Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/1341

Rh Headquarters Army Northern Virginia. Brig.-Gen. W. E. Jones, Commanding Valley District. General: I have received Maj. E. V. White's report dated December 24, 1862, of his scout to Poolesville in Maryland, and have forwarded it to the Adjutant and Inspector-General of Richmond, calling the attention of the War Department to the gallant conduct of Major White and his command. I am much gratified at the manner in which Major White conducted this scout, and the substantial results accomplished with such slight loss on his part. I have the honor to be very respectfully Your obedient servant, (Signed)R. E. Lee, General.

Captain Ellsbery V. White, now connected with important commercial and financial interests at Norfolk, Va., is well known throughout the South through his association as engineer with the famous ironclad ram, the Virginia, whose brief service in Hampton Roads attracted the attention of the civilized world. He is a native of Georgia, born in Wilkinson county in 1839. When a child his parents removed to Macon, where he was educated and apprenticed to a machinist, as which he worked for some years, fitting himself, unconsciously, for his future distinguished service. In 1856 the family removed to Columbus, where, after the secession of Georgia, he became a member of the City light guards, commanded by Capt. Peyton H. Colquitt, a brother of the late Senator A. H. Colquitt. This company, mustered into service as a part of the Second Georgia battalion, was the first Georgia command to enter Virginia, reaching Norfolk two days after the evacuation by the Federals and the destruction of the navy yard. After his arrival Captain White was able to witness the expiring flames of the burning of that magnificent old ship of the line, the Merrimac, once the pride of the navy and the object of admiration in foreign ports, whose sunken hull was to be raised and made the foundation of the irresistible floating battery known as the Virginia. Sergeant White, for such was his rank at that time, applied subsequently for admission to the Confederate navy, and was accepted and commissioned as an officer of the engineer corps in January, 1862. He was among the first men assigned to the Virginia, and remained with her until her destruction. His office required him to do duty where the ironclad was weakest, her engines and boilers being old and practically worthless, such service as was obtained from them being due to the mechanical genius of her engineers. The thrilling history of this famous old battery has been often told by Captain White, upon the lecture platform, where he has consented to appear on many occasions for the benefit of charitable enterprises and on behalf of Confederate veteran associations. On these occasions while presenting a graphic picture of the encounters in Hampton Roads he has taken the opportunity to insist upon the historical truth, which accords great credit to the Confederate naval architects, engineers and gunners, without detracting from the achievements of their antagonists. Thoroughly familiar with the construction of the old ironclad upon which he served, he has compared carefully the plans of the more recent fighting monsters of the various nations, in the light of his practical knowledge, and has arrived at the