southern and eastern side swarmed with the enemy and their
cavalry--a portion of it was between us and the "James River," which
was about twelve miles distant. General Fitz Lee's division of cavalry
lay over in that direction somewhere; General Longstreet with General
Gordon was in and on the outer edge of the town, on the Lynchburg
side, and so we waited for the performance to commence.

Looking at and listening to the men you would not have thought there
was anything special in the situation. They turned all the
responsibility over to the officers, who in turn did the same to those
above them--the captain to the colonel, the colonel to the brigadier,
and so on.

Colonel Haskell had not yet returned--having sent in all the horses he
had gotten, and was still after the balance. About nine or ten
o'clock, artillery firing began in front of General Longstreet, and
the blue jackets showed in heavy masses on the edge of the woods.
General Gary riding up, put everything that had a horse in the saddle,
and moved us down the hill, just on the edge of the little creek that
is here the "Appomattox," to wait under cover until wanted. Two of our
young men, who had some flour and a piece of bacon in their
haversacks, had improvised a cooking utensil out of a bursted
canteen, and fried some cakes. They offered me a share in their meal,
of which I partook with great relish. I then lay down, with my head,
like the luxurious Highlander, upon a smooth stone, and, holding my
horse's bridle in my hand, was soon in the deep sleep of a tired man.
But not for long, for down came the general in his most emphatic
manner--and those who know Gary know a man whose emphasis can be
wonderfully strong when so minded. "Mount, men, mount!" I jumped up at
the sharp, ringing summons with the sleep still in my eyes, and found
myself manoeuvring my horse with his rear in front. We soon had
everything in its right place, and rode out from the bottom into the
open field, about two hundred and fifty strong, to see the last of it.

Firing was going on, artillery and small arms, beyond the town, and
there was General R.E. Lee himself, with Longstreet, Gordon, and the
rest of his paladins.

When we rode into the open field we could see the enemy crowding along
the edge of the woods--cavalry apparently extending their line around
us. We kept on advancing towards them to get a nearer view of things,
and were midway on the Richmond side between the town and a