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 7
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 7
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The regiment, as a part of Longstreet's Division, was engaged in the battles of Mechanicsville, Gaines' Mill, Cold Harbor and Frazier's Farm. In this last battle its losses were very heavy. At the battle of Malvern Hill Longstreet's Division was held in reserve on account of its active participation in the previous fighting.
The next encounter with the enemy was at Thoroughfare Gap August 29th, where Longstreet brushed aside a force of Federals who sought to hold the Gap and thereby prevent him from uniting with Jackson's Corps at Manassas. Lee was chasing General Pope towards Washington. Jackson had gotten in his rear at Manassas and was holding his ground, waiting for the arrival of General Lee with Longstreet's Corps to give Pope a decisive blow. The battle of Second Manassas was fonght on the 30th. Pryor's Bri- gade was a part of the right wing under Longstreet, and was in the front line. The brigade advanced across an open field and through a piece of woods, beyond which was another field, and on the farther side of this field was a battery of Federal field artillery and a double line of infantry. In marching through the woods the brigade became very much broken and a halt was called to rectify the alignment. While this was being done the 3d Regi- ment became separated from the rest of the brigade. While the allignment was being perfected General Pryor rode up to Colonel Mayo, commanding the 3d Regiment, and requested him to take command of the brigade, as he was too much exhausted to go any further.
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THE THIRD VIRGINIA REGIMENT.
During the confusion the 3d Regiment became separated from the rest of the brigade, and Major Urquhart, upon whom the command devolved, seeing General Pender's Brigade coming up on his left, reported to that officer and asked permission to charge with him and be accounted for in his report. General Pender acceded to the request and the 3d Regiment, joining on to the right of Pender's Brigade, charged with it. As soon as it passed ont of the woods it became exposed to a very heavy fire of mus- ketry and artillery, which, however, did not stay its onward rush. John Yost, of the Portsmouth National Grays, Company H, car- ried the colors of the 3d Reginient, and was the first man to reach the Federal battery which had been playing upon them. The cannoneers were driven from their guns, and the infantry being pushed back at the same time, the battery was captured. A dis- pate arose between the 3d Regiment and Pender's Brigade as to which had captured it, but there can be little doubt that John Yost was the first man to reach it, and that he planted the colors of the 3d Virginia there, and the regiment was at his heels.
The regiment took part in the investment and capture of Har- per's Ferry September 14th, 1862. Was at the battle of Sharps- burg on the 17th of September and Fredericksburg on the 13th of December. On the 10th of November the regiment was de- tached from Pryor's Brigade, by order of General Lee, and at- tached to Kemper's Brigade, Pickett's Division. At Fredericks- burg while the Federal Corps of Generals Couch, Wilcox and Hooker were making their assaults upon the positions held by McLaws' and Ransom's Divisions, Kemper's and Jenkins' Bri- gades, of Pickett's Division, were sent to reinforce Ransom's Di- vision, should he need their assistance, and just before the last charge of Hooker's Corps the 3d Regiment was sent by General Ransom to relieve the 24th North Carolina Regiment of Ransom's Brigade, which had been in the trenches for forty-eight hours, and, shortly after it had relieved the North Carolinians, it con- tributed to the repulse of the last effort of Burnside to carry General Lee's position. For fuller details of this battle see Chap- ter XXIV., 61st Virginia Regiment, post -.
The 3rd Regiment remained in the trenches all night, in antici- pation of a renewal of the attack the next day, and all through the night the Federals were busy removing their wounded from the front of the Confederate works, where they had fallen in their repeated charges during the day. The groans of the wounded and dying, and the appeals for assistance were dismal beyond descrip- tion. The night was intensely cold, and the Confederates made no effort to interrupt the work of the Federal ambulance corps.
The 3d Regiment left the vicinity of Fredericksburg in Feb- ruary, 1863, with Pickett's Division, for the neighborhood of Suffolk. The detachment, composed of Pickett's and Hood's
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66
NORFOLK COUNTY, 1861-5.
Divisions, under Longstreet, and numbering some twelve or thir- teen thousand men, were on a huge foraging expedition, but their presence at Suffolk greatly alarmed Major General John Peck, commander of the Federal forees in that locality. On the 12th of April at 3 o'clock P. M. he telegraphed General Hooker, near Fredericksburg, to send a corps to reinforce him, that Longstreet had thirty thousand men with him. At 9 P. M. he telegraphed that Longstreet had thirty-five thousand men, and at 11 P. M. telegraphed that he had thirty-eight thousand men and one hun- dred and fifty guns. There was considerable skirmishing going on around Suffolk until the 4th of May, when, having aeeom- plished the objeet for which he was sent there, Longstreet broke camp and returned to the Rappahannock and rejoined General Lee.
After the defeat of Hooker at the battle of Chancellorsville, which was fought while Hood's and Pickett's Divisions were de- tached at Suffolk, General Lee moved his army into Pennsylvania and Hooker's army was withdrawn from Virginia to protect Washington. As is told in history, the two armies met at Gettys- burg. The 3d Regiment was in Pickett's Division, and reached the battle field about 10 o'clock on the morning of July 3d, and was placed in line of battle in an open field, where it remained under the broiling sun for five hours before it was ordered to charge. The sun proved a valuable ally for the enemy, for searcely half of the men in the regiment were able to move when the ad- vance was ordered. (This charge is fully described in Chapter XII., the 9th Virginia Regiment, post.)
Returning from Gettysburg the 3d Regiment participated in the cavalry fights at Williamsport, while the army was waiting there for the Potomae river to subside so as to become fordable, and, upon the return of the army to Virginia, was sent with Pickett's Division to North Carolina. It took part in the storm- ing and capture of Plymouth and the capture of Little Washing- ton, and was ordered back to Virginia to unite with the forces under Beauregard, which were being concentrated to check But- ler's advance from Bermuda Hundreds towards Richmond. When the train carrying the brigade from Weldon to Petersburg reached Belfield, information had been received that a raiding party of Federal cavalry was approaching that locality. The 3d Regiment was left behind to protect the railroad bridge and the rest of the brigade kept on to Petersburg, arriving in time to assist in the defeat of Butler at Drury's Bluff on the 16th of May, 1864.
The regiment rejoined the brigade later in May and was present in line of battle at Cold Harbor and Turkey Ridge from the latter part of May to the 13th of June, when Grant again moved off to the left and crossed James river below City Point. It erossed James river on pontoons near Drury's Bluff on the 16th and par-
67
THE THIRD VIRGINIA REGIMENT.
ticipated in the battle of Chester Station between Pickett's Divi- sion and Butler's troops. Butler was driven back over three lines of field works, behind each of which he endeavored to make a stand, and finally retired behind his fortifications at Bermuda Hundreds.
On the 26th of March, 1865, Pickett's Division was moved out of the lines in front of Bermuda Hundreds and sent to the ex- treme right of the army, defeated Sherman's cavalry at Dinwiddie Court House on the 31st, and the next day was caught in the trap at Five Forks and almost annihilated. The 3d Regiment was commanded that day by Captain Thomas M. Hodges of Company A, and enough of them escaped to keep up their organization. It was at Saylor's Creek on the 6th of April and participated in the defeat of Humphrey's Division at Farmville on the 7th, the last triumph of the Army of Northern Virginia. And all that was left of it surrendered on the 9th at Appomattox Court House.
The 3d Regiment took part in the following battles:
Dam No. 2, April 5, 1862. Williamsburg, May 5, 1862.
Seven Pines, May 31, 1862. Mechanicsville, June 26, 1862. Gaines' Mill, June 27, 1862.
Savage's Station, June 29, 1862. Frazier's Farm, June 30, 1862.
Thoroughfare Gap, August 29, 1862.
Second Manassas, Ang. 30, 1862. Harper's Ferry, Sept. 14, 1862. Sharpsburg, Sept. 17, 1862.
Fredericksburg, Dec. 13, 1862.
Suffolk, April, 1863.
Gettysburg, July 3, 1863.
Williamsport, July, 1863.
Plymouth, 1864.
Little Washington, 1864.
2d Cold Harbor, June 1-3, 1864. Turkey Ridge, June 3-13, 1864.
Chester Station, June 16, 1864.
Dinwiddie C. H., Mar. 31, 1865. Five Forks, April 1, 1865.
Saylor's Creek, April 6, 1865. Farmville, April 7, 1865.
Appomattox C. H., Apr. 9, 1865.
The battle of Gaines' Mill, fought on the 27th of June, 1862, in which the 3d Regiment took quite an active part, was one of the most brilliant victories achieved by the Confederates during the war. The day before Mcclellan had been dislodged from his advanced position at Mechanicsville, and, falling back to Gaines' Mill, withdrew troops from his left wing and heavily reinforced his position there. Strong works were built to protect his men, and during the larger portion of the battle the Confederates were engaged storming those entrenchments. There were in reality two battles that day. The first is designated the battle of Ellison's Mill, and General Pryor, in his official report of it, says:
"In this affair at Ellison's Mill my command sustained a consid- erable loss. The battalion of Lieutenant Colonel Coppins and the 3d Regiment Virginia Vohinteers were especially distinguished."
The enemy fell back about a mile and a half and assumed a new position on the farm of Dr. Gaines, where, receiving heavy reinforcements, a new stand was made. Pryor's brigade arrived
68
NORFOLK COUNTY, 1861-5.
in front of this position at 11 o'eloek A. M. and advanced to at- taek, but finding the enemy too strongly posted, retired. A second attempt was likewise unsuccessful, and General Pryor waited for reinforcements. Being joined later by the brigades of Wilcox, Featherstone and Pickett, another charge was ordered and the victory was won. The enemy was driven in confusion from their works and his artillery fell into the hands of the vic- torions Confederates. General Pryor's report says: "In this brilliant fight my brigade bore a not unworthy part. Although they had been engaged with the enemy from the earliest dawn, and had already suffered serious losses, they were not behind the foremost in the final victorious charge."
At Frazier's Farm, also, the 3d Regiment played an important part. Pryor's brigade was ordered into the fight about 4 o'clock P. M., and was actively engaged until the enemy retreated, leav- ing prisoners and cannon in the hands of the Confederates, and leaving his wounded behind. The losses of the brigade during these engagements were heavy. The 3d Regiment had nineteen killed and seventy-eight wounded.
The regiment surrendered at Appomattox Court House April 9th, 1865, with three commissioned officers and sixty-two enlisted men. The following is a copy of the official roll :
COMPANY A.
Captain Thos. M. Hodges, Private John W. Forward, Mark Godfrey.
COMPANY B.
Private James H. Archer.
COMPANY C.
Private John R. Carr,
66 Robert Lewis,
66 H. A. Liverman,
66 Wm. Crowder,
COMPANY D.
Corporal Leroy W. Beal, 66 Benj. Cleary,
Private Waverly Barham.
L. Barrett,
66 Thos. L. Cleary,
M. R. Edwards.
66 James C. Lane,
66 Robert A. Hood,
66 George F. Rawles,
66 Ben O. Simons,
66 T. R. Wells,
COMPANY D. Private Geo. W. Williams,
HI. K. Williams, .
66
R. N. Williams, COMPANY E.
Sergeant T. Lifsy,
T. Blankenship, Private John G. Bristoe,
Charles E. Wells.
COMPANY F.
Captain P. E. Wilson, Sergeant James M. Emmerson, Private Henry Humphlet.
COMPANY G.
Sergeant D. C. Reid,
Corporal Lewis Marks, Private John A. Critchlow.
Win. T. Critchlow,
66 Thomas H. Gray,
Andrew J. Harrison,
66 Jesse Jolmson,
66 E. G. Joiner,
66 J. R. Niles,
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THE THIRD VIRGINIA REGIMENT.
COMPANY G.
Private Thomas E. Pate,
George A. Powell,
George W. Simons,
Joseph Turner,
John Turner,
66 Joseph A. Worrell.
COMPANY H.
Lieutenant John C. Fulford, Private II. P. Foils,
W. R. Gaultney,
..
M. Jenkins,
.. W. H. Keeling,
W. H. Rowan,
.‹ J. M. Tabb.
COMPANY 1. Private W. A. Durham, P. D. Mitchell.
COMPANY K. Sergeant John A. Allen, Private Alex. Bray,
Z. Dunnaway,
R. T. Elliott,
.. * W. J. Fletcher,
66 Charles F. Guthrie,
66 John D. Peck,
.. James A. Seamster,
.. P. R. T. Tuck,
66 John P. Wilburn,
W. W. Wilson,
.6 Nat J. Williams,
66 R. R. James.
CHAPTER VII.
CAPTAIN JOHN H. MYERS' COMPANY, CO. E, SIXTH VA. REGIMENT.
This company had a short life and was the victim of too strict discipline. It was organized in Portsmouth immediately after the burning of the Navy Yard by Captain Myers, who was an Orderly Sergeant in the battalion of marines stationed in the Navy Yard, but being a Virginian and unwilling to fight against his State, he managed to make his escape when Commodore Mc- Cauley moved off with the Pawnee and Cumberland, and re- mained behind. He was an excellent drill master and had no difficulty in raising a company of which he was elected Captain. It was regularly mustered into the Confederate service and was assigned to the 6th Virginia Regiment as Company E. The regi- ment was then under command of Colonel William Mahone. The officers were:
Captain-John H. Myers.
First Lieutenant, Virginius C. Cooke; Second Lieutenant, V. O. Cassell.
First Sergeant, B. J. Accinelly ; Second Sergeantt, Enos Mur- phy ; Third Sergeant, Richard D. Brown; Fourth Sergeant, Chas. Syer.
.
The company was on duty with the regiment in the entrenched camp between Norfolk and Seawell's Point, but Captain Myers undertook to carry out with the volunteers the same methods which he had been accustomed to put into operation in the ma- rine corps in the Navy, and every infraction of the rules, how- ever slight, or any inattention to dress or parade or drill was vis- ited by the severest punishment in his power to inthet. If a man was absent from a roll call Captain Myers would report him as a deserter and wanted to offer a reward for his arrest and return to camp, said reward to be deducted from his pay. Matters in the company became so unbearable that nearly every man in it ap- plied for transfers to other commands, and as the best solution of the dilemma the Colonel recommended that the company be dis- banded. Both of the Lientenants had resigned and the men were trying to get out. The last report of the company is a curiosity in its way. It was dated September 1st, 1861, and twenty-two men who were merely absent from roll call were reported as de- serters, with a recommendation that all of their pay be taken from them. Others were reported for other offences, with the recommendation that one month's pay be deducted from them, and scarcely a man in the whole list had met the entire approval of the Captain. This report was made up after the receipt of
70
71
CAPT. JOHN H. MYERS' CO., CO. E, SIXTH VA. REGT.
the order disbanding the company, and the summary was as fol- lows :
Transferred to Company D. 11 men.
Appointed hospital steward. C 1 . 1
Mustered out, 1 officer and 20 men
20
Resigned, 2 officers.
Mustered out, unwilling to remain in service .. 6 66
Died, 1; discharged for disability, 7. 8
Deserted 22
Total-3 officers and . 69 men.
Nearly all of the men enlisted in other companies and made good soldiers. It was unfortunate that the Captain could not appreciate the difference between a company newly organized of men who had been used to the widest liberty in all of their move- ments and who needed to be brought under a state of discipline by patient and persistent efforts, and a company of regulars on shipboard. There was abundant material for a good company, but it was badly managed. Below will be found a complete roll of the company from the date of its organization, in April, 1861, to its disbandment, September 1st, 1861. One private, Elijah Creekmore, died.
Captain-John H. Myers.
First Lieutenant-Virginius S. Cooke.
Second Lieutenant-V. O. Cassell.
First Sergeant-B. J. Accinelly. Second Sergeant-Enos Murphy. Third Sergeant-Richard D. Brown. Fourth Sergeant-Charles Syer. First Corporal-William White. Second Corporal-James Thornton. Third Corporal-William Parsons. Fourth Corporal-John W. Howard.
PRIVATES.
Allen, Wm. A., Cotton, John,
Bullock, Joseph,
Creekmore, Elijah,
Barrett, Joseph, Doyle, Nathaniel,
Britton, Wm., Dewberry, James, Ballance, John, Elliott, Charles, Eason, Augustus,
Barrett, Matthew, Cherry, Germain, Curtain, Michael, Collins, Wm. B.,
Badger, M., Backus, Wm. T., Jr., Elliott, John W., Frestine, John, Graham, James, Godwin, A. D. B., Gwynn, Isaac,
Hall, Henry, Harrison, Chas. H., Halstead, Richard, Hozier, Joseph, Hudgins, Edward, Hopkins, Hillary, Halstead, Alex., Jordan, James, Jordan, Wm. E., Jordan, Joseph, Johnston, Geo. W.,
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NORFOLK COUNTY, 1861-5.
Knight, John M., Kent, Michael, Lewis, Thomas, Lingston, George, Lee, Lewis, Murphy, Patrick, Mathews, Jacob, Miller, Phliip, Newby, Samuel,
Parker, George,
Parker, Robert W.,
Parker, E. K.,
Peel, John,
Reynolds, II. C.,
Rourke, Bernard,
Scheill, Mitchell,
Spaulding, John E., Tennis, T. S.,
Tennis, Wm.,
Walker, George,
Wagner, Fred,
Whitehurt, Robt. B.,
White, Charles, Wallace, James,
Walsh, Michael,
Walsh, James,
Wilger, Thomas.
CHAPTER VIII.
THE VIRGINIA ARTILLERY, COMPANY D, NINTH VIRGINIA INFANTRY.
This company was organized about the 12th of April, 1861, for the purpose of offering its services to South Carolina, and elected the following officers :
Captain-William J. Richardson.
First Lieutenant-Charles R. McAlpine.
Second Lieutenant-Samuel W. Weaver.
Third Lieutenant-George Linn.
First Sergeant-John D. Skellin.
Virginia had not then passed the Ordinance of Secession, nor was the company uniformed or commissioned. It was unarmed also, and had not applied to Virginia for arms when the State seceded. When Governor Letcher issued his call for troops on the 20th of April, 1861, the Virginia Artillery gave up the idea of going to South Carolina and responded to Governor Letcher's call. The company was organized as an artillery company, but was not furnished with a battery and became an infantry com- pany and was attached to the 3d Virginia Regiment at the Naval Hospital Point.
When the Navy Yard fell into the hands of the Virginia troops this company got a brass howitzer from off the old frigate United States, took it to the Independent Fire Company's engine house, put it in order and carried it to the Naval Hospital, but under orders from General Huger it was subsequently turned over to Grimes' Battery by Colonel Pryor. It was not given up willingly. The company took with them to the Naval Hospital Point about one hundred and twenty-five men, but most of them were skilled mechanics, and as their services were needed to work on vessels in the Navy Yard, quite a number of them were detached by or- ders from headquarters. So many were thus detached that when the company was ordered to Craney Island about a month later there were only eighty in the ranks. Until the company was or dered to Craney Island the men were armed with long boarding pikes which were obtained in the Navy Yard. Shortly after their transfer to Craney Island the ladies of Portsmouth organized a sewing circle and made uniforms for them and their boarding pikes were exchanged for flint lock muskets. Some months later, when Lieutenant Colonel De Lagnel was in command of the post at Craney Island, these guns were sent to Norfolk and changed into percussion guns.
While the company was at the Naval Hospital battery the men, by a very slight accidental circumstance, obtained the name of
6
73
74
NORFOLK COUNTY, 1861-5.
" Wild Cats." which stuck to them to the close of the war. Being near home and no enemy nearer than Old Point, the men were very desirons of spending as much time at home with their fami- lies as possible, while Colonel Pryor's whole energies seemed to be bent on contriving means to keep them in camp. Ile placed sentinels very close together around the grounds, but in rear of the Hospital there was a very high brick wall which Colonel Pryor thought could not be scaled without a ladder, and as there were no ladders available he neglected to guard that part of the camp. The men in Company D soon found means of getting over, and one day a party of young ladies who were walking through the grove in rear of the Hospital saw three or four of them climbing over, and one of the young ladies remarked that they could climb equally as well as wild cats. Even to this day, thirty-one years afterwards, the men of Company D are spoken of as "Richardson's wild cats."
On May 29th, 1861, the company was detached from the 3d Regiment and ordered to Craney Island, then under command of Colonel George Richardson, and was placed in charge of a water battery of six 32-pound guns, bearing upon the main channel of the river from Seawell's Point.
Lieutenant MeAlpine resigned on the 4th of May, 1861, to take command of a new company which was being organized under the name of Bilisoly Blues. This caused a vacancy in the position of First Lieutenant, and Orderly Sergeant Skellin was elected to fill it. Second Sergeant Richard Vermillion was promoted to 1st Sergeant. These were the officers of the company until the re- organization on the 20th of April, 1862, when the following were elected :
Captain-William J. Richardson.
First Lieutenant-Samuel W. Weaver.
Second Lieutenant-George Linn.
Third Lieutenant-Richard Vermillion.
First Sergeant-William A. Culpepper.
Second Sergeant-Thomas H. Myers.
Captain Richardson was promoted to Major of the 9th Regi- ment in June, 1862, and Lieutenant Weaver became Captain. Lieutenant Linn died in a hospital in Winchester in 1862, and Lieutenant Vermillion became 1st Lieutenant. Sergeant William A. Culpepper was wounded at Gettysburg and disabled from fur- ther service, and 2d Sergeant Thomas H. Myers was promoted to Orderly Sergeant.
When the 9th Virginia Regiment was organized in June, 1861, this company was attached to it as Company D. The boys were very much amused at the requirements of the Adjutant of the post at Craney Island, Lieutenant Thomas Smith, son of Colonel F. H. Smith, President of the Virginia Military Institute, who
75
VA. ARTILLERY, CO. D, NINTH VA. INFANTRY.
insisted upon their coming upon parades and drills with their faces cleanly shaved and shoes highly polished. If Lieutenant Smith followed the army after it got into active warfare he pos- sibly omitted the polished shoes from the "army regulations." His connection with the 9th Regiment as Adjutant ceased when Craney Island was evacuated by the Confederates. There were on Craney Island in May, 1862, eight companies, of which one was from Portsmouth, two from Norfolk city, two from Peters- burg, one from Chesterfield, one from Salem, one from Baltimore and Norfolk county, and when orders were received to abandon the island the troops forded the narrow channel between the island and the main land and marched to Suffolk, where they took the cars for Petersburg.
On the 24th of May, 1862, Company D was detached tempo- rarily from the regiment and ordered to Battery No. 5 in the fortifications around Richmond; rejoined the regiment on the 2d of June, and about the 7th of June was sent to a battery on the York River railroad and placed in charge of two long 24-pounder rifle guns. The 4th Georgia Regiment was with the company as a support. While here an incident occurred which came near wiping ont of existence the whole company. The magazine was close in rear of the earthworks, and was heavily stocked with powder, &c., and a shell from one of the enemy's guns fell right into it, but, fortunately, did not explode. There was powder enough in the magazine to have blown every man in the company to atoms. The company opened the battle of Mechanicsville on the 26th of June by shelling at long range a piece of woods in which the enemy had obtained a lodgment, and from which the Confederate infantry afterwards drove them. On the 27th the company was moved to Tree Hill battery, in front of Richmond, between the York River railroad and the river, and was there until after the battle of Malvern Hill, when it was ordered back to the regiment. After that it was constantly with the regiment and participated in all of its battles. Siekness, wounds and trans- fers of its members to other commands reduced its ranks. Many of its men were transferred to Grimes' Battery in April, 1862.
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