USA > Virginia > Prince Edward County > Prince Edward County > A history of Prince Edward County, Virginia: from its formation in 1753, to the present > Part 10
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In this connection permit me to narrate a little personal experience. On the night of the gunboat expedition it fell to my lot to do vidette duty between the lines. Right here permit me to explain. In this day none but old soldiers would know what a vidette was. In approaching our line of battle, at night from the rear, you would first strike the the line of battle, then the skirmish line, next the vidette post. The post was next to, and as close as you could get it, to the enemy's line. They were thus placed, in order to observe and report any movement of the enemy. In case of advance on the part of the enemy, their orders being to fire and fall back on the skirmish line, the skirmish line reserving their
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fire until the videttes were all in. On this occasion I was left vidette for my line, with orders to hold my post until the Yankees advanced, then to fire and fall back. Those or- ders were given me by Lieut. Fitzgerald of Company "I," who was in command of the skirmish line that night. I had been on but a very short while when firing commenced on my left next to the Howlett House, nearly one mile away. I paid no attention to this at first, but gradually the firing extended up the line and toward my position. Having or- ders not to abandon my post unless the enemy advanced, I of course, held my ground as no enemy appeared. Yet I knew when the 8th Virginia opened fire on my left, to remain I would be in great danger, both from the Yankees and my own men, yet orders must be obeyed and, as there were no Yan- kees advancing on my front, I held my post. The boys in my rear lost their heads, and, forgetting that I was still in their front, they opened fire. The enemy opened also, thus placing me between the fire of the two lines. I placed my gun on the ground and laid down beside it, expecting that one side or the other would soon kill me. I could hear the singing of the bullets from either side, but was not hit. As soon as the fire slacked, I returned to the line of skirmishers; Lieut. Fitzgerald ordered me back to the vidette post; I refused to go; he said he would put me in the guard-house; I told him to do so, and be d-d, as I would no longer do duty for an officer who would place a vidette on post with orders to hold the same until the enemy advanced, then to fire and fall back; and he, being in a safe place, would per- mit his line to open on the enemy, with that vidette still in front. I jumped in a pit, and Fitzgerald did not arrest me, nor did I go on vidette duty again that night. I had fully made up my mind never again to serve as vidette with Lieut. Fitzgerald in command of the line, and I never did.
After the white troops were put back in our front, with the exception of a few skirmishes in which we partici-
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pated, we had a quiet time on the skirmish line. Drilling, guard and picket duty, and working on the fortifications, were our principal occupations. The men had now learned the value of being protected by the shelter of earthworks, and they did a big lot of that kind of work.
On March 5th, our (Pickett's) division was relieved by Mahone's division, and put in the field for active duty. Now our troubles began again. We marched out and halted near the turnpike, within two miles of Chester station. While in camp without any shelter, a cold rain set in and continued for two days. On the 8th General Pickett held a grand review of his division. On the 10th Stewart's and our (Hun- ton's) brigade marched to Manchester, where we got aboard the cars, (old freight cars) on the Richmond and Danville railroad and came to Burkeville. Here our trains, in three sections, were transferred to the tracks of the South Side railroad, now a part of the Norfolk and Western system, and started for Lynchburg. We of course passed through old Farmville. On reaching here all the people turned out and gave us all we could eat and drink, the boys got "how come you so" in a hurry, but we soon were off again. On arriving at Pamplin City we learned that Stewart's bri- gade had stopped off at Farmville and gone into camp. We were taken off at Pamplin's and camped in a piece of woods just to the right of where the pipe factory at that place now stands. We now heard that the object of our move was to assist General Early in heading off, and thrashing, General Hunter, who was making an effort to capture Lynchburg. The old General had gotten afoul of him that morning, cleaned him up, and was now in hot pursuit of him down the valley, and did not need us. We took the cars again the next morning and, headed again for Richmond, passed through Farmville but did not stop. Arriving at High Bridge we stopped, got off, and went into camp near the dwelling of Mr. Madison; the place is now owned by our townsman, C. W. Blanton.
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Soon after getting into camp, a lot of us came back to old Farmville, and were painting the old burg red. About one o'clock we were passing the Randolph Hotel where Gen- eral Pickett had his headquarters, when Charlie Pickett our Adjutant General, called, and informed us that marching orders had come, and we must get back to the bridge as soon as possible, or we would be left behind. We now struck back to the railroad and counted sills at the double-quick. We ar- rived on time, the boys were all on the cars, and only await- ing orders to steam out. It soon came and we were off for Richmond, where we arrived on the morning of the 14th. We started about 12 o'clock and marched within four miles of Ashland, where we halted in line of battle. General Longstreet was in command of the force of which our di- vision was the main part. On the next day, the 15th Vir- ginia, had a sharp skirmish with Sheridan's cavalry at Ash- land. At night we were changing our position, moving to- ward the right, halting now and then expecting an attack, but none came. The next day we reached the Pamunkey river and built a bridge. Here our pursuit after the enemy's cavalry stopped, as they had disappeared from our front. We now returned to the lines near the Nine-Mile road.
On the 23rd there was another grand review of our division by General Longstreet. On the 25th, Terry's, Stewart's, and Corse's brigades of our divison, were ordered to Richmond, thence to the right of General Lee's army at Five Forks. Why we left I can't say. We did not move until the morning of the 30th, when orders came for us to march. We moved to Richmond and took cars for Peters- burg. We left the cars a few miles before reaching that city, and marched across to the South Side railroad. On reaching this point, our column was turned to the right, and marched up the roadbed for several miles, when we turned to the left, crossed Hatcher's Run on a bridge of loose logs near an old mill. Here we again filed to the right, and were
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soon in line of battle behind breastworks which had been thrown up before our arrival. It had been raining very hard all day, and we were wet to the skin, hungry, and muddy. We remained behind these works all night with skirmishers out to the front, and orders were to sleep (if we could) with guns in hand, as the enemy might attack our position at any minute. The night passed without any advance ,on; the part of the Yanks.
The next morning, 31st, we were formed behind the works and orders came to right face, counter march, by file right. We marched down the works for half-mile, when we filed to the right, and passed to the front, forming line of battle along the White Oak Swamp (I think it was). Here we found some Georgia troops deployed as skirmishers to our front, in an open field. Everything being so quiet some of us took off our shoes, and began bathing our feet in the puddles of water left by the hard rain of the day before, and, while engaged in this, the pop, pop of the guns of the skir- mish line in our front was heard. You bet those shoes went on our feet quick, and the boys were in line, ready to meet the attack. The Yanks came charging over the hill and closed on our skirmish line in a hurry. A Lieut. of the 8th Vir- ginia regiment, seeing the danger to the line in front, called out in a loud voice: "Boys, they will capture our skirmish- ers; charge them." Without further orders, the boys raised the old vell, and at them we went on the run, with guns at the trail. Nearing them we opened fire, but continued to advance. The boys in blue stood it for a while, but, finding that we were closing in for a hand-to-hand fight, they broke and ran, we at their heels yelling like devils, and burning powder for all we were worth. Running them into a large body of woods, we found another line formed to meet us. We did not stop, but charged into, and broke this line also, and continued to advance. About a quarter-mile from this point we discovered their third line. By this time we were all
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broke up, and orders came to halt and reform the line, which we did in a few minutes although under fire. Orders now came to charge the third line, which we did in fine style, breaking it up in short order. We now had three lines of battle of the enemy, running in our front, we following on the run, yelling, shooting and killing all we could. This was all very nice, and we enjoyed it, but the Yank's time was now to come. We succeeded in driving them back nearly to the Jerusalem plank road, our ranks growing weaker and thinner at every step. The enemy had massed a very heavy force along the Plank road and put a stop.to our advance. On nearing this position we were halted and ordered to re- form line, but our boys, having already broken three lines of battle, were very much scattered, and before we could line them up, the Yanks charged. It was impossible in our con- dition, to successfully resist this counter-charge, and the boys began to fall back; slowly at first. The Yanks, seeing how few we were, began to crowd us, and we broke into a run, and made back to our starting-point, and, this being the Yanks' time, they gave us "hail Columbia" before we reached the White Oak Swamp Road; but here we halted and stood at bay ;-- they could drive us no further! Right here the heavy fighting done at Hatcher's Run ended; about dark we with- drew and fell back again behind our works. In this charge my company had killed: Elam, Boatwright, Harvey, Jack- son, and Dougherty; wounded: Stratton, and Tompkins; captured: Harrison Walthall. A sad day's work for old Co. F: five killed, two wounded, and one captured. Elam was a brother of our townsman D. T. Elam.
There was no better soldier than Bob Elam. I have often heard him say, if the Confederacy must fail, he wanted to die in the last fight. The noble boy nearly got his wish.
There were but few fights after Hatcher's Run, 31st day of March. Soon after getting behind the works that night, Col. Carrington, who was in command of my regiment. sent
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for me, and I reported immediately. He informed me that all his staff had been killed or captured in our charge, and I must remain with him to carry orders. I placed two rails on the works, over which I stretched an oil-cloth, and then placed our blankets under them, and I laid down to rest. We had been fighting all day without one mouthful to eat, and now, the fighting over, we had not even one cracker to appease our hunger. We did not mind this much as we had become accustomed to it. We only drew the cartridge box belt the tighter and kept going. It was raining, and the night was very dark. Soon after we had stretched out to rest, we heard an orderly enquiring for Col. Carrington. I called him, and found he was one of General Hunton's orderlies. He gave Col. Carrington some orders from Gen- eral Hunton for the officer in charge of our skirmish line. The Colonel said to me: . "Sam, you have heard the orders, go out to the line and deliver them to Lieut. Murray who is in command." Our line was about 250 yards in our front, and in a body of woods. The woods in front of our works, for a distance of two hundred yards, had been cut down, lapped and interlapped, until a rabbit could scarcely get through it. Now you can imagine what a time I must have had in going to the front in such darkness. I mounted the works and struck out the best I could, stumbling here, fall- ing there, and sometimes walking upright, then on hand and knees, I finally worked my way to the edge of the woods in which our line was posted. I now thought my trouble was over, but not so; the Yanks got it into their heads to advance and drive out our boys, and the pop, pop, of the guns soon began again. I could hear the zip, zip, of the bullets, as they passed right and left, and I got behind a tree and awaited results. The Yanks soon found out that our boys were there to stay, and after firing a few rounds they fell back. I now advanced toward our line, and it was so dark I. could not see a man. The men being deployed, I passed them
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without knowing it, and was on my way to join the Yankees, when I heard someone say in very low tone: "Halt! Who goes there?" I recognized the voice of Sam Moore, a mem- ber of B Company, and a most excellent soldier. I told who I was, and he said: "You spoke in time; I was about to pull down on you." I asked him where Lieut. Murray was. "Gone to the left," was his reply, so I went to the left too, and soon found Murray, and gave him the orders, and started on my way back to the works. Somehow I got completely turned around in those woods, and when I reached the cut down timber I was lost good. But I knew our works were in the direction I was going, so kept steadily on and finally reached them fully one mile below our regiment. I was now among some Georgia troops, who told me that my bri- gade was on their left higher up. I got on top of the works and found them again. On reaching the Colonel he said: "Sam, where have. you been?" I replied: "Lost, but Mur- ray has his orders." This satisfied him and we went to sleep. No more orders that night, except to sleep on arms.
April 1st, about day, orders came to march by the right flank, and we marched in the road, through fields, in the woods, taking all the near cuts, in order to get to, and rein- force, the other three brigades of our division, who had been cut to pieces the day before by Sheridan's cavalry and War- ren's corps, at Five Forks. We joined them about dark, but found them falling back slowly, before five times their num- ber. About nine o'clock we halted, formed line of battle to fight again, but the Yanks thought better of it, and did not attack. Early on the morning of the 2nd we began to fall back again, crossing the South Side railroad at Church Roads, just above Petersburg, and continuing the march, halted near Exiter Mills, on the Appomattox river, having marched about twelve miles that day. But there was no rest for the weary and hungry! We were soon on the march again. The division, now about 2,200 strong, moved to
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Deep Creek, which we reached that night. Here we put up a pretty little fight, stopped the enemy's advance, then con- tinued the retreat, without rations.
Constant marching and fighting without food, shelter, or sleep, began now to tell seriously on that grand old di- vision. The boys were worn almost to a frazzle, but with a determination to do or die, they held the Yanks, Now and then we would pass a poor fellow who could hold out no longer, and had dropped by the roadside, to be picked up by the Yankee cavalry, who were constantly pressing our rear. With cheerful and loving words we would pass our dear comrade by, telling him to make one more effort and come if he could. When the lines were broken near Peters- ยท burg, our division, with some other troops, were cut off from our main army. Sheridan put his whole corps of cavalry after those few men and tried to capture them before they could rejoin Lee. Sometimes he would attack our front: sometimes our rear. He hung a snag. We whipped him every time, and succeeded in rejoining General Lee at Amelia Courthouse, at which point General Lee had ordered rations for his army. None had been sent, consequently the army moved off again without rations. This was very hard to bear, but there was no grumbling among that noble band of men. They knew it was no fault of General Lee's and you could hear them say: "We will follow Marse Robert to the end, I will be the last spoke in the hub when the wheel fails to turn."
From Amelia Courthouse our division headed for Painsville, marched in that direction about two miles, when we counter marched by file left, came back to the Richmond and Danville railroad, up which we marched for several miles, then struck off to the right, and passed through Deatonsville, and reached Sailor Creek during the morning of 6th of April. Somewhere along the line of march, Colonel Car- rington sat in a corn-house door and gave each man as he
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passed three ears of corn, which he said was for three days rations. The head of our brigade had halted near Sailor Creek, and this placed our regiment in the road opposite Capt. Hillsman's dwelling. I got in his yard, kindled a fire, and with a half of a canteen was parching some of my corn. While doing this William Wilkerson, who now lives with me in my factory, came to me. He belonged to the 19th Va., Regt. We were discussing the question of coming by home, when I happened to look over to the left and discovered a Yankee cavalry crossing an open field and passing rapidly to our front. I called his attention to them and he said they were not Yankees. I told him they were, and that I would know that flag if I saw in it perdition. General Pickett was sitting on his horse nearby. I called his attention to them and he immediately gave orders for us to cross the creek. We did so, and marched about 100 yards up the road, filed right and formed line of battle along the edge of a piece of pines. In our front was an open field about seventy-five yards across, then came a body of oak woods. We had been lined up but a few minutes, when the Yankees lined up along the edge of the oak woods. They were mounted, and we did not wait for any orders, but gave them a solid volley of musketry, and charged across the field. They gave way and we continued to follow, yelling and shooting. I had gotten about 25 yards into the woods, standing loading my gun, when a shell exploded very near me, a piece of which passed through one of my limbs, giving me a serious wound, which kept me on crutches for seven months after the war closed. I was placed on a stretcher and taken to the rear, where Dr. Berkeley dressed my wound, and sent me over the creek to a spring. I was not here long before the Yankee Infantry in line of battle, came up. I was of course made a prisoner.
I knew it was getting serious for our boys now. With infantry in our rear, and on both flanks, and their cavalry in our front, it would be a hard matter to hold our own against
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such odds. The boys would not yet give up; they formed hollow square, and continued the fight until late in the after- noon, and were forced to surrender. I have heard that we had about 12,000 men in this fight, against 52,000 of the enemy, yet we held our ground for five hours! Could men do more?
It were enough honor to have shared the fortunes of any of those regiments. During the night I was taken up by the enemy and carried to Capt. Hillsman's yard, which was full of wounded Yanks and Rebs. Many died during the night. I was very weak from loss of blood and thought many times that night, while hearing the constant cry of the wounded, and the last gasp of the dying, that I too, would soon be marching in the silent army, but the good Lord ruled otherwise, and I am here to-day to recount to you those scenes of long ago.
The next morning a Yankee Sergeant, who had been left in charge of us, drove a cow in the. yard and shot her for those hungry, wounded men. After skinning her, he would cut a big chunk of the flesh, with the blood dripping from it, hand it to the boys, who, like dogs, ate it raw. I very well remember I thought it the sweetest piece of meat I ever ate.
On the 9th a Federal surgeon came along with a lot of ambulances, examined, and dressed the wounds, put the boys in the ambulances, and sent them on to prison. When he got to me, he examined my wound very carefully, and said : "Johnny, you are very badly shot, and, if I start you back, you will die between here and Burkeville." I said: "Doctor, let me die here; I will die that much nearer home." He asked me where my home was, and I told him, Farm- ville. He soon left with his ambulance train, leaving me alone in Hillsman's yard. I now made up my mind to get to Mr. Creed Farley's if possible, and in this I succeeded,
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and was never better treated or looked after in my life. While going over to Mr. Farley's I had the good fortune to run across a Yankee soldier, William Ferris, by name. He was from New York city, and belonged to the 6th army corps. He was a man with a big heart; and, had I been his brother, he could not have done more for me. He dressed my wound twice regularly every day, and remained with me until I came home. We corresponded for a num- ber of years after the war. I wrote him last at St. Louis, Mo., but he has never replied, and I fear he has answered his last roll-call and is now marching with the silent army. He it was who first informed me of General Lee's surrender, and the assassination of President Lincoln.
On the 27th, it having been twenty-one days since I was shot, the Federals sent an ambulance from Farmville for me. I bid my good friends, the Farley's and Ferris. good- bye, and started for home with, brother Henry, who had come down with the ambulance for me. On our way, arriving at Mr. Walthall's, we found Miss Sallie Reives, who afterwards married Mr. William Daniel, and who now lives a few miles from town. She wished to return to her home in Farmville with us, and we gladly consented, and had the pleasure of her most excellent company from there home. We left her at the residence of Mr. Joe Wiliams, who was her step- father, and drove to my own home, where there was great rejoicing over the return of the young, wounded soldier.
That night I had a fall from our front porch which came very near terminating my life. My wound was all torn open again, and it was thought I would bleed to death, but, as heretofore, I managed to pull through, and, as many of my friends will admit, am here yet, and hope to remain for many moons to come.
As before stated, I was shot and captured on the 6th of April. at Sailor Creek, about twelve miles below Farmville,
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and left on the battle field, where, what was left of our division, stood as a forlorn hope to save Lee's wagon trains, and those who did their duty on that day, were either killed, wounded, or captured, almost to a man. Here my own ex- perience as a soldier of the army of Northern Virginia, ended. I can now only state what others have said as to the final march, and end, of that noble army.
From Sailor Creek, General Lee continued his retreat in the direction of Lynchburg, passing through Farmville. He pressed on as fast as the condition of his men would permit, fighting every inch of ground, until he reached Appomat- tox Court-house. Here he found himself, and his little army, surrounded by Grant and his vast host. Up to this point he had managed to check their pursuit from time to time, and to continue his retreat. On the 7th of April, General Grant sent the following communication to General Lee.
General: The result of the last week must convince you of the hopelessness of further resistance on the part of the army of Northern Virginia, in this struggle. I feel that it is so, and regard it as my duty to shift from myself the re- sponsibility of any further effusion of blood, by asking of you the surrender of that portion of the Confederate States army known as the army of Northern Virginia.
U. S. GRANT. Lieutenant General.
General Lee did not think as General Grant did. He replied on the same day, April 7th, as follows:
General: I have received your note of this date. Though not entertaining the opinion you express on the hope- lessness of further resistance on the part of the army of Northern Virginia, I reciprocate your desire to avoid the useless effusion of blood, and therefore, before considering your proposition, ask the term you will offer on condition of its surrender.
R. E. LEE,
General.
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General Fitz. Lee says the next communication from General Grant was received by General Lee "at a large white farm-house at Curdsville." It would be interesting to know who resided at that "white farm-house" then, and who occupies it now. I trust some old resident of Curdsville will give the information. The two notes read as follows:
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