Two Wars: An Autobiography of General Samuel G. French

Whether Foster was influenced by the information he got from old Mose, I know not, but such was the old negro's story as he related it to me the next day, as I remember it.

I am quite sure vandalism (especially stealing) commenced in New Berne, for the pianos and furniture shipped from there decorate to-day many a Northern home. At Hamilton most of the dwellings had been entered, mirrors broken, furniture smashed, doors torn from their hinges, and especially were the feather beds emptied in the streets, spokes of carriage wheels broken, and cows shot in the fields by the roadside, etc. It was a pitiful sight to see the women and children in their destitute condition. Alas! toward the end it was an everyday occurrence, and the main object of small expeditions was to steal private property.

Pretty early in December a lady correspondent, outside of New Berne, informed me that it was reported that the troops in the town were to move out and attack Wilmington, or destroy the railroad to that place. I kept Gen. G. W. Smith, in Richmond, whose command embraced the State of North Carolina, advised of the information received, and he went through Petersburg, stopping to see me, and then went on to Goldsboro, N. C., to await developments.

My diary says:

Left Petersburg December 15, in the evening train for Weldon. From there ordered the horses and equipments by land road to Goldsboro. Also, by command of Gen. G. W. Smith, I ordered Col. Martin's regiment to Goldsboro. I left in Petersburg, awaiting transportation, the Mississippi regiments and some of Daniel's Brigade and Bradford's Artillery. Leaving Weldon, I proceeded to Goldsboro, and arrived there at 7:30 A.M. on the 16th, and took the train to Kinston. Reached Mosely Hall about 10 A.M. Found Gen. Evans there. At this time there was heard heavy firing at the Whitehall bridge over the Neuse river. The firing increasing rapidly, I sent to Gen. Robertson Col. Burguin's regiment, and Gen. Pettigrew to take command if it should prove to be a determined attempt to cross the river, which I doubted. This regiment did not reach there in time to render any material assistance. The troops engaged were Leventhorpe's Eleventh North Carolina, a part of Feribee's and Evans's Brigades, Jordan's Thirty-First North Carolina, and two pieces of artillery. A battery I sent did not reach there until the fight was over. In this affair we lost about thirty killed and wounded. We had about five hundred men engaged, and the enemy four regiments and fifteen pieces of artillery, and their loss, from inferior position, must have been about one hundred.

Being satisfied that the attempt to cross or to put down a pontoon bridge was frustrated, if seriously contemplated, and that the objective point was Goldsboro and the railroad bridge there, I ordered Col. Rodgers up from Kinston, who had been there all day in possession of the town, and sent him and Evans's Brigade forward to Goldsboro in haste, and informed Gen. Smith that the enemy was moving up the river; and made every effort to get our force to Goldsboro. Gen. Pettigrew moved with Burguin's and Leventhorpe's regiments for that point, leaving a strong force and two guns at Whitehall. The train that took Rodgers did not return until about 4 A.M., and left soon after with troops. Seeing them off, I started on horseback with staff and rode to Goldsboro, and reached there at 9 A.M. and reported to Gen. Smith.

The guard that was left at Mosely Hall was directed to take an account of the cotton burned there, and to save the rope and bagging.

When I reached the depot near Bear Creek I there found Burguin's regiment and a down train. It brought me an order from Gen. Smith to leave Gen. Robertson in command of the troops at Whitehall and Spring Bank bridges to hold them. Gen. Martin was left in command at Mosely Hall. I have since learned that the enemy left eighty men unburied at Whitehall. They removed the wounded. Seventy stand of arms were collected. During this time Gen. Clingman, with his brigade, was on the right bank of the river.

When Col. Rodgers was ordered from Kinston I directed that the command of Wallace should proceed direct to Goldsboro from Greenville, and not stop at Kinston to support Col. Rodgers, as he had been ordered away.

In consequence of the movements made, as has been stated, the condition of matters on the morning of the 17th, was as follows: Clingman was over the river on the right bank with his brigade (Cantrell's, Shaw's, and Marshall's regiments) and some artillery; Evans, with his brigade and the Mississippi troops, in the town; Rodgers, near by; and Burguin, en route, near at hand. When I reached the town and reported to Gen. Smith he told me he had ordered, early in the morning, Gens. Evans and Clingman to make an armed reconnoissance on the other side of the river. For some reason, not known to me, it never moved or got off until the enemy attacked the bridge.

About 2:30 P.M. I was informed that the enemy was advancing on the Goldsboro bridge (the railroad bridge over the Neuse), and the cannon were heard in the distance. Pettigrew started to join Clingman on the other side of the river. Smith sent for me to come to his office. I remained with him about an hour, urging forward troops. Gen. Smith then went to the hotel, for his sword, coat, etc. When he returned I picked up my saber and said: "If you have no particular use for me here, I shall go down to the field." To this he replied: "Very well."

Riding down I overtook the Hon. W. Dortch, Confederate States Senator, and Gov. Z. Vance. They wished to show me some fords in the river. I found Pettigrew examining them also. I then galloped on for the field, and found Gen. Smith there. He had passed by while we were locating the fords. On arriving on the field I found most of our troops in the edge of the woods. I moved them across the field to the railroad, which afforded some protection. The enemy were drawn up in line on some rising ground somewhat obliquely to the railroad. Their right was about seven hundred yards distant, and the left four hundred. There was really but little firing except artillery, and that was at the one gun we brought on the field. Evans, on our left, ordered a charge over the open field toward a battery. The regiment making the charge suffered considerably from canister shot, and as soon as possible I recalled it. It soon became dark, both lines maintaining their positions. Smith now came over to the left, and called Evans, Pettigrew, and me, with Stevens, engineer, to consult or counsel with him on the question of remaining or withdrawing. All but Evans favored crossing back to camp.

The diary is too full of detail to quote. We recrossed because the weather was intensely cold, and the troops had no blankets or provisions, and would be unfit for service if they remained there. Next morning Foster was on his return to New Berne. Had Smith seen to it that Evans had crossed over, and with Clingman's Brigade and his own moved as directed, the bridge could not have been burned, as it was, by a party of six men. Reports said Foster had eighteen thousand men and eighteen pieces of artillery; we had nine thousand, with nearly twenty pieces of artillery. The whole matter was probably a demonstration in favor of Burnside at Fredericksburg. Our troops were not properly handled at Goldsboro.

From Goldsboro I returned to Petersburg on the 24th. On January 5, 1863, I left Petersburg for Weldon on account of information of an apprehended attack on Wilmington. The next day Gen. G. W. Smith arrived, and then went on to Goldsboro. On the 16th I joined Gen. Smith at Goldsboro. Owing to information received on the 20th, I ordered Cook's Brigade to near South Washington, Ransom's to Kenonsville, and Pettigrew's intermediate, to support either. In the evening Smith went to Wilmington. On the 27th I received information that Gen. Smith had been ordered to Richmond, and a dispatch came for me from the War Department to repair to Goldsboro and assume command of all the troops. On the 3d of February I received orders to send reinforcements to Wilmington. I sent Evans's Brigade there. Orders also came to convene a court of inquiry on Gen. Evans. On the 8th forces were sent from Wilmington to Charleston, and on the 18th I examined the works around the city of Wilmington that I had constructed a year ago, and the next day visited the forts, Fisher, Caswell, etc. I returned to Petersburg on the 23d. Gen. D. H. Hill, having no troops, was put in command of those in North Carolina, leaving me Southern Virginia. I found in Petersburg Lieut. Gen. Longstreet.

In the summer of 1862 an estimable clergyman came to me and spoke of an opportunity of obtaining some supplies for the troops from Norfolk. I believed it feasible, and referred him to my chief quartermaster, Maj. J. B. Moray. It speedily was put into operation, and the plan was very simple. An Englishman, living some miles from Suffolk, having charge of or owning an estate on which he lived, had permission to pass the lines at will, and had a permit to purchase supplies for his place. Under this permit he procured for the reverend gentleman large supplies of sugar, coffee, clothes, shoes, medicines, surgical instruments, saddler's tools, bacon, etc. One day at Weldon, or Halifax, a trunk was sent to headquarters through this channel containing some coffee and the most costly pair of boots I have ever worn. The foot was calfskin and the tops of morocco, and came above the knee. They were worn long after the war ended. Who sent them I do not know. The only trouble I gave to this matter of obtaining supplies was to place a respectable and permanent guard that could be trusted, to let the boats land with the supplies.[22 - By this arrangement my quartermaster, Maj. J. B. Moray, obtained bacon, sugar, coffee, blankets, shoes, cloth, saddlers' tools, medical supplies, etc., in no small quantities. He also had hay and fodder baled, by sending a hay press through the north counties of North Carolina to bale this forage, and obtain grain. On the arrival of Gens. D. H. Hill and Longstreet it terminated, for Longstreet took the teams.The following letter from the Hon. James A. Seddon relates to this matter:War Department, C. S. A., }Richmond, February 20, 1863. }Gen. S. G. French, Commanding, Etc.General: I have derived much satisfaction from your letter of the 12th, and am gratified to see how fully you have realized and understand the great needs of our army on the Rappahannock for supplies of forage and subsistence, and the difficulty of meeting them. The scarcity in this State is really great, and without distressing exactions from the people, and much consequent suffering, there is no prospect of drawing any large supplies from them.Our great reliance must be on the large producing counties of North Carolina, and, unfortunately, the richest are in the hands of, or under the control of, the enemy. Great efforts must be made to draw all that can forced or tempted from that quarter, and there can be no better employment of our forces in North Carolina than in protecting and aiding such operations. Even illicit dealings with persons of doubtful position, or mercenary natures, might be encouraged to the extent of procuring supplies, particularly of meat. But with the clear views and convictions you have on this whole subject it is unnecessary to urge the adoption of special means. You will, I doubt not, adopt all that can be made available, and in so doing you will have the sanction of the department.Very truly yours,James A. Seddon, Secretary of War.] When I went to Petersburg the ladies were somewhat "slipshod," for no ladies' shoes, toothbrushes, pins, needles, or materials for dresses were for sale. Through respectable men "running the blockade," I had the town supplied. All that I required of these men was that they should bring a few necessary articles for the government, then as much as they wished for sale, but the invoice must be submitted to the quartermaster to see if there were any other things useful for the army.

There was a large, tall woman named Johnston by whom hundreds of letters, with money in them, were sent by soldiers to their families in that part of Virginia, and in return she brought letters to Confederate soldiers. I detailed an intelligent man to read all letters going out and returning by the blockade runners; all letters, too, going north by, or received from, the flag of truce boats were examined before being delivered to the persons addressed. Only a few of these letters were referred to me. I never doubted Mrs. Johnston's integrity, but some of my staff endeavored to have me believe she was a spy on both sides. She always told me the truth about the enemy, for I could see it corroborated by the testimony of others. One time she was gone about six weeks, then returned and said Gen. Vielè had put a guard over her house in Norfolk and kept her a prisoner. When some years afterwards I met Gen. Vielè in New York he told me he could do nothing with her, she defied him, and he kept her at home that while. She gave him no truthful information, but was faithful in her reports to us.

There was a girl living in Norfolk that wanted to cross the lines and go to Richmond. Three prominent citizens, separately, informed me that she was a spy. Gen. J. J. Pettigrew, on the Blackwater, received like information, and asked me for instructions. I wrote: "Let her come, but send an officer to watch her." She arrived by train, in company with a "roach-backed" looking woman with a child in her arms, and went to the hotel. I directed the city marshal to arrest her if she attempt to leave for Richmond, and he arrested her at the Richmond depot the next morning and brought her to me. She swore she was a true woman to the Confederacy, that she had a brother in the service. I asked her how she left Suffolk. She declared she passed the Federal lines with the woman now with her, who had a pass for two persons, that she brought the woman and child along with her lest the woman should be imprisoned for aiding her over the line of pickets, etc. Then I read to her several letters informing me "Fannie Cooper left this morning in a carriage with a Yankee officer to go to Richmond." She denied it all. I told her she would have to go to Salisbury a prisoner until I could inquire into her case further. She begged not to be imprisoned there, so I sent her back to Gen. Pettigrew, commanding on the Blackwater, to have her sent back to her home. Now, during the siege of Suffolk, many persons told me that "she did go out of Suffolk in the carriage with an officer," etc. In 1866 she wrote me a letter declaring all I heard about her was false, and wishing me all sorts of bad things. All in all it would have been an interesting case for Sherlock Holmes.

Petersburg was under martial law, and to keep the city in peace and order was no small task. Men who were regarded respectable would sell liquor to the soldiers. To fine the offenders was useless. To end it, the suggestion was made that a court-martial should condemn the next offender to have his head shaved and wear a "barrel shirt," and be marched through the city two hours every day for ten days. That ended selling whisky. How would a dude look with his head shaved and protruding through a hole in the head of a barrel? Would the sun affect his intellect? The doctors reported that no ordinary person could endure it, so I remitted a part of the sentence.

One day the provost marshal arrested a blockade runner for not obeying his instructions. His goods were placed in a rented store, and J. A. Shingleur, of Columbus, Ga., and Sidney Lanier, of my signal corps, were detailed to sell them. The money was deposited in bank to my order. After the war was ended I gave the owner the funds. I have often wondered if that quiet, gentle soldier-poet remembered his experience as a merchant in Petersburg? Often he and a friend would come to my quarters and pass the evening with us, where the "alarums of war" were lost in the soft notes of their flutes, for Lanier was an excellent musician. I believe his cantata was sung at the opening of the World's Exposition held in Philadelphia in 1876.

Another duty was the exchange of prisoners on arrival at City Point of the flag of truce steamer. Our men were sent out to a camp I had, and thence to their commands. I never went to the flag of truce boat in all this while but once, and then I did not go aboard of her. I dismounted and took a seat on a box. All was quiet. The staging from the main deck rested on the wharf. On this deck, by the staging, were posted two soldiers with arms aground. On the upper deck were three or four United States soldiers. Their clothing was clean, neat, and new, and they wore unsoiled white cotton gloves. The wharf was guarded by a lone Confederate soldier. On his head was a straw hat, his raiment was butternut in color, his shoes were low-quartered, his hair and beard long. In countenance he was dignified, and his eye bright. To protect himself from the cold north wind, a brown blanket was tied, or pinned, in front around his neck, and as he turned to the north, pacing to and fro in front of the stage, his blanket would swing now east, now west, and on returning wrap him in its folds. He heeded not the neat clad enemy on the steamer, but walked his post with the conscious conviction that he was their peer in every walk of life. None of the soldiers leaning over the railing and looking down on him were commenting on his garb, or laughing at him. Battle had taught them to respect him. Still the contrast in clothing and comfort was marked.

CHAPTER XII

Telegram from Secretary of War – Go to Richmond – Declined Going to Vicksburg – Gen. Longstreet – He Starts for Suffolk – Suffolk – Capture of a Fort and Garrison – No Report Made of the Capture – Statement of Lieut. George Reese – Longstreet Ordered to Join Lee – Dispatches – Battle of Chancellorsville – Withdraw from Suffolk – An Impertinent Note – Court of Inquiry Asked for and Refused – Possible Result Had Longstreet Obeyed Orders —Ten Dispatches to Longstreet – Orders to Report to Gen. Johnston.

On March 1, 1863, I received a telegram from the Secretary of War stating that he wished to see me in regard to a change of service. The day following I called at the office of the Secretary, Hon. J. A. Seddon, and he expressed a desire that I would go to the city of Vicksburg to assist in the defense of that place. I did not give my assent, preferring to consider the matter. On the 3d I rode around the line of defensive works that I had constructed around Petersburg with Gen. Longstreet, and did not get back until 3 P.M.

I have already stated that on my return from Wilmington on the 23d of February, 1863, I found Gen. Longstreet in Petersburg in command of the divisions of Gens. Hood and Pickett. The main object of his coming was to provision his troops and forage his animals (until active service commenced requiring him to join Gen. Lee or otherwise) from the supplies in the adjoining counties of Virginia and the counties of North Carolina in the northeastern portion of the State, and be in readiness to join Gen. Lee promptly, which he said was arranged before he left Fredericksburg. (See Longstreet's "Memoirs," page 329.)

That the trains might move in safety, it was necessary to confine the Federal forces in the works around Suffolk and Norfolk. Accordingly about the middle of April Longstreet moved with his two divisions and one of mine on Suffolk. The approach of our troops was not discovered until the advance was in open view of the defenses around the city. Their pickets were quietly captured, and the lookout sentinel in an observatory on a platform in the top of a large pine tree in front of the city might have been captured also had it not been for the desire of one of the Confederates to take a shot at him while he was in the top, before any one had been sent near the base of the pine. The man came down as lively as a squirrel, and the alarm was given.

The circumvallation of the city, in part, was made by Pickett's division on the right, mine in the center, and Hood's on the left, and thus the siege of Suffolk began.

When Gen. Longstreet had been in Petersburg some time, he said to me one day that he purposed to attack Suffolk after his preparations were made, and to take the trains and send them down into the seaboard counties for provisions.

The next thing I knew, April 9, he put his command in motion, and took from me a division and a number of batteries, and was on his way to Suffolk without informing me in any way of his designs, or of his wishes.[23 - This was a violation of military usages that both Gens. Andrew Jackson and Z. Taylor denounced. Here is an extract from the order of Gen. Jackson:Headquarters Division of the South,}Nashville, April 22, 1817. }The commanding general considers it due to the principles which ought and must exist in an army to prohibit the obedience of any order emanating from the Department of War to officers of this division … unless coming through him as the proper organ of communication. The object of this is to prevent the recurrence, etc.Here we see Jackson forbidding obedience to any order to troops or officer in his command unless it was communicated to him first for his action.] The next day I put a staff officer in charge of the department headquarters, and with my other staff officers rode to Suffolk and took command of my own troops there that had been removed without sending the order through my office as courtesy required. No doubt the object of such proceedings was to give the command of a division to Gen. M. Jenkins, a worthy and gallant officer, who had distinguished himself in the seven days' fight around Richmond. On the morning of the 13th I took command of my own troops, the brigades of Pettigrew, Jenkins, and Davis, and my batteries. I found Gen. Longstreet down near the front, where there was considerable artillery firing and skirmishing on the advanced line. Longstreet asked me to accept the command of all the artillery, which I refused to do. I told him I did not intend to give up the command of my division to any one, but that I was willing to give all the assistance I could, personally and through the chief of my artillery, to place in position guns to prevent gunboats going up and down the river; and, although my diary does not mention it, all the artillery was ordered to report to me. I assigned all the batteries belonging to them to the command of the respective divisions, and thus it was scattered along the line for several miles, leaving me some spare batteries and a few siege guns in charge of my chief of artillery. But I will copy from my diary:

Tuesday, 14th. Heavy skirmishing; rode to Pickett's Division and to the extreme right of the line, and met Gen. Armstead there.

Wednesday, 15th. Started down the river with some artillery to endeavor to destroy the gunboats; found but one in the river, and it was too far below. After getting guns in position withdrew them. Day very rainy.

Thursday, 16th. Rode down the river and examined it for positions for defense; met Longstreet at Mr. Riddick's place; then went to Mr. Le Compte's house. We were invited to stay for dinner, but before it was ready a gunboat opened fire on the house while we were resting in the yard behind it and while the family were in it. After the second shot, which went through it, we rode out into the field by the side of the house in open sight. They did not fire at us (myself and four of my staff), but all the while continued the attack on the dwelling, and over the heads of the little children, who were on the lawn in front waving white handkerchiefs. The dwelling was built of brick, and was riddled with large holes. The wonder to me was how the children escaped. As we were leaving the field and the doctor had his hands on the latch of the gate to open it, it was opened by a three-hundred-pound shell striking the post that the gate was hung to, demolishing it.

17th. Last night I gave my consent that two guns from Stribbling's battery be put in an old work that was to be garrisoned by two companies of Gen. Law's Brigade, and some guns from Martin's battery were put in another work. A gunboat came up and opened fire on the fort where the two Alabama companies were, without damage.

18th. Passed all day down the river. Got the two thirty-two pounders in position, ready to open to-morrow.

19th. This forenoon the gunboats came up, and the thirty-two pounder fired on them and drove them back. They were also attacked by some sharpshooters.

Just before sunset the gunboats and several batteries of artillery opened a very severe cross fire on the fort and over the plain in the rear of the fort, where the two guns from Stribbling's battery had been placed to aid the garrison. Pending this attack the enemy landed a strong infantry force, under cover of some timber, on our side of the river, carried the place by a sudden assault, and captured the garrison, consisting of Companies A and B, Forty-Fourth Alabama Regiment, and a squad of artillerymen.

I heard the distant firing about sunset, and at 9 P.M. I heard in camp that one of the forts in Hood's command had been captured. I went over to Longstreet's headquarters, and he asked me to go down and take command. On arrival I found on the ground there Gens. Hood and Law with Robertson's Brigade and Connelly's Fifty-Fifth North Carolina Regiment, and took command as I was ordered. The Fifty-Fifth North Carolina Regiment was advanced, but it was driven back in the darkness by the cross fire of the gunboats and the enemy in the captured works. It was so plain to any one who had a knowledge of the art of war that the enemy would not hold an isolated work on our side of the river, that I was not inclined to make an assault which would have sacrificed so many lives uselessly. Yet such was the order given by Longstreet.

20th. Remained in position till morning, when Longstreet arrived. Both Gens. Hood and Law strenuously insisted that no attack should be made to capture the works while the troops would be subjected to the severe cross fire over the neck of land from the enemy's fleet of vessels and the troops in the redoubt and artillery opposite on the other side of the river.

At 1 P.M. I turned the command over to Hood, or rather left him in command of his own troops, advising him to wait and let the enemy abandon the place, which they did. Soon after this Capt. Cussons, commander of Law's scouts, with a few men and a loud "yell," ran in the enemy's pickets, and entered the works with them. They went on out, and left Cussons to hold the empty fort.

22d. If that redoubt, which gave support to our left flank (that otherwise would have been "in air"), was worth a great sacrifice of life to recapture it, as ordered by Longstreet, then certainly it was in accord with the science of war to place two guns on the works to strengthen and protect the left flank of his army.[24 - Longstreet reiterates the story of the capture of the battery in his book, but is silent about the garrison or the capture of the redoubt. Therefore I will append a statement handed to me by George Reese, an honored citizen of Pensacola, Fla. My account is from my diary; his is from memory. He writes:"I was a lieutenant in Company A, Forty-Fourth Alabama Infantry, Law's Brigade, Hood's Division, Longstreet's Corps, and was with my command at the investment of Suffolk in 1863. On the 18th day of April, while in line, Companies A and K received orders, about 8 P.M… to move. I think we numbered fifty men, all told. We were marched about two miles to the left of Longstreet's army.We arrived at an old fort, or rather redoubt, exposed on the land side, but protected by a high embankment on the river side. In this fort we found two guns of Stribbling's battery, with their complement of gunners. This whole force, with the two guns, was captured on the 19th of April, near 6 P.M. About 1 P.M. the enemy opened a terrific fire on the fort from a great number of guns massed on the opposite side of the river and from the gunboats and infantry. Under cover of this fire a transport landed about a thousand men behind a point of land extending into the river just above the fort, concealed by thick undergrowth. They were within one hundred yards of the fort when discovered. It was natural that the infantry should blame Gen. Longstreet for thus placing so small a force so far away from support, and loud complaints were heard from both men and officers. We were taken to Suffolk the same night and next morning to Norfolk, and two weeks after exchanged.George Reese, Lieut. Co A, Forty-Fourth Alabama."Pensacola, Fla., March 1897."]

I am tired of volunteering against gunboats any more, and declined having anything to do with the line defended by Gen. Hood because of a communication received from the general commanding saying I was "in charge of the river defenses." To have charge of the river defenses involves more or less the command of all the army. I really had officially nothing to do with the river defenses, only I voluntarily placed two large siege guns in position to be used in attacking any boats passing up or down the river. Connally's Regiment was a support for these two guns.

23d. Confined myself to the immediate command of my division, and took no more interest in Hood's line, and ordered Connally's Regiment to join his brigade.

24th and 25th. There was some skirmishing.

26th. Rode down with Gen. Longstreet to the Whitemarsh road. Gone all day. The line there is commanded by Gen. Armstead.

And now come the Richmond papers proclaiming: "From Suffolk – Gen. French lost Stribbling's battery." Mark you, no mention of the capture of the fort; no mention of the capture of the two companies that garrisoned it. It would not do to have it reported that the Yankees crossed the Nansemond yesterday and captured a fort on our side of the river by assault. The garrison, composed of two companies of the Forty-Fourth Alabama Regiment of Law's Brigade, Hood's Division, were taken prisoners and the two guns were lost. But it will not do to let this be known. No, no; write it down thus: "Yesterday Gen. French lost Stribbling's battery." The world is too busy to inquire, and the world will believe it. The truth is, I was never in the fort, never saw it. I had no authority over the garrison, and I was in no way responsible for the loss of the redoubt, the garrison, or guns.

The most remarkable feature of this little affair is the persistency with which headquarters proclaimed that "French lost Stribling's battery," and were silent about the infantry garrison captured, etc. I will give two letters here from the War Records:

    Headquarters Near Suffolk, April 21, 1863.

Maj. Gen. D. H. Hill, Goldsboro.

Gen. Longstreet is closely engaged to-night, and he has asked me to write you briefly the particulars of the affair of Sunday night which resulted in the capture by the enemy of Stribbling's battery. Several batteries had been planted on the Nansemond to hold the river against the passage of gunboats and transports. Stribbling's occupied an old uninclosed work on Hill's Point, a tongue of land a little above the confluence of Western Branch and Nansemond. About dark on the evening of the 19th the enemy opened a severe fire from his field batteries planted opposite, and his gunboats above and below the fort, entirely sweeping with a cross fire the plain in the rear of the work. Under cover of this fire and darkness they landed a force, not more than one hundred and fifty strong, a very little distance from the fort, rushed upon its rear, and surprised and captured its garrison.

The artillery on the river was directly under the management of Maj. Gen. French. There were five guns, fifty-five artillerists, and seventy infantry (sharpshooters) in the fort, which all fell into the hands of the enemy.

The affair is regarded as a most remarkable and discreditable instance of an entire absence of vigilance. A regiment (Fifty-Fifth North Carolina and seven hundred strong) which Gen. Longstreet had particularly ordered to the vicinity for the protection of the battery was not posted in supporting distance. No official report of the affair has yet been received from Gen. French. The captured guns were carried across the river. It is some consolation that only the guns and ammunition chests were lost. The horses and ammunition carriages, being considerably in the rear of the battery, were saved. We are otherwise quite comfortable here. The quartermasters and commissaries are actively engaged in getting out supplies.