Newspaper Page Text
L
IES LAST BATTLE.
Mt FIN COSQUtTFS SttlHT.
—
n.Gordon’fflift'ofRomance
Thrilling Part in the War.
Memorable Talk with Lee.
norm itk hash of a fori.obx none.
Trailing Stars and Bars.
UnrefJ TftonntUMM IIUtsrlcCaaM.
of Unwritten Confederate Valor.
w u.” in Philadelphia Sunday Times,
morning—from advance sheets—
u the oonrteay of the Times.]
ruASTA, Ga., Aug. 27.—A short
. a ,, 0 I was riding with a distin-
h«i Carolinian who had been one
fiercest fighters, dowa a bon*.
r ,l mar this city. Suddenly we
»d a pony phaeton, drawn by a
cra y mate, and bearing a Render,
■tnu tady. who, by the way, had
reins clenched in her gloved
a and a gentleman with a Greo-
at and a scar on his face, lying
bach on the cushions. Said my
tauion: ■_
'bat m: n was the leader in the
thrilling scenes in the late war
. -ganizeu, commanded and led the
a-wault that General Lee over or,
on the federal lines. When
last effort was made to cut the
leiiing lines of Graut about Pe-
lurg and Richmond, General Lee
alfthe details and the leadership
that man’s hands, and he was
|y over thirty years of age at the
Tiic history of that attempt
failure—the few furious, hope*
lays that followed, and then the
.ider—there’s a chapter ot histo
sir, that read like • a romance!
strange to say, it hits never yet
written or published.’’
e had passed Senator and Mrs.
15 Gordon. General Gordon’s
e lile in like a romuucc. Enter;
he 1st*' war, well down in Ids
tii/s, as captain of a company "ef
itainecrs. he speedily became
, oolonel* brigadior-general and
■ lieutenant-general He won
iction on every field—was wound-
peatedly, receiving five balls in
attle—never was stayed from
i last in a single assault upon
Hi-iny—an audacious, inspiring,
.tr.i^figure in the horrible scenes
•na.'c—am! yet so wise and im-
kl, so CHUlions iq council, that
ral Lee had the greatest coufi-
■ m his judgment,
ice the war his career has not
less brilliant. The candidate of'
rty for governor when he was
liii ty-four years of age; elect'd
senate over both Benjamin II.
ml A. H. Stephens when he
>t foity, ami re-elected without
Siion, although the most deter-
1 efforts bad been made to create
en he was forty-six, and now
d dispute the favorite of his peo-
ruly his career has been a won-
one. He has six years of
rial life ahead of him, and after
hatover hej wants that Geor-
jcan bestow.
oral Gordon lives just outside
city of Atlanta, in a most ele-
onic. He is surrounded by
comfort or luxury that wealth
apply or refine taste suggest,
out to Kirkwood on yesterday
and get the general to give me
dory of the fearful days to which
nd alluded. I realised the fiiet
{leaking from his personal
-dge he would throw a histori-
t on these turbulent and des-
scenes that Jare still, fifteen
fter they were enacted over-
fitli doubt ahd uncertainty. I
the statesman-soldier in the
LI, his erect figure moving
about, and his cleat 1 voice
everywhere as he watched fin
s cloud and encouraged the
men. Ilis charming wife was
de. And she bad a right to
bis company in this pastoral
"as she rode with him through
■te war, silting on her horse
ond the plunging shot of every
eld, her handsome face strained
the clouds of death and car-
rough which her hero moved gearc
y making my business known
oral stated that (lie had been
ressed to write the history of
• few days of Lee’s army, but
't had the time to do so. He
to spend the day with me in
ver it, that I might {prepare
0,1 nt at my leisure. Every
| the following, therefore, is
ic, although ot course I do not
v case give the general’s exact
hut always the substance. And
aid jicn down the' paper the
xuhos, or portray the stern and
le heroism of the story as it
me, I should write a 'chapter
;c of which mortal hand never
fore.
Richmond, aDd fresh troops were
hurrying to his aid. Onr army cov-
evered a line of o v cr twenty miles,
and was in great distress. The men
were literally starving. We were not
able to issue even half rations- One-
sixth of a pound of heel a day, I res
member, was at one time the ration
•of a portion of the army, and the men
could not always get even that. I
saw men often on their hands and
knees with little sticks digging the
grains of corn from out of tracks of
horses washing it and cooking it; The
brave fellows were so depleted and
worn down by the time Grant broke
onr lines that the slightest wound ofs
ten killed them. A scratch of the
hand would result in gangreen and
prove fatal. The doctors took me to
the hospitals and showed me men with
a joint of their fingers shot off and
NO
ATHENS, GEORGIA, SEPTEMBER 9, iUB79.
I. ,, ) •>** ■ • ■ ' • ■ • V m.i V.{ I j„
. VOL. 63.
their arm gangreened np to foe elbowt straight in.foc-face, “what is to be
among those poor emaciated, hungry
men, dying of starved and poisoned
systems, wore simply horrible. Our
could recollect, General Johnston’s
telegram. “So there is the situation.
I have here, say 40,000 men, able for
duty, though none of my pool* fellows
arc in good condition. They are op
posed directlyjby an army of 160,000
strong ond confident men. And con
verging on my little force are four
separate armies, numbering in the
aggregate 130,000 more men. This
force, added to General Grant’s,
makes over a quarter million. To
prevent these from uniting for my
destruction there are hardly 60,000
men available. My men are growing
weaker, day by day. Their sufferings
are terrible and exhausting. My
horses are broken down and impotent.
I am apprehensive that at any time
Grant ippyjir&ss around my flank and
Cut our sole;remaining line of supplies,
“Now, ‘germrah,” he said, looking me
the honof'tdlask my opinion I will
give it. Tire-situation (Qttrou portray
it is infinitely, worse, than I had
horses were in no better condition., drcamed.it .was, I cannot donbt that
u ‘" " ' -** your information is correct. I am of
| SCENES ABOUT PETERSBURG.
General Gordon: “I will give
’m my personal knowledge the
r of the struggles that proceeded
krender of General Lee’s army;
Uses that induced that surrender,
M them from General Lee; the
ed account of the last assault
Bade upon the federal lines in
knee of an offensive purpose,
‘description of the last scenes of
oody and terrible civil war.
Sstory has been published be-
I No official reports, I believe,
per made upon the confederate
pi >r after the battle of Hare’s
p the attack upon Fort Stead-
was called, there was not an
I rest until the surrender. From
brning of the 25th of March,
pntil the Dili day of April, ray
|id not take their boots off; the
1 cannon and tbo rattle of mus-
was not stilled an instant, and
lining and marching were con-
V- Hence no report of these
Eons was ever made!"
P. u will remember the situation
irs in Virginia abont the 18th
pel), 1865. The valley cam
el the previous summer, which
nugurated for the purpose, of
PR “ diversion and breaking the
ping lines about Richmond and
° ur S> and from which so much
‘cn I expected, had ■ aided in
Grant had massed an enor-
ay in trout of Petersburg and
Many of them were hardly able to db
service at all. General Lee had gone
in person into Petersburg and Rich
mond and begged the citizens to di
vide what little they had with his
wretched men. The heroic people
did all that they could do. Our sole
lino o< supplies was the railroad run
ning into North Carolina and pene
trating into “Egypt,’’ as we called
southwest Georgia, which was then
the provision gronnd for our armies.
Such was the situation. My corps
(Stonewall Jackson’s old corps) shiy
severe and heroic work in the valley
campaign, had been ordered back to
Petersburg and placed upon the right
wing of the army. I Jiad general in
structions to protect the flank of the
army, prevent General Grant from
turning it, and above all to protect the
slender line of road from which solely
we received our scanty supplies. We
were almost constantly engaged in
fighting, making feints, protecting our
skirmish lines, while the encinywere
feeling and pressing continually.
AN AFFECTING INTERVIEW WITH GEN
ERAL LEE.
“Before daylight on the morning of
the 2d of March, 1865, General Lee
sent for me. I mounted my horse at
once and rode to General Lee’s bead-
quarters. I reached the house in
which lie was staving at about four
o’clock in the morning. As I eulcred
the room to which I had been directed
I found General Lee alone. I shall
never forget the scene. The general
was standing at the fire-place, his
head on his arm, leaning on the
mantel-piece—for the first time that I
ever saw him so, looking thoroughly
dejected. A dim lamp was burning
on a small center-table. On the table
was a mass of official reports. Gen->
eral Leo remained motionless for a
moment after I had opened the door.
He then looked up, greeted me with
his usual courtesy and motioned me
to the little table, and drawing ur» a
chair sat down. I sat opposite him.
“I have sent for you, General Gors
don,” he said, “to make known to
you the condition of our affairs and
to confer with you.”
The night was fearfully cold. The
fire and lamp both burned low' as
General Lee went on. to give me the
details of the situation. “I have here,’’
he said,” reports sent . in- from my
offioere to-night. .’I find upon! careful
examination that I have uuder my
command, of all arms, hardly 45,000
men. These men are starving. ?*y
are already so weakened as to be
hardly efficient. Many of them have
become desperate, reckless and disor
derly as they have never been before.
It is difficult to control men whqthre
suffering for food. They are breaks
ing open mills, barns and stores in
search for food Almost crazed from
hunger, they arc deserting from sojne
commands in large numbers and goiug
home. My horses are in equally bad
condition. The supply of horses in
the country is exhausted. It has
come to be where it is jnst as bad for
me U» have a horse killed as a roan.
I cannot remount a cavalryman whose
horse dies. General Grant <*>uld
mount 10,000 men in ten days, and
move around your flank. If ho were
to send me word to-morrow that I
might move out unmolested, T . have
not enough horses to move my artil
lery. He is unlikely to send this
message, however. And yet,’’^mil-
ing, “he sent me word yesterday fliSt
be knew what I had for breakfast
every morning. I sent him word that
I did not think this could be so, for if
he did know he would surely send me
something better.
TIIE ARMIES THAT CONVERGED Cl*ON
LEE’S ARMY.
But now let us look at the figures.
I have as I have shown you, not quite
45,000 men. To oppose these Grant
has in my front not less than 150)000
men. Aly men are starved, exhaust
ed, sick. His are in the best condis
ticn possible. Bat beyond this, there
isHuncock at Winchester, with a
force of, probably, not less than 18-
000 men. To oppose this force I have
not a solitary videttc. Sheridan,
with his calvary, has marched, almost
unmolested and unopposed, along the
James, cutting the railroads and ca
nals. Thomas is approaching from
Knoxville with a force estimated at
30,000 To oppose him I have a few
brigades oi badly disciplined calvary,
amounting to prtbably 3,000 in all.
General Sherman is in North Carol!
opinion, therefore, that one of two
things should be done, ’and at once.
We must either treat with the United
States government for. the best terms
possible,.or wo should concetrate all
onr strength ?£ one point of Grant’s
lines, selecting some point on the right
bank of the Appomatox, assault him,
break through his lines, 'destroy his
pontoons, and then turn .foil upon the
flank of, his left wing,^sweep down it
arid destroyjt if possible, and then
join Johnston in North Carolina by
forced marches, ar.d combining^'our
army with his, Tall upon Sherman.”
“And what then V'
“If we beat niin, oFsucceed in mak
ing a considerable battle, then treqt
at oncej'or terms. I am forced to the
conclusion from what you say, sir,
that we have no time to delay.’’
“So that is your opinion, is it ?” he
asked, in a lone that sent the blood to
my face. I ought to have rcipem-
bered that it was a way General Lee
had of testing the sineerity of a man’s
opinion, by appearing to discredit
it. v * ■
“It is, sir,” I replied, “but I should
not have ventured it had it not been
asked. ’’ And frfnce you seem to differ
from the opinion I hold, may I ask
you what your dpTnion is ?” *“
At once his manner changed, and jp-« a heavy
leaning forward he said, blandly: “I 1 - ‘
entirely agree with you, general.”
“Do President Davis and the ■ con
gress know these facts ? Have you
expressed an opinion as to the propri
ety of making terms to President
Davis and to the congress.”
General Lee replied to this ques
tion :
General Gordon, I am a soldier.
It is niy duty to obey orders.’*
“Yes,’’ I replied ; “but if you read
the papers. General Lee, you can’t
shut your eyes to the fact that the
hopes of the southern people are cen
tered in you and yopr army ; and if
we wait until we arp beaten, and,scat
tered into the mountains' before we
make an effort at terms, the people
will not be satisfied.. Besides, > we
will simply invite the .enemy-fo. bun;
ns down over the country, devastating.,
it wherever they go.’’ > ujc l ... iU t
General Lee said nothing to this for
some time, but paced the floor, in si
lence, wbilO I sat gloomy enough, as
you may know, at the fearful prospect.
He had doubtless thought of all I
tion and'disease and desertion of the [the one hundred had cleared the. way
last army we conld ever organize, and, gained the fort, three .'other
The point on my line from which Ij squads of one hundred each, were to
decided to make an assault was Col-! tush across, pass through Fort Stead-,
quttt’a salient, which had been’built man and go pell raell to the rear, and
by Governor Colquitt: and hi* men,
and held by them, when to protect
themselves they - bad to move! under
covered ways and-sleep burrowed ip
the ground like Georgia gophers., I
selected this point because the mqin
lines-were here closest together, being
not more than -200 yarns apart, I
shouldjsay, while the. picket lines were
so dofe that the confederates and fed
eral could easily converse. .'By a ijqjii.
of general consent the, firing between
the jackets hearly- oeasbd.durtag. the leach of these t
day, so that Leonid stand upon ^roy pies, ’wjjo Wi
. .. • •• -y? -'
breastworks and examine (
Grant’s.’ A is* necessary.i font ^you
should kndw precisely)! the situation,
of the lines arid forts, and J-cap ijlu£'
tiateubyl a rough diagram, , { ‘,'
r«T
a.->i oaoiil
: Ji v-iT
A. Colqoitt’a txlient -I * I
B. The mimHino of Federal entrenchment*,
7oi£ a**'*#!" 0
' to rapport Fort
Stoodmto'rad the troopa in tin miin trenches.
|P- Second Uae pTFedi ral bo arranged
aa to command Fort Steadman end the. main
line of entrenchment! should these he 1 taken.
"> E. Appomattox river. ..i . [ j
You can see a glance liowjdesper-
ately strong was eveh '[his, thb weak
est point, fin Grant’ll jtae. ’ It - was
jnst to the left of C olquitt’s * salient,
where the fyarful mine; vrfis sprung,
called the crater, Iji ic firfiolfi inter-:
yelling ground between Ford Stead-
man and Colquitt’s salient over which'
I had tp make .the assault was raked
not ouiy c by a front fire, but by flank-
fires from. both directiolis from the
forts and trenches of the main: line
(B) ' Anatlack, therefore, by-day
light would have been simply to-liave
the meji butchered Without any possi
bility ofsuccessl Sfi that riotning but
a nihgt attack was’ to hi! 1 ’thought of.
Between the main line of treiiiftieaand
• tTSWTiiSiTTBa fan miu ur mrts,(Dj
1 was a heavy line .ot fe IeipL reserves
(C) , and the,f»ai for«i u'-ere placed
with such consuimudta engineering
skill as tAalPvaw 0Bt>°ivl t* n that
portion oftGran’t line which might be
captured. It was-therefore necessary
to capture or break" * Through the re
serves and take the rear line of forts
as well ps (the firent fine. This rear
line of forts was bo protected by abat-
tis in front that the whole of General
Lee’s army could not have stormed
them by a front attack, and the,only
.... _ rear 1 ,and
right through the federal reserves,
crying "as they went ;‘,“Jme rebels
have carried onr lines in' fronitj^ cap
tured Fort Steadman, ant
ordered by General McLani
eral commander of J’ort Steadman, to
go back tfi tfleee.kear forfo and j hold
them. against the rebeli” . I instmet-
‘these ^ last , squads , aa, to
juLnr fort he waatrfattanpt
id a guides who
the ground,' wai
edeach of.
Sfrhal.particul
to ienftir, and a
raised on the
one
said \long before,
] irobably on his dfursd be;
; or me. T. donVwfth yon
stand that I am vain enough to believe
for a moment that anything I said in'
duppd, him to
next day- As
doubtless decided W
and only feigned a difference of opin'
ion or hesitation in order to see with
what pertinacity I held my own. He
did go to Richmond,, and on hip re
turn seat for me again, and in reply
to my question as to what had oc
curred, he replied’: ’ NOS* H**
“Sir, it is enough to turn a man’s
hair gray to spend one f day in tfojt
congress. The members aih patriotic
and earnest; bqt they will neither
take the responsibility of acting, nor
will they clothe me with authority to
act. As for Mr. Davis, he is unwill
ing to anything short of independence,
and feels that it » useless to try to
treat on that basis. Indeed, he says
that having failed in one overture of
peace at Hampton Roads, be is not
disposed “to try another.**
“Then,” said I, “there is nothing
left {us but to fight, and the sooner
we fight the better; for every day
weakens ns and strengthens our oppo
nents.” ’ \ QtsLtjj .
A MIDNIGHT ATTACK AGREED UPON.
It was these two conferences that
led to the desperate and almost hope
less attack I made on the 25th of
March on Grant’s lines at Fort Stead
man and Hare’s Mill, in front of Pe
tersburg. My corps wa£, as I tell
yon, at that time on the extreme right
ossible change of securing them was
to cspCptejfieiB from ,1^0 rear, where
there was an opening. This could
only be done by a midnight stratagem,
THE PLAN OF BATTLE SUBMITTED AND
APPROVED. U) I.
i bf battli
a rate body of men to £ach of the rear
forts, who, claiming* to tiff federate,-
might pass through ^ie t federal’. Te-
• .j- e po^essiou* of thejrear
the federal reserves, .eatfi
, was Instructed U> : - L * u ® ,a
one of the wdi
names I had led
that I named Okie
of foe companies
Pendergrass, of;
ranla regiment^
(ne 'namuana regiment'of ihfi of,the
.federal officers in my friifit. J
•As soon as Fort Steadman .should
be taken and these three bodies of one
hundred men each had succeeded in
entering the rear forts, the main force
of infantry and cavalry^vVcre |o cross.
The'cavalry wodto gallop to the rear,
capture the fugitives, destroy the pon
toons, cut down the telegraph ,wire
the infantry was to move rapidly down
Gran^a linos, attacking anid breaking
” .7 • lit
riny. ..t
. if-’iieral Lee had ^approved and sent
me .in addition • to ‘iny. owii'' corps, a
portion of Longstreet’s.ofirps,^ (Pick-
During the whole,nigfit Of the 24th
of March l. was on lipraebackjnaking
preparations and disfiasiiig . of troops.
About 4 o’clock iii ‘ the mornirg I
edited close around me the fifty axe-
teen and four companies, one hundred
cacli, of thu brave men who were
aelecied jo do this hazardous work; I
spoke to them’of the character of the
undertaking and-oftthe last hope of
the cause, which was about io be cons
fitled- to them. Around the shoulders
of each man was bound a' white 4trip
of cloth which Mrs. Gordon, (who sat
in a room not far distant listening for
the signal gun), had prepared as a
means of recognition to each other.
The honr had Come and when ev
erything was ready, I stood on the
breastworks of Colquitt’s salient and
ordered two men to iny side with
rifles who were to fire the signal for
attack. Hie noise of moving on^own
obstructions was going on and at
tracted the notice of a federal picket.
In the black darknesi his voice rang
out.* i 'r '*■ ■
Hallo there Johnv Reb, what ore
through the line of federal reserves
by representing themselves as feder
ate and had certainly gone fir
enough tp, the rear for the forts, bnt
that their, guides had abandoned them
or been lost, and that they did not;
know iirwhat direction to move. It
was afterwards discovered, when day
light came, that these men had gone
ont further than the forts, and could
Uive easily entered and captured
them if The' guides had not’ been lost
or done their doty. Of course, after
' iwu they were nearly all captured,
“ ~ titely behind the federal re
in jthe meantime the few
fodehd soidiere who had escaped from
ihajnrttand- eutreuchmedts we had
alarm and
T ny. The hills
_ fit’s lines were
soon ‘'BISbkefl with txoops. “ By - the
thaerit was'fairly daybreak) (the two
fotts.oflrfh* main* fine, flanking : Fqrt
mrrrtrrm’ qrr.,* w ® ® >r ^ 8 1031
and the reserves all opened fire upon
, hhll jfoy forces? Wtfheld Fort Steadman
__ ’ennsyft< Una (he tederal’entrenchment to the
I think that swas >iiver^ qt nearly %>. But the guides
tun *■-> - |jg en Joat of consequence tb*> rear
forts had not been captured. Failing
to* secure these three forts the calvary
could not pass, the pontoons could
not be .destroyed and-the telegraph
wiree-were-notcut.- In addition to
these miahape tbe trainaJtad been de
layed and/ Pickett’s division and
other troops sent me by General
Lee had not arrived. The success had
Ijeen brilliant so fir as it had gone,
and had been achieved, without loss
of ‘any consequence to our' army;
bat it had failed in the essentials to a
complete success or to a great victory.
Every hour was bringing heavy reins
forcemeats to the federate and ren
dering ray position less and less tena
ble: After a brief rcorespondence
with General Lee, it was decided to
withdraw. My loss, whatever it was,
occurred in withdrawing under cons
centrated fire from forts and infantry.
The fighting over the picket lines and
main lines from this time to the sur
render was too incessant to give me
an opportunity to ascertain my loss.
It was considerable; and although
I had inflicted a heavy loss also upon
the.enerny, I felt, as my troops re en
tered Colquitt’s salient, that the last
hazard had been thrown an that we
had lost. 1 1 • iJ 11
I will give you here the last note I
ever received from General. Lee and
one o{ foe last he ever wrote in his
official capacity. It is as follows
P. M., Hsadquasteks, 21th March 18G5
General: I hare received jroun, 2)£ p. m.. end
telegraphed for Pickett's division , but I do not
th}nle it will reach here in time ; still we will try.
If you noed more troops, one or both of Heth's
brigades can be celled to Colquitt's salient, and
Wilcox’s to the Baxter road. Dispose of the
troops an needed, and pray that the mereifU God
may grant us success and deliver os from ear en*
lmiee. Very truly. B. E. Lee, General.
General J. B. Gordon.
' P. 8.—The cavalry la ordered to report to you at
Halifax roads, Norfolk* railroad (iron bridge), at
la. m. to-morrow, W. P. Lee to be in the vicinity
of Monk's Corner at 6 p. m. R. E. L.
to press with my whole force teethe
rear of Grant’s main line and .force sur.red me. Hcqaid:;;,
him out ot the trenches, destroy, his
““ “* ~ "IresnantI
[l'c-jur-6
t was a most desperate and almost
hopelesrf undertaking and could ofie
justified only by our desperafoi nod
condition, if wateemaia*
ed-idlbr \V« both Wfi^nifed Tt aa
the forlornest of forlorn hop-.**. •, Let/
me partfoulT^le'i a/fUftfJmore. <The
obstructions in front of n>y own ,line
had to be removed, and removed 1 si-
J "n«t to ai
deral j
ad foi
in front of Fort St
ua, and with Scofield’s forces, will
have 65,000 men. As to what I have — —
to oppose this force, I submit the ray front. At last 1 selected a
following telegram from General which I was sure I con.d carry
Johnston. The telegram reads: Gen- nighmasault." T w reported- to
eral Beauregard telegraphed yon a oral Lee. It was in the last degree
few days . ago, . thatch ^Governor a desperate nnderUkmg, as von wifi
Vance’s home-guaras we conld, carry presently see, but i the best that
20,000 men into battle. ‘ I find, upon, conld be .<
dose inspection, that we cannot mitt* standi stilL
ter over 14,000 men.” This m itWfJ less,
General Gordon said, as neady
. b"1f-
rid a 8ep-
ie ft forts!! as if ordered to do sq by
WWffll “LMCSip^.tomyda^
‘*Oh, ; "niier mfriff lis, 1 yankV lie :
down wdff^kto’ sloep. We arO’ jhst
jfifovingihlltote C0?pf-yoa know ta-*
tionsa*»-mightyabortoyochere”.;-- . i
,There wns^patoh.otoMu^betWeen!
onr fines some t)f it AlilL hanging' on
foetirtiU^hi:,After a. few. mofoents
iller.• N&t, them therecmne backnthe kin^Jyreply: of
act ’IHe atten-
:kcts.Grant’s
i re'inoycdfrom
idinan. These
obstructions were of sharpened.rmls,
elevated to - about breast high, the
other end buried deeply in the gronnd,
foe on ’liorrz^aM'^^
axes. This had to be iSiriqteiedi-
ately in front of the guns of Fdrt
Steadman. These guns were at'night
doubly charged with canister, as I
learned from federal prisoners. . The
rush*across thh intervening space be
tween the flues had to be msdfj , so
silently and swiftly as to take the fort
before the gunnen conld fire. ..The
reserves had to - be' beatelTW passed
and the rear line of fort# taken before
daylight. AUtEis had
plished before myjnain
be moved across and
accom-
could
in posi-
catted
lets for
of General Lee’s army, stretching from tion to move on Grant’s flank, or
Hatcher’s Run southward along the rather left wing.
Boydton plank road. My preparations were these I
He proposed to transfer my corps *“ * ” * *
to the lines in and around Petersburg
and have me femiliarize myself with
the strong and weak points, if there
were any weak ones on Grant’s line,
near the bank of Apppomattox river.
He ordered my command into Peters
burg to replace ti e troops which were
there. I spent a week examining
Grant’s lines, learning from deserters'
and men captured the names of fed-
eral officers and their commands in
a detail of thc'Kr*,vrist men in their
•commands. To rush the federal
pickets arid into the fort and to seize
the federal guns, I selected a body of
only 100 men, with empty rifles and
S on, making alt that fuss about over be
icreV” . ' . ' f4»
us ds
Johristbt]
the yaukee picket, which qqifo jgeaa-
“All eight, Johnny,; go ahqad and
get your corn. I^.wont shoot at
yo».^> * 1 Pi j- inifinsDa cm i*
As J gave the command tq.forward,
the man on my right seewed 'to'have
some compunctions ofoonscifipce for
having . stilled the suspicions ot’ the
yankece picket, who fiad, answered
him so .kindly, and ’who.foe. next mo
ment might be surprised and killed,
so he called to him"
“Look out for yourself now, yank,
tve’re going to shell the woods.”/ •»
This ^exhibition of chivalry and of,
kindly feeling on both sides and at
such a moment touched iqe almost as
deeply as auy other incident of. (foe,
war. .1 quickly ordered the two men
„ . to “fire.’’—“Bang!” “BangI” the
tJ r p@>!^ two shots broke' the stillness,; and
l- • “forward’men,” I commanded.' The
chosen hundred sprang forward
gerljr, following the axemen and foett,
for the last time, the stars and ban
were carried to aggressive assault,
A SILENT BUT FATEFUL BATTLE.
In a moment the axemen were
upon the abattis. of foe enemy! ^nd
hewing it down. I shall ‘never know
fiow foey pushed this-‘Hue of wires
fastcued obstruction? ont of the Way.
The ICO overpowered tlje pickets, 1
sent them toue rear, rushed through
the gap made by the axemen np foe
slope of Fori Steadman amj it .was
without the firing of a angle gun and
axes to cot down the obstructions iq
front of foe fort They were ordered'
to remove mv own abattis, rush upon
* ' ’ 1 —tions and cut away
The one hand fed
with empty rifles and fixed baytiWtd
•were to follow immediately, andHUte?
one hundred and fifty men weje not
with foe loss of' but one man. He
was killed info a bayonet The
three companies who, were to. at
tempt to pass the reserves and go
into the rear forts, followed and
parasd on through Fort Steadman;
(hen came foe other troops, pasting
into foe fort We captured, I foink,
nine pieces artillery,' eleven mortars
and - about 600 - or 700 prisoners,
among whom was General McLattgh.'
lm. who was ’ commanding bn that
portion ot foe federal line: Many
were taken fa their beds. -The pris
oners were all sent across to onr lines..
The other troops of my command
weie brbtfgit ’to foe fort. I - now
to team the fite ot
kho’faad been, m
kfl hundred each
anxiously affail
: foe three‘hnrif
itf-'flonv.
attempt the capture of the Aar _ _
Soofi a meeseagef readied me 4tea
the officers commanding two ef these
'chosen bodies, who informed mo
they had succeeded^ in i pass]
tr» eflr is siwwo ot D^uniit-iT f
-uoitklJi-i -jil: lo
intWPhrf Scon a mess
I had very little talk with General
Lee after our withdrawal, and recog
nized ihat the end was spproa-
ching, and of course he did. ’It wifi
his semi-official note,
that he was very much
interested in the success of our move-
trierits, while he bad known as well as
J that it was a desperate and forlorn
hqpe, , Still we had hoped thaj. wq
_:_v. — t tfofopgh and make a glori-
owij the right .and join
in North Carolina* The
result of foe audacious attempt that
IwdtfcsoojfiiadAmpfa hi? UwDJBptf'ttsjbuic
;ponjptefo t succes8 up to foe time that
t was ruined fiy, a mischance, was to
•awskhii Grant’s into more'’aggressive
measures. A soft of respite was - had
/or foectayafter the night attack on
Foft^Steadman, and then the. death-
struggle begaii. Grant hurled his
starved and broken
down Veterans. His main attack was
made upon onr left, A. P. Hill’s corps,
(grant’s effort was tq.turri.onr flanks
and get between us arid North Caro-
'lina.- The fighting was iriost ; fearful
and cOntinnes. It was a miracle that
we held onr lines for a, tingle day.
With barely 6,000 men Iqss holding
six miles of line. I had just 1,000
men to the mile, or abbut one to
every two yst’da. Hill and Longstreet
were not in ranch better line, and
some part of this thin fine was being
forced continual'y. The main fi^ht
was-on tay-iino, -at. Longstreet was
nearer Eicbmond, Heavy masses of
troops we'( ; e i hurled npoh onr line.
We would nave to rally onr forces at
a certain point to meet foe attack.
By the time, we would repel it, we
wonld find other points attacked, and
Would hurry to defend that. Of
course,, with driving men from one
part of foe line would leave it exposed,
and the enemy would rash in. When
We would have to drive them out and
re-establish onr line. Our line would
beqd, and melt, and break, and dose
again, only to be battered against
once more. Our people
prodigies of valor. How
fine m order,to
resistance. Thb
left great gaps*: in,nifty fine of foe
breastworks unprotected by anything
fcoarse, foe
save a vidett or two. _
federate broke forougb 'these unpro
tected forces Ond’ established -■ them
selves in my breastworks. At lea
haying repulsed, the forces attacl
the points I defended,'! began ,r<
tablishing my line, oly men foi
. fought
with a valor and * desperate courage
that. I have rafely seen equalled.
We captured ppsitipu qfter position,
and by 4 o’clock in foe afternoon^' I
had re-established 1 my whole fine,
except at one poiefc-kUs''was yery
strongly defended; hat I prepared to
assault it, an^nptifiqd general Leo of
my purpose, ^md qf. the atustloui
when he e^rit me ai' message, telling
that 'Hill’s' linri 1 n
broken' and thau'GfthefhLHillhhimseU
had, been lolled. ,lfeprdered k there
fore, that I .should, make no further 111
fight, but prepare for foe evacuation
which' he - had' detsHniUed to make
that night |Tbat night wd left Pe
tersburg. , Hill’s, corps,: terribly shat
tered and wifoout it?,,uommander,'
crossed the river first, and I followed,',
having orders from General Lee. to
cover the retreat.. We spent, the
eight in marching, and. early the next
morning foe enemy rushed upon us.
We had to turn and,heat them Brick.
Then began one of foe mostheroicand
desperate straggles ever ' 1 Sustained by
troops. A worn, exhausted force of
hardly 4.fl00~nren,~with a vast au<(
victorious "army, .ifte3h und strong;
pressing upon our heels. We turned
upon every hill top to meet‘them and
give our. W0gpn, trains and artillery
time to get^r.ahead. Instantly they
would sfikeuB, weinvariably repulsed
them ; they never broke through my
dauntless men; but after we had fought
for an hour or two we would find
huge masses of men pressing down
our flanks and to keep from being
surrounded I would have to withdraw
my men. We always retreated in
good ordec, though always under fire.
As we retreated we would wheel and
fire, or repel a rush, and then stagger
od to the next hill top or vantage
ground, where a new fight wonld be
made. At night my men had no rest.
We marched through foe night in
order to get a little respite from
fighting. All night long I would see
my poor fellows hobbling along,
prizing wagons or artillery out of the
mud, and thus supplementing fop
work of our broken down horses. At
dawn though I would find my line’
ready for the battle and my men
would fight with the steadiness aqd.
valor of the Old Guard. This lasted
untill foe night of foe 7th of April.
The . retreat of Lob’s army was lit up
with the fire and flash* of battle, in
which my brave men moved about like
demigods, for five days and nights.
Then we were sent to foe front for a
rest, and Longstreet was ordered tp
cover the retreating army. On foe :
evening after the 8th. when I-had
reached foetrpnt^jny scout,... George,
brought me two men in confederate
uniform who he said, blonged' to'the
enemy, as hri had seen them counting
onr men as they filed past onr camp
, fire. I had foe men brought to the
fire and examined them. They made
from General Lee telling me a flag of
truce h'fifl been sent forward Silking
what I had better do; leaving it to
my discretion as to what course to
pursue. My men were still pushing
their way on. I sent at once to hear
from General Longstreet, feeling that
if lie .was marching toward mo we
might still cut through and cany onr
army, for wad. I learned that. ne was
ribbut two miles off with his men,
faced just opposite from mine, fighting
for his life. I thus sriw that foe case
was hopeless. The further each of us
drove .the enemy, foe further .wo drif
ted apartmndfoeiteore exposed we left
onr wagon trains and artillery which
were posted:.between us,. ,,Every line
‘her,of its broke only openefl the
p!,foe wider. I saw -plainly that
„e federate would rash in between us,
and'then there would hriveT been no
confederate army left. Only) two
bodies of .4)000 men eacli hemmed in
aqd fighting against late;. I therefore
determined to send a flag of trace.
I called Major Hunter, of tev* staff,
to mo and told him foat'I- Wanted
him to.cagry a flag of truce ,,-foSward.
He said ij ... t
‘Genreral, wo have no flag of ji ncel’ ,
I told him to get one. He rifolied:
“General, we have no flag of 1 truce
in our command.” . i - j
I then raid: . •
‘Then get yonr handkerchief, pat it
on a'stickaha go forward.”.
“I have no handkerchief, general.’’
“Then borrow one and go forward
vjth jk’' ,j. j JL. >.ii
He turned and reported .to me
there'jvas ho handkerchief Inlmy staff.
“Then, major, use yoiik’’smrt.’’
upVYonaee, general, that xte all have
shirts.’".i,. H :.!j ha
At last wo, found a man iyko had a
white shirt. He gave it to us and I
fore off foe back and tail, and rigging
this,to a stick Major Huntfer went
out. toward foe enemy’s lines. I in
rtrqctedj him to simply say to General
Sheridan that General Lee fiail written
me that'a flag of trace haid been sent
from General Grant’s headquarters,
and .that he could act as he ! deemed
best on this information. In a few
moments he came back with .Major—
of General Sheridan’s staff. This
Beer said:
“General Sheridan requested me to
present his compliments and to de.
mand the unconditional surrender of
your array.”
“Major,you will please rctifrn my
compliments to General Seridau and
say that I will not surrender!’».
. “But, General, he will annihilate
you.”
“I am perfectly well aware 1 of my
situation and simply gave General
Sheridan some information which ho
may or not desire to act upon.”
He'Went back to his lines and in a
short time General Sheridan came
galloping forward on an ’immense
horse, attended by a very large staff.
Just here an incident occurred that
came near being a serious ending.
As General Sheridan was approaching
I noticed one of ray sharp-shooters
drawing his rifle down upon him. I
at once called to him :
“Put down your gun, sir. This is
a flag of truce.”
But he never raised it He simply
rested it to his shoulder and was
drawing a bead on Sheridan when I
leaned forward and jerked his «rnn.
He struggled with me but I finally
raised ltv I then loose if He star
ted to aim again. I caught the gun
again, when he turned his stern, white
face,a 11 broken with grief and stream
ing with tears, up to me and said:
“Well, General, then let him keep
on his own side.’’
The fighting continued np to this
point.
Indeed after foe flag of truce a
regiment of my men who had been
fighting their way though toward
where we were and who did not know
of a flag of trace, fired into some of
Sheridan’s cavalry. Thte was speedi
ly stopped, however . I showed Gen.
Lee’s note and he determined to
await events. He dismounted and I
did the same. Then for the first
time the men seemed, to understand
what it all meant.
George
_ most plausible def?„_,,
was positive they * were 'spies;‘ : "I
ordered them seatieblBcF.^Hb foiled fcr-
frng; when I.i
— .W&f-bo0ts>>
of one of the boots I found an
from General Grant to General Orff;
ling him to mbve by forced mtftui
ches toward.Lynchhhrg : andiuutooff
Genera) Lee’s retrpate- The. mpn.tlmp,
TOW®
longed to General Sheridan.- They
stated that they knew thhf thb penal
ty ot their course wasdteafohtitasked
that I should dot kill them as.the wqn
could only last q feq ^j^jqpger any
how. I kept them
tamed them hver to (
after the surrender. I at ’ once sent
the information to fieneral Lee, and a
short time afterwards received orders
led through 1 those terrible, hopeless,
bloody days, I do not know. They
fought - desperately and heroically,
although they were so weakend
through hunger and work that they
could scarcely stand upon their feet,
and tottered from one point of assault
to another, but they neveijcomplained.
They fenght sternly -and gamely as
men who baa made np their minds to
die, and we-beld our lines somehow
or other,'God only knows how. We
managed before foe nightfoll of every
day to retake from the federal foe last
inch of ohr lines. When the men
L* (n trenches, would eat their
scanty • rations, try to forget their
hanger—and-snatch an hour or
two of sleep* ..Next day the federate
wonld be hammering at us again
with fresh troope. Then there , was
tWelver ' hours of constant fighting
agriin; This thing went on until foe
mrauwp^foe. M of ApriF : Knrijr
it became evident that * L -
rooimeht' had come,
atttoked iu unusually
forces-alHdong-foe-line ol mine' an
*
rs. That night
was held Leete last council of War.
There were present at this council
General Lee, General Fitz Hogh Lee
as head of the cavalry, and Pendle
ton as cliief of artillery, and myself.
General Longstrqet was, I’think, too
bnrily engaged fo attend. G^eneral
Lee then presented to us foe .'corres
pondence he had with General Grant
that day and asked qnr opinion of foe
situation. It seemed .that surrender
was inevitable. The "only chance of
escape was that I could cat a way for
the army through foe fines in front of
me, Generirl Lee asked me if I could
do this. I replied that I did not know
what forces were iii front of me; that
if General Ord had not arrived, as
we thought he had nqt, with his
heavy masses of infantiy. I could cut
through. I guaranteed foot my men
would cut a way through all foe cav
alry that could be massed in front of
them. The council finally dissolved
with foe underafonding that foe army
should be surrendered If I discovered
foe next morning after feeling foe
enemy’s line* 1 that the in&ntry -bad
arrived ra such force that I conld hot.
cat my way through.
THE FINAL DEATH-STRUGGLE.
My men were drawn up in the little
town of Appromattox that night. I
still had abont 4,000 men undo: me.
1 had many new men, as the army
had been devidedinto two commands
wfakb were given to General Long
street and myself. Early on the
morning of the 9th I prepared fot foe
assault npoh the enemytel.fiue land
begin foe last fighting done to Vii^
gima. My men rushed forward
gamely, and 'as bad, always been
the way, broke line after line-of the
enemy. tX>-w**. still unable, to tell
•bat I
a - a * „
neSsaary.'to oOnccntrate my m6h tfentegW. .aTlfKjthq^ had^.-niessageit fContinued-‘ox FoWfU Uaqe.]
tot ( no;:cloont f s nr jt i . hil«isa edi oiTftd «’ III# Ifid eif: io «ac5-!~
« ' t t . ... *
jjmE SCENES OF TIIE SURRENDER.
And then foe.,poor fellows, broko
—n.^vThe men cried like children.
i, starved and bleeding qs they
. .. tho^ had rather have died than
Havel SotTendered. •: At one wofd from
hid they would have hurled: them-
foo eqeray and havecut their
. or.have fallen to ^ man
Wifo their gnus in their’'hands. But
I could' ! n<Jt' permit 1 it. . Tho great
drama 'had been fought toils end.
Few men are seldom permitted to look
in such a scene as foe one present-
there. That these men should
sobers and have-wept at surrendering so unequal
’ Sheridatf plight *^-at be'mg taken ont of this
constant carnage and stofm-r^t being
S back to their families—that they
d have wept at having their
ed and wasted forms lifted out
ot foe jaws of death and placed once
more before their hearthstones, was
an exhibition of fortitude and patriot
ism that might set example for all
time. Ah, sir, every ragged soldier
that surrendered that day—from the
highest to foe lowest—from the old
veteran to the beardless boy—-every
one of them carried a heart of gold in
his breast. It made ray heart bleed
for them and, sent foe tears stream
ing down my face as I saw them sur
render foe poor riddled, battlestained
flags that they had followed so often
and that had boon made sacred with
the blood of their comrades. The
poor fellows would step forward, give
np foe scanty rag that they had held
so precious through so many long and
wetity years, and then turn and wring
their empty hands together and bend
their heads in an [agony of grief.
Their sobs and the sobs of their com-
iqanders conld be heard foe yards
around. There were others who
would tear foe flag from the staff and
hide foe precious rag in their bosoms
and hold it there. As General Lee
rode down foe line wifo me, and saw
foe men crying, and heard them
cheering “Unde Robert*’ wifo their
simple, bnt pathetic remarks, he turn-
ed to me and said in a broken voice:
“Ob, general! It it bad only been
my lot to- have.fallen in one ,of our
battleaLTo have given up my life to
this cause that we could not save P
I told him that he should not feel
that way; that he hod done all that
mortal man conld do, and fort every
man and woman in foe soufo. would
foel foi a and wonld make him feel
, _“I<o, no I There will'be m<(ny who
will blame me. Bnt, general; I have
foe consolation.ot.knowing that my
conscience approves what I have done,
ancLthat my army sustains me.”
v In ft taw hours the array was scat
tered'and the men went back to thei
v. :>•»** til 0