Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 23.djvu/44

 38 Southern Historical Society Papers.

[From the Times- Democrat, Septembers, 1895.]

THE LAST BATTLE OF THE LATE "WAR.

PERSONAL REHINISCENCES.

I was ordered to report to Brigadier-General Henry W. Allen, of Louisiana, at his special request; being unable to do so, the order was rescinded. Par. IV, S. P., No. 275. January 5, 1864, I was ordered to relieve Major E. W. Baylor, post-quartermaster West Point, Georgia, where I remained until the fall of that plucky little city, which event took place a week after the surrender of General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox.

West Point, Georgia, a town of some importance to our armies, on the banks of the Chattahoochee River, being the key to the situ- tion at this juncture, was splendidly fortified against attacks by stock- ades, redoubts and long-range rifle pits, and by the erection of a large fort on the west side of the river. The fort commanded a great portion of the place, and under more favorable conditions would have proved a veritable Gibraltar. This fort was manned by a por- tion of Wailes' Battery, from Columbia, S. C. The post was under command of the intrepid General R. C. Tyler, of Tennessee. Ru- mors came of the advance of the Federals from the direction of Montgomery, Alabama. Saturday afternoon, April i5th, 1865, everything was set quickly in motion for the defense of the place. Sunday morning the pickets were posted along the roads leading into town, and in the rifle pits and in the redoubts. The military contingent from the hospitals and militia were soon ordered into the fort. School boys responded to the call, and there were in all 121 effective men to cope with the 3,000 Federals under Colonel La Grange. The women and children were ordered to places of secur- ity early in the day. The fort contained one gun, denominated a siege gun, 32-pounder, and two i2-pounders. The large gun occu- pied the eastern corner of the fort, while the two smaller ones com- manded the southern and western approaches. The small arms consisted of 113 smooth-bore muskets.

At 10 o'clock the enemy came in sight, and Trapanier, a young South Carolinian, aimed the siege guns on their columns, and