National Republican., 1883-09-07
THE STARVATION PERIOD.
Straits to which the Confederate Soldiery were
Reduced Toward the Close Of the War.
The Last Winter Of the Army Of North
em Virginia.
Stirring Incidents Graphically Described of the Sever
Hardships in the Field.
Spoiled Christmas Boxes and Dreary
New Years Day.

Written for The Republican By Thomas j. Murray
tdk teutendh commanding Company Il, 1a Light
Battery Regulars, O. 5. a.
The true history of the army Of Northern
Virginia will perhaps never be written The
reports of commanding and subordinate gen.
erals tell of the direction of march, tho stra-
tegc objects, the numbers engaged, and the
number Of killed and wounded, but they do
not relate the longings and fears the camp
life, and the daily routine of the great mass
who make up an army, and who figure alone
after grand battle as killed wounded and
captured" Their is no special notice of these
IS deserving of reward and promotion, and
though every man has proved himself hero
in the stoutly contested fight, tho bulletin of
battles makes them but heroes in the mass,
without individual distinction. II but one SOL
dier in each regiment in our late grand
passage at arms had kept faithful diary of
what passed under his observation, and
these diaries should be submitted to COM
petent writer for digestion and revision, a
history of the late civil war would bo tho re-
suit such as never before was written. 1
propose here to give my recollections of the
winter of 1S64-5 in Lees army, especially
with a view to the hardships endured by the
rank and file. And surely there is nothing
in the suffering of Valley Forge that can sur
pass i'll intensity of interest, or reality of
privation, the plain, blunt facts l have to
tell.
In the winter of 1s64-5 Lees army, after
having valiantly sustained the crushing
blows dealt by the army of the Potomac at
the Wilderness Spotsylvania, and Cold Har-
Dor, lay sullenly watchful behind the fortif-
cations of Richmond and Petersburg
The beginning of the end had come, the
muscles of the strong giant were becoming
Hacid, the long continued strain upon this
brave army was beginning to tell upon its
strength, and all this was patent to not only
the commanding officers but to the privates
in the ranks. 1t is a matter of history with
what determined valor and desperate resolu-
tion the siege of Richmond and Petersburg
was sustained, yet it would be with difficulty
realized by on outsider how great was the
suffering and privation among the remnant of
Lees veterans from the beginning of the siege
to the final overthrow at AppomattoX. For
over year prior to the investment of Peters
burg the troops ghad been insufiiciently sup
piled both as to food and clothing, and the
only thing of which there was an abundance
was ammunition, and this last fact was the
key to the proongation of the hopeless con-
test. After Gen. Grant cut the Weldon road
near Petersburg, the only railroad lines that
could be depended on for obtaining
army supplies were tho Danville
and Southsde lines and the irons on these
so utterly dilapidated, that scarcely enough
could be brought of meal and meat from the
fertile fields of the Carolinas and of Georgia
to keep the army alive from day to day. In
deed If bridge broke down or q locomotive
was disabled on these roads officers and men
of the army were at once put upon short COM
mons and compelled to be satisfied with a
moager dole of cornmeal and sorghum for a
couple of days at time, for meat of no kind
was kept in store and even those who were
- -ll
abundance Of money were unable to procure
the food which nature craved.
The usual ration issued at this time to men
and officers consisted of one pound of corn
meal (cobs and corn ground up together), a
quarter of pound of bacon, or three-quarters
of pound of fresh boef. Occasionally Il
small quantity Of beans or rice was issued,
and when meat failed (Which happened very
often) pint of sorghum was substituted. l
might say here that the commissioned officers
had this advantage over the men in the
ranks, that they were permitted to buy
ration at cost to the government as we'll as
draw ration free of cost. But even then
the full amount of food drawn would not give
square meal to hearty man.
Large numbers of tho troops were withou
blankets overcoats, and shoes, and those do
ing duty in the trenches were compelled to
shift clothing about to keep from freezing
those going off duty lending their blankets to
the relief, while they in turn managed to
shiver the bleak nights away before the
bivouac fires Think of the condition of
these men, when, too, they were in hourly
expectation of assault and conflict. In fact
during that terrible winter, Lees army was
constantly freezing and hungry, and is it to
be wondered at, whom, in addition to bodily
discomfort of the most excrucating charac-
ter, news of continued reverses in other parts
of the confederacy depressed their. spirits, the
troops deserted in crowds? The army
of Northern Virginia was in the
main an intelligent body of men. They
could well weigh in the balance the chances
Of the success of the cause They were vet
Grams, and were by events neither unduly
elated nor depressed. They saw plainly in
that last winter that passed over them as an
organized army that there was not glimmer
even of hope for the success Of the cause for
which they had battled so oft and so bravely
and the only alternative seemed to be sur
render to the enemy or retreat to the
mountains, there to wage a desperate and
hopeless guerilla warfare. And yet, hoping
against hope, freezing, starving, and suffer-
ing, the majority of that gallant band clung
to the blue-spangled satire" with an undy-
ing devotion that is pathetic to recall even at
this day
What has been written above is necessary
to explain what follows
Some three weeks before New Years day
1865 the Richmond newspapers proposed that
every one in the coniederacy who was able to
do 80 should forward to Richmond clothing
or food to be distributed to the army in order
that u portion OF the men at least might once
feel warm and have good, square, comforta-
BILE meal Committees Were appointed to
take charge of the matter, and depots were
established for the reception of the vast
amount of supplies which would be necessary
to satisfy the ferocous appetites of 40, 900
starving soldiers. Alas these depots and
committees were but of little avail The
people would no doubt have sent all that they
could spare from home necessities, but lack
OF transportation was the difficulty. Tons
upon tons of the good things of life
packed up upon the platforms of rail
way depots in the extreme southern
states rotted and spoiled because there was no
transportation for them to the men who were
holding at bay in Virginia the legions Of the
north. If there had not been grave under
current-a tragic element in the matter-it
would have been absolutely ludicrous to wit
ness the glow of satisfaction which pervaded
the army when the intelligence that feast
was in store for them arrived, and that prep
arations therefor were actively in progress.
Nothing else was talked of, and it was fer
Vently prayed that Gen. Grant would keep
his men quiet, at least, until tho banquet to
be spread was disposed Of
Two or three days after Christmas huge
boxes, labeled New Years giit' began To
arriVa at patarghurp nn he trains and