204 Nortru Carorrma Troops, 1861-65.

his utter surprise the next day an order came from headquar-
ters to put John Steadman under arrest for cutting trees in
rear of the line.

We got our cabins fixed up pretty soon, and then regular
details were made each day for work and picket. No camp
guard was kept up. General Lee had an immense dam con-
structed across a creek that run between Battery 45 and Fort
Gregg on the opposite hill, there being nothing between the
two forts. Our men were called on to work on the dam and
in a mine near our camp. About Christmas this dam was
completed and the waters stopped, but the dam did not fill for
two weeks, but when it did fill it was the largest body of fresh
water I ever saw and completely filled up the line between
the two forts. Then came a long and hard rain during the
latter part of the winter which broke the dam and tore up
everything below, smashed the railroad bridge and the stone
viaducts of the canal and almost stopped the Appomattox so
that all our hard work went for nothing.

CHRISTMAS DINNER, 1864.

About 1 December the Yankee papers gave an account of a
Christmas dinner that the people of the United States were
going to furnish their soldiers. Our papers also had a great
deal to say about it, and it was soon suggested that our army
have a Christmas dinner, and the people of the South were re-
quested to furnish it. A paper was sent to the company of-
ficers asking their opinions on the matter. I signed in oppo-
sition to the dinner, as I had spent the summer in North and
South Carolina and thought I understood the condition of
things there, and the other States were even in a worse condi-
tion. We were losing territory every day and communication
from the South was being constantly cut off, and I could not
see how anything could be accomplished to the satisfaction of
the army. I suggested that if the people had anything to
spare that they send it to their immediate friends and let them
enjoy it. I was out-voted and the dinner was ordered to be
sent. About two weeks after Christmas we had orders to send
to the commissary for our Christmas dinner, and when it came
we got for Company G one drumstick of a turkey, one rib of

 

 

SIXTEENTH REGIMENT. 205

mutton, one slice of roast beef, two biscuits, and a slice of
lightbread.

So our Christmas dinner was a failure, as I feared it
would be.

Early in December, 1864, General Grant made a move to
the left, known by the men as the “Belfield Raid.” The Six-
teenth was ordered out and marched just before dark, going
down the Weldon Railroad and as far as Belfield, in rain,
sleet and snow, but before we got there the Yankees under
Sheridan had been defeated and driven off, and after an ab-
sence of five days, hard marching but no fighting, the Six-
teenth was again back at Petersburg in their old quarters,
where we spent the remainder of the winter.

The first thing that greeted our sight each morning when
we opened our doors and looked to the front was the Federal
flag floating high above the timber in our front, and an obser-
vatory with a lookout on the top overlooking our lines and
Petersburg. During the winter there were several beautiful
displays of fireworks on the lines below us, which we enjoyed

very much, being at a safe distance. We would stand some-
times half the night watching the mortar shells flying through
the air, sometimes bursting in their passage and often appear-
ing to meet each other in the air.

FORT STEDMAN, 25 MARCH, 1865.

On the night of 24 March, General Lee massed a num-
ber of troops on the left of him and in front of Fort Stedman
for the purpose of capturing the fort. The lines at this point
were about 150 yards apart, the picket lines within fifty yards
of each other. “The pickets were generally captured before
they suspected anything was wrong, and then a grand dash
was made at the fort and works around, which were soon cap-
tured. By this time the Federals were waked up all along
the line and were moving to recapture the lost ground. There
was a great stir and commotion among them in our front, and
we expected them to make a dash at us, but we were not dis-
turbed—only badly scared. Very soon it was found that
such a strong force was brought against the place, and that
all the works captured could be enfiladed from other batteries,