From the Rapidan to Richmond and the Spottsylvania Campaign Part 13

We knew, and said, that among all her sons, Virginia had no braver son, than this one, who had died for her. Sadly we lamented--"What shall we do, in battle, and in camp, and on march, his form and face missing from among us?" There was not a sadder group of hearts along that blood-drenched line that evening, than ours, who bowed deeply sorrowing over the form of our dead captain. We took his body in our arms, and bore it to where we could place it in an ambulance.

It was sent to his home, and family, in Richmond, and buried in "Shockoe Cemetery." And now,--after thirty-two years have pa.s.sed, we, the old "Howitzers," still carry the name of "Ned McCarthy" in our hearts! We keep his memory green; we think of him, and rank him as a typical Confederate Soldier. One who by his splendid courage and devotion shed l.u.s.ter upon the name.

His stalwart form has gone to dust. The light of his bright, brave face has long gone from our eyes; the soul-stirring war time--when we were with him--has long pa.s.sed away. The changes and chances of this mortal life have brought many experiences to us who survived him. Our feet have wandered far, into many paths. We have toiled, and thought, and suffered, and enjoyed much, in the long years, since we last looked upon his form dead on the red field of "Cold Harbor." "The strong hours have conquered us" in many things. But--the n.o.ble memory of this man! as a patriot and a hero!

Ah! that lives in our hearts! The hearts of his comrades who, with their own eyes, saw him live and bear, and fight and die--for _Virginia_--and the South.

The battle of Cold Harbor ended Grant's direct advance on Richmond. He drew off in confessed defeat and inability to go on--afterwards, he advanced by way of Petersburg.

The operations on that line resolved themselves into a siege. That siege lasted through the fall and winter and early spring of '65, with many attempts to break our lines, which always failed.

On the second day of April, 1865, according to General Lee's own statement to General Meade, just after the surrender, the Army of Northern Virginia stood, with 27,000 men, holding a line thirty-two miles long; facing an army of 150,000 men. On that day our line was broken, and the retreat began.

Under the circ.u.mstances, the disentanglement of our army from that long line, and getting it on the march, with the enemy's powerful army close in their front, was a supreme display of, at once, the consummate generals.h.i.+p of General Lee, and the unshakable morale of the Southern troops.

The retreat continued for one week; we started from Petersburg Sunday, April 2, and reached Appomattox, Sat.u.r.day, April 8th. On that day, after the hunger, exhaustion, and losses in the many fights along the way, the Army stood at Appomattox, ninety miles from Petersburg, with 8,000 men with arms in their hands; and they were as "game" as ever. On that morning of April 9th, when General Gordon surrendered his little force of 1,300 men, he had to surrender 1,700 Federal soldiers, and fourteen pieces of artillery, which he had just captured from the enemy, while driving back their encircling line more than a mile.

Then General Lee, unwilling for useless sacrifice, surrendered the army, because it was "compelled to yield to overwhelming numbers and resources"--and that Army of Northern Virginia, when it was surrendered, had behind it this remarkable, and proud record, that, in the many battles it fought during the war, it was never once driven from the field of battle; and it was as defiant, and ready to fight at Appomattox as it was at Mana.s.sas, the first battle four years before.

As we turn from that closing scene, let us take a parting glance at the facts which, duly considered, enable us to form a true estimate of the fight the South made in that struggle of the Civil War.

The history of that war may be briefly, but accurately comprehended in this short statement. During the four years, '61 to '65, the North put into the field two million, eight hundred thousand (2,800,000) men. They were well armed, well equipped, and well fed--also, it had a Navy.

During those four years, the South put into the field less than six hundred thousand (600,000) men. They were poorly armed, poorly equipped, and poorly fed--much of the time, very poorly indeed! And it had no Navy.

It took those 2,800,000 men, with the Navy, four years to overcome those 600,000 men. In doing so they lost the lives of one million (1,000,000) men--nearly double the whole number of men the South put into the field.

What these facts mean, the world will judge--the world has judged! And the world has off its hat to the race who made that heroic fight!