John A. Sloan

“ Here we found the deserted camp of the enemy. Their camp-fires were still burning, many articles of camp equipage were lying around, everything showing that a panic had seized them and that their retreat was hasty and terrified. We hastened on in pursuit, at a rapid rate, capturing their stragglers at every turn. At the same time, we knew that Ewell was driving another corps of the enemy on our right up the Orange & Alexandria Railroad. Our men were in the highest spirits, confident not only of victory, but of destroying or capturing everything in front of us. ”

“ For his gallantry upon this occasion he was complimented in special orders, and was afterwards appointed ensign of the regiment, with the rank of lieutenant. The cause of the war may be forgotten, but the achievements of each soldier are the common property and common glory of the country, and are imperishable. The calm and cool courage displayed by this young lad of Guilford, who bore so well the brunt of this hard-fought field is worthy of the heroes who fell at Culloden. He bore the flag of his country's trust until the surrender. ”

“ During the day and the night of the 22d, we continued our toilsome march.
On these long marches, to prevent straggling, we are frequently halted for a rest, and this opportunity is taken by those who have fallen back to catch up with their commands. Any one passing through the troops at this time, be he officer or private, had to run the gauntlet of the gibes and witticisms of the men. On one occasion, while thus resting, a very tall, lean, lank soldier of the 5th "Georgy Regiment," appeared in the road, dragging along his weary length. ”

“ But though the Confederacy went down in fire and smoke, in blood and in tears, that truth, which was the guiding-star of the devoted soldiers who fought its battles, and of those at home who toiled and prayed for its success—that truth did not lower its standard or surrender its sword at Appomattox. We submit to the inevitable. We submit in dignity and in silence. ”

“ The day was glad with the golden brightness of an October sun, and as I gazed upon these mountains, clothed in their autumnal beauty, and in their everlasting fixity of repose, I could but contrast this grandeur and silence with the too recent scenes of blood and tumult upon the hills of Antietam. How brief, how insignificant is man's existence! Encamped so high above the world filled us with a sense of exaltation and awe. ”

“ Will not history consent, will not mankind applaud, when we still uphold our principles as right, our cause as just, our country to be honored, when those principles had for disciple, that cause for defender, that country for son—Robert Lee? ”

“ Not so with mothers, sisters, and sweethearts—for except our captain, none of as were married—nature seemed to have granted to these a vision of the future, which was denied to us, and while they cheered us on with encouraging words, there was manifest in their expression a deep but silent under-current of sad forebodings, not unaccompanied with tears. We marched to the depot with drums beating, and with that flag flying, which but twelve months before the girls had given us as a "banner of peace." ”

“ We have seen the government of the fathers removed from existence, and an engine of oppression, no longer a Union of States, but a Nation, like the devil-fish of the sea, reaching its hideous and devouring arms in all directions from one common centre, knowing only one law of action and of motive—the insatiate greed of avarice and plunder. ”

“ The mansion, situated upon a gentle elevation, was of old-time construction with the wide hall, large rooms and broad staircases, and colonade of immense pillars supporting the roof of the front porch. It was embowered in thick clusters of live oaks which stood round in a kind of outer park, while the inner park was composed of terraces covered with flowers and shrubbery, while thickets of rose gardens seemed to stretch in every direction. An aged negro was the only living being about the place. ”

“ They placed every confidence in their great and good leader, and looked forward to the time when the sunlight of this hope, with its golden radiance, would remove the veil and permit them to look out on the long and lovely paths that wind, amid beauty, to the far-off but glittering temples of their dreams, and find them realities. ”

“ Shall we now solemnly declare that we did not believe what we professed to fight for? Shall we thus insult, either in word or act, the memories of the dead heroes—and we dare maintain they died heroes—who sleep on a thousand hillsides and in the valleys of our common country? ”

“ About the middle of the day Davis' Mississippi brigade, which was a mile to our left, was marched down to our position and relieved us. We were then marched up the lines some two miles, where we crossed our works and formed a line outside of them. We then marched to the front about one mile, when we turned to the right, and forming line of battle, began to advance and soon struck the skirmish line of the enemy, which we drove with our line of battle some distance, until we came in view of their line posted upon a hill in a field behind earthworks. ”

“ About one hundred of our men and three or four guns were moved out of their places into the air, and when the smoke cleared away an opening about one hundred and fifty feet long, sixty feet wide, and thirty feet deep appeared in place of our earthworks. Simultaneously with this explosion the enemy opened a terrific fire along their whole front, and the white division selected for this occasion came slowly through the abattis up to this hole, where they were met by a merciless fire from our artillery, enfilading them right and left, with our infantry in their front. ”

“ A word to the survivors of the Guilford Grays, and I close these reminiscences. From the period of the outbreak of the war in April, 1861, to the surrender of the Confederate army in April, 1865, the muster-rolls of the Grays have contained one hundred and eighty names. Of this number, some were transferred to other commands, some were discharged for physical disabilities and other causes. A large proportion sleep, unmindful of the rude farmer's ploughshare upon the fields made memorable by their deeds. ”

“ Need you wonder, under these circumstances, that Lee's hungry rebels were all anticipation. The day was ushered in with a snow storm, but, nothing daunted, our brigade wagon was soon on its way to the depot to receive our share of the feast; but, unfortunately, these same pantrys, turkey-roosts, and hog-pens had been invaded so often before that our part of the grand dinner assumed microscopic proportions, and the wagon returned with about a half-bushel measure of dissected gobblers—our Christmas dinner! ”

“ After nightfall we rejoined our division on the left, and with them bivouaced upon the battle-field."
General R. E. Lee, in his report of this battle, makes complimentary mention of our regiment, and says, further, "this battle was fought by less than forty thousand men on our side, all of whom had undergone the greatest labors and hardships in the field and on the march. Nothing could surpass the determined valor with which they met the large army of the enemy, fully supplied and equipped, and the result reflected the highest credit on the officers and men engaged." ”

“ About ten o'clock dispositions were made for attack, when Gordon was ordered to advance.
In vain! Alas, in vain! Ye gallant few! Suddenly a halt was called, a flag of truce appeared upon the scene, hostilities ceased, and a dreamy sadness filled the April air. The grand old Army of Northern Virginia was environed! "I have done what I thought best for you," "the gray-headed man" said to his men. "My heart is too full to speak, but I wish you all health and happiness."
The negotiations relating to the surrender had been instituted on the 7th by a note from General Grant to General Lee. ”

“ We now continued our march, fighting by day and retreating by night. Our provision train was burned by the enemy near Rice's station, and our rations that night consisted of one quart of corn per man in lieu of meal. The next day we passed through Farmville. Having been the rear guard for several days, we were now relieved by Scales' North Carolina brigade. Organization and discipline was now rapidly giving away. We were skirmishing and fighting to protect ourselves at every point in a kind of Guerrilla warfare, every man, for the most part, doing his fighting on his own hook. ”

“ On each return of Spring, come and bring flowers, nature's choicest, and scatter them on their graves. So long as tears fall, come and shed them there, and show to the world that we, of all men, are not ashamed of their memories or afraid to vindicate their motives. ”

“ Lee with several of his staff was seated on horseback in rear of our lines and in proximity to the battle, awaiting the issue, when observing these men crossing the works without their guns, in seeming alarm and haste, he rode toward them, endeavoring to halt and return them to their command, when one of the "dusters," in grave alarm, raised his hands and voice in terror, exclaiming: "Great God, old man, get out of the way, you don't know nothing," continued his rapid flight too terrified to recognize or obey chieftain or orders. ”

“ John Sloan, promoted to Lieutenant-Colonelcy of the 27th Regiment. On the 22d of April, the Grays reorganized under the conscript act, and Capt. Adams was re-elected without opposition, his men having implicit confidence in his skill, ability, and courage. At the battle of Sharpsburg, he fell wounded to the death, a martyr to the cause he loved so well. Young in years, high in hopes, illustrious in daring and chivalrous deeds, he fills a soldier's grave in the quiet country of his native town—mourned by all who knew him. ”

“ As they had been driving our cavalry they were loth to retire, and fought us obstinately. Cooke then ordered his whole brigade into line. They, seeing now that they could not cope with us in fair fight, set fire to the woods and leaves in our front, and we were forced to advance through fire and smoke, our men suffering terribly from the heat, the day, besides, being exceedingly hot. We had been in too many hot places to be afraid of fire, so we made at them with a yell, and soon had their lines broken and in rapid retreat, with our cavalry—who had recovered—in pursuit of them. ”

“ At the dawn of day, on the 27th, we were on our way to meet Meade's army. The weather was intensely cold, and our men suffered greatly.
We proceeded to advance towards Fredericksburg. In the evening we met the enemy, and had quite a skirmish, losing several men from the regiment. On Saturday, a position was selected on the line of Mine Run, and in a short while we were strongly entrenched, and anxious for the enemy to attack us. On Monday, the 30th, the enemy being in our immediate front, we certainly expected an attack. ”

“ They came up at a gallop and endeavored to take position on a slight elevation, in the skirt of pines, immediately in rear of our regiment. Before they had time to unlimber, every horse in the battery was shot down. The men then endeavored to run the guns forward by hand, when nearly all the men were killed or wounded. One gun only was gotten in position, and it rendered but little service before it was dismantled. Having been under constant fire, and firing rapidly all day ourselves—each man averaging two hundred rounds of cartridges—it became necessary to replenish our ammunition. ”

“ At midnight of the first of April our brigade was relieved by Davis' Mississippi brigade. Our brigade now crossed the creek and took position in Fort Evliss. As soon as day dawned the enemy, being on three sides of us, opened fire upon us with artillery and infantry. Although protected to some extent, some of our men were killed by their shells during the morning. In the meanwhile a desperate fight was going on between fort Evliss, the position we were occupying, and Petersburg. Our position in the fort was only tenable, provided the troops on our left held their position. ”

“ In front of these woods, and on the face of the hill descending to the railroad embankment, was posted what we then supposed was the enemy's skirmish line, but which proved to be a decoy, for the troops which had retired at the firing of our artillery in the road, and a large body of those who had been retreating before Ewell, had stretched themselves behind the railroad embankment, forming their real line of battle, which consisted of the entire second corps and one division of the 5th corps of Meade's army. ”

“ On the 1st of July, late in the afternoon, line of battle was formed and orders were issued for a general advance at a given signal, and the bloody battle of Malvern Hill began. Several determined efforts were made to storm Crews Hill; "brigades advanced bravely across the open field raked by the fire of a hundred cannon and the muskets of large bodies of infantry. Some were broken and gave way; others approached close to the guns, driving back the infantry, compelling the advance batteries to retire to escape capture and mingling their dead with those of the enemy. ”

“ These two noble boys sleep among their loved ones, where, each returning spring, loving hands may plant the flowers which speak of the resurrection of the true and just, and of the land where eternal summer reigns. ”

“ General Holmes' artillery opened fire upon the enemy's infantry, which immediately gave way, and simultaneously their batteries, of twenty-five or thirty guns, and their gun-boats made a cross-fire upon us. Their force, both in infantry and artillery, being vastly superior to ours, any attempt upon our part to make an assault being considered worse than useless, we were withdrawn at night-fall. The enemy kept up their cannonading until after dark. ”