The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-09-16
HISTORY OF THE
EIGHTH ALABAMA

was given. ana the regiment fuoVtu
rapidly toward Amelia, C. H.--arrived
about a. m. Passed Gordons corps
! in camp near the town. Halted in the
| street of c. House for some time. The
| entire army appears to be concentrated
| here, moving gently toward Farmyille.
sat on the curb of the sidewalk
to rest. General Lee is near me in
his carriage, which is filled with bag
gage. Gordon Is in earnest CONVERSE
ton with him, which continues nearly
an hour. %General Longstreet is near
by. Seated on his horse. he has a
! tired look. He strokes his arm with
his hand, the other resting on the
pommel of his saddle. His horse with
his nose nearly to the ground is asleep.
He is greatly changed since 1862, when
Major Fairfax by his orders at Gaines
Mill, sent me after the Pennsylvania
Buck Tails. General Malone has a
quiet, subdued look. have not heard
him yell at anybody since we start
ed. There are no commissary trains
here, only artillery and ordnance wag-
ons. No rations issued. ii
Sveral days before General
Lee had despatched most ur-
gent orderss that commissary
stores be sent from Danville to Anne
liza. c. H. The authorities in Richmond
bungled the command. General Lee
found there not a single ration, for his
army. 1t was a terrible revelation
PPollard's Lost Cause"
Fields, Mahone's and Pickett's divi-
sion, at IL m. moved down the rail-
road toward Farmville. When several
miles from the town the Yankee Cav
airy attacked Wilcox Brigade but were
| repulsed. Marched all the evening and
at dark we are still moving.
April 6, thursday. On the march.
Having marched all night, this morn
ing at a. m. we are at point sew
enteen miles from Burkeville, and
eighteen miles from Farmville. Cen
eral Lee passed to the front followed
'er very warm, no rest--the halts are
only for moment for the artillery to
pull the hills.
I suffered this morning, with intense
nausea, followed by giddiness and
ringing in my ears. The sensations
are peculiar and distressing. 1 walk
along supported by one of my COM
rades, without any apparent volition.
My men drag themselves along the
road, making no complaints-they do
not straggle. The country is appar-
emily poor and thinly settled and
there is nothing to be gained by for
aging. After marching nearly seven
teen miles today. at 4 p. m, two and
one half miles from High Bridge, we
burg Railroad. Before we could per-
feet our line, we were hurried towards
Sarlow Creek. Gordon's corps had
been routed and Sheridan had captured
about 400 wagons of our army, which
were parked waiting to cross the
bridge. General Mahones baggage
was captured. l am told he had a
large sum of Confederate money, also
money in several Richmond banks.
The Federal signal lights are seen in 4
front and over each flank. They are
powerful lights of different colors, as
reflected on the sky. We lay in line
of battle until a. m.
We found a hogshead of tobacco,
and we would smoke. although we had
nothing to eat. The night was intense
ly dark, with the wind blowing a stiff
breeze. About four in the morning
crossed High Bridge. This bridge is
over 100 feet high and one-half mile
long, and 1 felt uneasy cropping my
way along its Uncovered floor in the
darkness. We rested near the bridge
two companies of eth Alabama regi-
ment were posted on 1t with orders to
burn it at day light.
April 7th, Farmville, Va. =. We
secured a short rest, but no sleep. Be
fore sun rise the Yankees were NOV
ing and crowding along the burning
bridge as the 9th Alabama had fired
two spans. Along the crest of the
hills, and country roads thousands of
soldiers in blue were moving forward.
The 9Th Alabama was now the rear of
the Army, moving backwards towards
the Heights of Farmville. Our Skin
miSh line was captured to a man, with
in a few hundred yards of our retreat
ing column. We halted, near Cumber
land Church, and threw forward anoth-
err line of skirmishers, commanded by
kAt, oh ~
my changed their line of pursuit, and
moved towards our right wing. We
built a breastwork of fence rails, US
ing tin plates and bayonets to remove
the dirt A continued fire was ex-
changed on the picket line, and E. w.
Mcdaniel of my company was killed,
and James Cakes wounded. About 2
p. m. the enemy made vigorous assault
to our right. From my position l
could see General Malone. in the hot
test of the fight leading his men for
ward. The enemy was driven back,
and the balance of day was quiet.
He. HUMPHREYS, was up with the
light of day, April and 1t was the com
bined two three corps that saved High
Bridge, and continued to fight and
drive Lee all day long. =" At Cum
berland Church on the afternoon of the
7th, occurred the last stand up fight
and pitched battle between the army
of Northern Virginia, under Lee, and
the army of the Potomac. Humphreys
struck Lee at 1880 p. M, and asked for
reinforcements." Magazine of Amer
lean History, October, 1886.
We held our position until midnight.
Details were Sent after rations. The
tired exhausted men returned at mid
night and reported they had been de-
stroying wagon trains and cutting the
spokes from the wheels of trains of
artillery. They did not find a crust
of bread. or a grain of corn. I am
told the army Is demoralized deserving
and struggling. I suffer from giddi-
ness, and wednesday, men lay about
in stupor-they do not complain,
they obey orders, as If asleep. 1t is
96 hours since l have had food or
sleep. soldier tells me that
he saw a captain of artillery spike
his guns, and disband his company,
telling them to take the battery hors-
es and go home
April s. Saturday. ! Made a
long march of twenty miles,
passing through New store, and camp
ed at dark. The famished, tired men
lay down In the woods in silence. Not
a word Is spoken and the men are
soon asleep. Major Enrich, Captain
Mordecli. Adjutant Cleveland and my
self gathered around a little fire and
smoked our pipes. Captain Spencer |
of Longstreet's STAFF, joins our group, |
and tells us that the enemy are across |
our front and that Gordon will at |
tack at daylight, and that we will as
sist Gordon. About a bushel of ra-
tions were given the regiment during |
the night. This morning at daylight
a cavalryman walked me. was across