Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 17.djvu/170

 162 Southern Historical Society Papers,

"Central City Blues/* Bibb county, Captain Rodgers.

" Muscogee Rifles," Muscogee county, Captain Scott.

"Marion Guards,*' Marion county. Captain Blandford.

" Putnam Light Infantry,** Putnam county, Captain Davis.

"Jones Volunteers,** Jones county, Captain Pitts.

On the day of our organization we received orders to march to Laurel Hill to unite with General Garnett*s command at that place, and on Sunday, the 7th July, left Richmond, by railroad, to Staun- ton. Reaching this latter place a little before day Monday morning, we remained encamped there until Tuesday morning, when the order came to strike our tents and take up the line of march for Laurel Hill, distant about one hundred and twenty-five miles. Unaccus- tomed, as most of us were, to long pedestrian exercises, this was no very cheering prospect, and we could not exactly understand the good sense of selecting as a seat of war a point not accessible by railroad. (I trust the powers that be will remember this hint in any future orders they may issue to our regiment !) But good sense or otherwise, the order came, and we had but to obey.

Soon all was in motion, and the regiment, followed by its long train of wagons, began slowly to file along the tortuous turnpike. To many of us who had never before seen an army on the march it was an imposing spectacle. The long line of soldiers winding slowly along the mountain sides, with their varied uniforms and bright guns glistening in the sun, the heavy, monotonous tramp of feet upon the rock-paved road, and the confi^sed hum of a thousand voices were novel sights and sounds, and seemed to bring us nearer to the reali- ties of actual war. Our daily stages were from twelve to fifteen miles, and were usually accomplished early enough in the afternoon to allow us ample time to pitch our tents, procure wood, provide our suppers, and make the necessary arrangements for the security of the camp. These marches were more or less fatiguing to many of our men, yet they performed them with a spirit and courage that deserves praise and shows them equal to the privations and hardships that lie along the soldier* s pathway.

Thus we marched for five days, accomplishing about seventy-two miles, when, on Saturday evening, at Greenbrier Creek, near the foot of Cheat Mountain, we received intelligence of the fight at Rich Mountain, the retreat of General Garnett and the probable occupa- tion by General McClellan of Beverley, and his probable advance to the top of Cheat Mountain, on the road between us and Beverley, a point so fortified by nature that a small force could hold it against