275
"but who was afraid to fire until the bridge wasgone. With a thankful heart for his bad aim, Iat once withdrew the men, and pushed on afterthe column. When I came to the ford, I found itnecessary to swim the horses a short distance, ithaving been deepened by the crossing of such alarge body of horse. Soon the column was insight, and the march across Charles City Countyto the James River was made as vigorously as thejaded horses were able to stand. The men, thoughweary and hungry, were in fine spirits, and jubilantover the successful crossing of the Chickahominy.About sunset we neared the James, at the planta-tion of Colonel Wilcox. Here we rested for abouttwo hours, having marched into a field of clover,where the horses ate their fill. In the twilight,fires were lighted to cook the rations just broughtiu by our foragers.
We were now twenty-five miles from Richmond ,on the “James River Road.” Had the enemybeen aware of our position, it would have beeneasy for him to throw a force between us andRichmond, and so cut us off. But the Federalgeneral was not well served by his scouts, nor didhis cavalry furnish him with accurate informationof our movements. Relying upon the mistakes ofthe enemy, Stuart resolved to march straight oninto Richmond by the River road on which we nowlay. To accomplish this with the greater safety,it was necessary for him to march at once. Accord-ingly, I was ordered to take the advance guard andmove out. As soon as the cravings of hunger wereappeased, sleep took possession of us. Althoughin the saddle and in motion, and aware that thesafety of the expedition depended on great vigi-lance in case the enemy should be encountered,it was hard to keep awake. I was constantly falling
asleep, and awaking with a start when almost offmy horse. This was the condition of every man inthe column. Not one had closed his eyes in sleepfor forty-eight hours.
The full moon lighted us on our way as wepassed along the River road, and frequently thewindings of the road brought us near to and insight of the James River, where lay the enemy’sfleet. In the gray twilight of the dawn of Sunday,we passed the “Double Gates,” “StrawberryPlains,” and “ Tighlman’s gate” in succession. At“ Tighlman’s ” we could see the masts of the fleet,not far off. Happily for us, the banks were high,and I imagine they had no lookout in the rigging,and we passed by unobserved. The sight of theenemy’s fleet had aroused us somewhat, when‘ ‘ Who goes there f ” rang out on the stillness of th eearly morning. The challenger proved to be avidette of the 10th Virginia Cavalry, commandedby Colonel J. Lucius Davis, who was picketing thatroad. Soon I was shaking hands with ColonelDavis and receiving his congratulations. Then wecrossed the stream by the jug factory, up toward“New Market” heights, by the drill-house, andabout a mile beyond we called halt for a little restand food. From this point the several regimentswere dismissed to their respective camps.
We lost one man killed and a few wounded, andno prisoners. The most important result was theconfidence the men had gained in themselves andin their leaders. The country rang out with praisesof the men who had raided entirely around Gen-eral McClellan ’s powerful army, bringing prison-ers and plunder from under his very nose. TheSouthern papers were filled with accounts ofthe expedition, none accurate, and most of themmarvelous.
I T was the morning of the day on which the bat-tle of Williamsburg was fought that the follow-ing incident occurred. Late in the afternoon ofthe preceding day, general orders had been issuedby General Joseph E. Johnston , informing us ofthe intended retrograde movement on the nextmorning. Among the instructions was one to theeffect that any gun caisson, quartermaster, or com-missary wagon which might become set in the mudso as to impede the line of march must be destroyedat once. In other words, the road must be keptclear. At that time the writer was a lieutenantin Snowden Andrews’s battery of light artillery,and, as such, commanded one section of 2 guns,which, with their caissons, required 4 teams of 6horses each. Of these 4 teams, 3 were in faircondition for service, but the fourth was notori-ously weak. When the general’s order was read,I became very anxious about this team, espe-cially as nothing is considered more humiliating
to a battery than to have to part with a portion ofits equipment, no matter what the cause maybe ; so that when the retreat was commenced thenext morning I endeavored to keep all the men ofmy section well in hand, and ready to assist at amoment’s notice. For six miles north of Williams-burg the entire army was falling back over a singleroad, and as there had been frequent rains, thisroad was badly cut up, and the mud in manyplaces was up to the axles of the auns. Finallymy weak team balked with the gun — a 12-pounderNapoleon — in a deep hole. Every effort was madeby the drivers to dislodge the gun, but withoutavail; and I found when I got to the wheels, withas many men as could be utilized, that the horsescould not be made to work in concert. The wholeline to the regr was at a dead stand-still, whenI observed a party of mounted officers comingdown the road from the front, and in a fewmoments more I recognized General Johnston
•fo General Stuart reported the capture of 165 prisoners, including teamsters and other non-combatants, 260horses and mules, with more or less harness, and some small-arms.— Editors.