The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1895-07-02

cnned, and upon my request dis
: charge was made ont on Sunday morn
J ing, June 10Th, i'm time for me 10 reac
|. the Washington Street Methods
Church, and find seat in the CALLER
to hear the commencement sermon q
the Columbia Female College frOr
, that prince of orators, Bishop Georg
+. Pierce, whom had met the yea
before at Greensboro, Ga. 1t was
gian'l effort, and the thought upper
most in my mind, with that discharg
in my pocket, was whether L woult
ever enjoy such privilege again, fo
every hour the air grow heavier Will
the reports of impending battles il
Virginia.
went via Kingville to Wilmington, N
g., as The most direct route to Peters
burg. My recollection il that The
journey TO Wilmington was not com.
pleted until Tuesday morning, owing Ia
delays at Kingville and Florence. But
thcre was even greater delay al
Wilmington, for the railroad between
there and Weldon was being threaten
ed with the Federal cavalry, AMI so we
waited for trains to he sent out. had
an interview with Gen. Martin, who
was commanding the post, and he
gave me permit to GO on the fist
train, with the understanding that
| would take command of furloughed
and cOnvalscent soldiers who might be
| on the train, in case the enemy was TO
| attack the train. The engineer and
| conductor felt sure that we would
tt a 10 EnIn ly 4 tl,o
once during the slow and cautious
ride we disembarked at their instance,
when | would place the men on the
opposite side of the railroad track,
with the cars as sort of breastwork,
and await The coming of the raiders,
who did not appear during the day.
When we reached Colds boro IN the
afternoon the news was received that
the Fcderals had severed all COMMUNE
cation with Weldor, and that VIC must
take train for Greensboro and Dan
vile. The party was being augmented
all the time, and when we reached
Danville on Thursday night there
were forty Or fifty officers and men
who felt themselves in some way under
orders to follow my lead. at Dan
vile the news was even mere exciting,
as rumors were flying thick and fast
That the Federals were destroying the
ralllOad beyond Burkesville, which
would further delay our progl ess.
There was an old hotel used as a Way
side Hospital not far from the depot,
and thither went q tired and hungry
set of soldiers, WHO were thankful to
get shelter for the balance of the night.
Enily in the morning we were sum.
moned to breakfast, and the noble
women of Danville were on hand TO
aid III feeding the men who were, un-
consciously To themselves, expected
TO defend the place against disaster.
The building had velanda the entire
length for two stories, and after
breakfast l was OH the upper gallery,
with Il portfolio which now lies before
mo AID was soon engaged in writing
letters. One was already finished to
my mother, telling of the mishaps
since we parted, and | was writing
another to young lady in South
Carolina, Indulging in hopes for tho
future, when several soldiers came to
Interrupt me.
The cause of this interruption was
soon explained, which was simply that
an officer had been sent by tile com
mandment of the post, Col. r.. f.
Withers, to enrol all the enlisted men
for the purpose of taking them To some
point OH the railroad IN the direction
of Richmond, where it was expected
to meet the enemy. Nearly all these
men had been in tine army from tne
start, and it did not take them long
TO find out that the officer dosigna; ed
was totally inexperienced, which caus-
ed them to inquire whether he had
been mt the front. His answer
revealed The fact that he had never
smelt powder on the battlefield, and
the object of comm, to Inc was TO
obtain an intercession with the Com
mandant on their behalf. ] will not
enter into the particulars but will only
say that severai hours were lost in con.
vi,cing Col. Withers that these mon
were entitled to better consideration on
account of past services, and that il
was IN injustice fOl him to place them
under command of one who was Ell
,lcntly unfit for the position. Finally,
1t was decided upon my suggestion that
an officer from another State should
be put in charge, and that the rcst of
us should go along. This arrangement
was not carried out, however, as tins
officer relinquished the command and
insisted upon my taking charge.
Every train brought additions to
the force while we were waiting, in
Danville, and an eutire company of
detailed men from Richmond, under
command of Capt. Riddick arrived II
| short time before we left. ley had
been down to Andersonvlle With a
lot of prisoners and were anxious to
reach Richmond. Capt. Riddles re-
questcd that his company be joined to
ouls, and this was agreed to. The
two companies numbered not over a
hundred and fifty men, and at 4 O'Clock
OH Friday afternoon, Iune oath, we
left Danville in box cars with arms,
ammunition and ratlons furnished by
Col. Withers, who had become re-
concileL ." the situation. We were
directed to report to Capt. Farm
holt, and he was advised of our
coming. Between eight and nine
o'clock the train halted near the bridge
over Staunton River, forty-cight miles
from Danvil.e. The men were marched
, at once to place for bivouac, ant