University of Virginia Library

CHAPTER XXVII.

From the neighborhood of Richmond General Pendleton
wrote on the I5th of April. The march from Louisa Court-House
had taken him directly by the "Rugswamp" gate, and very
near many of his friends and relatives; but under the imperative
orders to come with all speed to Richmond, he did not feel himself
at liberty to diverge from the direct road, even to visit his
old aunt, Mrs. Judith Nelson,—then upwards of eighty years old,
—at her hospitable home, "Oakland," in Hanover County.

"My letter from Louisa Court-House will, I hope, have
reached you and informed you of our march this way. . . . By
two, Sunday, we reached our camping-ground, some six miles
from Richmond, on the Brook turnpike, and Mr. John Stewart
most kindly tendered to my staff and myself the hospitalities of
his house. Yesterday morning we rode into the city, and I saw

Generals Lee, Johnston, etc., but received no orders, so we remain
for the present. I hope to get a letter from you to-day. It
will be a precious treat. I have not heard for about a fortnight.
But that I trust you all to the goodness of our Heavenly Father
I should be anxious. . . . Met Dr. Minnegerode on the street
yesterday. He is to have service at twelve to-day, and asked me
to preach for him. I promised, and will do the best I can,
though having no adequate time for preparation. . . . You wish
to know the state of my mind in prospect of the bloody conflict
impending. Of course I feel the hazard, but have very little
shrinking. God can cover my head as He has done before. If
He sees fit to have my days cut short and your hearts smitten by
such an affliction, He can make it work for good to us all, and
will, I am persuaded. . . . About yourselves: in case of a great
reverse to our arms, rendering any residence in Virginia insecure,
I would say, remain at home as long as it seems reasonably safe.
If you find the judicious and strong-hearted around you becoming
satisfied that Lexington is an unsafe abode, get to Lynchburg,
and then over to Danville in the best way that you can.
From there it would be practicable to find a safe nook somewhere
in the mountains of North Carolina. I hope to be able
to send you some two hundred dollars or more by the end of
the month. All this to meet a contingency; I don't expect any
such result. Keep a stout heart, trusting in God."

On the corner of this letter is written in pencil,—

"We march down to the Peninsula to-morrow."

The details of the march to Yorktown are simply the monotonous
trudging day after day through mud and sand, till men
and beasts were wearied out. Once opposite McClellan, the soldiers
had a brief resting spell, while the anxieties and responsibilities
of the generals became daily more oppressive. General
Pendleton's letters again give graphic accounts of the state of
military affairs:

A week later he wrote again,—

". . . It looks very much as if we should have to get back
nearer to Richmond before having any chance of a land battle.
On the water, or anywhere near enough to it to give scope to
their heavily-armed vessels, we have no way of meeting them on
terms that admit of success to us. Their large rifle-cannon so
far out-shoot anything we have, at least in sufficient abundance,
that we cannot reply to them with any effect. Some of the
vessels off Yorktown throw cannon-bolts of near one hundred
pounds between three and four miles, whereas our best rifle-cannon
cannot reach them at three miles. We had a rumor
yesterday that Jackson uniting with Ewell had fallen on Banks
and beaten him badly. I trust it is so. Though about our dear
ones there I feel a good deal o anxiety. . . . My health is perfectly
good. Our fare very slim, but enough to keep up strength.
. . . By the way, I had service on Sunday afternoon,—a good
congregation and a delightful time. Good was, I trust, done."

Not only was McClellan's army greatly in excess of General
Johnston's, and his artillery far superior in weight and range, but

it became evident that, taking advantage of the water communication
under his control, he intended moving up York River
and attacking Richmond from the direction of West Point.
General Johnston was therefore under the necessity of withdrawing
his forces with all haste from the Peninsula to mass
them near Richmond.

On the 3d of May the retrograde movement began. On the
4th McClellan telegraphed to Secretary Stanton, "Yorktown is
in our possession." It was impossible for the Confederates to
remove the heavy guns from the defences at York, and they
fell into the enemy's hands. A sharp skirmish took place between
the Federal cavalry and Johnston's rear on the afternoon
of the 4th. This was followed by a considerable fight on the
5th, at Williamsburg, between the Confederate rear-guard under
Major-General Longstreet and the division of the Federals under
General Hancock. Of this action General Johnston says,
" We fought for no other purpose than to hold the ground long
enough to enable our baggage-trains to get out of the way of
the troops. This object was accomplished without difficulty."[2]

Of the movement of the army and the fight at Williamsburg,
General Pendleton wrote,—

The battle of Seven Pines was fought May 31. A heavy rain
the day before had flooded the Chickahominy and its tributaries,
and turned the country around into a marsh. This rendered the
moving and marching difficult; but had General Johnston's plan
of action been promptly carried out, the Federal force south of
the Chickahominy might have been destroyed before additional
troops could have been brought to it across the swollen streams.
Unexpected delays, however, in the attack gave time for the
bringing over of reinforcements and rendered the engagement indecisive.
General Johnston was wounded and disabled late in the
evening of the 31st. Fighting was renewed the next morning,
June 1, but with no definite result, and both armies claimed the
victory. Of this battle General Pendleton wrote, June 3,—

". . . Two days ago we had a hopeful prospect of dealing the
Yankee invaders here a heavy blow, but it proved less stunning
than we intended. The flood in the Chickahominy was not
great enough to prevent their crossing pretty freely. . . . The
success, however, was very decided. Several batteries were captured,
as were many stores in the camp from which the enemy
was expelled. I had no part in the affair beyond some general
arrangements for the artillery. And, in fact, such is the character
of the ground through the greater part of the circuit about
Richmond that field-artillery promises very little. This constitutes
a very serious impediment in our way. For while the
Yankees creep up along the York River Railroad a yard or two
at a time, and plant heavy guns in position so as to bang away
at our troops, we cannot fairly operate against them with our
movable field-pieces. . . . In the conflict the other day we lost
several good officers. Indeed, our men suffered, I fear, more
than the Yankees,—the reason being that we charged their
works and drove them out. Nothing important was gained by
us. General Johnston received a wound, which disables him for
the present, and General Lee is in command."

It was not until after Seven Pines that General Pendleton had
leisure to fill up his staff as brigadier-general. His nephew,
Dudley D. Pendleton, became his adjutant-general, and George
Peterkin,[3] son of a beloved clerical brother, his aide-de-camp.
His original quartermasters, commissary, ordnance, and medical
officers, Major John Page, Captain William Meade, Major B. L.
Wolffe, Major John G. Barnwell, and Dr. I. Randolph Page, were
retained. To these were added as inspector Edward P. Dandridge,
and two volunteer aides, Charles Hatcher, of Richmond,
and Thomas M. Randolph, of Clarke County, Virginia.

Writing to Mr. Peterkin—at the time a private in Company
" F"—from Richmond of his appointment, General Pendleton
says,—

"There has been some hard fighting here, and we expect a
great deal more. McClellan wants to creep up inch by inch
with spade and big gun. We must try to foil him, but the
problem is difficult. God will, I trust, help and deliver us. He
has blessed General Jackson and his army."

The spring of 1862 had been a season of anxiety and apprehension
to General Pendleton's family in Lexington. War, with
its dangers, alarms, and privations, was still too new for the
household, composed of women and children, to have learned
thoroughly the patient fortitude and brave submission which
afterwards characterized the women of the South. Not to be
cut off from their dear ones in the army and left in the hands of
the invaders was then the dominant purpose. When Jackson, in
April, turned aside from the Federal front, and marching eastward,
encamped his forces in Swift Run Gap in the Blue Ridge,
the whole Shenandoah Valley was stricken with sudden panic.
Fugitives from Staunton carried the report to Lexington that
the whole region was abandoned by the Confederates, and that
the Yankees were pressing forward to occupy it. Mrs. Pendleton
decided to take her family to Lynchburg with all speed, and
thence in whatever direction might seem best. While the younger
ones packed up for removal, she and her daughter, Mrs. Lee,

went hither and thither in the pouring rain seeking means of
transportation. The heavy and incessant rains had swollen
James River and broken the canal, the only regular route of
travel. The roads were almost impassable, and the owners of
stages, wagons, and carriages refused to send away their horses
and vehicles when no one knew what tidings the next hour
might bring. Compelled thus to await as best they might the
coming of the enemy, or the relief of their fears, all thought of
leaving their home was relinquished, and never again entertained
during the war. Instead of this, the parsonage became a haven
of safety and rest to many a weary refugee and wounded soldier.