Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 28.djvu/374

 368 Southern Historical Society Papers.

Although this was winter, and the men therefore expected to be quiet, doing only the camp duty, yet General Grant, drawing the net closer around the thin, long lines of General Lee, would not have it so, and we are accordingly hurried out of our quarters to meet the industrious enemy and find ourselves in the road and pushing on to Belfield; and what a trip it was! Talk about straggling; well, there was some done that night. But who could help it? It rained, hailed, snowed, and did everything else that was ever done before. Cold! Yes, I tell you it was. Remember this was in the month of January.

And then it was all for nothing. The weather had effected the enemy about the same way, and after marching all night we were halted near the Boydton plank road and parked our guns, the wind blowing so hard that it was almost impossible to raise a tent. What a night! I believe the men suffered more on this trip than they ever did before. Here it was we met the

OTEY BATTERY,

another Richmond company, which it seems had been sent out on this trip, and which had a rough experience. The next morning we received orders to march, and soon took the road, glad enough to reach our shanties.

And now, after arriving at our quarters and settling down to the performance of camp duties, we naturally discussed the possible out- come of this very unequal struggle in which might was to overthrow what we believed was right. Our lines at that time had been ex- tended to such length that it was almost impossible to keep close connection the men being so far apart. As the winter wore on our ranks once full* are now thin, the dreaded disease, pneumonia, had done its work well, and the future presented anything but an encour- aging outlook. It was while we lay here that our former commander, for whom the battery was named Captain W. G. Crenshaw sent each man a pair of boots. They were very acceptable at that time, and showed that although he was absent in person, yet he was with us in spirit not forgetting us. What would be the next move? We were never at ease. Being on the extreme right we were kept in an unsettled condition all the time. But now the year 1864 was a thing of the past and February, 1865, found us on the march, this time

to meet the enemy at

HATCHER'S RUN.

The Crenshaw Battery arrived in an open field just off from the