Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 28.djvu/313

 Th, Kh'ir^hooteraof Mahone's Of<l /In';/,,,/,: 307

for us, our raid was over, and our poor fellows still hard and fast in the bay of Samlusky!

Van /.unit is here, en route for Selma. Where we are to get offi- cers for the ironclads is beyond my ken. Tidball says we will have to organize the Provisional Navy, but this will hardly officer the ships. There is no talk of promotion, and very few officers seem either to think of or care for it. All hands seem to look forward to an early peace (though I can hardly see a glimmer of it) for the cre- ation of a Navy, forgetting that war is the time to create a love for the service which will make it popular in peace, and I begin 'to fear thatjour opportunity has passed and unimproved, though I hope not, for we have the elements of a splended Navy in the Confederacy, and it only requires zeal, pluck, and dash to bring it to the surface.

Very truly yours,

R. D. MINOR. Commander Catesby ap R. Jones.

[From the Richmond, Va., Dispatch, Februry 3, 1901.]

THE SHARPSHOOTERS OF MAHONE'S OLD BRIGADE AT THE CRATER.

WELDON, N. C., January 30, 1901. To the Editor of the Dispatch:

Referring to your editorial of the 29th with reference to the Bat- tle of the Crater, etc., I would say the battalion of sharpshooters was made from a "detail" from all regiments of Mahone's (old) brigade or D. A. Weisiger's brigade and was as strong, numeri- cally, as any regiment in the brigade.

The evening before the Battle of the Crater the Sixth Virginia Regiment relieved the sharpshooters, and the sharpshooters filled the gap at Wilcox Farm vacated by the Sixth Virginia Regiment. Next morning or the day of the Battle of the Crater we were rushed from Wilcox's Farm and took position in front of the Cra- ter, in brigade reverse form that is to say, the Twelfth Virginia Regiment took the ground nearest shore, and the brigade was filed