Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 32.djvu/343

 Feather stone- Posey -Harris Mississippi Brigade. 331

In December, 1861, we went into winter quarters at Davis' ford, some six miles from Manassas, on the Occoquan river, in Prince Wil- liam county, Va., and there whiled away the time drilling and doing picket duty until the middle of March, 1862. It was there we cel- ebrated the anniversary of the secession of Mississippi, on the Qth of January. It was there that we first endured the hardships of a Virginia winter and learned to skate on the ice of the frozen Occo- quan.

From Davis' ford, in March, 1862, we began our retreat. We recall the speech delivered by Colonel Hughes on that bleak March morning, just before our departure. Said he, straightening him- self up on his queer-looking war steed: "Soldiers, the enemy is trying to flank us; we are going to march to meet them. If you are cowards, stragglers, pilferers and plunderers, I will have you shot; but if you are hightoned, honorable Mississippi gentlemen, as I have always known you to be, I'll love you. Forward by the right flank; route step, march !" On the retreat from Davis' ford we passed through the wealthy counties of Fauquier, Culpeper and Orange, tarrying several days at Rappahannock station, finally reaching Orange county, Virginia, where we camped some fifteen days, and departed thence for the peninsula to join the forces of the gallant General John B. Magruder. Our brigade (Rhodes') was camped near Yorktown, and a small number of our command were here first engaged in an insignificant skirmish with the enemy.

While at Yorktown our term of service expired, and the regiment was reorganized by the election of W. H. Taylor, colonel; M. B. Harris, lieutenant-colonel, and W. H. Lilly, major. J. H. Capers was appointed adjutant, and E. H. McCaleb sergeant-major.

Joseph E Johnston, with his heroic army, after delaying McClellan many weeks around Yorktown, began to retreat up the peninsula to Richmond. The Federals overtook us at Williamsburg, and there an important engagement was fought between Hooker's Division of Heintzleman's Corps and the Confederate rear guard, commanded by General Longstreet, on the 5th of May, 1862. Although our regiment was under heavy fire, it cannot be said to have been ac- tually engaged in the battle of Williamsburg. After this important engagement, resulting in a great victory for the Confederate arms, we continued our march unmolested, and subsequently encamped on the banks of the Chickahominy, near Richmond. Here we re- mained until the morning of the 3Oth of May, 1862, when the long