One of the performers—named Nash—was a first-rate comedian. As an interlude he gave a representation of an attempt made by the people to furnish the army a Christmas dinner. To give an idea of what a failure such an undertaking would naturally be, when the people themselves were almost destitute, one thin turkey constituted the share for a regiment close by us, while our battery did not get so much as a doughnut. Nash, in taking the thing off, appeared on the stage with a companion to propound leading questions, and, after answering one query after another, to explain the meaning of his droll conduct, drew his hand from the side pocket of his blouse and, with his head thrown back and mouth wide open, poured a few dry cracker crumbs down his throat. When asked by the ringman what that act signified, he drawled out, in lugubrious tones, "Soldier eating Christmas dinner!" The righteous indignation produced among the few citizens by such sacrilegious use of a church soon brought our entertainments to a close.

Our time was frequently enlivened by visits to Richmond. By getting a twenty-four-hour leave we could manage to spend almost forty-eight hours in the city. On a pass—dated, for instance, January 13—we could leave camp immediately after reveille and return in time for reveille on the fifteenth.

That this would be the last winter that Richmond would be the capital of the Confederacy, or that the Confederacy itself would be in existence, was a feeling experienced by all, but was too painful a subject for general discussion. The gaiety of the place under such conditions, viewed at this remote day, seems astonishing. There the Confederate Congress and the Virginia Legislature held their sessions; and there were the numerous employees of State and Nation, and refugees from various parts of the South, and, besides, it was the great manufacturing center of that section, employing mechanics and artisans of every calling. For four years this mixed multitude had listened to the thunder of cannon almost at their doors, and had seen old men and boys called out by day and by night to meet some extraordinary emergency, while it was no uncommon occurrence for hundreds of sick, wounded, and dead men to be borne through the streets to the overflowing hospitals and cemeteries. One surprising feature of it was to see how readily all adapted themselves to such a life.

My first social visit, in company with my messmate, James Gilmer, of Charlottesville, Virginia, was to call on some lady friends, formerly of Winchester. We found these ladies starting to an egg-nog at the house of some friends—the Misses Munford—with instructions to invite their escorts. This position we gladly accepted, and were soon ushered into the presence of some of the celebrated beauties of Richmond, and were entertained as graciously as if we had been officers of high rank. The climax of this visit was as we were returning to camp the next afternoon. We overtook Tazwell McCorkle, of Lynchburg, the only member of our company who could afford the luxury of being married and having his wife nearby. He had just received a box from home, and invited us to go with him to his wife's boarding-house and partake of its contents. While enjoying and expressing our appreciation of the good things, McCorkle told us of the impression the sight of old-time luxuries had made on their host, Mr. Turner, a devout old Baptist, who, with uplifted hands, exclaimed, as it first met his gaze, "Pound-cake, as I pray to be saved!"

Since the burning of the Virginia Military Institute barracks, by Hunter at Lexington, the school had been transferred to Richmond and occupied the almshouse. This, on my visits to the city, I made my headquarters, and, preparatory to calling on my lady acquaintances, was kindly supplied with outfits in apparel by my friends among the professors. Having developed, since entering the service, from a mere youth in size to a man of two hundred pounds, to fit me out in becoming style was no simple matter. I recall one occasion when I started out on my visiting-round, wearing Frank Preston's coat, Henry Wise's trousers, and Col. John Ross's waistcoat, and was assured by my benefactors that I looked like a brigadier-general. Sometimes as many as four or six of our company, having leave of absence at the same time, would rendezvous to return together in the small hours of the night, through Rocketts, where "hold-ups" were not uncommon, and recount our various experiences as we proceeded campward.

Indications of the hopelessness of the Confederacy had, by midwinter, become very much in evidence, with but little effort at concealment. Conferences on the subject among the members of companies and regiments were of almost daily occurrence, in which there was much discussion as to what course should be pursued when and after the worst came. Many resolutions were passed in these meetings, avowing the utmost loyalty to the cause, and the determination to fight to the death. In one regiment not far from our battery a resolution was offered which did not meet the approbation of all concerned, and was finally passed in a form qualified thus, "Resolved, that in case our army is overwhelmed and broken up, we will bushwhack them; that is, some of us will."

Notwithstanding all this apprehension, scant rations and general discomfort, the pluck and spirit of the great majority of our men continued unabated. To give an idea of the insufficiency of the rations we received at this time, the following incident which I witnessed will suffice: Immediately after finishing his breakfast, one of our company invested five dollars in five loaves of bread. After devouring three of them, his appetite was sufficiently appeased to enable him to negotiate the exchange of one of the two remaining for enough molasses to sweeten the other, which he ate at once. These loaves, which were huckstered along the lines by venders from Richmond, it must be understood, were not full-size, but a compromise between a loaf and a roll.

Desertions were of almost nightly occurrence, and occasionally a half-dozen or more of the infantry on the picket line would go over in a body to the enemy and give themselves up. The Federals, who had material and facilities for pyrotechnic displays, one night exhibited in glaring letters of fire:

"While the lamp holds out to burn, The vilest rebel may return."

Toward the latter part of March our battery moved half a mile back of the line of breastworks. Two or more incidents recall, very distinctly to my memory, the camp which we there occupied. The colored boy Joe, who had cooked for my mess when rations were more abundant, was on hand again to pay his respects and furnish music for our dances. If we had been tramping on a hard floor never a sound of his weak violin could have been heard; but on the soft, pine tags we could go through the mazes of a cotillion, or the lancers, with apparently as much life as if our couples had been composed of the two sexes. The greatest difficulty incurred, in having a game of ball, was the procurement of a ball that would survive even one inning. One fair blow from the bat would sometimes scatter it into so many fragments that the batter would claim that there were not enough remains caught by any one fielder to put him out.



CHAPTER XXVIII

EVACUATION OF RICHMOND—PASSING THROUGH RICHMOND BY NIGHT—THE RETREAT—BATTLE OF SAILOR'S CREEK—BATTLE OF CUMBERLAND CHURCH

While here, in the midst of our gaiety, came the news of the breaking of our lines near Petersburg, and with this a full comprehension of the fact that the days of the Confederacy were numbered. I was in Richmond on Sunday, April 2, and escorted to church a young lady whose looks and apparel were in perfect keeping with the beautiful spring day. The green-checked silk dress she wore looked as fresh and unspotted as if it had just run the blockade. As the church we attended was not the one at which the news of the disaster had been handed to President Davis, our services were not interrupted, nor did I hear anything of it until I had parted with her at her home and gone to the house of a relative, Dr. Randolph Page's, to dine. There I learned that a fierce battle had been fought at Five Forks, on the extreme right of our line, in which the Federals had gotten possession of the railroads by which our army was supplied with food. This, of course, necessitated the abandonment of both Richmond and Petersburg.

As I passed along the streets in the afternoon there was nothing to indicate a panicky feeling; in fact, there was rather less commotion than usual, but much, no doubt, within doors.

On arriving at camp I was the first to bring tidings of what had occurred to the company, and observed the varying effect produced on the different members, officers and men. To some it came as relief after long suspense, while others seemed hopelessly cast down and dejected. Orders to prepare to move soon followed, and our march to and through Richmond began with only two of our four guns, the other two being left behind for want of horses.

We reached the city shortly before midnight, and, with Estill Waddell, of our battalion, I passed by the home of some friends, who, we found, had retired for the night. In response to my call, the head of the house appeared at an upper window. I had with me the few valuables I possessed, among them the brass button worn on my jacket and indented by the shell at second Cold Harbor. These I tossed into the yard, with the request that he would keep them for me. And, some months after the war, the package was sent to me in Lexington.

We could now see and realize what the evacuation of Richmond involved. Waddell had learned that his brother James, adjutant of the Twenty-fourth Virginia Infantry, had been wounded the day before at Petersburg, and was in the Chimborazo Hospital. At this we soon arrived, and entered a large apartment with low ceiling and brilliantly lighted. On row after row of cots lay wounded men, utterly oblivious and indifferent to the serious conditions that disturbed those of us who realized what they were. Nurses and attendants were extremely scarce, and as deep silence prevailed as if each cot contained a corpse.

After a search of a few moments Waddell recognized his brother in sound sleep. His appearance for manly beauty, as we stood over him, surpassed that of any figure I have ever seen. His slight, graceful form stretched at full length, a snow-white forehead fringed with dark hair, and chin resting on his chest, he lay like an artist's model rather than a wounded warrior, and the smile with which his brown eyes opened at the sound of his brother's voice betokened the awakening from a dream of peace and home. On another cot, a few steps farther on, I recognized John McClintic, of the Rockbridge Cavalry, and brother of my messmate. He was a boy of seventeen, with his arm shattered at the shoulder. On the cot next to him lay a man who was dying. McClintic and the others near him who could make their wants known were almost famished for water, a bucket of which, after much difficulty, we secured for them. On the following day this young fellow, rather than be left in the hands of the Federals, rode in an ox-cart and walked twenty miles, and finally reached his home in Rockbridge.

After leaving the hospital we passed on to Main street and the business part of the city, where the scene would remind one of Bulwer's description of "The Last Days of Pompeii." The storehouses had been broken into and stood wide open, and fires had been kindled out of the goods boxes, on the floors, to afford light to plunder. Articles of liquid nature, especially intoxicants, had been emptied into the gutters, from which such portions as could be rescued were being greedily sought.

From dark garrets and cellars the old hags and half-starved younger women and children had gathered, and were reaping a harvest such as they had never dreamed of. I saw a small boy, with an old, wrinkled, grinning woman at his heels, steer a barrel of flour around a corner and into a narrow alley with the speed and skill of a roustabout. The fire on the floors had not extended to the structures as we passed, but as no one seemed in the least concerned or interfered with their progress the flames soon put in their work and spread in all directions.

We crossed the James on Mayo's Bridge, following the road in a southwesterly direction. With the first appearance of dawn the blowing up of the naval vessels in the river began, culminating in a gigantic explosion that made the earth tremble. This last was the magazine at Drewry's Bluff.

Witnessing such scenes, with a realization of their significance, in the early part of our war experience would, no doubt, have been hopelessly demoralizing, but now the calmness and fortitude with which we took it demonstrated the fact that four years of such schooling had seasoned us to meet unflinchingly the most desperate situations. When broad daylight came we had the opportunity of seeing some of the heterogeneous elements of which Richmond was composed. Disaster had come too suddenly to afford time beforehand for the non-combatants to migrate, even if there had been safe places to which to flee.

That such looking objects should have undertaken to accompany an army in the field, or rather into the fields, indicated what desperate chances they were willing to take rather than abandon themselves to a doubtful fate by remaining behind. In addition to the city contingent and those who garrisoned the forts where heavy ordnance only was used, the line of march was joined by the marine department, which had been doing duty on the river craft about Dutch Gap, Drewry's and Chaffin's bluffs, etc. Altogether, it was a motley combination, which afforded much amusement and the usual sallies of wit at each other's expense. The marine element was the most striking in appearance, and encumbered with enough baggage for a voyage to the North Pole. In three days' time this had all been discarded.

After marching day and night the two wings of our army, having been separated since the previous summer, united at Amelia Court House, about 40 miles from Richmond. Ours—that is, the one from the north side of the river—had not been pressed by the enemy up to this point. As if in recognition of and to celebrate the reunion, an explosion took place far too violent for an ordinary salute. During a short halt, while the road was filled with infantry and artillery side by side, we felt the earth heave under our feet, followed instantly by a terrific report, and then a body of fire and flame, a hundred feet in diameter, shot skyward from beyond an intervening copse of woods. It proved to be the blowing up of sixty caissons, one hundred and eighty chests of ammunition, which could not be hauled farther for want of horses. For a moment the roar and concussion produced consternation. Those who were standing crouched as if for something to cling to, and those sitting sprang to their feet. The Crater affair at Petersburg had not been forgotten, and that we should be hurled into space by some infernal eruption flashed into our minds.

Provisions had been ordered by General Lee over the railroad from Danville to Amelia Court House in readiness for the army on its arrival there. By some misunderstanding, or negligence on the part of the railroad management, these supplies had gone on to Richmond, so that all expectation of satisfying hunger was now gone. Corn on the cob had already been issued to the men, which, it may be presumed, was to be eaten raw, as no time nor means for parching it was available. Three of these "nubbins," which had been preserved, I saw many years after the war.

After trudging along, with short halts and making very little progress, our battery of only two guns went into park about midnight, but without unhitching the horses. After being roused several times from sleep to march, I concluded, after the third false alarm, to lie still. When I awoke some time later the battery had moved and, in the dim light, I failed to find the course it had taken. Following on for some distance I came to General Lee's headquarters in a farmhouse by the roadside, and was informed by Capt. James Garnett, one of the staff, that the battery would soon pass along the road at the point we then were. Sitting down with my back against a tree I, of course, fell asleep. From this I was shortly roused by rapid firing close by, and saw our wagon-train scattered and fleeing across the fields, with horses at a run and hotly pursued by Federal cavalry, who, with reins on their horses' necks, were firing at them with repeating guns. I was overlooked and passed by in the chase as too small game for them.

The road over which I had passed was in the form of a semi-circle, and to escape I obliqued across the fields to a point I had gone over an hour or two before, where it crossed Sailor's Creek. Along the road, ascending the hill on the south side of the creek, I found several brigades of our infantry, commanded by Ex-Governor Billy Smith, Gen. Custis Lee and Colonel Crutchfield, halted in the road and exposed to a sharp artillery fire, which, notwithstanding the fact that the place was heavily wooded, was very accurate and searching. Colonel Crutchfield was killed here, his head being taken off by a solid shot. This was not a comfortable place in which to linger while waiting for the battery, but comfortable places in that neighborhood seemed exceedingly scarce.



Very soon my friend, Henry Wise, who was a lieutenant in Huger's battalion of artillery, appeared on horseback and informed me that almost all of the cannoneers of his battalion had just been captured and that he was then in search of men to take their places. I offered my services, and, following the directions he gave, soon found his guns, and was assigned to a number at one of them by Lieut. George Poindexter, another old acquaintance of Lexington.

The infantry at this part of the line was what was left of Pickett's division, among whom I recognized and chatted with other old friends of the Virginia Military Institute as we sat resignedly waiting for the impending storm to burst. The Federal cavalry which had passed me previously in pursuit of our wagons, quartermasters, etc., was part of a squadron that had gotten in rear of Pickett's men and given General Pickett and staff a hot chase for some distance along the line of his command. Some of their men and horses were killed in their eagerness to overhaul the General. It was perfectly evident that our thin line of battle was soon to be assaulted, as the enemy's skirmishers were advancing on our front and right flank and his cannon sweeping the position from our left. We were not long in suspense. Almost simultaneously we were raked by missiles from three directions. To have offered resistance would have been sheer folly. In fifteen minutes the few survivors of Pickett's immortal division had been run over and captured, together with the brigades which were posted on their left.

Lieutenant Wise having failed to receive any other cannoneers to replace those previously captured, the guns, without firing a shot, were left standing unlimbered. As we started in haste to retire, he and Poindexter being mounted, expressed great concern lest I, being on foot, should be captured. Just as they left me, however, and while the air seemed filled with flying lead and iron, I came upon one of the ambulance corps who was trying to lead an unruly horse. It was a Federal cavalry horse, whose rider had been killed in pursuit of General Pickett. In the horse's efforts to break loose, the two saddles he was carrying had slipped from his back and were dangling underneath, which increased his fright. I suggested to the man that, to escape capture, he had better give me the horse, as he seemed to be afraid to ride him. To this he readily assented, and, with his knife, cut one saddle loose, set the other on his back, and handed me the halter-strap as I mounted. The terrified animal, without bridle or spur, was off like a flash, and in a few minutes had carried me out of the melee. I still have and prize the saddle. The few who escaped from this affair, known as the battle of Sailor's Creek, by retreating a mile north came in proximity to another column of our troops marching on a parallel road.

As I rode up I saw General Lee dismounted and standing on a railroad embankment, intently observing our fleeing men, who now began to throng about him. He very quietly but firmly let them know that it would be best not to collect in groups; the importance of which they at once understood and acted on.

Approaching night, which on previous occasions, when conditions were reversed, had interfered to our disadvantage, now shielded us from further pursuit. It can readily be seen what demoralization would follow such an exhibition of our utter helplessness. But still there seemed to be no alternative but to prolong the agony, although perfectly assured that we could not escape death or capture, and that in a very brief time. Soon after nightfall I found our battery, which had traveled over a shorter and less exposed road, and thereby escaped the adventures which had fallen to my lot. Our course was now toward High Bridge, which spans the Appomattox River near Farmville. On we toiled throughout the night, making very slow progress, but not halting until near noon the following day. Under present conditions there were not the ordinary inducements to make a halt, as food for man and beast was not in evidence. I had not eaten a bite for forty-eight hours. Notwithstanding this, and as if to draw attention from our empty stomachs, orders came to countermarch and meet a threatened attack on the line in our rear. To this the two guns with their detachments promptly responded, reported to General Mahone and took part with his division in a spirited battle at Cumberland Church.

It has been stated, by those who had opportunities of knowing, that Mahone's division was never driven from its position in battle throughout the four years of the war. True or not, it held good in this case, and those of our battery who took part with them were enthusiastic over the gallant fight they made under circumstances that were not inspiring. There being a surplus of men to man our two guns, Lieut. Cole Davis and Billy McCauley procured muskets and took part with the infantry sharpshooters. McCauley was killed. He was a model soldier, active and wiry as a cat and tough as a hickory sapling. He had seen infantry service before joining our battery, and, as already mentioned, had "rammed home" one hundred and seventy-five shells in the first battle of Fredericksburg. Another member of our company, Launcelot Minor, a boy of less than eighteen years, was shot through the lungs by a Minie-ball. Although he was thought to be dying, our old ambulance driver, John L. Moore, insisted on putting him into the ambulance, in which he eventually hauled him to his home in Albemarle County, fifty or sixty miles distant. After some days he regained consciousness, recovered entirely, and is now a successful and wealthy lawyer in Arkansas, and rejoices in meeting his old comrades at reunions. His first meeting with Moore after the incident related above was at a reunion of our company in Richmond thirty years after the war, and their greeting of each other was a memorable one.



CHAPTER XXIX

APPOMATTOX

Another night was now at hand, and while it might be supposed that nothing could be added to intensify the suspense there certainly was nothing to allay it. Although there was little left to destroy, we passed heaps of burning papers, abandoned wagons, etc., along the roadsides.

As each new scene or condition in our lives gives rise to some new and corresponding feeling or emotion, our environment at this time was such as to evoke sensations of dread and apprehension hitherto unknown. Moving parallel with us, and extending its folds like some huge reptile, was an army equipped with the best the world could afford—three-fold greater in numbers than our own—which in four years had never succeeded in defeating us in a general battle, but which we had repeatedly routed and driven to cover. Impatient of delay in effecting our overthrow in battle, in order to starve us out, marauding bands had scoured the country, leaving ashes and desolation in their wake.

That now their opportunity to pay up old scores had come, we fully realized, and anticipated with dread the day of reckoning. General Grant, who was Commander-in-Chief of all the Federal armies, and at present personally in command of the army about us, was by no means regarded as a man of mercy. He had positively refused to exchange prisoners, thousands of whom on both sides were languishing and dying in the hands of their captors. It should be borne in mind, in this connection, that the offers to exchange had come from the Confederate authorities, and for the last two years of the war had been invariably rejected by the Federal Government. In the campaign beginning in May, 1864, and ending with the evacuation of Richmond, Grant's army had sustained a loss greater in number than that of the whole army opposed to him.

Among the ranks were foreigners of every nationality. I had seen, as prisoners in our hands, a whole brigade of Germans who could not speak a word of English. During the preceding winter we had been confronted with regiments of our former slaves. Our homes and people we were leaving behind to the mercy of these hordes, as if forever.

Another and by no means unimportant consideration was whether to remain and meet results with the command, or for each man to shift for himself. Setting out from Richmond on the preceding Sunday, with no accumulation of vigor to draw on, we had passed a week with food and sleep scarcely sufficient for one day; and to cope with such exigencies as now confronted us, what a part the stomach does play! All in all, it was a situation of a lifetime that will ever abide in the gloomy recesses of memory. About eight o'clock on Sunday morning, April 9, as our two guns were entering the little village of Appomattox, several cannon-shots sounded in quick succession immediately in our front. Without word of command we came to our last halt.

Turning out of the road we went into park, unhitched our hungry horses, and awaited developments. During the two preceding days several written communications had passed between Generals Lee and Grant, of which we knew nothing. Our suspense, however, was soon interrupted by the appearance of a Confederate officer, accompanied by a Federal officer with long, flowing yellow hair, and waving a white handkerchief as they galloped by. This was General Custer, of cavalry fame, and the conspicuous hero and victim of the Indian massacre, which bore his name, in Idaho ten years later.

Several sharp encounters had occurred during the morning, in which our men displayed the same unflinching valor, capturing in a charge a Federal major-general (Gregg) and two pieces of artillery; but now all firing had ceased, and the stillness that followed was oppressive. As soon as it became known that General Lee had surrendered, although for days it had been perfectly understood that such a result was inevitable, there was for a time no little excitement and commotion among the men. That we should be subjected to abhorrent humiliation was conceived as a matter of course, and, to avoid it, all sorts of efforts and plans to escape were discussed. The one controlling influence, however, to allay such a feeling was the unbounded and unimpaired confidence in General Lee. The conduct and bearing of the men were characterized by the same sterling qualities they had always displayed. The only exhibition of petulance that I witnessed was by a staff officer who bore no scars or other evidence of hardships undergone, but who acquired great reputation after the war. He "could not submit to such degradation," etc., threw away his spurs and chafed quite dramatically. When a bystander suggested that we cut our way out, he objected that we had no arms. "We can follow those that have," was the reply, "and use the guns of those that fall!" He did not accede to the proposition; but later I heard him insist that one of our drivers should let him have his spurs, as he, the driver, would have no further use for them; but he did not get the spurs.

By noon, or soon thereafter, the terms of the surrender were made known—terms so generous, considerate, and unlooked-for as scarcely believed to be possible. None of that exposure to the gaze and exultation of a victorious foe, such as we had seen pictured in our school-books, or as practised by conquering nations in all times. We had felt it as not improbable that, after an ordeal of mortifying exposure for the gratification of the military, we would be paraded through Northern cities for the benefit of jeering crowds. So, when we learned that we should be paroled, and go to our homes unmolested, the relief was unbounded.

Early in the afternoon General Lee, mounted on "Traveler" and clad in a spotless new uniform, passed along on his return from an interview with General Grant. I stood close by the roadside, along which many of his old soldiers had gathered, in anticipation of his coming, and, in a life of more than three-score years, with perhaps more than ordinary opportunities of seeing inspiring sights, both of God's and man's creation, the impression and effect of General Lee's face and appearance as he rode by, hat in hand, stands pre-eminent. A few of the men started to cheer, but almost instantly ceased, and stood in silence with the others—all with heads bared.

The favorable and entirely unexpected terms of surrender wonderfully restored our souls; and at once plans, first for returning to our homes, and then for starting life anew, afforded ample interest and entertainment. One of the privileges granted in the terms of surrender was the retention, by officers and cavalrymen, of their own horses. My recent acquisition at Sailor's Creek had put me in possession of a horse, but to retain him was the difficulty, as I was neither officer nor cavalryman. Buoyed up with the excitement of bursting shells and the noise of battle, he had carried me out gamely, but, this over, there was but little life in him. I transferred the saddle and bridle to a horse abandoned in the road with some artillery, and left my old benefactor standing, with limbs wide apart and head down, for his original owners.



To accomplish my purpose of going out with a horse, two obstacles had first to be overcome. Being only a cannoneer, I was not supposed to own a horse, so I must be something else. I laid the case before General Pendleton, our old neighbor in Lexington, and my former school-teacher. It was rather late to give me a commission, but he at once appointed me a courier on his staff, and as such I was paroled, and still have the valued little paper, a fac-simile of which is shown opposite.

The next difficulty to be met, the horse I had exchanged for was branded C. S., and, even if allowed to pass then, I feared would be confiscated later. There was a handsome sorrel, also branded C. S., among our battery horses, to which Lieut. Ned Dandridge, of General Pendleton's staff, had taken a fancy. For the sorrel he substituted a big, bony young bay of his own. I replaced the bay with my C. S. horse, and was now equipped for peace. The branded sorrel was soon taken by the Federals.

After resting and fattening my bay, I sold him for a good price, and was thus enabled to return to Washington College and serve again under General Lee.



APPENDIX

Under an act of the General Assembly of Virginia, 1898, the Camps of Confederate Veterans, organized in the several cities and towns of the Commonwealth, were authorized to prepare lists of the citizens of their respective counties who served as soldiers during the war between the States, and of those belonging to such companies, and these lists were to be duly recorded by the Clerks of the County Courts of the counties and kept among the Court Records. The following list is taken from this record, and is as nearly accurate as is possible at this date:

ROCKBRIDGE ARTILLERY

ROLL OF COMPANY [The names with a star prefixed are the men from Rockbridge County.]

The enrollment of the Rockbridge Artillery began April 19, 1861, and by the 21st the company numbered about seventy men, and was organized by the election of the following officers: Captain, John McCausland; and J. Bowyer Brockenbrough, Wm. McLaughlin and Wm. T. Poague, lieutenants. Captain McCausland soon thereafter was made lieutenant-colonel and ordered to the western part of the State. On the 29th of April the company unanimously elected Rev. Wm. N. Pendleton captain.

The company left Lexington for the seat of war May 10, 1861, with two small, brass six-pounders obtained at the Virginia Military Institute. It was regularly mustered into the Confederate service at Staunton, Virginia, on May 11, and at once ordered to Harper's Ferry, where it received two more guns. After the First Brigade was organized, under Gen. Thomas J. Jackson, the Rockbridge Artillery was assigned to it, and continued a component part of the Stonewall Brigade, in touch with and occupying the same positions with it in all its battles and skirmishes up to Sharpsburg.

Upon the reorganization of the artillery, in October, 1862, the battery was assigned to the First Regiment Virginia Artillery, under the command of Col. J. Thompson Brown, and continued with it till the close of the war. The first fight it was engaged in, and which made a part of its history, occurred July 2 near Hainesville, when General Patterson crossed the Potomac and advanced on Winchester. But one piece was engaged, and this fired the first shot from a Confederate gun in the Shenandoah Valley.

The battery had five captains from first to last: First, John McCausland, afterward brigadier-general of cavalry; second, Rev. Wm. N. Pendleton, D. D., in command from May 1, 1861, until after the first battle of Manassas, afterward brigadier-general and chief of artillery in the Army of Northern Virginia; third, Wm. McLaughlin, afterward lieutenant-colonel of artillery, in command until April 2, 1862; fourth, Wm. T. Poague, afterward lieutenant-colonel of artillery, Army of Northern Virginia, in command until after the first battle of Fredericksburg; fifth, Archibald Graham, from that time until the surrender at Appomattox, at which place ninety-three men and officers laid down their arms.

This company had the reputation of being one of the finest companies in the service. So high was the intellectual quality of the men that forty-five were commissioned as officers and assigned to other companies in the service. Many of them reached high distinction. At no time during the war did this company want for recruits, but it was so popular that it always had a list from which it could fill its ranks, which were sometimes depleted by its heavy casualties and numerous promotions from its roster.

The following officers and men were mustered into the service of the Confederate States at Staunton, Virginia, on the 11th day of May, 1861:

*Captain W. N. Pendleton; brigadier-general, chief of artillery A. N. V.; paroled at Appomattox.

*First Lieutenant J. B. Brockenbrough; wounded at first Manassas; captain Baltimore Artillery, major of artillery A. N. V.

*Second Lieutenant Wm. McLaughlin; captain; lieutenant-colonel of artillery.

*Second Lieutenant W. T. Poague; captain; lieutenant-colonel of artillery A. N. V.; wounded at second Cold Harbor; paroled at Appomattox.

*First Sergeant J. McD. Alexander; lieutenant Rockbridge Artillery; entered cavalry.

*Second Sergeant J. Cole Davis; lieutenant Rockbridge Artillery; wounded at Port Republic; paroled at Appomattox.

*Third Sergeant Archibald Graham; lieutenant and captain Rockbridge Artillery; paroled at Appomattox.

PRIVATES

*Agner, Jos. S.; killed at Fredericksburg December 13, 1862.

*Ayres, Jas.; discharged for physical disability August, 1861.

*Ayres, N. B.; deserted, went into Federal army.

*Anderson, S. D.; killed at Kernstown March 23, 1862.

*Beard, John; killed at Fredericksburg December 13, 1862.

*Beard, W. B.; died from effects of measles summer of 1861.

*Bain, Samuel.

*Brockenbrough, W. N.; corporal; transferred to Baltimore Light Artillery.

*Brown, W. M.; corporal, sergeant, lieutenant; wounded and captured at Gettysburg.

*Bumpus, W. N.; corporal; paroled at Appomattox.

*Conner, Blain; discharged for physical disability in spring, 1861.

*Conner, George; arm broken by stallion; absent after winter of 1861-62.

*Conner, Jas. A.; wounded at Sharpsburg and Gettysburg; took the oath in prison and joined Federal army and fought Indians in Northwest.

*Conner, John C.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Coffee, A. W.

*Craig, John B.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Crosen, W.

*Curran, Daniel; died from disease in summer of 1862.

*Davis, Mark; deserted.

*Davis, R. G.; died from disease in 1861.

*Doran, John; wounded at Malvern Hill in 1862; disabled.

*Dudley, R. M.

*Ford, Henry; discharged after one year.

*Ford, Jas. A.; wounded.

*Gibbs, J. T., Jr.; wounded at Port Republic June 22, 1862; died from disease.

*Gold, J. M.; captured at Gettysburg and died in prison.

*Gordon, W. C.; wounded at Fredericksburg; disabled.

*Harris, Alex.; captured at Gettysburg and died in prison.

*Harris, Bowlin; captured at Gettysburg; kept in prison.

*Hetterick, Ferdinand; discharged after one year.

*Henry, N. S.; corporal, sergeant; paroled at Appomattox.

*Hughes, Wm.; discharged.

*Hostetter, G. W.; transferred to infantry.

*Johnson, Lawson; died in summer of 1861.

*Johnson, W. F.; corporal, quartermaster sergeant; paroled at Appomattox.

*Jordan, J. W.; wounded at first Manassas; corporal, sergeant, lieutenant; paroled at Appomattox.

*Leopard, Jas.; transferred to Carpenter's battery.

*Lewis, Henry P.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Lewis, R. P.; transferred to cavalry in spring of 1862.

*Leyburn, John; lieutenant Rockbridge Artillery; surgeon on privateer.

*Martin, Thomas; wounded and captured at Gettysburg.

*McCampbell, D. A.; died from disease in December, 1864.

*McCampbell, W. H.; paroled at Appomattox.

*McCluer, John G.; corporal Rockbridge Artillery; transferred to cavalry.

*McCorkle, J. Baxter; corporal, sergeant, lieutenant Rockbridge Artillery; killed at first Fredericksburg.

*Montgomery, W. G.; killed at first Fredericksburg.

*Moore, D. E.; corporal, sergeant; wounded at Winchester and at Malvern Hill; paroled at Appomattox.

*Moore, John D.; quartermaster sergeant; captured after Gettysburg, prisoner until close of war.

*Moore, Samuel R.; mortally wounded at Sharpsburg.

*Morgan, G. W.; sick and absent most of the time.

*O'Rourke, Frank; wounded at Malvern Hill; deserted.

*Paxton, J. Lewis; sergeant; lost leg at Kernstown.

*Phillips, James.

*Preston, Frank; lost an arm at Winchester May 25, 1862; captain Virginia Military Institute Company.

*Raynes, A. G.; detailed as miller.

*Rader, D. P.; wounded at Fredericksburg December 13, 1862.

*Rhodes, J. N.; discharged, over age.

*Smith, Joseph S.; transferred to cavalry; killed in battle.

*Smith, S. C.; corporal, sergeant; paroled at Appomattox.

*Smith, Adam; discharged after one year.

*Strickler, James.

*Strickler, W. L.; corporal, sergeant; paroled at Appomattox.

*Silvey, James; paroled at Appomattox.

*Tharp, Benjamin F.; transferred to cavalry in spring of 1862.

*Thompson, John A.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Thompson, S. G.

*Tompkins, J. F.; corporal; detailed in Ordnance Department.

*Trevy, Jacob; wounded at Gettysburg; paroled at Appomattox.

*Wallace, John; killed at Kernstown March 23, 1862.

*Wilson, S. A.; discharged for physical disability August, 1861; joined cavalry.

The following joined the battery after May 11, 1861; dates of enlistment being given as far as known:

*Adams, Thomas T.; enlisted 1863; discharged; later killed in battle.

*Adkins, Blackburn; paroled at Appomattox.

*Agner, Oscar W.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Agner, John; enlisted July 21, 1861.

*Agner, Jonathan; enlisted July 29, 1861; killed at Kernstown May 25, 1862.

*Agner, Samuel S.; enlisted fall of 1862.

Alexander, Edgar S.; enlisted September 2, 1861; lost an arm at Fredericksburg, 1862.

Alexander, Eugene; enlisted August 23, 1861; wounded at second Manassas; transferred to cavalry.

Armisted, Charles J.; paroled at Appomattox.

Arnold, A. E.; enlisted September 1, 1861; corporal, assistant surgeon.

Bacon, Edloe P.; paroled at Appomattox.

Bacon, Edloe P., Jr.; paroled at Appomattox.

Baldwin, William Ludlow; paroled at Appomattox.

Barger, William G.; paroled at Appomattox.

Barton, David R.; enlisted June 27, 1861; lieutenant in Cutshaw's battery; killed.

Barton, Robert T.; enlisted March 7, 1862.

Bedinger, G. R.; July 9, 1861; transferred to infantry; killed at Gettysburg; captain.

Bealle, Jerry T.; enlisted November 21, 1861.

Bell, Robert S.; enlisted November 19, 1861; killed at Rappahannock Station.

*Black, Benjamin F.; paroled at Appomattox.

Blain, Daniel; enlisted May 27, 1861; detailed in Ordnance Department; paroled at Appomattox.

Blackford, L. M.; enlisted September 2, 1861; adjutant Twenty-sixth Virginia Infantry.

Boiling, W. H.; enlisted March 10, 1862; corporal.

Boteler, A. R., Jr.; enlisted March 1, 1862; wounded May 25, 1862.

Boteler, Charles P.; enlisted October 23, 1861; transferred to cavalry.

Boteler, Henry; enlisted October 10, 1861; corporal; paroled at Appomattox.

Boyd, E. Holmes; enlisted June 28, 1861; transferred to Ordnance Department.

Brooke, Pendleton; enlisted October 28, 1861; discharged for physical disability.

Brown, H. C.; enlisted 1862; detailed in Signal Corps.

*Brown, John L.; enlisted July 23, 1861; killed at Malvern Hill.

Brown, John M.; enlisted March 11, 1862; wounded at Malvern Hill; paroled at Appomattox.

Bryan, Edward; enlisted November 22, 1861.

Burwell, Lewis P.; enlisted September 21, 1861; transferred.

Byers, G. Newton; enlisted August 23, 1861; corporal; paroled at Appomattox.

*Byrd, W. H.; enlisted August 15, 1861; killed at Kernstown March 23, 1862.

*Byrd, William.

*Carson, William; enlisted July 23, 1861; corporal; paroled at Appomattox.

Caruthers, Thornton; enlisted December 21, 1862.

*Chapin, W. T.

Clark, James G.; enlisted June 15, 1861; transferred.

Clark, J. Gregory; enlisted July 16, 1862; transferred.

Cook, Richard D.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Compton, Robert K.; enlisted July 25, 1861; paroled at Appomattox.

*Conner, Alexander; enlisted July 23, 1861; wounded May 25, 1862, at Winchester; paroled at Appomattox.

*Conner, Daniel; enlisted July 27, 1862.

*Conner, Fitz G.

*Conner, Henry C.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Cox, W. H.; enlisted July 23, 1861.

*Craig, Joseph E.; enlisted March 2, 1863.

*Crocken, Francis J.; enlisted March 21, 1862.

Dandridge, Stephen A.; enlisted 1862; paroled at Appomattox.

Darnall, Andrew M.; captured at Deep Bottom.

Darnall, Henry T.; enlisted July 23, 1861; paroled at Appomattox.

*Davis, Charles W.; paroled at Appomattox.

Davis, James M. M.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Davis, John E.; died from disease June, 1864.

*Dixon, W. H. H.; enlisted July 23, 1861; wounded December 13, 1862; paroled at Appomattox.

*Dold, C. M.; enlisted March 3, 1862; wounded at Newtown; paroled at Appomattox.

Effinger, W. H.; wounded at Sharpsburg; transferred to engineers.

Emmett, Michael J.; enlisted June 15, 1861; wounded and captured at Gettysburg.

Eppes, W. H.; wounded September, 1862.

*Estill, W. C.; paroled at Appomattox.

Fairfax, Randolph; enlisted August 10, 1861; wounded at Malvern Hill; killed at first Fredericksburg.

Faulkner, E. Boyd; enlisted July 23, 1862; detailed at headquarters.

Fishburne, C. D.; enlisted June 21, 1861; sergeant; lieutenant in Ordnance Department.

Foutz, Henry; enlisted September 6, 1862; killed at first Fredericksburg.

Frazer, Robert; enlisted November 28, 1862; wounded at first Fredericksburg.

Friend, Ben C. M.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Fuller, John; enlisted July 23, 1861; wounded at Malvern Hill; killed at first Fredericksburg.

Garnett, James M.; enlisted July 17, 1861; lieutenant on staff.

Gerardi, Edward.

Gibson, Henry B.; enlisted May 13, 1862.

Gibson, John T.; enlisted August 14, 1861.

Gibson, Robert A.; paroled at Appomattox.

Gilliam, William T.

Gilmer, James B.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Gilmore, J. Harvey; enlisted March 7, 1862; chaplain.

*Ginger, George A.; enlisted March 6, 1862; wounded at Newtown; paroled at Appomattox.

*Ginger, W. L.; enlisted March 6, 1862; wounded and captured at Gettysburg; prisoner till close of war.

*Gold, Alfred; enlisted July 23, 1861; wounded at second Fredericksburg.

Gooch, James T.; transferred from engineers in 1863; paroled at Appomattox.

*Goul, John M.; enlisted June 14, 1861; chaplain A. N. V.; died of fever in service.

*Gray, O. P.; enlisted March 21, 1862; killed at Kernstown March 23, 1862.

Gregory, John M.; enlisted September 7, 1861; wounded May 25, 1862; captain in Ordnance Department.

*Green, Thomas; enlisted 1862; transferred.

*Green, Zach.; enlisted 1862; transferred.

Gross, Charles; enlisted July 27, 1862.

*Hall, John F.; enlisted July 23, 1861; died near Richmond, 1862.

Heiskell, J. Campbell; enlisted February 9, 1862; wounded in 1864; paroled at Appomattox.

Heiskell, J. P.; enlisted 1862; discharged for physical disability.

*Herndon, Francis T.; enlisted March 31, 1862; killed at Malvern Hill.

Hitner, John K.; enlisted March 17, 1862; wounded.

*Holmes, John A.; enlisted March 11, 1862.

*Houston, James Rutherford; enlisted July 23, 1861.

Houston, William W.; enlisted August 10, 1861; chaplain A. N. V.

Hughes, William; enlisted July 23, 1861.

Hummerickhouse, John R.; enlisted March 28, 1862.

Hyde, Edward H.; enlisted March 28, 1862; paroled at Appomattox.

Johnson, Thomas E.

Jones, Beverly R.; enlisted July 3, 1861.

Kean, Otho G.; enlisted after capture at Vicksburg; paroled at Appomattox.

Kean, William C.; enlisted fall of 1861; transferred.

*Knick, William; enlisted August 11, 1862; mortally wounded at second Fredericksburg.

Lacy, Richard B.

Lacy, William S.; enlisted March 17, 1862; detailed in Signal Service; chaplain.

Lawson, Joseph; enlisted July 20, 1863.

Lawson, William; enlisted July 20, 1863.

Leathers, John P.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Lecky, John H.; enlisted July 23, 1861; transferred to cavalry.

Lee, Robert E., Jr.; enlisted March 26, 1862; lieutenant on staff, and captain.

*Leech, James M.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Letcher, Samuel H.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Lewis, James P.; enlisted July 23, 1861; wounded.

Lewis, Nicholas H.; enlisted June 17, 1861.

*Link, David; transferred from Rice's battery.

Luke, Williamson; enlisted October 7, 1861; soon transferred to cavalry.

*McAlpin, Joseph; enlisted March 3, 1862; mortally wounded at first Fredericksburg.

*McCauley, John E.; enlisted July 23, 1861; corporal, sergeant; paroled at Appomattox.

*McCauley, William H.; transferred from infantry; corporal; killed April 7, 1865.

*McClintic, W. S.; enlisted October 4, 1861; wounded; paroled at Appomattox.

*McCorkle, Tazwell E.; enlisted in Hamden Sidney Company in 1861; captured at Rich Mountain; joined battery in 1864.

*McCorkle, Thomas E.; enlisted March 9, 1862; paroled at Appomattox.

*McCorkle, William A.; enlisted July 23, 1861; paroled at Appomattox.

*McCrum, R. Barton; paroled at Appomattox.

McGuire, Hugh H., Jr.; enlisted March 10; transferred to cavalry; captain; killed.

McKim, Robert B.; enlisted July 6, 1861; killed at Winchester May 25, 1862.

Macon, Lyttleton S.; enlisted June 27, 1861; corporal, sergeant; discharged.

Magruder, Davenport D.; enlisted March 1, 1862; paroled at Appomattox.

Magruder, Horatio E.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Marshall, John J.; paroled at Appomattox.

Marshall, Oscar M.; enlisted March 6, 1862.

Massie, John Livingstone; enlisted May 15, 1861; captain of artillery; killed.

*Mateer, Samuel L.; enlisted January 11, 1863; paroled at Appomattox.

Maury, Magruder; enlisted in fall of 1861; transferred to cavalry.

Maury, Thompson B.; enlisted in fall of 1861; detailed in Signal Service.

Meade, Francis A.; enlisted November, 1862; paroled at Appomattox.

Merrick, Alfred D.; enlisted December 30, 1861.

Minor, Charles; enlisted November 16, 1861; transferred to engineers.

Minor, Carter N. B.; enlisted July 27, 1861.

Minor, Launcelot; wounded at Cumberland Church.

*Moore, Edward A.; enlisted March 3, 1862; wounded at Sharpsburg and twice at second Cold Harbor; paroled at Appomattox.

*Moore, John H.; transferred from Rockbridge Rifles in spring of 1861; wounded; paroled at Appomattox.

*Moore, John L.; enlisted July 23, 1861; wounded.

*Mooterspaugh, William; enlisted 1862; paroled at Appomattox.

Montgomery, Ben T.; transferred from another battery; paroled at Appomattox.

*Myers, John M.; paroled at Appomattox.

Nelson, Francis K.; enlisted May 17, 1861; transferred to Albemarle Light Horse.

Nelson, Kinloch; transferred from Albemarle Light Horse; disabled by caisson turning over on him.

Nelson, Philip; enlisted July 27, 1861; discharged by furnishing substitute.

*Nicely, George H.; enlisted March 7, 1862; died from disease, 1864.

*Nicely, James W.; enlisted March 7, 1862; deserted.

*Nicely, John F.; enlisted July 23, 1861; wounded at Port Republic.

Otey, William M.; enlisted 1862; transferred soon thereafter.

Packard, Joseph; enlisted July 7, 1861; corporal; lieutenant Ordnance Department.

Packard, Walter J.; enlisted October 23, 1861; died summer of 1862.

Page, Richard C. M.; enlisted July 14, 1861; transferred; captain; major artillery.

Page, R. Powell; enlisted May 1, 1864; detailed courier to Colonel Carter.

Paine, Henry M.

*Paine, Henry R.; enlisted July 23, 1861; corporal, sergeant; killed at second Manassas.

Paine, James A.

*Paxton, Samuel A.; enlisted March 7, 1862.

Pendleton, Dudley D.; enlisted June 19, 1861; captain and assistant adjutant-general, artillery A. N. V.

*Pleasants, Robert A.; enlisted March 3, 1863.

Pollard, James G.; enlisted July 27, 1864; paroled at Appomattox.

Porter, Mouina G.; enlisted September 24, 1861; detailed courier.

*Phillips, Charles; detailed in Signal Service.

*Pugh, George W.; enlisted March 6, 1862; paroled at Appomattox.

*Pugh, John A.; paroled at Appomattox.

Rawlings, James M.

*Rentzell, George W.; enlisted July 23, 1861; wounded at Kernstown and disabled.

*Robertson, John W.; paroled at Appomattox.

Robinson, Arthur; enlisted March 28, 1862; mortally wounded at first Fredericksburg.

*Root, Erastus C.; paroled at Appomattox.

Ruffin, Jefferson; transferred from another battery; paroled at Appomattox.

Rutledge, Charles A.; enlisted November 3, 1861; transferred.

*Sandford, James; paroled at Appomattox.

*Saville, John; enlisted July 23, 1861; transferred to cavalry; died in service.

*Shaner, Joseph F.; enlisted July 23, 1861; wounded at first Fredericksburg; paroled at Appomattox.

*Shaw, Campbell A.; paroled at Appomattox.

*Shoulder, Jacob M.; paroled at Appomattox.

Singleton, William F.; enlisted June 3, 1861; wounded and captured at Port Republic.

*Schammerhorn, John G.

Smith, J. Howard; enlisted September 2, 1861; lieutenant in Ordnance Department.

Smith, James P.; enlisted July 9, 1861; lieutenant and captain on staff of General Jackson.

Smith, James Morrison.

Smith, Summerfield; enlisted September 2, 1861; died from disease.

Stuart, G. W. C.; enlisted May 13, 1862; wounded May 25, 1862; killed at second Fredericksburg.

*Strickler, Joseph; paroled at Appomattox.

*Stuart, W. C.; wounded at second Cold Harbor; paroled at Appomattox.

Swan, Minor W.; enlisted August 15, 1863; paroled at Appomattox.

Swan, Robert W.

*Swisher, Benjamin R.; enlisted March 3, 1862; paroled at Appomattox.

*Swisher, George W.; enlisted March 3, 1862; wounded May 25, 1862; paroled at Appomattox.

*Swisher, Samuel S.; paroled at Appomattox.

Tate, James F.; paroled at Appomattox.

Taylor, Charles F.

Taylor, Stevens M.; paroled at Appomattox.

Thompson, Ambrose; died July, 1864.

*Thompson, Lucas P.; enlisted August 15, 1861; paroled at Appomattox.

Tidball, Thomas H.; enlisted March 3, 1862; paroled at Appomattox.

*Timberlake, Francis H.

*Tomlinson, James W.; enlisted July 23, 1861.

Trice, Leroy F.; paroled at Appomattox.

Trueheart, Charles W.; enlisted October 24, 1861; corporal, assistant surgeon.

Tyler, D. Gardner; paroled at Appomattox.

Tyler, John Alexander; enlisted April, 1865; paroled at Appomattox.

*Van Pelt, Robert; enlisted July 23, 1861.

Veers, Charles O.; enlisted September 10, 1861; transferred to cavalry soon thereafter.

*Vest, Andrew J.; enlisted July 23, 1861; discharged.

*Wade, Thomas M.; enlisted March 7, 1862; paroled at Appomattox.

*Walker, George A.; enlisted July 23, 1861; transferred to Carpenter's battery.

*Walker, James S.; enlisted July 23, 1861; transferred to Carpenter's battery.

*Walker, John W.; enlisted July 23, 1861; transferred to Carpenter's battery.

Whitt, Algernon S.; enlisted August 8, 1861; corporal; paroled at Appomattox.

*White, William H.; paroled at Appomattox.

Williams, John J.; enlisted July 15, 1861; transferred to Chew's battery.

*Williamson, Thomas; wounded at Gettysburg; escaped at Appomattox with the cavalry.

*Williamson, William G.; enlisted July 5, 1861; captain of engineers.

*Wilson, Calvin.

*Wilson, John; enlisted July 22, 1861; prisoner after Gettysburg; took the oath.

*Wiseman, William; enlisted March 10, 1862.

*Wilson, Samuel A.; enlisted March 3, 1862; wounded at Gettysburg; captured; died in prison.

*Wilson, William M.; enlisted August 12, 1861; corporal.

Winston, Robert B.; enlisted August 25, 1861.

*Withrow, John; paroled at Appomattox.

*Woody, Henry; transferred from infantry, 1864; deserted.

*Wright, John W.; enlisted 1864; wounded and disabled at Spottsylvania Court House.

Young, Charles E.; enlisted March 17, 1862.

The Rockbridge Artillery took part in the following engagements:

Hainesville, July 2, 1861. First Manassas, July 21, 1861. Kernstown, March 23, 1862. Winchester, May 25, 1862. Charlestown, May, 1862. Port Republic, June 8 and 9, 1862. White Oak Swamp, June 30, and Malvern Hill, July 1, 1862. Cedar Run, August 9, 1862. Second Manassas, August 28, 29 and 30, 1862. Harper's Ferry, September 15, 1862. Sharpsburg, September 17, 1862. First Fredericksburg, December 13, 1862. Second Fredericksburg, May 2 and 3, 1863. Winchester, June 14, 1863. Gettysburg, July 2 and 3, 1863. Rappahannock Bridge, November 9, 1863. Mine Run, November 27, 1863. Spottsylvania Court House, May 12, 1864. Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864. Deep Bottom, July 27, 1864. New Market Heights, September, 1864. Fort Gilmore, 1864. Cumberland Church, April 7, 1865.

The battery saw much service in fighting gunboats on James River, and took part in many skirmishes not mentioned.

The number of men, enrolled as above, is three hundred and five (305), of whom one hundred and seventy-three (173) were from the county of Rockbridge. Of the remainder, a large part were students, college graduates, University of Virginia men, and some divinity students. These, with the sturdy men from among the farmers and business men of Rockbridge, made up a company admirably fitted for the artillery service.

The efficiency of the battery was due in no small part to its capacity for rapid marching and maneuvering, and this to the care and management of the horses mainly by men from this county. In the spring of 1862 a large number of men was recruited for the battery, whose names are not on the above roll, and some of whom were engaged in the battle of Kernstown. In April, 1862, while encamped at Swift Run Gap, authority was given by General Jackson to reorganize the battery, making three companies thereof, with the view to form a battalion. Immediately after two companies had been organized by the election of officers, the authority for making three companies was revoked, and an order issued to form one company only, and giving to all the men not embraced in this one company the privilege of selecting a company in any branch of the service. A large number of men, thus temporarily connected with the Rockbridge Artillery, availed themselves of this privilege whose names do not appear on the above roll. It would now be impossible to make up this list.

RECAPITULATION

Enrolled as above, three hundred and five (305).

Number from Rockbridge County, one hundred and seventy-three (173).

Killed in battle, twenty-three (23).

Died of disease contracted in service, sixteen (16).

Wounded more or less severely, forty-nine (49).

Slightly wounded, names not given, about fifty (50).

Discharged from service for disability incurred therein, ten (10).

Took the oath of allegiance to Federal Government while in prison, two (2).

Deserted, five (5).

Promoted to be commissioned officers, thirty-nine (39).

Paroled at Appomattox, ninety-three (93).

So great was the loss of horses, there having been over a hundred in this battery killed in battle, that during the last year of the war they were unhitched from the guns after going into action and taken to the rear for safety.

THE END