Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1878-08-29

themselves most creditably against the great
ly superior numbers of first-class division of
the Northern army, on the eventful field of
Drainesville, thereby rejecting eminent dis
tinction not only upon themselves for their
own native merit, but also upon the colonel
for the order and snbordination displayed in
this their maiden engagement The highly
revered Winder's connection, so happily form
ed, was, however, soon to be severed. Hav-
ing received an appointment, he was assigned
to duty with the famous Stonewall Brigade.
On taking leave of his favorite for this more
extended sphere of his usefulness, his parting
address was characterized by expressions of
the highest regard and most devoted attach
ment.
Ny comrades, have been thus minute in
detailing the events connected with this Reg
iment, which transpired under the commands
successfully of Colonels RiOn and Winder, be-
cause, no doubt, through their influence, skill
and military prowess, it received the impress
of their genius, which shone forth most bril-
liantly on every battlefield from the heights
of Sharpsburg to the battlements of Knoxville.
At the reorganization of the army in 1852,
several companies and detachments from Dar
lington, Kershaw, Lancaster, York, Claren-
don, Sumter, Williamsburg, Edgetield, Barn.
well and Lexington joined the ranks of this
corps, all of which, under the successive lea
dershp of the cool, determined and gallant
Colonel afterwards GeneraD Bratton, and the
unObtfusive but heroic Colonel Steadman,
who, by their courageous example and other
essential qualities of head and heart, main
tanned the high standard which it had already
acquired under their illustrious predecessors,
shared the arduous duties incident to army
life, and partook of the honor and renOwn
won on the ensanguined field of Williams
burg, where the entire command, as a portion
Of and in connection with General Johnston's
rear guard, on the celebrated retreat from
Yorktown, for twelve long hours confront
ed, and successfully cOntended against, the
thronging legions of Mcclellan, disputing ev~
cry inch of ground, and holding, at the close,
the same position selected by our troops in the
beginning of the action. The design of the
enemy was frustrated-our object accomplish
ed. Also the Seven Pines, where the gallant
Sixth were second to none in making the most
furious onset upon Casey's entrenched camp,
capturing it-driving his division upwards Of
cSwO miles, slaughtering and being slaughter
ed, when night checked their victorious ad
vance, and with her sable mantle enveloped
the scene, as if to conceal from view the ghast-
ly horror of the field of carnage. In this bat
tie alone, it has been truly said, the Sixth Reg
iment achieved imperishable fame Then, at
Gaines Mill they participated in vigorously
and, after stupendous exertion, in
carrying, triple line Of entrenched works,
erected with such cOnsummate dexterity and
Judgment and fortified so powerfully by ma
ture, as to render the prospect of it's access
and occupancy simply absurd, except by South
ern patriots driven to desperation by Northern
and Northern tyranny Again, at
Frazer's Farm, the severe ordeal was repeat
ed, when victory, though at an enormous ex-
pendituTe of human life perched upon our
tattered and bood-stained banner. No less
did they obtain triumphant success on the
CORY field of the second Manassas, where with
great precision and GOODNESS in executing, in
conjunction with their brigade, one of the
most brilliant manGuvres ever performed un-
der such CALLING fire, their courage and he
roism were most conspicuous in the violent
attack which defeated and finally routed the
Federal infantry massed upon all eminence,
to making the last desperate ef-
fort to retrieve the fortunes of the day. At
forwards, at Sharpsburg and Fredericksburg,
and wherever and whenever opportunity Of
fered, there was no duty, however difficult or
dangerous that these battle-scarred veterans
ever hesitated to perform. They preserved
the same spirit in the laboriOus service at the
investment of Suffolk, in which their patience,
hardihood and answering loyalty added fresh
lustre to their already fadeless laurels and en-
viable reputation. Then, tOO in the midnight
conflict at Lookout Greek, their gallantry was
at Campbell's Station remarkable;
and at the siege of Knoxville their constancy
was unfagging The entire campaign of East
Tennessee was one Of hardship, which put to
the test the power Of endurance of the South
ern soldier, illustrating a grand triumph OF
patriotism over physical suffering. In the
following year, at the Wilderness, at SpOttsyl-
vania Court House, and on a number OF other
hoty contested fields, new evidences were
given of that allegiance, for which the SOL
diers of the Sixth would rather have died than
to betray it, Then came the long series of
engagements on the lines in front of Rich
mOnd and Petersburg, in which noble exam
pies of heroism were many and frequent, and
the most disastrous conflict among them, in
which this Regiment took part, and in which
it seemed that annihilatiOn would inevitably
result, was Fort Harrison, where, through a
and most terrific fire OF musket-
ry and artillery, the remnant rushed on to
death, not seeking the bubble reputation in
the cannons mouth" but actuated by high
er and more noble incentive-duty to them
selves, duty to their country. And even in
the last few but comparatively insignificant
although our capital had been
abandoned, our resources for ammunition
exhausted, our commissarlat and
other supply departments entirely depleted,
yet this handful of veterans, in this their bit
ter experience, had not forgotten the days OF
their grandest achievements, when their for
mer patriot comrades sacrificed their lives in
defence of cause which we, from the bottom
Of our hearts, thank God they never knew
was lost. For their beloved State, and their
own sunny South, they periled all, and would
rather have fallen, as fall they did, adorned
with the badge Of freemen, than to have sur
vived, garbed in the livery of slaves. And III
the solemn catastrophe at Appomattox, on
that gloomy April morn-gloomy, as if heav-
en itself seemed in sympathy with the sad, ex-
pring wall Of the Army of Northern Vir-
ginia, when the Sixth frlrled forever that en-
sign which bore upon it's folds the pledge of
fidelity, sealed with the sacred blood of it's
faithful followers, the sublimity of their de-
feat was not exceeded by the grandeur of their
greatest victory; for, overpowered though not
they, together with their other sur
viving comrades in arms, yielded to the mag
unanimous sentiment of their great Southern
that she had consented to the re-
suit from no diStrust of them but feeling that
valor and devotion could accomplish nothing,
that could compensate for the loss that would
have attended the continuation of the con-
test, he had determined to avoid the useless
sacrifice of those whose past services had ell
leared them to their countrymen." And, my
comrades, in Yielding fallen greatness wrung
A reluctant acknowledgment even from super
ciliOus arrogance and overwhelming numbers.
On every field, from the Antietam to the
IIOlstOn-
sour perishng ranks were strewed i'll their gore,
Like ocean weeds heaped on the surf-beaten shore,
Dreaming of victory, in death were laid low,
Their backs to the field and their feet to the foe,