The Comanches: A History of White's Battalion, Virginia Cavalry

by Frank M. Myers

Another letter was dispatched to Gen. Lee, and the well-dressed Confederates returned to their own lines, with no idea that they were aiding the negotiations for the surrender of Lee’s army by carrying the letters on the subject back and forth, and as the wagons were again out of the mud the rear-guard resumed its march, as also did the Federal army. About 3 o’clock the battalion was relieved from its perilous position in the rear by a portion of Gen. W. H. F. Lee’s division, and soon after the division of Rosser was ordered to the front.

The scene which presented itself to the view of the rear-guard as it passed the army on the way was distressing in the extreme. The few men who still carried their muskets had hardly the appearance of soldiers as they wearily moved along the toilsome route, their clothes all tattered and covered with mud, their eyes sunken and lustreless, and their faces peaked and pinched from their ceaseless march, through storm and sunshine, without food or sleep, through all that dire retreat, when in fact they were worn-out, from excessive duty in the trenches at Petersburg, before the retreat begun.

Many of the men who had thrown away their arms and knapsacks were lying prone on the ground along the road-side, too much exhausted to march further, and only waiting for the enemy to come and pick them up as prisoners, while at short intervals there were wagons mired down, their teams of horses and mules lying in the mud, from which they had struggled to extricate themselves until complete exhaustion had forced them to be still and wait for death to glaze their wildly starting eyes, and still their quick gasping and panting for the breath which could scarcely reach some of them through the mud that almost closed their nostrils; but through all this a part of the army still trudged on, with their faith still strong, and only waiting for General Lee to say where they were to face about and fight, for they knew that the enemy would be whipped, and that every day brought nearer the last decisive battle-field, where the hosts of the North would be overthrown and the final success of the Confederate States assured.

About sunset of the 8th the cavalry, now entirely clear of the army, went into a pleasant bivouac in a body of timber, where they were permitted to build fires and remove the saddles from the horses’ backs, upon which they had constantly been since the fifth, and the tired troopers felt good at the prospect of an all night rest, but in less than two hours the bugles sounded “to horse,” and the march was again taken up, and slowly followed until about two o’clock in the morning, when the division of Rosser, which was in front, halted at Appomattox C. H.

After waiting awhile to see if anything further was to be done, the men made fires of the fences, and sat down, each man holding his bridle rein and wondering what would come with daylight, but about an hour before dawn a battery exactly in front opened fire, and now the absence of cavalry in the rear during all of the day before was explained, as was also the reason why the Confederate cavalry had been brought forward, for right here, exactly before them, stood Sheridan’s whole command, cutting off the retreat of the army from Lynchburg.

Soon after the battery opened, Colonel White moved his brigade forward a short distance and formed on a hill near some timber that extended to the head of a swamp, and here it remained until after sunrise, when the Colonel rode out to the battalion, which was on the right of the line, and informed Captain Myers that the army was about to surrender and Rosser was arranging to take his cavalry out. There was no time to arrive at a full realization of the meaning contained in this simple announcement, for the enemy was now pressing vigorously in front and Sheridan’s cannon were throwing their shells among the Confederates with great rapidity.

General Rosser moved forward about half a mile and halted to wait for a demonstration which General Gordon, who now commanded all that was left of “Stonewall” Jackson’s old corps, had arranged to make with his infantry, in order to draw Sheridan’s force towards the left, and about 7 o’clock the signal was given in the rattling rifles of Gordon’s men, who had followed Lee and Jackson through victory after victory, from Manassas, where they had made “Stonewall” immortal, to fire their last shot and lay down their arms in surrender at Appomattox Court-house.

Rosser now put White’s brigade in front and moved promptly upon the enemy, who appeared not to understand exactly what was expected of them, and as White took a position on a hill in an open field about four or five hundred yards from a division of Federal cavalry, the latter only looked, but made no hostile movement, and now Rosser, finding the way open to gain the Lynchburg road, pushed forward with the brigades of Munford and McCausland, leaving Colonel White to guard the rear and the old brigade to be the sacrifice, if necessary, to secure the safety of the balance. After looking at the little line of Confederates for a little while a party of about four hundred marched from the division and commenced to form on the same hill with the little remnant of the “Laurel Brigade,” but this was too much for White, and he ordered Capt. Hatcher, of the 7th regiment, to charge, and Capt. Myers, of the battalion to support him. The enemy soon broke and retreated upon their reserve, which in turn gave way, and the whole force fled, panic-stricken, before the little party of about one hundred Rebels, who were within an hour of surrendering, and again, but for the last time, the avenging sabres of the Ashby boys glanced fiercely over the Yankee cavalry. Many of the enemy fell killed or wounded, but no prisoners were taken, and when the chase had continued about two miles the Colonel again called a halt, and the boys had to dismount and skirmish with the Yankee infantry for a short time, and when the great firing of guns and sky-rending shouts of Grant’s army away off to the front and right announced that 9 o’clock had passed, and that General Lee, with his troops had surrendered, Colonel White withdrew his men and took the way to Lynchburg, overtaking Rosser about seven miles from that place, and on reaching the city everything was in confusion, nobody knew what to do and all thought it pretty certain that the Yankees would soon be up.

About dark Gen. Rosser ordered the division to move to the Fair Grounds, near the town, and wait for orders, but shortly after a rumor was circulated to the effect that the Yankees were advancing, and that Gen. Grant had sent a summons to the Mayor ordering that the place be surrendered by 9 o’clock that night, which produced a panic, and the regiments moved out across the river, where Colonels White and Ball, the only two field officers in the whole brigade, addressed them, urging the men to still keep their faith bright and trust in the God who “gives not the battle to the strong;” and about midnight the Laurel Brigade was disbanded, never to meet again, the men going to their homes to wait for orders (which were never received) to follow Gen. Rosser and Col. White to the army of Johnson.

After this, the men who were not captured went by twos and threes to the Federal officers and were paroled, and by the 1st of May the “Comanches” could scarcely be recognized in the men who were in their fields holding the plow-handles, or behind the counter, but they hoped against hope for many months that they would be called upon to rally again around the stars and bars and draw their sabres for “Dixie” and Freedom.