Personal Reminiscences of the War of 1861-5 / In Camp—en Bivouac—on the March—on Picket—on the Skirmish Line—on the Battlefield—and in Prison

by W. H. Morgan

ON THE PICKET LINES

After the battle of Seven Pines, picket duty was very heavy—whole regiments going on duty, some on the advance line and others in reserve. The Eleventh Regiment picketed near Seven Pines. The advance lines or posts were in the woods, near where the fighting commenced on the 31st of May, and very close to the Yankees.

I remember one morning, when the Eleventh Regiment was ordered on picket, while getting ready to go, I heard one of the men say, "I understand picket firing are very fatal down there." The pickets would fire on each other at every opportunity.

On this trip the Eleventh Regiment was in reserve, while some North Carolina troops occupied the advanced posts. During the time a North Carolina captain came running back from the front where there was some sharp firing, and reported that the Yankees had charged the picket lines, capturing and killing all of his company—he alone being left to tell the tale.

Company C and Company H were ordered from the reserves to go to the front and retake the picket lines. Accordingly the two companies were formed in line of battle in the open field, a few hundred yards from the woods, Captain Hutter, of Company H, being the senior officer, commanding. We marched on towards the woods, expecting every moment to be fired upon, Captain Hutter leading in front of the line.

The woods were reached without seeing or hearing of the enemy. Advancing into the woods some distance, the Confederate pickets were discovered at their posts on the alert, watching for the Yankee pickets through the bushes. They motioned to us and spoke in low tones, warning us to keep under cover, that the Yankees would fire on sight of any one. So it turned out that the pickets had not been killed or captured, the Tar Heel captain being the only man who had been demoralized and run away.

I walked out into the road running through the woods along which we had gone into the fight on the 31st of May, and as I did so, one of the pickets close by waved me back, saying: "Don't go out there, you will be shot." I remained long enough in the road to see, a few hundred yards away, at the farther edge of the woods, a column of blue-coated Yankees passing across the road, moving to the right, with the Stars and Stripes—a very large flag—flying above them. That flag looked hateful to me then, and on other occasions, when I saw it flying above the heads of men with guns in their hands, who were our deadly enemies, invaders of the sacred soil of Virginia, doing their utmost to kill her sons who dared to defend their rights, and who burned houses and devastated the country ruthlessly and cruelly; and now I here record, that I have never since that day looked very admiringly or adoringly on that flag, nor have I since the war worn any blue clothes.

In a short time I went back to the general commanding the picket lines and reported that the pickets were on their posts, with the line intact, also that I had seen the column moving to the right. The general remarked, "They are massing on our right," and ordered a battery to open fire in that direction. This fire drew no response from the enemy, and in a short time the two companies were ordered back to the reserves, and all was quiet.

As I was going back to report to the general I met the Tar Heel captain, a small, pale-faced youth. He seemed much relieved when I informed him that his company was not captured, and hastened down to rejoin them, saying, "That's all right," mortified, no doubt, that he ran away. I felt sorry for him.

CHAPTER IX
Seven Days' Fight Around Richmond—Battle
of Gaines' Mill

The brigade remained near Richmond some weeks longer. On the afternoon of the 26th of June, 1862, the Seven Days' fights around Richmond commenced at, or near, Mechanicsville, north of Richmond on the upper Chickahominy. McClellan's army lay on both sides of the Chickahominy, his right wing extending as far up the stream as Mechanicsville.

Gen. R. E. Lee was now in command of the army around Richmond, and determined to strike a blow at the enemy instead of waiting to be attacked at Richmond. On the morning of the 26th of June we marched out of camp, going north. As we crossed the York River Railroad an engine, with an inflated balloon attached to a heavy cable, passed along. This balloon was used by the Confederates in observing the movements of the enemy.

By a master stroke of strategy Stonewall Jackson was brought from the Valley, where he had just out-generaled and whipped three Yankee armies in detail, each larger than his own, and before any of the Yankee generals anywhere knew of his movements, joined General Lee and helped thrash McClellan and his "grand army," now 160,000 strong; Lee had about 80,000 all told.

A. P. Hill's division crossed the upper Chickahominy on the 26th of June, and in the afternoon attacked the Yankees in a strong position on Beaver Dam Creek, driving them from their first lines. It was expected that Jackson's forces would join with A. P. Hill's in this attack by striking the enemy on the right flank and rear, but from some unknown cause, Jackson's men were delayed, and did not arrive in time. The battle lasted until nightfall. The Confederates lost heavily in this fight, from assaults on the enemy's works.

The Yankees withdrew from their position during the night and fell back to Gaines' Mill, lower down the Chickahominy, where the next day a terrific and bloody battle was fought and won by the Confederates.

Longstreet's Division crossed over the Chickahominy at Meadow Bridge, below where Hill had crossed the day before, and moved down towards Gaines' Mill, as the right wing of Lee's army, on the north side of the Chickahominy, with Hill in the center and Jackson on the left. Kemper's Brigade halted as it was crossing the bridge, with the Eleventh Regiment, or a part of it, on the bridge. While waiting here, General Lee rode by on "Traveler," picking his way carefully along through the ranks. When close to Company C, General Lee asked what regiment this was. Perhaps a dozen men spoke out, saying, "Eleventh Virginia."

Up to this time, the 27th of June, no one but the generals knew that Jackson was anywhere near. During the day it was rumored that Jackson had come from the Valley or was coming. That afternoon I saw some men from Campbell County who belonged to Jackson's army, and asked them if it were true that Jackson was near. They replied, "Yes, Jackson and all his men are right over there," pointing to the left. This was, indeed, good news. This piece of strategy had been worked to perfection by General Lee. I remember a few days before, it was reported, in fact well known, that Lee was sending reënforcements to Jackson in the Valley. General Whiting's Division was sent by train via Lynchburg, around-about way—no doubt to attract attention and deceive the enemy—to Staunton, where it remained until the proper time, when it came back with Jackson's troops via Charlottesville and Gordonsville.