Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/1337

Rh control of the new State. Then returning he purchased a farm in Loudoun county, Va., and there made his residence. In 1859 he joined the Loudoun cavalry organization, and with it was on guard during the exciting period following John Brown's attempt at insurrection. Having thus had a rare experience in the armed conflicts which preceded the great war, he was ready in the spring of 1861 to enter with enthusiasm into the defense of the State from invasion. His was a spirit akin to that of the gallant Ashby, with whom he served as a scout until the fall of 1861. He then obtained permission to organize an independent company, and his command grew in numbers and efficiency until it was assigned to W. E. Jones' brigade of the cavalry under Stuart, as the Thirty-fifth battalion, and its fearless leader received the rank of colonel. He participated in the important engagements of Ball's Bluff, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Slaughter Mountain, Brandy Station, Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Trevilian's, Reams' Station and Five Forks, and numerous minor engagements with Stuart's cavalry, and was also conspicuous in independent operations in the Shenandoah valley and along the Potomac, destroying the enemy's communications, attacking their outposts, and keeping busy large forces of the enemy. His services frequently received the admiring mention of his superior officers. A. P. Hill, in reporting the affair at Snicker's Gap, November 3, 1862, relates that "Major White gallantly held his position" across the river from the main Confederate body, in the face of a large attacking force. In the famous cavalry fight at Fleetwood Hill, June 9, 1863, Colonel White led one of the two columns which made the first attack upon the Federals, and in spite of the discomfiture of the other column, drove back the enemy, at the same time repulsing without wavering an attack in the rear. He made several gallant charges with his command, finally driving the enemy from the hill, and then charging a battery under a destructive fire of grape and musketry, seized the guns and cut down the gunners, after which the battalion cut their way back through the Federal troopers, with a loss of half their number. General Stuart made an eloquent reference to the "dashing officer" and the brave spirits he held together, stating that he behaved with conspicuous daring, and though painfully wounded continued in command of his regiment, on active and important duty. In this action the battalion captured four stand of colors. Two weeks later he led his men into Maryland and cut the Baltimore & Ohio railroad near Point of Rocks, with a loss to the enemy of nearly eighty men. After the army reached Pennsylvania, he accompanied Gordon's brigade, routed a Pennsylvania regiment near Gettysburg, moved on to the Susquehanna river, and returning to Gettysburg fought on the left with Ewell, who gratefully acknowledged his services. The entire night following the first day's fight he spent in a reconnoissance of the Federal position. After the return to Virginia, Colonel White was left with his battalion in the rear of the enemy. He crossed the Potomac with one hundred men, and drove a superior body of Federals from fortifications at Poole's Farm. Stuart endorsed on the report of this action: "Colonel White and his command in this daring enterprise, which struck such terror to the enemy, deserve high praise. Every day brings new proof of his activity;" and Gen. R. E. Lee