Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 34.djvu/106

 98 Southern Historical Society Papers.

vented, for if the Federal gunboats had succeeded in passing Drewry's Bluff on that day the capital of the Confederacy would have at once been at their mercy, and the Confederate troops would have been compelled to retreat from Richmond, and prob- ably from Virginia. This gallant band of Chesterfield men by their heroic conduct on this occasion, thus not only saved the capi- tal of the Confederacy from capture, but prolonged the war for three years, and enabled the "Army of Northern Virginia" to write its heroic achievements in blood and fire for three long years. The proud record of that magnificent army, which will be the boast of all future generations of Virginians, might never have been made.

The men of Chesterfield who composed the Southside Heavy Artillery, commanded by Augustus H. Drewry, who drove back the iron-clad fleet down the James river on that momentous day are justly entitled to the laurel wreath of victors, and should ever be cherished in the hearts of their countrymen.