Birmingham state herald., 1897-01-10
RRCoELECADNSA
An Old Confederate RefreEhes His Mem ory and Tells Some Interesting Ex-
 periences on the Battle Field.

pSTltDCeS Oil tlS DdlllS iCiu.
 " naa .77A 5n5 To The State Herald e .ses.a.
 Let me tell something about the second
 battle of Manassas and Gen. Lees move ment into Maryland, On the 9th of Au-
 gust 1862, the advance Of Gen. Popes army under Gen. Banks, was met by the
 thunder of Stonewa1l's guns at Cedar Mountain. .'Tis useless to- say that it was hot and that gentleman and his com
 pany thought 1t best to stop and take a
 rest, and drink water from Cedar run. On the 30th the two great armies met
 on the field at Manassas. In the mean time the oldfaded.cap,sHs usual, appeared suddenly, between. Gen Pope and Wash ington city, Jackson, went to Manassas Station, got all of the enemy's supplies over ,$1, 900 worth besides. Then he went on to Centerville, seven miles nearer Washington city, right, about faced, and
 met Pope at the same place that John ston and Beauregard had met Scott and Mcdowell Gen. Lee was hurrying through Fare Gap, of. the Bull Run | mountains, to overtake the comet. Late ] in the afternoon of the 29th as we ap- | preached the gap, we saw that it was full | of cannon and behind them, we could see the muskets. We didn't go through. That night McLaw's division to which Wilcoxs | brigade at that time belonged, crossed | over the mountain At daylight we found | the blue coats gore. Gen. Lee fired sig | nal guns to let his lieutenant know he | was coming. The armies met that morn | ing in deadly conflict again and when the | sun was lost to us behind the Blue Ridge
 mountains, the army of Northern Vir- ginia had achieved another victory-Pope was completely routed. tit It was here that I first saw Bob Toombs He brought up his brigade to
 relieve ours at twilight. We were still
 in line. Riding up and down, he said:
 Lie down, soldiers, lie down. Jeff Davis can make plenty such generals as am, but it takes God Almighty to make such soldiers as you are.'' eL
 There is something peculiar about these l two battles of Manassas. At the second battle the federals had our old position and we had their's.f They closed on the same spot of ground and Gems. Scott and | Mcdowell lost and so did the man with headquarters in the saddle.' The army crossed the Potomac at Lees burg Ca favorite place now with our Pres ident to go fishing), the 14th of Septem- Der. The next day we captured liar | per's Ferry, got 11,oo0 prisoners and all | they had. McClelan's division was on the Maryland heighths, Jackson on the Virginia side. I was on picket. The mountain was high and rough-had to pull up by trees and rocks. The Tanks on top were pouring hot lead into us, l got a tree-another picket tried to get it from me. We fought there like two Si- berian bloodhounds. I was walking along Twentieth street,.a few years ago and a man put his hand on my shoulder and said, Do you know mel" No"
 "Were you at Harper's Ferry?" Yes and this is Dobbins!' He is not on picket now, but moving houses.
 From Harper's Ferry we went to
 Sharpsburg. There Gen. Lee, on the 17th of September, met Gen. Mcclellan. That was one of the biggest and blood jest pitch battles during the four years war
 Little Mac said he won a victory there; we say it was a draw battle. Why? Be- cause we remained there in line of battle in full view of them all day. ready and waiting; they. didn't come and Gen. Lee, unmolested, returned to Virginia. All of the wounded thaat could be nov ed were sent across. the river to Shep- herdstown; the homes, churches and school houses were full. With others l was left at the house of Mrs. Bellinger, widow of our old minister to Denmark It was mile out from town She was northern lady but a better and more elegant woman I never knew. She had a delightful home in that beautiful rural retreat and the wounded there were ten- derly cared for Her acts or or Kindness XII to us can never be forgotten
 Young man, don't talk to me about war! You know nothing about the sacrifice Of human life with all it's indescriba ble mis- cries and sufferings. Reason together.
 
 us have peace" it came from his heart. Let us turn for moment to a train of more agreeable reflections. We were between the yanks and reps. They came to see us every day. Byieareful diver sion, knowing there were wounded in the house, no bullets came that way. one morning the infantry, in large force' came over Gen. Hancock was in com mand, and stopped i'm front ofi the house at big gate. I went down, ito exchange papers. The general was very courteous. He asked, Where is Lee ?!oe3Jut,,
 He's up about Winchester" And where is Jackson?"
 Don't know. Hes liable, to Tall rom the top of one these big, oaks" And Stuart?' .s17sF@., sf f.opes.. Just left" ss tfss aas He enjoyed the pleasantly and spoke kindly and in the highest terms of our people. While we were talking-bang! bang! bang!! I saw him from his line of battle It was cavalry skirmish. They all went back that evening. T can't think of Gen. Stuart without feeling sad ever with the sunshine upon his handsome face, receiving his mortal wounds at Yellow Tavern, in death, Let
 me turn over and make peace with my God" t,
 grand. and beautiful Rich in soil, great springs lovely rivers big mountains. fine houses and the home. of culture and beauty. Gentlemen, statesmen and warriors, wasn't it a sweet place to live in, and wasn't it strange that Gen Sheridan could find it in his heart to destroy such a Paradise? But he did it, and said, '"That a crow, flying over it would have to carry his rations in his nnouth!' The ground, the rivers, and the mount tains are still there, the blow is run ming again, and the mills have come, but will such people ever be there any more? 3.5 LAWLER DARBY. Birmingham. 'Si' ' - e-A 0'
 One of those talked of