Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 16.djvu/418

 412 Southern Historical Society Papers.

The ordinary details from the troops for guard and picket and fatigue duty were very heavy. All the men were required to sit in line of battle upon the banquette, arms in hand and officers at their posts, for the half hour preceding and the half hour after dark. From this time till an hour before daylight one-half of the men, not on other duty, were kept awake at a time in the same position, while the other half were allowed to get what sleep they could in the bot- tom of the trench, their arms and accoutrements laid aside, but near at hand, and disturbed by the frequent passage of inspecting officers or fatigue parties blundering along in the dark over their prostrate forms. From an hour before day until after good daylight all were aroused and stood to arms fully equipped and prepared to repel as- sault. Again, during the day only one-half were allowed to lay off their equipments at a time, and none were permitted, day or night, to leave their assigned places in the trench without special permission. The company officers remained at all times with their men in the trench ; the field officers and brigade staff had their respective pits some six feet in rear of the general trench, and were permitted to use them except when the men were standing to arms. Division com- manders were from six hundred yards to half a mile in rear, and generally occupied houses in the suburbs. Generals Lee and Beau- regard had their headquarters near each other on the hill north of the Appomattox, near Pocahontas bridge, and, with their staffs, were in tents. The men in the trenches served as sharpshooters by regu- lar detail. The constant use of the shoulder in shooting produced bruises and soreness, so that they accustomed themselves to resting the rifle on the parapet and firing it as a pistol. The accuracy of their fire was frequently spoken of by letter-writers to the Northern papers, and our men, as at Wagner, became very fond of it. It was a relief to the passive endurance which made up so large a part of their duty.

Such severe service, continued day in and day out for so long a time, was trying to the last degree upon men already jaded by an active campaign. For some time during July not a field-officer was present for duty, and four out of the five regiments of the brigade were commanded by lieutenants. To preserve anything like organi- zation and efficiency, General Hagood was compelled to consolidate companies temporarily and to assign to duty, as commissioned offi- cers, non-commissioned officers and even privates. In doing this, he selected men who had hitherto been mentioned for good conduct in battle. Not a day passed without more or less casualties, and from