USA > Virginia > City of Portsmouth > City of Portsmouth > A record of events in Norfolk County, Virginia, from April 19th, 1861, to May 10th, 1862, with a history of the soldiers and sailors of Norfolk County, Norfolk City and Portsmouth, who served in the Confederate States army or navy > Part 4
USA > Virginia > City of Norfolk > City of Norfolk > A record of events in Norfolk County, Virginia, from April 19th, 1861, to May 10th, 1862, with a history of the soldiers and sailors of Norfolk County, Norfolk City and Portsmouth, who served in the Confederate States army or navy > Part 4
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
The names which follow in the histories of each company em- brace those who marched away from the cities and county with their commands on the 10th of May, 1862, as far as they could be obtained. There may possibly have been a few others, but there were not many. Those lists have been very carefully prepared, and while possibly not absolutely correct, are very nearly so. Those who are marked as having been detailed in 1861 are be- lieved to have followed the army to Richmond upon the evacua- tion. Some of them worked in the Nary Yard there or at other points in the South, but most of them rejoined the companies to which they were originally attached.
The lists of those who were killed or died in the service is be- lieved to be correct, though, as the places at which they died were made up partially from memory by the survivors, it is possible that there may be a few errors in that particular feature. It is very certain, too, that quite a number of men were wounded but whose wounds were forgotten by those now living, and while the record is reliable as far as it goes, it is possible that some were wounded who are not so recorded. The work of gathering to- gether these facts was postponed so long after the close of the
-
34
NORFOLK COUNTY, 1861-5.
scenes herein recorded, and so many of those who took part in them have died since they laid down their arms, that the wonder is, not that much has been omitted but that so much has been col- lected and preserved. The author has given it careful study, and no accessible source of information has been neglected. He hopes, therefore, his readers will approve what he has succeeded in rescuing from oblivion and not criticise him for not having done better.
While the Federal forces occupied the city of Portsmouth the citizens, whose sympathies were with the Southern Cause, expe- rienced all of the rigors and oppressions of a conquered people. Not only were their personal liberties taken from them but their religions privileges were abridged. The Northern Methodist Church sent "missionaries" to the city, and by order of the Federal Commander of the post the old Dinwiddie Street Methodist Church was taken from its congregation. and turned over to one of these imported preachers, for the purpose of conducting ser- vices therein. The order was issued one Saturday, and that night fires were made in the furnaces for the purpose of heating the building for the next day's services, but, on account of a defective flue, the building caught on fire and was burned to the ground. Then another order from the Military Commander gave St. John's Episcopal Church to the disappointed preacher, and that church was used by the. Northern Methodists until after the close of the war, when its owners again obtained possession of it. Rev. John H. D. Wingfield, pastor of Trinity Episcopal Church was arrested and put to work on the streets with a ball and chain fastened to his leg and the church was taken possession of and converted into a hospital for negro troops.
Portsmouth had the honor of being represented in the very closing scenes of "the drama of the Lost Cause." A number of mechanics from the Gosport Navy Yard were taken to Charlotte, North Carolina, upon the evacuation of Portsmouth by the Con- federates and were employed there by the Government in the manufacture of ordnance stores. These men were organized into a military battalion and were frequently called away from their work benches to repel raiding parties of the enemy. After the fall of Richmond President Davis started southward, and upon the arrival at Charlotte of the train bearing the specie which was in the Confederate Treasury volunteers were called for to escort it to the army of General Kirby Smith in the Trans-Mississippi Department, and sixty of these men volunteered for that service. The corps of midshipmen from the Confederate Naval Academy, under Captain W. H. Parker of the Navy, was with the train. At Chester, South Carolina, the party was joined by Mrs. Davis, wife of President Davis. She had with her her infant daughter, now Miss Winnie, and at that point the specie was transferred to
35
THE FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR IN PORTSMOUTH.
wagons. On the march from Chester to Newberry Mrs. Davis became tired of riding in the wagon and got out to walk, carrying the baby in her arms, but Messrs. Charles T. Myers, C. W. Walker and Henry A. Tabb volunteered to relieve her of the burden, and took turns at carrying the little traveler. The company again took the cars at Newberry and proceeded as far as Abbeville, where the specie was again loaded in wagons and the escort pushed on to Augusta, Georgia, when news came that the Federal forces had taken possession of Macon and thus interposed between them and the Mississippi. The specie belonging to the Richmond banks was deposited in a bank in Augusta and the expedition then turned back and moved on to Abbeville, South Carolina, where they met President Davis and a part of his Cabinet, and the specie belong- ing to the Confederate Treasury was turned over to him. A bag of pennies was very generously given to the company. The men counted them and found there would be just 333 cents apiece and put them back in the bag and returned them with thanks. Tlre corps of cadets were disbanded at Abbeville on the 2d of May. General Johnston's army had surrendered then, and the company of volunteers was ordered back to Charlotte. President Davis left them at Abbeville and pushed on until he was captured. The Captain of this company had a roll of its members, but, not appreciating the importance it might become as a matter of his- tory, permitted it to become lost. This was, perhaps, the last organized body of Confederate troops east of the Mississippi river. It was composed of about forty-five Portsmouth men, five Wash- ingtonians and ten North Carolinians from Charlotte. The follow- ing are all of the Portsmouth men whom memory can recall :
John Archer, George Dougherty, John Owins, William Peed.
John Anderson.
J. W. Davis,
James Brown,
Alphons Dunham,
C. C. Peed,
Bartlett Brown,
Thomas H. Deans,
James Peed,
Henry C. Brown,
Richard Grimes,
Benj. Presson,
Thomas Baker,
Edward Lewis,
James Potter,
Wash. Bright,
Walter Mahoney,
Hugh Smith,
Samuel Butt,
Charles T. Myers,
Joshua Sykes,
Reuben Culpepper,
Cornelius Myers,
Win. H. Turner,
William Culpepper,
Joseph Merchant.
Henry A. Tabb,
Robert Culpepper,
George Maxwell,
C. W. Walker,
John E. Deans,
Robert Myers,
Wm. Whitehurst,
Charles Davis,
Thomas Dwyer,
Merritt Moore, Jerry Nichols,
William J. Wood, Total, 41.
Lieutenant Thomas Gleason of Co. D, 9th Va. Regiment, and Privates William T. Edwards, Co. G, 9th Va., and Edward Grant of Co. C. 16th Va. Regiment, all of Portsmouth, were also with the party. They had been captured previously and paroled, but
36
NORFOLK COUNTY, 1861-5.
had not been exchanged, and had not, therefore, rejoined their companies. The five men from Washington were: William Clements, William Thompson, William Tucker, George Thompson, John Tucker.
After the war Major F. W. Jett, formerly of Hampton, re- moved to Portsmouth. He was a Civil Engineer in the Confed- erate army and superintended the construction of the earthworks at the Naval Hospital and at Pinner's Point in April, 1861. He also built a military road from the Western Branch to Nansemond river and a bridge across the Western Branch. Upon the evacu- ation of Portsmouth by the Confederates he became Chief of Engineers of Anderson's Division, afterwards Mahone's, and ren- dered very efficient service. He was specially complimented in General Anderson's official report of the part taken by his Division in the battle of Fredericksburg. It occurred to Major Jett that the Portsmouth and Norfolk county soldiers, who had won fame's immortal wreath in such battles as Gettysburg and the Crater, should have a monument erected to commemorate their courage and fortitude, and by his efforts a Monument Association was or- ganized in 1875, with the following officers:
President-Adjutant James F. Crocker.
Vice Presidents-Major William H. Etheredge and Colonel William White.
. Treasurer-Major George W. Grice.
Secretary-Corporal O. V. Smith.
Directors-Sergeant B. A. Armistead, Captain John T. Griffin, Major W. C. Wingfield, E. G. Ghio, Esq., Captain James H. Toomer, Colonel D. J. Godwin, Captain John H. Gayle, Captain C. W. Murdaugh, L. R. Watts, Esq., Sergeant Major Charles T. Phillips, Lieutenant Colonel William H. Stewart, Private Alonzo Ives, Captain Thomas M. Hodges and Captain Jetson Jett.
A design by Charles E. Cassell, Esq., architect, of Portsmouth, was selected for the monument, and the corner stone was laid December 14th, 1876, with Masonic ceremonies. The stone for the monument was presented to the Association by the Seaboard and Roanoke and Raleigh and Gaston railroad companies, and came from a granite quarry in North Carolina belonging to the Raleigh and Gaston company. The Monument Association paid the cost of quarrying it, and the two railroad companies hauled it to the city free of charge. Major Jett was untiring in his efforts to raise money to carry on the work, and but for his energy and determination it would undoubtedly have fallen through, but, after several delays and interruptions, Major Jett announced on the 12th of June, 1881, that the next day he would be prepared to swing the copestone in position and complete the monument proper. On the morning of the 13th the ladies of the Confed- erate Memorial Association of Portsmouth "manned" the arms
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THE FIRST YEAR OF THE WAR IN PORTSMOUTH.
of the capstan and raised the copestone in position. The site, on Court street in front of the Court House, was selected by a com- mittee composed of Messrs. H. V. Niemeyer, Samnel Watts, F. W. Jett, James T. Borum and George M. Bain, Jr., and the City Council gave its consent.
The monument is of granite, fifty-five feet six inches high. The base is fifteen feet across and seven feet high, surmounted by a sub-base seven feet square and thirteen feet high. Four white metal statues, life size, one on each side of the base, represent the different branches of the service, infantry, cavalry, artillery and the sailors.
Major George W. Grice, who was elected treasurer of the Asso- ciation, died in October, 1875, and was succeeded by Mr. William H. H. Hodges. Mr. Hodges died in Jannary, 1880, and Mr. William V. H. Williams was elected treasurer and filled the posi- tion until the completion of the monument.
CHAPTER II.
THE PORTSMOUTH LIGHT ARTILLERY,
GRIMES' BATTERY.
This company dates its organization back to a period prior to the war of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain, in which it achieved an enviable record. The principal engagement in which it took part was the battle of Craney Island in 1814, where, under command of Captain Arthur Emmerson, it con- tributed materially to the repulse of the British, and in 1861, at the beginning of the war between the North and the South, it was the oldest artillery company in the State. The company in 1861 was equipped with four smooth bore iron field pieces, and the following were its officers :
Captain-Cary F. Grimes.
First Lieutenant-John H. Thompson.
Second Lieutenant-Bernard Fauth.
The company was ordered into service by Governor Leteher on the 20th of April, 1861, upon the secession of Virginia, and responded promptly. There were at that time about forty men on its rolls, but with the actual commencement of hostilities re- cruits rapidly joined its ranks until its membership exceeded a hundred. Onthe night of April 20th the United States naval authorities burned the Gosport Navy Yard and evacuated it. The company was on duty that night, with their battery parked at the intersection of High and Court streets, but without any ammunition.
On the 21st the company was marched to the Naval Hospital grounds, where it remained until May 16th, when it was ordered to Hoffler's creek to guard the shore of Hampton Roads from Craney Island to the mouth of Nansemond river.
On the 20th of July Private Richard Webb was elected Third Lieutenant, as under the Confederate Army regulations the com- pany became entitled to another officer. While at Hoffler's creek the name of the company underwent an informal change, and in- stead of the Portsmouth Light Artillery it became known as "Grimes' Battery," and their camp at Hoffler's creek was named Camp Grimes.
On the 26th of March, 1862, there was a reorganization of the company, as the one year term of the original enlistment of the men was about to expire. This was nominally a reorganization but was really only a new election of officers, as the members of the company re-enlisted in a body "for three years or the war."
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PORTSMOUTH LIGIIT ARTILLERY-GRIMES' BATTERY. 39
There were present for duty that day in camp ninety-nine men who answered to roll call. The following officers were elected :
Captain-Cary F. Grimes.
First Lieutenant-John H. Thompson.
Second Lieutenant-William T. Fentress.
Third Lieutenant-Thomas J. Oakham.
The next month Francis Russ was elected Fourth Lieutenant, as the size of the company and the number of guns in the battery entitled it to four Lieutenants.
In the early portion of 1862 the United States forces captured Roanoke Island and held undisputed possession of the waters of Albemarle Sound, and in April a brigade of troops under General Reno advanced from Elizabeth City towards South Mills, threat- ening the Dismal Swamp canal. General Huger ordered the 3d Georgia Regiment, one of the finest regiments in the Confederate army, and numbering fully a thousand men, under Colonel A. R. Wright, to check their advance, and on the 23d of April Grimes' Battery was ordered from Hoffer's creek to reinforce the Geor- gians. The 1st Louisiana and the Portsmouth Rifle Company, Co. G, 9th Virginia, were also sent with them, but the reinforce- men'ts arrived too late to take part in the action. Colonel Wright fought the enemy at Sawyer's lane, about three miles from South Mills, and drove them back to Camden Court House.
On the 2d of May, however, Grimes' Battery had a brush with the enemy on its own hook. One section, under Lieutenant Thompson, opened fire upon two United States gunboats in Pas- quotank river, and, after a spirited engagement, forced them to drop down the stream, considerably damaged. The next day a countryman brought news into camp that one of them sank shortly after the engagement from the effects of the shot. The other section of the battery, under Captain Grimes' immediate com- mand, was on the opposite side of the river from Lieutenant Thompson, but not being able to find an eligible position in which his pieces could be brought to bear upon the gunboats, it took no part in the action.
On the 5th of May the battery returned under orders to Ports- mouth and was given two additional guns, making six in all with which it was equipped. It moved off with the Division of General Huger on the 10th, when Portsmouth was evacuated, and arrived in Petersburg on the 14th. On the 24th the battery was ordered to Drewry's Bluff, and on the 28th was marched to Rich- mond and became a part of the Army of Northern Virginia, which was then barring Mcclellan's way to Richmond.
Grimes' Battery never shirked a duty or shrunk from obeying an order because the execution thereof was attended with danger, and it soon became known throughout the army as a fighting bat- tery. Captain Grimes' courage was proverbial, bordering even
40
NORFOLK COUNTY, 1861-5.
upon rashness, and on several occasions the battery received the commendation of General Anderson, to whose Division it was attached.
On the 25th of June, at the beginning of the seven days' battles around Richmond, during which General MeClellan's army was driven from Mechanicsville to Harrison's Landing on James river, the battery had two guns engaged, shelling the enemy at rather long range, from 400 to 800 yards, and silenced two Federal guns, and at Malvern Hill on the 1st of July it behaved with distin- guished gallantry, maintaining a fight at elose range and unsup- ported against about eighty or one hundred Federal guns, which were sheltered by breastworks. Captain Grimes held his position for about two hours, until ordered to retire. He lost here three men killed, Walter A. Creekmore, John W. Matthews and Wil- liam Swain, besides eight wounded, of whom E. T. W. Summers and John Weymouth died. James H. Gaskins lost a leg here. Fifteen horses belonging to the battery were killed while getting into position.
On the 27th of July the battery was ordered to City Point for the purpose of firing upon the Federal transports in James river, and returned in time to join the army in its march to attack General Pope. It engaged in an artillery fight at Warrenton Springs on the 26th of August and had three men wounded there, one of whom died, and on the 30th reached the battle ground at Second Manassas. In this battle it added largely to the reputa- tion it had already made in its previous encounters with the enemy, and charged in line with Mahone's Brigade in the final rush upon and defeat of the left wing of Pope's army.
It was with the army on its march to Maryland, took part in the battle at Crampton Gap September 14th, and, at Sharpsburg September 17th, 1862, lost its gallant commander, who was shot from his horse while directing the fire of his guns. Captain Grimes was in command of a battalion, composed of three com- panies, Grimes' Battery of Portsmouth, 4 guns, Huger's Battery of Norfolk, 4 guns, and Moorman's Battery of Lynchburg, 4 guns. The battalion was under command of Major Saunders, but that officer was absent at the time and Captain Grimes, as senior officer, was in charge. Lieutenant Thompson had immediate command of Grimes' Battery. The battle had wavered backward and for- ward on the left and center, where Jackson, after driving back Hooker's corps of the Federal army, had in turn been pushed baek by the attack of Mansfield's corps. This in turn had been defeated by the assistance of fresh troops which arrived on the field from Harper's Ferry, and Sumner's corps of 20,000 men, coming to the assistance of their beaten comrades, was once more turning the tide of battle against the Confederates. At this crit- ical moment Grimes' battalion arrived upon the battle field with
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PORTSMOUTHI LIGHT ARTILLERY-GRIMES' BATTERY.
Anderson's Division and took post upon the Confederate left center, where the Federal attack had been most successful. The enemy were driven back, but the toll paid for the victory was heavy. Captain Grimes was strnek from his horse by a wound in the thigh from a rifle ball, and as his men were bearing him off the field a second ball struck him in the groin and ended a mili- tary career which had given promise of a brilliant maturity.
The men of the battery buried him with heavy hearts, and marked his grave, so that after the war his remains were disin- terred and brought back to the home and family, from which he parted just four months before he received his death wound. This brave soldier and kind friend was long lamented by the men in his command. His remains are interred in Oakwood Ceme- tery, near Portsmouth.
Upon the death of Captain Grimes Lieutenant John H. Thomp- son was promoted to eaptain, but was not destined to long wear his well-earned honors. Prior to the battle of Sharpsburg General Lee had decided upon a reorganization of the artillery arm of the service. Horses were becoming scarce, and there was too great a proportion of artillery in the army as compared with the infantry. Captain Grimes, as commander of the battalion, had received orders to recommend one of his companies to be disbanded and to divide the men among the other two, but as the order was not to be executed immediately, and he had facilities for keeping all three in the field, he decided to wait until after the close of the campaign to make the changes. Had he done so at once the Huger Battery would have been disbanded, as Captain. Huger was the junior captain, but Captain Grimes' death made Captain Thompson the junior, hence, when, upon the return of the army to Virginia, and when near Winchester, General Lee's order was carried into effect, Grimes' Battery was disbanded and its men, about eighty in number, were divided between the two other companies in the battalion. This was part of General Order October 4th, 1862, and embraced twenty other batteries. Captain Thompson says he had perhaps as many men present for duty as the other two companies combined, and protested earnestly to General Lee against his company being disbanded, but General Lee explained to him the necessity for the movement in so kindly a manner that all of the sting was taken out of it.
The detachment which went with Moorman's battery subse quently became horse artillery and were attached to the cavalry arm of the service, Fitzhugh Lee's Division. They kept up, as far as possible, a separate organization in that battery under Sergeant William H. Hughes, and maintained their reputation until the close of the war. On the 11th of June, 1864, Sergeant Hughes was promoted to a lieutenancy in the Lee Battery of Light Artillery and Thomas J. D. White became sergeant. The detachment 4
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NORFOLK COUNTY, 1861-5.
which was assigned to the Huger Battery also proved the metal that was in them, but, having passed out of existence as a separate organization, the brave deeds of the men in the battery brought credit to other places than their own beloved city, Portsmouth.
Upon the disbanding of the battery the officers were assigned to other fields of duty, and General Lee, in recognition of their great disappointment in being deprived of their battery, very kindly assigned them to positions which were agreeable to them.
The section which was assigned to Moorman's Battery distin- guished itself in an engagement December 4th, 1862, on the Rap- pahannock river, near Port Royal, with four Federal gunboats, the Anacostia, the Coeur de Leon, Currituck and Jacob Bell. Sergeant Hughes had charge of a three-inch rifle gun, and George W. R. MeDonell was gunner. The gunboats were driven down the river by Moorman's Battery with heavy loss. The battery had one man killed, Private Compton of Lynchburg.
MALVERN HILL.
Below will be found Captain Grimes' report of the work of the battery during the seven days' battles, ending at Malvern Hill July 14th, 1862:
CAMP NEAR FALLING CREEK, VA., July 21st, 1862.
Sir-Below please find a report of the movements of my bat- tery from June 20th last, when I was ordered to report to Briga- dier General Mahone, on the advanced lines, for the purpose of relieving Captain Moorman's battery.
After reporting to General Mahone we were expecting an en- gagement with the enemy every day, but had none until the 25th, on which day we discovered the enemy on the opposite side of French's farm, between the Charles City and Williamsburg roads, at which place I engaged them with one section of my battery at 850 yards distance, driving the enemy from his position. I after- wards moved one piece up to French's house, within 450 yards of his position, and opened on him, which was quickly replied to by him with a 12-pounder Parrott rifle gun; but I had the pleasure of driving him from his position, leaving his horses and guns be- hind; which fact I was not aware of until informed the next morn- ing by Colonel Smith of the 49th Virginia and others. The enemy was then attacked by a portion of three regiments of General Mahone's Brigade, the 12th, 6th and 49th Virginia. The 4th Georgia and 28th North Carolina Regiments were also on the field. The enemy was driven from the field, making a complete stampede. I had the good luck on that day to lose neither man nor horse.
Nothing of importance occurred with my battery after the 25th
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PORTSMOUTH LIGHT ARTILLERY-GRIMES' BATTERY.
until July 1st. On that day I was on the Charles City road with General Mahone's Brigade and was ordered back to Darbeytown road to report to Brigadier General Armistead, which I immedi- ately did. When I arrived at that position and reported, General Armistead told me that a captain had just reported his battery to him for duty and directed me to report to the first general I saw, and, General Wright being the first, I reported to him, and while talking to General Wright General Armistead's aide came up, stating that General Armistead had become disgusted with the captain who had reported his battery to him and had driven him with his battery from the field and that he wished to see General Wright. General Wright asked me to ride with him, which I did. When we found General Armistead he told General Wright that the captain alluded to above had formed so many excuses about getting his battery on the field that he had driven him from the field, and that he wanted General Wright to send a battery that was willing to go in and engage the enemy. General Wright told him he had one, naming mine. General Armistead asked me if I could carry my battery on the hill. I told him if any battery in the world could go, mine could. He directed General Wright to show me the position to take, which he did. I found the enemy with their batteries planted and their infantry drawn up in line of battle at about 1,200 yards distant. I then went to the rear for my battery and carried it on the field. As soon as the battery entered the field the enemy opened fire on it, killing one man and wounding three, and killing one horse and wounding two before I fired a gun. I unlimbered and commenced firing as soon as possible, and with telling effect on the enemy.
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