The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1867-10-23
THE LAST RATION. :
BY AN Ex-coSFEDERATE OFFICER.

r1s 1af 91U 4 ~. q - =. - 4; 5l7.
Few hear the immortals ofLee's army spea
of the. retreat from Petersburg to Appomatto
Court House, the scene of that army s,apothe
sis, and the reason for this silence can be vel
understood. Knowing nothing and thinkin;
little about the. condition of the army outsid,
Of their own commands, the great body o.
men, in their reliance upon their great com
mander, simply performed the duties imposed
upon them, suffered the agonies that necessa
rily fell to their lot, and met calmly the ,deatl
which ended those duties and agonies for man,
before the memorable 9th Of April. ... o,.,
The .suferings Of the rank and file of the
| army, on that occasion, were mercifully dead
ened by a stupor, if Tot recklessness superin
duced by thecpeculiar hardships to which they
were subjected. The enemy, with his over
whelming force of splendidly mounted and
equipped cavalry, held, in addition, the direct
route to the point aimed at by Gen Lee re
tarding his advance, compelling him to fight
while daylight lasted and to do his marching
by night. Tho want CT sleep, and during the
last four days Of the retreat the entire lack of
provisions, produced in the men the mental
and physical condition [ have mentioned =
And although, afterthe surrender, the men
and officers of the federal army We'd with ca Oh
other in their kindness, aud exhibited de-
sire to do everything in their power to relieve
the necessities Of their late foes, the destruc
ton of a portion oftheir supply train by Gems.
Rosser and Fitzhugh Lee, and the detention
Of the balance by the awful condition of the
roads, left themselves ia a critical condition
and incapable of afordlng Lees army the much
needed supplies. . SECS .-' 90 '5~' wa
:; Great efforts were made, and successfully, to
complete as saon as possible, the paroling OF
the men, III order that they might be dspers
ed from place where there was no susteuance
Of any description for man or beast Among
the first commands ready to leave were the
first and second Louisiana brigades, then COM
manded by Colonel VI -ggaman add with them
portions OF the Washington Artillery, Loulsi;
ana Guard Battery and Donaldsouville Artil-
lery, ali haihng from the same State, and natu
rally clustering together when about to return
once more to their dear Southern homes
The condition of these men was really deplo-
rable. Starved, worn out and many Of them
stricken with fever, they looked with dismay
on the dismal march through the mud to
Burkesviile Station, the nearest point at which
they could expect to find transportation. Col.
Waggaman and many of the officers did not
believe half OF them would be able to perform
the journey, aud. as "a dernier resort, .ad also
in some measure to inspire,the meu with no
pes, which he ,hiuselE believed, delusive, Col.
W. started the brigade eommissary ahead to
try and pick up something for man and beast
on the route they were travelling. The com
missary, with 70 more hope of success than his
commanding officer startedoH and alter trav-
elirg few nliies over a tract which gave no
promise Of supplies, being rather dubious
bout the road sAe brigade would travel, accost-
ed an old, gray headed, and very ragged ne
gro he found sitting at cross road, and ques-
toned him in regard to the route to Burkes
vile. The negro replied intelligently giving
him the necessary directions and the commIs
sary was about to ride on, when it occurred to
him that the darkey might possibly assist him
in his search for something eatablc He be-
gan by asking if he knew where he could get
feed for his horse After moments hest
tdIlou anu d lapio Hopoctlou VI Hie lucoOioH-
er, the darkey replied in the affirmative, and
Immediately led the way througha- gate to a
small clearingin the piney woods, Stopping
in the yard of asmall shanty, he went in and
got the key Of a, pretty good sized corn crib
which he opened, and displayed to the COM
missary's envious gaze forty Or fifty bushels
of the finest corn in the ear he had ever seen,
even in Virginia. He took out liberal feed
| for the horse and remarked that, ''The Yanks
had sparsd him that much" The commissa
rysaw in his minds eye his brigade once more
eating square meal, and assuming his most
| persuasive tone, commenced: .ei .it un- Gs
''Uncle, / have about six hundred men be-
hind here little ways, who have eaten moth
| ing to speak of for five or six days. They
have some thirty or forty miles to travel on
| foot, and they never will be able to make the
trip in their present condition. Could you
not let them have couple of ears Of corn a.
piece. and save their lives ?"
:Dwhey-"ls they Southern soldirs?'
| Conmtssary-s'Y ',1 "+1
Darkey-.W Well, reckon. young master
they's the last I'll ever see. You just tell them
to come along aud take what they want. =
And having said this, the poor old fellow sat
down oila stone and cried like child
! In an hour or so the troops came along, and
. were marched up in single file to the corn crib
and given two ears apiece. The old darkey
! in the meantime had Knocked in the head of
barrel Of sorghum naolasses: and nearly every
man got tin cupful. There werea few cases
Of colic that night among those who were not
| fortunate enough torne ct any sorghum but that
did not lessen the gratitude OF the men for
the last Confederate ration issued to the loul-
siana troops in Virginia.-N. 0. Crescent.
| HoRsEs~or NANrUg1r.-The horses of
Nantuck ct are not noted for their great speed
or beauty, but rather iar their durability
land long lives, the Landlord owning one that
/ Is ,,o1. 1.st twenty three and gives every pro-