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diff --git a/32611-8.txt b/32611-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..15a713f --- /dev/null +++ b/32611-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2014 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Falling Flag, by Edward M. Boykin + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Falling Flag + Evacuation of Richmond, Retreat and Surrender at Appomattox + +Author: Edward M. Boykin + +Release Date: May 30, 2010 [EBook #32611] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FALLING FLAG *** + + + + +Produced by Jeannie Howse and Friend, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + * * * * * + + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + | Transcriber's Note: | + | | + | Inconsistent hyphenation in the original document has | + | been preserved. | + | | + +-----------------------------------------------------------+ + + * * * * * + +[Illustration: A CAVALRY CHARGE.] + + + + +THE + +FALLING FLAG. + +EVACUATION OF RICHMOND, +RETREAT AND SURRENDER +AT +APPOMATTOX. + +BY EDWARD M. BOYKIN, +_LT. COL. 7th REG'T S.C. CAVALRY._ + + +Third Edition. + + +NEW YORK: +E.J. HALE & SON, PUBLISHERS, +MURRAY STREET. +1874. + + + + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by +E.J. HALE & SON, +in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. + + + + +DEDICATION. + +TO THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE + +7th South Carolina Cavalry, + +THIS + +SHORT ACCOUNT OF AN INTERESTING PERIOD IN THEIR +MILITARY HISTORY, + +AND THAT OF + +THE CAUSE THEY LOVED SO WELL, AND FOR WHICH THEY +FOUGHT SO FAITHFULLY, + +Is Dedicated, + +BY ONE WHO CONSIDERS HAVING BEEN THEIR COMRADE THE +PROUDEST RECOLLECTION OF HIS LIFE. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The writer only attempts to give some account of what occurred within +his own observation; he would have esteemed it a privilege to enter +into all the detail that lights up the last desperate struggle, made +by that glorious remnant of the Army of Northern Virginia, with its +skeleton battalions from every Southern State; illustrating their own +fame and that of their noble leader, mile by mile, on that weary march +from Richmond to Appomattox. + +But he has confined himself to his own experiences, and in a great +measure to what happened to his own Brigade, because it was written +out, immediately after the war, from that standpoint. And if there be +any merit in it, it is simply as a journal--what one man saw, and the +impression produced thereby. This, even within a limited range, if +truly put, represents at least a phase of the last act in the bloody +drama that had been enacting for four years. More than this he could +not hope to do, but leaves to abler hands the greater task that swells +the current of events into the full tide of history. + + CAMDEN, SOUTH CAROLINA, } + _June 15th, 1874_. } + + + + +EVACUATION OF RICHMOND, 1865. + + +On Saturday, the 1st day of April, 1865, orders reached us at camp +headquarters of the Seventh South Carolina Cavalry, Gary's Brigade, to +send forward all the dismounted men of the regiment to report to Lt. +Col. Barham, Twenty-fourth Regiment Virginia Cavalry, in command of +dismounted men of the brigade, for duty on the lines. Began to think +that a move was intended of some sort, but on the brink, as all knew +and felt for some time, of great events, it was difficult to say what +was expected. On Sunday, the 2d, about mid-day, orders came for the +wagon train of the brigade, spare horses, baggage of all sorts, that +was to go at all--the greater part was to be left--to move into +Richmond at once, and fall into the general train of the army of the +north bank of the James River. Richmond then was to be evacuated, so +all felt, though no public statement of the fact had been made; heavy +fighting had been going on during the day, in the neighborhood of +Petersburg, but there had been one unceasing roar of battle around us +for months, and no particular account was taken of that. + +The brigade was ordered to move after nightfall from its position (our +winter quarters) between the Williamsburg and the "Nine Mile" road, +about four miles from Richmond, and immediately behind the outer line +of works on the edge of the battle field of the "Seven Pines." + +We moved after dark--the Seventh South Carolina, Col. Haskell; the +Hampton Legion, South Carolina, Lieut. Col. Arnold; the Twenty-fourth +Virginia, Col. Robbins, and a small party of the Seventh Georgia, part +of a company only--Gen. Gary commanding the brigade. + +The Seventh Georgia were, with the exception spoken of, dismounted, +though belonging to our brigade. We halted on the Charles City road, +found all the infantry gone; Gen. Longstreet, who commanded on the +north bank, had been withdrawn with Gen. Field's Division across the +river, to reinforce Gen. Lee around Petersburg, some two or three days +before, leaving only the Division of Gen. Kershaw in our immediate +neighborhood, and Gen. Custis Lee in command of the Marine Brigade and +City Reserves, next the river, near Fort Gilmer, all under the command +of Lt. Gen. Ewell; also Hankin's Battery, Virginia, attached to our +brigade. + +We were to wait until two o'clock, and as soon as our dismounted men, +who were filling the place of infantry pickets withdrawn, should come +in, we were to move on to the city, acting as "rear guard," and burn +Mayo's Bridge. It was all out now; there had been a heavy fight in the +morning, near Petersburg, Gen. Lee all but overwhelmed, Gen. A.P. Hill +killed, and the army in full retreat on Burkville, to effect, if +possible, a junction with Gen. Johnston, in North Carolina. + +We built big fires of brush wood, to give light and warmth, and +deceive the enemy. It was cold, though in April; the men, as usual, +light-hearted and cheerful round the fires, though an empire was +passing away around them; some, with an innate consciousness of the +work before them, when they heard that the halt was to be for two or +three hours, wrapped in their overcoats, with the capes drawn over +their heads, were soon sound asleep, forgetting the defeat of armies, +the work of yesterday, the toil and danger of to-morrow, in some quiet +dream of a home perhaps never seen again. + +Two o'clock came and passed; our men had not come in. The General +waited until four o'clock. I think we were at this point six miles +from Richmond. We should have been there at daylight, and we were to +burn the bridge in time to prevent the enemy's crossing, as our whole +train, with infantry and artillery, had crossed during the night. Our +brigade of cavalry, and one company of artillery attached to it, were +all that were on this side--the north bank of the river. We could wait +no longer, and moved off slowly. In a short time after we started a +tremendous explosion took place toward the river, lighting up +everything like day, and waking every echo, and every Yankee for +thirty miles around. It was evidently a gunboat on the river at +"Drury's Bluff." Two others followed, but they did not equal the +first. She was iron-clad--the "Virginia," as we afterwards heard--just +completed. She burst like a bomb-shell, and told, in anything but a +whisper, the desperate condition of things. There was no time to be +lost; the Yankees had heard it as well as ourselves, and we moved on +at once. + +We overtook, just at daylight, and passed a small squad of our +dismounted men from the Seventh, who had got in from the picket line. +When we reached the intermediate line of works, where the "Charles +City" and "New Kent" roads come together, not far from the "turnpike +gate," which all who travelled that road--and who of the army of +Northern Virginia did not?--will remember, the sun was just rising, +and an ugly red glare showed itself in the direction of Richmond that +dimmed the early sunshine. + +At this point the General determined (though expecting the enemy's +cavalry every moment) to occupy the works, and wait for the dismounted +men. The guns of the battery that accompanied us were placed in +position, and our men dismounted and occupied the lines on the right +and left of the road. In about a half hour's time, and to our great +satisfaction--for it seemed a hard case to leave the poor tired +fellows to be gobbled up--a straggling line of tired men and poor +walkers, as dismounted cavalry always must be in their big boots and +spurs, showed themselves over the hill, dragged themselves along, and +passed on before us into the city. We followed on, went down the +steep hill by the house where General Johnston's headquarters were +about the time of the retreat from Yorktown, and got into the river +road, and so had the enemy behind us. It was here he might have cut us +off from the city and secured the bridge. + +We passed into the "Rockets," the southern suburb of Richmond, at an +easy marching gait, and there learned that the bridge had taken fire +from some of the buildings, which by this time we could see were on +fire in the city. Fearing our retreat would be cut off at that point, +which would throw us from our position as rear-guard, we pushed on +rapidly, the column moving at a trot through the "Rockets." + +The peculiar population of that suburb were gathered on the sidewalk; +bold, dirty looking women, who had evidently not been improved by four +years' military association, dirtier (if possible) looking children, +and here and there skulking, scoundrelly looking men, who in the +general ruin were sneaking from the holes they had been hiding +in--not, though, in the numbers that might have been expected, for the +great crowd, as we soon saw, were hard at it, pillaging the burning +city. One strapping virago stood on the edge of the pavement with her +arms akimbo, looking at us with intense scorn as we swept along; I +could have touched her with the toe of my boot as I rode by her, +closing the rear of the column; she caught my eye--"Yes," said she, +with all of Tipperary in her brogue, "afther fighting them for four +years ye're running like dawgs!" The woman was either drunk or very +much in earnest, for I give her credit for feeling all she said, and +her son or husband had to do his own fighting, I will answer for it, +wherever he was, or get no kiss or comfort from her. But I could not +stop to explain that General Longstreet's particular orders were not +to make a fight in the city, if it could be avoided, so I left her to +the enjoyment of her own notions, unfavorable as they evidently were +to us. + +On we went across the creek, leaving a picket at that point to keep a +lookout for the enemy, that we knew must now be near upon our heels. +It was after seven o'clock, the sun having been up for some time. +After getting into Main street and passing the two tobacco warehouses +opposite one another, occupied as prisons in the early years of the +war, we met the motley crowd thronging the pavement, loaded with every +species of plunder. + +Bare-headed women, their arms filled with every description of goods, +plundered from warehouses and shops, their hair hanging about their +ears, were rushing one way to deposit their plunder and return for +more, while a current of the empty-handed surged in a contrary +direction towards the scene. + +The roaring and crackling of the burning houses, the trampling and +snorting of our horses over the paved streets as we swept along, wild +sounds of every description, while the rising sun came dimly through +the cloud of smoke that hung like a pall around him, made up a scene +that beggars description, and which I hope never to see again--the +saddest of many of the sad sights of war--a city undergoing pillage +at the hands of its own mob, while the standards of an empire were +being taken from its capitol, and the tramp of a victorious enemy +could be heard at its gates. + +Richmond had collected within its walls the refuse of the war--thieves +and deserters, male and female, the vilest of the vile were there, but +strict military discipline had kept it down. Now, in one moment, it +was all removed--all restraint was taken off--and you may imagine the +consequences. There were said to be 5,000 deserters in the city, and +you could see the grey jackets here and there sprinkled in the mob +that was roaring down the street. When we reached somewhere between +Twentieth and Twenty-fifth streets--I will not be certain--the flames +swept across Main street so we could not pass. The column turned to +the right, and so got into the street above it. On this (Franklin +street) are many private residences; at the windows we could see the +sad and tearful faces of the kind Virginia women, who had never failed +the soldier in four long years of war and trouble, ready to the last +to give him devoted attendance in his wounds and sickness, and to +share with his necessities the last morsel. + +These are strong but not exaggerated expressions. Thousands, yes, tens +of thousands, from the Rio Grande to the Potomac, can bear witness to +the truth of everything I say. And it was a sad thought to every man +that was there that day, that we seemed, as a compensation for all +that they had done for us, to be leaving them to the mercy of the +enemy; but their own General Lee was gone before, and we were but as +the last wave of the receding tide. + +After getting round the burning square we turned back towards the +river. The portion of Mayo's, or rather the lesser bridge that crossed +the canal, had taken fire from the large flouring mill near it, and +was burning, but not the main bridge; so we followed the cross street +below the main approach to the bridge, at the foot of which was a +bridge across the canal, forcing our horses through the crowd of +pillagers gathered at this point, greater than at any other--they had +broken into some government stores. A low white man--he seemed a +foreigner--was about to strike a woman over a barrel of flour under my +horse's nose, when a stout negro took her part and threatened to throw +him into the canal. We were the rear regiment at this time. All this +occurred at one of those momentary halts to which the rear of a +marching column is subjected; in another moment we moved on, the crowd +closed in, and we saw no more. After crossing the canal we were +obliged to go over a stone conduit single file. + +At last we were on the main bridge, along which were scattered faggots +to facilitate the burning. Lieut. Cantey, Sergt. Lee and twenty men +from the Seventh were left, under the supervision of Colonel Haskell, +to burn the bridge, while the rest went slowly up the hill on which +Manchester is built, and waited for them. Just as the canal bridge on +which we had crossed took fire, about forty of Kautz' cavalry +galloped easily up Main street, fired a long shot with their carbines +on the party at the bridge, but went on up the street instead of +coming down to the river. They were too late to secure the bridge, if +that had been their object, which they seemed to be aware of, as they +made no attempt to do so. Their coming was of service to the city. +General Ord, as we afterwards understood, acted with promptness and +kindness, put down the mob, and put out the fire, and protected the +people of Richmond from the mob and his own soldiers, in their persons +and property. + +As we sat upon our horses on the high hill on which Manchester is +built, we looked down upon the City of Richmond. By this time the fire +appeared to be general. Some magazine or depot for the manufacture of +ordnance stores was on fire about the centre of the city; it was +marked by the peculiar blackness of smoke; from the middle of it would +come the roar of bursting shells and boxes of fixed ammunition, with +flashes that gave it the appearance of a thunder cloud of huge +proportions with lightning playing through it. On our right was the +navy yard, at which were several steamers and gunboats on fire, and +burning in the river, from which the cannon were thundering as the +fire reached them. The old war-scarred city seemed to prefer +annihilation to conquest--a useless sacrifice, as it afterwards +proved, however much it may have added to the grandeur of the closing +scene; but such is war. + +Moving slowly out of Manchester, we soon got among the host of +stragglers, who, from a natural fear of the occupation of the towns +both of Petersburg and Richmond, were going with the rear of our army. +Civilians, in some cases ladies of gentle nurture, without means of +conveyance, were sitting on their trunks by the roadside--refugees +from Petersburg to Richmond a few days before, now refugees from +Richmond into the highway; indeed the most were from Petersburg, +driven out literally by the artillery fire. The residents of Richmond, +as a general thing, remained. + +Two ladies here got into our regimental ambulance, rode for a few +miles, and then took refuge in some farm house, I suppose, as they +disappeared before the day was over. + +By the roadside, or rather the sidewalk, were sitting on their bags +some hardy, weather-beaten looking men. They were what was left of the +crew of the "famous Alabama," and had just landed from the gunboats +that had been blown up on the river, which had first started us on our +march. Admiral Semmes was with them; I remember some of our young men +jesting with the bronzed veterans, but we did not then know the +renowned Captain of the great Confederate war ship was there in +person, or he certainly should not have had to complain of being left +standing in the road and dusted by the "young rascals of the cavalry +rear-guard," as he does in his book. Some one of the "young cavalry +rascals" would have been dismounted, and his horse given to the man +who had carried our flag so far and fought it so well. + +Acting as rear-guard, we moved very slowly, giving time for all +stragglers, wagons and worn out artillery horses to close up. Already +we began to come upon a piece of artillery mired down, the horses dead +beat, the gun left, and the horses double-teamed into the remaining +pieces. So we went into camp that night, after marching all day, only +eleven miles from Richmond, on the "Burkville road." Burkville is the +point at which the railroad branches west to Lynchburg and south to +Danville, and was our objective point. + +The brigade went into camp, or bivouac rather, by squadrons, in a +piece of woods, the men picketing their horses immediately behind +their camp fires. The fires burned brightly, the horses ate the corn +the men had brought in their bags and what forage they could get hold +of during the day. Our surgeon, Dr. McLaurin, had gotten up his +ambulance, and helped out our bread and bacon with a cup of coffee and +some not very salt James River herring, that he had among his +stores--and so ended the first day's march. + +We did not move until nearly nine o'clock next morning, as at our +slowest marching gait we out-travelled the march we were covering. The +day was spent in following after the movements of the army. Occasional +pieces of artillery left upon the roadside showed that the horses were +giving out. After dark we crossed the Appomattox, some twenty or +twenty-five miles from Richmond, at the railroad bridge, which was +planked over so our horses could cross. After crossing the river we +went into camp about a mile beyond, surrounded by most of the infantry +of the north bank, General Longstreet's immediate command, the men +leading their horses over. One of the young men attached to our mess, +a good looking young fellow, had his pockets filled with ham and +biscuits near the crossing by some good Samaritan he had met, and so +our herring, grilled by one of the couriers on the half of a canteen, +was helped out by this addition. + +We were suddenly roused in the night by a fire in the dry grass on +which we were sleeping. It caught from our camp fire and was among our +blankets before we knew it. There was a general jumping up and +stamping it out. One of the men created quite a sensation by shaking +his India rubber, which was on fire; it flew to pieces in a shower of +flame. The effect of the night attack is still shown in the blistered +and scorched condition of my field-glasses. We were at this point but +a few miles from Amelia Court House, between which and our camp of +that night the road from Petersburg joins the road from Richmond, and +the two columns respectively met--the two streams flowed into +one--forming what was left of Lee's great army of Northern +Virginia--the men exchanging in the fresh morning air kindly greetings +with one another, from Texas to Maryland, from the Potomac to the Rio +Grande. They marched along, leaving their fate in the hands of the +great leader they knew so well and had trusted so long. + +About a mile or two from Amelia Court House our brigade was ordered to +graze their horses in a clover field, still keeping the regiments +together as near as could be in squadrons, for we could make no +calculations, as will be seen, upon the movements of the enemy's +cavalry. Colonel Haskell, Colonel Robbins, of the Twenty-fourth +Virginia, and myself were seated upon the steps of an old house, +breakfasting with Colonel Robbins, who had been fortunate enough to +meet a friend who had filled his haversack, and shared his good luck +with us, watching the men and horses who were eating what they could +get, when here it came at last: "Mount the brigade and move up at +once!" The enemy had gotten in force between us and Burkville, and his +cavalry had struck our wagon and ordnance train some three or four +miles from where we were. So there was mounting in hot haste, and off +we went at a gallop. + +We soon reached the point they had first attacked and set fire to the +wagons--the canvas covers taking fire very easily. Their plan of +operation seemed to be to strike the train, which was several miles +long at a given point, fire as many wagons as their number admitted of +doing at once, then making a circuit and striking it again, leaving an +intermediate point untouched. + +We did not suppose the troops actually engaged in the firing exceeded +three or four hundred well mounted men, but had a large body of +cavalry moving parallel with them in easy supporting distance. This +was a very effectual mode of throwing the march of the wagon train +into confusion, independent of the absolute destruction they caused. + +The burning caissons, as we rode by, were anything but pleasant +neighbors, and were exploding right and left, but I do not recollect +of any of our men being hit by them. + +We could hear the enemy ahead of us, as we pressed our tired horses +through the burning wagons and the scattered plunder which filled the +road, giving our own wagon-rats and skulkers a fine harvest of +plunder. Many of the wagons were untouched, but standing in the road +without horses, the teamsters at the first alarm taking them out and +making for the woods, coming back and taking their wagons again after +the stampede was over, sometimes to find them plundered by our own +cowardly skulkers, that I suppose belong to all armies. I have no +doubt Cæsar had them in his tenth legion, and Xenophon in his famous +ten thousand. + +So far the enemy, in carrying out his plan of attack, had kept in +motion; but after passing a large creek that crosses the road and runs +on by "Amelia Springs," they halted at an old field on the side of the +road and made a front. As the head of our column crossed the creek a +lady was standing in the mud by the road side with a soldier in a +"grey jacket." She had been with the ordnance train--the ambulance in +which she had been riding was taken, the horses carried off, and as we +closed up she was left as we found her. She was from Mississippi, and +had left Richmond with her friends in the "Artillery," and was much +more mad than scared, and she stood there in the mud (she was young +and pretty) and gesticulated as she told her story, making up a +picture striking and peculiar. There was no time to listen, but +promising to do our best to punish the aggressors, who had taken her +up and dropped her so unceremoniously in the mud, which was the amount +of the damage, and advising her to take shelter in a large white house +on the hill, we moved on to meet the party ahead, who, near enough +their reserve now for support, had halted to give us a taste of their +quality. + +At first they called out to come on and get their "greenbacks," seeing +the small party in advance with the General, but as the regiments rode +into the field, which was large enough to make a display of the entire +line, they stood but to exchange a scattering fire, and then moved in +retreat along a road running parallel to the main road and leading to +"Amelia Springs." The Seventh, from position, was the leading +regiment, and moved at a gallop in pursuit. The road swept round a +point of wood on the left and an old field on the right grown up with +pine. In advance rode five well mounted men of the regiment, as a +lookout, led by the adjutant--General Gary immediately behind +them--and the head of our column, the Seventh cavalry, next. As the +advance guard rounded the bend in the road it was swept by the fire of +the enemy, who had halted for that purpose, wheeling instantly in +retreat as soon as they delivered their fire. Four men out of the +five, all except the adjutant, were hit, one of them in the spine, +"Mills," an approved scout, and one of the best and bravest men in the +army. Throwing his arms over his head with a yell of agony, wrung from +him by intense pain, he pitched backwards off his horse, which was +going at full speed. The horse, a thoroughbred mare, kept on with us +in the rush. (I will here say that I never saw the young man again--he +was just in front of me when he fell--until three or four years after, +in a pulpit, as a Presbyterian preacher. He had gotten over his wound +without its doing him permanent injury). On we went, picking up some +of the rear of the party who had not moved quick enough. The main body +had gotten where there were thick woods on both sides of the road, +where they halted to make a stand. But we were upon them before they +made their wheel to face to the rear, or rather while they were in the +act of making it, and so had them at advantage; we were among them +with the sabre. The work was short and sharp, and we drove them along +the road clear of the wood into the open field, where there was a +strong dismounted reserve. Here we caught a fire that dropped two of +our leading horses--Captain Caldwell's and Lieutenant Hinson's. +Caldwell's horse was killed dead. Hinson's fell with a broken leg, +catching his rider under him and holding him until relieved. A heavy +fire swept the woods and road, so we dismounted the brigade as fast as +the men came up, extending the dismounted line along the front of the +enemy's fire, and moving to the left as he fell back to a stronger +position. As we moved in advance they gave up the position by the +house they had first taken, fell back across the field and ravine to +the top of the opposite hill, where they halted in force and threw up +temporary breastworks, made from a rail fence, and from that position +repeated the invitation to "Come and get greenbacks." We moved up, +occupied the ravine immediately in their front, which was deep enough +to shelter the mounted officers, the line officers and the men being +dismounted. Here General Gary determined to hold his position, until +General Fitz Lee, who commanded our cavalry, came up, not deeming it +advisable to attack the enemy in his present position and numbers. In +half an hour's time General Fitz Lee came up with his division, +dismounted his men, formed line, flanked the position, charged it in +front, two or three heavy volleys, a shout and a rush. The enemy +finding his position untenable moved off to the main body, not more +than two or three miles from them--moving rapidly, as we found several +of their wounded on the roadside, left in the hurry of their retreat. +We moved on slowly after them--the sun being nearly down--to "Amelia +Springs," some two miles off, crossed the creek, and, though we had +commenced the fight in the morning, were politely requested +(everybody knows what a military request is) by General Lee to move +down the road until we could see the Yankee pickets, put the brigade +into camp, post pickets, and make the best of it--all of which we did. + +We did not have far to go to find the pickets--about a mile; posted +our own two or three hundred yards from the brigade; sent to the mill +on the creek at "Amelia Springs" and drew rations of flour and bacon. + +I had here one of those unexpected surprises that sometimes gleam upon +us under the most unpropitious circumstances. As we rode up to the big +white house on the hill General Fitz Lee stood giving orders for the +disposition of the troops. Our men were in numbers filling their +canteens with water at the well in the yard, when a lieutenant from +the Hampton Legion came from the well with his canteen in his hand. +"B.," I said, "I am very thirsty; will you give me a drink from your +canteen?" "Certainly, sir," said he, and handed it to me. I took a +large swallow and discovered it was excellent old apple brandy. I had +eaten nothing since a very light breakfast; had been working hard in +the saddle all day; had the breath knocked out of my body by a spent +ball on the chest at the close of the charge in the woods; the +excitement of the fight was over, and I was lying over the pommel, +rather than sitting on my saddle, but as that electric fluid went +down my throat I straightened up like a soldier at the word of +command; I felt a new life pouring through my veins, and the worry and +care of the situation was all gone, and I was ready for what was to +come next--such is the power of contrast. B., who was watching me, +raised a warning finger not to betray his secret, for what was a +canteen of apple brandy to that crowd, that would not be denied? so I +concealed my satisfaction and his secret, but have never forgotten my +obligation to Lieutenant B. of the Hampton Legion. + +All around us through the stillness floated the music of the Yankee +bands, mocking with their beautiful music our desperate condition; yet +our men around their fires were enjoying it as much, and, seemingly, +with as light hearts as the owners of it. Occasionally, as a bugle +call would ring out, which always sounds to a trooper as a challenge +to arms, a different expression would show itself, and a harder look +take the place of the softer one induced by "Home, Sweet Home," or +"Annie Lawrie." + +So we made our bivouac in sight of the enemy's pickets, eating our +homely rations with the keen relish and appetite health and hard work +give. While our neighbors, whose interest in us could not be +questioned, gave us the benefit of many a soft air, that told of other +and very different scenes, we, in the language of romance, addressed +ourselves to slumber, expecting an attack at or before daylight. This +was our first night in sight of their outposts, and we had yet to +learn their plan of attack. The game was in the toils and they meant +to play a sure hand, with no more waste of material than was +absolutely necessary. There was no night attack that I recollect in +the course of the retreat. General Grant's large force seemed to be +kept perfectly in hand, massed with great care to strike with effect +at any given point on our line of march, gain the result of an +overwhelming attack in force, and draw off in time to prevent disorder +among their own troops--a wise arrangement under the circumstances. + +Another pleasing incident occurred at this camp, as everything is +relative and is great or little, according to circumstances. One of +the non-commissioned officers of my old company came to me and asked +if I would like to have my canteen filled with some very fine old +apple brandy. One of General Lee's couriers had found a barrel of it +covered up with leaves in an adjoining piece of woods, and let a few +of his friends into the secret. Would I? Of course I would, and if we +ever came out ahead I would recommend him for promotion. The canteen +came full, and proved to be of the same tap as the "long swallow" was +of which I had partaken so unexpectedly. That canteen of apple brandy, +like Boniface's ale, was meat and drink for the rest of the time I was +a soldier of the Southern Confederacy. + +We got off about eight o'clock in the morning, not having been +disturbed, as we expected, moved back across the creek that runs +through the meadows at the foot of the hill below the hotel at +"Amelia Springs," halted and formed line, facing to the rear along +the creek, from the ford at the road down the creek to the mill, +destroyed the bridge, and held the position as rear-guard, until +General Lee, whose camp was above us on the hill, around the hotel, +formed his column and moved, we following slowly in the rear. + +We marched that day, until the afternoon, among the infantry, +artillery and wagons, going towards Farmville, on the Appomattox river +and the Lynchburg railroad. There was a bridge across the river, at +which, as was afterwards shown, it was General Lee's purpose to cross +his infantry wagons and artillery. + +We had been having a very tiresome march on our worn-out horses, +through the fields on the side of the road, giving up the road proper +to the wagon trains and troops, sometimes dismounting and leading our +horses, to relieve them as much as possible. + +About two or three o'clock we saw the infantry in front of us breaking +from the line of march by brigades into a large field on the left of +the road, and rapidly forming into compact masses in proper position +and relation with one another, to be used as might be required. We +halted and did the same, being the only cavalry at that point. We soon +heard heavy firing on another road over to the right, two or three +miles from us, artillery and small arms, and nearer to us--not a +mile--was a lesser fight going on, to which we moved at once. The +last, which was over before we got to it, was between General Lee's +division of cavalry and a body of the enemy's infantry. They were, as +we were told, a fresh set of troops who had just come on, and were +literally gobbled up by Lee. We met the prisoners--some eight or nine +hundred--going to the rear. Their coats were so new and blue, and +buttons so bright, and shirts so clean, that it was a wonder to look +upon them by our rusty lot. + +They were pushing on to coöperate with the larger movement that was +going on to the right, and fell in with General Lee's cavalry, and +after a very respectable fight had their military experience brought +to an abrupt conclusion. Lee's men had possessed themselves of a +complete set of new brass instruments that formed their band. + +The fight on the right was the heaviest and most damaging to us that +occurred on the retreat, and is known as the Battle of "Sailor's +Creek," or "High Bridge," where the divisions of General Kershaw and +General Custis Lee, under the command of Lieutenant General Ewell, +were knocked to pieces--and General Richard Anderson's command, +composed of Pickett's Division and Bushrod Johnson's, with Huger's +artillery. Pickett's and Huger's commands were, I think, destroyed, +but Johnson managed to get through. Generals Kershaw, Ewell and Lee +were, I know, taken prisoners. All this we knew nothing of at the +time, only that there was heavy fighting, and that being a matter of +course, excited no surprise. + +The sun was nearly down and we moved towards Farmville, to go into +camp for the night. It was after dark when we got there, went through +the town to the grove on the other side, and made the best of it. We +lived upon what we could pick up, as we had no wagons with us, and our +servants and spare horses were with the wagon train. + +The most fruitful source of supply was when we passed a broken down +commissary wagon. The men would fill their haversacks with whatever +they could find; and whatever they got, either in this way or at the +country houses, was liberally shared with their friends and officers. + +By a big fire we lay down, and slept the sleep of the tired. The +nights were cold, so near the mountains, and, with light coverings on +the cold ground, the burning down of the fire was a general awakening +and building up of the same. At one of these movements we were +surprised to find, between Colonel H. and myself, two men, who, +attracted by the fire, cold and tired, had crept to its friendly +warmth, making a needless apology for their presence. We found one to +be a colonel of Pickett's division, the other a lieutenant, and +realized fully how complete the destruction of that famous fighting +division must have been as an organization, that we should find a +regimental commander who did not know where to look for its standard. +There seemed to be no particular hurry in getting off in the morning. +We were waiting for orders by our fire, and filled up the time +pressing horses in the town, from a kind consideration of the feelings +of the owners, that they should not fall into the hands of the +Yankees, much to the disgust of the said owners, who seemed much to +prefer (good men and true as they were) the possible chance of the +Yankee to the certainty of the Confederate abstraction. + +One or two amusing incidents occurred in that connection. One of our +young lieutenants had heard of a very fine bay stallion, belonging to +a gentleman in town, and as the rumor had spread that pressing horse +flesh was going on, he went off promptly with a man or two, reached +the house, and was met at the door by a young and pretty woman, who, +with all the elegant kindness of a Virginia lady, asked him to come +in. He felt doubtful, but could not resist; ordering his men to hold +on a minute or two, while he talked horse with the lady, wishing, in +the innocent kindness of his heart, to break it to her gently. After a +few minutes' general conversation he touched on the horse question. +"Oh! yes, sir," she said, getting up and looking through a window that +overlooked the back yard. "Yes, sir; I am sorry to disappoint you, but +as you came in at the front door my husband was saddling the bay, and +while you were talking to me I saw him riding out of the back gate. I +am so sorry; _indeed I am_." With a hasty good morning our lieutenant +rode back to camp upon a horse some degrees below the standard of a +"Red Eye" or any other race horse. The laugh was with the lady. + +Another case was against a class who met with but little sympathy from +a soldier in the field--a local or collecting quartermaster, _when of +a particular class_--some able bodied young man, every way fit for the +soldier, except in spirit, getting the position to screen himself from +field duty and make money out of a suffering people. The order had +been given through the brigade to take the horses wherever they could +be found. A wagon with two good horses drove between our fire and that +of the squadron lying next. A captain stepped out, stopped the wagon, +and the horses were taken out and appropriated--the boy driving them +ran off--and soon there came riding up a dashing young quartermaster +on a fine grey horse, groomed to perfection, and horse and rider +redolent of the sybaritism of the department, claimed the horses as +belonging to _his department_, with a most insolent air, looking +daggers and court martials, and swelling as only overfed subsistence +agents on home duty could do. While he was talking I saw Captain D. +walking round him looking at the gallant grey, and then at our colonel +inquiringly. A nod from the colonel and Captain D's hand was on the +grey's bridle, and a quiet but firm request, that sounded very much +like an order, for him to get down, as his horse was wanted for +cavalry service. The man of the subsistence and transportation +department was so dumbfounded that he would have let pass the best +operation possible of making money out of the necessities of the +people for which his tribe was famous; but just then a bugle rang out +the call for "boot and saddle;" the bugles of the other regiments took +it up; the momentary diversion of the horse pressing and the +quartermaster was forgotten; work was at hand; the rumbling of the +artillery and wagons crossing the bridge, with columns of infantry +between, could be heard down in the town at the foot of the hill, and +the cavalry were wanted on the other side of the town, by the Randolph +House, to hold the enemy in check and cover the crossing of the river. + +The brigade was soon in the saddle, and moving at a swinging trot down +the long street that constitutes mainly the town of Farmville. As the +regiment passed a large building on the right, which was shown to be a +boarding school for young ladies, from the number gathered on the +piazza in front, we were greeted by their waving handkerchiefs and +moist eyes, while cheer after cheer rose from our men in response to +their kindness and sympathy. They did not know, as we did, that their +friends and defenders were to pass by, leaving them so soon in the +hands most dreaded by them. They saw us going to the front; our men +were excited by the circumstances and the prospect of a fight, and the +light of that wild glory that belongs to war shone over it all. The +rough, grey soldier, the tramping column, and the groups of tender +girls, mixed with it like flowers on a battle field, incongruous in +detail, but blending with the picture, like discords in music, making +it complete. + +So on through the town, across the little stream, and up the hill, on +the top of which on the right stood a large white building, called, as +I recollect, the Randolph House; in the field around were gathered and +gathering large bodies of our cavalry, under the command of General +F.H. Lee, General Rosser and other distinguished cavalry officers. We +took our position among them. As before stated, our column, artillery +and wagon train, were pouring in a steady stream across the bridge, +and the enemy were pressing up their artillery, and already throwing +long shots at it from batteries not near enough to do much if any +harm, and too much under cover to admit of an effectual attack from +us. + +General Lee dismounted the most of his command and formed a line of +battle along the road looking toward the point from which the enemy +were advancing. + +We (our brigade) were kept in the saddle at the point we first +occupied on the right of the road. There was a house some three +hundred yards from the road on the left, directly in front of General +Lee's line, in a grove of oak, with a lane or avenue leading to it +from the main road. Behind the house a battery seemed gradually +advancing and already throwing its shells at or about the bridge. So +far they were completely masked by the house, and we could only judge +of their movements from their fire, which seemed closer every moment. + +In pursuance of some order we changed our position, and rode to +General Lee's dismounted line of battle. As we rode up--our regiment, +the Seventh, leading--we were the right flank regiment in the brigade +formation, and in column with the right in front were necessarily in +advance. The battery seemed by this time to have gotten immediately +behind the house, and was pitching shells about the bridge and into +the town (the bridge was at the foot of the street) with precision and +rapidity. Expecting to see it unmask itself in front of the house +every moment, General Lee said to our colonel, "Haskell, as soon as +that battery shows itself take it with your regiment; you can do it." + +We moved at once down the avenue toward the house up to the edge of +the oak wood, with which the lawn in front was surrounded, formed the +regiment in column of fours in the road. The colonel rode along the +side of the column, the adjutant detailing three of the best mounted +men from each company--the horses were the animals specially +selected--the _men_ at that stage of the game were all known to be +good--making thirty men, and the senior captain, Doby, in immediate +command of the party. + +The colonel rode in front of the halted column some forty or fifty +yards, with his thirty men, after directing the officer next in +command to ride down the flank of the regiment, form, and speak to +each "set of fours" separately. Each set of fours waited for the word +of command to be given to themselves specially, and as the order was +given "to close up and dress," they did so steadily and firmly, and I +looked into the eyes of each man in the regiment, and they looked +into mine. There was little left for words to say. + +There we sat, waiting to charge the battery that was momentarily +expected to unmask in front of the house--something over two hundred +men of the thousand on our muster roll, and all the cavalry of the +army of Northern Virginia, looking on to see how we did it. + +The shells from the battery whistled four or five feet above our +heads, for they had discovered our line on the hill and turned their +fire on it. The shells went over our heads, but struck a few feet in +front of General Lee's dismounted line, making gaps in it as they did +so. + +Just then information was received that our marching column had +crossed the bridge--our charge was not to be--there was nothing to +wait for. General Lee mounted his men, formed, and moved off promptly +to cross the river at a ford some two miles farther up, leaving +General Gary with his brigade to cover his retreat. We drew off from +the position we had taken to attack the battery, the regiment resuming +its position at the head of the brigade, with the exception of Colonel +Haskell, Captain Doby, and the thirty men before chosen--this party +remained in the rear of the brigade, all moving off slowly, the last +of General Lee's division having by this time gone out of sight over +the top of the hill. + +We had not yet been able to perceive that the bridge was on fire. +General Gary said that General Lee had left it to his discretion to +cross at the bridge if he could, as he expected we would be pressed +very closely at the last; so, instead of following General Lee's line +of retreat, we turned down towards the town again and halted in the +street while the General himself galloped down to the bridge to see if +it was practicable. The shells were bursting over the town, and in the +street occasionally, while the good people of Farmville, in a state of +great though natural alarm, were leaving with their goods forthwith. +We told them we were going at once; were not to make a fight in the +town; to keep quiet in their houses, and it was not probable they +would be interfered with. + +The bridge, bursting into smoke and flame, told the story before the +General got back. On we went up the street, through the grove where we +camped the night before, on toward the railroad, following the track +taken by General Lee. + +Just beyond the wood, on the outskirts of the town, a large creek runs +under the railroad through an arched way or viaduct, wide enough for +the road to pass along its bank. After crossing this creek, on a +bridge on the town side of the railroad embankment, we passed along +the road under the culvert, and formed on the edge of the woods some +three or four hundred yards beyond. Colonel Haskell, with Captain Doby +and his thirty men, halted at the bridge to destroy it, as by this +time bodies of the enemy's cavalry could be seen moving at a gallop +on the hill above. The creek was too deep for a ford; so it was all +important, in connection with our crossing the river, to check their +advance by burning the bridge. Colonel Haskell, dismounting, placed +all of his party, except his axemen, behind the railroad bank which +overlooked the bridge and served as a capital breastwork, went to work +with a will. By this time the enemy was upon them and commenced a +heavy fire, which was returned handsomely by the party under cover and +with good effect. Colonel Haskell succeeded in the complete +destruction of the bridge, with the loss of only one of his axemen +killed. + +The cover of the bank, and the small number actually exposed when at +work, enabled him to perform a gallant and dangerous piece of service +with slight loss. + +General Gary, who had occupied a position between the wood where the +brigade was formed and near where the bridge party was at work, so as +to be in complete command of whatever might take place, moved on at +once toward the ford where General Lee had already crossed his +division. We moved by regiments in intervals after him. + +By some mistake of our guide we were carried to a point in the river +which was not practicable, at the then stage of the river, as a +ford--which we duly discovered after nearly drowning two or three men +and horses of the ambulance train, whom we found at the head of the +column when we reached the river, their usual place being in the +rear. The adjutant, finding them in front, asked them, "What the deuce +are you doing here--your place is in the rear?" "No, sir," said a +long-backed individual of the party, in a copper colored raiment, who +seemed to have been making a study of the rules and regulations as +applying to his own department. "Not so. In the rear, I grant you, in +the advance; in the front, if you please, in a retreat" "So be it," +said I. "In with you;" and in they went, nothing loth. The river was +swimming and the horses swam badly, making plunges to reach the +opposite bank, which, when they gained, was steep and treacherous, and +it was only after repeated efforts, and their riders getting off into +the river, that they made a landing. It was apparent that this could +not be the point that General Lee had crossed his division. Some one +turned up who led us right. About a mile farther up we found the ford +that he had crossed at, and got over without difficulty or +molestation; it was scarcely swimming to the smallest horse, and +directly opposite lay all of the Virginia cavalry to cover our +crossing, if pressed, while it was going on. We were the first +regiment that crossed; found some stacks of oats; halted, formed in +squadrons, fed our horses, ate what we had to eat, rested, and, as +usual, made the best of it. + +After a rest of about an hour General Lee moved off, we following in +his rear, the Virginians ahead of us with General Lee destroying the +equanimity of the good people on their line of march by pressing +every horse found in their way. It seemed hard to come down so on our +own people, after all the sacrifices already made by them, but if the +horse was lost by our taking him, which was apt to be the result, the +proceeding mounted at least one of our own troopers; on the other hand +it gave a fresh horse to the enemy, and was equally lost to the +owner--and this was the view the Virginians usually took of it. +General Lee, being ahead of us, made a clean sweep as he went along, +leaving scarce a gleaning of horseflesh for us. After a while we came +upon the wagons and infantry again. It was not long before the ringing +of a volley and the roar of a piece of artillery let us know that an +attack had been made on our train again. We moved up to the firing at +a gallop, and as we passed along there came sweeping through the +woods, from the road running parallel with the one we were on, a body +of infantry in line, moving at a double quick upon the same point, +which was but a short distance ahead of us. They were what was left of +the famous "Texas brigade," well remembered by some of us in 1861 on +the Occoquon at Dumfries--first commanded by Wigfall, then a short +time by Archer, then by Hood, then Gregg, who was killed October 26th, +1864, at the fight on the Darbytown road. At this time the brigade +counted about one hundred and thirty muskets, commanded by Colonel +Duke. We had been fighting with them all summer, from Deep Bottom to +New Market heights, to the lines around Richmond, and they recognized +the brigade as we rode along their front, and with a yell as fierce +and keen as when their three regiments averaged a thousand strong, and +nothing but victory had been around their flag, they shouted to us, +"Forward, boys, forward, and tell them Texas is coming!" + +When we got into the open field we found that General Lee's division +of cavalry had engaged the enemy, driven him from his attack on our +train, and taken the Federal General Gregg prisoner. + +The enemy were occupying in force, apparently, the woods on the light of +the field with infantry and artillery. We were holding the open field +which had been the scene of the skirmish before we came up, and threw +out skirmishers, and returned the fire of their sharpshooters--both +sides using a piece or two of artillery at long range. + +After this had gone on for a while, "ours," the Seventh, was ordered +to charge in line on horseback, through a piece of old field, grown up +in scattering pines, upon the battery that was working on us from the +edge of the oak woods. The line was formed and we went at it very +handsomely, our men keeping up their line and fire astonishingly, +considering we were armed with "muzzle loaders" (the greatest possible +of all drawbacks to the efficiency of cavalry). + +We drew on ourselves at once a heavy fire of artillery and small arms, +which told smartly on our line, knocking over men and horses, until +the left flank of the regiment came upon a ravine, or deep wash, +covering nearly half of its front. The horses could not cross. We +moved by the right flank to clear the obstruction, and then found that +the object of our demonstration had been answered. It had been made to +cover the withdrawal of a body of our infantry that had been advanced +on our right. It was sundown. We left a strong line of pickets, or +rather a skirmish line, under command of Lieutenant Munerlyn, upon the +ground we had occupied, and drew off into the open field, waiting for +dark before going into camp, or rather lying on our arms. It had been +a tiresome day, and, though neither then nor now an admirer of strong +drink, I fell back upon and fully appreciated the contents of my +canteen--the famous apple brandy of Amelia Springs. + +This, although we did not know it then, was destined to be (save the +last of all) the hardest night upon us. We moved into a piece of woods +as soon as it was dark, and formed the regiment in squadrons, with +orders to water horses, a squadron at a time--the rest holding +position, the men in the saddle, until the return of the preceding +squadron--and then picket their horses and make fires as near as +possible on the same ground. But when the first squadron returned from +the water, and the field officers had just unbuckled their sabres and +stretched themselves on the ground to take the rest so much needed, +and watch that most interesting process to a hungry man, the building +up the little fire that was to do his modest cooking, when an orderly +comes from General Gary to change camp--to buckle up and mount, and +follow the orderly a half mile to the rear. We were, it seemed, too +near the enemy's line, looking to the contemplated movement. + +At the new location--a comfortable piece of piny woods old field--we +finished what we had begun at the other point. At our mess, sleep +seemed to be the great object in view. I went to sleep immediately, my +head on my saddle; woke in about a half hour's time to eat what there +was, and instantly to sleep again; but that was not to be. At about +ten o'clock a quiet order mounted us, almost before, as the little +boys say, we got the "sleep out of our eyes." We were in column on the +road, and non-commissioned officers under the direction of the +adjutant riding down it, each with a handkerchief full of cartridges, +supplying the men with that very necessary "article of war." And then +commenced that most weary night march, that will always be remembered +by the tired men who rode it, that ended only (without a halt, except +a marching one,) at Appomattox Court-house. + +The line of retreat had been changed, and by a forced night march on +another road a push was being made for the mountains at Lynchburg. Had +we gotten there (and Appomattox Court-house was within twenty miles of +Lynchburg) with the men and material General Lee still had with him, +Lee's last struggle among the mountains of his native State would have +made a picture to swell the soldier's heart with pride to look upon. +The end we know would have been the same; a few more noble hearts +would have bled in vain, and song and story would but have found new +themes to tell the old, old tale--how willing brave men are to die for +what they believe to be right. Through long lines of toiling wagons, +artillery trains and tired men, we pushed on as rapidly as we could; +at a bad piece of road, at a creek or a muddy hill, the column +sometimes got cut in two by a portion getting through the wagons, the +train then closing, waiting upon a wagon mired down ahead. + +At one of these halts for the brigade to close up and for the +regiments to report position, General Gary had halted at a large fire +made from the rails of some good farmer's fence by troops ahead of us, +and round it we all gathered, for the night was cold. The subject of +conversation with the brigade staff when we joined was, that Captain +M., the inspector, not being well, had, early in the night, halted at +a farm house and gone to bed, just to see how it would feel, putting +his horse in the farmer's stable; and when he roused himself to the +necessities of his position, and sought to ride with the rest, he +found his horse was gone. Some pressing party had gone that way. + +I remembered, when I listened to the drowsy talk about the captain's +loss, that a couple of enterprising young fellows had reported some +horses at a farm house and gotten permission to go after them. They +had not long returned with their prizes; they, the horses, stood just +on the edge of light thrown by the fire against the darkness that rose +like a wall behind it, the hind-quarters of one, a large, leggy bay, +with stockings on his hind legs, could be seen from where we sat; one +of the orderlies, looking with sleepy eyes from the log on which he +was sitting at the horses, expressed himself to the effect that he +thought that "long-legged bay" looked about the hind-quarters a good +deal like the captain's missing charger. And so it proved. While the +captain "dallied at Capua," pressing the luxurious blanket of the +Virginia farmer, his horse, in camp parlance, was "lifted" by our +enterprising youth; and, much to their disgust, the captain reëntered +into possession of his leggy war horse. They expressed themselves to +the effect that they would as soon have stolen his horse as any body +else's. + +Again in the saddle, tramping through mud holes, splashing in ruts, we +worked our way amid the long line of wagons, troops and artillery, +until daylight came to our relief. About eight o'clock we came upon +our own wagon train--the first, and, by the way, the only time we +encountered it on our route--comfortably camped in a fine grove, good +fires, and a glorious smell of cooking permeating the early morning +air. The headquarter wagons of our regiment were parked near a fine +fire, and our servants (never expecting to see us again, I suppose,) +were cooking on a large scale from our private stores for a half dozen +notorious wagon-rats of the genteeler sort. + +Of course, as we rode up our boys declared they expected us and were +getting breakfast ready, which statement was sustained by +"messieurs," the wagon-rats; but the longing look they cast at a big +pot of rice steaming by the fire as they drew off, indicated a deeper +interest than I think it possible for them to have gotten up on any +one's account but their own. We had a most comfortable breakfast and a +rest of an hour only, the time being taken up in dozing and eating. + +Bad as the night had been the day was a beautiful one. The sun was +shining bright; our breakfast and rest had so refreshed us, short as +that rest was, that we resumed our march and the work before us, +cheerful and ready to meet it, whatever it might be, and what that +"might be" was no man troubled himself to know. + +Not long after resuming our march we posted pickets at some cross +roads, under the immediate direction of General R.E. Lee himself. We +moved steadily on to-day without molestation of any kind, the wagons +moving in double lines, the road being wide enough to admit it. About +twelve o'clock or a little later we had halted to water our horses at +a stream that crossed the road. It takes a good deal of time for a +large body of cavalry to water their horses, particularly if the +stream is small, and the men have to be watched closely to prevent +their fouling the water. + +I had dismounted and was leaning across my horse, when I saw, as I +thought, Captain Allen, of the Twenty-fourth Virginia, of our brigade, +having watered his horse where the stream crossed the road. The +captain was a fine specimen of a Virginia soldier and gentleman, some +sixty years of age, of fine presence, who was always said to resemble +General Lee, wearing his grey beard trimmed after the fashion of that +of our great leader, and in the saddle having about the same height, +though dismounted, the captain, I should say, was the taller. However, +I watched the old captain, as I thought, riding up the hill toward me, +on a very fine grey horse, and was thinking what a type of the veteran +soldier he looked, as indeed I had often thought before, until he got +within a few feet of me, when I changed my intended rather familiar, +but still most respectful salute, meant for the captain, for the +reverence with which the soldier salutes the standard of his +legion--which represents to him all that he has left to love and +honor--as I discovered that it was General R.E. Lee himself, riding +alone--not even an orderly in attendance. He returned our salute, his +eye taking it all in, with a calm smile, that assured us our confidence +was not misplaced. He bore the pressure of the responsibility that was +upon him as only a great and good man could--as one who felt that, +happen what may, selfishness--consideration of what might happen to +himself--had nothing to do with it. + +So I felt satisfied that there was a likeness between Captain Allen, +of the Twenty-fourth Virginia, and General R.E. Lee of the Southern +Confederacy. + +A little after this we got orders to move on, as quickly as we could, +in advance to Appomattox Court-house. "Appomattox Court-house" is a +small county town about a mile from the Lynchburg railroad. At the +foot of the hill on which the courthouse and the three or four houses +that constitute the village stand, run the headwaters of the +Appomattox river, a small stream, not knee deep to a horse. + +As soon as we cleared the wagon train we got over ground much faster, +and rode into and through the town just as the sun was setting. We +stopped at a piece of woods on the outskirts of the village, and +halted in the road while the quartermasters were selecting the ground, +and the regiments were closing up. Our foragers, that had been +detailed before we got into town, were riding in with the hay they had +collected on the pommels of their saddles, and all was as quiet as a +scene in "Arcady," when the stillness was broken by the scream of a +shell, the report of a gun, and then the burst-up of the missile as it +finished its mission and reported progress--and then another, and +another, until as pretty battery practice was developed down yonder by +the depot--Clover Hill I think it is called--as you would wish to +hear. + +Without knowing positively anything about it, those whom I had +conversed with relative to our pushing on to the Court house were +under the impression that a large body of our infantry were ahead of +us--General Dick Anderson's corps. He was there, as it turned out, but +his corps had been expended a day or two before; it had been +completely fought out, for we had no better officer than Lt. General +Richard Anderson, an old West Pointer--cavalry at that--and a South +Carolinian to boot. + +It was, however, "hammer and tongs" down there at all events--shell, +grape and canister at short range. Custar's division of Sheridan's +cavalry had taken the chord of the arc, and reached the depot just +about the time we got to the village. A knowledge of his movements had +caused our being sent forward, his object being to strike the +artillery train, which was in advance of us--sixty pieces, under +General Walker. Three batteries were left at the depot to hold it, +while the rest retreated along the Lynchburg pike. The three batteries +were six guns under command of Major James C. Coit--consisting of two +guns Pegram's battery, Va., Lieut. Scott; two guns Wright's battery, +Va., Lieut. Atkisson; two guns Martin's battery, Va., Capt. Martin; +with sixteen men, Kelly's battery, S.C., Lieut. Race, who assisted in +working Wright's guns. + +While we were closing up our scattered ranks, and getting the brigade +ready for action as rapidly as coolness, skill and courage could do +it, a department officer (I think he was) came galloping up to us from +the scene of action, apparently under orders from himself to get out +of the way; but the natural insolence of his class broke out in spite +of the scare that was on him, and he commenced giving orders at once. +I happened to be the person addressed--"Get on at once; the enemy are +down yonder Why don't you go at once? Are all you men going to stand +here and let the enemy"--and so on. The colonel had ridden down the +column to see that all was straight, while the "Legion" and the +Twenty-fourth Virginia were closing up, so that when we did move it +would be as a compact body--when the order came ringing +along--"Forward, forward, men! gallop!"--and our indignant friend was +lost in the rush of the column while yet haranguing us for being so +slow. + +The roar of the batteries was incessant. They were evidently holding +the dismounted cavalry in check. As rapidly as we could get over +ground we moved towards them, and formed the brigade in the field to +the left of the position held by the batteries, in what might be +called a column of regiments. As we formed the regiment from a column +of fours into line, they came down from a gallop to a trot at the +order, "Front into line," as steadily as if on parade; then followed, +"Right dress, front"--and all were ready for the next move. + +Our batteries from the right were shelling the woods opposite to us. +In front, under cover, some of the cavalry skirmishers were using +their Spencers upon us at long range, and a squadron of ours, the +Fifth, was detailed to move up and take a position opposite and return +their fire. + +By this time the grey of twilight was lighted up by the rising moon, +and there seemed to be a lull in the attack. General Gary and Colonel +Haskell had ridden over our front and communicated with the commanding +officer of the batteries; the consequence of which was, the brigade +was dismounted and double-quicked through a small piece of wood to the +batteries. Before our men could get to the guns the enemy charged and +got among them, but were driven back by the fire and our rush, but +taking with them some of our men as prisoners--among them Captain +Hankins, of the Virginia battery, who got away and came running up to +me as I rode to my place. Our men fell in between the guns, and then +began one of the closest artillery fights, for the numbers engaged and +the time it lasted, that occurred during the war. The guns were fought +literally up to the muzzles. It was dark by this time, and at every +discharge the cannon was ablaze from touch-hole to mouth, and there +must have been six or eight pieces at work, and the small arms of some +three or four hundred men packed in among the guns in a very confined +space. It seemed like the very jaws of the lower regions. They made +three distinct charges, preluding always with the bugle, on the right, +left and centre, confusing the point of attack; then, with a cheer and +up they came. It was too dark to see anything under the shadow of the +trees but the long dark line. They would get within thirty or forty +yards of the guns and then roll back, under the deadly fire that was +poured upon them from the artillery and small arms. Amid the flashing, +and the roaring, and the shouting, rose the wild yell of a railroad +whistle, as a train rushed up almost among us (the enemy had +possession of the road), as we were fighting around the depot, +sounding on the night air as if the devil himself, had just come up +and was about to join in what was going on. + +Then came a lull; our friends in front seemed to have had the wire +edge taken off. + +Our horses had been sent back to the turnpike road; General Gary +taking advantage of the present quiet sent Colonel Haskell to get them +together--rather a difficult task, as it afterwards proved. + +General Gary's great object was to draw off the guns, if possible, now +night had set in, from the depot, and get them back with the rest of +the train in the line of retreat. So the order was given to limber +them up, which was done, and the guns moved off at once, it being but +a few hundred yards to the main road. + +Our brigade in line faced to the rear, the guns behind them, and +covered the movement. The silence of the guns soon told our friends +over yonder what was going on, and they were not long in following +after; our men, facing to the rear, delivered their fire steadily, +moving in retreat, facing and firing every few steps, effectually +keeping off a rush; they pressed us, but cautiously--the darkness +concealed our numbers. + +We were going through an open old field, and came now to a road +through a narrow piece of woods, where we broke from line into column, +and double-quicked through the woods so as to get to the road beyond. +Before we got to the turnpike we heard the bugles of the enemy down +it, and as the head of our column came into the road their cavalry +charged the train some two or three hundred yards below us. Sixty +pieces of cannon, at the point where we came into the road, the +drivers were attempting to turn back toward the Court House, had got +entangled with one another and presented a scene of utter confusion. + +As our regiment got into the road some thirty or forty men were thrown +out from the last squadron and faced to the rear on the right and +left, opening a fire directly upon those of the dismounted men who +were pressing us from that quarter. I had but little fear of the +enemy's cavalry riding into us on the road, so blocked up as it was +with the routed artillery train, and there were woods on both sides +just here. + +In passing from the old field, where the guns had been at work, into +the woods that separated it from the turnpike, two men were walking +just in front of me, following their gun, which was on before. I heard +one say, "_Tout perdu_." I asked at once, "What battery do you belong +to?" "Donaldsonville." It was the creole company; and they might well +have added the other words of the great Francis, after the battle of +Pavia, "_Tout perdu fors l'honneur_" all lost but honor; for well had +they done their work from 'sixty-one, when they came to Virginia, +until now, when all was lost, "_Tout perdu_"--it was the motto of the +occasion. + +The stag was in the toils, but the end was not yet. We could hear the +rush, the shouts and pistol shots, where the enemy mounted and in +force had attacked the train; the artillerymen having no arms could +make no fight, as they could not use their pieces. We could do nothing +(being closely pressed by a superior force of their dismounted men) +but fall back upon the town toward our main body, making the best +front we could, leaving the road and marching under cover of the +timber on the side, being on foot giving us a better position to +resist any attack that might be made upon us by the cavalry. + +The fifth squadron of the Seventh, that had been thrown out as +skirmishers when we first came on the ground, had kept their position +covering our left flank when the fight at the batteries was going on. +And when we commenced falling back after the guns, the adjutant, +Lieutenant Capers, was sent to bring them to the road, so as to join +the regiment. They had also been dismounted, and their horses sent +with the rest. He found them, led them to the road, and, on getting on +it at a point nearer to the town than where we struck it, hearing the +bugles and the rush of the cavalry on the train, he at once posted the +companies, with their captains, Doby and Dubose, in the woods +immediately on the road-side, and with the parting salutation, "Take +care of yourselves, boys," (he had been a private in one of the +companies, and both were from his native district), dashed back to his +place in the regiment and disappeared round a turn in the road. They +had scarcely lost sight of him when a heavy volley rang out, and his +horse came round the bend at full speed without his rider, jumping +over in his fright a broken caisson that lay across the road--the +horse, a very fine roan, the one he was riding when, at "Amelia +Spring," he, Capers, was the only one of the five in advance who +escaped, to meet his fate that night, pierced by a dozen balls; the +whole fire of the column was concentrated upon him, for we found his +body next day. Some kind hand had given him a soldier's grave; some +one, most likely of those who fought us, who could not but respect and +admire the gallant young fellow lying in his blood, and with the +feeling developed by a soldier's life, "So be it to me and mine in my +sorrow as I may be to thee this day." All the respect was shown that +circumstances admitted of. + +One of our captains, who was wounded at the "guns" severely, fell into +the enemy's hands when we moved them--as everybody was too busy to +look after the wounded, and ambulance men and stretchers were this +time neither in the front or rear. He was taken up by his new friends +quite tenderly, as he thought, and put into an ambulance; but in the +course of the evening's entertainment the Yankee wounded came dropping +in, and our friend, Captain Walker, was disposed of rather +unceremoniously on the roadside, for others they valued at a higher +rate than even a Confederate captain. + +[Illustration] + +Immediately after the adjutant's horse came Custar's cavalry. Seeing +all clear before them, they came on without a check until, when +nearly opposite where our men of the Fifth squadron were lying in the +woods, they caught the fire of the entire squadron, which emptied a +good many saddles, and was the last shot probably fired that night. + +The Federal cavalry kept on toward the town, and the squadron, under +cover, drew deeper into the woods, and moved round the town and went +into camp, but did not join the main body until next morning. The +enemy kept on until they got into, or nearly into the town, but again +fell back, establishing their line somewhere between the town and the +depot. Our outside picket was in the town. + +We went into camp about one o'clock in the morning, on the Richmond +side of the town, in the woods--General Gary riding to General +Gordon's headquarters to report before lying down. + +_April 9th._--The sun rose clear on this the last day, practically, of +the Southern Confederacy. It was cool and fresh in the early morning +so near the mountains, though the spring must have been a forward one, +as the oak trees were covered with their long yellow tassels. + +We gathered the brigade on the green on the Richmond side of the +village, most of the men on foot, the horses not having come in. About +eight o'clock a large portion of our regiment had their horses--they +having been completely cut off the night before by the charge of +Custar's cavalry on the turnpike, and were carried, to save them, into +a country cross-road. Then the "Hampton Legion" got theirs. My +impression is that the Twenty-fourth Virginia lost the most or a good +many of their horses. The men built fires, and all seemed to have +something to eat, and to be amusing themselves eating it. The woods on +the southern and eastern side swarmed with the enemy and their +cavalry--a portion of it was between us and the "James River," which +was about twelve miles distant. General Fitz Lee's division of cavalry +lay over in that direction somewhere; General Longstreet with General +Gordon was in and on the outer edge of the town, on the Lynchburg +side, and so we waited for the performance to commence. + +Looking at and listening to the men you would not have thought there +was anything special in the situation. They turned all the +responsibility over to the officers, who in turn did the same to those +above them--the captain to the colonel, the colonel to the brigadier, +and so on. + +Colonel Haskell had not yet returned--having sent in all the horses he +had gotten, and was still after the balance. About nine or ten +o'clock, artillery firing began in front of General Longstreet, and +the blue jackets showed in heavy masses on the edge of the woods. +General Gary riding up, put everything that had a horse in the saddle, +and moved us down the hill, just on the edge of the little creek that +is here the "Appomattox," to wait under cover until wanted. Two of our +young men, who had some flour and a piece of bacon in their +haversacks, had improvised a cooking utensil out of a bursted +canteen, and fried some cakes. They offered me a share in their meal, +of which I partook with great relish. I then lay down, with my head, +like the luxurious Highlander, upon a smooth stone, and, holding my +horse's bridle in my hand, was soon in the deep sleep of a tired man. +But not for long, for down came the general in his most emphatic +manner--and those who know Gary know a man whose emphasis can be +wonderfully strong when so minded. "Mount, men, mount!" I jumped up at +the sharp, ringing summons with the sleep still in my eyes, and found +myself manoeuvring my horse with his rear in front. We soon had +everything in its right place, and rode out from the bottom into the +open field, about two hundred and fifty strong, to see the last of it. + +Firing was going on, artillery and small arms, beyond the town, and +there was General R.E. Lee himself, with Longstreet, Gordon, and the +rest of his paladins. + +When we rode into the open field we could see the enemy crowding along +the edge of the woods--cavalry apparently extending their line around +us. We kept on advancing towards them to get a nearer view of things, +and were midway on the Richmond side between the town and a large +white house with a handsome grove around it. In the yard could be seen +a body of cavalry, in number about our own; we saw no other troops +near. Two or three hundred yards to the right of the house an officer, +apparently of rank, with a few men--his staff, probably--riding well +forward, halted, looking toward the town with his glass. Just as he +rode out General Gary had given the order to charge the party in the +yard. Some one remarked that it looked like a flag of truce. "Charge!" +swore Gary in his roughest tones, and on we went. The party in the +yard were taken by surprise; they had not expected us to charge them, +as they were aware that a parley was going on (of which, of course, we +knew nothing), and that there was a suspension of hostilities. + +We drove them through the yard, taking one or two prisoners--one +little fellow, who took it very good-humoredly; he had his head tied +up, having got it broken somewhere on the road, and was riding a mule. +We followed up their retreat through the yard, down a road, through +the open woods beyond, and were having it, as we thought, all our own +way--when, stretched along behind the brown oaks, and moving with a +close and steady tramp, was a long line of cavalry, some thousands +strong--Custar's division--our friends of last night. This altered the +complexion of things entirely; the order was instantly given to move +by the left flank--which, without throwing our back to them, changed +the forward into a retrograde movement. + +The enemy kept his line unbroken, pressing slowly forward, firing no +volley, but dropping shots from a line of scattered skirmishers in +front was all we got They, of course, knew the condition of things, +and seemed to think we did not. We fell back toward a battery of ours +that was behind us, supported, I think, by a brigade of North Carolina +infantry. We moved slowly, and the enemy's skirmishers got close +enough for a dash to be made by our acting regimental adjutant--in +place of Lieutenant Capers, killed the night before--Lieutenant Haile, +who took a prisoner, but just as it was done one of our +couriers--Tribble, Seventh regiment--mounted on a fine black horse, +bareheaded, dashed between the two lines with a handkerchief tied upon +a switch, sent by General Gordon, announcing the "suspension of +hostilities." + +By this time the enterprising adjutant had in turn been made prisoner. +As soon as the orders were understood everything came to a +stand-still, and for a while I thought we were going to have, then and +there, a little inside fight on purely personal grounds. + +An officer--a captain--I presume the captain in command of the party +in the yard that we had attacked and driven back upon the main +body--had, I rather expect, been laughed at by his own people for his +prompt and sudden return from the expedition he had set out on. + +He rode up at once to General Gary, and with a good deal of heat (he +had his drawn sabre in his hand) wanted to know what he, Gary, meant +by keeping up the fight after there had been a surrender. "Surrender!" +said Gary, "I have heard of no surrender. We are South Carolinians, +and don't surrender. [Ah! General, but we did, though.] Besides, sir, +I take commands from no officers but my own, and I do not recognize +you or any of your cloth as such." + +The rejoinder was about to be a harsh one, sabres were out and trouble +was very near, when an officer of General Custar's staff--I should +like to have gotten his name--his manner was in striking contrast to +that of the bellicose captain, who seemed rather to belong to the +snorting persuasion--he, with the language and manner of a thorough +gentleman, said, "I assure you, General, and I appreciate your +feelings in the matter, that there has been a suspension of +hostilities, pending negotiations, and General Lee and General Grant +are in conference on the matter at this time." + +His manner had its effect on General Gary, who at once sheathed his +sabre, saying, "Do not suppose, sir, I have any doubt of the truth of +your statement, but you must allow that, under such circumstances, I +can only receive orders from my own officers; but I am perfectly +willing to accept your statement and wait for those orders." (Situated +as we were, certainly a wise conclusion.) Almost on the instant +Colonel Blackford, of the engineers, rode up, sent by General Gordon, +with a Federal officer, carrying orders to that effect. + +We drew back to the artillery and infantry that were just behind us, +and formed our battered fragments into regiments. + +Desperate as we knew our condition to be since last night's affair, +still the idea of a complete surrender, which we began now to see was +inevitable, came as an awful shock. Men came to their officers with +tears streaming from their eyes, and asked what it all meant, and +would, at that moment, I know, have rather died the night before than +see the sun rise on such a day as this. + +And so the day wore on, and the sun went down, and with it the hopes +of a people who, with prayers, and tears, and blood, had striven to +uphold that falling flag. + +It was all too true, and our worst fears were fully justified by the +result. The suspension of hostilities was but a prelude to surrender, +which was, when it came to a show of hands, inevitable. + +General Lee's army had been literally pounded to pieces after the +battle of "Five Forks," around Petersburg, which made the evacuation +of Richmond and the retreat a necessity. When General Longstreet's +corps from the north bank joined it, the "army of Northern Virginia," +wasted and reduced to skeleton battalions, was still an army of +veteran material, powerful yet for attack or defence, all the more +dangerous from its desperate condition. And General Grant so +recognized and dealt with it, attacking it, as before stated, in +detail; letting it wear itself out by straggling and the disorganizing +effect of a retreat, breaking down of men and material. The infantry +were almost starved. + +It was not until the fourth day from Richmond, at the high bridge on +the "Appomattox," the battle of Sailor's Creek was fought, in which, +with overwhelming masses of cavalry, artillery and infantry, our +starved and tired men were ridden down, and General Grant destroyed, +in military parlance, the divisions of Kershaw, Ewell, Anderson and +Custis Lee. + +The fighting next day was of the same desultory character as before, +and the day after there was no blow struck until we encountered with +the artillery Custar's cavalry, at the depot of Appomattox +Court-house, as has been described--all their energies being directed +toward establishing their "cordon" around that point. + +The terms of the surrender, and all about it, are too well known to go +over in detail here--prisoners of war on parole, officers to retain +side arms, and all private property to be respected, that was +favorable to our cavalry, as in the Confederate service the men all +owned their horses, though different in the United States army, the +horses belonging to Government. + +General Gary, true to the doctrine he had laid down in his discussion +with the irate captain, that "South Carolinians did not surrender," +turned his horse's head, and, with Captain Doby and one or two others, +managed to get that night through the "cordon" drawn around us, and +succeeded in reaching Charlotte, North Carolina, which became, for a +time, the headquarters of the "Southern Confederacy"--the President +and his Cabinet having established themselves there. + +Colonel Haskell, who had been separated from us the night before, +while gathering up the horses of the brigade, by the charge of cavalry +on the turnpike, and had joined and been acting with General Walker +and his artillery, came in about two o'clock. All the Confederate +cavalry at Appomattox, some two thousand or twenty-five hundred, were +under his command as ranking officer. + +The brigade crossed the road and bivouacked in the open field near the +creek, within a few hundred yards of the town. Our infantry, and what +was left of the artillery, was scattered along the road for two or +three miles toward Richmond--the enemy swarming in every direction +around us, and occupying the town as headquarters. + +The articles of capitulation were signed next morning under the famous +"apple tree," I suppose; what we saw of it was this: General Lee was +seen, dressed in full Confederate uniform, with his sword on, riding +his fine grey charger, and accompanied by General Gordon, coming from +the village, and riding immediately in front of where we were lying. +He had not been particularly noticed as he had gone toward the town, +for, though with the regiment, I have no recollection of his doing so. +As soon as he was seen it acted like an electric flash upon our men; +they sprang to their feet, and, running to the roadside, commenced a +wild cheering that roused our troops. As far as we could see they came +running down the hill sides, and joining in, along the ground, and +through the woods, and up into the sky, there went a tribute that has +seldom been paid to mortal man. "Faithful, though all was lost!" + +The Federal army officers and men bore themselves toward us as brave +men should. I do not recollect, within my personal observation, a +single act that could be called discourteous--nor did I hear of one. +On the other hand, much kindness and consideration were exhibited when +circumstances made it warrantable--such as previous acquaintance, as +was common among the officers of the old army, or a return of kindness +when parties had been prisoners in our hands, as was the case with a +portion of the Seventh regiment when it was the cavalry battalion of +the Holcomb Legion, under Colonel Shingler, and the Fifth Pennsylvania +cavalry. + +Regular rations were issued to men and horses. An apology was offered, +on one occasion, by the Federal Quartermaster, for not serving out +horse feed, as General F. Lee's division of cavalry, who were, as I +mentioned before, outside, up in the James River direction, had cut +off a wagon train that held their provender, so we had to send out a +forage detail in the neighborhood, with a pass from General Sheridan, +to get through the Federal troops that filled the woods for miles +around, for their name was legion. We stacked eight thousand stands of +arms, all told; artillery, cavalry, infantry stragglers, wagon-rats, +and all the rest, from twelve to fifteen thousand men. The United +States troops, by their own estimate, were 150,000 men, with a +railroad connecting their rear with Washington, New York, Germany, +France, Belgium, Africa, "all the world and the rest of man-kind," as +General Taylor comprehensively remarked, for their recruiting stations +were all over the world, and the crusade against the South, and its +peculiar manners and civilization, under the pressure of the "almighty +American dollar," was as absolute and varied in its nationality as was +that of "Peter the Hermit," under the pressure of religious zeal, upon +Jerusalem. + +Success had made them good natured. Those we came in contact with were +soldiers--fighting men--and, as is always the case, such appreciate +their position and are too proud to bear themselves in any other way. +They, in the good nature of success, were more willing to give than +our men, in the soreness of defeat, to receive. + +The effect of such conduct upon our men was of the best kind; the +unexpected consideration shown by the officers and men of the United +States army towards us; the heartiness with which a Yankee soldier +would come up to a Confederate officer and say, "We have been fighting +one another for four years; give me a Confederate five dollar bill to +remember you by," had nothing in it offensive. + +They were proud of their success, and we were not ashamed of our +defeat; and not a man of that grand army of one hundred and fifty +thousand men but could, and I believe would, testify, that, on purely +personal grounds, the few worn-out half-starved men that gathered +around General Lee and his falling flag held the prouder position of +the two. Had the politicians left things alone, such feelings would +have resulted in a very different condition of things. + +Those of us who took serious consideration of the state of affairs, +felt that with our defeat we had as absolutely lost our country--the +one we held under the Constitution--as though we had been conquered +and made a colony of by France or Russia. The right of the +strongest--the law of the sword--was as absolute at "Appomattox" that +day as when Brennus, the Gaul, threw it in the scale at the ransom of +Rome. + +So far, it was all according to the order of things, and we stood on +the bare hills men without a country. General Grant offered us, it was +said, rations and transportation--each man to his native State, now a +conquered province, or to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Many would not have +hesitated to accept the offer for Halifax and rations; but, in distant +Southern homes were old men, helpless women and children, whose cry +for help it was not hard to hear. So, in good faith, accepting our +fate, we took allegiance to this, our new country, which is now called +the "United States," as we would have done to France or Russia. + +With all that was around us--the destruction of the "Army of Northern +Virginia," and certain defeat of the Confederacy as the result--no one +dreamed of what has followed. The fanaticism that has influenced the +policy of the Government, to treat subject States, whose citizens had +been permitted to take an oath of allegiance, accepted them as such, +and promised to give them the benefit of laws protecting person, +property and religion, as the dominant party in the United States has +done--exceeds belief. + +To place the government of the States absolutely in the hands of its +former slaves, and call their "acts" "laws;" to denounce the slightest +effort to assert the white vote, even under the laws, treason; and, +finally, force the unwilling United States soldier to use his bayonet +to sustain the grossest outrages of law and decency against men of his +own color and race! This has gone on until, lost in wonder as to what +is to come next, the southern white man watches events, as a tide that +is gradually rising and spreading, and from which he sees no avenue of +escape, and must, unless an intervention almost miraculous takes +place, soon sweep him away. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Falling Flag, by Edward M. 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