The Tupelo journal. (Tupelo, Miss.) 1876-1924, 1907-05-03
More History of the Town Creek
Rifles.
(This article should have come in ahead
of the one published last week. -Ed.)

were under IL or over AZ years
of age were discharged, among
whom was my brother, Dallas
Stovall, who did not want to go
off and leave me; but | told him
to go and join a lighter arm of
the service, that we could not do
our duty as soldiers and be Of
benefit to each other in time of
battle; that if either of us were
shot down the other could not
stop to administer to his wants,
and / afterwards found that |
was right, of which | will tell
you at another time,
We were held at this camp as
a reserve and had a great amount
of work to do in the day and
marching to do OF night in order
to strengthen the weaker points,
and at last when Mcclellan eros
sed over the Chickahominy one
morning with a portion of his
army, one of the heaviest down.
pour of rainfall that | had ever
seen and flooded the Chickahom
my valley so as to stop him;
johnson took advantage of the
situation and threw his forces
upon him late in the evening and
fought the Seven Pines battle,
which lasted far into the night;
and the battle field being in a
low. marshy plain of hogwallow
land where a great deal of water
had collected and every man was
required to occupy and hold his
position in line of battle all night.
Lieut.. Story was sent with 80
men on the vidette about 100
yards to the front where we sta
toned 3 men together about 80
steps apart, and we stood in wa
ter knee deep all night and the
night was cold spring weather
and the boys all afraid to sleep
for fear of the enemy in front
and our own men in the rear. |
will say tnat that was the long
est night from 10 o'clock until
daylight that / ever saw except
the night after the battle of
Sharpsburg.
| Well, Gen. johnson was woun-
ded and Gen. Mcclellan with
drew and recrossed the riverand
| r. E. Lee took command and re-
cruited and built defenses around
Richmond until summer opened
up. More Oft C. RS. got sick,
some were discharged, some
furloughed and some stayed in
hospitals and a few stayed in
camp until about the middle of
June when we cooked 3 days
rations and started for the Shen-
audoah valley. The boys were
all glad to ride On flats or in box
and stock cars any way rather
than march, and then we thought
we were going to a land of plen-
ty and if the government didn't
give it to us, we could forage it,
but alas! when we got to Staun-
| ton we found that we were to be
in Stonewall Jackson's foot cav
airy and that we had no time for
foraging, because we had 3 days
of hardtack and salt meat and
march about $50 miles back to
Richmond and were told that we
must make the 3 days rations
last for 5 days and there must
not be any stragling or foraging.
That was a hard, hot and dry
tramp, the most of it oyer a
dusty road, water scarce and ra-
tions scarcer, and strength al
most exhausted and sleep and
/ rest unknown to us. Many times
after camping late at night. the
orderly sargeant would call the
detail for picket duty to go a mile
or two further in some direction
to do guard duty for the safety
of the army while it slept; you
must pace regularly or stand
and watch steadily for 2 hours
on 4 off, through the night, not
knowing when a crouching foe
would send a missile of death
through your body.
But the five days have ended;
footsore, hungry, sleep tired and
the rations have also ended way
back day before yesterday with
many of us, and some of us had
learned not to be so free to di-
vide scarce things. So we nat
urally expected some rations to
be issued that night, but instead
of rations, old StoneWall told us
that we were nearer rations in
the front than in the rear and
the yanks. were between us and
rations and we would have TO
drive them out before we got
any. So, according to orders, on
June 10Th we droye them out of
the stronghold Of Gaines Farm;
there we charged through abatis,
over Chimauxdefries across the
deep ravine with almost perpen-
dicular banks up a steep. rocky
cliff into the log breaStWorks.