Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 27.djvu/221

 1 1 .X.T//.//.I/* of the Battle of Sharj />//*//,/. 213

division with 18,000 on its roll had only 7,000 for duty, the rest hav- ing returned to their homes, and, finally, provost marshals were appointed all over the States (I should say the Union States) to bring these (U-snurs back, and during all that time the utmost efforts were made to recruit his army and outfit it in- clothing, tents, ammunition, etc., while the "beaten and routed" Confederates fell into line as naturally as water seeks its level.

As I stood at the ford that night the men, as they passed, would call out the number of their regiment, or the name of their battery, soon finding their own places, and when General Lee, two days afterwards, settled on the hills around Bunker Hill, the men had reorganized themselves and were ready to fight again. As stated before, after seeing the entire army cross the river, I found my way to our battery tired, hungry, and anxious to find something to eat. It happened that a stray chicken got in my way and found its way into the frying pan in a very short time. Up to that time, so far as I know, no orders had been issued to those five batteries; we were left there with about 175 infantry, under General Roger A. Pryor, as a shadow of support for the guns. Just about sunrise General Longstreet rode up and ordered me to take two guns to shell a point of woods on the other side of the river, where he said the enemy were massing. Like the poor innocent that I was, I took the guns and left the chicken, and when my duty with the guns was over I returned to find both General Longstreet and my chicken gone. He left orders, however, that we were to remain on the bluff as long as possible, and when driven away by larger and longer range guns to retire as quickly as possible upon the rear of the army. With the exception of the odor of fried chicken and two peaches that I had found on a tree near the battery, I had nothing to eat all that day.

During the morning we had some little firing, but were exceed- ingly annoyed by the infantry lying in the bed of the canal and concealed in a house and barn opposite our battery. Finding this picket fire was coming too fast and close, I determined to burn the barn with shrapnel, if possible, and I think that by one shot during this fire I gave General Lee at least four good hours in which to make his way back to Bunker Hill the position that he had selected to meet McClellan, if that general chose to follow him. I observed an officer and an orderly riding down the hill towards the barn and house alluded to above, and, having cut the fuse and being just about to give the order to fire, I concluded to try a shot at these