Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 14.djvu/149

 Reminiscences of Field Ordnance Service. 143

Hagerstown. As it turned out, our supplies were adequate to our needs, and though another battle as protracted as Gettysburg- would have exhausted our entire supply of artillery ammunition, no such struggle was possible for the two armies.

One of the cases when promptness was needed in obtaining new supplies was after the battle of Winchester, September 19, 1864. The consumption of ammunition had been considerable before this fight, and the amount of ammunition used during the battle was very large. Next morning (20th) a courier was sent from wStrasburg to Staunton to have supplies shipped from Richmond to the latter place and a train of wagons was sent for it. These wagons had to travel seventy miles to reach Staunton. They obtained a relay of horses at Harrisonburg, got to Staunton early on the 21st of Septem- ber, were loaded and started back to the army on the same day, and changing teams at Harrisonburg, the train was approaching the bat- tlefield on the afternoon of 22d when the disaster of Fisher's Hill was in progress. Meantime some uneasiness had existed on the morning of the 22d lest our infantry ammunition should run short. General Ramseur, whose division was m line of battle at Fisher's Hill, hourly expecting to be attacked, was anxious to know to what extent he might deplete his supply on hand. At midday I was informed of the approach of the train, and General Ramseur was informed that he might safely use up all he had. As it turned out, nur position was turned that afternoon, and our army driven from its lines before the men were able to exhaust their cartridge-boxes. One of the last acts of General Early's chief of stafif, the gallant Colonel Pendleton, who fell on that field, was to order back this train to prevent the danger of its capture.

So excellent was our cavalry service, that rare indeed was the cap- ture of any of our ordnance by the enemy. We believe no consid- erable loss of this sort occurred until near the close of the war. Sometimes, however, the enemy's cavalry caused ordnance trains to travel at more than regulation speed. Such was the case one morn- ing at the second battle of Manassas, when Pope dropped some shells among Jackson's train and caused it to change its base with masterly celerity. On our return from the Bristoe campign in the fall of 1863, the ordnance train of the Second corps found themselves in the fork of the Rappahannock and Hazel rivers. The latter stream was past fording and there was no bridge or ferry. Behind us only a small body of scouting cavalry intervened between us and the Federal cavalry, which was supposed to be advancing from Warrenton. The