Page:Confederate Military History - 1899 - Volume 3.djvu/937

Rh selected by General Lee to command the "forlorn hope" and bring up the rear of the army after the battle of Sailor's Creek, and retard the advance of Grant so as to permit the crossing of High bridge by Lee, a duty which he performed to the entire satisfaction of his great commander. Though his battery was cut off from the main army by Sheridan's troops, it forced its way through to Lynchburg, where the guns were spiked and carriages and caissons destroyed and the battery disbanded after the surrender of the army. Lieutenant Fleming then returned to Richmond, April 18, 1865, where he took the oath prescribed by proclamation in 1863, May 2, and the oath of allegiance July 24, 1865. Of his service it is said in the History of the Fayette Artillery, by E. H. Chamberlayne, Jr., "For the historian to undertake to do justice to this gallant, chivalric soldier would be simply preposterous. His many noble, grand exploits are too well known to his superior officers, as well as to the brave men of his battery. One of his brilliant acts was the capture of Lieut.-Col. T. F. Fellows, his adjutant and orderly of the Seventeenth Massachusetts volunteers, whilst riding at the head of an improvised picket, consisting of himself, Sergeant A. H. Jones and Bugler Nicholls. This capture was made by Lieutenant Fleming single handed, he being some distance in advance. General Pickett presented Lieutenant Fleming with Colonel Fellows' horse, saddle, bridle, pistol and sword. If there is a Confederate soldier who is justly entitled to 'the bravest of the brave.' that man is Robert I. Fleming." Another incident of his service, which deserves mention, occurred on the White Marsh road during the attack on Suffolk, Va. A company of infantry, deployed as skirmishers, fell back in disorder, whereupon Colonel Armistead, in command of the regiment, ordered Sergeant Fleming, riding near the colonel, to rally and lead them forward in attack. The intrepid manner in which he performed this duty under fire of artillery and infantry elicited complimentary notice in the orders of the gallant Armistead, who afterward commanded the brigade and fell at Gettysburg. At the close of the war Mr. Fleming became engaged at Richmond, Va., as an architect and builder, serving also at one time as assistant engineer of the city, but in 1867 he removed to Washington, D. C., where, during a residence of thirty years, he has attained a marked prominence in his profession, having designed and carried through to completion a large number of the most prominent public buildings, business structures and private residences, erected in this period. Meanwhile he has continued to take an active part in social and political movements and organizations. In 1870 he entered the District National Guard as paymaster, was afterward successively elected captain, lieutenant-colonel, and colonel of the First regiment, and for over three years was senior officer commanding the First brigade; was a member of the legislature of the district in 1874, and in 1872 a delegate to the Democratic National convention at Cincinnati. At the dedication of Luther Memorial church, Fourteenth and N streets, northwest, Washington, D. C., February 12, 1875, he purchased and dedicated a memorial pew to Gen. Robert E. Lee. He has received the degrees of Odd Fellowship, of the Knights of Pythias and of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine; and in Free Masonry has attained the thirty-second