Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 26.djvu/155

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"After some weeks of inaction," says Major Fairly, of General Whiting's stall", writing to the speaker, "the march, ostensibly to reinforce Jackson in the Valley, was taken up by General Whiting's I >i\ ision. I was afterwards told that it occurred in this way : Early in June, when all was still quiet along the lines, one day General Whiting rode over to the quarters of General Lee, and learning that IK was out, sat down at his desk and wrote on a slip of paper, ' If you don't move, McClellan will dig you out of Richmond,' and left it, asking Col. Chilton, I think, to call the General's attention to it upon his return. It was not long before a courier came to Whiting's headquarters with a note or message asking General W. to come to army headquarters. On his arrival, the General said, ' General Whiting, I received your note; what do you propose?' Whiting then developed the plan of appearing to reinforce Jackson's victorious army in the Valley, thus threatening Washington, and causing stop- page of troops then about to leave Washington to reinforce McClel- lan, and Jackson, by forced marches, was to fall on his right, north of the Chickahominy River, and destroy him before the powers at Washington could discover the ' ruse de guerre,' and send him rein- forcements.

" General Lee approved, but said, ' Whom can I send ? ' General Whiting replied, ' Send me.' 'Ah, but I can't spare you ; you com- mand five brigades.' General Whiting, with the unselfish patriotism which always characterized him, said, ' I will take my two old brigades and go,' to which Lee replied, ' When can you go ? ' 'I am ready now,' said Whiting. ' Oh ! ' said General Lee, 'you can march Thursday.' This occurred, I think, on Tuesday And so he did.' '

"We lay at Staunton two days. The next morning we began a forced march to meet Jackson's corps at Brown's Gap, where we took the lead and kept it. The rapidity of the march may be judged when I say, that the teamsters were ordered to water their horses be- fore starting, and not to allow them to stop for water until night, and I was instructed to stay by the column and enforce the order. I could but sympathize with the teamsters, but horses must suffer that our men might be fed on the march, and so kept up to their work.

"Our division led the advance of Jackson's Corps, and reached ic field of Games' Mill, or Cold Harbor, about 5 o'clock in the ternoon of the 2yth June, 1862, and, if my memory serves me right, on Friday, and none too early, for I learned that every division of ours north of the Chickahominy had been thrown against McClellan's