The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1883-02-22

Legion" p'ol
hlchmond reached, We camped in the
suburbs until The arrival of the horses
anu ihen began life as cavalrymen. or as
.he comrades of jenkins" brigade said of
us, having served with honor as .web.
leel we were about to disgrace a splendid
BCfTERMILK RANGERS.
lhcse names were applied during the
war respectively to the infantry and cav.
AIRY, on account Of the facility of the
former for making forced marches in wet
and stormy weather, and of the foraeinc
propenslties of the latter for everything
edi0le in general, but buttcrmilk in par.
ticuIar.. The parallel movements Of
Lee and Grant after the battle of the
| wilderness towards the James River, soon
brought the Legion in proximity to the
enemy, and at Riddles Shop it stubborn.
~ fought Grant in one of his dashes to.
wards Richmond, until reinforced and
relieved by Lees infantry, who drove
the enemy back, Furnishing him severely,
Alter this endeavor to break through the
Confederate lines upon the devoted CITY
1rant settled his swarms of blue coated
soldiers around it in semi circle of forty
miles, reaching from the neighborhood
OF Malvern Hill on the north to Peters.
burg on the south, and began the ul,i.
mately successful starving and wearing
out process oe his siege.
PICKET DUTY ON THE JAMES.
The Legion meanwhile had been order.
ed to DO picket duty near the James
Kiver, some fifteen or twenty miles below
Richmond, at localities known as deem
lotion, Drill Shop and Double Gates
here the time was spent idly and without
excitement, except now and then re.
ceivlng good shelling from the enemy's
gunboats when we ventured too near the
river i'll reaping the graiu from the rich
bottoms which the farmers had been
compelled to abandon on the approach of
Hrant. Both cavalry and infantry would
reap at night and carry the grain awav
10 some mill and provide themselves
with extra rations Of -four. A venture.
some ranger during the day would inyari-
Ole provoke bOmbardment A daring
cava'ryman. angered at his being driven
from the fields, secreted himself near The
edge OF the river at daylight and with his
carblne "bushwacked" Uncle Sans look
out from the topmast of the gunboat.
thereupon the whole country around was
complimented with q bomba-dment.
which did little damage beyond intimi
dating raw recruits.
For month or two this picket dutv
on the James was kent up, when the
| regiment was stirred into activity by nm
attack in force from the enemy The
cavalry held them in check until the
arrival of the infantry from the RIGHT
moving parallel from the south side with
the advancing Federals. On this occa
sion, being relieved by McGowan's Bri-
gade, ragged rebel wanted to know what
regiment lay in front of them. When
informed, he said:
boys, they" (the Hampton Lcgion)
will stick. thought it was some Gus.
scd cavalry"
| During this advance Federal cavalry
officer, while accommodating, rode up TO
the post of John Lyons, of Company B.
Hiding behind tree, Johnnie waited
until the officer approached near enough,
when, rushing upon him at charge
bayonet," ordered his surrender in classi.
cal brogue. The capture was made and
Lyons became the possessor of the
officers splendid charger. This event
seemed to make brave soldier of
Johnnie, who was not previously noted for
his iondness for fighting. Astride of
his glossy steed he was afterwards always
ready for duty, and delighted when made
courier. During a severe skirmish he
was sent on dangerous errand. His
horse returned with an empty saddle and
shoulders
BESPATTRRED WITH BLOOD,
but Johnnie Lyons was never more heard
of.
In this Deep Bottom fight the Legio
sustained few casualties. The enemy
retired and we camped on New Market
Heights. Here for q while we had light
duty and perfect peace ,n be abruptly
broken on splendid morning by Grants
throwin,, large attacking force suddenly
en- the north of the river. The whole
line fought bravely against vast odds, but
the overwhelming number of tho enemy
outfanked and drove us back towards
Richmond in retreat of ten miles. In
this engagement the Legion was under
the hottest fire since the East Tennessee
campaign, but being behind earthworks
the loss was light. a rally was made as
we neared the outer lines of earthworks
and batteries of Richmond, with morass
of bog and felled trees between US and
the works. AT bay we turned upon our
advancing victors and with desperate
fighting broke their line and checked
them. Amidst their confusion safe
| passage and retreat across this Slough Of
despond" to the works was effected. The
Yankees did not advance further, no
doubt believing we we're but an outer line
well supported. But for this
LAST STAND OF GARy's BRIGADE
Richmond would have been easily
entered. Many soldiers Of the Legion
will remember the splendid practice that
day of battery Of artillery on our righ
as it played upon the advancing line OF
blue, sending its shells with deadly effect
into the column at the discharge Of every
gun. The anaconda. like line Of the
enemy was thus drawn closer around the
doomed city. Sharpshooting between the
infantry outpost on the right for several
days kept us on the alert as we did
heavy picket duty to the left OF the
highways leading into the city.
Determining to recover lost ground
orders were received from Lee to attack
and turn the enemy's flank. Before day
we were On the move and by country
roads got into position at right angles to
Andcrson's (Georgia) brigade and to the
infantry line. We waited until the in
fantry opened fire and then advanced.
A battery ofartillery fred three shells at US
and limbered up in retreat, Two OF
these missiles burst over US and seve:e!S
wounded two men-the third cut pine
top which fell on the writer and several