Mohun; Or, the Last Days of Lee and His Paladins. / Final Memoirs of a Staff Officer Serving in Virginia. from the Mss. of Colonel Surry, of Eagle's Nest.

by John Esten Cooke

XXVIII. — THE LAST CHARGE OF THE OLD GUARD.

I rode on rapidly to the front.

It was the morning of the ninth of April, 1865. Since that time three years, day for day, nearly hour for hour have passed; for these lines are written on the morning of the ninth of April, 1868.

Gordon had formed his line of battle across the road just beyond the court-house—and supported by Fitzhugh Lee’s cavalry, and Carter’s artillery on his right, was advancing with measured steps to break through the enemy.

It was a spectacle to make the pulse throb. The little handful was going to death unmoved. The red light of morning darted from the burnished gun-barrels of the infantry, the sabres of the cavalry, and the grim cannon following, in sombre lightnings.

Gordon, the “Bayard of the army,” was riding in front of his line. The hour and the men had both come. Steadily the old guard of the army of Northern Virginia advanced to its last field of battle.

{Illustration: THE LAST CHARGE}

Suddenly, in front of them, the woods swarmed with the enemy’s infantry, cavalry, and artillery. The great multitude had evidently employed the hours of night well. Grant’s entire army seemed to have massed itself in Gordon’s front.

But the force was not the question. Gordon’s one thousand six hundred men were in motion. And when Gordon moved forward he always fought, if he found an enemy.