Year: 1879

mond the next day. As I said before, he had
doubtless decided upon that already, and
only feigned difference Of opinion or hesita


ton in order to see with what pertinacity


held my own. He did 60 to Richmond, and
on his return sent for me again, and in reply
to my question as to what had occurred, he
replied:


"'Sir, it is enough to turn mans hail
gray to spend one day in that Congress. The


members are patriotic and earnest, but they
will neither take the responsibility of acting
nor will they clothe me with authority to act
AS for Mr.. Davis, he is unwilling to do any
thing short of independence, and feels that il
is useless to try to treat on that basis. In
deed, he says that, having failed in one over
ture at Hampton Roads, he is not disposed te
try another


"'Then, said I, there is nothing left us but
to fight, and the sooner we fight the better
for every day weakens us and strengthens oul
opponents ;.


"It was these two conferences that led to
the desperate and almost hopeless attack
made on the 25th of March on Grants line al
Fort Steadman and Hare's. Hill, in front ot
Petersburg.


After giving the details of the late desper:
ate and partially successful assault on Grants
lines, which ended in the withdrawal of the
half starved victors from the captured works
Gen. Gordon continues:


"And then the death-struggle began. Grant
hurled his masses upon our starved and
broken-down veterans. His main attack was
made upon our left, A. P. Hills corps
Grants object was to turn our fanks, and get
between US and North Carolina. The fight.
ing was fearful and continuous. It was q
miracle that we held our lines for single
day. With barely 5000 men I was holding
six miles of line. I had just 1000 men to
the mile, or about one to every two yards.
Hill and Longstreet were in not much better
trim, and some part of this thin line was be-
ing forced continually. The main fight was
on my line and Hills, as Gen. Longstreet was
nearer Richmond. Heavy masses Of troops
were hurled upon our line and we would have
to rally our forces at q certain point to meet
the attack. By the time we would repel it
we would find another point attacked and
would hurry to defend that. Of course, with
drawing men from one part Of the line would
leave it exposed and the enemy would rush
in. Then we would have to drive them out
and re.establish our line. Thus the battle
ragged day after day. One line would bend
and twist and swell and break and close again,
only to be battered against once more. Our
people performed prodigies of valor. How
they endured through those terrible, hopeless,
bloody days, I do not know. They fought
desperately and heroically, although they
were so weakened through hunger and work
that they could scarcely stand upon their feet
and totter from one point of assault to anoth-
er. But they never complained. They
fought sternly, grimly-as men who had made
up their minds to die And we held our
lines. Somehow or other-God only knows
how-we managed day by day to wrest from
the Federals the last inch of our lines. Then
the men, dropping in the trenches, would eat
their scanty ratioDs, try to forget their hun
ger and snatch an hour or two of sleep.


"Our picket lines were attacked somewhere
every night. This thing went on till the
morning of the I'd of April. Early that day
it became evid ent that the supreme moment
had come. The enemy attacked in unusual.
ly heavy force, all along the line Of mine and
Hills corps. 1t became absolutely neces.
sary to concentrate men at few points along
my line, in order to make a determined re.
sistance This left great gaps in my line of
breastworks unprotected by anything save a
vidette or two. Of course, the Federals broke
through these undefended passes, and estab-
lished themselves in my breastworks. At
length, having repulsed the forces attacking
the points defended, began re-establishing
my line My men fought with valor and a
desperate courage that has been rarely equal.
led, in my opinion, in military annals. We
recaptured position after position, and by 4
o'clock in the afternoon had re-established
my whole line except at one point. This was
very strongly defended but preferred to as
sault it. / notified Gen. Lee Of my purpose
and of the situation, when he sent mes
sage, telling me that Hills line had been
broken and that Gen. Hill himself had been
killed. He ordered, therefore, that / should
make no further fight, but prepare for the
evacuation, which he had determined to make
that night. That night we left Petersburg.
Hills Corps, terribly shattered and without
its commander, crossed the river first, and l
followed, having orders from Gen. Lee to
cover the retreat. We spent the night in
marching, and early the next morning the
enemy rushed upon US. We had to turn and
beat them back. Then began the most heroic
and desperate struggle ever sustained by
troops-a worn and exhausted force of hardly
1000 men, with vast and victorious army,
fresh and strong, pressing upon our heels
We turned upon every hilltop to meet them
and give our wagon trains and artillery time
to get ahead. Instantly they would strike us.
We invariably repulsed them. They never
broke through my dauntless heroes; but at.
ter we had fought for an hour or two we
would find huge masses Of men pressing down
our fanks, and to keep from being surround
ed would have to withdraw my men. We
always retreated in good order, though al.
ways under fire. As we retreated we would
wheel and 6re, or repel rush, and then stag
ger on to the next hill top or vantage ground,
where new fight would be made. And so
on through the entire day. At night my
men had no rest. We marched through the
night in order to get a little respite from
fighting. All night long I would see my poor
fellows hobbling along, prying wagons or ar
tillery out of the mud, and supplementinng
the work of our broken.down horses. At
dawn, though, they would be in line ready
for battle, and they would fight with the
steadiness and valor of the Old Guard.


"This lasted until the night Of the 7th of
April. The retreat of Lees army was lit up
with the fire and flush of battle, in which my
brave meH moved about like demigods for
five days and nights. Then we were sent to
the front for a rest and Longstreet was Or
dered to cover the retreating army. On the
evening of the 9th, when had reached the