186 Norto Caroiina Troops, 1861-’65.

France. Hello, France, come here, old fellow,” and the an-
swer came back: ‘How the devil can I come; don’t you see
I’m under guard?” And I at once recognized our old Valley
Mountain comrade, F. D. W., who remained with us until
the close of the war, often enlivening the camp with his dry
jokes.

The next day we were ordered to move back near Brandy
to put up winter quarters. On the way I felt like I would
have another chill, and seeing our doctor unpacking a box
near where we stopped, I went to him and told him what was
the matter. He unstopped a jug and poured out about a gill
of whiskey, telling me to drink it. I told him it would make
me drunk. He said “drink it,” which I did, and did not have
any chill, but had something else. The men went to work
cutting logs and putting up shanties on the land of the old
Congressman, John Minor Botts, who would not let us have
any straw .

MINE RUN.

The second day while camped here we had a grand cavalry
review of all the cavalry of the army on the same field where
Stuart fought the Federals the summer before. That night
about 10 o’clock, just as I was going to lie down, my only
brother, who belonged to Pogue’s Battalion, came up to the
fire and wanted to know if we did not have marching orders.
When informed that we did not, he said you will have soon for
everything between this and the river is on the move. Just
then the Adjutant came along and ordered us to pack up all
baggage and be ready to move at 4 o’clock a. m., and all our
calculations about winter quarters was knocked in the head
for the time. Some of the men had completed nice cabins
and expected to move into them the next morning, but such is
war. We found afterward that a force of the enemy had
erossed the river at a ford above us and were making an effort
to get in our rear. We were on the march before the time or-
dered, and soon found from the whistle of shells passing over
that we were followed. About daylight we halted on a high
ridge where we spent the day in line of battle. The artillery
and sharpshooters kept up a constant fire all day, a shell now

 

SIxTEENTH REGIMENT. 187

and then passing over our heads. About an hour after dark
we moved back to a road where we waited some time for some
others to pass and then marched on in the direction of Cul-
pepper Court House, which place we passed about 12 o’clock.

Culpepper was about the darkest town that night I ever
saw. I saw only one light in the town as we passed through.
Our artillery and wagons being in front and the road very
muddy, we made slow progress, and being an extremely cold
night I don’t think there was a fence rail left between Cul-
pepper and the Rapidan, all being burned. We crossed at
Barnett’s Ford early in the morning and went into camp near
the one we had left, feeling quite at home after an absence of
more than a month. We remained at this camp until about
23 November, when Captain L. P. Erwin came on a visit to
us, and I made a bet with him of a pound of candy, then
worth $25, that we would leave that place before morning, and
sure enough at 12 o’clock we had orders for marching at 4
o’clock, and before the citizens of Orange had gotten their
eyes open we had passed through the town on our way to the
Wilderness. Just after that, the writer was put in command
of the provost guard of the brigade. Just before night we
crossed a little stream called Mine Run and stopped for the
night. Next day we moved back across the Run and formed
line of battle on a ridge, and soon found General Meade and
his army in front of us. The weather had turned intensely
cold and there was great suffering among the men.

My guard was posted in rear of the line in an open field
on the high ground where the wind from the mountain had
full sweep at us, and the only protection we could get was to
put some pine tops into a deep gully on the icicles, where we
could lie on our blankets. “There was a continual artillery
and sharpshooter duel going on all the time but no fighting.
On the night of 1 December, 1863, Generals Lee, Stuart, A.
P. Hill and others rode up and down in rear of our lines
several times, and we made up our minds we would have
hot work in the morning. When daylight came we found the
Yankees had gone during the night. The order came at once
to follow, which we did, passing their works soon after cross-
ing the Run, where we found the sides of the road strewn with