Wilson's Raid," had at its 
 head a young and daring officer to whose command of eleven 
 regiments were added four others under Brigadier-General Au- 
 gust Kautz. A circumstance which greatly encouraged and gave 
 promise to the undertaking was the absence on the north side of 
 the James of nearly the whole of Hampton's cavalry, which was 
 occupied with Sheridan. 
 
 Wilson set out on this raid at two A. M. on June 22nd, 
 doubtless followed by the profound interest and good wishes of 
 President Lincoln, who was that day a visitor at the headquar- 
 ters of General Grant. On the day that Kautz reached Burke- 
 ville, and Wilson was occupied on the Southside Road with 
 "rail-twisters" and other implements of destruction, Hampton 
 was fighting his victorious battle with Gregg at Nance's shop, 
 near the Pamunkey River, and General W. H. F. Lee with a 
 small part of his command only was available to follow and har- 
 
 174 
 
Wilsons Raid 175 
 
 ass the raiders. This he did, however, in a way greatly to pre- 
 vent the extent and thoroughness of the injury to the railroads. 
 
 On the 27th of June, five days after this expedition began, a 
 message to General Grant from Wilson said: "At four P. M., 
 23rd, Kautz reached Burkeville, burned depot and track, and 
 pushed on towards Meherrin station, tearing up the track effect- 
 ually. In the afternoon near the Nottoway River ... the 
 Third Division met a division of rebel cavalry, W. H. F. Lee's 
 and, after a sharp fight of several hours defeated them. . . . 
 We could not get the Roanoke bridge, although a severe loss was 
 experienced in the attempt." 
 
 This bridge was defended by Lieutenant B. L Farinholt with 
 a small infantry force behind several well-placed earthen re- 
 doubts, and from the engagement here, Wilson began his re- 
 treat through the Counties of Charlotte, Lunenburg, and Din- 
 widdie, spreading consternation and horror along his route. It 
 is most probable the rations for both men and horses were by 
 this time exhausted, and it was found necessary that subsistence 
 for both should be drawn from the country through which thev 
 passed. The depredations committed on this retreat were in no 
 sense confined, however, to what was necessary for subsistence, 
 but private homes and churches along the lines of march were 
 looted with ferocious greed, and jewelry, silverware, books, wo- 
 men's apparel, family pictures, parlor ornaments, communion 
 plates, goblets, altar cloths and hymnals were appropriated by 
 the cavalrymen and hid upon their persons. 
 
 While these transactions under Wilson and Kautz were in 
 progress, Hampton closed his pursuit of Gregg after his defeat 
 at Nance's shop, in Charles City County, and hastened with his 
 regiments to the vicinity of Reams Station, at the extremity of 
 General Lee's lines, so as to be in position to intercept Wilson in 
 his attempt to get back. 
 
 My regiment reached Stony Creek Station, on the Weldon 
 Road, about midday on June 29th, and, after a brief halt, were 
 ordered out on the road leading to Sappony Church, near which 
 Wilson's advance dismounted in a line reaching across a field 
 and orchard, were engaged by the Tenth and Thirteenth Regi- 
 ments on foot. A charge in the saddle was made by Captain 
 Ball's squadron of our regiments, and Companies C and K, with 
 the first of which I was connected, were sent to the right a mile 
 
176 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 • 
 or so to barricade and guard a private road. Shortly after we 
 moved off on this duty, the Holcombe Legion arrived, and took 
 position in the line near the church, which we had left. Our 
 party, after collecting rails, logs, and brush, blocked the road to 
 which we had been sent, so as to prevent horses from passing 
 over it, and laid down on our arms to dispute the enemy's pas- 
 sage, should any appear in the night. The night was a well- 
 nigh sleepless one, the continuous firing on the line near us keep- 
 ing us awake, and causing a constant apprehension that our own 
 position would be assailed. 
 
 Towards morning, the fusilade on our line began to slacken, 
 and at daylight had ceased, indicating that Wilson had failed to 
 force a passage at this point, and had withdrawn in quest of 
 some other way of escape. The companies with which I was 
 serving were ordered to rejoin the regiment near the church; 
 and during a brief wait there, I had opportunity to inspect the 
 bullet marks on the building, and how, in the damage inflicted, 
 the pulpit and Bible had not escaped. I also saw in a near-by 
 orchard a number of fresh graves of Wilson's men, who had 
 fallen the evening before. 
 
 The sound of guns to our left as we moved back towards 
 Reams Station that morning led us to believe that other Con- 
 federate troops had been encountered by Wilson's command, 
 which proved to be true. General Fitz Lee, with his division, 
 and General Mahone, with three brigades of infantry, having 
 struck them on other roads and put them into confusion and 
 rout, capturing all their artillery, wagons, and ambulances. 
 
 Early in the afternoon, as we marched on the road leading 
 over Stony Creek, and shortly after passing a bridge on it, our 
 column was halted, and some excitement seemed to prevail in the 
 regiments in front, as if the fugitive enemy had been met. We 
 were looking ahead eagerly to see if this were true, when, sud- 
 denly, we heard the tramp of horses' feet and the rattling of 
 sabres approaching us by a road leading into. ours through a fine 
 forest. In a moment, at Hampton's command, one of our guns, 
 which chanced to be at the intersection of these roads, was un- 
 limbered, but was not used, the Yankee line responding promptly 
 to the call to surrender. 
 
 It now became known to us that while we had been waiting 
 at this point, Kautz's column had approached dur line of march 
 
Wilsons Raid I77 
 
 behind us, in the interval between our regiment and the one 
 next to us, and had rapidly dashed through. The squadron to 
 which I was attached, occupying a favorable position to give 
 them chase, was sent forward at a gallop. The dust made by 
 the fleeing column might soon be seen, and, as we dashed towards 
 it groups of contraband negroes, artillerymen on horses without 
 saddles, and cavalrymen on jaded animals, were overtaken and 
 captured. Our men on the fleetest horses outstripped the others, 
 and their pistol shots could be heard as they overtook once and 
 again the rear of the enemy's column. 
 
 At one point in this exciting chase, the dust seen to our left 
 showed that the enemy's column had rounded an angle in the 
 road, and that we by cutting across a wide field could cut a large 
 part of it oH. A few men followed Lieutenant Lai Washington 
 to accomplish this, and succeeded in halting a column several 
 hundred yards in length, who began immediately to cast down 
 their arms and make ready to surrender, the thick dust as yet pre- 
 venting them from seeing the fewness of the group to whom they 
 were surrendering. As the dust settled, however, the forms of 
 our few men became visible, and the column in the act of sur- 
 rendering, changed their mind, and drove our boys off, with a 
 severe wound inflicted on Willie Jett, the same who afterwards 
 figured in the discovery and death of J. Wilkes Booth. 
 
 No other troops having fresh horses coming at this juncture 
 to our aid, the parties pursued by us, with General Kautz and 
 Colonel Samuel Spear leading them, made good their escape. 
 
 The prisoners who had fallen into our hands with their horses 
 and equipments were more than we could well manage. With a 
 detail of men I undertook to get them together and march them 
 back. An officer among them wore a handsome pair of cavalry 
 boots, which one of our men proposed to have him exchange for 
 his well-worn shoes ; but I checked him, insisting that a prisoner's 
 personal belongings must not be taken from him. As this officer 
 marched back on foot, sundry women's lace collars and other 
 articles, which had been taken from a Lunenburg home, fell to 
 the ground from beneath his coat. Seeing this, I called the man 
 who wanted his fine boots, and withdrew all objection to his tak- 
 ing them. Very many of the prisoners, it was found, were con- 
 cealing on their persons jewelry and other valuable articles taken 
 from private homes which had been robbed. 
 
178 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 Wilson, with the larger part of his force, after the encounter 
 with Mahone and Fitz Lee, hastened in disorder and route 
 towards Jarratt's station and the Nottoway River in a wide de- 
 tour. Kautz's division became separated from Wilson's in a 
 manner thus stated by him: "Our expedition was very success- 
 ful until this afternoon, when we were surrounded and over- 
 powered, and had to abandon our transportation, wounded and 
 prisoners. I escaped with my division by taking it through the 
 woods and charging across the railroad." Nearly one thousand 
 of Wilson's men followed Kautz in this endeavor to escape 
 "through the woods," and their escape was a narrow one, and 
 with heavy loss, as has been shown. 
 
 For several days, Wilson in pursuing the long route chosen for 
 escape was out of communication with the Federal commanders, 
 and in army circles gravest apprehensions were felt for his cap- 
 ture. Grant telegraphed to Washington : "Kautz, with his cav- 
 alry and a portion of Wilson's, succeeded in passing the enemy 
 and getting in, but with the loss of his artillery and wagons. 
 Wilson, with most of his command, was cut off and is supposed 
 to have gone back south. Immediately on receipt of news that 
 Wilson was returning. General Meade sent Wright's corps to 
 aid him. Sheridan was also ordered to join him." 
 
 Kautz was ordered to accompany Sheridan, but informed 
 General Meade: "My command is in no condition to do any- 
 thing: the main cause of our rout was the worn-out condition of 
 the men. Men and horses have had nothing to eat for forty- 
 eight hours, and they are exhausted from loss of sleep. If Wil- 
 son cannot extricate himself we can do nothing more for him." 
 
 The suspense as to Wilson and his men in army circles was re- 
 lieved on the night of July ist", when a dispatch was received by 
 Grant from Lieutenant Miles G. Carter, of the prevost guard, 
 saying: "I have the honor to forward inclosed a dispatch from 
 General Wilson. I sent a portion of my guard . . . which 
 met the division along the stage road this side of Cabin Point. 
 General Wilson, having no horses in condition to carry this dis- 
 patch, requested me to forward it to general headquarters." 
 
 The message inclosed from Wilson stated: "Having sent an 
 officer via Powhatan and City Point to communicate with you, 
 I have delayed in sending in a written report till I could get 
 some sleep." 
 
Wilsons Raid 179 
 
 General Grant took the rough experience of Wilson philo- 
 sophically, having wired Meade on July ist, *'Will it not be 
 well to send orders for Sheridan to return, now that Wilson is 
 heard from. I regret the disaster, but the work done by Wilson 
 and his cavalry is of great importance. I understand from 
 Kautz's description that it will take the enemy several weeks 
 to repair the damage done the Southside and Danville roads." 
 
 The emptying of revolvers into the rear of Kautz's routed 
 column, mentioned above, as we gave them chase, must have been 
 seriously effective, since in many cases our men were almost 
 touching those at whom they fired. On the day following, when 
 these men had gone within the Federal lines, the surgeon-in-chief 
 of Kautz's Division made requisition on General Butler's medi- 
 cal director ''for ten ambulances at Cabin Point, Va., for the 
 transportation of the wounded of Kautz's Cavalry Division." 
 
 Three days after Wilson's return to within the Federal lines, 
 General Meade sent him the following communication through 
 his assstant adjutant-general: "General, I am directed by the 
 major-general commanding to invite your attention to the edi- 
 torial article in the Richmond Examiner of the 2nd instant (copy 
 herewith) commenting upon your recent expediton. The com- 
 manding general cannot believe that the statements of the article 
 are well founded, but, as the cases of alleged depredations are in 
 several instances cited with particularity, he deems it due to you 
 as the commander of the expedition that you should be made ac- 
 quainted with the serious charges against its management, set 
 forth in the article in question, and be allowed an opportunity of 
 denying them; and he also desires your report, so that he may 
 be able to promptly answer any official call that may be made 
 upon him for information touching the allegations, should the 
 matter hereafter be brought to his notice. . . . The com- 
 manding general wishes you to have at once a thorough inspec- 
 tion made of your command, with a view of ascertaining wheth- 
 er any of the officers or men have in their possession any plate, 
 watches, etc., taken under the circumstances mentioned in the 
 editorial." 
 
 If such an inspection was made, as the honorable and manly 
 instincts of General Meade prompted him to order, and no such 
 private and personal property as is named was found, it simply 
 
l8o A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 shows that the followers of Wilson and Kautz who escaped 
 stood in singular contrast with their comrades whom we cap- 
 tured. 
 
CHAPTER XXIX 
 
 THE BATTLE AT REAMS STATION 
 
 npHE following letter written on the day after the events to 
 '■' which it relates describes the part taken by a portion of 
 Hampton's cavalry in the severe engagement at Reams Station 
 on the 26th of August, 1864. 
 
 "Tabernacle Church, Dinwiddie Co., Va., 
 
 "Aug. 27, '64. 
 "My Dearest Mother: 
 
 "I reached this meeting house last night at the hour of twelve 
 from the battle field amidst the severest storm of thunder, rain, 
 and lightning that I have witnessed during my life. The storm 
 was terribly grand, excelling the sublimity (if that be the word 
 to use) of the awful cannonade which had been shaking the 
 earth beneath us for several hours during the preceding after- 
 noon. 
 
 "Yesterday morning, our slumber was broken in upon (for 
 the ninth night) by the boot-and-saddle call several hours before 
 day and sleepy and hungry we rose from our damp couches and 
 before breakfast had arrived we had passed our outpost pickets 
 and were dismounted and deployed in close proximity to the 
 enemy. 
 
 "We were moving to attack the extreme southern end of 
 Grant's army. A. P. Hill was moving with his infantry against 
 his works three or four miles above us, near Reams Station, 
 and we were making a diversion in that General's favor. 
 
 "The shot from the enemy's picket whizzed close by me, and 
 was the signal for our line to spring forward on the charge. 
 Through a swamp, with our steps impeded by briers, miry places, 
 dead timber, thick underbrush and huckleberry bushes, we moved 
 not 'silent as the breeze' nor 'dreadful as the storm,' but still we 
 moved, and by discharging our carbines as fast as we could, soon 
 cleared our front and gained a position far in advance of our line 
 on the right of us. Then we halted for the line to be moved up. 
 From the rapidity of the firing in that quarter, we perceived 
 that the enemy was massed against our right wing, and that we 
 
 181 
 
l82 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in hees Army 
 
 on the left were now unresisted ; accordingly we advanced rapid- 
 ly until we reached a line beyond that of the enemy, and then 
 swung around from left to right, thus threatening the Yankees' 
 rear just at the moment our right squadrons drove them from 
 their works. As the enemy ran, you may know, we let them 
 have it. Several killed and more wounded fell at this point, and 
 about a company were taken as prisoners ; a few horses were cap- 
 tured, and sixteen shooting rifles, with ammunition — more than 
 enough to supply a full platoon. 
 
 "After this the Yankee cavalry, much of which could be seen 
 in front of us retired without exposing their persons to 'rebel' 
 bullets. We had a brief chance at about a brigade of them, 
 however, who chose to hide themselves in faster than quick time 
 as'soon as we commenced firing. 
 
 "When the cavalry cleared away we discovered that we were 
 confronting the enemy's infantry, and soon a long line of these 
 'horned cattle' were seen moving directly towards us. Up to 
 this time only four squadrons of our regiment had been engaged; 
 now the remainnder of the brigade and another regiment were 
 thrown in. This line, extending entirely across the open fields 
 and into the woods on each side, quickly began to remove fences, 
 logs, etc., and to prepare a line of fortifications for shelter. 
 Against this the Yankees made no serious attack, and for several 
 hours we were kept frowning, perspiring, burning, beneath the 
 powerful rays of an extremely hot sun. 
 
 "Finally, about twelve o'clock, the enemy showed signs of ad- 
 vancing, and as it would the better enable our commanders to 
 succeed in their flank movement, it was deemed proper to with- 
 draw our line to another position which had been more securely 
 fortified. We moved back, getting a heavy fire as we did so, and 
 established our second line as the enemy poured into the works 
 which we had vacated. In this position, we enjoyed the breeze 
 of a hill, the cool shade of trees, the refreshing water of a neigh- 
 boring well, and the contents of a cider cask, found in a house 
 adjacent. As the Yankee shells had ceased to come close and 
 their bullets were less frequent, time with us passed decidedly 
 more agreeably. 
 
 "The mid-day hour had been passed by two hours, perhaps, 
 while our generals were spying with their glasses and listening 
 anxiously as though they were looking for developments that 
 
The Battle at Reams Station 183 
 
 ought to have taken place before, when, suddenly the boom of 
 artillery was heard far back in rear of the Yankees, and the in- 
 distinct sound of cheers was borne to us upon the breeze, which 
 having sprung up half an hour before, now greatly cooled the 
 atmosphere. 
 
 " 'Forward' was soon shouted to our skirmishers, but before 
 one of them had moved a foot, the entire line of Yankees had be- 
 come supple at the trot. Our mounted men and artillery went 
 forward at a pace with which we could not compete, and soon 
 the voice of battle waxed loud in our front. Our horses were 
 ordered to be brought up. The signs that hot work was going 
 on in front soon became numerous, as various squads of prisoners 
 came back, and wounded men and troopers carrying their saddles 
 on their backs. 
 
 *'We kept on — passed our artillery — went into the thick 
 woods, came up with and went by the skirmish line, reached a 
 position where the Yankee bullets were whistling, then halted 
 and advanced another skirmish line. Here we gathered logs, 
 etc., to protect our position, when it was said the Yankees were 
 enfilading us, and we moved back into the thick woods and forti- 
 fied our position again. From this line, we were soon moved 
 again, but did not go far before we were ordered to lie down 
 without any shelter. During nearly the entire afternoon there 
 had been firing on our right and left and artillery firing in front 
 and rear — Yankees in front, and our guns in rear. These had 
 almost ceased now, except that a rattle of small arms was kept 
 up on the left, and now and then a Yankee gun barked like an 
 angry dog. 
 
 "Whilst lying down at rest, we were disturbed once or twice 
 for the purpose of a better alignment, as several additional bodies 
 of men were brought into the line. Finally, we were 'fixed 
 right,' as was said, and we lay down again. The sun was red 
 and shone through the tops of distant trees on our wearied forms 
 prostrate upon the ground, weak and worn from hunger, excite- 
 ment, and labor. We were stiff, and some were saying *I can- 
 not hold out to walk far to our horses.' We thought our fight- 
 ing was over and that we ought to be relieved. Soon we were 
 startled by the instantaneous discharge of many capnons and the 
 clear, ringing cheers of ten thousand throats that rose from the 
 dense woods directly ahead of us, with deafening noise. Amid 
 
184 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 the tumultuous noises we could discover the rattle of many mus- 
 kets, and we imagined the veteran regiments of Mahone, Heth, 
 Hoke, etc., were bearing down on the enemy's rear and forcing 
 them back on us. We became considerably excited, and for the 
 moment, quite forgot our weariness. For an hour, the roar of 
 battle continued with greater or less intensity, and we strove to 
 discover how the conflict was going, now thinking that Southern 
 arms were sweeping the enemy's works clean, and then, as the 
 cheering rose higher and clearer, that our line had recoiled be- 
 for the well known strength of the Yankees' position. It was 
 generally believed we were driving them, though, and this belief 
 was soon strengthened by our line being ordered to advance. 
 
 "The sun was scarcely a half hour high when our men moved 
 off with orders to 'be slow on the left and fast on the right,' with 
 the added promise, then 'you'll bag them.' 
 
 "Never marched men over worse ground than we on this oc- 
 casion. For fifty yards at times my feet did not touch the 
 ground. We had to walk over felled trees or crouch down to get 
 through them. No man seemed to think of danger. We were 
 all zeal and enthusiasm. No doubt, it was supposed the Yankees 
 were whipped and we had nothing to do but catch them. 
 
 "After passing up and down several hills, through much up- 
 right and felled timber and one boggy ravine, we began ascend- 
 ing ground that rose gently from the base of the hill, tearing 
 ourselves as best we could through the thick abattis of fallen 
 trees and bushes, till we came in full view of the enemy's earth- 
 works, frowning on the hill-tops, scarcely fifty yards off. For 
 them we made, firing and cheering. I have little recollection 
 whether the Yankees' fire was heavy here or not. Very soon 
 our men were at the works, on them, and in them. The Yan- 
 kees to our left surrendered down the whole of the line. Those 
 on the right poured volley after volley into our ranks. We were 
 pretty well protected by the cross defenses which they had 
 thrown up against an enfilading fire. We cheered and fired. 
 The Yankees were now flanked, they saw; the Rebels were in 
 their works and they began to falter. * * * Now the 
 right of our line which had been delayed by the difficult nature 
 of the ground on which they moved, opened a hot fire upon the 
 earthworks, and we who in the works leaped up and charged. 
 The enemy surrendered for a hundred yards at a time, many of 
 
The Battle at Reams Station 185 
 
 them running towards us empty-handed, appealing for mercy. 
 As fast as we could, we rushed on until not an armed foe re- 
 mained in the works. Many of those who had fled rallying 
 around their artillery in reserve at the edge of some woods, con- 
 tinued to fire. We tore down their captured colors, and cheer- 
 ing around our own, waved them triumphantly. 
 
 "I had ventured with a party of our men very near the woods, 
 hoping to take possession of a small earthwork and the Yankees 
 who were cowering in it, fully expecting that our men would 
 push on and take the Yankee artillery, several pieces of which 
 were already deserted. The fire from the woods, however, be- 
 came so serious that most of our men stopped behind the cap- 
 tured works. 
 
 "Colonel Roberts, of the Second North Carolina Cavalry, or- 
 dered me, with the men in advance, to fall back to where he was. 
 It was a moment of hesitation, as I feared being shot either by 
 the Yankees or by our own men. I started and reached the ram- 
 part in safety, but just as I was in the act of leaping over it, a 
 minnie ball struck me on the right hip and I fell into the ditch, 
 supposing from the shock and pain that I was badly hurt. A 
 soldier helped me up, though, and I hobbled off. The pain soon 
 subsided, and when I stopped in a place out of danger and ex- 
 amined the wound, I found the bullet had struck the copper 
 mountings of my belt and merely bruised me. 
 
 "The fight subsided at once, and our men came out, having 
 captured over 1,200 prisoners and secured much plunder. As I 
 came out I met father, whose fine horse, 'Blue Devil,' had been 
 shot in the head. Gouldin, of Company C, is among those killed. 
 A fine fellow he was — in the bloom of youth. Our regiment lost 
 heavily in men, and particularly in the worth of those injured. 
 For these our hearts are pained. We dealt a good blow for our 
 army, and God blessed us with a victory of which we are proud. 
 We are all well. May the Lord keep you from harm is my 
 prayer ! 
 
 "Affectionately, your son, 
 
 "G. W. B." 
 
 The battle described in part in the above letter was fought by 
 General Hancock's corps re-enforced with Mott's and Gibbon's 
 divisions, and Gregg's and Kautz's cavalry, on the one side and 
 Cook's and McRae's N. C. brigades, under Gen. Heth, and 
 
i86 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 Lane's N. C. brigade under Brig. General Conner, Pegram's 
 battery and Hampton's cavalry under that General on the other. 
 The Federal position was in the vicinity of Reams Station, about 
 ten miles south of Petersburg on the railroad leading to Weldon, 
 and was protected on three sides by formidable earthworks breast 
 high, guarded at intervals by transverse works as protection 
 against an enfilading fire. In front of these strongly fortified 
 lines were rifle-pits for the protection of the skirmish line. Where 
 there chanced to be woods near these works, the trees had been 
 felled and dense abattis formed. A glance at the situation was 
 enough to satisfy one that it meant desperate and bloody work 
 to drive Hancock from his position. 
 
 Several circumstances were favorable to the Confederates in 
 making their attack. One was that the rise in the ground oc- 
 cupied by a part of Gibbon's division offered a fine opportunity 
 to the southern artillery to play on the men there and drive them 
 from the works. Another was the fact that many of Gibbon's 
 men were bounty jumpers from Europe who had landed in New 
 York only two weeks previously. Another important considera- 
 tion helpful to the Confederates was a field of growing corn in 
 front of a long line of the Federal troops, under cover of which 
 a part of Hill's men could advance very near the works before 
 being discovered. 
 
 When the combined charge of the Southern infantry and cav- 
 alry was made late in the afternoon its desperate nature recalled 
 to General Hancock as he states in his report, the terrific scenes 
 which he had witnessed at the "Bloody Angel" in Spottsylvania. 
 
 Captain Brown, commanding batteries A and B, Rhode Isl- 
 and Light Artillery, whose guns were defending the works, de- 
 clared of the Confederate infantry's assault "they came en masse, 
 and with as reckless determination as was ever seen. The in- 
 fantry line gave way on the right. They jumped onto the re- 
 doubts, and even pulled the men over them seizing them while 
 standing at their posts." 
 
 Another Union artillerist engaged against this assault said: 
 "The rebel sharpshooters, from their position in the corn field 
 had full range of the horses attached to our limbers and rapidly 
 shot them down until not one remained unhurt on either limber, 
 many receiving five or six bullets before they fell." 
 
 However glad we were to capture the guns it was one of the 
 
The Battle at Reams Station 187 
 
 sad and impressive sights of war — that of the eight abandoned 
 cannon and limbers, and near by the dead forms of the horses 
 which had been hitched to them all fallen in their tracks with 
 their harness on them, and lying within a few paces of each 
 other. 
 
 After the Confederate infantry on one side and cavalry on 
 the other had stormed the works, much of the Federal force was 
 in rapid and disorganized retreat, and as darkness settled down 
 on the scene the last of them began to retire. 
 
 A messenger under flag of truce to General Hampton from 
 General Hancock the following day asked the privilege of send- 
 ing in a party to bury his dead. Hampton replied that he was 
 having the work done himself and declined the proposal. 
 
 The deep ditch or trench beside the breastworks was used 
 for the reception of the dead bodies, and these having been laid 
 in it were covered with earth, thus ofEering a melancholy il- 
 lustration of how often brave men in making works for their 
 protection literally dig their own graves. 
 
f CHAPTER XXX 
 
 CAVALRY BATTLE ON THE BOYDTON PLANK ROAD, OCTOBER 
 
 27, 1864 
 
 npHE hot cavalry engagement referred to in the accompanying 
 -■• extracts from letters written from the army, less than two 
 days after its occurrence, was conducted by Major-General 
 Wade Hampton on one side and Major-General D. McD. 
 Gregg on the other, and took place on the Boydton Plank Road, 
 in Dinwiddie County, October 27, 1864. 
 
 The statement in the letter signed "Dick" that ''the enemy 
 had penetrated our cavalry line before we knew it," is explained 
 by the capture of Major Venable, of General Hampton's staff, 
 who bore at the time, an important message. Of this General 
 Hampton wrote: "I had previously ordered Bearing to bring his 
 brigade from the trenches on the north side of Hatcher's Run, 
 and to take position on the Plank Road. General Hill thought 
 Dearing could not be withdrawn from the position he held, and 
 notice of this was sent to me by Major Venable of my staff, who 
 had borne the orders to Dearing from me. He was captured on 
 his return, and thus I was left in ignorance that a very important 
 position was open. The enemy advanced in the very direction 
 that was unguarded, and the first intimation I had of this fact, 
 was his presence on the Plank Road in my rear." 
 
 In the disposition which Hampton made to meet the dangers 
 which now confronted him, it was arraigned that W. H. F. Lee, 
 with his division, should make an attack on the Plank Road, 
 while Hampton's other troops co-operated in another quarter. 
 "While Butler," Hampton wrote, "was attacking on the White 
 Oak Road. Lee struck the enemy on the Plank Road, and drove 
 him handsomely." 
 
 Of the attack by Lee, General Gregg reported: "The regi- 
 ment on the left had just about struck the enemy's skirmishers, 
 when heavy firing was heard in the rear on the Plank Road. Re- 
 pairing to this point, I found the enemy's cavalry dismounted at- 
 tacking strongly, aided by the fire of four rifled guns. * * * 
 The attack of the enemy was very determined, and made in large 
 
Cavalry Battle on the Boydton Plank Road 189 
 
 force. * * * At 10,30 P. M., the division began moving 
 by the road upon which it had advanced in the morning." 
 
 Of this nocturnal retreat, Hampton informed General Lee: 
 **We had driven him on all the roads, and he was massed in the 
 field around the houses of Bond and Burgess. The night having 
 grown very dark and a heavy rain coming on, I was forced to 
 pause in my attack. * * * In the morning, the enemy was 
 found to have retired from the field, leaving his dead and many 
 wounded in my hands. 
 
 ''The enemy left in his retreat several caissons, three ambu- 
 lances, binders, many small arms and accoutrements. We cap- 
 tured two hundred and thirty-nine prisoners, besides the wound- 
 ed, of which there was a large number. My command behaved 
 well, and I have again to express my pride in their good con- 
 duct." 
 
 It is to be regretted that the report of this affair by General 
 W. H. F. Lee has not been preserved, though referred to by 
 General Hampton. Of the cavalry in this action General R. E. 
 Lee wrote: "In a letter to General Hill to-day, I expressed m)' 
 gratification at the conduct of the troops in general, and of the 
 cavalry in particular." 
 
 Now follow the letters before mentioned, one from my broth- 
 er Dick, the other from my own hand : 
 
 "Camp Near Dinwiddie Courthouse, 
 
 October ii, 1864. 
 
 "Dearest M. — Thankful I am again to be permitted to write 
 to you to inform you that we have again been spared, and arc 
 still enjoying our usual good health. Since last writing to you 
 we have been engaged in another fearful battle, and as usual, 
 our company has been a heavy sufferer. 
 
 "A few days ago, the enemy advanced along their whole line, 
 and had penetrated our cavalry line before we knew it. We 
 quickly saddled up however, and moved around on the Plank 
 Road to meet him. About four P. M., on Thursday, we were 
 dismounted and thrown on either side of that road, and ordered 
 to advance on the enemy. This we did, and soon met his ad- 
 vance. From that time, until nine o'clock at night, the battle 
 raged fiercely, and although we drove the enemy from every po- 
 sition, we lost heavily. 
 
 "Our company lost two of its noblest members — Bush Beale 
 
I90 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 • 
 and John Brown. A minnie ball struck poor Bush in the left 
 ear and lodged in the brain. He died instantly without a groan. 
 
 "John Brown was shot through the head, and never spoke. 
 Our wounded are Lieutenant Lai Washington, (badly), W. M. 
 Walker (dangerously), Fred Wheelwright (badly), Ed Porter 
 (slightly), Eugene Battle (slightly). 
 
 "After the fight I brought poor Bush off the field, dressed him 
 and buried him. He was one of my best friends, and no one's 
 death among our men has caused me so much sorrow. He died 
 as he lived, nobly doing his duty. 
 
 "Brother W. was not in the fight, on account of a painful 
 sore on his leg. Claybrook and I went through the whole affair, 
 he receiving a bullet through his breeches' leg, and I one through 
 my haversack. Father commanded the brigade, and the officers 
 say handled it nobly. 
 
 "Heartily, 
 
 "DICK." 
 
 In the other letter of similar date to that of the one above, 
 mention is made of the soldiers particularly named as skilled, as 
 also of others either wounded or killed as follows: "Bushrod 
 Beale was killed instantly. You know how I admired, how I 
 loved him. No truer or more gallant soldier fills a hero's grave. 
 He is gone — his mirth and spirit and life are gone, and I shall 
 look in vain for his coming ; look in vain to hear his merry laugh, 
 and catch the glance of his warm, bright eye ; his memory is all 
 that remains, but it is cherished fondly. Another noble soldier, 
 pierced in the temple, is gone, leaving a void in our company to 
 be wept over by every one that cherishes genuine worth and ap- 
 preciates and admires the qualities that ennoble the soldier — I 
 mean John N. Brown. Three lieutenants are wounded in the 
 Ninth Regiment, among them Lieutenant Washington, who is 
 in danger of losing an arm, twenty fragments of bone having 
 been already extracted. Willie Walker was very badly wounded, 
 the ball having passed through both legs. As he was not well 
 of a wound received nearly three years ago, I am fearful as to his 
 recovery. Our flag bearer was shot twice. The last time the 
 ball passed through his head, killing him instantly. Two men 
 were wounded in the Richmond County Cavalry, and one killed 
 Captain J. Van Holt Nash and Captain Boiling, of our brigade 
 staff, were both wounded, the latter fatally." 
 
Cavalry Battle on the Boydton Plank Road 191 
 
 The two staff officers mentioned in these letters — Nash and 
 Boiling — were gallant men, courteous and polite in their man- 
 ner, and chivalrous and dashing in battle. Boiling was from 
 Maryland, and a worthy associate of the many devoted and 
 dauntless men from that state who came to do service under our 
 flag. 
 
 The flag-bearer of our regiment, Elijah Williams, of the Lan- 
 caster troop, had on a previous occasion met with a desperate 
 wound in which the bullet having struck a brass button on his 
 coat, drove the button through his body. From this wound he 
 fully recovered, but on this bloody field he was stricken down, 
 and ended his life which had been no less marked by piety and 
 prayer than by devotion to duty and daring in battle. 
 
CHAPTER XXXI 
 
 GENERAL WADE HAMPTON AND HIS FINE MANAGEMENT OF A 
 RAID AFTER CATTLE IN SEPTEMBER, 1 864 
 
 M 
 
 Y first knowledge of Wade Hampton was gained through 
 a copy of Frank Forester's "Field Sports of North Ameri- 
 ca," the dedicatory line of which was somewhat as follows: **To 
 Colonel Wade Hampton, of 'The Cedars,' South Carolina, the 
 greatest sportsman in all the land," I had learned of his passion- 
 ate fondness for the chase, of his equestrian skill, and of his dex- 
 trous art in drawing the shy trout from the mountain brook, be- 
 fore the pleasure had come to me of seeing him. I had learned, 
 too, of the free and patriotic use which he had made of his pri- 
 vate means in equipping for service the Hampton Legion, which 
 he led into the field in 1861. 
 
 When, at length, I saw him, he was attired in the uniform of 
 a Confederate colonel of cavalry, and was mounted on a finely- 
 bred horse of noble carriage and action. He was in the early 
 prime of healthful and vigorous manhood. His figure was tall 
 and splendidly proportioned. His forehead w^as broad and high, 
 his hair black, and his beard moderately long and thick, with a 
 heavy mustache curling gracefully about the corners of his lips. 
 His form and bearing on horseback were commanding and grace- 
 ful, and his easy management of his steed showed him a superb 
 master of the situation. Taken altogether he was a military 
 figure to arrest attention and command admiration. 
 
 In the grand review of the cavalry of the Army of Northern 
 Virginia on the eighth of June, 1863, held at Brandy Station, in 
 Culpeper, Generals, R. E. Lee, Stuart, Hampton, Fitz Lee and 
 other generals, galloped down in front of the long ranks of 
 horsemen in gray, receiving the salute of the thousands of up- 
 raised sabres. The magnificent bearing of those trained horse- 
 men, as their plumes rose and fell in the gallop, was a sight never 
 to be forgotten by the men who witnessed it. Hampton appeared 
 to splendid advantage, and to hundreds of young and admiring 
 soldiers he seemed the beau ideal of Southern grace and chivalry. 
 Later in the day, his artillery was unlimbered on an eminence as 
 
 192 
 
Gen. Hampton and His Fine Management of a Raid 193 
 
 if in readiness for action, and soon he might be seen leading his 
 regiments in a sham charge against the thundering guns. Horse- 
 men must have been timid and laggard indeed not to have felt 
 the stimulus and inspiration of his dash and gestures as he gal- 
 loped forward into the smoke of the guns. 
 
 But a few weeks later I saw him leading his division into 
 action at Gettysburg. It was on the afternoon of the third and 
 decisive day of that sanguinary struggle. The divisions of Fitz 
 Lee and William H. F. Lee had been desperately engaged in 
 charges and hand-to-hand combat, and the latter, much broken 
 and disorganized, were falling back, hotly pressed by fresh and 
 exultant regiments in blue. A large barn was a conspicuous 
 mark in the line occupied by our dismounted regiments, and the 
 Federals had reached this point, threatening to capture the whole 
 body of dismounted men, when Hampton came into view at the 
 head of his column. For a time as he dashed toward the barn, 
 he held the colors in his right hand, and his men responded to his 
 intrepid action with a mighty yell. Just as he closed in on the 
 foe, he passed the flag back to its bearer at his side, and his 
 bloody work began. A few minutes later he was brought back 
 bleeding in limb and face, with an ugly gash across his brow. But 
 he had saved the day on that part of the field. 
 
 General Hampton was a soldier of consummate daring and 
 prowess, and yet as cautious and prudent as he was brave. He 
 looked unceasingly and well to the care of his men and horses, 
 but expected them to answer to his own stern and unsparing 
 sense of duty when the hour came to fight. The battles of Tre- 
 villians, of Nance's Shop, and of Reams Station all stamp him 
 as a stubborn and desperate fighter. No more formidable breast- 
 works were successfully assaulted in Virginia probably than 
 those over which Hampton's men, dismounted as infantry, climb- 
 ed in the two latter engagements. 
 
 No cooler man in the heat and rush of mortal combat per- 
 haps ever wielded a sword than Wade Hampton. No tone of 
 voice or change of countenance in him betrayed excitement in 
 the most critical moments. On the morning after the hard 
 night's encounter at Rowanty, in the effort to intercept Wilson's 
 raiders, as he rode along in the midst of troops, who were moving 
 in a densely-wooded country, a column of the enemy suddenly 
 dashed up to the road-side from an obscure road leading through 
 
194 ^ Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 the woods. They were within a few feet of the general before 
 a weapon could be drawn. He faced the situation with imper- 
 turbable coolness and his command, "Unlimber that gun," rang 
 out clear as a bugle-note. 
 
 General Hampton was not an officer of military training. He 
 owed nothing to West Point or other schools for the discipline 
 of soldiers. He was rather a soldier by inheritance and natural 
 aptitude. Like Forrest, he seemed to know by instinct when and 
 how to strike. His plans and movements were not always ac- 
 cording to the accepted rules of strategy. Sometimes his plan 
 was criticized as against the canons recognized in high military 
 circles. His movement around Grant's lines with the greater 
 part of the cavalry of Lee's army, and the capture of over 2,400 
 beeves in September, 1864, was notably a case in point. Yet, 
 like most of the operations which he conducted, it was brilliantly 
 successful. That affair justly commended Hampton to the es- 
 teem of the hungry infantry in the lines before Petersburg, 
 whose rations of beef had grown scarce. I am enabled to give 
 an account of the enterprise as given in a private letter by one 
 who shared in the march a few days after it occurred. It is as 
 follows: 
 
 "Camp Ninth Virginia Cavalry 
 "On Cat-Tail Creek, Dinwiddie Co., Va., 
 
 "September 19, 1864. 
 
 "My dear mother: * * * General Hampton's visit to 
 Prince George county was a bold and audacious affair. The 
 Yankees were grazing several thousand fine beef cattle imme- 
 diately in rear of the extreme right of their army, guarding them 
 by three or four regiments of cavalry. For sake of getting these, 
 General Hampton could not resist the temptation. Accordingly, 
 he issued orders to his subordinate commanders to prepare a de- 
 tail of picked men for the purpose of making the trial of bring- 
 ing them out. These orders were subsequently altered so as to 
 include every available man. 
 
 "We started on Tuesday. As we had to pass around the left 
 wing of the Federal army and down behind their entire line, it 
 was well known that they would find out our designs in time to 
 cut off our Tetreat ; cons^uently. Generals Young and Butler 
 were left near the threatened point of intcrceptiQ© to keep our 
 
Gen. Hampton and His Fine Management of a Raid 195 
 
 road open. We — W. H. F. Lee and Rosser's commands — went 
 on our journey. 
 
 *'We reached a point late in the afternoon from which we 
 could easily strike the Yankees at daylight by a three hours' 
 march. This was on Thursday. We went into camp, unsad- 
 dled and rested until late at night, then quietly mounted and 
 moved towards the cattle pound. Lee's orders were to move 
 with his two brigades on a road between the Yankee army and 
 their cattle, and hold the roads until Rosser secured and drove 
 away the beeves. This we did. 
 
 "The firing of Rosser's men was heard before light, and im- 
 mediately on hearing the sound, our brigade charged down the 
 main road which we were to hold, guarded by only a squadron 
 or so of the enemy. These unsuspecting creatures, though 
 warned of our approach by the firing below, had barely time to 
 escape, and that without waiting to put on their clothing. Their 
 tents, many horses, clothing and camp equipage, fell int:o the 
 hands of us eager adventurers. 
 
 "About twenty-five prisoners were secured at this point, chief- 
 ly of the First District of Columbia Cavalry, those 'pet lambs,' 
 armed with sixteenshooters given them by the loyal women of 
 Washington and Georgetown. 
 
 "General Rosser met with complete success, taking nearly a 
 hundred prisoners, their camp appurtenances, three hundred 
 horses and equipments, eleven wagons loaded with valuable sup- 
 plies, and what was especially desired, 2,485 fine beef cattle, only 
 fifty-three of which escaped on our return. 
 
 "Long before we reached a point of safety coming back, wc 
 learned that the enemy had possession of the road over which we 
 were to pass, and that he intended to recover his beeves if possi- 
 ble. We made haste to reach him, sometimes at a trot, some- 
 times at a gallop, for fifteen miles, and at full speed came into 
 line of battle just as the sun went down. The enemy was lav- 
 ishing profuse attentions upon us in the way of solid shot and 
 shells ; but we faced him resolutely and sent back screaming and 
 glittering like meteors at night shot for shot, seemingly to say: 
 'Come take your beeves if you can.' 
 
 "General Gregg, the Yankee commander, acted timidly and 
 badly, we thought, considering that we had his brother, Captain 
 Gregg, a prisoner in our hands. We had not fought more than 
 
196 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 • 
 forty minutes before he became silent, and withdrew, as if he 
 said : 'Hampton, I'll have nothing to do with such a man. You 
 steal my cattle and then beat me when I come to get them back.' 
 
 "We did not move away until our cattle got well ahead, and 
 by twelve o'clock that night were unsaddled in bivouac, on this 
 side of Rowanty creek, inside of our picket line. 
 
 **Our casualties were very slight. None killed in Chambliss's 
 brigade, and but two or three wounded. Rosser lost several 
 killed and had several wounded. Barringer and Dearing lost 
 none. One horse in my company — that of Bugler Courtney — 
 was abandoned, and will, I fear, be lost. 
 
 "* * * Your loving son, 
 
 "W." 
 
 In the twilight engagement with Gregg mentioned in the 
 above letter. General Hampton rode down in front of the line, 
 making inquiries, and giving words of cheer. His moving figure 
 could be seen against the crimson sky from which the sun had 
 just disappeared. The guns were flashing front of him, and be- 
 hind him, and the meteor-like shells were passing overhead. Such 
 was the scene on which fell the curtain of night. It was a scene 
 typical of the picturesque and historic Hampton, who moved 
 securely amidst the fire of battle and whose figure is set ol¥ in 
 the mellow glow of the patriotic and valorous deeds which have 
 made his name immortal. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII 
 
 RECOLLECTIONS OF THE BATTLE OF HATCHEr's RUN, FEBRUARY 
 
 6, 1865 
 
 H 
 
 ATCHER'S Run is a small tributary of Rowanty Creek, 
 in Dinwiddie County, flowing from northwest to southeast, 
 a few miles from Petersburg. It is to be seen indicated on few, 
 if any, maps of Virginia. It, however, assumed no little promi- 
 nence in the operations of the armies under Grant and Lee, dur- 
 ing the closing months of the siege of Petersburg. 
 
 Along its course, many lines of riflepits were constructed and 
 many intrenched positions taken by both armies. The custo- 
 mary quietude and silence of the vales and hills beside it were, in 
 consequence, often broken and caused to respond with the roar 
 of cannon and the rattle of musketry. Its fields of conflict wit- 
 nessed a number of desperate encounters, successful stormings of 
 fortifications and bloody repulses. 
 
 Pursuant to Grant's policy to turn the right and gain the rear 
 of Lee's position, a formidable advance was made on this part 
 oi the Federal line on February 6, 1865, under Major-General 
 Warren, commanding the Fifth Army Corps. The divisions en- 
 gaged in the movement were : Ayres's, Griffin's, Crawford's and 
 Gregg's (cavalry). 
 
 Of the crossing of the run General Warren reported : ''The 
 stream was about sixty feet wide and could not be forded by men 
 or horses, but trees were soon cut for the men to scramble over. 
 The horses were able to cross on a bridge we made for them 
 about one P. M." On the day following, Warren, having made 
 his dispositions, and effected a junction with the Second Corps on 
 his right, proceeded as he had been directed, to feel the enemy. 
 Very soon he found, after driving the Confederates back for a 
 time, that the firing continued to grow constant and severe, and 
 compelled him to bring up the Third Brigade of Griffin's Divi- 
 sion and to put it all with General Ayres's to hold his left. "Un- 
 fortunately," he says, of his situation in this battle, "the enemy 
 got up reinforcements faster than I could, and when a brigade of 
 General Wheaton's division was nearing the scene of action a 
 
 197 
 
198 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 * 
 charge was made by the enemy in a force against which I had but 
 six brigades opposed. Our line," he continues, "despite all the 
 exertions of the prominent officers, and much good conduct 
 among those in the ranks, gave way and fell back rapidly." 
 
 • Major-General Wheaton, in relating the part taken by his di- 
 vision in this action, says: "When three-quarters of a mile from 
 the run, at about 5.30 P. M., the stragglers from the Third Di- 
 vision, Fifth Corps, increased to such a number, and the changes 
 in the sound of the firing indicating to me some misfortune to 
 that division, I immediately ordered the Second Brigade into 
 line, which was but partially effected, when the mass of the 
 troops in front came rushing through the dense woods and quite 
 over us, and it was with the greatest difficulty that the line could 
 be formed, so obstructed was it by the fugitives, who were deaf 
 to every entreaty of myself and staff. Squads, companies and reg- 
 iments went rapidly to the rear, despite our greatest efforts to 
 halt them. During this confusion, I was informed that the line 
 to the right had broken irreparably." 
 
 In the earlier stages of this day's (February 6th) fighting 
 Pegram's Confederate Division was opposed by superior num- 
 bers and forced back, its gallant commander having been killed. 
 Later Evans's Division came to the support of Pegram's men, 
 and still later Mahone's Division arrived, and the Federals were 
 driven back with much confusion in their ranks. 
 
 General W. H. F. Lee's Division of cavalry marched, on the 
 night of the fifth, forty miles in order to reach this scene of ac- 
 tion, and on the sixth was engaged with the Federal cavalry es- 
 corting Warren. That night, tired and hungry, they occupied 
 the camps from which the infantry had moved. The weather 
 had grown intensely cold. During the night snow fell, cover- 
 ing the sleeping men under a white mantle. Early the next 
 morning the bugle call roused them from their resting places on 
 the ground, where, like occupants of so many graves in the snow, 
 they threw it aside and came forth as in a resurrection. 
 
 Very soon the order to mount was sounded, and we were in 
 motion toward the enemy. I heard the order given to our regi- 
 mental commander to find the enemy and charge him. The 
 snow was still falling, mingled with hail, and the air was very 
 cold. My company was in advance, and we moved forward, 
 feeling that the blinding snow would prevent our seeing the ene- 
 
Recollections of the Battle of Hatchers Run 199 
 
 my until within a few feet of them. As we descended into a 
 small valley, sheltered from the wind, we came upon several 
 pickets in blue mounted, who quickly dashed off and became hid- 
 den from view in the falling snow. Near the brow of the hill 
 beyond was a grove of pines, on the right from which we saw 
 emerging and deploying a skirmish line on the left across a wide 
 field. The snow had now ceased falling and we could see bet- 
 ter. We pushed on rapidly to the ridge of the field, while the 
 enemy's skirmishers galloped off. Before us, a hundred yards 
 or so, was a long line of Federal intrenchments, from which 
 came a volley, disabling a number of our men and horses. A 
 bullet passed through a soldier. Ham Bispham, and another 
 through Jesse Gouldman, both at my side. One gashed my right 
 leg, and from another. Major Pratt's horse fell beneath him. 
 
 I rode back, and found General W. H. F. Lee and staff at 
 the edge of the pines. He expressed regret that I had been 
 wounded, and our division surgeon. Dr. James S. Gilliam (no- 
 ble fellow he was), dressed my wound in his own gentle and 
 sympathetic way. I then made my way to the field hospital — a 
 small, vacant house near the road — chosen for the purpose, and 
 lay down on a blanket spread on the floor, with Bispham at my 
 left and Gouldman on my right. 
 
 I asked the surgeon as to Bispham's wound, and he said : "He 
 is dead." The bullet had gone through Gouldman's breast, and 
 it looked as if he must soon follow his dead comrade. We re- 
 mained here in the room, and without wood. While the attend- 
 ants were making some effort to secure the latter I heard a cour- 
 ier ride to the door and give an order to the surgeon to put the 
 wounded men in ambulances and move them farther to the rear. 
 
 I was placed in an ambulance beside Gouldman, and two 
 small mules drew us, with the driver, over the roughest of roads, 
 much of the way over corduroy. Who can describe poor Gould- 
 man's sufferings during that drive? The driver appeared to be 
 utterly unfeeling, and again and again I had to threaten to use 
 a pistol on him if he didn't stop the ambulance and save Gould- 
 man, who seemed gasping as if each breath would be his last. 
 
 Finally, we reached the bivouac of the regiment, and found 
 shelter under some pine brush laid up against a pole and sloping 
 downward. It served to break the force of the wind, and give 
 shelter to a fire that was kept burning. Here amidst the snow. 
 
200 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 on the damp ground, faint from loss of blood, I saw pass away 
 the last day of my active service in the Army of Northern Vir- 
 ginia. 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII 
 
 EXPERIENCES IN A CONFEDERATE HOSPITAL 
 
 rpEBRUARY 8, 1865, deserves to be recorded in the calendar 
 "*■ of my dark and trying days. For several hours I rode in an 
 ambulance with my w^ounded leg beside Private Jesse Gouldman, 
 through whose entire body a minnie ball had passed, and whose 
 breathing was difficult and painful. The vehicle in which we 
 rode in a reclining position was hard of plank and rough of 
 springs, built with little if any regard to the comfortable trans- 
 portation of wounded men. The road over which we traveled 
 "Was one of the main thoroughfares leading from the south into 
 Petersburg, over which during all the previous winter, artillery 
 and army supply trains of wagons had been passing, and was 
 consequently in desperately bad condition, with rut and mire. 
 Much of it had been repaired with corduroy, which greatly in- 
 creased the jolting and discomfort of riding in an ambulance 
 with stout springs. 
 
 Our team was two mules of moderate size, in very good con- 
 dition, and disposed to move briskly without the stimulus of a 
 whip, and despite any moderate drawing on their bfts. Our 
 driver was an enlisted man, detailed from some company to 
 serve in this capacity, not, certainly, because of any special apti- 
 tude for it, but rather, it may be inferred, from a desire on his 
 part to secure bombproof service and escape the dangers of bat- 
 tle. Men of this class are generally less gentle and tender than 
 those who are willing to serve on the firing line, and to shrink 
 not from the hardships of the march and the fierce shock of hat- 
 tle, for it is true, as Bayard Taylor appropriately said : 
 
 The bravest are the tenderest, 
 The loving are the daring. 
 
 Our driver had no "milk of human kindness" in his breast, or 
 if so, the character of his service or the wintry chill of the morn- 
 ing had congealed it. 
 
 He was disposed to let his mules push ahead over ruts and 
 
 201 
 
202 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 pine poles without check or pause, despite poor Gouldman's 
 groans of suffering and gaspings for breath. But for my frequent 
 interposition in the latter's behalf, I am quite sure that before wc 
 reached a hospital in Petersburg, the vital spark would have been 
 jolted out of him, and he would have no more needed the shelter 
 of a hospital or the attentions of a surgeon. 
 
 Sometime in the afternoon we halted in front of the Confed- 
 erate Hospital, the largest in the besieged city, and were as- 
 signed cots on the first floor. It being impracticable to secure 
 cots together, we had to occupy two widely separated from each 
 other. Mine was the first on the right as we entered from the 
 street and back from the door ten or twelve feet, the intervening 
 space being filled by the Surgeon's office. On the side of this 
 office next to my cot, and a few feet removed from it, were a 
 succession of shelves such as appear in drug stores and like them 
 in the large number of labeled bottles of various shapes and sizes, 
 which they contained. When I stretched myself out on my 
 narrow bed, with my head on its scanty pillow, I felt that I had 
 never before had so good an opportunity to become familiar with 
 the foreign terms and signs on apothecaries' bottles, and the sup- 
 erabundant smells that usually accompany them. 
 
 I found the hospital to which I had been admitted, was one of 
 the great tobacco factories of the city, having three stories, now 
 converted into three wards, each capable of accommodating two 
 hundred patients, and all of them were now filled. But a little 
 observation sufficed to make it plain to me that of the six hun- 
 dred sick and wounded men in the building, there were those in 
 every stage of convalescence and others in every stage of physi- 
 cal decline and approaching dissolution. Many from horrible 
 wounds were suffering intense pain, with no heart-rending 
 screams, but with clinched fingers and grim writhings of face 
 and heavily suppressed moans and groans that bespoke horrible 
 agony. 
 
 When the supper bell rang, I hobbled out to the dining-hall, 
 passing in doing so, down a long passage between rows of cots, 
 and through a door at the end of the ward, which admitted to a 
 shed of the full length of the building. In this were long tables 
 and benches on either side of them, and to these had come nearly, 
 or quite, four score of convalescents, limping, hobbling, creeping. 
 The supper was provided, it appeared, with an ever-rigid regard 
 
Experiences in a Confederate Hospital 203 
 
 to the rule of permitting invalids to have only a light and sim- 
 ple diet. 
 
 That which impressed me most during this meal was not its 
 poverty, scantiness and meanness, so much as the feeble motions, 
 trembling limbs, wan and cadaverous appearance of those who 
 partook of it. Sidney Smith tells of a corpulent person, who, 
 suffering from the intensity of the heat, wished that he might 
 divest himself of his flesh "and sit in his bones." Most of my 
 comrades at that hospital table had nearly reached the attenuated 
 state of such a wish. Their cheeks were hollow, their eyes 
 sunken, their countenances dejected and forlorn, and a ghastly 
 pallor appeared in their faces. A few feeble candles lit up the 
 gathering darkness of the long room, cast a pale and sickly light 
 on the group, and made me feel much as though I had entered 
 some dim Plutonian chamber and was breaking bread (that was 
 all there was to break) with pallid shades of the dead. With- 
 out tarrying long, I limped back to my cot and returned no more 
 to the dining shed. 
 
 On the next morning, my wound showed signs of inflamma- 
 tion, and a high fever had possession of me. The surgeon in a 
 day or two began to fill the hole in my leg with raw cotton and 
 saturate it with spirits of turpentine, which he assured me was 
 necessary to counteract gangrene in the wound. At the time, 
 morning and evening, when these applications were made, the 
 pain was severe, but little so at other times. My meals were 
 brought to me, and were all that my system needed, as each day 
 seemed to lessen the demand for food. 
 
 Young Gouldman's father, whom I had notified by telegraph 
 of his son's wounding, had hastened to be near him, and often 
 came to my cot and showed me many courtesies. The Rev. 
 Thomas Hume came several times, and cheered me with sym- 
 pathy and comforting prayer. A few ladies came with gracious 
 and gentle ministries and offers to take me to the home of one 
 of them, if the authorities would allow of it, but these visits and 
 the cheer they brought were like oases in a great desert of drear- 
 iness and gloom. 
 
 Four stalwart negro men, well trained to the service, came 
 every day to one or more of the wards with a stretcher, and hav- 
 ing placed a dead soldier on it, bore him out for burial. They 
 came several times near to the cot where I lay for men who had 
 
204 ^ Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 died, and gave me good opportunity to observe their method and 
 to see how they would perform for me in case the issue of my 
 wound called for their services. 
 
 One of the fatal cases which occurred near me and called for 
 the stretcher had an inspiring preliminary service. The dying 
 soldier at a late hour of the night called for these, and some 
 other negroes and they came and stood beside his cot and sang 
 at his request a number of hymns. He knew that he was dying, 
 and manifestly wished that from his rude couch his spirit might 
 be wafted away on the wings of holy songs that he loved. While 
 the sympathetic negroes were singing, their voices began to sink, 
 a subduing pathos came over them, and presently the singing 
 ceased. The soldier was gone. 
 
 Another patient, a man beyond the middle of life, lay on the 
 cot next to my own. He was all the while either hot with fever, 
 delirious or in a comatose state. No words passed between us. 
 A yellow card on his cot over his head was a sign that his death 
 was deemed certain. One night far on towards the morning, I 
 heard some sound as of rattling among the bottles near my cot. 
 "Can it be the surgeon getting medicine?" I asked myself. "Can 
 it be a nurse?" I queried. On looking, I saw my delirious com- 
 rade from the adjoining cot. I sprang up and took hold of him, 
 and led him back to his couch and spread the cover over him. 
 What draught, if any, he had swallowed from a bottle I never 
 knew. When the matron passed near me next morning, I sug- 
 gested that she look a;t him. She went near his head, raised the 
 cover, drew it up over his face again and then took the death 
 card from its place and went her way. The four negro men 
 came ere long, laid him on their stretcher and bore him away 
 for burial. 
 
 Perhaps it was the day following this incident that, looking 
 up, my eye rested on that ominous yellow card placed over my 
 head. It very little affected me. When Dr. Riddick, the sur- 
 geon in charge, came on his morning rounds I asked him if he 
 really deemed my case so serious. He replied, "Yes," and added 
 that the sloughing of the wound had reached the femoral artery 
 and when it sloughed again I would go. Soon afterwards, Mr. 
 Gouldman came to take leave of me, saying that his son Jesse 
 had sufficiently recovered to be removed, and that he would 
 lieave with him for Bowling Green at one o'clock. He expressed 
 
Experiences in a Confederate Hospital 205 
 
 regret that he could not secure permission to take me also. For 
 an hour or so after this parting, my reflections were not of an en- 
 thusiastic or joyous character. 
 
 Shortly after the leavetaking with Mr. Gouldman, my brother 
 Bob, the late Judge Beale, came to see me on his way with dis- 
 patches from the field to General Lee's headquarters. A shade 
 passed over his features as he saw my changed and wasted condi- 
 tion, and the yellow card over my head. "You ought to get out 
 of here," he said, with emphasis, and I told him of Mr. Gould- 
 man's offer to take me, and the surgeon's want of authority, or 
 willingness to let me go. "I'll bring you General Lee's permit 
 by twelve o'clock," he answered, as he hastened out to his horse. 
 It seemed scarcely possible to me that such an application, with- 
 out official indorsement of any kind and without being in regular 
 course, would receive the general's approval. Nevertheless, a 
 few minutes before twelve o'clock, my good brother returned, 
 and, with a smile, placed in my hand a leave-of-absence on cer- 
 tificate of disability, signed "By order of General Lee, W. H. 
 Taylor, A. A. General," and a few minutes later I entered a 
 hack with the Gouldmans, and saw the door close behind me on 
 the Confederate Hospital, its gloom and horrors. Very precious 
 and sacred to me among the mementoes of the war has been that 
 permit from General Lee, and very precious the memory of the 
 brother who obtained it for me. 
 
T] 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV 
 
 THE CLOSING WEEKS UNDER THE STARS AND BARS 
 
 'HE ride on the train from Petersburg to Richmond and 
 thence to Bowling Green was one not to be easily forgotten. 
 The condition of my wounded limb and my debilitated state, 
 made the trip irksome and painful. Having reached Richmond 
 and found it necessary to wait till the next day for a train, Mr. 
 Gouldman secured us lodgings in a vacant store room on Broad 
 street where we slept on a counter. The morning following, he 
 assisted us aboard a car which at the time appointed pulled out 
 for Fredericksburg; and as it did so, I took my last view of the 
 devoted city under the title which for four bloody years it had 
 borne as the "capital of the Southern Confederacy." 
 
 When we reached Milford Station, Mr. Gouldman's carnage 
 and two daughters were there awaiting the arrival of himself 
 and son. The greeting given to Jesse by the two girls, after 
 their mourning for him, as it were for the dead, was touchingly 
 tender and affecting. We drove to Bowling Green and alighted 
 or rather were assisted, from the carriage before a spacious hotel 
 of which Mr. Gouldman was the proprietor. In this building, 
 we were taken to a large room on the second floor and placed 
 in separate beds, one in one corner of the room, and the other 
 in the opposite one. Before leaving this room, Mr. Gouldman 
 informed us that his younger daughter would act as nurse for her 
 brother, and the elder — Columbia by name — would act in a 
 like manner for me. He also comforted me with the assurance 
 that he thought he was able to play the part of a doctor for me, 
 and could prepare a salve, or ointment, that would get my wound 
 in a healthy state and allow it to heal. 
 
 Finding myself in this home, and no longer breathing the im- 
 pure air, and beholding the sickening scenes of a great hospital 
 crowded with dying men, the transition was indescribably pleas- 
 ing and inspiring. At once I began to feel better; the remedy 
 applied to my suffering limb seemed just what it needed, and 
 the gracious ministries and courtesies of the family hastened my 
 convalescence. Dr. Andrew M. Glassell, an eminent physician 
 
 206 
 
The Closing Weeks Under the Stars and Bars 207 
 
 of the place, made us visits, and showed every disposition to pro- 
 mote our recovery with his skill and kindness. 
 
 After about three weeks spent here, I was able to leave in a 
 spring-wagon for my home in Westmoreland, and to do so with 
 a sense of undying gratitude to the Gouldman family for their 
 unwearying care and gentle nursing. These seemed to me to 
 have been as ramparts reared at a critical hour by sympathetic 
 hearts and gentle hands, for my protection and escape when 
 Death was close at hand and preparing to make his last fatal as- 
 sault. My experiences in this home helped greatly to increase 
 my already high estimate of the generous compassion of our non- 
 combatants towards sick and wounded soldiers, and of the ever 
 constant devotion and fidelity of Southern women, which no 
 lettered bronze, no enduring granite, and no pure white marble 
 can commemorate adequately. 
 
 On reaching the vicinity of my home where the Nomini hill 
 road winds down to the creek of that name, at the point where a 
 ferryboat crossed it, I learned that a Federal force had landed 
 at Kinsale, and that a fight was in progress between them and 
 a battalion of Mosby's men under Lt. Colonel Chapman. When 
 I got in view of the ferryboat, it was amid stream well filled 
 with men in blue. Their appearance was at first disconcerting, 
 if not dismaying, but it soon appeared that they were prisoners 
 whom several men of Chapman's command were taking to Rich- 
 mond. When the group left the boat and were gathered under 
 guard close to me, I approached them to make some inquiries. 
 The lieutenant to whom I made myself known and who was 
 named Halleck, a nephew of Adjutant General H. W. Halleck, 
 in the brief conversation which ensued, evinced a knowledge 
 of the situation at Petersburg unfavorable to the Southern cause, 
 of which I was in profound ignorance. Though disputing it 
 firmly at the moment, it needed but a few weeks' events to dispel 
 my illusion, and establish his correctness. 
 
 While standing among these men, a man named Scutt with 
 whom I had been intimate and shared many a fishing and hunt- 
 ing trip, came down from his house on the hill near by, and 
 without yet discerning that the Yankees were prisoners but sup- 
 posing them to be armed and engaged in one of their predatory 
 raids, approached them with words of cjord^l welcome, assuring 
 them of his joy at their succjcfl* and his hopes that th^ ojyjd 
 
2o8 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 soon ''get the last rebel." Pres'ently, he saw me, just as the 
 prisoners were marched off. To say that my presence at such a 
 moment and his knowing that I heard his remarks, were em- 
 barrassing to him is to state the case very mildly. 
 
 On reaching home, it was ascertained that two companies of 
 Federal cavalry, supported by a detachment of infantry, 
 had after landing at Kinsale, approached to within two miles of 
 the house, and then retired. Colonel Chapman having once made 
 a charge on them, and skilfully disposed his men so as to threaten 
 them at many points. Of these dispositions. Col. Samuel H. 
 Roberts in command of the expedition reported : "At every cross- 
 roads the enemy would separate, each squad taking a different 
 path until our cavalry found themselves pursuing only three 
 men. These were captured and sent back to the main column, 
 but were retaken with a portion of their guard on the way." 
 This same officer said of Chapman's command : "The rebal cav- 
 ^Y^y * * * were constantly hovering about our column, 
 and being splendidly mounted and familiar with the roads, were 
 able to avoid collision with any thing more than our advance and 
 rear guard." 
 
 It was highly to Col. Chapman's credit that he threatened and 
 harassed the Federals to the extent he did, since it led their 
 leader to decide to retire and afterwards to say of his men "at 
 II P. M. I ordered a portion of them to re-embark." When 
 it is considered that the expedition consisted of 1800 infantry 
 and a detachment of three hundred men from the First New 
 York Rifles conveyed by a formidable number of transports and 
 having as escorts the army gunboats, Mosswood, Chamberlain, 
 and Jesup, and that their purpose was to march from Kinsale 
 via the Hague to Warsaw and the Rappahannock, the great 
 value of the part performed by Mosby's men and the merit of 
 their achievement are conspicuously apparent. 
 
 Several vacant houses above and below Carmel Church on the 
 Kinsale road, were burned by the enemy, and the vacancies in 
 place of houses and ashes thus created, became the last witnesses 
 of the spoliation and outrages committed by Union troops in the 
 Northern Neck. 
 
 Chapman's Partisan Rangers remained in the vicinity for a 
 week or two, finding quarters in the people's homes, and their 
 presence made my sleep all the founder arid sweeter. 
 
The Closing Weeks Under the Stars and Bars 209 
 
 The early days of the ensuing April, witnessed my rapid re- 
 covery, and as my furlough had nearly expired, my preparations 
 were made to return to my place in the army. While awaiting 
 the day for setting out, the distant discharge of heavy guns sa- 
 luted our ears from Fortress Monroe with mighty rumblings, 
 but no one near could divine the astounding cause of the firing. 
 Intending to leave home on the following morning, I spent an 
 afternoon at Shirland, the Garnett home, and on my way back 
 met a party at the creek who said to me: "General Lee has sur- 
 rendered," and seeing incredulity manifest in my face added: 
 "It is certainly true, for I heard a man read aloud his farewell 
 address to the army." As I stood there beside the water no 
 greater surprise could have been felt if it had parted like the Red 
 Sea and a channel had been opened on dry land ; no more bewild- 
 ering sensation could I have felt if the earth had trembled with 
 an earthquake shock and thrown me down upon its heaving 
 breast. I felt for a few moments as if the sun had shot down 
 from the heavens withdrawing its light in a moment as it sped, 
 leaving the world in darkness. Soon after, recovering from the 
 stunning shock, my religious faith came to my relief and I felt 
 "God is our refuge and strength, a present help in trouble. 
 Therefore will we not fear though the earth be removed, and 
 though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." 
 
CHAPTER XXXV 
 
 HOW FUN FOLLOWS FIGHTING 
 
 TT might be supposed that the soldiers of the South, who were 
 -'■called to stand amidst so many terrors of battle, to contend 
 against enormous odds, to subsist on half rations, and to go often 
 for days without even these, and, above all, to know as so many 
 did that their families — wives and children, aged parents and 
 sisters — were in the enemy's lines, exposed to depredation, pil- 
 lage, and insult, would wear long faces, have bowed heads, and 
 be little given to laughter and mirth. Such, however, was not 
 the case. Their marches were enlivened with many a joke, and 
 their camps rang often with peals of merriment and outbursts 
 of jovial hilarity. 
 
 Perhaps, the serious side of their lives which at times became 
 as stern as death and as solemn as the grave had a natural re- 
 bound, and the pendulum of their spirits having swung far in 
 one direction again swung back with a greater force. It was easy 
 for a joke to be started among them, and when once started it 
 passed readily from one to another, so that a thousand camp-fires 
 became the scenes of its repetition and enjoyment. Our cavalry- 
 men had keen eyes to discover the ludicrous side of happenings, if 
 there were any to be seen, and when one of them became a good 
 subject of fun and laughter, their sportive mirth was soon shared 
 by a great multitude. 
 
 The serious and the humorous were very closely united in the 
 experience of soldiers; the moments and spots filled with dan- 
 ger and anxiety were often filled also with amusement and laugh- 
 ter. An occasion to which these facts had a striking application 
 was during Stuart's ride around McClellan's lines before Rich- 
 mond. In the charge led by Captain Latane, four or five men 
 of the Spottsylvania company were seen by us retiring from it 
 with their faces gashed and bleeding from sabre cuts, and they 
 appeared to have been of the first sets of fours who met the 
 shock of the Federal charge. When our company which had 
 been dismounted was reformed, it was observed with what per- 
 sistent care four men sought to form the last set of fours, and 
 
 2IO 
 
How Fun Follows Fighting 2ii 
 
 get as far back as possible from the danger of such sabre-wounds. 
 
 As in our subsequent rapid march we approached Tunstall's 
 station, a courier dashed past us calling out, "We're attacked in 
 the rear!" Quickly the orders came: ''Halt!" "Form fours!" 
 "About wheel!" "Draw sabres!" The four men who had so 
 carefully arranged to be the rear set now found themselves in the 
 first place of attack. They began at once to move away, saying, 
 "We're in our wrong places;" but were sternly ordered to stay 
 where they were. As they obeyed the order and took their 
 places, a ripple of amusement passed down the line. It did not 
 appear, however, that any of the four men participated in the 
 fun. 
 
 It became known very quickly that the attack which we had 
 been formed to meet was not one in fact, but only the approach 
 to our rear guard of twenty-five of the ad U. S. Cavalry to sur- 
 render. This intelligence was pleasant to us all, but I think to 
 none so much so as to the last set of fours who had been so sud- 
 denly made the first. 
 
 In a dash made by Pleasanton with 1200 men in 1862 when 
 he crossed the Potomac at Shepherdstown and rapidly forced his 
 way to Martinsburg, our regiment opposed his advance in the 
 early morning and was directed to fall back on the Newcomer's 
 Mill road. Later, we came into the Martinsburg pike when 
 Pleasanton was making a safe retreat followed by the Fourth 
 Virginia Cavalry. Our motions to overtake the retreating col- 
 umn were as rapid as horsemen could make, and that, too, over a 
 road cut at points into deep and dangerous mud holes on which 
 recent rains had fallen. The tramping of many horses and the 
 wheels of passing cannon had deepened these holes and worked 
 the mud into the consistency of then mush. As we galloped 
 through one of these lob lolly sinks, the horse of Tom Jett who 
 rode near me fell and threw him at full length over his head. 
 As he fell, the unpitying mud opened to receive him, and then 
 closed over him, leaving only a part of his head visible. When 
 he struggled up from his untidy immersion, his appearance was 
 certainly "of the earth earthy." 
 
 We had at the time a brigade under Brigadier General Jack- 
 son which by way of distinction from that of "Stonewall" Jack- 
 son was called the "Mudwall Brigade." Tom Jett after this 
 fall might well have been dubbed a member of this last brigade, 
 
212 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 though I am sure neither of these commands could boast a braver 
 or better soldier than he. 
 
 In the second cavalry battle at Brandy Station when Buford's 
 Federal Brigade had been forced back from the Rapidan and 
 formed a junction with Kilpatrick and Gregg retiring in haste 
 before Stuart from Culpeper, the combined commands prepared 
 for a general charge, and we were losing no time to get in good 
 order to meet them. Probably, no other encounter between reg- 
 iments of Cavalry ever promised to be more general or desperate 
 with the clash of sabres. As the critical moment approached, 
 one of our men whom we called "Zenock" came to me leading his 
 horse and stating that he could not mount him, that when he 
 tried to do so the horse would tremble and shake as if he had 
 the "blind staggers." He hurriedly asked what he should do, 
 and w'as told to lead his horse back and get out of the way of 
 the charge. Then the Federal regiments were seen approaching 
 in fine order, their sabres glittering in the sunlight. We went 
 forward to meet them and there ensued a short and bloody com- 
 bat. In the impetuous dash of the men in blue a small body of 
 them swept past our front and were captured. Squads of our 
 men were directed to hasten back with these men at a gallop, 
 which they did along the road that "Zenock" had taken. As I 
 glanced at them, I chanced to see him leading his horse and paus- 
 ing to look back at the battle. As he did so, he saw the men in 
 blue galloping towards him, and not perceiving that they were 
 prisoners, he leaped into his saddle and under spur dashed down 
 the road. The horse with the "blind staggers" made remarkable 
 speed, and I wished that all our horses in an emergency might do 
 as well. 
 
 We had a conscripted soldier named Self who long escaped 
 from military service on the plea of physical disability. He was 
 at length compelled to enlist and came to us with the complaint, 
 however, that he was unfit for duty and that his malady pre- 
 vented him from mounting a horse without first getting on a 
 fence, stump, or log. His complaint was well sustained by his 
 actions, since whenever the company was ordered to mount he 
 would seek some elevated object to assist him in reaching the 
 saddle and thus fall into line by an indirect course. 
 
 Once he was with us on picket duty at Wilford's ford where 
 the reserve occupied a little house on the wooded hillside half a 
 
How Fun Follows Fighting 213 
 
 mile back from the river. In this house was an inclined plank 
 on which the men who had been on the watch the previous night 
 would frequently recline to make up their lost sleep by taking a 
 nap. Self was one day thus occupied with his coat wrapped up 
 beneath his head for a pillow and the other men of the reserve 
 sitting and lounging beneath the trees when suddenly "bang! 
 bang!" were heard the carbines of the sentinels at the river and 
 they came at full speed pursued by a Yankee force that had 
 dashed across the river. Not a moment was lost by us in making 
 ready our horses and mounting. When Self, arousing from his 
 nap, became conscious of the alarm, he rushed from the house 
 without once thinking of his coat, and quite regardless of fence 
 or log, leaped on his horse with an agility surpassed by none. 
 After falling back to the summit of the hill and awaiting the 
 enemy's advance we found that they had turned and gone back, 
 so we re-occupied our station. When Self went to look for his 
 coat he found that one of the enemy had cut every button from 
 it. We afterwards often laughed at him over the manner in 
 which he lost his "physical disability" and his buttons. 
 
 Once, when the company was doing picket duty on the Hazel 
 river, we were quartered in a large barn well filled with hay, 
 situated amidst large open fields and only a few hundred yards 
 distant from the fords. It was risky to bivouac so near the river, 
 but the hay and good shelter led us to take the risk. One ford 
 needing to be guarded was below the barn and another nearly 
 opposite to it. 
 
 One morning, Bill Palmer, noted as a prog, asked permission 
 to cross the river at the lower ford, and to visit a house beyond 
 where the units of Federal Cavalry men led him to believe some- 
 thing good to eat might be found. The passport was granted 
 him with all due caution to be well on the lookout against cap- 
 ture. He crossed the river safely, and obtained at the house 
 which he sought some choice supplies for his haversack. When 
 returning, it occurred to him to take the road which led over 
 the upper ford about a mile above the one which he had crossed 
 in going. He did so and found that this road led down to the 
 water behind intervening rocks and an embankment, thus con* 
 cealing his approach until within a few feet of the water's edge. 
 Having peeped over an abutting rock and seen that Ned Porter, 
 the sentinel on watch at this point had not heai^d or seen his ap- 
 
214 ^ Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 • 
 proach, but was dismounted, sitting on a rock, holding his horse 
 by the rein with his head bent over on his hands, as if "he was 
 lost in a deep reverie, he resolved to play a trick on him. So he 
 spurred his horse into the water and called aloud ''Forward 
 men; catch him, catch him." 
 
 Porter, startled beyond measure, and feeling that a Federal 
 squadron was about to seize him before he could mount, sprang 
 into his saddle, and bending well over on his horse's neck, caused 
 such clattering of hoofs up the hill and towards the barn as 
 were never heard there before or since. The momentum ac- 
 quired by his horse bore him swiftly beyond the barn, while 
 we whose horses were picketed there made all possible haste to 
 mount and follow him. When we were mounted, however, all 
 that we could see in the direction of the ford was one lone horse- 
 man, who was approaching very leisurely, and who soon became 
 recognized as Palmer, whose face bore an irrepressible expression 
 of amusement. 
 
 When Porter checked his horse, he turned it around and came 
 back to us, and when he saw the humor in Palmer's expression 
 and manner the spirit of fight which had fled from him at the 
 river side came back in force, and some of us had to interpose 
 to prevent his treating Palmer as a veritable Yankee. 
 
 Before the war had progressed very far, the growing scarcity 
 of sugar led to the extensive cultivation of sorghum which served 
 well to substitute molasses and syrups as also to afford sweeten- 
 ing for the domestic coffee and tea commonly used in Virginia. 
 The sorghum crop was abundant in the fall of 1864 and nota- 
 bly so in the counties below Petersburg. Our command was at 
 that time on the extreme right of General Lee's lines engaged 
 in picket service, and watching against any sudden dash the 
 enemy might make. The brigade camp was six or seven miles 
 back from the picket line and the squadron sent by turns to guard 
 it would usually make their bivouacs only a mile or so from it. 
 
 Once, in October or November, 1 864, I was with my company 
 in such a bivouac with Lieut. Benson in charge of the detail of 
 twenty-four men stationed nearer the outposts. One afternoon 
 a message came to me from Benson asking permission for his men 
 to attend a candy stew to which they had been invited by some 
 young ladies living very near where they were stationed. I sent 
 the bearer back refusing the permission and instructing him to 
 
Hoi9 Fun Follows Fighting 215 
 
 tell the lieutenant not by any means to incur so great a risk and 
 to decline the invitation to the party. 
 
 Afterwards I felt some misgivings as to whether my message 
 would be properly delivered, or if so whether it would be strictly 
 complied with, and so concluded at nightfall to ride over and in- 
 vestigate. On reaching the vicinity of Benson's little camp a 
 large framed-building a hundred or two yards distant, was seen 
 to be aglow with lights. Every window shone brilliantly. When 
 I Tode in among the horses of the pickets all was silence and 
 darkness. Presently I was observed by Corporal Marmaduke 
 who informed me that the four men who were to relieve those 
 on duty at midnight were all that were present, and that the 
 others were attending a taffy-pulling at the lighted house. I 
 asked if they had carried their arms with them and was satisfied 
 that only one of them had taken any and he only his pistol. 
 
 Having gotten together the four men whose turn it was to 
 relieve the four on watch, we rode down to the picket line and 
 made the exchange, and I charged those newly placed on duty 
 to hold their places and give no alarm if they heard firing and 
 yelling in their rear; that such sounds would only mean that I 
 was charging their comrades at the candy-pulling. 
 
 With the four men relieved from the watch, I then rode back, 
 informing them of the mock charge I wished to make on Benson 
 and his party. They entered heartily into the project, and when 
 we reached the field in which the house stood we entered it, and 
 quietly approached to within two hundred yards or so of the 
 building and then raising a yell and discharging our pistols 
 rapidly galloped up to the yard gate. 
 
 Within the house, there followed an instant extinguishing of 
 lights, and such rushing and scampering, leaping and departing 
 as were never known there before. A tall inclosure of sharp- 
 ened palings surrounded the mansion, but it offered no detention 
 to Benson and his party who flitted over it like startled night- 
 hawks, and like them, flew towards the wooded swamp which 
 bordered a neighboring creek, and there secreted themselves in 
 its leafy darkness. 
 
 1 quickly entered the house to allay the fright of the ladies and 
 to explain the trick, in the latter of which I was not fully suc- 
 cessful. One of the girls having recovered from her first startled 
 emotions said to me "All your men didn't get out. I hid one up- 
 
21 6 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 stairs." With a lighted lamp she took me up the stairway and 
 to a room door and pointed significantly to a screen that covered 
 the fire arch. I walked to it and drew it slowly aside and there 
 squeezed into his smallest possible compass was Henry Turner. 
 I called to him: "Come out from there," and with the galling 
 sensation that a brave man feels in yielding to capture, he arose 
 to look with a strange yet glad surprise into my familiar face. I 
 scarcely think I ever received a gladder expression of recognition 
 than the one he gave me. 
 
 The next thing to do was to seek and to undeceive the men 
 who had rushed to the cover of the swamp. I rode down to the 
 edge of the woods, standing all sombre and silent in the night 
 air, save as the fire-flies lighted it and the mosquitos made muisc. 
 I called aloud for Benson; then called another name. Then 
 from behind a log, only a few feet from me, arose one of the 
 men with laughing surprise and came out to me. Then some 
 near at hand and others more deeply hidden in the swamp — 
 heard the calls and came forth. As we walked backed to the 
 house, I heard Bill Murphy remark with emphasis: "Never 
 again will I go any where — to water my horse, to get a drink 
 myself, to pray or for any other purpose — without taking my 
 arms with me," and all the other men seemed to agree with him. 
 
 There was an occurrence to be regretted growing out of this 
 affair which could not be foreseen. It was reported to me the 
 following morning when I called again at the home which I had 
 invaded in so warlike a manner. 
 
 A clergyman who had come from one of the lower counties 
 and entered between the lines of the armies to visit a family of 
 his parishioners or, kindred, had been importuned to remain and 
 spend the night at a home situated very close to that at which 
 the sorghum-stew was held. The good man expressed his ap- 
 prehensions that it was not safe to do so, but these were allayed 
 by assurances that it had been very quiet of late, so much so that 
 the soldiers were even to indulge in a party that night in the 
 nearest house to them. 
 
 He consented to remain, and that night retired as usual in his 
 robe de chambre. At the midnight hour he heard the yelling and 
 shooting and felt sure the enemy was at hand. Without waiting 
 to dress himself, he hastened down into the yard and then doubly 
 assured, as he heard the galloping and pistol shots, he rushed 
 
How Fun Follows Fighting 217 
 
 towards the swamp, his loose, thin garment fluttering as he ran, 
 and in the gloomy solitude of the woods, he passed the dark 
 hours till morning. His rotund form and the thin texture of 
 his gown made him a tempting object and an easy prey to the 
 mosquitoes, and it is small cause for wonder if under their piti- 
 less stings he did not repeat to himself with unwonted fervor: 
 "In all time of our tribulation. Good Lord deliver us!" 
 
 When our Captain Charles C. Robinson was captured at Up- 
 perville on the 22d of June, 1863, he was taken with other Con- 
 federate officers captured on Lee's campaign to Gettysburg to the 
 prison on Johnson's Island three miles from Sandusky, Ohio. 
 The situation of the prison on an island made the prisoners more 
 secure from escape and demanded a smaller force to guard them. 
 
 The winter that followed his capture was a severe one and 
 particularly in the latitude of Johnson's Island the ice formed in 
 such thickness as to induce the hope that by a daring attempt on 
 the part of the imprisoned Confederates they might effect their 
 escape and by walking across Lake Erie on the ice might find se- 
 curity in Canada. A small group of these brave officers concerted 
 together and planned an attempt to escape. Robinson was of the 
 number. The plan was at a certain hour on a certain night, 
 with the assistance of their comrades within the walls these men 
 would let themselves down from the walls and having gained the 
 ground strike out boldly on the ice to the neighboring part of 
 Ohio that jutted out into the lake, and if successful, to attempt 
 the bolder enterprise of braving the cold in crossing Lake Erie 
 on the ice. 
 
 The night, Jan. 2d, 1864, chosen for the daring adven- 
 ture proved to be one of the most intensely cold of the 
 winter, and some of the escaping prisoners, after get- 
 ting out from the prison and beginning their walk on the 
 ice found the inclement weather such as endangered 
 their faces and ears and threatened to freeze them, and they ac- 
 cordingly turned back deeming their prison life less to be 
 dreaded than exposure to the wintry rigors on the ice. Robinson 
 and a few comrades persisted in their attempt to make good their 
 escape, and having reached the farther shore, a short distance 
 from Johnson's Island were able to secrete themselves until the 
 following night when they walked over the Lake, and next morn- 
 ing found themselves on the soil of Canada. They met with the 
 
21 8 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 utmost sympathy among the Canadians and found no lack of 
 food or shelter. Many proofs of the sympathy of the Canadians 
 were furnished them in money, clothing, hats, and boots. Cap- 
 tain Robinson was particularly favored. A hat was presented to 
 him half filled with money, a pair of gold spurs were given him, 
 and a magnificent pair of cavalry boots. 
 
 It was not long after the arrival of these men in Canada be- 
 fore a steamer was in readiness to sail for Nassau, New Provi- 
 dence. This offered a good prospect of these Confederates get- 
 ting back into Dixie by means of a steamer running from Nas- 
 sau to Charleston or Wilmington. They lost no time in getting 
 aboard this Nassau boat, and the Canadians evinced their kind 
 wishes and good will by supplying them with tickets for their 
 passage. Their hopes as to the blockade boat were realized and 
 in due time they reached Wilmington. 
 
 It was with intense satisfaction that the company of Captain 
 Robinson welcomed him back in the early fall of 1864. His 
 first care after getting back was to present General Lee with the 
 elegant gold spurs that had been given him. While he had been 
 absent, a number of his trusted fellow soldiers of his company 
 had been killed, and the conscription officers had forwarded other 
 men as conscripts to take their places. 
 
 But a few days after our Captain's arrival and while he was 
 yet making himself acquainted with the new recruits of the com- 
 pany, the regiment was called out to take part in the terrific bat- 
 tle of Ream's Station. In the morning of that battle as the com- 
 pany moved in line to meet the enemy, it was discovered that a 
 part of them had taken advantage of the excavation caused by 
 making a brick kiln, and behind the kiln and embankment the 
 removal of the earth had made necessary, and were ready to 
 make stout opposition. The company advanced to the edge of 
 the woods opposite the brick kiln. The Federal regiment who 
 confronted us was a Maine regiment consolidated with the First 
 District of Columbia cavalry, and armed by the ladies of the 
 District with Henry rifles that could discharge sixteen shots 
 without reloading. When they opened, fire on it was terrific; 
 it sounded like the volley of a brigade. It quite unsettled the 
 nerves of one of our recruits. He thought the time had come to 
 seek shelter. A large pine tree was at hand behind which he 
 could find shelter, and he got behind it, and with the view of se- 
 
How Fun Follows Fighting 219 
 
 curing greater protection he assumed an humble posture, bowing 
 with his head to the ground. The advance of the company had 
 been through a swamp and beyond it through small bushes and 
 underbrush, and Captain Robinson with his heavy boots and his 
 corpulency had been delayed in ascending the hill. As he was ap- 
 proaching the line of his company, now vigorously returning the 
 enemy's fire, he spied the recruit skulking behind the pine tree, 
 and he directed his steps with vigor toward him. The recruit 
 had aimed to shield himself from danger in front but not so from 
 an attack behind. Robinson soon reached within a pace of him, 
 and lifting his Canadian boot, he struck the bowing man from 
 behind with a kick that the brave man of the company did not 
 soon forget. The startled recruit lost no time in getting into 
 place in line, and afterwards when the men of the company ad- 
 mired and praised the captain's fine cavalry boots, the recruit did 
 not respond but was silent. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVI 
 
 GENERAL W. H. F. LEE 
 
 TT was in May, 1862, as the Confederate troops were retiring 
 -■■from Fredericksburg, and McDowell's regiments with their 
 glittering muskets were appearing on the Chatham hills beyond 
 the river, and we were marching to Massaponax church that I 
 first saw General Lee. As I watched his movement that morn- 
 ing, the feeling possessed me that he was to be the colonel of our 
 regiment. 
 
 "Rooney" Lee, as he was familiarly and widely known, began 
 his Confederate career as Captain of Lee's Rangers, a company 
 organized largely through his personal agency, and composed of 
 young men from many of the best homes and families of King 
 William and King and Queen Counties and from a few others, 
 more remote. Captain Lee was at the time about twenty-eight 
 years of age, and had a few years previously, after finishing a col- 
 legiate course and serving a brief term in the army, settled down 
 into the quiet life of a Virginia planter on the large estate known 
 as White House on the Pamunkey river. He was of fine stature 
 and commanding and handsome appearance. Though carrying 
 more weight than was suitable to the saddle and the quick move- 
 ments of the cavalry service, he was, nevertheless, a good horse- 
 man and an excellent judge of horses. So well and wisely, did 
 he select them, that when mounted there seemed an admirable 
 harmony between his own massive form and the heavy build and 
 muscular power of his steed. A splendid iron grey, much of him 
 nearly white, was, I believe, his favorite amongst his horses, and 
 when bestride this animal, at rest or in motion, he would have 
 furnished no mean subject for an artist even though his portrait 
 were displayed in the same gallery with those of Stuart, Ashby, 
 Hampton, and Fitz Lee. 
 
 Captain Lee's company having been assigned to the Ninth 
 Regiment of Virginia Cavalry at its formation early in 1862, he 
 was, at the reorganization of the regiment in the spring follow- 
 ing, elected to its colonelcy, the company officers thus expressing 
 by their votes their high confidence in his capacity and efficiency 
 
 as,o 
 
General W. H, F. Lee 221 
 
 as an officer. As commander of the regiment, he began at once 
 to display the alertness, watchfulness, disciplinary power, and mi- 
 nute care as to details characteristic of a good military leader. 
 The interests of the men and horses alike engaged his jealous 
 care. The choice of a good camping ground ; the careful ar- 
 rangement of his picket lines ; the inspection of the camp, the sol- 
 diers' arms and . accoutrements, and the quartermaster's com- 
 missary, and medical department of the regimental service, all 
 received his watchful supervision. 
 
 On removing from one encampment to a new one several miles 
 distant soon after he assumed command, the writer, who was an 
 orderly sergeant at the time in one of the companies, was sum- 
 moned to report early one morning soon afterwards at regimen- 
 tal headquarters, and Colonel Lee, with a flush on his cheek and 
 fire in his eye, wished to know if two men of my company had 
 not been left ill and uncared for in an outhouse near our former 
 camp. I replied that I did not really know ; that the men had 
 been reported as ill to the surgeon and turned over to him. The 
 surgeon was then called for and was compelled to corroborate 
 my statement. A few days later the regiment congratulated 
 themselves on a change of surgeons. 
 
 In the memorable ride of General Stuart around McClellan's 
 army, Colonel Lee was conspicuously active ; and the principal 
 sabre charges of that daring adventure were made by squadrons 
 of his regiment. During the most critical hours spent within 
 the enemy's lines, the command of Stuart was in the vicinity of 
 Colonel Lee's home, where, by reason of his perfect knowledge 
 of the county and the resident citizens, he was able to render the 
 expedition most valuable service. When the Chickahominy was 
 reached and it seemed of the gravest importance to the rescue of 
 the command to cross it without delay, Colonal Lee was the first 
 man to strip off his clothes and plunge into the muddy and swol- 
 len stream. After swimming over and back again, and testing 
 the depth and force of the current, he made the report which 
 led to the removal of the troops two miles lower down and their 
 successful crossing at that point. 
 
 During the seven days' battle around Richmond in which the 
 powers of the Southern army was so signally displayed, it is fair 
 to say that there was no colonel under the Stars and Bars more 
 zealous, alert, and ready for action than **Rooney" Lee. The 
 
222 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 • 
 movements of his regiment at that time brought him to his old 
 home at the White House, which was, at the time an immense 
 depot of supplies for the Union army. His once fair plantation 
 was in ruins, with fences destroyed, trees felled, fields trampled, 
 and houses burned. At the head of his troopers, in the quiet of 
 a summer evening with the enemy fled, and only a distant, ran- 
 dom gun heard, he surveyed the widespread havoc and smoking 
 piles with which the demon of war and desolation had covered 
 the scene where, but lately, he had drunk in with his young wife 
 the sweet joys of home life. 
 
 An incident of the first Maryland campaign is recalled as 
 showing the love and loyalty of his regiment toward Colonel 
 Lee. Under a combined attack of infantry and cavalry at Boons- 
 boro some of General Fitz Lee's regiments were compelled to re- 
 treat precipitately from the town. In this retreat. Colonel Lee's 
 horse fell, and other horses behind him fell also in a promiscuous 
 pile in the turnpike. The colonel, bruised and dust-covered, 
 extricated himself and sought escape through an adjacent field. 
 Amidst the blinding dust but few men noticed the occurrence, 
 and it was not until a few minutes later when the regiment was 
 reforming, that it was ascertained that the colonel was missing. 
 Gallant Captain Tom Haynes, of Lee's old company, then asked 
 permission to lead a band of volunteers back and rescue their 
 colonel. The men responded with alacrity, and in approaching 
 the field where Colonel Lee was last seen, they learned from an 
 escaping Confederate that he had made good his retreat to the 
 woods. 
 
 In the movements of General Hooker's army, which precipi- 
 tated the bloody battles of Chancellorsville and Salem Church, 
 the Federal cavalry in two main divisions were sent under Stone- 
 man and Averill to break up the Confederate's railroad commun- 
 ications. Stoneman having succeeded in crossing the Rapidan, 
 moved on Louisa Court House, whilst Averill with over 4,000 
 cavalry and artillery undertook to reach Gordonsville and Char- 
 lottesville. General W. H. F. Lee, with his brigade of between 
 1,500 and 1,600 men was sent to oppose Averill. This he did 
 at the Rapidan where the railway crosses it below Orange Court 
 House. So judicious were his dispositions of his men, and so 
 bold his opposition, that Averill retired without getting a man 
 over the river. Withdrawing his command and moving rapidly, 
 
General W. H. F. Lee 223 
 
 Lee made a sudden descent on one of Stoneman's regiments, en- 
 gaged in tearing up the railroad near Trevillians' Station, and 
 drove them back after making a large capture of prisoners. 
 Learning at this point that a part of Stoneman's force had been 
 dispatched to James river to destroy the canal, General Lee at 
 once headed his column in that direction, and, after marching 
 seventy-five miles in twenty hours, attacked the enemy's outpost 
 and made valuable captures of both men and officers, besides in- 
 flicting considerable loss from casualties. Their operations over- 
 shadowed as they were by the glorious deeds at Chancellorsville, 
 were, nevertheless, from first to last eloquent testimonials to the 
 vigilance, boldness, and tireless energy of the brigade commander 
 who personally directed them. 
 
 In the battle of Brandy Station on June 9, 1863, in which 
 more horsemen were engaged than on any other field of the Civil 
 War, General Lee occupied, with a portion of his brigade dis- 
 mounted, the crest of a hill which seemed a key to the battle 
 ground and which it was deemed of the utmost importance to 
 hold. This crest was pretty well covered with low sassafras 
 bushes, and flanked on the side next to the enemy by a stout stone 
 fence. A sudden and concerted charge by the Federal horse- 
 men overran our dismounted line, and gained the commanding 
 summit. General Lee directed in person the counter-charge, and 
 as his mounted men swept over the hill and were checked by the 
 stone fence, a bullet passed through his leg, in the moment of 
 victory. Directing a soldier to notify the next officer in com- 
 mand that he was wounded, after passing his sword over to an 
 orderly, he was assisted from the field. It was during his help- 
 less confinement from this wound, at the residence of General 
 Wickham in Hanover county, that an expedition of the enemy 
 from the White House captured him and bore him off a prisoner. 
 
 General Lee's coolness and courage were of a high order, and 
 his presence in battle was an inspiration to the bravery and con- 
 stancy of his men. His troopers felt that in him they had a cau- 
 tious leader, who never would expose them needlessly, or lead 
 them in a reckless exploit ; but that where real fighting was neces- 
 sary, like Lord Nelson, he expected every man to do his duty. 
 
 He regarded his men with affectionate pride, and failed not to 
 evince his appreciation where their good conduct deserved it. 
 A slight incident that occurred in the winter of 1864-65 at Bel- 
 
224 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 field Station will help to illustrafe the interest he felt in his old 
 regiment.. A tournament was in progress near the camp of the 
 Ninth Regiment, and Generals Lee, Hampton, and other promi- 
 nent officers were present to witness the tilting. The charge 
 to the knights was delivered by A. B. Dunaway, now an honored 
 and able minister of the Gospel in Virginia, and as Hampton 
 listened to his eloquent sentences he inquired of General Lee who 
 that gifted speaker was, and the general replied : "O, he is only 
 a private in my old regiment." 
 
 If, as has been claimed, the cavalry is the eyes of an army, the 
 Army of Northern Virginia was never impaired in its sight by 
 William H. F. Lee. He was ever on the alert and watched with 
 a sleepless vigilance. The writer recalls a dark, rainy night on 
 the picket line during the last month spent below Petersburg, 
 when, suddenly at the midnight hour, the tramp of horses was 
 heard, and the visitors were found to be General Lee, an aide, 
 and an orderly, wrapped in rubber coats, inspecting the line to 
 see that a sharp outlook was observed. His command never was 
 taken unawares. 
 
 It was among the numerous engagements that took place on 
 this line in the autumn of 1864, that the report became circu- 
 lated by the enemy that General Lee had been killed. It is in- 
 teresting to note how the rumor was caught up by the Federal 
 officers, and put into the reports and dispatches of colonels, bri- 
 gade, division, and corps commanders, and forwarded to Wash- 
 ington by the commander-in-chief of the Army of the Potomac. 
 Thus, did Lee's brave foemen congratulate themselves over his 
 reputed loss, and thus show the weight they attached to his stain- 
 less sword. 
 
 It was no small testimony to General Lee as a good division 
 commander that at the opening of the brief campaign of 1865 
 his regiments were generally as strong numerically, as well, 
 equipped and as eager for the fray as at any previous time in 
 their histor}^ It is not easy to determine by reference to Confed- 
 erate time-pieces in use at Appomattox by what part of the line 
 in gray the last shots were fired on that fateful field ; nor is the 
 inquiry of much importance. Many survivors of the surrender 
 however, who were in a good position to observe, believe that 
 the last order to charge on that eventful morning was made by 
 **Rooney" Lee, and that the last sounds heard were the pistoV 
 
General W. H. F. Lee 225 
 
 shots of his men. Among the first of Virginia's sons to greet the 
 Southern standard with the offer of his sword, his manly form 
 stood among the last beside its grave. 
 
CHAPTER XXXVII 
 
 A NARROW ESCAPE FROM THE SQUADRON WHICH WAS ON THE 
 
 TRACK OF THE ASSASSIN BOOTH AND SUCCEEDED IN HIS 
 
 CAPTURE AND DEATH 
 
 rN a previous chapter of this narrative, mention is made of 
 *^how the author, when suffering from a wound, and confined 
 in a hospital in Petersburg, obtained a permit from General 
 Lee, to leave the hospital for thirty days on a surgeon's certifi- 
 cate of disability, and was taken to the house of Henry Gould- 
 man, who kept a hotel in Bowling Green. There he was tender- 
 ly nursed, and from the day of his arrival became convalescent. 
 Mr. Gouldman's son was at the same time suffering from a 
 wound, and occupied a room on the second floor of the hotel, 
 his bed being in one corner and mine in the one opposite. About 
 the seventh of April, I had so far recovered as to undertake the 
 journey to my home, leaving Jesse Gouldman still disabled from 
 his wound. 
 
 I had not yet sufficiently recovered to return to the army, 
 when tidings of Lee's surrender were received. Amidst the be- 
 wildering confusion that ensued, it became known on April i8th, 
 that the assassination of President Lincoln had taken place in 
 Washington, that the assassin had escaped, and that large sums 
 of money had been offered for his apprehension. It became 
 known, also, that the utmost vigilance was exercised on the Po- 
 tomac, from Washington to the Bay, by all the vessels of the 
 Navy in those waters, to intercept the assassin and the conspira- 
 tors associated with him. It was learned that bands of cavalry- 
 men had been landed on Coan river, and were patrolling the 
 country leading up to Fredericksburg, and distributing on their 
 way the photographs of J. Wilkes Booth, an actor, who had 
 been identified as the perpetrator of the assassination. 
 
 The precise methods employed by the government in securing 
 the arrest of Booth and his accomplice, may be stated on the 
 language of Edward P. Dorothy, a lieutenant of the Sixteenth 
 New York Cavalry, who with his regiment was stationed at the 
 time in Washington. He has reported that: "About the hour of 
 
 226 
 
A Narrow Escape From the Squadron 227 
 
 4 P. M., April 24, 1865, I was seated with another officer of 
 the Sixteenth New York Cavalry, an a bench in the park oppo- 
 site the White House, when I received the following orders: 
 'Sir, you will at once detail a reliable and discreet commissioned 
 officer with twenty-five men well mounted, with three days' ra- 
 tions and forage, to report at once to Colonel L. C. Baker, 
 Agent of the War Department, at 221 Pennsylvania Avenue. 
 Command of General C. C. Augur, J. C. Sewell, A. A. A. 
 Gen'l. 
 
 'In accordance with the foregoing order First Lieutenant Ed. 
 P. Dorothy is hereby detailed for the duty, and will report at 
 once to Colonel Baker — N. B. Switzer, Colonel 16 N. Y. Cav- 
 alry.' 
 
 "I proceeded to the barracks, and in less than half an hour 
 had reported to Colonel Baker. I took the first twenty-five 
 men in the saddle, Sergeant Boston Corbett being the only mem- 
 ber of my own company. Baker handed me photographs of the 
 assassin of President Lincoln. 
 
 "I proceeded down to Sixth street wharf, where I found the 
 steamer John S. Ide, and directed Captain Wilson to move down 
 to Acquia Creek and to Belle Plain. 
 
 "After the detachment had landed, I directed the captain of 
 the boat to move olf to a place of safe anchorage, and await my 
 return. Should I not return before six P. M. on the twenty- 
 sixth, to go back to Washington and report to Captain Allan, 
 assistant quartermaster. 
 
 "I proceeded directly south until I struck the main road to 
 Fredericksburg. Here I halted at four A. M. A negro in- 
 formed me that a regiment of cavalry had passed to Fredericks- 
 burg the previous evening, going along on the north side of the 
 Rappahannock river. I then determined to push down and go 
 up on the south side where no troops had been. 
 
 "The detectives (E. J. Conger and L. B. Baker) asked for a 
 detail of four men and a sergeant, to scour the country, while I 
 and the rest of our men continued on towards the Rappahannock. 
 The detectives returned about three P. M. without any clue to 
 the whereabouts of the assassins. I went to the ferry at Port 
 Conway and saw Mrs. Rollins, the ferryman's wife, and another 
 woman sitting on the steps of the ferryhouse. Drawing Booth's 
 picture from my pocket, I showed it to them and inferred from 
 
228 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 their looks that Booth was not far distant. One of them said 
 that Booth and Harold had been brought there in a wagon the 
 evening before by a negro named Lucas, who would carry them 
 no farther. While they were bargaining with her husband to 
 take them to Orange Courthouse, three Confederate soldiers, 
 Ruggles, Bainbridge and Jett rode up, and they entered into 
 conversation. By and by they were all taken over the ferry. 
 Booth was put on Ruggles's horse and they proceeded towards 
 Bowling Green. 
 
 "I at once sent the bugler to Sergeant Corbett telling him to 
 mount the detachment, which I had left a mile behind, to feed, 
 and to move down as quickly as possible. Mrs. Rollins went for 
 her husband who was fishing, and I sent him for the scow which 
 was on the other side of the river. During his absence, the com- 
 mand arrived at the ferry and we were soon over the river. 
 I arrested Rollins, the ferrj^man, and took him as guide to Bowl- 
 ing Green. At dark, we passed the Garrett farm, not then 
 dreaming the assassins were concealed there. Arriving at Bowl- 
 ing Green, I surrounded Gouldman's hotel. After some hesita- 
 tion, the door was opened. I inquired of her (that is Mrs. 
 Gouldman) who were the male inmates of the house. She 
 replied that there was only her wounded son, and I directed her 
 to show me to his room, telling her that if my men were fired on, 
 I should burn the building and take the inmates prisoners to 
 Washington. She took me up one flight of stairs to her son's 
 room, and as I entered Captain Jett sprang from his bed, half 
 dressed. Her son lay on another bed wounded. Jett admitted 
 his identity; drawing Mr. Stanton's proclamation from my 
 pocket, I read it to him, and then said, ''I have known your 
 movements for the past two or three days, and if you do not tell 
 me the truth, I will hang you; but if you give me the informa- 
 tion that I want, I will protect you. He was greatly excited and 
 told me that he had left Booth at Garrett's house, three miles 
 from Port Conway, the evening before, and that Harold had 
 come to Bowling Green with him, and had returned that morn- 
 ing. I had Jett's horse taken from the stable, and, placing a 
 guard over him, we retraced our steps towards Garrett's. 
 
 "It was now about midnight, and my men having been out since 
 the twenty-fourth without sleep and with very little food, were 
 exhausted ; those who had been left on the edge of the town had 
 
A Narrow Escape From the Squadron 229 
 
 fallen asleep. I had some difficulty in arousing them ; but when 
 they learned that we were on Booth's track, new life seemed to 
 be infused in them. I placed Corbett in the rear, with orders to 
 allow no man to fall out of line. Upon reaching Garrett's 
 orchard fence, I halted and in company with Rollins and the 
 detectives, took a survey of the premises. * * * Xhe gates 
 in front of Garrett's house were quietly opened and in a minute 
 the whole premises were surrounded. I dismounted and knocked 
 loudly at the front door. Old Mr. Garrett came out. I seized 
 him, and asked where the men were who were there yesterday. 
 He replied that they had gone to the woods when the cavalry 
 passed the previous afternoon. While I was speaking with him, 
 some of them had entered the house to search it. Soon one 
 of the soldiers sang out: 'O Lieutenant, I have a man here, I 
 found in the corn crib.' It was young Garrett, and I demanded 
 the whereabouts of the fugitives. He replied: 'In the barn.' 
 Leaving a few men around the house, we proceeded in the di- 
 rection of the barn, which we surrounded ; I kicked at the door 
 of the barn several times without receiving a reply. Meantime, 
 another son of Mr. Garrett had been captured. The barn was 
 secured with a padlock and young Garrett carried the key. I 
 unlocked the door and again summonded the inmates of the 
 building to surrender. Booth replied: 'I may be taken by my 
 friends, but not by my foes.' I said : 'If you don't come out, I'll 
 burn the building.' As the corporal was picking up the hay and 
 brush. Booth said, 'If you come back here, I'll put a bullet 
 through you.' * * * Just at this moment, I heard a shot, 
 and thought Booth had shot himself. Throwing open the door, 
 I saw that the straw and hay behind Booth were on fire. He 
 was half turning towards it. He had a crutch and held a car- 
 bine in his hand. I rushed into the burning barn, followed by 
 my men, as he was falling, and caught him under the arms and 
 pulled him out of the barn. The burning building becoming too 
 hot, I had him carried to the veranda of Garrett's house. Booth 
 received his death shot in this manner. 
 
 "I took a saddle blanket oi¥ my horse, and borrowing a darn- 
 ing needle from Miss Garrett, sewed the body in it. The men 
 found an old wagon impressed it, with the negro driver. The 
 body was placed in it, and two hours' after Booth's death, I 
 was on the way back to Belle Plain, where I had left the steam- 
 
230 A Lieutenant of Cavalry in Lee's Army 
 
 boat. 
 
 "I had released Rollins, and sent him ahead to have his ferry- 
 boat to take us across the river. About six P. M. I reached 
 the boat and found the captain preparing to return to Washing- 
 ton. We reached Washington at two A. M., April 27th. I 
 placed the body of Booth and the prisoner, Harold, on board 
 the monitor Alontauk, after which I marched my worn-out com- 
 mand up through the Navy Yard to their quarters." 
 
 Lieutenant Dorothy also states that at the time Booth was 
 shot, he had placed Sergeant Boston Corbett at a large crack in 
 the side of the barn, from which the fatal shot was fired which 
 took effect in the back of Booth's head about an inch below the 
 spot where the shot had entered the head of Mr. Lincoln. 
 
 The "Captain Jett," who m this narrative is described as 
 having been suddenly aroused from his slumber in the hotel in 
 Bowling Green and forced to conduct Lieutenant Dorothy's 
 party to the hiding-place of Booth at Garrett's barn was not a 
 "captain," but simply a private in the company in the Ninth Vir- 
 ginia cavalry in which I served as a lieutenant. He was the 
 youngest of four brothers who served in the same company. He 
 received a serious wound while trying to intercept Wilson's 
 Raiders below Petersburg in the fall of '64, and was taken to 
 Bowling Green, where he was nursed till his recovery. A sim- 
 ilar good fortune befell me when wounded in 1865, in that I was 
 taken to the same home in Bowling Green, and was nursed back 
 to health in the same bed which Jett had occupied. Young Jett, 
 having felt the force of a "tender flame" for the youngest daugh- 
 ter of Mr. Gouldman, who kept the hotel, seized the earliest op- 
 portunity after the "surrender" of paying a visit to "his girl." 
 It was in the pursuance of this object that he fell in with Booth 
 and Harold, and on the night of the day following was summar- 
 ily and suddenly roused from the bed which I had vacated scarce- 
 ly a week before, and was compelled to conduct Lieutenant 
 Dorothy's party to Booth's hiding place. The "Miss Garrett" 
 from whom Lieutenant Dorothy borrowed the darning-needle 
 with which he sewed a blanket around Booth's body prelimi- 
 nary to its removal in a wagon, was Miss Kate Adaline Garrett, 
 who also prepared the last dinner that Booth ever ate. She re- 
 mained at the old home, and became an estimable and devoutly 
 kind and charitable woman. She died on September 3, 191 7, 
 
A Narrow Escape From the Squadron 231 
 
 aged seventy-four years; and was perhaps the last survivor of the 
 memorable and tragic scenes connected with Booth s death ot 
 which she was a witness. 
 
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