Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 34.djvu/93

 New Light on the Great Drewry's Bluff Fight. 85

command of Captain Lee, and my command was revoked with instruction to report to Brigadier-General John H. Walker, which I declined to do, as I belonged to the provisional army, and they had no right to call upon me elsewhere for duty. I have forgotten to mention that the gallant Captain Tucker, of the Patrick Henry, did casemate one of his eight-inch guns on the river bank, just above the entrance to the fort, but as heavy rain had fallen the night before the gunboats reached the fort, its whole superstructure fell in, and we lost the benefit of his help, until the fight was nearly over; also that Lieutenant Catesby Jones did have a nine-inch Dahlgren in position around the curve in the river, but being out of range, he could not render

us any help.

(Signed) A. H. DREWRY.

SERGEANT MANNAS ACCOUNT.

The company afterwards known as the "Southside Heavy Artillery of Virginia Volunteers," was enlisted early in January, 1862, and towards the latter part of the month, assembled at Chesterfield Courthouse, where we proceeded to elect our com- missioned officers, with the following results :

For Captain Augustus H. Drewry.

For First Lieutenant James B. Jones.

For Second Lieutenant Spencer D. Ivey, and

For Third Lieutenant Dickerson V. Wilson.

All of the lieutenants had been officers in the Chesterfield militia, in which Lieutenant Wilson had held the rank of cap- tain. We then returned to our homes subject to a call to service in the Confederate States army, which had been at war with the United States army for about ten months, with varied success, previous to this time.

When on the 5th day of February, 1862, those of us who lived on this side of the county took train for Richmond at the Pocahontas depot, in the city of Petersburg, and were put off opposite to, and went into camp with the rest of the company at Battery No. 19, on the turnpike, a little south of Manchester, the day that the writer of this lacked eleven days of being twenty