Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 26.djvu/254

 244 Southern Historical. Society

SOME OF THE BATTERIES.

In all, there were seventy-five batteries trained and equipped and sent to the field from Camp Lee during the time which elapsed be- tween November, 1861, and June, 1862. Among them may be men- tioned some which can be called to mind, commanded by Captain Mar- maduke Johnson, John L. Eubank, N. ASturdivant, Captain J. Taylor Martin, and two other batteries, which constituted the battalion of Rev. F. J. Boggs, W. G. Crenshaw, G. G. Otey, the old Fayette Artil- lery, Captain Henry Coalter Cabell, all of Richmond. Then there were those of W. D. Leake, of Goochland; Charles Bruce, of Char- lotte; Joseph W. Anderson, of Botetourt; Pichegru Woolfolk, of Caroline; Henry Rives, of Nelson; Colonel J. W. Moore's Bat- talion, of North Carolina ; the battery of Captain Dawson, of Georgia ; Latham, of Lynchburg; Lewis, of Halifax, and many others from Virginia, Mississippi, one from Maryland, and others which cannot be recalled now.

General George W. Randolph in the meantime had become Sec- retary of War, and during his term in that office the conscription law went into effect. In addition to his other duties as the commandant at the post of Camp Lee, Colonel Shields was made commandant of conscripts for Virginia, with headquarters at Camp Lee for that pur- pose, as well as the general duties incident to a military post.

Major Thomas G. Peyton, of Richmond, was assigned to the im- mediate command of men reporting under the regulations of the con- script law for assignment. This was a large duty, and well executed. An additional camp was also established for some months under command of Major James B. Dorman, at Dublin, Pulaski county, reporting directly to Colonel Shields as commandant for the State. The law was well executed in Virginia through the enrolling officers of counties and congressional districts. Not a solitary jar occurred between the authorities of the State, Governor Letcher, and the Con- federate authorities of General John S. Preston, Chief of the Con- federate Bureau of Conscription, and the commandant for the State. Shortly before the war ended, the Confederate Bureau was dispensed with, and General James L. Kemper became the intermediate officer between those of the conscript armies and the War Department. This arrangement continued until the end, in April, 1865.

A FINE SPECTACLE.

It should have been previously mentioned that in December, 1861,