USA > Virginia > Under the stars and bars ; a history of the Surry Light Artillery > Part 3
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TODD'S BATTERY, VA., May 14, 1862.
My Dear Friend :- At an early hour on the morn- ing of the 10th, a loud explosion in the direction of Norfolk startled us in our quarters at this place, and we have since learned that it was caused by the blowing up and destruction of our famous warboat, the Merri- mac, or Virginia, as it was named. It seems that the boat sustained serious damage in the encounter with the Monitor, and its draft being too great for it to be taken far up the James, it was deemed the proper thing to destroy it, to prevent its falling into the enemy's hands. This is sad news. How the foe will rejoice! I suppose they will take the hint, and soon build plenty more like it.
We are now at Todd's Battery, a small entrenchment near the mouth of Smithfield, or Pagan, creek. A fleet of seven or eight Federal gunboats has just now passed us, on its way up the river. It did not notice us here, but saluted Fort Boykin with a shell or two. As there were only a few militia at the place, the re- sistance was feeble, and the fleet passed on, and turned
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its attention to Harding's Bluff, at the upper angle of the Bay. The men there made a stout resistance, hold- ing their fire pluckily for more than an hour, but with what result I have not learned.
And so the war-guns are echoing near us often now. A sharp battle was fought near Williamsburg on the 5th instant, where the 3d Regiment lost its first blood, fortunately with few casualties. We are in daily ex- pectation of the arrival of gunboats, in the attempt to capture Smithfield. This is a weak place, but if they come we will give them the best we have, and make them welcome to it.
We are in daily expectation of orders to retire from this place, and the impression among our men is, that Norfolk and the whole Southside country is being abandoned by our forces, and will soon be left to the tender mercies of a vandal foe. What will be- come of our homes, and the women and children, when that occurs ?
Our Company has just held an election of officers, or rather a re-election. The same officers as before were retained withont change, except that Orderly Sergeant W. R. Barham was chosen 3d Lieutenant, in place of John A. Deal, who declined a re-election. It is his purpose to transfer to the cavalry branch of ser- vice. He has been a good officer, and is much esteemed. In consequence of the vacancy in the office of 1st Ser-
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geant, our 2d Sergeant, T. J. Berryman, has been ad- vanced to the first place, and Noah B. Pond appointed to the vacancy thus created.
May the God of armies defend and keep you all, now and always.
Your friend, B. ·
Postscript .- I have heard, since the above part of my letter was written, that our friends, the militia, over at Fort Boykin on the 14th, made a beautiful retrograde movement from the place, as soon as the Galena threw them her first shell. Poor fellows! They knew nothing about the working of those big guns. What were they to do? No one could have expected them to put up a fight, under such circumstances.
B.
[The S. L. A. did not tarry long at Todd's Battery. The few forces yet remaining on the Southside having been placed under the command of Col. R. F. Archer, with instructions to proceed leisurely toward Peters- burg, the magazine at Fort Boykin was fired and blown up, Sergeant Noah B. Pond, of our Company, per- forming the difficult and dangerous task; the military stores remaining in Smithfield were burned or distrib- uted to the people; and then, with sad hearts, we bid them adieu, and left them and their homes without protection from the invader. At the time we questioned
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the necessity of the movement and gladly we would have staid, to shield the women and children from the insults of the foe. But it was our duty to obey orders, and we retired.
We proceeded first to Ivor, from which place a detachment was sent down, and an attempt made, to destroy the railroad bridge across the Blackwater near Zuni, but with poor success-and then, after tarrying a night at Spring Hill church, in Sussex county, we marched by easy stages to Petersburg, where we made a brief stay. In a few days our Company was ordered into Chesterfield, where General Holmes, with a few forces, was holding the extreme right of the Confed- erate line confronting McClellan below Richmond.]
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LETTER SEVENTH.
In Chesterfield-The 2d Section goes to Richmond-Camping around-Point of Rocks-Battle of Seven Pines-All quiet on the burly Appomattox-Note.
POINT OF ROCKS, VA., June 4, 1862.
My Dear Friend :- Well, here we are, that is to say, half of the Company is here. The 2d Section, includ- ing two guns and half of the men, in charge of Lieut. Hankins, has gone on to Richmond. The detail is only temporary, I suppose, and they are expected to return soon.
After our march up here from Smithfield, we made a brief stay in Petersburg, camping in a pine grove in the western confines of the town, and then came over into Chesterfield county, where we have been moving around from place to place for some time. At the present writing, we occupy a place on the Appomattox river, six miles below Petersburg, at the point where Swift Creek flows into that river. It is a high and rocky bluff, rising up and overshadowing the main channel of the river, which, at this place, lies very near the shore. The position is naturally a very strong one, and it is an admirable place for erecting works that would be adequate to the defence of this river and the safety of Petersburg from all naval attack. Properly
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fortified, it would be for the Appomattox what Drewry's Bluff has so lately become for the James-a defence against which no warships of the present day could cope successfully.
But there is nothing here in the line of defences. Not a spadeful of dirt has been turned for earthworks or redoubt, and I doubt if any are ever constructed here. The great preparations now going on before Richmond will prevent any thought or notice of this place, although it lies naturally along the same line of defences as those of the James river. ..
We are supposed to be here to dispute the advance of Federal vessels up the Appomattox, but, if this be the purpose, we ought to be supplied with far better guns than these we have at present. Our little six- pounders are entirely unfit to cope with the large and powerful guns, such as the vessels of the Federal navy carry at this day. It is but sacrificing men to require them to stand by such guns as ours, and fight against such odds. But, perhaps, our Government is unable, at present, to do any better for us, and we will have to stand to our post, and trust to luck.
A great battle was fought at Seven Pines, on the east of Richmond, June 1st. The half of our Company over there was near the battlefield, but was not engaged. I hear that General Johnston was severely wounded, and that General Robert E. Lee has been placed in command of our army. MeClellan is said to have an immense host over there, and the resources of our Government
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will be put to a severe test. You may expect to hear of stirring events shortly. Two great armies in such close proximity cannot remain idle long. We do not know how soon we may be called upon to meet an ad- vancing foe.
At this time, however, all is as quiet as a June day Sabbath along the Appomattox. No turmoil of war is disturbing us now. Though we occupy a post on the extreme right of the Confederate lines, confronting Richmond, we are too far from the main portion of both armies to fall much into the commotion of the contend- ing forces. General Holmes, under whose command we are now acting, holds only a very thin and broken line of forces, extending from this place to Drewry's Bluff on the James. Unless Mcclellan should think to send gunboats up this river to shell Petersburg-an entirely feasible project at this moment-we are not likely to have much to do, so long as we remain here. But in the event that gunboats should come this way, there is no telling what would be the fate of the few smooth- faced Surry boys, who are, just now, laughing and tak- ing their ease under the cool shade of the several fine white oak trees that crown this beautiful bluff.
May heaven keep you all in old Surry ever safe from invasion, and lawless freebooters.
Your friend, B.
[In the light of events that transpired soon after the above letter was penned, there is no question about it
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but that a grave mistake was made, in not fortifying the Point of Rocks, on the Appomattox, the same as was done at Drewry's Bluff, on the James. The place could have been, and should have been, made too strong for the passage of any war craft up the river. The enemy did attempt to pass up the stream, for the purpose of shelling and destroying the city, and it was only by a piece of fortunate and unexpected good luck on our part, that they were foiled. With heavy guns and reso- lute men on that rock-crowned hill, no vessels of that day, even though encased with iron or steel, could have forced the passage-and the fleet that did venture there on the night of June 26th, would have been sunk or disabled.]
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LETTER EIGHTH.
A contest with gunboats-Results of the fight-The enemy's losses-The seven days' battles-Note.
POINT OF ROCKS, VA., June 28, 1862.
My Dear Friend :- I hasten to inform you that the Light Artillery boys have had their baptism of fire, a battle royal, and that with Federal gunboats! And so what was regarded as hardly probable has come to pass. A fleet did come this way, though no one seemed to think it would, and as it came and we were here, we fought it to the best of our ability-fought it with only our two smooth-bore, six-pounder guns, and a small infan- try support.
On June 26th, Mcclellan and Lee began their great test of skill and arms before Richmond, and on the night of that same day, just as we were having roll call, and the men were about to retire for the night, the boom of a cannon a little way down the river, and the whizzing of a shell as it sped by us, aroused us to the fact that the enemy was approaching. Soon another shell followed the first, and then several more to the right and the left of the river, as if the enemy were feeling their way, and trying to locate or uncover any hostile force.
And now we knew that there was work for us to do. Despite our small number of men-some sixty only,
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one-half of the Company being away-and notwith- standing the great disparity in the weight and effective ness of our guns, there was no thought of anything but doing the best we could, and disputing the advance of the fleet as long as we might.
The cannoneers sprang to their guns, and while the Captain was giving some necessary orders concerning the horses, the men stood waiting for orders to fire. By this time the foremost of the vessels had come up very near to us, and lay just below the bluff, not fifty yards from our position on the top of it. The discharge of our guns brought the fleet to a halt, and then the battle began in earnest. But as the darkness of the night pre- vented the enemy from getting the range and elevation properly, most of their shells passed high over us, and exploded far to the rear, without doing us any harm.
We fired upon the nearest of the boats as fast as we could load, and could hear the impact of our shells as they struck on the iron armor of the vessels. Of course, we were not doing the enemy much material harm at that, but we were keeping him busy, trying to dislodge us from our vantage ground on the bluff.
In the meantime, an infantry support had come to our aid-two companies commanded by Lieutenant J. T. West-and these men found excellent shelter be- hind the large boulders of granite on the sides of the bluff. As often as the port-holes of the boats were opened, the infantry poured in upon the gunners a per- fect fusillade of minnie balls, that galled them most
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severely, and did great execution among them. Being at such close range, every shot almost did some injury, while the infantry were completely sheltered by the masses of rock that lie all around, on either side of the Point.
Being stung almost to desperation by the fire of the infantry into their portholes, and maddened by their inability to lodge an effective shot on the top of the bluff, where our guns were placed, the enemy seemed now to double their efforts to destroy us, and the roar of their guns and the bursting of their shells became terrific and deafening. But for our elevated position, and their near approach to us, they would doubtless have pounded every man of us into mincemeat. If they elevated their guns enough to miss the edge of the rock, their balls passed over, and did no injury. They were only wasting their amunition, and were doing us no hurt.
Thus the fight went on for more than two hours. The boats did not slacken their fire, and the boys con- tinued to pepper their iron sides as fast as they could load. After awhile, one of the boats lower down the river got the range better, and then several of their huge shells exploded very near us. One of these, burst- ing near a group of our men, wounded several of them, two of them quite seriously. Our 2d Lieutenant, I. O. Crenshaw, was dangerously wounded about the hip, and W. John Edwards, a private, was also painfully hurt by a piece of the same shell. Two others were slightly hurt.
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In the course of the engagement, a lucky shot from one of our guns, entered the porthole of one of the vessels, and plunging downward, made a leak in the hull, that obliged them to run the craft aground, to prevent it from sinking in deep water. This boat, after taking off the valuables, they have now burned and abandoned.
Thus, if we did no more, we have been instrumental in checking the advance of the fleet upon the city of Petersburg, and have caused the destruction of one of their warships, besides the killing or wounding (as we have since learned) of fifty of their men. Our loss was five men wounded, two of them seriously. It is thought that Lieutenant Crenshaw is dangerously hurt. The wounded men were sent on to hospital the same night.
The Petersburg Express of the 27th contains a glow- ing account of the affair, but beyond that no notice has been taken of it. The great struggle at Richmond that began on the same day, and which is yet going on, absorbs the whole attention of the country, and of the world.
We are now camping in the vicinity of Port Wal- thall on Swift Creek, two miles from Point of Rocks. The gunboats have returned down the river, and some of the boys have gone over in a boat, to take a look at the remains of the vessel that was burned. Heavy musketry firing has been echoing all the morning from the country east of Richmond. It is a contest of giants, and the final result still hangs in the balance, concealed from all eyes but God's.
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Thankful to Almighty God that so many of us have escaped unharmed in the midst of so much danger, and with a prayer for the continued safety of our friends at home, I remain,
Your friend, B.
[This, the first engagement in which the Surry Ar- tillery took part in the war between the States, while it attracted no notice from the public press at the time, because of the great drama that was at the same moment being enacted, day after day, for more than a week, before Richmond, was not devoid of important results and benefits to the Confederacy. In the first place, it gave the boys of the S. L. A. confidence in themselves, and their ability to make a good fight under any ordinary or reasonable conditions. They knew that the circumstances under which they fought on this occasion were unique. They felt that it should not have been expected of them, with only two light field pieces, to stand and contend against the heavy cannon of seven Federal gunboats. Against infantry in the field, or cavalry, they believed they could have done much better. Or with heavier and more effective guns to work, they had no doubt but that they might have inflicted more damage on the vessels.
Besides, the affair had tested their fighting qualities, and none of them had shown the white feather. All had stood to their posts like Trojan heroes, and had fought until ordered to retire and rendezvous at an- other place.
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Secondly, the result showed the value of an infantry support, when engaged against gunboats on all narrow waters. It was to the infantry, doubtless, that we owed the whole loss of the enemy in killed and wounded. And this was considerable.
Thirdly, it is highly probable that we saved Peters- burg from bombardment, and perhaps from a destruc- tive fire, and it is certain that we caused the destruction of one of the enemy's vessels, and that we gave the Confederacy a serviceable engine, to put upon an iron- clad. The engine of the burned vessel was subsequently raised, carried to Richmond, and placed on one of the boats built by the Confederacy.
Thus the foe lost a gunboat and a considerable num- ber of men, and accomplished nothing. We lost no material, and gained in military spirit and confidence.]
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LETTER NINTH.
Return of the 2d Section-End of the seven days' struggle- McClellan stationary-Balloons-Death of I. O. Crenshaw- Note.
WALTHALL JUNCTION, VA.,
July 15, 1862.
My Dear Friend :- The 2d Section of our battery, that has been separated from the other half of the Com- pany, has returned. It reached this vicinity on the evening of our gunboat fight-June 26th-but was not near enough to render us any aid on that occasion. Of course, the boys of the two sections have a great deal to tell each other of their experiences, since we parted several weeks ago.
The great contest of arms between Lee and MeClel- lan, after continuing a week, has ceased. After many hard and bloody battles, from Mechanicsville to Mal- vern Hill, General Lee succeeded in rolling back Mc- Clellan's vast host of 120,000 men, and the Federal Army is now quietly reposing, and resting, at Berkley on the James. Though he is said to still have around him an army greater in number than General Lee's, yet he finds it convenient to throw away all that he had gained in his advance upon Richmond, and to acknowl- edge his defeat by retiring under the cover of his great fleet of gunboats in the James.
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The great army of invaders, that began their march up the Peninsula two months ago, and whose pathway from Big Bethel to Mechanicsville has been swept by fire and desolation, appears to be quiet and well-behaved enough now. They have felt the weight of the South- ern arm when striking for home and family, and doubt- less are aware, by this time, that they cannot walk over the land, as they would over a conquered province, and continue to burn and destroy at will. Apart from sending up a few balloons, with men and glasses to spy out the location of our forces, or the weak points in our defences, the Federals appear to be doing nothing to break the usual monotony of life in camp. I have observed two or three balloons recently, resting sta- tionary high in air, while, doubtless, the occupants were "taking note" of all they could discover in the country from the Appomattox to the Chickahominy. The Fed- erals are welcome to all they can learn in this way, in such a wooded country.
Since I wrote you on June 28th, 2d Lieutenant I. O. Crenshaw has died of his wounds. As I then stated, he was dangerously wounded in the fight at Point of Rocks, and, despite the best attention of the medical staff, and of his friends from Richmond, the hurt proved to be a fatal one. He is dead. He had been a good and effi- cient officer, and was much esteemed by the men. The Confederacy has lost a worthy and valuable citizen and soldier.
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We are now in our cloth tents near Walthall Junction, on the P. & R. railway .* All is quiet around us at present, despite the proximity of such a great army and fleet, whose flag is not the Stars and Bars. But we hear that the Federals are retiring on trans- ports down the river, to be sent on to some other field of battle and blood, in this or another State.
We have a large sick list now for so small a Com- pany, the most of them in hospital in Petersburg. There have been several cases of the measles this sum- mer, and dysentery prevails among the men.
May your guardian angel shield you.
Your friend, B.
[The spring and earlier summer months of 1862 proved to be a sickly period for the S. L. A., and many of the cases resulted fatally. Among the deaths about this time, I recall the names of the following, and am not sure that this list includes all that died during that season :
John W. Edwards, from Moore's Swamp, who had joined us only in the early part of that year ; Josiah Bell, from Mill Swamp, who came in the latter part of '61; Robert and Emmet Collier, brothers, from Surry, new recruits; Anson Goodrich, another new man, but a few months with us; and Richard Moring, who died at our camp, near Walthall Junction, in July, 1862, and whose remains were interred nearby, in a field over-
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grown with small pines. The others died in Petersburg, and were buried in the Soldiers' burying-place near there. The remains of some of them were afterwards carried home for re-interment. All these died early, a prey to disease, giving their young lives a sacrifice to freedom's eause and Southern rights. Though they fell not in battle, their record is honorable and without a stain. Let us keep their memories green.
"Here plant the ivy and the pine, And let the myrtle spring- And 'round these names the wreath entwine Of everlasting green."
"They fell in a cause, tho' lost, still just, And died for me and you."
Holcombe.]
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LETTER TENTH.
Shelling a gunboat-Results-Discharge of 35-year men-Lee in Northern Virginia-A comet-Election for 3d Lieutenant- Autumn-Note.
WALTHALL JUNCTION, VA.,
August 5, 1862.
My Dear Friend :- On Sunday afternoon, August 3d, our battery was ordered to proceed at once to a point near Bermuda Hundred, for the purpose of shelling a gunboat that had grounded in the James river near that place. We reached the designated point, put our guns in position, and began firing upon the stranded vessel. About the same time, another battery on the southern side of the Appomattox joined in the shelling, and thus we had the boat between two fires.
Our shots reached and struck the boat, inflicting some damage, no doubt. But the vessel was too far away for our small guns, and we probably did it but little harm. We soon discovered there was no chance for us to sink the craft, and the fire of the battery on the other side of the river appeared to be doing no more execution than our own. Both of us were firing at very long range for such small calibre guns.
But if the Federals were grounded, they were not helpless, and as their vessel lay broadside to us, they brought several guns into action, and soon returned our
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fire with vigor. They quickly sent over the water to- ward us some pretty big playthings, some of which burst near us, but the most of them went whizzing and screaming by, far to the rear. A few of their huge "lamp-posts," as the boys called them, struck the ground some distance in front of the guns, and ricochetting beau- tifully, passed over in grand style without exploding.
We kept up the game with them more than an hour. But as we saw the ironclad Galena coming with all speed to the aid of her consort, and as it was plain that we were doing her no material damage, the officer in charge of us-a Captain Taylor, I believe, of General Holmes' staff-directed us to withdraw. We came off with only the loss of one horse, killed by a piece of a shell, and one man, Corporal R. R. Savedge, slightly wounded in the knee.
In obedience to an order received from headquarters in Richmond, whereby all men in the army who are more than 35 years old, were to be discharged, and per- mitted to return to their homes, a dozen or more of our men have lately bid us adieu and retired from the ser- vice. They were:
J. Nicholas Bell (butler), J. Thomas Brown (the fiddler), Nicholas A. Brown, Roger Casey, James R. Hatchell, William W. Edwards, James Gay, Randolph Johnson, John R. Kea, James King, William H. Little, John W. Presson, and James N. Spratley.
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We learn here, though it is not in the papers, that Lee's army-the main part of it, at least-is now in Northern Virginia, and that a General Pope has super- seded General McClellan in command of the Northern Army. The great army of Mcclellan in these parts has been withdrawn, and with it most of the fleet. It is certain very little of their fleet was in sight about City Point on the afternoon of the 3d.
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