Roger Hannaford served in the 2nd Ohio Cavalryduring the Civil War. Following his discharge in1865 Hannaford wrote the story of his three years'service. His manuscript was given to the CincinnatiHistorical Society by Francis Hannaford, hisgrandson.

This part of the Hannaford narrativecovers the last three days of the Civil Warin Virginia in the region near and aroundAppomattox.

The Last Days of Rebellion

by Stephen Z. Starr

" D oger Hannaford, born in England, came to America with his parents in 1844,•*- ^at the age of ten. The Hannafords settled in Cheviot, where Roger, mar-ried in 1855, was living when the Civil War broke out. Three of his four brothersenlisted immediately (one of them, Edwin A., wrote the history of his regiment,the 6th Ohio Volunteer Infantry), but Roger, with a wife and two small childrento support, did not feel it his duty to do so until the fall of 1862. Stonewall Jack-son had cleared the Shenandoah Valley of Union troops; George B. McClellan'scampaign to capture Richmond had ended in failure; John Pope had been badlybeaten in the Second Battle of Bull Run. Those were "dark days" for the Union,and Roger decided, he wrote, that "it was time for me to go, and I went."

Hannaford enlisted in a company that was to be part of a new regiment ofcavalry, but the War Department added the company and three others to fill upthe greatly depleted ranks of the 2nd Ohio Cavalry. That regiment, raised inthe Cleveland area in the fall of 1861, had campaigned in Missouri, easternKansas, and the Indian Territory for ten months, and lost half its original com-plement in the process.

Hannaford has not explained why he chose to enlist in the cavalry, ratherthan in the infantry or the artillery. His sober, matter-of-fact personality sug-gests that whatever his reason may have been, it was not the glamor, real orassumed, of the cavalry service.

After being reorganized and reequipped at Camp Dennison in late 1862,the 2nd Ohio Cavalry campaigned in Kentucky and East Tennessee throughout1863. In March 1864, after reenlisting as "veterans," the regiment was shippedEast, and became part of the Cavalry Corps, commanded by Philip Sheridan, ofthe Army of the Potomac.

Hannaford was a good and exceptionally conscientious soldier. Wounded atBlue Springs, Tennessee, in October, 1863, he returned to duty as soon as hewas discharged from the hospital. He was made Quartermaster-Sergeant of hisCompany M, and had risen to First Sergeant when he was mustered out of theservice in the fall of 1865. A year later he began to write the story of his threeyears' service. He had kept a diary from time to time, he had an excellent mem-ory, and was also able to verify names, dates and places in the many letters hehad written his wife, all of which she preserved. When Roger finished writing

in 1874, he had produced an intensely interesting, vivid, highly personal nar-rative on 1,528-plus pages of legal-size paper (an obviously small number ofconcluding pages are missing). The manuscript was given to The CincinnatiHistorical Society by Roger's grandson, Mr. Francis Hannaford.

The necessarily abbreviated section of the Hannaford narrative here repro-duced covers the last three days of the Civil War in Virginia, April 7-9, 1865.Hannaford's erratic punctuation and paragraphing have been corrected; mili-tary terms, which he habitually but inconsistently abbreviated (e.g., "Batt,""Brig.," "Genl." "i5#NYC." and "Hd. Qrs.") are given in full; otherwise thetext is entirely his.

Another section of Hannaford's narrative, covering the "Wilson Raid" (June21-29, 1864) was published in Civil War History, Vol. XXI, No. 3 (September,1975), pp. 218-41. A third section, covering his experiences in winter campnear Winchester, Virginia in January-February, 1864, is scheduled for publi-cation in the Virginia Magazine of History and Biography in late 1977 or early1978.

Friday, April j#. We moved as soon as it was light . . . up to the farm house.. . . Here we got breakfast, & Custer, who was in the house, inspected theprisoners, who literally covered acres.1 After breakfast (whether the prisonersrec'd any I can't say) . . . they were started back toward Petersburg. In startingthey marched past Division Headquarters in immense ranks as much as 300yards long, the men being as close as they [could] conveniently walk; then, onreaching a certain point, they would make a right half-wheel, break intocolumn of fours, & march. They had some spirit in them notwithstanding allthe hardships they had passed thro'. The Division Band were playing as . . .they marched; when they played "Yankee Doodle," "Hail Columbia" & kindredtunes, they would groan, but as . . . they struck up "Dixie," this called outrousing cheers from them . . . it had a sharpness about it, reminding us of therebel y e l l . . . it was a noble sight [as] they moved off, with the manner & treadof trained soldiers, & it was impossible not to accord them respect as brave men.Often enough had we met them to prove this.

The sun lifted the fog & shone mildly down as they moved away, but it soonclouded up & was a showery day. The 1st Connecticut was detailed as a guardfor the prisoners, so that our Brigade was now very small, [the] 2nd New York,2nd Ohio & 3d New Jersey Cavalry being all [that were] left.2 Talking about thesize of our Division, it always used to be called 5,000 in newspapers, reports,&c.; now, I had it from excellent authority, being from a staff Officer at DivisionHeadquarters, that on the morning of April 6#, 1865, the total number of menreported for duty was exactly 2,121. There were 3 Brigades in the Division, oursI think decidedly the smallest; but, calling it 700 men, it did pretty well . . . tocapture 3,400 of the enemy, which was the number in round figures . . . I cap-

tured 5 men, 2 of the g# Alabama, 1 of the 22nd Georgia, 1 of the 2nd MarylandBattalion, & 1 of the Engineer Corps . . . If a small man did all this, what wouldnot some of the big fellows do?

Poor Quince Park had his stallion shot when our boys got in such a tight place(on the 6 # ) & this morning the animal would scarcely move.3 Quince nearlycried as he turned him loose, have brot him back within a few miles of wherehe was captured, for Quince captured him on the Wilson raid, & but a few milessouth of where he left him. . . .4

As soon as the prisoners left, we mounted; taking the road, we . . . came toBig Sailor Creek, the banks of which [are] steep & precipitous, covered too withbushes of evergreens. . . . Across the stream the top of the bank was coveredwith "gopher holes" to protect skirmishers, & farther back, the road on bothsides was cut up by rifle pits, at times reaching quite a distance into the fields.All the way to & beyond Rice's Station it was the same.5 Here we [saw] thetrain[s] of the 24# Corps, proving that they were somewhere near.6 A mile ortwo beyond we came on the 6# Corps; they were in what seemed a kind ofslough, busy making a . . . corduroy road.7 I see my diary says the day was fine,but I am almost sure that we had quite a shower after crossing this low place.I have an indistinct idea of . . . riding in the woods among the dripping treesto overtake the column & regain my place, & also that the roads were horrible& that the clouds were breaking away as we neared Prince Edward Court Houseat 4 . . . P.M.8 We halted an hour or more in this place & got dinner. I rode upin the village, & found a lot of corn. In passing one house I saw a boy some 15years of age, who was in a terrible rage. It seemed that some soldier had whenat his house found a shotgun which he forthwith confiscated. The boy talkedof his rights, after the most approved Southern fashion.

As I returned to camp, I rode alongside of one of the [men of the] 1 st MichiganCavalry. He was talking about his Division. Why, said he, since Custer left the1st Division, it has done nothing.9 We have captured but two flags since; "now,"said he, "all you hear about is the 3d Division. The 3d Division captured so manycannon, Custer's Division captured so many battle flags, nothing but the 3dDivision, while the 1st Division is scarcely heard of. The fact is, you have Custernow." I well knew he spoke the truth, for while Wilson had command of the 3dDivision, it was scarcely ever heard of, except to speak of its ill-luck.10 Take theWilson raid, for example. Its reputation in the Corps was at the lowest; scarcelya member of it would willingly acknowledge his connection with it, but now itwas very different. Each member felt proud to be known as one of Custer's Di-vision, & for some time there had been much talk about adopting some distinc-tive badge for our Division, but during the hurry & excitement of an activecampaign nothing definite had been reached. Why, we ask, should these thingsbe so? The material of the Division was the same then as now; in truth, we hadlost many veterans since then, & rec'd some recruits, so really the material maybe said to have been better then. The fact is, the whole difference [was] in the

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It was said that after thedaring, dashing, and aggres-sive General Custer tookcommand of the 3d Division"all you hear about is the3d Division." Each soldierwas proud to be a part ofCuster's troops.

General George A. Custer

commanders. Wilson was universally considered to be an unlucky man. Wenever went into a fight but that we expected to be beat. We neither had confi-dence in him or ourselves, but with Custer, ever since the fight at Tom's Brookon Oct. g#, 1864, we never began but we felt sure of victory . . . . n

We did not make a long halt at Prince Edwards; left going west, passingKautz's (old) Division of Cavalry along the roadside, resting.12 About dusk wecame to a considerable creek, turned up it a short distance, moved a mile or sofarther . . . & went into camp just before reaching Buffalo river, rather unex-pectedly too, as it was not the intention to stop, but the bridge was in such a con-dition that the trainfs] could not cross on it, until repaired. Half an hour afterhalting, & as we had everything ready to get supper, Companies M & H wereordered to saddle up & go on picket. There was some grumbling, but we went,except some 3 or 4 who, as soon as we halted, had rolled themselves up in theirblankets & were now terribly deaf & slept on. We forded the river just below thebridge, then turned off to the right nearly a mile from camp, & were posted ontop of a high bare hill, a splendid place for a day picket post, but a poor post fora night picket. We all considered [that] our being posted there was a mere mat-ter of form, so built large fires & made ourselves comfortable . . . ,13

Saturday, April 8#. The sun must have been nearly three hours high beforewe were called in, & found our Regiment was a mile or two ahead . . . We over-took the Regiment about a mile before reaching Prospect Station, where wehalted an hour.14 Here we found the 2nd Division, which [on] the morning ofthe 7# had parted from us, moving directly in rear of Lee's army, overtakingthe rear-guard at High Bridge and Farmville.15 A portion of the Division at-tacked, and were driven back with severe loss. From what the 2nd Division boyssaid, it appeared to have been a very rash affair, & if made in the suppositionthat Lee's men were too much disheartened & used up to fight, they found outthat it was a mistake. The 2nd Division boys had found at Prospect Station alarge quantity of tobacco of different kinds, and when our Regiment came alongopposite the i3# Ohio Volunteer Cavalry, the men of that Regiment stoodalongside the road with their arms full of tobacco, calling out as the columnpassed bye, "are you Buckeyes? where are the Buckeyes?" and when we came tothem crowded up, offering us, yes, pressing us, to take tobacco; if one kind didnot suit, take some other.16 They really seemed glad to meet us, shaking hands,treating us like old friends. I could not but feel my heart warm towards them,tho I did not know a single man. By some means they knew that the wholeCavalry Corps would meet here . . . & the idea struck them to get enough tobaccofor themselves & the other "Buckeye boys," & I was glad to see our men appre-ciated the kind thought.

After resting an hour, our Division again moved . . . Nothing of interest oc-curred; we pressed forward at a fast walk, & though the day was quite warm,we did not halt until 4 o'clock . . . when we halted for a few minutes only, oppo-site a farm house. As is always the case, most of the boys went to the house to

1 1

see what could be got for man or beast. We found some officers at the house &they had already placed a safe-guard over the corn, so nothing was to be had. . . .After a short rest we again moved rapidly forward; the roads were in good con-dition, the day beautiful, quite warm at mid-day but toward evening exceedinglypleasant, the sky cloudless, [the] air still & serene, & not the least sign of the pres-ence of an armed foe . . . I well reccollect feeling very hungry, & eating some ofthe raw shoulder I carried in my nose sack, & hunting up small pieces of cracker.

Before I had finished my repast we heard the sharp cracking of musketry ashort distance ahead.17 The column immediately started off at a sharp trot. Aswe neared the R. R. crossing (for at the time we were south of the R. R.) wemet a string of prisoners, some 40 probably, under charge of a guard, who werehurrying them to the rear. Among the prisoners were a few negroes; these asthey met us called out. . . "hurry up, hurry up, & you[n]s will get all of urn."As we crossed the RR . . . at "A," we saw, up the track to our left, several locomo-tives & a large number of cars.18 As we hurried by we noticed that each hadsteam up. In the open field "B" was General Custer & staff . . . they were all inthe greatest excitement, Custer giving orders, pointing with his left handtoward the locomotives & trains, & to us with his right, calling on us to "forward,boys." The enemy were in the woods in his immediate front; as we entered thewoods, our Brigade . . . the 2nd New York in advance, our Regiment next, &the 3d New Jersey in the rear, a total of about 400 men, deployed right & left,driving the enemy's skirmishers before us.

What happened on the rest of the line I really cannot tell, so will relate myown experience. Our Company were on the left, & we drove the "rebels" throthe woods until we came to the roadway, having in our front the open field "C."By this time it was sundown, & in the woods it was growing dusky. As we cameout on the road, the rebel line, which was formed on a slight rise in back of theold log cabin, rose up & poured into our thin line . . . a perfectly terrific (as wellas a flanking) volley, then charged down toward us, keeping under cover of theold cabin. It was impossible to stand this fire so we fell back thro the woods,followed by a tempest of lead. Major Barnitz tried to reform us about half wayback, but so awful was the fire that it was useless . . . & we were nearly backthro the woods before the line was again formed.19 These woods were very muchof the wilderness order, & our line . . . was so thin, that each man, or at leastevery two or three (for the men in such a case are most sure to lump together)made an independent advance.

It was at this time that Ge[o]phard was wounded; sometime during the after-noon, Higgins, Geophard, Jack Gray & a few others of the company had left thecolumn & gone off foraging.20 The two first mentioned got back just as we de-ployed. As we advanced thro the woods . . . I hear[d] Geophard coming up onthe right, yelling out, "forward, boys; forward 2nd Ohio; Company M forward."I knew in a moment that he was drunk. We rode into the road together & wefired one or two rounds each, & it was the volley the rebs fired as they rose that

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/

Hannaford's hand drawn map shows the rail-road tracks (A) which they crossed, the locationof Custer (B), and the open field (C) fromwhich the Union troops drove the "rebels"through the woods.

he was hit, or when they ran down to the log-hut they might have picked himoff, he being drunken stubborn & not falling back when the line did. Bauerfound him half an hour afterward, still clinging to his horse . . . utterly uncon-scious & speechless; he was shot thro the bowels, thro the hand, & I think hitsome other place.21 He died near mid-night... I could but pity him, victim ashe was to his own folly.

While in front of field "C" I turned to my right to return the fire of the rebels& found that my carbine had . . . become useless. The lockplate had jarred looseon the stock & the hammer would not strike the pin. This was the great & I thinkmost the only fault with the "Spencer."22

When the line was reformed, the 3[d] New Jersey was now up, & most of ourRegiment were on the right of the road. I was on the extreme right almost, & theright of the line advanced . . . to "D" when the "rebs" opened on us with grape& cannister.23 They also had been & still did shell the crossing "A" vigorously.Luckily they could not see us & the first discharge . . . passed over our heads,but the line divided, part swaying left, part right, leaving an open space some150 yds. wide, over which the grape & cannister swept like hail. It would havebeen impossible for anything to have lived in that space. I did not leave untilafter the 4# or 5# discharge, being sheltered behind an enormous ches[t]nuttree, keeping my mare's head up against the tree. By that time I found it im-possible to keep her still; she was frightened at the sound of the grape & can-nister flying among the leaves & bushes on every side. So, watching, I gallopedoff to the right, right after a discharge.

By this time it was growing quite dark. Still farther to our right, in that largefield "E," the 2nd Brigade (or a portion of it) was posted . . . I rode a short dis-tance down, & saw that the "rebs" were developing a heavy force down there,rapidly driving the i5# New York toward the R. R. Here I was joined by the"Lieutenant Colonel" of either the 8# or i5# New York (for both were in the2nd Brigade); which, I really now cannot say.24 He always used to be consid-ered a coward, & if half that was told of him was true, it was certainly true. Hewas rather a fine looking man of some 45 years of age, with curly hair wornlong, & a heavy dark beard. He used to wear a dark velvet jacket with velveteencorduroy pants, heavy cavalry boots, & altogether presented the appearance ofan Officer got up for show & not service. I was watching very intently the i5#New York . . . when I saw the Lieutenant Colonel approaching, leading hispony. As he joined me, he apologized rather for leaving his command, sayinghis horse was wounded, but where, I could not see. It would seem that he hadnot looked behind for awhile . . . after talking a short time I told him that wehad better get out of this, for the 15# New York were being driven, & the enemyrapidly nearing us. This put him in a terrible flurry. He sprang back, buckledthe girths & sprang into his saddle utterly regardless of his wounded beast, &urged me to fall back with him, saying he did not know where to find our line.I saw we must retreat, & knew that it must be across the line of the artillery

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fire, & so rapidly were the pieces served that I felt sure it was impossible to doso between the discharges. Waiting until the discharge of grape & cannisterhad passed us. I started in, calling on him to follow. The road was rough & it wasquite dusk & we had to go slow. We were but very little more than half wayacross the line of fire (150 yards) when the two pieces bellowed out & we wereimmediately surrounded above & on every side by the hurtling, whistling showerof iron & lead. Dusk as it was, I saw a grape shot nearly as large as a hen's egg,strike the ground, scattering & throwing the leaves before it, some 30 yards tomy right. It made one bound over my mare's back & struck me on the upperpart of my pelvis bone two or three inches from the spine. The greatest forceof it was broken as it struck the ground; it also struck first the corner of mycartridge box . . . this it jammed against the cantel of the saddle, also strikingthe sling of my carbine. All these combined broke the blow materially; still,there was force enough to tear a large hole in my blouse & strike me a hardblow, making a large black & blue lump. As I felt the blow, I gave a grunt . . . .The Lieutenant Colonel immediately called out & asked if I was hit. I told himI was. Without another word he put spurs to his horse, & passed me like awhirlwind, never stopping to ask how & where I was wounded or if I neededassistance. That was the last I saw of him. . . .

Before another discharge I was safely across, then turned to see the i 5 #New York. They had lost much ground . . . & were making for the woods nearthe R. R. It was now too dark to see the forms of the men, but the flash of theirguns showed . . . distinctly how matters stood. The foremost of the "rebs" werenearly half-way across the open field, yelling as the[y] went. I opened on themwith my Spencer, calling on some 4 or 5 others to do the same, which they did,thus taking them on the right flank. Whether this had any influence I cannotsay; it might only have been the darkness; certain it is that [the] enemy halted &then fell back. Lucky indeed for us was it that there was not left an hour of day-light, for this would have enabled . . . [them] to have reached the R. R. in ourrear. This, in the scattered disposition in which our Division was, would haveI feel certain . . . resulted in our dispersion & defeat, in which many men wouldbe killed & more captured, & our trophies on the track would have been recap-tured. Very anxious was I as I saw the rebels so rapidly driving the i 5 # NewYork, well knowing that Custer, who at the head of a few brave spir[i]ts, wasmaking charge after charge on the enemy up near the old log cabin, was entirelyignorant of it, as the following proves: as I opened on the "rebs" in the field,some staff Officer came riding up to me, ordering me with terrible oaths to stopfiring, saying they were our own men, the i 5 # New York being down there. Hecalled me everything he could lay tongue to, swearing he would shoot me if Idid not stop . . . I knew he was ignorant of the situation, so answered him verycoolly that the i 5 # New York were there a few minutes ago, but they had beendriven & now were back almost to the woods. Look, said I, see from the flash ofthe guns if the i 5 # New York are not back to our right & that those are "rebs."

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As he looked, it was plain to be seen . . ."Why, why, that's so. They are Johnnies.Give it to them, boys. I must go back & report," said he, & away he went onthe lope.

In a few minutes the frightful yelling ceased, the musketry in the field beganto droop & soon ceased to my great joy, for by this time I began to feel very sick &was in great pain . . . Reaching the main road, I fell in with one of Company C.Soon we came to the Provost Marshal, & the Company C man, wishing an ex-cuse to get to the rear, said he was helping a wounded man . . . The Captainwanted to know if the wounded man could not ride alone, & ordered him to thefront, saying that while wounded men would be directed to the rear, no oneshould be allowed to sneak away.25 For my part, I did not know what to do.I could learn nothing about my Company or Regiment, & soon beginning to feelmuch better, I rode up toward the log cabin, in back of beyond which the fight-ing at times was brisk. By this time knowing I was but severely bruised, I beganto feel ashamed of myself, & the excuse of the Company C man disgusted me,& I felt I really had no better excuse to sneak away than he had. Near the cabin &in & near the open field C I found numbers of our Regiment . . . nothing seemedto be doing, & all I could learn was that Custer at the head of a few men wasstill leading charges on the "rebs" who were stationed in the open field "F." Herethey made a most determined stand, but just about this time Custer succeededin driving them out of this field, capturing in it several pieces of artillery . . . .26

By this time it was 8 o'clock, & the moon was just beginning to rise over thetree tops. There are several small woods roads running from Appomattox Sta-tion toward the field F, centering finally in the main road to Clover Hill, & it wason these little roads that Custer led the charges & was at last successful bysending a force well around to the left, coming in on the enemy's flank & rear. . . . From what Quince & others who were in it told me . . . [there] must havebeen altogether nearly a dozen different charges, Custer leading every one,calling on the men to follow him. The rebels fought as though they had indeedreached the last ditch & knew it, & I expect were too tired to run. As for ourmen, it was impossible to gather up more than a dozen to a score at each charge. . . . Said Quince, "We expected Custer would be killed every time, but he wasnot scratched, tho he had a horse or two killed under him. He really appearedto lead a charmed life.". . . It may be thought curious that no more could be brottogether, but it must be considered that it was dark, & no man likes to fight ina new & perfectly strange country after dark. Many a brave man at noon is avery coward at midnight . . . Of course in the darkness it is very easy to evadeOfficers who if they could only see would soon force larger numbers to the front& let me add that many an Officer who when hunting up skulkers in the rearis a terrible man, likes that work much better than heading a charge, & ferventlyprays that skulkers may be plenty.

But as I say, at last Custer succeeded in driving the enemy . . . Away off tothe North West a rebel battery still kept firing, but none of the shells came near

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A South Carolina fire eater, who knewnothing of the truce, shouted "SouthCarolinians never surrender," andordered his unit to attack thinking theUnion forces were scattered and wouldeasily be beaten.

us; they were shelling the Clover Hill road, nearly a mile beyond us. There wasa small party of our men that charged fairly into the rebel camp at AppomattoxCourt House, or Clover Hill, as it is more generally called, riding over & betweenthe tired & sleeping rebels & out again before they were sufficiently awake tostop them . . . Our bugle call recalling & gathering together numbers of scat-tered men, after half an hour's waiting our Regiment moved . . . In a short timewe halted . . . After a hasty supper, during which firing was heard all aroundus nearly, we remounted & went south of the R. R., somewhat west of the sta-tion, camping in a heavy piece of woodland.

Sunday, April g#. I was up in good time. We soon had breakfast, but nomovement was made for an hour or two after. We curried & fed our horses, tookthem down to a little brook . . . to water, allowing them to graze in an open fieldthere, chatted together over the events of the previous evening as we washedourselves, Hen Lewis showing me a large hole in his pants where he was struckby a grape shot, & I well reccollect seeing then an Infantry straggler slowlywending his weary way westward on the R. R., showing us that some of theInfantry were up.27 It was 8 o'clock . . . when I slowly went back to camp, find-ing the men lying around, some sleeping, some of the lazy ones eating breakfast,others in the groups talking about Geophard & others who had died the nightbefore.

Just after I got back, Jack Gray came back from watering his horse. I sawthat he was dressed in full suit of rebel grey which he had found in some housewhen out foraging the day before. I saw too that already . . . he was much underthe influence of liquor, or rather it is doubtful whether he had sobered off atall during the night. "Boys," said he with considerable of a flourish, "boys, I amgoing to the front. I am going to see what they are doing out at the front." Soaway he rode . . . We never saw him afterward, and for a long time we knewnot what had become of him. At last Dote McCoy (his brother) reed a letterfrom a Hospital Chaplain at Farmville . . . saying that Jack was there in GeneralHospital, very dangerously wounded, & in a few days after he died there. Weafterward learnt from a Captain of the 13 # Ohio Volunteer Cavalry that as thatRegiment was hurriedly falling back, who should he come across but Jack Grey(alias McCoy) shot thro' both hips. He recognized him in a moment, both beingfrom Oxford, O., & Jack knew him; it was impossible at the time to remove him& later in the day, when the rebels fell back . . . [and] the Captain returned tofind him he was already removed . . . Poor Jack! If it had not been for applejack, he might have been living now.

Our Division being withdrawn from the front. . . the 2nd Division held theadvance on the morning of April g#. As soon as it was possible to see, theenemy, bringing his whole force up, made a most furious attack on the 2ndDivision, who, being dismounted & behind slight works, held them a short timein check, but they were soon forced to fall back, fighting stubbornly, as theywent, taking advantage of every k n o l l . . . in that broken, uneven country, but it

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was plain as could be to us that the fighting was drawing nearer, & just after Icame back from watering . . . the bullets began every once in awhile to crashamong the tree-tops overhead.28 This made us very anxious, & much specula-tion was indulged [in] as to how many & what Infantry were already up, foroverestimating as we did Lee's strength . . . & feeling certain that we had all ofit to cope with, we felt sure we would be thrashed. Nearer came the fighting,oftener flew the bullets among the tree tops, & more anxious we grew. Ourhorses were already saddled, & we were waiting for the order to mount, whichwe felt must soon come; come it did, finding us all in our saddles in a trice.Moving down toward the R. R. . . . we saw a sight that revived our droopingspirits wonderfully. The main road was full of colored troops of the 25 # Corps,who, though it was plain to see were almost ready to drop from fatigue, havingbeen marched all night, much of it on the double quick, were now hurrying by. . . as we saw the poor tired fellows, many of them reeling with fatigue, otherswith their mouths wide open, & most all limping from foot sores, we gave thema hearty cheer, which brought forth a quick response & seemed to infuse newlife for a moment in the poor, footsore, weary fellows.29

As we neared the top of the ridge north of the R. R., we came on two lines ofbattle, the men lying flat on their faces, & glad enough no doubt to rest aftertheir terrible march; they were the 24 # Corps . . . & so worn out were most ofthe men that but very few lifted their heads to observe the passing Cavalry . . . .It was no road we were on; we were only making for a road. As we were crossingthe hill we could [see] Lee's wagon train strung out, very slowly moving east. Itseemed they were in such a position that they knew not what to do, & were nowtaking the back track . . . our orders were to capture that wagon train, whichwe now could plainly see less than a mile distant. . . when all of a sudden thecolumn came to a sudden halt. Why, no one knew, but soon rumors flew likewildfire that Lee had sent in a flag of truce. Not many minutes elapsed beforeGeneral Custer, in an almost frenzied excitement, hat in hand, rode along thecolumn, informing us that General Lee had sent in a flag of truce to arrangeterms of surrender. Often have I seen men excited, but never in all my experi-ence did I see men so utterly beside themselves. Every one seemed to catch theexcitement of our beloved commander in ten fold strength, & so wild a bodywas never before seen or heard. We yelled & cheered, threw our caps in the air,shook hands, danced, & cut such capers as at any other time we would havebeen ashamed of . . . Not until we were almost exhausted, which was in about10 minutes, did we begin to talk about it in a rational manner. The idea wasuniversal —even the dullest seem[ed] to understand the great fact —that thewar was over. Another thing we did not have the least doubt. . . but that Leewould surrender; we knew at least that we would soon force him to.

How my thoughts went back . . . to the time when I used to read the oft re-peated sentence, "all is quiet on the Potomac," & longfed] . . . to hear of thesuccess of the Army of the Potomac . . . . If Lee's army could only be defeated &

19

Richmond taken, every one was sure the war would be over . . . . Never then didI have the least thought that I would be one of the atoms to bring this about.

But to return, while we were all eagerly talking, we saw a General on a blackhorse, followed by his staff, coming rapidly down the road toward us, & we allsupposed it to be little Phil.30 Our Regiment was in the rear of the column, & wedetermined to give him an ovation, so we drew up in line on the north side ofthe road, waiting for his approach. When he came a little nearer we saw it waslittle General Merritt. . . but this made no difference.31 We were ready to cheera man much less popular than Merritt, so when he came opposite us, such acheer went up . . . [as] is seldom heard, caught up by each succeeding Regiment.So sudden was the outburst that his horse, though well used to cheering, wasfrightened, bounding off with a quick jump to the left, bringing up in a deepmud hole, from which he with difficulty withdrew himself. An awkward horse-man would have found himself floundering beside the horse in the mud hole,but Merritt scarcely swerved in his saddle . . . but with his cap in his hand, hisface wreathed in smiles, he bowed continually to the men as he passed along. . . . As he disappeared we saw another General mounted on a black horse. Thiswe knew must be Sheridan, "so now boys be all ready" passed along the line & wearranged ourselves as before, waiting caps in hand for little Phil. As he cameat "A" we opened, giving him 3 rousing cheers.32 Off flew his hat, but only for amoment, & he allowed a smile to appear on his stern features, as we swung ourcaps & cheered, the whole column taking up the cheers . . . .

After Sheridan passed by most of the men moved out into the woods, beingvery eager to see if we could see anything of the rebels . . . I had got about 100yards from the main road & was peering toward the Court House, being anxiousto see where the enemy was . . . All at once we were aroused by hearing firing &I saw a column of rebel Cavalry coming up the ridge road . . . We all saw thiscolumn . . . forming in line, but stood . . . looking at them, & it was only whenthey opened on us with a regular volley, & began to move forward with a yell,that we understood that they were in earnest, & that it was not a little mistake.The command now rang out "to your horses, men," & we began to see work onhand. In a trice we were back to our horses . . . the order "forward march" wasgiven, & with tremendous cheer the whole line went for the "rebels." They . . .stood bravely up to the work, & [we] were fully half way toward them, & werebreaking into a trot before they broke & turned, then our whole line dashed afterthem, the enemy retreating . . . down the ridge . . . Several of the Cavalry menwere captured, the most ridiculous part of the thing being some drunken "rebel"riding toward us, just as we closed on them, with a small dirty white rag some6 or 8 in. square, hoisted on a little switch, yet it was respected by most everysoldier, the result being an immediate halt & no more firing. The whole storycame out afterward; it seemed that this Brigade or Division of rebel cavalry hadbeen off east somewhere & knew nothing of the flag of truce . . . until he came tothe battery & the Infantry support, the Officers of which told him all about it,

20

Jl. /

Another of Hannaford's sketches shows theposition of Union troops and Sheridan's routeinto the Court House area. After he had passedby, most of the Union men anxious to seewhere the rebels were moved into the woods.

General Philip Sheridan, having blockedGeneral Lee's last escape route, rode intothe Appomattox Court House region andreceived rousing cheers from the troops.

General Philip H. Sheridan

w.

but he was a fool as well as a South Carolina fire-eater . . . so, supposing . . . thisan excellent time to immortalize himself, uttered that famous remark, "SouthCarolinians never surrender,". . . so gave orders for his command to attack, sup-posing us so scattered that we would be easily beaten, but he soon found out hismistake . . .33 The battery at "D," six large guns . . . never fired a gun, altho werode almost up to the guns' muzzle[s] & few of our men even passed by them &the Infantry support, yet not a musket was fired, as it was well known that [the]Cavalry Commander began the fight in point blank violation of a flag of truce. . . Yet one life (if not more) was to be here wasted; that was Sergeant BenWerry, Company A [of] our Regiment.34 The story was related by some Officerof the Regiment that killed him . . . Ben rode in between the guns, & came tothe right of some Alabama Regiment that was one of the batteries' support . . .Ben rode up to the Colonel, demanding the surrender of the whole Regiment.They laughed at him . . . asking him what he meant? Ben swore that he meantjust exactly what he said. They . . . again only laughed. This rose Ben's ire, &riding up to their battle flag, which was stuck in the ground . . . he snatched it,drew it out & turned to ride away on the gallop, but he had not gone more than10 to 12 yards before both horse & rider fell, riddled with balls, the whole rightof the Regiment firing at him . . . . It was known that he was pretty full ofapple-jack; this would make even a sensible a man as Sergeant Werry a fool.This made the tenth man of Company "A" killed within ten days . . . It threw agloom over the whole Regiment . . . .

After the redoubtable South Carolinians had been defeated, the men turned,eagerly inquiring for Sheridan, the idea being almost universal that some mis-hap had befallen him, for it was not 5 minutes after he passed us before wewere fired into . . . & for a few minutes the men were perfectly wild, as manythought the "rebs" would kill him on sight, others that he was captured, &rumors of his death & capture spread like lightening, but in a short time quietwas restored, the facts fully ascertained . . . .

When the men were quieted down, our Brigade was taken into the woods &drawn up in Regimental lines, while Custer established his Headquarters . . .directly across the road . . . Here General Custer rode up & down before eachline, informing the men of what had been so far done, that Grant & Lee had met,that commissioners on each side had been appointed to agree on terms, that thefinal meeting for surrendering (or not) was set for 2 o'clock; again the mencheered & yelled, & then like sensible men they all began getting dinner, so asto [be] ready for emergencies if at 2 P.M. it should happen Lee refused to sur-render. Very little doubt was ascertained of this, for from the ridge on whichwe lay we could [see] enormous long lines of our Infantry lying perfectly still onthe west & south-west of the Court House, & we knew that it was the same onthe south, south-east & East. We all knew that if Lee refused to surrender . . . hiswhole force would be butchered. The affair might be bloody, but it must beshort, even giving Lee credit for the number of men we imagined to be left with

23

him . . . Lucky indeed was it that it was not one week later, when the news cameof the foul murder of our martyred President. Why, I much doubt if the com-bined influence of all the Generals could have controled the fury of the men . . . .

One thing our men did not much fancy . . . was that guards were placed notonly in our front but in front of the rebels (they putting out a line) & no manwas allowed to cross that line, orders being given to fire on any one persisting. . . & even after the surrender strict orders were given to us not to move beyonda certain line.35

About i o'clock the rebel battery "D" & its supports, also the Alabama Reg-iment at "E" were withdrawn . . . This enabled the Company "A" boys to searchfor Sergeant Werry . . . They soon found him lying stiff & stark, covered withblood & wounds, & close beside him his faithful horse; when I saw him theyhad wrapped his blanket around him & he lay ready for his grave which hiscomrades were busy digging . . . Leaving there I went over to "F", that being asfar as we dared go, & watched the rebs who were in the ravine below. I noticedthem carrying water from the run & rails from a fence; no doubt the poor fellowswere doing their best to recruit after the hardships of the past week or ten days.We all gazed too with curious & anxious eyes at the small low cottage from thetop of which floated a large red flag, ensignia of Lee's Headquarters, from whichmounted men occasionally rode to & from. I begged the privelege . . . of someOfficer of a glance thro his field glass, & then I could almost discern the features,tho' they were half a mile distant.

Before this, however . . . while most of the men were in camp, having justfinished dinner, I noticed two rebel Officers come riding up the road . . . Theystopped immediately in front of Custer's Headquarters at "C." The Generalwas lying, or lounging rather, at the foot of an enormous oak, having finisheddinner a short time before. Near bye was the Division flag stuck in the ground,& his staff (the few with him) were taking it easy also. As the rebel Officershalted, Custer looked up, then with a smile on his face he sprung up, cameeagerly forward, calling each of them by name, shaking them by the hand mostheartily, then calling orderlies to take charge of the horses, he led his guestsback to the oak, & for an hour or two chatted & laughed with his visitors, asfreely & unconcernedly, as if they never had been pitted against each other indeadly battle . . . One of the Officers' horses had not a shoe on his feet, soCuster sent for the blacksmith & had him shoe the horse all around.

While they were still chatting, the Division Band came up to Headquarters& began playing. They played several patriotic tunes, such as Hail Columbia,Yankee Doodle, then too Dixie & many others, some Scotch songs I know amongthem. At last, in imitation of others who had been calling for their favoritesongs, I stepped up to the Band Leader . . . & said, "now give us something weall can enjoy, all appreciate. Give us Home Sweet Home." He turned to theBand, saying, "boys, I expect you are pretty tired, we will play sweet home, thenstop." By this time rumors came (but rather premature) that the surrender was

24

In the middle of the afternoon a smallparty of officers as seen coming fromthe Court House. From the actions of theConfederate soldiers Hannaford's mendetermined it was General Lee himself.

complete . . . & now the men from every Regiment of our Brigade were crowded& jammed around the Band by the hundreds, all laughing, joking, Planning &hoping . . . all indeed were nearly wild with delight. Just then the Band began"Sweet Home," & before the first verse was finished, an almost unearthly si-lence had fallen on the assembly . . . the men stood around . . . with their headsbowed on their bosoms, with that peculiar far away look in their eyes, showingtheir thoughts had flown far distant, & I saw tears well up in many an eye . . .I looked up at Custer's guests, for I am not ashamed to own that they were prom-inent in my thoughts when asking for the song, & altho the General & the olderof the guests still kept up the semblance of conversation, it was plain to be seenthat their thoughts were truant. As for the younger visitor, he appeared to belost to his present surroundings, his thoughts were far distant, & as the musicdied away, something very like a sigh broke from his lips as he glanced quicklyup . . . . It was two or three minutes before the hushed stillness was broken & thehilarity of the hour resumed. . . .

It must have been about the middle of the afternoon when a small party ofOfficers were seen coming from the Court House toward General Lee's Head-quarters; from the actions of the men & also from what could be seen thro theglasses, we knew it was Lee himself; as he moved very slowly eastward, hismen crowded around him, rushing toward him as he rode; as near as I could tellat the distance, they seemed to be shaking hands with him. At last when hecame near the cottage containing his Headquarters, & when the crowd aroundhim was very large, we could see them dash away & run toward the wagons, &then we could hear great & continued cheering, & could observe them swarmingaround the wagons; we heard afterward that General Lee, after telling them thathe had surrendered, told them to help themselves to whatever they could findin the wagons, & the poor starved wretches quickly availed themselves of theprivelege, but found but little. . . .

It was between 4 & 5 o'clock when I went back to camp, just in time to hearthe Official notification that Lee had really & truly surrendered his entire army.. . . Toward the middle of the afternoon it grew hazy & by evening there wasevery prospect of rain before midnight, so Bill [Maxel] & I put up our tent & thengot supper, which finished, we lay watching several of the Company E boysgetting supper; one mess in particular seemed to be getting an extra supper &were just sitting down when 4 lank forms were seen looming up thro' the dark-ness by the staring Company C boys.36 They seem[ed] to be electrified, jumpingup & welcomed the [new]comers enthusiastically, they proving to be 4 of theirComrades who had been captured at Sailor's Creek the Thursday before . . .That they enjoy[ed] the supper is easily believed, as they had been nearlystarved, yet they said that they believed they fared as well as Lee's commonsoldiers. The story they told of the hardships, destitution & demoralization ofLee's army, has since become history. Most of Lee's Infantry had thrown awaytheir arm[s], being too weak to carry them, & it was this that made the rebel

26

army give cheer after cheer when General Lee informed them that he had sur-rendered. Any change was acceptable, as 'twas impossible it could be for theworse. They had conversed freely with the rank & file of the enemy, & all withoutone single exception agreed that the Southern Confederacy had, to use their sig-nificant expression, "gone up," & most all said that for six months past theyknew that Lee must leave Richmond, but hoped he would be able to join Johns-ton, & then they hoped "something would turn up," but now they all consideredthe war virtually at an end. . . .

That night we went early to bed, & never shall I forget the feeling that passedover my soul just before retiring, the knowledge that now we could go to bed &feel sure of enjoying a full night's res t . . . be certain that we would not bearoused by war's wild alarm; the feeling of perfect quiet & safety, the feelingof being able now to enjoy perfect peace, was delightful, & occupied my minduntil I went to sleep. The thought that I was certain, yes certain, of having aquiet night, the idea of security, was ineffable.

STEPHEN Z. STARR is Director of The Cincinnati Historical Society andauthor of two books on the Civil War: Colonel Grenfell's Wars and Jennison'sJayhawkers.

(1) Hannaford's narrative begins on themorning of April 7, 1865, the day fol-lowing the fight at Sailor's or (Sayler's)Creek. Gen. Lee's army, forced to evac-uate the Richmond and Petersburgdefenses on April 2, was making adesperation march southwestward, tojoin Gen. Joseph E. Johnston's army inNorth Carolina. Hounded by Sheridan'sCavalry Corps and the full strength ofthe Army of the Potomac reinforcedby the Army of the James, the raggedand starving "rebels" were attackedand badly beaten at Sailor's Creek,with the loss of perhaps 7,000 men(including seven generals) takenprisoner. Custer (invariably spelled"Custar" by Hannaford) was George A.Custer, a native of Ohio, graduate (lastin his class) of West Point, Class of1861. After service in the RegularCavalry in 1861-62, Custer was pro-moted to brigadier-general and givencommand of the Michigan CavalryBrigade in 1863. As Hannaford's ac-count opens, Custer, now a major-

general, commands the 3d Division ofthe Cavalry Corps. A great showman,as well as a conspicuously able andaggressive cavalryman, Custer wasbrevetted or promoted five times for"distinguished services . . . gallantconduct . . . untiring skill and energy. . . personal gallantry and highability."

(2) The 2nd Ohio, together with the 2ndNew York, 1st Connecticut and 3dNew Jersey, made up the 1st Brigadeof the 3d Cavalry Division. The 2ndBrigade consisted of the 8th and 15thNew York and the 1st Vermont; the3d Brigade, of the 1st New York andthe 1st, 2nd and 3d West Virginia.

(3) "Quince" Park was First SergeantJohn Q. Park of Company M, musteredin as a private Nov. 6, 1862.

(4) The Wilson Raid, June 21-29, 1864,was led by Gen. James H. Wilson, thenin command of the 3d Cavalry Divi-sion. Reinforced by the small CavalryDivision of the Army of the James,under Gen. August V. Kautz, Wilson's

objective was to destroy the Southside(Petersburg & Lynchburg) and Rich-mond & Danville Railroads, on whichGen. Lee's army, defending Richmondand Petersburg, chiefly depended forits supplies. The raid was successfulin accomplishing its purpose, butWilson was intercepted on his return,and barely escaped, losing all hisartillery, wagons and supplies, andupwards of 1,300 of his men killed,wounded or missing.

(5) Rice's Station (or Rice's Depot) : on thePetersburg & Lynchburg R.R., a shortdistance sw. of the Sailor's Creekbattlefield.

(6) The XXIV Army Corps, commanded byMaj.-Gen. John Gibbon, was part of theArmy of the James.

(7) Maj.-Gen. Horatio G. Wright's VI ArmyCorps, of the Army of the Potomac,operated under Sheridan's direct ordersthroughout the pursuit of the Confed-erate army.

(8) On the morning of April 7, Sheridanordered his cavalry to march to PrinceEdward (or Edward's) Court House,seven miles sw. of Farmville, to blockGen. Lee's escape route to NorthCarolina via Danville. Later that daySheridan discovered that as a result ofthe defeat at Sailor's Creek, Lee hadgiven up the plan to escape to NorthCarolina, and was now marching west,with Lynchburg as his immediateobjective.

(9) The 1st, 5th, 6th and 7th Regiments ofMichigan Cavalry made up the 1st (orMichigan) Brigade of the 1st CavalryDivision. Custer had commanded thebrigade with notable success, beforehis promotion to the command of the3d Division.

(10) Wilson had commanded the 3d Divi-sion from shortly before the start ofGrant's Wilderness Campaign in May,1864 until October, 1864, when he waspromoted to major-general and sentWest to become Chief of Cavalry underGen. Sherman.

(11) On Oct. 8, 1864, Sheridan, then in the

final stages of his great (Shenandoah)Valley Campaign, ordered his Chief ofCavalry, Gen. A. T. A. Torbert, to giveGen. Thomas Rosser's Confederatecavalry "a drubbing next morning orget whipped himself." With the divi-sions of Custer and Wesley Merritt,Torbert attacked and routed Rosser atTom's Brook. The 26-mile pursuit ofthe beaten Confederates becameknown as the "Woodstock races."

(12) August V. Kautz: a native of Germany,grew up in Ripley, Ohio; served in theMexican War; West Point Class of1852. Capt., 6th U.S. Cavalry, 1862;Col., 2nd Ohio Cavalry, Sept., 1862;Brig.-Gen. and Chief of Cavalry, Armyof the James, April 1864; promoted tocommand the 1st Division (infantry),XXV Army Corps, Army of the James.His former command, the Cavalry Divi-sion of the Army of the James, was

led in the Appomattox Campaign byBrig.-Gen. Ranald S. Mackenzie.

(13) Under normal circumstances, thebuilding of fires at a picket post (thusrevealing its position) was strictlyforbidden.

(14) Prospect Station: on the Petersburg &Lynchburg R.R., approx. 8 miles w. ofFarmville, and the same distance nw.of Prince Edward Court House.

(15) The 2nd Division of the Cavalry Corps,under Maj.-Gen. George Crook, hadbeen ordered to press the rear of theConfederate army, while the 1 st and3d Divisions attempted to hem it infrom the south and west. On April 7,Crook attacked the Confederate rear-guard near Farmville. His 2nd Brigade,leading the attack, rode into a cleverly-laid trap and was badly beaten, itscommander, Col. J. Irvin Gregg, beingtaken prisoner.

(16) The 13th Ohio Cavalry, commanded byLieut.-Col. Stephen R. Clark, was apart of the 3d Brigade, 2nd CavalryDivision.

(17) One of Sheridan's scouts reported thatfour trains, loaded with supplies sentfrom Lynchburg to meet the Confed-

28

erate army, had reached AppomattoxStation. Custer, leading the advanceof Sheridan's cavalry, reached thestation and captured the trainsmoments before the advance elementsof Gen. Lee's army, coming from thedirection of Appomattox Court House,2V2 miles to the ne., arrived on thescene.

(18) See Hannaford's rough but adequatesketch map, p. 13.

(19) In the absence of Lieut.-Col. A. BayardNettleton, the 2nd Ohio was com-manded by Major Albert Barnitz, whohad enlisted in the regiment as aprivate, and through successive pro-motions, became Senior Major.

(20) Higgins was Charles Higgins, andGeophard, Peter Geophard, both ofwhom had enlisted in Co. M at theage of 18 on Dec. 31, 1862. The rosterof Co. M does not list a "Jack Gray";there was, however, a Miles B. Gray inCo. G of the regiment, who had enlistedin April, 1862, at the age of 18. Thenumber of troopers who appear in theregimental roster as having enlisted

at the age of 18, causes one to suspectthat, as was commonly the case, manyof them were boys of 15, 16 and 17,who lied about their ages to be allowedto enlist. At a later point in his narra-tive, Hannaford speaks of "DoteMcCoy" as Gray's brother. "Jack Gray"may have been a nickname or analias, but that does not assist identifi-cation, for there were four McCoys(Samuel, William, Robert, andTheodore ) in the regiment, but noneof them was killed on April 9, asHannaford reports "Jack Gray" asbeing.

(21) Bauer was Conrad Bauer, who hadenlisted in Co. M on Oct. 21, 1862, alsoat the age of 18.

(22) The 7-shot, breech-loading Spencercarbine was adopted on the initiativeof Gen. James H. Wilson, while servingas Chief of the Cavalry Bureau in theWar Department, and over the objec-tions of the Ordnance Bureau. By the

spring of 1865, most of the Federalcavalry was armed with it. Generallyconsidered to have been the best fire-arm of the Civil War.

(23) Grape and canister (not "cannister")were artillery projectiles, used at shortand intermediate ranges. Grape was anumber (usually 9) of large iron balls,made to scatter when the shell con-taining them exploded. Canister was

a tin can filled with small cast ironor lead balls; the can burst when itleft the muzzle of the gun, scatteringa deadly hail of bullets for a distanceof one to two hundred yards.

(24) The officer whose behavior Hannaforddescribes must have been the lieut.-col.of the 8th New York, for Lieut.-Col.August. J. Root of the 15th New York,"a noble and brave man," was killedin the last charge that evening, on theoutskirts of Appomattox Court House.

(25) One of the principal duties of thebrigade or division provost marshalwas to send back into action un-wounded men who had left the rankswithout authority.

(26) The action Hannaford describes wasbetween Custer's division and the ad-vance units of Gen. Lee's infantry.The fight ended well after dark, withthe Confederates driven away fromthe Station back to the town, with theloss of 25 pieces of artillery and a largepark of wagons.

(27) Realizing that he was now astride Gen.Lee's only remaining escape route, butknowing also that he could not holdthe position with cavalry alone againsta determined attack by Lee's infantry,Sheridan sent staff officers to hurry onthe march of the Federal infantry, andin fact (and as indicated later inHannaford's narrative) elements ofthe V, XXIV and XXV Army Corpsbegan to arrive soon after daybreak,following a gruelling all-night march."Hen Lewis" was Pvt. Almond Lewis,

Co. D, mustered in March 12, 1864,aged 18.

(28) On the night of April 8-9, Gen. Leedecided that Gen. John B. Gordon'sinfantry, assisted by Fitzhugh Lee'scavalry, should at daybreak attemptto cut through the Federal lines andopen the road to Lynchburg. Sheridanordered his cavalry to withdraw slowly,to allow time for the Federal infantryto get into position behind them. Thefighting Hannaford describes wasGordon's attack, which came to a haltwhen the Confederates discovered themasses of Federal infantry in line ofbattle behind the cavalry.

(29) The troops Hannaford describes werea part of the 1st Division, made up ofNegro regiments, of the XXV ArmyCorps, Army of the James.

(30) "little Phil" was Philip Sheridan, whosestature was short, even by Civil Warstandards.

(31) Brig.-Gen. Wesley Merritt, West PointClass of i860, was in immediatecommand under Sheridan of the 1stand 3d Cavalry Divisions.

(32) For the positions at Appomattox CourtHouse at the time of the surrender,see Hannaford's sketch map on p.

(33) The incident Hannaford describesactually occurred. Brig.-Gen. Martin B.Gary's cavalry brigade, made up of the7th Georgia, 24th Virginia, 7th SouthCarolina and the Hampton ( SouthCarolina) Legion, arrived on the sceneignorant of the fact that hostilities hadbeen suspended, and opened fire on theFederal cavalry. Sheridan at oncerequested Gen. Gordon to send a staffofficer to Gary with orders to stop thefiring. Gordon had no one to send, soSheridan lent him Lieut. Vanderbilt

Allen of his own staff. Told by Allento stop firing, as "there had been asurrender," Gary replied that he wouldnot accept orders from an officer of theUnion army, that he knew of no sur-render, and, he added, "We are SouthCarolinians and don't surrender." Thedispute ended with the arrival of Col.W. W. Blackford, C. S. A., whoseauthority Gary was willing to recog-nize, with Gordon's orders to halt thefiring. The incident of the "white rag. . . on a little switch" is also historical,except that the "white rag" was anone-too-clean handkerchief, and thebearer was not a "drunken rebel" butone of Gen. Gary's orderlies, sent downthe line with his "white flag" to haltthe firing.

(34) "Werry" was Srgt. Benjamin F. Weary,Co. A.

(35) Unknown to Hannaford, the orders heobjected to had been issued at Gen.Lee's request, "to prevent unpleasantindividual rencounters that may takeplace with a too free intercourse." AsHannaford subsequently makes clear,officers on both sides disregarded theorders, and there was much visitingbetween the lines to hunt up WestPoint classmates and "Old Army"friends.

"Bill" was Hannaford's "bunky,"Private William Maxel, another 18-year-old enlistee, who had joined theregiment Dec. 31, 1862.

(36) One of the returned prisoners wasWilliam S. Davenport, who had beenpromoted to sergeant six days beforehe was taken prisoner.