It is the morning of December 2, 1859 and you are in Charles Town, Virginia for a momentous event. You have come here with your militia company, the Petersburg City Guard, on the orders of Governor Wise. Your company and its brother company from Petersburg, the Petersburg Grays, are part of a 1500-man detail performing guard duty because the Governor fears there may be trouble in Charles Town this day. You see a tall thin man climb into the rear of a wagon containing a casket. He sits upon the casket as the wagon rolls down the street. As it arrives at the gallows, the man leaves the wagon, then slowly climbs the stairs. He shows no emotion as a white linen hood is placed over his head. A few moments later, the body of John Brown drops through the trap door. No one has come to try to rescue the abolitionist from Kansas. You and the other men of Petersburg return home.

Upon arriving home, you discuss your experiences in Charles Town with your family, neighbors and fellow citizens of Petersburg. Like most Southerners, you are probably elated over the death of John Brown. Discussions center on what may result from the Brown hanging. Like your fellow citizens, you hope and pray that the result is not war. But if it is, is the city prepared? Influential citizens apparently do not believe so. Three more infantry companies are raised: the Lafayette Guard, a second company of the Petersburg Grays, and the Petersburg Riflemen. Good friends of yours that did not find it fun to join a militia unit earlier now have joined the Petersburg Rifleman. You request and are granted a transfer to this company.

1860

In early 1860, Virginia forms the organized infantry companies of Petersburg into the 4th Battalion Virginia State Militia. The battalion has five companies: Co. A - the Petersburg City Guard, Co. B - the Petersburg Old Grays, Co. C - the Petersburg New Grays, Co. D - the Lafayette Guards, and Co. E - the Petersburg Riflemen. Major David A. Weisiger is appointed commander of the battalion. In December, the state of South Carolina secedes from the Union. Other Southern States follow South Carolina's lead. The talk in your city is of war.

1861

On April 12, 1861, the Confederate artillery that rings the harbor of Charleston, South Carolina, opens fire on the Federal forces stationed at Fort Sumter in that harbor. Although several Southern States have seceded from the Union, your home state of Virginia has not. Your state’s leaders are meeting in Richmond in hopes that war may be averted even at this late date. This hope is dashed as Virginia secedes on April 17.Confederate Virginia Governor John Letcher calls out the state’s militia. The 4th Battalion sets up camp in Petersburg’s Poplar Lawn Park on April 19. Recruits flock to join the companies and men are enlisted for a one year term.

On April 20, Major Weisiger receives a telegram from Governor Letcher ordering the 4th Battalion to Norfolk. Hundreds of people come to see you and your fellow soldiers off to Norfolk at the Petersburg railroad station. There is much excitement. Major Weisiger tells the 400 man battalion that the telegram says an assault on the Norfolk shipyard is permitted by order of Confederate General Taliaferro. You and your compatriots arrive in Norfolk the night of the 20th, excited and ready to do battle. Your excitement is dashed, as the assault never takes place. You and your comrades are boarded in hotels. General Walter Gwynn replaces General Taliaferro. Gwynn is ordered to build shore fortifications. You and many of your comrades feel digging and building fortifications is a job for slaves. You will change your mind as the war progresses.

Your duty in Norfolk is pretty comfortable under Gwynn, with dress parades to impress a bevy of pretty ladies occurring almost nightly. There is some drill and you have yet to "see the elephant." Your easy service ends on May 23. General Benjamin Huger replaces Gwynn. Huger, a West Point graduate, is a stern disciplinarian. Coastal defenses are completed and daily rigorous military drill instituted. Troops from both sides are being shifted around the Norfolk area but still the 4th Battalion sees no action.

On June 8, the Virginia State Militia forces are integrated into the Confederate Army. Orders are received expanding the 4th Battalion and designating it the 12th Virginia Infantry Regiment. New companies join your regiment and they are: Co. F, the Huger Rifles recruited from Greensville and Brunswick Counties; Co. G, the Richmond Grays formerly Co. A. of the 1st Va.; Co. H, the Norfolk Juniors; Co. I, also recruited from Greensville and Brunswick Counties and Co. K, the Archer Rifles. Major Weisiger is promoted to full Colonel and command of the 12th Va.

Things for your new regiment do not change much in the coming days. You miss the battle of Big Bethel on June 10 while you are stationed at Plymouth. On July 21, the Battle of Manassas is fought in northern Virginia, a resounding Confederate victory. A victory that did not see what many had hoped, that one victory would end the war. In August you move to a camp named the Entrenched Camp. This camp is a joy with its wood huts and tents with wood floors. You will spend the rest of 1861 in this comfortable camp. On October 15, the Confederate Government created the Norfolk Military Department. General Huger is given command and he divides his forces into two brigades. Your regiment is assigned to the Brigade of General William Mahone. The 12th Va. Infantry will be with Mahone for the duration of the war.

Your final days of 1861 are spent performing incessant drill and writing letters. Your regiment is one of the most literate regiments in the Confederate service. You are 21 years old, the average age of the boys in the regiment. This average age is two or three years older than other regiments. Your job as a bookkeeper for N. Walker and Co. in Petersburg means you have had a formal education, can read and write, and you excel in mathematics. Boys from other regiments come to the boys of the 12th for help in writing home and you are even teaching a few of them to read and write. You are a bit sad, for this will be your first Christmas away from home and your loved ones.

1862

The action begins in February 1862, when the Yanks under Burnside capture Roanoke Island, North Carolina. The Yanks have also reinforced Fort Monroe and are now poised for a two-sided attack on Norfolk and Plymouth. President Davis declares martial law in these cities February 28. The President calls to service the unorganized militia in the area and reinforcements stream in. Some of the best drill men in your regiment are detailed to train these recruits. It is good news when on March 8, our ironclad the CSS Virginia (the Merrimac) wins a victory in Hampton Roads. The news is not so good the next day when the Yanks’ ironclad, the Monitor, fights the Virginia to a draw.

Your commanders are not sure what the Yanks will do now that McCellan has landed his army at Fort Monroe. McCellan heads up the Yorktown Peninsula on April 6, challenging Huger at Yorktown. General Joseph E. Johnston is given command of all Confederate forces in Virginia on April 12. On May 7, you and the regiment cross the Elizabeth River to Portsmouth by ferry. From here, you march twenty miles to Suffolk. All the drilling you have done has not prepared you for a long march and you arrive in Suffolk with sore and blistered feet. The news is you will be marching back to Petersburg, but a pained cheer comes from the boys when a train arrives to carry the regiment there. You arrive in Petersburg on the evening of May 8 and are billeted in vacant buildings. General Johnston has no doubts now that McClellan’s objective is Richmond. The men under General Huger are designated as Huger’s Division. Huger receives orders on May 28 to bring his division to Richmond. Your regiment and the rest of the division board trains in Petersburg and arrive in Richmond that evening.

You and the boys of the 12^th camp near Oakwood Cemetery. General Johnston has already planned an offensive. Huger’s Division will be part of it and orders arrive to move. Huger’s Division is assigned to the Williamsburg Road but when the division begins to move Longstreet’s Division is already on the road. You and the boys must wait until Longstreet passes. General Johnston’s plan is an ambitious one and confusion is already occurring. You are delayed because Longstreet is taking the wrong road. You begin to move at 10:30AM and by 1:00PM are resting at the Tudor House. You look at the boys and wonder if their anticipation of action is the same as yours. Fear begins to well in your stomach and you hope it not showing.

Longstreet finally opens the Battle of Fair Oaks/ Seven Pines at 3:00PM. Your commanders do not have correct maps of the area and Huger believes the Charles City Road will take you where assigned. It does not, taking you to Casey’s Redoubt south of the fighting. In the fighting on May 31, General Johnston is seriously wounded and command of the army devolves to General Gustavus W. Smith. Smith decides to continue the battle. On June 1, your division is temporarily assigned to Longstreet. Mahone receives orders to move the brigade and you move at 5:00AM. When you arrive at the brigade’s assigned position parallel to the Nine Mile Road facing east the battle is already joined. Armistead’s Brigade gives way when attacked. Mahone, believing he has orders to fall back, orders you back. This movement leaves Pickett’s Brigade facing the Yanks alone. General D. H. Hill sees this and orders Mahone back to the fighting. You will fire your first shots in anger today and see your first causalities. Night comes with 12^th Va. holding Casey’s Redoubt. The President today has signed an order replacing Smith and giving command of the army to General Robert E. Lee.

You are ordered to stand on arms this night as Richardson’s Division is close. You have "seen the elephant" and are happy and thankful you came through the fighting unscathed. These feelings are tempered by pangs of guilt. When first you stood in ranks facing the enemy you thought of running. You have seen friends and comrades maimed and killed and wonder why them and not you. You do not know if your shots found their target and you wonder if you have killed. You look into the faces of the boys around you and realize that your fear is natural and you must do your duty. You know now there is no glory or honor in war, only killing and destruction, but you will do your duty. Your are not alone with your feelings as you know by the faces of the other men. Your regiment has suffered its first causalities of 9 killed, 31 wounded and 1 missing. Lee pulls the army back this night and around midnight the 12^th Va. is last to pull back.

You and the rest of Mahone’s Brigade are positioned on the Charles City Road on the extreme right of the Confederate line. You go on patrols with your regiment trying to ascertain what McCellan might do. Information comes in that McCellan will test your lines and on June 25 the Yanks advance. You move south a mile or two and are in an exposed position when Heintzelman’s Corps attacks. Hooker’s Division attacks your brigade and you hold. Hooker falls back and then is ordered to attack again. Again the brigade repulses Hooker and darkness ends the battle. In the Battle of Oak Grove you see 12 more of the regiment killed and even more wounded.

On June 26, General Lee starts an offensive that will be known as the Seven Days’ Battles. Most of the army is by Mechanicsville while Lee has left Huger’s and Magruder’s Divisions facing four Union corps. On June 26 the Battle of Mechanicsville is fought and on the 27 the Battle of Gaines’ Mills. The 12^th does not participate in either of these battles but the battles result in McCellan changing his base to Harrison’s Landing. The 12^th is ordered to "feel the enemy" on June 28. You move east on the Charles City Road and find the Yanks south of the White Oak Swamp. You return and report that Yankee infantry has been found.

On June 29 Huger’s Division moves east on the Charles City Road with the 12^th Va. in the lead as skirmishers. The 12^th encounters dismounted Union cavalry in a heavily wooded area by the Brightwell House. Huger worries about his flank, halting his advance on the important Glendale crossroads. He orders Mahone to face northeast and send out skirmishers. The day ends with Huger’s Division fighting Kearny’s with Huger going no further than the Brightwell House.

The next morning, while on patrol, you and the boys of the 12^th discover that Kearny has passed over the White Oak Swamp at Jordan’s Ford heading for Glendale. You move further east and find the same at Fisher’s Ford. Now that Huger’s flank is safe, the division, with the 12^th ahead as skirmishers, moves east on the Charles City Road. Soon you find the road blocked by felled trees. Mahone comes forward and orders a new road cut to Glendale. The going is arduous and slow. Mahone’s dubious decision to build the road keeps Huger’s Division out of the Battle of Glendale on June 30.

The 12^th Va. and Huger’s Division reach Glendale on July 1. The 12th and the division take the Church Road to Malvern Hill. The road is packed with Confederates and it takes a half day to go five miles, finally approaching Malvern Hill from the north. Due to Huger’s performance in this campaign, Lee has lost all confidence in him. Huger’s approaching brigades are placed under Magruder for the coming battle. As Mahone approaches Malvern Hill, he meets Magruder. Magruder orders Mahone’s Brigade and the rest of Huger’s Division to assault the Union position on the hill head on. Mahone rides further onto the field and does not like his assigned position. Without notifying Magruder, Mahone leads his brigade and the other brigades of Huger’s Division to the right. The three brigades move in a ravine blocked from the view of the Yanks by trees. Reaching the position selected by Mahone, the three brigades form for a charge. Mahone’s Brigade is on the right of the line and you with the 12^th are on the right flank of the brigade. Yankee infantry is in formation below the crest of Malvern Hill while its artillery is lined hub to hub above and behind the infantry. At 4:45PM you receive the order to charge and you step off. Immediately you come under heavy artillery fire and then the Union infantry opens. The causalities are appalling. You are within 300 yards of the Union lines, men are falling quickly, now 200 yards and the men on both sides of you go down, now 150 yards but you will go no farther. The Union fire is too heavy and you fall back to reform. You can not believe it as orders come just before sundown to attack again. You form ranks in the same position as before and advance. The result is the same as Union artillery belches out its deadly missiles; you must fall back. The 12^th has lost 102 killed, wounded and missing at Malvern Hill. You are ordered to sleep on arms at the brow of the hill. You rest amidst the screams and cries of the wounded. Corpsman walk the field with lanterns, dodging pickets’ bullets. The citizens of Petersburg have organized an Ambulance Corps for the boys of the 12^th and you appreciate their help greatly.

As morning breaks it is raining. You look to the hill and see dismounted Union cavalry where the infantry and artillery were. You see this cavalry mount and ride away from you. You are moved back about a mile where you cook breakfast and clean up. The men are lost in their thoughts of the friends and relatives killed or wounded in charges that should never have been ordered. Your regiment had nearly 1000 officers and men when it reached Richmond. You now have just under 500 officers and men ready for duty.

On July 10, the 12^th Va. and the rest of Huger’s Division move from their camps at Malvern Hill, cross the James River near Drewry’s Bluff and camp near Falling Creek. Lee reorganizes his army and makes two Corps. The 1^st Corps will be commanded by General James Longstreet and the 2^nd Corps will be commanded by General Stonewall Jackson. The news comes to you and the boys on July 14 that Huger has been removed as commander of the division. Huger’s replacement is General Richard H. Anderson of South Carolina.

The Union is forming a new army in Northern Virginia under the command of General John Pope. McCellan, still at Harrison’s Landing, is inactive and some of his troops are ordered north to join Pope. Jackson’s Corps is in and around Orange and August 13 Lee orders Longstreet’s Corps to join Jackson. Anderson’s Division moves on August 17. The 12^th Va. rides by train from Richmond to Louisa Court House. On August 18 you begin a two day forced march that brings the regiment to Orange Court House. August 21, Jackson’s Corps and part of Longstreet’s Corps including the 12^th Va, cross the Rapidan River at Sommerville. Lee was trying to flank Pope’s Army, but good intelligence by the Yanks allows Pope to escape. August 21, you and the 12^th camp near Stevensburg. You rest on the 22^nd, then march towards Longstreet near Brandy Station and go into camp on the 23^rd.

Due to the heavy rain of the 12^th, the waters of the Rappahannock River rise quickly the night of the 13^th trapping Early’s Division of Jackson’s Corps on the north side of the river. Jackson marches along the south bank of the river to aid Early. Jackson’s march brings orders to you and the regiment to march from camp at 10:00PM. You arrive in Jefferson the next morning. You receive orders to build many fires at night and during the day to march around the area. Your goal is to deceive the Yanks into thinking that Lee’s Army is still around Jefferson. The waters of the Rappahannock River recede on the 25^th and Jackson begins his march to gain the flank of Pope.

Anderson’s Division with the 12^th is the rear element of Lee’s Army. Your division leaves Jefferson on the 28^th and camps near Salem, just west of Thoroughfare Gap. Anderson receives orders to move on the 29^th. You move east in the rain on another forced march. Jackson is engaged with Pope near the Sudley Church. You halt around 7:30PM for much needed rest. Early on the 30^th you move again, arriving near Groveton, where Longstreet’s Corps is camped, about 4:45AM. You and the boys are exhausted and many fall to the ground asleep, but it is a short nap. Almost immediately you receive orders to move again. In the darkness you have camped to close to the Union lines.

After dawn on the 30^th, Anderson receives orders to move the 12^th and the rest of his division southwest of the crossroads on the Warrenton Turnpike to Groveton and place the division in battle line. Pope renews his attacks on Jackson. The 12^th and the rest of Longstreet’s Corps are on Pope’s left flank. You watch as Pope throws division after division against Jackson’s line. General Lee is waiting for the right time to crush Pope’s flank.

The order to advance comes around 5:00PM. You move forward behind the men of John Hood and James Kemper. You move up Chinn Ridge and can see the whole battle. Jackson’s boys are advancing and you are moving over the ground where Southern arms won their first great battle. You cross Chinn Ridge and head for Bald Hill. The gray troops in your front suddenly veer away, opening your front to enemy fire. You have been in action for two hours. Mahone orders a change in front and the 12^th advances on Henry House Hill through heavy fire. Brigade Commander Mahone goes down seriously wounded. 12^th Regiment Commander Colonel Weisiger is seriously wounded and 12^th Regiment Major John P. May is killed in action. Darkness halts the advance. Command of the regiment devolves on 1^st Lt. Richard Manson. There is more sadness this night as more of your friends and neighbors fell in this Confederate victory. Your regiment lost 69 killed, wounded and missing in the battle that would be known as 2^nd Manassas. During the night the Union force retires to the defenses of Washington City. The 12^th occupies Henry House Hill the next morning, August 31. You are glad to see the hated foe go.

The 12^th Virginia Infantry has been involved in three months of heavy fighting and marching. On June 1, your regiment had over 800 and now, September 1 you have only 150. Where you will go now you do not know, but there are disturbing rumors that General Lee may move the army across the border into Maryland. If true, this troubles you and some of the men greatly. When you enlisted you did so to defend your state from invasion. The political disagreements between the sections played no part in your enlistment. Once your beloved state of Virginia decided to secede from the Union, your mind was made up to defend her. You joined for a year and it is now longer than that but you are still in the field. You have spent this time in your beloved state attempting to hurl the Yankees out. General Lee and the army have been unable to accomplish this, and now Lee may take the army into Maryland. You discuss your feelings with some of the veterans of Co. E and find that there are some that agree with you. A point is raised that you have not considered. What will your family and friends say if you desert the army? Will you be able to return home if you disgrace them in such a way? Your uniform is in shreds, your shoes can hardly be called shoes anymore, you constantly battle lice and you cannot remember a good home cooked meal. You wrestle with your decision but you know there is only one you can make, you will stay and do your duty.

Captain Richard Jones assumes command of the regiment on September 1. The order to move into Maryland comes and you and the regiment cross the Potomac on September 6 at White’s Ford. On September 7, you camp at Monocacy Junction and remain there until the 9^th resting. General Lee issues Special Order 191 on the 9^th. General Jackson is given the task of capturing Harper’s Ferry. Anderson’s Division with the 12^th is assigned to General Lafayette McLaws. Mahone’s Brigade is given the task of rear guard duty for McLaws’ force. McLaws’ Division and the remainder of Anderson’s Division leave Frederick the morning of the 9^th. You and the remainder of Mahone’s Brigade break camp at Monocacy Junction in the afternoon and march through Frederick and camp a mile west of Middletown. You will remain around Middletown until the 11^th. On the 11^th you move to Burkittsville just east of Crampton’s Gap in South Mountain. The next day the brigade moves through Crampton’s Gap and camps near Brownsville, Maryland. As rear guard, the brigade remains near Brownsville while the rest of McLaws’ force heads for Harper’s Ferry.

The Army of the Potomac, under McClellan, is staying between Washington City and your forces. Through an enormous blunder, McClellan has a copy of Lee’s Special Order 191, giving him the disposition of your entire army. He orders William Franklin’s Corps to Crampton’s Gap on September 14.

McLaws has given command of the defense of Crampton’s and Brownsville’s Gap to General Paul Semmes. Semmes has as troops his brigade and Mahone’s Brigade commanded by Colonel Parham. Today Captain Richard Lewellen, the senior regimental captain, assumes command of the 12th from Captain Jones. Semmes, learning of Franklin’s approach, orders Mahone’s Brigade back through the gap and into a defensive position at the base of South Mountain. You go into battle line behind a rail fence and wait. You do have artillery support on the west face of the mountain and the cavalry of Colonel Thomas Munford protecting your right flank. That uneasy feeling rises in the pit of your stomach as it does each time you face the elephant. The veterans of the 12^th know that their depleted brigade of 250 stands between the rear of McLaws’ force and the 8000 man Union corps of Franklin.

Around 3:00PM you begin to take Union artillery rounds at the fence line. Franklin has opened the Battle of Crampton’s Gap with his artillery but soon his infantry advances. You see what seems to be no less than a full Union division headed for the 12^th. The field in your front is covered with blue infantry. The Union numbers begin to tell and the center of the brigade is broken. At the same time the Yanks turn both flanks and the brigade breaks. You run full speed up the mountain and through the gap. A general yells to the men of Mahone’s Brigade to halt and form a line, to no avail. The General is Howell Cobb of McLaws’ Division bringing reinforcements. Cobb, assuming command from Semmes, sets up a weak line near Brownsville. You wait in this line for the Yankees to come off the mountain but they do not come. You learn that Franklin has set his corps down for the night on the east side of the mountain.

You rest for the night, knowing that for the first time the 12^th Va. did not hold its assigned position in battle. You and the boys of the 12^th that have survived the battle don’t feel well about this, but never have you been this outnumbered by the hated foe. Your regiment suffered greatly in the battle. You had a little over 100 men in the fight and lost in killed, wounded and missing sixty. You wonder to yourself if this is a portent of things to come. There is no time for thoughts such as this, as you are certain the Yankees will come. They always come.

The next morning, the 15^th, the Yankees cross the mountain. You have support now, as with you are the brigades of Semmes, Cobb, Cadmus Wilcox, Kershaw and Barksdale. Lee has ordered the concentration of his Army at Sharpsburg. Franklin, seeing your reinforced line, decides to sit and await his own reinforcements. You stay in line through the 15th and then move out late that night. You cross the Potomac on a pontoon bridge and are in Town Hall, Virginia in the morning hours of the 16^th. Here you get the chance to have some much-needed sleep. You move out again in the afternoon heading for Shepherdstown. In the evening you again cross the Potomac into Maryland at Boteler’s Ford and march for Sharpsburg.

Reunited with the rest of Anderson’s Division, you reach Sharpsburg between 9:00 and 10:00AM. You stand in the streets of the village awaiting deployment to the battlefield. You hear scattered fire on the battlefield and that old feeling in your stomach returns. The order to move comes and Anderson’s Division with the 12^th enters a sunken road. The 12^th files into this farm lane with 23 men present for duty and the entire brigade with only 80. As you file in, you see a mass of blue in your front. It is the corps of General Edwin V. Sumner. Sumner launches wave after wave against the sunken road. Your division commander, General Anderson, has gone down wounded. You fire as fast as you can. Wounded and dead Yanks are piling up in front of your position; it is a slaughter. It reminds you of your regiment’s charge up Malvern Hill. The carnage is terrible as more and more Yanks go down. You and your comrades from the 12^th help to repulse the Yankee attack. In the future, your position will be known as Bloody Lane. Both armies rested the next day and that evening Lee began the retreat to Virginia. You cross the Potomac on the 19^th and camp north of Winchester. In a few days the 12^th moves to a camp closer to Winchester. You will remain in this camp resting and refitting until late October. This long rest allows your thoughts to turn to home. You read the letters your family has sent over and over again. Things are hard for the home folk. Everyday products have disappeared from the shelves and inflation has hit hard. Businesses in the city are closing their doors. The boys in the regiment from the rural areas tell you they may lose their farms if they don’t go home. In camp, your situation is somewhat better. The supply wagons have brought food, but your uniform is still tattered and the weather is getting cold. You cannot build winter huts as Lee’s intelligence network believes the Yanks will move south. You have fought for over a year to expel the enemy from Virginia’s sacred ground. This has not been accomplished. You have supreme faith in General Lee and your leaders and you have no doubt that the Almighty will grant your new nation independence.

While the Army of Northern Virginia rested at Winchester, its numbers grew. Thousands of returning stragglers from the Sharpsburg Campaign and reinforcements brought its numbers from 35,000 in the Sharpsburg Campaign to 78,500 by late October. Over this time your regiment grew to over 400. General Mahone returned from his wounds to command the brigade. In October 12^th Virginia Major Everhard Meade Feild was promoted to Lt. Colonel and given command of the regiment.

The Union moves across the Potomac and to Warrenton at the end of October. General Lee orders Longstreet’s Corps to move. You move on November 1 from Winchester. Passing through the Manassas Gap you arrive in Culpeper November 5^th. The news comes that Ambrose Burnside has replaced McClellan as commander of the Army of the Potomac. You know that with a new commander the army will move. The only question is where. Lee has guessed correctly that Burnside will move to Fredericksburg. J.E.B. Stuart and his cavalry confirm this for Lee and the general orders Longstreet to move his corps to that city. Your division will hold its position for a few days. The other two divisions arrive in the city on November 19. The regiment marches from Culpeper, crosses the Rapidan River at Raccoon Ford and arrives near Fredericksburg on November 23. You camp just east of the Salem Church, off the Orange Turnpike.

Light snow falls the nest few days and your heart is broken by the sight of the women, children and old men of Fredericksburg displaced by Burnside’s threat to bombard the city. You do not have long to pity these poor people as Mahone keeps the regiment very busy. The 12^th digs ditches, does picket duty on the Rappahannock River and when not busy with these tasks, Mahone hold brigade drills. Being this busy, there has been no time to build winter huts and on the night of December 5-6 a heavy snow fell catching you with no shelter. You build large fires to stay warm.

You awake to the long roll of the drum very early on December 11. You move into battle line on Stansbury’s Hill. Your brigade is posted in the middle of Anderson’s division. Remaining in line all day, you are only subjected to light artillery fire. At night you move to the reverse side of the hill and sleep in the open. December 13 Burnside attacks Lee’s positions. It is a slaughter, but your regiment and brigade are not involved in the heavy fighting. One mile south of your position, Union dead and wounded are piling up in front of a stone wall at the base of Marye’s Heights. Long range Union artillery shells occasionally find your position but are only a nuisance. The regiment loses only eight killed and wounded in the Battle of Fredericksburg. The 12^th holds its position on Stansbury’s Hill until the 16^th. You then return to your old camp at Salem Church. As you have learned in the army, you spend most of your time working. There is some enjoyment to be had. Your brigade competes in brigade size snowball fights. Privates become officers in these battles and you use many of the maneuvers you use on real battlefields. Your favorite pastime, though, is writing letters to your loved ones and reading ones you have received from them. Men from the Petersburg City Council arrive in camp to check on the boys of the 12^th. Upon their return to Petersburg, they send the regiment much needed shoes, blankets and clothes.

1863

January 13, the regiment forms and marches off to witness the execution of two men found absent without leave. This is the second such execution you and the men of the 12^th have witnessed. It has a profound effect on you, as on occasion you had thought of deserting.

January 17, the long roll sounds in your camp and the regiment forms. You march west about six miles and encamp. This camp is far worse than your camp by Salem Church but General Lee fears a flanking movement. Burnside is in fact moving but what would be known as the mud march fails. You and the regiment return to your camp by Salem Church and the Guest House January 24.

You receive news that Joseph Hooker has replaced Burnside as commander of the Union Army. You know that Hooker, being the new commander, will aggressively move his army. So does General Lee. You wonder if the Yankees will ever quit, but you know they won’t. February 15, your brigade moves from its camps around the Guest House and encamps near United States Ford on the Rappahannock. Your distance from Fredericksburg, combined with the bad condition of the roads, makes getting supplies difficult. Food is scare and the men forage daily. Mahone, though, keeps you busy picketing the river, keeping contact with your cavalry and improving the road from the ford to the Orange Turnpike. All the work does not hide the fact that the camp is a hell hole. It is always damp, the men contract malaria and scurvy, die and are buried in unmarked graves by the river. Here you stay, and in April Mahone sends a work party from Co. D, 12^th Va. to Germanna Ford on the Rapidan River. Captain J. Edward Tyler commands this party.

The Army of the Potomac moves on April 27. April 28 it crosses the Rappahannock and Rapidan Rivers in force. Two Union corps cross the Rappahannock at Kelly’s Ford and the Rapidan at Germanna Ford. Captain Tyler and his detail are captured at Germanna Ford. A third Union corps crosses the Rappahannock at Kelly’s Ford and the Rapidan at Ely’s Ford, placing it north of your position. Two other Union corps are headed for United States Ford and your camp. Early afternoon the next day, April 29, your cavalry advises Mahone that the Yanks are crossing at Germanna and Ely’s Fords in strength. Why you did the work you did now becomes apparent. Mahone, with foresight, had you and the men build a trench across the Ely’s Ford Road north of Chancellorsville. Mahone orders the brigade back to this trench, minus a detail from Co. E, 12^th. This detail is posted at the Brick House a half a mile from United States Ford. They are to bring Mahone word of any Yanks crossing the ford. You and the rest of the 12^th reach the trench just before dark.

Co. D. 12^th Va. leaves the trench around 3:30AM April 30 to relieve the men of Co. E at the Brick House. Co. D arrives at the house and the relief is effected with no problem. Around 5:00AM three companies of Union cavalry dismount and surround the house. The storm and wet leaves mask their approach. Captain Owen sees the Yanks and orders his men to fire but the rain has dampened the powder and no rifle fires. Owen’s detail is captured.

The Union cavalry crosses the river and approaches Mahone’s line. Major Pennock Huey holds his main Union cavalry force in a woods and sends two riders with gray jackets into the field. Riding in front of the trench across the field is Mahone and his Adjutant, Captain Taylor. The two officers spot the cavalrymen and think they are Rebs. Suddenly the cavalrymen fire on the officers. Mahone thinks they are drunk until either he or Taylor sees the hidden Yanks in the woods. With bullets flying around them, they turn their horses and flee. You find this comical and would have laughed, save for the blue line that comes out of the woods. You and the 12^th are posted as skirmishers in front of the trench. Colonel Feild orders the regiment to fire but dampness has affected your rifles and only a few guns fire. The Colonel coolly orders you to dry your cap cone and fire again. As the Yankees are getting closer and closer, you struggle to obey orders. Finally ready, the regiment fires, and this time the guns go off. Your volley begins the Battle of Chancellorsville.

Union pressure mounts and at 7:00AM you withdraw down the Orange Turnpike. Your regiment is the rear guard of Anderson’s Division. The 12^th, in skirmish formation, is able to check an attempt to turn Anderson’s right flank. You continue falling back as the Yanks come forward but they are not pushing you hard. You break out of the Wilderness as the rain finally stops. The division stops falling back on a ridge that runs across the Orange Turnpike at the Zoan Baptist Church. You being digging trenches again. The rest of the day you spend skirmishing with the Yanks but they do not push. In the late afternoon brigades of Jackson’s Corps begin to arrive.

May 1, Jackson’s Corps is now on the field. General Jackson arrives just before noon. Jackson orders an advance. The 12^th Va. deploys as skirmishers and leads the brigade down the Orange Turnpike. On the turnpike leading is Captain Robert R. Banks’ Co. E; Lieutenant Benjamin W. Grasswit with Co. C. and Captain Charles E. Weddell with Co. A are immediately north of the turnpike. South of the turnpike and parallel to companies C and A are Co. D under Lieutenant William C, Leathe and Co. K under Captain John C. Clements. Mahone has given a very dangerous assignment to the men of Petersburg.

Less than a mile west of the Zoan Church, your company runs into Yankee dismounted cavalry, and you drive them back over two ridges. When you crest the third ridge, you find the Union main battle line. The Yanks fire a volley that kills and wounds many of the 12^th. Captain Banks is severely wounded. The regiment retires quickly but orderly to the brigade. Mahone orders the brigade into a battle line. Union artillery opens up but to your relief their fire goes over your head.

At 2:00PM the rest of the brigades in your division are up and you deploy in a line of battle extending across the turnpike. Your regiment’s left flank is on the turnpike. The battle lines close to 300 hundred yards. The Yanks keep advancing and you open fire when they are 150 yards away. The Yanks advance a bit further, then suddenly withdraw. Darkness comes with you and your comrades at the McGee House one mile east of Chancellorsville.

May 2, you remain in your positions for the morning. Around 3:30PM Lee orders Mahone to take his brigade to the Decker House east of the Orange Plank Road and fill in along the breastworks that McLaws’ Division had vacated. While in these lines you are under Union artillery fire. Lt. Nathaniel Macon Martin of Co. E is severely wounded by this fire. Around 4:00PM you are replaced in the lines by Kershaw’s Brigade. Mahone moves you to a position west of the Orange Plank Road.

While your are in line here, the Union division of John Geary advances from its breastworks at Chancellorsville. A brigade approaches your section of the line. While the 12^th provides cover, the 6^th Va. captures the flag of the 107^th Ohio. Geary returns to his breastworks. A gap exists between the corps of Longstreet and Jackson as long as the Yanks hold the heights of Hazel Grove. You hear the sounds of Jackson’s flank attack.

You held your position through the night. The morning of May 3 you and the boys are amazed to see the Yanks pulling off of Hazel Grove. You are ordered to advance. You move along the Orange Plank Road towards the Union breastworks at Chancellorsville. You charge shortly after 11:00AM and take the breastworks. Victory is in your grasp, but artillery fire in the direction of Fredericksburg causes a halt in your advance.

Mahone’s Brigade leads a column of brigades towards the sound of the guns. You move east on the Orange Turnpike. The Yanks are moving west on the same road and you collide with them near Salem Church. You are familiar with this ground as you camped in this area before and after the Battle of Fredericksburg. You form, with the rest of the brigade in battle line across the turnpike. The Yanks charge once, twice, three times but are repulsed. You are slightly wounded in the arm but do not fall out of line. As your reinforcements come on line, your brigade moves left (north). The battle continues the next day but the fighting is a mile south of your position. At the end of the day the Yanks retreat and the Battle of Salem Church ends.

On May 5, you and Anderson’s Division move from Salem Church back to Chancellorsville. On May 6, your regiment moves back to United States Ford. Due to these moves, the entire brigade is complaining that they had no time to scavenge equipment from the battlefield. General Mahone sends 12^th Va. Adjutant, Captain William E. Cameron with a wagon to the battlefield. He and his detail return with the wagon overflowing with equipment.

Your wound is not serious and begins to heal. You have been promoted to Sergeant. It is not a rank you sought but losses have made it necessary. Your regiment lost 36 killed and wounded and 51 taken prisoner in the Battle of Chancellorsville. Co. E. Sergeant Leroy Edwards gives you a laugh when he shows you a section of a letter he is sending home. He is writing about what happened to him on May 1, as the 12^th were the brigade skirmishers on the Orange Turnpike. He writes, "When good shelter in way of house and barn was to be had, and when some of our men had advanced, I was getting ready to shoot my man, when splash went the fence before me, and the gun in my hand followed, by a most disagreeable sensation in a most delicate part of the body, I was satisfied that a part of one of my members was gone, the holes in my britches and drawers (two pair of each) were wide and gaping, but imagine my joy when I found that I was not damaged." The morale of the army is very high with this victory, but the wounding of General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson is a damper to all.

Your army suffers an irretrievable blow when Stonewall dies of his wounds. General Lee goes to meet with President Davis on May 11 and stays three days. On his return he reorganizes the Army of Northern Virginia, dividing his infantry into three corps. Longstreet will command the 1st Corps and Lee appoints Richard S. Ewell and Ambrose Powell Hill to command the two new corps. Your regiment, Mahone’s Brigade and Anderson’s Division are transferred to the 3^rd Corps of A. P. Hill. A bit of good news for the 12^th is the return of Colonel David A. Weisiger from the wounds he suffered at 2^nd Manassas. The Army of Northern Virginia now has 75,000 men present for duty including all arms of the service. The morale of you and the boys of the 12^th is very high, as it is throughout the army. It is not long before you realize what Lee and the President have decided the next campaign of the army will be. That uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach is stronger now than it ever has been.

Lee sends Longstreet’s and Ewell’s Corps west from Fredericksburg June 3. Your corps remains in Frdericksburg holding a line from Bank’s Ford to Hamilton’s Crossing. Hill’s Corps will attempt to deceive the Yanks into thinking that Lee’s Army is still in Fredericksburg. The cavalry battle at Brandy Station on June 9 and Ewell’s victory at Winchester June 12-14, alert Hooker that Lee is moving. With the deception over, you are ordered to move on June 14. It is very, very hot as you march through the battlefield at Chancellorsville and cross the Rapidan River at Germanna Ford June 15. From Stevensburg you reach Culpeper on June 16 and you rest on the west bank of the Hazel River on June 17. June 18 you reach Flint Hill and pass through the Chester Gap June 19. You pass through White Post on June 20 and camp at Berryville. Your march takes you west of Charles Town and you cross the Potomac River at Shepherdstown on June 23. You have crossed the border again. You know now why you had that uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach when Lee returned from his meetings with Davis. Sharpsburg ended your last march into Yankee country, but you tell yourself this time will be different.

Hill’s orders were to close with Longstreet’s and Ewell’s Corps. These two corps had a head start of 11 days. Hill is pushing you hard and the heat takes its toll. Many have fallen out with sunstroke. You have been marching rapidly and camp at Boonsborough on June 24. Your marching has brought you this night within 15 miles of Longstreet camped at Hagerstown and within 40 miles of Ewell at Chambersburg, Pa. The next night you camp at Hagerstown and on June 26 you camp north of Greencastle, Pa. You march through Chambersburg the next morning, then turn east on the Gettysburg Road and camp at Fayetteville. Anderson’s Division is the last division in line of march of Hill’s Corps. The divisions of Henry Heth and William D Pender are east of Hill on the Gettysburg Road.

Your march to this point from Fredericksburg, although hard, has been unmolested by the Yankees. You are unaware of the military situation. You do not know that General Lee has ordered a concentration of his army at Gettysburg, nor do you know of the concern at General Lee’s Headquarters. General Stuart’s Cavalry has not been heard from and a spy has told Lee that the Yankees are in Maryland and moving toward you. You do not know that Ewell’s Corps is to the north and east of you, but you do know that Longstreet’s Corps is behind you. You get that uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach again as you seem to before a fight.

July 1, Heth’s Division of A. P. Hill’s Corps engages Union cavalry at Gettysburg. You are ordered to move east to Gettysburg. As you cross South Mountain, you hear the fire of Heth’s engagement. You are halted just west of Cashtown. You move into the town around noon and are halted again. At 1:00PM you march towards Gettysburg, but the road is full of horses, wagons, artillery and men. By 4:30PM you have covered only three miles. You begin to see wounded comrades walking to the rear. Then you see a long line of Union prisoners heading to the rear. You hear from the prisoners that George Gordon Meade, a Pennsylvanian, is in command of the Union Army, replacing Hooker. You pay this no mind, as you have Robert E. Lee. Seeing the prisoners on their way to the rear makes you think the fight is going well but that old feeling is still there. Your regiment and your division do not make it to Gettysburg in time for the first day’s fighting.

The next morning, July 2, the 12^th takes its assigned position on the north end of Seminary Ridge, opposite Cemetery Hill. The battle today does not begin until the afternoon. General Longstreet is in command of the attack. As Anderson’s Division takes its position, its right flank is in the air. Wilcox’s Brigade is the right of the division and Anderson orders Wilcox to place his brigade at right angles to the remainder of the line. Wilcox’s right regiment deploys in Pitzer’s woods. His line arcs to the northeast, with his left in Spangler’s Woods behind the Spangler farm buildings. Perry’s Florida Brigade is to the left of Wilcox and occupies Spangler’s Woods. Wright’s Brigade is to the left of Perry and Posey’s Brigade to the left of Wright. Mahone’s Brigade, with the 12^th, is to the left of Posey. The brigades of Wright, Posey and Mahone occupy the ridge between Spangler’s Woods and McMillan’s Woods.

Longstreet intends for Anderson’s Division to join his corps in his echelon attack. Wilcox’s and Perry’s Brigades advance on the left of Barksdale’s Brigade of McLaw’s Division. Wright’s Brigade steps off on Perry’s left. When Posey’s Brigade goes forward it is not in battle line but in skirmish formation. You know something is wrong. Wright’s left flank is hanging; it is impossible for Posey to properly support Wright while in skirmish formation. You know your brigade should go forward but no such order is given. You see staff officers from Wright’s and Posey’s Brigade go to Mahone but no order to advance comes. You see a staff officer from Anderson talk with Mahone but still no order comes. Wright’s Brigade pierces Seminary Ridge but you know he has no support. You see the flags of Wright’s Brigade through the smoke, coming back off the ridge, and you know the attack has failed. The boys ask each other, "Why did we not advance? Why did Posey advance in skirmish formation?" These questions will never be answered and your experience tells you that this may have been the best chance to defeat the Yanks.

Your regiment and division are spectators to the attack of the next day. You watch as the attacking brigades execute maneuvers flawlessly under enemy fire. The brigades advance towards Cemetery Ridge through open fields in dress parade style. You watch as your flags cross the stone wall in the smoke and confusion of battle. The flags stop their forward movement and seem to hang there. You see wounded comrades streaming back towards your lines. Then your hopes are dashed as you see the flags retreating. The attack has failed. Your brigade is ordered forward in skirmish formation. During this skirmish maneuver your regiment loses one killed, eight wounded and eight captured. Certainly the Yankees will come forward, but they do not.

The next day, July 4, you hold position on Seminary Ridge. There is no fighting on this, the birthday of the country of your birth. Wagons are being loaded with your wounded, a sign of pending retreat. The evening of the July 5 you and the army begin the retreat from the fields of Gettysburg. The 12^th is the rear guard on Fairfield Road. The night of July 5-6 you hold the Fairfield Gap in a thunder and lightning storm that gives a surreal aura to the fighting but the death around you is real. You camp at Hagerstown, Md. from July 7 to early July 11. You march to fortifications south of Hagerstown and remain there until July 13. You cross the Potomac at Falling Waters and continue the long slow trek south.

You arrive back in Culpeper July 28 and encamp. Many of your comrades are asking why. Why did the army cross the border? Why, with our Generals, were we whipped? What did Lee hope to accomplish? Some are saying that they always knew you could not win in battle in the Yanks' country. You wonder what is next. You have been fighting for over two years now. You can’t help but feel glad that you made it through all the battles safely. So many that you knew have not. You take a moment and thank the Lord that you are alive this day. You wonder if the Lord is blessing your cause. You have seen so much death and destruction, and yet there is no end in sight. Some boys from the regiment deserted after you crossed the Potomac, but you know that you will go where your commanders order and do your duty.

You do not remain in the camp at Culpeper for long. Meade moves into Virginia to a point that sees only the Rappahannock River separating the armies. On August 4, Union cavalry under John Buford crosses the river and engages Stuart and your cavalry near Brandy Station. Mahone’s Brigade is marched at the double quick the six miles from Culpeper to Brandy Station. You move to the sound of the guns and the 12^th emerges from a wood into a field. You have caught some of the Yankee cavalry completely by surprise. The regiment fires a devastating volley, knocking a number of Yanks from their saddles. Buford, seeing that Stuart has infantry support, retreats to the north side of the river.

You return to the camps at Culpeper. Here, newspapers from Richmond reach you. They tell you that the war is not going well. You are well aware that the morale in the Army of Northern Virginia has plummeted since the defeat at Gettysburg. The papers tell that the war in the West is going badly for your cause. Orders come that there will be a review of Hill’s Corps by General Lee on September 9.

You begin to hear rumors that Longstreet’s Corps is going to the West to unite with Bragg’s Army of the Tennessee. General Lee reviews the 12^th and Hill’s Corps on the 9^th. When the review ends you discover that the rumors were true. Longstreet has left, leaving only the corps of Hill and Ewell facing the Union Army of the Potomac.

Meade hears that Longstreet has left and crosses the Rappahannock River September 13. Lee orders the army to fall back to the south side of the Rapidan River. Mahone’s Brigade, with the 12^th, draws picket duty along the river. You camp on the north side of the river at Rapidan Station close to the Yanks.

Longstreet’s union with Bragg is successful and they defeat Union General Rosecrans at the Battle of Chickamauga. Two Union corps are taken from Meade and sent west to reinforce Rosecrans. Lee, hearing of Meade being weakened, decides to move against him.

You move on October 8. Hill’s Division with the 12^th receives orders to turn Meade’s right flank. You cross the Rappahannock River marching at a fast pace and head for Madison Court House. The next day you move northeast and ford the Robertson River. October 11, you are five miles north of Culpeper but Meade has pulled back. Your flank march does not catch him. On a forced march again you pass through Woodville and Amissville and cross the Rappahannock again, this time at Waterloo Bridge. You arrive in Warrenton October 13, but Meade’s flank again eludes you. Lee orders a third attempt to reach Meade’s flank and you move on October 14. Anderson’s Division with Heth’s Brigade in the lead moves northeast to New Baltimore and then southeast towards Bristoe Station. You see signs of the Union Army as you march and they cannot be far ahead.

Nearing Bristoe Station, General Hill sees Yankees crossing over Broad Run. He sends his leading three brigades after them. The brigades moving forward neglect to see a Union corps hidden in a railroad cut. The Yanks in the cut fire a volley that slams into Hill’s brigades, decimating Cooke’s Brigade. You and Mahone’s Brigade arrive in time to see the wounded of the three brigades streaming back. Mahone’s orders his brigade, with the 12^th, into battle line but the Yanks have again slipped away. You have marched at a forced pace for parts of five days and are unable to gain Meade’s flank. You have pushed the Yanks back but now they are safely behind breastworks around Centerville. You are in an area of your beloved state that has been fought over for three years. Although the people are willing, the land cannot sustain the army for long.

General Lee, aware of the supply situation, orders the army to return to the south side of the Rappahannock River. You move on October 18. Meade follows you but not closely. At the river, Early’s Division of Ewell’s Corps is left in a fortified position on the north bank at the Rappahannock Bridge. November 7, Meade takes Early’s position and Union troops cross at Kelly’s Ford. The Rappahannock River line pierced, your army falls back. November 10, you cross the Rapidan. Your regiment is given familiar duty, to hold Rapidan Station and picket the river. Your movements between October 8 and November 10 will be known as the Bristoe Campaign.

Meade crosses the Rapidan at Germanna Ford on November 27. The Yanks are trying to turn your left flank and you are ordered to move east quickly. You move on the Orange Plank Road and halt just west of Mine Run. Here, in freezing weather, you entrench. Meade, approaching your position, thinks it prudent not to fully attack your fortified position. He does try to turn your right flank, but Stuart’s cavalry and part of Anderson’s Division foil the move. Meade retreats the night of December 1-2 and you return to your old position at Rapidan Station. Meade’s move across the Rapidan and Lee’s responses will be known as the Mine Run Campaign.

1864

In a snowstorm, on January 4, you march to a new camp on Madison Run south of Gordonsville. Here you build winter quarters with streets. A religious revival sweeps through the camp and many men in the 12^th come to God. The Masons hold meetings and you join the order. Mahone, always trying to get the best for his men, procures leather and puts all the shoemakers in the brigade on special duty making shoes. Mahone organizes a sharpshooter battalion in February and gives command of the battalion to Lt. Col. E.M. Feild of the 12^th. Any man in the regiment can try out for the battalion. Competition between the men of the brigade is fierce. Those who win receive an English Whitworth .45 caliber target rifle. The battalion receives training in skirmish and flanker duty from Lt. Col. Feild.

In February and March many of the 12^th receive furloughs and go home for the first time since the war began. You are one of the lucky ones and you head home. Arriving home you find that things are worse than your loved ones’ letters have indicated. You have become accustomed to not having luxuries or much to eat. The folks of Petersburg are finding many things, even the most basic staples of life, impossible to obtain. You want to stay and protect them but these thoughts bring conflict to your mind. You have thought of returning home but you have not done so simply because it is the right action to take. You know that most of the men in the 12^th have loved ones in the same situation as yours. They stay with the army and so will you. You and others return to the regiment bringing food to share with your comrades. You quickly settle into the mundane daily routine of army life.

In April your regiment is assigned picket duty along the Rapidan River. As you direct the men of Co. E in their picket duty, all is quiet. You have heard that in early March a Union general from the West, U. S. Grant, has been appointed General in Chief of the Union armies. Rumors are that he is with Meade and the Army of the Potomac. You know the Yanks are building up for the warm weather and you wonder how Grant will be different from all the other generals the Yanks have sent against Bobby Lee. You will soon find out.

May 4, the Yanks cross the Rapidan in force at Germanna ford. The corps of Ewell and Hill, minus your division, are sent to meet them. You break camp and march. You pass through Orange and arrive at Willis Ford on the Rapidan the evening of May 4. The next day word comes to you that Ewell and Hill have engaged the Yanks. Orders come to your division in the evening to march to the guns. You arrive in Verdiersville the evening of May 5 and halt. That uneasy feeling in your stomach is very strong. Just after midnight May 6, you move east on the Orange Plank Road. The sky is getting light as you reach Parker’s Store. The fields around the store are a beehive of activity and the Plank Road is clogged with the men of Longstreet’s Corps. You wait for over an hour until Longstreet clears the intersection. To the east you can clearly hear the sounds of battle.

The firing you hear is the Yankees attacking the rest of Hill’s Corps. Overwhelmed by Union numbers, Hill’s men fall back with the Yanks in hard pursuit. Longstreet arrives at the fields around the Tapp farm in time to blunt the Union attack. The 12^th arrives in the Tapp fields about an hour later. Anderson’s Division is put in reserve but his brigades are being put into line where needed.

An unfinished railway is discovered that leads to the left flank of the Yankees. Mahone’s Brigade and the Brigade of Joseph R. Davis from Hill’s Corps, with the brigades of William Wofford and G. T. Anderson of Longstreet’s Corps, are ordered to the cut. You are led by Col. Moxley Sorrel, of Longstreet’s staff, to a position on the left flank of the Yanks, arriving unseen. General Mahone assists in placing the brigades in a battle line. On the left is Wofford, to his right is your brigade and to your right is G. T. Anderson. Davis’ Brigade is in reserve behind Wofford. You move forward.

Your attack is a complete surprise to the Yankees. You drive in the Union flankers and turn the flanks of successive Yankee regiments. You are moving through heavy underbrush and bogs which disorganize your line. Flaming paper cartridges from the firing muskets ignite the underbrush. Smoke from the forest fires and gunshots obscures your vision. The 12^th mistakenly crosses the Orange Plank Road, moving ahead of the battle line that has halted. You enter a depression and Col. Weisiger sees that you have moved out of position. He orders you to halt, about face and march. He directs you back to your battle line and orders you to fall in on the right of the 41^st Va. Before you can effect the union with the 41^st, some officers on horseback ride between you and the 41^st. One rider in the party is carrying a corps flag. Suddenly a volley rings out and some of the officers are unhorsed. Worse yet, some of the men of the 12^th go down wounded and dead. You feel a sting in the back of your left leg and go down. You run your hand over your leg and feel a sticky substance. It is your blood. A private bends over your leg, tears a piece of his blanket off and wraps your leg. You stand and there is pain but you tell the private you can go forward. It seems the boys of the 41st fired the ball that wounded you. You are told that two of the officers that were unhorsed are Generals Longstreet and Kershaw. Longstreet is severely wounded and Kershaw is killed. Perhaps the boys of the 41^st mistook the 12^th coming from the north side of the Orange Plank Road as Yankees and fired. Your leg is hurting as you help realign the 12^th to the right of the 41^st. As you line up some of the boys of the 41^st say over and over, we are sorry. As you advance you find the body of a wounded Union general. Some of the boys carry him back to the 12^th’s field hospital and leave him with Surgeon James W. Claiborne of Petersburg. You later find out that the Yankee general died during the night and that he was James Wadsworth of New York. With the wounding of Longstreet, your attack loses its drive and both sides settle down for the night.

Your leg hurts as a Captain orders you off your feet. The night of May 6 is the worst night you have spent on any battlefield. All night you hear the screams of the wounded. You have heard these before but many wounded cannot move and the burning forest is taking them. The screams are horrific bringing tears to your eyes. Rebel or Yank, no one deserves to die this way. The pain in your leg subsides some and a comrade asks if you want to go to the field hospital. You thank him but you have seen too many go back to the doctors and not return. Through the pain and the screams you finally drift off to blissful sleep.

You awake around dawn May 7, feeling refreshed. Your leg feels better but you cannot be happy as the signs of battle are all around you. With Longstreet’s wounding, General Lee has to make changes in command. Lee appoints your division commander, Richard Anderson, to command Longstreet’s Corps. General Mahone is given command of the division and your Col. Weisiger moves up to command the brigade. Col. Weisiger’s first order is to relieve the brigade in the trenches facing the Yanks with his brigade. There is no major action on May 7.

The evening of May 7, Grant begins his march to Spotsylvania Court House. Though the Yankees in your front pull out, neither you, nor any of the boys of the 12^th hear them. The morning of May 8, General A. P. Hill reports in sick to General Lee. Lee gives temporary command of 3^rd Corps to General Jubal Early. The corps of Anderson and Ewell are already heading for Spotsylvania. It is of utmost importance that this crossroad hamlet does not fall to Grant and his army. Chief of your army’s artillery, Brigadier General William N. Pendleton, constructs a road running from the Orange Plank Road south to the Catharpin Road. Your day is spent digging entrenchments facing east along this road. Around dawn on May 9, you march south. Your leg seems to be holding up but that feeling in your stomach has returned.

Lee orders Early to move east upon reaching the Catharpin Road to Todd’s Tavern. Your division is first in the line of march of the corps. Early sends your brigade forward as a reconnaissance in force, to determine if the Yanks occupy Todd’s Tavern and if they do, in what force. General Wade Hampton of your cavalry reports that there is a Union infantry brigade on the Catharpin Road between you and Todd’s Tavern. Your brigade moves down Pendleton’s road, advancing on the Yankee infantry brigade from the north. At the same time a brigade of Hampton’s cavalry is moving east on the Catharpin Road and will hit the Yanks from that side. You hit the Yanks on their right flank and a Union regiment begins to break. You move forward but the Yank regiment is rallied and is laying a heavy fire on your line. Another Yankee regiment joins the fray but you hold your line. Fighting is heavy around the Bradshaw house. The 12^th is ordered to take the house and you rush forward. Yankee fire is so heavy you cannot overrun the house and you return to your lines. You remain in position until midnight. You then move in the pitch black of the night to the Shady Grove Church Road and camp there, around 1:30AM, May 9. As the sky begins to lighten you move east, arriving in Spotsylvania Court House just after midday. You are told to put the men to work digging trenches across the Spotsylvania-Fredericksburg Road, north of the village. It is hot and the men are sweating but you get a chance to change the dressing on your wound. It is red but thankfully the ball went clean through.

Suddenly Mahone orders the division to form. You are moving out. The Yanks have crossed the Po River and are attempting to turn your army’s left flank. You leave your unfinished trenches and arrive at the Block House Bridge over the Po around 3:00AM May 10. Mahone puts you to work building entrenchments facing the river. Mahone orders the sharpshooter battalion forward as skirmishers.

You hear firing from the south around 10:00AM. A Yankee brigade has crossed the river below you and now is moving towards your positions. The Yanks drive your skirmishers in on the main line but do not advance any farther. The Yankees pull back and cross back over the river. Now you hear the sounds of battle to your front across the river. Early has sent the division of Henry Heth across the Po south of you. The fighting you hear is Heth’s boys attacking the Union’s right flank. You and the 12^th are ordered to support Heth and you are able to lay enfilade fire on the Yanks facing Heth. The Yanks fall back across the Po, but you know that your forces were not strong enough to force them to do so. You wonder why they retreated.

You stay in battle line the rest of May 10 and into the morning of May 11. It began to rain about 3:00AM, making your camp very uncomfortable. Your army’s bands have been playing and continue to do so during the rain. They are playing, "Nearer My God to Thee." The Yankee bands are playing also and over and over they play "Dead March From Saul." You remain by the Block House Bridge through May 11 and into the morning of May 12. You hear the sounds of furious battle to your right rear. Your division receives orders to move and you arrive at the village around noon. Weisiger’s Brigade is sent to the trenches you dug on May 9 east of the village.

You get to your trenches and the sound of battle, now to your left, begins to slacken. You get orders to move forward from your trenches. Advancing through some woods south of the Fredericksburg Road, you are ordered to wheel left. You emerge from the woods on the flank of a Yankee brigade and attack. You have surprised the Yanks and the Union brigade falls back. This brigade suddenly advances but not before your regiment has taken prisoners and a battle flag. The Yanks bring up artillery and you return to your trenches.

Back in your trenches you collapse. The pain in your leg is terrible. You look down and see your blood trickling down your leg. You remove the bandage and see that the wound has reopened. There is nothing you can do but bandage the wound again and hope for the best. You will not go to the field hospital. One of your men helps you apply the bandage and says he hopes the fighting is done for the day but you know different.

The order comes to move forward from your trenches again around 6:30PM. You move forward toward the Yankee trenches. The Yank trenches seem to be manned only by skirmishers. You think how lucky you are and this will be easy. You advance and then you feel a hot poker touch your head and everything goes black. You awake and it is dark. You are not sure where you are, so you lay very still. Your head is pounding and you carefully reach up to touch it. You feel something very sticky on the side of your head but it is too dark to tell what it is. Your senses returning, you hear voices. You play dead, not knowing whom the voices belong to. You listen hard; no doubt they are Yankees. The thought of capture scares you. With each passing moment your fear grows. What do I do? I must get away.

You run hands down your body and discover your tin cup is still hooked to your haversack. You slowly remove the cup. You can make no sound when you try to move. You slowly begin to crawl forward. Your head hurts but you remember where your lines are. Suddenly you bump into something. It is a Yank, but he is dead. You take a deep breath and continue to crawl. You crawl for what seems to be an eternity waiting for some Yank to say, "It is over, Johnny Reb." You keep crawling and then you hear voices. You stop and lay perfectly still. It can’t be. To come this far and be captured. You listen to the voices and your mind tells you that these voices are Southern. You call out quietly. Suddenly a voice asks, "Where did you come from?" You have made it to your lines and friendly arms carry you into the trenches. That sticky substance you felt was your blood. A Yankee minie ball has creased your skull. You thank God that you are alive and safe. A man wipes your head with water and tells you that the wound is not deep. He then applies a bandage and offers to take you to the 12^th’s field hospital. You thank him, but will not go.

You awake the morning of May 13 in a daze. Your head aches as if a man is in there with a hammer, hitting your skull in a rhythmic beat. You try to stand, but dizziness overtakes you and you sit down hard. An officer sees you trying to stand and orders you to the 12^th’s field hospital but it is an order you will not obey. A private from your company changes the bandages on your head and leg. He tells you that your leg is healing well and that your head wound is not too serious. You are grateful that this day passes with little activity, giving you a chance to rest.

The morning of May 14, you rise feeling much better. Men from your company tell you that they have seen Yankee troops moving south toward the Ny River, trying to turn your army’s right flank. Mahone’s Division is ordered to leave their trenches and move south. The rain is coming down in buckets as you, though a little woozy, take your position with your company and march out. The Union brigade of Upton, Wright’s Corps, has crossed to the south side of the Ny River. Your division catches Upton in this exposed position and drives him back across the river. In the afternoon Wright moves south again, and you are called from your trenches to meet the threat. Although you drive Wright back to the river, you cannot drive him across it.

For the next five days the Yankees extend their lines south. You move mirroring the Yanks, as though this is some dance of death. As you move south, you dig trenches protecting the army’s right flank. You do not mind this though, as the further you move south, the further you move away from the terrible stench of the Spotsylvania battlefield. No truce has been called to remove the dead bodies of animals and men from the fields. Some have been lying in the sun, heat and rain for up to eight days. Relief from this stench is well worth the digging of a few trenches.

The morning of May 24 is quiet and you allow some men to forage for food. You know their bellies are just as empty as yours. You hear firing towards Ox Ford and recall your men to the trenches. The order comes for Mahone’s Brigade to move to the guns. Mahone orders you and the 12^th to double quick to the area. As you arrive, you see two Yankee divisions advancing towards your trenches. Skirmishers from the 12^th move out to face the left Yankee division. The right division hits your trenches to the right of the 12^th’s position. You order the men to fire at the right oblique, pouring enfilade fire into the Yanks. The 12^th’s fire assists in driving the Federals back from the trenches. Your skirmishers are popping away at the division in their front but the Yanks never advance within musket range of your main line.

You pass May 25 quietly, as no major action takes place. You know by the smoke in the sky to your west and north that the Yanks are busy tearing up the Virginia Central Railroad west of Noel Station and the Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad north of the North Anna River. You remain in your trenches as Bobby Lee’s Hog’s Snout Line has stymied Grant.

The morning of May 26, you receive orders to report to Regimental HQ. The messenger does not know what this is about, so you straighten your ragged and dirty uniform the best you can and head off. All you can think of is that you did not report to the 12^th’s field hospital when ordered to after being wounded in the head. Surely that officer would not prefer charges against you for this. As you walk, you mind wanders back to when you crossed the border into Maryland in 1862. The army was in bad shape at that time. Everyone was hungry, uniforms were in tatters and many of the boys did not have shoes. You fought a bloody battle and retreated back to Virginia. What was gained? Then you recall crossing the border again in June of 1863. The army was much different then. It was the largest it had ever been, the men marched with confidence after two major victories and supplies were good. You marched into the fertile farm country of Pennsylvania only to have the unthinkable happen. The bloody fields of Gettysburg visited defeat on your army and you retreated into Virginia. Twice you have gone into Yankee territory and both times you have retreated. What was accomplished, save for the death and maiming of many of your comrades? Your thoughts return to the present as you arrive at headquarters and, much to your relief, find that you are not in trouble. You are offered a promotion and a position on the staff of Colonel Weisiger. The colonel tells you that it is due to your dedication and the excellent performance of your duties that the position is offered to you. You ask if you might have some time to make your decision and the colonel grants you one day. As you march back to the 12^th’s position in the trenches, you know that there is another reason why the colonel would choose a company second sergeant. In the three weeks of constant fighting, many of the regiment’s officers and NCOs have been killed and wounded. In the trenches you talk with the boys of Co. E about the offer. Many, without hesitation, tell you to take it. You have fought for three years, been wounded twice and the odds surely will catch up with you. It is not an easy decision, as you know you will have to leave the company.

The night of May 26-27 Grant begins to pull out of his lines heading east. You receive orders to move out of the trenches and march parallel to the Yanks. Lt. Colonel Feild finds you to ask if you will join Weisiger’s staff. You have that uneasy feeling in your stomach again as you march. With the boys going into a fight you tell him that you wish to stay with your company. As you march, the boys show the strain of three weeks of fighting. The column moves as if in a stupor. Torn uniforms and bare feet trudge along east hour after hour in the heat and dust but you know that when called upon, these rail-thin, sallow-faced men will fight. You spend May 28-29 on the left flank of the Confederate line south of Totopotomy Creek. General Lee has again ascertained where Grant will take the Union army. Orders come to march to Cold Harbor.

You arrive there June 2, the second day of the battle. Your brigade moves to the right of the Confederate line and posts atop Turkey Ridge. Here, you are in reserve behind the division of John Breckinridge. As light breaks on June 3, four Union corps attack your army’s trenches head on. The full Union 2nd Corps of General Winfield Scott Hancock hits Breckinridge’s Division and the victor of New Market asks for immediate support. Mahone orders Weisiger’s Brigade in and you move forward with the 12^th. As you reach your entrenchments a field of blue is in your front. Your brigade stops Hancock and the Yanks retreat. It is a slaughter. The field in your front is covered with dead, dying and wounded Yanks. Union soldiers are so thick on the field that there must be thousands.

Night comes and you hear the cries of the wounded Yanks for water and help. You hear their curses and their prayers. No truce to remove the bodies has been called. Why have the Yanks not asked for a truce? Surely they know the horrible suffering their brave soldiers are experiencing. With each passing hour the number of wounded crying out for help lessens. You think, "My God, how can Grant allow this to happen to his men?" Finally, on June 7, a truce is arranged and the Union medical personnel leave their trenches for the field. Many of the boys of the 12^th have shed tears over the plight of these brave Yanks. This is the largest crime you have seen in your three years of war, for the Yanks find only a few of their soldiers alive.

On June 12, Grant leaves Cold Harbor heading south. You march again, staying between Grant and Richmond. You cross the Chickahominy River on June 13 and camp at Riddle’s Shop. Leaving his 5^th Corps behind, Grant steals a march on Lee and crosses the rest of his army to the south side of the James River. While you are skirmishing with elements of the Union 5^th Corps on May 15, a Union corps approaches Petersburg, defended only by a small force under General Beauregard. The next day you rest near Malvern Hill. Many of the boys in the 12^th recall the horrible battle in 1862 fought here. June 17, you move out crossing the James River near Drewry’s Bluff and camp at Chester Station. You march into Petersburg the next morning. You and the boys of the 12^th are home, but it is not the city you left.

Your city shows the ravages of war. All the stores are closed, as are the mills. The citizenry has fled the city, leaving their homes empty. You march on Sycamore Street and see a lone officer on horseback. There is something familiar about this haggard and dust covered man. Coming closer you recognize him to be Colonel Moxley Sorrel who led you on your flank march at the Wilderness. You and the boys of the 12^th raise a hearty cheer for the colonel. Marching south you leave the city limits and go into trenches built back in 1862 and 1863.

The Yankees do not allow you to rest for long. On June 22, your brigade moves out of the trenches to meet a Yankee threat to the Jerusalem Plank Road and the Weldon and Petersburg Railroad, your supply routes from the south. The Yanks have sent two full corps on this mission, but being unfamiliar with the terrain, they are strung out and disoriented. You pass through woods near the Johnson House unobserved. A gap exists between these two Yankee corps and Mahone send the division, with the 12^th, into it. You hit the Union division of Francis Barlow on the left flank and it falls back. When Barlow falls back he exposes the flanks of two other Union divisions to you. Moving forward, your division takes 1700 prisoners and a number of regimental flags. Darkness comes, ending the Battle of the Johnson House. The Yankees fail to take the railroad but they do gain ground along the Jerusalem Plank Road.

The next morning, June 23, Wright’s Union Corps moves west from the road towards the Weldon Railroad. He hits the railroad three miles south of your position. Mahone’s Division, with the 12^th, leaves its trenches and moves south. You hit Wright near the Gurley House and drive him back to the road, ending the threat.

You return to your trenches near the Wilcox House with the vital railroad still open. The heat has been unmerciful and it has not rained since June 3. The boys are covered with the choking dust that seems to be everywhere. Finally, on July 19 it rains, bringing relief to the boys. You remain in your trenches but part of your division is moved further north in other trenches. Some of your forces had to move north of the James River in response to Grant moving cavalry and a corps of infantry to that side of the river. This has thinned your lines south of Petersburg appreciably.

Around 4:00AM on July 30, an explosion jolts your regiment awake. The Yanks have dug a mine under your lines and exploded it. Men from the Union corps of Ambrose Burnside rush into the crater the explosion has created. The Yanks occupy the section of your lines very near your regiment by 5:00AM. Around 6:00AM Weisiger’s and Wright’s Brigades are ordered to form behind the trenches out of view of the Yanks. Captain Richard Jones, commanding the 12^th, forms the regiment and you move out at 6:30AM. You move first east then north on the Jerusalem Plank Road to the New Road. You then move west on the New Road until you reach a ravine at Lieutenant Run. You move north in the ravine until you reach Jackson’s Ice Pond directly opposite the crater. You have reached this position without the Yankees seeing you. Your regiment and the brigade climb the ravine with Wright’s Brigade following. You have reached the Jerusalem Plank Road just north of the crater. You cross the road through a communications trench and file into a ravine moving south. You are now parallel to the crater and the Union held trenches, about 200 yards from them. Still the Yankees have not seen you.

Mahone wants your brigade and that of Wright’s to charge the Yanks in unison, but signs are the Yankees might move forward first. Mahone orders Weisiger to attack with his brigade immediately. Crouched in the ravine, you and the boys of the 12^th are addressed by Captain Richard Jones. The Captain says, "Men you are called upon to charge and recapture our works, now in the hands of the enemy. They are one hundred yards distant. The enemy can fire only one volley before their works are reached. Rise and move forward at the command at double quick and yell. Everybody is expected to do their duty in this crisis."

The order comes, and you rise from the ravine and charge with a yell. Captain Jones was wrong and you are two hundred yards from the Yankees. The Yanks open on you with terrible fire, forcing you to veer off and hit the trenches north of the crater. The fighting is hand to hand and ferocious. The regiment is taking casualties, but slowly you begin to push the Yanks and recapture the trenches inch by inch. Wright’s Brigade charges, but the same galling fire from the crater forces it to veer into the trenches alongside of you. The added weight of Wright’s boys makes the going a bit easier and you reach the rim of the crater.

Of the Yanks that penetrated your lines, all are now isolated in the crater. You crawl to the edge and look to into the gaping hole. There are white and colored Union troops packed like sheep in the bottom of the crater. The crater rapidly turns into a death trap. The 12^th fires volley after volley into the hole. Some boys grab artillery shells, light the fuses, then roll them down the side to the bottom of the crater. Muskets are fixed with bayonets and hurled in the air like spears into this cauldron of death. Screams from the dead and dying rise from this man made hole. You watch as Yankees punch, claw, kick, scratch and bite each other to escape this killing field. You close your eyes and silently ask God how much longer the horror, which is this war, must go on. Surely, enough have been maimed or have died to atone for any sins that the Union or the Confederacy may have committed. The shooting stops and you open your eyes. The pile of dead and wounded Union soldiers in the bottom of the crater exceeds any you have seen in your three years of fighting. You feel sick to your stomach and turn away from the carnage. The Battle of the Crater is over. In this battle your regiment loses eighteen killed and twenty-four wounded.

This night, colored Union soldiers are forced to dig a huge trench to bury their comrades in. The cries of the wounded can be heard throughout the night. The next morning the sun comes up hot and the heat rises quickly. The bodies of wounded and dead Yanks stretch from your lines to theirs, lying in the hot sun. The stench of death permeates the air. On August 1, a truce is called and men from your regiment leave your lines and gladly help the Yanks remove the dead and those still living from the field. While performing this grisly task, you and others swap the Yanks tobacco for coffee. You talk with your enemy and even laughter can be heard, but soon you return to your lines and the war. The next day your regiment returns to its old positions south of Petersburg. The boys are dirty, tired and hungry and in need of a rest. For once the Yanks will cooperate and you are out of action for the next three weeks.

The second week of August, Grant sends two corps north of the James against Richmond. Mahone’s Division, with the 12^th and other troops, is ordered north of the river to stop this threat. On August 14, the Yankees advance down the Darbytown Road towards Richmond. You and the other Confederates man trenches at Fussell’s Mill and halt the Yankee push. Though the Yanks are stopped, their threat has pulled many Confederate troops north of the James leaving the defenses south of the river weakened. Grant is quick to take advantage of this weakness.

August 18, a Union corps reaches Globe Tavern on the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad. News of this brings orders to Mahone’s Division to move south. A. P. Hill is in command of the troops, including Mahone’s Division, which will attempt to push the Yanks off the vital railway. Just before dawn you emerge from woods and strike the pickets of Crawford’s Union Division. You drive these pickets in and attack Crawford’s right flank driving the Union division back in confusion. The Yanks counterattack with two fresh divisions and push you back to your trenches. August 21, Hill makes another attempt to dislodge Warren from the railroad. Hoke’s Division attacks Warren first but is beaten back. Your division then advances but heavy Union artillery fire stops you cold. The battle of the Weldon Railroad ends with your troops not being able to push the Yanks off this important position.

August 22, Weisiger’s Brigade moves south with two brigades of Heth’s Division, to meet a Yankee corps that has hit the Weldon Railroad south of Globe Tavern at Reams’ Station. You march around Globe Tavern to avoid Warren and advance on Reams’ Station. At the same time your cavalry, under General Wade Hampton, has circled around Reams’ Station and is moving towards you with Yanks in the middle. As you move forward the Yanks panic and retreat to the Jerusalem Plank Road. You then return to the trenches south of Petersburg.

You and the 12^th do not participate in any battles between September 29 and October 2. Your forces suffer a defeat at the Battle of Squirrel Level Road and Grant is able to extend his trenches west. In order to prevent being flanked, Lee orders your own trenches extended west. The western end of your trenches is now near Burgess’ Mill on the Boydton Plank Road and the 12^th is moved to this position. October 27, a Yankee corps leaves its trenches and reaches the Boydton Plank Road about a mile south of your position. A second Union corps follows the first corps out Vaughan Road, veering off at the bridge, and approaches your works from the front.

Your scouts tell you of the Yankee movements and you know you are in a very dangerous position. A Union corps is on your right flank on the Boydton Plank Road and another faces you. If the Yanks stay here they threaten the South Side Railroad and the wagon route along the Boydton Plank Road. You tell the boys to get ready, as you know orders will soon reach you. The orders come and you move out of the trenches heading south with the rest of the division. Mahone spots a gap between the two Yankee corps and orders the division into it. You move rapidly forward but then are hit by the Yanks. Suddenly two Yankee brigades hit you from opposite directions and the division is in a vice. You retire quickly, but not quickly enough. Your regiment suffers dead, wounded and a large number captured. Despite their tactical victory at Burgess’ Mill, the Union corps withdraw, ending the threat to the South Side Railroad and leaving the Boydton Plank Road open.

Your regiment is sent back to the trenches and there you remain until December 7. The 12^th is part of a detachment sent to catch a Union corps that is tearing up the Petersburg and Weldon Railroad south of Reams’ Station. You leave the trenches but the weather turns bad. Sleet, then snow, make marching conditions for the boys horrible. You don’t find the Union corps as it has returned to its trenches. You return to your yours on the extreme right, north of Burgess’ Mill.

You camp along Cattail Run just west of Fort Gregg. This morning you accepted a promotion to the rank of 1^st Lieutenant on the staff of Colonel Weisiger. With all the regiment has been through, the morale of the men is surprisingly high. The boys wash, clean their uniforms and perform their duties quickly and efficiently. Your regimental returns show 287 men present for duty in October and 275 in December. Though this is a far cry from what you left Petersburg with in 1861, desertions have not hit the 12^th as badly as other regiments in the army.

1865

Yankee cavalry moves for the Boydton Plank Road on February 5, and Yankee infantry moves to within sight of your trenches. You are ordered out of the trenches on the 6^th but cannot move the Yanks. You return to your trenches but the Yanks do not attack. A few days later the 12^th, with the rest of Mahone’s Division, moves north of Petersburg into the trenches of the Howlett Line. You will remain in this position until April.

On April 1, southwest of Petersburg at the Battle of Five Forks, your forces suffer defeat. This defeat stretches your army’s lines past their breaking point and the next day General Lee informs President Davis that Richmond and Petersburg must be evacuated. Orders reach you to move west and you leave the trenches at 3:00AM April 3. General A. P. Hill has been killed and Mahone’s Division is now under General Longstreet. Your regiment marches to the turnpike between Richmond and Petersburg. You hear huge explosions coming from Richmond and you know the city is being evacuated. Around 9:00AM April 3, you reach Chesterfield Court House. You know that the end is near and now it is just a matter of time. The boys talk of where General Lee will make his last stand with the army, but they are not confident. Your army is badly outnumbered and outgunned by the Yanks.

Orders arrive and you head west crossing the Appomattox River at Goode’s Bridge the afternoon of April 4. You camp a few miles from the bridge and receive rations. All day you have passed abandoned wagons, caissons and ambulances. The road is littered with blankets and other equipment discarded by the boys marching ahead of you. As you marched tears came to your eyes, as you knew the sights you have seen are indications of a defeated army.

3:00 AM Wednesday April 5, you march for Amelia Court House. You do not stop and arrive there at 6:30AM. You do not remain at Amelia Court House for long and by 7:30AM are heading southwest towards Jetersville. It is rumored that Yankee cavalry has the road ahead blocked and you turn west on the Amelia Springs-Deatonville Road. You hear firing at the head of the column and you are stopped. The firing soon dies down and you move forward again. You march through the night of April 5-6. The 12^th is at the tail end of Longstreet’s column.

The morning of April 6 you pass Sayler’s Creek and then you hear firing in your rear. Word comes that Anderson and Ewell are surrounded by the Yanks but that Gordon’s Corps has escaped this trap. Mahone’s Division receives orders to march back to Sayler’s Creek to support Anderson and Ewell. Reaching a crossroads southwest of Sayler’s Creek you run into Union cavalry under Sheridan. The division is able to beat off the Yankee cavalry, but it is rumored that in this action your regiment lost its colors.

The division is ordered to form the rear guard at the High Bridge and the nearby low wagon bridge, over which Gordon’s Corps will cross the Appomattox River. You must march overland to reach the bridges and arrive at the High Bridge a little after midnight April 7. The men of the regiment are able to catch some much-needed sleep. At dawn your regiment crosses High Bridge but the engineers do not burn the low bridge in time and the Yanks capture it intact. They pour over the river and you rapidly fall back, just escaping them.

Lee orders Mahone’s and Field’s Divisions to fight a rear guard battle at Cumberland Church. You have the boys dig trenches as fast as they can. The 12^th takes its position in the trenches north of the church as the Yanks arrive. The Yanks attack the trenches north, east and south of the church but are repulsed. The Yanks attempt to hit your position from the west but are foiled by two other brigades from Mahone’s Division.

The morning of April 8 you move west, unmolested by the Yankees. You march all day in the rain with signs of defeat all around you. As you march, you know that it is all over now. You believe that the end will come in the next few days. You do not tell anyone your thoughts but you get that uneasy feeling in your stomach again. That night you camp at New Hope Church. The morning of April 9, you break camp and march south. You hear firing in every direction and when the firing stops the regiment receives orders to halt. You are then ordered to move north, but a short distance later you are again halted. You order the men to construct breastworks. It is midafternoon and soon General Mahone comes by and orders the men to stop their building. General Lee has surrendered the Army of Northern Virginia.

The boys of the 12th meet General Mahone’s news with stunned silence. You look upon their weatherbeaten faces and in them see disbelief and despair. One of the men says, "General Lee would not surrender. This must be a lie". In your heart you know that the news is true but you remain silent. The boys are convinced that the news is false and vow to fight on. The demeanor of the men is becoming belligerent and dangerous. You decide to speak. There are few of you that left Petersburg in April of 1861 remaining in the 12^th.

You begin to speak and these veterans of four years of fighting quiet the other men. You begin by thanking the men for the bravery, dedication to duty and cooperation they have given the officers of the regiment. You tell them that you do not want to give up the struggle either. You then ask them to look at each other and to honestly judge if they can continue. Their uniforms are threadbare and torn. Many are barefoot and without blankets. A number are sick and even more are infested with lice. You ask them where will you get ammunition and rations. You tell them there is no honor in fighting like bushwhackers and it is time to go home. One thin and sickly soldier asks you, "Home to what?"

To what indeed. You tell the men to think of the privations their loved ones at home have endured. The city and the surrounding countryside ravaged by war, shortages of food, medicine and clothing. You say that as soldiers it is your lot to suffer privation, but the same is not true for the folks at home. Your throat catches as you speak of those at home. You say to the men that if for no other reason, they must go home to protect their loved ones from the Yankee occupation. You have made those that wanted to fight on see the hopelessness of their situation. A cry of anguish rings out. It is really over. You see tears causing streaks in these brave men’s grimy faces. Some fall to their knees and others look to the heavens. Rations arrive in boxes marked US. Even those who have sworn to have nothing to do with anything Yankee partake. You do not participate in the discussions around the campfire this evening. Most men are lost in their own thoughts and you respect their silence. You walk through the regiment’s camp and all is quiet. Men stare into the fires or talk in small groups.

In the morning you are called to a regimental officers’ meeting. You and the others are told that April 12 will be the date of the formal surrender ceremony to be held at Appomattox Court House. The staff officers are ordered by Major Jones to inform the company commanders of the regiment, to prepare written rolls of all their officers and men in duplicate. The rolls will be used by the Yanks to issue paroles to all the officers and men present. You are told that as an officer, you may keep the horse you have been riding and your side arm. You got your side arm from a wounded officer in Petersburg who said he had no further use of it. Perhaps you will. Enlisted men must surrender all arms, accouterments and flags. All men will be issued paroles and may return to their homes unmolested, provided they do not take up arms against the Yankees and abide by the laws. The generosity of these terms is a relief -- you and your men will not be held as prisoners of war.

The morning of the 12^th you rise to a very sad camp. You assist in forming up the regiment for the last time. As the regiment marches out you drop from the head of the column, to ride next to the boys of Company E. Some of the boys wonder what verbal taunts they will face from the Yanks at the ceremony. After all, verbal shots were fired across the battlefields for four long years. The men are not talking much as they march, but the sound of sobbing can be clearly heard. You look at the boys and tears are running down their faces to a man. Tears well in your own eyes, but not for the men that are marching. Your tears are for all the dead and wounded who were left on the many battlefields of the war and who cannot be with you today. What did the thousands of men die for? Why where thousands maimed? It all seems so worthless now. You are brought back to reality by the order to halt. You reach the top of a hill and the boys are straining to see down into the valley. You ride ahead of the brigade and from your horse you see the head of your army’s column led by General John B. Gordon, marching between the Yanks lined on either side of the road. You are too far away to hear anything. You see the Yanks come to attention as Gordon reaches a Union general and bows. You are not sure but you think you see the Union troops coming to present arms. As you ride back to your brigade the boys are fixing bayonets. You begin the long march into the valley. It seems to take forever but as you approach the Union columns you see that they are not at present arms but carry arms, a form of salute. The brigade is ordered to return the salute. Your pride swells as the boys perform the order with drill ground precision. The men then stack their arms and hang their accouterments from the stacks. Flags that have seen so much blood are laid against the stacked arms or upon the ground. The boys congregate around the flags with tears streaming down their faces. The order comes to move and the brigade marches off. The 12^th Virginia surrendered under Major Richard Jones with a total of 16 officers and 180 enlisted men. It is over.

The 12^th Va. was a peculiar regiment, as Confederates regiments went. Eighty per cent of the regiment was from urban areas, while most Confederate regiments were drawn from the countryside. The regiment was made up of a high percentage of literate men, and many of the officers even had a college education. This made the 12^th one of the most literate regiments in Confederate service. Some of the enlisted men were tradesmen, while other were bookkeepers and clerks, jobs that required some education. Most of the men of the original six companies of the 12^th lived within one mile of each other in Petersburg. Many of the men worked together, boarded in the same buildings or went to the same church. Many were friends before, which made them much closer than the men of other regiments. The average age of the men at 20 to 22 was two to three years older than the age of the average Confederate soldier. Five of the companies from Petersburg had been organized before the war. When formed into a regiment, the civilian leadership became officers. Colonel Weisiger, the regiment’s first commander, was a Mexican War veteran. The regiment never had an officer from West Point but could boast three that graduated from the Virginia Military Institute.