A Soldier's Story of His Regiment (61st Georgia): And Incidentally of the Lawton-Gordon-Evans Brigade Army of Northern Virginia

Chapter 17

205 CHAPTER. XVII. BA'rTLES OF HATCHER'S Rl.JN AND DEEP RUN AND CAPTURE OF FORT STEPHENS-CLOSING EVENTS OF THE WAR. General Gordon was now promoted to thE" command of a corps, and General Evans to the command of General Gordon's division. We camped twelve miles south of Petersburg. We had to build better winter quarters than we had ever built. We were building chimneys on Christmas day. We had about completed our winter quarters and finished cleaning up our camps by New Year's day, 1865. About the 5th of January, 1865, some of our regiment were sent on picket on Deep Run creek, several miles from camps. In the afternoon a thunder cloud came up from the southwest, and we had a very heavy rain. After the rain ceased, a gale of wind began to blow from the northwest; every flaw seemed to get colder, and the ground was freezing before dark. I had to go on vidette about 10 o'clock that night and stay one hour on top of a high hill. I was well wrapped in two good blankets, but there was not a tree or bush to protect me from this cold wind. I had orders to stand and watch, and that if I should see the enemy advancing , to shoot a signal gun and run back to the line of pickets. I did not stand, for if I had I am sure I would have been frozen in less than thirty minutes. I ran on ~he frozen ground until I was near1y tired down, and was very nearly frozen when relief came. It was about all I could do to get back across Deep Run and get to a fire. I told the officers in command that men could not stand to stay in that wind one hour. He saw how nearly frozen I was and changed the orders and had the videttes relieved every half hour. This wound up picket and vidette duty with me, for General Lee sent out orders to give one man from every company a furlough for twenty-four days, provided there was a man in every company who had never been home since he enlisted, and had always been a faithful and obedient soldier and his home was not inside the enemy's line. I was the only one in Company D, so our good officers fixed up one for me and sent it off for approval . I packed up and had everything in readiness. On the night of the 14th of January it came back approved. I was one proud boy, and was so glad I had not received one the winter before. Neal Browning, of Company C, Tom Bridges, of Company E, and Berry Birch, of Company K, all ~eceived furloughs at the same time. Captain E. F. Sharp, of Company K, who had commanded the regimf'nt since Colonels Lamar and Van Valkinburg were killed at Monocacy, Maryland, July 9th, 1864, received our furloughs. He sent for us to go up to his quarters where he told us to be ready at daylight next morning. We were ready by time the next morning and received our furloughs. We had to go to Petersburg to get our transportations and four days' rations. There had been a terrible 'freshet which had washed up the railroads in several places between Petersburg, Virginia, and Bellfield , North Carolina, so we had to walk that distance, which was seventy-two miles. We started on a plain, pnblic road and made twelve miles of the distance on the 15th of January. We camped in a real good, comfortable unoccupied house that night. We got 1:1P a plenty of wood, made a good fire, ate our 207 sUpper and soon went to sleep. Browning had married near Charlottsville, Va., the winter before. He left us at Petersburg and went to see his young wife instead of coming to Georgia. We three were all happy, for we expected to soon see our loved ones at home. We got up early next morning and started for Bellfield, N. C, which was sixty miles away. The ground was fro~en as hard as a brick and the ice on the streams was thick enough for us to cross on it. We met a great many wagons and cavalry who told us that trains going south left every morning at...