Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 21.djvu/113

 /V.v/ Va. /////////// /'// ///< Peninsula Campaign. !<:,

camp was there, but most of us spent our time in meeting and greet- ing our friends in Richmond.

On the 1 6th we marched through the city, embarked on the steamer Glen Cove, which landed us at King's Mill wharf early on the morn- ing of the lyth.

During our halt near the wharf I saw General Joseph E. Johnston. He was talking to a wounded soldier lying on a stretcher. The re- marks he made were about picket firing, which the General said he did not approve ; that the loss of life and comfort of the men did not compensate for damage inflicted to the enemy. In the evening we marched to the rear of the line near Wynn's Mill in a thick piece of woods. The next day we were placed in the trenches, where we stayed most of the time. These works we found were of great strength ; covered ways and ditches ran to them from all directions, and the men were kept busy to make them still stronger. Here we lay in the muddy ditches, in which some rude shelters or bomb-proofs had been erected. In these we huddled up during night and day, trying to keep out of the wet, as it rained most of the time. Water for washing purposes was not to be had, and therefore it was not long before vermin, generally known as graybacks, appeared to add to our discomfort.

A considerable amount of artillery ammunition was wasted between the lines, and further to the right the sharpshooters made things lively. On the i6th the enemy, some Vermont troops, charged the lines just to the right of our position, and on visiting this part of the line, which was somewhat dangerous from the enemy's sharpshooters, many of the dead left by the enemy in his retreat could still be seen in the swamp just in front of the works.

In the rear of our lines were the log cabins erected by Magruder's men during the winter. During a heavy rain our boys would make use of them as shelter. On one occasion a number of my company were making themselves comfortable when Colonel Williams ordered us out, saying it was dangerous, as the enemy would shell us. I and most of us had hardly gotten out when sure enough a shell pene- trated the log just over the entrance of the cabin and burst, killing Corporal E. M. Ferneyhough and wounding private M. F. Wingfield, who was fortunate to come out with his eyes only blackened by splinters. Corporal Ferneyhough was one of our best and most daring comrades, and we sadly regretted his loss.