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

by Frank M. Myers

On the morning of the 20th the Colonel started with thirty men for Cabin Point again, this time to intercept dispatches on the telegraph, and for this purpose took with him an expert operator.

He succeeded in gaining the desired point before daylight on the morning of the 21st, and his operator at once proceeded to cut the telegraph wire and attach his instruments, so that he was enabled to read every dispatch that passed, and to keep the thing all right he sent them on to their destination as soon as copied; but after carrying on this amusing process for about two hours he became satisfied that from some cause the enemy suspected the line was tapped, from the fact that some ridiculous and foolish dispatches were passed, and communicating his suspicions to Col. White, the latter decided that it was time to be traveling, for he knew that if the enemy really did suspect anything wrong on the line they would soon send an investigating committee, so calling in his pickets he started for the Blackwater. Before going far he discovered that a force of infantry was following him, having reached his position on the telegraph road shortly after he started from it, and on reaching the bridge over the Blackwater the Colonel halted his party to see if the Yankees would attack. In about half an hour they came up and skirmished with him, but would not advance into the swamp, although they had fully ten times his number. During the skirmishing James Atwood, of Co. E, who was on the bridge to the rear, had his leg broken by a stray ball, and the Colonel retired through the swamp, the enemy going back at the same time.

On the 27th the battalion was ordered by Col. Dulaney to report to the brigade, then fifteen miles off, at Freeman’s ford, on the Nottaway, and on arriving there was sent to Reams’ Station to picket, where we remained until the 1st of August, without any incidents other than the usual routine of such duty, except that on the night of the 30th the Yankees were very active and annoyed the pickets exceedingly all night, and when, just before dawn of day, they grew quiet and allowed the tired men to lie down to rest, the great mine fiasco which Grant had been preparing at Petersburg for a month, broke with a terrible explosion on the morning air, and shook the solid ground for miles, the “Comanches” scrambled up and mounted their horses without a word, but after awhile some of them begun to talk, and wonder “whether it was the day of judgment or an earthquake,” but pretty soon, in the distance could be heard the yelling and shouting of the charging columns, as they rolled like a billow upon the Confederate works, and then White’s boys dismounted, saying it was "some new-fangled Yankee mill or other that they didn’t know anything about, but they did know Beaureguard and Uncle Bobby could attend to it."

Capt. Dan. Hatcher, of 7th Regiment, relieved the battalion on the evening of 31st, and on the 1st of August it moved to Stony Creek and encamped, drawing forage by wagon trains from North Carolina, and for several days did nothing but rest, having plenty to eat, and for a rarity, when Col. Dulaney commanded the brigade, no drilling to do.

On Sunday, August 7th, the first sermon the “Comanches” had heard this year was preached in camp, by the Rev. Lieut. Strickler, of Co. E. The religious training of the battalion was very loosely conducted, as a general thing, and yet there were some bright and working Christians in it, especially in Companies C and E, some of whom would engage in prayer before going into battle, and it was remarked by all, that these men made none the worse soldiers for bending the knee to God, and commending their souls and their cause to His keeping, but generally, religion in the ranks was unpopular, and many who had been members of Church endeavored to hide the fact from their comrades that they ever prayed.

A state of war, and life in camp is always demoralizing; but the soldier always honors the man who bravely stands by his principles, and even though they might jeer and laugh at the one who carried his religion openly, into the camp and on the march, with him, yet in their hearts the most reckless and profane would count him who did it a double hero, in that he both conquered his own pride and lived down—as live down he would—the scoffing of his comrades.

On the 8th Maj. Ferneyhough went on a scout into Surry county, to capture some Yankee pickets, but returned without accomplishing anything; and now the command encamped on the Nottaway again, and luxuriated on the many delicacies of the season again, such as watermelons, potatoes, roasting-ears, tomatoes, cucumbers, and last, but not by any means least, the prime spring water, all of which they had in abundance, and the memory of the pleasant days spent on the Nottaway will be a bright one in the hearts of White’s Battalion while memory exists; and they were all willing to spend the summer there, and enjoy the good fare and the boating and fishing excursions on the river, but these days couldn’t last; and on the 12th the brigade joined the division and took up the line of march for Richmond. Everybody thought this move had some connection, in some way, with Early’s operations on the Shenandoah, and immediately the brigade had dreams of heaven and the Valley, which brightened more and more each mile that they advanced, until they were once more on the north bank of the James, and securely booked, as they thought, for over the mountains. Passing through Richmond, the whole division halted on Main and Broad streets, and from the endless supplies of melons which lined the sidewalks, the men eat, until watermelons and cantelopes lost their flavor and were no longer fit to it, and then marched to the South Anna and encamped for the night, moving early in the morning to Beaver Dam, on the Rail Road, where three day’s rations were issued, and the whole command laid over until next day, when the column took the telegraph road to Ashland, passing that place and going into camp on the Chickahominy, seven miles from Richmond, and still nobody could form an idea of what we had started to do, but there was now considerable doubt, to say the least of it, about going to the Valley right away.

The next morning the division again marched through Richmond and passed out on the Charles City road to Malvern Hill, where General W. H. F. Lee was fighting the enemy, and here the “Comanches” were ordered forward to cut off some Yankee pickets to the left, but they left so quick we had no chance at them at all.

After this the brigade moved over to the Williamsburg road, and encamped at Savage Station on York River Rail Road, leaving White’s men on picket at the Chickahominy, where they remained until the 19th, when they again marched to the Charles City road and encamped until the 22d, when it was found that the Yankees, who had caused all this trouble by trying to steal Richmond, had gone across the James, after losing about one thousand of their men; and at midnight Hampton moved his people over to the “South Side” again, and kept on to Reams’ Station, where, on the 23d, he met the Yankees and commenced to fight in earnest about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. Here the battalion was divided, Captain Myers being sent with the first squadron to report to General Butler on the right, while the Colonel with the remainder moved to the left with Rosser, who, to-day, resumed the command of his brigade. The first order of General Butler to Myers was to “find the Yankees in his front and tell him how many there were,” and in order to do this the Captain took five men—Jim Oneale, Frank Lee, John White, Billy Lee, and Lum Wenner—and deployed them at the edge of the woods, from where they rode out into a field covered with tall sedge grass and small pine bushes, in which a thousand Yankees could have lain in line, without being perceived, but they had not advanced far when a long blue line raised up and commenced firing. This was enough and the Captain rode up to the General with the report that he had found about twelve hundred Yankees on the left of the road. “Very well,” said Gen. Butler, "I know what’s on the right," and ordering forward a brigade of dismounted men, this wooden-legged General led them in a furious attack upon the enemy, galloping along full fifty yards in front of his line, and exposed to the fire of both friends and foes. This settled the question on that part of the field, for the Yankees ran, and Butler followed them half a mile, when they met reinforcements and made a stubborn resistance for some time, but General Rosser came in on the left and they were again forced back.

The battalion now united again, and formed, by General Butler’s order, on a hill in the road, prepared to charge when the enemy attempted to advance, and here from six o’clock until dark they stood exposed to a hot fire from the Yankee line below them, but fortunately not a man was injured, although seven horses were struck and killed. About dark Hancock’s corps of infantry moved up from the Rail Road and joined in the fight, when General Butler, who was sitting on his horse a short distance from the battalion, and under a very hot fire, called for a courier to go to his line of dismounted men below and order them to retire. The man who was sent to him displayed evident signs of much perturbation under the storm of bullets that whistled around, and the General said to him, "Young man, you’re scared; go back to Captain Myers and tell him to send me a COURIER!" upon which the fellow returned instanter, and the Captain sent Sergeant Everhart, whom the General asked if he could carry a dispatch down to the dismounted men; to which Everhart replied, "I God! I’ll start! don’t know so much about going," when the General replied "you’ll do," sent the order, and withdrew his line from the fight. It was evident that Grant had made a heavy lodgment on the Rail Road at Reams’, and that General Hampton couldn’t make him give it up with his cavalry, but the latter was compelled to send wagons to Stony Creek to get forage, which was twenty miles further away than Reams’, soon the morning of the 24th, before day, Captain Myers was ordered to mount his squadron and escort the battalion train to that place, where they arrived about 11 o’clock. Here they found big, luscious watermelons from North Carolina by the car-load, which they enjoyed to their utmost until late in the evening, when they pushed on after the wagons which had loaded and started back by two o’clock, and having overtaken them, the squadron moved with them over the dangerous part of the road, and it being now midnight and the trains safe, the escort bivouacked in the pines while the wagons drove on to camp.