Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1865-11-30

ers by wholesale. In the face of such sui
fering as they left behind, it cannot be won
dered at if some of the poor fellows court
ed capture.
Those foragers who returned to Let
brought little or nothing with them. The
sufferings of the men from the pangs o
hunger has not been approached in the mil
itary annals of the past fifty years. Blu
the slferings of the mules and horses mus
have been even keener; for the men as
saged their cravings by pluckiug the buds
and twigs of trees just shooting in the ear
ly Spring, whereas the grass had not ye,
started from its winter sleep, and food fol
the unhappy quadrupeds there was none
AS early as the morning of the 4th Lee
sent off half his artillery toward the rail
road to relieve the famished horses The
artillery making slow progress, thanks to
the exhaustion of the horses, was captured
by the Federals ON the 9th, but not until
General Lindsay Walker had buried many
of his guns, which we're, of course. subse.
sequeutly exhumed (seVenty of them at
one haul) by their captors.
1t is easy to see that the locomotion of an
army in such plight must have been slow
and slower. The retreat was conducted in
the following fashion. About midnight the
Confederates slipped ont of their basty
breastworks, which they had thrown up aud
held during the previous day and fell back
until 10 or IL o'clock the next morning.
Then they halted. and Immediately threw
up earthworths for their protection during
the day. 1t was not long before the wolves
were again on their heels, and from their
earthworks the Confederases exchanged a
heavy fire with their pursuers throughout
the day. Delayed with the necessity of
guarding the ammunition train from thir-
ty.6ve to forty miles in length, enfeebled by
hunger and sleeplessness, the retreating ar.
my was only able to make ten miles each
night. The delay enabled the active Sher-
idan to get ahead with his cavalry, and to
destroy the depots of provisions along the
railroad between Burkesville and Danville.
Upon the 9th many of the mulesand horses
ceased to struggle. 1t became necessary to.
burn hundreds Of wagons. At intervals
the enemy's cavalry dashed in, and struck
the intermiDable ammunition here and
there, capturing and burning dozens upon
dozens of wagons. Toward evening of the
5th, and all day on the 9th, hundreds of
men dropped from exhaustion, and thous-
ands let fall their muskets from inability to
carry them any farther. -
The scenes of the 9th, 9Th, 7th and 9th,
we're Of q nature which can be apprehend-
ed In its viyed reality only by men who are
thoroughly familiar with the narrowing de-
ails Of war. Behind, aud on. either flank,
an ubiquitous, and increasingly adventur-
ous enemy-every mud hole and every rise
10 the road choked with blazing wagons
The air filled with the deafening reports of
the ammunition exploding, and shells burst
ing when touched by. the faues-dense
columns of smoke ascending to heaven from
The burning and exploding vehicles-ex.
hausted men, worn out mules and horses,
ying down side by side-gauut famine gla-
ring hopelessly from sunken lack lustre
syes-dead mules, dead horses, dead men
many times welcomed as Gods blessing in
aisguise-who can wonder if many hearts,
tried in the fiery furnace Of four years un-
paraleled suffering and never hitherto
found wanting should have quailed in pres.
snce of starvation, fatigue, sleeplessness,
nisery-unintermitted for five or six days,
md eliminating in hopelessness.
Yet there were not wanting occasional
episodes which recalled something of the
I'D pride Of former memories, and remind.
ID men that this hunted, famished crowd
vas still the same army that had won two
Bull runs, which had twice (in pursuit of a
atal policy) trodden its enemy's soil, and
1ad written Fredericksburg, Chancellors
iille, and dozeh other glorious names upon
It's banners. On the 9th large body Of
Federal cavalry, having got ahead of Lees
army and occupied Rice's Station, was at
;acked by some Confederate horsemen under
General Rosser, who drove them of, captu-
ing $50 prisoners On the 7th, heavy
attack was made upon Mahone's Division,
and the prowess Of this active Confederate
General, so frequently exhibited during the
asst twelve months of the war, was main.
;ained to the end, iuasmuch as Federal
brigade, getting entangled In ravine, was
by Mahone's men, and literally
disappeared On the evening of the 7th,
General Gregg, with six or seven thousand
Federal cavalry, made desperate attempt
10 capture all the wagon trains. He was
calamity met by two thousand horsemen
Under Fitzhugh Lee, and defeated. Gregg
himself was captured.
Throughout these gloomy days, as an off.
vet to the countless Confederates captured
while foraging, by the Federals, numerous
Federal prisoners were taken by the Con-
federates, and become participants of a huD-
ger and suffering of which they had no pre-
vieus conception. I may as we'll mention
now that as the surrender became more in.
evitable, Generals Fitzbugh Lee and Rosser,
with about 1000 Confederate cavalry, tao.
lily determined not to be included in it,
and started off toward Lynohburg On
their road they fell in with Federal sup.
ply train, and burned $50 wagons. The
scapty and partial ratioDs which, after the
surrender, we're issued on the night Of the
9th to the starving Confederates by their
oaptors, were apologized for by the Federals
on the ground of destruction of their 500