History of The Middle New River Settlements - Chapter VII Part C



Chapter VII Part C

Before proceeding to relate the movements of the army Northward it becomes
necessary to go back to Western Virginia and state what has been
transpiring in that section. After the battle of Sharpsburg and the
Confederates had retired south of the Potomac, General Stuart with a
portion of his cavalry corps made a ride around the Federal army of the
Potomac. On reaching his starting point about Cumberland, Maryland, he
ascertained that the Federal General Cox with about 5,000 men had started
for the valley of the Kanawha, to intercept or cut off General Loring, who
was operating in the said valley with an army composed largely of New
River Valley men. Loring being informed of this movement of General Cox,
retired from the Valley of the Kanawha to the New River section. In
Loring's command were a large number of men from the Counties of Giles,
Mercer, Monroe, and Greenbrier. These men belonged largely to the 36th and
60th Virginia regiments of infantry and to the 23rd, 26th and 30th
battalions of infantry, and to William H. French's battalion, afterwards
17th regiment of cavalry. There was also along with General Loring two or
more companies of Tazewell County men, one of which was that of Captain D.
B. Baldwin, of the 23rd Virginia battalion. On Loring's return from the
Valley of the Kanawha, he was relieved by General John Echols, who soon
thereafter on account of ill health, was relieved by Major General Samuel
Jones. During the winter of 1862-3 the 36th and 60th Virginia regiments
with Otey's battery, and for a part of the time other troops, remained at
Princeton, while another portion of the troops that had formed a part of
Loring's command were stationed at the Narrows of New River, and some
wintered in Monroe, and Greenbrier Counties, while the cavalry of Jenkins'
brigade in part sent their horses farther south to be wintered, the most
of the men remaining on duty on the outposts. Colonel William H. French
took his command to the County of Floyd and adjacent counties, where it
remained until towards the opening of the spring of 1863, when it removed
to Roanoke County, where the Colonel succeeded in completing the
organization of his regiment, which was attached to General Jenkins'
brigade of cavalry, and later moved into the lower Valley of Virginia in
the early days of June, leading the advance of General Lee's army into
Pennsylvania. The cavalry brigade of Jenkins was composed of the 8th,
14th, 16th, 17th, 19th regiments, and the 34th, 36th and 37th battalions
of cavalry. The Virginia batteries of Chapman, Bryant, Otey, and Stamp
were also a part of the army operating in southwestern and western
Virginia, and were in part composed of New River Valley men from the
Counties of Giles, Monroe, and Mercer. From October, 1862, to the spring
of 1863, the southwest Virginia country and western Virginia, from the
Tennessee line at Bristol to Staunton in the Valley, was kept in an almost
constant state of excitement and alarm, on account of the frequent
incursions of Federal raiding parties, and the march of larger bodies of
Federal troops into that territory. Small parties of Federal scouts and
patrols, even in the cold winter months, penetrated far into the interior,
even within the Confederate line of outposts, and the country was filled
with Federal spies, who kept their friends along the lines referred to
fully posted as to the strength and movements of the Confederates. To some
extent this was likewise true of the Confederate scouts, patrols, and
spies as to the movements of the Federals. A large part of the territory
referred to was, on account of bad roads and swollen streams, almost
wholly impracticable for military operation in the winter season. We left
the army of Northern Virginia in its bivouac near Culpeper Court House.
Pickett's division left its bivouac at the point above mentioned on
Monday, the 15th day of June, the head of the column directed toward the
Blue Ridge and Snicker's Gap, through which it passed on the 20th, and
crossed the Shenandoah at Castleman's ferry. Here it was detained for two
or three days as well as at Berryville, for the purpose of remaining in
supporting distance of the cavalry operating east of the Ridge. The
division marched from Culpeper left in front, that it might be facing into
line, meet the enemy at any moment. General Ewell's corps in the advance
had routed Milroy at Winchester, and cleared the route for the rapid
movement of the other troops following his corps. Longstreet's corps,
which included Pickett's division, of which division only three of the
brigades were on this march, continued its movement through Martinsburg,
by Falling Waters, and on the evening of Wednesday, June the 27th, it
crossed the Potomac at Williamsport, and bivouacked a short distance out
of the town, on the Maryland side of the river. The morale of the army was
never better, officers and men alike were inspired with confidence in
their ability to defeat the enemy wherever he might choose to offer
battle. And never did an army move into an enemy's country in better
fighting trim and spirit. It was doubtless this spirit of over-confidence
that lost us the battle of Gettysburg. The men were in splendid condition,
everything in first class order, no straggling, no desertion, no
destruction of private property, no outrages committed upon citizens; the
orders of the commanding General on this subject were as a rule, strictly
observed. Here was a grand, magnificent spectacle; a great army of
effective men, and every man a soldier in the true sense of the word, the
heroes of victories on more than a dozen fields; marching through the
country of their enemy unobstructed and unopposed.

The corps of General Longstreet continued its march on the 25th to
Hagerstown, where it halted to allow the corps of General A. P. Hill,
which had crossed at Shepherdstown, to pass to the front. On Saturday, the
27th, the march was continued to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, halting on
the road on the outer edge of the town in front of the beautiful residence
of Colonel McClure, where some ladies made their appearance and delivered
quite a spicy address or somewhat of a lecture, which was responded to
with "Dixie" by the band of the 7th Virginia regiment. A few miles beyond
the command halted and went into bivouac on the York road. During the
28th, 29th and 30th of June and 1st day of July the division of Pickett
was engaged in the destruction of the track of the Cumberland Valley
Railroad. At near 2 o'clock, A. M., of Thursday, July 2nd, the long roll
sounded and the men were soon under arms and in line, and moved promptly
on the road leading to Gettysburg, the vicinity of which was, after a
rapid and tiresome march of some twenty five miles, reached about 4
o'clock, P. M., and the division went into bivouac about two miles from
the town. The other division of Longstreet's corps had preceded that of
Pickett some hours, and had been in the fight the evening of the day of
Pickett's arrival. A little before daylight on the morning of Friday, the
3rd, the division moved from its bivouac, on the road between Cashtown and
Gettysburg, to the right and along the valley of Willoughby's Run,
reaching its battle line about 7 o'clock, A. M. The usual inspection of
arms and ammunition took place.

The brigades of Corse and Jenkins having been left in Virginia, Pickett
had but Garnett's, Armistead's and Kemper's present, consisting of 15
regiments--all Virginians, numbering on that morning about 4,500 muskets;
all aggregate effective strength, rank and file, was close to 4,700, which
will be understood as including the General and staff officers. This
division was composed of the flower of the Virginia army, many of them
were youths--schoolboys, of which a large number were from the New River
Valley counties, viz; Montgomery, Carroll, Pulaski, Floyd, Giles and
Mercer. In the division were companies from the counties of Campbell,
Bedford, Franklin, Patrick, Henry, Craig, Madison, Culpeper, Orange,
Rappahanock, Greene, Albemarle, Nansemond, Norfolk. Cities of Richmond,
Lynchburg, Norfolk and Portsmouth. The first brigade was commanded b the
gallant and impetuous General James L. Kemper, and was in front during the
morning's march, and in battle line held the right, with Garnett's brigade
on the left, and Armistead somewhat to the left and rear.

Fencing and other obstructions were cleared away, and the line moved
forward a short distance into a field on which was a growing crop of rye.
Arms were stacked and instructions given that upon the report of two guns,
which were to be signals, the men were to lie flat upon the ground. In
front of the divisions was massed the Confederate artillery, numbering
about one hundred and fifty pieces. On the hills beyond and 1,400 yards,
or a little more, away and in front, were something like an equal number
of Federal guns, prepared and ready for the fray. The heat was exceedingly
oppressive, and several of the men had sunstroke, and all suffered more of
less for water. It was past one o'clock when the report of the two signal
guns rang out upon the air, and down upon their faces went the men, and
then began and continued for nearly two hours the most terrific and
destructive artillery duel that ever occurred on the face of the earth.
The atmosphere was broken by the rush and crash of projectiles, solid
shot, shrieking, bursting shells. The sun, so brilliant before, was now
darkened by smoke and mist enveloping and shadowing the earth, through
which came hissing and shrieking firey fuses and messengers of death,
sweeping, plunging, cutting, ploughing through the ranks, carrying
mutilation, destruction, pain, suffering, and death in every direction.
Whithersover you might look could be seen at almost every moment muskets,
swords, haversacks, human flesh and bones flying and dangling in the air
or bouncing above the earth, which now trembled as if shaken by an
earthquake. It was afterwards stated by the teamsters and cooks, who were
two and three miles away, that the sash in the windows of the houses where
they were shook and chattered as if caused by a violent wind. Over,
behind, in front, in the midst, and through the ranks, poured shot and
shell and the fragments thereof, dealing out death on every hand.

The men remained in their places, except those knocked out by shot or
shell, and when the firing ceased, at about a quarter past 3 o'clock, and
the order came to fall in, the men sprang quickly to their places, ready
to move at the word. General Pickett came dashing along calling out, "Up,
men, and to your posts; don't forget today that you are from Old
Virginia." At the order forward, the three brigades moved up the hill by
the batteries and across the open as steadily as troops ever moved under
fire. The fresh batteries of the enemy now opened at short range, and from
sheltered positions poured a destructive fire into these advancing
columns, the Federal batteries on the Round Top enfilading the Confederate
line as it advanced. The enemy had covered his front by a heavy line of
skirmishers, which withdrew as the Confederates advanced. Hancock's second
Federal army corps, about 18,000 strong, held the lines which Pickett's
division assailed, and as the line approached the stone wall behind which
lay these men of Hancock's, it was met by a most scathing fire, which
killed and wounded not less than twenty-five per centum of Pickett's men.
Notwithstanding this fire, not stopping, but with a rush they went over
Hancock's line:

"Now they climb the mountain height
And plant the flag of freedom's right.

In the headlong rush over the Federal line they had captured a large
number of guns, and had effected a lodgment which only needed a strong
helping hand for a short while and the Federal army would have been cut in
twain, and must have rapidly retreated or been destroyed. Pickett's
division had made a great and daring charge, but had been repulsed; and
what remained had to retire to the point from which the advance began.
Here Generals Lee and Pickett rallied and reformed the men to meet what
was supposed to be an advance of the enemy. It was while this rally and
reformation was taking place that General Pickett complained so bitterly
of the treatment of his division in not being properly supported and the
fearful loss it had sustained; and which called forth the noble response
of the great soul of Lee that "Its all my fault." It was here, at the same
time, that a boy by the name of Belcher, from Franklin County, bearing the
flag of the 25th Virginia regiment, addressing General Pickett, said,
"General, shall we charge them again?" It was also at this moment that
General Kemper was being carried by, dreadfully wounded, that Pickett's
anguish was so great that he wept, and then it was that General Lee made
the statement above, "It's all my fault." Noble words from a noble man!

It may be truthfully said that no commander to a great army so universally
and deservedly enjoyed the perfect love, confidence and esteem of his men,
and that no General had higher conception of the manliness and valor of
his troops, and no body of men that ever tramped on the earth followed its
leader with such supreme devotion as the men who followed General Lee; it
was akin to that expressed by Ruth for Naomi: "Entreat me not to leave
thee or to return from following after thee, for whither thou goest I will
go; and where thou lodgest I will lodge; thy people shall be my people,
and thy God my God. Where thou diest I will die and there will I be
buried." No higher earthly tribute could be paid to a man than that to
General Lee by Senator Ben Hill, of Georgia, in which he said: "He was a
foe without hate, a friend without treachery, a soldier without cruelty,
and a victim without murmuring. He was a public officer without vices, a
private citizen without wrong, a neighbor without reproach, a Christian
without hypocrisy, a man without guile. He was a Caesar without his
ambition, Frederick without his tyranny, Napoleon without his selfishness,
and Washington without his reward. He was as obedient to authority as a
servant, and royal in authority as a King. He was as gentle as a woman in
life, pure and modest as a virgin in thought, watchful as a Roman Vestal,
submissive to law as Socrates, and grand in battle as Achilles." No less
deserving is the tribute of Mr. Charles Francis Adams, who said in
speaking of General Lee: "He represented and individualized all that was
highest and best in Southern mind and the Confederate cause,--the loyalty
to state, the keen sense of humor and personal obligation, the slightly
archaic, the almost patriarchal love of dependent family and home. He was
a Virginian of the Virginians. He represents a type which is gone--hardly
less extinct than that of the great English Noblemen of the feudal times,
or the ideal head of the Scotch clan of the later period; but just as long
as men admire courage, devotion, patriotism, the high sense of duty and
personal honor--all, in a word, which go to make up what we know as
character--just so long will that type of a man be held in affectionate,
reverential memory."

Long since the close of our civil strife, numbers of ex-Federal soldiers
are beginning to pay just tribute to the gallantry and devotion of the
Confederate soldier. Among the ex-Federals who have written on the battle
of Gettysburg is Mr. Charles A. Pacta, of Massachusetts, who not long
since published an article in a newspaper, containing a description of the
charge of Pickett's division at Gettysburg on July 3rd, 1863, in which he
says:

"In all great wars involving the destinies of nations, it is neither the
number of battles, nor the names, nor the loss of life, that remain fixed
in the mind of the masses; but simply the one decided struggle which
either in its immediate or remote sequence closes the conflict. Of the one
hundred battles of the great Napoleon, Waterloo alone lingers in the
memory. The Franco-Prussian war, so fraught with changes to Europe,
presents but one name that will never fade--Sedan. Even in our own
country, how few battles of the Revolution can we enumerate; but is there
a child who does not know that Bunkers Hill sounded the death knell of
English rule in the land" And now but twenty years since the greatest
conflict of modern times was closed at Appomattox, how few can we readily
recall of the scores of blood-stained battle fields on which our friends
and neighbors fought and fell; but is there one, old or young, cultured or
ignorant, of the North or of the South, than cannot speak of Gettysburg?
But what is Gettysburg, either in its first day's Federal defeat, or its
second day's terrible slaughter around Little Round Top, without the third
day's immortal charge by Pickett and his brave Virginians? In it we have
the culmination of the rebellion. It took long years after to drain all
the life-blood from the foe, but never again did the wave of rebellion
rise so gallantly high, as when it beat upon the crest of Cemetery Ridge.
The storming of the heights of Inkerman, the charge of the noble Six
Hundred, the fearful onslaught of the Guards at Waterloo, the scaling of
Lookout Mountain--have all been sung in story, and perhaps always will be;
but they all pale beside the glory that will ever enshroud the heroes who,
with perhaps not literally Cannon to right of them and cannon to left of
them, but with a hundred cannons belching forth death in front of them,
hurled themselves into the center of a great army, and had victory almost
within their grasp.

"To describe this charge, we will go back to the evening of the 2nd of
July, and recall upon what basis the cautious Lee could undertake so
fearful a responsibility. The victorious Southrons, fresh from their
triumphs at Fredericksburg and Chancellorville, had entered the North,
carrying consternation and dismay to every hamlet, with none to oppose;
their forward march was one of spoil, and it was not until the 1st of July
that they met their old foemen, the Army of Potomac, in the streets of
Gettysburg, and after a fierce conflict drove them back. The second day's
conflict was a terrible slaughter, and at its close the Federal army,
although holding its position, was to a certain extent disheartened. Many
of our best Generals and commanding officers were killed or wounded,
scores of regiments and batteries were nearly wiped out, Sickles' line was
broken and driven in and its position was held by Longstreet. Little round
Top, the key to the position, was held at a frightful loss of life, and
Ewell upon the right had gained a footing upon the ridge. The Rebel army
was joyful and expectant of victory.

"The morning of the 3rd of July opened clear and bright, and one hundred
thousand men faced each other, awaiting the signal of conflict; but,
except the pushing of Ewell from his position, the hours passed on,
relieved only by the rumbling of artillery carriages as they were massed
by Lee upon Seminary Ridge, and by Meade upon Cemetery Ridge. At 12
o'clock Lee ascended the cupola of the Pennsylvania College, in quiet
surveyed the Union lines, and decided to strike for Hancock's center.
Meanwhile, Pickett with his three Virginia brigades had arrived from
Chambersburg and taken cover in the woods of Seminary Ridge. What Lee's
feeling must have been, as he looked at the hundred death-dealing cannon
massed on Cemetery Hill, and the fifty thousand men waiting patiently in
front and behind them, men whose valor he knew well in many a bitter
struggle--and then looked at his handful of brave Virginians, three small,
decimated brigades which he was about to hurl into that vortex of death--
no one will ever know. The blunder that sent the Light Brigade to death at
Balakava was bad enough, but here was five thousand men waiting to seek
victory where only the day before ten thousand had lost their limbs in the
same futile endeavor.

"Leaving the college, Lee called a council of his Generals at Longstreet's
headquarters, and the plan of attack was formed. It is said that the level-
headed Longstreet opposed the plan, and if so it was but in keeping with
his remarkable generalship. The attack was to be opened with artillery
fire to demoralize and batter the Federal line, and was to be opened by a
signal of two shots from the Washington Artillery. At half past one the
report of the first gun rang out on the still summer air, followed a
minute later by the second, and then came the roar and flash of one
hundred and thirty-eight Rebel cannon. Almost immediately one hundred
Federal guns responded and the battle had begun. Shot and shell tore
through the air, crashing through batteries, tearing men and horses to
pieces; the very earth seemed to shake and the hills to reel as the
terrible thunders re-echoed amongst them. For nearly an hour every
conceivable form of ordnance known to modern gunnery hissed and shrieked,
whistled and screamed as it went forth on its death mission, till,
exhausted by excitement and heat, the gunners slackened their fire and
silence reigned again.

"Then Pickett and his brave legions stood up and formed for the death-
struggle; three remnants of brigades, consisting of Garnett's brigade--the
Eight, Eighteenth, Nineteenth, Twenty-eighth, Fifty-sixth Virginia;
Armistead's brigade--the Ninth, Fourteenth, Thirty-eighth, Fifty-third,
Fifty-seventh Virginia; Kemper's brigade--First, Third, Seventh, Eleventh,
Twenty-fourth Virginia. Their tattered flags bore the scars of a score of
battles, and from their ranks the merciless bullet had already taken two-
thirds their number.

"In compact ranks, their front scarcely covering two of Hancock's
brigades, with flags waving as if for a gala day, General Pickett saluted
Longstreet and asked, "Shall I go forward, sir?" But it was not in
Longstreet's heart to send those heroes of so many battles to certain
death, and he turned away his head--when Pickett, with that proud
impetuous air which had earned him the title of the 'Ney of the Rebel
Army,' exclaimed: "Sir, I shall lead my division forward!" The orders now
rang out, "Attention! Attention!" and the men realizing the end was near,
cried out to their comrades: "Good-bye boys, good-bye!" Suddenly rang on
the air the final order from Pickett himself, and his saber flashed from
its scabbard--"Column forward, guide center!" And the Brigades of Kemper,
Garnett and Armistead moved toward Cemetery Ridge as one man. Soon
Pettigrew's division emerged from the woods and followed in echelon on
Pickett's left flank, and Wilcox with his Alabama division moved out to
support his right flank--in all, about fifteen thousand men. The selection
of these supports shows a lack of judgment which it would almost seem
impossible for Lee to have made. Pettigrew's division was composed mostly
of new troops from North Carolina, and had been terribly used up in the
first day's fight and were in no condition to form part of a forlorn hope.
Wilcox's troops had also received severe punishment in the second day's
engagement in his attack on the Ridge, and should have had now begun, and
Lee with his generals about him watched anxiously for the result.

"It was nearly a mile to the Union lines, and as they advanced over the
open plain the Federal artillery opened again, plowing great lanes through
their solid ranks, but they closed up to guide center as if upon dress
parade; when half way over Pickett halted his division, amidst a terrible
fire of shot and shell, and changed his direction by an oblique movement,
coolly and beautifully made. But here occurred the greatest mistake of
all. Wilcox paid no attention to this change of movement, but kept
straight on the the front, thus opening a tremendous gap between the two
columns and exposing Pickett's right to all the mishaps that afterward
overtook it. To those who have ever faced artillery fire it is marvelous
and unexplainable how human beings could have advanced under the terrific
fire of a hundred cannon, every inch of air being ladened with a missiles
of death; but in splendid formation they still came bravely on till within
range of the musketry; then the blue line of Hancock's corps rose and
poured into their rank a murderous fire. With a wild yell the Rebels
pushed on unfalteringly, crossed the Federal line and laid hands upon
eleven cannon. Men fired in each other's faces; there were bayonet
thrusts, cutting with sabres, hand-to-hand contest, oaths, curses, yells
and hurrahs. The second corps fell back behind the guns to allow the use
of grape and double canister, and as it tore through the Rebel ranks, at
only a few paces distance, the dead and wounded were piled in ghastly
heaps. Still on they came, up to the very muzzles of the guns; they were
blown away from the cannon's mouth, but yet they did not waver. Pickett
had taken the key to the position and the glad shout of victory was heard;
as, the very impersonation of a soldier, he still forced his troops to the
crest of Cemetery Ridge.

"Kemper and Armistead broke through Hancock's line, scaled the hill and
planted their flag on its crest. Just before Armistead was shot, he placed
his flag upon a captured cannon and cried: "Give them the cold steel, boys,
" but valor could do no more, the handful of braves had won immortality,
but could not conquer an army. Pettigrew's weak division was broken,
fleeing and almost annihilated. Wilcox, owing to his great mistake in
separating his column, was easily routed, and Stannard's Vermonters,
thrown into the gap, were creating havoc on Pickett's flank, Pickett
seeing his supports gone, his generals, Kemper, Armistead, and Garnett
killed or wounded, every field officer of the three brigades gone, three-
fourths of his men killed or captured, himself untouched, but broken-
hearted, gave the order for retreat, but, band of heroes as they were,
they fled not; but amidst that still continuous, terrible fire, they
slowly, sullenly recrossed the plain--all that was left of them, but few
of five thousand.

"Thus ended the greatest charge known to modern warfare; made in the most
unequal manner against a great army, and midst the most terrible cannonade
known in wars, and yet so perfect was the discipline, so audacious the
valor, that had this handful of Virginians been properly supported they
would perhaps have rendered the Federal position untenable, and possibly
have established the Southern Confederacy. While other battlefields are
upturned by the plough and covered with waving grain, Cemetery Ridge will
forever proudly uphold its monuments, telling of glory both to the Blue
and the Gray, and our children's children, while standing upon its crest,
will rehearse again of Pickett's wonderful charge.

In the article just quoted, injustice is done to Pettigrew's North
Carolinians, as it is known that one or more of his brigades, especially
that of General Lane, behaved as gallantly and as bravely as any brigade
in that charge, and deserve as much credit and praise.

The army remained on the battlefield during the 4th, that night, and early
on the morning of the 5th it withdrew through the passes of the mountain,
retiring on Hagerstown and Williamsport, where it remained in battle line
until the night of the 13th, not being able to cross the Potomac on
account of its swollen condition. Longstreet's and Hill's corps passed
over the bridge, while Ewell's forded the river at Williamsport; the three
corps going into bivouac in the neighborhood of Bunker's Hill, where they
remained for several days. Pickett's division on its retirement from the
battlefield, and on its march to Winchester, Virginia, had charge of about
4,000 Federal prisoners, captured during the three days engagements at
Gettysburg.

The total loss of this division in the battle of the 3rd, was 2888, of
which 224 were killed, 1080 wounded, and 1584 captured or missing. The
loss in Kemper's brigade was 729. The 7th Virginia regiment lost 67 killed
and wounded, and the 24th Virginia lost 128 killed and wounded. The loss
of the division in general and field officers was frightful. Brigadier
General Garnett was killed, Armistead mortally and Kemper dangerously
wounded. Of the whole complement of general and field officers,
aggregating about 48, only one, Lieutenant Colonel was left unhurt. The
color bearer of the 7th Virginia regiment, with his eight color sergeants
and corporals, went down in the battle, either killed or wounded; the
colors falling into the hands of the 82nd New York Infantry, commanded by
Captain John Darrow. There went into the battle of Company D, 7th Virginia
regiment, 31 men, of which 17 were killed and wounded. The killed were,
David C. Akers, Jesse Barrett, Daniel Bish, and John P. Sublett; the
wounded, Lieutenant Elisha M. Stone, and Elijah R. Walker, Sergeants
Thomas S. Taylor and David E. Johnston, the latter severely, Corporal J.
B. Young, and privates William C. Fortner, James H. Fortner, leg
amputated, John Meadows, and C. L. Sarver; John W. Hight was taken
prisoner. No data is at hand as to the 24th Virginia, but the names of the
Mercer County company in that regiment who were killed or wounded, are as
follows, viz: Killed, Charles Burroughs, Squire Cook, James Kinney, Jesse
Parsons, B. W. Peck, and J. P. Thomas; wounded Captain H. Scott, H. French
Calfee, mortally, Jordon Cox, Robert A. George, A. J. Holstein, Rufus G.
Rowland, James Snead, and Levi Vermillion; total, fourteen.

General Pickett was greatly distressed over the losses in his division,
and wrote his report, which contained matter which General Lee thought for
the good of the service ought not to be published, and hence returned the
report to General Pickett, suggesting the omission of the objectionable
matter, and in his letter returning said report, says: "You and your men
have crowned yourself with glory, but we have the enemy to fight, and must
carefully at this critical moment guard against dissensions, which the
reflections in your report would create. I will therefore suggest that you
destroy both copy and original, substituting one confined to casualties
merely. I hope all will yet be well." The report was never published. It
is supposed that General Pickett had seriously reflected upon some one
touching the disaster which befell his heroic and gallant veterans at
Gettysburg, who so bravely and freely had sacrificed their lives upon the
altar of their country. Well may it be said of them:

"Spartans at Thermopylae,
Fought and died for liberty,
But no richer legacy
Left posterity."

General A. G. Jenkins' cavalry brigade led the advance of the army into
Pennsylvania, and was at Gettysburg, but there does not appear any
official report showing its losses, if it sustained any.

French's battery remained around the defenses of Richmond during the
Gettysburg campaign.

Notice must now be taken of affairs in Western Virginia. Major General
Samuel Jones was in command of this department, and in whose command were
the brigades of Echols, Williams, Wharton, and McCausland; constituted as
follows, viz: First Brigade, General John Echols, 22nd, 45th, Virginia
Regiment; 23rd and 26th Virginia Battalions, and Chapman's Virginia
Battery. Second Brigade, General John S. Williams, 63rd Virginia Regiment,
64th Virginia Regiment, 45th Virginia Battalion, 21st Virginia Cavalry,
Virginia Partisan Rangers, and Lowry's Virginia Battery. Third Brigade,
General G. C. Wharton, 50th and 51st Virginia Regiments, 30th Virginia
Battalion, and Stamp's Virginia Battery. Fourth Brigade, General John
McCausland, 36th and 60th Virginia Regiments, and Bryn's Virginia Battery;
with Jenkins' Cavalry Brigade, consisting of the 8th, 14th, 16th, 17th and
19th Virginia regiments, and 34th, 36th, and 37th Virginia Battalions of
Cavalry, together with some unattached troops, viz: Trigg's 54th Virginia
Regiment, two Virginia companies of Partisan Rangers, commanded by
Captains Philip J. Thrumond and William D. Thurmond, respectively, and
Otey's Virginia Battery; numbering in the aggregate about 10,000 men, and
guarding the territory and border stretching from Bristol to Staunton. In
the winter of 1862-3, and up to March of the latter year, these troops
were in camp at various points in the district of country mentioned.
Wharton at the Narrows, Echols and Williams in Monroe and Greenbrier
section, later General Williams at Saltville, and General McCausland's
command at Princeton.

In March General Jones planned quite a formidable expedition into
Northwestern Virginia, and the Kanawha Valley, sending a portion of his
troops into the Nicholas County section, and northward thereof. A portion
of the cavalry of Jenkins was sent from Tazewell through McDowell, and
towards the Ohio; and General McCausland to Fayetteville, but the whole
affair amounted to but little. In the early part of May, the 26th Virginia
Battalion, under Edgar, defeated at or near Lewisburg a portion of the 2nd
West Virginia Cavalry Regiment. Later the cavalry brigade of Jenkins,
except the 8th Regiment and Dunn's Battalion, was withdrawn from the
Western Virginia department, and sent to the Valley of Virginia,
preparatory to the march into Pennsylvania. And in July of this same year,
1863, the brigade of Wharton was also sent to the Valley of Virginia.
About the middle of July the brigade of McCausland, stationed in Raleigh
County, at the crossing of Piney River, was, by a force of the enemy,
compelled to abandon its position, and retreat upon Princeton. This force
which threatened McCausland was under the immediate command of the Federal
Colonel Toland, who had with him the 2nd Virginia Cavalry, the 34th
Regiment of Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and a detachment of the 1st Virginia
Cavalry; these troops had left the Kanawha and crossed onto Coal River,
and thence to Raleigh Court House, and to the front and flank of
McCausland's command which impelled his retreat.

The Federals then returned to Coal River, and marched by way of Wyoming
Court House into Tazewell County, capturing at the head of Abb's valley,
Captain Joel E. Stolling and his company, which were re-captured on the
next day by a bold charge made by Colonel A. J. May, at the head of his
Kentucky cavalry. The Federals marched rapidly upon Wytheville, then
virtually unprotected, entering the same on the evening of the 18th, when
a sharp, brisk fight occurred between the enemy and about 130 men badly
armed, under Majors Boyer and Bosang, and Captain Oliver with the aid of a
few of the citizens of the town. The enemy after the loss of Colonel
Toland, who was killed, Colonel Powell dangerously wounded and left a
prisoner, and having some 75 or 80 men killed, wounded and captured,
retired from the town, first setting it on fire. The Confederates lost
three killed, seven wounded, and about 75 captured including some of the
citizens of the town. The Confederates endeavored to intercept and capture
this raiding party, by sending troops on and along its most probable
routes of retreat. Colonel May, with a portion of his 5th Kentucky
Regiment, together with Captain Henry Bowen, commanding a company of
Tazewell County men of the 8th Virginia Cavalry, followed closely, having
several collisions and smart skirmishing with its rear guard, but unable
to force the party to halt and fight. They finally succeeded in eluding
the Confederates, by taking unfrequented paths through Crabtree's gap,
over East River Mountain by W. H. Witten's farm, Pealed Chestnuts and over
the mountain which led them on to the Tug fork of Sandy, where they were
virtually free from successful pursuit.

The Federal Brigadier General Averill having set out from Winchester,
Virginia, on the 5th day of August, 1863, with a large force of cavalry
and mounted infantry, for the purpose of making a raid into the Greenbrier
Valley, and of reaching the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, marched his
command across the mountains into Pocahontas County, where he encountered
Colonel William L. Jackson with the 19th Virginia Cavalry, whose command
he attacked and drove over the mountain toward Warm Springs.

General G. C. Wharton's brigade, which had been so ordered came over by
Staunton to the Jackson River country to meet Averill, who rather suddenly
turned back, changing his course toward Lewisburg, when on the 26th of
August, about one and one-half miles east of the White Sulphur Springs, he
rather unexpectedly encountered a Confederate force under the command of
Colonel George S. Patton, consisting of the 22nd and 45th Regiments of
Virginia Infantry, the 23rd and 26th Battalions of Virginia Infantry, the
8th Regiment of Virginia Cavalry, the 37th Battalion of Virginia Cavalry
and Chapman's Monroe County Battery of four guns. General Averill had with
him the 16th Illinois Cavalry, Company C, 14th Pennsylvania Cavalry, 3rd
West Virginia Cavalry, detachment 2nd West Virginia Mounted Infantry, 3rd
West Virginia Mounted Infantry, 8th West Virginia Mounted Infantry and two
West Virginia batteries of six guns. The fight continued from early
morning on the 26th until about noon of the 27th, when the enemy drew off,
blocking the roads behind him and rendering rapid pursuit impossible, and
it had to be abandoned. The Confederate loss was 162; that of the enemy
218. The 23rd Virginia Battalion of infantry lost three killed and 18
wounded. Mercer County had one company, Lilley's, in the 23rd Battalion,
and Tazewell County had one company in the 8th Virginia Cavalry Regiment,
and Captain D. B. Baldwin's company in the 23rd Battalion.

Colonel Robert C. Trigg's 54th Regiment of Virginia Infantry and Colonel
James M. French's 63rd Virginia Regiment of Infantry, served in the
Chickamauga and other subsequent campaigns in the Southwest under Generals
Bragg and Hood. In these two regiments were a large number of New River
men, and they made records as good and brave soldiers, acquitting
themselves with great credit in all the battles in which they were engaged.

In the early days of November, 1863, General Averill starting out from
Beverly with about three thousand men, passed over into Pocahontas County
and attacked Colonel William L. Jackson's 19th Virginia Regiment of
Cavalry near Mill Point, and compelled it to retire to Droop Mountain,
where it was reinforced by General Echols with the 22nd Virginia Regiment
of Infantry, the 23rd Virginia Battalion of Infantry, a part of the 14th
Virginia Regiment of Cavalry, Lurty's and Chapman's batteries, aggregating
about 1900 men. The command of General Averill consisted of the 3rd
Independent Company of Ohio Cavalry, 28th Ohio Infantry, 2nd, 3rd, and 8th
West Virginia Mounted Infantry, and the 10th West Virginia Regiment of
Infantry. After a contest of about six hours duration, the Confederate
left having been turned, General Echols withdrew from the contest and
retired through Lewisburg and Union, crossing Salt Pond Mountain. The
Confederate loss in this engagement was 275; among the slain being the
gallant Major R. A. Bailey of the 22nd Regiment, and among the wounded was
the brave and daring Captain John K. Thompson of the same regiment. The
Federal loss was 119. While General Echols was engaged in the battle of
Droop Mountain, a force of about 1,000 men under the Federal Brigadier
General A. N. Duffie, was advancing upon the Kanawha road to Lewisburg,
and which threatened to cut off or intercept Echol's retreat. The force
from the Kanawha left Charleston on the 3rd of November, and entered
Lewisburg on the morning of the 7th, a few hours after the command of
General Echols had passed that point.

General Duffie on his way from the Kanawha, was joined at Tyree's by
Colonel White with two regiments of infantry, and on reaching Lewisburg
joined General Averill's forces, bringing their aggregate up to about 5,
000 men. The Federals followed the retreating troops of Echols to Second
Creek in Monroe County, and then retraced their steps by way of Meadow
Bluff, and in the direction of Beverly.

General Averill, seemingly not satisfied with his previous attempts to
reach the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, set out again for that purpose
from New Creek on the 8th day of December with about the same command and
same number of men that he had with him in the battle of Droop Mountain.
This time he struck for Salem, Virginia, by the most obscure and
mountainous routes he could find. He reached Salem on the 16th, destroyed
some portions of the railroad track and small bridges, burned a
considerable quantity of Confederate commissary stores, and retired beyond
the mountains with a loss of 119 men. At the time of Averill's advance to
Salem, General Scammon from the Kanawha, had advanced to and occupied
Lewisburg, but soon retired.

Wharton's command had marched from about Covington late in 1863 to the
Narrows, and from thence by way of Dublin to East Tennessee, where it
joined General Longstreet's command; retiring with it to the neighborhood
of Bristol, took up winter quarters at Saltville, where it remained until
about the 1st of May, 1864, when it moved to the Valley of Virginia.

General McCausland's command, 36th and 60th Virginia Regiments, and other
troops, including Bryan's Battery wintered at the Narrows, while the
brigade of Echols spent the winter in Monroe County. The cavalry brigade
of Jenkins during the winter was for the most part on outpost duty in
connection with the two Thurmond companies. A part, however of Jenkins'
men were in East Tennessee, where on the 13th day of November, 1863,
Corn's 8th Virginia Cavalry had a spirited engagement with the enemy, in
connection with Colonel Giltner's Kentucky Cavalry, in which the enemy was
defeated with loss; the 8th Virginia Regiment losing one killed and three
wounded, and capturing the enemy's wagon train and over 300 prisoners. In
December, 1863, Colonel Slemp's 64th Virginia Regiment, was driven with
loss out of Jonesville, Virginia, by the 16th Illinois Cavalry. With the
closing of these as the principal events the campaign in Western Virginia
and in East Tennessee ended for the year of 1863.

General Lee's army of Northern Virginia, on its return from Gettysburg,
had encamped, as heretofore stated, at Bunker's Hill, and in that
vicinity. On the 9th of July Pickett's division turned over the Federal
prisoners, which were captured at Gettysburg, to the command of General
Imboden, and reached camp at Bunker's Hill on the 15th, where it remained
until the 19th, and then removed to Smithfield, in Jefferson County. On
the 20th it marched to Millwood, and thence to Berry's Ferry on picket
duty, and from here on the 21st marched through Front Royal to Chester
Gap. On the 22nd it marched all night, reaching Gaines' Cross-roads at
daylight on the 23rd, and that night bivouacked at Hazel River. On the
24th it passed through Culpeper Court House and went into camp near the
Rapidan. On August 4th Longstreet's and Hill's corps crossed to the South
side of the Rapidan, and went into camp in the County of Orange.

The Federal General Meade, in command of the Federal Army of the Potomac,
having advanced his troops into Culpeper County, and thrown his vanguard
out to the Rapidan; General Lee made up his mind to strike him by a flank
movement, on his right, by way of Madison Court House, and set out with
the army of Northern Virginia about the second week of in October. The
Federal General immediately withdrew north of the Rappahannock, and
finally behind Bull Run, whither Lee followed, and then retired to his
winter quarters in Orange. The principal fighting on this expedition was
by the cavalry. Longstreet's corps, except Pickett's division, had, on the
9th of September, been detached from the army of Northern Virginia and
sent to General Bragg, in Tennessee, and therefore was not with General
Lee in his advance against General Meade in October. On the return of
General Lee's army to its quarters in Orange, Pickett's division was sent
to Taylorsville, Virginia, to rest and recuperate. It spent the early part
of the winter at this place.

Captain David A. French, with a section of his battery, and other troops
under the command of Colonel A. W. Starke, on August 5th, 1863, marched to
Blake's farm, near Deep Bottom on James River, where quite a severe
engagement took place with Federal gunboats, which were driven off; after
which the command marched to Pickett's farm at Turkey Island, where the
attack was renewed on the Federal boats. In these engagements, the loss in
French's company was three wounded, viz: Boston Bailey, Henley Clyburn,
and Eustace Gibson, the latter reported to have been mortally wounded, but
he recovered and lived for many years, and became a prominent man in West
Virginia politics, having served two terms in Congress from the Huntington
district.

General Pickett having been assigned to the command of the department of
North Carolina, Kemper's brigade, now commanded by Colonel Joseph Mayo,
Jr., (Kemper having been disabled at Gettysburg), on the 8th day of
January, 1864, broke camp at Taylorsville, and took up its line of march
through Richmond and on to Petersburg, where it was put aboard a railroad
train and transported to Goldsboro, North Carolina, where it remained but
a few days. On Saturday, the 29th, the brigade marched to Kingston on the
Neuse, and thence through bogs, swamps, and mud, crossing the Trent to the
vicinity of Newberne, where some Federal prisoners were taken and a
gunboat blown up by Lieutenant Wood, of the Confederate Navy. Among the
captured prisoners were some 35 of the 2nd Loyal North Carolina Regiment,
and who had been Confederate soldiers, but had deserted and joined the
enemy. They were recognized, sent to Kinston, tried by Court Martial,
condemned and hung. About the middle of February, 1864, the brigade moved
to Goldsboro, where it remained until the 5th of March, when it was
transported by rail to Wilmington, and from that place by streamer to
Smithfield, at the mouth of the Cape Fear. The 24th Virginia Regiment was
sent to garrison Fort Caswell, the remaining regiments were in bivouac
near the town of Smithfield. Leaving the latter named place on Friday,
March 25th, by steamer, the brigade reached Wilmington on the morning of
the 26th, to find the ground covered with snow, which increased in depth
as the train carrying the men receded from the coast. The brigade debarked
from the cars at Goldsboro, where it went into bivouac, and remained until
Friday, April 1st, when it again set off, marching through snow and mud to
Tarboro, which was reached on the 3rd; the distance marched being fifty
miles in less than three days. On the 10th orders were issued to be ready
to move, and on the morning of the 15th the command began its march down
the Tar through Greenville, and across to the Roanoke, to the vicinity of
Plymouth, which was reached on the evening of the 17th. The Confederate
troops engaged in this enterprise were Ransom's and Hoke's North Carolina
brigades and Kemper's Virginia brigade, all commanded by Brigadier General
Robert F. Hoke. The Federal troops holding the town of Plymouth, consisted
of the 16th Connecticut Regiment, 2nd Massachusetts heavy artillery, 2nd
North Carolina, Companies B and E, 12th New York Cavalry, Companies A and
F, 85th New York, 24th New York Battery, 101st Pennsylvania, and 103rd
Pennsylvania; aggregating 2,834 men, all under the command of Brigadier
General Wesells. The fight opened on the evening of the 17th, and
continued until 10 o'clock A. M. on the 20th, when General Wesells
surrendered himself and troops to the Confederates as prisoners of war.
The Confederate Ram Albemarle came down the Roanoke on the 19th and joined
in the attack, greatly aiding in the success of the battle. The
Confederates lost about 300 men, Colonel Mercer, of the 21st Georgia of
Hoke's brigade, being among the slain. Company D of the 7th Virginia lost
A. L. Fry, and John W. East, wounded.

After only a few hours rest, General Hoke, on the evening of the same day
on which Plymouth had fallen, turned the head of his column toward
Washington on the Pamlico Sound, which point he reached that night, and
immediately prepared to take it by assault; when on the next morning it
was found that the enemy had evacuated the place and retired upon
Newberne, whither General Hoke immediately marched, and made ready to
assault that place; from which, however, he was recalled on the 6th day of
May with hurry orders to go to the defense of Petersburg, now threatened,
and about to be assailed by the Federal General Butler, who had landed at
City Point on the James with a large army and was advancing upon the city.
General Hoke, at the head of his command, left the front of Newberne on
the 6th day of May, 1864, and by a rapid march passed through Petersburg
before noon of Thursday, the 12th, a distance of nearly 175 miles by the
route traveled. Mr. D. H. Hill, Jr., in his Confederate Military History
of North Carolina, on page 248, speaking of this march of General Hoke
from Newberne to Petersburg, says: "This march of General Hoke's troops
stands at West Point as the most rapid movement of troops on record."
These troops of Hoke moved across the Appomattox and out to Swift Creek,
and formed in line of battle, and lay upon their arms the night of the
12th. On moving forward on the morning of the 13th, it was found that the
enemy had drawn his lines back towards Bermuda Hundreds, and the
Confederates were allowed to pursue their way along the turnpike in the
direction of Richmond; halting, however, within the defenses of Drury's
Bluff.

The armies of Lee and Grant were in a death grapple at Spottsylvania, and
no help could come from Lee's army, proper, to meet General Butler's
menace against Richmond and Petersburg.

General Beauregard had hastened up from the South, with all troops from
his military district that could be spared, so that by the 15th he had
assembled an army in and around Petersburg and the defenses of Drury's
Bluff, aggregating a little more than 13,000 men. Immediately organizing
his troops into divisions, he prepared to attack the enemy, who had now
drawn his lines closely up to and around the Drury's Bluff defenses.
Beauregard's left division, under Major General Robert Ransom, and which
was to lead the attack, was composed of Gracie's Alabama brigade, Hoke's
North Carolina brigade, commanded by Colonel Lewis, Barton's Virginia
brigade by Colonel Fry, and Kemper's Virginia brigade commanded by Colonel
Terry. At two o'clock A. M. on Monday, the 16th, the various commands
moved to the respective places assigned them. Among the batteries of
artillery assigned to and which fought with General Ransom's division, was
that of Captain David A. French, commanded in the early morning of that
day by Lieutenant Daniel W. Mason. Its losses were as follows, viz:
Wounded, Hugh Hurley, William Kelly, Charles E. Pack, D. C. Robinson, and
William Woodyard. It may be here noted that this battery under the command
of Captain French, with Armistead's, and some infantry supports, all under
the command of Colonel Starke, on the 6th day of May, 1864, had quite a
spirited engagement with the enemy's gunboats on the James, driving them
off without loss to the Confederates.

Before daylight on the morning of the 16th of May, 1864, Ransom's division
of four brigades, 19 regiments, opened the battle on the Confederate left,
which was immediately taken up along the whole line, and raged with
varying fortune for several hours, but resulted in the defeat of the
enemy, but resulted in the defeat of the enemy, and his withdrawal and
retirement within his fortified lines at Bermuda Hundreds, with a loss of
about 4,500, that of the Confederates being 2,827. The loss in Kemper's
brigade of four regiments, the 3rd Virginia being on detached duty in
North Carolina, and did not reunite with the brigade until the 28th of
June, was 57 killed, 264 wounded; the loss in the 1st Virginia was 12
killed, 25 wounded; in the 7th Regiment 2 killed, 37 wounded; in the 11th
Regiment, 15 killed, 94 wounded; in the 24th Regiment, 28 killed, 108
wounded; among the latter the gallant Lieutenant Colonel Richard L. Maury,
seriously, and Major Joseph Hambrick, mortally, the former falling within
a few steps of the enemy's line of works. Company D of the 7th lost John
W. East and John S., Dudley, wounded; and the Mercer company of the 24th
Regiment lost James Calloway, F. M. Mullins, Joseph Stovall, and George
Smiley killed, and Harvey G. White, and others whose names the author has
been unable to secure, wounded.

Kemper's brigade captured four flags, and 458 prisoners, including
Brigadier General Heckman, of New Jersey, who was captured by Sergeant
Blakey of Company F, 7th Regiment, General Heckman surrendering his sword
and pistols to Colonel C. C. Flowerree, of the 7th Regiment. An account of
the charge of Kemper's brigade in this battle, the capture of the Federal
General Heckman by Sergeant Blakey, and the flag of the 23rd Massachusetts
Regiment by the 7th Virginia Regiment has been written and published by
Mr. Tristram Griffith, of a Massachusetts regiment, and who was a
participant in this battle. He writes as follows: "During the night of the
15th General Beauregard moved Ransom's division from its position in
reserve on the Turnpike, in rear of his center, to his left, crossed
Kingsland Creek by the Old Stage Road and by daylight of the morning of
the 16th had them in a double line of battle in an open field with their
left well overlapping the right of the Union line. At early dawn in a
dense fog that made it impossible to distinguish friend from foe, Ransom's
division moved forward and by a right half wheel attempted to crush
Butler's right, get possession of the road to his base of supplies, and
destroy his army. The 23rd Alabama battalion and the 41st Alabama Regiment
deployed as a heavy line of skirmishers well to the left of the line of
advance, and the 60th Alabama on the left of the first line swung around
the right of the Union line, took, the seven companies of the 9th New
Jersey posted on the right of the Old Stage Road in front and flank,
killing and wounding ten officers and 120 men, and drove them from their
position to the rear. The 23rd Alabama Battalion and the 41st Alabama
Regiment by this time massed into a strong line of battle, swung to the
left, passed down the road nearly to the Gregory house, Heckman's
headquarters, and halted. The 60th Alabama passed over a few logs thrown
up during the night by the 9th New Jersey, and when the right touched the
Old Stage Road they, too, halted. The 43rd and 59th Alabama on the right
of the 60th struck the Federal line of battle in front of the 23rd and
27th Massachusetts. Before reaching the edge of the woods they became
demoralized, and General Gracie, who commanded them, sent word to the line
in rear for assistance. Kemper's brigade advanced to help of General
Gracie. The 24th and the 11th Virginia of Kemper's brigade passed over the
43rd and 59th Alabama, and went into the edge of the woods within a
hundred feet of the Federal line, where they lost their organization, and
lay down to escape the heavy fire. The 7th and the 1st of Kemper's
brigade, on the left of the 24th and 11th Virginia, passed over about the
same ground as did the 23rd Alabama Battalion and 60th Alabama. The right
flank of the 1st Virginia struck the two companies of the 9th New Jersey,
who, unconscious that the seven companies of their regiment on the right
of the road had been driven to the rear, and that their right flank was
exposed, were bravely holding their position. Without obeying the order to
surrender, and without sending word to the 23rd Massachusetts, across the
little brook on their left they ran pell-mell down the road into the rear
of the 41st Alabama, where in astonishment they surrendered. The 1st
Virginia passing over the light log work built by the Jersey men, took a
right half wheel through the woods and brush, crossed the little brook,
when their right flank came unexpectedly among the men of Company G on the
right flank of the 23rd Massachusetts. Captain Raymond, who had just taken
command of the 23rd, Colonel Chambers having been sent to the rear,
mortally wounded, was near the right of the line. The first intimation he
had that our right had been turned, was when he saw the Confederates among
the men of his company, and heard them calling out, "surrender!" He
instantly gave the order, "Change front to rear on left company," but, in
the thick wood and fog and the confusion of battle the order was not
understood. The men broke back as they saw those on their right go,
leaving all but two of their right flank company in the hands of the
enemy. The color guard and colors kept together and about 150 feet in the
rear of the line came in contact with the left of the 1st Virginia, who
gave them a volley, killing and wounding several of the men. Corporal
Charles D. Fernald, carrying the State colors, moved back toward the old
line of battle, and joined a group of the men of the regiment centered
around Lieutenant Wheeler, of Heckman's staff. Lieutenant Wheeler being
just then mortally wounded and some one calling out "Rally on the 27th,"
Fernald and some others moved in that direction and joined the right of
that regiment. Colonel Lee, of the 27th, had been informed that there was
trouble on the right by several of the men and officers of the 23rd who
ran by him. Doubting the report, he passed to the right of his regiment to
investigate, and about twenty feet beyond he found himself surrounded by
the advancing enemy, to whom he was obliged to surrender.

"Let us now go back to the advance of Kemper's brigade to the assistance
of General Gracie, and follow the course of the 7th Virginia, as this
regiment played an important part in the capture of general Heckman, and
the State flag of the 23rd Massachusetts. When the 1st Virginia entered
the woods, passed up the Old Stage Road over the position vacated by the
two companies of the 9th New Jersey, and wheeled to the right toward the
right flank of the 23rd Massachusetts, the 7th Virginia advancing on their
left, struck a bog that separated the two or three left flank companies
from the rest of the regiment, and left them in the rear at the edge of
the woods. When Colonel Flowerree was informed of the fact, he sent his
Adjutant, John H. Parr, after them to return them to their places in line,
while he continued to move forward with his regiment around the Federal
right flank. In wheeling to the right and just after crossing the Old
Stage Road, this regiment captured General Heckman. The General, taking
this advancing regiment for reinforcements, was about to order it to
change front, when seeing his mistake, he tried to pass himself off for a
rebel officer. Sergeant Blakey, of Company G of the 7th Virginia, could
not be fooled, and the General declining to surrender to anyone but a line
officer, was marched by Blakey to Colonel Flowerree, to whom General
Heckman gave up his sword.

"To go back to John H. Parr and the two or three companies of the 7th
Virginia, which he found stuck in the bog at the edge of the woods; he
moved them to the left around the bog and led the way through the woods in
an effort to overtake his regiment. Mistaking his course, he took a much
shorter wheel, which brought him, with his two or three companies, around
the left flank of the 1st Virginia, and upon the right rear of the 27th
Massachusetts, just after the 23rd Massachusetts had broken to the rear,
and at just the moment when the 11th Virginia, and detachments forming the
59th Alabama, who were lying down in the edge of the woods, and who
noticing from the Federal line in their front that the firing had ceased,
moved forward and joined the 1st Virginia, passing over the ground just
vacated by the 23rd Massachusetts, upon the right flank of the 27th
Massachusetts. It was these rebel regiments that Colonel Lee walked into
when he stepped to the right of his regiment to see if the 23rd
Massachusetts had fallen back. When Colonel Lee had surrendered, Adjutant
John H. Parr, of the 7th Virginia, who had led the two or three companies
of his regiment around the Federal right flank, rushed forward and seized
the staff of the State flag of the 23rd Massachusetts, carried by Corporal
Charles G. Fernald."

The morning succeeding the battle, Kemper's brigade, with other troops,
pursued the enemy to Howlett's house on the James, where there was an
unfinished Confederate earthwork. The 1st and 7th Regiments were sent to
hold these earthworks. The enemy's gunboats in the river opened on the
works, and continued the shelling throughout the evening and night. During
the shelling Major Howard, of the 1st Regiment, and Sergeant Thomas Fox,
of the same regiment, were seriously wounded. On the next morning, the
18th, Lieutenant John W. Mulllins, of Company D of the 7th, in command of
the skirmish line, received a wound from which he died on the 22nd day of
the succeeding month.

Withdrawing on the evening of the 18th, the brigade marched to the
neighborhood of Manchester, bivouacked for the night, and next morning
marched through Richmond to the station of the Fredericksburg and Potomac
Railroad; placed aboard flat cars and moved to Milford station, debarked,
moved across the Mattaponi and bivouacked. There were present of the
brigade at Milford, on the morning of the 21st of May, about 60 men of the
1st Virginia, seven companies of the 11th Virginia, numbering about 225,
and the 7th Virginia, numbering about 250, making an aggregate of 535.
About ten o'clock A. M., there was a call to arms, and report of the
approach of a body of Federal Cavalry, supposed to be a mere raiding
party, but, as subsequently developed, was the Federal Cavalry Division of
General Torbett, leading the advance of General Grant's army from
Spottsylvania Court House toward Richmond. After a spirited contest of
more than an hour, in which the Federal Cavalry charges were repeatedly
repulsed, the troops under the command of Major George F. Norton, of the
1st Regiment, were withdrawn across the river, dismantling the bridge to
such an extent as to prevent immediate and close pursuit by the enemy. The
Confederate loss in this affair was about 70, mostly captured, being
unable to reach the bridge in advance of the enemy. The loss sustained was
mostly in the 11th Regiment; numbers of the men escaping by swimming the
river. The brigade continued its movement until it joined General Lee's
army, en route from Spottsylvania to the North Anna. On reaching Hanover
Junction, the command joined the remainder of the brigade, and the other
brigades of Pickett's Division. Here too, was Breckenridge's Division from
the valley, fresh from the victorious field of New Market.

The Division of Pickett, again united, marched with the army to Cold
Harbor, taking position in the battle line on the left of Hoke's Division,
which on the 3rd of June, in co-operation with Breckenridge's, bore the
brunt of the Federal assault, in which General Grant lost about as many
men in twenty minutes as Hoke and Breckenridge had in their commands.

In this battle of Cold Harbor, Pickett's men had but little or no part,
beyond severe skirmishing, and receiving a heavy shelling from the enemy.
As a matter of fact, General Lee had succeeded in repulsing the larger
part of General Grant's army with only a small part of his own. It is
stated that the Federal loss in the assault on June 3rd, was 12,737, while
the Confederate lost less than 2,000 men.

On the march from Milford Station to Hanover Junction, John A. Hale, of
Company D, 7th Regiment, with a comrade from the regiment, broke
completely down, and found themselves within the enemy's lines where they
remained for two or three days. Hungry and starving, they ventured to a
dwelling to obtain food; finding there a Federal soldier on the same
errand, they captured him and took him along with them, until they got
within the Confederate lines.

In this battle of Cold Harbor, there were in Breckenridge's Division a
number of New River Valley men, belonging to companies of the 23rd
Virginia Battalion, 26th Virginia Battalion and 30th Virginia Battalion.
Very considerable losses in killed and wounded was suffered by these
commands, but in the absence of official data it cannot be given.
Lieutenant James K. Peck, of the 23rd Virginia Battalion, and a Giles
County man, was killed; and Colonel George Edgar, commanding the 26th
Battalion, was wounded by a bayonet thrust and captured. Captain James
Dunlap, of Monroe, and Lieutenant W. W. George, of Mercer, were also
captured.

In a few days after the battle of Cold Harbor, General Bredckenridge, with
his division, marched for the Valley of Virginia, to meet the army of
General Hunter, now endeavoring to reach Lynchburg. On the 12th of June
General Lee detached his 2nd Army Corps under Lieutenant General Early,
and pushed it to Lynchburg. The retreat of Hunter and the operations of
Early's command and that of General Breckenridge, will be taken up in
relating the campaigns of 1864 in Western Virginia, Southwestern Virginia,
in the Valley, and in Maryland.

General Grant, convinced of his inability to enter Richmond on the line he
was traveling, on the night of the 12th of June changed his course, moving
direct for the James, followed by the Confederates marching on parallel
lines. The line of march of Pickett's Division, carried it over the old
battle ground of Gaines' mill, crossing the Chickahominy over McClellan's
bridge near Seven Pines, and halting near the battle field of Frazier's
farm; on the 15th marched up Darbytown road a short distance and went into
bivouac. Daybreak on the morning of the 16th found the division in line
and on the march to the James at Caffin's Bluff, where it crossed the
river on a pontoon bridge; passing over the battle field of Drury's Bluff
on to the Turnpike road; and had reached a point near Walthall Junction,
where the head of the column was unexpectedly fired into by the enemy, who
had gained possession of the road. The division was quickly formed in
battle line, and sending ahead a strong skirmish line, drove the enemy
beyond the first line of earthworks, which had that morning been evacuated
by the Confederate troops, who had been called to the defense of
Petersburg. About four o'clock, P. M., the division charged along the
whole line, retaking the whole outer line erected by General Beauregard's
troops before their removal to Petersburg.  This assault was not without
loss, and brought from General Lee to Major General Anderson, the corps
commander, General Longstreet having been severely wounded in the battle
of the Wilderness, the following letter:

"General:--I take great pleasure in presenting to you my congratulation
upon the conduct of the men of your corps. I believe that they will carry
anything they are put against. We tried very hard to stop Picketts' men
from capturing the breastworks of the enemy, but couldn't do it. I hope
his loss has been small."

The brigade loss was about twenty killed and wounded. In the 7th Regiment,
Sergeant William Parrott, of Company I, Corporal J. B. Young, of Company
D, were severely, and William Davis, of Company C, mortally wounded.

From the 16th day of June, 1864, until the 5th day of March, 1865,
Pickett's Division occupied the line from Howlett's house, on the James,
to Swift Creek and Fort Clifton, on the Appomattox. The minor occurrences
within this period, on, along, within and immediately without, the lines
of the division would fill a volume.

The enemy's advance on the north side of the James, and his capture of
Fort Harrison, on the morning of September 29th, drew to that side of the
river, among other Confederate troops, four regiments from Pickett's
Division, including the 24th Virginia Regiment, all under the command of
Colonel Montague. An unsuccessful assault was led by General Hoke against
Fort Harrison on the morning of the 30th of September, in which the 24th
Virginia suffered severe loss.

The battery of Captain David A. French was also engaged in this battle at
Fort Harrison, and met with the following loss, viz: Killed, Adam
Johnston; wounded, Lieutenant W. H. Smith, Privates E.W. Charlton, John M.
Walker, John Burton, Joshua Day, Henry Hicks, John Ingrahan, and Erastus
W. Peck. This company was engaged in the battle of Fussells' Mills, on the
north side of the James, on the 19th of August, 1864, and its casualties
were as follows: Killed, Henry Stover; wounded, Sergeant John N. Woodram,
mortally; H. C. Clyburn, and William J. Sarver. The Federal loss in and
around Fussells' Mill was 2901, out of the 2nd and 10th Army Corps.