The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-08-26
YOUNG AND OLD,
IN CONTEST FOR CROSSES

Old nd \! Il /: " Y &
I !! i. Person 81
Editor 81 iIhe times bis atcf, u . .
N. slr,.-11i your iss,e Of VI Sunday JUL
10TH you ask fors the name Of tho oldest
ana youngestS Confederate soldier. now
living In 4 Virginia, In presenting ny my
name as one among st tho numb er5 oI8$
younger Confed erate ltliers, ehall pc
EiniIby saying that II was 4 born August
s, 1850 and shalt follow vi tn y brief ace
count OF my sorry Ices. S s
When. General Grant made his first bfor--t}
ward movement toward Investing r. ters-
burg, Ms liz we'll Known there ere very
few regular Confederate soldiers III thata
Vicinity Ito meet it--in fact almost MOI
except -N'iHe's Brigade consequ entity the
reserves, composed OF the older men and
5young boys of the town. were call Cd to
assist In tho defense OF the city. VITA !!
this little band Of reserves i won't TO tho
trenches al Wiloox's Farm where Ar--sS
.cher's Battalion 81 Petersburg Reserves
were stationed and asked for q nus !Ist't
and accoutreinonts, which Ewerc given
me. The following morning, June l6.T
1864, the reserve battalion was irarchl .t
to tho left to Avery farm, on the 9Bax--&8
ter Road. where the enotny were Mt
tacking in force. and stayed there. tir der
heavy fireiSuntil2 General Lee sent rein
.forcen1entsto the wor ks we were occupy
Ing, when tho reserves were wlthdra
$88 on Il pril 2 and s. 1865, ! was at Bur
gesss Mill, about seven miles sou Invest
Of Petersburg, having been8cut OF from
my home I near Dtnwiddlc8 Courthouse, BY
the enemy & In t'er flank movement
which led to the evacuation OF both
NRichmon and Petersburg and this gave
me an opportunity to Join the retreatinng
Confederate Army, OF, which if l avail led
myself. When General Lee began Ills
retreat to Appomattox, 7 mounted my
horse and went with his army, with q
view of Offering my services and to enlist
In the army. n AT Amelia Cour tholises5I
offered my services to- Car plain Az C.$ I1.ft
Tenile, 5commissary. n And ersol 81 Brl gade,
Fields's Division, and was sput In CHI Ergo
OF two or three {wag ons Eof Il the wa gon-
train that were being driven by negro
drivers. stood all of the / hardships Of
the terrible march to- Appomattox.
.$15 Was at Sailors Greek. .ss
III some 81 lie string events that came
under my direct observation will re-
count. At the battle OF 4 Sailors Creeks
April 8, 1866 a fter the enemy had broken
our lines, they attacked our wagon train,
which they captured and burned. Those
Of the train were able to offer
little resistance e, and were forced to beat
q iasty retreat to 4 "a neighboringI wood
after reaching this wood turned to- look
back and saw our trains being set on
fire. T. had left a pair of saddle bags
81, one OF the wa CONS, which, In my re-.
treat, 81 was unable to take with me.
These saddle bags were AIKEN "a out Of
the wagon by Captain Charles r. Bowers.
one Of the attacking Federals. BY Fl rea-
son OF my m others name being on5sthe
saddle bags in writing CAPTAIN Bowers
to me this trophy on the occasion Of the,
visit OF Lincoln Post, Eo.i113 G. "A. 4 RI
OF N ewnrk, N. IT, October 49, 1sss, At
Sanger Hall Il, Richmond 81 Va M whore r. !
ID Lee Camp, No. VA onfederate Vet
Grams, were then entertaining the visiting
post. IN lg3 s$74 S5. &ei}s
After the capture OF the wagons, 7 pro-
,ceeded to 3Tarrnville with Captain Ten
.nille whore I'VE hoped to get other
wagons reaching Farmvlle on the morn
.ng$ Of April I'll hive found some provisions
Iii the railroad depot there. but as we
were unable q to i procure a wa on,YYt Ca1o-
tain Tennille ordered me to rerlain at
.Farmville until he could ride forward
and IIVG9a fWilb SGuI =
VILE to be loaded with tleS provisions we
had found. waited for several hours,
and until the enemy had entered the
town, when 7 had to make q rush for
tile bridge over the Apo t11attox along
with a few other Confederates,sstoss save
ourselves from capture. The enemy
chased lis out @of Farmvi1le, not more
than one hundred yards behind US under q
hot fire, and when we crossed = ne bridge
over tho Appomattox, : It had been set on
fire by the Confederates but & 50 close
were tho Federals behind JUS that they
reached this bridge-so / have been told
In time to extlnguish the fire.
Nearly Captured.
/; i overlook Captain Tennlle upon the
crest OF the hin beyond Farnylile. whorc e
i found the brigade drawn up In line OF II
battle was ordered forward Z TO- take
charge OF two wagons, which hid been
procured, together with some proyls Ions,
It was the evening Of this same day, or
the next Il have forgotten which, III Z
part of tho wagon train TINT Twas With |
was attacked by General Gregg's Fed
eral cavalry with q brisk fire, and IT
looked for n few moments nj 5f he were
going to capture us, but Confed crate cayT
airy and Infantry near by who were
hurried forward 10 meet this attack.
prevented It by routing the enemy and
capturing their3commanding officer, Gem 4
eral Gregg. When our troops made this
count er-nttack so CALAMITY. rode for-iy
ward WITH them, following the retreat
ing enemy until i met two Confederate
soldiers bringing General Gregg, n prls-.55
oner, Off OF the field, The Confederatea
wanted my horse for General Gregg to-
ride. I refused to DO dismounte ed, and
hastily rode baolt to my place. Fl
56At Appropriations / was stationod near
General Lees headquarters. " and, after
the surrender. saw General Iae when
ho returned from tho meeting With Cen
eral Grant, determined. II possible, to
leave sAppomattox without parole,
which succeeded in doing lowing to
my extreme youth and small size), as
r did not want to he bound by tho
terms of-ts,e parole However, Captain
Tcnnlle had kindly offered to put my