Memoirs of William Nelson Pendleton, D.D., rector of Latimer parish, Lexington, Virginia; brigadier-general c.s.a.; chief of artillery, army of northern Virginia. |
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| XXXIV. | CHAPTER XXXIV. |
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 | CHAPTER XXXIV. Memoirs of William Nelson Pendleton, D.D., |  |
CHAPTER XXXIV.
SUMMER OF 1863—INVASION OF MARYLAND AND PENNSYLVANIA.
The Federal army had recrossed the Rappahannock, and the
Confederates returned to their old camps near Fredericksburg.
Only a day or two was given for rest, and then the work of preparing
for another contest began. General Pendleton wrote
May 9,—
". . . Sandie and I are both well. I saw him for a half-hour
this morning.
"General Jackson is extremely ill from pneumonia, taken by
wrapping himself, all wounded and sore as he was, in a wet
sheet. . . . General Lee has issued an admirable order,—you
will see in print before long,—ascribing honor to God for the
great victory, and calling on the army to express thanks in their
now, and we are refitting for the next time."
General Jackson died on the 10th of May,[1]
and his remains
were sent first to Richmond and then to Lexington, under
charge of Sandie Pendleton, his adjutant-general, and Lieutenant
Smith, his aide-de-camp. The whole South mourned for the
fallen hero. But in Virginia he was specially beloved, and was
the idol of the people in the valley, whom he had so nobly defended
and delivered from outrage and oppression. Rockbridge
County and Lexington looked upon him as the bulwark which
shielded them from Northern invasion, and wept for him as the
most honored and beloved of all their gallant sons. In Richmond
his remains lay in state in the Hall of the Representatives,
wrapped in the newly-adopted white banner of the Confederacy,
and were visited by many thousand citizens and soldiers. They
were then taken to Lexington, where the dying soldier had requested
to be buried, accompanied by the military escort, by the
general's widow and infant daughter, and a number of sorrowing
friends. The whole population of Rockbridge and the adjacent
counties turned out to render all the honor in their power to
the man whom they had so loved and reverenced, and whose
loss they so deeply mourned. The many wounded and disabled
soldiers assembled, and the Cadet Battalion of the Virginia
Military Institute, where Jackson had been professor, gave a
martial air to the procession which attended the dead hero first
to his own recitation-room in the barracks, thence to the Presbyterian
church, where he had been a devout attendant, and finally
to his last resting-place in the cemetery.
"There was a grand funeral cortége. The soldiers sent to
Mrs. Jackson to request to come next the body, and were
permitted to do so. That was the most touching part of the
spectacle."[2]
General Pendleton to his wife.
". . . To-day, I suppose, General Jackson's remains reach
Lexington for interment, and Sandie will see you all. I could
not write after I knew he was going. On Tuesday I met the
chaplains and addressed them. Good will, I hope, result. After
the services Mr. Lacy took occasion to speak to the meeting of
General Jackson's last days. The facts are striking and may
well be preserved. At certain steps of the disease he was delirious,
and in such states of mind his thoughts seemed filled
with military duty. At one time he would exclaim, 'I must find
out whether there is high ground between Chancellorsville and
the river;' at another, 'Push up the columns! Hasten the columns!
Pendleton (Sandie), you take charge of that. Where's
Pendleton? Tell him to push up the columns!' When rational,
as he generally was, he was all composure and contentment.
Soon after he was wounded, when General Lee, fearing he might
fall into the enemy's hands, directed that he should be removed
to a safer position, he charged Dr. McGuire not to remove him
if there was danger to his life from the wounds under the motion,
saying, 'I'm not afraid of the Yankees; if they get me,
they'll not injure me.' When his wounds had been dressed and
friends saw him, he expressed entire contentment, saying, 'God
loves me, I know. I love Him, I believe, and He has pledged all
things to work together for good to them that love Him. I am
sure this is for my good, and if I am not permitted to see how
now, I am content to await the full explanation in heaven.' 'You
never saw me in a more contented frame of mind than now,' said
he to Mr. Lacy; and when asked, 'if it be best for you, how is it
with the country?' he replied, 'It is no doubt best for the country
also, and that will, by and by, be seen.' Mr. Lacy intended to
go with him, when it was hoped he would be able to travel to
Richmond and Lexington, and at first he seemed pleased; but
after a night he called Mr. Lacy to him and said, 'It would be
setting an example of self-gratification to the troops, and you
had better stay at your post of duty. I have always tried to set
the troops a good example.' His end was perfect peace. A
glorious Christian! A noble man! I thank God for intimate
with so pure, so grand a character. Who will fill his place
we do not yet know. Ewell is much talked off. If he can get
about with sufficient ease he will no doubt do well. At any
rate, Jackson's example will be mighty in animating alike commanders
and men. . . . All quiet in our front. The enemy reorganizing,
—probably for another great effort. We, too, engaged
in refitting. It will in all likelihood be the bloodiest campaign
of the war. . . . Our food hard but wholesome,—a little bacon,
sugar, biscuits, and water, morning, mid-day, and evening. Our
horses, however, feasting on fine clover-fields."
". . . You ask how I did during the heavy rains. Very tolerably.
Was out in about the hardest I ever saw, yet did not get
wet. My old great-coat absorbed all and kept me dry. Our
wagons, tents, etc., had all been sent to the rear, and I had not
even a blanket Did with only one or two hours' sleep in the
twenty-four for several days at the time of the fight, and with
hardly any food. But this is too common in our army to be
thought of."
". . . I have been exceedingly busy trying to distribute justly,
and according to the necessities of the service, the captured
guns; also equalizing, as far as practicable, the armaments of the
several artillery battalions of this army, and securing to the utmost
from our means the complete fitness for duty—in the most
efficient manner—of all the artillery. It is much the most complex
branch of service, and requires ceaseless care and untiring
labor. Few men have worked these two years as I have. And
yet poor were the reward if the applause of men were my
motive! Of this, however, no matter. I am trying to serve
God in manifold ways and through some trials. He gives me a
large measure of peace of mind, and will enable me, I trust, to
do some good to the country, and promote His glory in the
upholding of His cause and in the salvation of souls.
"Last Sunday morning I preached at General Semmes's brigade.
The congregation was very large. A number of ladies present.
In the afternoon I went with Lieutenant Harris and six or seven
of my staff to a secluded spot on a stream a mile off—a sweet
and he wishes to consult their feelings. It was a solemn
occasion. . . . I had sent a sort of report to Bishop Johns, as I
could not go down to the Council.[3] . . . By the way, the field-officers
of the old 'Stonewall Brigade' all resign at Colonel
Walker's being made their brigadier, and mention three persons
whom they would have preferred,—Sandie one of the three!
You will be gratified at this. But I fear we are in danger of
worldly elation for him, and my prayer to God is not to expose
him to vanity, ambition, pride, or worldliness in any form, but to
give him an humble, godly, faithful heart."
On the same date Sandie Pendleton wrote of his own restlessness
under the uncertainty as to General Jackson's successor and
the reorganizing of the army into three corps,—
". . . I feel better to-day. I suppose because I am sure now
of my status, and though not content, yet intend to make the
best of it. I went yesterday to General Lee's head-quarters to
ask to be relieved. But he will not hear of any such thing.
He disapproves entirely of any change in the general staff, as
officers have to become acquainted with the duties and with the
command, and change almost necessarily produces confusion and
injury to the service.
"Lieutenant-generals have been made by promoting both
Ewell and A. P. Hill, and we are to have three corps here instead
of two. When Ewell comes up it will be all straight, for
McGuire and I will go with him, and probably the rest of the
staff."
General Pendleton wrote of the change in the formation of the
army, of his son's illness, and other matters,—
". . . Sandie is quite sick with dysentery. I saw him yesterday
flat on his back in his tent. Have tried to get him in a
days. I regret it, as General Ewell has come, and needs Sandie
in the position he has so long filled. Three corps now,—Longstreet's
First, Ewell's Second, A. P. Hill's Third. I have to adjust
the artillery to suit. This is part of my work to-day. In
rearranging for these three corps I break up the general reserve,
and assign Colonel William Nelson's battalion to General Ewell's
corps and Colonel Cutts's to General A. P. Hill's; also make a
new battalion, so as to give five battalions to each corps,—making
fifteen in all, besides the horse-artillery with Stuart's cavalry. We
have about two hundred and seventy pieces with this army, including
Stuart's. . . . I had last week a long and pleasing talk
with General Lee on the great question of religion. I visited
him on duty. He was alone and introduced the subject He is
in earnest. Wept a good deal as we talked of Jackson. He is
deeply concerned for the spiritual welfare of the soldiers. Bishop
Johns is to be up (D. V.) day after to-morrow. If a move occurs
of course it will mar his usefulness. The general wants me to
aid in rendering the bishop's visit as useful and pleasant as
possible."
"Sandie came up in an ambulance yesterday afternoon, and I
tried to get him in at old Mrs. Alsop's, who lives within a hundred
and fifty yards. But she would not consent. I had a good
bed made in my tent, and rendered him as comfortable as could
be. Gave him a good cup of coffee this morning, and then he
went in the ambulance to Dr. Chandler's, where General Jackson
died. I hope he was better this morning, but he is right sick
and very weak."
Bishop Johns did visit the army at Fredericksburg, and General
Pendleton was informed by General Lee of his arrival at
Mr. Marye's on June 3. But the time had come for General
Lee's forward movement, and the religious services were much
interfered with.[4]
By the last of May General Lee's preparations for a new
campaign were completed, his plans carefully thought out, and
into three corps: the First under Lieutenant-General Longstreet,
consisting of three divisions, commanded by Generals McLaws,
Pickett, and Hood; the Second under Lieutenant-General Ewell,
—the three divisions of Rodes, Early, and Johnson; the Third
under Lieutenant-General A. P. Hill,—the three divisions of
Anderson, Heth, and Pender. To each of these corps were
attached five battalions of artillery, three of which acted with
the divisions, while two constituted a reserve. The number of
guns with the army—two hundred and seventy—allowed, by
act of the Confederate Congress, three brigadiers, seven colonels,
twelve lieutenant-colonels, and eighteen majors; there were,
however, at this time only one brigadier,—General Pendleton,—
six colonels, six lieutenant-colonels, and nineteen majors. These
were not thought a sufficient number for the efficient command
of the artillery force, and General Pendleton did not cease to
urge the appointment of the officers allowed, both on the ground
of improvement to the service and as well-earned promotion for
gallant deeds on many a hard-fought field. By the largest estimate,
the number of troops was sixty-eight thousand three hundred
and fifty-two; of these there were fifty-four thousand three
hundred and fifty-six infantry, four thousand four hundred and
sixty artillery, nine thousand five hundred and thirty-six cavalry.
On the 3d of June part of the First Corps set out from its encampment
on the Rappahannock for Culpeper Court-House.
The Second Corps followed on the 5th. Of this move Sandie
Pendleton wrote,—
"Your letter of the 1st, which I got yesterday as I lay on a sickbed
at Guinnea's, cheered me so that I feel bound to answer it
this last evening of our stay around Fredericksburg. In the last
week I have been very sick. The excitement of the news of a
move, together with the kind nursing of Mrs. Chandler in the
same room and on the same bed on which General Jackson died,
brought me out, so that I was able to ride in an ambulance up to
camp last night. Am to-day right sharp again, though very
weak.
"The campaigns of the Rappahannock are ended for one
season, I believe. At any rate, we are off for parts unknown tomorrow,
Ewell is here in command of the Second Corps, which is diminished
by the taking out of one division,—A. P. Hill's. All are
pleased with him. His health is pretty good now,[5] and he
seems quite pleased to get back into the field. He manages his
leg very well, and walks only with a stick, and mounts his horse
quite easily from the ground. And then he is pleased with General
Jackson's staff, and of course we are with him."
The Third Corps remained opposite Fredericksburg. Of these
movements and of the Federal demonstration at Fredericksburg
on the 5th General Pendleton wrote,—
"You see by the heading of this where we are. . . . Evening
before last the enemy began a furious cannonade just below
Fredericksburg. They succeeded in driving off our sharpshooters,
laid down their bridge, and crossed. This kept me up
till late that night hard at work preparing for them. So Saturday
morning by dawn I was at it again, having guns in right
position, etc. Having by nine traversed the most important
parts of our line, I met with General Lee. We remained till
about one. Then it being pretty certain that the move was a
sham, General Lee concluded to move himself on his original
plan, and desired me to do the same. I broke up camp about
three P.M. and started. Got near twenty miles by dark, to the
farm of Mr. Lacy. Then encamped. Not a soul of the family
there,—only fields and houses and a few cattle. (I was so sleepy
last night I stopped, and am now writing just at sunrise, Monday,
the 8th.) We got good rest Saturday night, started early
Sunday morning, and reached Culpeper by half-past one. I
went to Mr. Cole's and got dinner. General Ewell, Sandie, etc.,
have arrived. I have not seen them. . . . Having assigned the
reserve artillery battalions, I have now no special charge, but
superintend all the artillery, and direct in battle such portions as
may most need my personal attention. This is a better arrangement,
I think. My work will be much as it has been, but freer,
my care. We had a pleasant rain on the march Saturday. Hope
you have been similarly refreshed. It is singularly cool since,—
a fire would hardly be amiss."
Sandie Pendleton to his mother.
". . . We reached here Sunday morning, and a day less Sabbath-like
I have never seen. . . . A despatch has just come from
Stuart that a large body of Yankee cavalry has crossed the Rappahannock
at Beverly's Ford in our front. An 'armed reconnoissance
in force,' I presume. I hope it will soon be over and let
us move on. I am anxious to get over into the valley and thence
to Maryland. Yesterday there was a grand cavalry review of
about eight thousand by Stuart and Longstreet, General Lee
and all the other generals. A grand show it was. General
Ewell is in fine health and fine spirits,—rides on horseback as
well as any one need to. The more I see of him the more I am
pleased with him. In some of his traits of character he is very
much like General Jackson, especially in his total disregard of
his own comfort and safety, and his inflexibility of purpose. He
is so thoroughly honest, too, and has only the one desire, to
conquer the Yankees. I look for great things from him, and am
glad to say that our troops have for him a good deal of the same
feeling they had towards General Jackson."
From General Pendleton.
". . . It seemed yesterday as if we were to have a battle here.
But it proved only a partial engagement. Stuart and his cavalry
were approached by a force of the enemy and had a sharp conflict.
Our troops suffered seriously, but repulsed the enemy
with considerable loss to the invaders. The day before Stuart
had a grand review of the cavalry. General Lee asked me to
accompany him to it, and I did, and had a ride of it,—some six
miles at full run for our horses, down the line and up again, and
then had to sit on our horses in the dust half the day for the
squadrons to march in display backward and forward near us.
the poor fellows laid in their graves or groaning with wounds!"
On the l0th of June Ewell's corps left Culpeper for the valley,
and on the 14th drove Milroy out of Winchester, capturing most
of his force, his artillery, and supplies of every kind. General
Rodes took possession of Martinsburg, twelve miles beyond
Winchester, capturing more prisoners and artillery. Of this
fight and the forward movement of the Second Corps Sandie
Pendleton wrote from Martinsburg, June 18,—
"The victory at Winchester was the most complete of the war
as far as stores are concerned. It far surpasses the defeat of
Banks; thirty pieces of elegant artillery, thousands of small-arms,
vast quantities of clothing and supplies, all the camp and
garrison equipage, every wagon and ambulance with their horses,
are no small prize for our army. But we are not stopping here.
Jenkins, with his cavalry brigade, is already at Chambersburg,—
Rodes's division moving to Hagerstown and Johnson's crossing
at Shepherdstown. We are going to Harrisburg. Horses, cattle,
and stores of all sorts are to be taken at the rate of a dollar
Confederate,—equal to a dollar specie. I am going to get a
horse,—a good one, too. Got some nice clothes from the sutlers
and officers in Winchester. If I can I will get some shoes, etc.,
for the girls, and some kid gloves,—weightier articles I can't
carry."
General Hooker only learned from the repulse of his cavalry
on the 9th of June that the main part of the Confederate army
had moved from his front far to his right. He then threw forward
a part of his own army in the same direction; but it was
not until the 13th, when Ewell attacked Winchester, that the
last of the Federal force recrossed the Rappahannock at Fredericksburg,
and followed the main body, which fell back towards
Washington. The returns for the two armies for the month of
May show their strength to have been at this time on the Yankee
side one hundred and nine thousand nine hundred and sixteen
infantry and twelve thousand one hundred and sixty-two cavalry,
on the Confederate side sixty-eight thousand three hundred and
force concentrated, so that he might have used it at once
in any direction; while General Lee's army stretched from Winchester
to Fredericksburg, and was separated by two mountain
ranges and more than one swiftly-flowing river. On the 14th A.
P. Hill marched to Culpeper and thence to the valley. Longstreet
and Stuart skirted the eastern side of the Blue Ridge,
guarding the mountain passes, until they neared the Potomac,
when Longstreet also crossed the mountains and the Shenandoah
River, so as to close up with Hill, and follow Ewell, now well
over the Pennsylvania line. The relief to the people of the
valley was great when they found themselves freed from Milroy's
oppression, and they welcomed the Southern soldiers eagerly as
their deliverers.
"You are before this aware of our being in this part of the
world, as I wrote of our proceedings since we left Culpeper. . . .
They have done well with Ewell's corps, and are now all in
Maryland. The rest of us are for the present in this region. . . .
Yesterday I preached for Mr. Sutor,—a good and attentive congregation.
Generals Lee and Longstreet present. After church
I rode to Brother Hugh's. They are well. I gave Gurdon one
hundred dollars to lay out in dry goods for you if he goes into
Maryland, as he expects to. Made a memorandum from your
last letter,—a piece or two of cotton, ditto of calico, ditto of
mousseline, assortments of spools, skeins, etc., of cotton, silk, and
thread, pins, needles, tapes, buttons, hooks and eyes, etc., etc. I
don't know what he will be able to do, and if he gets the things
how I can get them to you, but will try." . . .
"Having received orders to march in the morning, I write tonight.
I have been privileged to see most of our friends. . . .
This afternoon I sent a servant on horseback to Brother Hugh's,
and got a supply of the finest cherries you ever saw. Sent some
to General Lee and staff, with two nice lemons out of five sent
me by an unknown lady near our camp. Major Taylor sent a
note of thanks for the present, which arrived, he said, most
opportunely, as they were just finishing dinner. . . . We move
on towards the Potomac to-morrow. Yankeedom is greatly
in duty, strengthen for efficient service, protect from injury, and
guide to victory, justice, and peace!"
Hagerstown and Chambersburg, Friday, June 26, 1863.
"Day before yesterday we marched from Berryville and
camped that night at Darkesville,—just where General Jackson
had his head-quarters two years ago when we were in line of
battle expecting Patterson. Yesterday morning we started at
four and proceeded through Martinsburg. Crossed the Potomac
at Williamsport last evening and camped half a mile north of
the river. This morning we came on through a most disagreeable
rain all day, first to Hagerstown, where General Lee got me
to see some good Southerner to learn about roads, etc. I went
with George Peterkin to see a Dr. Magill. Very much of a
gentleman and not less earnest than the most thorough-going
among ourselves. He has been fourteen months in Fort Warren,
and has met a Yankee mob of five thousand so resolutely with
his shot-gun as to prevent their tearing down his house as they
threatened. They were all very kind. A number of ladies
walked through the mud and rain half a mile to see General
Lee. . . . After remaining near Hagerstown some two hours, we
marched on and camped, where we now are, in Pennsylvania.
Ewell and the cavalry ahead of him have swept along before us,
so that we do not see the full harvest of Yankee alarm, etc.
Houses are generally shut, and horses, cattle, etc., are missing.
"Our men are entirely forbearing. No private property taken
by violence, no quiet person molested. A great exhibition of
forbearance after all the outrage perpetrated by the Yankees on
our soil and our friends. But it is right, and will tell for good
by and by. We will take by authority all supplies needed.
Everything at old prices here. And we give only Confederate
money at par. Thus far we get nothing but eatables for man
and beast. Gurdon got nothing. Stores all shut. He returned
me the money. No chance of getting anything while Ewell's
corps is ahead. We expect a great battle before long. Hooker
must of course meet us somewhere in this country. His men
be the severest struggle of the war. God grant it may
help us to independence and peace. This country has felt no
war. We shall not take vengeance for their atrocious wrongs
against us. . . . The Yankee Episcopal minister in Hagerstown
told Perkins he supposed General Pendleton had renounced the
ministry. 'Not a bit of it,' Perkins told him."
Of their progress northward Sandie Pendleton wrote to his
mother,—
"My dear Mother,—As I have spent all the money I have
in the world—seventy-five dollars—in buying dry-goods for you
and the girls, and expect to send them back to Winchester to
Dr. McGuire's this afternoon, I write to let you know the facts
and to enclose the bill. Whether my selection is good as to
taste I don't know. I think the black one for yourself pretty.
Should have bought a silk, but couldn't find any. There are no
shoes or gloves in the place, nor, I expect, will any be found on
our route. The people along the railroad north of our position
run off everything as we advance. But we are collecting large
supplies of all sorts, mostly commissary stores, and sending
them to Virginia. No violence of any sort has been done to
any citizen. No women insulted, or anything done in any way
to emulate the behavior of the Yankees in our country. We
have passed through a most beautiful and highly-cultivated
region, but so orderly has been our march that no damage of
any kind has been done, and you would not know that an army
had passed at all, much less one which had suffered such provocations
to retaliation and the wreaking of private revenge as
ours. There is no straggling and the men are in elegant spirits.
. . . In Pennsylvania! Rather a pleasant feeling to know that
you have a country at your mercy and are magnanimous. The
Yankees must feel rascally after their behavior in our country.
. . . I am in such a state of excitement that I can't write. I
think of you often and wish you were along. We live elegantly.
I have gotten nothing for myself except what Milroy furnished,
and don't expect to. I send by the same mail one Harper's
Mississippi. A marked contrast to our occupancy here."
The whole Confederate army was now in Pennsylvania, on the
west side of the mountains. On the 27th of June General Lee
issued, at Chambersburg, an order commending his troops for
their spirit and good conduct on their long and arduous march,
and forbidding all injury and outrage to persons or property.
Up to this time no information had been received as to the
movements of the Federal army. General Stuart, with his cavalry,
had pushed so far to the eastward, that the crossing of the
Potomac by General Hooker—June 25 and 26—threw the Federal
army between Stuart's command and General Lee, who was
thus left without means of ascertaining the movements and
position of his adversary. An advance upon Harrisburg had
been ordered, but, on the night of the 28th, information was received
that General Meade had superseded General Hooker, and
that the Federal army had reached Frederick, Maryland. The
Confederate forces were immediately directed to concentrate east
of the mountains. Ewell, at Carlisle, and Early, at York, were
recalled to join the army somewhere near Gettysburg, towards
which place A. P. Hill and Longstreet moved eastwardly through
the mountain-passes.
The Northern army, under its new commander, was pressed
rapidly on, and on the 1st of July Hill's advance met the Federal
cavalry a few miles west of Gettysburg. Whether the encounter
was to prove only a skirmish or the beginning of a serious engagement
could not, in the absence of cavalry on the front, be
ascertained.
| CHAPTER XXXIV. Memoirs of William Nelson Pendleton, D.D., | |